FORBIDDEN LOVE

by LAURA HARNER

  She’d had a little dinner with Hawk first, then she headed back to his place, and she sure as shit didn’t go into the living room, because his bugs hadn’t activated. It was a big place, but he was betting she went into Hawk’s bedroom for a tumble to try to soften him up. Fucking women cops always got away with using sex to get what they wanted.

  It was no surprise that Junior was trying to keep it cozy with the cops, and he was probably too arrogant to realize he was being played. Finding Dani there smacked of something outside of official channels, but either way, legit or rogue, Tony thought it played perfectly into his hands.

  He’d called Beau Delacroiux and roused both him and his captain older brother to demand a meeting. They’d been at it all night, and now he was about to head an operation that would put his career back on track.

  ****

  In the library of her mansion, Evelyn Demetrious paced the floor and thought hard about what she’d discovered. She’d be damned if she’d let Constantine’s extracurricular business dealings interfere with her way of life or her social status. And wives of drug lords ranked low on the totem pole—even in a backwater town like Généreux. “I need you to go back and find the bat. Don’t throw it off the pier, because someone might discover it there,” Evelyn told Gus, her sometime driver, bodyguard, and faithful henchman.

  “What in the hell have you done this time, Evelyn?” Constantine asked, as he stalked into the room. “Get out of here, Gus. Let me speak to my wife alone.”

  With a quick flick of his eyes to Evelyn, Gus scurried from the room. She wasn’t worried; she knew he’d do as she asked.

  “Constantine, don’t you think plausible deniability is a good plan?”

  “What am I denying?

  “Why any knowledge of how that awful drug dealer came to have his head bashed in just before he fell in the river, of course,” Evelyn smiled sweetly.

  “You’re right. I don’t want to know any more. That has nothing to do with me or the deal I’m working with Charbonnet. Keep it well away from us, Evelyn. You know I won’t tolerate anything to do with drugs after what happened with Del.”

  Evelyn kept her expression neutral, despite her surprise at Constantine’s words. The emphatic way he said it told her more than any impassioned denial. She’d assumed her husband was involved, but he really didn’t know about the murder. She hadn’t covered up anything for him after all. Then who the hell had killed that ratty little drug dealer? A horrible idea bloomed in her mind.

  “Where is Del, anyway?” Constantine asked, as if plucking the name from her thoughts. “I need him for a job.”

  ****

  What to do, what to do? The phrase repeated in her brain, beating staccato in time with the pounding of her head. She needed help, or Constantine would know the truth. Nicolette had thought about little else since leaving Del at the rehab clinic. How would she explain his absence so nobody would find out about the drugs?

  Del was the publisher and managing editor for Global Mandates, a magazine initially conceived to support his uncle’s worldwide shipping business. Over time, Nic had worked side-by-side with Del, expanding the magazine’s readership and advertising revenues, until the once toss away periodical became a standard for international businesses interested in sustainability. Although she was perfectly capable of running the magazine, Constantine would get suspicious if Del didn’t check in daily. Unless there was a good enough reason.

  She dropped in the chair and started flipping channels in the luxury suite that she and Del shared in the west wing of his grandfather’s mansion. They never mentioned the old man was also her ex-husband—some things were better left unsaid. She paused on the National Geographic channel as an idea formed. As a cover story, it would be perfect. Delivering Drugs: A magazine publisher’s in-depth report of the drug trade from the ground up.

  She could say Del was on assignment in South America to investigate drug crops and their deforestation of the rain forests. She would assign herself to work the local angle of the drug trade. That way she could keep an eye on the murder investigation.

  Nicolette opened Del’s email account and sent a note to Constantine and another to the magazine staff informing them of his sudden departure for a couple of weeks of investigative reporting. Nicolette was in charge of all operations. She signed Del’s name and hit send.

  Now, what to do with the bloody clothes and bat?

  ****

  Dani was dreaming. That had to be it. But it was such a delicious dream she refused to let herself wake. A man’s chest was pressed to her back, the front of his thighs tucked against the backs of her legs, an arm draped over her waist. When his lips brushed against her neck, images from last night washed through her.

  “Hawk.” She smiled, and relaxed against him, savoring the feel of skin against skin, wiggling her hips against his erection.

  “Good morning, sugar,” he said, and she heard the smile in his voice. His fingers began to dance lightly over her skin.

  “Oh, is it morning?” she asked, feeling decidedly blurry.

  “Not quite yet. I’m afraid I’ve got to leave before I start something we can’t finish right now.”

  “Where are you going?” Dani asked, acutely aware of the moisture between her legs.

  “Mmm…” Hawk replied, even as he planted another open-mouthed kiss on her neck. “I need to get busy if I’m to find you a place to live outside the evil gaze of Mrs. Wisecabbage.”

  Dani laughed. “Mrs. Wiscowski, you idiot. And, oh—”

  Her breath left her in a gasp as his big hand cupped a breast, his fingers pinching a nipple.

  “Yes, time for me to go. You wouldn’t want anyone to think something decidedly illicit was going on in here,” he said as he pumped his cock against her ass.

  “Can’t think—”

  “Exactly,” he interrupted. “Can’t let the cabbage think you had a man in your bed all night. She might get the right idea.” His hand trailed down her belly to twirl the hair on her mound.

  “Don’t stop—”

  “You are so right. If we don’t stop, she might get suspicious.”

  When his hand slid between her legs, she didn’t even try to talk. She draped her top leg over his thighs and opened herself to him.

  “You’re so wet, Danielle. Are you too sore from last night?” he asked, as he slipped a finger inside her pussy.

  “Mmm, feels good,” she mumbled.

  “Yes, but I’m afraid we’ll need to keep it at this. I’m fresh out of condoms. Apparently I wasn’t optimistic enough.”

  Dani was trying to think how best to respond when his thumb found her clit, and she went blind with need. In his arms, with his body spooned to hers, she felt cherished. With his fingers in her pussy and his thumb rubbing circles around her clit, she felt ravished. This was no two-way street, it was all about her. Her pleasure, her desire, her satisfaction.

  Hawk played her body like a fine instrument. The warm velvet of his skin brushed against her, and his unique, spicy aroma surrounded her. His fingers began to pump and glide, stretching her, filling her. When she arched her neck at the overload of sensation, his teeth closed, marking her neck before he kissed away the momentary pain.

  He took her higher, bringing her close to the edge then pulling her back, again and again. Her hips moved in time with his fingers.

  “That’s it, sugar. Come for me,” he purred in her ear.

  The orgasm burst from her, and she shuddered and spasmed around his fingers. Colors danced behind her eyes and his touch made music in her soul. Never, she thought in a moment of clarity. It has never been like this.

  ****

  Christ, never before had it been like this. He’d wanted to bring her a bit of quick pleasure before he needed to leave. Instead, he’d not been able to get enough of touching her, playing her body with his hands. His dick was hard as a rock, but he was somehow satisfied by the strength of her orgasm.

  He gathered her in his arms and pull
ed her to his chest. When he brushed kisses across her nose and eyes, he felt the damp trace of tears. She’d cried.

  Without thinking of consequences, without carefully planning each move and countermove, Hawk Charbonnet laid bare his soul. “Please let those be tears of happiness, Danielle. Tell me you are as stunned as I am by what’s between us. Tell me you feel something here.” He pressed a hand to the center of her chest. “Danielle…sugar…don’t let me fall alone.”

  “Hawk, I—”

  A sharp rap at her front door interrupted her words and the moment.

  Hawk watched the cop in her turn on instantly. She was armed and at the door, body tensed in preparation for anything.

  “Who is it?” she asked.

  “Dani? It’s Beau and Agent Espinoza. Let us in so we can talk.”

  “Just a minute, Beau. I need to get dressed,” she said.

  She turned to face Hawk, her finger already to her lips to warn him to be quiet.

  She closed the bedroom door and started to dress, grabbing jeans and a shirt at random. “Stay here, Hawk. Please? I can’t explain right now, but will you stay in the bedroom and not let them know you’re here?”

  He nodded curtly, hiding the hurt, and sat on the bed to wait.

  Chapter Seven

  “Dani, I don’t think you know Special Agent Espinoza with the FBI? Tony, this is Detective Danielle Delacroiux.” Beau made the introductions.

  “Another Detective Delacroiux. She’s much prettier than you, Beau.” He laughed and put out his hand. “No, I’m sure I’d remember this little lady. Please, call me Tony,” he said.

  Dani shook his hand and invited him to call her Dani, and Beau hoped she would keep her feelings about Tony’s Neanderthal comments to herself. Beau thought the man showed all the signs of believing the good old boys were alive and well, and female officers were still a novelty. No wonder LeAnn thought he was an ass.

  “Please, have a seat,” Dani offered, and when the men sat on either end of the couch, she took the chair opposite them. “It’s the crack of dawn and I had a late night. What are you doing here?”

  Tony gave a little chuckle and looked at Beau. “I like her. She’s a feisty one,” he said with a condescending smirk.

  Dani glared at Beau, but when she started to stand, he gave a small shake of his head and raised his hand slightly, a silent plea to let it go. “Agent Espinoza, why don’t you tell Dani what you told the commander and me?”

  Tony looked at Beau. “That information is need to know. I need her to take on a simple part of the job, not be a partner. Is she assigned to me or not?”

  Beau blew out a breath. He knew appearing to cooperate with the feds was important, but he’d be damned if Dani was going to work on any case without a full briefing on the position and he would never assign one of his detectives to this jerk. He stood. “Detective Delacroiux, I’m sorry we wasted your time. Let’s go, Espinoza.”

  Tony didn’t move, and Beau could practically hear the wheels turning. Asshole thought the Généreux PD would roll over just because he was FBI.

  It was Tony’s turn to blow out a breath and he slowly shook his head. “You would let a bastard like Julian Charbonnet slip through your hands just to keep a junior detective from getting her feelings hurt? All right, but I’m warning both of you, if Julian gets wind of this, I’ll know right where to look.

  “We know Julian’s more than just an all-around bad guy. The man’s a stone cold killer—even if he pays others to do his dirty work.”

  “Do you have proof of that, Espinoza?” Bo asked. “Or is this just speculation on your part? Because even this far outside of Washington, we can get a warrant for a wiretap…” Beau trailed his words, wondering at the look of pure contempt on the agent’s face.

  “Don’t worry—I’ve been looking for the best way to bring him down. We just need a thread to follow, one little crime to unravel, to open the door to other investigations. I believe he’s been bringing diamonds illegally from South Africa. I almost have his method of shipment nailed down, and I want to identify the American buyer. Once we have that information, we can use it as leverage for future charges, but smuggling will do for now.”

  ****

  Dani kept her face neutral through it all. Espinoza had been into his story before she realized it was going to be about Charbonnet, and Beau had made it clear she was to listen without interruption. When Tony got to the request, she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Or maybe just throw up.

  Espinoza had decided the way to get to Julian was through the son who had recently returned to Louisiana. Through Hawk. He made a point of telling her that Hawk was no saint and the way he phrased some of his statements made Dani wonder if he knew she’d had dinner with Hawk. If so, he wasn’t letting on.

  “Look, my main target is Julian, but if I can bring Junior down too, so much the better. He runs the same type of businesses in Europe as his daddy does here. He’s just as dirty.”

  “What is it you want me to do?” she finally asked, tired of his rant.

  “I would have thought that was clear,” Tony said.

  “Spell it out for me, Agent Espinoza,” she snapped.

  “I want you to get close to Hawk. Sure, he knows you’re a cop, but that’s just the Charbonnet style. Compromise a cop and then exploit the relationship for information. Only this time, we’ll turn the tables. Let them think they’re compromising you, feed them some false information, and use anything you hear to get the goods on the family.”

  “When you say ‘get close to him,’ what exactly do you mean?” Dani asked, her voice cold with fury.

  “Look, Junior’s dirty, Julian’s dirty. One way or the other, they’re going down this time. I don’t care if you have to fuck him, we need this connection,” Tony said bluntly.

  “Get him out of here, Beau!” she spat.

  Beau stood and pulled the agent up with him. “Dani, Espinoza’s an ass, but I think we’ve got a chance at Charbonnet here. But let me make it clear. You are being assigned to this case but not to Espinoza. You still work for me and your job is to develop a friendly relationship with Hawk Charbonnet so we can get information on Julian.

  “Nothing more, Dani. You are not to pretend a romantic relationship. You are not to investigate on your own. Do not spend any time alone with him unless you clear it with me first. That’s an order, not a request. Just make friends with him. God knows the Charbonnets don’t have many friends. As for you, Special Agent Espinoza,”—Beau sneered—“your orders to Dani come through me. Is that understood?”

  When the men finally left, Dani slammed the door behind them and flipped the locks. For a moment she just stood there, forehead pressed against the cool wood of the door. She couldn’t have fucked things up more if she’d tried. She should have said something, should have told them right away that she wasn’t alone, that Hawk was in the bedroom.

  Well, one thing was certain—despite Beau’s order, she wasn’t clearing her time with Hawk with anyone.

  Hawk. The last thing he’d said to her was not to let him fall alone. No, it was far too late to let him go alone. Not only had she fallen for him, she was getting ready to walk through hell with him. She turned slowly. Hawk was leaning against her bedroom door, arms crossed, expression unfathomable, watching her.

  ****

  His heart was shattered into a million pieces all over the floor of Danielle’s bedroom. Each word, each accusation of that asshat Espinoza was a stake to his heart. He knew what he was, goddamn it. He knew what he’d come from…but he’d been trying to change, hadn’t he?

  Now he’d lost the race before it began. Even if he’d met Danielle six months from now, once his hands were completely clean, it still would have been an uphill battle to see if she could forgive his roots, his past. Now his past, his present, had compromised her. A woman like Danielle would never be able to accept what she was about to find out as part of this investigation.

  Shit. The investigation. He
needed to keep the news of her involvement from his father or her life would become a living hell. He wouldn’t betray what he’d heard today to Julian, no matter what Danielle thought.

  An hour ago, he’d been sure he was falling in love, now he was falling straight into hell. He moved to the doorway to watch her, braced himself, tried to prepare for her condemnation. Her shoulders slumped as she pressed her head against the door. His heart squeezed to see her in pain. Then she visibly pulled herself together and slowly turned to face him.

  He opened his mouth, not sure what he would say, but she forestalled any comments with a raised hand. Then she put her finger to her lips and motioned him to follow her. Without a word, she pointed to the base of the lamp on the table next to the couch.

  He almost missed it. On the base, next to the cord was a tiny disc. A bug. He started to reach for it, then stopped and looked a question at her.

  She shook her head and motioned him to the tiny kitchen where she turned on the water. She pulled him down so she could speak directly into his ear.

  “I need you to go, now.”

  He looked away and nodded. He could have died a happy man to never have heard those words from her lips.

  “I’m going to call you in a little while. Just play along, okay?”

  Still not trusting himself to speak, he nodded again and turned away. She tugged him back down as if to whisper more. Instead, she reached to tangle her fingers in the hair on the back of his head and pressed her mouth to his. A hard, quick kiss that she ended with a firm bite on his lower lip.

  “Don’t fuck this up, Charbonnet,” she whispered. “Now go. I’ll talk to you in a few minutes and see you soon.” She shoved him toward the door with his head in an uproar.

  ****

  The first call Dani made after her shower wasn’t to Hawk. She couldn’t forget her primary job today was finding justice for Crease and that scum bucket Beaker. It didn’t matter what they’d been in life; in death they were hers. She would get to the truth of these homicides as quickly as possible so that she could focus on her other problem. Tony Espinoza.