Seduced by the Badge

by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  Danni nodded, having no choice but to trust his decision.

  Armstrong dropped down onto the bed beside her. “I’m a little pissed at you. Why didn’t you say something about being hurt? You were worried about Ginger and Pie getting medical help, but not yourself.”

  Danni blew a soft sigh. “I really thought I was okay.”

  “Well, clearly you weren’t. It’s a good thing it wasn’t worse.”

  “So, how long are you going to fuss at me?”

  “This isn’t fussing. Stick around and I’m sure you’ll see fussing.”

  “I’m happy that you care,” Danni said with a wry smile.

  Armstrong pulled her into his arms and held her. Danni allowed herself to relax, resting her head against his broad chest. She closed her eyes and inhaled him. Joy swelled full and thick between them. They settled against each other as they waited, nothing else needing to be said. When the nurse returned with her discharge papers, he was still holding tightly to her, Danni having dozed off.

  Chapter 19

  Danni woke in Armstrong’s bed. It was still dark out, the rising sun hours from reaching its full potential. The door was open, and she could hear him snoring softly in the other room. She remembered his insisting that she stay with him. He had retrieved her belongings and checked her out of her hotel room. Despite her protests, he had refused to take no for an answer, insisting it was doctor’s orders.

  Although she didn’t say so, she was grateful. Being near him had put her at ease, and she realized just how unnerved she had been with Carlo and that lot. She blew a soft sigh as she thought about everything, putting the details into perspective.

  Despite her initial hopes that he was one of the good guys, she truly hadn’t been all that surprised to discover Carlo was involved. She hadn’t pegged him for masterminding everything, thinking instead that he was a willing bystander, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to what he knew was going on.

  She and Armstrong had talked for a good long while before he had tucked her into his bed, kissing her gently as she’d fallen off to sleep. He’d shared the secret with her about the Balducci family lineage, swearing her to secrecy. Both surmised that had been the reason behind Carlo’s motivation for doing what he had done. A part of him had wanted to carry on the family’s illegal enterprises to build his reputation and perhaps impress the father who had yet to claim him as his son. Watching Alexander continually fawning over and protecting Pie had been a thorn in his side that he couldn’t overcome.

  She was excited to hear that the district attorney’s office was willing to offer Ginger witness protection and an immunity deal; she just hoped by the time she talked with her, the young woman would still be willing to share everything she knew.

  There was still the issue of some man named Hobart having transferred $1.3 million in bitcoin to Pius to claim her, but federal investigators had already taken up that search and were confident his days of buying virgins were done and finished.

  Rising from the bed, Danni moved into the bathroom. Stripping out of her clothes, she examined herself in the full-length mirror. She was nicely bruised, black-and-blue marks covering her back and buttocks. Although she was sore, she wasn’t in any major pain, and that headache had finally subsided. The bandage around her head wasn’t cute, she thought, but cute was sometimes overrated.

  Suddenly desperate for a hot shower, she turned on the water and stepped under the spray, mindful not to get her head wet. Some twenty minutes later, she felt renewed and invigorated. Her teeth were brushed and her face was washed. Wrapping herself in an oversize towel, she moved from the bathroom into the bedroom.

  Searching her bags and finding her toiletries, she moisturized herself from head to toe. A light spritz of her favorite perfume had her feeling semi-normal again. She slipped on a pair of lace panties and an oversize T-shirt. A silk scarf wrapped around her head had her looking fairly stylish and less like a patient.

  She sat down at the bedside, a host of things racing through her head. Armstrong Black dominated her thoughts. Everything about the man moved her spirit. Love had always felt like a foreign concept, but the idea of falling in love with Armstrong felt like the most natural thing in the world for her to do. Pondering the idea of staying in Chicago to pursue a relationship felt right in so many ways. She couldn’t begin to explain how she suddenly felt like destiny was calling her name. Loudly. Whether or not she would pay attention still remained to be seen.

  She rose from her seat and slowly eased her way into the living room, where he was sleeping soundly. His sofa pulled out into a bed, and he lay sprawled across the thin mattress, a sheet tangled at his feet. He was bare chested, wearing only a pair of navy blue boxers. His limbs were like tree trunks, thick and solid. His skin was a vat of warm, creamy milk chocolate, silky smooth and glossy. Both arms were curled over his head, and his mouth was open ever so slightly. It seemed as if he were resting well, his entire body relaxed. He slept peacefully. He was truly beautiful. She sat down beside him, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. He snored softly, a slight whistle on the exhale of each warm breath. The sound both amused and comforted her.

  Danni stretched out her legs and crawled into the bed beside him. She eased her body against his. Armstrong woke with a slight start, but quickly recognized that she was there. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice a loud whisper. “How is your head?”

  Cradled in the curve of his arm, Danni nodded. “I’m good,” she answered. “I just needed to be near you.”

  He gave her a gentle squeeze and shifted his body against her as he placed a damp kiss against her forehead. Danni eased her body up and over his. She pressed her palms against the mattress at his side, and her legs stretched over his body so that one knee was on each side of his hips. She captured his mouth, kissing him eagerly, her lips dancing easily with his lips. The beginnings of an erection searched between her parted legs. The hold he had on her tightened as he gasped, surprise registered in the swift gust of air.

  Danni winced, a hint of pain shooting through her.

  “Sorry! Baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said as he snatched his hands from her.

  She shook her head. “Just not so tight. I’m a little more banged up than I realized.”

  Armstrong nodded as he resumed his ministrations, his hands gently caressing her, sliding beneath her T-shirt so that his fingers heated her skin. He stroked her back and hips and her buttocks, each pass of his hands raising the heat level between them. They lay like that for a good long while, just allowing themselves to revel in the warmth of each other’s bodies. He took a deep breath and twitched for attention. In response, Danni chuckled softly, rotating her pelvis against him teasingly.

  “You know what you’re doing to me, right?” Armstrong whispered.

  She gave him a seductive smile. “I know. I’m doing it on purpose.”

  “As long as we’re on the same page.”

  “I certainly hope so. I know you’re a little slow.”

  He laughed. “I’m going to let you have that for now because I’m a little challenged and you’re not letting me think straight.”

  “Oh, you seem pretty straight to me,” she said teasingly as she rotated her hips in the other direction.

  * * *

  Armstrong allowed himself to wallow in the sensations her touch was eliciting from his body. He was hard and throbbing, and with her pelvis like a magnet, drawing him toward the heat, all he wanted was to feel himself pulsing deep in her core. He trailed his fingers down across her backside, and she twitched, reminding him that he couldn’t grab her ass the way he wanted.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered. “I’m going to follow your lead.”

  “You do that,” she said. Danni kissed him hungrily, her mouth d
ancing sweetly with his.

  Tongues tangled, searching, teasing, tasting. Hands glided, caressing, stroking, touching. Skin kissed skin, her whole body covering his. Her breasts were ripe oranges against his chest, and he marveled at how amazing she felt in his arms. He resisted the urge to pump his hips up into her crotch.

  “Condom?” Danni whispered as she nearly brought him to orgasm, grinding intensely against him.

  He nodded, rolling so that she lay back against the mattress. He moved into the bedroom, returning before she could blink. As he crossed the room, he stepped out of his boxers, returning to her in full glory. He tore at the wrapper with his teeth, pulling the prophylactic into his hand.

  “Let me,” Danni said as she took it from him. She was wide-eyed as she took him into her hands, stroking him slowly.

  “I’m not going to last if you keep doing that,” he muttered, his breathing labored.

  Danni continued to pump her hands along his length a few more times before she sheathed him.

  She pushed him back against the pillows. “This way,” she whispered as she straddled him again easily. “I don’t think I can lie on my back.”

  * * *

  He nodded as he moved his palm down the back of one leg and up the other. He snaked his hand beneath her panties and stroked her backside. She was hot, a light layer of perspiration rising against her skin. He dipped his hand lower, teasing the entrance to her most private place, and was rewarded with slick moisture coating his fingers. She was wet and wanting, desire surging with a vengeance. He suddenly snatched her panties from her, ripping the silk fabric from her body, the garment discarded to the floor.

  The gesture was intense and urgent, and Danni answered his demand. Rising slightly, she settled herself against him, the head of his erection teasing her labia. And then she plunged her body against his, taking him in deeply until her pelvis locked tightly against his. She rode him slowly at first as he massaged her breasts, teasing her nipples between his thumb and forefinger. The buds hardened like rock candy, and he lifted himself up to take one and then the other into his mouth. He suckled like he was drowning and desperate, savoring the taste of her as she slammed herself up and down against him.

  The intensity of the moment was corporeal. Heat was thick and abundant. He met her stroke for stroke, heaving his hips up and down, as she rotated round and round, over and over again. He convulsed, his body saying what his head and mouth couldn’t. A scream stuck in his throat, and he gulped air, fueling the sensations sweeping through his body. His orgasm hit hard, the volcanic eruption spewing with a vengeance, and then Danni fell into bliss with him, murmuring his name over and over again as if she were in prayer. When she finally collapsed above him, her body was spent, every nerve ending and muscle vibrating with sheer, unadulterated pleasure.

  She couldn’t begin to fathom going back to a life without him. She couldn’t deny that this thing between them was more than either of them could have ever imagined. It was love. Beautiful, intoxicating, affirming, necessary and possessing. She loved him. She had fallen in love with him. A tear rolled past her dark lashes, and she struggled not to cry the ugly cry as understanding swept through her, sealing her fate and the eternity she yearned for. She wanted Armstrong Black, and she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life.

  Armstrong shifted beneath her, his arms coming back around to hold her. He whispered, the words blowing like the sweetest breeze past his full lips. “I love you, Danni! I love you very much!”

  * * *

  They were like giggly grade-schoolers as they sat together over a breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and toast. They’d gotten little sleep, their night together spent doing everything but sleeping. If she hadn’t been sore before, Danni thought, she was definitely feeling very uncomfortable this morning. She swallowed two of the hospital-issued pain pills with orange juice.

  In the wee hours of the morning they had made tentative plans. She would move to Chicago, but she would get her own apartment that she probably would sleep in only once or twice. They would date, but wouldn’t go public just yet. They would tell his family immediately; hers could wait until whenever she felt like giving up the information. He got sex on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She got sex on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and sex on Sundays was up for grabs. She would find a nice Baptist church for Sunday services, and he would join her. Sunday dinner with his parents was mandatory. Hopefully she would find a job with the Chicago Police Department, and he promised to put in a good word for her with his brother and father. Their plans were tentative, and they were excited about each and every one of them.

  Danni reached for his necktie and pulled him to her. She kissed his lips, then pressed her cheek to his. “I’d take you back to bed, but we need to get a move on it,” she said as she let him go and gently straightened the paisley-printed neckwear.

  “I need to get a move on it,” he said, smiling at her. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

  She winked an eye at him. “We’ll compromise. We’ll both get us a nap together later.”

  Armstrong laughed. “Why does that sound like we won’t be napping?”

  “Because you, Detective, have a dirty mind. Now, let’s get you to that press conference before your brother is mad at both of us!”

  * * *

  As promised, Ginger and Pie both showed up at ten o’clock, accompanied by Alexander and a team of attorneys. Pie and his grandfather were escorted to one interrogation room and Ginger to another. Attorneys followed them both.

  Danni knew before she asked the first question that Ginger had changed her mind, or it had been changed for her. Each of her questions was answered by the young woman’s legal counsel, a lanky man with Elvis Presley hair in a very expensive suit. When it became apparent that she wasn’t going to get any answers, she laid her pen down and turned off the tape recorder.

  “Counselor, may I speak to your client privately? Off the record,” she asked. Her gaze was focused on Ginger, who stared back at her with equal temerity.

  “I don’t think...” the man started before Ginger raised a hand to stall his comment.

  “It’s fine,” she said. “Please leave us alone.”

  “I would advise you against...”

  “It’ll be fine,” Ginger repeated, leveling him with a hard stare.

  The two women waited until the door was closed tightly behind the man. Danni stood and flipped the switch to disengage the two-way mirror, cutting off their view from anyone standing on the other side.

  “He got to you, didn’t he?” she asked as she sat back down. “Did he threaten you, Ginny?”

  “Who? Pius?”

  “No. Alexander Balducci. Because if he did I will arrest him for witness tampering.”

  Ginger blew a soft sigh. “It’s not what you think,” she said.

  “Then what is it?”

  Ginger leaned back in her seat. “It’s Paul,” she said, calling Pie by his government name. “When we first met he was so innocent. And sweet. I was working for Pius. He started out helping me. Like he helped you. I moved in with him just like you did. He was really nice at first. Then he changed. But I learned how to play the game, and the more money I made him, the better it was for me. He wanted to, but he never got rid of me because he couldn’t. Pie took a liking to me, and I used that to my advantage. As long as I made Pie happy and he wanted me around, there was nothing Pius could do about it. Mr. Balducci wouldn’t have it.” She took a deep breath before she continued.

  “Pius didn’t want to lose the money I was making him, so he started grooming Pie. Convincing him he was some kind of bad boy in charge and pimping me and the other girls was a good thing. With his temper, Pius knew the girls were afraid of him. He lashed out when he felt threatened or Pius pushed him. He looked up to Pius and he was always trying to impress him, emulating what he saw him do. But
when it was just the two of us, he was really good, and he can be very sweet.

  “Mr. Balducci has offered me the opportunity to stay with Pie. We’re moving into the house with him and his mother. He says I’ll be able to go to school if I want and Pius can’t make me turn tricks anymore. I’ll get an allowance and it’ll be different. And he says if I ever want to leave, I can do that, too.”

  Danni took a deep breath, holding it briefly before she blew a heavy sigh. “And you believe him?”

  “I do, because he knows one of my best friends, someone I trust, is a badass police woman and she won’t let him hurt me.”

  “So you’re not going to testify against Pius?”

  “Oh, yes I will!” Ginger exclaimed. “I promised you I’d give you a statement, and I will keep that promise. I will do whatever it takes to send Pius to hell for the rest of his life. But I can’t say anything against Pie. I won’t testify against him, and you needed to understand why. I made that promise to his grandfather.”

  Danni nodded. “I’m proud of you, Ginny. You’re an amazing young woman.”

  “I’m a survivor first. Always, no matter what.”

  “I guess we should call your attorney back in and I’ll revise my questions?”

  Ginger grinned. “That works for me, cop!”

  * * *

  Danni gave Ginger a hug before the young woman turned and exited the building hand in hand with Pie. There was something in her eyes, a sense of relief that seemed to flood her spirit, and her smile was light and joyous. She watched as the couple took off in her car and Mr. Balducci took off in the back of a limousine.

  Armstrong moved to her side. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she cut an eye in his direction. “You good?”

  She nodded. “I’m good. How about you?”

  “It’s always good when we get the bad guys.”