The guys were blowing me up, asking me about the police station and whether or not I could get inside to do a little bit of snooping. And while I thought about responding, I decided to put my phone away. They were idiots for thinking a woman as dedicated to her job as Sloane would allow me off my leash long enough to actually walk around inside that place, so they could hold their own fucking horses until we got back.
But, the longer she was inside, the more wary I grew of the situation.
I was smart enough not to wear my leather jacket out and about with her, but I still got looks from people as they entered and exited the premises. It also frustrated me because I knew that Sloane wouldn’t be as forthcoming with information as I needed her to be in order to appease the assholes that put me on her duty in the first place.
When I saw her come out of the building, though, I sighed with relief. One, because she was all right; and two, because she had a stack of files at least half a mile high.
Which meant I had a lot of snooping to do once I could pull her away from those fucking things.
“Can you give me a hand?” she asked as she approached the car.
I grinned. “Depends. Can I take a peek?”
She rolled her eyes. “Nevermind, asshole.”
I shrugged. “Suit yourself, dickhead.”
She glared at me and I laughed out loud at the way her nose wrinkled up. Her cheeks turned red as she popped her trunk and tossed the rubberband-bound files into the back of her car. She slammed the trunk closed and slammed herself behind the steering wheel as if someone had just stolen her favorite sucker she’d been waiting all day to eat.
And after she cranked the engine, she cleared her throat. “If you aren’t going to be of help when I ask for it, you can tell the guys back at the house that I don’t need someone breathing down my neck.”
I shrugged. “All you had to do was call.”
She threw her hands into the air. “I was right there asking for your help!”
I held my finger in the air. “But, you didn’t call.”
“I hate you,” she growled.
I smiled. “Then, that makes two of us.”
In some ways, it frustrated me that all of the information we needed was sitting in a trunk less than six feet behind me. And if I thought for one second that Sloane wasn’t the kind of person to arrest me on the spot for trying, I might have come up with an excuse to send her back inside so I could have some personal time with those official police files.
But, the last thing I needed was to end up in jail.
Especially after doing the stint I did in juvie.
“So, how did things go?” I asked.
She backed the car out of the parking space. “Can’t talk to you about an ongoing investigation.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing that our club and your sister are the reason you’re involved now. So, you can talk to us.”
She snickered. “It’s cute that you think that’s how this works.”
I felt my frustration mounting. “Guess all cops are the fucking same then, huh?”
Her eyes whipped over to me. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you can’t be trusted. None of you can. It’s why men like me choose the life we do, because even though the guys back at the house drive me absolutely insane at least I can trust them when it counts.”
I shrugged. “At least we understand each other, then, because I don’t trust men like you. I don’t trust gang members, and criminals, and bad boys in leather jackets that think they’re hot shit.”
“And I don’t like pigs who put on makeup and try to act like they’re saving the world when really they’re just ruining people’s lives.”
She gritted her teeth as we drove back to my childhood home. “You think we ruin people’s lives? You think that every door I bust down, I’m ruining someone’s life? You think that every woman I carry into the hospital because she’s been beaten to a bloodied pulp by her husband is someone’s life I’ve ruined? You think that every child I dig out of cells in abandoned warehouses who are starved and dehydrated is a life that I’ve ruined? Because if that’s what you think, then you really need to recalibrate your idea of ruining someone’s life.”
I shook my head and gazed out the window. “You’re all the same. You’re up on your high horse wielding the law as if it’s yours to interpret. You use it to pluck people like me right off the street. People you think don’t contribute to society. I know how it works. It’s the same anywhere people go.”
“No, Finn. We pluck guys like you off the street because guys like you prey on the innocent and the weak in order to make yourself feel strong.”
My anger bubbled over. “And if shitty cops like you weren’t so busy covering up their own sins, maybe you’d actually know who the right people were to arrest.”
She nodded slowly. “So, that’s what happened?”
I paused. “What?”
She snickered. “I should’ve known. Someone died and you took the blame for it, didn’t you?”
“I’m not talking with you about this.”
“Tell me, did the person who actually committed the crime deserve for you to throw yourself under the bus? Did they deserve the second chance you gave them? Or, do you have such a God complex that–.”
“I said, shut the fuck up, you idiotic bitch!”
She slammed the brakes and skidded to the side of the road. We were less than a block from the wrought iron gates and all I wanted was to get out of the fucking car and walk the rest of the damned way. I felt her eyes burrowing into the profile of my face. I felt her sitting there, waiting for me to look at her.
But, I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
“Let’s get one thing clear,” she glowered, “if you ever–under any circumstance–ever call me that word again, not only am I leaving with all of my resources, but I’m turning over everything that was presented to me a couple of hours ago.”
I slowly looked over at her. “You wouldn’t do that to your sister. You wouldn’t get the father of her child arrested.”
“Wanna bet? I can’t stand Tanner. He left her. Abandoned her like some broken trinket and never once looked back. Never once came looking for her after my sister didn’t show up when she was supposed to. I’d love nothing more than to see that asshole rot behind bars for the way he broke her when they were nothing but teenagers. So, go ahead. Give me a reason to turn that powerpoint in. It’s exactly the reason why I had someone email it to me.”
Her chest rose and fell with her panting. Her cheeks were flushed with a healthy color and part of me wondered what the rest of her body might look like with that same flush. In another world–in another life–I would have most certainly jumped her bones. I would’ve pulled her into my lap, staked her on my cock, and not stopped until she was crying out for mercy.
But, she was a fucking cop, and there was nothing on this planet I hated more than the police.
I clicked my tongue. “Let’s get back to the house. The guys will want an update.”
Sloane turned her head to face the road again. “Let the guys know that I’ll be staying in a hotel while I’m here. It’s too crowded in the house and I won’t be able to think.”
I shook my head. “No can do. It’ll be safer for us as well as for you if you stay at the house so I can keep a constant watch.”
She shrugged as she pulled back onto the road. “Well, you can’t keep a constant watch because that means I’ll never be able to look at those files.”
“You know that part of the reason why we brought you here is so we could work with the same information you’re working with.”
She pulled up to the gate. “Well, surprise, you little bitch.”
If she were a man, I would have slugged her.
“Doesn’t feel very good, does it?” she asked.
I flashed my I.D. to the security guard running the gate and they let us right in. We eased through and made it to the driveway without biting each other’s heads off. But, when I got out of the car, she really did stay put.
So, I closed my door and turned toward her. “Sloane, we have no idea who the Black Flags have put on their payroll in the past six or so months. For all we know, we’ve got someone watching us right now who has already pegged you as someone working for us. That doesn’t work in your favor, and you leaving the house and going off on your own reduces the chances that we can protect you if the Black Flags get to you first.”
She sighed. “I don’t like this. Not one damn bit.”
“But, you know I’m right. For however much we hate each other, you know I’m right on this, Detective.”
She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Fine. Okay. But, I want a bedroom on the other side of the house. I don’t want to be sandwiched in between a bunch of men who want to breathe down my neck while I sift through these files.”
I grinned. “I can do you one better. The basement is completely outfitted with a little kitchen and bathroom and everything. You can stay down there until further notice. It’s only got one entry and exit point, so it’ll be easy to guard, and you’ll get the privacy you need without us hovering.”
She eyed me carefully. “And no one else will be down there with me?”
“No one else.”
She unclipped her seatbelt. “Then, by all means, help me with these files and lead the way.”
And that was all the entrance I needed.
