He quickly shuts down the idea. “That's impossible.”

“Fiance?” Nadie whispers at me. “When did...How did I not know?”

“You knew they were together?” He bites at her.

“Not now,” Nadie brushes him off.

“What the hell do you mean not now?” The Commissioner snaps. “This is the time to have that kind of discussion!”

“It's really not,” Nadie calmly disagrees.

“To hell it isn't! You knew my little girl was dating a thug and didn't tell me?”

I'm just fucking over relationships left and right.

“He's not a thug,” she argues.

“His last name is McCoy isn't it?”

“That's not fair,” Nadie defends. “Your name doesn't define you! That's part of the reason Jovi has been struggling so much to find herself. Because she's attached to the name Carter. Because she's attached to Commissioner Carter. It's not your favorite thing to hear, but she's not a little girl any more, Nick. She's 21. She can make her own choices. She's an adult.”

“She's not an adult.”

“Just because you don't want her to be doesn't mean she's not.” He attempts to fight again when Nadie looks at me. “How long have you been engaged?”

“Not long,” I quietly respond.

“What's not long?” When I don't answer she asks a follow up question. “What about a ring? Where's her ring?”

“It's the one she usually wears around her neck. The rose.”

“Of course it is.” Nadie shakes her head. “How could I not get that?” She lets out a deep breath. “Why didn't she trust me enough to tell me?”

I offer her comfort. “We um...we weren't telling anyone.”

Although if we had to pick someone, I would've picked Nadie or Knox. They seem least likely to convince us otherwise.

“McCoy,” the Commissioner invades the conversation. “You fucking McCoys haven't stayed off my desk for years. Like that Ben McCoy kid.” He turns to Nadie with a displeased expression. “You knew she was dating a McCoy?”

“Not until the day Ben died,” she answers before shooting me an apologetic look. “I am so sorry for your loss.”

I nod, which is when he bites, “Why? He was just another case file. Just another useless piece of garbage filling my streets. Costing hard earned tax paying citizens money.”

Calmly, I state, “With all due respect sir, you may not have enjoyed the laws he broke, but he was not a terrible person. He may have been a fuck up. He may have been a little careless, but he was a damn good person.”

“Good people don't sell drugs.”

“Good people don't skew crime scenes.”

He points a sharp finger at me. “Are you accusing me of something?”

“No sir,” I softly back down. “I'm simply saying that just because a person makes a bad choice, or a few, doesn't make them a bad person and just because someone wears a badge doesn't make them a good one.”

The commissioner wets his lips and shakes his head. “I read Ben's report.”

“Which version?”

He lifts his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“This isn't what I came here for,” I mumble.

“No. But you started it, so finish it. Are you implying the report on my desk is false?”

“I am,” I firmly state. “Like many cases it was falsified. Someone in your precinct has an agenda and like everyone else they don't mind breaking a law to see it get accomplished. Your department is dirty on both sides of the law Commissioner.”

“How dare you...” Riled up he takes a harsh step at me. “How fucking dare you come at me like that!”

“You insisted sir.”

Angered by my words he growls, “Get back to the point of this visit. My daughter. Explain.”

This is about to get so much worse. Hope my vocal chords can take the next strangling.

After a deep breath, I start, “You know the man you call Ghost?”

He grits his teeth. “Point?”

“It's me.”

His hands flex like they're preparing to come after me. “What?”

“It's me,” I repeat seeing Nadie bury her face in her hands on the other side of me. “I'm the one you've been chasing.”

“This is not happening.” My lips remain closed. “You're seriously going to sit in my living room and tell me my daughter is willingly engaged to the biggest pain in my ass-”

“She didn't know,” I rush out. “She didn't know until the night she got taken. When we met...I didn't want her to know. I wanted her to see the real me. The side that no one pays attention to.” For a moment I get lost in thought. “Jovi did. She loved that side of me. She loved the straight lace part. That was enough for her. Hell, that was enough for me.”

Nadie gives me a sweet look, which makes The Commissioner growl under his breath.

Not a romantic, is he?

“Anyway, I knew I wanted out of this life. I wanted more. I wanted to be that man she deserved. A better man. So...I made a deal.”

“A deal? What kind of a deal? A deal with who?”

I sigh, “The man you call The Devil.”

He shouts harshly taking a step towards me. “Are you fucking serious?”

You know, I'm beginning to see a pattern in responses.

“You put my daughter's life at risk with that...that heartless, conniving, sociopath?”

“The deal was simple,” I continue on, folding my hands together. “I had to deliver a car to him. In exchange, I would be granted my freedom. No more jobs. No trail leading back to me. I could move on. Get a fresh start-”

Nadie questions, “Why would you want a fresh start?”

“Because I love Jovi,” the words slip out with enough emotion attached I'm not sure I can hold back crying again. “Because she deserves so much more than some kid who got lost trying to keep his head up in a world determined to drown him. There's something about her that makes me wanna be a better man. That makes me need to be. I can't explain it.”

He runs his hand over his bald head. The bald and bearded look, combined with his suit and tie one, almost gives him a more intimidating one than if he were in his uniform. “So you're telling me The Devil has my daughter.”

“Yes sir.”

“Why?”

“I fucked up,” I mutter. “I was on my way back and was spotted for driving a car with no tags. I managed to ditch the car, but-”

“It's the one they brought in to the impound, isn't it? The exotic one.”

Nodding slowly I answer, “Yes sir.”

“He took her for leverage?”

“Collateral damage. I was supposed to deliver that car and something inside of it, yet got it taken. I ignored his calls while trying to deal with my cousin's death and come up with a plan to get it back. He's not a patient person.”

Coldly the Commissioner states, “He's not the only. If he kills her-”

“He's not gonna kill her...” The reassurance looks like it eases some stress. “It's not his style. He only kills if he has to. And as long as he gets his car back by Sunday, there's no need for him to.”

He furrows his eyebrows. “You want me to negotiate that car for my daughter?”

“I-”

“I could just call in a task force.”

“That'd force his hand in a way that might lead him into harming her. Part of the deal was no cops.”

As if he wasn't listening to me, he snaps, “I'm not negotiating my daughter for a car.”

“You don't think Jovi's life is more important!” Nadie shouts.

“It's more complicated than that.” The Commissioner raises his hand to hush her. “I can't just trade her life for it. I can't give him that power. I can't-”

“Bend the law?” Nadie snaps. “Not even for your own daughter?”

“Especially not for my own daughter,” he whispers out shutting his eyes.

“You can't be serious Nick!”

“Damn it Nadie!” He yells popping his eyes open. “Don't say it like I don't fucking care about her! Don't say it like she doesn't matter to me!”

“Then act like it and do something!”

“Excuse me,” I interrupt. Their bickering immediately ceases and they look at me. “I didn't come here to convince you to negotiate.”