Page 104 of Reckless Devotion

I rock back on my heels and take her in, all five feet and eight inches. If there is one thing about Emily, it’s that once she puts her mind to something, there is nothing in this world that can stop her from achieving it.

“Okay, thank you,” I manage to get out of a suddenly thick throat. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”

She nods, a moment of sibling understanding passing between us that we don’t even need to acknowledge. We’ve always had each other’s backs, and we always will, but her letting me go to Pepper’s aid is more than that. It’s a silent acknowledgment that she knows what this woman means to me, and that life is too fucking short not to tell her how I feel.

Because I am completely and utterly in love with Pepper Quinn.

Chapter 36

PEPPER

“Where are you taking me?” A flicker of hope that I’m being let go ignites and then gets swiftly snuffed by the police officer’s response.

“Chief’s office.” The heavy-jawed woman looks directly ahead, leading me down a corridor with crazy blue carpet tiles and cold breeze-blocked walls.

I’ve been sitting in an investigation room for hours, asked every question under the sun in a thousand different ways that Landau’s law partner had steadfastly insisted that I don’t answer. My shoulders ache from being held so tight, and my head feels like it’s been packed with cotton wool. Even in the early hours, activity still buzzes in the precinct, and two detainees sit handcuffed on plastic chairs amongst the informative posters that dot the walls, waiting to be processed at the front desk. Most of the officers look bored or tired, nursing coffee cups and dark circles beneath their eyes that match their navy uniforms.

I’m taken to a quieter part of the station, where only the soft buzzing of a low phone vibrates the air. The police officer opens a nondescript door, and at the very same time, that sharp tingle creeps across the back of my neck. My hackles rise, something cold and heavy flushing through my veins.

“Get in,” the officer orders, shoving at my shoulder.

I shake my head, backing away as much as I can, almost tripping over the hem of my dress. She forces me over the threshold and I catch a split second of her emotionless face before the door is closed with an abruptcrack.

“It’s good to see you again, Pepper.”

Icy fingers slide down my spine, bile threatening to spill into my mouth as I whip around and see the man I’ve been running from for ten years sitting at a wooden desk, decorated with a large silver department shield on the wall behind. The man who is the reason I’ve been arrested tonight—for supposedly trying to steal evidence of his crimes to take him and his corrupt family down.

His face is split in several places, blood crusting open wounds and swelling puffing one eye socket. The faint purple flush of a bruise begins to creep along his jaw, too. Someone did a number on him, but even that doesn’t soften his appearance.

I want to rush to the door and try to fling it open, but I’m pinned in place, sucked into those watery brown eyes I’ve fought to forget, my feet rooted in place.

“Aren’t you going to return the sentiment?” He lifts one curated eyebrow and smirks—a slimy, oily thing that makes my stomach plunge. “Or did you just plan on destroying my life and getting away with it?”

What do I say? What do you say to the man who violated you and seems to bear no regret? Thoughts swirl around my head at breakneck speed, making my vision spin.

“I hope you burn in hell for all eternity,” I hiss, a heavy thumping in my ears.

His smile only gets wider and it makes me want to throw up all over the scratchy carpet at my feet.

“You know…” He stops lounging back in the chair and leans forward instead, bracing his elbows on the desk. “I never understood why you turned on me after that night.”

I turn to ice, my teeth aching from being clamped so tightly.

“We had fun, didn’t we?”

I rear back like he’s physically hit me, nostrils flaring and panic beginning to swell inside my chest.

“Fun?” I choke out, taking a small step back to the wall behind me. “You think I enjoyed being raped?”

He rolls his eyes, leaning back into the leather chair with an audible groan of material squeaking on material. “Still sticking to the same ridiculous story, I see.”

“It’s not a story!” Anger ignites, hot and acidic, years of being branded a liar sparking that familiar feeling of injustice. Fuck this man. Fuck him all the way to hell.

“Oh yeah? Then why wasn’t I arrested? Last time I checked, you’re the one in jail and not me.”

Here and now, I see the true gravity of the situation I’ve put myself into. This pathetic man is never going to be remorseful, he’s never going to get what he deserves. It’s all been in vain. He’s too well connected, too powerful to sabotage when his family has their claws so deeply embedded into law enforcement. Him being in here today demanding a private audience with me while I’m in custody and being granted it, proves that.

“They’re adding RICO charges, too. Did you know that?” He rises from the desk and walks slowly around it. “That means all of your little hacker friends are on the hook for this too.”