“It’s in Boston.”
“On second thought, Abigayle has family there. It’s better I stay out of the North for a while.”
She agreed there.
Charlie was not high on Abigayle’s list of people she liked. He’d caught her off guard with divorce papers, and the woman was trying to get the house he’d built for him and his daughter.
She was losing.
And she was pissed.
“Well, you married her. I am not going there. I can’t figure out what possessed you to stick your dick in…”
“ELIZABETH RENEE LARUE! You will never again bring up my dick in a conversation. Do you hear me?”
She laughed even harder, not because she stirred her daddy up, but Chris was sweating.
“Again, I do have some news, Daddy.”
“What? You’re not going to tell me something that will freak me out, will it?”
Well, that depended.
“I’m dating someone. It’s a couple thing, so I guess you got your wish. I have a boyfriend.”
There was a shout, a holler, and some whooping from the other end.
Chris relaxed.
“Please tell me you’re going to give me grandchildren—and lots of them.”
She was horrified.
So was Chris.
“Yeah, no. I gave you a boyfriend. How about you slow your roll and go with that?”
“Who is it?” he asked. “He had better treat my girl right. If he makes her sad, I’ll come up there and I’ll hurt him in so many ways.”
Chris swallowed.
Elizabeth handed him the phone.
“Well, he’s right here, Daddy.”
“Hello?”
Chris had no choice but to do this.
“Sir, it’s me, Doctor Leonard.”
There was a pause.
“Wait, are you having sex with my girl?” Charlie asked. “Didn’t you break her heart a few months ago by flaunting some woman in her face?”
“Well, we were just having booty calls, but we’ve moved on,” Elizabeth teased.
“Not helping,” Chris muttered.
“JESUS H. CHRIST!”
Elizabeth laughed.
“Your mother would be spinning in her grave,” he stated. “You better be kidding me. I never want to hear you bring up my dick or your booty calls! What the hell, Elizabeth? You go to DC and you lose all sense. If you let the man have the milk for free…”
She laughed even more.
“Wait! Did you just call me a cow?” she asked, trying to distract him.
“I see right through you, missy! I’m getting a flight.”
“Daddy, I’m happy. Chris makes me very happy. In fact, I love him.”
That slowed the man down.
“Wait. Like love-love? Are we talking the kinda love you look for all your life or the crazy I fell into when I married that batshit insane Puritan, Abigayle?”
She knew he’d only married her so Elizabeth wouldn’t grow up without a mother.
Look how that worked out.
She was worse off and hell-bent on being bold.
“Yes, Charlie. What kind would I be talking about—like hooker love?”
“Ms. Sassy Pants is not too old to be spanked.”
“Really?” Chris said. “I’m in.”
Then he realized what he had just done.
“Shit! I was just kidding.”
Elizabeth was cheered up by this whole conversation, and it may have just made her day.
“I’m getting on a flight. NOW. When I get up there, Mr. Doctor, you and I are going to sit down, talk about how you treat my girl, and what will happen if you leave those perverted little fingerprints all over her body!”
The phone went dead, and she laughed her ass off.
Chris, not so much.
“Is he really coming here?” he asked. “He’s kidding, right? He has to know I wouldn’t spank you. That’s so not my thing. Wait, I’m dead, aren’t I?”
She wiped her eyes.
They were too damn funny.
“You should have just played scared. That he gets. Perversion…not his thing. He freaking married a puritanical bitch. You know they only did it with the lights off and in one position.”
“I’m dead.”
She gave him a kiss.
“With Charlie, one never knows. He’s a wild card. I get it from him.”
Oh, he was aware.
Chris pulled the car back onto the road and began planning out an escape if the big man hunted him down.
Then he looked over at the woman beside him.
Who was he kidding?
He’d let the man kick his ass to date her. She was totally worth it.
Even if he would be dead.
Chapter Ten
Friday Night
Hotel
A fter calling Charlie back, Elizabeth calmed the man down enough that her night with Chris wouldn’t be ruined. Chris was convinced that Charlie was going to pop up unexpectedly.
He was really freaked out.
That didn’t bode well for a date, even if they were just putting on a show to see if O’Banion made his move. She wasn’t betting on it. They would be out in public, and he couldn’t afford to make a scene.
The heat was on.
O’Banion had to be getting antsy.
As for the date, Elizabeth wanted to get to know the other half of her partnership.
Yes, she knew him really well, but not as someone she would now call a boyfriend.
The word was so foreign to her as was the idea of having someone in her life.
Truthfully, she’d given up on that pipe dream a long time ago, and now, it was back. It staggered her that she was going to have a normal part of life that everyone else had.
As a Fed, and someone who risked her life on a daily basis, she didn’t think it would be possible to find someone who could fit into her crazy world.
She didn’t want to date co-workers because that would blow up in her face, but he wasn’t an agent. Chris was special, and even she could see that. He mattered.
He was so vital in her life.
She was learning so much about herself through him, and he was her boyfriend with training wheels—in a good way.
While he thought she gave him street cred, he gave her something else. He taught her how to be kinder, gentler, and softer. Elizabeth LaRue was tough to swallow on a good day, but already, she was noticing the change.
She wanted to be feminine.
She wanted to put away her gun and be a woman when she could, and that, in itself, was a miracle.
So, as she made him go back to his room to get ready, she showered, slathered on some cream to make her skin soft, and even put on makeup. She was learning, and from the outcome, she didn’t do a horrible job.
He kept texting her, making her laugh.
He was nervous.
Well, so was she.
This was their first date as a couple, and she hoped that she didn’t blow it. Elizabeth had a way of jacking things up, even when she had the best of intentions.
Hopefully, this didn’t fall victim to her screw-ups too.
As she stood in front of the mirror, she checked out her final results. She went with a sultry, red-wrap dress and a pair of heels.
She looked…sexy, and that was the look she was going with for the night. Chris deserved her best effort, and since she was going to have to talk death over dinner, he might as well get to look at something pretty.
The boots and jeans would wait.
As she was applying some lipstick, she got the next text.
‘I’ll pick you up in five minutes. I hope I don’t get lost. I’m bad with directions.’
Her heart skipped even as she laughed in amusement. He was funny, and she needed that in her life.
Yeah, this relationship thing was much better than simple, untethered sex. She didn’t feel dirty, and like her daddy would be ashamed of her.
She wante
d to make him proud.
And she had.
She found a good guy, and he genuinely liked her.
That was a miracle.
One she’ll likely only get once.
* * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *
As he stood in the spare hotel room, he fixed his tie. Chris looked good—if he did say so himself.
He’d luckily brought his best black suit so that when he wooed the girl, he looked good doing it. It screamed powerful, successful, and doctor.
With his father’s Rolex, he looked wealthy, but that wasn’t why he wanted to look that way.
She deserved the best. When it came to all the men she could have chosen to be with, she’d picked him, and he was willing to work for it.
From the silk tie to the monogrammed cuffs of his starched shirt, she deserved him at his very best.
Truthfully, he didn’t pull out all of the stops for just any woman. He never wanted to make it count quite like he did now. Elizabeth deserved a spectacular companion on their date, and he was going to give it to her.
Chris wanted her to always look at him and know that he thought she was special, and that he would put effort into their relationship. While she saw him in scrubs all the time, he wanted her to remember these moments too.
He wanted her to look at him the way he looked at her.
So, he was ready.
Making sure his tie was straight, he picked up the roses he’d run out to get. They’d die in their room, but it was important to bring your girl flowers.
And she deserved them.
Heading to the door, he was ready to take this new adventure for a ride.
Only he wasn’t alone.
His best friend was along for the journey, and that made it all the better.
He was still going to woo his girlfriend.
It was the right thing to do.
When she heard the knock on her door, Elizabeth couldn’t wait to see him. There were butterflies in her stomach, and she was so nervous.
It was funny.
Few things rattled her.
A guy?
Never.
Still, she was worried that she didn’t make the grade. What did she know about being sexy? She was a cop. She knew how to be badass. She knew how to fight. Looking like a girl?
Yeah, clueless.
It was times like these that she wished her mother really hadn’t died in that car accident. She really wished that she hadn’t been a brat and caused her death.
With her file and gun in her bag, she headed toward the door—ready for their date.
When she opened it, she didn’t know who was more surprised.
Him.
Or her.
“Christopher, you look so handsome,” she said, checking him out. His shoes were shiny, his suit was sexy, and the man looked good.
Her heart skipped.
Chris couldn’t believe his luck.
She looked gorgeous.
“Elizabeth, you look radiant. Red is your color,” he said, handing her a bunch of roses from behind his back.
They, too, were red like her dress, but not nearly as gorgeous as she was.
She smiled at him.
He couldn’t breathe.
“God! I’m so lucky,” he said as she backed up so he could enter the room.
“I think I’m the lucky one. You broke out your contacts for me. It must be a special occasion,” she stated.
Oh, it was.
If they were home, he would have had a chef come to his home to cook them a private dinner, then he really would have given her an amazing date.
This would have to do.
“I love when you wear your hair down. I just want to touch all those curls,” he admitted.
He swore she blushed.
It turned him on.
His woman was a mystery, and he loved every second of it. This was going to be an amazing night.
“Where are we going for dinner?” she asked, smelling the roses. There had to be two dozen, and they looked so dewy soft that she wanted to sniff and touch each one.
“There’s an Italian place a few miles away. I thought you’d enjoy it. The concierge suggested it to me.”
“I happen to love Italian.”
He was glad.
She placed her flowers on the coffee table and headed his way.
Immediately, she went into his arms.
“Thank you for taking me out on a date. It’s something new for me. Normally, a guy takes me for a beer.”
Yeah, and then expected her to put out. Chris was a gentleman to his core, and she appreciated that.
He softly gave her a kiss.
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine.”
As he led her to the door, he held out his hand. Without hesitation, she grabbed it. Then she stopped.
She released his hand and dug through her purse. Out of it, she pulled her badge.
“Can you carry this for me?” she asked.
“Uh, okay. Want me to carry your gun?”
She stared at it.
Then him.
Then it, as she weighed the chances that O’Banion would make a move on them.
She was likely going to be watched, but no one’s balls were that brass.
She dropped the gun and badge into her bag.
“No, I think this can wait. We’ll talk death later. I want to spend some time with my new guy.”
His heart skipped.
“No work?”
“Well, I’m going to work.”
He didn’t understand.
“I’m going to charm you out of that suit by the end of the night.”
Chris began laughing. “It’s only polite to let the lady win, so…”
She gave him another kiss, but this one was even deeper and longer. When she set him free, he blinked a few times.
Yeah, that’s how she felt too.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“For being a gentleman—always. For bringing me flowers, and taking me on a date when you could just hand me a pizza and ask me to get naked.”
He touched her cheek.
“You are worth a man giving you all of his attention. If he can’t do that, he doesn’t deserve you. If he can’t put on a tie and take you to dinner, he shouldn’t be with you. You, Elizabeth, are a treasure. You deserve it.”
Yeah, she found a damn good one.
“Take me out, Christopher. Tonight, I want to be your date.”
Well, now, he could definitely do that.
Gladly.
* * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *
He called him as soon as he was alone.
Michael O’Banion wasn’t happy either. He wanted his cop on the inside to get as much information as possible, and he’d been thwarted.
His partner was going to be digging into his business in Boston, and that had to stop. All of this madness had to come to an end. Before the FBI stuck its nose into his business, he was in control of the city.
He wasn’t challenged.
Then they arrived, and now they were stirring the pot—and not in a good way.
He was confused.
How had Patty struck out? It was so damn simple. Sabotage the FBI, stop his partner from finding anything on the task force, and watch the woman.
SIMPLE.
“What should I do next?”
“What is the commissioner going to do?” he asked. “Did he take your suggestion with the reporter? His uncle works for me, and he’s loyal to a fault. I can use him to do my dirty work when it comes to the media.”
“Yes, he took it, and it was going to work, but then she said no. They kicked us out when she called her boss.”
He told him everything he knew.
“Well, let’s see how that plays out, but as I told you from the beginning, Patty, your partner is trouble. We may have no choice but to sacrifice him. If he won’t help me…”
He was aware.
It sucked, but in Boston, you p
icked sides if you wanted to survive, and Max was not on the winning side.
“If you want to be captain, and then commissioner one day, then you have to play along. You’re in too deep, Patty. You’ve sold your soul, and you know it.”
Oh, he was aware.
He’d made his choice.
“Where is she now?”
“She said something about a date. I don’t know the rest. I can swing by the hotel. You have people working there, don’t you?” Patty asked.
Yes, yes, he did. In fact, that whole hotel was his. He was going to make a call and handle it himself.
Hopefully, he’d find her.
“I’ll handle it, Patty. If my pretty little Fed thinks that she can go out on dates with other men, when I have plans for her, she has another thing coming. I may have to crash her date, and then she’ll get her introduction to the Irish mob in Boston. I’ll have her even if she doesn’t want it. The choice is no longer hers.”
He knew what that meant.
She’d be taking a little trip with Carl and Joey if she didn’t play the game.
She’d pay the price.
That was his fear.
Patty was in too deep, and he had no choice but to do what O’Banion wanted.
May God save his soul.
He’d sold it for the captain’s chair, and the blood was on his hands.
His partner’s and now the blood of a Fed.
* * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *
Enrico’s Italian
Restaurant
When they arrived, he helped her into her seat, and then he took the one across from her.
The ambiance of the place was that of some little Italian place in the hills of Italy. There were checkered tablecloths, wine bottles with candles in them, and the place was quiet. It looked like they’d just missed the dinner rush—which was odd for a Friday night.
People were paying and leaving, and they seemed to have the place to themselves.
That was fine with Chris.
It was perfect for a date.
As they sat down, Chris waited for the waiter. When he arrived, he ordered a bottle of wine. He would have gone with champagne, but he didn’t want to flaunt his money. He knew her, and she was not into that kind of show.
Dawn of Evil_FBI Flashback Page 22