Page 98 of Made of Steele
“Get it together. You can wait to fall apart when you get home.” She clenched her hands, gave herself a mental pat on the back, and exited the room.
Drew had a shoulder propped against the wall, and he came to his feet. He lifted a hand as if he planned to touch her face but let it fall. “I didn’t know you’d bruised your eye.”
“Jabal’s elbow.”
“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” His face contorted in pain. “I should’ve kept my phone on for your calls and been there with you.”
“You were undercover, and your safety had to be your top priority.”
“But I…” He shook his head. “I never want to see the people I care about suffer. It tears me up inside.”
“I imagine it reminds you of you losing your father,” she said though she didn’t want to add to his pain.
He nodded.
“So you’ve avoided letting others in.” She studied his tight expression. Should she share her newfound revelation? She had to at some point but in the jail hallway?
Of course. Time or place didn’t matter. As long as she let him know how she felt. “I’ve been closed off too. Not for the same reason. I thought it was because I didn’t have time for work and a relationship too.”
“And now you don’t think that?”
“When you’re about to die, things become real clear, and you see things in a different light.”
“What did you see?”
“My true motivation to remain alone, I guess. I’m a straight-forward woman with an intense drive to succeed. Not something most men like. At least not the men I encountered. I never found a guy who really appreciates me for who I am. So I spent years trying to be what I thought they wanted me to be.”
His gaze softened. “That must’ve been hard.”
She nodded. “And I couldn’t sustain it, so the relationship always ended. But subconsciously, I accepted that I don’t have a lovable personality, and I was better off embracing my work. But guess what? Thanks to meeting you, I figured out I need to keep putting myself out there because caring about someone makes life a whole lot richer.”
She expected a positive response from him, but he frowned. “Except then you can open yourself up to a world of pain too.”
“Pain that makes me know I’m alive. Which I have felt when I’m with you. I would like to get to know you better after we close this investigation.” She took a deep breath, hating the stale-smelling hallway, but she needed to say this before she lost her courage and retreated back into herself. “In fact, I think I’ve fallen for you. As in, I’m falling in love with you.”
“I…” He shook his head again. “I feel the same way.”
Okay. Again. Not the response she expected. “There’s a big but coming, isn’t there?”
“Sort of. I mean, I need you to know I still have reservations about getting involved. After seeing you physically hurt, I know even more how much I care for you and how much I don’t want to see you suffer. What if something happened to me? What if I have an aneurism too and keel over?”
“Then I’ll deal with it. I…” Footsteps coming down the hall took her attention, and she turned to see the deputy leading Vito toward them.
The deputy opened a door and nodded at Teagan and Drew to follow.
“To be continued,” she said and went down the hall to the room, taking long breaths to clear her brain of Drew and make room for the questions they needed to ask.
Vito had settled in the chair with his back to them. She circled the table and sat on a cold metal chair.
“I’ll be right outside if you need me.” The deputy went to the door and closed it behind him.
Drew sat next to her, facing Vito. “Can we get you some water or coffee?”
Vito crossed his arms and glared at Drew. “We trusted you, and the whole time you were playing us.”
“I was.” Drew’s unapologetic answer hung in the air.
“And what?” Vito lifted his palms. “Now you’ll trump up some bogus charge and put us in prison?”
