My mouth dropped open.
“Don’t answer that,” Zach said. “It has nothing to do with this case.”
“I beg to differ, counsel,” Morgan said. “Reid Wolfe is a suspect in this case.”
“You’ve already arrested Lacey Wolfe,” Zach replied.
“Doesn’t mean there isn’t more than one suspect. We have evidence, Mr. Hayes, implicating all the Wolfes.”
“Then why not arrest all of them?” Zach asked angrily.
“You know the system as well as I do.”
“Don’t answer,” Zach said to me again.
“I can compel her to answer.”
“Not without a subpoena.”
“So I’ll get a subpoena.”
“Get it, then.” He stood. “This is over.”
“Sit down, Mr. Hayes,” Morgan said. “I assure you this is far from over.”
“With all due respect,” I interjected. “I have nothing more to tell you. You got my whole story yesterday.”
“Are you sure?” Morgan asked.
“Of course, I’m sure. I told you everything so I wouldn’t have to talk to you again.”
“You did know you’d probably be called as a witness in the trial,” Morgan said.
I hadn’t thought of that. “I live day by day, Mr. Morgan,” I said.
“That’s Detective Morgan.” He glanced down at the papers in front of him.
“Do you have anything new for Ms. Jones?” Zach asked.
Morgan continued reading his notes for a moment before he looked up. “This case will go to trial, Mr. Hayes,” he said. “It’s just a matter of how many defendants and how many trials.”
“You know Ms. Jones is not a suspect. She has an alibi.”
“Does she?”
Morgan’s words stopped me cold. I wanted to stand and yell and defend myself, but I was frozen. Frozen to the chair.
“That’s already been determined, as you know,” Zach said.
“Her relationship with Reid Wolfe changes things.”
“There is no relationship with Reid Wolfe,” Zach said.
My eyes shifted. He was lying. Zach was lying to the detective, which wasn’t right, but he was my attorney. He knew what he was doing.
Right?
“Then why did Ms. Jones spend the night at Reid Wolfe’s residence last night?”
“She’s staying with him,” Zach replied, “while she’s in town.”
“Staying in his bedroom?”
I gasped.
Zach gave me a side-eye. “It’s irrelevant where she’s staying.”
“It’s far from irrelevant, and you know it. She has access to Reid Wolfe’s apartment, which means she has access to his files. His bedroom.”
“I’d never look at his files!” I exclaimed.
“Mr. Wolfe doesn’t keep business files in his home,” Zach said. “If you want files, you’ll have to subpoena them, not rely on hearsay from Ms. Jones.” He stood for the second time. “This is over. Let’s go, Zee.”
I stood, still trembling, and allowed Zach to lead me out of the room.
“This isn’t over,” came Morgan’s voice.
Reid was waiting outside. “Everything okay?”
“We need to talk,” Zach said. “Now.”
“What is it?”
“Not here,” he said. “The coffee shop around the corner.”
We walked out of the precinct and then a little less than a block to the coffee shop. We took an outdoor table.
“They’re not done,” Zach said. “I think Lacey’s arrest is a ruse to make the rest of you a little more lax. They want you to trip up.”
“Fuck,” Reid said.
“All Morgan wanted to ask Zee about was you. About your relationship.”
“There isn’t a relationship.”
Though Reid’s words cut through my heart like a sharp blade, I showed no bodily reaction. I was still numb, though tears were flowing inside me.
There isn’t a relationship.
After last night… All we’d shared…
But this was Reid Wolfe. Known rake. The Wolfe of Manhattan.
Of course there was no relationship.
“That’s not what Morgan thinks,” Zach said. “Apparently he knows she spent last night in your bedroom.”
Reid dropped his gaze to the table, but only for a split second. “That’s not his business.”
“Of course it’s not, and I told him that. But if this woman means something to you, he’s going to try to get to you through her.”
This woman? I huffed. “I’m sitting right here. I have a name. Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
I waited then. Waited for Reid to say I meant nothing to him. That I was just his current bed warmer and I’d be heading back home to Las Vegas soon. After all, I had a job—a job a lot of dancers in Vegas would kill for. I couldn’t be gone forever or I’d risk losing it.
But Reid stayed silent.
“Reid…” Zach prodded. “I need to know. I can’t help you protect her if I don’t.”
Reid inhaled slowly. “She means something to me.”
I gasped, my body still numb but warm numb this time. It wasn’t confession of love, but it was a start.
Or did he just not want to say the opposite in front of me?
Surely he wouldn’t lie to his attorney.
“Is that the truth?” Zach asked.
Reid looked at me, his rigid jawline softening. “It’s the truth. If it weren’t, I’d have asked to speak to you alone to tell you. I wouldn’t hurt Zee in front of you.”
Zach nodded. “Then I have a solution.”
“What’s that?”
“You two need to get married.”
50
Reid
Get married? Had I heard Zach correctly?
I must have looked confused, because Zach started talking again.
“You’re aware of spousal privilege, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of it.”
“It means they can’t compel Zee to testify against you in court. Or anywhere.”
I rubbed my jaw. Man, I was tired. So tired. “But I haven’t done anything.”
“I know that, but they’re trying to implicate you, and they’re willing to put Zee through the wringer to do it. You can protect both of you by getting married.”
I cocked my head. The idea was far from distasteful. I’d already fallen in love with Zee. But this wasn’t how I wanted it to go. I wanted to woo her. Court her. Ask her when we were both ready. Get down on one knee and all that.
My thoughts surprised me. Perhaps I was a romantic at heart. Perhaps I’d just never met the right woman.
Was it even possible to meet the right woman when I was in the middle of dealing with my father’s murder and its fallout?
Sure it was. Obviously. It had happened for all my siblings.
Still, a marriage of convenience wasn’t what I was after.
“No,” I said.
Zee’s lips dropped into a sad frown.