Dark Horse

by Jessica Gadziala

  "Why is he still here?" she asked, shaking her head. "And what about the CEO?"

  Xander's smile was devilish as he moved to stand. "Detective Conroy Asher is doing me a solid and letting me hang onto him for a couple extra minutes. He might be a cop, but he doesn't like men putting his hands on women either," he added, moving toward the bathroom to pull open the door.

  He came back out a moment later with a face that was all-too familiar from only one encounter. It was like her brain decided to take a snapshot of him for safekeeping, knowing she might need to describe it again, unlike so many people who were brutalized who were too traumatized, too caught up in the moment to notice small details.

  He was every bit as huge as she remembered, as mean-looking, as hardened. She guessed you'd have to be hardened to raise fists against a woman half your size.

  His hands were in bracelets that looked like they barely fit around his huge wrists. The bruises on his throat looked every bit as bad as hers had been, so she knew he was feeling like he had been chewing glass every time he swallowed. The cut beside his eye wasn't actively bleeding, but the dried blood went all the way down to his jaw. And he was favoring his side. Somehow, she was okay with it too. Tit for tat and all that.

  "Why is he still here though?" she asked as he led the man closer to her, then violently pressed him down into a chair, showing them all a rare darkness in Xander that he didn't often put on display.

  "He's missing one little thing," Xander explained, reaching out to tap under her eye. "The rib thing, well, he was hurting from you, but I added to that. I don't like fuckheads marking up my employees. Plus, it slowed his ass down a bit. He was trying to run. But yeah, we all figured you'd kill us if you didn't at least get one hit in."

  "He's chained up," she immediately objected, always being an advocate of fair fights, something that was instilled in her from a very young age in class.

  "And he's a man with eighty pounds of muscle on you," Xander said with a shrug.

  "What's the matter, bitch, afraid you'll break that little hand of yours?"

  Well.

  Really.

  What was a girl to do?

  Except break his goddamn eye socket, that is.

  See, she'd been punching people, pads, and pieces of freaking wood for long enough to never break her 'little hand' when she struck. But she damn sure knew how to break things with her little hand.

  And that is exactly what she did.

  And she wouldn't lie; it was absolutely cathartic. It felt fucking good. It felt like closure.

  So maybe her hand did sting a little after, but it was so worth it to watch the skin puff up and turn colors. Maybe that made her a bit of a vengeful bitch, but she was okay with that.

  "So, what are they charging the CEO with? If anything?" she asked a minute later after Xander made the call to his detective buddy.

  "Conspiracy to commit fraud. And they are officially investigating a previous fire and large theft claim."

  "And this guy?" Enzo asked, jerking his chin toward the man in the chair who was glaring at Espen with his one good eye.

  "Assault, since you can ID him. Conspiracy of some sort. And when Asher ran his record; he's got a few warrants. He won't have a private piss for a good decade."

  Ten minutes later, the door opened, and in walked the detective Xander had mentioned.

  Conroy Asher.

  Apparently, K was familiar with him by reputation as well, when one of his women he had disappeared, Maze, went to Asher first for help in getting some Russian traffickers taken down before they realized she was onto them. He ended up not being able to help her thanks to a dirty office, but sent her in K's direction.

  Asher was tall and fit with dirty blond hair he kept just a tad long for a cop, handsome, almost Midwestern, corn-fed features, meaning wide of jaw and strong of brow, and cornflower blue eyes.

  Hell, he was the best looking cop she had ever seen, that was for damn sure.

  And he swaggered in. Confidence seemed like it was there in his every step.

  "Rhodes," he said, nodding at Xander, before looking at his new prisoner. "I see you had some trouble with this one, huh? Tried to elude you, did he?" he asked, lips twitching.

  "Yeah, man. Like a fucking wild animal, he was," Xander agreed, close to laughing.

  "And those bruises on his throat..."

  "Totally there when I found him," Xander finished, rocking back on his heels, hands tucked into his front pockets.

  "Figured. An upstanding PI like you wouldn't choke out a perp."

  "Or like Atien Locklear," Xander agreed, this time freaking beaming at the wide eyes Conroy sent in Atien's direction.

  "No, of course not. Atien Locklear would never," he agreed, yanking the man out of his chair, and pulling him toward the door. "Nice seeing you again, Rhodes," he said, and just like that, was gone.

  "No fucking way is it that easy to get away with shit in this town," Espen said, wide-eyeing them all, her head actually almost spinning with everything that had just gone down.

  "Oh, Espy," her father said, shaking his head like he used to when she was a young girl and found out something about the world was just plain unfair. Like he was charmed, but surprised, by her naiveté. "In a world where money is king, getting these men convicted of a crime is nearly impossible. When you got a clean cop such as Asher who sits at his desk knowing this shit is going down, but unable to stop it, who gets a call from Rhodes telling him he can finally stop being so impotent... so long as he overlooks some cuts and bruises, he's going to jump on it."

  Well, she could certainly see the logic there, even if it only made her even more down on the so-called justice system. Were there really so few clean detectives? She knew the answer to that before the question even fully formed in her mind.

  "Alright, well, I just wanted to see our girl get a good punch in," Faith declared, hopping up. "I have a mob bar to run," she added, moving toward the door. As she passed Espen, she sent her a sly smile, "I heard the bones breaking from across the room. You ever want to co-teach a class at the women's shelter, you let me know." With that, she was gone.

  "So," Atien said, the next to break a strange silence given how many people were still in the space. "This is where you work. I have to say, I was expecting blacked out windows, broken furniture, and a desktop straight out of 2007."

  "So, you did visit my old office," Xander mused, making everyone around who had indeed visited the office that must have fit that description exactly laugh.

  "I had issues," he went on, watching her, "as you know, with you working here. Had I realized this team Rhodes has compiled, I may have bitten my tongue, and kept my objections to myself. I see now that I should be taking half the care and concern with the hiring and firing of my employees as Xander here has."

  "I'm fuckin' blushing," Xander teased, but it was clear that those words coming from a man like Atien Locklear did mean a lot to him.

  "It may be a small crew, but he has more talent in young Kane and not-as-young Ra here than I have in more than half my staff. And not only does he have skilled workers, but he has friends with long reaches. Had I known how protected you would be here, Espy, I would have been happy to know you were making your own way."

  "So, you're not going to try to poach her back from me are you?" Xander asked, making two things happen simultaneously in her system.

  On one hand, her heart leaped in her chest.

  Poached?

  If Atien could poach her, that meant that she worked for Xander. As in, permanently. She had the job?

  On the other hand, though, for the first time in her life, her own success was marred by the fact that it would negatively impact someone she loved.

  If she got the job, that meant that Enzo was out.

  And, to be perfectly honest, he needed it more than she did. Not because of money, but because of his soul-deep need to build a better life for himself. He had been through so much.

  Her smile that rose w
ithout her realizing fell as her head whipped around to look at Enzo.

  "Don't," he said, shaking his head, looking sad, but she suspected it had nothing to do with not getting the job. "Don't you dare feel less excited for yourself because of me. This is fucking awesome, honey. You deserve this."

  "Think it's time to let them in on the secret, X," Kane suggested, looking way too amused.

  "Secret?" she asked, turning back to them with a raised brow.

  Xander, well, he looked guilty as hell too, running his hand across the back of his neck, smiling down at his shoes. "Well, see, here's the thing," he started, but didn't go on.

  "What's the thing?" she snapped, small-eyeing him.

  "So, maybe I always had room for two new investigators. I mean, I had the extra desk and everything," he said, shaking his head at them. "Both your asses somehow missed that little tidbit."

  "Wait," Enzo said, brows low. "So, you're saying that the day both of us walked in here, already sniping at each other, that you had planned on hiring both of us?"

  "Pretty much. Ellie wanted me to tell you."

  "And you didn't because..." Espen trailed off.

  "Where's the fun in that?" he asked, grinning.

  "Oh, you fuck," Espen accused.

  All that worrying, all that competition, all the fighting her budding feelings for Enzo... for nothing. While they went behind their backs and bet on her willpower.

  "You know, Rhodes," Atien broke in, an odd tone in his voice that, even with all her years knowing him - you know, her whole life - she still couldn't place. "I don't know if that is such a good idea."

  Xander turned back, brows low. "Why the hell not?"

  "Well, you know how it is. It's the same reason you don't want cops fraternizing. It clouds judgment. It makes them second-guess their actions when they are on a job together. And we both know there would be times when they would have to be on jobs together."

  "Dad, what the hell are you doing?" Espen hissed, big-eyeing him, silently pleading for him to shut up.

  "I'm thinking of you here, Espy. This is just asking for bad shit to go down."

  "So, what? Enzo should start sending out resumes just because we are together? No fucking way."

  "He only has to send out one. Well, really, that won't be necessary."

  "Okay, enough with the cryptic stuff," she snapped, getting frustrated.

  And her father knew her well enough not to get offended. Instead, his lips curved up slightly.

  "I am suggesting you work here for Rhodes so you don't feel like you need to prove yourself amongst other employees who might cry favoritism."

  "Ah, yeah, that was the plan."

  "And I am also suggesting that your man Enzo here should come and work for me instead."

  She was pretty sure her color drained. If that was possible. That was what it felt like. Because there was no way her father, one of the most respected private investigators in the city, was offering a job to a man with about two weeks of experience in the field who, before that, ran a street gang. That made no sense.

  Right?

  "What?" she hissed into the silence around them.

  "Got to know him, Espy. I got a good feel off of him right off. Reminded me of how I used to make decisions back before I got into a business-mind and judged a man by his resume instead of the feeling I got off him. I'm going with my gut this time, like I always used to. It never steered me wrong. Enzo," he said, turning his dark eyes to the man who was almost alarmingly tense beside her, making her reach out and take his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I understand that you will need to think about this. It's a sudden development, and maybe you're happy here. But give it some thought. It's a good job at a good firm. You will make good money, and get to work on interesting cases. I will send you an email with the information packet," he added, walking over to them, touching Espen's cheek with a warm smile, then patting Enzo on the arm. "I have to get back to work, but I expect to hear from the both of you later tonight once you settle in."

  There was a unanimous stunned silence for a good couple of moments after the door slammed.

  "Dude, did Atien Locklear just offer you a job?" Kane asked, seeming a bit awed, even though Espen knew he liked the dirty side of private investigation a bit too much ever to go fully legit like her father would demand.

  "I think he did," Enzo answered in the same hushed tone.

  "I'm not one for telling a man what to do with his life," Xander broke in, looking at Enzo, "but you'd be a fucking fool to turn that down. I can pay, but I can't pay what Atien can pay. I can't offer you the insurance packages and stock options and 401k. And, not to overstep here, but it seems like you might be building something here," he went on, waving between them. "If a man is building a life, he has an obligation to build it on the sturdiest foundations he can find."

  Enzo was silent for a moment, but being so close to him, Espen could swear that she could feel his body buzzing with the energy created by his swirling thoughts.

  It was barely a moment before he looked down at her, giving her hand a squeeze, then offering her a nod.

  And she knew.

  Regardless of what the packet her father sent said, he was going to accept the job. And they were going to have parallel, but separate careers.

  Time would just have to tell how that was going to work for them.

  EPILOGUE

  Enzo - 6 hours

  The email was waiting in his inbox when he finally got to his apartment later, without Espen because she was going out to a late dinner with her cousin.

  Really, even if it told him the position required a quart of blood and his first born, he was pretty sure he was going to take the job. Because, quite frankly, both Atien and Xander were right.

  He and Espen absolutely shouldn't work together. For one, yes, it was a bad idea to put partners on possibly dangerous jobs. For two, it meant they would be together almost all day and night. And, well, that just wasn't a great idea for relationships. Even the best couples needed some time apart.

  On top of that, Xander made good points. While Espen could and would be making her own money, was a woman used to financing herself, what if they ended up married? What if she got pregnant after? Sure, she could do desk jobs for most of the pregnancy - and he knew her stubborn ass would - but then she would need time off to nurse and whatnot. While his salary at Xander's wasn't chump change by any means, it paled in comparison to what Atien offered him. And it wasn't just money. It was health, vision, dental, life insurance, 401k, the works.

  If he was going to get serious and start his life over, why not start somewhere as high as he could get?

  He had wasted enough time.

  "You can get rid of the serious brow," Espen said when she walked in, tossing her keys and jacket on the dining table, giving him an amused look that said she knew it was eating him up that she didn't put them where they belonged, but that he also wouldn't mention it either. "I know you are taking it," she added, moving across the room to him, placing her hands on his hips.

  "And?"

  "And what?"

  "What do you think about that?"

  Her brows furrowed slightly. "Um... do what feels right? I mean, this is your decision."

  "But we're a thing now," he insisted.

  The eye roll he got from that was dramatic, even for her. "Oh, please. So what? We can be together and make separate choices for our lives, Enzo. I mean, I don't plan on consulting you every time I want to go out to eat with Biyen, or throw my clean laundry all over your apartment."

  He chuckled as her hands moved around his lower back. "You don't think it's a conflict of interest working for your father?"

  "Listen, so long as you don't beat me, cheat on me, or like ruin my credit or something... he's not going to butt in. What you or I do on personal time isn't the concern of his as a boss. Besides, I think you are underestimating how big his company is. You won't be seeing him often. It's all going to be fine."

&nb
sp; It's all going to be fine.

  He had a feeling she was very right about that as his hands sank into her ass, and his lips claimed hers.

  Espen - 3 months

  "You're breathing on me," she hissed, cracking her neck.

  "You know you love my stale cigarette breath. That wouldn't be so stale if you let me smoke," Kane bitched. As he did about every half an hour for the three hours they had been stuffed inside of the backseat of a car that must have been a cruel joke on Xander's part when he told them it was the new work vehicle.

  "It's about a thousand degrees in here, and that sliver in the window is not enough space for your cancer air to escape. Chew more of that gum crap."

  "I think I am at gum capacity. And I have two of these fucking patches on. I'm dying here."

  "I'm probably adding a week onto your life tonight. You should be thanking me."

  "This asshole better be dropping off this package tonight," he said, flicking his lighter with one hand as he pushed back his longish blond hair with the other, the strands slightly wet with sweat because Espen hadn't been lying about the heat in the small space.

  They had been paired up together for three weeks on the case when Xander found out that it wasn't just some shady dude making the owner of a building uncomfortable by lurking around, but a member of an up-and-coming local cartel dropping off drugs for the dealers to stock up with.

  It was the first case he had forced her to be on with someone else and, quite frankly, even she knew it was necessary. Creepy dudes she could handle. Drug cartels, yeah, not so much.

  "Christ!" Kane hissed when there was a sudden and unexpected knock at the window at his side.

  Even in the dark, she could see part of an arm. And even though that arm was covered in an expensive suit, the sleeve had slipped up a bit, and she saw ink. Very familiar ink.

  "It's Enzo," she told Kane, shaking her head. "Roll it down."

  "You sure it isn't our cartel buddy with your man's severed limb, trying to trick you into opening the window so that he can beat you to death with your lover's arm?" Kane asked, eyes dancing.