Colton 911: Temptation Undercover

by Jennifer Morey

  Ruby smiled with him.

  “I collected Iron Man and Hulk and other comic figures. I had countless comic books.”

  “I was a typical Barbie-doll collector,” Ruby said. “And I loved Scooby-Doo and Big Hero 6–type movies.”

  Damon chuckled again. “You had a taste for superheroes.”

  “Scooby?” Ruby laughed.

  “He was a hero. He just didn’t know it most of the time.”

  Ruby fell silent in thought, but her smile remained, albeit mild. “My dad was my superhero. Then he died, and that fantasy died with him.”

  Damon nodded. “Yeah, I know that feeling. After my mom died, things weren’t golden. My dad was—and still is—a terrible role model. That’s what really drove me to go into criminal justice. The kid in me never let the idea of superheroes go. I’m glad for that.”

  “Are you in touch with your dad at all?” she asked.

  “Not unless I have to. I met with him to try and talk him out of going after the Colton will. He sometimes injects himself into my life and will likely continue to.”

  He saw her register how sad that seemed to her. “I have a bad dad, but I had a good family after my mom died.”

  “And now it’s getting bigger,” she said. “That party seemed to bring you closer to your new cousins.”

  He appreciated her noticing. “Yes. My dad and uncle are corrupted by my grandmother. None of us kids wants to see them take what isn’t theirs. My grandfather took really good care of Carin and her twins. She’s just bitter now and will do anything to get revenge. I’m not proud of that.”

  Ruby’s eyes warmed, and she put her hand on his from across the table. “Of course you aren’t. You aren’t greedy. You’re a good man, Damon.” As soon as she said the last, her expression changed, and she withdrew her hand.

  “I am a good man. I learned from the worst how not to be a bad one. I wish you trusted me about that, Ruby.”

  She resumed eating, not acknowledging him. Damon let it go. Eventually she had to start believing him. And if not, he had to find a way to let her go.

  * * *

  With Ruby engrossed in a remote-learning nursing course and Maya falling asleep on the couch, Damon went downstairs to work. He closed tonight. He was relieved Ruby and Maya would be right upstairs and he could keep a lookout for Santiago and his men.

  He started his shift and worked for a few hours before Carl approached the bar.

  “How does a bartender attract a woman like Ruby? She had Kid Mercer. He had tons of money. What do you have to offer?”

  More than you, Damon wanted to say. “Kid took her daughter from her.”

  “Only because she wanted to leave him. He was teaching her a lesson. He would have taken her back once she came to reason.”

  Reason. Damon wanted to give this man a reason to go to the dentist.

  “She’s with me now,” Damon said.

  Carl laughed deep and sinisterly. “I doubt that.”

  Did this derelict honestly think he could win Ruby’s heart just because she had been with Kid? Or did he think Ruby was available because he could sense the friction between her and Damon? None of these men knew Ruby, not beyond her name and her relationship with Kid. They only associated her with a drug-and-arms dealer.

  Just then Ruby appeared before the bar. Damon became mesmerized by her. Such a dark beauty. She had changed into a sexy black sleeveless dress Damon wished she hadn’t chosen to wear. What was she doing? Was she trying to make him lose his restraint?

  She sat on a stool.

  “You didn’t tell me you were coming down here,” he said.

  Her glowing gaze was faked, but only he would know that. “I wanted to surprise you.”

  “You succeeded.” Damon glanced at Carl, who observed their exchange in between licentious glances at Ruby’s upper body.

  Reaching for him, Ruby put her hand on Damon’s. “I also wanted to apologize for arguing with you.”

  Damon fell completely out of his role. “You did?”

  “Yes. I know you’re dealing with a lot right now, and I haven’t been much help. I want to change that.” She glanced at Carl, who looked rapt. “If we find Kid’s weapons, we stand to gain a lot, but it’s more than that to me. You’re more to me than that.”

  Wow. She was really pouring on the syrup.

  “Okay. That’s great, baby. I’m so glad you came down here to tell me that.” He felt like nudging her or something. If she overacted, they’d be blown.

  “You were ready to leave him earlier,” Carl said.

  She sent him a warning cat look. “We made up.”

  “Did you?” Carl brushed her long, thick dark hair back from her shoulder. “You don’t strike me as the settling kind.”

  “Settling?”

  “He’s a bartender.”

  “And what are you?”

  “I’m a businessman. I make a lot of money. I’m important.”

  Damon saw the flicker in Ruby’s eyes. She did not like that response. Likely it reminded her of Kid. He waited for her explosion and whatever followed.

  “What makes you think Damon can’t make a lot of money?” she asked. “Damon is twice the man Kid was. You’d do well to recognize that.” She tossed her head in the direction where Santiago sat, seeing, along with Damon, that he was watching their every move. “So would your boss.”

  Damon observed how Carl looked from her to Santiago.

  “Ruby is off-limits to you,” Damon said. “Or you can kiss your weapons goodbye.”

  Carl turned to him and leaned forward. “The weapons are ours. If you don’t deliver, you have no future.” He looked at Ruby. “But she might...with me.”

  Damon concentrated all his effort so as not to reach across and slam this putrid punk’s head down onto the bar and knock him out. “Ruby is my girlfriend. Respect that or pay the price.” He meant every word of that.

  “Ooh, the man has some nerve,” Carl said. “I saw that the other morning.”

  Although Carl acted bravely, Damon could see only Santiago’s presence gave him power.

  “It’s time for you to go away,” Ruby said. “I’m with Damon. No one else.”

  After looking at her several seconds, Carl gave a slight bow and walked away. He sat at Santiago’s table and began talking to the group of men.

  Damon couldn’t wait to put him behind bars.

  Unexpectedly, Ruby leaned forward and took hold of the collar of his shirt, pulling him toward her. Then she planted what felt like a heartfelt and passionate kiss on his mouth.

  She knew Kid’s men were watching. She did this on purpose. While he felt the full impact of her affection, it wasn’t affection to her. It was a show. He didn’t like that. He didn’t like it at all.

  * * *

  Ruby heard Damon enter the apartment and lifted her head. She had fallen asleep on the couch, unable to fall sleep earlier. She was too bothered by having to play her role as his girlfriend.

  She sat up as he approached.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.

  “That’s all right. I need to go to bed.” She pushed the blanket off her and stood, facing him.

  “Why did you do it?” he asked.

  Hearing an edge in his tone, she said, “For Maya. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I did it for you. I don’t do fake relationships.”

  “Do me a favor and don’t fake it anymore,” he said.

  She stepped back, surprised by the amount of emotion he exhibited. Had he felt it was real?

  “I had to, Damon. They expect us to stay together. They think you can make me lead you to their weapons. If we aren’t together, or they have a reason to believe we are drifting apart, then that puts us all in danger. I won’t do that to Maya. She’s been through enough.”

  “Yes
. I’ve known that all along, Ruby. But that doesn’t mean you need to make a spectacle. Only show me your affections when you really feel it.”

  Again, the amount of emotion took her aback. But he had been the one to deceive her, not the other way around.

  “Oh, the way you showed me when I had no idea who you really were?” His betrayal still hurt. She could not deny that.

  “That isn’t fair.”

  “No? Why not?” She’d love to hear this.

  “I didn’t know you. I only knew what I’d read about you. Nothing could have prepared me for meeting you in person.”

  That was good. Really good. Ruby found herself fighting the urge to believe him 100 percent.

  “Nothing could have prepared me for falling for you,” he said.

  Her defenses deflated, although she remained cautious. She would always have to remain cautious with him. If not for herself, then for Maya. She could not forget Maya. Her daughter came first.

  “I’m sure it was exciting for you to fall for someone who didn’t know who you were. You played a role. You fell for me. It was excitement and nothing more.”

  “No.” He sounded emphatic. “It was more.”

  “What are you saying, Damon, that you fell in love with me? What, exactly, do you mean by ‘falling for’ me?”

  She watched him swallow and stare into her eyes. His uncertainty was palpable, which only served to hurt her more.

  “I fell for you, Ruby. I can’t explain the depth of it. All I can say is you put me under a spell. I had no control over my feelings. I fell for you. I can’t say it’s love at this point, but I can say it swept me off my feet. This mysterious attraction I have for you. Everything about you. You’re beautiful. You’re principled, and you’re a great mom.”

  Okay, that disarmed her. Was he being honest, or did he intend to make her stop playing a role? She’d be more believable not pretending.

  “I’m here until this is over and Maya is safe,” she said.

  He held her gaze for several seconds. “All right, then.”

  With that, he turned and walked to the hall toward his bedroom. She saw him pause at Maya’s bedroom, checking on her before going to his room.

  His concern touched her, reached beyond her barriers as many things about him did. She had to stay strong. She had to protect Maya.

  Chapter 12

  Maya didn’t know that Ruby and Damon were taking her to Kid’s club and a house he had owned before he met Ruby. Maya would most certainly recognize the club, and she might reveal a memory of seeing arms. Damon and Ruby might have missed some secret room.

  Damon stopped across the street, looking around to make sure they weren’t spotted. He had kept a careful vigil all the way here, ensuring their secrecy.

  Ruby turned to see her daughter in the back seat, busy on her tablet with a game. She flapped her hand and said, “Maya?”

  Maya stopped what she was doing and looked at her mother.

  “Do you see that building?”

  Maya turned toward where Ruby pointed. Then she looked at Ruby.

  Yes. It’s where Daddy did all of his bad stuff.

  “Were the guns here, Maya?” Ruby asked.

  No. Maya looked out the window and then back at her mother. I don’t want to go there. I want to leave.

  “All right, sweetheart. We’re going to a tiny town. It’s sort of like an outdoor museum.”

  A tiny town? Like dollhouses?

  Yes.

  Cool!

  Ruby sat forward. “Let’s take her by Kid’s second house and then Tiny Town.”

  “Roger that.”

  Worried over Maya’s aversion to Kid’s club, Ruby rode in silence. Maya had made great progress in her therapy sessions, but reintroducing her to places that might have a negative impact on her could set her back. Ruby doubted Maya had any memory of Kid’s second house, and going to Tiny Town would hopefully negate any bad memories that might creep up.

  Ruby hated putting her daughter through this, but her main goal was to expunge Kid and his gang of thugs out of their lives forever. She looked over at Damon, undeniably grateful for his help and his affinity for Maya.

  Damon caught her look as he stopped in front of Kid’s house. He put his hand over hers.

  “It’s going to be all right,” he said. “No matter what.”

  Meaning whether he and Ruby ended up together in a real relationship.

  Warmth and love circled her soul.

  Maya put her hand over theirs, and Ruby saw her big smile.

  Family, she signed.

  Ruby choked up and withdrew her hand. She signed, Maya, do you remember this house?

  Maya looked and then shook her head.

  “Let’s go,” Ruby said to Damon, disturbed and wanting more than anything for Maya to be able to live a normal life, away from all of this danger and these bad people.

  * * *

  Damon understood Ruby’s discontent. Taking Maya to Tiny Town had been a great success. Maya had loved all the miniature buildings and the train. Even better, none of Santiago’s men had tailed them.

  Now he took them both to see his brothers and Nicole. He wouldn’t have risked it if they had been followed. He was long overdue a family visit, and he sensed Ruby desperately needed to get a good dose of loving relatives. Maya, too.

  Nicole had planned a barbecue at her house. She lived in a suburb of Bartlett. Damon had always loved her house. An old redbrick Victorian she’d taken from his uncle during the divorce. The wood floors creaked in places, and some of the rooms were small like they would have been way back when. The living areas had obviously been renovated and redesigned. The main room was spacious and full of coziness. And of course the kitchen did not remotely reflect the age of the house. Clean, bright and with top-of-the-line appliances, antiques sprinkled throughout to create an air of history.

  The huge back patio was all light stone with a fire pit and seating both in the middle and under a metal gazebo. The yard was full of flowering plants and trees.

  Maya took in the bright colors of the flowers, her tiny hand in Ruby’s. They came in the grand entrance. This was familiar to Damon, but Ruby and Maya paused to take in the artistic mix of old and modern.

  Something smelled great in the kitchen. Damon heard Nicole—his mother in every sense of the word—and Vita. Aaron, Nash and Uncle Rick sat in front of the television with a baseball game on.

  All three glanced back and greeted them with a chorus of welcome. “Hey!”

  “There he is!”

  “Look who decided to show up!”

  “Aaron, Nash, you remember Ruby,” Damon said, hushing both brothers. They clearly weren’t certain of the state of their relationship.

  “Uncle Rick, this is Ruby, my girlfriend,” Damon said.

  Rick stood. He was in shape and had no shortage of personality and social fearlessness.

  He came over to Ruby with such verve she took a step back.

  “Nash and Aaron have told me about you,” he said. “I’m so glad you see Damon for the good man he is.”

  Ruby looked at him unappreciatively.

  Damon raised his hands. “I didn’t tell them anything.”

  “January did,” Nash said with a devilish grin. “She thinks another wedding is on the way.”

  “Come, come.” Rick cupped Ruby’s elbow and took her closer to Nash and Aaron. “You haven’t had a proper introduction to Damon’s brothers.”

  Ruby resisted slightly, with another glance at Damon, as though she were being taken to a lion’s den.

  Damon smiled. “They don’t bite.”

  “Aaron here used to box and now runs some successful gyms. We are all very proud of him. Nash here is an architect. Very artistic. Equally proud we are of him.”

  “Yes, I did hear a li
ttle about his brothers.” She looked at Damon. “Before I knew he was an undercover DEA agent.”

  Rick patted her shoulder gently. “Forgive him for that. I meant it when I said he was a good man.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, our uncle is vivacious and friendly. His favorite pastime is spending time with family at gatherings exactly like this,” Aaron said.

  “I grew up in a big family,” Rick said. “It stuck.”

  Ruby smiled, white teeth flashing and eyes twinkling. “That’s enviable.”

  “Ruby has family in Wisconsin, and her mother lives here with her,” Damon said.

  “Ah, a Wisconsin girl,” Rick said. “Fun and humble.”

  Ruby laughed again. “Not so much anymore.”

  Damon caught her gaze and hoped she knew not to talk about Kid here.

  “You men seem more equipped to watch sports,” she said. “I’m going to go see if I can help with the food.”

  “I’ll introduce you and Maya,” Damon said, and then to the others, “I’ll be right back.”

  * * *

  Ruby followed Damon into the kitchen, Maya’s hand in hers. She entered into a glamorous cooking environment, bright and clean and uncluttered, splashed with color only an artist could pull off. Two women turned from the kitchen counter, their talking pausing as they faced the new arrivals.

  “Mom.” Damon went to a gently aging blue-eyed beauty wearing her dark blond hair up in sophisticated fashion. He hugged her with genuine love, and Ruby saw his mother’s face over his shoulder, eyes closed with matching emotion.

  Damon leaned back and turned to look at Ruby. “This is Ruby Duarte and her daughter Maya. Ruby, Nicole Colton.” Nothing but proud devotion exuded from him.

  She fell into hopeless attraction in this moment. Notwithstanding the obvious love, Damon said Mom so naturally Ruby was convinced he loved her as though she were his biological mother.

  “Hello,” Ruby said.

  “Welcome, Ruby.” She looked down at Maya. “Welcome, Maya.”

  Maya signed, Hello. Her daughter’s face showed innocent fascination that bolstered Ruby’s first impression of Nicole. The woman was full of heart.