Kate (The Dimarco Series Book 5)

by Jennifer Hanks

I stepped forward and dropped my hands to my hips. “What?”

  “Nothing.” He stared at his shoes for a moment before once again raising his head. “Kate was attacked in the alley on her break.” He stepped forward and stared in to my eyes. “She’s okay, she wasn’t hurt, brother.”

  My back snapped straight and I felt heat blow through my body. Anger, like I’ve never experienced, overwhelmed me. I swallowed hard, trying to get myself under control. Fuck, I thought this was over. Nothing had come from someone following her, everything had been quiet. Pike and I both assumed it had been a one-time thing, a drunk with a hard-on for her, tried to get her, but didn’t so he moved on.

  I should’ve been there tonight. “Who?”

  He frowned but continued. “Pike has cameras in the alley, which sent an alert to his phone when there was activity. He ran out, just as the guy took off to a waiting car at the end of the alley. He had Joe and Max follow and they came back with a plate number but lost them.”

  “Run it.” I ground my teeth together.

  “Already did, man. It belongs to a man named, John Wills.”

  I started to move away, but Cam grabbed my arm. “Luke, wait. It was Wills’ car, but I have no idea if that’s the name of the guy who attacked her or just the guy driving the damn car. When I talked to Kate, she said she recognized the guy as the same one she kneed in the balls weeks ago.”

  I clenched my fists. “Fuck! I should’ve taken that guy in that night. I just didn’t want him pressing charges against Kate.”

  I forced my hand through my hair, meeting Cam’s eyes when he started speaking again. “I ran John Wills’ through the database and nothing, not one hit. He’s clean.”

  “Doesn’t mean he’s not capable of this.” I reminded him, pacing in front of him before stopping to face him again. “Where’s Kate now?”

  “Pike took her to pick up Andy and Cookie and then she’s going to sleep at his house.”

  I felt that like a punch to the gut. Why the hell didn’t she call me? I couldn’t worry about that right now, though, I’d be seeing Kate soon enough and then we’d talk about that.

  I started towards the hallway leading to the bedroom, Cam hot on my heels. “Luke, brother, maybe you shouldn’t go see Kate when you’re angry.”

  I tried to control my breathing to calm my anger, but this wasn’t normal anger. I hadn’t even felt this angry after I’d been shot. I’m not sure who I’m more pissed at, the man who attacked her or myself for not being there when she needed me. I almost stopped in tonight after I was finished at work, but I decided to give her some space and tomorrow talk her in to letting me spend the weekend with her and Andy.

  I grabbed my shirt off the chair and threw it on. “I’m not going to see Kate.”

  Yanking open my side table drawer, I grabbed my gun, checked the safety and shoved it into the back of my jeans. Turning, I found myself being crowded by Cam, and I reminded myself this was my brother and I didn’t want to hurt him, but if he didn’t move his ass, I would.

  He put his hand on my chest. “Don’t do this man, think it through. This could mean your job. Let me find him. I’ll take him in, nail him for assault and have Kate file a restraining order.” I gritted my teeth together, causing my jaw to throb in pain, but I let him finish talking. “You’re a cop, brother, we live by a code.”

  I stood tall and got right in my brother’s face, my voice quiet and menacing. “My woman was attacked tonight in a fucking alley, Cam. Tonight, I’m not a cop, I’m just a man. And nobody,” I lowered my voice even further, “nobody, fucking touches my woman.”

  I shoved past Cam who followed me out to the kitchen where I grabbed my keys. “Then I’m coming with you.”

  I shrugged, pulling my door open and locking it. “Do whatever the hell you want, man, just pull the door closed behind you.”

  I jumped in the front seat of my SUV but couldn’t pull the door closed because Cam was standing in the way. I released a deep breath. “You need to move.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me. I opened it and frowned. “What’s this?”

  “John Wills’ address.” He frowned. “I had a pretty good idea this was where we were heading.”

  I nodded and grabbed the door. “Let’s go.”

  He groaned but moved, jogging back to his truck and I took no time in backing out of my driveway. I threw it in drive, checked the address again and took off towards the other side of town. Cam saved me a trip to the station to run the plates myself and get the address. He knew what I’d do, he knew where I was going and it pissed me off that I hadn’t been called as soon as Joe and Max came back with the plate number.

  I was driving too fast, but I didn’t care. I had only one thing on my mind.

  I pulled alongside the road in front of a nice two-story house in the fucking suburbs. I shut it off and threw open my door, only to see Cam jog up to stand beside the door. He stopped in front of me before I could close my door. “Leave your gun.”

  I stared at him for a minute and let my anger ebb some, knowing my brother was only trying to save me from sacrificing my ass. “It’s in the glove box.”

  He nodded and backed up. “Good.”

  We moved quickly towards the front door and I rang the bell. As soon as it was pulled open I grabbed the guy by the front of his shirt and pulled him out the door, vaguely hearing Cam pull it closed behind us. I threw him on the ground, my hand wrapped around his throat and leaned over him, putting my face close to his. “You the one that hurt my girl?”

  He tried to shake his head but wasn’t having much luck with my hand on his throat. I leaned in closer. “Answer me!”

  “No, no man, it wasn’t me.”

  It wasn’t him. I didn’t recognize him as the guy from the bar that harassed her, but the fucker condoned it by driving the car so he still deserved punishment. “Give me his name.”

  He hesitated, so I tightened my hold on his windpipe, watching his face turn even more red, holding it before slacking off. “Name.”

  He gasped when I loosened my hold. “Pete Aries.”

  I nodded. “Address.”

  Again, he hesitated, so I tightened my hold, really fucking tired of this guy. When I loosened it, this time making him struggle a little longer to catch his breath, he stuttered out his address. I smirked, wrapped my hand around his shirt collar lifting his torso from the ground and leaned in closer. “Good. Now this never happened, right?”

  “Ri-ight.” He stuttered.

  “Remember that.” I warned. “Don’t ever forget I know where you live.”

  I pulled my arm back and slammed into his jaw, knocking him out and then dropping him fully to the ground. I stood and moved to my truck, Cam silently following me. He was smart enough to not talk to me right now, he knew I restrained myself with that douche. As far as I’m concerned, he deserved a whole lot more than what I just did.

  It took less than ten minutes to pull up in front of Aries’ house and I again threw it in park, shut it off and jumped out. I moved quickly up the sidewalk and knocked on the front door, heard feet shuffling on the other side, but no movement to open the door. I stepped closer and used my leverage. “Police, open up.”

  I heard the lock click and the door swung open. As soon as the douche stood before me, I knew I had the right guy, he was the same arrogant ass I dragged out of Hanks weeks ago. His eyes widened and he moved to close the door, but I knew what he was going to do before he even flinched. I wrapped my hand around his throat and shoved him in to the house, slamming him against the wall to the side of the open door.

  I got close to his face. “You attacked my girl.” I said quietly. “Now I’m going to teach you what happens to pussy’s who attack women and then I’m going to finish off by teaching you what happens to pussy’s who attack,” I leaned in closer. “my woman.”

  “I’ll call the police.”

  I grinned scarily. “You do that, fucker.”

  I pulled back my fi
st and punched him hard in the ribs, before following up by slamming my fist hard into his jaw. He fell to the floor but I didn’t stop, I couldn’t, it was beyond my control at that point. I grabbed his shirt collar and pulled his head up off the ground, punching him in the face over and over again before dropping him and landing a hard fist into this side, satisfied when I heard the sickening sound of cracking ribs. I got in a few more hits, making sure to place them strategically in the places that would hurt the most and heal the slowest.

  I felt arms come around me and pull me back hard. I only fought for a moment before Cam tightened his hold and said quietly. “It’s done, man.”

  I stopped struggling and looked down at the damage I’d done before my eyes landed on someone standing in the small foyer with us. My eyes met her scared ones and I took a deep breath, shaking my arms loose from Cam’s hold.

  Her bottom lip quivered when she looked down at the mess on the floor, but then looked back up at me. “Did he really hurt your girlfriend?”

  I decided this woman needed the truth. “The night before your wedding he groped her, she retaliated, so he showed up at the same bar tonight and jumped her.”

  She glanced down at him before meeting my eyes again. “Is she okay?”

  “She’ll be fine.” I gestured to the still body on the floor between us. “He decides he’s not done with her, I’ll be back.” I didn’t want to scare her, but she needed to know who she married. “And I won’t go so easy next time.”

  Her eyes widened and I turned, moving quickly out the door, Cam slamming it behind us, and headed to my SUV.

  “Brother.”

  I stopped beside my vehicle when Cam called out to me.

  He came up beside me and stopped, moving his hand to the back of my neck, giving it a quick squeeze. “You good?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet.”

  I looked over at my brother and took a deep breath when he grinned. “I’m right behind you.”

  I jerked my chin up and threw open the door, started it up and did a U-turn on the street, heading to Pike and Bella’s.

  I needed to see my girl.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  KATE

  A soft knock on the bedroom door brought me out of my thoughts, including how stupid I’d been to think that guy would just walk away without having the last word. I’d never known a man to do that, but I guess I’d forgotten that, having been without one for so long.

  I was reminded tonight.

  I stood from the soft queen bed in the beautiful bedroom where I’d been sitting since Bella showed me to it an hour ago after I’d settled Andy in down the hall in another guest room. I moved slowly, in no hurry to talk to anyone. My throat hurt, my cheek hurt, and I knew, because I’d spent a little while after my shower staring in the mirror, that under my eye was turning all shades of blue and purple.

  Pulling open the door, I smiled at Bella who was waiting patiently for me on the other side. “Is everything okay?”

  She nodded. “Yeah,” She glanced back at the stairs leading to the first floor and then back to me. “Can I come in?”

  I backed up. “Sure.”

  She closed the door behind her and lowered her voice. “I don’t think they know I’m up, but I just heard Pike talking with Luke and Cam.”

  I was confused. “On the phone?”

  Her eyes widened. “No, they’re here. They just came.”

  I wrung my hands together and dropped my eyes. “So, Luke knows?”

  “Kate.” I met her eyes again when she called my name. “I overheard Luke say he took care of it.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Took care of what?”

  She rolled her lips, but it looked like she wanted to grin. “I think he went after the guy who attacked you.”

  My eyebrows hit my hairline. “He can’t do that. He’s a cop.”

  She shrugged, that damn grin playing around her lips. “Cam assured Pike that he was with him and Luke left him breathing, but definitely showed him what happens when you mess with a woman.” She leaned in and seemed excited. “Cam said Luke said to the guy that this is what happens when you mess with HIS woman.”

  I jerked back. “He defended me.” I said quietly, almost to myself.

  Bella laid her hand on my arm. “He did more than that, honey.”

  “Should I go down and talk to him?” I asked her, having no idea how to handle a situation like this. My ex never defended me. He would’ve probably just laughed it off or said I deserved it for my initial reaction.

  “I think I heard him say he wanted to see you so Pike will probably send him up.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  She gestured towards the door. “I’m going to go so they don’t know I was eavesdropping.”

  I couldn’t stop the giggle when she widened her eyes and smiled. “Thanks Bella.”

  She gave me a quick hug and then was gone. I paced the room for a minute or two, not sure what to do with myself. Not sure how I felt about what she told me or how to react to it. Deciding to check on Andy, I left my room and walked to his, happy to see him sleeping soundly, Cookie right up against him, snoring. I pulled the door closed quietly and moved back to my room, stepping in and closing the door behind me. I rested my forehead against it for a minute before I decided to go downstairs and confront Luke myself rather than wait here, driving myself crazy.

  I turned to grab a sweater to throw on over my tank top and shorts, only to stumble backward when I saw Luke sitting on the chair in the far corner of the room.

  “Luke.” I whispered.

  He stood, his eyes hardening when they flicked over the bruise on my face, and took the few steps to stand before me. “I had to stop. See for myself that you’re okay.”

  His voice was different than it usually was with me, harder, edgier. “Are you mad at me?”

  His jaw ticked. “You should’ve called me.”

  “What did you do?” I asked softly.

  He stepped closer and ran his hands up my arms before dropping them back to his sides. “What I’ll do every damn time someone hurts you. Or hurts Andy.”

  I dropped my gaze and saw the bruise already forming on the knuckles of his right hand before lifting my eyes to his once again. I reached down and wrapped my hand around his, pulling it up and running my lips over his knuckles, closing my eyes, enjoying the warmth I felt being this close to him.

  I hadn’t even known how cold I was until his heat surrounded me.

  I lowered his hand, letting my eyes move between his before I reached up, wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down to my height and pressed my lips tightly to his. He jerked back, but recovered quickly, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me in tight against him. He pushed his tongue forcefully into my mouth and I moaned, loving the feel of his tongue sliding against my own.

  I stretched so I was up on my toes, pushing my body in closer, letting out another moan when his hands slid down, squeezing my butt, before lifting, forcing me to jump up and wrap my legs around his hips. He slammed my back against the wall beside the door, thrusting hard against my heat, rubbing his hardness right where I needed it. I let my head fall back against the door, encouraging him to run his lips down my neck and he did. He bit and sucked his way down my neck, turning me to walk back across the room, tossing me on to the bed, and coming down over me quickly. His mouth came back over mine, hungry, hot, making my skin flush. He moved to his knees and reached behind his neck, gripped his shirt and pulled it up over his head. I swallowed hard, taking in the feast in front of me. Wide shoulders, tanned from the sun, leading to a tapered waist, with clearly defined abs. There were dates tattooed along his ribs just under his heart, but I couldn’t read them and lost sight of them when he pulled my tank over my head, locking my arms above my head when he wrapped the material around my wrists, holding them together.

  He lowered his head to my nipple, taking it into his mouth and groaning. “Fuck, you taste so good, baby.”

&n
bsp; “I want to touch you.” I whispered.

  His head lifted and he grinned. “In a minute.”

  He lowered his head down again, working his way between my breasts, sucking and biting, causing me to arch my back, trying to push my body as close to his as possible. His hand ran down over my belly and slid in to the front of my shorts, and under my silk panties.

  “Luke.” I moaned quietly. “Please.”

  His fingers dipped lower until he could run his fingers through my soaked slit, groaning when he felt just how wet I already was. “Baby.”

  He moved back up, pulling himself from the bed and pushing his jeans off, his boxer briefs falling to the floor on top of them before he came back to me and ripped my tank top the rest of the way off. I reached out and wrapped my hand around his wide, hard cock, causing him to throw his head back and groan.

  I moved my head closer, but he put his hand on my head stopping my movement. “Not this time, baby. I need inside you.”

  He stepped back and yanked my shorts and panties from my body before moving over me and settling between my legs. “I can’t go slow.” He said, his voice low. “I’ve been dreaming about this for too long.”

  My eyes locked with his when he pulled my legs up against the side of his hips and slid into me, in one quick thrust. Groaning, he came over me again and put his lips over mine. “You feel so fucking good.”

  I put my hands on his butt, forcing him in deeper, lifting my legs and moaning loudly when he was deeper than I’ve ever felt. He lifted his head, his eyes hot on mine, pulled out and then thrust back in hard and fast. “Yes, hard, that’s what I want.”

  He moved harder and faster, his hips pumping, our groans mixing as we both climbed higher and higher. “Now, baby. Say my name.”

  “Luke.” I moaned when he reached down and rubbed his thumb over my clit, causing my hips to raise and my toes to curl when the best and hardest orgasm I’ve ever had, hit me suddenly.

  He shoved in deep, further than even before, dropped his head onto my chest and groaned, long and loud. “Fuck Kate.”

  I exhaled, trying to control my breathing, hearing him doing the same. I ran my hands along his sweat slicked back and closed my eyes.