by L. L Hunter
Nathan. No!
My head screamed at me to stop kissing Frankie, but I couldn’t stop. I didn’t know what it was with Nathan. It was like the good girl side of me loved Nathan, and the bad girl side loved Frankie. My life was starting to mirror a science fiction novel. Either that or I had split personality disorder.
Put it this way, I was kissing Frankie for Nathan, I told myself. I had to get inside his head like he was in mine.
Frankie pulled away for a moment, still holding onto me but leaving his face extremely close to mine. “When’s your next class?” he asked me, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. It distracted my mouth from forming words.
“Um… um… at two.”
“Excellent. Come on.” He stood, pulling me up with him.
“Where are we going?”
“To study.”
My mind travelled to all sorts of dangerous places as we headed to his room. I knew exactly what I was in for...
Chapter Twenty
Nathan
What on earth was I doing? I woke at the normal time I usually woke on a weekday, 6am, which was before Charli. As I sat up on the side of the bed to find my pants, I looked back over my shoulder at Charli’s naked body on the other side of the bed. Her hair was fanned out over the pillow behind her head, and she looked like an angel. Last night I knew I shouldn’t have stayed, shouldn’t have given in to my desires, but I couldn’t help myself. I could feel myself falling for her very, very fast. I leaned over to plant a kiss on Charli’s forehead, but she stirred and rolled over, exposing her breasts to me. God, she was beautiful. And I was going to hell.
“Mm, are you leaving?” She mumbled with eyes still closed. She reached out for me, and my hand found hers automatically.
“I have to go to work.” I couldn’t lie about that. How else would I explain my absence from the Campus? I had to go back to the station to follow up on my case at some point.
“Mm. Okay. I better get back to school.”
“I’ll call you later. Okay?” I kissed her sweet lips and brushed hair away from her face.
“Sure.” She watched me as I dressed and smiled when I looked her way. I didn’t want to go back to the station. I wanted to climb back into bed with her and make love to her again, but that would have to wait. Really, last night shouldn’t have happened. I kissed her once more before leaving and watched as she went back to sleep, and I snuck out the door.
* * * *
“Here’s the frat boy,” shouted my partner as soon as I entered the station. A couple of my other work mates cheered and patted me on the back as I walked by. I told them to piss off or something along those lines. They only knew about the party. Didn’t they?
“What’s new?” I asked Mark as I hung my jacket over my chair. Mark leaned back on his chair and pointed to a manila folder on my desk. Intrigued, I dropped my bag and picked up the folder. Inside was Levi’s full profile.
“Good work.”
“It wasn’t exactly a secret.” To us it wasn’t a secret but Levi/Frankie had sure tried to cover his tracks. He had done well, until now. When I had skimmed through Levi’s basic biography, which was stuff I already knew, I turned the page and got into the police reports and statements. The first report in the file was from three years ago—the accident in which he had killed his girlfriend at the time. That was what everyone initially thought anyway. As I read deeper into the report, I saw that wasn’t the case. He had been charged with manslaughter for killing seventeen-year-old Winter Matthews in a car crash caused by driving intoxicated. He had been sentenced to 25 years then, but Miss Matthews’ death wasn’t the only one he had caused. When I read the following report, I wanted to scream. One year earlier, he had been charged with drunken driving causing bodily harm leading to death of a child on a pedestrian crossing. Which meant the second charge was null and void. Under current New South Wales law, major crimes where the sentence is over twenty years could only be retried if there were new and compelling evidence. I threw the folder down on the desk and shouted in frustration. That had been the reason he had been let out on bail. There was no new evidence the courts would be interested in, yet. Then I remembered the conversation Levi had been having with Stephen and picked up the folder again. I flicked through the pages to find the new report, but there was none. I had to talk to Stephen. There was something he was keeping from us. It must be the reason why Levi was now blackmailing him. If there was new evidence, it was our right to retrieve it. I grabbed my jacket and keys and headed out the door.
Chapter Twenty-One
Charli
“So, why’d you pick my room over yours?” Frankie asked me as he unlocked his door.
“Oh, you know, so we don’t get interrupted. Plus, I thought we could finish what we started.” His eyes widened and he smirked, pushing the door open with his foot.
“After you.”
“Thank you.” As soon as I was inside his apartment, I stopped in the centre of the room and turned back to face him. He dropped his laptop bag at his feet and walked towards me, grabbing my face in his hands, and then kissing me. I kissed him back, pulling on his shirt to pull him closer to me. We walked backwards and fell back onto the lounge. This time there was no foreplay. We got straight down to business. He ripped off his shirt, and I slipped out of my jeans. He had the pleasure of removing my tank top and bra. When he was only in his briefs, and I was in my knickers, he moved over me and considered me like a big cat might consider their prey. He was so close that I could feel the bulge in his pants as he leaned against me.
“Ready?”
“What are you waiting for?” I wanted to rip off his underwear right then and pull him inside me. I was impatient like that. But he teased me and taunted me.
“Be patient. I’m studying you.”
“For your essay?”
“Yes.”
“And what have you discovered?”
“That the female mind is delicate and is easily persuaded.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It didn’t take me long to lure you into my bed.”
“Who said you lured me? Maybe I came of my own accord?” Before he could speak, I traced kisses along his collarbone while my hand caressed his bulge. “Maybe it’s the male mind that is the most delicate and easily fooled.” He closed his eyes and moaned as I massaged harder.
“Oh, bloody hell, Charli. Why are you doing this to me?” He moved his pelvis closer to me so his penis was pressed right up against me. I gasped but continued playing my game.
“Maybe it’s me who wants to taunt you? Maybe I wanted to lure you in. Did you ever think about that?”
“I… I can’t really do much thinking with you doing that.” I could tell he was ready. So was I. I pulled his pants down as he did mine.
Having sex with Frankie was different from having sex with Nathan. With Nathan, it had been more the passionate and hot kind of sex, but now with Frankie, there was passion, but more lust than anything. I could finally see that now. After a few minutes, Frankie pulled out and grabbed his underwear off the floor. I grabbed mine and got dressed.
“How was that? Did I give you some juicy material for your essay?” I asked.
He grinned as he headed towards the bathroom. “More than enough. In fact, I need a shower.”
I grinned. “Good. So, I’ll see you at six?”
“Yeah. See you then.”
As I was leaving, I couldn’t help but feel blank and empty. I realised my feelings for him were false. I knew now where my heart lay. But this heart had been treacherous.
I headed back to my apartment to shower and grab the books for my next class, all the while feeling like I was functioning on autopilot. As I sat in the lecture hall, I couldn’t help but scan the crowd for the one familiar face I was longing to see. Where was he? Was he avoiding me? Why hadn’t he called? Actually, I was glad he hadn’t called. I wouldn’t know what to say to him if I saw or spoke to him now. I had just slept with another man aft
er only sleeping with Nathan last night. Did that make me a slut? I decided if he wanted to see me again, he would contact me. Right now, I needed the time to myself to figure everything out.
Nathan
I pulled up outside the building where Stephen Jayne worked and hesitated. I needed to centre myself before walking in there. I really needed to bring him in for formal questioning but something about this situation made me impatient. I realised then I was too close to this case. I was in too deep, but there was no going back now. I stepped out of my car and headed into the secretary, I ran over the questions I would be asking him in my mind. I needed to be firm with him. He was harbouring secrets about my suspect. Secrets I had every intention of unveiling. Mr Jayne’s secretary, a petite red headed woman in her forties, pressed the intercom to tell Stephen he had a guest.
“Mr Jayne, Constable Nathan Wright is here to see you.” The woman, Nancy, eyed me warily as she set down the phone. I guess she could suspect why I was here. After a few awkward seconds of staring between Nancy and me, Stephen still hadn’t opened the door.
“Shit.” He was up to something. Hiding evidence, I suspected. I barged through the door, much to Nancy’s dismay.
“Constable Wright, you can’t go in there.”
She was trying to stop me. Was she in on this, as well? I would deal with her later. If she knew something, anything, I would find out.
“Stephen…” I caught Stephen rummaging through the filing cabinet and his desk drawers. There was paper strewn over every surface.
“Nathan, so good to see you. What brings you here?” He said with a fake smile. So, he was acting dumb. Two could play at that game.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Stephen. You know why I’m here.”
“I have a bit of an idea. Tell me.” He sat down on his chair and swung it back to face me. “Is it about you and my daughter?”
How dare he bring Charli into this! “Charli has nothing to do with this. Leave her out of it.”
“Ah, you’re defensive. You care for her.”
“Yes. It’s no lie. I do care for her, which is why I’m here. I care for her welfare and safety.” I turned to shut the door behind me and sat down opposite Stephen. Another staring match commenced. I got right down to business.
“It has come to my attention that you are harbouring secret evidence. Evidence, which could incriminate Levi Chandon.”
“Now why would I want to incriminate my client, Constable Wright?”
“Because he threatened the life of your daughter. He blackmailed you.”
He hesitated but stayed calm. “You have no proof.”
“That is where you’re wrong.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I unlocked it and pulled up the voice recorder.
“Listen, I’m not talking until I have my lawyer present. If you want to pursue this, you’ll have to formally arrest me. But you can’t do that without a warrant, and you can’t get a warrant without evidence against me.” Stephen leaned back in his chair, smug. Well, I was about to wipe that freaking smug smile right off his face. I picked up my phone and hit play, winking at him.
“He won’t get away with this, Susan. I have something that will put him right back in jail and away from our daughter.”
“Like what, Stephen? Be careful. You’re playing with fire.”
“Since Levi has become my client, I have had access to his full background. It says here in his medical records, from the age of nine, Levi has been admitted to the hospital more than thirty times due to being abused and bashed by his father. Now his father, Jack Chandon, was a mean drunk and used to embezzle money from the family’s auto business into overseas accounts, posing as an investor. It seems Levi inherited his father’s talents.”
When I pressed stop on the recording, Stephen’s face was beetroot red and shiny from sweat.
“Levi wants money, doesn’t he?” I asked, waiting.
Stephen then broke down and cried into his hands. “I only want to protect my family, Nathan. You understand that, don’t you? My girls are all I’ve got.”
“I understand. I’m not incriminating you or arresting you. I need you to work with me. I need to bring Levi in before he can touch your money or Charli.”
Stephen turned the chair towards the window and stared down at his shoes.
“Stephen?”
“It’s too late for that.”
“What do you mean, Stephen? What are you not telling me?”
“I already paid him.”
I didn’t need to say another word to him. I was out of there before he could utter another word.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Charli
I decided I needed girl time, but when I tried to get in touch with Mia, there was no answer. The operator said her phone had been disconnected. What the hell was going on? Ever since starting here, I thought Mia was a good friend. We had grown close. Maybe I was wrong. She wasn’t acting like a good friend by abandoning me. I called Rochelle, and she answered on the second ring.
“Hey, Sexy.”
“Hey, Hottie.” These were our familiar terms of endearment. We had begun using them from the age of thirteen when we started high school together.
“What’s up, girl? Still hung over from your rockin’ party?”
“No. Not anymore. Hey, what are you up to right now?”
“Right this second? Drying my hair. Why?”
“Good. Then you can come shopping with me.”
“Ooh, yay! I’m always up for a girly shopping spree. Want me to pick you up?”
“Sure.”
“Okay. See you in half an hour.”
“Okay. Bye.”
* * * *
After shopping for an hour, we sat down at a coffee shop and rested our feet.
“So, spill. Who were those hunky boys at your party? I saw them both looking at you.”
“You did?” I blushed and decided it was time to spill. “It’s complicated. The blonde one, that’s Nathan. He’s…” I couldn’t help but smile when talking about him. And Rochelle picked up on it.
“Ooh. You’ve kissed him haven’t you?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Oh My God! You haven’t just kissed him, have you?”
I blushed a deeper shade of red, and tried to hide it with my hair and my coffee cup.
“Oh My God. How was he?”
“Rochelle!” I shoved her and laughed. “He was great. He’s so wonderful. But that’s not what’s complicated about this.”
“Oh, then what is it?”
I sighed. “There’s another guy.”
“Oh, that dark and mysterious fella at your party?”
“That would be the one.”
“What about him?”
“Um…” Again, I blushed a deep shade of rouge.
“Oh My God! You little slut!”
“Gee, thanks!” I kicked her under the table, but I wasn’t offended. I knew she meant it as a weird term of endearment. “See what I mean? You can now tell why I’m so screwed up.”
“Uh, huh. So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. That’s the thing. I was hoping for your opinion.”
“Well, how do you feel about each of them? I personally would go for Mr McHottie lifeguard.”
“Lifeguard? You mean Nathan?”
“Mmhmm.” She added a head nod and a wink. Rochelle was sassy at the best of times, and that was what I loved about her.
“He’s not a lifeguard.”
“Well, he should be with those muscles and that complexion. He belongs on Bondi Beach.”
“Ugh! I don’t know what to do, Rochelle. I like them both, but… I think I like Nathan more. The problem is I think I’m dating Frankie.”
“Uh oh. Girl, you can’t have both. You need to choose.”
“I know. I know. But… I can’t.”
“Choose, before I do it for you. You can’t sleep with both men and lead them on. You’re not only betraying them bu
t yourself, as well.”
“I know. The problem is, Nathan hasn’t called me since. I haven’t seen him. He hasn’t been on campus.”
“What did he say to you the last time you saw him?”
“He said he had to go to work.”
“For four days? It’s Wednesday and you last spoke to him on Sunday, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s too long. He’s avoiding you.”
“No, he was so nice to me. It was perfect before he left.”
“Well, then something else is going on. Maybe try calling him.”
“Okay. I will. As soon as I get back to campus.”
* * * *
After Rochelle dropped me back at the university, I had every intention of calling Nathan, but Frankie got to me first.
“Hey,” I said, answering as I stepped through the door.
“Hey. Where are you and what are you doing right now?” After having sex on Sunday, our dinner date on Monday had gone great, and we finished it off back at my apartment with more sex.
“I just got home from shopping. I bought some sexy underwear,” I hinted. I thought I’d let him know. I loved teasing him.
“Great. Well, save that for tonight. I’m stealing you away.”
“Stealing me away, where?”
“I was going to take you this weekend, but something’s come up and I can’t wait. It has to be today.”
“Oh. Where are we going? I have classes tomorrow.”
“I’m sure you’ll catch up. I’ll help you study.”
“Oh, okay. Sure,” I said, a little hesitant knowing his version of studying wasn’t a study of books.
“Great. You don’t need to pack much. Just a bikini, the sexy lingerie you were telling me about, and a jumper. It gets cool where we’re going.”
“Okay. Will do.” Now I was curious.
“Great. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”