Free Trust Me: Matty and Kayla, Book 3 of 3 (The McDaniels Brothers 7) by Christine Bell Page A

sounded in my ear and I nodded blankly.
    Was I, though? I'd thought I would feel more. Some sense of relief, or at least the elusive and much-lauded closure. Instead, all I felt was sad and kind of empty inside.
    "Red."
    At the sound of Matty's voice, I turned to see him standing there with the sergeant who had helped plan the raid with us.
    "You can take her outside. Let the EMT check her out, make sure she's not in shock or anything. We'll be out shortly to take her in for a statement."
    Matty reached for me but I held up a trembling hand. "Did you get it all? Did you hear him say it?" I stared into Sergeant Taylor's enigmatic onyx eyes and waited breathlessly for the verdict.
    "We got it," he said with a clipped nod. "Every last word. He's not getting out of this one."
    The relief I'd expected when I'd confronted Mick came now, and in one, overwhelming rush. My legs gave way and Matty stepped in, wrapping his arms around me and taking the majority of my weight.
    "Go ahead, Sergeant. I've got her."
    Matty led me down the hall that was now buzzing with activity as plainclothes cops flitted from room to room, riffling through file cabinets, packing up computers and leading Mick's goons away in cuffs.
    "Did he hurt you?"
    Matty's voice was low in my ear, but the concern mixed with fury there was impossible to miss. For some twisted reason, that comforted me.
    "No. I hit him. He didn’t have a chance to hit me back." My knuckles were a little sore, but they’d be fine in a day or two. The rest…the inside stuff, was going to take a lot longer to get over, but there was no need to tell that to Matty. His family life was as fucked up as mine and he knew what it took to try to heal from the kind of damage Mick’s actions had wrought.
    And when you leave Boston, you'll never find someone like that again.
    Someone who would understand me without me having to explain a thing. Someone who knew what it was to live in fear and terror and come out of the other side of it, scarred but alive and not willing to let it ruin the rest of your life.
    God, I was going to miss him.
    "I don't need the EMT. I just want to sit for a minute and wait for Sergeant Taylor."
    I bit back the urge to ask him what I was going to do after that. I had nowhere to go and no one to run to. But today was the first step toward my new life, and I had to stop leaning on Matty. I wouldn't have him soon, and I'd need to learn to stand on my own two feet.
    I straightened and wriggled away from his grasp to walk the rest of the way to the row of police cars on my own steam. "If you don't want to stay, I can handle the rest."
    "I'm not going anywhere."
    His voice was flat when he said it and I could tell he realized I was pulling away from him. Better now than later. His whole life was here in Boston. Even if I could imagine getting past what had happened and see a way to having a future with Matty, there was no way he could leave Southie and there was no way I could stay.
    "Miss James, can you come to the side here so I can take care of that wire?"
    I looked up to see the young, female officer who had fixed the listening device to my chest standing there with an encouraging smile on her face.
    "You did great. Really. If you ever find yourself looking for a new career, you might want to think about undercover work."
    I turned my back to Matty and allowed her to remove the sticky tabs affixing the wire.
    "Thanks. I had a lot riding on this. I appreciate all your help."
    She finished quickly and then jerked a thumb over her shoulder toward one of the cars. "If you want to sit in there and wait, the Sarge should be out shortly."
    The place was still bustling with activity, but as I made my way to the black and white with Matty by my side, the noise seemed to fade into the background.
    I stopped outside the car and looked up at him. The concern on his handsome face almost did me in. The desire to launch myself into his arms, wrap myself around him and never let him go was