by Joanne Rock
He wrenched open the passenger side door of the incapacitated van and jammed his gun into the gut of the ape-size man who tried to leap out. The man who’d been driving raised his arms in surrender.
Smart bastard. Sean was about a heartbeat away from firing on them if they didn’t show him a healthy—whole—Donata soon.
“Hold it,” a feminine voice screeched out into the echoing garage of concrete walls and metal rafters.
Sean waited, still holding his gun on Neanderthal man as Rosario Gillespie stepped out of the side door of the van, her tall figure hiding anything behind her.
Could Donata be inside? They would have had to tie her up to keep her from fighting back. Or incapacitate her some other way.
Rage and fear mixed into a deadly emotion.
“Where the hell is Donata?” His finger itched on the trigger, anger firing through him red-hot and lethal.
“She’ll be dead in ten more seconds if you don’t let go of him.” She gestured with a snub-nosed weapon toward the giant. “Release him now.”
That was the last thing he wanted to do with no assurances they hadn’t hurt her. Or worse.
The thought leveled him.
“Show her to me.” He didn’t know if someone might be holding a gun to her inside the van and he wouldn’t risk pissing off this woman just in case.
“She’s being held inside by a man I wouldn’t want to upset if I were you.” Rosie reached down beside her, her weapon still trained on Sean, and came up with a brown leather shoe.
Donata’s shoe.
Something went haywire inside him—the old unpredictability that had gotten him in so much trouble on the job as a cop. He fought the darkness inside, however, knowing he didn’t have a prayer of saving Donata if he didn’t keep his cool.
“How do I know she’s not dead?” The word reverberated around his brain with devastating volume, but he asked the question with such quiet coolness he almost couldn’t believe it had been his voice.
Inside he wanted to strangle this woman—slowly—with both hands. But if Donata was inside the van being held by someone he couldn’t see, he had to give her time to do her job.
“I guess you don’t know for sure. But really, why risk her life by doubting me?” Rosie smiled archly, ignoring the hubbub of voices out on the street as people gathered around the dented garage door to see what was going on.
The people on the street couldn’t see in, but their shadows through the heavy fiberglass were a strange presence in the drama inside the garage. The man Sean held at gunpoint sweated profusely, his fear a palpable smell.
He knew as well as Sean did that someone would call the cops and this little drama would be over soon. But would Rosie lay off her trigger finger long enough to ensure they all remained in one piece?
“Why would I kill her when I could publicly humiliate her for as long as I like?” Rosie shook her head as if he’d asked a stupid question. “Donata painted me as a homewrecking slut to Sergio’s friends back when I had no idea the guy was even involved with anyone else. And by the time I realized the truth, why would I just roll over and let the bitch have him when Sergio was clearly bored with her?”
Color suffused Rosie’s cheeks, her dark hair tumbling wildly around her shoulders as she kept her focus on Sean and her hand steady.
“So you’ve been using Sergio’s old pictures of Donata to embarrass her?” His eyes were adjusting to the darkened garage, waiting for some sign of movement within the van.
Some sign of her.
Please, God, let her be okay. He couldn’t let himself think about the alternative.
“I thought I’d help her lose her job the way she made me lose Sergio.”
“You mean you lost your gravy train. What the hell do you care about Sergio?”
“I cared plenty,” Rosie shouted back, wobbling on her high heels as she leaned forward to stress the point. She had the crazy-eyed look of a woman scorned who’d gone off the deep end.
“Did you know Donata went to see him at the prison? Sergio has her on his list of visitors he wants to see.” The fact had pissed off Sean even if he hadn’t cared to admit it, but it was nothing but a pleasure to throw it in this woman’s face now.
She paled and then—suddenly—went flying forward as two hands reached from inside the van and shoved Rosie face-first toward the pavement.
Rosie’s gun went off as she fell and Sean pushed the big guy to the ground to make sure he didn’t run. Sean needn’t have worried since both of the hired muscle guys lay obediently on the floor while he covered them with his weapon.
“Everybody remain down,” Donata called from within the van. She stepped out of the darkened interior and into the scant light of the garage.
Keeping one foot planted on Rosie’s back, Donata met Sean’s gaze in time for him to see her bloodied face. Fury simmered at the sight.
“Holy shit.” His knees damn near buckled at the sight of her and he wished he could hold her even knowing this wasn’t the time.
“Could you kindly ask Rambo for my service revolver before I’m forced to kick his ass, too?” Donata’s words were feisty and strong, the take-no-crap tones of a woman who would never admit defeat.
Sean’s heart damn near cracked wide open, the swell of love for her so big he could scarcely contain it. He didn’t know how he’d ever walk away from this incredible woman who didn’t want him in her life anymore.
“Yes, ma’am.” He pushed the nose of his weapon harder into the guy’s side. “Keep your hands where I can see them pal, and tell me where I can find the lady’s gun.”
The driver of the van, who was still sprawled across the front of the bench seat, croaked out something about the glove compartment and Sean retrieved the weapon.
“Excellent.” Donata took the weapon and kept it trained on Rosie while she pocketed the other woman’s fallen gun. “Now why don’t we head over to the precinct and you all can explain to us exactly what role you played in creating smut tapes of unsuspecting teenagers while I book you for assault on a police officer.”
She swiped at a trail of blood on her neck, her one eye already swollen and purple.
“I didn’t—” Rosie began to say.
“Save it,” Donata told her, putting her fallen shoe on her one bare foot. “You’re gonna look like hell in one of those orange jumpsuits, you know that?”
CHAPTER 17
“DO YOU WANT to come upstairs?” Donata stood outside the door to her building after Sean dropped her off at her apartment that evening.
The paperwork had been filed at the precinct and Rosie had admitted her deep hatred for Donata, even if she hadn’t confessed on all the charges against her and her new boyfriend, Richie Ford. Thankfully, Mick had brought in Richie earlier that day along with the guy’s computer files that incriminated him as an online predator who offered big bucks to teenage boys to plant webcams on the computers of their female acquaintances. The scam had yielded lots of juicy footage for Ford and his girlfriend to post on their private, subscription-only Web site that had morphed out of the original “fastgirlz” site.
Sean opened the door for her, but his feet didn’t venture across the threshold.
“You don’t know how much I’d like that, Donata, but I don’t think that would be wise considering your need to cool things off between us.”
The day had already challenged Donata to the limit as a professional. The cut on her cheek still burned and her eye had swollen purple beneath her eyebrow. But the challenge confronting her now had the potential to hurt her more deeply than any physical wound.
“I’m sorry I panicked in the car. I don’t think I expressed myself very well and I wish you’d at least let me explain.” She didn’t pay any attention to the pedestrian traffic on the street behind her as she stood outside the open door. Inside her building a young couple exchanged kisses and curious looks as they checked their mailbox. But all Donata cared about was fixing things with Sean.
A gr
izzled older man walking his dog entered the building as Sean held open the door. Even the furry white pooch rubbing against Donata’s leg didn’t distract her from maintaining eye contact with Sean since she had the feeling if she let him go now, it would be another four years before their paths crossed again.
“Whether you expressed it well or not, I definitely got the message.” Sean reached for her cheek on the uninjured side of her face and brushed a gentle thumb over her jaw. “Being alone with you hurts too much.”
Had she already chased him away for good with her need to protect her heart? The thought sent a pang through her core, assuring her she’d failed miserably on that count.
“You know, in my old relationship, I would have just faked that my vision was blurry to get help up the stairs and land the object of my affection right where I wanted.” She recalled the way she and Sergio had worked around each other to fulfill their needs and pretend they had a good rapport. “But I don’t want to play games with you, Sean, because I respect you too much for that. I made a mistake and I really, really need you to come upstairs for five minutes. If you want to leave after that and continue your reign as the king of short term, I promise I’ll understand.”
She gladly shed her pride—one quality that usually never failed her—to gamble on a man worth so much more than her facade as a tough chick.
At his small nod, he dropped his hand from her face and Donata walked inside the building. As he followed her into the elevator and down her hall, she knew she needed to find the right words to make him stay. To make him understand she wasn’t the kind of woman to change her mind every other day.
“Will you continue to investigate this case now that you’ve arrested two of the primary suspects?” He switched the topic to business, and she wondered if that was to deflect the serious tone of an intimate conversation or because he wanted to retreat into the comfort of his professional world.
“You don’t think we’ll find out that Richie and Rosie have been turning the webcam footage into mass-marketed films?” The pair had so many DVDs stockpiled in the warehouse that Donata had hoped a little more police work would link the twosome to the larger distribution scheme that put the webcam footage on store shelves as reality porn.
Sean shook his head as she unlocked her apartment door and let them inside.
“The footage they sell by the private subscription Web site is too raw and unpolished compared to the slick product that goes into movie rental places and stores. The packaging of those pieces is done by someone with more film industry savvy and the connections to distribute underage porn without any red flags.”
“You think Rosie is in cahoots with some Hollywood type?” Donata found it hard to believe any legitimate industry professional would have anything to do with a woman who practically seethed evil. Rosie had been behind all of the personal attacks on Donata’s privacy. The woman’s jealousy and resentment had only grown in the last four years. Sergio’s former mistress had even been the one to take a sniper shot from a neighboring building the night before since she’d been following Donata all week. That alone would amount to serious jail time.
“Not necessarily. But this could be the work of an underling in a New York production company. There are certainly plenty of filmmakers in the city with the clout to get their movies on store shelves throughout the country.”
“I don’t know if I’ll continue working the case.” Donata tossed her keys on her coffee table and slipped out of her shoes. “Although if you want to keep tracking that angle, I’d work with you if you’d have me.”
Truth be told, the teen exploitation angle was a little too close to home for her comfort and she felt as though she’d done a good deed by bringing Rosie in. But if it meant salvaging at least some kind of relationship with Sean, Donata would continue her efforts on the reality porn case.
He slid his jacket off his shoulders in the first sign that maybe he wouldn’t run right out her door and Donata’s heart leaped with hope.
“Actually, I think it’s time for me to take a little time off from Internet predators. My sister’s been asking me to change focus for a while and maybe she’s right. I’ve got a great team of technical people who can track a lot of other online crimes. And now I can say I did my best to blast some of these molesters out of cyber hiding.”
“We’ll be arresting subscribers to the Web site for the next few weeks.” Donata looked forward to that part. “The number of arrests will only go up.”
“Making you look damn good in the department’s eyes.” Sean reached for her, then caught himself midway and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Donata ached with the loss of that touch.
“You’re looking damn good as far as the precinct is concerned, too,” she said. “You know you could have a place on the detective squad again if you wanted it.” She’d seen firsthand that his techniques—while sometimes unconventional—were effective.
“I don’t. I’m happier calling the shots for myself. My instincts might not always be on the money, but they serve me well.”
Seeing an opening, she took a deep breath.
“My instincts aren’t always the best either. That’s why I ended up blurting out a plea for space that I really don’t want after Rosie took a shot at us last night.”
Silence met her admission for a long moment.
“I’ve been so careful with women since my sister was molested because I’d never want to be the pushy guy who took advantage of a date.”
“You’d never be that kind of man.”
“You thought I was.” His eyes broadcast the pain of her long-ago accusation in a way he’d never let her see before. “I’m not blaming you about the accusation, but it made me realize how easily attraction can be misconstrued or even misrepresented. I got even more careful after that.”
Her mouthy personality, the one she’d used as a shield during those months of hell she’d lived a lie with Sergio to send him to jail, had ended up hurting this noble, honorable man so much more than she’d realized. Not because of the career he’d walked away from, but because of the guilt she’d heaped on his strong shoulders.
She’d unwittingly played a large role in turning him into the king of short term. Tears burned her eyes as regret singed her heart.
“I’m so sorry.” She reached out to him, relieved when he let her rest her fingertips on his broad shoulder. His chest.
“It’s not your fault,” he assured her again, even though she knew damn well it was. “That’s what happens when your work life focuses on scumbags for so long. Your vision of the world skews and grows more cynical. Darker. I see that now, but I’ll never be the kind of guy who can handle a woman who’s not one hundred percent sure she knows what she wants.”
How could she convince him she wasn’t like that when the night before she’d been pushing him away? Her hopes wavered, her fear growing that she’d made her second colossal mistake in her love life. Her first had been falling for a gangster. Would her second be letting the greatest guy she’d ever met slip away?
Her fingers swiped back and forth across his chest, as if she could erase all the mistakes she’d made with him since they’d first met. If only relationships—if only love—were that easy.
And she did love him. She knew it today even if she hadn’t wanted to face it in the emotional jet lag of the night before. But love didn’t disappear just because you were scared to face it. And if anything, she’d awoken today with the knowledge of love in her bones.
“I do know what I want.” The resolution in her voice soothed her somehow. Whether Sean recognized it or not, she heard the absolute truth of her words by the strength of her tone.
Twilight cloaked the room in purple hues as a stray shaft of the sinking sun’s rays penetrated her living room window. The light seemed to land on the old photo of her as a girl with her hippie father in the Doors T-shirt, almost as if her misguided but well-meaning dad was encouraging her to be true to herself and not act out
her past pattern of self-protection.
Go for it, sweetie.
“I realized I love you last night, Donata.” Sean’s words were as strong as hers, but tinged with a sadness of a man who knows his love might not be returned. “I’m not in a position to play games or to sleep together. Maybe in the back of my mind I’ve avoided falling for anyone in the past because I knew when I did, I’d go all out. It’s a quirk of personality for me that when I want something, I don’t hold back.”
His self-deprecating smile gave her the last nudge she needed. This time it would be her turn to go all out. Sean wouldn’t be the only one taking chances.
“You say you realized you loved me last night after the sniper shot.” She cupped his face in her hands, willing him to understand her the way she seemed to understand him. “Well, it only took me a day longer to come to the same conclusion.”
His eyebrows furrowed, expression intensifying.
“But you told me you didn’t even want us to see each other any more.”
“Only because I could feel myself falling down into an abyss of emotion that terrified me and I thought maybe I could stop the descent if I put on the brakes. But I woke up in love with you today, even with the brakes on. I see now that you can’t decide to take it slower with someone just because you’re scared. Love happens whether or not people feel ready for it.”
A grin broke over his face.
“Jesus, lady, you make it sound like a terminal condition.”
“No. But it’s definitely a permanent one and I can guarantee I’m not going to stop being crazy about you because I’m scared or because you’re impulsive when I’d like to study the parameters more.” She shook her head, her heart full of things she needed to express. In those moments when she’d realized that Rosie would gladly kill her, Donata had understood she couldn’t hold back her feelings for Sean. What if she’d never gotten the chance to tell him how much he meant to her?
Sean’s dark gaze raked over her face, searching for answers she would gladly spell out. She closed her eyes and let the words inside her spill free.
