Criminal(50)

We decided to omit that from the wedding announcement.

I unfold my own vows, biting down on my lower lip to try to make sure I won't cry, but I know it's fruitless.

"When I first saw you, shirtless and jumping into the lake, I never could have known the impact you would have on my life. You were so tough, so cocky, and instantly I knew... I'm a girl that's going to fall for the bad boy. And I did fall, hard. Over, and over, and over again." I lick my lips, my voice quivering and I can't go on, just smiling at him, and then the marriage commissioner.

"Well, if that's all, you may now kiss the bride!" he announces, and suddenly I'm in Kaiden's arms, his hands knit through my hair, absolutely destroying my careful updo as his mouth presses against mine. It's a bruising sort of kiss, his actions so hard and passionate.

It's not the happily ever after I expected, but I couldn't imagine it being more perfect.





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“What’s your name again?” Angela asked, rubbing at her temple. After all that had happened, the last thing she wanted to deal with was the police. Between juggling mobsters, hiding her own ill-gotten gains, and the loss of someone special… she didn’t know if she had it in her to bullshit the cops too.

“Detective Luke Crusher, ma’am,” he said, standing there tall and built. His uniform did little to hide that fact. He had a squared off jaw and bright eyes. Looked too damn handsome for his position. “But we were talking about your friend,” he said, shifting things back to the topic at hand.

“Yes, yes of course,” she said, tiredly confessing to knowing the missing man. She couldn’t decide if that was carelessness or just pragmatism.

“Can I come in?” the officer asked.

She didn’t know what to say, but part of her just shuffled out of the way a little and before she knew it, the officer was in her dinky little apartment. And she knew she’d made a mistake. After all, wherever he went in her place, he wasn’t that far away from her own stash of ten grand.

“So you two knew each other?” he asked her again.

“Yeah,” Angela let out a sigh, tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear. The past week had been exhausting, and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it with a cop.

“Did you want some water?” she offered, going into the kitchen and already grabbing her own glass as she looked over her shoulder at him. She’d been sucked into the vortex and there was no going back. Not after what had happened.

“Sure,” he said to her, casually pacing about her living room, those eyes of his scanning the place. Such a cop, she thought. Studying her, the place. Everything.

She kind of regretted the baggy sweater and jeans she was wearing, though at least she’d put on some mascara.

“Were you two close?” he asked as she poured up the water.

She thought back to the phone calls, the last words he’d said to her, and gave a slight nod as she offered him his water.

“Thanks ma’am,” he said with a smile.

“I guess that depends on your definition of close,” she said, and it did. What they had...

She sipped her water.

“Though I don’t think I’ll be of any help to you. I don’t know what happened,” she added on.

“So you know about what happened to him?” he asked, his circling motions coming to a close as he studied her place, his blue eyes upon her again as he awaited that answer.

Angela shook her head.

“I’ve not been getting any answers. I think the only reason I knew anything at all is because it happened in the lobby of my building.”

“I see,” he said, looking patient as he thought over her words. “So you weren’t here at the time it happened, I take it?” he asked, sounding ever so patient and calm as he went over the whole thing with her. He helped calm her nerves at least, that much she had to admit.

But she knew that was dangerous, too. One misstep with him and there was no going back.

“No,” she said, her eyes falling down. “Half of me thanks God I wasn’t, the other half thinks, if I was, maybe...” she trailed off.

“I doubt there was much you or anyone other than an armed party of officers could’ve done,” he said compassionately. Actually sounding like he wanted to reassure her. “Are you aware of any… criminal connections he may have had?” the officer asked, not content to solely console her however.

Her brow furrowed and she hoped her confusion looked authentic.