Twice as Sexy (The Sexy 2)

His gaze never left hers and she could see the desire in his eyes and his expression. Until the sound of his cell phone interrupted the moment.

He frowned at the unwanted noise and hit his phone, ending the call without checking it. Until the ring sounded again.

“I’m sorry.” He held up a finger and pulled out his phone, frowning as he looked at the screen. He answered the call. “Jason, it’s a really bad time.”

She waited not so patiently to find out what his partner wanted.

“Say that again?” Tanner listened, his eyes opening in disbelief. “I’ll be right there.” He disconnected the call and slammed the phone onto the table. “A raid. A fucking police raid because there’ve been reports that we serve underage kids.”

Anger and disbelief rushed through her. “That’s ridiculous.”

He gestured for the check.

“Don’t kill me but it’s already covered. I left my credit card when I made the reservation.”

He narrowed his gaze at her. “Why?”

“Because I wanted to take you out. I wanted to reciprocate for all you’ve done for me, but mostly I wanted you to know that you’re a special man.” She reached out and touched his hand. “I’m just sorry it ended this way.”

She’d planned a much different finale at home in bed. She’d even bought a new nightie for the occasion. She sighed, knowing she wouldn’t get use out of that garment tonight.

He drew a deep breath and smiled. “Thank you, beautiful. That means a lot.”

They spoke to the waiter, she placed her napkin on the table, and they rushed out.

Chapter Ten

Tanner sweat as they sat in a dark, dingy room at the police station answering questions. He’d sent Scarlett home with one of the bodyguards from the club, leaving the man with instructions to walk her inside, wait until she set the alarm, and not to leave the grounds until Tanner returned.

The memories this interrogation brought back were not good ones. Him, barely an adult, sitting without a lawyer as the cops yelled questions at him from across the table. Until Jason called Gabe and sent Thomas Culhane to bail him out. The man was now a friend and still their lawyer.

Jason had already called him, and the man had met them there, sitting by their side during the interrogation about how they ran their business.

“What gives you the right to haul my clients in on a so-called tip?” Tommy asked.

The lead detective slid a picture across the table. “We have a photo of someone who’s underage and was served at your club. And we have reason to believe he’s not the only one.”

“I happen to know we’re vigilant,” Landon said. “This is bullshit.”

Tanner picked up the photo of a New York State driver’s license. Although it was grainy, he studied it because the young man in the picture looked familiar. “How do we know him?” He slid the paper to Landon.

His friend lifted the sheet and studied it. “That bastard!”

“Wait.” Tommy glanced at the detectives. “I want a word alone with my clients.”

With a nod, the two men left the room.

“What is it?” Tommy, who’d been thirty when he bailed Tanner out, was now a decade older with even more experience behind him. And he was good. They kept him on retainer.

“This kid.” Landon pointed to the photo. “He’s one of the kids we caught vandalizing our patrons’ cars. He said Daniel Sutherland, who owns Club Zero downtown, paid them cash to destroy some cars in our back lot and scare people from returning to the club.”

Tommy glared at each man for a long second. “And you didn’t report this to the cops?”

“We got the information we wanted. We didn’t want to ruin a couple of idiot kids’ lives. We gave them a good warning and sent them on their way,” Tanner muttered.

Tommy groaned. “Look, Tanner. I’m guessing you saw yourself in those kids and you let them off the hook.”

He ducked his head because he had. Oh, he so had. And he didn’t want those young kids sitting behind bars without a Gabriel Dare, Jason, and Landon to save them.

“Okay, we’ll go from here.” Tommy placed the photo on the table.

“We have security cameras everywhere in the club. If they have a date and time on this kid showing up at the club, we can prove the bartender proofed him,” Jason said.

Tommy nodded. “I’ll explain all this to the cops. And we’ll send them to Sutherland. Let them squeeze him for information.”

Tanner wanted to get to Daniel himself, first. Talk man to man and have him give up Vic as his accomplice. But he didn’t want to play games with the police either and piss them off. “Fine.”

Tommy glanced from Jason to Landon, who agreed. “Yeah. Okay.”

An hour later, because the wheels of justice turned slowly and the police station operated even more slowly, they were let go with a warning they might be called in for further questioning. But they hadn’t been arrested.