Center Mass (Code 11-KPD SWAT 1)

“Luke Roberts. That’s Baylee’s brother,” my mother said.

My mother knew everybody.

“Sebastian’s wife?” The woman asked.

I scanned my memory for the name, finally remembering that Sebastian was the VP of the MC. Sebastian’s father was the president of the club, and a scary man.

My sister didn’t think he was all that scary, but I sure as hell did.

There was just something about the man that gave me the ‘back off, I’m a dangerous fucker’ vibe.

Although, Luke emitted that vibe, too. Just a slightly altered version of it. More like a ‘back off I’m a dangerous fucker, but if you need me, I’ll be here’ kind of vibe.

And Luke’s co-worker, Nico…not so much. I’d be more likely to run away from him rather than towards him.

“Hey, baby. If it’s all right, I’m going to take a bathroom break,” my mother said to Rowen, who immediately declared that she ‘needed to pee something fierce.’

Instead of walking to the table, I watched as my mother and daughter walked hand in hand to the bathroom, both of them swinging their hands like they didn’t have a care in the world.

“That’s some look you have,” I heard from behind me.

I shivered slightly, hoping he didn’t catch it. When I turned around, though, I knew he had.

And his smile was cocky, saying he knew exactly what he did to me.

“How would you know my look when my back was to you?” I asked suspiciously.

He lifted his finger and pointed at the mirror above me, causing me to sigh. “I bet you’re one of those people that knows everything, aren’t you?”

“My sister says I play the devil’s advocate just for shit’s and giggles,” he laughed.

I scrunched up my nose at him. “That doesn’t shock me at all, to be truthful.”

He winked at me.

“I didn’t realize the connection until I saw you. But the last name makes sense now. And you coming from Shreveport. I didn’t know you were Frank Doherty’s daughter, though. He gives a lot of conferences that I attend for my continuing education for my fire certification,” he explained.

I rolled my eyes. “My daddy’s pretty well known in the Ark-La-Tex. He used to be the fire marshal for the area way back before I was born. He’s kept the contacts, though.”

“Do you mind telling me what you do? I’ve been told you were SWAT, but I saw you arresting that man and woman the other day, and then, you know, two days ago. Neither one of those were SWAT situations from what I heard,” I said.

He didn’t comment on the reminder of shooting someone two days prior. And I felt like shit immediately after bringing it up.

He didn’t flinch at answering my question, though, which was good. Maybe it wasn’t bothering him like it was the other day. One could hope, anyway.

He sat down on the barstool nearest us and took a swig of his beer before answering.

“Regular duties as a patrol officer. On a day to day basis, I do what any other officer you see in the cop car does. I write tickets. I respond to anything that fire responds to. However, on the rare occasion that the SWAT team’s needed, we get pulled in. Some of us are off. Some of us are working. We all respond to the station, and get dressed in our SWAT gear. From there we respond to the call,” he explained.

“I never would’ve known,” I murmured, sitting down on the chair directly beside him.

He shrugged, his shoulder brushing mine, and tiny sparks started to shoot down my arm.

Then his thigh moved, running up the length, and his arm moved to the back of my chair.

That’s about when my libido started to run rampant, and my thoughts stopped being interested, and they started to move towards need. Pure, raw need.

Oh, man. I needed to get out of here before I did something stupid like fuck the man.

“Well,” I said, standing abruptly. “My sister’s calling my name.”

He caught the lie for what it was and I caught his grin when I looked over my shoulder. His expression told me he was allowing me to run. And that eventually, when he felt like it, he’d catch me. Then we’d both be screwed. Literally.***An hour later

“What the fuck is going on?” I yelled as soon as I came out of the bathroom. “Where is my sister?”

I tried to follow the crowd, but two large arms threaded around my waist and pulled me back, holding me captive.

I was confused.

I’d been going to the bathroom with my sister, but she’d stopped, and I’d continued.

When I’d gone back out to the bar looking for Tru, I couldn’t find her. After dropping Rowen off with my father, who’d volunteered to take her home with him, I asked Grayson if he’d seen her. Things started to happen. Everybody started to move all at once. The place practically exploded in activity, and I was left wondering what in the hell was going on.

I’d tried to follow my mother and Grayson outside, wondering just what in the hell was going on, but those arms had stopped me.

I knew who they belonged to.

That didn’t help my anxiety right now, though.

“Let me go. What’s going on?” I asked, wiggling to no avail.

Luke had an iron tight grip on my waist, and he wasn’t letting me go.

Which was good, because when I heard the shots going off, my legs went weak, and Luke cursed, pulling me back until I was behind him.

His large body held dual purpose. He kept me shielded from whatever threat there was, and also held me up.

I wasn’t sure if he knew he was holding me up, but he was.

“What’s going on?” I whispered fiercely.

My hands found their way under his shirt¸ and somehow I found myself clutching his belt, hand resting next to a gun he had at the small of his back.

He didn’t stiffen, only leaned into me further as we watched the panicked crowd.

One overly frantic customer ran towards the bar, trying to go out through the kitchen when Silas stepped in front of her, grabbed her by the face, and spoke to her in low tones.