Page 49

There’s nothing again as I grab my bag and my badge, but then I hear the sound of a door opening and Rune’s muffled voice. I can’t really make it out, but I strain to listen as I head downstairs and pause in Teddy’s doorway.

He looks up at me with a quirked brow, and I hold up a finger, trying to hear anything about what’s going on.

It’s definitely Rune talking, and then another voice. His voice.

Fucking Neal. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but I can hear his tone of voice, and it’s definitely threatening. My stomach drops to my feet because I know guys like him. I know that they will take things too far just to recover their pride, and his was definitely wounded by the hospital.

“Do you know where Rune lives?” I ask Teddy.

“Uh…like…”

“Like his apartment. Not the place he shares with his parents.”

Teddy shrugs. “I mean, yeah, but⁠—”

“Is it close?” He blinks at me, and I huff. “It’s an emergency. Like, potentially serious. Involving his ex.”

Teddy’s face pales. “Yeah. It’s two blocks over. That place with the blue shutters. He lives in building C, apartment four. On the ground floor. Do you need me to come with you?”

“No, but keep a line open in case some shit goes down. I’m going to run over there now.”

I could take my car, but it would be a lot faster on foot, not having to deal with traffic. I know the place he’s talking about, and it’s less than a minute and a half if I sprint. And as much as I do not want to do that, for Rune, I’d do pretty much everything.

I don’t hang up as I take off, but I hold the phone tightly in my hand as I push my legs and lungs to go faster. It takes me exactly one minute to get to the front gate, and my eyes frantically scan the building letters until I find C. I bolt in that direction, faltering only a second when I see Rune’s SUV, and then I make my way toward apartment four.

The door is shut, so I slow down to catch my breath and press the phone back to my ear. It’s not any more clear than before, but there are more rustling sounds and two voices, which means for the moment, Rune is okay.

And that’s the moment I second-guess myself. What if he and Neal are making up? What if I read this all wrong?

My gut hardly ever leads me astray, but this might be the one time.

I mean, Rune can handle that little fuck, so what would he need me for?

Nah, fuck it. I don’t care if I piss Rune off. I don’t care if he hates me forever after this. I need to know that he’s okay. Taking a deep breath, I try the handle, and it turns, the door swinging open.

The apartment is kind of dim, so my eyes take a second to adjust, but I immediately spot Neal standing behind Rune, holding him tightly by the back of his neck. Rune’s face is stony, his hands are at his sides, and his expression immediately shifts to shocked when he sets his gaze on me.

I clear my throat and say the first dipshit thing that comes to mind. “Want to get your hands the fuck off my boyfriend?”

The entire room goes so dead silent, you could hear a hummingbird fart. And then Neal meets my eyes. His are almost all pupil, and he’s got a weird, twisted smile on his face.

“Your boyfriend? Are you referring to my husband?” When I say nothing, he squeezes Rune’s neck so tight, Rune winces. It takes everything in me not to lunge at this fucker. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Did he not tell you he was married?”

I take a step closer, and Neal’s eyes widen in surprise. “I knew he was unfortunately contractually attached to some piece-of-shit loser who doesn’t know the meaning of consent,” I tell him. “Or how to keep his fucking hands to himself. We met, by the way. At the hospital. When you made a scene like a toddler in a children’s ER.”

Neal’s face pales, and his grip loosens.

“Now,” I go on, “if you don’t want me to call the entire fucking station down here so Rune can watch you get physically bodied into dust by a bunch of furious EMTs, I suggest you take your hands. Off. My boyfriend.”

Neal doesn’t move. Not right away. So I lift my phone, and then suddenly, his hands fly up in surrender. “I think we all need to calm down,” he says in a softer tone.

“I think I’m pretty calm,” I tell him. I look at Rune. “You calm, sweetheart?”

He swallows thickly and nods. “Pretty calm.”

“Sweet. We’re all calm.” I walk over, and Neal takes several stumbling steps backward as I slide my hand over Rune’s jaw and lean in. Our lips meet in a lingering press, and then I kiss along his cheek to whisper, “Are you hurt?”

“No,” he murmurs back.