Chapter 36

As they sped down the highway, Holly looked out the passenger window in silence. Justice wanted to tell her that last night had been wrong, that it couldn’t happen again, but he couldn’t find the words to say so.

On one level, it had been a mistake of epic proportions. They needed to address the things Blake had mentioned, such as birth control and diseases. He wanted to tell her the truth about everything—who he really was, how he’d been watching her for a year, how he felt he knew her, and how hard he seemed to be falling for her.

But he couldn’t.

He’d put himself at substantial risk if she were to go to the authorities, as well as the Saviors and his crew. No one could know of their existence.

“Justice, I feel weird asking this, but we’re both adults, so I know I shouldn’t. But, do you have any STDs?”

He frowned trying to figure out the acronym.

“Sexually transmitted diseases?” she asked again. “We had unprotected sex last night, in case you don’t recall.”

He grinned. “I’ve been thinking of little else.”

“Well?”

“No. I’m clean, Holly.” Hell, she’d taken his human form virginity. “What about you?”

She sighed. “I’m clean, as well.”

He glanced over at her, and she seemed more relaxed.

“And birth control?” he asked.

“We’re good, Justice. We’re fine.”

He nodded, glad that discussion was out of the way.

“You aren’t married, are you?”

He chuckled. “No. Not even close.”

“Okay. I feel better having all that out in the open.”

“I … uh … I really enjoyed last night,” he ventured a few minutes later.

Meeting his gaze, she smiled. “I did, too. I also wanted to let you know that whatever happens between us, I won’t report you to the superiors. It’s been consensual, and I’d never do anything to try to get you in trouble.”

He sighed, the weight of his lies coming back on him. There didn’t seem to be any reason to continue the conversation, and his thoughts drifted back to last night. He wanted the experience again, and as he recalled Holly’s soft skin against his, the feeling of her breasts against his hard chest, his cock throbbed.

“You’ll want to take this exit,” Holly murmured a while later, bringing him out of his reverie.

Excitement washed through him at the thought of experiencing Holly’s private life. He wanted to see how and where she lived, to watch her in familiar surroundings. He wondered if the cops had opened up her apartment yet or if it was still considered a crime scene.

“Go right at the next light.”

The neighborhood seemed to be fairly nice. Restaurants, bookshops, and stores lined the street, but it definitely didn’t feel like the high-end part of the city. They passed the Veteran’s Hospital, and he remembered the day Holly had come into the bunker talking about moving into the complex. She said they chose this area because the apartment stood close to the hospital.

“It’s right up here on the left. The grey building.”

He drove past it slowly to get a feel of the layout.

“You’ll never get a parking spot around here. I always have to go a couple blocks down.”

He nodded and turned left, and sure enough, he didn’t see any open parking spots until another block down.

“There’s one!” Holly exclaimed.

He veered over and parked the SUV.

Holly glanced around the neighborhood and then met his gaze. “I’m nervous.”

“We don’t have anything to worry about. It’s not like the cops are sitting at the front door waiting for you.”

She nodded.

They walked the two blocks in silence, and Holly stopped as they rounded the corner and her building came into view. It seemed to be one of the older ones in the area, the exterior a drab gray color. Every other apartment had a balcony, and he counted six floors.

She hesitated a moment and looked at him while she crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t think I can do this.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder and realized she was shaking. “Why not?”

Tears welled in her eyes. “What if we see him? What if we see the guy who killed my brother?”

“What if we do? Are you afraid of him?”

A tear tracked down her cheek and she shook her head. “No. Well, maybe.”

His instincts to protect his female roared to the surface. “He’s got to go through me to get to you, Holly.”

She smiled, despite the tears. “I know. But I think I’m more afraid of what I’ll do. I don’t want to do anything that could actually make me guilty of something.”

He chuckled, having no doubt Holly could cause some serious damage to someone if she put her mind to it. “I won’t let that happen either, okay? We’re just here to look around.”

“Okay.”

They walked the rest of the way to the building and through the front door. Mailboxes lined the walls to the left, an elevator to the right. The cracked, yellowing tile almost matched the white, yellowing walls. The place definitely needed a renovation.

“I want to go to my apartment first,” Holly murmured under her breath, and he nodded.

They didn’t bother with the elevator, but climbed the stairs to the second floor.

She stood before the door, and he noticed a glimmer of sweat on her brow. Her hands shook, and her breathing became shallow.

There wasn’t any indication that the apartment couldn’t be entered. It seemed the officials had finished processing the scene.

She reached into her sweatshirt pocket and pulled out her car keys. Dropping them, she bent down, and Justice opened his hand.

“We should get inside quickly,” he murmured, looking around the empty hallway. “Let me help.”

She handed him the ring and he opened the door.

After they stepped inside, he silently closed it. The faint coppery smell of blood hit his nose as he looked around. The police had obviously been through every inch of the apartment and emptied drawers as games, magazines, and books had been tossed on the floor and pictures hung skewed on the walls.

Holly stared wide-eyed at the mess, her face pale as she carefully made her way into the kitchen. He followed, finding the space in the same condition as the living room. Silverware had been scattered everywhere, a few broken dishes littered the floor, and all the cupboards had been opened. Pots and pans littered the countertops, and someone had left the refrigerator open after emptying its contents.

She moved down the small hallway to the bedrooms. Looking into the first one, he noted the overturned mattress. The drawers and their contents once again littered the floor. Holly’s mouth became a tight line as she surveyed the mess, and anger flashed over her face. He guessed this had been her brother’s bedroom as boxers laid on the floor and a camouflage blanket had been balled up in the comer of the room. The walls were bare, and a few men’s shirts still hung in the closet, having survived the wrath of the search.

He followed her to the second bedroom to find it in worse shape than any other room in the house. Standing in the middle of the wreckage, she slowly spun in a small circle. The mattress lay up against the wall; the box spring had been ripped open. All the drawers had been emptied, the pictures removed from the walls and the backs taken off of them. The content of her closet had been dumped on the floor, and papers lay strewn across a small desk.

“They sure were thorough,” she murmured through a clenched jaw.

Justice didn’t know what to say. The scene felt terribly intrusive to him, a deliberate invasion of privacy. However, he supposed when the police had a murder on their hands, all concerns of confidentiality went out the window. The most important thing would be to find clues to who the responsible party had been, or in this case, where they’d gone. The police believed Holly had killed Billy.

She bent down and picked up a picture from the floor. He glanced at it over her shoulder. Holly stood with a young man dressed in fatigues, their smiling faces shining in the sun. She wore a light purple sundress and sandals.

“This was me and my brother when he graduated from boot camp,” she explained. “He was so proud to be following in Dad’s footsteps. I wasn’t even out of high school yet.”

Shaking her head, she pushed the picture into her sweatshirt pocket. “Let’s go. I’ve seen enough.”

He followed her, a mix of emotions within him. Anger at her violation, sadness at her loss, and envy that she had a little piece of Billy to take with her.

It only reminded him that he had nothing.