HIDING: Book 5, The Stranger Stand Alone Series, A Dark Romantic Suspense Page 4

  The older woman huffs, “Fine. I’ll go, then I’ll tell you how silly you’re being.” She unties her full apron and grabs the other to put it on. “I hope you weren’t rude.”

  Shit!

  First he completely undid me with just his presence. Then he stripped me bare with a look, finally he destroyed me by opening a wound I’d spent a lifetime trying to heal.

  Yeah, I was rude.

  “I was just being me,” I mutter.

  “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Julie cinches the black waitress apron tight around her waist and storms out.

  RICO

  Did you hear that? Click! Click! She locked and loaded, and aimed that laser straight for my head. She got off one shot, BANG, but I was quicker. And I feel like shit about it.

  “What did I do?” I ask as everyone takes their seats at the table.

  “Nothing…until right now. Maybe she’s already heard about your dickness, because it certainly showed its ass just now,” Elsie glares at me.

  “Come on, that’s not fair, she started it. And I was working a case back then, cut me some slack,” I defend myself.

  What the hell was her problem?

  I had been a total dick just now, but she was a bitch first. For no reason whatsoever.

  When I’d first shown up in town out of nowhere, I had been a dick. It was the beginning of this case and I was undercover. I had to make my presence known, and I’d picked John to do that with. Elsie’d innocently gotten dragged in by association, and she’d paid the highest price.

  I will always, always, feel guilty about that. Another chain on the cross I carry.

  “That was totally weird, Els, you’ve got to admit. Rico was not out of place there, she did start it,” Janie adds. “It’s like she was trying to antagonize him.”

  “Have you guys met before?” Elizabeth questions.

  “A woman like that? I would have definitely remembered her. No, we’ve never met before.” I notice an older woman approaching the table. My jaw clenches. “It seems like I’m not going to again either.” This disappoints me, it shouldn’t, but it does.

  Shame too, I would have enjoyed teaching her a lesson for that little show, then listen to her beg after I teased her for hours.

  “Hi Elsie, John, everyone. I’m Julie, I’ll be taking care of you tonight.” She shrugs a shoulder apologetically.

  “What’s going on with Maria? She was being such a bitch,” Elsie doesn’t let up. Never has, never will.

  “I’m sorry, she’s been under a lot of pressure. We needed her inside,” the woman lies.

  That’s bullshit, she ran. Why? Because I insulted her? I must have hurt her feelings, I hate it, but she asked for it.

  Julie changes the subject and tells us about the specials, takes our order, then leaves to get our drinks.

  “What was wrong with that woman?” I’m frustrated. I don’t like questions, and she left me with a shit ton of them, and completely confused me. She is beautiful, but there’s something else about her. A mystery. I saw it in her, whispering to me. “She insults a customer, and then hides,” regardless of the fact I haven’t been affected by a woman like that in years.

  Affect is a severe understatement. She set my blood boiling, my mouth watering, and my dick stirring. And she’s an enigma, an aggravating, smart mouthed puzzle I can’t figure out. I don’t like unanswered questions. Her behavior made no sense and was completely unwarranted.

  Why?

  “I don’t understand it, Maria is so cool, we’ve gotten pretty close since I’ve been coming in here,” Elsie sounds confused as well. “She’s not a push-over, but I’ve never seen her be so…so…”

  “Bitchy?” I suggest, smirking.

  “There’s got to be a logical explanation for the way she acted. She has always been…for lack of a better word, sane,” John adds.

  “Hey babe, kind of reminds me of you when we met, remember,” Brian asks his fiancée, Brooke.

  Brooke rolls her eyes, “Please don’t remind me. God, I can’t believe I actually slapped you that night in the club.”

  “You slapped him?” Every single one of us, all seven, say in unison, shocked.

  “Yes, in the bathroom,” Brooke blushes, “You guys remember about the whole bathroom thing…,” her face is flaming red now.

  “Oh, hell yes, we remember that! You guys locked yourselves in there, the line was out past the bar. The guys had to go and stand guard outside to keep the rioters at bay. Public bathroom sex, you instantly became our hero,” Elsie laughs.

  “Yes you did, Brooke, it became an item on my bucket list after that,” Elizabeth giggles as she glances at her boyfriend, Marco.

  “Would you sexpots please shut-up, you make me sick,” Janie moans.

  “For goodness sake, Jay, dump that sorry boyfriend of yours. If things were any hotter between you and Scott, you two’d be up in flames,” Elsie says.

  “Elsie!” Janie turns beet red.

  Scott’s sitting next to her with a grin on his face from ear to ear. “She’s not lying, Janie, it’s the truth. The fact that you’re so loyal is one of your most admirable qualities, amongst many others. So when you do finally get rid of him, I’ll be here.”

  This group of people had made me feel welcome and at home. At least from the moment they found out I’m a detective and I didn’t have to be the asshole anymore, well, the asshole I had to be at the time for the case.

  Maybe it’s because they each have their own secrets.

  We may all appear to be just a normal group of friends hanging out, sharing a casual meal. As I glance at each face, each of their stories flash in speeding clips through my mind. The nightmares each of them have lived through. Yes, we may look normal, whatever that is, but inside, behind the mask of civility, I, at least, most certainly am not.

  They’re all very good people, and I would do anything for any of them, just like my brothers back in New York. My blood brothers.

  “Alright,” I cut in. “This is about Brian and Brooke. It’s good to see you, man.”

  Things had been scary for Brian after the shark attack, he’d been in a coma for weeks. Everyone waited for him to wake up. Through it all, we never gave up hope.

  “It’s good to be out with you guys again. Missed you bunch of misfits. I knew you couldn’t handle things without me,” Brian smiles.

  I sit back in my chair; grateful the attention is now directed away from me. As the conversation continues, Maria’s presence still lingers.

  Her snide comments and rude behavior have me baffled. Yeah, I was an ass sometimes, yes, there was a time I’d distracted myself with more one night stands than I’d care to count, getting a momentary reprieve from my solitude and the ghosts that haunt me. I’d been nothing but polite to her. Up until she’d made it clear it was on. She asked for it, I delivered.

  What is most disturbing is I’d been drawn to her. Not just her body, not for the possibility of quenching a carnal need.

  Her.

  Something about her, inside her, called to me.

  I don’t get close.

  I don’t do women.

  I do their bodies.

  I keep telling myself that every time I catch myself glancing around to see if I get a glimpse of the aggravating, mouthy, intoxicating woman.

  RICO

  CHAPTER 4

  “Hey Scott, the boys in yet?” I ask as I walk into the gym, Evolutions, the next morning.

  This is where I met John, Brian, Marco, and Scott. When I’d first been transferred here because of the surge in heroin in the area, this place had been a main location on the department’s radar. Turns out a dealer, a sports-car driving white female, ran rounds through the fight circuit. This is a place where MMA fighters perfect their skills. I’d been more than happy to be assigned the case.

  The place is sleek, and designed for warriors. There are full-size body bags and speed bags hanging from the ceiling along the outskirts, one room with free weights,
another that’s a studio for self-defense classes, a section with mats for martial arts, and a cage for mixed martial arts practice.

  “Yes, they’re inside warming up. Nice restaurant last night, don’t you think?” Scott smirks.

  “Shut-up, man,” I grumble as I walk past the front desk, and Scott who’s manning it. I can hear him laughing as I enter the gym’s main room.

  Asshole.

  I hadn’t stopped thinking about ‘the restaurant’ all night.

  I’m never going to hear the end about that woman busting my balls, I silently growl.

  The fact is I can’t get her out of my head. Maria. The mystery with the long dark brown hair, the mesmerizing eyes, lips begging to be licked, and a body that’s a temple for a man to worship. When did she turn into a wet dream? And the hellion with the razor sharp talons that will rip you to shreds in the blink of an eye. She was always that.

  Yeah, I’d thought about her.

  Too much.

  The thoughts slowly transformed to fantasies, things I would do to her, and she to me, and they had me wound tight all night long. It would be tempestuous, angry, passionate, there is no question we’d devour each other, and leave nothing left. She would fight me, and that would only feed my lust. I would have to work for it, she’d make me fight for it. I have no doubt we would war like lovers, enraged, furious, smoldering, and fuck like savages, loud, hard, and feral.

  I’m still thinking about her.

  That’s one of the reasons I’m here.

  Got to get rid of the frustration.

  Maria, and the case, the combination is combustive.

  The gym is practically empty except for a few men in the weight room, and John and Brian. John’s holding one of the bags for Brian as he pounds into it. Brian’s leg is bandaged tightly around the shark bite, the new deformation barely noticeable under the white strips.

  The accident hasn’t slowed him down at all.

  “What’s up? Marco coming?” I ask as I drop my bag against the wall on the other side of the bag Brian’s beating the shit out of.

  “He’s coming,” John grunts out as he pushes the bag back against Brian’s assault.

  “Hey Rico, they want you to teach a class here,” Brian huffs out between hits.

  “Oh, yeah? What kind?”

  Brian stops his attack and shakes his head, sending the sweat drops flying.

  “It’s perfect for you. How to piss off a girl before you even meet her. The guys have all signed up for it,” Brian grins.

  “Fuck you, man. I couldn’t have been any more polite to Maria last night.”

  “She’s Maria now, huh, not the bitch anymore?” John laughs.

  “I never called her a bitch. I may have said she was being bitchy, or acting like a bitch,” I reply, “like you, you’re a little bitch, John. Got your pink underwear on today?”

  “Kiss my ass, dude, you’re just pissed Maria didn’t fall down at your feet like Bambi did,” John laughs.

  “That is cold, bro. I was working a case, and that’s the only reason I had anything to do with that spoiled little girl.”

  “It sure didn’t look that way to us. You had to peel that chick off you,” Brian adds.

  “Yeah, and you’re jealous. It’s obvious Maria was intimidated, so she freaked and attacked. Simple.”

  “Dude, that woman can handle ten of you at one time. That is one tough broad. I bet she’d kick your ass, and you’d go crawling back and beg for more,” Brian laughs.

  He’s so damn right.

  “Look who’s talking? Brooke slapped you the second time she laid eyes on you.”

  “That’s right she did, and ask me what happened right after that? She tried again when I brought her home that night. Damn straight I went crawling back for more, best thing I ever did.”

  “We think you want to,” John adds.

  “I want nothing to do with her.”

  What I do want is answers.

  Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

  “Bullshit. You want to so bad, it’s probably killing you,” Marco joins in as he throws his bag with the others against the wall.

  “She’s beautiful. I would have to be dead not to notice it, but she’d probably cut me for leaving the toilet seat up,” I shake my head, denying it.

  “Rico,” John throws his arm around my shoulders, “You of all people know, if you want to tame the lion, you have to get in the cage with her.” John looks to Brian and Marco, “Am I right boys?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Hell yes.”

  “All of us had to get into that cage. Now it’s your turn.” John pulls his arm away and faces me. “You’re a detective. If you want her, and you do, find out why she acted that way toward you. She was nice to everybody else.”

  “It was totally you, dude,” Brian agrees.

  “He’s right,” Marco adds.

  I draw my brows together and cast them a sideways glance.

  “It has nothing to do with wanting her.”

  “Bullshit, you want her,” John argues.

  I shake my head. I might be attracted to her. Very attracted to her.

  But I want answers more.

  I’d dismissed her. I might have had some of the most vivid fantasies I’ve had for a woman in a long time about her, but I’d told myself I couldn’t go anywhere near her.

  I have boundaries, rules. They’re there for a reason.

  But the thought of her wouldn’t leave me alone.

  And the idea of a challenge is too enticing.

  “She was civil?”

  “More than civil, she was really nice,” John nods.

  “So it was completely just me…”

  “Just you,” Marco confirms.

  Why?!

  Last night’s fantasies spring to life in my mind again, me and Maria battling, teeth biting, nails scratching. A fistful of her hair gripped tightly around my hand, her palm making contact with my cheek with a slap, until my lips crash down on hers. She rips my shirt open, and I press her against the wall, kick her feet apart, and slam my cock so hard into her, she screams out. My mouth crashes down on hers making our teeth hit as I swallow her sounds. I fuck her hard, deep, relentless. Her scream turns into a demand for more.

  John’s words slice into my fantasy.

  A fantasy I should not be giving a second thought to.

  It’s the temptation of the challenge.

  That’s it.

  She doesn’t know me. So it has to be something about me. What is it?

  The enticement begins to unfurl within me and grows bigger and stronger. She’s stunning, which could be dangerous. And way too appealing.

  She has secrets, of that I have no doubt. They were whispering to me from her eyes. She intrigued me. It was more than just her appearance, which was breathtaking. She’s lush and feminine, strong and deeply sensual. She’s a wild fire that would consume you if you weren’t careful.

  I was never known for being careful.

  “I’ll think about it.” But I know now that I’ve been challenged, there’s no ignoring it.

  I hesitate. The enticement of the challenge is strong, especially when the icing on the cake is that goddess. I’d been complacent in the refuge I’d created, safe with my secrets in the darkness. The walls are thick and nothing penetrates.

  Safe.

  But the temptation is strong.

  What are you afraid, my little Maria? What is it that makes you run and hide?

  Thoughts begin to form in my mind automatically, possible reasons and scenarios. The pieces of information I already know come together as I look for clues and leads to what set her off.

  She’s a puzzle. A problem to be solved. One that I could enjoy.

  Just once.

  Once is safe.

  “So it’s been a rough week?” John asks me. His expression is intent. He knows I’ve been stressed; he’s watched the news.

  My mood shifts instantly from predator to detective.
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  “Another overdose. After we busted Bambi and shut down her operation, I thought there would be a drop in heroin sales. Shit,” frustration roars again, “things have only gotten worse.”

  “How many OD’s have there been so far?” John inquires.

  “Twenty-seven with the one from the other night. And it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.”

  “Damn, that many? In this small town?” Brian’s shocked.

  “I know,” I shake my head, it pisses me off.

  This is all common knowledge, every single overdose has been on the evening news and made front page headlines. The small city of Wilmington has been rocked. But the filth has spread to the smaller surrounding suburbs and towns, taking innocent victims with it there as well.

  “What’s going on, why the sudden spike in this particular type of drug?” Brian asks.

  “Because their usual drugs of choice are unavailable, this is abundant. So instead of doing without anything, the dealers are giving them no choice but to buy this tainted product. It’s cheap and they can produce massive amounts of it. Hell, most of the victims are only recreational, weekend drug users. They’ve never done heroin before. They’ve got jobs they go to regularly, cars they pay for, they’re not drug addicts, which is the real kick in the balls.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “Tell me about it. Some kid goes out thinking he’s going to have the time of his life, maybe get a little stoned, get laid. Then we’re tagging him and putting his stiff corpse in a bodybag. His last stop the morgue,” frustration flares again inside me, making me sick because I haven’t been able to stop any more senseless deaths from happening.

  “You guys got any leads?” Marco asks as he leans a shoulder against the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest.

  “We might. We’ve been working another case and something came up. It might be affiliated, it might not. It’s a waiting game now, seeing where things will lead.”

  That’s the part of my job I hate. Going by the books, walking the straight and narrow, and following procedure. So many cases could be put to bed, closed up tight, solved then on to the next one. Except for the possibility of a small technicality of procedure. The evidence could be so incriminating, a cop could find the perp with the murder weapon in his hand, or a building full of the drugs. If we don’t have the proper paperwork, or search warrant, every last shred of evidence would be thrown out of court and the criminal would walk. They’d probably sue for a million dollars, and win, walking away while flipping off the system saying, “Fuck you, and thanks!”