by Arianna Hart
Okay, so he probably shouldn’t have nailed the board in place. That wasn’t the brightest idea but he couldn’t help it. He hated being helpless, hated being weak and injured. Nailing a board in place was just a small thing he could do to keep Caitlyn safe, since it looked like he wasn’t going to be able to leave her.
The pain in his side flared again as he tried to move. He’d exhausted himself with just the trip to and from the bathroom but he didn’t dare ask Caitlyn for pain meds. With the mood she was in now, he’d be lucky if she didn’t poison him.
He couldn’t help but smile at that. Tom had told him she had a temper but he’d never believed it. Fire had practically shot from her eyes when she caught him on that chair.
God but she was gorgeous, even in the morning. Her streaky hair was mussed from sleep and her eyes blazed with fury. It was a potent combination. He’d had to hunch over so that she wouldn’t be able to see the erection he’d gotten from looking at her barely covered breasts in the thin tank top.
Steam puffed out under the bathroom door, and Mac pictured Caitlyn naked in the next room. Hot water would make her skin rosy and she’d be slick with soapsuds. He closed his eyes and groaned as his body reacted to his overactive imagination.
How would he spend the next four days with her without touching her? She was so beautiful and honest and courageous. All the things he looked for in a date, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Tom would kill him if he fooled around with Caitlyn and Mac wasn’t in a position to have anything more than a temporary affair.
He’d just have to bite the bullet and get the lustful thoughts out of his head. The mission was still on and he’d have to focus on that, not on Tom’s sexy little sister. Besides, he was so sore from this hole in his side, he couldn’t do much more than drool over her anyway. By the time he recovered enough to do more than pant after her, he’d be long gone.
“Keep that in mind, buddy,” he reminded himself. In another few weeks he’d be out of her life for good. From what he could gather, whatever was going to happen in the city was no more than a month away. He’d lie low for another couple of weeks. By then he’d be able to move about a bit more easily.
Once he nailed the guy that was supplying guns to the city’s gangs, his job would be over and he’d be reassigned to another case in some other city. The only time he’d see Caitlyn again would be if he ran into her with Tom.
For some reason, the thought of never seeing her again left an empty feeling in his gut. Her laughing eyes flashed in his mind, making the empty feeling even stronger. He must be hungry, that was it. He hadn’t had solid food in days. That would explain his sappy feelings.
It definitely had nothing to do with the woman standing naked in the shower in the next room.
Yeah, right.
A blanket of steam accompanied Caitlyn as she opened the bathroom door. It smelled of flowers and soap and Mac recognized it as the same scent he’d breathed in when she helped him to bed. It traveled through his nostrils to his brain and reminded him of the feel of her breasts pressed against his side.
Great. Just what he needed, a multi-sensory attack on his control.
“If you can hold down breakfast, I’ll take out the IV today. But only if you promise not to be a stupid macho idiot.”
“It’ll be hard, but I’ll try.” He smiled at her, glad to see the laughter back in her eyes.
“If you can’t behave, I’ll be forced to stay home with you tonight, then my brothers will be all over me about why I missed Friday dinner.”
“Friday dinner? Isn’t it Sunday dinner?”
“Not when everyone works weekends. With a nurse, a cop and a firefighter we get together whenever we can. At least twice a month we meet at Jim’s station and do dinner there. Well, try anyway. Every once in a while we actually finish dinner before they get a call.”
“Doesn’t he work on the ambulance too?”
“Yeah. He does some per diem work for a local clinic and alternates shifts on the ambulance for the fire department. It’s easier to pick up ambulance shifts for overtime though, because most of the guys don’t like medical calls. The ambulance is busier than the engine, so he rarely switches on a Friday or we’d never get together.”
She disappeared into the kitchen and Mac could hear her banging around. In a few minutes she was back with an English muffin and some coffee.
“You do a lot with your family, don’t you? They seem to be over here all the time.”
Caitlyn snorted as she put the food down in front of him and helped him to sit up.
“Yeah, sometimes I think I do too much with them. With the three of us living and working in the city, we’re always running into each other.”
Mac bit into the buttered muffin and sighed. Nooks and crannies had never tasted so good. Amazing what a few days of hunger could do for his taste buds.
“It’s more than that. You get together for dinner and stuff. Jim dropped everything to bring you supplies for what he thought was a stray dog. Liam came over last night when he heard your house had been broken into. You’re helping me because I’m a friend of Tom’s.”
“Well, yeah. That’s what family does for each other.” She seemed puzzled by his observations.
“Not all families.”
“Don’t you have brothers or sisters who would step up if you needed help?”
“Nope. Only child of a single mother. She died years ago, so it’s just me.”
Caitlyn’s face softened and she laid her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry. I complain about my brothers but I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
“It’s no big deal, really. I’m used to being alone. I like it that way.” His words sounded falsely cheerful even to himself.
“What do you do on the holidays? Didn’t you come down from Maine or something to pick up Tom on Thanksgiving?” She took a sip of her coffee, removing her hand from his arm.
“I was on assignment then, but I usually visit friends for the holidays when I’m not working.” Yeah, but when was the last time he hadn’t worked a holiday?
“Well, next holiday, you’ll spend it with us.” She nodded, as if settling it in her head.
“Let’s just get through the next month, then I’ll worry about Thanksgiving.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her he’d probably be undercover in another state by November.
“You think this will be done in another month?” Caitlyn pounced on his slip.
“Maybe. I don’t know for sure, we’ll see what happens when I’m back on my feet.”
“That won’t be for at least another week, you know. And even then, you won’t be in tiptop shape for months. You were lucky that the bullet didn’t hit any vital organs, but you lost a lot of blood and tore muscles.”
Her words made the ache in his side flare even more painfully.
“I heal fast. I’ll be fine in a week. Maybe a little sore but nothing I can’t handle.”
“I thought you were going to stop acting like a stupid macho jerk?” She raised one eyebrow.
His laughter made his side hurt even more.
* * *
“What do you mean, you don’t know? Was he there or not?” Carlos forced himself not to grab the punk in front of him by the throat. If he wanted something done right, he’d have to do it himself.
“I didn’t get a good look before the cops came, but from what I saw there was no one in the place. I tried to go back after, but by then the chick was home.”
“From what you saw, huh? You were too busy staring at some girl in short shorts and not looking for Diego.”
“I’m telling you, he’s dead. He has to be. I shot him in the park, there was blood everywhere, man.”
“Blood but no body. Until I see a body, I’m going to count on him being alive.”
“Where could he go? If he went to a hospital they’d have to report it.”
“Are you questioning me? You’re the one who said the woman could have taken him home.” Carlo
s didn’t like this pup questioning his authority. This punk was a smart one and eventually would try to take over the operation. He hadn’t been around this long without knowing how the gang mentality worked. Little fish got hungry for power, and as soon as they saw their chance, a quick bullet in the head and Carlos would be no more.
He wasn’t going to let that happen. Carlos fingered the knife on his desk and stared the punk down. The kid tried to hold his gaze but it dropped to the knife after a few seconds.
Good, he still feared his leader.
“We plan for Diego being alive and a cop until we find a body. And keep an eye on that girl. It’s possible she’s helping him in some way, even if he isn’t at her place. Now go, out of my sight.”
The kid scrambled to get out of the chair and out of the room before Carlos threw the knife.
What the fuck was he going to tell the Man? Carlos felt a shiver of fear slither down his back. The Man said Diego wasn’t really Diego and he was a fed. If that was the case, and he had no reason to doubt the Man, Carlos was in deep shit. Diego had gotten in tight with the Children. If Diego was a fed, he knew enough about their day-to-day operations to put them away for a long time.
But if he was a fed, why hadn’t he busted them already? He had all the leaders and had enough information to nail them on drug charges. Was he after the Man?
Ha! Fat chance. The Man was so secretive no one even knew his real name. All they knew was that he had the dough and the connections to get them out of jail, warn them of busts, and get them phat weapons. If the Man wanted to run the show from behind the scenes, that was fine by Carlos. The Children were making money hand over fist now that they didn’t have to worry about protecting their territory from other gangs.
That part still chaffed his ass, though. The Man insisted the gangs stop fighting each other and focus on one thing. The Children had drugs, the Black Hands had loan sharking and enforcement, and the 525s had prostitution. They all had their territories and no one was to step a toe over the line.
The few who did were disposed of quickly and brutally.
Carlos shivered again as he remembered what was left of his former rival from the 525s. He hadn’t wanted to follow the rules. He liked getting the weapons and finding out about the busts but hadn’t wanted to stick to just prostitution. With a small group of handpicked men, he’d launched an attack on the Hands’ headquarters and stolen half a mil in cash.
He hadn’t lived long enough to spend a dime of it.
No, Carlos was smarter than that. He’d do things the way the Man wanted him to until the time was right. The Children were stock piling their weapons, waiting for the other two gangs to screw up. When that happened, there would be all out war in the city streets. The Man thought he was so smart, but Carlos was smarter.
He’d keep his mouth shut and play good little boy until he found out who the Man really was and how much power he had. There was no harm biding his time and making money while the Man was supplying them with weapons. Then when they had enough guns and money stored, they’d make their move.
An evil smile crossed his scarred face. And if the Man got hit in the crossfire, well, that was just too bad.
Chapter Seven
Two weeks later
Mac wiped himself down with a towel and dove under the sheet just as he heard Caitlyn pull into the driveway. He grabbed a nearby magazine and tried to slow down his breathing before she unlocked the door. If she caught him exercising again, she’d rip him up one side and down the other.
Short walks and gentle stretching were his only approved exercises, and that was only because he’d begged her to take the stitches out early. He was still sore, but it felt good to be moving again.
As long as Caitlyn didn’t catch him.
Two soft knocks preceded her entrance and Mac’s heart rate sped up. He wanted to think it was only because he hadn’t seen anyone for twelve hours, but deep in his gut he knew it was because it was Caitlyn walking through the door. Somehow he didn’t think he’d be quite so happy to see Tom after twelve hours.
“Mac? It’s me.” Her voice was pitched low and it slid over him like soft velvet.
“I’m up.” He put down the magazine, covertly wiping sweat off under the sheet as Caitlyn walked into the room.
She smiled and sat in the battered recliner next to him. Toeing off her shoes, she curled her feet under her and let her hair out of the clip that held it back. Golden-highlighted strands caught the dim lamplight and looked like liquid sunshine.
“I’ve got you on my screwed up schedule now. Sleep all day and up all night.” Her smile brightened the room. A heat that had nothing to do with his illicit exercise filled his body and traveled straight to his groin.
“Actually, I’m used to being up all night. For some reason most illegal activities don’t stick to a nine to five schedule.”
“Go figure.” She stretched and her uniform top pulled tightly across her chest. Mac’s pulse kicked up another couple of notches. “I’m going to get some water, do you want some too?”
“Sure, thanks.”
“You probably need it after working out.” She shot him a saucy look over her shoulder as she strutted to the kitchen.
“Can’t get anything by you, can I?” Mac gave up any pretense of resting and sat up.
Handing him a bottle of water as she came back, she winked at him and collapsed back into the chair. “You left the light on and I saw your silhouette against the shades as I came in.”
Shit. That was a rookie mistake. What was happening to him? He knew better than to leave enough light to throw a shadow.
Some of his annoyance must have shown on his face, because Caitlyn quickly reassured him. “It was only your arms, but I could tell you were doing jumping jacks. And that’s only because I suspect you. No one else would be able to see you.”
“Unless they were specifically looking for me. Which they are.” He gulped down the water, pissed at the risk he put Caitlyn in.
“Or they’d just think you’re my new boyfriend. That’s what my neighbors think anyway.”
“Great, so now I have to worry about the gangs and your brothers.”
“I’ll worry about my brothers. I’m a big girl now.” She yawned and stretched again.
Mac didn’t need the reminder of how big she was. His body knew she was an adult and responded forcefully. Looking anywhere but at the way her mouth moved on the bottle of water, Mac tried to distract himself.
“You look tired, bad night?” Lame attempt at conversation but anything was better than thinking about how his mouth would feel on hers.
“No worse than usual, it was just long. We had a lot of psychiatric evaluations tonight and they take up a lot of staff.”
“That’s tough.” He tossed the water bottle between his hands. “Any more gun shots?” he asked as causally as he could.
“Surprisingly, no. We’ve had fewer than normal drive-bys lately. In fact, now that I think about it, other than domestics, most of the violent injuries have been down. Weird. Usually summertime is when the gangs fight their turf wars and we have our hands full.”
Mac’s gut clenched. If the gangs weren’t fighting to defend their turf it was because they’d already divided it up. He’d been shot before he could find out more about why Satan’s Children were told to hold fire, but he was sure there was someone behind the truce.
Someone who wasn’t interested in stopping the violence.
“Maybe it’s too hot to fight,” he offered, just for something to say.
“Maybe. Lord knows I don’t want to do more than I have to. I’m going to take a shower, then head to bed. Do you need anything?”
He wished she wouldn’t say need. Her showers were torture for him. Every night he lay in bed listening to the water, knowing it was spraying over her naked body on the other side of the wall. His imagination pictured soapsuds gliding over her breasts and trailing down her abdomen to her thighs before sliding down her legs. It was
a path he followed in his mind avidly wishing it were his hands soaping her up instead of hers.
“Ah, no. I’m all set. I think I’ll just read a bit then call it a night.” His voice was husky with suppressed desire. He faked a cough to cover it up.
“Okay, goodnight then.”
Mac steeled himself for what came next.
She leaned over and absently gave him a peck on the cheek before crossing to her bedroom, blithely unaware of the havoc her innocent gesture inflicted. He fought back the urge to follow her as she walked into the bathroom carrying her clothes. Caitlyn was a toucher, and didn’t realize that the merest brush of her hand against his face drove him to distraction.
At least he didn’t think she realized it.
Could she know that every time she gave him a hug, or kissed him good night, he wanted to pull her down and show her how far off her aim was? Was she trying to drive him crazy on purpose?
The water rattled through the pipes, and Mac’s body reacted to the sound with a vengeance. Next would come the smells. The fragrance of her shampoo would drift out under the door with the steam, reminding him of what it felt like to have his arm around her and her breasts pressed to his side. His dick reared up, pushing against his shorts painfully.
And she wondered why he needed to exercise? He had to find someway to burn off all this extra testosterone running around his body. With every breath he took he was reminded of her. Everywhere he looked he saw evidence of her, from her quirky decorations to pictures of her with her brothers.
Her brothers. And that, my friend, is the problem.
If Caitlyn were any other woman, he’d have made a move to relieve the agony he was suffering on a nightly basis. But she wasn’t. She was his best friend’s sister and he’d been warned off her from the start.
Mac had too much respect for Tom to betray him by screwing around with his little sister. But it wasn’t easy.
