Page 51 of Payback

Too bad my shift didn’t end for another four hours.

Heaven help me…

Jameson

Hank and I waited in the parking lot of Chester’s, watching as low-life came and went. I hated that Ivy was in there with those wretches but we all had parts to play.

“You okay?” Hank asked, keying in on my tension. “You’re wound pretty tight. Maybe you need to get laid.”

“Maybe,” I agreed with a shrug. I couldn’t tell him the real reason I was jacked up. If I couldn’t explain my feelings to myself, how was I supposed to make heads or tails of it to my partner?

“You think Frankie is going to come through?” he asked.

“He doesn’t have a choice.”

“You think he cares about his sister that much?” Hank scoffed, revealing his opinion on the score. “I say we screw Frankie and just work on the girl. She’s our ticket.”

“You’ve seen her. She’s not cut out for this shit. I’d rather not have a civilian on my conscience if something goes south.”

“Gotta break some eggs to make an omelet,” Hank reminded me, which I didn’t appreciate in the least. He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Don’t kill the messenger. I’m just saying what you already know. What’s gotten into you lately?”

“It’s this fucking case,” I growled, which was partly true. “Taking down Terano Rodrigo has become my white whale.”

“White whale?” Hank repeated, confused. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You know, Moby Dick?”

Hank’s blank stare said I’d lost him. So much for the public school system. But who the hell was I to judge? I wasn’t much for classic literature either.

“Forget it.”

“I know you’re hot for Terano and we’re going to get the bastard,” Hank promised me. “But I’ve never seen you so…I don’t know…off before. It worries me.”

I glanced at Hank. “I’ll be fine as soon as Terano is behind bars.”

But I wasn’t sure that was the truth. Hank was right; something was off with me. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ivy.

If it were just sex, I could easily chalk that up to lust and be done with it but I wanted to protect her, make her laugh…hell, make her breakfast every damn day after I’d thoroughly plundered every opening in her body.

This felt like an obsession I couldn’t shake.

And it was affecting my thinking.

“How long we been chasing Terano?” I asked.

“Too long. I don’t know, two years?” Hank took a guess.

“And yet, he always slips through our fingers. Why is that?”

“Because the man is slippery as fuck,” Hank answered as if that should’ve been obvious.

“No…it’s more than that. He always seems a step ahead of us every time. Maybe we have a rat.”

Hank shrugged. “Maybe. Money talks. But I don’t see anyone driving around in a new Ferrari. And besides, unless you’re pointing fingers at me or the captain, who else would know about our operations?”

Was that what I was saying?

Of course not. Hell, I was just talking out of my ass right now. “I’m just talking out of frustration,” I said. “I don’t think we have a rat but I’d sure as hell give a kidney to find out how he’s always ahead of us.”

“That trend is about to change. He’ll slip up. He’s getting cocky.”

That he was. Terano used to meet in secret with layers of security but now he’s just taken up residence at Chester’s as if the club was his own personal office space.

That took balls and the security to know, no one was going to mess with you.

I was itching to walk into the bar but I knew I couldn’t. I had to trust that Ivy was okay.

But I was low on trust these days.

The fact that I had to just sit tight and wait was killing me.

Hank poured some hot coffee from his Thermos and sipped at it. “Want some?” he offered. “I made enough for two.”

“No thanks. My stomach is still recovering from the last batch of coffee you gave me.”

“Puts hair on your chest,” Hank boasted, enjoying the tar he liked to call coffee.

I grunted and returned my attention to the club.

Hours dragged by but Terano was a no-show.

I drove Hank to his car and then returned to the club in time for closing.

Ivy appeared at the side door with Frankie. I wanted to know what they were talking about but I couldn’t hear their conversation.

Frankie hugged Ivy and I scowled, hating that she trusted that shitbag more than she trusted me.

Of course she didn’t trust me. What had I done to earn her trust?

I didn’t deserve it.

So get over yourself.

When did I become such a moony pussy? Crying into my milk because some broad didn’t want to ride off into the sunset with me.

I straightened when Frankie walked Ivy to her car and waited until she drove off before he climbed into his own car.

Okay, so maybe Frankie wasn’t as big a shitbag as I’d thought.

At least not when it came to Ivy.

That counted for something.

I wanted to know how the night had gone and I couldn’t wait any longer.

Pulling up to Ivy’s place, I saw she wasn’t home yet.

I waited.

Great, now I was a stalker.

Ten minutes later, Ivy drove into the driveway but didn’t see me parked across the street.

My groin tightened at the sight of her in that Chester’s uniform. Her behind wiggled, revealing two sweet cheeks that I knew only too well how nicely they fit in my palm.

I couldn’t wait any longer.

“Jesus, that uniform is obscene,” I murmured against the shell of Ivy’s ear, startling her as she slipped the key in the lock.

“Jameson! You scared me,” she said breathlessly. “What are you doing here?”

“Debriefing,” I answered, spanning my hands along her waist, inhaling the scent of her skin. We walked into her place and I shut the door with my foot. “You look highly fuckable, baby girl.”

Ivy cast a coy smile my way as she preened with seeming innocence. “You think so?”

“Baby, I know so.” I pulled her into my arms, hungry for the feel of her around me. “The question is…business or pleasure first?”

“I’m tired,” Ivy answered as if that would dissuade me. “Can we talk about the night later?”

“Good call. Sex it is.”

And then I scooped her up and carried her

to the bedroom.

Because there was no way in hell I was ending this night without being inside her at least once.

This case was going to kill me.

Ivy

My heart thrilled at the feeling of Jameson’s strong arms closing around me. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t hoped that Jameson would come to me after working at Chester’s.

The entire night I imagined what Jameson would think of me dressed as I was.

It was slutty and sexy when I thought of how Jameson might react.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

His touch was ravenous, as if he couldn’t get enough of me.

I could drown in his touch.

Maybe I was drowning. Maybe all this was a dream.

So much had changed in a short time.

I didn’t seem to know my own mind any longer.

All I thought about was Jameson and how it felt to be in his arms.

The way his touch made me squirm with pleasure.

It was intoxicating and addicting at the same time.

But maybe that was the point I was missing — addictions were bad.

Jameson was going to break my heart at some point. He’d made no promises to me and I’d be stupid to hope for one.

But I couldn’t contain this wild, animalistic attraction I felt for him. I hungered for everything he was willing to give me.

Even if it meant my inevitable destruction.

“What are we doing?” I asked as the sweat dried on our bodies, my head resting on his chest.

His exhale said he didn’t know any more than I did. At least I wasn’t alone.

“What were you and Frankie talking about outside the club?” he asked.

I wasn’t shocked that he’d been watching. In a weird way, I felt safer knowing that Jameson had been close by.

But I didn’t want to share what Frankie had told me. It seemed a betrayal of my brother’s trust.

Frankie had always been there for me and he was trying to protect me as best he could.

Frankie didn’t want me around Jameson. I didn’t blame my brother. On the surface it was easy to draw the line between good and evil with Jameson inching his way toward the evil side.

Maybe evil was a strong word. It was hard to reconcile that thought when I was cuddled up to the man, wrapped around him like a spider monkey.

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