by A. R. Ford
“J-Jamison,” the man stammered.
“Next time, I pull the trigger, Jamison. He pissed his pants, Soranno. You sure you want him on duty?”
Soranno chuckled. “Nah, he’s good. Fear means you got something that matters at home. Something that matters ensures loyalty to me. I worry about you.” He waved me into the office before closing the door.
“You called me,” I reminded him.
“Snitches on the street say there’s some chick that saw the unfortunate assassination a couple of days ago. Snitches also say she’s in protective custody, and testifying soon. Get me an address for the safe house. That’s all I need,” Soranno said before sitting in a chair near the window. Smoke trailed upward in a thin, grey ribbon when he lit a cigar.
“What’s in it for me?”
“Tell me what you want, and it’s yours.” Soranno puffed the cigar until the tip glowed cherry red. A fragrant cloud of smoke partially obscured his face.
“You know what I want.”
Soranno smiled, nothing more than a curling of his lips that bared his teeth. “Done. Now get me the address.”
When I turned to go, Soranno’s voice stopped me. “You woulda shot my guy out there earlier.”
It was a statement, not a question. It still deserved an answer. “He’d be splattered on the floor if not for you.”
Soranno’s laughter followed me out of the room into the elevator. I might be cold and callous, but Leo Soranno scared the shit out of me. I knew after today there was no turning back. I was all in, and balls to the wall.
Chapter 4
Leah
MY BODY HAD ALWAYS been lean, but with days of exercise, it morphed into a more muscular version of itself. Nick was more than willing to put the hand pads on at least once a day, or whenever I took the urge to work out some aggression. The guys eventually invited me to play cards with them.
“I’m not into poker,” I said before sitting down. “And I have no cash with me anyway. But spades; spades I can play. Are you guys game?”
Nick partnered with me while Phil and Mendez were our opposing team. It was fun playing the childhood game that I’d learned from older kids when cutting classes. Nick was pretty damned good at it. We beat Phil and Mendez four out of five games. Our best feat came when we shot the moon. Every single book came our way. I couldn’t help but cheer when I saw the final score.
“You didn’t tell us you were a spades shark, Leah,” Mendez protested with a grin.
“No one asked. Thanks for the game, guys. I really enjoyed it.”
The games of spades were few and far between after Mendez and Phil realized I could play, and win. Days turned into weeks with agonizing slowness. I prayed the trial date would hurry and get here. I needed out of this stuffy apartment, and into the real world.
Someone finally grew a brain, and brought alcohol. I saw it on the counter in the kitchen. I didn’t ask permission. It was late, the guys were playing cards again while talking football. A half dozen shots later I felt warm, fuzzy, and pain free. Nick, Phil, and Mendez looked up when I swayed my way through the living room toward the bedroom with half a pint of liquor in one hand.
Of course, Nick took it upon himself to follow me before slamming the door behind us. “Leah, what the hell are you doing?” he snapped while trying to snatch the bottle from my hand.
“Having a helluva good time by myself,” I slurred before sitting on the bed. “I have no one but my pint-sized friend. Get it? Pint-sized...”
Nick did not laugh. Instead, he pinned me to the bed before wrenching the bottle from my hand. Then he lay on top of me, glaring into my face. I detected the bulge of an erection pressing into my crotch. I couldn’t help but be a bit aroused. After all, I was drunk, bored, and lonely. But there would be no tryst, not with Nick, the asshole cop with the shining hero cape.
“You’re a pain in the ass, Leah,” he growled.
“If you and your boner wouldn’t mind getting off me, I’d really like to go to sleep now.” His eyes widened at that one. I wasn’t a virgin, but was far from being an expert in the world of sex. But I knew what a boner felt like. And Officer Nick had an impressive one. “I said get off of me, not get off on me. Capeesh?”
It was an awkward moment when he pushed away from me. Yes, I checked it out. Nice boner, Officer Nick, but I sure the hell ain’t telling you that. He glared, jaw clenched, and walked out of the room without saying a word with the pint of liquor in one hand. I rolled my body into the chenille bedspread until I resembled a poorly constructed burrito. I hoped there was aspirin, or ibuprofen here. The morning’s hangover should be interesting.
Nick
LEAH DRUNK WAS DANGEROUS in more ways than I could count. She was even more raw and real. And damned if she didn’t turn me on more than ever.
I was in trouble the second I followed her into the room. Her attempts to keep the liquor while I tried to snatch it away only infuriated me. Then, I pinned her down with my body. My cock woke up the instant it came in contact with her lower body. Even through the jeans and boxers.
So, what did I do? I lay there like an idiot with the most impressive erection of my adult life. And Leah knew.
“If you and your boner wouldn’t mind getting off me, I’d really like to go to sleep now,” she muttered.
Leah’s remark was embarrassing. I moved off of her after I recovered from the shock at hearing her words. I’ll be damned if Leah didn’t check out my crotch. I got out of the room as fast as I could. Where did I go? Straight to the bathroom for a cold shower. It was a shame we would never have a chance together. Keeping her safe was more important than acting on the attraction that continued to grow between us.
Leah
THE HANGOVER WAS INTERESTING. It felt like a blacksmith had mistaken my head for an anvil. I staggered from bed into the bathroom. After finishing up there I found the kitchen where a pot of fucking black gold waited for me. Two cups, a glass of water, and two ibuprofens later left me feeling halfway human.
Phil and Mendez were nowhere to be seen. I assumed they were in the spare room sleeping. Only Officer Nick was awake. He looked yummy in faded jeans, and a grey thermal Henley open at the neck. He didn’t speak. He didn’t look my way. He prowled the living room looking out windows, checking security camera feeds, and checking the peephole. The next few hours passed in that odd “I’m ignoring you” silence. Then, the doorbell rang.
Nick motioned for me to join him. He pulled the pistol from the shoulder holster while looking out the peephole. “This isn’t good, Leah. We didn’t order anything, and here’s a pizza delivery guy. Get that bullet proof vest on,” he muttered.
A chill in the pit of my stomach warned that this was not going to go well. Phil and Mendez were still asleep in the bedroom. That left only Nick to defend me if it came to it. I made sure my shoes were laced tight. Nick nodded reassuringly as I strapped on the bullet-proof vest. He could be a dick at times, but right now, he was my hero standing there waiting for whatever was on the other side of the door. I stood on the opposite side of the door.
“Who is it?” Nick called out.
“Pizza delivery for Wagner,” a muffled voice replied.
“Wrong apartment,” Nick yelled through the door.
“It says here apartment 305. That’s you. C’mon man, I’ll get fired if I don’t get this thing delivered.”
We didn’t have to wait long for all hell to break loose. A shotgun’s blast ripped through the door near the knob. Someone kicked the door hard enough to force it open. Two men wearing dark suits, and ski masks with cold, black guns in their hands, burst through the door. The next few minutes went by in a blur.
One of the men aimed a gun at me. Nick took him out with a shot to the chest. Blood splattered all over me. It was real, raw, and visceral.
The second man aimed his gun at Nick. I learned to fight like a boy before I was thirteen. Street rules. That, combined with kick boxing, gave me a few hand-to-hand fighting skills.
The second man found out how street rules go. I punched him in the head twice, and managed to get off a kick to his ribs before he turned, and retaliated. He swore, aimed the pistol at me, and fired. The bullet tore through the fleshy part of my right bicep. It didn’t hurt, yet. Then he punched me in the face when I didn’t collapse. I went down hard when stars danced through my field of vision.
Phil and Mendez came spilling out of the bedroom just in time to meet two more men who burst through the door. I’ll never forget the look of horror on Mendez’s face when he took a few bullets to the chest. He went down hard.
I couldn’t concentrate on Mendez for more than an instant when the guy who shot me kicked me hard in the ribs. I coughed, wheezed, and rolled out of his way. More gunshots made my ears ring.
Nick helped me up before heading for the fire escape in my bedroom. No one was in the alley. He pulled me toward a nondescript sedan parked at the rear of the building. Thankfully, he carried the keys in a pocket. Tires screamed, the engine roared, and we were careening down the street.
Fifteen minutes later we were heading across the bridge leading out of the city. “Are you okay?” Nick snapped. “Leah? Tell me where you’re hit.”
“Arm, face, ribs. I’m good.” My attention was focused on the road behind us.
“You’re bleeding a lot,” Nick replied after glancing at my arm when I twisted in the seat to look at the road behind us.
I tore a strip from the bottom half of the t-shirt. It took my teeth, and some finessing, but I managed to tie the strip around the wound. “How did those guys find me?”
“I think someone’s on the take, Leah. That was the most secure safe house the department had,” Nick muttered. “Don’t worry. You’re safer with me than you were back there.”
Don’t worry? That’s easier said than done, Officer Nick. Your ass isn’t on the line.
Nick
MY HEART AND GUT CLENCHED the instant the man broke through the door. Someone knew where Leah was, and they wanted her dead. How? How the hell could anyone know where this safe house was? She fought, though. Fought like the warrior I knew she was. Losing Mendez ripped me apart, but I had to think of Leah. I had to get her out before more people came looking for her.
She was covered in blood, and sweat, twisting in the seat to see if anyone was following us. Blood streamed down the arm with the bullet wound.
“Are you okay? Leah, tell me where you’re hit.” The words came out in a harsh rush. Fear made me react like a cop, instead of the man who had fallen head over heels with a beautiful woman.
Instead of falling apart, she tore a strip of cloth from the bottom of the shirt she wore. The makeshift bandage slowed the bleeding. She could think on her feet. It might be enough to keep her alive.
We were exhausted by the time I took a narrow road leading up the side of a mountain. An hour later, a gravel road led to a ramshackle cabin by a lake. By the look of things, the cabin hadn’t been inhabited by humans for years. I backed the car in beside a garage.
“Where are we?” Leah asked while eyeing the moss growing in patches on the roof. Leaves and debris covered the front porch.
“An old hunting cabin one of my dad’s friends owns. Everything we need to survive should be inside,” I replied while gathering duffel bags from the trunk of the car. “Weapons, ammo, and a few supplies.”
I found the key my dad’s friend kept hidden under a rock near the porch. The door required a bit of force to open. The inside of the cabin needed a lot of attention. Dust and cobwebs covered almost everything. Leah found a broom, and started clearing cobwebs.
“You should let me look at your arm,” I said after setting the bags down.
“I’m good.” Leah avoided my gaze while continuing to knock cobwebs down with the broom.
I knew she was lying. She winced each time the arm bent. Blood trickled freely from the makeshift bandage. “Sit.” I cleaned, and bandaged the wound with supplies from a first aid kit in one of the duffle bags. “You handled yourself like a pro back there. Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“Streets.”
A moment of silence unfurled like a mimosa tree’s leaves reaching for the morning sun. “You’ve had a rough life.”
Leah shrugged before closing her eyes. A shudder rippled through her body. I knew she was exhausted. The events of the past few weeks were enough to break a normal person. She managed to hold it together somehow. Her inner strength, and fortitude were not just amazing. The attributes were sexy as hell. It was one more reason for me to continue the slow slide as I fell in love with her.
Chapter 5
Leah
MY MIND WAS NUMB AFTER the events of the day. Exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me. Pushing myself was the only way to avoid the emotions, and fear crowding my mind.
“You should rest,” Nick said.
“This place needs to be cleaned before I sleep. Too many spider webs.” I brushed by him without speaking. It took an hour to bring the cabin into a habitable state. By that time, I was exhausted, and my ribs hurt when I breathed. The eye didn’t hurt a lot. Nick would have been shocked to learn it wasn’t the first black eye I’d had.
There were sleeping bags stowed in waterproof bags in a plastic tote in a corner of the cabin. We didn’t take time to build a fire, or light one of the lanterns, or candles. Exhaustion drained our bodies; bodies badly in need of sleep. Sleep was to be short-lived for me. Nightmarish specters of the events of the past twenty-four hours tormented my sleep. Nick woke me, shaking my shoulders. “It’s just a dream, Leah. Wake up.”
I groaned before slipping from the sleeping bag. “I’m so fucking tired.”
“I know you are. Is there anything I can do to help?” Nick sat beside me on the floor. A hand hesitatingly touched my cheek. His dark eyes were filled with some emotion. Torment? Concern? Who knew with Nick.
“I’m good.” I stood up before Nick clicked a flashlight on. It made finding matches, and a candle easier. The candle sputtered before flaring to life.
An aging cast-iron stove sat against one wall. Wood, tinder, and other materials for building a fire lay in a metal box. I did the best I could with the materials. It shocked me when the fire flared to life. Within a half hour, the chill hanging over the cabin’s interior dissipated. An old-school percolator sat on the counter. I scrounged around in the dusty cabinets until I found coffee. It wasn’t long before the percolator began to do its job. The old hand pump at the sink allowed me to catch enough water to wash out a couple of dusty mugs.
My tongue screamed after being scalded when the first sip of coffee slipped past my lips. It was agonizing, and oh, so good. Nick suffered the same fate. At least there was a bit of brevity to ease the tense situation we were in.
Dawn completely banished the overwhelming darkness in the cabin. Nick stripped to his waist before washing his upper body in a basin of steaming water. I admired his physique while draining the last sip of coffee from the cup. He was muscular, yet not overly so. The light dusting of hair on his chest continued down the perfectly defined abdominal muscles before narrowing into a trail that disappeared into his jeans.
Of course, he caught me staring. A crooked grin made his face less intense, and almost boyishly handsome. “See something you like, Leah?”
The attraction I felt for Nick would never be realized. It was a tough situation with no graceful way out. So, I denied my feelings.
I turned, and walked out the door without replying. The porch post creaked when I leaned against it. I wouldn’t admit it, but my ribs hurt like hell, and it was hard to breath. I knew my eye was swollen, and carried various shades of purple and blue. The bullet wound throbbed painfully. Even clenched teeth did little to ease the various aches and pains.
“Hey, are you okay?” Nick asked from the doorway. When I turned toward him, he winced. Of course, he was still bare from the waist up. “Shit, you’re not okay. How are your ribs?”
I shrugged. “It only hurts when I br
eathe.”
“Leah, let me check you out. I didn’t realize you were that beat up. Your eye is...”
“Nasty, and hurts like a motherfucker. I’m aware.” My voice was flat, almost lifeless. The events of yesterday had thrown me off balance.
Nick took my hand before leading me inside the cabin. “You should take your shirt off, so I can check your ribs out.”
“Nope. I’m good.”
“You can take it off, or I’ll take it off for you.” Nick’s voice was tight. I sighed before pulling the t-shirt over my head, wincing while doing so. I stood there wearing a bra. He winced after seeing the bruises courtesy of the goon. “Shit, Leah. Your ribs might be broken. I can tape them, that might help.”
“I’ll be fine,” I reassured. Lies. I knew the words were lies. It hurt to breathe. I could barely see the eye was so swollen.
Nick grabbed my upper arms which brought a cry of pain when his fingers closed around the bullet wound. The attempt at forcing me into submission turned into an embrace. He kissed the top of my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I’m scared.” The whispered words came as my last ounce of bravery disappeared.
“I know,” Nick replied. A finger forced my face upward before his mouth crashed down on mine. The kiss was brutal, and hungry, but lordy, it set me on fire. “I won’t let them hurt you.”
“Make me forget,” I whispered in his ear, arms desperately clutching his upper body.
“Leah,” Nick growled.
One second we were standing, and the next we were on the sleeping bags. Nick forced the sweat pants, and panties over my hips, down my legs. He unfastened his jeans, just enough to set his cock free. He was inside me before I could protest, not that I wanted to. My core clenched around him, hard. Fucking hell, he was thick, and just the right length. He fucked me hard with deep, desperate strokes. It was over for both of us in minutes. He lay on top of me, gasping for breath, and slick with sweat.