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  She began stroking him, not really wanting to go down that memory lane. She hadn’t been a nice person in school. Toby had been one of her real friends because he had come from money, as well. They’d been mean together. She’d hung out with a group of girls, cheerleaders, who had run the school with spite and evilness. “You really want to rehash this now?”

  He bucked his length into her hand. “No.”

  Neither did she.

  ☼

  “So, what’s with the scowling I see you do?”

  Chase lay on his back, one arm behind his head. Vicki’s toned, naked body was pressed along his. They’d been sleeping together for a month now.

  He went to her place or they met out of town. Or had quickies in and on her cop car. Something hot about having her in uniform. Everything about her was the antithesis from the Victoria Boshay he recalled from school years. She didn’t seem to miss the opulence she’d grown up living with. Her place was small, a one-bedroom. She’d said she didn’t need any more than what she now had.

  “Chase?” She nudged him.

  “My scowling?”

  “Yes. It seems the only woman who gets a genuine reaction from you is Mrs. Mallery.”

  “She’s always been like a mother to me.” He smoothed a hand over her ass.

  “So, Sarah would, as well?”

  “Of course.”

  “I remember you two were close in school.”

  He grunted. Sarah was off limits for discussion, like a lot of his past.

  “She always impressed me,” Vicki continued.

  “How so?”

  She adjusted against him, one leg draping his thicker, larger one. It was comforting having her like this with him. The brush of her skin along his, her curves. Nothing between them.

  “She never let comments get to her. No matter what was said. How is she doing?”

  Not that she showed anyone. He knew it had. He’d held her while she cried. “Very well,” he said with pride. “She loves her life with the Marine Corps.”

  Vicki kissed his chest. “Good. And you?”

  He stiffened. “You ran me; I’m sure you know it all.”

  “Never mind,” she snapped, rolling away.

  He stared unabashedly as she went to her bedroom door, uncaring of her nudity. “Want me to leave now?”

  “Do what you want; you will, anyway.” Her tone held no warmth in it as it had earlier. The click of the bathroom door preceded the shower kicking on.

  He dressed and left, confused by what emotions she created in him. The way his gut churned when she settled those blue-green eyes on him. On the bike, he became more alert when two black cars pulled onto the road after him. In the side mirror, he recognized the haughty look of a hired driver.

  May as well get this over with. He slowed and stopped. Waiting, he leaned against the bike as it sat. Hooking his glasses on the front of his shirt, he sighed. He spit on the ground as he crossed his arms.

  Out of the second car stepped two men he pegged as the muscle. He didn’t move, the two goons unimpressive in his estimation. At first glance, he pegged them for ex-alphabet company members.

  The first car’s driver stepped out, walked around, and opened the back door. Another ex-alphabet. One leg, clad in a dark suit came out, followed by the rest of the man. Victor Boshay. The man had lost some weight, and his thin body had a few more wrinkles.

  Funny, he used to, if not scare me, impress me. Now, nothing. Chase waited, eyes tracking all four people.

  Victor tugged down the sleeves of his suit coat as he strode toward him. “Mr. Ellery.” His name was spoken with a cold disdain.

  “Victor.”

  A slight pinching of his lips was the only sign he gave. “Mr. Boshay.”

  “Victor works fine for me. Why were you following me?”

  “Stay away from my daughter. You weren’t good enough for her back then, and you sure aren’t now.”

  He spit again, landing it on the top of Victor’s shiny black shoe. “Showing concern for the daughter you disowned? Tell me, does she know you’re doing this?”

  “My relationship with my daughter doesn’t concern you. I won’t tell you again to stay away from her.”

  “Good, I don’t want to hear it again.”

  “Things won’t go well for you if you don’t heed my warning.”

  He sat up slightly. “Are you threatening me?”

  The calculation in the man’s gaze, frost. “I’m warning you. There are a lot of places around here where accidents can happen.”

  Chase pushed away from the bike and strode toward Victor. The three men stepped closer, only to stop when he held up a hand.

  “I’m not a little boy, Victor, who is going to be scared off. If you want to send your goons here after me, do it. If you want to send your sons, go for it. Nothing you have impresses me. Vicki does, and from what I hear, you don’t have her anymore, by your own choice. Anything happens to me, and I’m coming after you.” He bent his head, voice dropping to a low whisper. “You’re going to need a lot more than three for a protection detail if that happens.”

  The man gulped but didn’t back down. He sneered and said, “What about your neighbor?”

  Cold fire lanced his veins. “You touch her, and I’ll rip your heart out while it’s still beating in your chest. So much as her power flickers, and I’ll be all over you. No matter where you hide, I’ll find you.”

  “Stay away from my daughter.”

  “According to your own words, you no longer have one.” He pivoted and walked back to the bike before he did something like punch the man in the throat.

  “I’m not done talking to you,” Victor called out.

  “Such a shame I’m done listening.” He swung his leg over the bike, started the engine, and rode off as he put on his glasses. He went to his house and parked. Then, he strode to the house next door and rapped sharply on the screen’s frame.

  “Come in, Chase. You know you don’t have to knock. I have some chocolate pecan pie here; come have a slice.”

  “Mrs. Candace, you’re going to make me have to buy all new clothing.” He kissed her cheek when he entered the kitchen.

  “You were too thin when you got here. You need some meat on your bones.” She looked at him. “What’s wrong?” She placed the plate before him and gave him a fork, as well.

  “Ran into Victor Boshay.”

  She harrumphed. “That man ain’t got no sense. All he’s worried about is his money.”

  “He threatened you.”

  She sat across from him. “Eat. What is he threatening me for? Because you’re seeing the girl he said wasn’t his seed any longer?” Chase blinked, and she laughed. “You really didn’t think I didn’t know, did you?”

  “How did you know?”

  “You had a thing for her from years ago. Makes sense. She’s all grown up and beautiful now. On the inside as well as the outside. Some things are meant to be, Chase. You just take care you don’t hurt her.”

  “Like she did me in school?”

  “Ain’t neither of you in school anymore, but if you act like it, I can take a switch to you if you’d like.” She glared at him.

  “No, ma’am. That’ll be just fine without the switch.”

  “She’s not like the rest of her uppity kin. When her father disowned her, she had to grow up and fast. She did. She’s good people now. Perhaps you should get to know her instead of just sleeping with her.”

  Uncomfortable with speaking to Mrs. Candace about this, he just nodded and ate his pie. Later that day, he went out and found Vicki sitting in her car along the road, doing some paperwork. He parked the bike across from her, so she’d see him coming.

  She put down her papers when he approached the window. “Something wrong?” she asked.

  “I was an ass earlier, I’m sorry.”

  “Fine.” She looked back to the sheets in her lap.

  He leaned on the car, hands on top and his head close to the window. “
Your father came to visit me.”

  She looked up at him, startle obvious in those blue-green eyes. “What’d he want?”

  “Warned me away from you.”

  “And you said?”

  “Nothing, really.”

  “He threaten you?”

  “In a manner.” She shook her head, and he reached in to drag a knuckle along her cheek. “Don’t worry about it. Come on a date with me.”

  “You’re devious.”

  He grinned. “I have my moments. Will you come?”

  Her retaliatory smile was seductive. “I’d better. More than once.”

  Chapter Four

  “You can’t be serious, Vicki! I’m your brother!”

  She stared at the man before her, one of her older brothers, Herbert. Pain and fury filled his eyes. The other two also sat there, on the ground, not cuffed but being watched over as they cradled their injuries. “According to all of you, I have no brothers. And y’all’re the ones who started the altercation.”

  She sliced her gaze to the left where Tim stood talking to Chase. Herbert may have started it, but Chase sure as hell finished it. Two of them have broken arms, and the third has a busted nose.

  “He could have killed us,” Rich, another brother, called out.

  She took stock of their injuries. “Then, you shouldn’t have challenged him and thrown those first punches.” Her gaze traveled back to where Chase stood. He watched her. His stormy eyes full of fire and anger.

  “Why isn’t he in handcuffs?” Chad, the youngest of the trio, asked.

  “According to witnesses, he was just defending himself. He’d been at the bar, minding his own business, when the three of you went to start something.”

  “So, he’d been drinking,” Herbert snapped.

  “I don’t want to hear it. All three of your blood alcohol levels are above the legal limit, and if, as is stated, you didn’t drink any in there, then you were driving this way, which adds driving under the influence to your charges.”

  “This is just because you’re fucking him.” Rich kicked the ground.

  “And, it’s about time you three stop acting like nothing can touch you because of your last name.” She turned to Tim who’d walked over to her. “I’m done with them. They’re ready to be transported down to the station and booked after we get them to the hospital.”

  “I’ll take them to the ambulance,” he said. One hand on her shoulder, and he canted his head to the side. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be? I’m not the one who just got my ass kicked.”

  Tim laughed. “True enough. Okay, I’ll get this moving.”

  “I’ll be right behind you and meet you at the hospital. Hey, Tim. Don’t listen to anything they say.”

  “Right now, I’m betting it’ll be nothing more than moans of pain.”

  “See you in a bit.”

  She remained where she was as the cars and ambulances departed. Then, she strolled over to where Chase stood.

  “You okay?” she asked, tipping her head back to look at him.

  “I could use a drink.” His gaze burned into hers. “Are you okay?”

  The concern in his tone was nearly her undoing. Swallowing back her uncertainty, she nodded. “Fine.”

  “Liar.”

  “I don’t have any choice. I have to be.”

  “Come by my place when you’re done if you want to talk. I’ll be up.”

  “You want me over there?”

  His gaze shuttered. “You know where I live; the offer is there.” Chase strode off and left.

  Vicki exhaled and made her way to her patrol car. She drove to the hospital to make sure all three of them were being treated, so she and her fellow deputies could put her brothers back in the station. She smiled at the nurses as she took brisk steps down the hall.

  She slowed as she saw her father standing in the waiting area, his face turned down in a scowl.

  “How could you?” he demanded.

  “Excuse me, sir. I have somewhere to be.”

  “Don’t you walk away from me, Victoria.”

  She stopped at the use of her name. Tapping the steel she’d had to use a few times to get people to respect her, she turned to face her namesake. “The name is Deputy Boshay.”

  He neared her, and she held her ground and his disapproving stare. “Let my sons go.”

  “I’m sorry, sir. Once they are processed, you can post their bail, but until then, they are staying in our custody.”

  “You’re a disgrace to the Boshay name.”

  “Maybe you should have raised your children better.”

  “It was that ruffian’s fault.”

  “Really? They went into that bar looking for him, already well over the legal limit to be behind the wheel. What if they’d killed someone driving there? Would that still have been Chase’s fault? Three against one, just like they did in school. Only this time, it didn’t go as well as they’d hoped. He kicked their asses.”

  “You sound like you’re proud of him.”

  She grinned. “I am.” She walked away, ignoring the pain in her heart.

  The sheriff took his time in booking them, making them wait even longer to get out. When they were finally released, each sibling glared at her as they walked by. She maintained her expressionless face. It was funny, though, if she thought about it. Herbert and Chad had broken arms while Rich had his nose all bandaged up. The untouchable balloon that had floated around the Boshay boys had been more than just popped tonight; it had been eviscerated.

  “Go home,” Sheriff Tanner called out as she finished typing up her report.

  Checking the time, she read it neared one in the morning. She grabbed her gear, said her farewells, and went to her car. In the parking lot, she drummed her fingers on the wheel as she contemplated her choices.

  “Why am I delaying? He said to come over.” She started the car and went in to his house. The streetlights offered very little illumination as she drove up to his singlewide trailer. She’d never been to his place other than to drop him off. And never inside.

  Parking in the drive, she stepped from the car. She made her way up to the door after locking her vehicle. Before her foot hit the first step, the door opened, and she found herself staring at Chase’s bare chest. His low riding sweats had her mouth watering.

  “You came.”

  She jerked her eyes to his. “You invited me.”

  “So I did. Come on in.”

  She began to walk by him when he snagged her around the waist and kissed her. She whimpered and sank into him. He released her and shut the door behind them. Vicki took in the décor. Simple but homey.

  “Not what you expected?”

  “No. There’s more than a slight feminine touch in here.”

  “Mrs. Candace.”

  She dropped her bag on the floor. “I figured.”

  “Could have been one of the Anderson twins.”

  She snorted. “Not and be this tasteful.”

  “Want a drink?” He opened the fridge.

  “Beer?”

  He pulled out two and opened them. Handing her one of the bottles, he gestured to the couch. He took the other end once she sat.

  “My father ordered me to let them go.”

  “I’m sure he did.”

  “I didn’t. I made him come down and bail them out.” A self-deprecating laugh escaped. “If I had any thoughts of being welcomed back, those are gone now.”

  Chase rested his arm along the back of the couch, bottle dangling from his fingers as he watched her in the low light.

  “No comment?”

  “You want me to make one?” He put the bottle to his lips. “Fine. Here’s a comment. You’re better off without them. You’re a better person without them. Why do you want to be back in the fold so bad? Money?”

  His questions didn’t even offend her like they would have in the past. “No, I guess I don’t want to. I don’t know what to think anymore.” She drank
some of her beer then looked at the label. Midnight Monk by Terrapin. “This is good.”

  “Belgium-style black IPA. Tell me why you left Atlanta.”

  She altered position on the cushion and crossed her legs. Facing him, she studied his face. The chiseled features showed a harsh man, one who didn’t smile often. His nose had been broken a few times, the bumps on the ridge divulging that knowledge. Bow-shaped lips, which did incredible things to her, and those eyes, she loved his eyes. Had no problems losing herself in them.

  However, right now, she witnessed true curiosity in his gaze, informing her he wanted to know and wasn’t just asking to divert her attention to another subject.

  She drank some more and weighed her options.

  ☼

  Chase waited for her to talk. He wasn’t going to rush her; he was a patient man. Always had been. He had no problems with looking at the woman across from him. Her blonde hair fell freely past her shoulders. He liked it loose, preferred it to how she wore it at work, back in a tight braid or bun. Not that he didn’t understand why she wore it that way, for he did, he just preferred it loose as it was now.

  He rolled the bottle in his fingers. Her eyes tracked the movement.

  “We’d been sent in for a drug bust.”

  He held her gaze once she met his again.

  “The intel had been wrong about the number of people in there.”

  “What happened?”

  “One of the main players picked up a six-month old and used him as a shield. Why they had a baby in a place they were making drugs, I still don’t know, but those people who use them are far from sane I’ve discovered. He wanted to leave. We weren’t about to let that happen.”

  “The baby died.” He didn’t make it a question. He knew by the torment in her eyes.

  “Yes. He shot her, saying she didn’t need to be in the system.” She placed the bottle between her legs. “It was my breaking point. I think I would have shot him without problem if someone else hadn’t. The amount of rage I felt toward him eclipsed anything I’ve ever experienced.”

  Chase put his bottle on the table and waited for her to continue.