by T. J. Kline
Leo took her to her room, and laid her on the bed before lying behind her, his body curving around hers. His arms circled her; his thighs cradling her body. For a moment, she could give in to the respite he offered. In his arms, she was forgiven for her mistakes.
“I love you, Toni.” His lips caressed the curve of her ear. “I will find her. I promise you.”
“You can’t know that.”
“You know me. I will find her.”
A sliver of hope cracked through her despair. Leo would find Rose.
But reality doused it quickly. Leo was being kind, trying to save her from her own despondency. There was no hope. She was to blame. There was no use denying it.
She didn’t deserve anyone like Leo, didn't warrant his tenderness. Not when she caused nothing but pain to those she loved, those she promised to protect. She rolled over and cupping his face in her hands, Toni pressed her lips against his, accepting the truth her heart whispered.
One last night, just one last night.
“Word on the street is that the cops are out in force, looking for you.”
Tank’s cocky grin pissed her off more than the idea that the police knew who she was. Monique had worked hard to build up her business, servicing anyone from low-end Johns to high profile clients. Somehow, someone tipped off the cops to her whole operation in the past twenty-four hours. It made her question the introduction made the night of the gala. She stared at the woman curled in the corner in a couture dress that didn’t quite fit her. The blonde hair that had been so vibrant a few days ago, hung in greasy strands into her face, clinging to a lip still slightly swollen. Makeup had covered most of the brushing but it couldn’t disguise the lump at her temple or the cut Tank had left on her cheek.
“Who are you really?” she asked, a perfectly manicured fingernail brushing back and forth over her lower lip. “You can’t be just a regular student.”
“If she is, then she's got a rich family. Someone famous, a politician or something.” Tank snorted. “I think you’ve fucked up this time around.”
“If there was any ‘fuck up,’ it’s on you.” Monique clenched her jaw as she reached for the front of his shirt, fisting the material and dragging his face close to hers. "I didn't touch her. I didn't do anything. You did."
Tank pried her hand from his shirt and took a step back. “You said get her, and I did.”
“Damn Gupta and the interest he has in these girls,” she muttered, pacing the room. “Why can’t he pick from the runaways like the others?”
“People with too much money are weird, with strange fetishes. Give me a drug dealer any day of the week. Those guys will take a stripper. They're happy with any pussy they get.”
“Speaking of which, you’ve got your guys upstairs keeping an eye out, right? And others at the Center? The last thing we need is a surprise.”
“Yeah, about that…The Feds raided the Center, found the girls under the garage. The place is crawling with cops. I had two of my guys head over to grab those three girls to work in the club tonight and they called back, saying they couldn’t get in.”
“Shit.”
She didn’t want to think about what would happen when her boss found out about this. The 4Teen Center had been their base of operations for the past two years, an easy way to lure expendable kids into their fold, as well as women who were already on the run or hiding. They had a pick of people who’d slipped through the cracks and remained unreported when they went missing, even permanently. It was easy to keep their disappearance quiet. A few shots and they became pliant, easy manipulated and convinced she would help them move on to a fresh start.
She sighed and turned back to the woman in the chair. How could this one girl cause this much trouble?
Tank pushed her with the toe of his boot. “We should deliver her to Gupta now. Get her out of here and leave town before it gets any hotter.”
Monique shifted, rolling her shoulders and feeling the tension in them squeeze tighter. She crossed her arms as she tried to weigh her options. “No. No one knows this room is under the club. Gupta is heading out of the country in two days. He'll take her with him and then she’s his problem. We can wash our hands and move on to the next city. I’m thinking L.A. would be a decent resource pool.”
Tank shrugged. “Brothels aren’t legal in California.”
“No,” she agreed, “but ‘movies,’” she lifted her fingers in air quotes, “are. There are a lot of hopefuls looking to be discovered and willing to do almost anything for that chance.”
He stuck out his lower lip, and she knew he’d go along with her plans. Tank had a good thing going; he wasn’t dumb enough to ruin that. In the meantime, she would lie low until her boss sent word, and money. The Center was a lost cause once the media caught wind of the raid, if they hadn’t already. Her donors would look for her. Those investors who weren’t actual clients would demand their money back. Those who were would want to make sure she kept their identities secret. A sure way to get them all busted by the Feds.
She needed to hide, which meant she was stuck under the strip club for the next day or so, until the man at the top requested her presence. And he would call her, eventually, if only to collect his punitive damages. It would take every bit of skill to convince him that this hadn’t been her mistake.
Fucking Gupta.
12
Toni woke alone, face-down on her bed, still fully clothed, with her arms wrapped around a pillow. Her head pounded like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. She raised her fingers to tentatively touch her temple, she cursed the scotch she’d had last night. She’d been drunk as shit and instead of making her feel better, it had only made the guilt more powerful, giving it more control.
“Aspirin's on the nightstand, by the water.”
She cracked open one eye and groaned as the light pierced her vision, stabbing deep into her pulsating brain. It hurt so badly she barely made out Leo, standing in the doorway, leaning against the door frame. She thought he might move closer, help her reach it, but he remained where he was, watching her cautiously.
Her fingers closed on the slick side of a glass, the beads of water cold against her palm as she dragged it toward her. The fingers of her other hand searched for the pills, clutching them like a lifeline.
In truth, her lifeline was standing in the doorway. He was the only thing that had bound her to reality last night. The only thing that had kept her breathing at all. Not only had the man taken care of her in the midst of her drunken breakdown last night, but he was still caring for her now. She dropped the pills into her mouth, pushing herself up on her elbow and washing them down with a gulp of still cool water.
“Thank you,” she grumbled, forcing her eyes open again.
“You’re welcome.”
He still didn’t move closer, just stood there, staring at her.
“What?”
“Jones called.”
Toni swung her legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the pounding in her head from sitting up too quickly. Every part of her hurt and the blood rushed from her brain, making her dizzy, but it wasn’t the first time and, if it meant finding her sister, there was no ache that mattered more than getting out of bed and out the door. However, Leo remained unhurried. Dread settled in her stomach. It meant they either didn’t have a location yet or— Toni refused to acknowledge any other reason.
“Nothing yet?” She pressed her lips together, silently urging him to confirm it.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, baby. I don't—”
Any other answer would've sent her running for the hills. She pursed her lips and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s okay.”
She squeezed her eyes together tightly against the pain that had only begun to fade to the dull thud of a jackhammer against her skull before risking a vertical position. The entire room shifted, tilting enough that she caught herself on the bedside table to keep from taking a tumble.
“Whoa, there.”
Leo r
ushed to her side and caught her arm. She shook him off. She'd accepted his support last night but, in the harsh light of dawn, it was time to face her guilt alone.
“I’m fine. Hung over, but fine.”
“You should stay in bed.” He gave her a lopsided grin, one that never failed to make her heart skitter and her nether regions warm, and Toni glared at him. “Yeah, I kinda figured you’d see it that way.”
“I need a shower.”
“Want me to help wash your back?” She rolled her eyes, and he chuckled softly. The gentle sound that had brought her so much comfort before made her nostalgic now as she thought back to the last dinner she and Leo had with Rose. “I’ll have breakfast ready for you downstairs in twenty minutes. Jones said he’d call back with another update in thirty.”
His words broke into her memories, dragging her back to the painful present. If that wasn’t enough to get her moving, nothing would. She plucked a pair of black jeans a black tank top from her drawers, tossing them both on the edge of her bed. With black boots and a jacket, it would be dressy enough that she could head into the office if she needed to, but casual enough that she be able to beat someone’s ass to get her sister back if the situation called for it. She stared at her reflection in the mirror critically. Damn, she hoped it would be the latter.
The regret from last night hadn’t faded. The only difference now was that she didn’t have the alcohol to numb the ache in her chest, threatening to choke her. She wracked her mind, replaying every bit of information she'd learned about Monique Bentley, wondering where she might have overlooked something. Monique was the key to finding Rose, she knew it, but was at a loss on where to start. There had to be a clue she’d missed, something she hadn’t paid enough attention to, that would lead her to where the woman was hiding her sister.
She twisted the shower knob, letting the water warm as she raked her fingers through her tangled hair and shed her dirty clothes, dropping them on the floor. As she entered the stall, the hot water hit her body, scalding her. Toni jumped backward, hitting her shoulder against the wall of the shower, her feet slipping out from under her. Unable to stop herself, she came down hard on her tailbone, hitting her head on the side of the rock surface of the wall.
“Mother fucker!”
The curse slipped past her lips on a groan of pain as she reached for her head. Toni pushed herself against the wall of the shower and, when her foot slipped out from under her again, she gave up, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her face into her knees.
Toni saw blood mixing with the water spiraling down the drain as she stared through her knees. She reached her fingers to the back of her head and they came away crimson.
“Shit,” she muttered. What else could go wrong?
“Toni?” Leo poked his head into the bathroom. “Are you—What the hell is going on?” He charged into the stall, his clothing getting soaked as he reached for her, trying to help her up.
“Don’t.”
Toni slapped his hands away, then hated herself for lashing out at him again. He didn’t let go of her. He never had. Leo deserved someone so much better than she was. Someone who would be the woman he deserved - kind, thoughtful, giving - someone like Rose.
She stopped fighting him and gripped his forearms, turning her face up toward him, tears mixing with the water streaming down her face. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Leo stared down into her face, searching her eyes for answers to questions she would never ask. Most people would have tried to convince her she had nothing to apologize for. Others would remind her she'd been doing her job, that sometimes things went horribly wrong, even in the best of scenarios.
But Leo said none of those things. He knew her, to the very marrow of her bones. Knew she would carry the recriminations for any suffering her sister endured forever. Understood this wasn’t just a job. Every case was a part of her, like the air she breathed, her cases became a part of her. These weren’t just faces and names to her, these were people. She cared about each and every one, but this one was different. This one was different. This one would kill her if she didn’t solve it in time.
“You’re bleeding.”
Like last night, Leo didn’t wait for her reply. He lifted her from the floor of the shower and sat her on the edge of the tub, reaching for the towel on the shelf and, stepping between her thighs, wrapped it around her body, looking at the wound on her head. “First aid kit still down here?” He gestured at the cabinet below the sink.
She nodded slowly, staring at him.
He opened it and grabbed the bandages. This wasn’t the first time he’d patched her up. There’d been enough missed punches in training, enough rough nights while working. There’d been a few knife-fights that had ended up too close for comfort. Leo had been there to help her through all of them. She closed her eyes as his fingers carefully inspected her head, probing the area. She hissed when he grazed over the cut, hidden by her hair.
“How are you so capable at your job and so clumsy at home?” He was trying to lighten her mood, but it didn’t work. “This isn’t too deep, just bleeding a lot.” He dabbed antiseptic on the small cut and placed a few butterfly bandages over it. “It’s stopped now that you’re not under the water.”
She winced and his gaze met hers. Her fingers clasped around his wrist. “Leo?”
She wanted to ask him to help her pour over the file, to beg him for an extra set of eyes to figure out what she was missing before it was too late. She wanted to plead with him for answers though he had no new ones to offer. Toni intended to tell him how much she appreciated his help, how much she loved him, how, once this was over, she would accept a desk job at the Bureau like he'd asked, to be the woman he deserved.
But none of those things came out of her mouth.
She reached up with her free hand and pulled his mouth down to hers, thrusting her tongue between his lips, needing to taste him, to be closer, to feel again. Her other hand wound around his waist, her body arching against his.
Leo lifted his head, staring down into her face with remorse. “Baby, as much as I want you, and I always do, I don’t think this is what you need right now.”
“You are exactly what I need.”
Her hand cupped his face, the rasp of his unshaven jaw pricked against her palm. His hair, still mussed and damp from getting wet in the shower, dripped into his face but, although his eyes shone bright with desire, they also clouded with doubt. She read the questions in his eyes, see the concern that she might regret this later, but she also recognized the need he had - to protect her, to soothe the ache of her grief.
Leo reached down and, with a flick of his wrist, the towel fell, settling around her hips. She stood as his hands moved to cup her bared breasts. Her body strained for him, her nipples pebbling in anticipation. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her hands finding his ass and drawing him closer until his erection pressed against her through his jeans, rubbing against her delicate folds. She sighed as his fingers trailed over her ribcage, feather-light caresses that left her worshiped and adored. His mouth sucked the water from her neck and shoulders before his lip closed over the taut peak of her breast.
Toni let her head fall backward and his finger curled around the base of her neck, lifting her head back up before she reopened the wound he'd doctored. “Careful,” he whispered, his voice ragged. “You don’t want to break it open again.”
She used the moment of clarity to find the button on his jeans and he growled against her skin when she fumbled with it, shoving his pants down his thighs as he moved his mouth lower still, over her ribs, then her abdomen. His thumbs glided over the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, parting them further as he slid down her body. His lips brushed the skin of her stomach, his breath hot as it fanned over her, his tongue swirling lower as his hands delved toward the center of her burning hunger.
Toni gasped as he plunged a finger into the core of her desire. When he rubbed the pad of his thumb against her, shock
waves pulsed through her body and she cried out. She wasn’t ready for the spasm that rocked her, for her orgasm to surge through her that quickly. When his mouth claimed her, she couldn’t remain still.
“You’ll going to hurt yourself, sweetheart.”
Leo stood, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, locking her legs around his waist. Leo smiled against her neck, plucking at the sensitive skin with his lips as he carried her through the suite back to her bed. Careful of her injury, Leo lay her back gently, kneeling at the foot of the bed, resting her leg over his shoulder as he pressed kissed inside her thigh. Leo’s mouth found her again, ravishing her body, plundering her with his lips and tongue until she couldn’t stand more. Her fingers wound into his hair, tugging him upward. Leo’s eyes burned with his own hunger.
“You make me crazy.”
She loosened her grip on him to run her hands over the hard muscles converging at his lower back before gripping his hips and dragging him to her. “Now.”
Toni slid her fingers around his cock, guiding him to where she needed him most. Leo closed his eyes as he slid into her heat, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth as she clung to his hips, showing him the frantic pace she needed. Her nails cut into his skin but she couldn’t release him for fear he might stop his exquisite torment. Gripping her waist, Leo matched her thrusts with his own, driving himself into her.
When a second orgasm washed over her, Toni lost all control of her body. Her limbs trembled and the more she fought her surrender, the more completely it consumed her. Leo plunged into her, again and again, until he convulsed, finding his own climax with a primal roar of release.
Dropping beside her on the bed, he leaned on one elbow and braced his head on his hand, staring down at her as their breathing returned to normal. His fingertips lazily traced the lines of her ribs, moving over the muscles of her stomach, still quivering slightly from their lovemaking. From a distance, she could hear his cell phone ringing.