“Well, I have an idea. I’m looking into it, okay?” She didn’t want to promise him anything in case the state wouldn’t allow Cruz to stay with Quincy.
He nodded. Just barely.
Unable to help herself, she brushed his hair off his brow. “No matter how this turns out, I am so sorry, Cruz. I can’t imagine what you went through. How alone you must’ve felt.” When a familiar wetness gathered between his lashes, she bent over the kids and kissed them both.
Auri, who’d been awake through the whole conversation because she squeezed Sun’s hand thanking her, smiled sleepily.
When Sun woke up the next morning to the sound of nurses checking on the kids, she opened her eyes to the most beautiful sight in the world. Levi Ravinder on one side of the bed, dozing beside her daughter, and Quincy Cooper on the other, dozing beside Cruz. Auri was in bed with Cruz again, but they were about to kick her out to change his bandages.
Cruz was awake, his gaze heavy lidded but alert. He was studying Quincy, as though trying to figure him out. She’d often done the same.
Since the nurses were nanoseconds away from waking them up, Sun stood, walked over to Levi, and pressed her mouth to his. He was so darkly handsome, she had to steal a quick kiss before he woke up. Either women kissed him in his sleep often or he hadn’t been asleep after all.
He returned the kiss immediately, going so far as to wrap a hand around the back of her neck and angle his head to deepen it. His tongue brushed softly against hers, causing a tremor low in her abdomen before she broke contact.
She leaned back to look at him. His whiskey-colored irises studied her as she gestured toward the nurses. “They need the redhead back in her own bed and you’re in the way.”
He offered her a single nod, stood to gather the pixie into his arms, and carried her across the hall to her own bed while Cruz looked on, gazing at her like she’d hung the moon. An emotion Sun understood all too well.
One of the younger nurses woke up Quincy, her eyes sparkling with interest. He smiled appreciatively.
Sun followed Levi. “I didn’t know you were coming back.”
“You didn’t ask,” he said, matter-of-fact.
She cast a worried glance over her shoulder at Cruz. “He has a hard road ahead of him.”
Levi eased Auri onto her bed as though she were made of fine crystal. Or nitroglycerine. Either way.
“He’ll have a lot to deal with,” Sun continued. “Not only did he lose his dad, but he took a life. I’m worried what that will do to him.”
After draping the blanket over Auri, Levi looked across the hall at Cruz. “We’ll be here for him. Whatever it takes.”
“I think he should talk to someone.” When Levi nodded, she added, “Speaking of talking to someone, I thought I would have a chat with your friend, Keith Seabright.”
“I saw him last night. He’s doing a lot better.”
“Good. I still need to have a chat.”
“I don’t think he remembers much.”
“Yeah. I still need to chat.”
She found Keith Seabright in a room two floors down. He was just as stunning in person as he was on video. Average height and lean. Wiry and strong. Still in military shape eight years after his honorable discharge. He looked like a child star from Hollywood who’d grown up even better looking than he was as a kid.
She introduced herself and got his side of the story firsthand. Levi had already told him what happened with Elliot and Adam, so he was up to date on current events.
“We’ve had an alarming amount of stabbings lately,” she said to him afterwards.
He laughed but regretted it instantly.
She narrowed her eyes and watched him a long moment before saying, “I’d like you to stay in Del Sol.”
“Is this a don’t leave town kind of thing?” he asked, his voice hoarse and deep.
“No,” she said with a soft chuckle. “This is an I’m about to fill a lieutenant’s position and I’ll be down a deputy kind of thing. There’s an opening. I’d like you on my team.”
Levi seemed just as surprised as Seabright at the proposition. Maybe more so.
“You don’t even know me,” he said.
“I’ve done my research. Ran a background. Talked to some of your COs. According to everyone who’s ever met you, even Levi Ravinder—”
“Never heard of him.”
“—you’re kind of amazing.”
“I never said amazing,” Levi argued.
Seabright raised a brow. “Too late. No take backs.”
“It’s not a take back if I never said it.”
“Here’s how I see this working out,” Sun said, interrupting the lover’s quarrel.
He tucked a hand behind his head, slowly, each movement deliberate, and said, “This should be good.”
“You marry Addison.”
His brows shot up.
“You guys rent that house on Apollo Drive. The pretty one with the ivy?”
Levi nodded. “Oh, yeah. The Duran house.”
“Exactly. Then you, Addison, and the boys move in, you go to police academy even though you could probably teach at it, and then you become my latest and greatest in sixteen weeks. Give or take.”
“You’ve given this some thought.”
“I have. I want you on my team. With your experience, I can hire you on as a sergeant.”
“What if I say no?”
“Then I’ll bring you in for kidnapping, you’ll go to prison for the next thirty years, the boys will grow up without a father, and Addison will spend the next three decades visiting you in jail. But I hear conjugals are a reward unto themselves.”
“Hmm,” he hummed. “Can I sleep on it?”
“Sure.” She stood to leave. “You have twenty-four hours. Also,” she turned back to him, “thank you for keeping Elliot safe.”
“From what I hear, I owe you the same thanks.”
“Let’s call it even. Twenty-four hours.” She started to leave, then turned back to him. “I almost forgot. Elliot said you had a contact in the Delmar family. Was it Agent Wilcox?”
“I could tell you—”
“Yeah, yeah.” She left to find Quincy waiting for her in the hall outside Seabright’s room.
“I’m really beginning to question your recruiting techniques,” he said.
“What?” she asked defensively. “They’re effective.”
“Right. Don’t you think you’re playing a dangerous game with Hailey’s life? Have you met her uncle Clay?”
“Shhh,” she shushed, leading him away from prying ears. “For your information, she came to me.”
“Because she’s innocent. She didn’t know what she was getting herself into.”
“Quincy, did she tell you what’s going on?”
“No. She wouldn’t tell me anything. But I can guess. Also, I can hardly talk around her, so it wasn’t like we had an actual conversation after you left yesterday.”
“Wow. How did I not pick up on your infatuation?”
“I’m not—” He gave up. “Does Ravinder know?”
“That you’re in love with his sister?”