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He stepped closer, hands going to her shoulders, heavy and familiar. She wanted to stagger under the weight but didn’t, locking out her knees.

“No, of course not. You can give a statement. You’re not involved in… this. Right?”

It was hard to breathe.

“Of course not.”

“Then what happened? Why were you at a club with them?”

Riley glanced back through the open door into the dark of the shop. A shadow on the stairs was darker than the others, but it didn’t move.

“I told you. We went out, and Gio roofied Kristi.”

Andrew scrutinized her in that way of his. “Seems like there’s more to it than that.”

Oh, yeah. Way more.

“I’ll take you to the station. You can tell me what happened there if you don’t want to talk about it now.”

That would be the right thing to do. What he wanted. What her dad would want if he knew.

Andrew squeezed her shoulders and turned to lead her to the car. The gravel was deep in a few spots, and the bugs were loud as they passed under the streetlight.

“I’m glad you’re doing the right thing. This will be better. You’ll be safe.”

She didn’t feel unsafe with Saint. Even with Dante.

Sure, they were… different. But she wasn’t scared of them.

They didn’t try to make her feel small.

Wheeler and Aaron and Saint and even Dante didn’t make her give anything up for them. They accepted her. Hell, they accepted Kristi.

Andrew’d never done that.

He’d done nothing about Gio’s texts.

Nothing when she’d quit on the spot and left her career.

He’d done nothing when she’d cried in front of the entire precinct when he’d broken up with her.

He hadn’t kept her safe then.

But neither had she.

She could now, though.

She stopped next to the car, and he reached for the passenger door and opened it for her.

“You can’t guarantee that. That I’ll be safe.”

Andrew stopped and turned to her. He rested his hands on his belt. “I’m the police. This is what’s right. Get in.”

“I’m not going with you.”

He let out a sigh and barely hid his eye roll.

“Don’t let our past come between you and doing the right thing. You’re a good person.”