I walked over to Carla and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me with wrecked eyes. “My sister is a bitch.”

I nodded solemnly. “It really sounds like she is.”

“What’s gonna happen to my kids? They’re at his parents’ house right now.”

Well, that was good. At least they weren’t going to have to live with the sight of their mother trying to cleave their father in two with a steak knife.

“I can’t answer that, Carla. But maybe they should’ve been your concern before you picked up the knife.”

I helped the woman to her feet and winced as she wiped a gooey mixture of tears and snot across the back of her arm.

“I’m going to jail.”

I nodded once again. “I’m afraid so.”

She heaved a really deep sigh and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “I wish I had aimed lower.”

It shouldn’t be funny and I wasn’t going to condone this kind of violence, but I sort of agreed with her.

I read her her rights and put her in the back of the patrol car. I knew we were going to have to charge her with aggravated assault at the very least. It took a few minutes to get everything all situated at the scene and to get all the statements gathered for the report we were going to have to write up.

The ride back to the station was filled with quiet sobbing from the backseat and Barrett muttering to himself as I drove us through early-evening traffic. We got Carla processed in and started on the paperwork when Barrett suddenly stopped what he was typing and looked at me with obvious confusion on his face. I was starving since we had to ditch dinner, and just wanted to finish up the paperwork so we could get back on the street to finish our shift and maybe sneak in some Taco Bell.

I had my hat on the desk next to me and reached up to rub my temples. Paperwork was so boring. I hated it.

“What?”

He shook his head at me and turned to look back at the computer screen. “Nothing.”

I snorted. “Obviously something. Spit it out.”

“You just surprised me.”

I sat back in my chair and narrowed my eyes at him. “How’s that?”

He shrugged a shoulder at me. “I didn’t expect you to be so unflappable. I mean, you’re still pretty new on the force, and it’s no secret you and Dom had all kinds of history before coming to work together. I’m not going to lie … I guess I thought maybe you rode on his coattails or something, but nothing could be further from the truth.”

I was blinking in mild shock. Unflappable? I felt like I was ruffled and flapping all over the place most of the time.

“You don’t react when weirdos look at you like you’re lunch. You don’t lose your temper when losers try intimidating you. You have a really easy time talking to victims, which makes hostile situations less dangerous. You don’t freak out or move a muscle when a deranged woman is advancing on you with a knife. And maybe most importantly, you hate sitting at the desk filling out reports almost as much as I do, yet you don’t make a single peep about it, you just get it done. I guess I’m just surprised at how really suited you are to do this job. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but you really don’t look like a cop, let alone a really good cop. You’re head and shoulders above every other partner I’ve been saddled with thus far in my career.”

I couldn’t respond to him. Barrett was a good cop. He had a stellar reputation on the force and was under no obligation to give me any kind of props or validation. There was absolutely no way he could’ve known what the shrink had been asking me about before the shift started. All I could do was clear my throat and awkwardly tell him, “Well, you ain’t so bad yourself, Barrett.”

We finished up the paperwork for the shift. I felt bad for Carla, but people had to consider their actions and how they affected others in the long run. Barrett let me drive and I totally hit Taco Bell as we finished the rest of our mostly quiet shift. All the driving around and little action gave me too much time to think about what the shrink had been poking me with and Barrett’s words.

I had never wanted to ride on any kind of coattails. Not for my looks. Not for the fact that I could bat my eyelashes and have the world handed to me. And most certainly not for the fact that Dom loved me and would always look out for me. It had never occurred to me before today that I wasn’t being looked at as his partner but more as his shadow or lapdog, and I didn’t like that one bit. My biggest fight in life was to prove I had merit, to show I had substance past my face and body, and it sounded like holding on to Dom like a lifeline for so long had hindered my efforts to win that fight.

After my shift I wanted a hot shower and a drink. Well, actually I wanted the guy that was going to serve me the drink, but I still wasn’t sure how all that was going to play out. I had enough questions whirling around in my head that I didn’t want to tangle with the mystery that was Asa on top of it.

I took a shower and watched some TV. I paced around my apartment and bugged Saint by texting her across the hall. I tried to text Dom as well and pouted when all he texted back was:

Go to bed.

It was after one by the time I crawled between the sheets. I wasn’t tired or at least I thought I wasn’t, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out. It wasn’t until a couple hours later that I woke up. I was panting, I was shaking, and a fine sheen of sweat covered me from head to toe. I wasn’t seeing Dom fall. I wasn’t back in the alleyway. No, instead I woke up with one hand in my panties with the other squeezing my breast underneath my tank top and Asa’s name tumbling from my lips.

I groaned out loud and threw myself back against the pillows. I reached over to the nightstand and found my phone. I had totally called myself from his phone when he gave it to me to call Nash so he could bring me a key the other morning.

I’m ready to collect on my rain check.

I didn’t think about the fact that it was really late or that he might not respond. I just sent the text and shifted around on my bed, all keyed up and needing something only Asa could give to me.

The phone sang “Trouble” by P!nk when he texted me back, and that was enough to have my skin tingling all over in expectation. I held my breath as I looked at the phone just in case he was going to tell me to get lost, but the screen glowed bright with the words:

I’ll be at my place by 3.

I sighed and held the phone to my chest as everything inside of me heated up and throbbed with want and anticipation. It was so on.