Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon Read Free Book Online Page A

stopped. “Hey, you there! Come over here.”
    Yeah, it was nice to know his bad luck was the only stable thing in his life.
    Jess tightened his grip on Abigail as he debated his options. None of them were good, especially since he was packing an arsenal under his coat. One they were sure to object to if they discovered it.
    Making sure to act nonchalant, he moseyed over to the car. “Yes, sir?”
    The officer glanced down at Abigail. “Is there a problem?”
    Uh, yeah. You people are bugging the shit out of me when I need to be rocketing home. Jess forced himself not to betray his annoyance. “Little too much to drink. I was taking her back to the casino where we’re staying.”
    The man narrowed his gaze suspiciously. “You need a doctor?”
    No, he needed a break. “Nah, Officer. Thank you very much for the offer, though. She’ll be all right. Well, the hangover will be pretty ferocious, I’m sure, but after a few hours, she’ll be good as new.”
    “I don’t know, George,” the other officer said from the passenger seat. “I think we should call it in, just in case. Last thing we need is for him to be kidnapping her or something and we let him go. Think of the PR nightmare that’d be if he turns out to be a serial rapist or killer.”
    Jess had to bite back a curse at the paranoid asshole. Yeah, he was kidnapping her, but still  …
    She was the serial killer, not him.
    “Hey, Jess.”
    He turned his head to see another police officer approaching from the sidewalk. At least this one he knew. “Kevin, how you doing?”
    Kevin stepped between Jess and the car. “Is there a problem here?” he asked the other officers.
    Was that drilled into them at the academy, or what?
    “No,” the officer in the car said quickly. “We saw him carrying the woman and just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong.”
    Thank God neither he nor Abigail had been bloodied or bruised during their fight and their clothes weren’t torn. That would have been even harder to explain. As it was, her clothes were no more rumpled than if she had simply passed out from drink.
    “Ah,” Kevin said, dragging the word out. He indicated Jess with a jerk of his chin. “Don’t worry. Jimmy and I’ll take it from here.”
    Jimmy, Kevin’s partner, came up behind Jess to wave at the officers in the car.
    Both of them appeared relieved that they could pass this along to someone else. “All right. Thanks for sparing us the paperwork. See you guys later.” The car pulled off.
    Turning around, Kevin arched his brow at Jess and the woman he was holding. “Should I even ask?”
    Jess shifted Abigail’s weight. “Not if you want to keep your job, and I don’t mean the one that doesn’t afford you your million-dollar house.” His phone started buzzing again with another warning about sunrise. Not that he needed it. The sky was turning a scary shade of light.
    Kevin glanced up as if he were reading Jess’s mind. “You’re cutting it a little close to dawn, aren’t you?”
    “Closer than I meant to.”
    Jimmy gestured to their car, which was parked a few feet away. “C’mon, we can get you back in time.”
    “Thanks.” Jess finally breathed easily. This would also keep him from having to wrangle her onto his bike and hold her there, especially since she’d be coming to any time now. He had to admit, having Squires who were cops came in handy. That was one thing Sin had set up well in this city. In Reno, they’d been light handed with a Squire network. But this place was hooked up to the extreme.
    Jimmy held the door open for them. Jess got into the backseat and rested his package by his side and tried not to notice how amazingly pretty she was. It seriously messed with his head to see mixed in her features the person he’d once loved most and the only one he’d ever truly hated.
    Life ain’t fair.
    And it was never simple.
    Kevin and Jimmy got in and turned the siren on. They called in their break and sped him toward his house