Antique Love

Chapter 1

A/N: Hey, hey, hey! It's a new story! I know it's been a while since the last one, but this one is already completed and just has to go through my beta every week, so I can fix all those wonderful errors that she finds (thanks, Heather)!

I'm sure by now you know the drill. I love some angst and drama in my stories as well as romance, and that hasn't changed.

The story will update every Sunday, but I'll let you know that this isn't a super long story. About sixteen chapters, so it's shorter than most of my others.

Well, on you go.

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BELLA

"Swan! In my office now!" Captain Banner hollered, and I muttered a quiet oath under my breath as I shoved my chair away from the desk and slowly walked to the Captain's office.

Banner had been an ass to everyone in the precinct for the past week, and the rumor floating around was that his wife of twenty-eight years was fed up with him and had filed for divorce. If that was the case, then I was sorry to hear it, but he shouldn't be taking it out on his employees. I certainly didn't deserve the attitude that he'd been giving me, and it was getting increasingly difficult for me to keep my mouth shut.

"Stay calm, Swan," one of my co-workers advised, and I nodded my head before taking a deep breath. The last thing I wanted, or needed, was to get written up for insubordination and end up with a mark on my pristine record.

Pausing for a moment outside the door, I took another deep breath before knocking. Banner's deep voice told me to come in, so I opened the door and walked into his office and found a giant bear of a guy with dark hair, standing near the windows.

I knew, without a doubt, the guy was going to be my partner. I'd been through four of them in the eight months since I'd made detective. My last partner had moved to Florida to be with some girl he'd met on the Internet, two of them had refused to work with a female partner, and the other one had just been an asshole.

Banner motioned for me to take a seat, so I did, watching as the giant man turned around and flashed me a grin.

"Swan, this is Emmett McCarty. He's your new partner. Try not to drive this one away," Captain Banner said in a tired voice, and my fists clenched as I bit back the comments that wanted to leave my mouth.

"Yes, sir," I replied in a curt tone as I made my way toward his office door. I just barely refrained from slamming it shut.

"Charming guy," McCarty said dryly once the door was closed, and we walked toward the bullpen that housed all of our desks.

"Yeah, he's a fucking peach," I replied as I led McCarty over to our two desks that were in the corner. One was covered in post-it notes, packs of gum, random pieces of paper, and more pens than necessary while the other was clean and empty.

Pointing toward it, I told McCarty that was his desk as I took a seat back at my messy desk and began to sort through the files sitting on it.

"Thanks," he said with a slight Southern accent, and I nodded my head.

Twenty minutes of silence went by before we got a call out to a robbery in progress. I grabbed my coat, my phone, and the car keys, barely making sure to see if McCarty was following me. I was used to being on my own and doing things my own way, so it was up to him to catch up with me.

"We've got a 211 on Cherry Street," I told him as we got into the black 2007 Dodge Charger that had been issued to me.

"Is the suspect armed?" he asked, and I nodded my head as I pulled the car out of the lot and onto the road.