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“Ross,” Leo growled, “do the right thing here, please.” His husband was usually the voice of reason between the two of them. Zane had known them both his whole life and he knew that sooner or later, Ross would come around, or Leo would clobber him.
“I forgive you,” Ross breathed, “all of you.” Dakota let go of Crew’s hand and ran over to her brother, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Thank you, Ross,” she whispered. “You too, Leo.” Her brother-in-law kissed her cheek and nodded. It was good to know that her family was behind her and her guys. She was sure that the three of them were going to face a few narrow-minded people in their lives, and she was glad her big brother would have her back.
Zane
Zane couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was up with Crew. He had been acting strangely for weeks now, and he had a sick feeling that Crew was looking into his entire family behind his back. It was just a hunch and proving it was the problem, he planned to look under every rock until he could call Crew out. His guy had been so distant lately—even Dakota had noticed it. Crew hadn’t been home for almost two weeks, always coming up with an excuse about working late on some case, leaving Zane and Dakota to fend for themselves. Every night, Zane would hold her while she cried herself to sleep and he worried that if Crew didn’t come back home soon, he and Dakota wouldn’t make it.
When she signed up to be their middle, they both promised her that they would stick by her no matter what, and now, Crew had basically left them. Zane worried about Dakota. This kind of relationship was all so new to her. He didn’t want to push her for more than she was willing to give, but if Crew didn’t show up, he still wanted Dakota. He had for a long time now but was always too chicken to tell Ross that he wanted his little sister. He broke the best friend code and having Ross forgive him was everything.There would be no way that he’d let Crew or anyone else mess up his relationship with Dakota—if she still even wanted one with him once this whole mess was over.
Zane had gotten home from the club late again, and finding Dakota’s car in the garage always made his heart race. Most nights, he sat out front of the garage too afraid to open the door because not finding her car in there would have gutted him. He always breathed a little sigh of relief that Dakota was still sticking around even with Crew’s absence.
He walked into the kitchen and found Dakota sitting at the table, her head in her hands, and from the way that her body was shaking, he was sure that she was crying. “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked. She looked up at him with her teary, red eyes and handed him a piece of paper. “What’s this?” he asked.
“Read it,” she insisted. “He’s not coming back.”
His hands trembled as he took the paper from her, and he knew that the worst was actually happening as he looked over Crew’s short but to the point note. All he wrote was, I can’t be with you both right now, I’m sorry. I hope that someday, you both can forgive me. I have to arrest your dad for murder, Zane. I have evidence to prove that he murdered Susan. I’m so sorry.
“What the fuck?” Zane shouted, causing Dakota to jump. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said. “I just can’t believe he’s doing this.”
“All of his stuff is gone from upstairs too,” she breathed. “Do you have any idea why he’s doing this?” Dakota asked.
“I do,” Zane admitted. “I think that he’s investigating the possibility of me being involved in Susan O’Hare’s murder. He even said in his note that he’s going to arrest my father. Maybe he thinks that I helped him or something.”
“No,” Dakota insisted, standing from the chair and rounding the table to stand in front of him. “Why would Crew think that about you? I thought that he loved you. I thought he loved both of us,” she said.
“I thought so too, but if my hunch is right, we’re a conflict of interest for him and you know how Crew loves his job.” Zane was foolish enough to believe that Crew just loved him and Dakota more than being a police detective though.
“But you didn’t do it,” Dakota insisted. He pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head.
“No, I didn’t do it,” he admitted. “I had never even stepped foot in The Kink Club before your father died. I knew about this place, but I never came here to check it out. Hell, my father wasn’t even a partner in the club. Your dad and Leo’s father went in on the place together. I mean, sure my father frequented the place, but that doesn’t make either of us guilty of murder, right?” he asked.
“Crew insists that he has enough evidence to arrest your father for Susan’s murder,” she reminded.
“Then, why hasn’t he done it yet?” Zane asked.
“I don’t know, but I think we should track him down and ask him,” she said. “I have a few contacts at work that can help me find him—it’s what they do. I say that we have a face-to-face meeting with our guy and find out exactly what he knows,” Dakota said. God, he loved it when Dakota went into full-on police mode. It was sexy as fuck.
He pulled her down for a kiss and when he let her up for air again, she was smiling at him. “What was that for?” she asked.
“For being you,” he breathed. “I love you, Dakota.”
She giggled, “Well, I love you too, Zane. Now, let me get to work finding Crew and we’ll confront him together. Deal?” she asked.
“Deal,” he agreed, giving her one more quick kiss. He swatted her ass, making Dakota yelp as she walked past him to go up to their bedroom. He just hoped that she’d be able to find Crew because he was ready to set the record straight. Maybe his father was a murderer—who knew, but Zane was positive that hepersonally wasn’t. He just needed to get Crew to listen to reason, or he and Dakota might lose him for good—and that couldn’t happen.
Zane felt as though it had been days and not mere hours since Dakota had disappeared into their bedroom to track down Crew. He wanted to burst in there and ask her how much longer it was going to be, but he also knew that his girl wouldn’t take his interruption well. When Dakota was in cop mode, she liked to be left completely alone.
It was almost midnight when she finally came running downstairs and found him lying on the sofa in the family room. “You look comfy,” she taunted, looking him over. He had finally given up pacing the floors about an hour ago and decided to lay on the sofa to try to get some shut-eye, but was having no luck.
“You took forever,” he complained.
Dakota put her hands on her hips and stared him down—a sure sign that she was going to call him on his bullshit. “I was only up there for three hours, Zane,” she chided. “Tracking someone down takes time. And Crew has special skills as a detective that would have him going underground, making him very hard to find. But my guys at the precinct are good too, and they found him. I have the address where he’s staying right here,” she said, holding up a slip of paper and waving it in the air as though she was showing him a winning lottery ticket.
“Well, aren’t you clever?” he asked.
“I am,” she quickly agreed, “but I only knew the right clever people to call for the job.”
