“Okay, I guess we’re ready to begin, then,” Kevin said as everyone assembled in my office.
“Who are you?” Percy demanded, his gaze hostile as he sized up my friend.
“This is Kevin,” I answered for him. “He’s a detective with the Blackwater PD.”
Percy frowned but didn’t say anything else to him.
“Please, everyone, have a seat and we’ll begin. Here’s the information I’ve collected so far,” I said, addressing Mrs. Bates’s lawyer while ignoring Percy as best I could. “Including an eyewitness report of Mr. Miller being the last person Milo was seen with.”
The tension in the room thickened as I handed a file folder to the lawyer, and he flipped through it in silence. Mrs. Bates glared at Miller. Miller set his jaw in defiance and folded his arms across his chest, looking defensive as all hell—and like he wasn’t going to give a damn thing away if he didn’t have to. It didn’t matter, though. Mrs. Bates had hired a great lawyer from out of town, and Kevin was one of the top detectives on the force. They’d break him down.
I glanced at Kevin as the lawyer continued scanning the file. The ongoing silence was deafening. Percy had opted to remain standing; some show of dominance that made me want to roll my eyes. After a moment, I gestured to Kevin to take a seat at my desk, but he shook his head, so I opted to sit, taking a notepad from my desk drawer before handing it to him to take notes.
Then the questioning began, and it was intense. I tried to focus on what was being said, but I found it hard to concentrate. I was more than a little uneasy, and it had nothing to do with the case.
Percy had been staring at me for the last few minutes. Even though I kept my gaze focused on the lawyer as he questioned Miller about his relationship with Milo, I could feel Percy watching me closely. I could also feel another kind of tension simmering between us. Kevin shifted, brushing his hip against my shoulder, and I could have sworn I felt Percy’s gaze grow even hotter.
Unable to fight it, I glanced toward him to find him staring me down, his eyes swirling with some emotion I couldn’t quite place. And I found it nearly impossible to look away. Those hazel eyes were more amber today as they fixed on mine. It became harder to breathe, and I thought I might very well get lost in those amber depths.
The tension spiked, and it took me longer than it should have to realize it wasn’t because of Percy. I blinked, coming back to reality to find Miller standing from his chair, yelling at the lawyer.
“I didn’t hurt Milo! I swear it! We only fooled around in the alley because Milo was a bit of an exhibitionist. He got off on that public shit.”
Percy swore, irritation flashing in his eyes as he broke our stare. “That’s enough, Andrew,” he growled. “Shut your mouth. Right now. Don’t say another fucking word.”
Miller was practically vibrating, but he listened to Percy. I exchanged a glance with Kevin as Mrs. Bates’s lawyer pursed his lips.
“Fine. I guess we’re done here, then?”
“Damn right we are,” Percy said.
I looked at Mrs. Bates, whose face was white, her hand trembling as she wiped away a tear.
“I’m going to have to warn you not to leave the state, Mr. Miller,” Kevin said, his voice cutting through the tension. “You’re officially a suspect now.”
Miller muttered something under his breath then stalked out of the room. I lifted my eyebrows and stood from my desk but didn’t say anything.
Kevin turned to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I need to go file a report right away, but I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”
Before I could respond, a growl ripped through the room. I whipped my head around to find everyone staring at Percy, who was giving Kevin a death glare, the growl still rumbling in his chest. Oh, god. No one said anything for long enough that it started to get awkward, so I turned to Kevin, who was frowning at Percy, his brow drawn together.
“Um, Kevin,” I said softly, though it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. “Maybe you should stop touching me.”
Kevin dropped his hand from my shoulder, and the growling ended abruptly, but Percy was still glaring. It took everything in me to fight the smile that pulled at my mouth. Holy shit, Percy was jealous. Or rather, his wolf was. It didn’t seem to matter how we might feel about each other. Our wolves were a completely different story.
Kevin cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh…call you later,” he said before hurrying from the room, avoiding looking at Percy.
“Mrs. Bates, I’ll escort you out,” I said, moving around my desk, trying not to look at Percy either, not really sure if I should acknowledge what just happened. Percy left the room without a word, presumably to find Miller, and I walked Mrs. Bates and her lawyer out, telling them I’d keep them updated if I found anything else.
Back in my office, I moved to my desk and pulled open the bottom drawer, debating if I should call it a day and break out the whiskey I had stored there for times like the one I’d just gone through.
Just as I reached for the bottle, my office door flew open. I straightened, surprised to find Percy standing there once more. He shut the door behind him then stalked toward me before placing his hands on my desk and staring me down, his eyes blazing.
Shit, had I done something to piss him off during the questioning? I didn’t think so.
“What’s going on with you and Kevin?” he demanded.
“I’m sorry, what?” What the hell was he talking about?
“Are you and Kevin sleeping together?”
That was most definitely not what I was expecting him to say. He thought Kevin and I were sleeping together?
“Are you?” he asked, his face pinched. “Because if so, that’s really unprofessional of you. It could affect the case.”
I wanted to call bullshit on that because it absolutely had nothing to do with the case. And he was kidding himself if he thought that was why he was concerned about it. I didn’t buy that excuse for a second. Unable to resist messing with him, I smiled slowly. “And what if we are? Is that any of your business?”
“Like I said, you could jeopardize the case,” Percy said through gritted teeth.
I laughed and shook my head. “I promise you, I’m professional enough to keep my relationships and my work separate.”
Another growl rumbled in his chest at the insinuation in my answer—or rather, what Percy read into it. His face twisted in annoyance and frustration, and I couldn’t help but laugh again. I almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost. But I did put him out of his misery.
“No, there’s nothing going on between Kevin and me. And there never will be, if that makes you feel any better.”
Percy blinked, clenched his jaw, and then stood up suddenly. He straightened his suit jacket, not meeting my eyes. “Okay, well that’s good to know. I just needed to be sure. For the case.”
I smiled knowingly. “Right. For the case.”
He narrowed his eyes as he glanced back up at me. “Do you have to be so annoying?”
I didn’t reply, even though I could have called him out then and there. He was obviously jealous, whether he wanted to admit it or not. And whether I liked it or not, I was secretly pleased by that knowledge. I shouldn’t be, but I was. I knew it was because of our wolves and their pull to each other.