“You two know each other?”
; “We met last night,” Dante boldly answered.
The side of Robert’s cheek indented, his lips pressed forward as he ran his tongue over his front teeth. “Seems like I missed a good party last night.”
“Chet invited you,” Harley teased her old friend.
“I don’t trust Chet to serve me.”
“Smart move,” Dante laughed. His mouth opened wide showing a row of perfectly straight teeth. Her eyes caught a glimpse of his incisors and she shivered with the memory of them sinking into her collarbone.
Harley cleared her throat. “Can we talk about the body?”
“Okay. A young male in his teens dragged to death before eventually being put out of his misery. The way his jeans are imbedded with his skin and some parts missing, I would suggest we open the yellow police tape a lot wider. No telling how far he was dragged. Where’s Lundy? I need to tell him to move the people back.”
The sun from outside streamed in with a flash as Robert disappeared, leaving Dante and Harley alone. She inhaled deeply and glanced at her new husband. “You’re in law enforcement?”
“I am. You too, eh?”
She brandished her camera. “I work for them.”
“But you’re strapped.” Dante’s head nodded toward her thigh. She cocked an eyebrow at him, impressed with her beer-goggle eyes.
“I have a permit,” she smiled, not wanting to give too much away. “Thanks for not saying anything in front of Steve. The last thing I need is for him to know I married you.”
“Most women scheme to get me to the altar.”
She understood why. The man, built like a Roman God and gifted in bed, seemed to be a great catch for some woman—just not Harley. “Too bad we’re getting it annulled. Otherwise you’d learn quickly that I am not like most women.”
“Intriguing,” He raised an amused brow and took a step forward. His muscled, long legs easily closed the gap with one stride. He stood about six-five, a cool foot taller than her frame.
A layer of desire spread between them. Snippets of their night together flashed into her mind. Her heart raced. An audible gulp escaped her throat, the lens of her camera kept as a barrier. “So you’ll agree to an annulment?”
Before she got an answer, a crude division of white light separated their bodies. Still barking orders to the men outside, Steve entered the area. When the flap shut behind him, eyes surveyed their stance.
“Tomasello,” he said, his voice an even keel while he kept his eyes on Dante, “I got the boys bringing out the cherry picker. I’m gonna need you to get up in the bucket and take some aerial shots down the street. Robert thinks there are pieces of the body down the road.”
Harley offered a smile for goodbye, grateful for the escape. Any longer and she would have given in to her desires. The sooner she got this stupid marriage annulled, the better.
Chapter 2
Glad to be done with the job for the day, Harley relaxed in a hot bath. The back muscle of her thigh ached from being stretched over his shoulders. Never had she had a better workout, she thought with a sly smile.
When the water grew tepid, she stepped one wet foot out of her clawfoot tub onto the plush white throw rug, then another. The white body towel drank the moisture off her skin. She patted every inch of her skin, partly drying, partly wiping the imaginary fingerprints Dante Rossi left on her body.
This impulsive marriage needed to end. They had nothing in common except for their employment with the law. She left the scene this morning not knowing what branch he worked for, not that it mattered. Now, since Dante worked with the FBI, the sooner she dissolved this marriage, the better. She’d been in the system for fifteen years without having her cover blown and she wasn’t about to start now with some gumshoe agent. Dante Rossi and this stupid marriage was the last thing she wanted anyone to find out about. Lundy already grilled her ass, fearing she sided up with Dante about the crime scene being a homicide, which now she could not deny.
What did the FBI want with Christopher Alfaro? Had he gotten a whiff of her inquiries? Her heart slammed against her ribcage for being so dense. Harley cupped her face with her towel. Whatever Dante’s intentions were for getting close to her, she had her lead. She had a way into the community and closer to Alfaro. Like most gangsters, nothing happened in their neighborhoods without them finding out or knowing. Harley shuddered at the thought of Alfaro’s involvement.
The case assigned to them both also needed to end. In Harley’s line of work she’d seen evil. Evil came in all shapes and sizes. The worst kinds dealt with kid killers. The kid on the sidewalk had barely lived his life. As soon as she’d returned to her apartment she tore upstairs to find Hannah. Her niece’s room hadn’t been slept in. She didn’t expect to find her. Since Hannah had been staying with her, Harley’s skills as the cool aunt were tested. She hated to have to pull the adult card, but she had to and left a stern message on Hannah’s cell phone for her to come home immediately.
Harley hated having to play the adult card, but her brother Anthony left her in charge. She enjoyed being the cool aunt. Their older sister Jennifer packed up her kids to spend time in town at Anthony’s home in order to keep an eye on Hannah. Harley loved her older sister dearly, from a distance. Jennifer had the tendency to be overbearing and rule with an iron fist and for those reasons, Harley welcomed Hannah into her home. Hell, the graduate had her own room since forever.
The mirror before her squeaked clean when she wiped the glass. The glimmer of the ring resting in the soap-dish attached to the wall caught her attention. Why did she still have the gold band? And how does one go to the courthouse and draw up an annulment? She couldn’t let Hannah find out about her recklessness. Why did she do these things to herself?
A thump upstairs interrupted her self-reflection. Harley reached for her white robe hanging on the back of her door and scooped the ring out of the dish, sliding the gold circle into the pocket. Damn, she’d left her purse on the kitchen island when she came home, leaving behind her gun and her cell phone.