Spotting Ayden as soon as we entered the doors was easy as could be. She was pacing back and forth in a frantic matter, the heels of her red cowboy boots clicking on the linoleum floor. She jerked her head up when Rowdy called her name and then flew into his arms with enough force that it rocked him back a few steps. The poor girl looked exhausted and harried, but over all of that she looked furious.
“Asa didn’t do this.” Her golden eyes gleamed with such certainty that if I had had any questions about Asa’s innocence before, Ayden’s zealous faith in her brother was enough to squash them.
“I know, Ayd. I was there the night the kid started shit with him. I think he set Asa up.”
Ayden pushed her hands through her dark hair and pulled at it in frustration. “Asa has gotten into all kinds of trouble since he could walk, but he isn’t stupid. He wouldn’t put the bar or Rome at risk like that.” She gulped. “When I accused him of being involved in that robbery a while back and he shut down, pulled away from me, I knew . . . he wants to be here and he’s changed. I can’t believe this is happening all over again.”
Rowdy ran his hand up and down her back soothingly. “We’ll get it figured out, Ayd. We got him a lawyer that doesn’t mess around and there were plenty of witnesses there that can give statements to the fact that it was the kid that started harassing Asa not the other way around.”
Ayden barked out a bitter-sounding laugh and started pacing again. “All I can keep thinking is what would’ve happened if I was in Austin when this happened? Who would be here to get him out? Who would be here to believe that he was innocent? It’s making my heart hurt and stomach turn over and over.”
I could see she was spinning herself out of control and Rowdy was at a loss as to how to get her back on track. I stepped around him and grabbed her wrists to pull her hands out of her hair.
“Ayden, breathe for a second.” Her whiskey-colored eyes flashed at me and for a split second I thought she was going to take a swing at me, but she did what I said and took a series of deep breaths and I noticed her hands unclenched. “We’re here. We know he didn’t do this and we are ready to help him fight to prove it. He won’t be alone.”
“I’ve been here for over three hours waiting for them to bring him out. It gave me too much time to remember what this is like. Seeing your brother or anyone you love in handcuffs sucks.”
“I know, honey, but this time trouble found him, he didn’t go looking for it. That might happen from time to time and it wouldn’t matter if you are here, in Austin, or on the moon. Your brother just has that way about him.”
I wasn’t lying to her. It was there in Asa’s wicked grin and effortless charm. Boys that pretty and that smooth were bound to end up in hot water from time to time even if they were actively trying to avoid it.
I think she was going to say something back, but just then Rowdy called her name as Royal and a man also in a dark blue police uniform guided Ayden’s brother to where we were waiting. Royal wouldn’t meet Ayden’s gaze, so she settled on looking at me. I could see in her dark eyes a hundred different levels of turmoil as she said, “Sorry it took so long. Getting the paperwork together took longer than it should have.” She sighed. “You’re lucky they let you bail him out without having to go in front of a judge first.”
Ayden gasped and Rowdy swore when Asa stepped around the police officers and the damage to his face became clear. One of his eyes was swollen entirely shut, his lips were puffy and swollen, and there was a gash across his chin that looked gory and nasty. It looked like it probably could have used a stitch or two to hold it shut.
“Oh my God, Asa! Are you okay?”
He caught Ayden before she could plow into him the way she had done to Rowdy and then winced when she hugged him too tightly.
“I’ve been better.”
“You need to go to a doctor, or let Saint look at you.” She sounded like she was going to cry.
“Naw, it’s nothing that won’t wash off.” His eyes flicked over to Rowdy and they exchanged some kind of guy look that clearly communicated he was in way more pain than he was letting on. “Thanks for getting me out, Ayd.”
That was what sent her over the edge. Big fat tears started rolling off her inky lashes, and even though it obviously pained him to do so, Asa pulled her closer to hug.
“It’s fine.”
“Why didn’t you tell them you didn’t do it?” Rowdy asked the question to Asa, but he was looking at Royal and I saw her wince. Her partner scowled at the lot of us and crossed his arms over his beefy chest.
Asa didn’t answer but he looked over his sister’s head right at Royal. The two of them had a weird stare-off until her partner obviously got sick of it and instructed all of us, “He has a court date in a few days. Try and keep him out of trouble until then.” He made a face. “Next time I doubt so many people will be willing to pull strings to spring him loose so quickly.”
He nudged Royal as he turned to walk away. She bit down on her lower lip and looked at me somewhat pleadingly. How I became the ally I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t hold anything against her. She was normally so full of fire and sass it was odd seeing her sort of reserved and almost apologetic.
“I was just doing my job.” It was a job she loved and was good at. I knew that even though I had only spent a handful of hours in her company.
“We all know that, Royal.” I was trying to reassure her but her gaze had locked on to Asa and I don’t think she was talking to the rest of us at all.
Ayden pulled away from her brother and looked at the redhead balefully. “I can’t believe you tossed him in a jail cell with his face looking like that and kept him overnight.”
I saw a pink flush race up Royal’s throat and she opened her mouth to defend herself, but Asa cut it all short.
“Stop. If I was someone else, someone better to begin with, none of us would even be here. I used to know better than to underestimate a slick kid with a lot of hate and entitlement. Leave the pretty cop alone, Ayd. She even apologized when she put the cuffs on me last night.” He winked at Royal out of his good eye. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t need to spend any more time in a police station than necessary.” He smirked, at least I think that’s what it was supposed to be, but considering the current mangled state of his handsome face, it was hard to tell. “Even if they are like a second home by now.”
Ayden gritted her teeth and told him, “You’re not funny,” as she hurried to apologize to Royal for biting her head off.
We were all ready to be anywhere but here, so I gladly followed Rowdy as he headed toward the front doors of the station. Ayden was right on my heels and I didn’t miss hearing Asa tell Royal before he followed us, “It’s a shame, Red, you, me, and handcuffs could be a whole lot of fun in a different context.” Only Asa would be throwing out lines while he looked like crap and still smelled like jail and dried blood.
I thought I saw Royal blush again and I know for sure I saw her jaw drop open just a little bit, and immediately thought they were both asking for trouble. Asa was a careless flirt and obviously not going to be interested in a girl that had arrested him. If he was, it was all about the game and revenge for a guy like him. Royal was lively and full of spirit, but I had seen the hint of vulnerability in her when she walked the sexy southerner out to us, and a guy like Asa would devour that, and her, if he got the opportunity. I thought it was probably for the best her badge and gun were enough to keep him from seeing how gorgeous and wonderful she was underneath them.
It was well into the night by the time everything was all said and done. Ayden was arguing with Asa about going to the ER or at least letting her to ask Saint to give him a once-over, and Rowdy took a call from Jet letting him know he had just landed at DIA. It had been a long, exhausting day and hadn’t ended at all the way I expected after my supersexy morning on the dock with Rowdy.
We were back in his SUV headed toward my apartment when he reached over and grabbed my hand and pulled the back of it up to his lips. He kissed it lightly and then put it down on his thigh.
“Thanks for sticking with me today. That was rough.”
I curled my fingers into the denim. “Of course. It was rough, but it could have been way worse. You have good people on your side and so does Asa.”
His teeth flashed white in the dark shadows of the car. “I have you on my side. I forgot how much that made me feel like I could do whatever I needed to do, whatever I wanted to do.”
That made warmth rush all the way through me. “Oh stop it. You have an amazing group of friends and family here. It’s really touching the way you all just rally around each other and take care of one another.” I sighed a little as emotion welled up inside of me. “You found your family tree, Rowdy, and the branches are stronger and sturdier than most people with blood relatives have.”
“Yeah.” His tone dropped to a lower timbre. “It’s the one time in my life I can actually say I feel like luck was on my side. I was lucky to end up here.” He looked at me in the darkness and I could see the blue of his eyes burning hot. “I also feel pretty lucky you found me after all this time.”
I shifted in my seat as emotion welled up in my throat. “I didn’t even know I was looking for you, but as soon as I saw your picture on the website when Nash called to offer me the job, I felt like that was exactly what I had been doing for ten years . . . looking for you.”
It was a somber conversation, and on the tail of such an emotionally draining day, it left us both spent. When we got to my apartment Rowdy walked me to the door, spent ten minutes wrestling around on the ground with Jimbo, and chitchatted briefly with Poppy while I chewed her out for being on his team instead of mine. As much as I wanted him to spend the night so I cuddle up into that big body and just unwind, I think we both knew it wasn’t in the cards for tonight.
He kissed me before he left and it was almost enough to make me tackle him and drag him into my bedroom, and it wasn’t until he was gone and I shut and locked the door that I realized I had made out with him in front of my sister and hadn’t even worried about it a little bit.
I flopped down on the couch next to her and grunted as the rapidly growing ball of fur that was Jimbo plopped his heavy body across my legs.
“I’m in love with him. Like real and forever.” The words rushed out and I wasn’t even sure that was what I had intended to say to her, definitely not before saying it to him. Poppy nudged me with her shoulder.
“Duh. You think I would have helped him abduct you if I didn’t know that? You were miserable this entire week and for no reason. I want you to be happy and in love, and the only person you’ve ever felt that way with was Rowdy.”
I threw my head back against the cushions and scratched Jimbo hard between his floppy ears.
“For something that sounds so easy, why does it seem to be so hard? Like why can I just blurt it out to you but the idea of telling him makes me want to hurl?”
She rested her head next to mine. “I don’t have the answer to that, but I wish I did. Love is complicated and can hurt so much.”
“You aren’t going back to Loveless, are you, Poppy?” She couldn’t. I don’t think I would let her even if she was an adult and in charge of her own life.
“Eventually.”
I gasped and turned to glare at her. “No way!”
“Calm down, Salem. I just meant I have to go back and get my stuff. I’m not sure how to do that and not have an ugly showdown with Oliver, but yeah, I need to go back to show him and Dad I’m not afraid and that what they did is wrong.”
“Well, I’m going to go with you, then. You aren’t going to face either of those ass**les alone.”