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Take the assignment or lose her job.
So Daniel earned a commendation and she earned threats to her job.
Message received.
“We’ll send another agent,” he continued. “The investigation would take a lot longer. You have a relationship of sorts with those people. They’ll welcome you. Another agent might take months to worm their way into the club.”
And another agent would discover the club killed both Shark and Daniel. Maverick would go to jail, probably for the rest of his life.
She’d use her last breath to keep him out of jail.
“When do I leave, sir?”
“Got you on a flight day after tomorrow. And you’ll report directly to me.”
Fantastic.
“Yes, sir.” She opened the door then swiveled her head back toward Director Baccarella. “I’ll go sir, but you need to know you’re wrong about one thing. I’m not naïve. This is a very clear-cut case of right and wrong. You’re just forcing me to go along with your wrong decision.”
She stepped through and hustled past the admin’s desk, avoiding the curious stare the thirty-something assistant shot her.
Tomorrow she’d be back in Tennessee. Maybe even in Maverick’s presence.
Sexy, funny, protective, affectionate Maverick.
Criminal Maverick.
White and black parts of one charming man.
For the first time in her life, menacing gray clouds hovered in Stephanie’s future. How was she supposed to continue her pursuit of justice when she questioned everything she believed in around Maverick?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“HEY, MAV, WHAT happened to you last night? Zach told me you were gonna stop by for dinner. I made your favorite.” Toni’s voice was laced with disappointment.
Shit.
Had Maverick known she’d go out of her way to make a meal for him, and enchiladas at that, he’d have forced himself to leave his own pity party and show his face at his best friend’s house like he’d agreed to.
Toni slid onto the stool next to Maverick, and he waved over the prospect working the bar. “She’ll have an Ultra,” he said of Toni’s typical beer. “How you doin’, gorgeous? You gonna give me some sugar?”
Toni giggled and rolled her eyes about the same time a bulky, tattooed arm banded across her chest and yanked her flush against Zach’s chest.
“What the fuck I tell you about your lips and my woman?” Zach practically growled as he lowered his mouth to Toni’s neck and sucked at her pulse point.
“Zach!” she screeched, but quickly gave up the fight. “Well, okay.” She giggled and bit her bottom lip as Zach trailed kisses up to her jaw.
Mav stared at the array of partially full bottles lined up along the back mirror of the bar. He sure didn’t mind watching. In fact, he normally loved it. Watching two people go at it was one of the best ways to get his own motor revved. But there was something about seeing Zach and his girl get it on that made his insides churn. Probably had something to do with the intensity of the connection they shared. Too much emotional slime coated the air between them. They were so far gone over each other, it was nauseating.
Fuckin’ love birds.
Something Maverick never had and never would understand. Sex? Fuck yeah, he understood that. Wrote the fuckin’ book. It was his favorite pastime, after all. But being obligated to bang the same woman night after night, morning after morning, or whatever? He shuddered.
No, thank you.
He loved women too much to pick just one. Each was special and unique in their own way. Tall or short. Blond, redhead, or brunette. Thick or thin. He loved them all. Sure, there was a type that stiffened his dick faster than the others, like pocket-sized blonds, spinners, but he sure as hell didn’t discriminate.
Then the image of one light-haired, blue-eyed wildcat flashed through his mind making all his former convictions feel wrong. He shoved the thoughts away. None of it mattered, she was gone.
“You two nymphos about finished, or you gonna need me to show you the best position for fucking on this bar?”
Toni swatted Zach’s face away but snuggled her back against his chest. “You didn’t,” she said, her eyes dancing.
Mav winked. “Sure did, sweet stuff. Wanna hear the tale?”
“Think I’ll pass, thanks. Can you tell me exactly where, though? Because last week I dropped a pretzel on the bar top and I still ate it. Now I feel like I need to go scrub my tongue.” She picked her beer up by the neck with two fingers and looked underneath it as though she could see the Maverick-germs crawling around.
Mav threw his head back and laughed. Zach’s woman was hilarious and as good as they came. Made herself a rockin’ ol’ lady. “Let’s just say I started at that end, and I’m working my way down.” He pointed toward the far end of the bar.
“You’re a fuckin’ animal,” Zach said. “You should be required to carry papers.”
