“Yes, but she’s still my daughter.”
“And yet you know very little about her,” Dad challenged, his temper ratcheting up. “It took a great show of courage for Griffin to ask my permission. I haven’t always been … pleasant … where he is concerned. He could’ve merely asked Aisling and then expected me to accept the answer regardless.
“He didn’t, although I’m pretty sure that if I had said no he would’ve asked her anyway because that’s how he does things,” he continued. “I knew before he asked that they would marry. It was obvious. As for your participation in this blessed event, that’s up to Aisling.”
“But you’re still going to pay, right?” The question was out of my mouth before I thought better of it.
“Of course I’m going to pay, Aisling.” Dad shook his head. “Were you really afraid of asking me that?”
“She’s been a little … uptight … about the planning,” Griffin volunteered. “She’s working herself into a frenzy daily. I think it’s nerves.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“Oh, you are and it’s cute.” Cillian patted my head as he passed. “As for permission, I don’t think Aisling and Griffin need anyone’s permission, Mom. He’s already part of the family. They live together. The wedding is merely a formality.”
I risked a glance at Griffin and found he looked absurdly touched by Cillian’s statement.
“The wedding is a formality,” Dad agreed. “I accepted Griffin into this family a long time ago.”
“But why?” Mom wasn’t holding back now. “He’s a police officer. Last time I checked, police officers make very little money and their lives are often in jeopardy. Do you want Aisling to get that call one night?”
“That’s the last thing I want. Given Aisling’s track record over the last year, though, Griffin could just as easily be getting that call.” Dad moved to get up and then settled again, clearly restless. “They love each other. I’m not going to apologize for her being happy.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Mom protested. “I don’t dislike Griffin.”
“You could’ve fooled me,” Griffin muttered under his breath.
“I don’t dislike you,” Mom repeated. “I’m merely trying to ensure that Aisling has the best life she can.”
I found my voice. “And Griffin will give me that. We’re happy. I didn’t think I’d ever find someone who would put up with me and this family – including a mother who may or may not be eating people – but I have. Why does that irritate you so?”
“Knock it off with the ‘eating people’ stuff,” Braden warned.
I ignored him. “Griffin is my future. Sure, I’m a little nervous because the idea of standing up in a white dress in front of people and promising to be a better person than I might actually be gives me the heebie jeebies, but I’ve never doubted that he was the one for me.”
“Oh, that might be the sweetest thing you’ve said in days.” Griffin squeezed my hand. “Does this mean you’ll stop being a nervous freak of nature?”
“Probably not.”
“Well, I can live with it. In fact, you lasted longer with the nerves than I thought you would. I had two weeks in the pool and lost fifty bucks.”
I slanted my eyes, irritation returning with a vengeance. “You were in the pool?”
“Hey, does that mean I won?” Aidan looked excited. “I have my eye on a new jacket at Woodward Crossing. It’s black leather and fancy. Now would be a good time for extra money.”
“You did win,” Cillian confirmed. “I have the money upstairs. Remind me before you go.”
“You know, I should be offended that you were all placing bets on me,” I said. “Do you think that’s fair?”
“I think that’s human nature,” Dad replied. “You’ll notice I didn’t place a wager.”
“No, but you said she’d melt down before New Year’s Eve. We all knew that was too soon,” Redmond pointed out.
“Stop talking, Redmond,” Dad ordered when he saw the look on my face. “Aisling, I knew months ago that you and Griffin were meant to be. Sometimes life works that way. You should consider yourself lucky that it worked that way for you, because it’s not always that easy for everyone.”
Dad spared a glance for Mom before continuing. “As for you, Lily, I appreciate that you’re trying to be involved with the kids and not pushing them to accept things they’re not ready to accept,” he said. “However, you’re not in charge of the decisions in this family. I am.”
“I didn’t want to make the decisions,” Mom said, her voice cracking. “I just wanted to be informed.”
“You were informed.”
“Six weeks after the fact.” Mom crossed her arms over her chest, fury positively rolling off of her. “It’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” Dad shot back. “Deal with it.” He flicked his eyes to me. “As for you, don’t skimp on this wedding. Make it as big and as grand as you want. If you skimp, I’ll know, and I’ll be angry. Do you understand?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You’re my daughter. I want to do this for you.”
“Since you’re paying for a big wedding for Aisling, does that mean you’re going to give us extra money, too?” Braden asked, attempting to defuse the tension.
“The only thing I’m going to give you is a boot in your behind.”
And just like that, things were back to normal. Er, well, other than the scowl on Mom’s face. There was nothing I could do about that, though. Dad was right. She was only tangentially a member of the family. Whether she’d make it all the way back was still up in the air … as were the lingering questions I had about exactly how she spent her days.
That was a concern for another time. “What are we having for dinner?”
“Prime rib,” Dad answered. “I figured it was a good night for comfort food.”
“Yes!” I pumped my fist, excited.
Dad smiled. “Did I mention you’re my favorite today?”
“No, but I’m always happy to be at top of the heap.”
GRIFFIN PARKED AND waited for me in the lot outside the townhouse. He had a bemused expression on his face, one that always accompanies a loud Grimlock dinner, but he didn’t seem beaten down by the evening’s events.
I slipped my hand in his as we walked to the front door. “How do you feel?”
Griffin grinned. “I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be my line.”
“I feel fine.”
“Other than the guy you think was following you, right?”
I shrugged. “I could have been wrong.”
“You’re not usually wrong on things like that,” Griffin said. “I know you didn’t want me to bring up what happened last night in front of your family, but I’m a bit worried that things aren’t going to be wrapped up as easily as I originally thought.”
The conversational shift surprised me. I’d almost forgotten about the potential zombie – what with my human-chomping mother melting down over dinner and all – and questioning Griffin on the medical examiner’s findings completely slipped my mind.
“What happened?”
“Nothing terrible,” Griffin cautioned. “It’s just … when I called Mark Green for an update he conveniently didn’t answer my calls.”
“What do you think that means?”
“He could have been busy.”
“But?”
“But there’s a thing called customary courtesy when it comes to law enforcement, and he broke that today,” Griffin answered. “I’m guessing the medical examiner’s findings are somehow bad for us.”
I rolled the idea through my head as I waited for Griffin to open the door, kicking at a set of footprints in the thin veneer of snow that had fallen since I’d left this morning. “Someone was here.”
Griffin followed my gaze. “It was probably a solicitor.”
That was possible. We got a lot of those in Royal Oak. “Do you think the
guy who was following me was an undercover cop?” I don’t know why I jumped to that conclusion, but given Griffin’s update it seemed a logical assumption.
“I don’t know.” Griffin ushered me inside, double-checking the lock before following me into the living room. He gathered my coat with his and hung them in the closet before moving to the couch and settling next to me. “I don’t want you to worry about this. You didn’t do anything wrong, and they have no evidence that suggests otherwise.”
“But you’re worried, aren’t you?”
“I’m more worried about your mother stalking me and putting a knife in my back when I’m not looking.”
He meant it as a joke, but it fell flat. “I’ll talk to her. I’ll make sure she knows that if something happens to you she’ll be the first suspect.”
“Aisling, your mother isn’t going to go after me.” Griffin sounded sure of himself, so I wanted to believe him. “She knows that would reflect badly on her. Don’t get me wrong, I think she hates me, but she’s not dumb enough to go after me.”
“I’m sorry about tonight. I didn’t even think about telling her the news. I guess I can understand why she’s upset, but her reaction was over the top.”
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
“I don’t know. She wasn’t there when you proposed. Everyone else was. She’s been out of my life for such a long time that I didn’t think about it.”
Griffin didn’t look convinced. “I think you’re struggling to trust her, despite what she did to save you a few weeks ago. Part of you wants to believe she’s telling the truth, but the other part can’t allow it because you recognize the danger associated with it.”
“That’s true.” I stretched my arms over my head. “It’s done now. I screwed it up, but now she knows. She’ll have to get used to it. I want you. You want me. We’re getting married. That’s the end of it.”
“So the nerves are gone?” Griffin ran his finger up and down my arm. “Does this mean you’ll be easier to deal with?”
“No. I can’t help myself. I freak out. It’s what I do.”
Griffin chuckled. “I know. I find it cute sometimes. We’ll deal with it.”
I shifted on the couch so I faced him. “If I tell you something, do you promise not to laugh?”
“No, but I promise to love you no matter what. That’s the best I can do.”
It would have to be enough. “I spent the entire day looking over my shoulder for zombies.”
Griffin didn’t laugh, although he did crack a smile. “I figured. At least cupid and a cop distracted you for a bit.”
“I know you don’t want to think about it, but I’m guessing that the medical examiner’s initial findings held up and now your buddy is trying to figure out how we got a month-old body to downtown Royal Oak without anyone noticing. He won’t believe that guy walked there himself, so the only rational explanation is that we did something.”
“Except we didn’t.”
“He doesn’t know that and he won’t think outside the box,” I argued. “You’ve seen crazy things since hooking up with me and you don’t believe.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t believe you,” Griffin clarified. “I just said … it can’t be zombies. There has to be another explanation. I don’t want you making yourself sick over this. We’ll figure it out.”
“We’d better. I don’t think it’ll be much of a wedding if I’m behind bars.”
Griffin snickered, sliding his arm around my waist and tugging me to his side. “How about we think about something else for the rest of the night? I think we’ve had enough drama of the mother and zombie nature for one evening.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?”
Griffin’s grin was devilish. “Well, I’ve been giving it some thought.” He leaned in and whispered a suggestive thought. “What do you think?”
“I think the last one in the bedroom is a rotten egg,” I teased, using my hip to nudge him out of the way as I bolted in that direction. “Oh, don’t forget the chocolate sauce. I bought a new can. It’s in the refrigerator.”
Griffin was already heading for the fridge. “I love that we’re always on the same page when it comes to stuff like this.”
I cast a quick glance over my shoulder and smiled. “You’re not the only one.”
11
ELEVEN
I woke, warm and naked, to a pounding sound. I’m not a morning person, so I wasn’t happy about the incessant noise.
“Again? What are you, a rabbit? Let me sleep and I’ll consider it in an hour.”
Griffin was out of bed like a shot, yanking on a pair of boxer shorts and stumbling from the bedroom before I managed to muster the brain power to figure out what he was doing. As if in a daze, I searched the floor next to the bed for something to pull on. All I found was Griffin’s discarded shirt from the night before and a pair of pajama bottoms that didn’t even remotely match. I tugged them on anyway, and by the time I hit the living room I found Griffin squaring off with Detective Green.
This couldn’t be good.
“Is there a reason you’re banging on our front door before dawn?”
“It’s after dawn,” Green said calmly, gesturing toward the window for emphasis. “You need to get dressed and come down to the station. We have a few questions for you.”
“Excuse me?” Griffin’s eyebrows flew up his forehead. “You’re hauling us in for questioning?”
“I am.” Mark’s expression was cold and flat. “Please don’t make this difficult.”
“Oh, well, I’d hate to make this difficult for you,” Griffin muttered, flicking his eyes to me when he sensed my presence in the doorway between the living room and our bedroom. “Apparently, we’re being summoned to the police station for questioning.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that. Being questioned by cops didn’t exactly fill me with fear. Griffin questioned me in an official capacity before we ever started dating, after all. I also had been arrested a few times during my wild teenage years – I was innocent every time, except for the car thefts, which were misunderstandings – so this wasn’t my first go around on the overzealous cop merry-go-round.
“I don’t believe you can compel us to visit the police station without a warrant,” I offered, dragging a hand through my snarled hair. I knew how I must have looked to Green, but I refused to get myself worked up over it. Whatever he thought of me – and it was obviously bad – it didn’t matter. What mattered was being smart about this.
“I can secure a warrant if you like,” Green sneered.
“That won’t be necessary.” Griffin pinned me with a pointed look. “Right?”
I never knew it was possible to love someone as much as I loved Griffin, but I couldn’t take his side on this one. This was too important. He was looking at it from a good guy place, believing that all innocent people walked free. He couldn’t see what I could: that Green believed we were guilty and was ready to officially start going after us.
“I believe you’re going to need a warrant,” I said carefully, folding my arms over my chest. “I also believe, while you’re waiting to get your warrant, that you should be outside of our home.”
Griffin’s mouth dropped open at my calm demeanor. “Aisling, he’s just here to ask questions. That’s normal.”
“No, he’s here to force us to the police station,” I corrected. “That is not normal. That means we’re officially suspects.”
Griffin slid a sidelong look in Green’s direction, his mind clearly working overtime. Green took advantage of the lag in conversation to attempt to smooth things over.
“I didn’t say you were suspects,” Green supplied. “I simply said we want to talk to you at the police station. If you’re innocent you shouldn’t have a problem with that.”
“You can’t run that load of crap on me,” I countered. “I know how this works.”
“Yes, I’ve seen your record.” Green’s teeth gleamed under the muted light
. “You have your own special way of dealing with law enforcement, don’t you?”
I pursed my lips. I certainly did have my own way of dealing with potential arrest. Before Griffin, I had very little respect for law enforcement. Now, because I loved him, I made myself to look at things from a different angle. I forced myself to see his side of things. It wasn’t easy, but he was a good cop. I wasn’t sure I could say the same of Green. I was starting to believe he was a lazy cop, nothing more.
“If you want to question us at the police station, you’ll need a warrant,” I said.
Griffin openly glared at me, shaking his head. “You don’t need a warrant for me. I’ll willingly go to the station.”
The look Green shot me was one of triumph. “Thank you. I’ll give you a few minutes to get ready.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Griffin added, under his breath. “She’s not a morning person.”
Green remained impassive as he stared at me. “I think I figured that out the second I saw the hair.”
I ignored his tone and followed Griffin into the bedroom, waiting until he shut the door before bracing myself. Instead of yelling, Griffin merely shook his head.
“Why are you making this difficult?”
“Because I have no choice,” I replied. “He’s going after me on this. You feel it. I know you do. Why else would he come here first thing in the morning? He’s trying to catch us off guard. He’s trying to catch us in the act of … doing something.”
“All he caught us in the act of doing was sleeping.” Griffin stripped out of the boxer shorts he hastily tugged on before answering the door and strode naked to the closet. “Get dressed. He won’t be patient for long.”
I did as instructed, but only because I knew Green was securing a warrant and it would save time. I selected an obnoxious T-shirt and basic jeans before heading into the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and attempt to tame my wild hair. I was just finishing up when the sound of voices in the backyard caught my attention. The bathroom doesn’t have a window, so I walked back into the bedroom and drew apart the vertical blinds and peered through the slats.
Grim Rising (Aisling Grimlock Book 7) Page 11