Sinner's Gin by Rhys Ford Read Free Book Online

disgusted hiss. “I was thinking you probably needed some food in you. God knows I do. How about if we get something to eat?”
    “I don’t have my wallet. You guys grabbed me before I could get it. I don’t have anything on me.”
    “I’m buying,” the cop offered, falling in behind Miki.
    Miki pressed his hand against the wall, using it for support as he limped toward the bathroom. “Fuck this shit. God, I hate cops.”
    “Hey, I’m one of those cops.”
    “You can cut the I’m-a-nice-guy shit out. I don’t know anything. I keep telling all of you that, but you’re not listening,” Miki said, wincing as the feeling started to come back into his leg.
    “Mieko, stop.” Kane came up behind him. The whisper of breath on his neck brought Miki up short. He inhaled deeply, pulling in the rich scent of masculine skin with a hint of coffee and mint. “I’m just trying to help. Let me help you.”
    The cold in Miki’s bones evaporated when Kane touched his arm. The thin cotton of his borrowed scrubs separated their skin, but the heat of Kane’s fingers burned through him. He wanted to lean back against Kane, to rest his head against the other man’s chest until the chill inside of him whispered away and he fell asleep, safe from the darkness that stalked him.
    “Like that’s ever going to happen,” Miki muttered to himself. He pulled away, working the kinks out of his thigh with a shake of his leg. “Let me get changed, then I’ll figure out how to get home.”
    “Easier if I take you,” the cop said. “There are reporters outside waiting for you to come out. Cops find dead body inside of rock star’s car. You’re a big story, you know. They’re outside the station like fleas. I’m parked in the inside garage. My car’s windows are tinted, and no one will know you’re inside. Go get changed, Mieko. I’ll wait for you out here, and we’ll grab something to eat before I take you home.”
    Miki turned and stared up into Kane’s unwavering blue gaze. Discomforted, Miki looked away, blinking away the sting of tears in his eyes. Nodding, he started to move forward and sniffed as he reached the bathroom door. “Fine. Just stop calling me Mieko. That’s a girl’s name.”
     
     
    F RAGILE wasn’t a word Kane would have associated with the young man who served him back his attitude a few days ago, but when Mieko St. John came out of the bathroom, he looked like he was made out of glass. Ghostly pale and dressed in Kane’s too-large T-shirt and the pair of sweats Kane swiped from his younger brother’s locker, the young man struggled to pull on the black hoodie he’d been given.
    And looked as fragile and as dangerous as a million shards of broken glass as he did it.
    A pair of socks was all the footwear Kane could find to protect Miki’s feet from the cold, and the man wore them like tabi with the flip-flops he’d been given. Miki fought with one sleeve, and Kane stepped in, grabbing the material bunched up around his elbow.
    “What?” Miki narrowed his eyes. The menacing effect was lost under the swaddle of the hood as it fell over his forehead and smashed his hair into his face.
    “Stop.” Kane grinned and resisted the urge to brush the hair from Miki’s eyes. He straightened the sleeve out and pulled it over the man’s arm. “Just let me help you. It’s not going to kill you.”
    “Might one day,” he grumbled but let Kane adjust the hoodie on him.
    “Yeah, well for right now, it’s not.”
    Kane led Miki down the sterile hallway and into the enormous maze of cubicles and offices that housed the station’s Personal Crimes division. The bullpen vibrated with activity, but curious eyes followed their progress toward the far side of the room. One uniformed officer brought up a cell phone, and Kane narrowed his eyes at the man, warning him off with a shake of his head. A trail of murmurs followed them through the low-walled maze, a whispering tide rising and falling as Kane guided