Drained (Edgars Family #6) - Suzanne Ferrell Page 0,122
anything.”
They took turns showering. Aaron first. By the time she’d finished and slipped on her favorite night shirt, he was asleep on his back, one arm flopped over his head.
She stood in the doorway for a few minutes just staring at him. So peaceful there, you wouldn’t know this man had the weight of nearly two dozen souls weighing on his shoulders. That his care for them would eat at him for weeks or even months.
A light snore came from him. She didn’t mind the sound. Its simple rhythm reassured her he was okay. It was the first time in her life that a man looked right sleeping in her bed. Like he belonged there.
She turned out the bathroom light and padded across the wood floors to the bed. When she laid down, his arm came around her shoulders and he pulled her up against him, her head resting on his shoulder, her hand over his heart. Its steady beat and the warmth of his body easing her towards sleep.
He moved, leaning down to kiss her on the top of her head.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“For what?” she whispered back.
“For this. For being there with me tonight. For being there with me through all this.”
Tilting her head so she could see his face in the dim light peeking through the plantation shutters she’d closed twenty-four hours earlier. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than by your side.”
“I love you,” he whispered, staring intently into her eyes. “I have for years.”
“I know,” she whispered, lifting the corners of her mouth. “I love you, too. And thank you.”
“For what?” he repeated her question back to her.
“For taking my concerns seriously at lunch. For taking me with you. For including me. For loving me enough to give me the time to heal. The time for my heart to catch up with yours. For this.”
Tilting his head closer, he claimed her lips in a soft, promising kiss. Slowly pulling back so their lips clung just a few seconds longer. “We need some sleep. I’m thinking later today I’ll have to face the music.”
“Captain Stedaman?”
“Two o’clock this afternoon.”
“Jeffers, my office. Now,” Captain Stedaman said standing in his doorway.
Aaron looked up from where he sat talking with Jaylon and Ramos. Both appeared as exhausted as he felt on only five hours of sleep, although he’d gotten more sleep than he’d expected thanks to Brianna’s warm body snuggled in the blankets beside him.
“Looks like I’m about to have my butt handed to me,” he said, standing.
“You think he’ll fire you?” Jaylon asked. “Because I’m not breaking in a new partner. Just got used to your strange ways.”
“Probably wants to. And the new partner would have to break you in,” Aaron marched to the captain’s office, closing the door behind him. His father always told him it was best to take a reprimand immediately, rather than let it hang over your head. The worry was often worse than the actual punishment.
He stopped in front of the captain’s desk where the older man sat studying a thick stack of papers in front of him. His boss didn’t look up, didn’t offer him a seat. Not a good sign.
“I should ask for your shield and weapon, Jeffers.”
Yeah, he was pissed.
Aaron wisely kept his mouth shut.
Finally, Stedaman put the paper down and leaned back in his office chair. “You broke all kinds of protocols on this one. I guess I should be happy it took you three years to do so since the last fuck up of yours.”
The captain had delivered the same chewing out when the sex trafficking ring and arrests hit the news. The FBI and the Edgars family just got stuff done, especially with Brianna and the other women’s lives at risk. Things had progressed so fast last time, he’d had very little chance to keep his boss informed.
“I brought you, Jaylon and our forensics people in from the moment we found the first body,” he said, defending his actions on that score at least.
“It’s the we that I’m having problems with, Detective.”
Shit. Not even a last name this time.
Again, Aaron chose to stay silent.
“Not only did you involve a civilian in Ms. Matthews.” Stedaman held up a hand to prevent him from interrupting, even though Aaron wasn’t about to do that. “Yes, I know, she was very helpful in the investigation and stayed out of the actual takedown of our serial killer, but she was still a civilian. Then, you bring in an FBI profiler without consulting me