LOGINHarper’s POV:Hailey's heels hit the floor first.That sharp click, click, cutting through the silence of the interrogation room before the rest of her even fully cleared the doorway... like every room she walked into needed a warning she was coming.The other attorney followed behind her. Like somewhere between the hallway and this door she'd already settled the question of who was leading and who was following.I kept my palm pressed against my jaw and watched her move to the chair across the table... watched her open that briefcase and spread her files across the metal surface without rushing, without looking at me, like she had all the time in the world and this room wasn't costing me anything.Hardin's hand stayed on my shoulder from where he stood beside me. Still. Reading everything... reading the air, reading me, waiting to see which direction this was going to go."So..." I let the word sit there for a second. "How exactly are you planning to help me, Hailey?"She looked up f
Hardin’s POV:The door clicked shut behind Hailey and I didn't move from where I was standing.My back pressed against it.My jaw was so tight I could feel my back teeth grinding and I couldn't make myself stop.I was angry at myself. Because I'd called the best lawyer I had available and somehow the universe had handed me the one person guaranteed to make this night more impossible.Harper was still in the chair across the room. Her cuffed hands sat flat on the metal table and she was staring at the floor between us... her shoulders pulled inward, her whole body doing that thing it did when she was swallowing something down, fighting to keep it contained.She wasn't crying.But I knew that silence. I'd watched her wear it in my office years ago right before her body gave out on her completely. Right before she hit the floor and I lost ten years off my life in the span of thirty seconds.I crossed the room fast and dropped to one knee in front of her chair."Hey..." I kept my voice lo
Harper’s POV:"Hey, hey, calm down."Hailey's voice hit me like nails on a chalkboard... that sing-song sweetness that didn't belong in a police interrogation room, didn't belong anywhere near me right now.I didn't remember she had that voice.I was gripping the edge of the metal table without realizing it, my cuffed wrists aching from the pressure, my whole body coiled so tight I could feel my pulse in my teeth.Hardin didn't give her another second."Come here." His hand closed around Hailey's arm and he was already moving, already steering her back through the door before she could finish whatever she'd been about to say... before she could touch me again, before I could do something I couldn't take back.The other man she'd come with... Hardin's LA attorney, quiet and careful in his expensive suit... slid into the chair Hardin had just left without being asked.The door swung shut.I sat there staring at it.My wrists were bleeding a little where the cuffs had been digging in. I
Harper's POV:"Mr. Wolfe, you have to step back."The bald headed policeman tried to push Hardin away from me, his hand reaching out toward Hardin's chest like he actually planned to make physical contact."Do not touch me!" Hardin's response flew out immediately, sharp enough to slice through the tense air in the station.The officer froze mid-motion, his hand still suspended in the space between them.The man must have understood something dangerous in Hardin's tone because he backed off right away, his hand dropping back to his side, his shoulders relaxing slightly like he'd decided this battle wasn't worth fighting.I was still standing there in complete shock trying to process what was happening around me.I didn't know what was going on... why there were handcuffs digging into my wrists, why Jessica had been sitting out there in restraints when we first walked through those doors.Jessica was completely quiet now where she sat across the room.Nothing like when she'd first seen
Harper’s POV:"Why would I, Harper? What happened?"He grabbed the phone from my hand before I could pull it away.His own phone was still ringing on the bed but he ignored it completely, focused all his attention on me instead.I stared at him while he read the words on my screen. 'Harper Lane, you've been invited to the district police station for questioning.'"That's definitely not me, Harper." His eyes came up from the phone to lock on mine. "Yes, I want your dad's death situation to be resolved properly, the other man's death too, but I can't go behind your back like this. I wouldn't do that to you.""So what's the situation then?" I responded while my brain was trying to figure out why I had been summoned like this.I just opened up to Hardin about everything... finally told him the whole truth about what happened six years ago, and then this shows up on my phone?The timing felt wrong.Too convenient."Will you go with me?" I asked Hardin because I wanted to get to the root of
Hardin's POV:"Never! Come here."My hand shot out, grabbed her arm before she could move another step away from me. I pulled her body closer to where I was standing with enough force that she stumbled forward, crashed into my chest.My grip on her arm was firm. I wasn't letting go no matter how hard she tried to wrench herself free.She pushed against my chest with both palms. I could feel the pressure of her hands shoving hard, trying to force me backward, out of her room, but her small body compared to mine couldn't do much of anything against my weight, the muscle I'd built up over six years of missing her.I stood there like a wall. Didn't budge even an inch."Harper, I'm not going anywhere. If I'll go, that'll be on me making that choice myself, not you pushing me out." The words came out rougher than I wanted them to. I could hear my own desperation bleeding through every syllable like an open wound. "I decide when I leave, not you."My other hand came up. My fingers wrapped ar
Harper's POV:"Hailey…" Roman's voice cut through the tension the second she pulled out the chair.He was already standing... already reaching for her arm like he could physically remove her from this situation before it exploded.I watched his fingers wrap around her wrist and something in my ches
Harper's POV:My foot pressed harder on the gas pedal and the speedometer climbed past eighty... eighty-five... ninety, and I knew I should slow down but my heart was beating even faster than the car was moving and I couldn't make myself ease up.The highway moved past the windows and my hands grip
Harper's POV:Something warm pressed against my side and my eyes cracked open slow.Hardin.He was still here... still asleep next to me with his arm thrown across my waist like he was afraid I'd disappear if he let go.My chest did this stupid flutter thing and I hated it... hated that just lookin
Hardin’s POV:The phone kept ringing in my hand and I couldn't make myself move, couldn't make myself answer it even though Harper was staring at me waiting.Hailey calling Harper's phone.How did she even get this number?"Pick it up." Harper's voice came out flat and dead. "I want to hear what sh







