by Tiffany Snow
We sat down and that’s when I realized I was sandwiched between the two men. The table sat six, but there was an empty chair between Ryker and my father. Oh lord, as if this evening wasn’t awkward enough already …
“Nice shirt,” Parker said to Ryker, making my head swivel around. I hadn’t noticed, but Ryker had dressed nicer than usual. He still wore jeans and boots, but his shirt was button-down and he wore a sport coat underneath his leather jacket. Granted, it wasn’t a suit, nor was it the quality or caliber of Parker’s or my father’s attire, but I was glad he’d made an effort.
I leaned closer to him. “Yeah, you look really nice,” I said in an undertone. I smiled at him, hoping to put him a little more at ease, and he finally smiled back. A real smile that softened his eyes.
“Would you care for some wine, sir?” the waiter asked Ryker.
“Do you have any beer?” he asked instead.
“Yes, sir. Which brand would you like?” He rattled off a list of at least a half-dozen.
“Just a Budweiser, if you have it,” Ryker said.
“Absolutely. I’ll be right back with that, sir.”
“So you’re a police officer,” my mother said, pulling our attention to her. “What kind of police work do you do?”
“I’m a homicide detective,” Ryker replied.
“And is that dangerous?”
He hesitated, and I could see where this was going. “It can be,” he answered honestly.
My mother shot me a look that said loud and clear what she thought of that.
“What about your parents?” Dad asked. “Was your dad a police officer, too?”
“My father left my mother when I was young,” Ryker said. “I haven’t seen him since.”
Awkward silence.
The waiter returned with a chilled glass and poured a bottle of beer into it. No one spoke until he’d finished and set the glass in front of Ryker, then left again.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mom said. “Does your mother live close?”
“She moved to Florida a few years ago,” Ryker said. “The warm weather was preferable to Chicago winters.”
“I can’t disagree with her there,” Mom said with a smile. “She sounds like a smart lady.”
“She is,” Ryker agreed. “Raised me on her own in a part of Chicago most people try to ignore exists.”
“Which part?” Dad asked.
“Englewood.”
“I grew up not far from there,” Dad replied. “I still have some cousins on that side of town.”
“Really? What’re their names?”
I wanted to slap my hand over Dad’s mouth, but he was proud of his family and how not only had he made something of himself, but so had my uncles.
“The Muccinos. Maybe you’ve heard of them?”
Ryker blanched, his accusing gaze swiveling to mine. I gave him a weak smile.
“I have, actually,” he said, still looking at me. His gaze flicked briefly to Parker, then back to my Dad. “I didn’t realize Sage Reese was Sage Muccino.”
Dad laughed. “The one and same.”
And things only went downhill from there.
By the look on his face, I didn’t think Ryker liked most of the things on the menu, and ended up getting the steak while I had the duck and Parker ordered the halibut. My mother asked Ryker a lot of questions, but his answers weren’t elaborate. I knew he was pissed about Parker being there, but it wasn’t like there was anything I could do about it.
I think Dad figured out pretty quick that Ryker wasn’t in a chatty mood, so he focused his attention on Parker as they discussed the relative strength of the dollar and the Asian markets. I tuned them out. Our food took an excruciatingly long time to arrive, by which time my mother was glancing helplessly at me and I was on my third glass of wine. Or was it the fourth?
“So I imagine you must deal with a lot of the seedy side of Chicago,” Dad asked Ryker as he cut into the lamb he’d ordered.
“Homicide isn’t known for rescuing kittens from trees, no,” Ryker replied dryly, which I thought was a little rude. I shot him a look, but my father just chuckled.
“True. How long have you been a cop?”
“Seven years,” Ryker replied. “Shortly after I was discharged, I went into the Academy.”
“Discharged? You were in the service?”
“The Marines.”
Dad turned to Parker. “You were in the Marines, too, weren’t you, Anderson?”
“Yes. Coincidentally, in the same platoon as Detective Ryker.”
Both my parents looked up from their plates at this, glancing first at Parker, then Ryker.
I took another gulp of wine, draining my glass. Raising my hand slightly, I signaled the waiter for a refill.
“So you two know each other,” Mom said.
“It was a long time ago,” Parker evaded.
Ryker’s cell phone buzzed and he dug it out of his pocket. “I’m sorry, I need to take this,” he said, pushing back from the table.
My father waved him on as the waiter cleared our plates and dropped off the dessert menu.
“So you know Ryker,” Dad said to Parker. “Tell me, is he the right kind of man to be dating my daughter?”
“Dad—” I interrupted, mortified. He held up a hand to shush me, which really sent me over the edge. “Are you shushing me?” I hissed at him, but he shot me a look, and since I’d seen that look many times growing up, I snapped my mouth shut. But I still glared at him.
“I trust Anderson here with my money. I trust his opinion on this.” He glanced back at Parker. “Well?”
Parker hesitated, considering his words carefully. “Ryker is a good man, an honest man.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Dad replied.
“It’s not up to me to say if he’s the right kind of man for Sage,” Parker said. “That’s up to her.”
Well at least one of the men here had some sense.
Ryker stepped back to the table again but didn’t sit down. Instead, he swung his leather jacket back on. “I hate to do this, but I need to go,” he said. “That was work and I’m needed down at the precinct.”
“Of course we understand,” Mom said graciously. “It’s been lovely meeting you.”
My Dad stood to shake his hand and I pushed back my chair, too.
“We’ll chat again soon, Dean,” he said.
“I’ll walk you out,” I said.
We didn’t speak in the elevator as it had several other people in the car with us, but to me it felt as though the tension between us was thick and heavy.
In the lobby, he turned to me as others moved past us and the space emptied. “Stay inside,” he said. “It’s cold out and you left your coat upstairs.” He turned to go, but I grabbed his sleeve.
“Wait, that’s it? You were barely civil to my parents the entire time you were here, and now you have to leave, and that’s all you’re going to say? ‘It’s cold out’?”
“What do you want me to say?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “I get here and find Parker sitting at the same damn table, right next to you. What the hell? Then I find out you’ve been lying to me this whole time about who you are.”
“That’s not true! I told you my parents were wealthy and where I came from—”
“You didn’t tell me you’re a Muccino,” he interrupted.
Ryker was angry, but so was I. “I’ve never lied to you about who I am,” I said. “I’m Sage, and it shouldn’t matter one damn bit what my last name is.” I turned on my heel to walk away, but he grabbed my arm and yanked me back until we were nearly touching.
“You think it doesn’t matter that your father runs seventy percent of the liquor business in Chicago?” His voice was incredulous. “Or that your whole extended family has a file ten inches thick down at the station?”
“My father has never done anything illegal,” I hissed.
“That you know about,” he retorted. “Don’t be naïve, Sage.”<
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“Naïve about what?” I spat, furious. “Don’t you dare try to imply that my dad is a criminal.” I tried to pull my arm out of his grip, but his hold was too tight.
“You think I want to disillusion you?” he gritted out. “I’ve just been blindsided by the fact that the woman I’m in love with is the daughter of a mob boss!”
I stared at him, my mouth agape, and I wasn’t sure if I was stunned because of what he’d said about my father or what he’d said about being in love with me.
Ryker growled a curse, then he kissed me.
His lips pressed hard against mine, his palm cradling my jaw as his fingers slid into my hair. He lightly sucked my lower lip, sending a spark of heat through me, and I eagerly opened my mouth. His tongue slid alongside mine and before I realized it, he had me pressed against the wall. My fingers curled into the leather covering his shoulders and my knees felt too weak to hold me.
Ryker’s leg nudged between mine, and the hunger and residual anger in his kiss made me breathless. The hard muscles of his thigh pressed against a very soft, very aroused part of me, and I moaned into his mouth.
When he lifted his head, I was completely turned on and utterly boneless. I was also vaguely considering the idea of finding the nearest empty room and having Ryker finish what he’d started. I didn’t think he’d put up much of an objection, considering the fire in his eyes as he looked at me … or the hard length of his erection against my hip.
“Walk me to my bike?” he asked, his voice all rough and evoking images of him tearing off my clothes. Or of me tearing off his. I was good with either.
“I thought it was too cold.”
His lips twitched at my sass, then he slipped off the leather jacket and swung it over my shoulders. I was enveloped in Ryker’s scent mixed with leather as I pushed my arms into the too-long sleeves. Sliding an arm around my waist, he kept me close to his side as we walked outside.
The wind was chilly and I shivered, huddling inside Ryker’s coat. We stopped by his motorcycle and he pulled me into him, his hands inside the jacket and curled low on my hips. Ryker’s body blocked the wind and I pressed against him, twining my arms around his neck. His hands slid to my rear.
“We’ll finish this discussion later,” he said.
“All right,” I agreed. “Do you want to—”
“McCrady? Is that you?”
Ryker went rigid, his head jerking up to look behind me. “Fucking Christ,” he muttered. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
I twisted to try and see who he was looking at, but his hands were vises around my waist.
“Go inside. Now,” he ordered.
Ryker’s tone was steel, precluding any argument. The look on his face scared me, and his eyes were cold and locked on to someone behind me. He turned me, pushing me behind him and toward the building. I hurried for the door.
“It is you! Well how about that?” The voice was coming closer and, despite the words, didn’t sound friendly. If anything, the man sounded pissed. And what he said next made me stop in my tracks.
“What a surprise to see you alive,” the man said to Ryker. “But that can be remedied.”
CHAPTER FOUR
I was two steps from the door but spun back around. A man had approached Ryker while two other men flanked him like security guards. The one who’d done all the talking was shorter than Ryker, with salt-and-pepper hair and a hard face. His nose was crooked in a way that said he’d had it broken and not set back right.
“Whaddya say you take a ride with me, McCrady, and tell me where you been for the past four years?”
Alarmed, I tried to think what to do. These guys didn’t look nice and they’d obviously mistaken Ryker for someone else. He was outnumbered, and was that a bulge I saw underneath their arms? Were they carrying guns?
Just then, I saw my mother and Parker come out of the building. My dad wasn’t there—probably paying the bill still—and they were talking. Neither had spotted me yet, not in the dark. Hoping I was doing the right thing, I scurried back to Ryker, squeezing through the men and putting myself as a shield between them and Ryker.
“Hey, honey, can you do your business later?” I asked. “My parents want to talk with you.”
Ryker looked furious and I knew I’d pay for interfering later, but I didn’t care.
“Who’s your girl here?” the man said. “You on a date, McCrady?”
I expected Ryker to correct the man, but he didn’t. “It’s none of your business, Leo.”
“Sage! There you are! Come here, dear.”
All of us turned to see my mother beckoning me.
“Am I interrupting a meeting with the parents?” the man asked, his sarcasm thick. His gaze turned to me.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” I said stiffly.
“Pardon my manners,” he said, offering me a slightly mocking tip of his head. “I’m Leo Shea.”
“Sage Reese,” I replied, polite but not friendly. I still stood in front of Ryker, blocking them from him. If they took him, it’d be over my dead body. “C’mon,” I said to Ryker. “You can talk with your … friends … later.”
I tugged his hand, pulling him out from between where the three men had hemmed him in.
“Catch you later, Leo,” Ryker said.
“You can count on it.”
Parker and my mother were talking, but I noticed Parker’s sharp eyes were watching the exchange. Leo and his guards got into a waiting car and pulled away from the curb. I let out a breath of relief once they were gone.
“What the hell were you doing?” Ryker hissed in my ear.
Yeah. I’d been right. He was seriously pissed.
“What was I supposed to do?” I hissed right back. “Let them put you in a car and dump you in the river?”
“You were supposed to do what you were told and go inside.”
“Wasn’t that Leo Shea?” Parker asked, and I realized he’d come up behind us. I glanced at him.
“Mind your own business, Parker,” Ryker snapped.
“Wasn’t Shea indicted for drug trafficking a few years ago?” Parker asked, ignoring him. “But the case got tossed, right?”
Ryker’s hand was nearly crushing mine as he stared at Parker. I winced as his hold got even tighter. Parker’s gaze flicked to mine, then our joined hands.
“Ease up there, buddy,” Parker said. “Sage needs both her hands to type.”
“I’m not your buddy, so fuck off,” Ryker shot back, but his grip immediately eased. “C’mon, Sage. I’ll drop you off at home on my way in to the precinct.”
Parker and Ryker were staring daggers at each other. I could practically feel the testosterone aggression pouring off both of them. With an internal sigh, I left them to it and hurried to my mother just as my dad exited the building. I gave them both a kiss and hug good-bye and thanked them for dinner.
“Shall we take you home, dear?” Mom asked, pressing her lips to my cheek.
“That’s okay. Ryker will take me.” I absently motioned with my hand toward his motorcycle as I turned to see if Parker and Ryker had come to blows. Not yet, but they didn’t look far off, if body language was any indicator. They were actually talking, though, which I took as a good sign.
“Please tell me you’re not pointing to that motorcycle,” Mom said. The dismay in her tone had me whipping back around as an oh shit went through my head. Probably shouldn’t have mentioned the bike …
“Uh, well, um, yeah,” I stammered. “But it’s fine. It’s safe. Ryker’s a good driver—”
“You’ve ridden on it before?” she asked, appalled. “In the city?”
“I can take Sage home,” Parker interjected from where he stood. I hadn’t realized our conversation had carried to them, but now I saw both Ryker and Parker looking at us. Ryker’s expression was carefully blank. “It’s on my way,” Parker added.
On his way where, I had no clue, because Parker’s apartment was the opposite direction from m
ine, but before I could say anything, my father spoke.
“Thanks, Anderson. Knew I could count on you.” Dad led my mother to where their car stood waiting. In the next moment, they were in the backseat and the car was pulling away, leaving me with an angry Ryker and a Parker who was …
Yeah, I couldn’t gauge his mood at all.
“Let’s go,” Ryker said to me, beckoning.
I avoided Parker’s eyes as I hurried to Ryker, but Parker latched on to my arm as I passed him.
“Her parents think I’m taking her home,” he said.
“And they’re gone now, so it doesn’t matter,” Ryker said, taking my hand.
“So you’re going to lie to her parents, ten minutes after you’ve met them?”
“I didn’t lie to them. You did.”
Both of them had a hold of me and neither one was letting go.
“I’m taking her home,” Parker said. “I told them I would.”
“That’s too bad. Looks like your mouth got ahead of you. As usual.”
“Stop it! Both of you!” I said, irritated. “Tonight has been a disaster from start to finish and the last thing I want to do is put up with you two in a pissing contest.” I turned to Ryker. “Go on and go. It’ll be thirty minutes out of your way to take me home and you said you had to get in to work.”
“You’re my responsibility,” he stubbornly persisted. “I’ll take you.”
My already frayed temper lit up. “I’m not anyone’s responsibility,” I retorted, slipping off his jacket. “Least of all yours.” I thrust his coat at him before spinning on my heel and stalking off. After a few steps, I stopped and glanced back. “Parker, you taking me home or what?” I could get a cab, but from here, the fare wouldn’t be cheap and it was much preferable to ride in the clean confines of Parker’s BMW.
Parker shot Ryker a look that may have been triumphant, but I didn’t care. Ryker had pushed me too far tonight and I wasn’t about to become the bone between two alpha dogs.
Nothing tonight had gone like I’d wanted it to and now it seemed like a huge mistake to be dating Ryker at all. He was a dangerous kind of guy, with honey-come-get-me looks and sharp edges all around. Were we one of those couples where the only place we really fit well together was in bed?
