Part 7 (1/2)

aI do make you nervous. I never used to do that.a aIam not nervous. Youare crowding me and itas p.i.s.sing me off.a He took a few steps back, his brow furrowing. aYou still freaked out about that night?a aNo.a aAnna.a aNo.a She walked past him, but he reached out and gently grasped her arm, pulled her against him.

Though she would have clocked other men for grabbing her, she melted against him. Danteas body was familiar to her. She couldnat help herself, she had to touch, to test her reaction. She slid her palms along his biceps. Hard muscle and soft skin eased across her hands, making her tingle in places that just flat out never tingled.

And he let her, this time not pus.h.i.+ng to be the aggressor. He let her explore without moving in to take.

Men and her and relations.h.i.+psa”yeah, that didnat go well. Maybe she didnat try hard enough. She put all her energy into her work and there was nothing left over for guys. s.e.x wasnat worth all the hype anyway. Quick release and out the doora”that was her motto. It had worked well over the years for both her and the guys she chose.

When she was a hormone-filled teenagera”before that nighta”and she and Dante had been filled with heat and desire for each other, then yeah, theread been the promise of something incredible.

But all that had changed.

Now she was chest to chest, hip to hip, thigh to thigh against one solid wall of muscle, and she felt stirrings of something she hadnat felt in a very long time. Something hot and delicious, like her blood had just slowed down in her veins and begun a slow heat.

Her skin p.r.i.c.kled with goose b.u.mps, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s felt full and her nipples tightened. She jerked her head up and read flat-out desire all over Danteas face. He hadnat budged, wasnat moving his hands, but, oh, man, were there clear signals in his eyes.

Shead never been so tempted to take what was so obviously being offered, to lift her fingers and touch his mouth, to taste him, to forget everything and fall back twelve years and take up where they left off.

And she still had no idea who he was, where head been, or what his involvement was in the murder the other night.

She took a step back and he let go, c.o.c.ked his head to the side and gave her a lopsided smile.

Was he playing her?

d.a.m.n.

aGet out.a His smile died. aI donat get you.a aNo, you donat aget mea at all, and youare not going to.a She walked to the door and opened it.

He stood in front of it. aIam worried about you, Anna. About what happened.a aThen or now?a aBotha aDonat be.a aI donat like whatas going on. And I canat believe youare not taking it seriously.a Her palm began to sweat as she held the doork.n.o.b. aIam taking it plenty seriously. Thatas what this meeting was about.a aBut I donat think you see yourself in the mix.a aHow could I not see myself in it? I was there. And Iam the one who got the flowers and the note. Believe me, Iam in it and I know it. But I also know Iam not the one who killed Tony Maclin.a Thatas what worried her. The guys did. She understood there was a connection between what they did and George being killed in the alley. She knew there was a reason someone had left her the flowers and the note. She just didnat know what the connection was.

He stepped outside the door. aKeep your eyes open and watch your back.a aI always do. Iam a cop, remember? I can take care of myself. You do the same.a He nodded and walked away. She shut the door, locked it and couldnat help but watch him as he made his way to his car, got in and drove away.

She turned and went to the kitchen counter, grabbed the gla.s.s Dante had drunk from earlier and bagged it.

If he didnat want to share what head been up to the past twelve years, shead find out for herself.

She might be emotional about him, but she wasnat stupid.

Pent up, his head filled with thoughts of friends.h.i.+p and murder and Anna, Dante drove around, needing to think, to process everything from tonight.

It had been great to reconnect with all the guys. Head sat back and listened to them talk, watched the way they interacted with each other. Theyad all grown up and changed, just like he had. But in so many ways they were exactly the same as theyad always been. Jeff still thought he was slick, Roman was still the glue that held them all together as brothers and Gabe still hung back and observed, a lot like Dante did.

And then there was Anna, the Snow White to all of them, though theyad never been dwarves, but they sure as h.e.l.l had rallied around her from the beginning when they first met her. Theyad probably all fallen madly in love with her from the first day shead showed her sunny smile and disposition and refused to let the school bullies push around the new kids. With her dad as a cop, the other kids had left them all alone, and Anna had become their champion.

No one had stuck up for them before. Theyad never been worth anyoneas time.

Anna had stood in front of all of them as if she could single-handedly take on the school bullies. Not that theyad needed her help, of course. Dante had gotten used to being the new kid in school and had to fight his way out of plenty of sc.r.a.ps. So had the other guys, but a couple of the group of foster kids were younger than Gabe and him, and he and Gabe protected the younger boys.

And then Anna had told the bullies where they could shove it.

Fourteen-year-old Anna, skinny as heck with braces on her teeth, looking tough as steel as she squared her shoulders and warned the boys theyad better back off.

Dante and Gabe, bigger than the boys threatening them, had taken a couple steps forward. Dante supposed theyad looked menacing enough to get the bullies to back the h.e.l.l off. Anna, looking pretty smug and satisfied, had turned to them and grinned and told them all to stick with her because her daddy was a cop and shead make sure no harm would ever come to them.

Oh, yeah. Theyad all fallen in love with her that day. And were loyal to her after that.

Except when Dante had run out on her right after the worst night of her life.

That hadnat been the most loyal thing he could have done.

Then again, head done what her father asked him to do, what he thought was best.

Or maybe head just been scared as h.e.l.l and wanted to get out of town. Who had he been protecting thena”Anna or himself?

He found himself at the alley, pulled over and got out. The tape had been removed, so he walked down toward the Dumpster. It was late, dark and so humid he was drenched in sweat in a matter of minutes, no different than a lot of h.e.l.lholes head been in over the past twelve years. Only this time he wasnat hiding from the enemy and swiping sweat from his eyes to clear his field of vision.

This time he was alonea”just him and his memories.

A rumble of thunder rolled in the distance. Rain was coming, just like that night twelve years ago. The ground had been wet and Anna had been wearing those cute white shorts that had ended up muddy and bloodstained. He walked behind the Dumpster, still able to clearly see her pushed against the brick wall of the building, holding the tattered edges of her blouse together, her eyes wide with shock, blood streaming down her chest.

His hands balled into fists. If he could, head beat the h.e.l.l out of Tony Maclin again. Dying once wasnat enough punishment for what the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had done to her. He needed to suffer over and over again.

Just like Anna continued to suffer.

She hid behind the bravado of her detectiveas badge, but Dante saw the haunted look in her eyes, especially when theyad stood in this alley where George was killed.

She still wore that look today, hidden behind her tough look and the badge she wore. He saw the fear in her eyes when he came close, felt the tension in her body when he touched her. She hadnat forgotten one minute of what had happened to her twelve years ago.

So who the h.e.l.l had dragged it all up again by repeating the crime?

Who wanted them to remember?

Eight.

aSomehow I thought Iad find you here.a Anna looked up and cast a smile at Roman as he entered the squad room.

aI couldnat sleep anyway, figured Iad go over some of my cases. What are you doing here?a He took a seat at the desk across from hers and opened his laptop. aSame thing. Howas Georgeas case going?a aYou know Iam not supposed to talk about it with you. Youare not on this case.a He gave her a look. aCome on, Anna. You know how it works. Officially, yeah, Iam off the case. Unofficiallyaa His sentence trailed off. And yeah, she did know how it worked. His name wouldnat appear on any official records or notes on the case, but head work the case with her. Thatas just how it was done. Shead do the same thing if it was someone close to her whoad been killed.

aYou talk to the captain about it?a aYeah. He told me I was off the case. I argued with him. He told me I was off the case.a She leaned back in her chair. aThen he told you that you could work it unofficially, right?a aWell, yeah.a She shook her head. Thatas the way it worked. Even the captain knew the drill. With uniforms? No. With the detectives? There was more leeway. You didnat push out a decent detective just because of involvement.

aJust watch your step on this one and donat screw it up,a Anna said.

aIam as good a detective as you. Your dad made sure of it.a She grinned. aYeah, he sure did, didnat he? Head accept no less than perfect from either of us.a aI owe him everything, so letas make him proud by bringing in the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who killed George.a She pushed a few b.u.t.tons while Roman opened his system.

aHow are things with Tess?a she asked while she let Roman take a look at the case file on George.

aGreat. Sheas working a heavy-duty tax case for a national company, so we havenat seen much of each other lately. Sheas doing a lot of traveling.a She peered around her monitor. aThat must suck.a aIt does. I thought things were getting serious, but sheas a career woman. Hard to pin her down. I think sheas married to her job.a Anna scooted her chair so she could see Roman. aAnd does that mean you want her married to you instead?a He laughed. aEver the matchmaker, arenat you?a Was she? Shead never thought about it that way, but shead like to see her guys settled. None of them were yet, and it was time. Maybe if Roman got married, that would get Jeff to think about grabbing a woman and settling down. And who knowsa”maybe even Gabe would turn his life around.