Lethal Temptation

by Kaylea Cross

  Tate drew the cuffs from his belt and reached for Zinke’s wrist. Zinke snarled and took a swing at him.

  Tate blocked the punch and sidestepped. Zinke stumbled past him, his momentum throwing him forward as he caught himself on the coffee table, scattering a pile of mail everywhere. “You wanna add resisting arrest on top of everything else?” Tate snapped, grabbing Zinke’s arm to twist it behind him.

  Zinke whirled, the glint of the blade in his hand catching in the light.

  Tate! Avery didn’t have time to shout the warning. She launched herself at Zinke, hitting him square in the back.

  They landed with a thud on the coffee table, Zinke taking the brunt of the impact. Avery instantly locked her hands around the wrist wielding the blade—a freaking letter opener they’d missed under the mail.

  She twisted sharply while Tate wrenched the bastard’s other hand up and behind him, one muscular arm pinned against Zinke’s nape.

  Zinke screamed, thrashing. The letter opener hit the floor.

  “I got him,” Tate said as he held Zinke there, totally calm.

  Avery released what she sincerely hoped was Zinke’s broken wrist and kicked the weapon across the floor. Then she shoved off him, heart racing as Tate kept the asshole subdued and cuffed him.

  Tate yanked Zinke to his feet and started Mirandizing him. Avery whirled toward the stairs, stilling at the sight of Tracy standing halfway down them. Her one open eye was wide, her tear-streaked face pale, one hand at the base of her throat. “No,” she pleaded.

  At the sound of her voice Zinke’s head spun around. “You fucking bitch!” he screamed. “You did this!”

  “Shut up,” Tate growled, giving him a rough shake before shoving him toward the front door.

  “I told you to stay out of sight until they were gone!” Zinke yelled at his wife.

  Avery rushed past them to take Tracy by the arm. “Come upstairs with me.”

  “No,” Tracy cried, turning back toward her husband. “Where is he taking him?”

  “He’s being arrested for domestic assault, resisting arrest, and attacking a police officer.”

  “No, you can’t,” she begged. “You can’t, he’ll—” She broke off, dissolving into tears.

  Avery hurried her up the stairs and into the master bedroom. Backup was on the way, should be here any minute. “I’m having some paramedics come look at you. For now, just come sit and tell me what happened.”

  Tracy continued to cry, a devastated, heartbroken sound that made Avery’s insides tighten. “He—he d-didn’t mean it,” she sobbed. “It was an accident.”

  No, it fucking wasn’t. And Avery would bet everything she owned that this wasn’t the first time, either. Not even close.

  “I won’t press charges,” Tracy blurted through her tears, a hint of defiance breaking through her fear.

  Avery quelled a rush of frustration. So many women refused to press charges against their abuser, for a variety of reasons. But there was enough evidence to charge and convict him, so hopefully that wouldn’t matter. “Tracy. I understand that you’re afraid right now, but you don’t need to think about any of that yet. Right now, I just need you to take some deep breaths, calm down, and talk to me.”

  She sat quietly, letting Tracy calm down, waiting for the tears to stop. “There. Now please tell me what happened.”

  “It… It was just a s-stupid argument,” Tracy began.

  Avery listened, taking detailed notes. But ten seconds in, it was obvious Tracy wasn’t telling the whole truth. “So you see, it was partly my fault,” Tracy finished in a whisper.

  “No, it wasn’t,” Avery said in a low voice, holding back the rest of what she wanted to say. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see Tate’s message that Zinke was on his way to the sheriff’s department in the back of a squad car, and the ambulance was ten minutes out.

  Avery replied for him to stay outside. She didn’t want anyone else to come in here and make Tracy clam up even more.

  “Can I get you anything?” Avery asked her in the quiet.

  “No.” Tracy sighed and bent her head, rubbing her fingers over her forehead. “He didn’t use to be like this,” she whispered. “When we first got together, he was wonderful. But…”

  “But?”

  “After we got married, things changed. He changed.” She looked up at Avery, her battered face full of misery. “Does that sound crazy?”

  An echo of pain twisted through Avery, an old hurt flaring back to life. Not as severe as Tracy’s. But still valid. “No. It doesn’t sound crazy at all.”

  She knew all too well how suddenly a man could change after putting a ring on a woman’s finger.

  Chapter Two

  Normally Avery was able to compartmentalize the bad things that happened in life and at work, but that situation earlier at the Zinkes’ place lingered with her as she drove back into town that evening. Partly because Tracy Zinke’s last comment had hit too close to home. But mostly because violence against women infuriated her.

  Just a few weeks ago, her best friend Nina had been kidnapped and nearly killed by her rapist. Avery and Tate had barely found her in time, and that wasn’t something Avery was going to get over anytime soon.

  On the drive back into town, her mom called. For a second, she considered ignoring it, then decided against it and picked up. Her mom was like a bulldog when she wanted something. “Hey, Mom. How’s it going?”

  “Fine, everything’s good here. How are you?”

  “Fantastic.” There, that sounded moderately cheerful even to her.

  “Glad to hear it. You on your way home?”

  “No, to Nina’s.” She tried to get together for dinner with her and Tate once a week, schedule permitting, and tonight was the night. Avery was tired, but didn’t want to go home yet. It was lonely in her old brick Victorian without Nina there, and she hated cooking for one. It made her feel even more divorced.

  “Ah, enjoy. Well, I’m actually calling about the guest list for next weekend. Annie’s asked me to finalize the numbers for the caterer, and she said you responded that you’re bringing a guest?”

  Avery cursed silently. Dammit, with everything going on lately, the wedding had crept up on her. And she didn’t want to change her RSVP now and confirm what everyone thought—that she couldn’t get a man. Not that she wanted one after what she’d gone through, but that didn’t seem to matter to her family. She was tired of them feeling sorry for her.

  It hadn’t been her choice to walk away from her marriage. Though it had been her choice to end it. Doug had killed all the love she’d once had for him. She wouldn’t give him the time of day now even if he crawled to her on his hands and knees and begged her to take him back.

  Thankfully, Tate had said he’d go to the wedding with her months ago when she’d first brought it up. He’d have to use a different name for the weekend, since her family knew about him but hadn’t met him yet. “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “Who?” Surprise and curiosity filled that one word.

  “I’m seeing someone,” she blurted, unable to come up with another plausible explanation. Dammit, she hoped Tate had remembered the dates.

  “Really? Is it serious? I mean, if you’re bringing him to a family wedding, I assume you’ve been seeing him for a while?”

  Avery cringed at the eagerness in her mother’s voice. “Not that long.” For a cop, she was a terrible liar.

  “What’s his name? Where did you meet him, online? And why haven’t you told me about him before now?”

  Because he doesn’t exist. “Through a friend. Look, Mom, I’m running late for dinner, so I gotta go.”

  “Dinner with him?”

  “Yes.” That part wasn’t a lie, at least. “I’ll call you later, okay? Love you.”

  “All right, love you too.” She squealed in excitement. “This is great, I’m so looking forward to meeting him!”

  Hell. Within minutes, both Avery’s dad and sister wou
ld know. By morning, half of the extended family would too, alerted through the family grapevine her mother loved to feed. “Me too. Bye.”

  She ended the call and shook her head at herself in disgust. “Ah, shit.” Why the hell couldn’t she just have told her mom the truth? Why did those stupid insecurities keep coming back to the surface when she’d worked so hard to bury them? “Tate, you better not let me down.”

  She released a breath and consciously relaxed her tight shoulders. Maybe Nina’s eternal and optimistic romantic sensibilities had rubbed off on her lately, because she could acknowledge that deep down, she was lonely. On the other hand, she didn’t believe in happily-ever-after anymore. She wasn’t sure where that put her.

  Good company was just what she needed to pull her out of her funk, even if the man she tried to avoid whenever possible would be there.

  Mason Gallant alternately irritated and turned her on just being in the same room as her, and now they would be sharing her house, since Nina had moved out of Avery’s basement suite and into Tate’s place several weeks ago. Mason felt like a fifth wheel there, and Avery couldn’t blame him. Besides, Tate’s niece Rylee stayed there sometimes when she wanted a break from dorm life at the University of Montana.

  So Avery had reluctantly offered Mason the suite, mostly because it was only temporary, until Mason got his feet under him here. She hoped he wouldn’t make her regret her decision.

  In spite of her vow to get over her bullshit and get in a happier frame of mind, she groaned when she saw Mason’s red Jeep parked in Tate’s driveway with the small trailer hitched behind it. It was probably already packed with all his stuff, ready to be moved into her suite in a matter of hours.

  Her precarious mood slipped another notch.

  “All right. Happy face, and pull up your big girl panties,” she muttered to herself as she walked up to the front door of the gorgeous log home, bracing herself for the inevitable moment she was forced to see Mason in person again. She’d made it a whole three weeks since the last time, on the day she and Tate had found Nina fighting for her life in the woods.

  The vivid memory popped into her head, bringing an unwanted wave of heat that spread through her as she thought about it. Mason had shown up at the scene soon after Tate had carried Nina out of the woods to where the emergency vehicles were gathered. Avery had been talking to an FBI agent about what had happened.

  Spotting her, Mason had ducked under the police tape and walked straight at her with that sexy, confident stride that made it impossible to look away from him. He’d stopped directly in front of her, asked if everyone was okay, then shocked her by hauling her into a long, tight hug that made her whole body go haywire.

  Even now the memory of it made her insides tingle. He was hot, and he knew it. Sexy as hell, and he knew it.

  He was also haunted by whatever had ended his military service. That was enough of a red flag right there to make him a relationship risk.

  But she’d seen the powerful and protective warrior inside him that day, and it made him even more dangerous to her. His cocky and damaged player image made it easy to dismiss him, because she had no time for that kind of male macho bullshit.

  That little glimpse underneath it all made that impossible. And therein lay the dilemma.

  Thankfully he was nowhere to be seen when she entered the main level, the log walls and masculine furnishings giving the home a cozy, lived-in feeling. She relaxed a little more to find Tate alone in the kitchen working on dinner.

  “That’s what I like to see, a man hard at work in the kitchen when I get home after work,” Avery said as she walked in.

  One side of his mouth lifted. “Ha-ha.”

  “Well, fancy meeting you here,” said a bright, sunny voice behind her.

  She spun around and smiled at Nina, still dressed for work in a plum-colored turtleneck sweater and gray pencil skirt that hugged her curves. “Hey, lady.” She gave her best friend a hug. “Just get back from campus?” Nina taught astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Montana, a forty-five-minute drive away in Missoula.

  “Yep. I grabbed our groceries at the store, and a couple bottles of wine.” Her expression sobered. “Tate told me about the call earlier. You okay?”

  Avery grunted. “Yeah, but it sucked.”

  “I’m just glad you guys are both okay. Tate said you tackled the guy.”

  “He deserved it.”

  “He totally did,” Tate agreed.

  Nina grinned, her brown eyes twinkling. “Wish I could’ve seen it.”

  She shrugged. “Tate could have handled him without me, I just saw the letter opener and reacted without thinking.”

  “Still, thank you. I love how you guys have each other’s backs.”

  “Tate’s a great cop, and an even better partner.” Which was why it bummed Avery out so bad to think of him leaving soon to start his new adventure/training ranch with Mason and another military buddy of theirs.

  Wow, aren’t you just made of sunshine and rainbows tonight?

  She pasted on a smile for Nina. “Pass me that wine.” Sunshine and rainbows were Nina’s territory, not hers, but she couldn’t subject the others to her sour mood. “I’m also gonna need a baking pan to make my appetizer.” A wheel of camembert topped with double-raspberry jam and chopped pecans, all baked in the oven until it was oozy, gooey goodness and ready to devour with crackers.

  As Avery set the oven to preheat, Nina handed her a baking dish and uncorked the first bottle of wine. “Wine time,” she announced, coming up behind Tate to wrap her arms around his waist.

  “Rather drink you up instead,” Tate murmured, curling a thick arm around his lady and pulling her in for a kiss.

  Avery mentally rolled her eyes and managed not to make a face. But seriously. They were ridiculous together. She was happy for them, even if seeing them so in love made her want to gag sometimes. “I’ll pour.” She uncorked the second bottle and left it to breathe, then poured a glass each for her and Nina from the first. “You having some?” she asked Tate.

  “Nah, I’ll have a beer later.”

  “Hey, by the way, my cousin’s wedding is next weekend. You’re still good for it, right? For at least two of the three days?” It felt weird asking him now that he was Nina’s man.

  Tate froze in the act of seasoning the steaks to stare at her, then winced. “Shit. That’s next weekend?”

  A hint of foreboding curled inside her. “Yeah, why?” Please don’t say you can’t make it.

  He looked at Nina, who also winced, then back at Avery. “We’re meeting Nina’s family over in Coeur D’Alene for the weekend. Rylee’s coming with us.”

  Shit. “The whole weekend?” As soon as she said it, she realized how stupid it sounded. Of course the whole weekend, it was over three hours’ drive away.

  “Yeah. Damn, I’m sorry.”

  Avery maintained a neutral expression as dread swamped her. Noooo, she couldn’t go to this thing alone. Her entire extended family would be there, expecting her to have a boyfriend, along with her ex and his twenty-six-year-old trophy wife, who was best friends with the bride.

  God, Avery’s cousin had bad taste in friends. If it wouldn’t put her in the family bad books forever for ditching the whole thing, Avery would in a heartbeat. “It’s…fine.”

  “I’m really sorry, Ave,” Tate said with an apologetic look. “I didn’t think it was a for sure thing, because you never finalized it after we talked initially.”

  “No, it’s seriously fine,” she said with a wave of her hand, even as dread scraped along her spine. This was her fault. She should have locked the date down with him a while back.

  “What’s the problem?”

  She stiffened at the sound of that deep voice behind her and turned as Mason strolled into the kitchen with his service dog Ric on his heels, his mere presence making the room seem small. She was tall at a shade under six feet but he was at least six-three, and his powerful build made her feel small by comp
arison.

  That unsettling hum started up deep inside her again like it did every time she saw him, traveling along her nerve endings like the tingle of a low-level electrical current. The man radiated an intensity that was impossible to ignore.

  Today he had on a plain black T-shirt that hugged his sculpted chest and shoulders and showed off the tats on his forearms. His well-worn, faded jeans fit him to perfection. He wore his dark hair short, his neatly-trimmed beard accentuating the clean lines of his jaw.

  But as beautiful as the rugged masculinity of him was, his eyes were the most gorgeous part. Pale, piercing blue, and when they met hers it was like he could see inside her. Past the confidence she’d worked so hard to restore after her divorce, past her defensive walls to the place deep down that responded to him against her will.

  “There’s no problem.” Tearing her gaze from him she focused on his dog instead. She crouched down and beckoned to him. Ric lowered his head and ears and rushed over, his back end wiggling, feathery tail swishing back and forth like a fan.

  “Ricochet, you handsome thing. How are you?” she crooned, aware of Mason’s stare on her and the nerves dancing in her belly.

  Ric was far and away the best thing about Mason, a border collie-Aussie shepherd cross with silky black, white and brown fur. One eye was brown and the other blue, topped by adorable brown eyebrows that gave him so much expression. She was looking forward to him moving in downstairs.

  As for his owner, Avery would be polite when they crossed paths, but continue to avoid him as much as possible once he moved into her suite. Hopefully his stay would be short and sweet.

  “Pretty sure I heard a problem just now,” he said, leaning against the counter to fold his arms over his chest as he watched her.

  “It’s nothing,” she answered, wrenching her eyes away from all that muscular glory on display. She wasn’t used to being around a guy like him.

  She spent a lot of time with Tate, but he didn’t count. Yes, he was built and a little gruff, but he was her work partner and she’d never been attracted to him like she was to Mason. She’d just have to call her mom back and make up another lie to cancel her plus one for the wedding, even though going alone was the last thing she wanted.