And there it is. The next slap and attack this night has to offer and it’s all I can do not to flinch with the first of the many accusations certain to follow.
We’re a tabloid party.
The implication that two step-siblings have come together for sex, scandal, and murder.
CHAPTER FORTY
Eric
The stepsister comment is getting really fucking old. I don’t directly reply to the asshole cop who made it. I don’t defend mine and Harper’s relationship by reminding him that she’s the stepsister I never lived with or even knew until we were adults and years after our parents married. Too often in high-profile cases, and this will be one, law enforcement tries to take the heat off themselves and put it on other people. The incestuous headlines they’re already starting to frame would do that—if I let them get away with it.
I drape my arm around Harper’s shoulders, making it clear that I won’t cower and neither will she. In fact, I plan to make it clear that I’ll attack. I glance at the cop’s nametag. “You know, Officer Marks. I admire a cop as much as I do my former SEAL teammates,” I say dryly, my gaze meeting the gaze of the cop that just goaded us. “Bravery and sacrifice are qualities to admire. Unfortunately, there are those who serve who find power trips feed their egos. Like you, officer. You might inspire me to file a harassment charge and I have to tell you, our firm would enjoy taking on a case against the bad eggs on the force. They put the good cops in danger.”
He arches a brow. “Are you threatening me?”
“Quite the opposite. I’m trying to protect the many good men and women you put in harm’s way. Now if you’ll step aside, I need to go check on my father.” I guide Harper around the two men and we’ve made it all of a few steps, with Savage and Smith framing us, when Officer Marks smarts off again. “Why?” he demands. “Why go check on him at all? Word is that you hate him.”
I stop walking and rotate to face both men. “And yet I still saved his life.”
“That’s still to be determined,” Officer Marks says. “He could die.”
“Which is why I need to get to talk to the doctors.” I turn away and pull Harper closer, kissing her temple as we turn a corner. “Don’t freak out,” I whisper sensing she’s doing that and more. “We had to control them, not the other way around.”
“Fuckers,” Savage grumbles. “Talk about a couple of bitch cops and I like cops. I like cops a lot. Just not those two assholes.”
“Amen to that,” the normally silent Smith chimes in. “Amen to that.” He points to an elevator and we all pause while he punches the call button.
I turn to Harper and press my hands to her shoulders, lowering my voice. “If this was a professional hit, there will be no poison in his system and this is over, at least from law enforcement’s standpoint.”
“And if there is?”
“There won’t be,” I assure her. “Act like you have nothing to fear. You don’t and weakness to those cops is like blood to a coyote. It draws them in and makes them attack.”
She nods. “Right. Got it. Play the game.”
“Play it our way, not theirs. Our way. Own every conversation with them. Got it?”
She inhales and lets it out, calmness sliding over her beautiful face. “Yes.” She sounds stronger now. Even stronger as she adds, “No fear.”
“No fear, sweetheart. Exactly.” The elevator dings and the doors open. “Come on.” I lead her into the car, looking forward to the day I can just be with her, minus this damn family. And I’m determined to make that day come sooner rather than later.
Savage and Smith follow us into the car and right before we’re sealed inside, the two officers step in front of us, the older one catching the door to keep it open. “Is there a reason you need two bodyguards?” he asks.
“You’re assuming they aren’t our friends?” Harper asks. “Because we have no friends?”
“Exactly,” Savage says. “You think I can’t have friends? I’m a good friend.” He runs a hand down the scar on his cheek. “Saved a friend’s life getting this.” He scowls at the officer’s hand on the elevator. “Why the fuck are you holding the door?”
Smith pulls his phone from his pocket and holds it up. “Recording. Is there a reason you’re holding the elevator door?”
The officer holding said door curses and releases it. The minute we’re sealed inside, I lean in close to Harper, my lips by her ear as I whisper, “My hero.”
“They’re really starting to piss me off.” She rotates in my arms. “What happened to reassuring us and protecting us?”
“Exactly,” Savage snaps, the giant brooding man himself adding, “We need protecting like everyone else. We have real feelings.”
We all laugh and I kiss Harper while the car halts and the doors open. I lean in to Harper’s ear again and whisper, “I’ll show you how real my feelings are when we finally get home.”
She doesn’t laugh or smile. She presses her hand to my cheek. “Yes. You will.” It’s a promise, that isn’t about playful flirtation. She’s talking about what’s going on with my father. She’s talking about how real this is about to get. He could be dying. I have to face that and she thinks that’s going to be brutal, which means when it’s not, she’ll think I’m brutal. It’s not a good thought, but I am who I am, and I’ve already decided that Harper has to face that reality. A savant and a bastard. That’s who I am and with that comes baggage.