Dungeon Games(24)

Grant Fisher had been Kevin’s partner. She and Kevin had been in the process of moving when he was killed in the line of duty. Grant had graciously offered his attic for some of their stuff while the house on Long Island was being made ready. He’d died before they signed the papers and she’d never walked into that house again. Now Grant was moving and he’d found a couple of boxes she’d missed. “Yes, they’re on their way. Do you want to look through them with me?”

Terry nodded, his eyes downcast. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

“I’ll call you.”

And he was gone.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Li’s arms were going around her. “Don’t you listen to a word that bastard said. Ain’t nothing wrong with you.”

It was easy to sink into Liam’s warmth. They’d gone through a lot together. Li seemed to be the one she worked with the most, and he’d taken to treating her like a sister. If Avery had been there, she would have hugged Karina’s other side and told Karina to hold her baby because babies made everyone feel better.

She might have lost one family, but somehow she’d found another.

“You know that husband of yours wouldn’t want you to live alone the rest of your life,” Liam whispered. “That’s not the man you described to me. If he loved you, he would want you to be happy. I know I would want Avery to be happy. He wouldn’t want you to be so lonely.”

“I don’t like that little fucker. I’m going to run some checks on him,” Sean said.

“Don’t, Sean. He’s my brother-in-law. He just misses Kevin. Let it go.” She gave Liam one last squeeze.

“Am I interrupting something?” a voice that could freeze the sun said from the doorway.

Karina looked up and knew her crappy day wasn’t over. Derek was here and he was staring at her like she was a piece of trash.

At least some things never changed.



* * * *



Derek was surprised at the overwhelming need to take the Irishman and smash his head against Karina’s bar. He probably shouldn’t though since the whole apartment looked like it was held together with tape and dust. What was she doing here? And what the flying fuck was she doing in Liam O’Donnell’s arms?

“Hey, this is no time to unleash your inner Neanderthal. She’s had a rough day,” Sean said under his breath. He put a hand on Derek’s shoulder. “Let her be, okay?”

“So when she’s had a rough day, I should let O’Donnell manhandle my sub?” It was actually driving him a little crazy. O’Donnell had played with Karina on more than one occasion. He’d watched them. O’Donnell would be all circumspect on the dungeon floor, giving her a flogging or administering a spanking. He never touched her intimately, but then they would disappear into the bar or hide away in a privacy room and Derek couldn’t help but see the handsome Irishman with his hands all over her gorgeous body.

Liam’s palms went up like a thief caught red-handed. “She’s just me friend, Lieutenant. Don’t think there’s anything more. Though you should know, I take friendship damn seriously.”

He apparently took it more seriously than he did marriage, but then very few people took that seriously these days. Derek forced himself to calm down. It was good that she was already showing her true colors. She was a career-oriented woman who preferred to keep her relationships very casual. Very modern.

Derek nodded Liam’s way. “Hey, whatever floats your boat, man. I’m just here for the case. Have we gotten the profile from Eve?”

He moved into Karina’s shitastic apartment, avoiding her entirely. She stood there looking at him with a wounded-doe look in those eyes of hers, but he knew it was all for show. Women like Karina didn’t get hurt. Not really. She was playing some sort of angle.

He couldn’t let himself get in too deep. His every instinct told him to take O’Donnell’s place. He should move right in and take her in his arms and explain to her that if she needed comfort, she should come to him. He was her Dom. He was the one who was supposed to be holding her.

Except he wasn’t and he never fucking would be, so he checked himself.

“We won’t have it until tomorrow,” O’Donnell replied. He hadn’t moved far from Karina. He was still watching over her like he was waiting for Derek to hurt her.

Karina took a deep breath and seemed to make the decision to change course. She gave him a bright smile. “So you don’t have to stay. We can just regroup tomorrow.”

Yeah, that wasn’t happening. He held up his overnight bag. “I’ll stick to my plan, thanks. Do you have a spare bedroom?”