“You know who that is, right?” I moved into the bullpen to help Dom to his feet and he waited for me to answer him.
When I didn’t say anything, Remy kept mumbling to himself about the size of the old man’s dick and balls.
“That’s Lou Barro.” If Dom weren’t still clutching his balls, I’d think that he was in awe of the old man.
“I don’t know who that is,” I admitted with a shrug. But the fact that he just did whatever Amie told him was hilarious. “How does she always end up with the crazy people?”
“That guy’s not crazy.” Dom finally caught himself and shook his head at me. “That man was a complete and utter badass back in the day. He’s a legend in the boxing ring.”
“Well, he’s still a badass apparently. Brought you to the ground with one kick.”
Dom shook his head, clearly dismissing what I’d said to him in favor of replaying some piece of history that was important to him.
“Oh shit.” I clapped my hand against my thigh. “I gotta go.”
“What? Hot date?” Dom bounced between me and Remy a few times. “Did you finally grow a set and ask Kennedy for a chance?”
“You know exactly how big his balls are, if I remember correctly.” Remy surprisingly came to my defense. “I’d hate for that video Parker shot to be shared with anyone.”
“Parker didn’t take a video,” Dom practically shouted before looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. “She didn’t, did she?”
Remy crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged, looking about as innocent as he could manage. But I saw the glimmer in his eye. Plus, I seemed to remember her being too busy getting engaged to do anything else. Still, I wasn’t about to throw Remy to the wolves.
“I know she was taking videos that day,” I offered as a way to hedge the truth. “She told me she sent a video of us to Kennedy. Maybe it was that video.” I knew for a fact it wasn’t, because I’d offered to babysit Nox as a way to get the truth out of her about the situation, so that I didn’t have to worry about some random video of my balls floating around the internet with the chance of becoming viral. A cop on roller skates with his balls hanging out? Yeah. That would definitely be fodder for the masses. Not only that, but I knew what I looked like. Years of working out gave me the body I needed to do my job.
“I’m going to go now,” I announced to the room as a whole, before I started thinking more about shit that wasn’t Kennedy and got distracted even further.
I pulled my phone from my pocket again to make sure she knew not to leave the house, surprised to see that there was a message from Kennedy.
K: You’re gonna be late, I know. Heard Amie got a naked old man. Is his dick really that big?
L: My dick better be the only thing on your mind.
K: Maybe. But not if you don’t use it.
With that, I walked out of the office without looking back. There was a woman waiting for me at home that meant the world to me, and I had plans. I almost made it to my car, too, before I remembered what Chief Townsend said that night.
“Damn it,” I muttered and turned around to walk back into the building. Right past Teri, who was staring at me curiously without saying a word. Through the bullpen, where Amie and the guys were shooting nerf guns at each other. I walked into the chief’s office without knocking.
Chief Townsend, because there wasn’t any possibility of me referring to him as Alex while we were at work, even in my head, stared at me like I was nothing more than a nuisance. He hung up the phone he’d been speaking into when I walked in and waited.
I glanced behind me, to see that Remy and Amie were both watching like kids spying on Santa Claus. Without sparing them a thought, I turned back to the chief and blew a raspberry accidentally.
“Where’s Kennedy’s machete?” I finally forced the question out, and then it was my turn to wait. Most likely for a reprimand, but I wasn’t standing there as one of his officers, so I didn’t really give a shit if he wrote me up.
“Are you here as a cop, or as my daughter’s boyfriend?” The question caught me off guard, since it was exactly what I’d just been thinking about. “Because if you’re here as a cop, I’m gonna write your ass up and kick you out.”
“I’m here as her boyfriend,” I rushed out. “But don’t tell her that, because if she finds out that we were talking about her like she was something to be had and not a person of her own, I’m pretty sure she’d find a way to kill us both and make it look like an accident.” I clasped my hands behind my back and rocked back on my feet while he contemplated my words.
“Good point.” He ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, sticking his tongue under his lip so that he could watch me intently. “Are they still watching and waiting for me to yell?”
I glanced over my shoulder before turning back. “Yep.”
“Her machete is behind my garage. Don’t let her do anything stupid with it.”
Before I could stop myself, I was walking out the door and digging myself a hole I wouldn’t ever be able to get out of. After all, I owed it to the interlopers to give them something for the chief to yell about.
“Don’t worry. I’m the only stupid thing your daughter’s gonna be doing.”
13
Linc
Walking into my house and seeing Kennedy barefoot in the kitchen with her back to me sent a jolt of electricity straight to my dick.
Her long auburn hair hung loose down her back, and I could see the tattoo on her wrist when she reached for another dish by the sink to wash.
Mine.
Thinking of her as mine wasn’t anything new. She’d always been mine, and I’d always been hers.
“I brought you a present.”
She didn’t even acknowledge the fact that I’d come home, let alone that I’d said anything to her. So, I did what anyone with a brain would do in my situation. I pulled out my phone, leaned against the counter out of her eyesight, and started to videotape the entire thing. After all, she had something against me, so it was only fair that I had something against her. Plus, if I was lucky, I might be able to scare her enough to make her pee herself.
“Kennedy.” I said her name on the video, so I’d have proof that I tried to get her attention when shit went south. “Kennedy, can you hear me?”
I shouldn’t have been surprised when she started dancing. She had to have her earbuds in if she couldn’t hear me from five feet away. But the sight of her like that, at home enough to enjoy herself while doing something as mundane as cleaning, it hit all the right buttons.
She didn’t even have to clean my house or cook or anything like that. But Kennedy, the woman I loved, was barefoot, in a pair of pajama pants and one of my shirts. She was comfortable in my space, in the only place in my life that was free from chaos.
Her hips shimmying distracted me, and I almost missed the turn. But not the shriek and the sponge that hit me in the chest.
“What the fuck, Linc?” She clutched her heaving chest and sank to her knees. “You almost gave me a heart attack.” She pulled the white earbuds out of her ears, leaving them on the floor while she tried to catch her breath. The whole time, she glared at me like I’d just murdered her best friend in front of her.