Make Me Sweat

by Avril Ashton

  Light reflected off the heavy gold chain around his neck. He ignored her words. “Come now, no need for that.” His eyes glinted. “Tommy can make you feel so good.”

  “Yeah?” She leaned toward him as she dropped one of her hands under the table.

  Tommy’s features perked up. “Yeah. Why don’t I—”

  “I’ve got a .38 on little Tommy. Why don’t you leave before I shoot him off, hmm?” She cocked the gun.

  Tommy’s eyes widened, but he didn’t budge. “I don’t believe you.”

  “I never bluff about my guns, Tommy.” She gestured. “Now fuck off before I make you bleed.” She didn’t spare him another glance as he beat a hasty retreat. Her lap vibrated. She opened her purse and fished out her phone.

  Unknown number. Those were never a good sign. “Hello?”

  “Ever.”

  “Cruz?” She exited the booth and walked to the club’s rear door. “Cruz, is that you?”

  “Yes.” The deep voice hesitated. “Sorry I stood you up tonight, but I’m in a bit of a bind.”

  Ever pushed open the heavy door and stepped out into the cool night. A couple was making out at one end of the dark alley, so she turned in the other direction. “What kind of bind are you in, and how does it involve me?”

  His chuckle sounded dry. “Everything I do involves you, darling.”

  “Sweet talker. Where are you?”

  He rattled off an address. Her heart rate sped up.

  Shit. “What the fuck is this about?” She headed back into the club.

  “I’m afraid I’m in need of my lawyer.”

  Her stomach bottomed out.

  ****

  Dak sat in his office, staring at the monitors, hoping for a sight of that familiar face. All through the night, he’d searched, but she never turned up. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around what happened. When he woke up that morning, he had Ever in his bed, her luscious body spread so perfectly for him, and the next his arms were empty and he was watching her run away.

  The fucked up thing was he had no idea what he did wrong. Make her breakfast?

  He shook his head to clear it. For the time being, he had to relegate Ever to the back burner, he needed to concentrate on finding Ghost. Still no word yet on if he’d be getting his weapons from the dealer, or even if he’d take Ian Dakota on as a client. They did get a tip from a CI about someone moving weapons tonight. Dak doubted it was Ghost, but right now, anyone carrying a gun without a permit was fair game, if it had a possibility of leading them to Ghost.

  Dak grew more and more impatient with the person who gave them the slip so easily. Every time he thought they finally had their man, he managed to slink away into the shadows.

  Not this time. If it’s the last thing he did, he’d bring the fucker down.

  His door opened and Jayce walked in without knocking. “We’ve got word from the local PD. That tip paid off. They have someone in custody.”

  “Who?” Dak jumped to his feet, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair.

  “I don’t have anymore info.” Jayce wrinkled his brow. “Where are you going? You know we can’t risk blowing our cover.”

  “I have to at least be in the building. I don’t want anything falling through the cracks if we’re to have a chance of finding this fucking Ghost.”

  “I think it’s stupid. We’ve worked too hard to have this case be compromised because you’re not thinking clearly.”

  Dak stilled in the process of shrugging on his jacket. “What are you saying, Jayce?”

  “I’m saying this chick has your nose wide open, you’re not acting like Ian Dakota.” Jayce moved closer. “And if you’re not acing like Ian Dakota, people starts questioning it. Ian Dakota doesn’t pine away for women. Neither does he fuck the same woman twice. Or have you forgotten?”

  Dak sank onto his desk and ran a hand over his face. “Damn it. I haven’t forgotten, Jayce, but—”

  “But you want her.”

  “Yes.” So bad, so much. And she didn’t even know his real name. How messed up was that?

  “Ian Dakota can’t have her, but what about when this case is over?” Jayce laid a hand on his arm. “You can be yourself again.”

  He grunted. “Yeah, until I go back under cover again. Assume another identity.” He signed. “You’re right. My head hasn’t been in the game lately, but all that changes now.” He stood. “We’re going down to the precinct to find out what we can, discreetly, about the person they brought in. Then we’ll move from there. Deal?” He held out his hand.

  “Deal.” Jayce smiled and grabbed his hand. Dak pulled him into a quick hug.

  “Come on, let’s go,” he said. “The sooner we get there, the closer we are to nailing that bastard Ghost.”

  Chapter Six

  Ever strutted into the police precinct downtown, ignoring the stares. Her stilettos pinched the back of her heel as she headed to the front desk. She hid a wince. Fucking shoes were made for looking cute, not walking in.

  “Excuse me.”

  The uniformed officer behind the desk ignored her, choosing, instead, to continue scribbling in some kind of log.

  “Excuse me, and I won’t say it a third time.”

  “Can I help you, ma’am?” He still didn’t look at her.

  “Yes. You can look at me and never call me ma’am again.”

  That caught his attention. He met her gaze with a raised eyebrow.

  Ever slid her card over to him. “I’m Ever Marcille and I want to see my client.”

  “Who’s your client?” He glanced at the card and back at her.

  “Cruz Doriaye. He was brought in earlier from the weapons sting.”

  The officer nodded and waved a colleague over. “Stine, escort Ms. Marcille here to interrogation room five.”

  Ever followed Officer Stine as he led her to Cruz, and once she stepped into the interrogation room, she locked and bolted the door. Cruz sat shackled to a metal table, head lowered. His dark hair hung loose, but she made out the purple bruise covering half of his face.

  “Oh, my God! They beat you up?” She rushed over to him and tilted his head back. His forest-green eyes smiled up at her.

  “You know I never go down without a fight.” He winked the lesser swollen eye.

  “Yeah, but I also know how much you love that pretty face of yours.” She pulled up a chair and sat close to him. “Why in the hell would you resist arrest?”

  Cruz shrugged. “Let’s talk about why I’m here.” He leaned toward her, pressing his forehead to hers. “Did you know the Feds are on your ass?”

  “What?” Stomach churning, Ever resisted the urge to jerk away. “Where’d you hear that?”

  “From them.” He pulled away, staring her dead in the face. “They’re hunting Ghost, and they got a tip I may know something.”

  “Jesus.” Ever shot to her feet. She paced the length of the small room as Cruz looked on. “Who knows about Ghost besides you, me, and Wes?”

  “Aren’t you forgetting someone else?”

  She waved his words away. “No, he still needs us. He wouldn’t sabotage his own operation just to—”

  “To bring his wife to heel?”

  “No!” She swung around. “I’m no longer that man’s wife.” She swallowed, fighting to bring her breathing back to normal. “I’m not his wife.”

  Pity flashed in Cruz’s eyes for a second. “I hear you. But, Ever, he’s not backing down.”

  “Why?” She rubbed her eyes. “Why would he send the Feds sniffing around? They could find out, they could ruin everything.”

  “And nothing ties him to any of it. All you’ll have is your flapping gums. He’s made himself untouchable, do you see that?” Cruz straightened in his chair. “What have you done to protect you and Wes, Ever?”

  She stared at him. Always an immaculate dresser, his white shirt and dark slacks were torn and painted with dirt. His bruises matched the long, dark hair caressing wide shoulders he held high
. She could’ve had the chance to be with him when her life fell apart and she confided in him. He offered his help, but she turned him down, intent on doing it all herself. She’d been so sure she could handle Angus and his threats.

  “Ever?”

  She blinked. “What?”

  Cruz’s swollen face didn’t hide his concerned eyes. “How are you protecting yourself and Wes? You do have a plan, right?”

  She shook herself and sat back down. “Let’s get you out of here, hmm?” She pulled a notepad and pen from her purse.

  Cruz chuckled. “You always walk around with that in your purse?”

  “Yep, you never know.” She smiled up at him. “Now, tell me what happened from the top. Leave nothing out.”

  ****

  Dak stood next to Jayce behind a one-way mirror, both of their arms folded as they stared at the empty room, waiting for the detectives and the man they’d arrested to enter. He and Jayce entered the precinct through the back entrance and came straight to this room. They planned to observe the interview to see if they could glean anything from the suspect’s body-language, or from what he didn’t say.

  More often than not, those two things spoke loudest.

  The door opened and he perked up, shifting closer to the glass. A man with muddied clothes and a wicked bruise on his face entered first, his wrist cuffed in front of him. He took a seat as a woman stepped in behind the two detectives.

  Fuck! Ever sashayed into the interrogation room wearing a tight, short, yellow jumper, exposing her cleavage and her legs. Her purple heels click-clacked on the floor as she walked over and sat next to—

  “Dude, what’s she doing here?”

  “Shut up, Jayce.” Dak stared at her through the mirror. Her hair was swept away from her face and piled high on her head. Gold earrings twinkled in her ears. Confidence and determination shone on her face. Dak knew then any hope he had of learning anything about Ghost was gone.

  “So, guys,” Ever addressed the detectives. “You have my client under arrest, care to tell me why?”

  Detective Wayne, a short, balding man, spoke up. “We got a tip your client was transporting weapons.”

  Ever pursed her lips and nodded. “Uh-huh. And did this tip name my client specifically?”

  “We had a general description,” Wayne hedged.

  “No! Really?” Ever burst out laughing. “And after you found my client and roughed him up, did you find those weapons? You know, other than his registered handgun.”

  Jayce grunted. “She’s killing them.”

  And Dak couldn’t tear his eyes away from her mouth. His cock stirred and he licked his lips.

  The second detective—Peterson, Peterford—spoke up then. “We have reason to believe Mr. Doriaye here knows who the Ghost is. At the very least, we think he’s had some business dealings with the man.”

  “And I have reason to believe I’m getting laid tonight,” Ever scoffed. “Doesn’t make it so. Who is this Ghost?”

  “He’s an arms dealer we’ve been after for a while and we think—”

  “And you think my client is somehow linked to him?” Ever pushed back her chair and got to her feet. “I happen to have the Mayor and Governor on speed dial. I can’t wait to hear what they have to say about this.” She picked up her cell phone and punched in some numbers. “Charge him or let him go. Now!” she barked.

  The two detectives exited the room with slumped shoulders.

  Jayce spun around. “What the fuck just happened?”

  “She’s good.” Dak shook his head. “She worked them like a pro.”

  “What do we really know about her?” Jayce asked.

  Dak shrugged. “You did the background check, remember?”

  “We know her name and what she does for a living.” Jayce paced. “We know she has no record, but we need deeper.”

  Dak pulled out his phone and dialed as the two detectives walked into the room.

  Det. Wayne pulled a business card from his jacket pocket and handed it over to Jayce. “You know her?”

  Dak snatched the card with Ever’s contact information printed on it.

  “I want a deep background run like yesterday,” Dak said into his phone. He gave them Ever’s info. “I want everything. Like what she had for breakfast last week, everything.”

  Chapter Seven

  Ever crept into the house two hours after she left the police precinct with Cruz. She’d dropped him off at his boat and drove around until she found a park where she sat thinking of her next move. Did she have the courage to get away from this business? And what would the repercussions be from Angus Brennan? Whatever it was, it would be swift, horrific, and geared to hit her in her most vulnerable place.

  That much she knew.

  “Wes?” She dropped her purse on the couch, and walked to the top of the basement stairs. After she got the call from Cruz at the club, she’d had their driver and security detail escort Wes back home despite his pouts. He didn’t answer her call and she frowned. Was he still mad at her? Wes held a grudge like no one’s business, but even he had to see she wanted only to protect him like he tried to protect her.

  “Wes?” She bounded down the stairs and stopped when she found him sitting at his computers. “Wes, didn’t you hear me calling you? Are you still mad at me from earlier? I told you—”

  He lifted his head. Fear shone bold and bright in his eyes

  “What’s wrong?” She stepped forward slowly, hand at her throat. The only time she’d seen that look in his eyes was on tape when Angus’s men held a knife to his throat, forcing him to read out their demands for her. “Wes, tell me what’s wrong.”

  “He’s a cop.”

  “Huh?” She blinked. “Who’s a cop?”

  “Ian Dakota is a cop!” Red-faced, sweating, he jumped from his chair and kicked it aside. “Ian Dakota is a fucking cop hunting Ghost. He’s on to us.”

  “What? N-no. That’s-that’s impossible.” Words froze on her tongue.

  “I heard him and his friend talking through the bug. They’re undercover, hunting us.” He focused accusing eyes on her. “A cop, Ever.”

  Body trembling, heart banging out of her chest, Ever pushed him away and leaned over the computers. “Where? Where is it?” she demanded. “Play it back, I want to hear everything.”

  Wes brushed her fumbling hands away and punched some knobs. Dakota’s deep timbre poured from the speakers, his words crushing her via surround sound.

  “…until I go back under cover again. Assume another identity.”

  She gasped. One hand covered her mouth as tears slid down her cheeks. Ian Dakota was cop. A cop she’d slept with, jeopardizing everything.

  “We’re going down to the precinct to find out what we can, discreetly, about this person they brought in—”

  “Turn it off, turn it off.” She spun away with a cry. “Son of a fucking bitch.” How could this happen now, with everything else on her plate? Ian Dakota, a cop. But— “Who does he work for?”

  “What?” Wes brushed a lock of hair from his eyes and stared.

  “Who is he with? Feds?”

  He shrugged. “Dunno. They didn’t say anything about that, and I haven’t checked him out. I mean, really checked him out.”

  “Why not?”

  “Obviously, Dakota isn’t his name. Who am I looking for? I’ll need his prints, DNA, to run.”

  “Shit.” Ever tugged on her ear, searching her brain for answers. “What about from me, I should have his DNA on me, right?’

  “Ugh, gross.” Wes grimaced. “You’ve showered since you’ve been with him, his saliva and handprint will be long gone. And let’s not discuss anything else.”

  Her lips twitched. “What else is there? How can we know who he really is and why he’s here?” She muttered and paced the floor. This finally put Dakota out of her life forever. She had to let him go.

  “I can hack the major operations and run his face through the databases.” Wes retook his seat and tapp
ed away on one of the three keyboards in front of him. “If he’s in one of them, I’ll find him.”

  She nodded. “Send one to Cruz, too. He knows everybody.”

  “Where is he, by the way?”

  “Who, Cruz?”

  Wes nodded with his eyes on his monitor.

  “I dropped him at his boat, the second one, on the other side of town.”

  “Is he leaving or staying around?”

  “Can’t say for sure. He didn’t give me any clues either way.” But she hoped he stuck around. Right now, he and Wes were the only people she trusted.

  “All righty. Sent.” Wes pushed away from the desk. “The face of the man known as Ian Dakota is scanning through all the different agencies. We should know something soon enough.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap. His warm arms wrapped around her midsection. “How are you holding up?”

  Head on his shoulder, she chuckled dryly. “You mean since I found out I’ve fucked us over yet again?” This had to be some kind of record. From Angus to Dakota, or whatever his name was. Both had the power to destroy her life, in two completely different ways. Both she’d trusted with her body. My taste in men sucks!

  “You cared about him. You still do.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Wes. In the long run it’s always going to be you and me against the world.” Her mistake was thinking she could have anything else. Not after all she’d done in the name of love, and was now doing in the name of hate.

  Wes laughed softly. “Always, but you love him.”

  “No!” She burrowed deeper into his chest, tears burning her eyes. “I can’t love him, Wes. It was only a skin thing, a scratch-my-itch thing. It was supposed to be nothing.”

  “But it turned into everything,” he whispered in her ear. “Your reaction to finding out about him says it all. Otherwise you’d be angry, but not so obviously devastated.”

  “I’m not devastated.” Heart-broken maybe, but not devastated.

  Wes grunted but didn’t reply. He simply squeezed her tighter and dropped kisses on her head.

  She sniffed. “We’re so perfect for each other. Why do you have to love cock?”