Page 62 of Power & Punishment

I want to know more.

Not to use against her.

Just to know her.

Fuck. I’m in trouble.

Mia pushes past me as I grapple with the issue that’s been weighing on my mind ever since I met her. And now, looking around at the result of spending one night on my arm, I know it’s only going to get more complicated.

A smart man would cut her loose.

Dante is already fulfilling his end of the bargain. I can pay for her to stay at a nice hotel with security and focus on taking Enzo down for good.

But every instinct inside my body revolts against the idea.

I guess I’m not a smart man

And I don’t care.

19

MIA

“Damn Katy, you look hot,” I whistle, leaning against one of the tables in the lab. The bullet in my pocket sits there like a cinderblock. “Hot date tonight?”

She blushes, which is easy to see in the unflattering fluorescent lighting. “Yes. One of the new cadets asked me out.”

“That’s great,” I smile encouragingly. “Keith is going to be devastated.”

Her brows shoot up at the mention of my partner’s name. Katy has had a crush on Keith since the day we started at the precinct, and she’s not good at hiding it either. Every time she’s on one of our cases, her hair is curled to perfection, and the glasses she normally wears are replaced with contacts.

The poor thing has no idea that he’d never be interested, which is why I hate what I’m about to do.

“Really? I had no idea he was even into me.”

I clamp down on the inside of my cheek. “Well,” I say slowly as she leans in closer, “he’d kill me if I said anything, but he did ask the other day if you were seeing anyone.”

A row of sparkling white teeth peek out from between her lips. “He did?”

I’m a terrible person.

“Yes,” I nod, rocking back and forth on the heels of my boots, “but it sounds like you’re seeing someone, so I don’t⁠—”

“It’s just coffee,” she blurts out, interrupting me. “I’m just going out with him because it’s the third time he’s asked, but it’s not like it’s anything serious.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, wrapping my hand around the evidence bag in my pocket. “I don’t want to get his hopes up.”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

She smiles brightly, looking like she’s about to jump out of her own skin in excitement—which feels like the perfect moment to drop the bag on the stainless-steel table in front of her.

The metal clicks softly against the surface, sounding like the thing that’s slowly chipping away at my morals.

“Great. Maybe if I help you with that, you can help me with this.”

Katy’s attention drops to the object, her brows furrowing.

“Is this from a case?” she asks.