by Evelyn Glass
“I didn’t buy you to fuck you,” I blurted out, before I had a chance to think about how the words would sound coming out of my mouth. I straightened myself up, rolling my shoulders back, and met her gaze as confidently as I could. She gaped at me, her mouth hanging slightly open.
“Then why…?” She stared me down, her eyes narrowing. She probably thought I was fucking with her. She had no reason not to.
“I’m not a total dirtbag. I didn’t want those shitheads to use you as a punching bag. But now that I’m here with you…the truth is, I need your help.” The words sounding foreign on my tongue. She raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah, sorry if I’m not exactly jumping to help out—“
“It’s about Thaddeus,” I cut across her.
She tilted her head to the side. “Who?”
“The guy at the head of the club last night, the one who probably had you kidnapped in the first place. I want you to help me take him down.”
“The fuck?” She wrinkled up her face. “Just…go to the cops if you want to do something like that, Jesus. And, hey, letting me go would be a good start.”
I eyed her for a second, mind racing. I would need something better than that to get her on my side.
“That’s how you can clear your name,” I suggested, mind suddenly landing on a solution.
“Clear my—Breaker, I don’t know where you’ve been, but I was kidnapped. I didn’t do anything wrong.” She spread her arms wide, rolling her eyes at what she thought was my stupidity.
“Yeah, but they saw you leave with me last night, and unless you prove that there’s something shitty going on there, no–one’s going to believe that you didn’t just want to hook up with me,” I reminded her with a small smirk. “Which you did, for the record.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself,” she snapped. The urge to add “you took care of that for me,” was nearly overwhelming, but I bit it back. She crossed her arms and stared at the wall opposite her, obviously giving my offer some thought.
“They were in the news, weren’t they?” I reminded her. She glanced over at me.
“What?”
“The three times you arrested me, they made the news,” I pointed out. “So…it’s not exactly like you can sneak under the radar with this one.”
She glared at me, and I could practically feel her fury coming off of her in waves.
“Fucking a criminal doesn’t look too good for a cop, is all I’m saying,” I held my hands up, playing at the innocent, and I honestly thought for a moment that she might lunge across the bed and smack me right there and then.
“I hate you, Breaker. I need you to know that.” She was silent for a long moment, then let out a sigh. “Tell me your plan.” She finally met my gaze.
“Well. I have some ideas.” I had been idly thinking about unseating that asshole for a long time now, but with Angel’s help, there were ways to put this into action. Finally.
“You haven’t got anything, have you?” Her eyes were narrowed, and her entire posture shouted that she didn’t trust me at all. “Why this elaborate thing, if you already had a plan? Why didn’t you just take this to the cops and let them sort it out? This is our job, after all. Vice should be all over this.”
I shook my head. “That was my first night there, and I was just there to play cards. I didn’t know—I didn’t know about this. I have other problems with Thad. But I wasn’t going to just leave you there.” I gave her my wickedest grin, the one that made the mamas sigh and the daddies reach for a weapon. “And now you have a vested interest in helping me take him down. Because I know you don’t want to ruin your sterling reputation.”
She visibly shivered at my explanation. She knew as well as I did the disdain some of these guys had for the police. Fuck, she probably knew better—she was the one out on the streets night after night, dealing with their abuse first–hand. When I came into contact with these kinds of assholes, it was as a friend, an ally, not as the enemy. No wonder the auctioneer last night had seemed so creepily delighted to deliver Angel into the arms of those dirtbags—they probably thought she deserved everything she had coming to her. In my bed, then and there, she looked so small and so delicate that I wanted to lock the doors and pull her into my arms to make sure that no–one else could get near to her. There was a look in her eyes, though. She’d fight me to the death before she’d let me touch her again. Shame. She’d ridden my cock like a goddamned expert.
“You’re right,” she muttered. “Thank you.”
Well. That wasn’t what I expected. The chances of me being there last night were so tiny that I felt as though I didn’t deserve anything for intervening when I did. Any other night of the week, I would have been somewhere else, probably rolling into bed with the two girls who’d been all over me at the club. I would never have known any better, and one of the other bidders would have gotten hold of her and—fuck. It didn’t bear thinking about. I mean, I was no fan of the cops, no more than any of the rest of them, but I was also not a criminal. I was a grifter, an occasional con–man, a cardsharp. I might be a piece of shit now and then, but I had rules. The cops were doing their jobs, and I was helping them keep employed. I was practically a union man. Her thanking me was just too odd.
“Don’t mention it,” I replied, and I didn’t mean it as a nicety—I didn’t want to consider the possibilities of what might have happened had I not been at the right place at the right time.
“Okay, fine,” she sighed. “What exactly do you need me to do?”
Chapter Nine
“Do you live here?”
“Huh?” Breaker lifted his head from the top of the chair. I thought he’d been staring at the ceiling, but he blinked like he’d been almost asleep.
“Do you live here?” I repeated. “Or did you just rent this place out?”
“Rent,” he replied with a yawn. “Why do you ask?
“It looks a little clean for a guy like you, I was just wondering,” I shrugged. He rolled his eyes at me, and I could see that he was already starting to questions his decision to keep me around.
“You know, if you don’t like it, I can take you back to the bar.” His expression was inscrutable, and I couldn’t quite tell if he meant it. A tremor of fear ran through my belly at the idea of being back on that horrible stage, waking up in that disgusting room. How many other women were trapped back there? Had been trapped back there? Why hadn’t we heard about this?
“No,” I said. I meant it to come out strong and sarcastic, but the quiet fear was obvious in my tone.
He didn’t say anything, just nodded and laid his head back again.
If he fell asleep, I could run. In a t–shirt and underwear, yes, in a sketchy part of town. Without my badge. So I might actually be tempting more trouble than I was already in. Because, weird as it was, Breaker hadn’t hurt me. I hadn’t exactly intended that little scene in the bathroom to happen, but I hadn’t said no, either. But every time I glanced over, sneaking a look at him out of the corner of my eye, it seemed more dissonant than before. Breaker. Breaker, the asshole who’d been my first arrest, the guy who’d relentlessly caused me trouble across my entire career, was the one who had probably saved my life. And now, he wanted to work to bring down some asshole involved in trafficking with my help? I had no idea who this guy was, but he bore little to no resemblance to the Breaker I had become acquainted with over the years.
There wasn’t much of a plan in place yet. Breaker had suggested that we spend some more time in the club, get the inside scoop and figure out what exactly was going on before we got anyone else involved. I suggested getting in touch with my station and putting together a plan with their help, but he refused. He’d put his phone in his back pocket, so I couldn’t sneak it if he fell asleep, either. Asshole.
“Look, if you want me to help you, I need to call the station.” I tried holding my hand out imperiously, as if I expected him to just hand my phone over. As a move, it worked well when I was in uniform. This t–shirt w
as not a uniform. “And I need pants.”
“Are you sure?” He asked, reaching into his pocket slowly and pulling out his phone. He held it to his chest protectively, as though afraid I might lunge for it. I sighed and resisted the urge to snap my fingers at him.
“Yes, I’m sure,” I replied. “Come on. Or else they’re going to start looking for me.”
“Fine,” he tossed me his cell, and I caught it out of the air. “But I’m staying in the room with you the entire time.” He also tossed me a pair of sweatpants. They were absurdly large on me, but at least my ass wasn’t hanging out anymore.
I dialed the number from memory with a pause, and held my finger to my lips as it rang. I could just…I could just tell them what had happened. That Breaker had snatched me and I needed help. I could hold him off long enough to get those words out, for sure. But for some reason, when Natalie, our desk sergeant, picked up, I found myself going along with the plan we had already agreed upon.
“Hey, Natalie.” I greeted her.
“Angel?” She replied. “Everything okay?”
“I know I’m meant to be in today, but I’m really sick.” Getting her on my side was easy if I just tried. I knew she had a soft spot for me, and saw me as a kind of daughter figure.
“Oh, honey,” she sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. What’s up?”
“Uh, a really bad stomach bug,” I pulled a face at Breaker, surprised at how easily the lies were coming to me. “I don’t know when I’ll be in, but I’ll keep you guys updated, okay?”
“Sure,” she replied, and I heard her clacking away at her keyboard for a moment before pausing and speaking again. “Uh, Angel?”
“Yeah?”
“What phone are you calling from? Because the system doesn’t recognize the number…”
“Oh, sorry,” I shook my head. “I got a new cell. My old one…I, uh, dropped it in the toilet and it got fried.”
Breaker smirked and cocked an eyebrow at my lie. I looked away from him to keep from breaking into giggles.
“Oh, okay,” Natalie replied, sounding surprised. “I’ll see you soon, though, right?”
“Right,” I promised her, my heart doing a little slip as I heard the concern in her voice. She gave a shit about me, she really did, and it seemed as though people like that had been getting harder and harder to come by since…well, since it happened.
I hung up and tossed the phone back to Breaker. He fumbled it, before tightening his grip and stuffing it back in his pocket.
“All good?” He demanded, even though he’d been in the room for the entire conversation. I rolled my eyes.
“You heard it, didn’t you?” I pointed out. “It’s fine.”
“Great,” he seemed to relax a little. “Thanks.”
“Sure,” I yawned and stretched. “I’m starving. Can we get something to eat?”
“I’ll order some takeout,” he said, reaching his hand out for his phone. “Chinese okay?”
“That’s fine,” I nodded, and settled back down on the bed. I was so swamped in his clothes that it felt as though I was already swaddled up in a duvet. I had to admit, though—it was more comfortable than my uniform, no questions about that.
Breaker ordered, and it was quiet between us for the twenty minutes it took for the food to arrive. Breaker made sure to close the door behind him when he went out to fetch it. Despite my cooperation, he still didn’t trust me. I would feel the same in his position, so I couldn’t blame him, but still—it made me feel like a prisoner. If I tried to leave, would he let me? Breaker must have known as well as anyone that I could have taken him down if I wanted to, and yet he was still standing. After he paid the delivery kid and closed the door, he started laying the cartons out on the small table near his miniscule kitchen.
“I ordered a bunch of different things,” he explained, passing me a paper plate and a plastic fork. I piled it high, not realizing how ravenous I was until the smell of the Chinese food hit my nose and my mouth started watering. I stuffed my face until I couldn’t manage another mouthful, and then flopped back, groaning, against the bed.
“I’m exhausted,” I yawned, and went to pull the covers over myself.
“Hey, don’t hog the blankets,” Breaker said. There was a tone to his voice, like he thought he was joking. I slowly turned over to meet his gaze.
I let my expression chill down to where it would have frozen water. “You don’t seriously think that we’re going to be sharing a bed, do you?” I demanded, raising my eyebrows at him in incredulity. He shrugged.
“Why not? This is my place, after all,” he reminded me. I sat up, irritation pulsing around my head.
“You fucking bought me, Breaker, don’t you remember? I didn’t exactly have much of a choice about coming here.” He just shrugged again, infuriatingly. How on Earth had I fucked this guy earlier today—and enjoyed it as much as I had? I flushed at the memory, and pushed it quickly from my brain so I could keep a clear head.
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean I’m crashing on the couch another night.” He pulled off his shirt and made his way to the bathroom. My belly cramped in sudden fear that he was going to be that close to me again, while I was asleep.
And then it clicked—he was worried I was going to make a run for it while he was asleep. Yeah, he had to get some rest, but I’d be a whole lot less likely to get out of there without him noticing if he was crashed out right next to me. I rolled my eyes, lay back down, and tugged the covers as tightly around myself as I could manage. Well, if he had to, it wasn’t like I was going to give him a show at the same time.
He brushed his teeth and returned to the bedroom, sliding down in the bed next to me and flicking off the light. I stared at the bedside table next to me, daring him to reach over and touch me—but he didn’t. Instead, he rolled over, let out a small snort, and started snoring, leaving me awake and alone in that strange little apartment. But, as I focused in on the pace of his breath, I found myself drifting off to sleep in not time.
***
I woke with a start the next morning. Once again, it took me a moment to remember where I was and what in the name of holy hell I was doing there. The last twenty–four hours flashed through my mind. Fucking Breaker, realizing I didn’t have to, and having him break the news of his plan to me. And…I agreed. I stayed. I was still here, after all. I flipped over and stared up at the ceiling, tucking my hand behind my head to prop it up. Whatever drugs they had given me the day before last had started to wear off completely, and I was almost feeling back to normal once again.
It was something Dad could never have prepared me for, being a woman on the force. To him, policing was an entire community built up entirely to make sure that he was supported and cared for. The guys loved him, the women looked after him, and the force made up a whole other family in his life, especially on those nights that he was forced to stay away from us to keep us safe. But he never realized how different it was for women. How could he? Why would he? He was old–fashioned, a man of his time, and I didn’t hold that against him. I just wish that I’d known how to deal with something like this, known how to wriggle out of circumstances like this one when they arose. He had never taught me that. Still, I was pretty sure I was doing the right thing.
I turned to check if Breaker was in bed next to me, but he wasn’t. I could hear the shower going from the room next door, and enjoyed the few minutes of solitude I got before he returned once again. I had a feeling that he would be keeping a hawk–eye on me as long as I was under his care, but that was probably for the best for the time being. We were about to try and gather information on a criminal organization that went far beyond dealing and swaggering around town intimidating the locals. We were talking human trafficking, prostitution, maybe sexual slavery. My palms itched when I thought about all the terrible things these men must have done over the years, and the fact that I was finally getting a chance to take them down. Yeah, we were being idealistic, but I was a cop. I had to have a l
ittle of that running in my veins, else I’d have given up years ago from the cynicism of it all.
Breaker appeared in the doorway of the bathroom, wrapped up in a towel. My eyes swept appreciatively up and down his body before I could stop them, and I scolded myself internally for my actions. No need to swell his already oversized ego more than it already was.
“Morning,” he greeted me, and I had an odd moment of déjà vu. This moment, it reminded me of something I’d shared with one of my exes. Well, aside from the kidnapping and human auction side of things. I just…I had to admit, I was attracted to Breaker, and being in such close quarters with him didn’t make that any easier to handle.
“Morning,” I yawned, and pulled the covers up to my chin.
“So, I got a call from the club,” he went on, dropping the niceties. “They’re having a poker night tonight and they’ve invited me to join them. I thought you could come with me, as my date?”