He didn’t want to tell them about Troy’s party or Ava’s involvement in it. As far as he was concerned, no one needed to know that. In fact, the fewer people who knew, the better. So he tapped the side of his nose. “Need-to-know basis only, and you don’t need to know.”
Quinn’s gaze narrowed even further. “So, what? You want to take down Troy? Can’t the police handle that? Jesus, Ava’s a cop. She should be going to them, not us.”
“She doesn’t have any solid proof,” Rush said. “The police have been chasing him for years but have never found anything concrete to pin on him.”
“I don’t see how we can help then,” Zane commented, leaning back in his chair. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling us.”
Rush grinned at him. “There’s something I’m not telling you.”
“Of course there fucking is,” Quinn muttered.
“I’m besties with Troy’s lieutenant. And when I say besties, I mean he’s been skimming cash from his boss and is looking for a way out, and I’m willing to help him.”
“Riiiight.” Zane nodded sagely. “I think I see where you’re going with this.”
“If it’s to Testify-Against-Your-Boss-to-the-Police-land, then you’re already there.”
Quinn frowned. “And he’s willing to testify, you said?”
“Yeah. Ava’s going to work on a deal with the DA, maybe some witness protection and no charges for shit he’s been involved with already. Collins would jump at the chance, especially if it means he’d get off scot-free with all of Troy’s cash. Also, the cops are desperate to get Troy. They’re not going to pass this one up if they think they can get him.” Rush was suddenly aware of Zane’s blue gaze resting sharply on him. “What?”
“You’re doing this for her?” his little brother asked, the question sounding oddly loaded.
Rush shifted uncomfortably, feeling protective of Ava and what had happened between them the night before. Yeah, his brothers didn’t need to know about that. “You know I’d do anything for a blow job,” he said, forcing a grin.
“Uh-huh,” Zane said, which had to be the most skeptical sounding noise in the world. “She’s the special friend, then?”
Rush’s grin faded. Not only was he feeling protective, he was now back to feeling kind of pissed as well, though he had no idea why. “Yeah, she is. Or do you not think she’s worth helping?”
Zane held up a hand. “Whoa there, buddy. I didn’t say that. I was just wondering why you’re suddenly all about helping Ava when you’ve never lifted a finger for her before.”
They wouldn’t remember, of course. Zane had been too caught up in his own issues, and Quinn just hadn’t been there. “I used to spend a lot of time with her when she was a kid,” he said, hoping it didn’t sound as defensive as he thought it did. “After her mom died, the sheriff used to come round and talk to Dad.” Two older men bonding over the shared loss of the women they loved. “She was lonely. I talked to her, did stuff with her. And when she asked me to help her out with her investigations into Troy, I said yes.”
Quinn studied him silently, and Rush could guess what the prick was thinking. But justifying himself was only going to make it worse, so he merely stared back.
“I’m going to assume you’re actually doing this out of a genuine desire to help her, and not simply to get into her pants,” Quinn said eventually.
Rush ignored the anger that shot through him at the casual assumption. “Like I said, she’s a friend. And anyway, do you seriously think I’d be trying to take down a fucking arms dealer just to get into her pants? That’s way too much hard work, bro. I like my women easy.”
Quinn grunted. “True.”
“She lost her mother,” Rush went on, hammering the point home. “And now she wants justice. And you know what? She’s a friend, and I don’t see why she shouldn’t have this at least.”
Zane was looking at him like he saw something that Rush himself wasn’t aware of. It was, quite frankly, a bit fucking unnerving. “Take a picture, baby bro. It’ll last longer.”
But Zane ignored him. “You feel really strongly about this, don’t you?”
“Do we really have to talk about feelings?”
“Hey, you were the one who brought it up with all that ‘I’m sorry’ bullshit.”
Oh, crap. So he had.
Rush sighed. “I just want help to get Collins. That’s it. That’s all you have to do. So are you in or not?”
“Of course we’re fucking in,” Quinn said without hesitation. “I’m assuming you’re wanting to keep the police and the sheriff out of it until we have this guy and he’s ready to talk?”
“Yeah.” He certainly didn’t need the police’s help getting Collins, not when their presence would alert Troy and maybe put their entire plan in danger.
“Why us?” Zane asked after a moment. “I mean, you’ve got a contact list a mile long and yet you’re coming here for help.”
“Uh, I thought I’d save money since I don’t have to pay you?”
“Bullshit.”
Rush took a breath. “Because you’re my fucking brothers, that’s why. Does there need to be any other reason?”
Zane paused a moment, then grinned. “I guess not.”
There was a warm feeling in Rush’s chest, one that hadn’t been there before, and he wanted to grin back. But that would really be getting into mushy territory.
So he leaned forward instead. “Okay, so here’s my plan to get Collins.”
Chapter 18
When Monday rolled around, Ava sat down at her desk and called a contact in the DA’s office, wanting to grill her about whether or not there was a hope in hell of cutting a deal in return for information on one of the county’s biggest crime lords.
Turned out there was hope and more than that. Troy was on their most-wanted list, and the DA was prepared to grant immunity and protection to anyone willing to testify against him in court. Of course, Ava had to end the conversation pretty quickly after that, especially when the contact started asking for specifics. Rush had been clear that police involvement before they’d gotten hold of Collins would risk tipping Troy off. No one could know what they were planning, not until they had Collins safely in Lone Star custody.
She texted Rush as soon as she’d hung up the phone, letting him know that a deal was definitely possible. He responded almost immediately, telling her that his brothers were onboard and they’d probably go for Collins that night.
Ava shot back a text asking him where she could meet them, since she was definitely coming along, sans uniform of course. No way she was going to let them grab the bastard without her. But Rush’s answer was unequivocal. No fucking way she was meeting them anywhere. She was to stay exactly where she was and let them handle it.
She argued with him for a good ten minutes, but he wouldn’t be moved. And unfortunately his point about her not being associated with what was essentially a kidnapping in case anything went wrong was one she couldn’t ignore. Because if something did go wrong and she was implicated, she could kiss her career goodbye.
Knowing he was right put her in a vile temper. Yet she wasn’t stupid either. She was going to have to let the Redmonds do their thing on their own and pray it would all work like she hoped.
Oh yes, and hope that Rush wouldn’t get himself either killed or hurt in the process. She’d heard about the shootout that had involved some cartel members and the Redmonds a couple of months ago, and how Zane’s woman had been shot.
The thought that Rush might be fighting something like that made her feel ill, so she pushed it away, concentrating on his follow-up text instead: Oh, and by the way, why don’t you come over after this is all over and spend a little quality time with me and my dick?
She stared at the words on her phone for a good ten minutes, her body getting very excited at the thought of spending quality time with Rush and his…dick. But she couldn’t shake the weird clutch of fear that gripped her at the same time.
He’d wanted to stay with her the day before and had been obvious about the fact that he’d wanted to spend that time in bed. But her fear had been there too, making her send him away with a stupid excuse. And she wasn’t sure why, not when every other part of her wanted him to take her back up to her single bed and do whatever he wanted to her.
Perhaps it was only because she needed some distance, some time to think about exactly what was happening. Sex was new to her. Hell, love was pretty damn new to her too, and she didn’t know how she wanted to deal with it. Especially when the man she was in love with probably didn’t feel the same way about her.
Oh, he wanted her, she knew that. And maybe he even liked her. But love?
How do you know? You haven’t asked him.
The cold clutch of that fear gripped her tighter. Being afraid wasn’t something she was used to, not even when she’d put the moves on Collins at Troy’s party. She’d been a bit trepidatious, sure, but it hadn’t been this quivering thing in her gut, making her feel like she wanted to run away and hide.
Annoyed with herself, she shoved the fear out of her head. She was getting ahead of herself anyway. Rush wanted sex, that was all. It was she who had the little love problem.
Besides, she was an adult woman, and she could have that conversation with him. She could tell him what she wanted and ask him what he wanted from her.
And what do you want, then? “Quality time”?
Ava sat back in her chair, ignoring the buzz of conversation from her colleagues around her as she stared at the phone in her hand.
That was the question, wasn’t it? She’d never thought this would happen, that she and Rush would end up getting together, that her stupid feelings for him would push their way out of the box she’d shoved them into years before.
But they had gotten out, and now that she’d had a taste of him, a taste of what it could be like with him, she wasn’t sure she could let that go. He’d shown her what it was like to be special to someone, to matter, and it wasn’t only about the sex. It was about the little things like milk and cookies, and talking about her mom, and having him make her eggs and bacon. Having him open up to her about his father, then hold her in his arms as if he needed her.
It made her feel good in a way she never had before.
Sure, she loved the sex and flirting with him, but that wasn’t enough and probably wouldn’t ever be.
She wanted more.
A difficult thing to want when she was a milk-and-cookies kind of girl and he was a booze-and-strippers kind of boy.
She sighed, eventually texting him back that maybe the “quality time” could wait until after the situation with Collins and Troy had been sorted out. Rush being Rush, he sent her a reply with a pic attached that made her blush and the comment For inspiration beneath it.
The rest of the day she tried to busy herself with her neglected paperwork, but concentrating was difficult when she kept worrying about what was happening with Rush and his brothers. Whether he’d talked to them about his father and cleared the air. Whether he’d told them about her and him getting together.
Too many things.
Her thoughts kept going off on tangents such as the disapproval in Quinn’s eyes when he’d found her and Rush in the kitchen together the week before. He hadn’t wanted her with his brother, that was for sure, and not because he wanted to protect Rush, but because he wanted to protect her.
Would he protect Rush if everything went bad with Collins? Would Zane? Would there be anyone around for Rush if she wasn’t there to make sure he was okay?
The worries unsettled her, and quite frankly, it was a relief to go on patrol with Mike and focus on something else for a while, even if it was getting drunks to move along and giving warnings to delinquent teens.
Her shift didn’t finish till late that night and she was exhausted by the end of it, but as she was turning into her street on her way home, her phone rang and all her exhaustion vanished utterly, because it was Rush.
Ava pulled over immediately and grabbed the phone, her heartbeat fast and loud in her head. “Hey, what happened? Are you okay? Did you get him?”
Rush’s warm, sexy laugh rolled over her. “Aw, you were worried about me, honey?”
She scowled through the window at the cars going past her, trying to get herself under control. “Well, someone has to. Did you get him?”
“Yeah, we got him. Mission accomplished. He’s here at Lone Star.”
Relief spilled through her, and it wasn’t only because they’d gotten Collins. There was some for him too. “Is he willing to give us some intel on Troy?”
“I wouldn’t say he was willing.” Rush sounded amused. “He just didn’t much like the alternative we gave him.”
Ava decided not to ask what the alternative was. It was enough that finally, after all this time, the justice she was seeking was within reach. “Thanks, Rush,” she said, her fingers clenched hard around her phone, her voice going thick. “Thank you for doing this for me.”
“Hey,” he murmured, softer this time. “It’s not just for you, remember? I want some payback myself.”
“But you didn’t have to put yourself at risk.”
“There was no risk, honey. I had my brothers with me, and they can be pretty mean motherfuckers when they want to be.”
She swallowed, trying to calm herself down, because she was being ridiculous. “Okay, so what’s next?”
“Well, I guess tomorrow we’ll take him to the cops and he can make a statement.” He paused. “You wanna be in on that?”
She’d thought this through the day before as she’d madly cleaned the house, and had decided that it would be best to keep her name out of it. If her father thought she’d had any involvement in it, he’d be angry and worried, and she didn’t want to put him through that. She didn’t want to tell him the truth about Troy either. Someone had already been tried and convicted for her mother’s death, and as far as he was concerned, that was the end of it.
“No,” she said. “It’ll only upset Dad if he knows I had something to do with it. It’s enough to know Troy will go down eventually.”
“So you’re not going to tell him Troy was responsible for your mom’s death either?”
“I can’t, Rush. I don’t want to bring that stuff up for him again. It won’t make any difference to him anyway. He already thinks he got Mom’s killer, and it’ll only make things worse if he discovers he actually didn’t.”
“Yeah, okay. I get that.” There was a rustle at the other end of the line, the sound of him shifting around. “I know it’s late, but do you want to come and view your trophy? Have a drink to celebrate?”
It was late, and she was tired, and it wasn’t really her “trophy” she wanted to look at. It was the man who’d got him for her. It was Rush.
So she said, “Okay. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“Excellent. We have milk, we have cookies, and we have a bottle of Jack. Sounds like a party to me.”
After she’d finished up with Rush, Ava called her dad to let him know where she was going, purposely being vague on the details of why Rush wanted to see her so late at night. Then she turned her car around.
Exactly fifteen minutes later she was pulling up outside Lone Star, catching herself as she checked out her reflection in the mirror. Which was something she’d never thought about doing before, at least not before Rush.
Irritated with herself, she ignored the fact that she wasn’t wearing lipstick and that her hair was pulling out of its customary ponytail, contenting herself with smoothing it back and trying to brush the wrinkles out of her uniform. She’d been at work all day and he would just have to take her as she was—to hell with what he thought about that.
She got out of the car and headed toward Lone Star’s entrance, pushing open the double doors, then stepping into the old ex-hotel’s slightly dingy lobby.
The three Redmond brothers stood by the big oak reception desk, Quinn bent over it and writing on
a piece of paper while Rush and Zane leaned back, their arms folded, their attention on the man who was sitting on one of the rundown couches, his hands cuffed and a sour expression on his face. Collins.
All four men looked up as she entered, but it was Rush she looked at first, her heart slamming to a stop inside her chest as her gaze met his.
It had only been a day since she’d last seen him, but still the sheer physical impact of him hit her like a punch to the gut, making her have to take a sudden, sharp breath.
He looked like he always did, battered jeans sitting low on his lean hips, a faded black T-shirt stretched across his muscular chest, his ink vivid in the bright light of the ridiculous chandelier hanging over their heads. He had the same golden glints in his dark hair and in the beard that lined his uncompromising jawline, the same scars pulling at his beautiful mouth and twisting one straight brow.
Yep, everything about him was just the same as it always had been.
Yet she felt like she’d been hit by a bullet.
It’s just love, you idiot. You know this.
Of course it was just love. It was only that she’d never thought about the feeling much before, because she’d never imagined she’d ever fall in love. Sure, love was great when it was good, but when it was bad…
It’s really bad.
Ava blinked hard. No, she wouldn’t think about that now; it wasn’t the time.
Rush’s grin was full of warmth and an odd kind of pride as he pushed himself away from the reception desk and started toward her—only to check the movement and come to a stop, as if he’d abruptly remembered who else was in the room.
She found she was breathing very fast, very hard, her hands almost shaking.
“Hi, honey.” He stuck his own hands awkwardly into his pockets, as if he’d been meaning to do something else with them and forgotten what. “Want to see the present we got you?”
Zane was smiling at her, a speculative look in his blue eyes, while Quinn only gave her a nod before going back to his paperwork.
“I guess I owe you guys a thank-you,” she said, looking at Zane and Quinn, and trying not to stare at Rush like a lovesick puppy. “Rush said you helped him out.”
Take Me Harder Page 28