by Mara Leigh
“Mac…” Such a big part of me wanted to forgive him, to believe what he was saying—just moments after he’d revealed that he’d lied—but the rest of me was afraid. And that part of me was smarter. Sister Henry and Mother were right. Men lied. Mac lied.
“I’m calling the police.” My chest hurt with each breath. Mac would go to prison, our future was ruined, and my broken heart was more painful than I’d ever imagined.
“Don’t do that. Please.”
“You donated drugs to the mission!”
His shoulders dropped, then he stepped forward. “Can we… can you at least leave my brothers out of it?”
For a second I was confused, then I remembered: he’d said he’d done this one last job for his brothers, and on some level I admired his loyalty and concern for his family. “Sure.”
“And make sure no one touches that formula.”
“I am calling the police.”
“I know, but the formula. You need to get it. Now. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Imagine if someone opened one of those cartons around a baby.” He looked ill, panicked.
I nodded. The formula boxes hadn’t been opened. I was supposed to be sorting donations right now, and the only key to the storeroom was in my pocket.
“I’m so sorry, Faith. So sorry.” He backed up to the wall and slid down to sit, head in his hands. “Go, now. Make sure the formula’s secured, and then call the police. I won’t go anywhere.”
Heartbroken, I stood frozen, a million things running through my mind.
I might be able to forgive Mac. In time. That’s what Jesus would want me to do. I did believe Mac deserved a second chance, like anyone would, a second chance to be a good and honest man—but that didn’t mean he’d get a second chance with me.
I loved Mac. I would always love him. And I would always be grateful that he helped me figure out that I wasn’t meant for a life in the Church, but he’d lied, and that meant I couldn’t trust him, and if I couldn’t trust him, how could we be together?
My instincts were improving, but clearly I still had a lot to learn about whom to trust. Until I figured out that particular life puzzle, I had to at least act on the most obvious signs. If Mac lied about this, something so big, how could I ever trust him again?
But I didn’t want to ruin his life. I didn’t want to see him locked up.
“Take the formula,” I said. “Get it out of here, and I won’t call the police.”
He looked up at me, a question in his eyes. “Really? Right now?”
“Yes.”
“I need to get the dolly off the truck.”
“Fine. Go get your dolly and I’ll unlock the storeroom. Just get it out of here. And then I never want to see you again.”
“Faith.” He reached forward.
“I won’t call the police. Not today. But if I ever see you again. If you even try to contact me, if you even show up on that basketball court when I’m there. I will turn you in. I’ll tell the police everything I know—about you, about your brothers—everything you confessed to me. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you all pay for your crimes.”
Turning my back on him, I left the gymnasium, then slumped back against the closed door. This was the right thing to do. The right thing for me. Probably the right thing for Mac, too, although that part wasn’t for me to judge. Why did doing the right thing hurt so bad?
Fifteen
Marisol
“Listen!” I leaned onto the table between my suspect and me. “The faster you tell me, the easier this will go.”
“Is that how you like it? Fast? Easy?” Keagan Downey shot me a heated look as he lounged in the straight-backed chair that was too small for his well-built frame.
How did he do that? How could he seem so relaxed in this heated situation and in such an uncomfortable chair? This man was facing a ton of time. It didn’t make sense. Eventually I’d figure him out. Figure out what he needed to hear to confess. It was one of the things I did best.
“Mr. Downey, by stalling, you’re only making this harder.”
“Is that how you like it? Harder?”
This time his innuendo was blatant. His meaning hadn’t sprung from my mind—my mind that was having way more trouble than I cared to admit dealing with this undeniably sexy man—so different from the usual lowlifes I prosecuted as a San Francisco assistant district attorney.
“Look, Downey.” I regained control. “My boss wants to see you do the maximum, fifteen to twenty. But you seem like a good guy, so I’m trying to make this go—better—for you. We’ve got you on the theft, why add drug trafficking to the list?”
“Theft? What theft is that?” He tipped his head to the side, and his springy dark curls bounced with the motion.
Our eyes met, and I was captured, drawn in by their intensity, their color—ultra-light green in the center, blending out to dark green at the edges, completely full of sparkle and mischief, intelligence and confidence—and something frustratingly sexy.
I turned away, pulled my tongue off the roof of my mouth and dried my palms on the front of my skirt. This interview wasn’t going the way I’d expected. I’d been pleasantly surprised to hear that Downey was willing to talk to me without his over-the-hill joke of a lawyer. It was a rookie mistake, and Keagan Downey did not come off as a rookie.
Preparing for this meeting, I’d figured I’d have the upper hand. Like I almost always did at work. I was good at my job. Really good. I had the highest conviction rate in the office and was the youngest ADA in San Francisco history to have been assigned to a series of high-profile cases.
Like this one.
The container theft? That was no big deal. The kind of thing pawned off on the most junior or incompetent ADAs. But this case wasn’t about the theft; it was about the drugs.
And it wasn’t even about the drugs. It was about the man who’d shipped them. The man whose organization had put the drugs into that container and thousands of other containers destined for every port in the world. The man known only as The Tiger.
The China-based drug dealer had eluded DEA agents for nearly a decade, but they’d been tipped off that he’d have product on a particular container ship destined for San Francisco.
The DEA had watched the containers offloaded from that ship, and there’d been no movement for weeks—until last Saturday, when a group of bumbling idiots had tried to steal one of the containers, only to have it stolen from them at the gates.
At least, that’s what we believed had happened. But because all the security systems had been knocked out and the guards bribed, the police only had managed to arrest one man—Keagan Downey.
And frankly, the police had very little evidence that even he’d been involved. All they knew with certainty was that he’d been in the vicinity.
Me? I was sure he was guilty, but my gut didn’t count for anything in a court of law. The law required evidence and credible testimony. And those wouldn’t come out of thin air.
If not for the DEA’s interest, this Downey guy would have been released after a few hours of questioning. All I cared about, all anyone cared about, was that Downey give up information that would lead to The Tiger.
It was time to cut the pretense.
I drew a long breath to guard myself from all the things I’d been feeling, then turned back to face him.
My long breath hadn’t been nearly enough. Seeing him, I was assaulted by an onslaught of sexual tension I felt sure wasn’t one-sided. Still, I kept my cool.
“Look, Downey. I don’t give a shit about you. I don’t give a shit about your brothers.” That word—brothers—got a reaction. A weak spot?
“I don’t give a shit about petty criminals like you.” Petty got a reaction, too.
“All I care about is The Tiger. Give him up. Give up anything that leads to him, and I’ll ask the judge to lighten your sentence.”
Keagan studied me in a way that made me want to squirm. Every muscle in my body tightened to keep from wr
ithing to relieve some of the tension.
But he stayed quiet. Revealing nothing—no change in posture, no change in those sexy green eyes, no reaction like the one I’d gotten when I’d mentioned his brothers or called his crimes petty.
After what felt like minutes, he leaned forward and pressed his palms against the metal desk. “Listen, Marisol? Is that your name? It’s a pretty name.”
I took a step back. I’d only introduced myself as ADA Flores. How did this man know my first name?
“Marisol,” he continued. “I’d love to help you. I mean, I’d really love to help you with whatever it is you need.” His voice deepened, and I felt his words deep in my belly. “But I don’t know anyone named Tiger.”
My breaths were coming too quickly, revealing too much about this man’s effect on me. I fought to bring things under control. This was not like me. Not like me at all. I was always in control at work. Always. Giving up control—that was something reserved for the club.
It was time to play my ace.
Hiding my discomfort, I squared my shoulders and smiled down at him. “It’s no use, Keagan. Your brother already made a deal. He turned over the stolen property. The drugs. All of it. We have all we need to keep you incarcerated for a long, long time.”
Keagan shifted in his chair. “You’re lying.”
“Am I? A team of San Francisco’s finest is recovering the stolen goods as we speak. Your brother’s information was very helpful.”
“Shane? Nick?”
I’d hit a crack, and I scrambled in my mind for the names of his other brothers. “No. It was Dillon.”
Keagan snapped back like I’d punched him. Clearly my news had. My fake news.
The tip we’d used to recover the stolen goods had come from an anonymous source. I only suspected it had come from one of his brothers. Hearing that had certainly hit him in a place that hurt. Score one for me.
But even caught off guard, Keagan Downey was sex on a stick. It wasn’t hard to imagine what he could do for me—to me. His confidence, his innate power, his sheer sex appeal. He was definitely a man who could make me forget who I was for a night, make my job, my stress, my shame evaporate into a cloud of ecstasy.
My cheeks heated, and I forced my mind back to the matter at hand.
“To get a deal, for you and your brothers, you need to give up The Tiger.”
His eyebrows drew together, as if he were considering my offer, but I’d lost confidence in my ability to read this man.
“What would I have to do?” he asked after a long pause.
My confidence returned. “Cooperate. Tell us everything you know about The Tiger, his operations, his people.”
“And if I tell you everything I know, everything I know about this man, I get released?”
“Charges dropped.”
He was going to cave. He was actually going to cave. I’d done it. Excitement coursed through me so powerfully I was surprised the soles of my black stiletto pumps remained on the ground.
What a charge. Making a deal or getting a conviction always gave me a thrill—always—but combined with this sexual attraction? Pow.
“Okay then.” He reached his right hand forward. “You’ve got a deal.”
I stepped back. “You sure you don’t want to see it in writing? Have your lawyer look at it first?”
“Nah. I trust you.” He grinned.
I raised my eyebrows. I did not trust him.
“Trust is important,” he said. “Don’t you agree?”
I nodded.
“You need to trust a man to keep his word, to remember your limits, too stop before things go too far.”
My skin heated, my entire body heated.
Was it possible Keagan Downey knew my deepest, darkest secret? The one I worked so hard to keep? How was that possible? I was so careful.
“I trust you,” he continued, his voice deep and thick. “I trust you, because if you cross me, I’ll see that you’re punished.”
The way he said punish….
He knew. He knew for sure. And the heat in his eyes shot straight through me, soaking my panties. In my five years at this job, I’d never once let the lines between work and my private life cross.
This was the first time I’d even thought about my sex life at work, but this man… It was like he could tell what I wanted, what I needed, what I most desired.
Working with this man was going to be dangerous as hell. Not because of The Tiger—I was used to dangers like that. It would be dangerous because I’d have to guard myself against my overpowering desire to have Keagan Downey restrain me and fuck me until I lost my mind.
Sixteen
Mac
“Hey, asshole!” Nick opened the door to Keagan’s apartment and ushered me inside. “Is it true? Did you really give evidence against Keagan? Turn over all the shit from that container?”
“Didn’t figure you for a rat, Mac,” Nick’s girlfriend Jade added from where she was sprawled on the sofa.
Called out by my little brother’s girlfriend. Great. “It’s not like that.” I crossed to take a chair. “Besides, I thought if anyone would understand, it would be you two.” Dillon, on the other hand, had stormed out of our apartment when I broke the news. I hadn’t seen him since.
Maybe I was a rat. But I was a rat who’d done the right thing. “There was heroin in the baby formula. You guys saying we should have kept that? Or tried to sell it?”
Nick clapped my shoulder as he walked past. “No one’s saying that, bro. Want a beer?”
“Nah.”
He sat on the sofa and Jade curled into him, one leg tucked under her and the other across his lap. If you’d ever asked me what kind of woman would end up with Nick, Jade would not have been who I pictured—at all. But seeing them together… They were perfect.
I was happy for Nick, but his joy added shade to the darkness blanketing me since I was dumped.
“We’ve got news,” Nick said. “We found a place. A bachelor in the East Bay.”
“It’s small,” Jade piped in.
“But perfect.” Nick kissed the top of her head as he hugged her into his chest.
“That’s great.” My voice came out flat.
“You’re not happy for us?” Nick frowned.
I leaned forward. “Sure. Yes. It’s just…”
“What is going on with you?” Nick looked at me with genuine concern.
“I met someone. I didn’t want to tell you guys… Well, Dill knew.”
“Knew?” Jade asked. “What happened? Did she break your heart?”
Elbows on my knees, I leaned forward with my head in my hands, taking a deep breath before answering. “Not before I broke hers.”
“What did you do?” Jade slid her leg off Nick’s lap and leaned toward me.
Nick rubbed her back. “Babe, he doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Men.” Jade shook her head. Then looking at Nick, she gestured toward me. “He’s here, isn’t he? He wants to talk, even if he doesn’t know that he does.”
Nick smiled, nodding at her like she was the smartest person on the planet. Right now, she was the smartest person in the room—at least about this.
I liked having Jade in Nick’s life, in our family. She came off as tough, but she had a huge heart.
“Tell us about her,” Jade said. “What’s she like?”
I sat back, hands on the ends of the chair’s arms. Where did I start? “She’s amazing. Perfect. Kind, generous, loving—good. Really good. Totally wrong for me.”
“No kidding,” Nick interjected.
Jade slapped his arm.
“I never guessed it would turn into anything beyond… I figured I’d just do what she asked, then move on.”
“Dude.” Nick stretched his arm across the back of the sofa. “What did she ask you to do?” He and Jade shared a heated look.
“It’s not important.” My entire body ignited with a combination of desire and shame remembering what I’d done wit
h and to Faith.
“Let’s back up.” Jade pressed her hands into her knees. “Where did you meet?”
“At the mission on Sequoia.”
“The mission? She a nun?” Nick started laughing. When I didn’t, he leaned forward. “A nun? Seriously? What the fuck, Mac?”
Jade tried to cover her shock, then slid over top of Nick to sit closer to me. “What went wrong?”
“She a fucking nun!” Nick said. “That’s what went wrong.”
Never taking her eyes off me, Jade gave Nick the finger. “It’s okay, Mac. Tell us.”
“She’s not a nun.” My brother still looked disgusted. “She was planning to become one before we met, but—”
Nick snorted. “But then she got a taste of your sausage.”
Jade nudged him. “Don’t be crude.”
“Seriously?” Nick shot her a look, she gave him the finger again, and then they both laughed.
“Be nice.” Jade rubbed his chest. “Give Mac a chance to finish.”
I leaned back in my chair and shook my head. “There’s not much more to say.” Not without going into the details of our sin consultant arrangement and I wasn’t about to share that. I’d done enough damage to Faith. “I was stupid to think we’d work.”
“Not stupid,” Jade said. “You fell in love.”
I nodded. I had. I’d fallen hard. “But I wrecked it.”
“Listen,” my little brother said in his deep voice. “We all screw up, but if you love her, you need to find a way to fix it.” He smiled at Jade. “I did.”
“Nick’s attempts at apologies were beyond lame.” Jade kissed him on the cheek. “But eventually he wore me down. Because I love him too.”
“Yeah, but what I did was unforgivable. And that’s not even the point—”
“The point is—you’re not good enough for her,” Jade cut me off.
Hearing it from her made me angry, but she was absolutely right. All she was doing was repeating my words. Words that were true. I dropped my head.
“You’re just scared,” she said.
