Page 290 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

“Of course.”

The paramedic touched his arm again. Ronan winced.

“Hold still.”

“I am holding still.”

“You are absolutely not.”

Elliot spoke.

“Sit down.”

Ronan looked at him. Elliot’s expression had changed again. Not murderous now. Concerned. Possessive. The one Ronan understood. Or thought he did.

“Don’t start.”

“You’re bleeding through the gauze.”

Ronan looked down. He was.

“Fine.”

He sat. The paramedic immediately looked grateful. Vance remained standing. Watching. Always fucking watching. Ronan hated that he understood why now. She had spent weeks studying Elliot. So had he. Apparently neither had done it well enough.

“Why did Nathan Reed know about the storage room?” Vance asked.

Ronan didn’t answer. Elliot did.

“Because he’s been inside the house.”

Vance looked at him.

“You know that?”

“The microphone.”

“Could have been installed elsewhere.”

“The box.”

“Could have been stolen from trash.”

“The photographs.”

“Outside.”

Elliot’s jaw tightened. Vance continued.

“We don’t know when Reed entered this property.”

“He literally entered it tonight.”

“You know what I mean.”

Elliot looked away. Ronan watched him. There was something strange about seeing the two of them talk now that Ronan knew the truth. Before, every question from Vance had felt like pressure being unfairly applied to someone he loved. Now he saw the dance. Vance probing. Elliot redirecting. Every answer selected. Every silence calculated. It had been happening in front of him the entire time. Ronan had simply kept calling it Elliot being Elliot. The paramedic threaded a needle through his skin. Ronan hissed. Elliot immediately looked over. His focus snapped away from Vance so completely it almost made Ronan laugh.

“You okay?”