to. “You never told me how Locke, Shogun, and Macayle ended up in Oregon.”
He took a sip of wine and then placed his glass down. “Most of the guys were released from prison within a year or two of each other. Taking Shep’s advice, we all came to Virginia first, and worked with Reverend Luther Thomas, who helped us all find our footing on the outside. Then, we all returned home. Locke was from Atlanta, and Macayle had family in Indiana. Shogun is from Oregon. They all had bachelor’s degrees when they left Glenworth and attended law school in Oregon.”
She nodded. “I’m surprised you didn’t end up in Charlottesville with Striker, Quasar, and Stonewall.”
Drew took another sip of his wine. “I got out two years before they did because I was exonerated. Charlottesville was Stonewall’s hometown, and Striker and Quasar followed him there. By that time, I had already set up residence here in Alexandria.”
“I think it’s remarkable how all of you forged such longstanding friendships.”
“Trust me, it would not have been that way had it not been for Shep. What was so sad about it was that we all got out before he did—and he was innocent. I always said there was a reason Shep was sent to prison. A Higher Being knew he’d change the lives of several young men who’d lost their way. No one was happier when he was finally exonerated than all the guys he’d helped while confined.”
“Is it true that he got married the day after his release?”
Drew smiled. “It is. He had a huge wedding at Sutton Hills, the Grangers’ estate.”
They talked a bit more, then cleaned up the kitchen together. When she saw him putting his shirt back on, she knew he intended to leave her. She pasted a smile on her face. “Tomorrow we will be busy.”
He walked over to her. “Yes, it will be, but at least we have Friday night to look forward to.” Then, he leaned in and kissed her.
Needing more, she came close to begging, but caught herself. She groaned in protest when he released her lips. “I’m looking forward to Friday, baby,” he whispered. “And you don’t have to see me out. If you do, I might be tempted to stay.”
Toni was about to tell him that he didn’t have to leave, but he’d already grabbed his leather jacket off her sofa and was headed for the door. Was he not going to at least look back? She thought he wasn’t, but when he reached for the doorknob, he paused.
Her heart pounded in her chest when he glanced back at her and smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, baby.”
And then he was gone.
DREW PULLED INTO THE headquarters’ parking lot and glanced around for Toni’s car but did not see it. That was odd. Toni almost always arrived at work before he did.
After turning off the car’s ignition, he decided to wait in his car for her so they could walk in together. He had enjoyed dinner with her last night, and as tempted as he’d been to stay, he had managed to walk out of her apartment. When he had arrived at home, he’d had a cold shower, then had gone to bed, all the while calling himself every kind of fool for not sweeping her off her feet and carrying her into the bedroom.
He had tried to sleep but couldn’t—he’d become accustomed to hearing her voice every night before dozing off. When he had glanced at the clock on his nightstand, he saw it wasn’t quite midnight, so he’d called her, hoping she wasn’t asleep. She had answered on the second ring. And so the nightly routine continued. They talked as if they hadn’t already spent most of the entire day and evening together.
His cell phone rang, intruding into his thoughts of last night. He checked his caller ID and saw the call was from Duan. He clicked on. “Hello?”
“Your investigator report is ready. A courier will deliver it to you today at five. Will you be home?”
“I’ll make it my business to be there. That didn’t take you long to wrap things up.”
“Since I knew it involved your woman, I jumped right on it.”
Andrew liked the sound of that. His woman. He would definitely claim Toni as that. “I appreciate that. Did you find anything?”
“You took action and that’s good. Call me if you have any questions.”
“Will do.” The moment he clicked off the call, he saw Toni pull up. While she was parking her