Beneath Broken (Imperfect Heroes #2) Read online

  Was he going to judge my body? I needed to work out more. And I really needed a tan. Fish-belly white was not attractive.

  Maybe we can leave the lights off?

  What if he’s a huge slob? What will be my excuse if I just want to leave? I have no car, he is driving. I should have just said I’d follow him there.

  What if I don’t want to stay the night?

  What if I chicken out and start crying about my past?

  Oh, my God, am I really doing this?

  We came to a stoplight and I looked over at him, his face glowing red from the light. He looked at me with a smile on his face. “I’m so happy you’re coming home with me. I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything for days – actually for weeks since I met you.” He reached over and caressed my cheek with his thumb, and I wanted to melt into his touch. “Just seeing you makes me happy. Makes my really shitty day better.”

  My eyes widened. “Wait, you didn’t tell me the news you had for me.”

  I watched his face light up in green, and he must have noticed the same on mine, because he looked forward and stepped on the gas. He shook his head. “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you. See what you do to me? You are too fucking distracting.”

  I laughed at his unnecessary use of profanity, and said, “Don’t keep me in suspense, Detective.”

  “We arrested Silas Short today. He’s in the city lockup as we speak. Caught him standing in front of your office earlier tonight with a lock-picking kit in his pocket.”

  My eyes went wide. “What? But I was there the whole evening!”

  He looked straight ahead as he drove, his jaw pulsing. “I know that now. I didn’t know it earlier. Security guard said he called up to tell you that you had a visitor but got no answer.”

  “What time was that?” I asked, now really alarmed. My stomach began to twist in knots.

  “We followed him up there around six.”

  I thought back to my evening, then looked over at him. “I was on a conference call for about 30 minutes in the back conference room with two other people. If Dimitri had called up, we wouldn’t have heard it.”

  “I’m going to have a little chat with Dimitri next time I’m at your building,” he growled, his jaw still tight with annoyance.

  “He’s a good security guard, please be nice,” I implored quietly.

  He nodded slightly, then turned down a street and into a set of gated apartments. Mason stopped the car, punched in a code into a keypad set on a metal pole, and a set of large, black, wrought-iron gates opened up.

  My stomach turned over again, but this time it was more than nerves. It was excitement. I smiled.

  Much to my relief, Mason’s apartment was clean, nice. A simple bachelor’s pad, I could have appreciated its simplicity if I had had time to thoroughly look it over – but I didn’t. My purse fell to the floor when he locked the door and spun me around to look at him. He tossed his keys and wallet on a table set next to the door without looking and pulled me to him.

  “Thank you for coming over. I can’t believe you’re here.”

  Swallowing hard, I said with more boldness than I felt, “Well I am. What are you going to do with me?”

  “I need you naked in my bed right now.” He grinned at me, and it was sexy as hell.

  My stomach clenched as I nodded. I then laughed as he picked me up and cradled me in his strong arms, staring at me as he carried me to the bedroom. Now I was so nervous, my belly began to tingle. He leaned down and kissed me as he carried me, and once we reached his room, he gently set me on the bed. He stripped as I watched, and it was a beautiful sight.

  I made no move to strip. I sort of wanted Mason to do it.

  Okay, I really wanted him to.

  Then, his phone started ringing on his belt. He took it off and set it on the dresser without looking at it. He was only looking at me. He kneed the bed and I maintained eye contact with him. I was so nervous and my mind was screaming at me to leave, but my heart was telling me to stay. The way Mason looked at me disarmed every part of those fears.

  When his body pressed down on me, I relaxed immensely, feeling as if I was where I was supposed to be. My legs wrapped themselves around his backside and he continued to kiss me like he owned me – and he did own me for the night. I was excited, nervous, and scared about what tonight would bring. My body was ignited with desire and I realized that I was already breathing heavily in anticipation.

  The shrilly sound of his ringtone permeated the room again and I was trying not to get annoyed. He ignored it and used his hands to pull my shirt off again. Then he unbuttoned my pants and slid his hand inside my panties, which elicited a delicious gasp from my mouth. His fingers moved deeper inside as he gently raked his fingers over my mound.

  “So ready for me,” he whispered into my mouth.

  Then he moved up to slowly peel my pants off of me. Leaning down, he ran his lips over my knee and onto the inside of my thigh. He reached my most intimate center again and ran a gentle kiss over the mound there, then moved up my stomach and licked my bellybutton as he ran his hot mouth and tongue up to my breasts. When he captured one peaked nipple into his mouth through my lacy bra, I threw my head back and whimpered. It had been way too long…

  Two more chirps from his phone on his dresser and another shrilly, distracting call was the final straw.

  “Fuck!” he growled, getting up off the bed and making me feel immediately lonely. “I’m sorry,” he said, looking at me with anger and regret coloring his face.

  I couldn’t help but stare at the muscled physique he was sporting. Rigid hard arms, a flat stomach, muscular ass I wanted to dig my fingers into.

  “What?... are you fucking kidding me…!” I heard him grit out.

  I got up from the bed wearing only my pretty undergarments and went around to his backside, tangling myself around his waist.

  “What is it, Mace?” I asked quietly.

  He threw the phone on the bed and raked a hand through his hair. “They’ve let Silas out of jail. Lack of evidence.”

  Chapter 22

  Mason

  “What in the hell do you mean you cut him loose?” I all but yelled.

  “Calm down, Mason,” Shelton said, already looking annoyed. “I have something that will make you happy.”

  Hunter stood with his arms folded across his chest, a smirk on his face. What the fuck was he smiling at?

  Nobody should be smiling. My night had been completely and totally fucked. After that phone call, the mood had been ruined. I was so pissed off at them letting him out that it destroyed my night with Harper. I ended up very awkwardly driving her back to her townhouse. Thankfully she only lived a couple of miles away. I was also thankful that she had been so damn gracious as to forgive me when my cock completely refused to cooperate after that and the whole mood went south. I could tell she felt it, too. Thankfully, I was able to kiss her with everything I had as I dropped her off, and I promised her I would make it up to her, no matter what. I hadn’t slept well after that and because of that, my mood was sour and today was just gonna suck ass.

  “We had to turn him loose. He went before a judge today and was granted bail.” Shelton glared at me.

  “That’s bullsh–”

  “But there was enough evidence for a warrant.” Hunter flashed me one of his pearly smiles and held up a piece of paper.

  Shelton looked at us both. “He was released about an hour or so ago. Wait another hour, then go storm the castle.”

  “It’s a trailer,” I said dryly.

  “Then be gentle and don’t break anything,” he replied with a chuckle.

  I fist-bumped Hunter like we were teens and went to our desks to plan our attack.

  An hour later, the warrant to search Silas Short’s trailer sat tucked safely in my pocket. I was feeling a buzz of adrenaline at finally securing enough evidence to nail this guy. It was no big drug bust or murder case, but putting this guy away for stealing from nonprofit compan
ies was going to help me sleep very well at night.

  The problem was, I couldn’t stop thinking about Harper. My heart had fallen into my stomach when I recalled a memory from a few days ago when she told me her husband had died in war, a Marine sacrificed and gone too soon. I thought about my brother Duke, the time he’d done overseas, almost losing his leg to that war, and how fortunate we are to still have him here. He’d told me a quarter inch to the right and the shrapnel would have hit his femoral artery and he would have bled out and died in the hot sand. The thought didn’t ever not make me shudder. I was gonna have to call that angry bastard again soon and see how things were going with his new girlfriend. I think another cookout was in order. After I closed this case, I really needed a beer and some barbeque.

  But then Harper’s haunted blue eyes kept replaying in my mind. The woman had me in awe. She had lost the love of her life in war, but she continued to help veterans who had just been let out find jobs and counseling. Even vets like this piece of crap we were about to arrest and throw back in prison. She had the face of an angel, a heart of gold, and from what I saw last night, the body of a goddess. Why on earth was she even remotely interested in me?

  But she was, and I could tell by the way her body responded to mine when I touched her. The way she pressed into me when I kissed her, her arms snaking around my neck to push my mouth harder into hers. The shudder her body was racked with as I traced my fingers along her soft skin – the shudder she tried to hide and failed. The chemistry between us crackled and sizzled anytime we were near, like two magnets completely controlled by the laws of science. We were drawn together and it was like neither one of us could control it when we were in the vicinity of one another. I never wanted her more than a heartbeat away from me at all times, and when we were apart, a persistent, annoying ache always seemed to assault my chest, not going away until I saw her again.

  I scrubbed a hand down my face. My God, what was wrong with me? I was turning into one of those dudes in a romantic comedy or a chick flick – not that I watched those, but sometimes on a random date I’d be forced to watch them. I could secretly admit that I sort of found them amusing, but then someone might take my man card.

  “Green and orange mobile home, right side,” Hunter said, interrupting my thoughts. Thank God.

  I nodded and parked three trailers down and waited for the rest of my crew to arrive. They weren’t far behind, one more unmarked car and one marked.

  With our backup waiting by their cars, Hunter and I, dressed in our black polo shirts and khaki tactical pants, walked to the front door and pounded on it. “Silas Short, Tampa PD. We have a warrant to search the premises.”

  It didn’t take long for the door’s locks to disengage. Slowly, the door creaked open and we both stepped on either side of the doorframe in case he had a weapon. He opened it enough for his face to fit through. He was shirtless in only a pair or boxers. “What do you want now?” he snipped at us through the crack.

  “Open the door, now,” I barked.

  “No. Get the fuck out of here and quit harassing me!”

  My control and patience suddenly snapped. I used my foot to kick the door open and when Silas rolled onto his stomach from the force of the door onto the cheap carpeting of his trailer, I jumped on top of him and pulled both his scrawny arms behind his back. I yanked my cuffs out from behind me and snapped them around his wrists. Then I pulled him to stand, walked him to his brown sofa, and plopped him down to sit.

  I then pointed a finger at him. “You stay the fuck right there.” I pulled the warrant out and threw it at him. It fluttered to his lap, and he looked down at it.

  “I didn’t do anything! Why are you pigs harassing me?” he shouted out. “That judge let me go this morning. You assholes have nothing on me!”

  We ignored him as Hunter and I snapped on rubber gloves. He began rifling through drawers and cabinets.

  I let Hunter search the house, and I wandered through the small kitchen and saw it had a back door leading outside. Spying a tool shed in the tiny yard, I made my way toward, it but was stopped short when a very vicious looking dog tied by a chain began barking and snarling at me. It was tethered to a tree and did not have enough slack to get at me, but still made me pause.

  “Shit,” I said, my gun at my side as I made my way to the shed. My eyes never left the dog, the drool swinging from its jaws as it snarled at me.

  Cursing when I saw a padlock on its doors, I was about to call for some bolt cutters when I saw a small window on the side of the shed. With the flat of my hand, I cleared the grime from the glass and peered inside. It was full of what looked like computers and guns. Smiling to myself, I went back to the front of the shed and shot a glance at the dog. It was still barking its head off at me, but it wouldn’t get to me unless its chain broke.

  I put my 9mm pistol out in front of me and closed one eye and took aim, blasting the lock to smithereens with one shot. I watched in satisfaction as metal went flying everywhere, my ears ringing from the sound of the shot.

  I removed the remaining metal and pulled the rusty door open right as I heard, “Holy shit!”

  Turning to see Hunter and two uniforms standing at the doorway to the back door, all eyes were on the dog.

  I went inside and coughed at the dust. The heat and humidity were stifling inside the tiny structure, but it was large enough for me to fit inside. Stacked to the ceiling were computer monitors, hard drives, keyboards, and a bunch of other computer shit I couldn’t identify. I also noticed a few handguns, shotguns, and stacks of ammunition boxes in the corner.

  From behind me, Hunter whistled through his teeth at the scene.

  “Arrest his ass and call the CSU. This guy’s done,” I gritted out over my shoulder.

  One of the uniforms pulled a hand-held radio from the holster on his belt and began barking orders into it.

  Hunter fist-bumped me. “Good job, man.”

  I grinned. “Thanks. Let’s search the rest of the place and see what else we can nail this asshole with.”

  He nodded and I followed him inside, careful to keep my eye on the barking, snarling dog.

  Two uniforms had Silas on his feet as a third was awkwardly trying to put a pair of pants on him. I watched as they found some flip-flops and made him shove his feet in them. They then began escorting him to the door as I made my way into the living room.

  “You’re done, Short. No wiping of records this time. No military brig. No parole. You’re going to do some time in a federal joint for all that shit.” I jerked a thumb behind me.

  “That shit ain’t mine!” he squealed, squirming under the tight grip of the officer. “I was just holding it for someone.”

  “Stop,” I said to the officer. He held Silas still.

  “Who you holding it for, Silas?” Hunter asked him, amused.

  His eyes darted around wildly and he stuttered, “Uh, just some guy. He paid me to hold the shit. I swear.”

  I walked over to him and stared down into his eyes. Pulling the small flashlight from my belt, I clicked it on with my thumb and shone it into his eyes. I watched as his pupils, which were unusually large, dilated rapidly.

  Shaking my head, I clicked the light off and re-pocketed it. “This fucker’s high. Throw him in the tank at the station before you book him.”

  “You got it,” one of the uniforms said back. He began to read Silas his rights as he led him out the front door.

  Silas continued to try to weakly plead his case until I couldn’t hear them any longer.

  “CSU’s here,” Hunter said, shoving his chin in the direction of the window.

  “Perfect,” I said. “We have a lot of paperwork to do.”

  “Yeah, but it’s all worth it,” Hunter replied.

  We briefed CSU on the stolen equipment we’d found in the shed, informed them that we would call animal control about the dog, and then let them do their jobs. Two more uniforms remained in the living room to assist CSU.

  Chapter
23

  Harper

  My fingers tapped over the keys at my desk as I answered emails. With the phone to my ear, I impatiently waited for her to answer.

  “Hello, Blondie,” she answered flatly.

  “Remind me why I haven’t had sex in almost two years?” I started.

  A squeal on the other made me pull the phone away from my ear, and I chuckled.

  “Oh, my God, girl. Did you? You’re meeting me at the gym tonight so you can tell me all about it, right?”

  “The gym?” I sighed. “You’re ruining my buzz. And no. Almost sex almost happened. Long story.”

  “You drinking at work?” she asked, a smile in her voice.

  I grinned. “I don’t need alcohol to get a buzz. I’m drunk on Mason. Even without sex.”

  “Now you sound like a sappy country song.”

  “I feel like I’m living in one, too,” I chuckled.

  She was quiet for just a second when she said, “So, Mason, huh? This serious, or just having fun?”

  I wasn’t sure the answer to that. So I replied honestly, “I don’t know. A little of both?”

  “Well, either way, I’m happy for you, I really am, honey. I think he’ll be good for you.”

  I nodded. “He is. His smile… his laugh… his eyes. They heal me. He helps.”

  “Are you trying to make me cry? Because you know how much I love crying. It’s right up there with throwing up.”

  I laughed. “Oh, Aid. You sound a little better. Are you better?”

  “You know me, I’m like Teflon. Nothing sticks to me.”

  “Well, I know that’s not true, but I do admire your attitude. Drinks after the gym tonight?”

  “As long as you don’t have plans with your hot Mace cop,” she replied.

  “I would never ditch you for him,” I say, smiling.

  “Famous last words, girlfriend.”

  I looked up to see Kyle Adams standing at the reception desk. “Gotta go, my new employee is here. See you at six.”