Mr. and Mrs. Rossi

by Carolyn Hector

  A medic? “What?”

  “A medic, military doc, sort of. Your husband has the ability to patch up a human as well as I can a vehicle.”

  A flitter nudged her heart at his husband reference. She cocked her head to one side and pictured Dante in uniform. Without his dossier in front of her, of course she believed he spoke the truth about being in the military. She thought about his tattoo and guessed Marines. Like her, most agents from STB came from the military pool. What made him join? Harley had no choice but to join or go to jail. She wasn’t the brightest or most well behaved kid in school. Had she not joined the Army at eighteen, she might have been one of the girls behind bars today. Her folks weren’t too happy with her but it wasn’t like she wanted to be a stay at home wife like her sister or work a regular nine to five job like her brother.

  “Which do you prefer?” She asked before silence took over.

  “A car. They don’t strike back when in pain.”

  A slow smile spread across her face. “So the men strike out, eh?”

  She liked his response, raising his eyebrow and then stroking his jaw. He played off her friendly banter instead of recoiling like a homophobe. “Sometimes,” he teased with a wink. “Now let’s go inside. We need to talk about where to go from here.”

  For a brief moment Harley stood back trying to decide how much she wanted to share with Dante. Hannah liked Dante and urged Harley to stick with him. Since Mak wanted to stake a claim on Leonardo Marchette, Harley was unsure of what to share with him. Her eyes averted to his broad backside as he strolled leisurely into the living room and settled on the corner of the couch, bottle in hand. Once he sat she relaxed, she thought. Maybe it was a mixture of relief and disappointment. Dante heading to the couch meant talking—not christening the hotel bed. Of course, they could still have sex on the couch. Harley leaned slightly to her right and lifted her right foot into her hand like a jogger stretching, just in case.

  The cold of the air conditioning soaked glass door chilled her arm. Harley, still in the doorway, shook her head to clear her thoughts. Was this what Tai meant? She needed to focus on getting Hannah out of harm’s way. If Leonardo had people inside, it could only be a matter of time before he decided to use his connections to get Hannah out in order to draw out Javier.

  “We need to get to Javier or Leonardo first,” Dante spoke up.

  “You read my mind.”

  Dante ran his hand through his hair; dark wavy locks fell between his fingers. “Glad we’re on the same page. Hannah getting roughed up already tells me his guys are close.”

  “I’m going to kill the security guard,” she clenched her fists together at the memory of the man’s nonchalant explanation. Hannah knew how to defend herself, but with being whisked off to jail, she might have been overwhelmed.

  Dante shrugged his shoulders. “This whole thing with Hannah has me on edge. Yeah, she got roughed up, but my guess is someone stepped in to stop whoever hit Hannah. Whoever that person is, is also on Leonardo’s watch. Hell,” he scratched the back of his head.

  Harley exhaled a sudden breath, “So the classic, build her confidence to gain information?” She moved across the cream carpet and sat down in the green and white striped oversized chair. Her legs dangled over the armrest as she got comfortable and kicked off her Converse. Her back rested against the other armrest and she threw her right arm over the side of the chair. Not exactly feminine, but Harley liked not having to pretend to be a lady with Dante. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Dante’s eyes linger over the length of her body. He shook his head and tried to remain focused.

  “Exactly,” he cleared his throat and sank back into the couch. His long legs touched the edge of the coffee table topped with the local newspaper. “This also means Leonardo does not have Javier.”

  “Good or bad?”

  “Good for Javier, bad for Hannah,” his smile apologized. “She wouldn’t be in this position if I’d been up front with you.”

  Harley waved his apology off with the flick of her wrist. “Probably, but if I’d checked her messages sooner, we might not be in this predicament. I need to call my bosses in Tallahassee and see if they can pull any strings with Villa San Juan Police Department.”

  “Wouldn’t this be out of their jurisdiction?”

  Of course, the TPD jurisdiction did out reach this far. Harley meant Mak would get the locals to release Hannah. A niggling voice reminded Harley that now was the perfect time to be truthful with Dante. Maybe if she opened up with him, he’d return the favor.

  “Dante, I want to tell you something,” she said.

  As she spoke, so did Dante. “Leonardo’s going to kill Javier if he catches him, sorry, you go ahead.”

  The pit of her stomach absorbed her fallen heart at the truth. Even though she photographed what was left of Javier’s brother, Dante’s words haunted her. She did not know Javier from a hole in the wall but her niece did and her niece loved him. He was family. She couldn’t imagine Hannah experiencing such a tragic loss and would be damned if she’d let that happen. “We need to act now.”

  “What did Hannah tell you? You know, just after you choked grandma?”

  “She wasn’t so old. I’d say an elderly aunt.”

  “Is there a difference?”

  “Geez, how long were you standing back there?”

  Dante leaned forward, his elbows rested on his knees. “Does it make a difference?”

  “How many times are you going to ask?” she held up her hand to stop him from repeating it. She imagined him as the class clown in school. “Hannah said her old guidance counselor is working with the girls and that he promised to see her tomorrow.”

  “A guidance counselor who moonlights at the jail?” Dante raised a suspicious brow.

  Harley would have been suspicious too if she didn’t understand the lack of pay school officials received. Plenty of teachers moonlighted as crossing guards in Tallahassee. When school ended for the summer, all Leon County staff looked for a job. Why not take a job on the beach?

  “She swears he’s cool.”

  His luscious mouth opened with an O and his eyebrow rose skeptically. Had he not been an agent, Harley could picture Dante as a model for one of those men’s fitness magazines. “Am I supposed to be comforted?”

  “What will be more comforting is going out and finding Javier. How many places can he hide, what with the beach house burned to a crisp?”

  “Sorry.”

  She shrugged her shoulders, “Insurance is a blessing. But with it gone, where would Javier hide out?”

  “Why hide?”

  Harley stopped what she was going to say. “What?”

  “Let’s look at this from another angle. Javier took off because he recognized Christopher Alfaro from the photograph even though he said he didn’t. What if he did recognize Leonardo?”

  “And knew to follow him here? When would he have found out where to find Leonardo?” She had to admit he argued a good point; if that were the case, Javier chasing Leonardo, who blew up her house? Had he gotten too close to Leonardo?

  “I think we may know where to find him.”

  “Leonardo or Javier.”

  “Javier,” Dante reached for a folded newspaper on the coffee table and held it up for her to read. With the sun setting, she couldn’t read the writing. Harley squinted. “It says there’s a 21-and under party tonight. Vuelo, it starts in a few minutes and that will give Javier at least four hours to hide out and regroup.”

  Harley swung her legs over to the floor, “So let’s go to it!”

  “As hot as I find you, I don’t find you under twenty-one.”

  Offended, Harley folded her arms over her chest. “I beg your pardon?”

  Dante sat on the edge of his seat, almost daring her to come closer. She did, moving her hands to her hips.

  “Babe, you have the body of a woman. The girls who are going to be under twenty-one all have the body of a boy.”

  The flattering
words did have an effect on her. She moved closer toward him. Dante’s hands snaked out and wrapped around her, drawing her close to him. “The party doesn’t end for a while. We’ll go out when it ends.”

  “And if he doesn’t show?”

  “He’s not old enough to drink. This is the only place under-aged teens can go and hang out besides the rooftops.”

  How many summers had she come here and hung out with her cousins and drank on the rooftops? During the day the kids hung out on the beach or under the pier, usually drinking. Occasionally they took out a parent’s boat and spent the night drinking. Harley raised an eyebrow while she looked at him. Dante’s New York City accent did not strike her as the Villa San Juan vacationer. “How do you know so much about Villa San Juan?”

  He answered with a lopsided smile. “You’re not the only person who’s been here before.”

  The tips of his fingers gracefully massaged the back of her thighs. A moan escaped her throat. “You come here often?”

  Dante leaned back, his lips pressed together with a tight smile. “I come here a lot, at least I have in the last twenty-four hours.” The pad of his thumbs caressed the V at the top of her legs.

  A blush touched her cheekbones. “Can you think about anything else?”

  “Sure.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, I’m trying to figure out what kind of moan I want you to make next.”

  Harley cleared her throat and crossed her arms back across her chest. “What?”

  “Do I want to make you moan from a series of love making?” He leaned forward; his hand wrapped around her behind and kissed her stomach. The warmth of his mouth melted her insides. “Do I want to make you moan from a nice massage,” he rubbed her lower back, “or do I want to make you moan from feeding you something delicious.”

  “You want to go out to eat?”

  “I’m supposed to be asking you out on a date.”

  “A date?” Harley repeated, allowing Dante to link his hands with both of hers. Still seated, they were still almost eye level. Their hands clutched together by her thighs. She couldn’t mistake the feel of the cold band and his ring finger. Why did he still have it on? Why was she suddenly aware of her ring sitting in her pocket? She hadn’t kept it on but she did not leave it out of her sight.

  “I know asking you out on a date is a bit backwards considering we’ve already had the wedding.”

  “And the honeymoon,” Harley added, squeezing his hand and wiggling her eyebrows.

  Dante squeezed a bit harder, “The honeymoon is not over but we do need to come up for air.”

  Harley rolled her eyes. “The honeymoon is over,” she said flatly and explained. “This isn’t even a real marriage.” She let go of his hands to wave her right one between the two of them. “We are on an assignment.”

  “Tallahassee Police puts you on assignment?” he asked with a cocked brow as he rose to his feet. His height loomed over her but she wasn’t intimidated, more like infatuated. “I have to give them credit. Pretty nifty for a crime scene photographer.”

  Her heart lurched in her stomach. Tell him the truth, that niggling voice urged her. If she opened up with him, he could do the same, right?

  “I didn’t think so,” he answered.

  Her eyes focused on the growing beard. Bits of salt and pepper sprinkled around the chin area. A part of her loved the rugged look and wanted to run her fingers through it. But she remained in control, trying not to get lost with sexual desire. Dante’s hand reached for her cheek with one hand and tipped her chin bringing her gaze to his. Harley clasped his left hand and fingered the band. “Why are you even wearing this ring?”

  “Membership has its privileges, I’ll tell you about it over dinner.” Playfully Dante swatted her butt. “Let’s have a normal date like two normal married adults, rings and no weapons. We’ll even end our date with a kiss at the door.”

  Harley pressed her lips together. “I’ve had kisses at the door before. What will be different this time?”

  “Because in case I haven’t made it clear, you may have had other men’s lips on yours,” Dante inhaled deeply and his jaw line twitched, “but after me feasting on them, you’ll never want another.”

  Her mouth ached for his lips to touch. Her calves swayed her body. Dante dipped his head down and obliged, breathing life into her with each stroke of his tongue. Harley was seconds away from cocking her leg on his hip when he pulled away. This time, her calves could not hold her upright. Dante took hold of her shoulders, turned her around, and playfully swatted her behind. “Now go get dressed for dinner like a good little wife.”

  “We’re not normal married adults,” Harley called over her shoulder as she walked back toward her bedroom. “We’re not married.”

  “Chet’s an ordained minister,” she heard Dante call out, “we’re really married.”

  Chapter 10

  What in the hell was wrong with him?

  Any given time of four free hours alone with a beautiful woman, Dante preferred to spend between her legs in every position imaginable. While he loved being between Harley’s legs, where had the desire to take her out on a date overcome him? After everything she’d gone through since meeting him, she deserved to be pampered. He wanted to sit across a candle lit dinner from her and gaze at her face. His ears begged for the sound of her moan after some of the best dishes on the island.

  The bedroom door locked behind her. Getting two different rooms seemed absurd. They’d already consummated their wedding night. They’d spent the last forty-eight hours together in almost every sexual position possible. Why did tonight have to be different? But he respected her privacy, especially when the shower turned on in the bathroom. Dante closed his eyes, leaning his back against the frame and blew out a heavy sigh. Every inch of his body told him to go back into her room and drag her into his shower, but force might not yet prove his point they could work things out.

  By the time Dante finished getting ready, Harley was still in her bathroom. The cold shower didn’t do much for his libido. Dante shaved in the bathroom in the hall. The shower still ran while he dressed in a pair of jeans and a white button down shirt he found in his garment bag Roman brought him. Fortunately his cell phone rang and diverted his attention.

  “Rossi,” Cole’s voice came over the speaker. Cole Wentworth, his supervisor and one of his best friends, rarely cracked jokes. Cole understood the unorthodox methods needed for missions in order to get results. “When’s the bachelor party?”

  “What?”

  “Torres spilled the secret.”

  Dante scratched the back of his head, “I wouldn’t call Harley a secret.”

  “You like her enough to keep her around?” asked Cole in his even keeled voice.

  Like? Obsessed, addicted, words along those lines. “We’re still debating.”

  “A girl who doesn’t want to be married to you?” Cole let out a low whistle. “What happens after you catch Leonardo? She’s tied to your case, right?”

  Leave it to Cole to be the voice of reason. The man was made of stone, for the most part. Dante witnessed his best friend’s life change when he met the love of his life, Rosalind Ramsey. He also witnessed the demise when the relationship ended when Rosalind could not handle the truth of what he did for a living. Roman’s wife left him when she found out. Dante banked on Harley’s understanding, given her employment with law enforcement. She could understand the long hours of the FBI. Perhaps she would be able to understand the long stretches of going MIA.

  “I’ll take your silence to mean you haven’t given the future a thought,” Cole chuckled, “Well at least the thought of settling down has entered your mind, although Rosalind’s Grandma Jean will be disappointed.”

  Dante chuckled also. “Tell Grandma Jean I grew impatient waiting on her.”

  “Whatever. What about Leonardo? Are you going to bring him in to stand trial?”

  Dante kept silent on purpose this time.

&n
bsp; Cole exhaled a breath instead of speaking his mind.

  The pipes squeaked off in the other bathroom. Dante’s thoughts of revenge on Leonardo subsided. “I’m hanging up now.”

  “Be careful, Rossi,” said Cole, “I can only bullshit so much paperwork to cover your ass.”

  After hanging up the phone, Dante ran a hand through his hair and let his locks lay where they fell. His eyes caught the smooth uninterrupted white bedspread. A teal half blanket ran along the width of the bed and matched the teal and gold wall-paper. This had to be one of the nicest digs he’d been in for a while. He pressed his hands against the frame of the mattress and tested the springs. Nice and firm. A smile grazed his face.

  “Dante?” Harley’s voice called from the other side of the door with a soft knock, “Can I get some help?”

  Dante pushed the thought of how the evening would end to the back of his mind. “Sure,” he said casually strolling across the room to open the door.

  Words did not describe the rush of desire coursing through his body at the sight of her. She took his breath away, his eyes grew large and he couldn’t swallow. She stood easily at five-eight with her heels on. The thin black straps over her shoulders held up a heart shape top that cradled her breasts. The end of the material stopped just at mid thigh, showing off just enough of those shapely legs of hers.

  “Can you zip me?”

  “You trust me?” he asked, after finally finding his voice.

  Harley pulled her hair up on top of her head. With her curves and her arms in the air, she reminded him of a golden forties pin-up girl. Her legs turned at the knees to reveal her back. A long zip showed off her lace panties. Could hands sweat? Because Dante found himself wiping his hands down the front of his jeans. He gulped and focused on the nape of her neck. Necks were sexy, weren’t they? Especially with a hand wearing a wedding band signifying their marriage held her hair upwards. She listened to him and this further proved she contemplated sticking this thing out. Why else would she keep the ring on her?

  “Are you okay?”