Page 42 of Bent, Not Broken

He jumped away from my outstretched hand and shook his head. “Fuck that. She’s in on it. She’s being paid by them.”

“Conrad—”

“She’s a fucking rat, just like all those other cops. They all work for those stupid bikers.” He twisted and groaned, leaning against the wall. Ruffling the short hair on his head, he mumbled something I couldn’t hear. But I did manage to catch, “Fucking lawyers.”

The sound of footsteps made my heart freeze, but it was too late. Polunin walked out into the hallway, a loose towel wrapped around his waist and his tanned skin glimmering with a sheen of water. “Did I hear someone….” He stopped abruptly when he saw Conrad, and he swallowed, gaze sliding to me in alarm. “Oh.”

“What the fuck?” Conrad turned angry eyes on me. “Are you fucking kidding me? What is this? Are you fucking him?”

I silently cursed Polunin and his bad timing. Keeping my hand raised toward Conrad, ignoring the twitchy caged-animal look he had about him, I smiled. “It’s okay, Conrad. Listen to me—”

“Fuck that.” He stumbled to straighten off the wall and his face turned red. “I thought you were into tits, but you’re… you’re… shit. You’re fucking him?”

I knew for a fact Conrad wasn’t homophobic. The one time we did something together other than hit a bar for a beer after work, I went over to Conrad’s birthday party and met his brother, a gay firefighter. Conrad loved his brother, Vance, so I knew he didn’t think badly of me for fucking a dude, rather, it was who the dude was.

I cringed. “Not before the trial.”

He laughed and it sounded hysterical, but I put it down to him being drunk as a skunk. I could smell the fumes coming off him. “And I’m the one being investigated? You’re fucking the enemy. You’re the rat.”

My face grew hot and I dropped my hand to my side, where it curled into a fist. “I’m not. This happened after Riggs’ trial.”

“Liar. You’re fucking dirty.” He shook his head, pointing at Polunin. “He’s a fucking bastard.” He started forward toward Polunin, and I reacted before I could think. I charged Conrad and used my shoulder to block him, and he went flying into the wall. His fist went through the plaster and some of it crumbled under the weight. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and my one main focus was on securing Conrad to make sure he didn’t hurt Polunin.

I grabbed him against me when he spun, and we wrestled. I saw Polunin out of the corner of my eye, and he had his phone in his hands. “No! Don’t call the cops,” I snapped, but my momentary lack of attention meant Conrad’s fist met my chin.

Cursing, I pivoted toward Conrad and seized his arm, using my training to yank it behind his back. With his intoxication, it was easy to subdue him, and he cried out in pain. I kicked his leg out from under him and he went to the ground with a crash, me with a knee in his lower back. “Go get my handcuffs,” I snapped to Polunin. “They’re in my closet.”

Polunin moved before I could finish my sentence, and I held Conrad down on the floor as Polunin rushed out of the entry and down the hallway to my room. Conrad groaned, and then I heard what I thought were sobs and apologies. My chest hurt because Conrad really had been as close to a friend as I got.

Polunin came back, the carbon-steel cuffs clutched in his hands. He passed them to me, eyes wide and uncertainty flashing across his face. I nodded in thanks and clipped the cuffs over Conrad’s wrists.

“Please don’t call them,” Conrad muttered, and I knew he was talking about our coworkers.

“I won’t,” I mumbled, standing, and dragging him to his feet. “You just need to sleep this off.”

I led him toward the spare bedroom. There wasn’t much furniture in there because I never had any guests, but I’d bought a bed anyway, in case there was a rare occurrence. Maybe a part of me always wished to find a roommate, I wasn’t entirely sure. Uncuffing one of his hands, I linked the cuff to one of the poles on the head of the bed. Conrad didn’t fight me, and when he landed on the bed, he already looked half asleep.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered.

I didn’t say anything and left him there, moving back out into the entry of the hallway where Polunin was still standing. He turned bewildered brown eyes on me, and even after everything that happened, I couldn’t help but think how sexy he looked standing there in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, chest bare and dusky nipples teasing me.

“That was interesting.” He grinned.

“That was Conrad, but you’ve met him before.” I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. “Fuck.”

He stepped closer and curled his arms around me. I should have pushed him away, but I dragged him closer instead. “I guess you’re not gonna blow me now?”

I snorted. “Probably not while he’s in the house.”

“He won’t go to your captain about us, will he? I don’t want you to be investigated for whatever this is.” He squinted at me, and his concern made me smile.

“Who knows? I guess we’ll find out in the morning. He’s not going anywhere.”

“So… you want me to sleep in your bed tonight?” His grin turned wicked, and then he stood on his tiptoes to lick a warm path up my chin.

“No sneaky business.”

He held up his palm. “Scout’s honor.”