LUST (A STEPBROTHER ROMANCE)

“Look… I want you to keep what happened out there quiet for now. No reports. It’s possible those men stopping by our playboy’s mansion wasn’t a coincidence. Someone might be feeding them information from the inside, letting them know who we’re talking to as we build the case.”

“You think we have a rat?” I asked, my voice low.

“I think we have reason to be careful,” Captain Pierce replied, shifting his gaze back to me. “I spoke with Mr. Hale,” he began. “He said you handled the incident well, despite your obvious disadvantage. I know there wasn’t much you could do, given the circumstances.”

Obvious disadvantage? The words burned in my mind.

“Yes, sir,” I answered, though I didn’t particularly agree. I couldn’t help but feel like I’d fallen short in my efforts to protect Nathan, especially since he’d had to step in and convince those goons I was serious. In all my time on the force, I’d never fired my gun on duty. This time, I was a breath away from pulling the trigger. I felt like a rookie on her first day, and worst of all, I had no doubt that was how the other officers and detectives would choose to see me. I wanted to be angry at Nathan, but I could only be mad at myself. This was my failure, and I needed to own it and not let it shake me up for round two.

Captain Pierce must have read my expression, because he sighed, ran a hand through his white hair, and turned to face me.

“Sandra,” he said, “everybody has something go wrong at some point. Today, you had to let Wallace’s boys walk free to save yourself and the witness. Nobody got hurt, his property is still intact, and you not only convinced Mr. Hale to testify, but to move to the safe house he was so adamantly against last time I sent a uni out there to talk to his spoiled ass. I know it’s not a perfect score, but I think you can count this one as a win.”

I nodded and forced a smile. “Yes, sir.”

He mirrored my expression. “Good. Now, let’s talk about where we go from here.” He put his hands on his hips on either side of his pot belly. “Mr. Hale will be transferred to a secure location on the other side of town. It’s nothing fancy, just some apartment complex near the tracks, but it’s the last place anyone will look for him.”

“The Peachtree Overlook?” I asked, raising a brow. Captain Pierce nodded, and I stifled a laugh. “Oh, yeah. He’ll just love that.”

I couldn’t imagine Nathan Hale, a man accustomed to living in the lap of luxury, reacting to the Peachtree Overlook with anything short of disgust and horror. Those apartments weren’t exactly the worst the city had to offer, but they were far from the best. Located just a stone’s throw from the railroad tracks, they had a layer of grime and soot embedded into the exterior, and from what I’d heard, the inside wasn’t much better.

“A rich boy living in the Peachtree Overlook,” I mused, shaking my head. “I almost wish I could see it.”

“I’m glad you said that, because you will see it,” Captain Pierce answered. “You’re still on the case, detective. In fact, you’ve been assigned to him full-time until the trial.”

I felt all the blood rush from my face. My lip trembled for a moment, disbelief slackening my jaw as I tried to process what he’d just said.

“Wait—full-time? Meaning…”

“Meaning you’ll be sitting on Mr. Hale until the start of the trial,” Captain Pierce finished, sitting down again behind his desk. “The paperwork’s already been filed. You’ll be undercover, of course, posing as Mr. Hale’s girlfriend, Candy Love.”

I shot him an “are-you-serious?” look. I couldn’t help it—Candy? Really? Like some kind of stripper?

The captain waved his hand dismissively, as if that detail didn’t matter. “It’s just for a week, detective. And you won’t be the only cop there. We’ve arranged for undercover officers to be present on each floor. If you need something, just holler, Candy.”

I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. The captain made it sound like I was staying in a guest room at some quaint little bed and breakfast. “Just holler” was more likely to mean “if we hear gunshots, we’ll come running.” I didn’t need him to candy-coat this for me.

I also couldn’t figure out if I was being punished or rewarded. An undercover operation was a serious undertaking, but a week with Nathaniel Hale was an even more arduous one. Why me? Why not someone with a little more experience who hadn’t let five criminals walk free just a few hours ago?

“Sir,” I began, measuring my words carefully. “I’m… not clear on why you need me for this. I’m a first-year detective. I’m sure there are more appropriate choices…”

“Not on this one,” he quickly answered, folding his hands on his desk. “This is a big deal. Nathan Hale’s testimony is going to put away a sex trafficker, murderer, and illegal arms dealer. We’re talking about unraveling the whole organization. With Wallace gone, the rest of the Paddies will crumble. That’s a feat even the FBI hasn’t been able to accomplish. It’ll look good for the department...”

There was an implication there, a subtle reminder that cops who did things to bolster the department’s reputation were always rewarded. Doing this might mean a chance at respect, but could I respect myself for dancing to this man’s tune by shacking up with some yuppie billionaire and calling myself Candy?

But he was right about the Paddies—the gang Wallace headed up with ties to the Irish mob. They had to go, and if this would oust them from the city once and for all, maybe it really was a small sacrifice.

“I get the point, sir. But I don’t know if it’ll be that easy. One of those men who came to Hale’s mansion—he called himself Francis O’Rourke—there was something about him. An air of authority? I think he might have been higher up the food chain than the others. Even with Wallace out of the picture, the Paddies might be able to hold their ground if that man’s been groomed to take over.”

Captain Pierce nodded grimly. “I’ll see if the FBI is willing to let us in on who some of the other major players are. In the meantime, get your things in order and meet me back here in an hour. I want you two moved into the Peachtree Overlook by this evening. The sooner, the better,” he added.

I shook my head. “I still don’t understand why you’ve chosen me, sir.”

The captain sighed. He looked weary. “Do you really want to know?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir. Absolutely.”

I’d been hoping for some speech where Captain Pierce admitted how much the department needed me, how I was an invaluable member of the force, and how handing me this responsibility was just the first step in showing the rest of the boys how capable I really was.

Instead, Captain Pierce spread his hands helplessly. “Mr. Hale wouldn’t agree to our terms any other way. He requested you, personally.”

My heart sunk. Once again, I was Nathan’s pawn and plaything, a bargaining chip to ensure he would get what he wanted. I wasn’t a valued member of the team—I was a sacrificial lamb.

I wanted to rage at the captain, and at Nathan, too. I wanted to tell them both in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t there for their entertainment, that I was a cop who had earned her stripes and who deserved better than to play babysitter to an entitled billionaire.

But I didn’t say anything. Instead I let the heat rise in my cheeks, my pulse pound in my ears, and my hands shake behind my back as I held in every ounce of anger surging through me.

For the greater good, I told myself. Once you do this, everyone will look at you differently. You’ll be a hero, Sandra. It all sounded like lies.

“Detective,” the captain said, lowering his voice. “You can say ‘no.’?”

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nbsp; For a moment, I let my rage get the better of me. “Can I, sir?”

Captain Pierce nodded. “Yes. You can. Mr. Hale strikes me as the type of man who’s used to getting what he wants. He’s playing a game here, and he’s not afraid to make people uncomfortable or unhappy to get his way. We both know he’s not going back to his house after what happened today, whether you agree to this or not. If this is going to be a problem for you, detective, then I wouldn’t hold it against you if you said ‘no.’?”

That gave me pause. I lowered my eyes, considering the Captain’s offer. If he was right, the absolutely best case scenario was that it wouldn’t reflect poorly on me. I’d go back to my job exactly how I left it, Nathan would become someone else’s problem, and I could refocus on other parts of my life that mattered much more than some billionaire’s welfare.

But an image flashed in my head, or rather a series of them: Nathan’s impossibly green eyes; his lazy, lopsided grin; the way he’d stepped in at the last second and potentially saved me from a thug with a gas can and biceps that could have snapped my spine like a twig.

No, that wasn’t right—there was no “potentially” about it. If Nathan hadn’t shown up at that moment, that guy was going to put my training to the test. Even if I took him down, one of his men was almost certainly going to kill me and set the whole place on fire, maybe not even in that order.

The sad fact of the matter was that I owed him one. I tried not to think about how, strangely, I didn’t really mind. A small part of me was looking forward to a few days shacked up with Nathaniel Hale. I had to take a moment to push that thought straight out. This was all a game for Mr. Hale, and if I didn’t assert myself all I’d ever be is the girl he bent over his desk whenever he wanted to. That chapter of my life was over now. I wanted to stay safe inside my web of lies where Nathan’s compelling stare couldn’t reach me.

Right, so I owed him one. We’d go with that.

“No,” I told Captain Pierce. “I mean—yes. I’ll do it. I’ll be back in an hour.”