by Taylor Lee
As she dashed for the exit, she said, “As far away from you as I can get!”
Chapter 28
Hearing the crash of thunder followed seconds later by shards of lightning flashing across the sky, Viviana cursed herself for having parked her Mazda at the far end of the crowded parking lot. Jesus, it had looked like it might rain when she came to the bar two hours ago. But the sheets of water pouring down and the torrential wind confirmed that one of the infamous haboobs that the big-breasted, short-skirted weather coochies had been predicting was in full force. Hearing the squealing tires behind her, she jumped to the side to avoid the Alpha Romeo Giulia that seemed intent on running her down. Too late, the passenger side door opened and an angry Jax ordered, “Get in!” When she started to move away, she was hit by a particularly fierce blast of wind. At the same time, Jax reached across the transom and hauled her into his snazzy automobile.
Furious but not willing to stay in the car next to him for a minute longer than she had to, she pointed to the end of the long line of cars. “My car is in the third row on the left.” When he ignored her and turned toward the exit, she yelled at him, “What are you doing? I said my car is—”
His crisp response was tinged with anger. “You’ve had too much to drink, Sergeant. You’re not fit to drive, particularly in this storm.”
She was furious when he pulled into ongoing traffic, avoiding the sloshing water splashing against the curb. Even with the windshield wipers working at full speed, it was hard to see through the driving rain.
“Jesus, woman. Did you actually think that you were going to drive in this? Damn, I can hardly see the street.” He glanced over at her and his lips quirked up.
She followed his eyes and saw what likely had caught his interest. Her tank top was plastered against her chest. He was obviously amused at the sight of her pointed nipples straining against her wet tank. She started to say that surely he knew what happened to erectile tissue in the cold and wet. Furious that she’d felt it necessary to say something so ridiculous confirmed that the last thing she would do was let him drive her home. When he stopped at the red light, she waited until the light turned green and Jax had put the powerful car in gear. Then, before he could stop her, she jumped from the car and bolted across the street.
Ignoring the blasting horns, one of which she was sure was Jax’s, Viviana ran to the other side of the boulevard, ensuring that Jax would have to turn the corner to catch her. Darting between the cars, she ignored the squealing tires and honking horns as cars swerved to avoid hitting her. Turning sharply to the right, she ran between two stores, heading for the alley. She knew this neighborhood well and for a second thought she might run back to Flemings and get her own car. But she was closer to her condo than she was to Flemings. Plastering herself under an overhang in the dark alley to avoid the ferocious storm, Viviana took stock of her predicament. It wasn’t hard to conclude that she was in a hell of a mess. Looking to the street, she saw a taxicab coming up to the corner. Making a mad dash for it, she pounded on the window, and to her relief the startled driver opened her door. His wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression spoke volumes about her appearance. She didn’t care. All she knew was that she was in a cab on her way home and far away from that odious man.
Allowing herself to settle back against the cold plastic seat, she admitted that in addition to being soaking wet, she was damn near freezing. Gratified when he pulled up in front of her building, Viviana dug a twenty-dollar bill out of her purse and gave it to the grateful cabbie. She didn’t have to hear him warn that she needed to get inside quickly or she might get pneumonia. For once that old wives’ tale didn’t sound far off base. Her fingers were numb, and she was shaking so hard from the cold that it took her three tries to get her key into the lock. When she finally opened the door, she almost fell inside. Her profound relief was short-lived. Once again his compelling fragrance telegraphed his presence. Not believing that her angels had truly deserted her, Viviana forced herself to look up and saw in front of her one very large, very pissed man glaring at her.
Knowing that she sounded like an idiot, she couldn’t stop the inane question that fled from her frozen lips. “How . . . how did you get in here?”
His expression hardened further. “I’m a cop, Viviana.”
“How did you know where I live?”
“Your friend, make that your CI, told me.”
She was shivering so hard she felt like her skin might not be able to hold her together. For a second she tried to understand how Jax knew that Francis was her CI, then realized that if she did nothing else, she had to get him out of her house.
“You have to go. Now!”
He barked a harsh, mirthless laugh. “Fat chance, Sergeant.” Moving toward her, he frowned and said, “You need to get out of those wet clothes before you freeze to death.”
Holding up her hand to stop him, she said, “And you need to stop ordering me around. This is my house, and I want you to leave now.”
Staring at her, Jax allowed himself to feel the release coursing over him. He’d been frantic when he got to her condo and she wasn’t there. Picturing her in a ditch somewhere or on her way to the hospital after being hit by a car, he had been nearly overcome with relief at the sound of her key in the lock. She looked like a bedraggled drowning victim. Her hair was plastered against her head in clumps of gold and her lips were blue from the cold. Seeing her dripping wet clothes clinging to her shivering body and remembering her jumping out of his moving car in the middle of an intersection, his relief quickly morphed to anger.
“Goddammit, Viviana, you need to get out of those wet clothes. Your fucking lips are blue, and you’re going to fall apart, you’re shaking so hard.”
She shook her head fiercely from side to side, which had the unfortunate effect of spraying water across the entrance. “I’m not doing anything until you leave. Do you hear me?”
Grabbing the bath towel he’d found in her bathroom and had used to dry his hair and swipe at his damp clothes, Jax moved toward her. Throwing it around her shoulders, he did the best he could to wrap her in the towel. When she tried to shove him back, his patience fled. Pulling her next to him, he enveloped her in his arms, trying to get as much of her swathed in the towel as possible. He wasn’t surprised that his voice shook. “Goddamn you, Viviana, if you ever do such a damn fool thing again . . . ”
She shoved at him, trying to free herself, and said heatedly, “What if I do? What are you going to do about it?”
He gave a rough laugh. “Oh, sweetheart, I am more than prepared to show you what happens to idiotic women who almost get themselves killed. Just know once I get you out of these clothes and warmed up, we’ll discuss in detail how I am going to deal with your foolish behavior. Now, for the last time, you need to get out of these wet clothes and into a hot shower.”
Viviana managed to break his hold and back away from him. Tipping up her chin, she challenged him. “And if I don’t, big bossy man?”
He was on top of her in seconds. Barking a harsh laugh, he said, “Then I’ll just have to see that you do.” Reaching for her, he threw her thrashing body over his shoulder and headed for the bathroom, where he set her down next to the shower. Ignoring her irate threats, he captured her next to him with one strong arm and with the other, reached into the shower and turned on the water full blast. He tossed the damp towel on the floor and said with a harsh laugh, “Since you don’t want to take these off, I guess I’ll have to.”
Ignoring her shrieks and containing her body against the wall, he yanked off her soaking wet tank and stripped off her jeans. Before she could stop him, in an economical move, he dispensed with her bra and thong and held her shivering, naked body against him. Dragging her to the shower, he picked her up and shoved her in. Ensuring that the water was warm enough, he closed the door and hollered above the sound of the pounding water, “Don’t come out of there until you stop shaking. Do you hear me?”
It was just as well that the rush
ing water drowned out most of the insults and threats she was yelling at him. Ignoring her angry fusillade, Jax rifled through her drawers and found sweatpants and a SJPD sweatshirt. Checking out her lingerie drawer, he selected a particularly scandalous bra and panty set from the stacks of sexy lace and silk enticements. Adding heavy woolen socks to the pile of clothes, he parked them on the counter and headed for the living room. He’d grabbed his go-bag from his trunk when he arrived at her condo. Yanking off his damp trousers and shirt, he toweled off, then replaced them with blessedly dry jeans and a long-sleeved black t-shirt.
Not seeing much to eat in the kitchen, he made a pot of coffee and grabbed a bottle of Jameson’s whiskey, planning to make Irish coffee. He admitted the coffee was to warm her up, but the whiskey was to lower her defenses. They had a serious and challenging conversation ahead of them. As he was making a fire in the fireplace, he struggled with the wide range of images careening through his brain. The first was the terrifying sight of her leaping from his car into oncoming traffic. Unfortunately for Viviana, her outrageous action, which had scared the hell out of him, had become a seething knot of anger in his gut. Its presence confirmed that their upcoming conversation was likely to become physical in more ways than one.
The other train of thought that was driving him crazy was determining who was responsible for setting Viviana up. Working from clues the perpetrators had inadvertently given him, he was confident that if he and Viviana could work together, they had a fighting chance of solving the crime. It was clear to him, and he was sure to her, that the bad guys were on to her. Their job was to figure out who was leading the charge and take them down. He knew that would be easier than convincing Viviana to work with him to topple the assholes.
The final challenge that had taken over most of the geography in his fulminating brain was how he was going to keep from fucking her. Sitting next to her in the bar had been a challenge. All he had wanted to do was pick her up and hold her on his lap. Her dashing out of the bar and dangerous leap from his car had infuriated him. That the little hellion actually thought that she could continue to defy him without serious repercussions had his dick banging at his zipper in anticipation. The final straw was when he dragged her into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes. If she hadn’t been in danger of hypothermia, the sight of her pale body in all its naked glory would have shot what little control he had to smithereens. He blew out a hard sigh, knowing that all the provocative she-cat would need to do was raise that chin of hers one inch too many and the chances of controlling his iron-hard dick would be a lost cause.
Hearing her coming into the room, her fragrance—an intoxicating mix of lavender and spice—preceding her, he turned to face her. He almost laughed aloud when her chin not only shot up in the air but her eyes flashed dangerously. Her angry accusation sealed the deal.
“What the hell are you doing here? I told you to leave twenty minutes ago.” Pressing her lips together in a firm line, she turned and gestured to the door. “This is my house, Commander Hughes. I’m ordering you to leave now!”
Managing not to grin at her, he adjusted his jeans to signal his rapidly swelling cock that it was only a matter of time until his unruly member would be front and center and fully in charge of this outrageous woman.
Chapter 29
Jax allowed a grin to take over his face, and he gave her a smart salute. “Aye, aye, Sergeant Moreau, I’ll get right on that.” As he moved toward her, he added, “Just as soon as we deal with a number of important issues, not the least of which is determining who set you up and how we are going to make them regret that mistake till the end of their days.” Seeing her surprised start and the obvious interest that she couldn’t hide, he reached for her elbow and pulled her close to him. Glaring down at her, he added a salacious grin to his narrowed gaze as he led her into the living room. “Of course, there are a number of other issues that we will be addressing before the night is over. Chief among them is your reckless behavior that could have gotten you killed.”
Leading her into the living room, he saw her eyes widen when she saw the leaping fire in the fireplace that cast mysterious shadows across the semi-darkened room. Taking advantage of her surprise, Jax led her over to the bar and handed her one of the steaming mugs of Irish coffee. “This should warm you up and perhaps take an edge off your testiness.” He added with a cocky grin, “At least until I give you all the reasons why this night is going to be a long one. And for you, likely an unpleasant one.”
At her start, as if on cue, his cell phone buzzed. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw Francis Flemings’s ID for the second time tonight. Francis had called the first time to tell him that Viviana was at his bar and that he thought Jax should know that she wasn’t doing well. Knowing that Francis Flemings wouldn’t call him again unless it was important, Jax said to Viviana, “I need to take this.” He spoke crisply into the phone. “This is Commander Hughes.”
Listening to the clearly agitated man begging him to understand the importance of his call, Jax chose not to put him on speaker. Instead he made sure by his responses that Viviana understood the context of what he was hearing.
“I see. And yes, I most certainly agree. That is an extraordinarily serious threat to Sergeant Moreau. May I ask where you heard that?” He frowned and said, “I don’t understand. How is one of the ten most wanted criminals in the fucking country involved in this case?” Jax turned to face Viviana, who was studying him nervously, her frown matching the expression that he was sure was straining his. “I see. What night did that clandestine meeting take place?” Hearing Francis’s shocking answer, he glared at Viviana, not letting her look away. “Mm-hmm. I remember that night. Sergeant Moreau and I were scheduled to meet, but she blew me off. Now I understand why. I beg your pardon? That is interesting. Where might I find the recording of the meeting? I see. Thank you. I’ll be back to you very soon.”
Viviana saw Jax come to attention at what was clearly an important call. It took her seconds at the most to know that Francis Flemings was on the other end of the line. Why he was, she didn’t know. What she did know was that when she next saw her faithless friend, she was going to make him wish he were dead. Any thoughts of strangling Francis fled when she heard Jax refer to “one of the ten most wanted criminals.” A shot of fear skittered across her jangling nerves. God almighty, surely Francis wasn’t telling him about Santiago Lopez. All she needed was for Jax to know that she’d met with the dangerous pimp and, not incidentally, on the night she was supposed to meet with him. The only thing that would be worse was if Jax actually heard her conversation with the infamous pimp.
Her nightmare became reality when Jax closed his phone and pinned her with a narrow-eyed stare. “Where’s your phone?”
When she shook her head, he reached for her purse on the counter and began rifling through it. Viviana rushed him when he dragged out her phone. Incensed, she tried to snatch it from him. “Damn you, Jax. Give me that. That is my phone. It’s private.”
Ignoring her, Jax batted her hand away and with a hard frown, began clicking rapidly through her index of videos. In seconds, the sound of her voice along with Santiago’s soft sibilant tones filled the room. Viviana didn’t have to feel the murderous anger rippling over Jax to know that she was in big trouble. The scene he was watching was all too real in her mind. She’d replayed it countless times. She didn’t have to see Jax’s eyes widen and his jaw tighten to know what he was viewing.
Early into the damning conversation, Jax hit the pause button and glared at her. “Please tell me that this is not Santiago Lopez, the single most dangerous pimp in the country, who you are meeting in a dark alleyway—by yourself?” When she put up her hands and shrugged in defeat, he closed his eyes momentarily, then hit the play button.
Minutes later he stopped the recording again. Seeing the rage in his eyes, Viviana tried to back away. He grabbed her arm and pulled her next to him, holding the phone so she could see the frozen image of the dangerous man study
ing her and not hiding his surprise at her outrageous warning.
“If I had not just heard the words that came out of your mouth, I might be as surprised as Lopez clearly was. Tell me, Viviana, did I hear you correctly? Did you just threaten Santiago Lopez?”
Determined not to let Jax bully her, Viviana hesitated and then shrugged in agreement. “I wanted him to know that he needed to step back, or . . . ” Seeing Jax’s disbelieving glare, Viviana didn’t try to finish the sentence that even in her mind sounded naïve.
“Or, what?”
She swallowed stiffly, then said, “Or I would expose him.”
The expression that hardened his face sent shards of fear to her gut. His harsh voice could have sliced through granite. “Let me see if I understand, Viviana. See if I have the sequence of your actions in the correct order. When I was doing every goddamned thing I could to encourage you to bring me into the case, you chose not to. Instead, you sought out one of the most dangerous men in the whole fucking country and ‘threatened’ him?”
Viviana’s temper flared at his diminishing description of her daring venture. “Fine, make fun of me if you wish. Go for it! Whether you admit it or not, I held him off.”
Jax’s voice cracked as he grabbed for her and said incredulously, “Held him off? For what? For two fucking days while he and your targets figured out a way to bring you down?” His face contorted with agonized fury.
“Goddamn you, Viviana. Rather than lying to my face, why couldn’t you have trusted me? Brought me into the investigation? Together, we could have brought them to their knees.” After a moment, his expression hardened, and his tones were clipped. “But no, you had to do it all by yourself, didn’t you? Why?” When she started to answer, he held up his hands, not letting her speak. His voice was derisive. “Don’t bother to explain. In your screwed-up mind, no one could possibly do what you could if the rest of us suckers would simply get the fuck out of your way and let you do it.”