Damon groaned. “Shut her up, Quinn.”
“You know, I thought you cared about me,” she said to Quinn. “But you’ve never stopped being loyal to him.” She jerked her finger at Damon. “Which means I’m really going to die. Even if I don’t know anything,” she said, her voice rising in pitch.
“Ari,” Quinn said in warning.
She ignored him. “But aren’t I entitled to a last wish? At the very least a last meal?”
“She’s stalling and you’re letting her,” Damon said. “Do it now.”
“I don’t want to die,” Ari wailed and dropped to her knees. “But if I have to, can I at least have a blindfold? Please?” She moved awkwardly closer to Damon, who stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Okay, no blindfold. Then how about a drink to numb the pain?”
“Well . . . wait a minute, this is ridiculous,” Damon muttered.
“Please let me live,” Ari wailed.
“For the love of—”
In the biggest gamble of her life, Ari cut him off, and with a final howl, she wrapped her arms around Damon’s knees. Laying her head against his thighs, she pushed against him with all her body weight.
At the same time, she shut her eyes and prayed.
Quinn’s blood pressure shot up as Ari begged for her life, her hysteria building with each word she spoke. Though he knew better than to fall for the act, Damon had always surrounded himself with bubbleheaded, whiny, crying women, and he obviously believed she was another hysterical female. And he went on believing it until she pushed his legs in her final supplication.
For a split second, Damon glanced down. Distracted by her caterwauling, he let his gun arm drop down.
In that split second, Quinn fired.
Just like every other case Quinn had worked on, everything that happened next was in a blur of activity. Connor burst in after the gunshot, with the feds on his heels. Damon, wounded in the shoulder, was hauled off, cursing Quinn in one breath and himself in another for being suckered by Quinn for so long. Ari had been brought to another room, where she gave her statement. And while Quinn knew he’d be busy with wrap-up and paperwork for a good long time, right now he was more concerned with his relationship with Ari than he was with this case.
Damon had taken years off his life when he’d tossed the gun at him, demanding he shoot Ari. Ari had taken at least another decade with her hysteria act. So by the time she walked back into the office hours later, he’d worked himself into a good case of impotent fury.
He took one look at her drawn face and saw the exhaustion evidenced by the dark circles under her eyes, made worse by smudged makeup. Relief at seeing her washed over him and he pulled her into his arms, letting himself inhale her familiar scent and feel her warmth. Dipping his head, he kissed her hard, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. She reciprocated, her body melding to his, her lips warm and eager, as if she too needed the affirmation this kiss held.
And though his relief was real, so too was the realization that this was the first time they’d had together without the specter of Damon hanging over them. No case, no missing sister, nothing prevented him from baring his soul to this woman. And though the time might not be ideal, he doubted he’d find a better one.
With regret, he pushed her away. He held her forearms and asked, “What the hell were you thinking, playing such a dangerous game with Damon?”
She treated him to her innocent look. “It worked, didn’t it? I didn’t see another immediate option. I knew you wouldn’t be happy, but you could thank me for saving your butt instead of yelling at me for taking a risk.” She couldn’t quite hide the smile on her lips.
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “No man likes to admit he was bested by a smartass woman with a penchant for relying on old movies to save herself when she’s in trouble,” he said wryly.
“You knew?” she asked. “You really knew what I was doing?”
“Not until you dropped to your knees like Alan Arkin, but yeah. I saw that you were acting out The In-Laws again. And this time it was pretty ingenious,” he admitted, giving credit where credit was due. “But it was still risky.”
She chuckled, obviously pleased with herself.
“Hey, your sister will be proud of you.”
Instead of making her happy, his comment dimmed the wattage on her smile.
“Maybe.”
Confused, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ari shook her head. “Nothing. I suppose you plan to move back to your house now?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Just like you plan to go back to Vermont.”
She licked her lips, nodding. “I have to. I just can’t leave my students.”