Head Hunter (City Shifters the Pack #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,57

because I was happy he came back and I could lean on him for the awful parts.

Almost as embarrassing was being practically in his lap when O’Brien returned.

Dodge tensed briefly as she seated herself in the armchair once more, but he took a deep breath and relaxed. He held me closer and let me lean against him. The detective hardly looked at him, and certainly didn’t raise an eyebrow about me being plastered to his side.

Instead, she sipped her coffee and flipped through her notebook. “I know this is the tough part, Persephone. It’s important to get the details right, as you remember them. It’s often easier to talk about this sort of thing if you imagine it was a movie you watched.”

Until movies made you smell blood and raw meat, that wasn’t a great analogy.

O’Brien must have seen something in my expression that communicated my disbelief, because she smiled and tried to hide it with the coffee cup. “Or not. So. We stopped when you were leaving the habitat where you moved around all the plants and dirt, and you heard something outside. What happened next?”

I rubbed my hands on my thighs, wishing there wasn’t a window behind me. Bridger’s guys had parked on the street outside Deirdre’s house, so maybe they’d try to sneak up on us. “Well, I thought maybe Geordie wanted to check on my work. He’s been really... intent on figuring out everything that I do at the sanctuary. I felt like confronting him over his bullshit. It wasn’t smart, obviously, since it was dark and there wasn’t anyone else – there wasn’t supposed to be anyone else around.”

“Had Geordie ever threatened you? Made you feel like you were in danger?”

I picked at my jeans over and over, staring at a faded patch on the knee. “He yelled a lot. Blamed me for everything going wrong. He’s a bully. I didn’t think he meant to hurt me at the time, but looking back...” I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. If I challenged him in front of people, he would get very angry. Angry enough to be violent, though? I don’t know.”

Dodge caught my hand in his and I flushed. He must have found my picking and fiddling annoying. But Dodge turned his head and pressed his lips to my temple. He murmured, “Trust your instincts, Persephone. Close your eyes and go with your gut.”

I swallowed the knot in my throat and struggled with the surge of emotions. I’d always felt uneasy around Geordie but brushed it aside because I wanted the job. I was so desperate for a good job that I’d been willing to overlook an asshole who made me deeply uncomfortable. The feeling of Dodge’s fingers curled through mine settled some of that uneasiness. He’d been right; borrowing his confidence was almost as good as having my own. “Yes, I was – I am afraid of Geordie. I don’t know what he’s capable of. He doesn’t like the animals and doesn’t have a charitable bone in his body, so I don’t know what he’s doing working there.”

The detective made a thoughtful noise. “What is his relationship to Ms. Bridger?”

“She hired him and gave him directions daily,” I said. That much I’d known for sure; I’d overheard snippets of their conversations, though they’d been too cryptic for me to understand. “He had his own office while the rest of us shared a few spots.”

“So you thought he was there that night and you went to confront him.”

My chest tightened as I felt the same sinking sensation in my guts. “I went to – to the vet building, the main building where the animals get check-ups and the dietician prepares all the meals before the keepers feed the animals. That’s when I heard the voices.”

“Mhmm.” O’Brien watched me with a neutral expression, waiting for me to go on.

But my throat seized up and I couldn’t force the words out.

Dodge shifted a little, then abruptly dragged me all the way into his lap. His arms wrapped around me and held me back against his chest as he turned to kick his legs up to the loveseat. He adjusted the blanket over us and kissed the side of my neck. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

My cheeks burned but it was easier to talk without having the detective staring at me. I could pretend I was back in my apartment, in my bed, with Dodge next to me. Even if he’d hardcore rejected me when I wanted to