Chapter Thirty-nine:

Ria had yet to learn why she had been summoned to Ms McQueen's office less than one hour into her shift. Surely, it would have nothing to do with the five-day long sick leave she'd taken only last week, but she couldn't think of any other explanation.

She gulped hard as she trod outside the office door. She aggressively patted herself to ensure she appeared presentable in front of the woman who invariably looked like she'd popped straight out of a Vogue Magazine. She tapped open the front view camera on her iPhone to scrutinise her own appearance. She instantly regretted the decision as several dehydration lines stared back at her. She sighed as she settled the phone back into the palm of her hand.

"Come in!" Ms McQueen sang in response to Ria's light knocks.

As Ria entered the room, she immediately detected the tepid expression on Ms McQueen's face. The usual subtle smirk sitting on her face, one calf resting over the other, her bisque skin tone seeping through her nude tights. "Ah, Ria. How are we this morning?"

Ria attempted to quash the rise in her eyebrows. She wouldn't for one second believe that McQueen had called her to simply make a query about her wellbeing. "Fine, thanks, and you?"

The older woman drove her fingers through her untamed fiery mane, her index and thumb fingers disentangling a knot that had formed. "I've kept a keen eye on the news these past few weeks."

Ria's shoulders slumped as she realised that even a hot-shot lawyer like McQueen wasn't averse to gossip. It seemed that even her workplace wouldn't allow her an escape from the scandalous events surrounding her father's death.

"It's not every day that we have a man storming in here trying to undo years of sexism in the workplace, later admitting to a murder." She marvelled, leaning forward, her elbows plunged upon the table, a minuscule amount of cleavage displaying with the movement.

"So, that's what this is about? Getting one up on me because of what happened with Rocco?" She derided in return. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Rocco doesn't work here anymore." Ms McQueen waved a hand in apathy at Ria's change in topic.

"What?"

Ms McQueen shrugged. "I got what little use I needed from him, and now he's gone." She declared matter-of-factly as Ria gaped up at her in bemusement. "Oh, don't give me that look. If anything, you should be thanking me. I did what you wanted. I got rid of the sex pest."

"But first, you used him like how he was trying to use me?"

"It's not even remotely the same. This is the law industry, Ria - this is how things work here. It's the life you chose for yourself. If you wanted to feel good about yourself at the end of the day, you should've chosen nursing or teaching."

Ria scoffed at her words. She stood up tall, preparing to remove herself from this unproductive conversation.

"Ria, sit down," McQueen ordered. But when Ria didn't oblige, she repeated sternly. "I said, sit."

"And I'm not your fucking dog." Ria snapped back. Regret instantly washed over her as she realised her words may have cost her a job, but when she peeked at McQueen, she saw a smirk on her face, intrigue lining her every pore. "What did you call me here for? For the gossip on the case? Because I won't tell you anything more than what you can read online."

A quelled spark arose in her emerald eyes. "I wanted to check in on my intern. Your work hasn't been up to scratch recently."

"Bullshit."

Ms McQueen stifled a smirk. "I see a lot of myself in you, Ria."

"Oh, spare me the cliché. You barely even know me."

"I know you're in pain." She stated. "I know enough, Ria." She held a hand out in gesticulation, and this time, Ria reluctantly took the seat. "You don't think I knew about your dad's death when I hired you? I do a full check before I hire any of my interns." She admitted. "You know what my first thought was when I read your dad's case? How clean it all was." She emphasised the word 'clean' as she spoke. "It's true, hit-and-runs are historically tricky to solve, but there's usually something - the car being found or someone seeing something. But this. This was very clean. Like the person or people behind it knew what they were doing."

"If you have something to say, just spit it out," Ria muttered; her throat dry as she absorbed the older lawyers statement.

"Your boyfriend is innocent. But from the look on your face, you already knew that."

"You don't know, Blaine." She answered weakly, her eyes wondering anywhere and everywhere but the woman's knowing face.

McQueen let out a hefty breath. "The one run-in I had with him was enough to know he's no killer. The only crime he's guilty of is caring too much." She drummed the table with her manicured fingertips. "Trust me, I would know. I've represented many."

Ria was rendered speechless.

"I gave Blaine my number, you know. Wrote it on the back of this business card." She grasped one from the stockpile beside her, showcasing it to Ria. "Stroked the back of his hand a little bit, flirted a little bit, laid it on real thick."

Ria recoiled as she peeked at the woman through narrowed eyes. She despised that she could discern the familiar feeling of envy swirling within her stomach. She tried to remain rational, but the green-eyed monster possessed her body. "So what? You're saying all this because you're attracted to Blaine?"

Ms McQueen thrust her head back, and a loud and earthy sound emerged from deep within her vocal cords - the kind of laugh that caused one's whole body to convulse with the movement. "Ria, I'm more attracted to you than I'll ever be to him."

Ria gasped. "You're gay?" She asserted. "But you were married. To a man."

McQueen waved the girl off. "You gotta do what you gotta do to survive. A lesbian lawyer like me? I'd be a corporate businessman's wet dream." She chuckled. "I was just testing him, Ria. He never contacted me, don't worry." She stretched her fingers out before her, feigning disinterest in the topic. "But I will say it's taken less for happily married men to stray. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it surprised me how fiercely loyal he is. A blessing and a curse, I would say."

Ria squinted her eyes as the monster completely alleviated her of its gnarly grip. "I know he is." She let out a loud sigh. "And you're right about it being too clean. It was my first thought too."

The ginger-haired older woman bounced her head in agreement. "Anyone can be a murderer, Ria. It's not as black and white as being a good or bad person. But in this case, my money would be on it being someone closer to home."

_________________________________

"You came." He breathed. "You really came."

But as she peered down at him, seated in the chair, hands restrained far too tight in metal handcuffs, she wished she hadn't. She'd made the decision to visit Blaine on a whim, but something within McQueen's words had led her straight to the prison. But now, it took mighty willpower to drive her heels into the ground and not race out of the hollowed room.

Her eyes drew to the violaceous hue surrounding his right eye. The purple faded into navy blue, fading into black, a stark contrast to the grey of his eyes. The harsh colours made the grey of his eyes take on the reflective silver hue of a blade or a sword, except she didn't think the boy in front of her had any fight left.

"Did you get into a fight?" She blurted out. It was a stupid question because she recalled what Reid had said about Blaine's cellmate. Her eyes descended to his hands, balled up in fists, giving her the answer to her next question. Bandages lined his knuckles; a faint smear of blood had seeped through the material rendering it a Fuschia colour. He'd fought back. Soft, gentle, sweet Blaine, who rarely resorted to physical violence, had fought back. She didn't know whether that was a good thing or not.

"Only with a glass door." He replied, a modest smile gracing his lips, but she didn't overlook how his right cheek didn't raise with the smile, and her heart ached as she realised it was because of the inflicted pain.

"Have you reported him? Men like that shouldn't get away with hurting innocent people." She insisted; she placed her hands under her buttocks as she took a chair. It was all she could do to prevent herself from inclining across the table and encasing her hands around his.

"Have you reported Rocco yet? Men like him deserve to be punished too."

"And, what about you, Blaine? What do men like you deserve?" A challenge in the form of a whisper arose from between her lips. She didn't miss how he held his breath responding to her comment.

She couldn't refrain from averting her gaze from the damaged skin around his eye to the bandages that covered his knuckles. She wondered how nasty the wound was beneath the pink-tinted sheets. She wondered if it would ever compare to the scars she couldn't see, the ones that resided under his skin.

"It doesn't hurt, Ria. I promise." He murmured, bringing her out of her daze. "See?" He stretched his hand out, splaying his fingers open, the movement restricted only by the metal confines of the cuff.

A hint of laughter left her lips. "You read me like a book."

"One day, when I get out of here, I could probably pick up a degree in all things Ria Aslan. I'd graduate with honours." He quipped back.

"Yeah? I wish I could say the same." She whispered, the words barely audible amid the sound of skin against skin. She noticed how he rubbed his index and thumb against each other. She was sure it was for the exact reason that she had sat on her hands.

"You know everything about me. Everything that matters, anyway." He responded; his pupils dilated, taking every inch of her in for every second of the thirty minutes they had. The last time he'd seen Ria had been thirteen days before, and it'd ended with her in floods of tears as she ran out of the hospital room. The memory plagued his every waking thought, and he was desperate to substitute it with something more pleasant.

"I know that you're an amazing liar."

"Yeah, well, I've had years of practice, haven't I?" He chuckled honestly. "You know, the first time I ever told a lie? I was four years old. A social worker was visiting us because of a concern raised by a neighbour and my mum...she sat Brody and me down and told us exactly what to say. Offered us a box of chocolates if I did a good job convincing the social. The second time, she promised us gaming consoles and then after that, a pair of new trainers. So you know, twenty years of experience behind me." He said it as a joke, but the words fell flat.

She tipped her head to the side, her bottom lip firmly between her central incisors to prevent it from quivering as she listened to his words.

"Don't. Don't give me that look, Ria."

"I'm not. I'm not." She repeated softly. "You never told Reid or anyone about how bad things were with Ben or your mum. You just let everyone think you were a massive cheat and a serial womaniser?"

"Because that's so much better than the truth." He declared. She noticed how his jawline and chin, usually perceptible beneath a fine layer of stubble, were concealed by a thicker layer of hair. The surrounding skin was soft and supple even though he'd not had access to even a moisturiser in the two weeks he'd been locked here. Tainted only by the dark bruise around his eye.

"Is it? Is it, really?"

"Yes, Ria." He affirmed.

She nipped her bottom lip. "Having everyone think badly of you is better than the truth?" Her question had a dual meaning but, she wasn't sure he caught that. He didn't react, and so she continued. "I know you didn't take drugs that night. Reid told me. He told me how you swapped samples so he could still have a chance at football. For dad."

"That's not true--"

"Oh, shut up, Blaine." She retorted. "If you lie to me again, I will walk out of here." That seemed to work as the boy's mouth flapped shut as she resumed her words. "You gave up your dream for him."

He sighed. "A dream that was only possible because of him. It was...it was the right thing to do after what happened to Rayhan. It was a small price to pay for what I did. I don't want you to ruin your relationship with him because of this. He loves you. He wants what's best for you."

She scoffed. "Reid wants to control me."

"That's not true. Reid's trying his best, Ria. It's just...he's been just as lost as you were after Rayhan died." Blaine insisted. "He was a great friend to me. If I had any normal teenage years, it was thanks to him. If I even got a chance to dream about being a footballer, it was thanks to him because he encouraged me to play. Most of my fondest memories are with you and Reid."

She glimpsed up at him as she tried to contain her emotions.

"Ria, you made me so happy. Every moment with you was...easy."

"Even when I argued with you or called you an asshole?"

"Even then. God, I love every word that comes out of your mouth. It doesn't matter what it is." He chuckled. "We were never going to have that happily ever after, were we? But I'm okay with that because...because at least I got to be with you for even a little while. And I will cherish those moments until the day I die."

A guttural sob materialised from her as he finished his sentence. "But I'm not okay with that, Blaine. I'm never going to be okay with that."

"You're destined for greatness, Ria. Even if you don't know it yet." He peered at her through tear-moistened eyes. "You're going to be an amazing lawyer. And one day, you'll meet another lawyer, or a doctor or an engineer, and you'll be so happy with him."

"No. I don't want a lawyer or an engineer. I want a budding footballer who works a minimum-wage job between an IT tech and a part-time personal trainer at a local gym. I want the man who tells me shitty jokes just to make me smile. The man who's going to take me skydiving one day even though I'm so terrified of the thought right now. I only want you, Blaine. No one else will do."

He didn't answer, but a soft smile played upon his lips.

She tugged her hair behind her ear as she leaned across the table. "Blaine, I need you to tell me something."

"Anything. I'll tell you anything you want to hear."

"The car." She stated. "The car that you...hit dad with. Where did you drive it after...after you moved his body? Where did you drive the car to get rid of it?"

"Essex." Ria could almost hear the cogwheels churning in his brain as he desperately thought of an answer and clearly came up with the nearest place he could conjure up.

Ria laughed as she hauled her hands from beneath her and swung them over the table to rest them over his. She relished in the feel of his hands against hers; her body immediately receptive to his touch. "That's funny because Indiya's call to dad was made at twelve fifty-six a.m., and you were back at my house by one fourty a.m. The drive from yours to mine is twenty minutes, and the drive from my house to Shernwell street is ten minutes. And the drive from Central London to Essex is fifty minutes. So, how could you possibly have hit dad, moved his body, and driven to Essex and back within thirty minutes?" She cocked her head to the side. "They'll have to cast you into the Fast and Furious franchise with those driving skills."

"Times up." The officer entered the room, his eyes stiff and tired as he slammed his hand onto the table, the sound echoing off the four walls that surrounded them.

Ria stood up at the warning, peering down at Blaine. She noticed how he didn't look at her, how his breathing quickened as she stood up to leave, how his tongue jutted out to moisten his lips.

"I know, Blaine." He met her eyes then. "I know. And I will get you out of here if it's the last thing I do."

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Authors Note-
So, Ria had finally worked it out!! The next chapter is the aftermath of Ria's discovery.

Please let me know if anything is unclear in this chapter. I didn't manage to do much editing of this one bc it's been a busy week at work so let me know if anything doesn't read very well/could be written better!!

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