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  Tony’s concern over Kage touched her. She’d tried talking to him before, many times, but the topic of Kage was off-limits. His worry about Darrell coming after Kage remained heavy on Tony’s mind. Although Darrell had seemingly gone underground after she’d captured Marcelli, because no one had seen him.

  Ignoring the others in the courtroom, she left through the back door. Tony led her to his Camaro. She glanced at him while buckling her seat belt.

  He’d stayed quiet all morning, worrying that the details of the case would come out before he had the chance to talk to Kage. A high-profile media frenzy would speculate and announce the verdict the moment the recess ended, and they couldn’t guarantee the death of Kage’s mom by Marcelli wouldn’t be leaked.

  Three blocks away, they pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building and Rocki took in the area. She’d been called there plenty of times while on duty. It was known for housing illegals, drug dealers, and a more unsavory crowd, and every officer from Cannon knew the place personally. She exited the car and met Tony in front of the vehicle. He threw his arm around her shoulders.

  “Stick close,” he muttered.

  “Is there a reason Lance lives here?” she asked. “I mean, he’s got a good job. Not that he can’t live wherever he wants, I’d just think he’d want to…I don’t know, be safe.”

  “His grandmother, a very proud Irish woman, owns the building and refuses to move. Lance stays close to his granny to make sure she’s protected and safe. His reputation is well known here as someone people don’t want to mess with.” Tony climbed the steps without letting her go. “He does as much as he can to keep out with the troublemakers, but his grandmother believes everyone deserves to have a roof over their head and the right to live somewhere they can call home…so he watches out for Granny McCray.”

  Okay, her respect for Lance rose to a megalevel. His granny. The guys from Beaumont Body Shop never failed to amaze her.

  Tony knocked on the door. “Yo,” he called.

  At the return answer, Tony opened the door. She followed him inside. Janie, Sabrina, and, to her surprise, Charlene swept her up into a cluster hug. She squeezed her eyes closed as their arms surrounded her from all sides and pulled her away from Tony. Their unexpected support hit her hard. Until she’d walked inside, she had no idea she’d been holding herself tense and putting up a front.

  She laid her head on someone’s shoulder—Sabrina’s, if she went by the faint whiff of jasmine. Her throat tightened and words of thanks got caught in her mouth. All she could do was hold on and let them help relieve some of the pressure she was under.

  Eventually, she straightened and pulled herself together. Janie swept her finger under each of Rocki’s eyes. Lighter for their show of friendship, she inhaled deeply. She moved her mouth, not knowing if she was thanking them or babbling like an idiot, but they told her she was welcome.

  “Enough of the drama,” Charlene said. “We need tequila to put a smile on everyone’s faces again.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t. We need to get back to the courthouse soon. I’ll be so glad when the trial is over and behind me. The others”—she swallowed—“God, they hate me.”

  “Screw them.” Janie grabbed her shoulders and faced her. “You’re doing the right thing. Good always trumps bad. Remember that.”

  She nodded. “I need to use the bathroom to wash my face before we head back.”

  “I’ll show you were it is.” Janie pulled her through the apartment and walked her to the bathroom.

  She closed the door, went about her business, and when she was done, she washed her face before exiting the room. Janie stood with her arms crossed, watching her. The overbearing-best-friend act should’ve humored her, but for some reason Janie made her feel guilty. Yet it felt natural and she was hit again with how close she and Janie had grown since that awful meeting when she’d returned Bluff after Darrell stole Janie’s cat for leverage.

  “He’ll be okay,” Janie said.

  “What?” She swiped the back of her hand across her cheek.

  “Tony. He’s a good guy, and I’ve known him my whole life. I can tell when something’s bothering him.”

  She leaned her hip against the door frame. “I don’t know what to do for him.”

  “You’re doing it. Whatever is going on inside his head has nothing to do with you. He watches you. Not like a man who doesn’t know where he stands, but like a man who is in love,” Janie said. “He’ll work through it.”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  He was in love with her? Rocki set the towel on the counter. Her heart raced. He hadn’t said the words, but he’d shown her how much she meant to him time and time again. He’d tattooed a picture of her on his arm. She reached out and squeezed Janie’s hand. “Will you make sure he stays okay?”

  Janie stiffened. “Me?”

  “Yeah.” She peered down the hallway and lowered her voice. “You know, in case things don’t work out for Tony and me. My life…I’m a detective. Tony was shot because of me, my mom was kidnapped, and Tony’s parents got involved just to keep my mother safe. I can’t have my job hurting Tony or the people he loves, because he’s involved with me.”

  “Bitch,” Janie whispered. “You’re leaving him.”

  She steeled her back. “I have a career.”

  “So does Tony.” Janie clamped her lips together. “I thought you were the one.”

  Several seconds ticked by, and Rocki said, “So did I.”

  She returned to the living room and found Tony watching her intently. She smiled, knowing he worried about her. She’d be okay.

  Later, she’d explain to him the emotional drama girls could have when situations got too tough. Not that she’d experienced many meltdowns in her lifetime, until meeting Tony and the others. Now tears came often for the craziest reasons, some of them warranted.

  At Tony’s side, she leaned against him and put her hand on his stomach. She took the time to look around Lance’s place. The inside of the apartment belied the rough exterior.

  The walls were a rich cream color, except for the dark maroon–painted wall behind the dartboard that entertained Garrett and Lance. The accent worked with the throw pillows on the couch and the rug covering the hardwood floors. Tastefully decorated. She wondered if Lance had a girlfriend and why she’d never met her during all the times they’d gotten together to hash out the case.

  Garrett shoved Lance away from the board on the other side of the room in a friendly competition. Kage reclined on the couch with Janie now on his lap. Rocki warmed. Seeing those two together gave her confidence that she and Tony could work something out between them.

  A private investigator and a detective would always butt heads, but they were good together. She trusted him and though he never said it, he showed her it was okay to lean on him for support without him judging her. That devotion would get him in trouble. She pressed tighter against Tony.

  She loved him.

  Not once had she met a man who put everyone else first in his life and could still take time for himself. He loved his dog, his friends, and his family, which told her everything she needed to know. The respect for the guys, the creativity he put into the cars he built from scrap into showroom classics, and the ability to show her how much he cared for her made him the perfect man. It didn’t hurt that he had the most beautiful smile that took her breath away, and that smile came often and easily.

  “Have you decided whether you’re going to see Darrell like he requested?” Tony asked Kage.

  Kage watched the game going on across the room, not facing Tony. Rocki wondered if he was even aware of Tony speaking to him, except for the slight chin dip Kage gave and the softening of Tony’s body.

  “All right. Good. We’ll go directly to the garage after court gets out.” Tony swiped a throw pillow off the couch, and tossed it at Garrett who was in mid-aim. “We’re taking off. We’ll see you back at Body Shop after the trial. Be there.”

 
The room quieted, and all eyes seemed to land on Rocki. The lump in her throat returned full force, and she buried her face in Tony’s neck and mumbled.

  Tony’s chest rumbled beneath her cheek. “I think she’s saying thank you.”

  She talked against his skin again.

  “And she’d like pizza tonight…” he said.

  Rocki laughed on a sob, playfully slapping his chest. “I said, I can’t believe how much they mean to me.”

  Tony kissed her forehead. “Yeah, that too. The pizza was my idea. I’m starved.”

  Everyone moved at once, and before she could talk individually to the ones who encouraged her not to give up, she was outside, sucking in air, hoping she didn’t ruin her makeup with all the encouragement she received from her new friends.

  When they pulled into the courthouse parking lot ten minutes later, Tony turned off the engine of the Camaro. “Ready?”

  “Yeah. No.” She remained seated, not even undoing her seat belt. “What’s up with Kage?”

  Tony leaned back and sighed. “His uncle contacted him and asked for a meeting today, after the court hearing.”

  “Is he going to go?”

  He nodded. “Yep. He acts as if nothing is wrong, but I know him. He has no idea what Darrell’s done all these years. I’m worried about how he’ll take the news once he finds out the truth. I don’t want him doing something stupid, or he’ll regret it for the rest of his life.”

  “You care about him,” she whispered.

  They were men, but their friendship was tight. Tighter than any relationship she’d ever seen. They stood beside each other through thick and thin, and supported each other unconditionally.

  “Yeah.” He leaned over and kissed her hard. “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

  “Wait.” She held his hand. “We need to talk.”

  He tilted his head. “’Kay.”

  If she had more time and they weren’t obligated to walk into the courtroom, she’d discuss why she’d come to the decision to break things off with him now, rather than later. He was too good of a guy to hit below the belt, in a car, when she needed more time to explain her decisions. But she didn’t have time.

  “A lot has happened—”

  “I know that, sweetheart,” he said.

  She nodded. “I’m a detective. This is only one case, but there will be many more. Some easier, some more dangerous.”

  “Right,” he said, leaning back against the seat. “What are you saying?”

  She took in the hardness of his mouth, the intensity of his gaze, and wanted to change her mind. She’d known from the beginning that circumstances threw them together and with all the drama in their lives, they ran off pure emotion. They went from needy to hot in a matter of days, and yet acted as if they’d been together years.

  Personally, she clung to him. Her defenses were down, and he’d met her at her most vulnerable. That state of mind allowed her to be herself and let him inside her head. She loved every minute having him in her life.

  “After this is all over with, I’m going to have to move back with my mom, pick up another case, and, I don’t know…it might be another undercover job. I could be gone for a while.” She glanced away. “I think we should take a break—”

  “Fuck that,” he said. “You can work. You can even go undercover, because that’s your job. But if you think you’re walking away from me because you’re saving me from a life of having your smile, your laughter, your hands on my body, then you’re whacked. Sweetheart, I wanted you for almost a year. I never approached you, because you were a woman who wouldn’t settle for a man who’d give you anything less than everything. I stayed away from you because I thought I wasn’t ready for something real. Now I know you, and I know there’s no one else I want. Ever. It’s more than wanting you. I need you in my life every day. If that means I have to go weeks or months without you, because of your career, then knowing you’re mine and you’ll come back to me is all I need.”

  “I deal with bad people every day. Look what happened to you, my mom—”

  “Your mom is fine. I’m good.” He leaned closer. “Got it?”

  She shook her head. “I won’t—”

  He kissed the end of her nose. “I’m not going anywhere, and I’m sure as hell not letting you leave me.”

  “I don’t want you to blame me if something goes wrong,” she whispered. “What happens if danger comes to you or your parents because of me?”

  “That’s what I’m here for.” He waited until she gazed up at him again, and then he continued. “Let me take care of you. Save your strength for your cases. I have all the confidence that on the job you can take care of yourself. I won’t let anything happen to anyone in our lives, especially you.”

  “But what if something does happen?” She swallowed hard. “What if I can’t control a situation and someone follows me home, or a person comes after you to get to me?”

  “Then we deal with it.” He smiled and softened his voice. “Together, we make a hell of a team.”

  She stared into his eyes, swallowed past her doubts, and softened. “Yeah.”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled. “We’ll talk later. Right now, you need to go into the courtroom and see that justice prevails.”

  Before she was ready to let the subject drop, they were inside the courtroom, and the room was called to order. The jury returned to its spot off to the side of the judge’s desk. She stood as the bailiff called attention to stand, and Judge Chedwich took the bench.

  Stout, unemotional, and keeping his gaze on the platform in front of him, Judge Chedwich gave those waiting in the courtroom no hint of what the verdict would be. Rocki sat down, thankful for the hard seat below her butt. She barely had enough oxygen in her body to support standing up without getting dizzy.

  Her career was on the line. If Marcelli walked, she could kiss her chance of ever being top detective and fitting in with the others in the department good-bye. She’d have to find a job in a different jurisdiction, a different district, and still she worried that her reputation of going against one of her own would follow her. A shield doesn’t convict another shield.

  Unable to restrain her curiosity over whether Marcelli was showing signs of worry, Rocki gazed to the left. Marcelli sat at attention in his chair beside his lawyer, his eyes straight ahead, no expression on his face, and confident as can be. Her gaze lowered. On top of the table, his folded hands rested, except for his thumb and finger constantly moving.

  He might be able to fool others, but she knew him well. He was nervous and he couldn’t hide that fact from her.

  Behind him sat his wife, Susan. Rocki bit the inside of her lip. She liked Marcelli’s wife. On several occasions, she’d talked with Susan during the backyard barbecues at the Marcelli house when the squad got together during the summer. A quiet woman who played a gracious hostess didn’t deserve having her life destroyed and her reputation shredded for what her husband had done.

  Susan turned and caught her eye. Rocki swallowed at the intensity in the other woman’s gaze. What was Susan thinking while watching and hearing what the accusations were against her husband? What Rocki had accused Marcelli of doing?

  Susan lowered her gaze, and their connection was gone. But right before Marcelli’s wife turned away, she’d seen what she was searching for to ease her mind. Acceptance.

  Somewhere in the back of Susan’s thinking, she knew the other woman held no ill will toward Rocki. Maybe she’d known what her husband was doing or she believed the accusations were true. Whatever thought process it took to understand that your husband could be going away for life, Susan would survive the jury’s decision.

  The judge finished his rehearsed speech and the first juror stood. Rocki grabbed Tony’s hand and kept her gaze to the front. Her heart pounded so hard, the speaker’s words blurred together. Nevertheless, she caught the first ruling.

  “On one charge of kidnapping, we find Gino Marcelli…guilty,” the female juror said.

&nb
sp; She squeezed Tony’s hand. At least Marcelli would go down for messing with her mom.

  On and on for five minutes, the charges against her former supervisor and friend came in. All charges, except one for witness tampering, brought him a guilty verdict. At the outburst from the room, the judge brought order to the court while Gino’s attorney stood and tried speaking over the crowd.

  Tony stood and ushered her toward the center aisle. She stepped around the last chair. Her gaze met Gino’s as two armed guards brought him to his feet and handcuffed him for transportation to Oregon State Penitentiary. She schooled her features, pivoted, and walked out of the room with her head held high. It was over.

  Several of her commanding officers, other detectives, and police officers shook her hand on the way to the double doors in the back of the room. She murmured appropriate responses and stayed by Tony’s side.

  There would be no celebrating in view of the others. No smile of victory. Regardless of her elation, one of their own went down today.

  Inside, she knew she’d put a bad guy away, taken one dealer off the street. She called that a good day, because good always trumps bad.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Tony pulled into the parking lot of Beaumont Body Shop trailed by a black Lexus. His gaze went to the garage. Kage’s Mustang, Lance’s Harley, Garrett’s Barracuda were already parked outside the garage, having arrived before them.

  “Sweetheart, hold the steering wheel.” He slowed down and when Rocki guided the car straight head, he reached behind him, under the seat, and removed his pistol he’d hidden there while they were in the federal building earlier. “Okay. Grab the clip out of the glove box for me.”

  Once he had everything, he loaded the gun, set it between his legs, and parked. “If I asked you to stay in the car, would you?”

  “Um, not in this lifetime.” She disconnected her seat belt. “Whatever Darrell’s up to, I want to be there. I owe Kage for all he’s done for me, and if there’s an opportunity to nail Darrell, I’ll take it.”

  “Kage can handle his uncle. He’s been on his own his whole life and has kept himself away from having anything to do with Darrell.” Tony squeezed her hand.