There was a faint light ahead, coming from under a closed door. I made my way down the hall, and what sounded like glass and other debris crunched underfoot. Gun pointed up, I turned the door handle, pushing the door open a crack . . .
And was instantly hit with the smell of rotting garbage, and . . . other nasty shit. I reluctantly shoved it the rest of the way open, and then froze, a startled cry escaping before I could swallow it down.
“Ruby?” Harry said, moving down the hall toward me.
“I’m okay.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Scott, his body a twisted heap on the floor. His eyes open, dull and lifeless, staring blindly up at me. He obviously hadn’t been dead long because blood still oozed sluggishly from the back of his head, staining the dirty carpet beneath.
“Shit.” Harry said, coming up behind me.
I walked over and took a good look at Scott. His clothes were filthy, and there were dark circles under his eyes that weren’t from a beating, but from exhaustion. I could only guess he’d been living in this room, hiding from someone—maybe from the woman Jimmy’s neighbor mentioned—all this time.
“I’ll do a sweep of the house, make sure we’re alone,” Harry said, then moved away from the door.
Something was sticking out of Scott’s pocket. A folded piece of paper. I slid it free quickly and shoved it in my pocket, then straightened and, holding my gun in front of me, walked back to the door, listening.
I could hear Harry moving around, but besides that, the house was silent, utterly, eerily so.
I turned back to Scott, the second dead body I’d seen in a matter of weeks, and cursed. Whatever he wanted to tell me, I’d never know. Goddammit.
I pulled my phone from my back pocket as I made my way back outside, checking the shadows as I went, listening for any sign that Harry and I weren’t on our own. I got the feeling the person that did this was gone. They’d come to silence Scott and they’d succeeded. What reason would there be to stick around?
I opened my contacts and stared down at Neco’s name . . .
“You calling the cops?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I need to call the guys at the King Agency. They’re looking for Scott as well.”
Harry gave me a nod and a sympathetic look. He knew as much as I did Neco wouldn’t be happy about me coming here.
I scrolled past Neco’s name on my phone and hit Hunter’s number instead.
“What’s up?” Hunter answered.
“We have a problem.”
“Talk to me.”
I laid it out, ignoring the cursing he was doing under his breath the whole time.
“Have you called the cops?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good.”
Suddenly, I knew exactly why Hunter might not want the police involved. Shit. I glanced at Harry, still standing beside me. This could get messy. “Harry’s still with me.”
Hunter cursed again. “Get rid of him. I’ll be there in a few. Maybe you should head home as well.”
“It’s fine. The place is clear,” I said.
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
He was worried Neco was somehow involved in this . . . “I’ll wait . . .”
He was quiet a beat. “Be there in a few.” Then he disconnected.
Thankfully, Harry left without me having to come up with some elaborate lie. He had an idea how the guys at the King Agency worked, and he was more than happy to be on a need-to-know basis when it came to this particular incident. As he walked off, I’d heard him mutter something about dead bodies and being too old for this shit, then he disappeared around the corner.
And I hunkered down to wait.
* * *
Neco
I killed the engine of my SUV, parking behind the agency van that Hunter was obviously driving. That instantly set off alarm bells. The van was only used for our more delicate jobs.
I shoved my door open and, keeping to the shadows, rounded the small, run-down house. Hunter had called me a short time ago, pulling me in from the surveillance job I was working, and told me to get the hell over here. I didn’t know what this was about, but I was okay with the extra hours. After my blow up with Ruby, I wasn’t in a hurry to go home. I didn’t want to fight anymore, but I couldn’t tell her the truth, and I knew she wouldn’t drop it. The woman knew me too damn well, which meant she knew something was bothering me. She wouldn’t be okay with me going to Tomas for help, what that would mean for me.
But I was out of options. Ruby was all that mattered. I didn’t give a fuck what happened to me, not when she could still be a target.
When she’d shown me her ink yesterday, fuck . . .
I’d seen her beautiful tattoos before, a lot over the years, the ones that weren’t concealed by her clothes, anyway, and yeah, I thought they were hot, but hadn’t given them too much thought. But now, now she’d explained what they meant to her?
My body . . . it’s covered in the story of us.
Shit, the woman had blown me away, had literally brought me to my knees. After that, I thought everything would finally be all right between us. That she was mine and all I had to do was keep her safe—eliminate her immediate threat. Scott.
But nothing was ever that easy, not for us.
I rounded the house and Hunter stepped out of the shadows.
“What’s going on?”
He tilted his head to the back door, eyes on me, watching me closely. “Don’t touch anything.”
I frowned. Okay, that didn’t sound good. I followed Hunter down a small, dank hallway. It smelled like mold and garbage and shit . . .
Hunter walked into one of the rooms, stopping just inside the doorway.
And death.
Not decay, but the tinny scent of fresh, drying blood.
“Who?” I asked, moving closer to the body on the floor.
Hunter continued to study at me, head tilted to the side. “Scott.”
I strode closer to get a better look. He was on his back, legs at odd angles, face unmarked, making it easy to ID him. His hair was matted with blood, a dark pool of it soaking into the carpet. A shot to the back of the head, by the looks. I couldn’t see any other bullet or knife wounds on his body, though it was hard to get a good look without checking him over properly.
I turned back to Hunter. “You think I did this?” No other reason he hadn’t called the cops, that we were having this private meeting over Scott’s corpse.
Hunter shrugged. “Did you?”
“If I had, he wouldn’t have died so easy.”
“Both his legs are broken,” Hunter said. “And he was shot in the head.”
“Like I said, easy.”
Hunter shrugged. “Can you blame me for asking?”
“No.” I stared back down at the fucker that had hurt Ruby in too many fucking ways. “Wish I’d found him first.”
“I know what you’re feeling,” Hunter muttered.
Hunter’s road back to Lulu hadn’t been easy, not by a long shot. My friend knew exactly how I felt and then some. “I would have made this fucker scream.”
His lips curled, his smile dark as fuck. “You scare the shit out of me sometimes.”
“Ditto,” I fired back at him.
He snorted and we headed back out, then Hunter called it in to Jude’s contact in the NYPD.
He hung up and turned to me. “Someone wanted him to make sure he kept his mouth shut.”
After the way Scott had attacked Ruby, allowing his laptop to be found by the cops, then coming after her again in broad daylight—he’d been far from discreet. Didn’t take a genius to work out the assholes behind the site had done this, but I wouldn’t be satisfied until I shut them down myself.
“At least Scott isn’t a danger any longer. You can both rest easy.”
“Yeah.” I wasn’t dropping my guard. Not yet. “Doesn’t mean she’s out of danger,” I said.
“No. But I’m assuming this was his employer cleaning up a m
ess. Scott being the biggest one. The cops know about the site now, they want these guys as bad as us. My guess, they’ll be closing down their operation as we speak.”
What Hunter said made sense. And deep down, I knew he was right. But I still didn’t know what Scott’s motivation had been for beating and attempting to abduct her. And now we’d never know for sure. So no, I wasn’t dropping my guard. Jesus, I just wanted Ruby safe, where nothing and no one could ever touch her again. It was fucked up; I knew this. It was my issue. I knew that, too. I just didn’t know how to get around the way I felt, how to keep her close and let her go her own way at the same time. How to get past the ugly, dark thing inside me that whispered to me every time she walked out the door, reminding me of how I’d let her down and she’d been hurt because of it.
“You love her, don’t you?” Hunter said, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Yes.” The answer to Hunter’s question was easy. I didn’t have to think about it. I realized I’d never said the words to her, had never thought I needed to.
“I don’t know shit about relationships. I only know Lulu, what she needs. But I do know Ruby’s independent. She worked hard for that. It’s important to her.”
I crossed my arms. “Your point?”
Hunter shrugged. “You’ve made good headway with her, don’t turn around and fuck everything up.”
It was like the asshole could read my dammed mind. Because right then, keeping her where I knew she’d always be safe, where no one could hurt her again, was exactly what I wanted to do. “Thanks for the advice. But I know what Ruby needs.” And I’d give it to her, even if it killed me.
Hunter smirked. “I’ll shut up then.” He pulled his keys from his pocket and headed to the van he’d driven over instead of his usual ride, the reason for that still lying in that abandoned house.
“Thanks,” I said after him.
He glanced back at me. “I’m here for you, brother. Like you’ve always been for me.”
“I know.”
He pulled the van door open. “Right, I’m going home to my girl.”
I intended to do the same. I watched Hunter drive off and walked to the driver’s side of my car.
The sound of boots on the pavement had me looking up. Ruby stood a few feet away, watching me warily.
“What are you doing here?” It took every bit of my self-control not to flip the fuck out.
“I found Scott and called Hunter.”
“The fuck?”
She crossed her arms. “Scott called, told me he had some information for me. I agreed to meet him. When I got here . . .” She motioned to the house. “That’s what I found.”
“You agreed to meet him?”
She shook her head. “Don’t start, Neco.”
My fucking head was going to explode. “Are you fucking serious?”
She cursed under her breath. “I knew what I was doing, I came prepared.” She lifted her shirt at her hip, flashing me her gun. “Despite what Scott did, I think in his own fucked-up, warped way . . . when he tried to get me in his car that night, then again on the street, he thought he was protecting me, or trying to.” She shrugged. “From what? I have no clue, which is why I came, to find out.”
“On your own?”
“I had Harry with me.”
“You should have fucking called me.”
“Would you have let me come if I’d called you about this?” she said.
Jesus fucking Christ. “No.”
“Let me put it this way, could you have sat at home and sent Hunter or Zeke in your place if this was happening to you?”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“It just is.” I was close to punching a hole through the window of my car.
“This is exactly why I didn’t call you. Maybe if you’d stop freaking out and started trusting my damn judgement, it would have been you I called for backup.”
If I said all that I was thinking right then, acted on the way I was feeling, I’d make things a fuck of a lot worse between us, so I bit my tongue, which wasn’t easy. “Go home, Ruby.”
“Goddammit, Neco . . .”
A siren wailed in the distance. “The cops are on the way. You want to explain to them what you’re doing here?”
“Jesus,” she said, fury clear in her voice. “You’re so goddamn stubborn. I know exactly what you’re thinking, and that’s the reason I never called you,” She shook her head. “I’m not helpless, Neco. You make all the right noises, but I don’t know if you really mean the things you say.”
“This is different and you know it,” I said, trying so damn hard to keep my voice even. “We had a deal. You leave Scott to me.”
She shook her head. “This . . . your reaction, it has nothing to do with that, not really.”
Jesus fucking Christ. I snapped. “What the fuck do you want from me?” I roared.
She stiffened, staring at me for several long seconds. Finally, her eyes slid shut and she sucked in a harsh breath. When she looked at me again, I saw her disappointment. I hated it, but I had no idea how to make it better.
“If I need to tell you,” she said softly, all the fire gone from her voice, “what hope do we have?” Then she turned and jogged down the street toward her car.
I stood where I was until she’d gotten in, until she drove off.
I was fucking everything up and I had no idea how to stop it.
* * *
Ruby
The bathroom door opened and closed and I squeezed my eyes shut. The cool air hit me as Neco stepped in with me. He moved in behind me, wrapping his arms around me, pulling my body back against his strength. Neither one of us spoke. I had no idea where we went from here. All I knew was I loved him and I wanted him. That I would always want him.
“I do trust you,” he finally said against my hair. “Fuck, I’m proud of you, but Scott put you in the hospital, Ruby. I listened to a message the next day, heard you scream while he beat the shit out of you. I can’t just forget that. You’re working with Harry; I accept that. No, I don’t love it, because when it comes to you, I’m protective, and that will never change, but this case, I’m asking you again to leave it to me. For my own peace of mind.”
My heart squeezed tight. I wanted to give that to him, what he needed from me, but for my peace of mind, I didn’t think I could. I needed to work this case for me. I needed to save myself.
Turning in his arms, I pressed a kiss to his beautifully inked chest.
His cock instantly responded, stiffening between us. His hold tightened, and I knew he was about to take over, but I shook my head and pulled back, staring up at him as I reached down and wrapped his now fully hard cock in my fingers. That beautiful, wild heat that he always had in his eyes when we were together lit inside him, shining down at me. There was a wariness there, as well. He probably thought I was going to tell him to piss off after the argument we’d had. I couldn’t imagine that ever happening. Especially when I knew exactly why he reacted the way he did.
I slid my hand down and back up his hot length and watched every muscle in his body bunch tight. “This time, I’m in charge.”
He made a rough sound, hips pushing forward, sliding his cock through my fingers. “Is that right?”
“Mmmhmm.” I leaned in and kissed his chest again, sliding my lips across to his nipple. I nipped it, sucked it, loving the sound of his deep groan echoing off the tiles. I lifted my head, tying to keep my breathing normal, not easy with the way he was looking at me. But I refused to show weakness. If he saw an opening, he’d take over and I’d lose my shot at controlling the big, sexy, stubborn bastard staring down at me. One of his hands lifted, heading for my breast.
I grabbed his wrist and shook my head. “No touching.” Then I grabbed the soap and lathered up my hands. I ran them across his chest first, letting my nipples slide against his wet skin as I did, then up and over his broad shoulders.
He growled.
Heh.
/> I soaped up my hands again and let them slip and slide down over his defined abs, and just because I was a total meanie, bypassed his straining cock and dropped my hands to his outer thighs instead. My belly pressed against him, pinning his erection between us.
He smoothed my wet hair back from my face. “You tryin’ to torture me?”
“Maybe,” I said then nuzzled his chest.
He was quiet for a few seconds. “Maybe I deserve that.” He kissed my temple. “I’m not okay with what you did, not even a little, but I’m sorry for being an asshole.”
“Maybe you could be persuaded to change your mind, about one or two things?”
Another pause, longer this time. “That won’t happen.” His voice was rough, a little broken.
We were at an impasse. I could admit I was angry with him, about his refusal to see my way of thinking, over his refusal to even consider me working my own case. Really fucking angry. But that wasn’t all I was, because I knew where it came from. He wasn’t deliberately being controlling.
He was scared out of his mind for me.
And as much as I hated that I made him feel that way, I couldn’t pretend to be someone I wasn’t, either.
I forced myself to relax, to hold my tongue, and not start anything. I didn’t want to fight anymore, not tonight. I could drop it, for now. Instead, I got busy rinsing the soap from his skin, making sure our bodies slid together as much as possible, all hot and slippery.
Neco groaned. “You gonna put me out of my misery and suck my dick, or just keep rubbing your tits on me until I blow my load like a spotty teenager?”
I slid my arms around his waist. “You know what?” I screwed up my face. “I’m actually kinda tired.” I reached around him and switched off the water.
“What the . . . ?”
I opened the door and stepped out before he could finish his sentence. He grabbed for me, but I darted out of reach, somehow staying upright and not slipping over. Snatching a towel, I opened the door and speed walked to the living room. A thump and a curse followed me then Neco strode into the living room, completely naked—and deliciously wet.
He stood across from me, eyeing me like a bull facing down a red flag. “Woman, that was pure fucking evil.”
Broken Rebel: A Lawless Kings Novel Page 19