by Meghan March
I had to do a double-take. Instead of worn jeans and a T-shirt, today he was wearing dark jeans and a pale blue button-down shirt. None of the ink on his arms was visible, and he looked like any customer that might walk into my gallery—and with his broad shoulders filling out the shirt to perfection, he looked better than most.
That’s when it occurred to me why he looked familiar. The man could have been a double for Shemar Moore. I was standing there, silent and slack-jawed, most likely, as I came to this realization.
Rix raised his chin at me. “If it had taken you any longer to work up the guts to text me, you wouldn’t have needed to.”
Snapping back to reality, I demanded, “Is Trinity okay? Where is she?”
“I’ve been given assurances that she’s fine. No one will touch her.”
His response didn’t allay my concern. “What do you mean, given assurances? Why didn’t you get her back?”
Rix said nothing, but turned and walked toward the door.
“Don’t leave, dammit. I’m not done with you.” Once again, I’d forgotten who I was talking to.
He flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED and locked the door before stalking toward me, his eyes never leaving mine. “Ain’t going nowhere, duchess. Because it seems I gotta explain some shit to you.” Even dressed as he was, Rix was still every bit as dangerous as he had appeared before.
I walked backward until my butt bumped into my desk. “Explain what?”
“That I don’t take orders from you.” He stopped a foot away from me.
What was he going to do? We were in full view of the windows on Royal Street. I derived a certain sense of safety in that fact, and kept pushing him.
“You said you were getting her back.”
He gave me a nod. “And I am. But your timetable doesn’t matter in my world. I do this my way.”
“Last night you said—”
“That I’d get her back, and I will.”
“What are you waiting for? A full moon? A solar eclipse? A sign from the heavens? There’s no reason to wait.” I realized I sounded ridiculous but I didn’t care.
“You don’t need to know why, you just need to wait.”
“But they could be hurting her!” My patience was gone. Done. Out the window.
“They won’t fucking touch her. And you’re gonna go on about your business, just like you normally would. Nothin’ has changed in your world. You don’t know a thing about this, and no one else knows about this.”
“Are you crazy?”
Rix crossed his arms. “You’re gonna do exactly what I told you, because anything else is gonna put your girl in more danger. You go to the cops and it’s all over.”
Talk about a leap of faith. “You’re serious.” I met his intense silver stare. “You really expect me to trust that you have it under control, and go on about my routine?”
“Yes.”
“And pretend nothing is wrong?”
“Yes.”
He was implacable. That was the only word for it.
“I can’t.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“What about updates? Are you going to make me wait and wonder?”
“In person only. Anything else isn’t a good idea.”
Both my eyebrows shot up. “Paranoid much?”
“I call it smart.”
“How long? At least tell me that. How long is it going to take?”
Rix’s jaw tensed before he answered. “As long as it takes. I’m working it from more than one angle. She’ll be fine. I give you my word.”
The last words he spoke were so low and solemn that I knew he was deadly serious. Rix had just given his vow to return Trinity safely. In this situation, the only thing I could do was hope that his threats were scarier than the other guys. I didn’t know how to navigate this world, but something told me that having Rix on my side was like having a ringer on your team.
“Fine.”
He watched me, as if gauging the sincerity of my answer.
I squeezed my hands together to avoid fidgeting. For a moment, I wondered what it would take for Rix to lose a measure of that intensity, and laugh and smile easily.
None of my business, I reminded myself, but at the same time, his words from last night echoed through my brain. “I don’t want anyone to know that I’m fucking fascinated with you either.”
I needed to stop myself before I tumbled down the same rabbit hole. This man was dangerous. And yet, strangely, I trust him.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting Trinity back.
Rix, obviously not waging the same mental war I was, stepped back. “Take care, duchess. I’ll be around.” He strode toward the door without pausing to even look back.
“That’s it?”
Rix stopped, steps from the door, and turned. “You want more from me?”
It was a loaded question. I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights.
Words, Valentina. You need words here. Say something. Anything.
“I, uh . . . I just . . .”
Oh hell, he’s moving again. Toward me.
Rix stopped only inches away this time. “You think you can handle more, duchess?”
Handle more what? That was the question. More of him? God help me, but the idea was so much more tempting than it should have been.
He lifted his hand, moving it slowly toward my face, as if waiting for me to bolt. But I didn’t bolt. I didn’t want to bolt.
Because even though the air had shifted in the room from all business to something decidedly not businesslike, I still felt safe. And that meant everything.
When his thumb finally smoothed across my cheekbone and his palm cupped the side of my face, he spoke. “I’m not gonna lie and say I don’t want more. A fuck of a lot more. But you aren’t ready yet. I know it, and you know it. But that don’t mean I don’t want it. I’ll be back, duchess. We settle this business, and then we’ll figure out the rest.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
A hint of a smile played around the corners of his mouth, but Rix didn’t let it free. He dropped his hand, but only for as long as it took to pull me close and bury it in my hair. There was no hesitation, no asking for permission, before his lips took mine.
I gasped against his mouth and Rix shifted, his tongue sliding between my lips as he deepened the kiss. With his free hand, he palmed my ass and rocked his erection into me.
Heat flashed through me, violent and needy. My hands bunched in his shirt as my gasp turned to a quiet moan. My panties were soaked when he finally pulled away.
His silver eyes flashed with untamed desire, and he said only one word before heading for the door, unlocking it, and letting himself out.
“More.”
TRYING TO GO ABOUT MY life and pretend like nothing was wrong was nearly impossible. Actually, skip the nearly, it was impossible. Still, I attempted it.
After I flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED again at the end of the day—and purposely avoided thinking about Rix doing the same thing earlier—I contemplated my choices. Go home and wander my empty house, worrying about Trinity, or go find a distraction.
A distraction in the form of good food won out.
I made it a point to go out to dinner alone often. Some might think it odd, but I was a single woman who loved all the amazing food New Orleans had to offer, and not just out of a take-out container. Tonight, I settled on oysters.
Slipping into Royal House, my favorite oyster bar in the city, which happened to be conveniently located near my gallery, I asked the maître d’ for a table for one. There was no shame in it. I didn’t care that most everyone else was paired off or in large groups. Okay, so I did have a tiny twinge of longing to be one half of a couple occasionally—especially, like tonight, when I needed a distraction.
As a hostess led me through the restaurant, I saw a familiar face at the next table over. Detective Hennessy.
I lowered myself into my chair and nodded at him.
“Ms. Noble,” he said. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Detective.” His presence didn’t surprise me. He worked out of the precinct in the Quarter, and I’d seen him more than once on the street.
He gestured to the empty seat across from him. “Care to join me? Oysters would go down better across from a beautiful woman.”
His compliment stunned me into an awkward silence, and I couldn’t come up with an excuse quickly enough to decline gracefully. Although, did I really want to decline? Maybe he was the distraction I needed tonight.
“Um, sure, I guess. That’d be fine.”
My even more awkward acceptance of his invitation hung between us as I stood and moved to his table. Things swirled further down the path of awkwardness when he rose to pull out my chair and seated me in it. How did I go from intending to eat oysters and distract myself to feeling like I was sort of on a date?
“You didn’t call today and I haven’t heard a thing about the wreck, so I’m assuming you found your employee?” he asked.
Crap. So much for forgetting for even a few minutes.
Rix’s warning played through my mind. No cops. But I was also a terrible liar. Yet technically, the detective’s question was whether I’d found Trinity, and I knew where she was now. It just wasn’t where either she or I wanted her to be.
I decided to say as little as possible, and went with a nod.
Where was a server when I needed one to order a drink? I glanced over my shoulder, but didn’t see one in the vicinity. Time to change the subject.
“So, is this one of your usual haunts?” I asked.
Hennessy smiled and leaned back in his chair, lifting his glass to his lips. He studied me for a moment before answering. “It’s close, the food’s damn good, and I like the atmosphere. Especially tonight.”
“Why tonight?” I smiled back, relaxing into my own chair.
“Isn’t it obvious, Valentina?”
My cheeks heated when I realized I’d walked right into that one. That’s when it occurred to me what was different about tonight. He wasn’t treating me like a victim. He wasn’t handling me with kid gloves the way he had during every interview and subsequent meeting. Hennessy was treating me like a woman he was interested in.
The realization shifted everything in my head, and the distraction I’d so desperately needed presented itself. In a moment, I went from sitting across the table from a cop to ordering a drink with a man. A man who I could acknowledge was incredibly attractive. Around six feet tall, solidly built, with muscles that you couldn’t get sitting behind a desk all day, and short, messy blondish-brown hair that used to be buzzed when I’d first met him. Before I would have said his most striking feature was his bright green eyes, but tonight I was shocked to see tattoos winding up his forearms and disappearing under his rolled-up shirtsleeves. How had I never noticed those before?
And when did I start seeing men as men again and not potential monsters?
I’d been hyperaware of Rix as well, and couldn’t help comparing the men in my mind. Rix’s skin was a few shades darker and also marked with ink, his eyes silver and intense, and then there was the fact that he’d given me his word that he’d get Trinity home safe.
Yanking myself away from the thoughts of Rix, I refocused on Hennessy across the table. He did make for a heck of a distraction. And I still have no idea what his first name is.
Grabbing my napkin and shaking it out, I waited for a break in our conversation about what type of oysters we planned to order.
“I feel stupid asking this question after so long, but what exactly is your first name? I can’t believe I don’t know it. I’m assuming it’s not Detective.”
Hennessy laughed, the sound deep and rich and . . . sexy, if I was being honest. When he finished, he smiled at me and answered, “Rhett. My mother has always been a junkie for the classics.”
Rhett Hennessy. Yep, it was a good name.
“Do you have siblings?”
Rhett nodded and the ease in his features vanished. “Two brothers, one older and one younger. I had another brother, the oldest of all of us, but he was killed in the line of duty last year. He was on the force too.”
“I’m so sorry. That’s terrible,” I said instantly, wishing I hadn’t unknowingly brought up such a painful subject.
“It happens. We’ve got a lot of cops in the family, and we all knew the risks when we signed on for the job. My dad’s retired from the NOPD. My mom had to deal with worrying about her husband on a daily basis for close to thirty years, and now she’s still worrying about her sons.”
I didn’t know if I should offer more condolences or let him steer the conversation away from their tragedy, but I opted to go with the flow.
“Wow. Family tradition, huh?”
“You could say that. I just never wanted to be anything else. I always knew I’d wear a badge.”
I picked up my water and sipped. “Both of your other brothers are cops too?”
He shook his head. “Just the older one, but he’s living the cushy life on the force in Colorado at Vail. My younger brother decided to make his own way. He was military, and now no one has a clue what he does. He’s down in Central America somewhere, and he checks in every couple of months to let us know he’s alive.”
“Wow. That’s gotta be . . . hard. Not knowing where he is and if he’s okay.”
Rhett shrugged and reached for his own drink. Whiskey, neat. “It is what it is. After he served in Afghanistan, he didn’t have any desire to come back to the States and re-assimilate into civilian life. He’s never gotten along with our dad, so the force wasn’t for him. I don’t ask questions when it comes to him because there are some things I don’t need to know.”
“I can’t imagine what it’s like to be so far away from family, though. My parents are less than a mile away, and while I acknowledge that sometimes it isn’t far enough, I do love having them close. I’m an only child, so I can’t imagine leaving New Orleans.”
Rhett’s smile eased again. “I’ve got no plans to leave this town either. It’s home.”
“So you like what you do?” I was always fascinated by the answer to that question.
He gave a short nod and turned the question around on me. “Do you? Running a gallery must be . . . interesting.”
I laughed. There were plenty of people who weren’t into art. I got it. I mean, I wasn’t into a lot of things.
“It is, actually. Luckily there are plenty of people here who love the new artists I’m always trying to find, and I’ve developed a reputation for the gallery as one that is constantly evolving and shifting with the cutting edge of the art world.”
“I can’t say I know a thing about that, but your eyes light up when you talk about it. Looks good on you.”
“Are you flirting with me, Rhett Hennessy?” My tone was also alarmingly flirtatious, and I wasn’t sure what in the world I was doing.
Rhett’s gaze turned serious. “I’ve wanted to flirt with you for years, Valentina, but you weren’t ready. I think you’re ready now.”
Even I could feel my eyes widen at his words. How did I miss that? And what did I think about it?
“Years?”
His smile was wry. “Told you, you weren’t ready. But I’m calling tonight our test-run date. Which means I’m buying you dinner and seeing you home.”
His assertiveness, a quality I’d never really noticed before, surprised me. “You are?”
“Yeah. There’s one thing I learned from losing my brother—life is too short not to take chances. I’ve waited long enough to take this one, and I’m not waiting any longer.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I wasn’t prepared for this and was clueless about how to react. “Um. Okay?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take it slow. Starting with dinner again later this week. I’ll pick you up at your door, bring you flowers, and impress you with my ability to carry on a conversation and drive a stick. Maybe stage
a flat tire so you can watch me change it with my shirt off and realize I might be useful in more ways than one to have around.”
I couldn’t help but laugh with a hint of embarrassment at his words and the attractive grin stretching across his face. This guy—Rhett Hennessy—was completely new to me. He was charming. And all man.
The rest of dinner passed in a blur of laughter, good conversation, and delicious food. When we left the restaurant, Rhett walked me back down the street to where I’d parked near the gallery, and followed me home in his car. He slammed his door as I climbed out of the Tesla.
“You’re really taking this whole test-run date thing seriously, aren’t you?” I said as I met him in front of my garage and the door slid closed.
Rhett reached for my hand and closed his around it before leading me up the walk to my front door. Normally I would have entered through the portico, but I wasn’t going to contradict his gentlemanly gesture. I’d had few enough of those in my life to be completely charmed by the effort.
We paused at the front door, my keys in my hand, and I had that moment of wondering how seriously he was taking this test run. Was he going to try to kiss me? Did I want him to?
Rhett answered the question without me having to wonder for very long. “I’m not going to kiss you. Yet.” But he moved in closer anyway, and my gaze locked with his. “Well, maybe that’s a lie.” And his lips lowered . . . to my forehead. Rhett stepped back and smiled, and I couldn’t deny it—the man was incredibly attractive. “I wanted to make that kiss count, but I’m gonna let you get used to me first. I’ll drop by the gallery, and we can work out our next date.”
I couldn’t help but smile back, and turned to my door as he headed toward his car. How in the world did this happen? A date . . . with the guy I was certain would never see me as anything but a victim?
Maybe things do change.
I slid my key into the lock and twisted, pushing the door open at the same time. Stepping into my darkened foyer, I pushed the door shut and locked it before deactivating the alarm and then setting it again immediately. I didn’t take chances with my safety.
I flipped on the foyer light, but nothing happened. The bulb must have burned out. Strange.