“You got it, honey.” Ruby turned to find Tim watching her closely, so she smiled back casually. “Hey, Tim. Long time no see.”
Tapping an unlit cigarette against the bar, he nodded. “Haven’t seen you in this neighborhood in a while. What brings you by?”
“Just missed it, I guess.”
“Huh.”
Gerard set her drink down in front of her, and she took a sip to wet her suddenly dry throat. Tim had never been anything but friendly toward her, but he now appeared mildly suspicious. She should have gotten up, cut her losses, and walked out right then, but she stayed rooted to her seat. If she wanted to help Troy, she needed information. And besides Bowen, who she definitely couldn’t go to in this case, she had no other way of retrieving it. Ruby leaned back in her chair, trying to appear relaxed, and waited for him to speak.
“Haven’t seen your daddy around in a while, either. Is he still working with Lenny, or is he following your lead and turning over a new leaf?”
She ignored Tim’s question about her father, knowing he’d only asked it to needle her. “Actually, this new leaf I turned over isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’m thinking about asking Lenny for my old job back. I can’t get the same kind of action working solo.”
Her cell phone went off in her pocket, and she ignored it, knowing it had to be Troy. Her time had run out.
“I can’t seem to find him. Any idea where he’s doing business now?”
Tim’s sharp eyes met hers, delved deep for any kind of deception. Her friendly, open expression didn’t waver. He seemed to make a decision then, his body relaxing in the stool. Finally, he pulled out a pen from his coat pocket and scribbled an address on a napkin before sliding it across the bar in her direction. When she reached for it, he held on to the edge. “This place is just a hunch. He dropped out of sight almost a week ago, and no one really knows where he went.” He lowered his voice. “He put a beating on a badge last week for some unpaid debt. Put the freaking guy in a coma. Now he’s got another cop sniffing around, so he’s more than a little paranoid.” Tim shook his head.
“I hear he’s already marked this new cop as next on his list. He’s starting to lose his touch for subtlety.”
When Ruby slipped back into the alley moments later, her mind ringing with Tim’s words, she forgot all about walking back through the yoga studio so her tail could follow her home.
I hear he’s already marked this new cop as next on his list.
She needed to work fast.
Chapter Nine
Sitting in the dark stairwell of Ruby’s building, Troy tried to fight his mounting panic. He’d received a call from the surveillance officer at eight o’clock telling him Ruby had gone into a yoga studio and never come out. His guy had canvased the neighborhood with no luck. She’d been long gone. Troy, wanting to go look for her himself, had been forced to sit and wait, aware that showing his face anywhere Ruby had recently been would be a bad idea. Being in her building, even hidden inside, wasn’t exactly the greatest idea he’d ever had, but the desire to see her clouded his judgment.
An hour having passed since the call, she still hadn’t come home and wouldn’t answer her goddamn phone. Fear mixed with irritation and helplessness. An intolerable combination in his current frame of mind.
Troy shot to his feet with an expletive, intending to go look for her when he heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. His heart felt ready to beat itself out of his chest as he waited to see who would enter.
The heavy metal door pushed open to reveal Ruby, looking half-frozen with the damn yoga mat slung over her shoulder. She was beautiful, her hair floating around her shoulders courtesy of the wind gusting in through the door. In one hand, she held a half-eaten chocolate doughnut.
She’d actually stopped for a doughnut while he’d sat there, fearing for her life? With that, his anger reached its boiling point. “Where the hell have you been?”
Ruby’s entire body jerked with a cut-off scream, and the doughnut fell to the floor at her feet. She backed up against the wall, searching wildly in the dark, and finally noticed Troy a second later. When she saw him standing a few feet away, she sagged with undisguised relief, one hand pressed over her heart.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Are you crazy? You almost gave me heart failure.”
Regret moved in his chest. It served to deflate some of his anger, but not all. Not by a long shot. “No. I’m not crazy. Crazy would be blowing off professional protection to go buy a fucking doughnut.”
Angrily, she kicked the fallen doughnut at him, barely missing his dress shoe. “A doughnut I only got two bites out of!”
“Don’t try and be cute,” he warned, shaking his head. “I am pissed as hell, Ruby.”
“We had a deal,” she said with a shrug, having the grace to look mildly contrite. “I spotted your guy, so I split. Next time, send someone with half a brain.”
“He’s the best I could find besides myself. He’s former military.”
“And yet…” She wrinkled her nose, head tilting to the side. “He lost me.”
Troy laughed darkly. “Oh, you have no idea the kind of fire you’re playing with, baby.”
With an irritated huff of breath, she tried to skirt past him on the stairs. “Why don’t you go cool off, then? It’s my ass in trouble, so let me worry about it.”
“No, dammit.” He stopped her progress past him with a firm hand on her elbow. “Believe it or not, I care about what happens to you. The last hour has been pure hell, Ruby. You think it’s funny to scare the shit of out of me?”
Her belligerent expression deserted her, and she looked away. “No. I don’t think it’s funny. I didn’t do it to scare you.”
“Then why?” he demanded.
“I…” she started hesitantly, then blew out a breath.
“I needed to go make some money. I can’t do what I do with a cop watching my every move.”
Troy shook his head. “You don’t think I briefed
them on your usual activities? They weren’t going to interfere unless you were in trouble.” He let go of her arm. “Would it be so much to ask for you to give me a little credit?”
A long pause ensued as they both regrouped from the argument. When Ruby spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper, telling him how much the apology cost her. “I’m sorry.” He nodded once in acknowledgment but didn’t say anything. She moved in front of him, trying to meet his gaze, but still righteous in his anger, he stared resolutely over her head at the wall. Until she stood on her toes to kiss the underside of his jaw and the now-familiar heat settled low in his belly. “You know why I’m wearing my hair down today?” Another kiss, this time lingering on his neck. “You marked up my neck last night with that filthy mouth of yours.
And you know what else?” Troy felt his defenses slipping. Against his better judgment, he looked down and immediately got lost in her green eyes. “I like it.
Having
your marks on me.”
His cock swelled against the front of his pants, begging for the stroke of her hand. Ruby’s scent, her lips tracing the column of his neck, the body he’d memorized hiding beneath her coat all threatened to topple his anger, but the memory of his fear remained too fresh. He needed to regain the control she’d wrested from him. Needed promises he knew she wouldn’t give.
He grasped the wrist trailing down his chest toward his stomach. “Tell me the truth first. Were you only hustling tonight? The truth, Ruby.”
Hesitating for the barest of seconds, she smiled up at him. “Would I lie to you?” Too late. He’d caught her hesitation, and now he had his answer. She hadn’t been able to stop herself from interfering. Appeasing her boundless curiosity. Knowing her, the innocently posed question would be the closest he came to the truth tonight. It appeared that, in order to retain his sanity, he would need to regain his lost control in another way. He couldn’t let her know he was on to her. Yet.
Troy brought her hand to his mouth, kissed the inside of her wrist. “Do you remember what I told you the first night I brought you home?”
She looked momentarily thrown by his sudden change in direction but answered him smoothly. “You said quite a lot that night. Narrow it down for me.”
He pulled her closer. Let one hand slide down the back of her coat to squeeze her tight ass, satisfied when her breath hitched in her throat. “I told you I would tolerate your smart mouth, your goddamn evasiveness, during the day. But when it comes time to take you to bed, that’s when I put an end to it. I won’t allow you to hold back anything when I’m fucking you.” His teeth bit into her earlobe and she whimpered. “Now do you remember?”
Warily, she nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.” He hitched her up against his body, forced his hips between her thighs. “Just so we’re clear, baby, that’s what I’m doing. Letting you divert my attention with your tempting body so you don’t have to answer my questions or explain where you went tonight. I’m aware of it. I’m the one who’s letting you get away with it.” He gave a single upward thrust, letting her feel his need. Her eyes closed, mouth parted on a moan. “And you won’t be getting away with it for long. I’m not feeling very charitable toward you at the moment.”