The harshness that usually molded Dean’s expression had lessened. “Maybe in the beginning. I had different expectations then.”
I’d been surprised by his honesty. “What were you expecting?”
He had shrugged. “Doesn’t matter because a fiery red-head strolled in with a devil-may-care attitude and changed everything.”
Asher had snorted in an attempt to stifle a laugh.
I’d rolled my eyes. “And what about you? How’d you find yourself working for Jamie’s uncle?”
He’d given me a cocksure smirk. “Well, I was everything Aiden was looking for.”
Dean had snorted that time. “And what does Aiden look for?”
Asher had scratched the short beard along his jaw, mulling over what he should say. “He typically seeks out someone who’s ex-military or ex-law enforcement. Little to no family. Strong mentality is also a must.”
My brow had furrowed. “Strong mentality?”
“Got to be okay with killing and not let it fuck you up,” he had answered, tapping his temple. “Aiden’s clientele is good, bad, and downright ugly. Not that any of us care. We wouldn’t work for him if we did.”
“And why do you work for him?” I’d asked.
“The money,” he’d replied simply.
No wonder it didn’t take much convincing to get him to sign a contract with me instead of Stefan after I offered to double his pay. “You must have been bored watching over me in Hartford.”
His mouth had curled upward in one corner. “I wouldn’t say that, doll.”
I’d known what he'd been referring to. Perv. I could only think of one instance during the time frame he’d watched over me—my last two years in Hartford—which had been the time Tom and I had had sex in his car.
I’d scooped a handful of popcorn from the bowl Dean had been holding and tossed it at the smirking Asher. “You’re the definition of a peeping tom, you know that, right?”
Asher had howled with laughter and Dean had looked between us, completely at a loss. I’d taken pity on him and gone over my time spent in Hartford. As I’d been going over how I'd met Tom and our time spent in his car, I’d trailed off. “How long did he cheat on me?”
Asher’s giant hand full of popcorn had frozen halfway to his mouth. “Are you sure you want to know?”
I’d nodded.
He’d dropped the popcorn back in the bowl and set it aside before leveling his gaze with mine. “About a month after you started seeing each other.”
Tom and I had started having sex three weeks after we'd begun dating. I’d been on the pill since I was eighteen, but I’d made him get tested before I'd agreed to have sex with him without a condom. That had been three months into our relationship. It had made me feel extremely sick knowing he'd put me at risk of contracting something for almost a year. If I hadn’t been tested at my annual gynecologist appointment a week before I'd killed the bastard, I’d have thrown up right then and there.
“Was he with Tina the entire time?” I’d asked Asher.
“They were only together for a month, but she was the longest he kept going back to. Most were hookups he’d met at a party or out with his friends.”
Thinking back to our conversation about Tom’s whorish ways made me want to take a bath in bleach. The sound of my phone ringing was a welcome distraction. I picked it up from the coffee table and my stomach knotted when I read the caller ID. It was Detective Cameron. Again.
I had never gone to the police station to talk to the detectives, which had sent Detective Cameron onto the warpath. He’d threatened to get a warrant to arrest me for reasonable suspicion. Stefan had called Adam, the family lawyer, then assured me that no judge would sign off on the warrant. By his confident tone, I knew that these judges were either on the payroll or Stefan had leverage on them.
I silenced the phone, like I'd done the past hundred times he’d called me, and tossed it back on the coffee table. Both Dean and Asher eyed the phone but didn’t say a word. They knew who it had been.
“Do you think we have Cheetos?” I asked them. “Since I have no choice but to be a couch potato, I might as well indulge in the junk food.”
Asher stood from the couch. “Want anything else?”
I shook my head.
“She’ll want something sweet ten minutes after she’s done with the Cheetos,” Dean said. I didn’t dispute that because I did tend to crave something sweet right after eating something salty. I shouldn’t have been surprised Dean had picked up on that, but I was and I made it a point not to show it. Even though we had bonded in the past couple of weeks, Dean had the habit of closing off if he did something nice or showed he cared. Asher nodded, also appearing nonchalant about the suggestion, and left for the kitchen.
A few hours later, I had fallen asleep on the couch due to a junk food overdose and was startled awake when Jamie came barging into my room.
“You just scared the shit out of her,” Dean grumbled as he stood from the couch.
Jamie ignored him and came right over to me. “I’ll make it up to you later. Right now, we need to get you in bed because Detective Cameron and his sidekick are here demanding to speak to you. Stefan is doing his best to delay them until Adam gets here, but that won’t stop them from coming up here to question you.”
“Here?” I sat up quickly and winced at the sharp pulling I felt in my abdomen. I had a feeling I was overdue for pain meds. “As in my bedroom?”
Noticing me wince, Asher headed for my bathroom, I assumed to get my meds because that’s where they were.
Jamie offered me his hand to stand up. “Yeah, baby. Stefan told them you were given strict orders from the doctor to stay in bed and that’s why you can’t go downstairs to speak with them. Cameron countered, stating they’d accommodate you by coming up here.”
I groaned as I got to my feet. “Any way I could shower or at least change first?” I had freaking Cheetos stains on my shirt.
The corner of Jamie’s mouth lifted. “Trying to look nice for the sidekick?”
I glared at him before walking away to climb into my bed. “Don’t mess with me, Jameson Coleman. I’m starting to feel the symptoms of cabin fever and I won’t feel bad if I have to release the crazy on you.”
Leaning against the headboard, I caught a gleam of mirth in his eyes. “You’ve always been crazy, Maura. I’ve told you this.” He leaned forward and kissed my temple. “And nothing gets you moving faster than when I piss you off.” He gave me a shit-eating grin, which I returned along with my middle finger. That got him to laugh and he stepped away so Asher could hand me my pain meds and a glass of water.
Just as I popped the pills in my mouth, there was a knock at the door. I didn’t bother responding to the knock because I knew Stefan would just walk in like he always did. The only reason he'd knocked at all was to give us a heads up.
The door opened and first to walk in was Stefan, followed by Adam, then the detectives.
Stefan’s eyes locked with mine as he made his way over to me. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“I’m sore, but I just took my meds,” I replied.