Dance With Me - By Hayden Braeburn Page 0,32

stilettos. He had to admit she had dolled herself up to look more than fuckable even if she had lost her mind and was crying uncontrollably. Too bad she was undeniably crazy and had shot a man today.

Davis looked Priscilla up and down. “You're going with insanity?” He frowned. “In this case, I think it might work.”

“I'm not insane!” Priscilla protested. “Mason is mine. He doesn't want me, so he has to die,” she stated plainly. “The other man was in the way. I didn't mean to shoot him.” She wiped at her tears with her manacled hands. “Just Mason.”

Brandon barely held back a smile. This was too easy. “That's a confession.”

Peters stood. “A confession from a woman who no longer understands right from wrong. In her mind, what she did was necessary.”

“That's for you to prove. She goes to lock-up until arraignment.” He stood then, assuming uniforms would be in shortly to deal with lock-up. He'd been afraid he'd have to force her to keep her mouth shut one way or another, but she was unstable enough he could get out of any accusations she tossed his way. He needed to find something to tie her to the drugs he'd hidden in Katerina Nemecek's studio so he could close that case as well. The drugs themselves weren't enough to convict Miss Nemecek, but he didn't want to deal with the trial, especially now. If he could neatly tie both cases together, the case against Katerina would be dropped, and Priscilla would be convicted for all crimes. He started to chuckle, quickly covering it with a cough. Sometimes gaming the system was too easy.

~*~

Cassidy sat in the hard plastic chair beside Dylan's bed, the beeping of the monitors almost soothing. If they were in perfect rhythm, then Dylan was too. She watched the rise and fall of his massive chest, the muscles defined even beneath the gown. Just a few hours ago she had poked him in that chest, mad as hell at her brother. She shook her head. If she had known Priscilla had grabbed Mason, if she'd known her friend was literally out of her mind with wanting her brother... She broke the thought there. Dwelling wouldn't help, but she couldn't shake the guilt. A few hours ago, she'd been nearly knocked over by the incredibly tall Dylan Black, his rock hard body barely registering her softer one. She studied his long, pale form. Even though he'd been shot twice by her friend, he looked peaceful, his dark hair tousled like a little boy. His lips were dry but full and his short beard looked almost black against the pallor of his face. He'd almost died saving her brother. Fighting the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks, she grabbed Dylan's hand.

Caleb stopped at Dylan's room and was amazed by what he saw. Cassidy was holding Dylan's hand, promising to all but burn her former friend at the stake. He let out a soft chuckle. He knew there was no way Cassidy would be allowed to argue the case against Priscilla, but he also knew that wouldn't stop his determined older sister. She was a pit bull once she found a cause, and he was certain the big man she was clinging to and crying over was the newest addition to her ever-growing list.

~*~

Mason heaved a sigh of relief when he and Kat walked through the garage door into the kitchen. Home. He'd never been more happy to be anywhere in his life. He'd had to bribe the doctor to release him, but he couldn't be confined to a bed for one more minute. He was fine. Well, maybe he was a little slow from the drugs and a bit chafed from the tape, and maybe he was a bit cut, bruised and sore from escaping the grips of a crazy woman and being tackled by a two-hundred fifty pound man, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Kat turned to him. “We need to get you into the bed.”

No way. “No. The couch, the deck, the goddamned floor, but I'm not getting into a bed for a while.”

Her eyes widened, her hands flying up. “Oh my God. What did she do to you?” Her mind was playing scenarios, each worse than the next. “She didn't... She didn't...” she couldn't finish the question.

“Force me? Rape me? No, she didn't get a chance. I escaped first.” He turned, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I promised myself I would