His Battered Submissive (Restrained Fantasies Book 3)

by Brandi Evans

  Atkins returned the photo to the file. "And why do you think Johnson is your guy?"

  "Johnson is Harris' maternal grandfather, and Jay is the phonetic sound of the first letter of Jeff. It's not a deep ruse, but Harris isn't deep so…" Maddox shrugged.

  Atkins scrubbed at his jaw. Oh, Maddox knew that look. His former partner was wavering but unconvinced.

  "It's a promising lead." Atkins lifted his gaze to Maddox, and Maddox felt the kick to his gut before "but" left his captain's lips. "But it's still not your lead to follow up. Forward this to either Agent Logan or Andrei. It's their case. You've got a full caseload as it is, and I cannot press this enough: she's not your responsibility anymore. Trust the FBI to follow through and—"

  "No." The refusal was out before Maddox had realized it had formed, but he didn't regret it. "I'm not passing this on. I owe it to Kat to do everything I can to find her."

  Captain Atkins pushed to his feet, rising so he and Maddox stood nearly eye to eye. "You are to pass this information on and then forget about it. You've done everything you could for Mrs. Harris. Sometimes, as cops, we can do everything right, but the situation still ends bloody. We know that more than most, the three of us."

  Maddox didn't back down. He was a tall man, so he had several inches on his captain, but the captain had a good twenty pounds of solid muscle on Maddox. If this came to blows, neither would walk away without getting bloody.

  "I can't let this go," Maddox said. "And I won't."

  Atkins closed his eyes, his fingers flexing rhythmically in a habit Maddox recognized; his captain was reining in his temper. "I know perfectly well why you won't let this case go, Maddox."

  The accusation hung in the air, but Maddox didn't deny it. Atkins was too good a cop to miss something so obvious. Maddox hadn't intended to fall for Kat, but sometimes, you just fell for someone you had no business falling for. He'd been a goner the moment she'd leaned toward him in that restaurant and whispered, 'If I try to leave again, he said he'd kill me.'

  The hope that had sparked and bloomed in her eyes as he'd promised to help her and keep her safe haunted him. She'd been so brave. She'd left Harris, but then, Maddox had failed her.

  Maddox pulled his shoulders back and stretched to every inch of his height. "I will not abandon her."

  In his peripheral vision, Maddox noticed his partner flinch.

  "Goddamn it, Maddox. I didn't want to do this, but you've left me no choice." The captain's fingers were flexing again, harder and with increasing speed. "Forward the information and move on, or when you leave my office, you'll be doing it without your badge and weapon. Do I make myself crystal, fucking clear, Westbrook?"

  Maddox stiffened. His captain didn't refer to him by his last name unless they were in public, or he was not-so-subtly reminding Maddox of the current power dynamic between them. In other words, Atkins was the boss, and Maddox needed to come to heel.

  Yeah, well, fuck that.

  Maddox reached for the shield clipped to his belt, but Carter captured Maddox's wrist.

  "Don't," his partner whispered, the word hard. "She wouldn't want this, and you know it."

  "If this was Emily, would you back down?"

  "Yes," Carter said without hesitation, but they both knew he was lying, which was why Maddox knew he'd rot in hell for what he said next.

  "Then you should be glad she died before she found out what an asshole you are."

  Without waiting for a response or for his consciousness to kick in, Maddox slammed his shield and his sidearm on his captain's desk and walked out.

  The next flight to Montana left at zero-five-thirty, and he planned to be on it.

  Maddox yanked his travel bag from his closet and tossed it on the bed. He wanted to get the packing finished so he could use the next twelve-ish hours to work Kat's case. His and Carter's new lead might be promising, but Maddox had been a cop long enough to know putting all his eggs in one basket was a recipe for failure.

  His hand froze in the middle of shoving socks into the bag, realization punching him. He wasn't a cop anymore. In a moment of anger, he'd turned in his badge and sidearm. When he'd rolled out of bed that morning, he hadn't seen that one coming. Being a cop was who he was. He didn't know how not to be one. He'd wanted to be a cop since he'd sat in the audience at his father's trial, to protect and serve, to be the cop his father had never been, and for fifteen years, he'd done just that.

  But then, Kat had happened.

  He had to find her, and if turning in his badge was the price he had to pay, then so fucking be it. Once he got her back—and he had to keep telling himself he would get her back—he could seek out other precincts. One of the wealthiest men in the world, and a fellow Dom, had previously approached Maddox about heading up his fiancée's security detail, so Maddox could look into that option. Or he could try his hand at private investigation. They weren't what he wanted, but he'd figure something out. Once he found Kat.

  When he'd finished packing, he went to his home office and examined Kat's case-board. He'd expanded on it until it covered nearly one wall. He usually had his board divided into multiple sections, one for each active case, but now, every section belonged to Kat. Every lead that had fizzled out, every person they'd interviewed, every rabbit hole they'd gone down, all the details were here, a testament to his determination and his failure.

  He pulled out the blue pushpin securing his favorite picture of Kat to the corkboard. He loved this one; it was the only one he had of her smiling, standing in stark contrast to the rest of them. Every other image showed her battered and bruised, but not this one.

  He teased a fingertip over her cheek. He'd snapped this picture one beautiful April afternoon when he'd been shadowing her and Harris. They were in a Kroger parking lot. She'd stepped from the passenger's seat as a hummingbird flittered past. The tiny creature circled her like a scene from a fairytale. She'd spun as if trying to keep the hummingbird in view, grinning as she'd turned.

  He'd wanted to go to her, to share the incredible moment with her, to take her beautiful face in his hands and kiss her. At that moment, he realized he was in trouble. He couldn't say it was the moment he'd fallen in love with her, but it had been the moment he'd admitted, even if just to himself, he'd fallen in love with someone he had no business falling for.

  Bang, bang, bang.

  "Shit."

  Maddox pinned the photo back into place and went to answer the door. Probably Carter. He owed Maddox an ass-kicking, but Maddox didn't have the heart or the time to deal with his partner. He would've left Carter to knock until his knuckles bled, but if Maddox didn't answer, Carter would simply let himself in with the key Maddox had given him years before.

  Readying himself for the fight, he yanked the door open and froze, momentarily perplexed. A very gorgeous, very furious Raven Malek stood before him. She'd piled her black hair atop her head in a messy bun. A black tank top left her full sleeves of tattoos on display, and a delicate diamond piercing decorated her brow and another, her nose. As usual, ripped jeans and combat boots completed her look. She was an avenging angel, beautiful and deadly, and it didn't take a detective to deduce who she was here to avenge.

  "First of all," she began, and without telegraphing the movement, she punched him square in the jaw.

  Unbraced for the blow, Maddox stumbled two steps backward. He'd righted himself as Raven advanced on him, kicking the door closed behind her.

  "How dare you fucking say that to Carter! You, of all people, know how Emily's death haunts him. It still twists him up inside, so for you to say that was the dickest of all dick things to say."

  Yes, Maddox did know. He was a dick for saying it. He hadn't meant to, hadn't intended to, hadn't meant it even as the words had left his mouth. He'd been too pissed for rational thought. He'd needed someone to lash out at, and his partner had been there. It wasn't an excuse, and it sure as fuck didn't make it okay.

  "And second," Raven continued.

  He braced for
another punch.

  Waited.

  She wrapped her arms around him and drew him into a fierce bear hug. "I'm so sorry, Maddox. So sorry. Carter called me from the precinct and told me everything. Are you okay?"

  The unexpected kindness after the unexpected hit knocked him for another kind of loop, and because he could, he wrapped her close and let the pain come. "I can't walk away from her, Raven. I can't. The idea tears me up inside."

  "I know. I know." She stroked a hand up and down, up and down his back. "But you can't give up your badge either. You know that. Just because Captain Pornstache says you can't officially look for her doesn't mean you can't look unofficially, right?"

  "Captain… Pornstache?" He pulled back and then laughed out loud. God, he'd needed that.

  She shrugged. "Sorry. I couldn't remember his name, just that big ass pornstache."

  He hugged her again, but this time, he lifted her off her feet the same way he did his big sister. "Mmm, I love you."

  "Yeah, I know. Everyone does."

  On a laugh, he wrapped an arm around her, and they walked to the living room. She grabbed one of the turquoise throw pillows his sister had said the eggshell-colored couch needed, bopped him upside the head with it, and then placed it behind her back for support.

  He sat beside her. "When you knocked, I thought it was Carter coming to punch me himself." He hesitated. "How pissed is he?"

  Her lips disappeared momentarily between her teeth. "Are we talking about the beginning of our phone call or the end?"

  "That bad, huh?"

  She patted his knee. "Don't worry. I talked sense into him."

  "And then opted to come over and punch me yourself?"

  "Just helpin' my man out. Besides, you deserved a good hit for what you said, but you also needed a hug. And since I figured you'd need the hug more, I pulled my punch."

  He rubbed a hand over his tender jaw. "You call that pulling a punch?"

  She shrugged. "One of my foster dads was former military. He taught me how to do more than rebuild engines, my friend."

  "Obviously."

  She angled her body to face him more fully. "Carter's not mad, by the way. I mean, he was, but it passed. He understands what you're going through, and you and I both know that if the same thing happened to me and someone told him to stop looking for me, he wouldn't—"

  "Don't." He silenced her with a hand to her knee. "Don't even put that scenario out into the world. If something happened to you, it would break both of us, so just don't."

  "Sorry." She covered his hand where it rested on her leg. "All I'm saying is that when he calmed down enough to think, he wasn't mad. At least at you. He's still pissed at Captain Pornstache."

  "Captain Atkins."

  "Semantics." She winked. "When I got off the phone, Carter was about to go back and talk to him. I'm fairly sure my man's still fighting for you and Katlyn."

  "Which makes me feel all the shittier."

  "Well, just don't. You've got enough worry on your plate already, so don't give this another thought, okay."

  He nodded.

  "The only thing you need to have on your plate tonight is figuring out what to do next about Katlyn—and enchiladas."

  The thought of enchiladas perked him up. Raven's enchiladas were his favorite. "Your homemade ones?"

  "Yup. Got everything I need to make them in the car, but you have to run out and grab everything. I brought beer, too. Everything we'll need to stuff our faces as we plan our next move."

  We.

  Our.

  After what he'd said to Carter, Maddox didn't deserve either, but there they were, being offered as if he hadn't been the biggest ass wipe in history.

  "Not that I don't want enchiladas, but I thought you and Carter had reserved one of the dungeons tonight at the club."

  "We did, but you're more important than orgasms, and you know how much I like the orgasms Sir gives me."

  Chuckling, Maddox pulled her in for another hug. Yeah, he most certainly didn't deserve we.

  Raven removed the enchiladas from the oven as a knock sounded against the door, gentler than the one that had announced her arrival.

  "I'll get it." She placed the Pyrex dish on the potholders she'd already laid on the counter. "You can grab plates and beer, okay."

  He nodded. It wasn't often—or ever—his partner's arrival made him nervous. Raven had said Carter wasn't angry, but Maddox hadn't quite been able to bring himself to believe it. What he'd said to Carter had been unforgivable.

  Raven's voice mingled with Carter's, both speaking in hushed tones in the entryway. Maddox tried to ignore them as he grabbed three plates and set them on the island. He'd just grabbed three bottles of pale ale from the fridge when his partner walked into view.

  Carter had one arm resting on his sub's shoulders. In his free hand, he carried an overnight bag. He'd changed clothes, too. Gone were the tie and slacks, replaced by jeans and a Ramones T-shirt Raven had gifted him; she was a massive fan of grungy, punk rock bands that had come to popularity way before her time.

  Maddox uncapped one of the beers and held it out to Carter as a peace offering. "Planning a trip?"

  Carter took the bottle. "Yeah, well, I've got this idiot friend who has it in his head to go to Bumfuck, Montana. He's in a pretty shitty headspace, so I figured I should probably tag along and make sure he stays out of trouble."

  "He is pretty fucked up right now. He's a complete ass wipe, and you'd be completely within your right to tell him to fuck off."

  "Thought about it, but someone talked some sense into me." Carter turned an affectionate smile on Raven and brushed his lips along her temple.

  And with that, Maddox knew they'd be okay.

  "What about Captain Pornstache?" Raven asked. "He okay with this change of plans, or did you turn in your badge, too?"

  "Okay, before I dive into what the captain said…" Carter grinned at Raven. "Captain Pornstache? God, Genny Malek, I adore you."

  "At this point in our relationship, I'd hope so, Sir." Raven—or Genny Malek as Carter alone was privileged to call her—pushed onto her toes for another quick kiss.

  Carter was still grinning when he turned back and placed his travel bag on the counter. After digging around inside a moment, he drew out a sidearm and a shield. Maddox recognized the Glock-22 and the worn black leather belt holster.

  Maddox's heart kicked up a few beats. "That's mine."

  "To quote Captain Pornstache, 'He didn't leave this. I didn't see this. I know nothing about this.' And then, he said you and I were to take two weeks of vacation to recover from our very hectic caseload."

  Maddox nodded, understanding. Atkins had given him two more weeks to find Kat.

  "So, for the next two weeks, partner, Katlyn is our only case. We will eat, sleep, and breathe her case, and when the two weeks are up…" Carter held his arms in an "I don't know" gesture, but they both knew what would happen in two weeks.

  Maddox would again have to decide if he wanted to keep his badge or if he wanted to keep looking for the woman he wasn't supposed to love. Maddox didn't need two weeks to answer that question. Nothing short of finding Kat, one way or the other, would stop his search.

  Carter continued. "I, um, also convinced the captain to give us twenty-four hours before he forwarded this info on to the feds."

  Maddox looked a question at his partner. "Any particular reason you felt the need to convince him of this, aside from us wanting to do this ourselves?"

  "Just something she said on the phone earlier." Carter inclined his head to Raven as if Maddox didn't know who she was. "She said something along the line of, 'I hope y'all manage to get there before he moves her this time,' and, well, it got me wondering if—"

  "If someone is tipping Harris somehow?"

  Carter shrugged, but it explained why they always seemed to be about a half step behind Harris. Holy fuck, how had Maddox not thought of this?

  But even as the question formed, he knew the reason.
He was too close for proper objectivity. There were reasons S.O.P. called to reassign cases if an investigating officer had any conflicts of interest, and Kat was one significant conflict of interest.

  Carter and Maddox stood alone on Maddox's third-story patio. They each had a beer in hand and way too many enchiladas in their stomachs, but the silence was companionable as they leaned against the railing and watched Dallas settle in for the night. The city never went entirely to sleep, but this was undoubtedly her quiet time.

  "What're you going to do when we find her?" Carter said after a long while.

  "Make sure she stays safe and that Harris pays." But that wasn't what Carter was asking, and Maddox knew it.

  "I meant after all that." Another long beat stretched out between them as a vehicle zoomed by, the twang of some country song assaulting their eardrums for two seconds too many. "I know you love her, but you have to know it can't go anywhere."

  Maddox didn't argue because his partner wasn't saying anything Maddox hadn't thought himself. He couldn't be part of her life, not when he was intrinsically linked to her hellish past. He wasn't her future, no matter how much he wanted to be. Best case scenario, he was the bridge she'd use on her way to a new, brighter future without Jeff Fucking Harris.

  "Even if she feels the same way for you," Carter continued, "you could never put her into bondage. You could never take her to Restrained Fantasies. You could never, ever be with her the way I know you want to be, not with her history."

  Maddox took a long pull of his ale. Restrained Fantasies was the Dallas BDSM club where he, Carter, and Raven were all members. It was also his second home—or was. It was where he'd first met Raven, where Carter and Raven had hooked up, and yes, it was a place Maddox would like to take Kat if…

  If.

  So many goddamned ifs.

  "I know it's not what you want to hear." Carter's voice was soft, almost apologetic. "But the chances of Katlyn ever being able to separate the abuse she's suffered and consensual power exchange are pretty much zilch."

  "Raven did it."