“Matt, this is Silas. He’s already asked to take me home, and seeing as how he’s my boyfriend, I’ve agreed.” I turned my gaze to Silas. “Silas, this is Matt, my douche canoe of a cheating ex who I mentioned once.”
“I gathered as much. Get lost, Matt.”
The verbal slap had Matt stumbling backward.
“That,” I said, “is Silas’s subtle way of telling you to go fuck yourself.”
Matt scowled, turned, and disappeared beyond the curtain.
Silas exhaled and a lazy grin dragged across his lips. “Did I ever mention I like your mouth?”
“It’s direct. We can’t all be as subtle as you.”
Twenty minutes later, the doctor cleared me to go home. My clothes had been brought over from the blindfold club, and as I prepared to get dressed, there was yet another knock on my door. It slid open with no announcement, and the woman glided in. She paused when she locked eyes with Silas.
“Caroline?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”
Her gaze flew to mine, then back to his. Rather than lie, she redirected. “What are you doing here?”
“This is my girlfriend, Regan.” His hand was on mine. “Regan, this is my sister, Caroline Getty.”
“Chief Deputy Marshal Getty. Nice to meet you,” Caroline said automatically. She put a hand on her hip. “I need to speak to her privately.”
“Is she in trouble?”
“No.”
He expected me to tell her it was okay if he stayed. As my boyfriend, there weren’t supposed to be secrets between us. I put my hand on my throat, trying to soothe the burn, even though it didn’t make any difference.
“Can you give us a minute?” I said to him.
Muted confusion tugged his eyebrows together, but he nodded. She waited until the door was shut before speaking.
“What can you tell me about Marquis Jones?”
I told her what info I had, which didn’t take long, and then added, “We steered clear of each other.”
“I wanted to let you know I’ve authorized a task force to apprehend both of the men who did this to you. Our branches don’t always work well together, but we’re on the same side. They fuck with you, they’re fucking with my people. We’ll catch them, because my men are very good at what they do.”
“Oh,” I said. Her determined look made me feel unexpectedly warm. How much of this was personal for her? Not just that I was her brother’s girlfriend, but as another woman in law enforcement? “Thank you.”
She shifted on her feet, her attention wandering to the curtain. Was she wondering about Silas?
My raw voice strained. “Just give me a few hours of sleep, and then I’ll tell him.”
Her eyes widened a little. “You should rest your voice. I got throttled once by an officer in the Latin Kings, and my throat burned for a week afterward. Another day or two won’t make a difference. If anything, it’d probably be better.”
I understood what she was saying. Both Silas’s emotions and my own were running high right now.
She tugged the door open and gestured for Silas to come in, then glanced over her shoulder at me. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Her phone chirped as Silas strode in. He scowled at his sister who had one foot out the doorway. “You’re not staying?”
She dug out her phone as she shook her head. “Some of us have work. We can’t all get paid to play with finger paint.”
The statement struck me as offensive until she flashed a huge smile up at her brother, busting his balls.
“I only sold one piece in that series,” Silas said, “and I’m pretty sure the dude bought it as a joke.”