Taming Rough Waters: A Blood Brothers Standalone: Book 1

by Samantha Wolfe

  Lu

  "Alright, chica," I told my reflection in the mirror in an annoyed tone. "It's just a blind date. It won't kill you."

  Although, it might kill my date if he kept irritating the shit out of me. I did have my service weapon on me after all. I never left the house without it. A cop could never be too careful. A detective on the vice squad to be precise, and I damn good one if you asked me.

  I plopped my bag on the counter next to the sink in the women's restroom I was in, and rooted around in the dark interior of the huge thing until I found my brush. I ran it quickly through my long dark hair. I'd taken the time to straighten out my usual loose waves for tonight. When I finished, it hung in a silky curtain, smooth and sleek and halfway down my back. I dug out my lipstick to reapply it, and my dark umber eyeliner for a quick touch up, then studied myself critically. My big dark-brown eyes popped, and the nude lip color looked good with my caramel complexion. I nodded in satisfaction. If all else failed, at least I looked damn good for this nightmare.

  I didn't really need any of the primping since the guy waiting for me out in the restaurant wasn't worth it, but I'd needed a breather from his egotistical rambling. Now I needed to get back to the dipshit, so I shoved everything back into my purse with a beleaguered sigh. I smoothed the layered T-shirts I was wearing under my short black leather jacket. Then I patted my holstered Glock 19 for reassurance where it was tucked under the waistband of my dark jeans, and out of sight at the small of my back. I met my date straight from work and didn't have time to change into anything nicer, but he didn't seem to mind. All he kept doing was staring at my ass and boobs anyway. I rolled my eyes, then hefted my bag onto my shoulder and went back out to the dining room, my knee-high black heeled boots thumping across the floor with my purposeful strides.

  I'll give the guy this much credit. I approved of the restaurant he'd chosen. It was one of the best in town and had excellent food. The Glass House had a beautiful and elegant interior with lots of dark wood and burnished steel accents that gleamed in the low romantic lighting of the hand-blown glass pendant lights that hung above each table. Our table was along a massive glass window that stretched across one side of the room. It was pitch black out there at the moment, but I knew there was a pond and garden out there that would be gorgeous when spring finally hit its stride. It was still March though with spring having only arrived several days ago. I suspected it was a muddy quagmire out there like everything else was right now from all the melted snow.

  I didn't even bother plastering on a smile as I crossed the main dining room toward Jaxon. That's right his name was Jaxon, with and "X". Whatever the hell happened to spelling a name like it was meant to be instead of bastardizing it just to be different? Okay, so maybe I was being too harsh. Maybe I would've been okay with his name if he hadn't already proven himself to be a self-aggrandizing douchebag.

  Right now, he was smiling at my approach with his eyes firmly planted on my tits. I wondered how long I had before he started talking about himself again. He hadn't shown any apparent interest in anything I had to say so far. I didn't even hide my sigh as I sat across from him. He was handsome enough I suppose with his overly-styled short dark hair and dark-blue eyes, but he had a little too much of a pretty-boy thing going on for my tastes. That, along with his preppy designer clothes, and I had no idea why my sister Amelia thought we'd be a good match.

  "There you are," he said in a slightly patronizing tone that had me gritting my teeth.

  "Here I am," I said. I gave him a tight smile as I hung my bag on the back of my chair. I reached for my fork to take a few more bites of my salmon.

  "Did I tell you about the consulting gig I had in Las Vegas a few months back?" he asked. Well, that answered that. It only took Jaxon about ten seconds to talk about himself again. Fuck my life.

  "No, but I bet you're going to," replied with a snarky edge that he was completely oblivious to.

  I finished my meal while he proceeded to prattle on about his stupid trip, and the VIP treatment that his company afforded him. He seemed to think it would impress me. It would impress me more if he could manage to keep his mouth shut long enough to finish his steak, so we could end this farce. I was just about to shove a bread stick in his mouth when the waitress came up to ask if we'd like dessert menus.

  "No thanks," I answered her before Jaxon had a chance to say anything. I'll be damn if I let this nightmare, I mean date, drag on any longer. "We'll just take the check now please." After she nodded and walked away I turned my attention back to Jaxon. He was smirking suggestively at me now. Ew.

  "I see you're in a hurry to move on to the next part of the evening," he said in a smarmy way that set me on edge. "What do you say we do that at my place?" Presumptuous asshole.

  "You know what, Jaxon?" I said as politely as I could manage, but I suspected I sounded annoyed anyway. "I've had a really long day, and I'm going to call it a night and head home...alone." I added that last word for emphasis and clarification. Sometimes you had to spell it out to a dipshit ego-maniac like Jaxon here.

  I noticed his eyes harden almost imperceptibly, and his hand tightened slightly around his fork. I'd angered him. Boo-fucking-hoo. You didn't get to be a detective at the relatively young age of thirty-two without knowing how to read people. I hardened my own gaze and gave him a smile that didn't touch my eyes.

  "Come on, sweetheart," he said in a patronizing tone, his endearment pissing me off. "You know you're not ready to call it a night already."

  He reached out to place his hand on mine on the table. He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and squeezed with just enough pressure to be threatening without actually hurting me. I reached up with my other hand and placed it on his, then glided it slowly up toward his elbow. His eyes grew smug and lustful.

  "Sweetheart," I said in a saccharine tone as my smile turned predatory. I found the pressure point on the inside of his arm just above his elbow. "Don't touch me," I growled out as I rubbed my thumb into it with firm pressure.

  He instantly winced and let go of me, jerking his arm away to rub at the nerve I'd just abused as he glowered at me. I pushed my chair back and stood as I grabbed my bag.

  "Thanks for a lovely evening and the scintillating company." Oops, my sarcasm was showing.

  Jaxon's glower deepened, and his face began to redden as his mouth hung open, apparently too pissed off to utter a word now. Huh, I figured out how to shut him up. Who'd have thought that was possible? I wish I'd done it sooner.

  "Adios, Jaxon," I said with a smirk as I swung my bag up onto my shoulder, then spun on my three-inch heels and strolled away with an eye roll. It was time for my second date tonight, one with my bathtub, a glass of red wine, and my vibrator. Anything was better than spending time with that pendejo.

  I walked outside and headed to the far end of the parking lot, where I parked my baby to keep her safe from any morons that might open their door into her. I'd only had my two-year-old dark-gray Dodge Challenger for a few weeks now, and I'd saved my money for a long time to afford her. I'd be damned if I took a chance of anyone hurting her. I was a few yards away from my car when my phone began ringing inside my bag. I paused just long enough to dig it out. I saw it was my little sister and answered the call.

  "Hola hermana," I greeted her with a wry grin as I continued heading toward my vehicle. "If you called to check on my date, it was an epic disaster."

  "Lu?" came Amelia's wavering response. I could tell immediately from that one syllable that she'd been crying and that something was terribly wrong.

  "What's wrong, Amelia?"

  "It...it's Tasha," she sobbed out. "She...she's dead."

  "What?" I blurted out sharply because I couldn't have possibly heard that right. Tasha was my sister's best friend.

  "She was...she was murdered!" Amelia wailed out.

  I jerked to a stop near the front of my car in stunned silence. Amelia's harsh sobs managed to break me out of it a moment later.

  "Where
are you?" I asked firmly.

  "T...Tasha's apartment," she answered. "I...I...I found her." Her sobs grew louder, more hysterical. I had to rein her in so she could talk to me.

  "Did you call the police, mija?" I asked gently.

  "Yeah."

  "Are you inside the apartment?"

  "Uh, huh."

  "Okay," I said in as calm a voice as I could muster even though I was freaking out right now. "Did you touch anything in Tasha's apartment?"

  "I...I don't know," she whimpered out. "Maybe?"

  "Shh, it's okay," I soothed her. "Don't touch anything else, and go stand outside the door to wait for the police. I'll be there as soon as I can."

  "Please hurry, Luisa," Amelia begged softly.

  "I will, mija," I assured her. "I will."

  I ended the call and began frantically rooting around in my purse for my keys while I freaked out inside. I couldn't believe this was happening, that Tasha was gone. Amelia had been best friends with her since they were little. My little sister would be devastated by this, and poor Tasha's family would take it even worse.

  I still hadn't found my key fob a few moments later. "Motherfucker," I growled out. I really needed to organize my fucking bag. I dug in deeper for it, distracted by worry for Amelia and completely immersed in what I was doing.

  Out of nowhere, an arm suddenly wrapped around my neck from behind and began choking me. I reacted immediately, dropping my bag and grabbing the muscular forearm pressing against my throat with both hands. I bent forward hard, loosening his grip enough so I could breath. I stomped my boot heel down on his foot twice, then slammed my left fist into his groin three times in quick brutal succession. I followed that up with an elbow jab right into his gut.

  My attacker grunted out in pain and doubled over. I swiftly grabbed his forearm again and bent down as I stepped backwards, pulling my head out of the choke hold. I cranked his arm up painfully behind his back as I brought my leg up to kick him in the face. Then I shoved him hard face-first into the front bumper of my car with a satisfying thump.

  A second later, I had my Glock out and pointed at the groaning piece of shit that had fucked with me. The guy rolled to sit up on the ground with his hands held protectively over his crotch, and froze when he looked up to find my pistol pointed at his face. Son of a bitch. It was my dipshit blind date, Jaxon.

  "You little shit," I snarled at him, delighted to see blood dripping from his nose and fear in his eyes as he ogled the weapon right in front of his face.

  "You...you hit me," he said incredulously, like he couldn't believe he'd just had his ass handed to him by a five-foot-two Latina.

  "I did," I said with a smirk. "And you just assaulted a police officer."

  His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "What?" he asked in surprise as stark terror flooded his now wide eyes. If the fucker had bothered to let me talk at all tonight, he'd already know I was a cop.

  "That's right dipshit, and I believe that's a felony," I adjusted my grip on my weapon and moved closer with narrowed eyes. "So is sexual assault," I added in a low growl.

  He stared cross-eyed at the gun that was practically touching his nose now. It was almost comical. "I...I didn't...I...I wasn't-"

  "Bullshit," I shot back. "What, were you just trying to choke me out for shits and giggles then?"

  "I...I..." he stuttered out like an imbecile.

  I huffed out an annoyed and exasperated sigh. I didn't have time for this shit. Amelia needed me. "Well, it's your lucky day, Jaxon," I said irritably. "I don't have time to arrest your sorry ass right now, so get the fuck out of here before I change my mind."

  "What?" he asked, his mouth gaping like a fish.

  "Get your sorry ass up and leave," I reiterated condescendingly. "And if you ever fuck with me again, I'll put a bullet in your dick."

  That finally got through to him, and he swiftly got to his feet. I heard him mumble something about me being a crazy bitch beneath his breath just before he limped hurriedly away across the parking lot.

  "That's right, asshole!" I called out after him as I tucked my gun back into its holster. Then I snatched up my bag off the ground, found my keys at the very bottom of it, and unlocked my baby. I climbed in, and a few moments later I was pounding my foot down on the accelerator and roaring out of the parking lot to get to my baby sister.

  Books by Samantha Wolfe

  Beautifully Broken Trilogy

  (Jensen and Sydney's story)

  Let Me Love You:Beautifully Broken Book 1

  Let Me Save You:Beautifully Broken Book 2

  Let Me Heal You:Beautifully Broken Book 3

  Breathless Trilogy

  (David and Natalie's story)

  You Are My Air: Breathless Book 1

  You Are My Love: Breathless Book 2

  You Are My Life: Breathless Book 3

  Order & Chaos Trilogy

  (Ford and Jenny's story)

  An Act of Restraint: Order & Chaos Book 1

  An Act of Release: Order & Chaos Book 2

  An Act of Redemption: Order & Chaos Book 3

  Dangerous Desire Duet

  (Gareth and Malory's story)

  Dark Dominion: Dangerous Desire Book 1

  Dark Devotion: Dangerous Desire Book 2

  Blood Brothers Standalones

  (Calder and Ella's story)

  Taming Rough Waters:A Blood Brothers Standalone Book 1

  (Scott and Lu's story) Spring 2018

  Tempting Calm Waters: A Blood Brothers Standalone Book 2

  Thanks for reading my book. If you loved this book or any of my others, please leave a review on my Amazon author page, http://www.amazon.com/Samantha-Wolfe/e/B0172GSQGY. I'd really appreciate it.

  S.W.

  About the Author

  Samantha is a self-professed nerd from the Midwest, who loves anything with a good plot. She'll watch anything with werewolves, vampires, or zombies in it. She is a voracious reader and loves smutty romance novels and contemporary fantasy. Samantha started writing her first erotic romance in February of 2015, and now she can't stop. It's a passion that she can't shut off, nor would she want to. She loves animals, especially dogs, and if her husband let her, she'd have a dozen, but two are his limit. She's looking forward to sharing more of her books with the world.

  Website:

  www.samanthawolfeauthor.com

  Facebook:

  www.facebook.com/SamanthaWolfeAuthor/

  Samantha Wolfe's Amazon Author Page:

  www.amazon.com/Samantha-Wolfe/e/B0172GSQGY

  Goodreads:

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14553364.Samantha_Wolfe