by Lexy Timms
Her words came out in fits and starts. Each one placed cautiously to see how they fit. “I came home because my little brother was graduating and I wanted to be here for that. I haven’t been…well, it’s hard to be close to someone you never see. I suppose that’s my fault. I’m the one who left home, right? I took off because I was so selfish that I could only see that I was suffocating, and never once thought of what it was doing to him to leave him behind. Then all of this happened. And I feel like I let him down somehow. That if maybe I’d been here, things wouldn’t have gotten so out of control. My father…”
Her throat closed up on the word. She shook her head, letting herself be that weak thing that she’d always despised by hiding her face against his shoulder and breathing deeply until the need to cry passed.
His hand tangled in her hair, pressing her face against him, allowing her the time to gather herself. When the moment had passed he spoke, his words soft in the darkness. “Tell me about your father.”
“What’s there to say? He wasn’t exactly warm and cuddly. I’m sure you know more about him in your files than I do. I don’t even know his favorite color. Or how he likes to drink his coffee.”
“Black.”
She twisted her head around to look at him. “What?”
“Black. To both things. His favorite color is black. He likes his coffee black.”
She stared a long moment, then finally gave a harsh laugh and settled back against Luke’s chest with a wry shake of her head. “Suits him. Black like his heart.”
“You don’t seem overly broken up about his being gone. Aren’t you worried?”
“That there might have been foul play? Hardly. If there’s one thing Edwin Rinehart knows it’s how to protect Edwin Rinehart. End of story.”
“But why do you think he ran off?” Luke asked, sitting up a little and looking at her in the dim glow of the streetlights that came through the window. “Could it have been foul play?”
She abandoned her caresses entirely, and flung forearm over her eyes. Not wanting to see him, not wanting this conversation. “Don’t you ever stop being a cop?”
His arm tightened on her, his hand caressing the small of her back, tugging her in closer. “No,” he whispered, “I can’t.”
She sighed and dropped her arm, eyeing his chest hair and looking for that stubborn curl, but not finding it now that she’d moved. Her body felt cold and she tugged the blanket up higher over her shoulder. If her tone was a little bitter, resentful even when she answered, could he blame her? “Because he’d cleared out all his important things. Money for one; there’s a few million we can’t account for. And there was the ring…” Her voice trailed away. She hadn’t meant to say that part.
“Ring?” Luke prompted when she didn’t continue.
She sat up, frustrated and angry and really wishing for this conversation to end, and not sure why he didn’t just leave well enough alone.
“It’s not really important. It was, well, it was my mother’s. Not David’s mother—he’s my half-brother.” She felt more than saw Luke nodding in the darkness. He knew. Of course he knew. “I think my father was very much in love with my mother at one time, though she never took his name. He’d bought her a ring; I assume it was to marry her, though he never spoke of it. He certainly never got around to asking her. At least, that I know of. Maybe because they already both knew she was sick and dying. He had to have gotten it not long before her diagnosis. Maybe he didn’t want to be saddled with the burden of taking care of her at the end. I don’t know. Anyway, the ring is gone.”
“Could be theft,” Luke said, but she could tell he didn’t believe it.
Why did he need to keep harping on that ring? She stifled a scream of frustration. “Look, my father was only starting out when he and my mother met. That ring had to have had a greater sentimental value than any monetary one. Besides…”
No. That wasn’t for him to know. Not now, not when he kept pushing her so damn much. That item from the drawer was right there across the room in her pocket, and for all she cared it could stay there. Why would she give him more? Why couldn’t he just shut up and enjoy the moment, for fuck’s sake? Why did he have to push so damn hard?
“Besides?”
“Everything that’s gone was small, easy to carry. Money. That ring.” She felt around on the bed, hunting for the duvet which had been thrown aside at some point, and wrapped herself in it. Her nipples were so painfully cold and tight at this point, they could have put someone’s eye out. What the hell was the air conditioning set to?
“Right. Small, lightweight, and valuable.” Luke chewed on that for a while. She could positively feel him thinking in the darkness, even though she’d moved out of his reach by now, huddled in a heap on the end of the bed with enough blanket around her to keep her warm in Siberia. In January.
“Please,” she said into the darkness, pleading with him in that single syllable to just let it go. “I really wanted to escape, if just for one night.”
He sat up, though how he had hoped to see in this darkness she couldn’t imagine. “Dani,” he said, using her name with such emotion that it sent a trill through her. “I can promise I won’t dwell on it, but I am concerned. Your family has enemies that you don’t even begin to know or understand. You’re housing a mobster. Does that not strike you as the least bit dangerous? You told me yourself you’ve got two of Benny’s men waiting for you downstairs. That doesn’t bother you? They’re standing guard, princess. You’re their prisoner and you don’t seem to care, so long as the leash is long enough.”
She shot to her feet, taking the blanket with her. “I can handle myself.” What the hell was it about men that made them want to be your big brother after they’d slept with you once? Did some girls actually find this charming? Right now she wanted to punch his lights out.
“You’re not the one I was thinking of. I know how much you love your little brother, and I know it would devastate you if something… anything happened to him.”
The room felt big, cavernous. Like there were things lurking in the shadows. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying… I’m saying I’m probably supposed to vanish now, disappear because you know who I am. They’d pull me in a heartbeat if they knew. But I won’t. I’m staying here with you until we can be sure your brother is safe.”
Not alone. She wouldn’t have to fight this battle alone. When was the last time someone had her back? She felt her shoulders slump a little as she considered him. The room was too dark to see his eyes, but she could tell he was looking right at her. What would she see if the lights were on? Was he as sincere as he sounded?
She took a breath. Dared to let herself hope a little bit. “Are they going to let you?” Dani asked, cautious. Unsure. “You said it yourself. I know who you are. I don’t see how you’ll have any say in the matter.”
“No.” He stood, reaching out a hand to her. The streetlights from outside left bars of uneven light across his face, revealing an expression so earnest, so honest, that she wondered that she’d been doubting him. “I won’t let them. They’ll want to, but I’m also closer than anyone has ever been. They won’t throw that away.”
“And then what, you’ll arrest him?”
“He’s done some bad things,” Luke said, stepping closer, the light falling across his shoulders, stripes letting her see the scars that marred his skin. “Yes, given the chance, I will arrest your father. Your Uncle Benny, on the other hand, wants him, too. And he’s not bound by the same rules.”
“You don’t think…” she started, but fell short. She’d known what Benny was for years, but she’d chosen not to admit it. Yes, her father probably was in a great deal of danger. More surprising that she even cared.
I’ve hated him for years. But to have him die? Would Uncle Benny do that to him? They’re partners, aren’t they?
It was a sobering thought. She tugged the blanket around her tighter, fingers digging into the fabric to keep it f
rom falling.
Then there was Luke. Where did all this leave him? Wasn’t he just as unsafe? Benny had been fairly suspicious. What if someone found out who Luke really was?
What if the people Luke was working for found out he’d been made and hadn’t told him? Wasn’t that another kind of danger?
“You’re risking your career, aren’t you?”
Luke shrugged and stepped forward again, leaving the light behind. He loomed over her, a shadowy giant in the dark, then opened her arms and the blanket with them and invited himself inside. It was an interesting sensation, she thought, as she wrapped her arms around him, letting the folds of fabric fall around them both. Cocooned. His skin felt warm against hers. He smelled good. Like Luke.
“Aren’t you risking an awful lot?” she asked, her lips moving against his chest as she lost herself in his embrace.
“I can manage for a while.”
Dani stood with her chin on his chest and thought. She’d never needed anyone; it had always been a point of pride when she’d been away on missions. She’d teased those she’d served with, letting her know she was the only one in the outfit who had their full attention on the job. But hadn’t that been a lot of bravado based off the fact that she’d really been desperately and achingly alone?
“I suppose I could use the help,” she said quietly, testing the waters, seeing if he’d meant it when he’d said he would stay.
A hand brushed against her cheek, cupping her chin and raising her lips to meet his. “Thank you,” he whispered against her mouth. “And try not to worry; David will be safe.”
“If you…” Dani looked away. It was pitch dark, too dark to see, but she still couldn’t look at him, despite that. “If you found something, anything, about David, what would you do?”
“You mean if he broke the law?”
She nodded against his chest.
“Then I would do what I had to,” Luke admitted. “Remember? I’m always a cop.”
Always. She’d do well to remember that.
The question is, can I live with that?
She wasn’t sure. All of this left her reeling, and more unsure than she’d ever been in her entire life. She’d run the gamut of emotions, and now here she was at the strangest of crossroads. Was she going to live with that burning anger in the pit of her stomach the rest of her life, lost and alone no matter how far she traveled in this world? Or was she going to take this one man at his word, and accept the priceless gift he was offering her?
She wished she could see his eyes.
But what she couldn’t see she could feel. Was that better somehow?
She started at the top, from the stubble on his chin, to that dusting of chest hair that hid that one curl that had fascinated her so. His abdomen was smooth, tight, and she heard the intake of his breath as her hand paused there. He stood still as she explored every hard plane, every muscle, every inch until her hand cupped him there, between the thighs, letting the weight of him fill her palm.
This time it was she who suddenly couldn’t breathe properly.
Especially since he seemed more than ready for her.
The question was, was she ready for him?
One arm looped up around his neck, letting the blanket fall where it may, even as she let the doubts and fears fall with it. “Again?” she asked, her voice teasing. Intimate. “Are you trying to kill me?”
He chuckled in the dark as he swept her up into her arms and moved back toward the bed. “What was that about Marines being wimps?”
Chapter Sixteen
“Hey,” Luke murmured in the gathering light.
Caught mid-sneak Dani smiled down at him, looking as guilty as a kid with a hand caught in the cookie jar. She’d managed to put on a shirt, one of his, and underwear, but her shorts were still in her hand. “I was trying not to wake you.”
“You didn’t,” Luke protested, bleary-eyed and by no means awake. “I sleep light.”
“Sure you do. I only showered, got mostly dressed…”
“Seriously?” He fumbled for his phone on the nightstand and squinted at the display.
“It’s daytime,” Dani said quietly, hands twisting the fabric of her shorts, leaving them crumpled and somewhat the worse for wear. “I should get back.”
“Stay.” It came out sounding like an order. He cringed, knowing how much she loved being ordered around—not. Somehow he dropped his phone on the bed and immediately lost it in the sheets. “Have breakfast with me at least.”
“They’re waiting for me downstairs,” she protested, but he could tell her heart wasn’t in it in the way she wavered, taking first one, then another tiny step in his general direction.
“All the more reason, don’t you think?” Luke rose and, naked, walked over to her before she could change her mind and flee outright. He took the shorts from her grip and threw them somewhere behind him, and wrapped his arms around her. Her upturned face, scrubbed free of makeup, revealed soft freckles across her nose. He wanted to kiss each and every one. “Eggs.” He held her tighter. “Bacon.” He almost sang the word, tempting her.
She laughed.
“And… that’s it.” He looked over his shoulder in the general direction of the kitchen. “I have eggs, and bacon.” He turned toward her with an awkward shrug. “I think that’s all I have. I haven’t had time to do much shopping lately.”
“No bread for toast?” She raised a hand and ran her thumb over his lips.
“I had to throw it out,” he said and hesitated, finally leaning in to whisper. “I don’t want to think about it… I think it could almost walk out of here on its own.”
“No.” Dani almost laughed. He could tell from the way she crinkled her nose and grimaced that she was trying really hard not to. “Don’t think about it. Are the eggs at least somewhat fresh?”
“Laid them myself yesterday.”
This time she did laugh. Luke realized that it was a sound he could get used to in short order. What was more, he desperately wanted to get used to that sound. Every day for the rest of his life.
It was a startling thought.
He leaned back, keeping his hands on her waist, and tried his best little boy smile, desperate to keep her there with him just a little bit longer. “Pretty please?”
Dani leaned forward and dropped her forehead on his chest with a muffled thump.
“Breakfast,” Luke repeated. “Most important meal of the day? Good start to the morning? Fresh squeezed eggs? Ripe bacon from Florida?”
Dani smacked his chest. “All right, all right.” She looked up at him. “You silver-tongued devil.”
“I recall you complimenting me on my tongue…” Luke started but was cut off by 110lbs of girl, flung around him in a display of affectionate battering that left them both breathless with laughter.
“Animal!”
He picked her up in his grip and made a humping noise because he could never figure out how to make an impressive growl. It had the desired effect, and she was laughing again as he set her on the floor.
“Not too many could do that, you know,” Dani said, eyes sparkling as she looked at him.
“Not too many would have the balls to try, I would think.”
“How about you?” Dani asked, and her hand slipped down to find evidence. She found it. Luke stiffened up. “Get dressed,” she purred, leaving him wide-eyed and wondering just what the hell it would take to get her back into the bed. “I’ll start the eggs and maybe the…”
“Bacon?”
“Yeah.” She got on her toes and kissed him and wandered out, leaving the shorts on the bed.
Luke stood for a long moment, feeling the residual heat of her body on his arms, on his lips, on his balls. It was a rather intoxicating moment.
And she wanted breakfast.
He stepped toward the door, intent on convincing her that if she could stay to eat she could likewise stay to be eaten. But the phone rang, sending him to stare at the bed in consternation, knowing he’d just
had it, but no idea where the sound was coming from.
Sheets hit the floor. Something hard and plastic hit the top of his foot. Wincing, he grabbed up his phone and caught it on the fourth ring.
“Yeah?”
“Luke.” As usual, Randy sounded over-caffeinated. “We got a lead on our runaway.”
“Rinehart?” Luke said, lowering his voice. He dug through the nightstand for paper and a pen that said Charlton Hotel that had been hiding among his possessions for a long time, though to his knowledge he’d never even heard of the place.
“We got a tip that the man has been seen on a plane headed for Morocco.”
“Wait, like, play-it-again-Sam Morocco?”
“Yeah, beautiful friendship, get on the plane, all that.” Randy sounded frustrated. “It’s a desert heap and the current management isn’t too crazy about Americans, but…”
“But they don’t extradite,” Luke finished for him. He dressed quickly while tucking the phone between his shoulder and his ear. “So, we can’t go get to him, either.”
“He’s not there yet,” Randy corrected him. “There’s no such thing as a direct flight to Morocco from Atlanta. The tip we got was that that’s where he was heading.”
“It could be a false lead.”
“See, now, that’s why you’re the brains of the outfit,” Randy said in a tone that would have burned water. “We have an entire department down here and it never occurred to any of us that it might be a false lead. Thank goodness for you.”
“All right,” Luke said a bit more loudly than he had intended. “Don’t bite my head off, what the hell?”
“The hell is that we’ve spent a shitload of time and money getting you inserted into the company and the family, and you’re compromising the whole fucking thing by sleeping with the suspect’s daughter, who might very well end up being a suspect herself!”
Luke turned, as though expecting to see cameras in every corner. Of course there weren’t. At least not any in sight. The un-curtained window mocked him from across the room. “You’re spying on me?”
