Sweet Seduction Shield

by Nicola Claire

  "Cheer up, sweet pea," Kelly murmured from out the side of her mouth. "We can really get shitfaced once we're back at Abi and Ben's."

  I forced a smile back on my lips, thinking rage as a shield probably wasn't the best. But what else did I have? My ice had long since thawed being around these people, hatred was all I had left now.

  We made a brief stop at the well attended main bar, grabbing beers all round, and then headed straight out to the courtyard. Discovering it was a popular destination for a lot of pub-crawlers tonight. My eyes darted over the jovial faces, wondering which ones were cops, which ones were innocent bystanders. And which ones were here to see me dead, or the ledger destroyed.

  Even anger couldn't stop the panic from surfacing. I was drowning and I had lost all sense of land.

  Until I saw him. Standing in the corner, exactly where the ledger was hidden. But he couldn't have known that fact. I'd never told him where in the Birdcage I'd buried the book, only that we'd need to either distract the patrons, or hide me while I retrieved it. But somehow, Pierce had chosen the exact location I'd placed that blasted book in.

  My eyes met his, and for a moment the world stopped spinning. The water stopped lapping at my mouth and nose. And my heart forgot to beat. A small smirk graced his lips, the brown of his eyes shining like whiskey through cut glass. He had a beer in his hand and had been talking to a man I didn't know. Probably an off duty cop; there were plenty here to chose from.

  The guy Pierce had been talking to turned to see what had caught his attention and said something I didn't have a chance of catching. We were still physically too far away to hear and my eyes were all for Ryan, so lip reading was out. Ryan chuckled, saying something in reply, which made the other guy bark out a sound of laughter and then down the rest of his drink.

  By the time we reached their corner he was saying, "I'll go grab another beer then. Leave you to it."

  Pierce didn't take his eyes off me, just grunted an affirmative and nodded his head.

  "I'd wish you luck," the guy said, his eyes flicking between Pierce and me. "But I don't think you need it. Introduce me next time, eh?"

  Pierce didn't even offer a response, but thankfully the guy hadn't expected one. He simply smiled and walked back inside the main building, leaving me alone with Pierce. Huh? I glanced around, noticing Nick, Eva and Kelly had stopped several feet back, keeping an eye on us, but making a show of animated conversation capturing a few admiring glances from various outdoor tables.

  Ah, the decoy. Or maybe I wasn't supposed to come straight over here?

  My eyes darted back to Pierce's, and caught him sweeping his own admiring glance down my frame. By the time he made it back up to my face I was actually blushing and couldn’t think of a thing to say.

  Ryan didn't have the same difficulty forming sentences and said, "Did you read my note?"

  "Not yet," I managed to reply.

  He huffed out an amused sound and repeated under his breath, "Not yet."

  Despite our reasons for being here, mirth glinted in his eyes, making him look relaxed and happy, completely at ease. And oh so bloody gorgeous. I flexed my fingers, denying myself the desire to reach up and touch his face.

  "You look beautiful," he suddenly offered, making my heart skip a beat for entirely different reasons than it had been up until now. "I couldn't stay away," he added, and the world around us dangerously disappeared.

  I realised, in a distracted way, that Ryan gave me another emotion to use as a shield. I wasn't thinking of the tattooed freak or Roan McLaren giving directions like a puppet master behind locked cell bars. I wasn't thinking of Rick's penmanship on every single sheet of paper inside that fucking book. I wasn't thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong and what they could mean to Daisy and me. Those thoughts were still present, but not overpowering.

  Between me and them I had something else. I had a shield. Not made of ice or anger. But made of excitement and exhilaration. Of promise and desire. Of heated looks and sexy smirks. Of the fervent need to reach out and touch, just to see if we sparked when that electricity ignited between us.

  Detective Ryan Pierce had cracked the ice, with a little help from his friends, and replaced it with something so much warmer. So much better than anything I could have ever thought to use as a shield.

  "I really wish you'd read the note, Marie," he said softly, intimately.

  "Why? What did it say?" I asked, unaware I'd taken a step closer.

  He reached up and brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear, his eyes scanning my face. The heat from his palm melted me further as he wrapped it around the base of my neck and pulled me an inch closer still.

  He smiled, it was so damn sexy. My lips parted and a breath of air rushed out, as other parts of my body clenched tightly.

  Ryan shook his head, the smile widening, but a smattering of regret seeping into his façade.

  "I think I'll let you discover that all on your own," he whispered, leaning his face in towards mine.

  My heart thundered in my chest like earlier, my pulse flickering so rapidly, again, that I could actually feel it at the base of my neck. But this was nothing like my panic attack. Ryan was going to kiss me, right here in the middle of a packed Police bar. Right in the middle of a dangerous retrieval operation. Right now.

  His lips brushed softly against mine in an almost there movement. I leaned closer, but he held me back with the gentle but firm grasp of his palm around the back of my neck, denying me what I desired most. A tragically disappointed sound slipped out, which I couldn't have stopped.

  His breath left him in a rush, drawing my eyes to the swift rise and fall of his chest. He was breathless too. My gaze lifted to the pulse on the side of his neck and was rewarded with a hummingbird flutter beneath his smooth skin. His thumb rubbed softly against my throat, in a gesture that shouldn't have been intimate, but was.

  I closed my eyes, realising he wasn't going to truly kiss me, but equally aware that he was fighting the desire to as well. Our bodies thrummed with anticipation, a tight line zinging with the tension our proximity brought. Oh dear God, how much longer could we go before we both exploded with pent up desire? I wanted him so much. And when I opened my eyes and stared into the deep pools of liquid bronze of his, I knew without a doubt that he wanted me too.

  It was going to be explosive, when it happened. And I knew it was going to happen. There was no way in hell Ryan and I couldn't take that next step. Fuck the rules and propriety. Fuck his partner Harvey Stone and the dangers existing in my life. I would have Ryan Pierce, and he would have me. There was no denying that fact.

  "You should have read the note, Marie," he rasped.

  "Fuck the note," I replied, breathlessly, receiving a stunning grin from Ryan in turn. "Kiss me."

  "Tiger," he chastised as though in pain. "Do what you came here to do and then I promise, I'll kiss you until you beg me to stop."

  Right. The ledger. We were here for the ledger. Not for a make-out session in the middle of a bar. I pulled back, received a growl of frustration from Ryan, and flicked my gaze over my shoulder. Only to find we were expertly blocked by Nick and his troop. Abi and Ben having now joined their boss, and his two women for tonight; Eva and Kelly.

  I looked back at Ryan, and saw him watching me with careful eyes. The lust was still there, but controlled now. He'd revisit it when it was safe. For now his concern, for what I was about to put myself through, shone clearly on his face.

  "You ready for this, babe?"

  Was I?

  Yeah, you know what? I was. It was time to put my past behind me, to say goodbye to the man I'd once loved, but whom I hadn't for longer than I realised until today. To start fresh, by finishing what I had abandoned out of fear and necessity all those years ago.

  To bury Roan Fucking McLaren and all his evil accomplices.

  And to do it with a shield wrapped around my body and heart. A shield this man before me had provided.

  No more ice,
only the fire of passion.

  "Yeah, I'm ready, babe," I said back to him, receiving a blindingly beautiful smile in return.

  I was ready for more than one thing this night. I was ready for my past to be over, and my future with Ryan to begin.

  Chapter 20

  Staring Down A Bleak, Dark Black Hole

  "Where do you need us?" Ryan asked, eyes scanning the environment of the Birdcage courtyard, body still within reaching distance. He was keeping close, but keeping his attention on our surroundings.

  How different would it have been if we were here for an actual drink?

  Maybe one day.

  "It's behind you," I answered, keeping my voice low so only he could hear. I needn't have bothered, the patrons were all busy with their own conversations or watching the spectacle that was Nick and his team.

  I glanced over my shoulder and took in the overly intimate circle of Ben, Abi and Kelly. My eyes bugging for a second as he seemed to be flirting with both. The show was accompanied by the sultry sound of Eva laughing, as Nick nuzzled her neck making her hat slide off. Not for a second did I think Nick or Ben weren't aware of what everyone else was doing in this courtyard. Hell, probably Abi and Eva were multi-tasking as well. As for Kelly, well, she was just having a blast.

  I wondered if that was why they had brought her, Kelly added a little believability to the whole performance. Clearly at ease playing this type of game for real.

  My eyes came back to Ryan's, his were dancing with laughter.

  "I guess we're covered?" I said in an effort to disguise my surprise. But then ruined it by adding, "Are they always like this?"

  Ryan laughed, shaking his head. "No, but Nick is not above using people's talents to their best advantage. Kelly has a talent for stealing the show. Right now we want everyone's attention on them and not us. But we better get a move on, this sort of thing can outlive its welcome."

  I nodded, sucked in a deep breath and then stepped past Ryan to the corner where the ledger was hidden. It was darker here, which was part of the reason why I chose it all those years ago. Nothing much changed at the Birdcage. My eyes scanned over the vicinity I knew the brick to be in, but it had been a while, and for a moment I wasn't sure if I could remember exactly which brick to dig out.

  My heart rate escalated, my mouth going a little dry in my ensuing panic. Ryan's hand slipped around my waist and spread wide over my stomach, hauling me back into his hard chest and frame.

  "Breathe, Marie. Just breathe. You can do this."

  With a small amount of pressure from his hand and arm around my body, he lowered us into a crouch. Then his free hand presented me with a file. I'd brought one too, but in my current state fishing it out of my pocket was impossible. I reached out with shaking fingers and clasped the tool he offered, almost dropping it as soon as the weight registered in my palm.

  For a moment I did nothing. Just blindly stared at the sharp implement and the sweat coating my skin. For so long I've hidden behind a shield of confidence. You wouldn't know it to look at me now.

  Images of my daughter's beautiful, smiling, trusting face flashed before my eyes. I'd thought I was protecting her by hiding this book. But I'd brought danger right to our door. This was never going to end unless I ended it. What lay inside that ledger would ensure no one in McLaren's circle would see the light of day ever again.

  One last deep breath in.

  One soft caress of Ryan's hand over my hip.

  I reached forward and slipped the file between the edges of two bricks, twisted the handle, then popped the brick free.

  A gaping black hole met our eyes. For a second it looked completely empty. Just masonry dust and cobwebs. I gently placed the brick that had come loose on the ground, my hand trembling with the effort. Then inserted the file into the gap and tapped it from side to side, searching for anything out of the ordinary. The idea of placing my naked hand in that disturbingly dark and dirty hole was too much to stomach right now. Thankfully it didn't take long for the ledger to announce its presence. The hollow sound of bricks being tapped by steel changed to a dull thud.

  My breath caught in my throat and I lifted my head to look at Ryan over my shoulder.

  "It's still here," I whispered.

  Ryan held my gaze, deep autumnal browns mesmerising me, anchoring me to the ground.

  "Do you want to do this, Marie?" he asked, although the question was really moot now, because he could just reach forward and take it himself. But still he asked, giving me one last chance at controlling the outcome.

  This time pictures of my daughter did not compete for attention in my mind. It was all Rick. And not just the end, where his lifeless body, so pale, yet covered in red, lay crumpled on a bed of grass. But the beginning, the promise, the fun and laughter and love. Through the struggles and the still determined hope that we'd make a decent life together. Until finally the moment he told me who his new job was actually for.

  I had loved Richard Costello. I had loved him so much that I stayed, with the stupid, idiotic hope of saving him from himself. But Roan McLaren was more than I'd ever bargained for. And in the end it wasn't himself that I had to save Rick from, but a drug lord with no morals and the means to destroy people's worlds.

  It was a war I couldn't win then. But now?

  I turned back to look at the dark hole, then dropped the file on the ground and reached in with my bare hand to clasp the ledger. It took a couple of tugs to free it from its resting spot, and in places the plastic covering I'd wrapped it in for protection tore as I pulled it free. But after a few heart palpitating seconds I had the heavy, leather bound tome in my quaking hands.

  We both stared at it. So innocuous looking. A blank dark brown, worn leather cover, with curling, faded cream sheets of paper in between. The edges were rubbed and bent slightly, the book a little out of shape due to the copious photos Rick had been instructed to glue into certain pages. I didn't unwrap it, or open it. I'd seen what was inside this book. I'd forced myself to face what my husband had done.

  It wasn't pretty. It was the stuff of nightmares. If I'd questioned the treacherous danger we'd been in before, once I read that book I knew our lives were over.

  I slowly stood to my full height, Ryan rising with me, his hand still branding a hot mark on my hip. My eyes were on the ledger, so I didn't see his face when I took a step away. Placing space between us that felt cold and alien, and so very much unwanted. But I needed to do this properly. I needed to do this for Daisy and me.

  I lifted my eyes to the detective's. His were cautious and wary, and full of a pain that I think was all for me. For what I was doing. For what I was facing hauling this dark, disgusting piece of work out into the light. It wasn't for the distance I'd placed between us, it was clear he understood why I'd done it. The pain I saw etched on his face, so openly on his heart, was for what I was feeling right then.

  I realised I'd fallen for this man. Somewhere along the way, between meeting him in my office and being caught off guard when he brought my world tumbling down around my ears, to here in the darkened, busy courtyard of a Police bar where my life was again being torn apart, I'd fallen in love with Ryan Pierce.

  And I think, somewhere along the way he'd fallen for me.

  It was easier than I thought it would be, handing over the ledger, placing the book in his hands. I saw a flash of surprise in his eyes when the weight of the book registered, or maybe he was a little shocked I'd simply given it to him without hesitation in the end. Either way, his eyes widened and then flicked down to what pressed into his palms.

  "Make him pay, Ryan," I said, my throat a little tight with too many emotions right then. "Make my sacrifice worth it, so no one else has to go through what Daisy and I did."

  Ryan pulled the book against his chest, as though it was a treasure and not the abomination that it truly represented.

  "This will save lives, Marie," he promised. "This will end his."

  He couldn't have chosen better words, but
with him holding that... thing I couldn't crumble, I couldn't show relief or let my shield down. I just nodded my head, wrapped the knowledge that this man had fallen for me as much as I had fallen for him around myself, and turned to join Nick's group.

  Both Ben and Nick's eyes lifted to Ryan's over my shoulder, but the women all looked at me. Kelly wrapping her arm around my waist on one side, Eva on the other, and Abi offering what could only be a proud smile, serene in its understanding of what I'd been through. A solidarity shared with just one look.

  "Now if this isn't a tequila time, I don't know what is," Kelly declared, starting to head us in the direction of the main building, so we could work our way toward the exit.

  "Don't mind if I do," Abi answered for all of us, I think.

  "You still got enough or do we need to do a liquor run?" Eva asked at my side.

  "Purlease," Abi chastised. "This is Ben Tamati's house we're talking about."

  "Not just my house, Red," he corrected from over our shoulders. "And why would I have fuckin' tequila on my top shelf, if not for you and your posse?"

  Abi sniggered, joined immediately by Kelly.

  "You never complain when I pour you one, big guy," Kelly managed to say in amongst the chuckles.

  "Just bein' polite, Kels."

  We'd made it into the main part of the building by now, Ryan and Nick ominously quiet at our backs. And I was sure, even though Ben was keeping up the appearance of party happy pub crawlers, his eyes were darting all about the room. Taking in every single person in the Birdcage tonight. We'd done what we came here to do, but we weren't home free yet.

  Still, a lightness had entered my frame, a weight truly lifted off my shoulders. I wasn't sure what was ahead for me and Daisy, but I did know from here on in we would be doing it on the right side of the law. And if the planets aligned and a little of lady luck was on my side, Dominic would have arranged a deal that allowed me to avoid seeing the inside of a cell.

  I didn't want to think that I'd suffered enough, I was all too readily aware that by hiding this book others may have been harmed when they could have been saved instead. That was a guilt I'd always wear close to my heart. But one look at my daughter would help settle the unease, because I challenge any mother not to have done all that they could to protect their child. I challenge them to have found the courage to offer up the ledger at the risk of their child's life.