Katrina played a hunch. “Were they taken away? Has the state terminated her parental rights?”
“I lose track of all her trials. They’re living with some family in Roseville, but it’s just supposed to be temporary. I don’t know. I don’t go visit. You gotta ask the social worker.” She stabbed a final finger at Katrina. “You tell Keith.”
Starr jerked her shoulder from Katrina’s grasp and walked away, setting a fast pace that signaled the end of the conversation. Something in the stiffness of her back warned Katrina not to follow.
Keith was likely waiting at her car. She texted him a quick message to let him know she’d been held up, and then she headed back into the courthouse. He might be unwilling to listen to his mother, but Katrina understood the woman’s underlying concern. Though Starr wasn’t prepared to take them on, she didn’t want to see her grandchildren end up with strangers.
The least Katrina could do was look into the matter.
A brief foray into records turned up nothing, mostly because everyone was heading home for the day. Savannah Rossetti’s name wasn’t in the system. Downstairs in the jail, she searched the sign-in sheets to see who Starr had visited. She’d just found the name Savannah Shaw when she felt the prickle of eyes boring into the back of her head.
Whirling to face the threat, she found Dustin leaning against the far wall. Though it was the end of what had to have been a long day for him too, he managed to look fresh. He smiled and waved.
She lifted a brow. “Are you babysitting me?”
Dustin pushed away from the wall and came closer. “Terrible reception down here. Rossetti tried calling, but he couldn’t get through.”
In her text, she hadn’t reassured him or told him where she’d be or what she was doing. Guilt sat heavy in her chest. “Sorry. I had some last-minute things to do.”
Inclining his head at the direction of the papers she’d just returned to the uniformed clerk, he said, “Finished?”
She nodded. Though she had a lot more digging to do, she was reluctant to air Keith’s laundry, especially when he didn’t know it was hanging out the window. “Is he terribly worried?”
“Yeah.” Dustin put his hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the door. It was a subtle alteration of the way he’d always interacted with her, as if the Dom in him acknowledged the sub in her. “I was in the building, so when he called me, I came looking for you.”
As soon as they got upstairs, Dustin fired up his cell. “This is Brandt. We’re heading your way.”
Startled at his officious tone, Katrina angled her body toward him. “Please tell me there’s not a whole team watching me.”
“There’s not a whole team watching you.”
His delivery left Katrina feeling unconvinced. “Really?”
He shrugged. “We take care of our own, Trina. You’re Legato’s sister and Rossetti’s sub. That makes you doubly ours.”
Did that mean her interaction with Starr had been witnessed? She wasn’t ready for Keith to know that, not until she had all the details behind his sister’s case.
Before she could say anything more, she heard someone calling to her. Aaron hailed her from across the lobby. He hustled toward her, a stack of files tucked under his arm.
“Katrina. Glad I caught you. I was packing up for the day when I noticed you’d left some files on your desk again.” He handed over a stack of folders.
She hadn’t left them on her desk—she’d made it a point to check—and they weren’t the kinds of things she would normally take home anyway. For the most part, she kept everything she needed on her laptop because it was much easier to transport and access. But she didn’t want to rain on Aaron’s inept thoughtfulness.
“Thanks.” She took the files and shoved them into her already bulging briefcase. As she did, she noticed that many of them weren’t relevant to her current caseload. The situation was puzzling, but a waiting Keith came first. “Got any big plans this weekend?”
Aaron usually packed his weekends full of activities. He was an avid hiker. He also liked to camp, and he was known to travel great distances just for a concert or two. He grimaced. “I promised I’d help my mom clean out her basement. She’s calling in the favor, so I’m going to be trapped in a hoarder’s paradise for two days. Actually, I’m going to get a head start tonight. As long as she doesn’t throw a fit when I try to toss out garbage, it shouldn’t be too bad.”
Katrina laid a sympathetic hand on his arm. “Rent a Dumpster. They haul it away for you.”
He laughed, the pathetic sound of a man who knew he was about to embark on a useless endeavor, and then he greeted Dustin. “Agent Brandt, how are you?”
Dustin nodded a polite greeting. “Can’t complain, especially not now that I know what you’re doing this weekend. Good luck with that.”
A few stragglers rushed through the lobby, confirming the lateness of the afternoon. The strange pull in her gut signaled a need for Keith. It had been too long since she’d seen him.
Aaron scratched at a spot on his forehead. “Thanks. I need to get going. I’d offer to walk you to the parking garage, but I can see you’re already well guarded.”
As he walked away, she debated steering Dustin toward the elevators so she could return the files, but she reasoned that Aaron would notice that she wasn’t bringing them back the next morning, and that might hurt his feelings. He’d gone out of his way to bring them to her. “Are you finished for the day?” Dustin’s question held no judgment or warning to hurry. “Did you get what you needed from downstairs?”
Across the empty lobby, she spied Jordan speaking on his cell phone. He nodded at her and Dustin but made no move to join them. After several seconds, the elevators opened. He ended his call and stepped inside. Katrina didn’t envy him or whomever he had to meet after the end of a long workday.
She didn’t want to be the cause of Dustin having to pull a later night at work. “Yes and sort of. I can dig a little deeper tomorrow.”
They turned toward the exit nearest the parking garage. As she did, her heavier briefcase slipped from her hand. It hit the floor with a dull thud, and the files fanned out across the shiny terrazzo tiles.
“Crap.” The last thing she needed was another delay. Keith was probably waiting for her at home.
Dustin knelt down and helped her gather the files. He read the name of the nearest one. “Snyder. I didn’t think you were still on that case.”
Katrina shook her head. She’d been removed from that case months ago. Chief Alder had cited the personal nature of her association with several witnesses. She’d meant that her relationships with Malcolm and Darcy could present a conflict of interest. “Aaron means well, but most of these aren’t even tangentially related to cases I’m working. I worry for him.”
Picking up the next file, Dustin frowned. “Friedman. I thought that case was eyes-only right now. It’s an active investigation.”
As far as Katrina knew, Dustin was correct. It was on the tip of her tongue to suggest returning the files, but visions of Keith beckoned. “I’ll keep hold of them and return them in the morning.”
She needed to seriously consider whether to inform the chief of this development. It could mean grave repercussions for somebody, and that gave her pause. What if they’d ended up on her desk as part of an honest mistake? She had no idea how that might have happened, but at least they were safe in her custody.
Dustin made small talk with her until they reached the row where her car was parked. Though she could only make out his outline in the dim structure, she knew it was Keith leaning against her car with one foot propped on the rear bumper.
“He looks angry.”
If Dustin heard the worry in her tone, he didn’t react to it. “You made him wait.”
That knot of longing drawing her to him turned into apprehension. The text she’d sent him hadn’t been detailed, nor had it included a time that he should expect her. “He didn’t have to wait.”
&nbs
p; Dustin snorted. “Seriously, Trina? You think he’d just leave you here?”
“You’re here.” According to him, she’d had a tail the whole day. It wasn’t like Keith was part of the detail assigned to her case. Nobody was. As she went through the arguments in her head, she knew none of them would hold up.
So did Dustin. He didn’t bother to reply.
They stopped behind her car. Keith’s hard stare had her dropping her gaze to fasten it on the concrete floor.
“She had her face buried in the visitor sheets at the county jail.”
From the periphery of her vision, she saw Keith nod. He held out his hand, and the two men shook. “Thanks. I’ll take it from here.”
She felt a little like a prisoner being transferred from state to federal custody. Should she thank Dustin for the escort, or would that only get her in trouble for speaking when she wasn’t supposed to? She glanced up, looking to Keith for any kind of signal as to what she should do.
Dustin took care of the problem. He pulled her in for a big hug and a brotherly kiss on the cheek. “Take care, Trina. Hopefully tomorrow isn’t a day where you have to spend a lot of time sitting.”
With that inspiring comment, Dustin left her alone with Keith.
She returned her gaze to the floor and tried to remain as still as possible. Defensive arguments ran through her head. Arming herself intellectually against anything he might say only made her tenser.
Finally she could stand it no longer. “I’m sorry. I should have let you know how long I’d be.”
He crushed her in his arms, holding her so tight she thought she’d suffocate. “I know there are days when you’ll have to work late, and there will be plenty of times I won’t be able to meet you like this to make sure you’re safe.”
It was amazing that he’d been able to do it four days in a row. Malcolm was never this consistent, and his lateness was always due to work. Keith must have pulled a lot of strings to be able to watch her this closely.
“But I could at least let you know where I am and when I expect to be done.” She wasn’t sure how much he understood with her face buried in his chest. The white shirt he wore would likely bear some imprint of what was left of her makeup after this long day.
“That would be thoughtful.” He released her a little. She inhaled fresh, oxygenated air.
“Have I earned a punishment?”
The pensiveness of his stare made her feel funny. She was afraid he would refuse to punish her and nervous that he would. Sometime in the past week, she’d come to need that certainty. A simple spanking had the ability to turn her on and chase away her guilt.
For so many years, she’d carried around guilt for deeds great and small. When she said something that somebody took wrong, even though she apologized, she would feel bad about it for weeks afterward. If she disappointed someone or if she passed up a chance to do something thoughtful for another person, the moment would replay in her mind, haunting her at those times when she was most vulnerable, like when she was about to fall asleep.
Certainly she’d messed up with Keith. It wasn’t possible to know every single expectation or custom until they’d been together for a while. They’d been friends for years, but not like this.
He shook his head. “No, but now that we’ve established guidelines for when one of us is going to be late, you will earn a punishment if you ever do this again.”
His explanation made the lack of punishment easier to bear. She nodded her understanding of the rule and realized he was holding himself to the same standard. Such a tight manifestation of his morals reflected the man she had always loved.
“It won’t happen again.”
And she refused to feel guilty for not telling him that his mother had contacted her. Once she knew more about the situation, she would tell him everything. There was no point in rubbing salt in one of his childhood wounds if she didn’t have to.
He kissed her forehead and released her. “I’ll meet you at your place. We can stay there tonight, but I want you to pack a bag, because you’ll be staying with me this weekend.”
She tossed the extra files into her trunk, but she stowed her briefcase in the passenger seat of her car.
On the way home, she reflected on the strangeness of the week. If this were a normal relationship for either of them, she wouldn’t have spent every night with him. She would have communicated with him in some way—a phone call, a text, or an e-mail—but she probably wouldn’t have consented to seeing him more than once or twice during the workweek.
Keith, she knew, had maintained complete control over his girlfriends, though he hadn’t been in the habit of seeing them more than a couple days each week. That must have been part of his game, forcing them to await his whim. If he pulled that crap with her, she would boot him to the curb, her years of fantasies be damned. While she truly liked having him assume control of certain aspects of her life, she didn’t want to play games with anybody.
She wondered if his level of involvement was due more to the presence of her stalker or because he wanted to see her so much. She muted her radio, put her phone on speaker, and dialed Keith. His car was right behind hers. In retrospect, not carpooling this week was turning out to be a tremendous waste of gas.
“What’s wrong, Kitty Kat?” As if he could tell she was growing upset, he purred his greeting.
There was no point in mincing words. “Are you spending so much time with me because you want to or because you’re so dedicated to keeping watch over me?”
“Both.” He followed her lead and didn’t hesitate. “Does it bother you that I’m over so much? Honey, if you need some time alone or a night out with your girlfriends, just tell me. I’m not trying to keep you prisoner or alienate you from your friends.”
She didn’t think he had been, and given the hours she normally worked, her career was the only thing suffering from lack of attention right now. Her friends were equally busy, so she didn’t see them frequently, though she did keep up electronically. “No, that’s not it. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to spend all your time with me.”
Chapter Ten
Keith was more than a little relieved that Kat wasn’t in the car with him. He’d never been one of those Doms who demanded his submissive give up or alter her connections to her family and friends. Those were the things that anchored a person, and they were an integral part of who a person was. And while he hadn’t cared much about who his subs were as people, he had always respected their right to nurture other relationships. In fact, he insisted on it, if only to give himself some nights off.
Especially with Kat, he didn’t want to impede her life. He wanted to give her more, to make sure somebody took care of her while she was busy taking care of everyone else. He was shocked by her question even though he knew that he had been monopolizing her time. Even when she’d dined with her parents on Monday, he’d been by her side.
“Honey, I don’t feel obligated to spend all my time with you.” He needed to spend as much time as possible with her. That was completely different. The role reversal—the idea of him being the needy one—was something he hadn’t expected. In many ways, he was still acclimating to the fact that he needed her at all, much less that he needed her more than she needed him.
As he pulled into the designated parking slot next to hers, he looked through the glass, caught her eye, and ended the call without another word. She looked shaken, more so than she had when Dustin had delivered her to him and she’d comprehended just how worried they’d all been due to her cryptic text.
He made it to her car door before she could gather her things, and he opened it. Closing it provided an opportunity to cage her against the car. “Want to tell me what’s going on in that beautiful, intelligent brain of yours? Are you getting tired of me or tired of being under surveillance?”
“Neither.” She focused on his tie and didn’t meet his eyes. “I don’t like having to be under surveillance, but I understand why it’s necessary.
I just know how much you hate being tied down.”
In the past, he’d used his submissives and tossed them aside if they became clingy. The suffocating feeling set his nerves on edge and reminded him of waking up more than once with his sister pressing a pillow over his face. It was different with Kat. He tried for a lighter tone to put her at ease. “I do prefer to be the one tying you down. You look damn sexy wearing nothing but a few ropes.”
The rate of her breathing increased as tension fled from her shoulders. She parted her lips and traced her tongue along the inside of the bottom one. Before his eyes, her breasts seemed to swell. He watched the rapid rise and fall of her chest, and he appreciated how well she responded to his dominance and the promise of bondage.
A collar, he decided, and nipple clamps. She was wearing entirely too many clothes. He needed to get her inside before he shoved up her skirt and took her in the parking lot. He wound his fingers around her upper arm. “Come on, Kitty Kat. It seems you need another lesson in how much I want you.”
Ever the vigilant agent, he made her wait in the kitchen while he scoped out her condo. Detecting no threats, he had her check things a little more closely. When she returned to the kitchen shaking her head, he noted there had been no incidents since her locks and been changed and security cameras had been installed. Had her stalker been watching, or did he have another way of knowing about the new safety precautions?
Dustin was running checks on all the neighbors, especially those with windows that offered a direct view of Kat’s place. It was routine, starting with the closest and most obvious, but Keith didn’t think that avenue would yield anything, especially since Dustin was essentially attending to the investigation on his off time. Their immediate boss had approved a preliminary investigation, but she hadn’t allocated other resources.
Taking her hand, he tugged her close and fitted her body to his. The tight rein he’d kept on his cock since she’d dropped her gaze in the parking garage eased, and he let her feel the evidence of his desire.
Re/Paired (Doms of the FBI Book 2) Page 21