I saw immediately that he took my point.

Then I said what I felt, for some reason, I had to say.

“I know you were just doing your job and I know your job is a good one, what you do is important. But you should know that I loved him. You may think it makes me a fool, but he treated me great. He acted like I was precious. When he was with me, I felt like I was the most important person in the world. And I’d never felt that before. If you investigated me, you know why. So maybe I was blind and maybe that made me stupid, but when someone loves you like that, why on earth would you question it?”

He closed his eyes.

But I kept speaking, so he opened them again and focused on me.

“He had to pay for what he did to those people, but what I want to know is, why did I have to pay such a harsh punishment when I didn’t do a darn thing wrong? It’s not your job to look out for people like me, but that doesn’t change the fact that you left me to the wolves. You exposed him, which meant you turned me out, and they chewed me up. And you all knew, you knew what that was doing to me, and not one of you made even the remotest effort.”

I’d been talking a lot, and I stopped to take in a breath.

Scott didn’t fill the silence.

So I did.

“There are a lot of different kinds of victims to crime and I was one of them. You serve and protect, but no one was there to protect me. Now you want me to do something for you that puts me out there again. But you have not shown even an ounce of compassion for me. So yes, I’m hooking my star to the Aces High MC because, quite frankly, from experience, Detective Scott, I don’t trust you to look out for me.”

“Clara, if you had—” he started.

“What?” I cut him off. “Asked?”

“Yes,” he gritted out.

“Did Nora Finnegan ask you for the escort to the courthouse? I remember, Detective Scott, struggling through the reporters closing in and shouting questions at me. I remember seeing you personally pushing your way through them, helping her get inside. She got paid to sleep with my husband. She also got paid to give all those interviews and write that book afterward. Did she ask for your protection? Is that why she got it?”

Scott didn’t answer.

“I didn’t think so,” I whispered.

“We arrived at the same time,” he told me.

“Obviously, so did I,” I returned.

He stared into my eyes then he said quietly, “I lost sleep over you.”

“I did too.”

“I’m still losin’ sleep over you,” he went on.

“I am too.”

His eyes didn’t leave mine, but he leaned forward a bit when he stated, “You don’t get me, Clara, you are not makin’ the right choices.”

Buck’s tight body got tighter.

I spoke.

“Another thing I’ve learned, Detective Scott, is that if I make a mistake, I’ll pay for it. I’ve also learned, even if I don’t or I’m not the one who made the mistake, there’s a good chance I’ll pay for that too.”

Scott flinched.

“I think we’re done,” Buck put in.

Scott leaned back, his attention cutting to Buck.

“You had a busy afternoon,” he noted, clearly not agreeing with Buck that we were done.

“Yeah,” Buck agreed.

“You know who pulls Esposito’s strings,” Scott continued, and that was when my body got tight and it didn’t feel all that good.

Was Buck wrong that there would be no blowback?

“I know,” Buck stated.

“Then you know that not only you, but now Clara is on his radar.”

“I’m thinkin’, Scott, that Clara made clear where she stands on this so maybe you can let me worry about that,” Buck clipped.

Wait.

There was something to worry about?

Scott looked at me then back at Buck. “Look at her, Hardy, she doesn’t know it all. How can she be clear where she stands if she doesn’t know it all?”

“You look at her, Scott, she’s had a bad fuckin’ day,” Buck returned. “And another thing, you showin’ here after doin’ what you did, knowin’ what her day brought, knowin’ what seein’ your ass again would make her feel, that takes balls, brother. And not the good kind.”

They glowered at each other with such intensity, I could feel the heat from their glares.

Luckily, Scott broke the angry-hot-guy scowling contest and moved to the door.

He stopped with his hand on the handle, turned and his eyes hit me.

“Cops don’t fraternize with people involved in investigations, not during. It’s not frowned on, it’s somethin’ that could lose me my badge. But I could have helped you after. I could have helped you get through those reporters. I didn’t because if I did, I knew I’d want to help you more for reasons that go beyond protecting and serving. I didn’t need that shit, but more importantly, you didn’t need it either. So I kept my distance. Nora Finnegan is a piece of trash whore, she latched on to me. What you saw was not what you think.”

I stared at him in shock and Buck’s body coiled so tight, if it exploded, it wouldn’t surprise me.

But the detective wasn’t done.

“I lost sleep because I know precisely what I did to you, Clara, and still lose it because I’ve kept my eye on you and I know that I’m responsible for where you are and how you look right now. And I’m here because I finally have an excuse to do something about it.” He paused then concluded, “You change your mind, I’ll always be here.”

With that, he opened the door and walked out of it.

Buck gave my shoulders a squeeze and went back to his sandwich and beer.

I stayed at the counter and stared at the door until I saw Detective Scott’s car start down the lane.

Then I turned my head to Buck. “What was that?”

Buck swallowed a bite of sandwich and chased it with a tug on his beer.

He slid his eyes to me and replied, “Wants a piece of your ass, babe.”

I walked to stand in front of him saying, “I’m not talking about that. I’m blocking that out. That didn’t happen. I’m talking about the someone who’s pulling Esposito’s strings and how I don’t know the whole story.”

Buck transferred his sandwich from one hand to the other so he could put his hand to my waist, slide it around to my back and pull me closer.

“Scott knows about Esposito. But he clearly doesn’t know Chap took care a’ things.”

Oh.

Right.

Onward.

“Is that the whole story?” I queried.

“Later,” he said.

And I could take from that it wasn’t the whole story.

“Later? When later?” I asked.

“Later,” he repeated then shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth.

“Is Tia in more danger? Am I? Are you?”

He pulled me closer, finished chewing, swallowed and bent his neck so his face was in mine.

“Baby, in my bedroom, you made a decision. Now you gotta trust me. You’ve had enough for today. But I’m tellin’ you, I got your back, and soon’s I find your girl, I got hers. So, let it go for now, and when I think you’re ready, I’ll tell you, but that’s gonna be later.”