Dirty Secrets (Get Dirty 4)

It could have been worse. He could’ve been a weakling, one of the sheep that make up so many of the common man. Maybe throw out some bluster and then squeal in the corner when he’s pushed. The kind of man I couldn’t possibly respect.

No, TJ is someone worthy of my attention, though the idea of going toe-to-toe with him over Allie should give me pause. But strangely enough, I find the idea of testing myself against him invigorating, as if I can prove myself worthy and earn her affection.

I sigh at the fanciful ideology and return to studying my target. TJ is currently on leave from the Army for three months pending a transfer. Seems TJ somehow timed his rotation just right and figured out a way to get himself three months of time off before going off to be a chopper pilot. Smart boy.

Looking over his service record, all his reports show him to be an excellent soldier, intelligent and well-equipped to both do what he’s told and think on his feet. The letter from his platoon leader said he was only recommending TJ because he knew he’d lose him one way or another. Either to Warrant Officer school or to his being snatched away to be a Sergeant in another unit. So professionally, he’s stellar.

Personally, though, his life seems to be falling apart. While no papers have been filed, it seems his wife spent his year overseas getting frisky.

After finding out, TJ waited for his unit to get back from the ‘Stan before going on leave, and he’s currently got a room in a hotel across town on the South Side, Pete’s territory.

Everything in his backstory corresponds with the matching report I have on Allison. Father and mother happily married, well-educated, and live in the suburbs two states away.

But the things I really need to know aren’t on these pages, though I’m going to give my people credit. It’s a good start. There are so many intangibles about someone, like how Allie’s pre-employment report didn’t speak to her inappropriate sense of humor, her work ethic . . . her ability to make a desolate man feel alive again. I suspect there are key factors missing from TJ’s report too.

And I don’t like missing information.

My entire empire is built on knowing things before others and reading people better than anyone else. It’s what allows me to be in place before my opponents know what happened. It gives me strength.

While this file tells me a lot, it doesn’t tell me everything. And until I know, I’m going to have to consider TJ a problem.

A worthy adversary, perhaps . . . but regardless of the matter, he’s a danger to what I’m building with Allie.

I close his file and set it on the side of my desk, thinking for a moment until the sound of feet thundering down the hall to my office catches my attention. I’m reaching for the pistol I keep under my lap drawer when the door opens, and my hand relaxes as I see Allie burst through like the world’s cutest rhino charge.

“Dominick!” Allie says loudly.

At the same time, one of the cleaning staff pushes past and says at the same time, “I’m sorry, sir.” Fiona’s saucy accent blares over Allie’s words, cutting her off. “I told Miss Bancroft she was welcome but to please wait for someone to announce her.”

Allie’s glare captures my attention and I wave Fiona off. She’s new. She doesn’t know Allie has free reign to come and go as she pleases. Fiona nods, shutting the door quietly behind her, leaving me alone with Allie.

She’s fuming, her hands planted on her hips and looking so adorable that I have to grin at her gall before remembering that I’m supposed to be mad at her too. Quickly, I rearrange my features into the coolly collected sneer I typically use to show disappointment.

Allie, of course, is my opposite, and since she’s riled up too, her madness comes out in a flurry of energetic pacing, her skirt flexing and thigh muscles bunching in ways that leave my cock tingling in my pants.

“So, I spent the night thinking, and some of breakfast too . . . TJ says hi, by the way.”

Sarcasm coats her last words, and she tosses her hair. I want to pull it to my nose and see if it smells as heavenly as it gleams in the light of my office.

Instead, I lift one eyebrow warily. “I see.”

“Well, okay, he didn’t say that exactly, but he didn’t stop me when I told him where I was going, so considering the Mexican standoff we had rolling last night, I’m choosing to call that a win, Mister. Anyway, that can’t happen again. Not the gun pulling, not the scary drama where you think something bad happened just because I went for a smoothie, and not the stomping off angry deal. Okay, that one was a bit exaggerated. You definitely didn’t stomp off, but you get my point.”