Page 65 of Forced Into Your Arms
I sat down in the chair across from him and glanced around the suite before looking back his way. In a low voice, I asked, “How long do you expect me to stay here?”
“Until you find somewhere.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
He looked at me like the answer should’ve been obvious. “It’s my hotel.”
“I know that now. You conveniently left that part out when you said you was getting me one.”
He shrugged. “Didn’t seem important.”
I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. “Of course it didn’t.”
He smiled again.
I rolled my eyes, mostly because I refused to let him see that it was growing on me. The man was cocky, aggravating, and had an answer for everything. None of that should’ve been attractive… but somehow, it was.
Before my thoughts wandered any further down that road, I cleared my throat and changed the subject.
“So what happens with the police?”
“They investigate.”
“And you?”
“I do the same.”
I frowned. “You’re not the police, Vice.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you investigating anything?”
The humor disappeared from his face so quickly it was almost jarring. His jaw tightened, and when he finally answered, his voice was quieter than it’d been all evening.
“My cousin is dead.”
Just like that, every smart remark I’d been holding onto disappeared.
I’d gotten so used to arguing with him that, for a moment, I’d forgotten why any of this had started in the first place. Sam wasn’t just another name in a police report. He was family to him. Someone Vice had grown up with. Someone he’d never get another conversation with.
Guilt settled in the pit of my stomach.
“I’m sorry.”
His eyes met mine.
“You already told me that.”
“I know.” My voice softened. “I’m still sorry.”
He gave a small nod, but the look in his eyes told me there wasn’t a response in the world that was going to make any of this easier.
The conversation faded after that. Neither of us felt the need to fill the silence. We simply sat here, each lost in our own thoughts, while the weight of everything that had happened settled quietly between us.
My phone started ringing on the table beside me, breaking the silence.
When I reached for it and saw the name on the screen, my stomach tightened. It was Evan, and I declined the call before Vice could see anything. I didn’t even know why it mattered if he saw it or not. It wasn’t like we were a couple of working towards being one.
