Duke Hunt’s loyalty to his crew and the crew’s loyalty to their boss struck him as both moving and extreme. Here was another place where Jake had no frame of reference. The people in his life had always been there for him unconditionally, and would be, Jake knew, no matter what.
Sure, he’d gotten into his fair share of trouble, most particularly with Innovative Engineering, but his family’s loyalty had never really been tested in this type of foundation-shaking situation. When a father’s arrest left a minor daughter in the state’s custody…that qualified as foundation-shaking—a situation Jake couldn’t relate to at all.
Which explained a great deal about how Mallory had chosen to handle Lance tonight. Loyalty had guided her. He was her friend, and she would help him. Despite the fact that the kid was clearly out of control, she’d involved him in her decision-making process, expected him to be accountable for his actions and to have a say-so in the consequences.
Whether or not Lance was up to that accountability, Jake couldn’t say. He certainly hadn’t seen anything to give him the impression the kid was making rational choices. From where Jake stood it looked as if the kid had needed more help than just a friend taking him home to sleep it off.
But the loyalty was beginning to make sense.
“Why did you ask me not to mention the Innovative job to your father today?”
She seemed surprised by his question. Not that she did anything overt to give him that impression. No, Mallory was skilled at controlling her emotions and right now she wasn’t sharing. But something about the way she cocked her head to the side and looked at him from beneath those lushly fringed lashes suggested she hadn’t expected him to switch gears.
“I would have thought that was obvious.”
“If it should have been, I missed it.”
She rolled her eyes. “How could you miss my dad’s approval rating? I didn’t think we’d ever get him out of my bedroom.”
Maybe Jake was slow tonight. Maybe the intensity of their sex and the constant challenge of trying to stay a step ahead of her had killed off more brain cells than he’d thought, but he still had no clue what she was talking about. “Your father’s approval rating for what?”
“For you. You’ve been cleared.”
For what specifically? He didn’t ask. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t want me to bring up Innovative Engineering.”
She exhaled in exasperation that he recognized wasn’t feigned and felt stupid because he was missing something she considered very obvious.
“Honestly, Jake. Do you think my dad would approve of you and stand there making chitchat if he knew you were the informant from the Innovative job?”
Time seemed to stop with the same abruptness as if he’d pressed the pause button on a remote control. A freeze-frame. Mallory’s scowl. Her words, which filtered into his brain in slow motion…
Informant?
Then it clicked. Mallory thought he’d tripped the alarm.
Jake’s first impulse was to laugh, but he just gripped the steering wheel tighter, forcing his gaze back to the road, which was exactly where it should be when he was cruising along with the traffic at eighty miles per hour.
His whole life had taken a left turn because of his indecision that night, yet Mallory thought he’d pressed the button that had sent her father to prison.
“There’s a very good reason why your father doesn’t know I was the informant,” he said, amazed and a little impressed by how collected he sounded.
“Really?” She arched a brow dubiously. “And why is that?”
“Because I wasn’t.”
8
OVER THE PAST ten years Polish Paul’s Tattoo Studio had grown to be an institution in Atlanta based solely on Polish Paul’s artistic talent. The man had a gift for creating images much in the same way he had a gift for conceptualizing the components to get Duke’s crew in and out of a secured facility.
Through thirty-plus years of friendship, Paul Ruffin, known to everyone as Polish Paul, had wielded his gift whether he was sketching egress routes or pinch-hitting between jobs with an airbrush or tattoo needles.
Duke hadn’t been surprised when Polish Paul had opened his own studio upon retirement, and he liked the simplicity of the place, which didn’t come to life until the sun went down. There was no forced elegance, only bright lights, hydraulic chairs and lots of mirrors.
And Polish Paul’s pride and joy—a pool table that took up a chunk of his workspace.
Duke also knew his friend would have knocked out a wall and laid the slab for additional square footage himself before abandoning that pool table. Just as sporting one of his tattoos—or a “Polish Paul” as they’d become known—was considered an honor, an invitation to shoot a game of pool on this table was equally regarded by the underworld elite.
Polish Paul was gruff and partial to dark beers and fine Cuban cigars, one of which he kept clenched between his teeth at all times, even while he worked. Duke knew most people considered inhaling second-hand smoke at close range a small price to pay for an original Polish Paul.
“Bless that girl of yours.” Polish Paul reappeared in the studio, circling the counter.
“How is Lance?” Opal sat up in a hydraulic chair and crossed her shapely legs.
Polish Paul dragged the stogie from his lips and set it in the ashtray by the cash register. “Sleeping it off upstairs.”
Duke dragged his gaze from Opal’s legs and asked, “Where did Mallory find him?”
“She swept him up off the ground behind Big Jim’s.”
“Big Jim let them onto his property?” Eddie folded his arms across his chest and gave a low whistle. “I’d have expected him to call the law. Think he’s finally gotten over you stealing Connie out from under his big nose?”
Polish Paul shook his grizzled head. “Wouldn’t bet on it. From what Mallory said, he didn’t know Lance was there. That boy has the devil’s own luck.”
“Let’s hope that luck doesn’t run out any time soon.” Opal didn’t allow herself a frown, but Duke didn’t need the corresponding facial expression to hear the worry in her voice.
“She’s right, Paul,” he said. “This has been going on too long. Lance doesn’t seem to be coming around.”
“Damned kid is making me nuts.” He slammed a hand down on the counter, made the cigar in the ashtray jump.
Opal caught Duke’s gaze in the mirror, gave him a look that revealed she saw an opportunity to speak her mind and was going for it. “You can’t keep picking up the pieces for him, Paul. You’re not doing him or yourself any good.”
“What else can I do? Throw him out in the street?”
Duke cocked a hip against the pool table and said, “Get him some help.”
Polish Paul scowled. “He won’t go, and if I force him, I’m as good as throwing him out. He’ll drop out of school and won’t come home.”
“He’s barely coming home now.” Opal pointed out.
“She’s right, man,” Eddie said. “He’s got you hostage. He knows you won’t force him to go see somebody, so he’s just doing whatever the hell he wants.”
“We’re worried about him, and you.” Duke hadn’t been this worried about his friend since Paul had lost his wife. “None of us want to see Lance crash and burn.”
“Of course not,” Opal agreed. “We want to see him live up to his potential. He’s a smart boy—”
“If Connie were alive, he might have stood a chance.” Polish Paul thrust his fingers through his hair in frustration, making it stand on end.
“That’s not true.” Opal rose in a fluid burst of motion that drew Duke’s gaze from the top of her sleek head down the length of her curvy body, beautifully displayed in dark blue silk.
She went to stand beside their friend and patted his hand. “You’ve done a wonderful job rearing Lance. You know as well as I do that Connie would never have had a child with you if she didn’t trust you to raise him right.”
What n
one of them said was that Connie hadn’t expected to contract the ovarian cancer that had killed her. And ever since her death, Polish Paul had been trying to play the roles of both father and mother to their only son. A difficult enough job even for someone who’d had a stable upbringing. Polish Paul hadn’t. Like the rest of them, life had knocked him around enough during his youth to make gaining his feet in adulthood a task of monumental proportions.
And like the rest of them, Paul stood tall. He’d always done his best by his son.
“Give it some thought,” Duke said. “You’ve done all you can alone. The kid needs help. We’re all here if you need us.”
Polish Paul met his gaze and nodded. Retrieving his cigar, he shoved it in his mouth and bit down hard. “Looks like today’s the day for kid grief, eh, Duke? Lance woke up enough to ask me who the guy with Mallory was.”
“Who?” Now here was a curve he hadn’t expected.
“Lance said she called him Jake. I’m guessing he’s the same guy we’ve been talking about. He threw my son over his shoulder and got him home in one piece. You tell him thanks for me when you see him.”
Duke nodded. “I’ll take care of it. That would certainly explain why Mallory didn’t drop in tonight. What the hell is she doing?”
“Kid grief sums it up adequately,” Eddie said dryly. “And Opal and I get to live vicariously through you two. Thanks.”
“The older they get the less control we have,” Duke admitted, still considering Mallory bringing Trinity along to pick up Lance.
“Yeah, thanks,” Polish Paul reached for his cigar.
“Buck up, gentlemen,” Opal said. “You can’t solve all the problems of the world in one night. But do what Duke says, Paul, and give professional help some thought. It wouldn’t hurt for you to talk with someone yourself. Get a few new ideas about how to help Lance. It can’t hurt.”
“An excellent suggestion.” Duke caught her gaze and nodded his approval.
“I’m glad you like my advice,” she said. “Because I have some for you, too. Butt out of Mallory’s life.”
“You’ve been told, boss man.” Eddie laughed, and even Paul managed a smile.
“No can do, gorgeous. Something isn’t right between Mallory and Trinity. What’s up with her dragging him along to pick up Lance? When was the last time you saw her bring any guy around?”
Several shrugs precluded the need to answer that question.
“I still fail to see the problem,” Opal insisted. “You want Mallory to find someone she cares about. So what’s the problem? Don’t you like Jake Trinity?”
“Liking him isn’t an issue. I don’t know him.” Although Duke couldn’t help but chuckle when he thought about the man wrapped in that bath towel. “He’s certainly no pushover. I’ll give him that. He stood in the middle of my daughter’s bedroom and asked me if I was colluding with her for information about his new security system.”
“You didn’t wipe the floor with him?” Polish Paul asked.
“The thought crossed my mind, believe me. But I kept getting the feeling I should know him.”
“Why, boss man? Have you been working with TSS on something you haven’t told us about?” Eddie asked. “When we were working on my system we went out of our way not to meet the guy.”
“I’ve never met him personally. But he was familiar somehow. Like I’ve seen him somewhere. I’ve been racking my brain, but I can’t remember where.”
“How do you expect us to help you with that?” Polish Paul asked. “I wouldn’t know Trinity if he walked up and kissed me on the cheek. What’s bugging you?”
“Mallory gets involved with this guy and as far as we know she’s never met him before. And…” He paused, more to muddle through this anomaly in her behavior than for dramatic effect. “She’s letting him help her when she tests his system.”
“You’re kidding?” Eddie said.
Duke shook his head.
“Well, you’re right about one thing,” Polish Paul mouthed around his stogie. “Our gal sure is acting weird.”
Opal met his gaze. “How good-looking is this Jake Trinity?”
“How the hell do I know how good-looking he is, Opal? What, is there some sort of yardstick for that?”
Her arched brows disappeared beneath her platinum bangs. “You do look in a mirror every day, don’t you?”
Okay, that stopped him. “Well, then yeah. I suppose he’s good-looking. If Mallory likes blond guys.”
Opal smiled. “I’ll bet Mallory would find a blond guy just scrumptious if he was good-looking and sexy enough.”
“Shit, Duke. Tell me they don’t have a yardstick for that.” Polish Paul struck one of those flexing muscle, body-builder poses that lost a great deal of the effect with his beer gut and stogie. “You don’t stand in front of the mirror checking yourself out to see if you make the cut, do you?”
“Argh, TMI.” Eddie held a hand in front of his eyes and the gold rings on his fingers winked in the overhead light. “Too much information. The thought of seeing Duke in front of the mirror is turning my stomach.” He shook his head as if clearing the image. “And didn’t I just say I thought of Mallory as a daughter? She’s still twelve as far as I’m concerned. She does not do it.”
Duke wouldn’t have minded hanging on to that delusion himself. Especially after walking in on her and Trinity with wet heads. “Damned straight. Too much information.”
“She’s a beautiful, healthy girl. Emphasis on the word healthy.” Opal tipped that regal nose in the air. “Leave her be. You’re all a big bunch of babies.”
Duke didn’t want to hear it. He was entitled to being whatever he damn well pleased when it came to his daughter and her boyfriends. Another argument for getting her settled down with a worthy man who would treat her right.
“Enough of this, crew. Let’s get back to business. I’ve got a plan and I need your help. I want all of you to start making appearances when Mallory and Trinity are working together. Keep your ears open. I want to know what the deal is between these two.” Duke shot Opal what he hoped was a quelling glance. “And I don’t want to hear about it.”
“What do you think is going on between them, boss man? Love at first sight?”
“Eddie, that is so sweet.” Opal smiled a smile that proved his quelling glance hadn’t bothered the romantic heart beating beneath her impressive bosom one bit.
“Nothing would make me happier. But I’m a realist, and that’s not my daughter,” Duke admitted. “Opal, you’ll be easy. Mallory will be working with Trinity in her workshop for the next few days so you can pop in whenever you get a chance. Meet him for yourself and see if you can ferret anything out. And Eddie, I suggested that Mallory should call you to use your place to put Trinity through his paces.”
“You got it, boss man. I’ll do my thing.”
“What about me, Duke?” Polish Paul asked.
Eddie winked at him. “Invite her to bring the guy in for a tattoo. Two little matching hearts on their butts.”
“Right.” Paul plucked the stogie from his mouth and stubbed it in the ashtray. “I’ll tattoo a little heart on your ass, too.”
“Paul, you got your hands full with Lance, so sit tight,” Duke said.
He clearly wasn’t happy with that answer, but didn’t argue. He knew the rules as well as anyone—if his mind wasn’t on a job… “All right. I’ll sit back on this one. Unless an opportunity presents itself. I owe Mallory one for helping me out with Lance.”
Duke nodded, accepting the compromise. He’d always called them like he saw them, and he didn’t intend to conduct business any differently now. Even for an unusual job like this. The risk might not include a stint behind bars, but if Mallory found out they were spying on her…the attitude his daughter could sling around was nearly as daunting.
“Let’s wrap it up,” Duke said. “Do your thing, crew, and call me when you have something. Paul, need a hand upstairs?”
“No, but flip that Ring the Bell
sign on the door since you’re standing there.”
“Call if you need anything,” Duke told him before following everyone through the back door.
The crew said their good-byes and parted ways. Polish Paul headed back upstairs and Eddie hopped into his showy Porsche and gunned the engine. Duke motioned Opal to stay behind.
“What’s up, Duke?” she asked.
“Leave your car here. I want to swing by Mallory’s to see if Trinity’s car is parked in her driveway. Then I’ll take you home with me for the night.”
She lifted those baby blues his way, her gaze glinting curiously beneath the starlight. “It’s been a while.”
“Too long.”
She tipped her nose up at him, a look that told him she wasn’t going to make this easy. “Well, that choice has been yours because there have been gaps in my schedule lately.”
“I know.” The unfortunate truth, because Duke had no one to blame but himself.
He’d been doing a lot of soul-searching lately and realized that Opal had thrown him for a loop. When they’d met, he’d had to conduct a full-scale seduction to get her into bed. She hadn’t been a pushover, and he’d been too challenged by her. He’d wanted her too much.
He’d fought the unfamiliar feeling with distance, contenting himself to share his work and bits and pieces of his life. He’d been the fool that Eddie had always accused him of being. Fortunately, he wasn’t one to dwell on his mistakes, not when he saw a way to fix them….
Taking her slender hand, he brought it to his mouth for a kiss. “I’ve needed time to think, Opal, to decide what I want from you.”
She twined her fingers through his, a perfect fit of warm skin and sensitive nerve endings. “You never had to think about what you wanted from me before.”
“I’ve decided I want more.”
“You want more than sex from me, and you want grandchildren from Mallory?”
Though her voice dripped with disdain, Duke thought he heard something else in there, too. Something promising.
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