Page 88 of Unbalanced

“But she shoved me. The assault charge still stands,” Jen says, still trying to pin something on me.

“Are you arguing with a direct order, Detective Hiller?”

Jen hesitates.

“No,” she says, shooting me a dirty look and stomping out.

Her captain turns to me.

“You’re free to go, Ms. Walker.”

Alden stands up and glares at the other man while holding my hand.

“That’s it? She can go. You must be kidding me.”

“With our apologies, of course.”

“Not good enough,” Alden presses.

I remain quiet and let him play the white knight I’ve asked him to be in the moment. There is nothing sexier than seeing Alden worked up over me. Hot…so fucking hot.

“At the very least, Detective Hiller will be suspended, or I’ll go above your head, Captain Fleming, and you really don’t want me to do that.”

The captain’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t contradict Alden. Anyone who knows Alden knows he is friends with every important and influential person in the city and is owed favors from all of them.

Captain Fleming nods. I stand from the chair and walk with Alden out of the interrogation room, and then out the door into the night. Alden doesn’t let go of my hand, but he doesn’t look at me either.

Shit.

When we get into the car, I know he’s going to back away. Every single time he gets close to anything resembling feelings, this is what he does. I’ve seen it on repeat so many times over the years that I can read it in every single feature.

“What is she after,” Alden asks when we’re halfway to my apartment.

“She thinks I have information on a case that she and Rob were working on. I don’t. It’s not like Rob ever shared information with me,” I say, keeping my voice calm.

“Did you really shove her?”

“Yes, I was closing up the store when she came in. When she didn’t get the answers she wanted, she smashed a vase on the floor. I shouldn’t have let her provoke me like that, but it was the first thing I bought when I opened the store. A symbol of how far I’ve come.” I look out the side window at the buildings. “It has no monetary value, but it’s priceless to me. That was all she needed, and the next thing I knew, she was slapping handcuffs on me. She didn’t even let me lock up my store. For all I know, the place has been robbed by now.”

“I’m sorry,” he says.

I turn to look at him and notice that the blue dash light casts an eerie glow on his face.

“What for?”

My heart thunders, but Alden doesn’t say the words I know he’s thinking. He can’t do this. He’s sorry, but… He is the most frustrating man, and we are too far down the rabbit hole to go backward.

We slow down and come to a stop in front of my store. The lights are on, but it doesn’t look like anything is smashed.

“I’ll come in with you to make sure it’s safe,” Alden says, climbing out before I can argue.

He walks around and helps me out of the fancy sports car. The evidence of my story is sitting in pieces on the floor.

Alden is all business, checking every possible spot where someone could hide. His emotional armor is firmly in place, and I sigh as I watch him. Finally, he walks up to me and stares down into my eyes.

“It’s all clear.”

“Thanks again, and I’m sorry I missed the delivery and dinner. I’ll be sure to drop the flowers tomorrow,” I say, purposely not rescheduling our dinner.