Criminal Promises Read Free Page A

teeth.
Maybe hand-to-hand against Craig would release the need to throttle
someone. He couldn’t ask for a tougher opponent.
    Shaking his arms, then legs, loosening his
muscles, BD stepped in front of Craig and assumed a defensive
stance. He’d gotten good at defenses. Even if he didn’t clear his
mind, he might sweat out some aggravation.
    Craig swung a test punch at
his face. “And then you took it further.”
    BD swooped in. He landed a right jab to
Craig’s chest sending him back a step. He had twenty pounds on
Craig and should be able to knock him flat on his see-all-hear-all
ass.
    “I promised her husband
I’d tell her he loved her.” Promised to
protect her without knowing what or who from.
    “You didn’t promise to
comfort her.”
    Anger ran off him with the sweat, but nothing
washed it away. Craig had no right to question his actions, even if
he was the closest thing to a brother BD had.
    “What’s that supposed to
mean?” He spun and aimed a kick at Craig’s head.
    Craig raised his arm and
blocked the blow with little effort. “It means you went above and
beyond. Way beyond.”
    “I did what I had
to.” Liar. He had
wanted to turn away from her, but guilt had sent him to her side.
The desire to hold her while she grieved had made him stay. Nothing
could have erased her pain, but maybe he’d helped a
little.
    He circled Craig, looking for a chink in his
guard. Unpredictability and the challenge of finding a defense
flaw, of out-thinking a worthy opponent, made the sparring
effective.
    “Holding the widow while
she cried after emptying her stomach?” Craig cleared his throat in
an unspoken I’m-not-buying-your-story way. “Was that what you had
to do, or did it just make you feel more like a hero?”
    He found his opening. BD
dropped to the ground, swept Craig’s legs out from under him. He
flipped up and out of reach before Craig’s back smacked the mat.
Dancing from foot to foot, he waited for Craig to get back up.
“What else was I supposed to do? Leave her? Walk away? Ignore that
she hurt? That I’d just destroyed her life?”
    “Most would.” Craig jumped
to his feet. “And you didn’t destroy her life.”
    Walking away would have been normal. No one
would have thought less of him, but thinking of Maggie grieving on
her own… One look at the naked grief in her eyes and the option of
walking vanished.
    “Bull.” BD ignored the
sweat dripping into his eyes, switched his lead foot and swung some
slow punches in the air. Craig’s badgering actually had some of his
anger draining away. “Sullivan wasn't a criminal. If I’d gotten to
Adalia faster, he wouldn’t have died.”
    “You seemed awfully
protective of someone who was just a victim’s wife.” Craig raised a
brow, practically daring BD to try another move. He’d assumed his
role as pseudo-therapist, encouraging BD to talk about his
feelings. “She reminded me of Sam.”
    “No way.” BD envisioned
Maggie as she’d been in the courtroom. Dressed in a somber gray
suit, sitting statue stiff with a blank stare, she hadn’t shown a
hint of nerves or emotion.
    Samantha had always been unable to sit still
for two minutes. She had been outrageously and overtly sexy. Her
bravery ended at trying a new shade of nail polish. Maggie Sullivan
was quietly sensual and aside from soft clothes didn’t seem the
least bit fragile. Especially with a broom in her hand.
    BD swung at Craig again,
but was easily blocked. “We may be men, but you can still talk
about your feelings.”
    “No.”
    “You keep this
close-minded caveman act up and Cap will assign someone else to the
case, though maybe that’s for the best.”
    Chest heaving, teeth grinding, a fire-burst
of temper propelled BD into Craig. Grabbing his best friend by the
shirt, BD slammed him into the wall and got in his face.
    “Adalia Wood is ours.
Mine. If Maggie needs protection I will see to it.” He pressed Craig harder against
the wall. “You open your meddling mouth to