“Dinner. It’s just dinner, Luca. That’s all,” Stephen said, smiling in the most disarming manner. Luca was thoroughly charmed but going out with him would amount to career suicide. Besides, he not only loved his job, he’d never had the desire to be kept in any way, including being someone’s eye candy or trophy screw… even this beautiful man’s.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Auerbach. I just can’t date my boss and regardless of what you want to call just dinner, it would be a date. I’ll just ring this up for you now.” He gave the ornate box a little heft, smiled sadly, and walked to the register leaving the man staring at his back. When he got to the wrap desk, Sebastian was settling the brilliant-cut 1-carat diamond into a black velvet box. He looked up and smiled triumphantly at Luca. Luca smiled back and then glanced over to the young couple. The man had paled a few more shades but his bride-to-be was beaming from ear to ear.
Another happy couple.
“You sold it. Good for you, Seb.”
Sebastian pursed his lips. He hated being called Seb which is exactly why Luca did it all the time. The man truly was an old stick-in-the-mud but Luca couldn’t deny he liked him. He grinned at him and snorted slightly, reaching out to pat him on the back.
“Sorry, Sebastian, then.”
“Better,” Sebastian said with a sniff. He looked down as Luca held out the watch and flipped open the box. Sebastian smiled and then looked past his shoulder to see who’d purchased the expensive watch. When he spotted them, it was obvious as his eyes widened. He looked back at Luca, meeting his gaze.
“He could do so much better,” Sebastian said, his thick British drawl on full display.
Luca snorted. “He says the watch is a parting gift.”
“Gah! Did you see that tie? It looks like a sweat sock hanging from a shower rod.”
Luca laughed, glancing back at Stephen and his young lover who was grinning and talking animatedly with his hands. Truly, the white tie with red and yellow stripes the young man was wearing vaguely resembled a crew sock. He couldn’t help but agree with Sebastian’s assessment.
“You’re such a snob,” he said, turning back to his salesman who was happily standing at the register, ringing up the ten-thousand-dollar engagement ring sale. Sebastian glanced over at him and sent him a tight-lipped smile.
“And you know me very well.”
Luca laughed again.
When he was finished ringing up his own transaction, he deftly slipped the watch box into a royal blue gift box, tied it with a white satin ribbon, and walked back to the counter where the two men stood. The young man took the box and then grinned, leaning into Stephen’s open arms and planting a lingering kiss on his lips before pulling slowly back. As the couple turned to walk away, Stephen sent Luca a sexy smile. The dimples made a reappearance and Luca was struck with how beautiful he was. He would have been breathtaking at thirty or even forty if he looked like this even now. He was almost disappointed when the two walked out of the store arm in arm with the young man chattering happily beside his lover. Whether their relationship really was over or not, Luca knew accepting a dinner date with his boss would have been disastrous. That didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted to accept—more than anything.
Chapter Three
Kane walked to the door of his townhouse later that evening and peered through the peephole before throwing the deadbolt and opening the door. He smiled at Mike Williams and Cassidy Ryan as he unlocked the metal screen and swung it open for the two LAPD detectives he knew from working on past cases.
“Hey, guys. Come on in.”
“Thanks, Delancey,” Mike said, stepping into Kane’s townhome. Cassidy followed.
“Nice place,” Cassidy remarked as Kane turned and locked the door.
“Thanks. Come on up and sit down.” He led the two men up the staircase to the main level of his home which consisted of a large living area, a big bedroom, and his remodeled kitchen and bath. Another set of stairs led up to the loft he’d turned into an office with his computer, a guest bedroom where he kept his babies, and another small bathroom. He’d scrimped and saved to buy the townhouse in Valley Village after selling the small one he’d owned in San Diego.
It had taken a lot of elbow grease and exhausting weekends to remodel the fixer-upper but in the end, it had all been worth it. He loved the high ceiling in the main living area and the massive balcony which looked out onto a quiet residential street in a very safe neighborhood. His tropical plants were sheltered by the huge green awning the homeowner’s association had installed shortly after he moved in. The guys looked around and then sat down on the brown leather couch as Kane sat across from them in one of two club chairs.
“This is a real nice place,” Cassidy remarked as he stretched out long legs and sat back on the couch. Kane had always thought the man was handsome as hell. He had blond hair which was graying at the temples and chiseled features. With his tanned skin and startling Kelly-green eyes, Kane had always thought he looked like a Ken doll. Mike Williams was his partner’s polar opposite. About ten years older than Cassidy, Mike had a middle-aged paunch and wore shirts that were too tight and pants that were too baggy except in the belt which wasn’t a belt at all. Kane was pretty sure Mike’s belly was held in by an invisible piece of elastic in the Haggar Expandomatic slacks he wore. Kane wasn’t the most fashion forward kind of guy but even he’d never wear something so hurtful to the eyeballs.
“Thank you,” Kane said, feeling awkward, even though he knew these men. He cleared his throat. “I guess the marshals have been to talk to you?”
Cassidy frowned a little, pinning him with a serious glance as he nodded. “Brady came and talked to my captain. He called us in since you told him you wanted to work with us but he was a little scarce on the details.”
“Brady gave us background on your assignment but do you want to elaborate as to why the marshals are involved at all?” Mike asked. “All the marshal would tell us is that they were going to use someone familiar with Enoch Moore to infiltrate the Irish mob. Do you want to tell us why you have familiarity with him, Delancey?”
Kane sighed. He was going to have to tell these two people everything if he wanted them to cooperate. “I have to trust you but I want you to understand right now that by telling you what I’m about to, it’s putting the lives of my mother and my sister in your hands. If either one of you decided for whatever reason, that you wanted to capitalize on…”
Cassidy held up the palm of his hand. “Okay, hang on a second, Delancey. I know you don’t know us well.” He glanced at Mike and then back at Kane. “But you know Jarrett and Thayne. If you want to clear us with them before telling us whatever this is, please do so. We’ve had their back many times over the years.” He stared hard at him. “You can trust us. Mike and I would never risk the lives of an innocent and they will testify to that.”
Kane sighed, dropping his head in his hands as he rested both elbows on his knees. He thought long and hard about the situation. If there was anyone in the world he trusted more than his team at the ATF and the marshals who’d run the WITSEC program all these years, he didn’t know who that would be. He was going to need the backup of Cassidy and Mike and whoever they recommended he work with at the LAPD for this assignment. Bringing down Enoch and Brandon Moore and their organization was too important not to put it all out there. It was just hard to imagine anyone could protect his family more than he could, but he knew he had no choice. It was now or never. He looked back up and sat back.
“Okay.” He paused and swallowed hard before telling them everything. A half hour later, Cassidy and Mike were gaping at him.
“What the fuck?” Cassidy finally breathed, shutting his mouth tightly as he turned to look out the sliding glass doors that led out onto Kane’s wide balcony.
“WITSEC? What the fuck?” Mike said, echoing his partner’s thoughts on the matter.
“Yeah, fun times,” Kane said. “Anyway, if I’m going in undercover, I’m gonna need a partner. Your captain
told Brady his choice but I want your take on it.”
“Who’d he choose?” Cassidy asked, regarding him seriously.
“Kelly Murphy? Does that sound right?” Kane asked, watching both men closely. They turned to look at each other and then nodded. When Cassidy turned back to him, he was smiling.
“Murphy’s perfect, Delancey. She’s only been a detective for a year but she was a patrol officer for at least eight years before that. I’ve known her since she was a rookie. She’s really sharp and she’s trustworthy too,” Cassidy said.
“Yeah, I totally agree,” Mike added. “You can trust Murphy and she’ll do a good job.”
“She doesn’t have a partner already?” Kane asked.
“Her partner retired a month ago. The captain has been looking for candidates to replace Tommy but the best candidate at the moment is out on maternity leave,” Cassidy said.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot Shelia’s name came up,” Mike said, nodding at Cassidy. He turned back to Kane and smiled. “I think you’re gonna be really happy with her and you can trust her with your life. She beats me at the gun range.”
Cassidy snickered and nodded. “Yeah, she’s that good.”
Kane felt himself relax at the two detectives’ words. “That’s as good a recommendation as I can expect, I guess. Thanks a lot, guys. I feel a lot better now.”
“You can trust her. Tell her everything so that she can cover for you,” Mike said.
Kane stood up and walked over to them, holding out a hand. “I can’t thank you enough. Both of you.” He shook their hands and they smiled. He felt more relief than he probably should but their talk had really calmed his nerves. “I gotta sit down with Evans and Wolfe now. I need someone to take care of my ferrets if the higher-ups decide I have to leave my place.”
Cassidy grinned and nodded. “Jarrett told us he got his ferrets from you. I’d forgotten.” He glanced at Mike and Kane noticed how the men communicated without speaking to each other. He’d learned to pick up on nonverbal cues with every partner he’d ever had. When Cassidy turned back to him, it was clear that he’d gotten Mike’s approval for whatever he was going to say. “Come to dinner with Mike and me. We’re meeting Jarrett and Thayne at Something’s Fishy in Woodland Hills.”
“Sushi?” Kane asked, brightening. “Great. Let’s go. I’m starving.” Even though he’d eaten a late lunch with Dev only a few hours before, he was definitely down for sushi anytime. Something’s Fishy was one of his go-to sushi places in the Valley.
He grabbed his keys and a windbreaker from the closet before following the guys out of the townhouse feeling a whole hell of a lot better about everything with friends he could truly count on.
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
“The captain said you might have some reservations about telling me why you’re trying to infiltrate the Irish mob,” Murphy said, sitting across from Kane as the waitress refilled their coffee cups and cleared away their breakfast dishes. “For that matter, I’d like to know why a special agent from the ATF is going in undercover as an LAPD detective.”
Kane watched the way Kelly Murphy’s pretty lips moved when she talked. She was a beautiful redheaded woman, about his age, with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and pale cheeks. If she weren’t assigned to be his partner, he would ask her out. That seemed to be a theme in Kane’s life. Pretty female partners he’d love to date if not for the circumstances. In any case, he knew he had to be upfront and tell Kelly everything.
“I’m uniquely qualified to try to bring them down, apparently,” Kane said. She tilted her head and a tiny furrow appeared in the space between her eyebrows. He sighed and took a sip of coffee before going on. “The US Marshals approached me a few days ago. I have a unique relationship with them and they believe I have a vested interest in bringing the mob down or, at the very least, making a dent in their power structure.”
“Why?”
“It’s kind of a long story and it involves me having to trust you with the lives of my mother and sister as well as my own,” Kane replied.
She frowned outright this time. “Your mother and…” Kane saw the exact moment when she got it. Murphy leaned forward. “US Marshals… your mother, sister, and you…” She paused and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Are you all in WITSEC?”
Kane smiled. Cassidy and Mike hadn’t been wrong about Murphy. She was sharp as a tack. He nodded.
“Yes.” He looked away and flagged down their waitress, lifting his coffee cup and pointing at it before glancing back at Kelly. “It’s kind of a long story so we’re gonna need more coffee.”
Kelly nodded and sat back in the booth. A half hour later, the expression on her face rivaled Mike and Cassidy’s from the night before—total surprise. He supposed it was kind of shocking when you added in the fact that he’d been a kid when he’d witnessed his father’s murder, and the fact that they were releasing his killer.
“I’ve never met anyone in the program before but Brady is probably right,” Murphy said. “I doubt there are many federal agents in WITSEC who’d be willing and eager to dive into an undercover case that had the potential to expose their identity and those of their close family members to dangerous criminals. You’re absolutely sure you want to do this?”
“Look, Murphy, before a few days ago, only my mom, sister, and the US Marshals knew who we were. As of this morning, you, your captain, my boss, a friend at the FBI, the Justice Department higher-ups, Ryan, Williams, my partner, and two of my friends at the ATF also know everything. I think backing out at this point isn’t an option even if I wanted it to be. I want to take these bastards down once and for all. I can do it if I have backup,” Kane said. “I’m not going to lie. It’s going to put you smack-dab in the middle of my bullshit. If you need to back out, you need to tell me now. You’re either all in or all out.”
She grinned widely. “Let me see… I’ll have the opportunity to help take down the West Coast branch of the Irish mob and build a case against their higher-ups in Boston so that the FBI can do the rest on the East Coast? Is that what you’re saying?”
Kane grinned. “When you put it like that, yeah, pretty much.”
“I’m all in,” she said, not missing a beat.
Kane chuckled as warmth for this small woman flooded his chest. “Okay, so let’s strategize how to get this done.”
“You know what police detectives do, right?” Kelly asked.
“I was one in San Diego for six years after the Marine Corps and before the ATF so yeah, I know what you do.”
She laughed. “Perfect. Then I guess we’ll have to ride around and start answering calls while we figure out how to infiltrate these bastards. What do you say?”
Kane nodded, shaking his head as he smiled. “It shouldn’t have been this easy to talk to you but I think Cassidy and Mike were right. You’re perfect for this assignment.”
“Aww, shucks,” she said. “You’re gonna be good for my ego, Delancey.”
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
“Luca, you have to go with us,” Corey whined over the phone line as Luca polished a pair of 14-karat gold earrings with a soft cloth. Luca watched Tracy, one of his sales girls, standing at the pearl counter, holding a mabe pearl earring against an elderly woman’s earlobe as she gazed into the counter mirror while he spoke on the phone.
“You hate Charlie. Why are you even going to his place? Party or not, Corey, the man is a dick.”
“It’s an eating party,” Corey said, laughing into the phone.
“Oh my God. You guys are so immature. What is it this time?”
“You’ll never believe it,” Corey gushed.
“Let me guess. Raw ramen noodles and bullion packets again?”
Corey laughed. “No! This time, Charlie is going to eat a whole loaf of uncooked bread and we’re gonna film his stomach expand from the yeast. It’ll be a YouTube smash. Isn’t that a scream?” Corey howled with laughter as Luca shivered.
; “Yuk. It’ll be like watching that show about gross things people eat. No thanks,” he said, grinning in spite of himself. “And, by the way, just so you know, I don’t think raw bread is gonna rise inside someone’s stomach, idiot.”
“It might make him fart and burp though,” Corey said with a laugh.
“And that’s gonna be fun!” Luca laughed. “You know you’re a child, right?” Luca asked absently, noticing two men as they walked into the store.
“I know. You tell me all the time,” Corey replied.
Luca frowned as he felt an unpleasant shiver run down his spine. “Sweetie, have fun tonight. I have customers. Talk to you later.” He blew a kiss into the phone.
“Okay, baby. Ta-ta!” Corey singsonged before hanging up.
Luca put down the earring, grabbed the phone which he’d been holding between cheek and shoulder and hung it up, all the time watching the two men as they walked toward him. They were wearing leather gloves and trench coats that billowed around their long legs. Who the hell wears trench coats on a summer morning, anyway? The instant he noticed them looking around at the ceilings for the location of cameras, he moved to the diamond case on his right, sliding his fingers over the silent alarm button under the lip of the counter, holding it there.
Luca had been robbed twice since coming to work at the store but both times, he’d been alone. He glanced quickly at Tracy who was still talking to the elderly lady, oblivious to what was going on. He realized she wasn’t going to be able to identify them so he took a good look, memorizing the rough features of one man of middle height and the smooth features of his younger, shorter companion. He wanted to be able to ID them from a lineup later on. Luca had prepared himself for this scenario many times before.
“Can I help you, gentlemen?” he asked, plastering on a fake smile as one of the men zeroed in on his diamond cases and then swung his trench coat aside. He looked up and met Luca’s gaze the moment he revealed the sledgehammer in one hand. Luca pressed the button and then stepped back from the diamond cases at the same time as he yelled at Tracy and her customer to run. Almost before he knew what was happening, he threw one arm up to cover his eyes and ducked. The sickening crash of breaking glass as the two thieves began smashing his diamond cases with their tools and weapons was jarring. He’d heard of smash and grabs before but he’d never been in the middle of one. It scared the crap out of him when glass began to fly through the air and pelt his clothes and hair. Luca tried to curl up and make himself as small as he could, crouching beside the large safe under the wrap desk.
Stay with Me (The WITSEC series Book 1) Page 5