Page 49 of Criminally Yours

“Also,” Millie continued, “how dirty is your brain that it went there? Like seriously, are you always thinking about sex?”

“I didn’t mention sex,” he mumbled. Why did the lack of control make him imagine earning her sexually? It wasn’t like he could work the anxiety out in the gym right now. He needed to get this out of his head. Even though Millie loved books where women were chased by masked men, it didn’t mean it extended to her own sex life.

“Strike thinking about sex?” Cam asked Millie. “He hasn’t told you how he got his nickname, then.”

Millie’s scrutinising stare flickered between the two bodyguards.

“Shut it,” Strike grunted.

Millie leaned forward between the gap in the seats. Her floral scent today had a kick of something spicy. It filled the air between them and caressed his skin. “Why is he called Strike?”

“How’s your sister, Cam?” Strike’s voice echoed.

Millie muttered, “Not the subtle subject change I’d have expected.”

Cam glanced at Millie through his rearview mirror. “Ava’s the youngest of the four of us. And she’s tricky and… troublesome.”

“In what way?”

“She moved away. She’s travelling in Europe alone. I’ve barely seen her during the last eighteen months. She’s fiercely independent and never answers when we call.”

“How do you feel about that?” Millie asked.

There was something about watching Millie listen to people. She was the same with Stal. No one was immune to her kindness.

“I worry constantly. With a sister as future Queen and my knowledge of safety and the dangers in the world, I’m terrified something will happen. I insisted she put a tracker app on her phone, but she won’t.”

Millie nodded. “And what would you say if she asked you to have a tracker she could monitor?”

Strike smiled. Millie was clever when they were younger, but there was something new and appealing about this woman who challenged and supported in equal measure. And she made him laugh. He’d missed laughing.

Strike glanced at her hands. She wasn’t fiddling with anything. This was Milliein her happy space.

“I’d say she’s twenty-two and fresh out of university. I know how to be safe. I’ve had training. I understand risks, and I’m cautious, but…” His lips twisted into a variety of shapes. “I’d also say it’s none of her business.” Cam shook his head.

“You need to let her make decisions about her life,” Strike said softly.

Millie hid her smile behind her hand, but his heart jigged when the corners of her mouth tipped up behind it. “Exactly. You’re allowed to be worried about her, Cam, but she’s entitled to freedom. Have you given her other ways to be safe or suggested she check in occasionally? She could learn self-defence or carry an alarm. Liss gave me a self-defence lesson. I loved it.”

“Ava does it all already.” They sat in silence for a moment. “But I worry. She’s a danger seeker who picks the wrong boyfriends. But you’re right. She’s savvy, and I’m ridiculous.”

“I didn’t say that. It’s okay to care about her, but you must trust her, too.”

“Thank you for listening.”

“That’s my job.”

“That’s your superpower,” Strike said before adding, “Thank you.”

Millie blushed, and he wanted to trace the pattern it made across her neck.

After a couple of minutes, Strike checked his phone. He reached for some items in his bag before announcing, “We’ll be at the police station in fifteen minutes.”

He offered Millie an old stress ball that had been filled with some sort of flour and water goo. “Obviously, we won’t see each other after this.”

“I’ll be out of your hair.” Her smile didn’t reach the corners of her mouth, let alone her eyes.

He forced a smile, too, although it probably resembled a grimace. She stared at it with a tilted head. He turned away, hisheart crumpling into the pathetic, unused organ it was before her return in his life.