All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [35]
For a moment, she wondered whether he’d heard her. When he finally responded, his voice was low—edgy. “I don’t know whether you can tell or not.” His eyes met hers. “I’m not in the mood to play games with you.”
Kennedy swallowed. She could definitely tell. She started to speak again, thought better of it, and then closed her mouth.
He drew in a deep breath and leaned back. The wooden chair creaked under his weight. “Good. Now that we’ve eliminated the b.s., let’s take it from the top. Why would someone go to so much trouble to try and kill you, Ms. St. James?”
Kennedy pressed her muted lips together. Her skin felt hot beneath his glare. Through the room’s suffocating tension, she almost expected him to lunge across the chair and strangle her.
“You’re trying my patience, Ms. St. James.”
Again she remained silent.
Det. Collier slammed his hand against the wooden tabletop.
She jumped, but swallowed her scream of alarm.
“I have half a mind to haul you down to a jail cell—”
“On what charges?” She jerked her head up, the fire suddenly ignited by her own breaking point.
“I kind of like the sound of conspirator to the murder of A.D.A. Underwood.”
“What? You must be joking.”
“Am I?” He leaned toward her. “My partner is fighting for his life at Grady Hospital because of you. I should lock you up for the next twenty-four hours just because I’m in a bad mood.”
He could do it, too, she realized. She swallowed again, but the lump in her throat enlarged. She searched his hard features for signs of compassion—heck she’d even settle for pity for her plight.
There were none.
Her shoulders slumped as the past week’s stress and frustration escaped her body in a long sigh. “Then I guess you’re going to have to arrest me.”
Det. Collier jumped up. His chair screeched back like a locomotive. “Fine.”
Some small part of her died when her bluff failed and she watched him stride angrily toward the door.
“Don’t you understand that I’m dead if I talk?”
Max stopped, but he didn’t immediately turn around. “You have it wrong. You’re dead if you don’t talk to me. Or did you misunderstand what tonight’s shoot-out was all about?”
“My son…”
When she failed to complete her sentence, he turned and met her opaque, yet even gaze. She looked frail and defeated. He hated himself for adding to her misery, but there was nothing he could do about it. She’d backed him into a corner. How could he protect her when she insisted on tying his hands?
“I’m sorry about your partner,” she whispered.
He found himself nodding and allowed a cloud of worry to drift across his troubled thoughts. “He’s a good cop. A good man.”
He continued to stare at her. As he waited for her to say more, his gaze danced over the subtle details of her face. Before, he had noticed the richness of her almond-shaped eyes. He couldn’t think of a man who wouldn’t drown in their depths—including him. Right now, however, he noticed the long lashes that framed her eyes as she stared down at her hands. Then there were her lips. If he had to describe them in one word, it would be fascinating.
In his humble opinion, she was simply the most beautiful woman he had ever met. And something in him died as he witnessed her shrink into herself.
“Let me ask you something, Ms. St. James.” He intentionally lowered his voice and removed any trace of sarcasm. “If I were to release you right now, how long do you think it would take for Keenan Lawrence and his army to get to you?”
She jerked at the mention of Lawrence’s name and Max gained a grain of satisfaction from knowing that his theory was correct.
A dark and troubled shadow fell over her. It was clear that she hadn’t thought that far ahead and she grew smaller by the second.
“I can take care of myself,” she answered in a whisper that sounded nothing like the spitfire he’d met two days ago.
“No, you can’t.”
Their gazes met again and he wished like hell that he could read her thoughts—wished that he knew the magic word that would get her to place her trust in him.
Kennedy was the first to pull her gaze away. “I have no choice.