Page 60 of Violent Skies

“The last time I saw him and Rafe that day was when I left the house.” Riggs stares at me, and unlike Koa, there’s no doubt that he’s telling me the truth. It’s there, plain as day, all over his face. “Jesse was with me the entire time. I complained about taking him because it was his first pick up. He puked in the Boss,” Riggs says, getting worked up over it.

“So where did he go?” I ask, my mind spiraling. “Do you think…”

“Hey,” Riggs closes the space again, his hands coming around my face. “Koa was built on secrets but he never did that. Ever. Do you hear me?”

“How do you know?” I ask, scared that the lies were just curtains concealing something so much worse.

“Because for all his faults, his love for you was real. It was just… crooked.”

The blue in his eyes grows dark but they never leave mine and there’s conviction in his words that helps dull the thrum of anxiety.

“It still doesn’t tell us where he went? What was so important that night that he left…” I swallow tightly, trying not to let the sad memory consume me. It’s unfair to Riggs.

“I don’t know.” Riggs’s jaw tightens uncomfortably and he slips out of bed. I want to ask him to come back, but he’s sliding into a pair of jeans before I even work up the courage so instead I grip the blanket around myself.

“Last night—”

“Don’t.” Riggs pauses with a clean shirt in his hand. “If you’re going to give me some excuse of why it meant nothing. Don’t.”

“Okay.” I smile softly and his shoulders relax.

“That’s it? Just okay?” He shakes out his bed head as he pulls his shirt over them. He comes back around and kneels by the bed, allowing me to gently touch the curls as he stares at me. He closes his eyes as my fingers trace his jaw, unable to control myself.

“I was going to make something up that made me seem less like a pathetic one night stand. I feel…” I sigh, “a little thrown aside.”

Riggs pushes up on his feet and wraps himself around me in the bed, his lips finding my shoulder blade and then the back of my throat. “If you weren’t directly in danger right now they would have to tear me from this bed, Cress.” His breath is hot on my skin. “But we don’t have the option, so I want you to get up and shower. Meet me in the garage.”

“You want me to come?” I look down at him.

Riggs smiles. It’s bright and I almost laugh with relief at the sight of it because it’s been so long since I’ve seen it that genuine. I lean in, kissing him, and it only makes the smile grow. His hand tangles into my hair and he deepens the connection, pressing against my back as his other hand splays out over my stomach.

“Leaving you behind was never my choice,” he says in a low, serious voice as he parts from me. “I’ll never do it again.”

“Alright.” I kiss him again quickly and his fingers dig into my skin.

“You gotta stop. This is serious.” He laughs against my lips but I don’t believe him for a second. “Shower.” He kisses me again. “Please.” Another two quick ones follow as he rises from the bed. I grab the front of his jeans, pulling him back. “Now,” he adds, stealing one more.

“What about…” I pause and my eyes go to the only photo on Riggs’s wall. It’s of him, Rafe, Murphy, and Birdie.

“What about them?” Riggs stops in his tracks.

“Well…” I lift from the bed with the sheets still wrapped around me. “Won’t this be weird?”

Riggs chuckles, turning back toward the bed. “I’m not going to run downstairs announcing that we had sex, Cress. They’ve seen the photos… Murphy’s been studying them for Christ’s sake, if that’s what you’re worried about?”

“Birdie is going to know,” I warn him.

“Birdie’s always known.” He’s quick to respond.

“What?” I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore. It’s like every time I think I have all the information I’m back to being in the dark again.

“She pushed me to make things right, after Koa…” He swallows tightly. “She wanted me to try to fix things with you.”

“Does she know?” I ask him. “That you weren’t driving.”

Riggs shakes his head gently. “She loves him. To her core. That’s Koa’s daughter and I can’t do it to her.”

“I know.” I nod, understanding why that’s a secret that still needs to be kept. “So why was she pushing? Shouldn’t she have been angrier?”