Explicit Memory

by Scarlett Finn

  As though the thought had been enough to spur action, the apartment door opened, which startled them all. On twisting in her seat toward the occurrence, she had no time to seek a weapon or Rushe’s knife in her pocket.

  But the need for a weapon evaporated when she registered who the new entrant was. The man who swung the door closed and strode toward her was the most powerful in her arsenal, Rushe.

  Her glow surged up to a grin, forcing her onto her feet. When he reached her, Flick caught his cheeks. Rushe’s forehead descended to hers, and after nuzzling her nose with his, he tipped her head and joined their mouths. The simple act conveyed all the apology that she needed.

  ‘Lover,’ she sighed.

  The joy she felt at his concession, at his willingness to be here with her, made Flick want to shriek. He’d literally been unable to stay away, or been so overcome by the instinct to be with her that he’d been unable to resist her gravitational pull.

  He grumbled but swooped around, taking her hips and forcing her into his lap in the chair she’d just vacated. Burying his face in her hair, Rushe rubbed it side to side and splayed his fingers on her ribcage. Urging his palms up over her breasts, he squeezed, then drew them down to her hips, which he hitched back to meet his pelvis.

  None of these moves were sexual, as such. He was scenting her, possessing her, reassuring both of them that equilibrium had been restored in their worlds.

  ‘I want you to investigate the captains,’ Flick said to Liam, happy that Rushe was still burrowing his face in her locks and caressing her abdomen. Eric’s eyes literally bulged, and Liam was equally at a loss. ‘I need their histories.’

  Liam slanted his head as he peered past her to watch Rushe. ‘Why?’

  ‘We’re not going to get direct answers from them.’

  ‘You’re going to threaten them?’ Liam asked her. ‘That’s risky. I can’t support something that might get you hurt. These could be dangerous men.’

  ‘See the guy I’m sitting on?’ she said, knowing that both Eric and Liam were still amazed by Rushe’s actions, and she herself wasn’t immune to that wonder either. ‘Some would say he’s one intimidating S. O. B., yet I’ve got him eating pussy on command... Do you think I should worry about a couple of cops?’

  ‘I think she’ll be set,’ Eric mumbled.

  ‘These men were corrupted, either through bribery or blackmail,’ she said. ‘The Merciers are using something against them. If we can find out what that is, then maybe we can alleviate the pressure. We’ll find out what we can, and watch them until we know if they can be approached. I doubt these guys wanted to lose their jobs.

  ‘All too quickly, you’re on a slippery slope. You accept one payment or give in to one threat, and then they’ve got you. We want their histories because we want to see if we can find a way to help them.’

  ‘Help?’ Eric asked.

  ‘They could be desperate, and we can offer sympathy. A reassuring shoulder to cry on… so to speak.’

  ‘You’re dangerous.’ Rushe’s breath warmed the back of her neck, and he swept her hair aside to dip her forward and kiss that cosy spot. His hands briefly made contact with her chest again, and then he sat back with a nasal inhale, locking his arms around her torso to clamp her against him.

  ‘If we can get them on our side, then we have a chance of getting them to help us, or at least giving us relevant information,’ Flick said.

  ‘Fuck, she’s smart and sexy as sin,’ Rushe said, propping his chin on her head and joining the conversation. ‘You’re gonna get the information she wants, Hutten.’

  ‘Eric’s going to take me to my parents’ tomorrow,’ Flick said. ‘I have to check that my family is ok and find out if Antoine will accept a settlement.’

  ‘A settlement?’ Rushe said.

  ‘We’ll talk about it alone later,’ she said, dragging her fingernails up and down the denim on his thighs, causing a satisfying zipping noise. ‘Eric will come to ensure my safety.’

  ‘I don’t want to be responsible for you,’ Eric balked. ‘What if something happened to you?’

  ‘I know the risks, you don’t have to feel guilty if—‘

  ‘It’s not you he’s worried about,’ Liam said. ‘It’s himself.’

  Flick realised that Liam’s attention was on Rushe, who had to be drawing Eric daggers. ‘Rushe has to stay here and do his duty with Silver. Liam, you’re going to get details on the captains so when I get back here I can follow up.’

  ‘I’ll follow up,’ Rushe said.

  ‘We need to watch them and get a feel for who they are, and if they have weak spots. But if it comes time to approach them… We don’t want to intimidate them, we want to disarm them, and gain their confidence,’ she said. ‘You’re scary, and I’m diplomatic. You can wait in the car this time.’

  ‘You’re not gonna be alone with these guys,’ Rushe said, increasing his hold.

  ‘They’re more likely to be charmed by the sexy lady than the…’ Eric trailed off, and from his whitening complexion she was sure that Rushe was scowling again.

  ‘I think it’s time for us to go,’ Flick said, picking up all of the papers from the dining table. When she had collected them all, Rushe lifted her up and put her on her feet.

  ‘What are you doing with the paperwork?’ Liam asked, as they headed from the table to the door.

  ‘We’re going to destroy it,’ Flick said. ‘I don’t want too much left lying around.’

  ‘I can shred it,’ Liam said, holding out a hand, but Flick gave it to an un-expectant Rushe.

  ‘We’ll take care of it,’ Flick said. Rushe opened the door. ‘Check that apartment for me, Eric, then pick me up in the morning.’

  ‘I haven’t agreed to—‘

  ‘He’ll be there,’ Rushe said, tucking her hand into his back pocket. ‘Bright and early, with a smile on his face, and he’s gonna bring my girl back without a scratch... Say goodbye.’

  ‘Bye,’ Flick said, and left the abode on Rushe’s heels. He took her to the sidewalk and around the corner to where the car was parked in shade.

  ‘You stayed up there,’ he said, a while after the car got moving.

  ‘I stuck to my guns,’ she said, taking her feet from her shoes and wiggling her toes. ‘You came back.’

  ‘I couldn’t stay away,’ he said. ‘You’re my woman, and I have to be at your side. You accused me of walking away from you… I won’t ever do that. I won’t. I had to come back. Where you are is where I’m supposed to be.’

  ‘I meant what I said, Rushe, I have no problem dealing with those guys alone. Liam is my friend, and he wants to help. I think he enjoys the challenge and the excitement of it.’

  ‘He wants to fuck you.’

  ‘He does not,’ she tsked, leaning over the centre console to rub his thigh. ‘Liam is my friend, there’s no reason you should feel threatened—‘

  ‘You don’t want that guy, Kit,’ he said. ‘You’d never open your legs for him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want it.’

  ‘I disagree.’

  ‘You do that.’

  ‘No warning about my guard?’ she teased.

  ‘Guy looks the type too scared to jerk off, he’s never gonna make a move on you. If he tried to force the issue, you’d make a stain out of him. No man touches my woman.’

  ‘Why were you so angry to see Eric?’

  ‘He’s careless, and I don’t get attached,’ Rushe said. ‘I’ve never worked two consecutive jobs with the same people, and I rarely work twice with or for the same party.’

  ‘Except me.’

  ‘A lot of stuff I do with you that I don’t do with other associates.’

  ‘Damn right,’ she soothed, taking her hand to his shoulder. ‘Do you trust Eric?’

  ‘He’s small time. That last job was the most serious thing I’ve ever seen him involved in.’

  ‘He said you met at a bloodbath.’

  ‘He was in the wrong place at the wrong time on that one. He d
oesn’t have a bad bone in him. He’s soft, dotes on that kid, which makes him vulnerable.’

  ‘Gracie,’ Flick said, identifying Eric’s daughter with an involuntary smile.

  ‘See,’ Rushe said, glancing at her. ‘You’ve never met the kid, and you’re soft already.’

  ‘Eric’s a big burly guy, to think of him with a little bundle of baby is adorable.’

  ‘You getting broody?’

  ‘Kids would get in the way of our sex life,’ she said, noticing that they were rounding the corner to the parking area at the back of the brothel street.

  The future in front of her and Rushe wouldn’t involve children. She’d happily carry his babies if he wanted her to, but then she’d do anything he wanted her to.

  Rushe parked and took her out of the car to lead her around the building.

  ‘Should I call my sister and let her know I’m coming?’

  Rushe stopped and pinned her to the side wall of the brothel, before they reached the frontage. ‘I don’t want you going back there alone.’

  ‘They’re my family, Rushe. I have to know what’s going on. I hate to think of them up there oblivious to the threat, and Lucia... I know that look in her, the way she acted with Antoine—‘

  ‘You think he’s fucking her?’

  She rolled her eyes up to him while landing her hands on his chest. ‘Women like Lucia aren’t fucked,’ Flick said.

  The concern in his expression dispersed to wry amusement. ‘Plenty of your prissy little friends like it fast and dirty, I guarantee it.’

  ‘My sisters are very elegant, and proper, Rushe. They make love with respect.’

  ‘I’ve never met a girl as dirty as you, Kit, and I respect the shit out of you.’

  ‘Yes, you do,’ she said, curling her fingers to grip the fabric beneath them. ‘But you couldn’t fuck my sister like you fuck me.’

  ‘I couldn’t fuck anyone like I fuck you.’

  ‘Damn right,’ she said, levying herself up. ‘You’re mine. Any woman tries to touch you, and I’ll end her life. You’ve been warned.’

  ‘If Antoine is screwing your sister, it’ll detonate her marriage, and—‘

  ‘Not necessarily,’ Flick said. ‘Ninety percent of marriages in that sphere are a sham in one way or another. But I wouldn’t want her to get hurt or to be made a fool of.’

  ‘Why do you care so much?’ he asked, genuinely perplexed. ‘They wanted nothing to do with you. They wanted you to marry that guy, and they let you walk away when they didn’t get their way. They’d rather have had you out there alone than support who you were.’

  ‘We’ll have to send them a thank you gift, because if they hadn’t done that, forced me out, I’d never have found you.’

  ‘I’d have found you,’ he said, taking the ends of her hair in between his fore and middle fingers. ‘You get yourself into enough trouble that you’d have blipped on my radar eventually.’

  ‘And if I’d been married by then?’

  ‘Do you think I would’ve let that stop me from claiming you?’ he asked, though they both knew it would have.

  ‘Your woman,’ she beamed.

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘I’m going to phone my sister to let her know I’m coming, and then I’ll get the paperwork out of the car. I want to commit as many of the details to memory as possible before we destroy it.’

  ‘Why didn’t you let Hutten deal with it?’

  Flick shrugged. ‘I know that you like to reduce the chances of error. If we do it then we know it’s done right.’ She paused. ‘I know you don’t trust easily, and you’ve been alone for a long time. But there are good people out there, people we can rely on. If we can trust them and let them use their skills to help us, then we can help more women.’

  ‘Right now there’s only one woman I want to help, you.’

  ‘I’m going to put my mind at ease by checking on my family, and Eric’s going to watch my back. You’re going to stay here and keep Tawny and the others safe.’

  ‘You’re forgetting one thing.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your crazy statement,’ he said, still stroking her hair.

  ‘What?

  ‘A settlement?’

  ‘It’s worth a try,’ she shrugged.

  ‘You don’t reason with these people,’ Rushe said. ‘You don’t show them weakness, and you don’t ask them for favours.’

  ‘We can’t get in touch with Simone; she was the one who approached me about incriminating you.’

  ‘Yeah. So?’

  ‘Is it better to tell Antoine that I won’t do what they want when I’m in my parents’ house and we’re surrounded by neutral people, or should we idly wait until Simone’s henchmen snatch me off the street again?’

  Simone had let Flick leave that apartment, presumably as a show of trust that they were on the same team. It was difficult for Flick to imagine ever being tempted to ally herself with Simone under any circumstances.

  Eventually they would want an answer from her. Simone had told Flick that she had time, but when that time was up Flick could be approached and cornered again. If she didn’t do things their way, then the next time the Mercier family might not let her leave so readily.

  ‘I don’t want you to go anywhere alone,’ Rushe said. ‘Nowhere, not here or at your parents’, ok?’

  Flick nodded. ‘I’ll be here with you today, then I’ll be with Eric and my family tomorrow.’

  ‘You have one night,’ Rushe said. ‘I’ll let you out of my bed for one night. You think about making it any longer, and I’ll come for you, Kit. One night.’

  ‘Can I call you?’

  ‘Phone sex?’

  ‘Degrees of love,’ she reminded him. ‘If it goes that way, then you know I love to hear you talk dirty. But sometimes I just need to hear your voice. You ground me, Rushe. When I lose my way, if I’m scared or unsure, the only thing that can console me is you.’

  ‘Phones are traceable,’ he said.

  ‘They know where we are anyway.’

  She knew that he wasn’t a fan of phones, or any devices, that could be monitored or used to target them, but she missed having a link to him.

  He must have sensed her disappointment because he took hold of her chin in his brutish way and hiked her attention up to meet his.

  ‘Am I any less yours when I’m not right in front of you? You said that to me. But if you don’t want to go—‘

  ‘I do,’ she said.

  Flick should know better than to show weakness or uncertainty in front of anyone. Being honest with Rushe had to be her default position, though, because she had to maintain their trust. She wouldn’t give him any reason to doubt her or push her away.

  But she knew that when Rushe saw her tremble he wanted to step in and fix everything for her. Except, to be useful to him and the work that she did, she had to be able to fight through her anxiety.

  ‘You leave me a number and I’ll call.’

  ‘You’d do anything in the world for me, even if it means going against your natural impulses,’ she said. ‘I make you soft.’

  ‘Never been a problem for me where you’re concerned, Kitten.’

  ‘Care to take me inside and prove it?’

  ‘We’ve got work to do, whore.’

  ‘Work first,’ she sighed.

  ‘I’ll order pizza tonight,’ he said.

  This was his hit for normality. He’d never cook for her or romance her in a traditional way, but pizza, a movie, and a make out session was her perfect night in.

  In recent weeks they’d barely had a chance to breathe, let alone bond, so she appreciated him making this effort.

  ‘Ok,’ she nodded. ‘As long as there’s plenty of dessert.’

  ‘Have I ever left you hungry?’ he asked, crouching to bring his mouth closer to hers.

  ‘Don’t you tease me, Lover. If you warm me up with your words, then I’ll expect you to follow through.’

  ‘Why do you think I
stopped to have this conversation outside? If I get you in that room alone, I’ll strip you naked, tie you down, and never let you leave my sight again.’

  ‘We get through this, and I promise I’ll let you.’

  ‘Make your phone call,’ he said, backing away but scrutinising her figure. ‘Mine.’

  ‘Yours.’

  ‘I’m gonna make you prove that all night long.’

  ‘You’ll destroy the paperwork when I’m gone?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  She began to saunter toward the front of the building again, sashaying her hips as she went. ‘We work this afternoon, but tonight is ours.’

  Being apart set them both uneasy, but they had to complement each other, and part of being a team of two meant that they could cover twice as much ground as one.

  Rushe could stay here and tow the Silver line for Mercier, and Flick would go to her parents’, check on the oblivious hostages, and reason with a madman. It may be a fool’s errand, but she would close no doors, because their lives and their unity depended on her being able to strike a bargain.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The pizza had been ordered, but not very much of it had been consumed. They’d spent a joyous night wrapped in each other on the couch in their room, and for a while she’d forgotten where they were and the danger that surrounded them. The TV still blared, but it was ignored as she lay there under Rushe writhing up against him. His hand massaged her breast and his tongue massaged hers, and the peril couldn’t have been further from her mind.

  It had taken time for Rushe to appreciate the value of a good kiss, and a good make out session, but he understood now and embraced both with gusto. But there came a time to step things up, and when his hand glided down her waist to her thigh, then up under her skirt, Flick hoped this time had arrived.

  ‘I love my woman,’ he grumbled against her cheek, his mouth trailing its way down her throat, and she thought he was aiming for her chest.

  ‘She loves you too,’ Flick said, combing her fingers through his hair.

  He lifted his head, just briefly enough to catch her eye, then he flopped back down to sample the other side of her neck, and his finger nudged her underwear aside. Rushe just traced her opening, and she tried to lift her hips to tempt his digit inside, but his pelvis tilted against one of her hips, thus holding her in place.