Destroyed With You (Stark Security #5) - J. Kenner Page 0,1

well, inside, he was as dead as she was.

He went through the motions, sure. Did his job. Laughed with his friends. But he wasn’t a whole man. Not anymore. Probably never again.

As if taunting him, the sound of laughter drifted on the breeze. He glanced at the house. Emma’s little bungalow was all lit up, and inside their friends continued to drink and laugh. Her sister and Quincy were getting married, after all. Proof positive that life went on.

Winston told himself that was a good thing.

Emma was waiting for him to answer, and he forced a casual shrug. “Might be somethin’ else. Nothing to do with Linda at all.” He heard the West Texas twang in his voice and wanted to swallow the words. He’d mostly gotten rid of the accent, but it tended to become more prominent when he was upset or confused. Or drunk.

He was a bit of all three tonight.

“Bullshit,” Emma said. “You don’t believe that any more than I do. You’ve made it perfectly clear you weren’t ever going back to Texas, much less to Hades,” she added, referring to the aptly named county seat where he’d served as sheriff. “He knows that. He wouldn’t send you back unless it was not only important, but important to you.”

Winston drew a breath, trying not to feel numb inside as he lifted his head to meet his friend and sometimes partner’s eyes. “It may be nothing. Might not even be Hades.”

She shook her head, the action freeing a lock of red hair from where she’d pulled it back into a messy ponytail. He could practically see the wheels turning behind those hazel eyes as she said, “I’m right. You know it. I know it. He called you at night on a weekend. This isn’t a casual thing. There’s a reason, and we both know what that reason is. And if you’re going to Texas, then I’m going with you.”

“No.”

He could see her stiffen. Could practically hear the protest before it left her lips. “Dammit, Starr. Don’t do this to yourself. Remember me? I’m the one who knows you. I’m the one who was there. And I’m the one who’s going to stand by you and remind you that it wasn’t your goddamn fault.”

“Emma, don’t even—”

She held up a hand to cut off his words. “No. No. If you’re going back there—if you’re going to dredge it all up again—then you’ll need a friend.”

“Dredge it up?” He shook his head. “Emma, darlin’, I won’t be dredging anything up. It never went down in the first place.”

He watched the emotions play over her face, and for a moment, he pitied her. Emma Tucker was used to getting her own way, being in command. Getting told no didn’t sit well with her.

Well, too bad. He stood a little straighter and rolled his shoulders, because he wasn’t backing down. Right now, she belonged right here in California with their friends. With her sister. And mostly, with Antonio Sanchez, the man she loved.

Winston hadn’t had a woman in his life since Linda’s death. He damn sure wasn’t going to steal even a single moment of that bliss from Emma or Tony. Slowly, he reached over and placed a hand on her upper arm. “I’m going alone. And I’ll be just fine.”

“You’re a stubborn son of a bitch.”

“Funny. That’s what Linda used to say.” He managed a smile and felt some of the sadness that had been pooling in his gut ease when she returned it.

“Promise you’ll call. Anytime. Day or night. You need to talk—hell, you need to just sit in silence with someone else breathing—I don’t care. You call.”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” he said, cocking his head toward the open door where Tony now stood framed in the glow from inside. “Some things a man doesn’t like to interrupt.”

She shot him a crooked smile. “Only you, Starr. We went through hell together in Texas, and I meant what I said. You need anything, you call. Any time, day or night.”

He nodded gravely, surprised by how touched he was by the ferocity in her voice. “I may take you up on that.” He cocked his head toward Tony. “He know about Texas? That we knew each other before?”

“Not much. Mostly that it’s where we met. That our cases overlapped.”

“You tell him the rest if you want. Couples shouldn’t have secrets. And you two make a good couple.”

She held his gaze. “It wasn’t your fault,” she said again. “You were undercover. You