Mine Would Be You: A Bad Boy Rancher Love Story (The Dawson Brothers Book 3)

by Ali Parker

  "I don't know. You can't be here. They're going to know you're a cop. Get out." She pulled back, her pretty blue eyes faded. My soul ached at what she'd been through, at what might have been done to her.

  "Come with me. We'll get out and then I'll come back."

  "No way. They're not going to let you out of here. Not now." She shook her head as her eyes grew wide. "Tanner." She turned and walked away as I stiffened.

  I'd never met Tanner King, but I'd heard a lot about him. President of the Black Hearts MC gang and the meanest mother fucker in the city. He made the mafia look like fruit flies - annoyances at best.

  "What do we have here?" His voice was smooth like glass and deep. So deep.

  I turned slowly and ran my hands over my hips and down the outside of my thighs. I'd done a lot of police work in the short number of years I'd been on the force, and dealt with some bastards, but never anyone like him.

  "Wow," I breathed out softly. "It's you."

  A hint of a smile played along the side of his mouth. "You look a little too old to be in my program. How do we know each other, Dani?"

  "Sandy, but close enough." I took a bold step toward him. His dark eyes moved around my face as he reached out and gripped my arms tightly where they bent. "I'm not too old."

  "Have you been in here before?" He leaned down and brushed his nose by mine. "You smell like flowers and sugar. I wonder how you taste."

  I stiffened. There would never come a day where I'd get used to how violent men affected me in a way they shouldn't. It felt wrong. Vile. Off.

  "You should find out," I breathed out and leaned in, pressing my lips to his in a hard kiss.

  He slid his hands up my arms and pulled me in closer, deepening the kiss and turning us around the room like we were trapped in a never-ending dance.

  I got a hand free and pressed a panic button on my right hip, hidden under my dress. The kiss was strong, powerful and his tongue tasted like peppermint. He was deplorable, but if put in any other situation, he'd have been every woman's wet fantasy. Big and strong, sexy and aggressive.

  "Boss. The alarm!" Someone yelled.

  He pulled back and smiled at me. "Dani. You bad girl, you."

  "Fuck you, Tanner." I stepped back and reached for my gun.

  "Not tonight, love. But I'll find you. Soon enough." He turned and jogged toward a door hidden behind a large painting. I got my gun out and followed him only to find the door locked from the other side.

  Pure panic ensued around me as guys worked to drag girls out of the windows and back up the original entrance. A flood of cops joined me seconds later and took out every male in the vicinity, knocking them out and cuffing them.

  I worked with a few other female cops to huddle the girls together. The sound of crying and sniffling filled the air. I had to imagine that my sister had cried a lot of tears when she was sold into slavery. The thought fueled me forward and kept me strong as we worked to process all the girls and got them into cars to send them down to the police station and then onto a protected, private shelter.

  "Good work, Markum." Cop after cop stopped to pat me on the back and shake my hand. They didn't understand that finding these fuckers was a passion because the same men took away my sister, my only sibling. The fight was personal, and because it was, it made all the difference.

  "Dani." Thomas, my partner, stopped in front of me. "You okay?"

  "Yeah." I nodded, not feeling too steady on my feet.

  "Great job. Captain wants to see you."

  "Tonight?" I put my hands on my hips and gave him a look.

  "Yes. He's outside near the entrance."

  "Alright." I patted his chest as I walked back up the entrance and toward the front door. I ignored the glares I received from both Tanner's men and some of the girls. It was scary to think that we'd lost the king pin himself. He would be my next target, my focus until we took his ass down too.

  "Dani." Captain Nelson nodded as I walked up. His salt and pepper hair was disheveled and his eyes blood shot. "Are you alright?"

  "Absolutely. I'm sorry about King." I glanced to the ground and forced myself to look back up. Being a woman on the force was hard as hell. I had to make them respect me, and I did, but going head to head with them every time.

  No one knew how exhausted I was.

  "About King." Captain glanced around and I knew immediately that things were changing.

  "Hey." I reached out and gripped his arm. "Jack. I'm fine. I'm right here. Nothing happened. This is what I do. I'm one of the detectives for sexual crimes."

  "I get that." He patted my hand and pulled my fingers from his forearm. "Your father is a good friend of mine."

  "No. He's your pastor. There's a difference." I forced a smile. "Don't do this."

  "I have to, kiddo. He knows you. He called you by name."

  "No. He doesn't know me, Jack. He heard one of the girls down there call me by name."

  "Dani." He gave me a stern look. "It's not forever. It's just until things settle down. Take a few days off and then we'll move you to probation duty."

  "What? No." I shook my head. "That's fucked up and you know it."

  "He knows you." He reached out and gripped the side of my face. "He's a fucking monster and he's got your card. You're damn lucky I'm not putting you in protective custody. Watch out for yourself and do what I say, or I will ship you off and have you watched twenty-four-seven. You understand me?"

  I bit my tongue and forced the tears burning my eyes not to fall.

  "Fine," I bit out and pulled from him. My only passion in life was fucking up criminals and saving innocent girls from the horrors my sister had faced before her death. Turning, I ignored everyone that spoke to me as I walked toward my cop car. Thomas could find another ride home.

  Me being pulled off sex crimes was likely his fault. He cared about me and worried too much.

  It was unforgivable and done for one reason.

  Because I was a woman.

  Chapter 3

  Ryder

  "Johnny. There you are. I thought you weren't here." My sister, Maria stopped by the last pew in the church and patted my arm. "You okay? You look tired."

  "I'm good." I reached up and squeezed her hand. She looked like daddy, whereas my other sister, Sicily looked like momma. Both of them brought me comfort seeing that my folks were gone. "I had a meeting this morning with Axel at the shop before heading this way. Just an early morning after a late night."

  Her eyebrow lifts as her husband, Neiman walked up beside her. "A long night like you need to go to confessional?"

  "Doesn't Johnny always need to go to confessional?" Neiman smiled and let out a soft chuckle.

  I stood up and stretched. "Throw the first stone, brother."

  Maria laughed and reached out to tug the front of my shirt down. "I'm headed to momma’s, or your place I guess. I'll get some lunch started."

  "Sounds good." I let my eyes move along the front of the church until I found Father Hernandez. He was locked on me with a look of concern on his face. "I'll be at the house in a little bit. Let me go check in with the Priest."

  "See you there." My sister and her husband turned to leave as the rest of my large Sicilian family blew past all of us.

  "Hi, Uncle Johnny!" Several of the kids yelled.

  "You look rough." My brother commented.

  "Fuck you too." I moved past them and walked toward Paul. "Morning, Father."

  "Johnny." He clasped my hands and pulled me into a tight hug. "I thought maybe something had happened to you."

  "Because I wasn't early?" I patted his back and enjoyed the warmth of his hug. He was my father's oldest friend and the only one that knew the depths of my soul.

  "Yes." He moved back and gave me the once-over. "You're always early."

  "Business meeting." I slipped my hands into my pockets.

  He lifted his eyebrow. "You need some time in confessional?"

  I chuckled. "No, but thank you. It was about a custom
car. Nothing else."

  "Something tells me that's not the only thing you've been up to."

  I nodded. "Have a good week, Father. Say an extra prayer for me if you have one."

  "I have lots for you. Be safe, son. Get on the right path."

  I let his voice follow me out to the parking lot. Was there really a right path? My father had been a hellion. An evil bastard that died of a heart attack, not in a gun fight or in a robbery.

  My mother was a saint. Beautiful and loving. She died of a heart attack too.

  It would seem to me that there was no real right way to live if you were going to keel over either way.

  "Might as well have a little bit of fun until then." I got on my bike and pulled out of the parking lot, ignoring the stares from the older folks. It was part of the routine of Sunday morning.

  ***

  The house was full of people by the time I pulled up in the driveway. My brothers had set up a table in the front room to play domino's, and Maria was alone in the kitchen working on lunch for everyone.

  "Johnny. Come on, man. We'll make room for one more."

  "Just a minute." I lifted my hand and walked into the kitchen. "You need to get those bastards up and helping you."

  "It's okay. I like it in here by myself. Let's me think about momma doing this for all those years." She smiled over at me, her pudgy cheeks not detracting at all from her beauty.

  I moved up behind her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders before leaning down and kissing her cheek. "You need to talk Sicily into moving back from Maine."

  "No way." She worked to chop up lettuce and tomatoes. "She loves it there and she has her bakery."

  "So, we can open her one here." I gave Maria another squeeze before releasing her and walking to the stove. "You need me to grill these burgers?"

  "Neiman was going to, but I think he got caught up in playing with the guys." She shrugged and handed me a slice of tomato like momma used to do every time she cut them.

  "Thanks." I grabbed it and tossed it in my mouth before working to gather everything we needed to grill the burgers. "Have you talked to Sis lately? How is she doing? That fucker she's dating behaving at all?"

  Maria laughed. "They're getting married. Stop acting like he's just a fling."

  "I wish he was." I grabbed the burgers and headed out of the kitchen. "How we let her end up with a Mafia warlord is beyond me."

  "Someone call my name?" My brother, Paulo glanced up and gave a goofy grin.

  "Yeah. I said Maria needs a few bitches in the kitchen." I winked. "That would mean all of you."

  They slung insults as I walked out in the chilly late spring afternoon to the grill. We lived on the shitty side of town, or I did at least. Mom and Dad hadn't built or bought another house my entire childhood, and I didn't plan on giving up the one we grew up in anytime soon. It was functional and held a lot of memories, and it was safe.

  I could relax and simply be myself there. There was no reason to toughen up or present a front to my family. They knew me in all my many personas, and they loved me.

  For that, I was blessed.

  The sound of hogs on the road down the street got my attention and pulled me from my thoughts. I finished putting the burgers on the grill and walked around the house to find the guys pulling up.

  "Well damn," I mumbled and walked toward Axel as he parked his bike and pulled his helmet off. "What the fuck are you guys doing here? Sundays are for family."

  Hyde laughed and got off his bike. "We are your family, bitch."

  "True." I extended my hand and pulled him into a quick hug before doing that to the rest of them. "I don't have enough food for you big bitches. You should have told someone-"

  Maria cut me off as she walked down the stairs behind me with another tray of hamburgers. "I knew they were coming. Caleb called to make sure it was okay."

  I glanced over at Caleb, the responsible one and rolled my eyes. "Pansy."

  "At your service." He winked and walked past me toward the house. "I hear bones being thrown."

  "I'm in." Derek followed him and Hyde half-danced up the stairs.

  "You guys are fucking weird." I turned back to Axel, his face a mask of worry. He waited until the door was shut behind me to speak.

  "What were you doing with Candace King last night, Johnny? What the fuck is the matter with you, man? You could have any woman in the whole damn city, and yet you're shaking up with our greatest enemy's little sister? You trying to start something?"

  "No," I barked and gave him a warning look before turning back to the grill. I was the president of our MC, but it wasn't traditional at all. It was a brotherhood that had banded together more than the gang it had originally been.

  "Then what were you doing?"

  "Busting a nut, Axel." I glanced his way and pursed my lips as we stood in silence for a second. "It's none of your goddamn business, and you know it."

  "No. It is my goddamn business. Tanner King hates your ass for leaving them and dropping his sister in a puddle of grief."

  "She used me," I spit out through clenched teeth. "We've been through this a million times. The bitch used me to get what they wanted and fucked up my life forever. You think rotting in jail for five years was fun while they enjoyed the spoils of my adventures? She didn't miss me then. She's a fucking viper."

  "Okay. I'm aware of this." He dropped down on a broken cooler on the ground next to the grill. "Why would you sleep with her?"

  "I didn't sleep with her. I fucked her like a whore and kicked her out." I shrugged and turned to flip the burgers.

  Axel let out a long, exhausted sigh. "But why?"

  "Because I still love her." I turned to him and glared down at him. "Shut the fuck up about it, or I'll treat you like a whore too."

  He held up his hands and nodded. "Alright. I know when to back off. Just know that when Tanner comes after your stupid ass that I'll be there for you. We all will."

  I bit my tongue and kept after the burgers, hoping that he'd go inside and leave things be. I was a grown ass man. I didn't need anyone screening my bedmates. Least of all Axel.

  He fought more demons from his past than all of us put together. Being a part of the Cooper clan from the west coast left him no choice but to fight. He had mafia in his blood. He was lucky those bastards hadn't come to collect him - yet.

  "Johnny." Axel's tone had changed.

  I glanced back to see the concern on his face. "What?"

  "Jason's high again." He turned to walk to the front yard.

  "Fuck." I turned down the heat on the grill and followed Axel to the front yard. My nephew, Jason was getting out of his car, giggling like a school girl and falling all over himself.

  "Hey!" I walked up to him and gripped the front of his shirt. The kid was the spitting image of my brother Roberto. His grave was right next to my mom and dad's in the cemetery down the street. "What are you hyped up on now?"

  "Uncle J." He laughed and reached up to grab my forearms as he slumped against me. He smelled like sex and burnt hair. "Good to see you, man. Men. Mans?" He laughed again as his eyes rolled back in his head.

  "Stupid little shit." I gripped the front of his shirt and half-dragged him in the house. He stumbled behind me, singing something in a high-pitched voice.

  "Oh no." Maria stepped out from the kitchen as I walked back with the idiot in tow. Her eyes filled with tears as she pressed her fingers to her lips. "Jon. Don't-"

  "Don't tell me what to do," I barked angrily and pulled the kid to his bedroom in the back. I jerked him inside and chucked him across the room. "I told you to stay the fuck away from drugs."

  "Sorry, Uncle J. Drugs and me... we'z friends." He smiled and chuckled as he dropped down on his bed and curled up on his side. "Don't be mad at me. I'm just like my daddy. You know. The one you let die."

  "Bastard." I came across the room and jerked him up.

  "Hit me. Hit me hard and knock me out of my misery, Uncle J. Let loose on me. Fuck me up goo
d." His eyes filled with tears.

  "Don't leave this fucking house again until I say you can. Got it?" I dropped him on the bed and turned, slamming the door behind me. My brother's only son was mine now, and I was doing about as good of a job with him as I had with Roberto when our parents died.

  Jason would end up in jail, someone's bitch or dead.

  And once again... it would be my fault.

  Chapter 4

  Dani

  Two Weeks Later

  It seemed impossible to find any joy in getting out of the bed in the mornings. Two weeks on probation duty, and I wanted to turn in my badge and find a different way to make my mark on humanity. Surely there were organizations that I'd worked with in the sex crimes area that needed someone like me. Someone who was fearless and willing to go into the darkest places to bring young girls and women out of the bowels of hell.

  I fixed myself a cup of coffee and padded around the kitchen while it cooled. A new group of delinquents would be mine later that day.

  "Oh joy," I mumbled and leaned over, pressing my forearms to the cabinet. I blew on my coffee and tried not to think about how good it would feel to put Tanner King out of his misery. It'd been a long time since I had to use my gun, but I wouldn't hesitate next time I saw him. He'd ruined more lives and desecrated more women than any of the villains I knew of.

  I picked up my cup and walked to the kitchen table where I had files laid out and my laptop set up. Captain had been good enough to let me make the transition to this new division at home instead of at the station. It was probably better for all of us seeing that I kept losing my shit every time I turned around.

  This new job wasn't me. Not in the slightest.

  Babysitting fucked up dope heads that flipped off society and their parents weren't exactly my cup of tea.

  "Or coffee," I mumbled and opened my laptop to find a new file for review. Most of the kids I had to deal with were following their probation just fine, keeping themselves in line and hoping to get out from under the stern eye of the law.