Desired (Club Sin 3)

He wouldn’t allow her to use him as a way to hide from her heartache.

Dealing with it, yes. Getting over it, yes. Ignoring it, not on his watch.

He clenched his jaw and stepped out into the cloudy day. Each step he took toward the station brought more tension. He cared for Ella, of that he was sure. But he couldn’t allow her to avoid him.

He deserved more.

Hell, she deserved more.

If he thought she couldn’t care for him in return, he’d walk away before he got in too deep. But he saw the possibilities of a future. His heart told him to stay.

As he entered the station, the noise of the bustling office stormed across him. To his left, a drunken fool was being contained by two police officers. Kyler continued on and used his security card to enter the office. On his way through the hallway, passing the Drug Unit, his mind raced as he tried to piece her together.

Abuse.

Knowing that, he thought over his plans for her first scene. Part of him wanted to refuse to let her become a Club Sin member until he understood more about her, but the other part knew that wasn’t his decision to make. If Ella wanted to become a Club Sin member, the choice belonged to her. But how he handled her in the scene was up to him. And how could he add pain to her pleasure to take her higher? How could he demand she tell him what had happened to her?

As he reached his cubicle on the far left side of the office, he waved to his fellow cops, some at their desks and others on their way out the door. Fuck, he’d never been so happy to be stuck in the corner, where he was alone.

His hand gripped his chair with far more strength than he’d intended, yanking it out from under the desk and hitting his boot. Dropping down into his seat, he grumbled, “Get it together, Morgan.” Then he powered up his computer.

As the screen lit up, a soft voice said, “Got a call from a friend in Savannah. He’s asking me for a favor.”

Turning to the new rookie on his team, Kyler asked, “What favor?”

Maggie brushed a hand over her dark hair pulled tight in bun. Her light brown eyes were unsure, and she shifted on her feet. An uneasy look he’d seen from many rookies crossed her face. “He’s got a friend under a restraining order and has asked that we keep an eye out for him. If we bring his friend in, he’d like us to call him before we process the paperwork.”

Kyler snorted. “If he has a restraining order and he breaks it, he’ll be arrested.”

Maggie’s expression became pinched. “I agree and told him this, but also said we’d see what the situation was. Of course, I’m not asking you to look the other way.”

As her supervisor, this favor had to go through Kyler, and he didn’t doubt Maggie’s heart. She was a damn good cop and she wanted to do right by her friend. He also noticed her guarded eyes having to ask Kyler this request. “Who is the friend to you?”

“Someone I became close with at the academy.”

“Good friends, then?” At her nod, he continued. “All right. As long as nothing happens to the woman in question, we’ll do as your friend asks.”

Maggie handed him a document. “Thanks. I owe you.”

Kyler nodded. Then, as Maggie strode off, he looked down to the document. He scanned over the picture of an inebriated-looking man on the mug shot, then read the details. His gaze froze on the person who’d issued the restraining order, and only important information stood out.

Ella Snow, wife of the accused, refused to press charges. Protection order in place. Domestic violence. Savannah, Georgia.

Kyler’s hand shook as he gripped the paper. Everything he had wondered about Ella suddenly made a whole lot of sense. How bizarre for this to surface at his precinct, but lucky that it did. He’d wanted some insight. Now he had it, and he almost wished he didn’t.

Ella’s married?

That little bit of news bothered him, but not as much as knowing that she was abused by her husband. A muscle in his jaw flexed, fury spreading out through his veins. Pretty big truth not to tell him, yet he fully understood why she’d kept silent about it.

Her husband—a man she’d loved and trusted—had hit her.

Christ, Kyler had smacked her ass the first time he’d been with her, something he now regretted. He tried telling himself that his swats had been light and she’d enjoyed it, but had he known what he did now, he wouldn’t have used such intensity.

His chest tightened as he placed the document down on his desk, then he turned to the computer. He opened the NCIC (National Crime Information Center database) and plugged in the driver’s license number of her husband, Rory, mentioned on the page.

The active protection order popped up on the screen, and Kyler scanned over

the report. The more he read, the more he despised it. Not only did it confirm that Ella was married, but it seemed that scar on her face had been caused by her husband shoving her into a glass table in a drunken rage.