Dungeon Games (7 page)

A life jacket that would likely strangle him in her deep need to get ahead. “You still had no right.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that. Now what’s your plan? I want you to coordinate with me. This is the rarest of cases, Derek. This is a serial case the feds haven’t taken yet. Bastards. We need to solve this and fast because at some point they will figure out how hot this case is, move in, and we’ll lose all our control. The Rangers are willing to work with us because apparently their kinks aren’t the same as ours and they’re really high on Eve St. James.”

“McKay. She remarried.”

“Hmmm, well, that’s nice. I suppose that means McKay’s on the case, too.” She grimaced a little. “Did the Rangers bring in Ian? Because he hates me.”

“You’re in luck. Big Tag’s in Europe.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. The last time I applied for membership at Sanctum, he put me through a ton of paperwork and when he sent me the letter that would state the date I could start it simply said when hell freezes over. Jerk, though I suppose he’s loyal to you.”

He would have to send Big Tag a bottle of Scotch. The last thing he needed was to have his club invaded by Maia. “Back to the case, please?”

“Fine. So is Eve working on a profile? Tell her to come to my office when it’s done. I don’t want that profile leaking to anyone. If the feds get it they’ll swoop down and scoop up all my work and take all my glory. I hate them.”

Derek felt his eyes narrow. She only ever got truly angry over one thing. “Who turned you down?”

The slightest hint of pink hit her cheeks. “No one turns me down. Well, mostly. I might have been dating one of the SACs. He turned out to be an asshole and now he’s out for some kind of revenge.”

“What did you do?” Because there was no way she was innocent.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” A little huff came from her chest. “I might have given his son a blow job. You can’t blame me for that. You should have seen him. He’s a college quarterback with the tightest ass I’ve ever seen on a man. He’d just won a bowl game. If you really think about it, I was taking one for the state of Texas. We owe the kid.”

“You’re a sexual predator, you know.” A barracuda with a vagina that sucked up all the air around it. Actually that was a much better analogy. Her vagina was a black hole from which no man escaped. Or woman.

“I refuse to apologize for my appetites.” She stood up and paced, her heels clacking against the floor. “Are you going to be difficult?”

“About the case? No. It’s important.” For many reasons, the chief one being protecting Karina, but he didn’t want to put her on Maia’s radar by mentioning that. It was irrational since Karina was every bit as tough as Maia, but he didn’t want Maia to hurt Karina. She could be brutal when she thought another woman was threatening her place. Not that she had a place with him. She simply had a delusional belief that they were still some sort of a team. It was just habit. They’d known each other since they were kids in elementary school. Sometimes he sat and talked to Maia just because she was the only one around who remembered what he’d been like before. Before adulthood. Before the war. Even before their divorce.

She sighed and moved to the chair in front of his desk. “Good, because this is the one, Derek. This is the one that moves us both up. If you can crack this case, you could move over to the Rangers if you want to, though I think you’re better off where you are. If you really want to be a bastard, tightwad asshole, we might even be able to talk to the feds about a job. They don’t all hate me.”

He was getting a headache. “I like my job, Maia. I’ll work with you on this, but I’m not doing it because I want some magical promotion. Some cops do the job because it’s the right thing to do. Some of us enjoy actually doing the work and solving the case because it brings someone justice, not because it might increase our paychecks.”

He could hear Tag complaining about how mercenary Karina was. It would be a good thing for him to remember. She might seem soft and sweet when she was in his arms, but she got every dime she could out of her clients. She wasn’t that far off from Maia and when she looked for a Dom, she would likely choose one with the most upwardly mobile potential.

“Oh, that is so very Captain America,” Maia said with a sad shake of her head. “You should be happy I look out for you.”

“I would be way happier if you completely left me alone.”

“Sure you would.” She crossed her legs seductively and gave him a wink.

She was a gorgeous woman and he had nothing for her. On the outside, she was his type. Oh, she could eat a cheeseburger or two, but she took care of herself. Her hair was perfect, her nails always a sexy red. There was something about the thought of a woman performing all those little beauty rituals that got his motor running. Maia was perfect on the outside but it was Karina he couldn’t stop thinking about.

“Are you really fucking the PI?” She leaned forward, her eyes on him.

“It’s none of your business, Maia.”

“It’s just she’s not your usual.”

“Again, not your business.”

“You’re never going to forgive me, are you?”

In a lot of ways he really had. He’d made his share of mistakes, too. No marriage was completely one sided. “You are who you are, Maia.”

“I love you more than I love almost anything, Derek.” She sat back and gave him a little smile. “I just love me way more. But I still watch your back even though I know you call me Medusa behind mine.”

“I absolutely do not. I say it to your front.” He never prevaricated with her. He didn’t have to. It was one of the reasons they’d stayed in this weird friendly enemies state. He didn’t have to pretend with Maia.

“Fine, and I’ll admit, I kind of like it. Medusa was a woman who knew how to get what she wanted. But even though you rage against me, I still love you and I still want what’s best for you and you’re never going to be happy until you get married and have some kids. You aren’t getting any younger, Derek.”

He groaned and wished there would be some sort of tragedy to befall the city so he could get out of this conversation. “Oh, now you sound like my mother.”

“Are you the one who told her to make the sign of the cross every time she walks by me at church?”

“Who let you into a church?” Derek chuckled. His mother had a sense of humor. “I’ll get her to stop.”

Maia waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. It gives me a certain reputation I find helpful. So is the thing with the PI serious?”

She wouldn’t give up until he told her something. Maia annoyed the hell out of him, but he couldn’t forget that she’d been his high school sweetheart. She’d been the one to take care of him when he came back from Afghanistan. She’d been the one who pushed to get him on the force.

When he really thought about it, they had been a good team. They just hadn’t been good at being in love.

“It’s not. She’s part of the operation. Her name is Karina Mills.”

Maia’s mouth dropped open. “Wait. Are you talking about the girl set to get strangled next?”

He really didn’t like it being put that way. “She’s been identified as the next target. I intend to make sure she stays safe.”

“By putting your dick in her?” She held up a hand, stopping him from ordering her out of his office. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I can’t help but be a little jealous. I’m your wife after all.”

“Ex.”

“For you, maybe, but you’ll always be my husband. I’m not getting married again. We both know it’s not my gig. So you like the PI, who needs a manicure by the way. And she could use some fashion advice. She’s not your type, Derek.”

A pounding headache was starting to sink in. “Which is why it’s a good thing I’m not dating her.”

“Or it could be a good thing because the type of woman you’re looking for doesn’t exist.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She frowned, her lips a stubborn line. “It means I’m tired of watching you fuck this up. You need to stop looking for this perfect sub of yours and let yourself fall in love with a real woman with real flaws who could potentially really adore the man you are. You deserve that, but you have it in your head that if you control every aspect of the relationship, nothing can go wrong. It’s a lie. You know damn well things can go wrong even when you love someone so much it hurts inside because at the end of the day, we’re all screwed up. Some of us more than others. I hate saying this, but you have to let me go.”

He frowned. She couldn’t possibly think that was the problem. “I am not pining over you.”

Cool blue eyes rolled. “I know that, babe. You’re raging at me. You’re still so angry with me you can’t see straight. We had something good and then we didn’t, and that’s my fault and your fault and time’s fault.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I know why you refused marriage counseling. It was over. It couldn’t be fixed, but there were things we should have talked about.”

“I don’t think we had anything to talk about, Maia.”

She ignored him and moved on. “You were gone for so long and then you came back a different person and while you were gone, I became a different person. I know Afghanistan changed you, but there were things that changed me, too, and I don’t regret any of it with the singular exception of how it hurt you. I have what I want. I know it’s weird to think that a job can really make a person happy, but it does for me. Crushing the people under me makes me so happy. Some of us are just born villains and some villains find themselves by accident. But you, you are one of the good guys, and I would hate to see you alone for the rest of your life because you can’t look past the one thing that didn’t work.”

But it had been so much more than one thing. More than his marriage. It wasn’t his marriage he saw in his nightmares. And he’d never reached out to her, not after he’d come home from the war. He’d fucked her, told himself he loved her, but she was right. He had been a different man than the one she’d stood beside at the altar at the stupid age of eighteen.

What she didn’t understand was that he wasn’t looking for love anymore. He was looking for companionship and sex and a little peace. Love was a myth he’d left behind a long time ago.

“I’ll take it under advisement.” He would say anything to get rid of her.

“Sure you will. Well, you can’t say I didn’t try.” She stood up. “I’ll get back to punching puppies. Who am I kidding? Puppies are cute. That’s what interns are for. And seriously, I can get you a date with Subby Cathy.”

Her cell trilled and Derek sent a silent thank you to whoever was calling her. The minute she got back to work mode, she would forget about trying to fix his life.

Her face went bright red. “What do you mean they towed my Benz? Damn it. I am not behind on my payments. I own that fucking car. I am going to ruin someone. You tell them to stop. I don’t care what you have to do. Throw your body in front of the truck. Offer the man a blow job. What do you mean he’s already gone?”

She was screaming into her cell as she stormed from the room.

Just as the door closed, he noticed Karina sitting at Keller’s desk. She looked up from the computer she absolutely shouldn’t be using and the sexiest, most evil grin split her face as Maia stomped by. Yeah, he shouldn’t have been worried. Karina didn’t need him to protect her from Maia. She could do that all on her own.

He was surrounded by crazy bitches. He didn’t even want to know what Karina had done to get Maia’s car towed.

The door closed and Derek was left in blissful silence. He knew he had to change his pants before he made his meeting with the captain, but he sat for a moment, letting the scent of Karina’s arousal relax him.

There was something oddly peaceful about it.

Chapter Four

Karina turned into her Deep Ellum apartment complex and cursed the day her building decided to go all egalitarian on the parking spaces. Karina had only heard the rumor that there had been assigned parking at one time, but it was a dream. She groaned as she drove past the aisle closest to her and then decided to give it up. She always ended up in the damn back.

She parked her Jeep and grabbed the groceries she’d bought. She hoped the lieutenant liked chicken and dumplings because she was in need of some comfort food.

He was coming over. To her apartment. Had she cleaned? She kept the place fairly neat, but sometimes when she was working a case things got a little disorganized. A lot disorganized. She glanced at her watch. Five thirty. Derek had texted her he was leaving work early. She had a whole thirty minutes before he got here. She needed to clean up, wipe down the countertops, maybe get rid of the boxes of old Chinese food that had been decorating the shelves of her fridge for way longer than they should have.

Maybe she should put on some lip gloss. She should definitely change. Or should she? She was just going to cook. She wouldn’t want to get sauce all over her clothes. Did she even own an apron? Definitely lip gloss and maybe some mascara.

Stop. Halt. Cease that line of thought.

She just managed to not trip on the curb as she walked toward the door to her building. She couldn’t think that way. This wasn’t some date. Brighton wasn’t coming over for dinner and a movie and a heavy make-out session. He was coming over because they were working together and the minute the case was over, he would be out of her life, so she needed to be a smart girl and stay the fuck off his lap. Even though it had been a ridiculously nice lap. He had the sort of lap made for a sub to spend hours over with her bare ass in the air. Some Dom’s laps were all knees and bony thighs, but Brighton had strong legs. He was big enough that she’d been comfortable lying there.

And the way he’d manhandled her afterward. He’d just picked her up and flipped her over without a single strain in those muscular arms of his. For that one moment, she’d felt delicate and lovely and petite against him. She wasn’t a small girl. Never had been. She’d always carried a little extra weight, but Derek hadn’t seemed to notice.

She stopped in front of the door and took a long breath. Liam and Sean were still in her apartment. She couldn’t walk inside all hot and bothered. They weren’t dumb men. They would know what had happened, and she really wanted to keep that private.