Chapter 21
As soon as Jax’s Alpha Romeo pulled to a stop, Viviana was out the passenger door and heading up the steps to her condominium. She wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t even reached the first landing when he grabbed her and pulled her back into his arms.
“Uh-uh, sweetheart. Don’t even think it. You aren’t going anywhere tonight except with me. I agreed to bring you home, but surely you know that the last thing I plan on doing is letting you traipse inside without me.”
“Jax, I’m tired. It’s been a hell of a long day, and Mac’s party wore me out. You know I don’t do well in social situations.”
Jax guffawed. “Sweetheart, we both know that is a bald-faced lie. You may be the most accomplished social butterfly alive. At least if that is the role you choose to play. Hell, Viviana, I’ve watched you don more personas than Gary Oldman. All he did was transform from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to the Dark Knight and on to a dozen more conflicting roles. Or take Robert De Niro, who managed in one movie to transform himself from a lean prizefighter to a corpulent misogynist. You, my charming trickster, are the ultimate chameleon if there ever was one. You put those accomplished actors to shame.”
Yanking her closer to him, Viviana didn’t have to see his stony gaze to know that he was angry and determined. Which made it all the more essential that she not allow him into her home, especially into her bed. She needed to get him off her tail. She was too close to a genuine breakthrough on the most important case she’d ever had. But, she admitted, not close enough to share with Jax. At that moment, his phone buzzed. She didn’t have to see his expression darken or hear the cold annoyance in his voice to know that she may have gotten a reprieve.
“Yeah, Mac, you’re right. This isn’t a good time.” His expression darkening further, it was clear that Jax was being called away by the commissioner, no less. His crisp agreement that he’d be there in ten minutes confirmed that Viviana’s angels, make that her devils of deception, had stepped in to give her a break.
Knowing how angry he was, she tried to act conciliatory. “I’m sorry that you have to go, Jax. I . . . I know we need to talk. And we will. I . . . I promise . . . ”
Jerking her up to him, Viviana heard as well as felt the cold fury hardening his face and voice. “Enough, Viviana. Do yourself a favor and don’t say anther word. Every lie you pile on top of the others infuriates me more.” He shook his head as if clearing a scene in his brain. To her surprise, he took out his phone and hit the replay of her erotic striptease the night before. Allowing the titillating sex scenes to play out, his voice was charged with raw emotion. “Goddammit, Viviana, all I thought about these last two days was making love to you.”
Determined not to give in to his impassioned appeal, Viviana shrugged. “Well, at least you’ll have those to get off to tonight.” The snotty words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Surprised to see his shocked expression quickly morph into a grim smile, belied by the cold fury in his slate-hard eyes, she wished she’d managed to squelch her ill-timed put down. When he stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face her, his silky soft tones made his threat all the more potent.
“No, Viviana, I won’t be ‘getting off’ on those stimulating images of you responding to my commands to strip and bare every inch of your exotic body for my enjoyment. Instead, I’ll replay the pictures I took of your bare ass. You remember the ones where your flaming red ass was marked with my handprints? I recommend that you take a good hard look at those photos. They might remind you of what happens when you continue to ignore my exhortations.” Staring up at her, his gaze hardened further. “Please know that in this case, I’m speaking to you not only as the man who is done tolerating your bad behavior but also as the SJPD police chief, who happens to be your ultimate boss. I know that you don’t put much credence in lines of authority—likely because you’ve rarely been forced to acknowledge them.” Pressing his lips together in a thin line, his tight smile conveyed his intent even more than his threat. “Be in my office tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. sharp, Sergeant Moreau. Not a minute later.”
The roar of his powerful car backing out of the driveway, spraying up an angry blast of gravel, underscored the seriousness of his order. Viviana had a rare moment of unease. She knew how angry Jax was, and she admitted he had reason to be. In addition to his anger, which she thought she could manage, she’d also seen his hurt. That was more troubling. Dammit, she wished she could confide in him. He was a strategic thinker, a consummate leader in the best sense of the word. In their last face-off, when he’d taken control of her case, he’d demonstrated how much more effective she could be if she was willing to work as a team. A team led by him.
But she reminded herself that this time was different. No one, including her omnipotent chief and passionate lover, could possibly know how important this case was. Or why she had to handle it herself. Why she had to be the one to bring the villains to their knees. She was now coming to realize that it was the only chance she had to heal the deep-seated wounds she’d spent most of her life burying beneath powerful scars. The scars had been ripped off by Ariel’s hideous experience, which was forcing her to deal with the effects the long-ago trauma had on her ability to live a somewhat peaceful life. And, as she was now beginning to realize, on her ability to love.
***
Not wanting to rile him any more than he already was, Viviana arrived at the office of the chief of police at five minutes to eight. She knew this was going to be a difficult conversation, and there was no need to pour gasoline on the simmering coals between them. Paging through an old copy of Star Magazine, Viviana was struck by how insipid the latest Hollywood heartthrobs looked. Remembering Jax openly claiming her at the McElroy’s party last night, even brazenly pinching her ass, she acknowledged that the Hollywood hotties didn’t hold a candle to her sexy guy. God, just the thought of him was enough to light a fire in her groin. Seeing Madge Peterson, Jax’s desk sergeant who’d followed him from the VCU, staring at her quizzically, she realized Madge had been speaking to her.
“Are you okay, Vivi?”
She quickly tried to recover. “Sorry, Madge, I guess I zoned out. I have a lot on my mind.”
Madge laughed. “Apparently you’re not the only one with a lot on their mind if my boss is any example.” The affable woman who’d been Viviana’s one and only female friend on the VCU squad frowned, then continued. “We both know what a great guy that gorgeous man is, but I gotta tell you, I’d hate to get on his bad side. Something or someone has put a poker up his ass, and I wouldn’t want to be the one responsible.” She hesitated, then said with a little smile, “Come to think about it, the only time I’ve seen that look on his face was a month or so ago when you and he were tussling.”
Viviana shrugged, then shot the knowing woman a guilty smile. She should have been amused at Madge’s choice of words, but the knot in her stomach confirmed that, as before, she and Jax were engaged in a conflict that could hardly be called tussling. Try internecine warfare if one wanted to be more accurate.
Madge frowned again and said, “Golly, Vivi, you really are out of it. That’s the second time I told you that Chief Hughes is waiting for you. Are you sure you’re okay, Sergeant?”
Viviana jumped to her feet, shaking her head. Giving the concerned desk sergeant and her friend a quick squeeze as she walked toward Jax’s closed door, she tried to sound nonchalant. “You know me, Madge. If I don’t get my eight hours of beauty sleep, I’m a ragged zombie.”
Madge snorted. “That’s a laugh if I ever heard one. When do you ever get eight hours of sleep, Viv? Like never? The worst part of it is that even when you used to drag yourself into the squad after an all-nighter, you looked ten times more gorgeous than the rest of us who’d gotten eight hours plus. As I’ve told you many times, girlfriend, you’re a hard woman to love. But I admit, I’m a Viviana groupie through and through.”
Viviana’s smile and short-lived sense of well-being died a quick death when she knocked on Jax’s door and heard his curt order to come in. The chill in the room was perceptible. Jax’s stern expression foretold the scene that was likely to unfold. But she’d expected him to be angry. What she hadn’t expected to see was Greg Bannon sitting in one of the chairs in front of Jax’s desk. Her foreboding spiraled skyward upon seeing the troubled expression on Greg’s normally congenial face.
Jax nodded to the chair next to Greg’s. “Please sit down, Sergeant Moreau.”
Viviana shot Greg a questioning glance, but he met her gaze, then looked away. Understanding that he likely was as much on the hot seat as she was and knowing that it was her fault catapulted her guilt skyward. It didn’t take Jax’s cool opening to confirm that the stern man sitting across from her was not the passionate lover she’d spurned last night. Rather, he was the SJPD chief of police, who held her professional future in the palm of his hand. To further up the ante, if Greg’s challenged expression was indicative, her friend and supposed supervisor might be in as perilous a position as she was.
“Thank you for coming, Sergeant Moreau.” Jax added without a trace of humor, “On time, no less.”
If she’d dared, Viviana might have corrected him and noted that she was actually five minutes early. The quip stuck in her throat when Jax’s expression narrowed further. He continued, making it clear that this was an official meeting.
“I asked Commander Bannon to join us for this conversation, Sergeant. I wanted to confirm that, as your direct supervisor, he is aware of the work you are doing and is comfortable that he has a handle on your activities. Knowing your penchant for secrecy and your tendency to prevaricate—which is a nice word for ‘lie’—and the fact that you have been unwilling to bring me into your confidence, I wanted to be sure that you aren’t once again on a renegade mission. Needless to say, my conversation with Commander Bannon was not reassuring.”
It wasn’t the first time in their tortuous relationship that Jax had been angry with her. And it certainly wasn’t the first time that she’d tried unsuccessfully to keep things from him. But he’d never before dragged anyone else into their standoffs. Greg’s troubled expression concerned her more than Jax’s. It was one thing to be on Jax’s shit list. She believed that somehow she could get him to listen to her if he’d just give her time. She wasn’t sure that she could gain Greg’s confidence again—if she’d ever had it. She was embarrassed and saddened that she had put this honorable man, whom she liked a lot, in such a vulnerable position. Taking a chance, she turned away from the man who had a chokehold on her future and looked to the solemn man who was likely to lose his job because of her actions—make that non-actions.
Turning her chair, she faced Greg head on. Swallowing hard, she said, “Commander Bannon, I owe you an apology. You have been more than fair with me, and I have taken advantage of your goodwill. Jax knows what I’m like, so he is at least partially to blame for the situation we are in.” Ignoring Jax’s snort and Greg’s widened eyes at her impertinence, Viviana continued. “Jax says that I have a pathological need to work alone—at least until I’m ready to bring someone into the case I’m working. That isn’t exactly true, but close to it. I like to have things sorted out in my own mind before I try to explain them to others. That’s not fair to you, because you have to deal with him if for some reason he thinks I’m not being forthcoming.”
She saw Greg glance at Jax, clearly agog at her impudence and shake his head as if in disbelief.
Taking advantage of both men’s silence and knowing the only way she was going to get through this challenge was with sheer verve, she continued. “The reason I haven’t brought you into the case I’m working is because I’m embarrassed. You’d think after all this time I’d have more to report. Unfortunately I don’t. As I’ve told you both, I was brought low when a young girl I cared about left the shelter she was in and went back on the street. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure out why. Something is clearly wrong with my usual perceptiveness because I’ve run into a brick wall. Rather than admit to either one of you that I’m stymied, I have been clutching at straws. The latest being trying to buddy up to the women on the shelter’s foundation board to see if they can help me. If there is nothing to be concerned about, the last thing I want to do is tarnish the good work Sister Eloise is doing. Regrettably I’m coming up against the hard fact that I may have been chasing a red herring, essentially wasting my time these last weeks on a non-issue. A waste of my time . . . and yours.”
Viviana pressed her lips together, making it clear that she was done talking. The silence in the room was deafening. Greg’s expression was closed. She didn’t know him well enough to read him, although it was clear that he was disbelieving at best. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to meet Jax’s narrowed gaze. He was studying her, a quizzical expression on his face. Unfortunately she knew him well enough to see that her flagrant attempt to hit the ball out of the park had been a dismal failure. She’d barely cleared the infield, if that. The hard gleam in his eyes spoke to several emotions. Her heart skipped a beat seeing that his amusement was one of the most obvious of them.
She shouldn’t have been surprised when Jax said coolly, “Thank you, Sergeant. That was one of the more disingenuous explanations I’ve heard. Even from you.” He studied her silently for another long moment, then raised a dismissive hand. “You may leave, Sergeant Moreau. That will be all . . . for now.”
Viviana glanced at Greg, who seemed as surprised as she was. Never having felt more discombobulated, she refused to let Jax see how he’d unnerved her. Knowing that the proverbial axe hadn’t begun to fall, she rose to her feet and drew herself up to her full height. With as much dignity as she could manage, she nodded to each of the silent men, then strode to the door with her head held high.