already hectic afternoon. Pierce’s lids half-lowered. “What are you involved in now?”
Now? I squinted to read Aiden’s suddenly unreadable face.
“Nothing.” Aiden peered down, his tone remaining level.
“We’ll see.” Pierce tapped his pen again.
Aiden’s smile held more warning than humor, and my breath caught all funny in my chest. “If I am up to something, then no doubt you’re the guy to figure it out,” he said softly.
Red spiraled across Pierce’s sharp cheekbones. “That cocky attitude is gonna finally bring you down.” He eyed both Randy and me. “You’re all coming into the office right now for an interview.” He nodded at Aiden. “Devlin—I’m looking forward to it.”
“I hope you’re well rested, then.” Aiden’s expression didn’t change.
Okay. Where had Aiden been the last twelve years, and what the heck had he been doing? Besides being arrested for dealing drugs. Sure, he’d been a wild youth, but there had been a sweetness in him I’d never forgotten. And he had saved my life.
“Five minutes. My office.” The detective hurried off to speak with a couple of uniformed officers by the door.
Randy cleared his throat. “I, uh, have to go call my work and let them know I’ll be late. Meet you in the sheriff’s office.” Without waiting for an answer, he pivoted and made a fast exit toward the parking lot.
“He’d better come right back,” I muttered.
Aiden dropped into a crouch at my eye level. “Feeling better?”
No. “Sure. Um, why does a police officer want to take you down?” I asked. Aiden just couldn’t be the bad guy. There had to be some mistake, right? He’d saved me from being shot, and he’d saved me from a fate worse than death when I was only ten years old.
Aiden lifted one muscled shoulder. “Cops have never liked me. It’s that simple.”
No, it wasn’t. “Aiden—”
“Pierce is the asshole who arrested me, and we might’ve gotten in a bit of a scuffle. Not your problem.” Aiden tugged a small stick from my hair to toss to the grass. “I’m fine, though.”
Fair enough. I tried to straighten my spine and look tough. Good manners won out. “Thanks for rolling me to the ground.”
His eyes lit, and that amazing mouth threatened a smile. “Any time, Angel. Any time.”
Chapter 5
Three hours after learning that a bullet can burn, I drove away from the courthouse toward my small bungalow on a nearby lake. No way was I returning to work for the day. I was done. The police had separated Aiden, Randy, and me for the interviews. I should’ve wanted to know about Randy’s information, but truth be told, it had been Aiden who’d filled my mind.
The questioning had been exhausting, but I really didn’t remember much other than the brown vehicle.
Detective Pierce had been very intent that the shooter had been aiming at Aiden.
Just where had he been the last twelve years?
My phone buzzed in a reminder, and I looked down to see I’d missed twenty-two calls. I winced. My mom was from a big Irish family, and my dad a huge Italian family, and when they’d combined into marriage, they’d created enough family members to fill a small stadium. My folks tried to be true to both sides of my heritage, even giving all three of us girls both Italian and Irish names. For a time in my teens, I’d punch anybody who called me Annabella Fiona Albertini, but I was fine with it now.
My phone rang, and I lifted it to my ear. “Hello.”
“Oh my God, are you okay?” My sister, Tessa, was the first to reach me. “We just heard you’d been shot.”
“I’m fine, Tessa Carmelina—” I said her full name to throw her off. Unlike me, she still really disliked it. “How did you hear?” Dumb question. Seriously. Even though I was in the big city, everybody knew everybody, especially if that everybody was from Silverville. “Forget it. I don’t want to know.”
Tess exhaled. “So you weren’t shot?”
“Not really. Just clipped.” Yeah, I kind of sounded like a badass. “But that’s not the big news.”
Tess was quiet for a second. “Seriously? What’s the big news?”
“Aiden Devlin is back.” I lowered my voice to a whisper even as I took a corner a bit too fast. “He’s here.”
“Whoa. Wait a minute. He didn’t shoot you?” Tess’s voice quieted.
I snorted. “Of course not. He may have been the target.”
“How does he look?” Tess’s voice rose in a weird hush. As usual, she got right to the point.
“Like Aquaman, Jared Padelecki, Angel, the Arrow, and your best