“Hey, man.” Q’s greeting broke the silence I had settled into and already, I could feel my jaw harden and set. He appeared from the kitchen, holding a beer and dropped into the recliner adjacent to the couch I took over. “We need to talk.”

You don’t fucking say.

I sat up abruptly and caught that his body was tense and ready for battle.

“What the fuck were you doing there with her?” I whispered as loud as I could without breaking the quiet peace in the house.

“Protecting her like you told me to,” he answered just as harshly. “I couldn’t get in contact with you to tell you my leave had been approved and she had fled town, so what the fuck was I supposed to do, huh?”

“And after you killed my father? What then?”

“We both know you don’t give a shit about him, and we both know what would have happened if I’d told you what she’d done.”

“I don’t give a shit. She’s mine.”

“She won’t stay that way if you keep being a dick. She’s yours yet you keep finding the need to enforce it. The only thing threatening your hold on her is you.”

He might have been right. Fuck… I knew he was right. It didn’t stop me from destroying everything that was good for me.

“Look, it’s done. Mitch is dead. I know you wanted to get to him first, but…” He took a swig of his beer and then picked at the label as his frown deepened.

“Why?” I had to know how Lake convinced him to kill Mitch so recklessly.

“John.”

“Come again?”

“Your uncle. He didn’t deserve to die the way he did and I owed him.

“How the fuck so?”

“He saved my life, and he didn’t even know it.”

“That’s because he didn’t care.”

He shook his head and regarded me with pity. “The saddest part about this is you really believe your uncle didn’t care about you.”

“Ten years of absence will make a person think so.”

“He saved your life! He saved my life.” His voice echoed around us but neither of us seemed to notice.

“Do you really believe that?”

“You really don’t?” When I didn’t respond, he huffed in frustration and shook his head. “You cannot be that blind.”

“John was a coward.”

“And you? Are you any better?”

“What the hell are you getting at?”

“You’re going to lose that girl because you’re afraid she’ll break you, but maybe it’s what you need, man. You can’t be invincible forever.”

“Isn’t that why one would be invincible?”

“Fuck, man. You might be right.” He cracked a smile, and I found myself grinning back at him. Why was my relationship with my childhood friend unbendable when my relationship with Lake had cracked right down the middle? Could it have been because she affected me more than anyone else did? I trusted her with a part of me that no one had been able to touch before her.

I groaned and leaned back, covering my eyes with my hands. How the fuck would I get us past this? Ensuring Lake never had the chance to deceive me again was high on my list of priorities.

“How did they bag her?”

I released a humorless laugh. “She signed in. They have her signature on file the day of the murder.”

He was already shaking his head before I finished speaking. “That’s impossible. She snuck in the back. I saw her.”

My chest threatened to break open from the harsh pounding of my heart. She was still lying to me. “Did you see her leave?”

“She left before I did a sweep of the room.”

“What about her car?”

“I was a little preoccupied with not getting caught with blood on my hands. Besides, why would she stick around?.”

“She told me her grandmother is living at the facility. It’s the only reason they aren’t able to pin the murder on her yet. She has a valid excuse for being there. The father of her boyfriend also residing there was just a coincidence.” It was the story Thompson was able to spin. It was a rocky defense but the best we had. He was also planning to exploit the illegal arrest in court and obliterate their credibility. Whatever idiot made that call would regret it for the rest of his life. I’d make sure of it.

“It sounds like you need to talk to her.” He must have anticipated my intent because he added, “But not tonight. It’s been a long day. Sleep it off. You need a clear head because your girl’s got it in her head that you need to be protected. She won’t give in if you push her.”