Midnight Daffodil (Poisonous Petals #1)

Chapter 34Luke

thirty-four

LUKE

I was in love with Olivia.

There was no denying it. I embraced the feeling but still felt tense telling her. What if I said it, and she responded with thank you or I love spending time with you ?

Christ.

Everything about her called to my core. When she hugged me, I knew she was handcrafted for me. Her light complimented my darkness, and her soul filled in a missing piece of mine I didn’t realize I needed.

Olivia accepted things that I had a hard time accepting about myself. Fleeting thoughts of settling down went from rivulets of what-ifs to raging torrents of hope flowing through me. She changed everything in my life for the better.

Every breath I took, every beat of my heart, was for her.

I loved Olivia Ashmere, and the more time I spent with her, the harder it got not to tell her. I wanted everything to be perfect for her. I wanted her parents to love me; I wanted to tell them that I planned on doing nothing short of making Olivia the happiest woman alive for as long as my heart was beating. That nothing and no one would ever hurt her again as long as I was still breathing.

She was mine.

And I was hers in every sense of the word for now and forever. Even after I was gone from this world, my soul would be there waiting for hers in any life.

I’d been working behind the scenes with Vera to secure a visit to Olivia’s parents. She hadn’t seen them in years and didn’t deserve that kind of relationship. My heart jumped at the excitement of telling her as Aidan and I entered the station.

“I like seeing you pussy whipped, Ryder. It’s a good look on you.” Aidan still talked shit behind me.

“Keep running your fucking mouth, Aidan,” I chuckled to myself as we made our way to Lampton’s office.

Aidan couldn’t wait to give me shit for how Olivia affected me. For the better.

“Pussy must be hot and tight if she’s got you blushing and smirking.” Aidan punched me in the arm jokingly, cackling like a fucking goat. His God awful laugh echoed in the hallway as irritation crept up my spine.

I halted; Aidan tripped over his own clown ass feet. “What is it, bossman?”

I turned to face him. “I don’t give a fuck if you make jokes at my expense or even call me pussy whipped. But talk about Olivia like that again, and you might find yourself asking Matt for plastic surgery recs,” I growled.

Aidan stared for a minute; I could almost see the gears in his big head turning. His dark hair slicked back, a piece falling forward as he shook his head, laughing. “Man, I get it. Gotta respect the bossman’s old lady.” He clapped me on the back again, laughing harder.

“What the hell’s so funny?” I’d never understand him.

I threaten him, and he’s cracking up like I said the funniest shit in the world.

“You could never hurt me, bossman. Look at my precious baby face? After all we been through?” He pouted his lips and puffed his cheeks out, widening his eyes at me like a damn dog begging for food. “You wouldn’t ruin my chances for all the girls I haven’t tasted yet.”

“Aidan,” I sighed, feeling the pulse of a headache coming on, “shut the fuck up.”

“You love me. I’m tall, dark, and handsome with a spicy accent, my boy. You know I’m bringing the sauce to you and the ladies,” Aidan brayed like a donkey, throwing his arms around me. “I won’t comment about ya girl's lady parts if it gets your panties in a bunch, bossman. It’s all jokes here. Except for you being pussy whipped as fuck. That’s as real as my sex appeal.”

I stumbled at the weight of him, shoving him off me, unable to hold back the laugh I’d been stifling. Aidan was a dumbass, he never took anything I said seriously. He was loud like Vera, maybe even louder.

God, what a pair they’d be.

He made this mundane job more interesting.

Aidan was my friend.

“Get the hell off me,” I laughed.

“Gentleman, I hate to break up this love affair, but I’d like to go home sometime tonight.” Lampton cleared his throat.

Aidan winked at me as we stepped into the Chief's office. He sat behind his desk, looking exhausted.

What the hell was he doing here so late?

“Ryder,” he addressed me. “Take a seat.”

I didn’t like that. But I did as he asked. “What’s this about?”

Aidan stood behind me with his arms crossed. A tightlipped glower replaced the boyish grin. His gaze met mine briefly, he shrugged before turning back to Lampton. The thing about Aidan was he fucked around, but he was always on my side.

“You started a new relationship.”

Well, fuck.

“Yeah.” The pit of my stomach churned, my nails dug into my palm. “What of it?”

Lampton sighed, his soft gut flopping over his belt that was fighting for its God damn life. “Look, you know why I’m bringing this up.”

I shook my head slightly. “Enlighten me.”

Lampton shifted, loosening the loops on the belt. “Come on, Luke. You know who she was with. How you guys met”—his eyes refused to meet mine—"could look bad for you."

Well, isn’t that some fucking funny shit?

“What the hell are you trying to say?”

“Listen, Luke, I don’t want to upset you. That’s not it. It’s just,” he stuttered, raising his hands to acquiesce, “thousands of women in this city, and you’re sleeping with the one who recently left one of the most powerful lawyers.”

I heard Aidan shift behind me. He could probably feel the tension radiating off of me.

“You’re shittin’ me,” I said as I leaned forward in the chair. “Who I'm sleeping with is none of yours or anyone else's business. What the hell does Matt’s reputation have to do with it?”

He had no words.

“You fucking heard the call from the first night I brought her here. You heard it and didn’t do shit with it,” I growled.

The justice system was a fat fucking joke more often than not, and now it involved the woman I loved?

Unacceptable.

“He didn’t directly threaten her, Luke. You know I don’t want anything to happen to her; you know I did what I could. I even told you to get her a restraining order,” he pleaded his sad ass case with me.

“Oh, right. A restraining order.” I let out a laugh, sitting back until I leaned on two legs, looking at Lampton through darkened vision. Anger blackened the edges as I crossed my arms. “Tell me, sir, does that piece of paper stop a fucking bullet?”

He just looked at me. Stuck on fucking stupid.

“Answer me, Chief.”

He shook his head. “It wouldn’t stop a bullet, but…” he trailed off.

“I don’t wanna hear it. What’s it going to take for the system to take this issue with Matt seriously? When he kills her?” I spoke the words cold and slow. “When her story gets turned into a damn Lifetime movie? What’s it going to take?”

“She has to testify against him, Luke, you know that.”

Olivia and I talked about it briefly. She wasn’t too keen on it.

“Is this what you pulled us in here for? To waste my time?” The chair slammed back down on all fours with my weight. Aidan scowled next to me. For a fleeting moment, his expression transformed, revealing the battle worn cop I’d become. A reflection of the same rugged resilience I’d cultivated over time.

“I wanted to tell you to be careful. It could look like a conflict of interest. This could look bad to the public and those above us in the chain of command, that’s all,” Lampton sighed. This conversation didn’t go the way he anticipated.

Because it was bullshit.

“Am I at risk of losing my job?”

“No. We did everything we could to keep you when you assaulted Matt,” he reminded me again . “You’re one of the best. We don’t want to lose you.”

“Am I going to get suspended?”

“No, Ryder.”

“Then we’re done here. I’m not going to stop seeing her.” I stood up and stuck my fist in his face, so his senile eyes could get a good fucking look. “Do you see these scars on my knuckles?”

Lampton glared at me, glancing down at my balled up fist, then back up with a stiff nod. The scars from that fateful night, a grim reminder of Matt’s teeth sinking into my flesh as I furiously struck back, now stood as a stark testament to my past, glaringly visible to Lampton.

“I’d do it all again for her. This isn’t some shitty fling. I don’t give a fuck how it looks to the outside. She’s it for me, and I’ll be damned if you, Matt, or the chain of command have anything to say about it.”

“Understood, Ryder,” he conceded.

“And get your backup night shift ready. I’m taking some time off at the end of the month.” I stormed out of his office.

I heard Aidan mutter behind me, “Not cool, bigger bossman.” Then, as he caught up to me, “I had no idea he was on that bullshit tonight.”

“Yeah, me either,” I said, shoving the door open with more force than necessary. Rev had passed out in the lobby but perked up once he heard the door open and trotted outside with us to the cruiser.

“What the hell do you think that was about? You think Matt knows about you and Olivia?” Aidan asked me as he climbed into the passenger seat.

I shrugged. I hadn’t seen Matt that much since Olivia left him. Save for the court hearings here and there. Things were definitely too quiet.

I started the cruiser and pulled out of the parking lot, ready to forget about that stupid ass conversation with Lampton. I was too God damn old for that shit. I rolled my neck until it cracked, easing the tension.

“You know if shit ever hit the fan”—Aidan started, turning in the passenger seat to look at me—“that I gotchu, right?”

Aidan being serious was like spotting a shooting star at noon.

It sent a cold chill down my spine.

I nodded. “Yeah, I know.”