by Stark, Cindy
It didn’t mesh with the sweet, caring woman he’d held in his arms. Then again, the most dangerous ones were those who seemed to have two personalities. At least with Hardy, Christian had no doubt. He had violent asshole written all over him.
He also had a virtual laser sighted on him in the form of Christian and his vigilante brothers. Hardy didn’t know how big of a threat they were yet. But he would and soon.
The second Hardy’s vehicle was out of sight, he pushed open his door and climbed out, locking his Mustang behind him. Gideon might be able to give him more information now, and Christian needed to make sure Eliana and everyone else was okay. He could only hope to hell she knew what she’d gotten into.
It had taken everything Christian had to remain in his car when Eliana had walked up to the locked door. He’d been given a brief moment of reprieve when she couldn’t get inside. But someone opened the door for her, proving they’d expected her.
The bar was quiet this time when Christian entered. He glanced around for signs of blood, indicating someone had been killed. Nothing stood out as he wound his way through the tables to the backroom where he found Eliana, Gideon and one of his brother’s flunkies. The prostitute must have gone out the back way. Hardy might have beaten her to a pulp, but at least she wasn’t lying on the floor dead.
“Hey, dude. What’s up?” He tried to appear as casual as possible, as though he had no idea what might have happened moments earlier.
Gideon straightened his posture. “Just the fuck I want to see.” He strode over to him. Before Christian could guess his intentions, Gideon threw a fist in his face, catching him hard on the cheekbone.
Eliana’s gasp rang through the quiet room.
Christian immediately shoved him in return, sending Gideon stumbling back a few steps. “What the fuck was that for?”
Gideon narrowed his eyes. “For fucking my attorney, dumb ass. You don’t touch what’s mine.” He pointed toward the exit. “Get the fuck out of here. All of you. You got shit to take care of, Ellie.”
Christian glanced at her, saw the fear on her face, and then turned back to his brother. She seemed nervous, but other than that, she appeared to be okay. He wanted to reach out to her, to make his body a protective shield between his asshole brother and her, but he didn’t know if she’d appreciate it, or if it might do more harm than good.
Eliana and the other piece of shit who occupied the room quickly left without saying a word or tossing another look in his direction.
Dammit.
Christian ignored his brother’s command and stayed. “Sucker punch me like that again, and I’ll knock you flat like I did when we were kids.” Christian could see the wheels turning behind Gideon’s dull eyes. His brother had taken on a God complex that would someday be the end of him.
“Don’t fuck with my business,” he finally said in return.
“First of all, she wasn’t your business when I met her. Second, she’s the one who showed up at my house the other night. If you don’t like what she’s doing, talk to her.”
“I did,” he ground out.
“And?”
Gideon refused to answer, and Christian could safely bet she’d told him to go fuck himself. Or something similar. He buried his grin beneath a serious expression.
“Look,” Christian said, trying to shift to a safer subject. “I didn’t stop by to start shit. I was curious how things went down the other night, if Hardy’s men got through okay.”
Gideon nodded, though he didn’t seem any happier because of it. “They changed the route and moved it up two hours, so no problem. Hardy sent another truck through at the originally scheduled time to see what would happen, and yeah, he confirmed the bust. You bought me some leeway, which is why I haven’t put a bullet through your head already.”
“Fuck.” Christian snorted and shook his head. “Don’t start your big ass talk with me, brother. Look at me.” He pointed his finger at his chest and nailed his opportunity home. “I’m family, remember? I got your back as long as you don’t fuck me over again, okay?”
Gideon bit his bottom lip and shifted his head from side to side as though that helped him to think better. “Fine,” he finally blurted. “But stop fucking her. It messes with my head, and Hardy’s watching the two of you.”
Shit. He needed to avoid Angel Hardy’s radar. He and his vigilante brothers had too much at stake to risk it. They’d always been careful to cover their tracks and rarely spent much time in public together. But the guys had all been to Caora Dubh in the past, and they occasionally met up at Flo’s in Seaside. He could only hope Hardy had recently started watching him and knew nothing of his connection to their underground activities. Otherwise, their job to clear out Hardy and Donati’s organization just became a million times harder.
“Can’t make any promises, bro. A handsome guy like me is hard for the ladies to resist.” He grinned, hoping his attempt at humor would diffuse the situation.
Gideon shook his head and flipped him the bird. But a small smile cracked his face easing one of Christian’s worries.
If he didn’t want to blow his newfound cover wide open, he’d have to go in deep stealth mode. He could use Xander’s wife, Nicole to communicate to the rest of the group. Nicole had been working at his pub for quite some time. She was a line between him and the group, but Hardy would have to look awfully close to find the connection, and he doubted he’d made a big enough splash in Hardy’s world to garner that kind of surveillance.
In fact, if he stayed out of Eliana’s pants, he’d bet the guy wouldn’t look his way again.
Chapter Eleven
“This is your car?” Lorenzo eyed Eliana’s red Challenger like an addict staring down a pile of cocaine. “You attorneys make a shit-load of money.”
She disengaged the locks as she reached the driver’s side. “It’s called getting an education and working for a living. You might consider trying it sometime.” It sickened her to be so close to the man who’d pulled the trigger and stolen Howard’s life. If not for the monster climbing in her car and his cruel actions, she’d still have her friend. Howard would still be smiling and telling her the crazy things he’d seen in the park, and she’d tell him about her exploits in the courtroom.
But no. Now, out of the two of them, only Lorenzo’s heart continued to beat. The angel had gone to heaven, while the devil was left on earth with her.
To make matters worse, she had to save the murderer’s ass from the least amount of justice he deserved. She’d expend energy to get him back on the streets where he could hurt more people. All so she could bring down the bigger boys. The ones who paid him. The ones ultimately responsible for a huge amount of ugliness.
If she had to sell her soul in the process, so be it. Others had sacrificed themselves to protect innocents. She could as well.
Her engine started with a roar.
“Hell, yeah.” Lorenzo grinned. “This is gonna be fucking awesome.”
Eliana slanted a glare at him. “Put on your seatbelt, asshole.”
The kid reached over and belted himself in. “No need to be a bitch about it.”
Her blood boiled, and she wanted to pull the Duke from her purse and put a hole in his head. “Your boss pulled me from an important meeting to come bail out a piece of shit punk who messed up. I have better things to do.”
“Hey, I’m an important person in this organization. I’m the best at moving product, and Gideon can’t do without me.” He reached over to touch her stereo, and she slapped his hand.
“Don’t touch anything. In fact, don’t say another word. Not now. Not at the police station. Don’t talk to me at all.”
He chuckled, raising the heat in her blood. “Don’t get high and mighty with me, bitch. I’m being nice to you ‘cause you’re going to save my ass, but don’t think I don’t know shit. Don’t think I won’t tell either.”
Her pulse turned to ice. “What are you talking about?”
“I remember you in the p
ark, the gun you probably have in your bag right now. I apologize for hitting on you. I didn’t realize we were playing for the same team.”
“Your apology is worthless to me.” Acid dripped from her words, and she wished she could burn him with it.
“Fine. If that’s how you want to play it.” Lorenzo’s gaze blackened though his grin grew wider. “You used to go see that old drunk all the time. Didn’t he die recently? That’s what I heard. Got popped for shooting off his mouth or something.”
“I hadn’t heard,” she lied and took a corner sharper than she should have, causing Lorenzo to grab the door handle. She regretted her reaction as soon as she’d done it. Showing she’d cared for Howard would only give them another reason to be suspicious of her. She exhaled to regain her composure. “If so, that would be too bad. He was a good man.”
Lorenzo snorted. “He was a no-good bum, living off others.”
As opposed to Lorenzo preying on innocents to make his living? At least Howard didn’t hurt anyone.
Eliana zipped into a vacant parking space across from the police station and shoved the gearshift into park. “Let’s get this over with.”
She’d been in the police’s central precinct too many times to count, and she knew it as well as the local supermarket. She pushed through the front doors without bothering to see if Lorenzo followed her, and she approached the officer covering the front desk.
She smiled at the older man, thin with little hair, but still looking impressive in his uniform. “Afternoon, Cal. My client needs to turn himself in for questioning.”
Cal looked over the glasses resting on the bottom of his nose, past Eliana’s shoulder. “Name?”
“Lorenzo…” She glanced behind her to find her client standing close, his body stiff and his gaze darting about.
“Dansie,” he said.
“Lorenzo Dansie,” she repeated to Cal, making a mental note that one day his name would appear on some sort of official document stating he’d murdered Howard.
“Dansie,” Cal said as he typed on his keyboard. “Like pansy.” He didn’t lift his gaze, but Eliana knew Cal intended it as an insult to the delinquent. She held back her snicker. Cal continued to ask her client for personal information, until finally he finished. “Wait here. An officer will be with you momentarily.”
“Fuck,” Lorenzo said when Cal walked away. “I hope you know what the fuck you’re doing because this is bullshit.”
Eliana looked up at the tall, lanky kid. “Did you or did you not attempt to sell heroin last night?”
A panicked look darkened his eyes. “Shhh….” He glanced about, a paranoid expression on his face. “You’re going to get me busted.”
“You’re already busted, dipshit.” She leaned in close. “And it’s only bullshit if you didn’t do it.”
“Detective Holden will be here in five. Follow me to an interrogation room.” Cal escorted them to a back area of the police station. He left them sitting in a room with nothing but a table, three chairs and a one-way mirror.
Eliana sat and crossed her legs while Lorenzo fidgeted in his seat.
“This was a bad idea.” He picked at a scab on his arm.
“Why’s that?” Normally, she would have tried to calm and reassure her client. Not this time. If she could add to his suffering, she would.
“Because you fucking hate my guts. I can see it in your face. Did they tell you to throw me to the wolves? Huh? Like they did with Stev?” He pounded a fist on the table and then stood. “I fucking knew it.”
“Calm down, and sit down.” She narrowed her gaze in a threatening manner. “As your attorney, I’m here to represent you. I told you once to keep your mouth shut. Now would be a good time to do just that.”
He resumed his seat. “If you fuck me over, I’ll kill you.”
A shiver raced over her, followed by a healthy dose of anger. She leaned close to whisper. “Listen, you little fucker. Don’t threaten me. I’ll cut your fucking balls off before you can even think about offing me.”
The expression on his face sobered, and he sat back. She maintained her glare until the door opened again. Longing curled through Eliana as Detective Sam Holden entered. His dark blond hair always looked as though someone had just run her fingers through it, but his brown eyes assessed and watched in an intense way that left Eliana on edge.
In the past, she’d appreciated his sixth sense, but not today, not when she needed to finagle a way to set her guilty client free.
“Eliana,” Sam said, walking forward with his hand extended.
She grasped it and shook, remembering a time when she’d desperately wanted to be the focus of his attention. Now, nothing remained but friendship. “Hello, Sam.”
He glanced at the file in his hand. “You’re representing the client in this case?” A cloud of disbelief hovered in his eyes.
“I am,” she said as confidently as she could.
He shifted his gaze to Lorenzo and then back to her. “I thought the economy was picking up.”
She gave him a placating smile and returned to her seat, ignoring his jab. “My client would like to plead in exchange for leniency.”
“What?” Lorenzo shot out of his chair.
“Sit down,” Sam commanded.
“Please let me handle this, Mr. Dansie. I assure you I have your best interests at heart.” Eliana sent him a glare worthy of her mother when she hadn’t been high on drugs.
“This is bullshit,” Lorenzo muttered and sat.
Sam flipped a couple of pages in his file. “Your client is wanted for possession of nearly a quarter pound of brown Mexican tar heroin. When one of our undercover officers tried to make a purchase, your client punched him and fled the scene along with Jameson Steverson. Officers in pursuit saw Steverson dump the heroin, and they were able to recover it. Steverson remains at large.”
Eliana cleared her throat, giving her an extra second to think on the fly. No one had mentioned Lorenzo assaulting an officer. “First, my client would like to apologize to the officer he punched. Mr. Dansie was unaware of Mr. Steverson’s intentions and was caught off guard when his friend tried to sell the heroin. When the officer identified himself, my client panicked, and his punch was merely a reaction that he sincerely regrets.”
Sam lifted a disbelieving brow. “Is that so?”
“Yes, sir,” Lorenzo said with a respectable amount of sincerity, enough that Eliana believed him to finally be on board. Good thing, too, because she couldn’t pull this off without his help.
“My client is an innocent in this matter,” Eliana continued. “A person in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is prepared to give up the location of his friend, a lifelong friend, which will be very painful for him. But he’ll do it because it’s the right thing to do to protect the innocent citizens of Portland.”
Sam snorted. “We can’t let him walk free, Eliana. He assaulted an officer.”
Eliana nodded in agreement. “We understand that. My client is prepared to plead guilty to assaulting an officer in the fourth degree.”
“That’s still up to a year in jail and could be up to six thousand dollars in fines,” Sam said.
“What?” Lorenzo spouted. “I thought you were gonna help me.”
She turned and fully faced her client, wishing she could let him rot with his choices. “Assaulting an officer in the fourth degree is a Class A misdemeanor. Delivery of heroin is a felony crime. Do you wish to keep arguing my points?”
Lorenzo clamped his mouth shut but stared at her with angry eyes.
“Depending on your criminal history, the judge may be lenient with jail time and or fines,” she continued. “It’s the best you can hope for in this situation.” Seriously, did he think he’d get away with only a slap on his hand?
Sam studied Eliana as though looking for a clue as to what might have motivated her actions. She was sure he wondered. They’d known each other long enough for him to know she abhorred criminals like Lorenzo. He must be com
pletely baffled over her choices of clients, or…perhaps he thought she believed in Lorenzo’s innocence. Either way, she had to sell Sam on the idea or her worth as Gideon’s attorney would be shot.
“It’s a fair deal, Sam. We give you the actual perpetrator, and my client pays some for being naïve enough to hang around the wrong people.”
“Naïve?” He couldn’t quite seem to accept that idea.
“We’ve all made bad choices in our lives, found ourselves in situations where we didn’t intend to be. My client sincerely wants to help the Portland PD clean up our streets.” She almost choked on that one. “It’s a win for both sides, don’t you agree?”
Sam flipped through the file in front of him. “Looks like Mr. Dansie has found himself in trouble before.”
“Five years ago, but it was only shoplifting,” Lorenzo supplied.
“Only shoplifting?” Sam mocked.
“Otherwise, my record is clean,” Lorenzo said, not seeming to catch on to Sam’s meaning.
“Clean of convictions, but you’ve been arrested a number of times.”
“Innocent until proven guilty,” Eliana countered. “Come on, Sam. Accepting our agreement will get the man you really want off the streets.”
Sam stared at her for a few more seconds and then slapped the file closed. “I’ll be back.”
When the door closed behind him, Lorenzo jerked his gaze toward her. “Did it work?”
“It worked.” She’d seen it in her friend’s eyes. “They want Steverson more than you. That’s the only thing saving your ass.”
He ran a hand through his long, dirty hair. “If he can, Stev is going to rat me out, too.”
“That’s where you trump him. You came forward first. They’ll go to his house or wherever the hell he’s hiding, and they’ll find drugs. Tell me they will.”
“They will. Several pounds.” He nodded.
She met his gaze head on. “He’ll want your blood after he finds out, but by then, it won’t do him any good. With that much heroin, he’ll find himself with a hefty sentence.”
“Not a problem. This part has all been taken care of already. Just needed you for the legal stuff.” Lorenzo cracked a smile. “Nothing to worry about with Stev. He won’t live long enough to be sentenced. Might already be dead.”
