SIXTEEN
Espen
She didn't want the call to come.
She didn't want the words to be said that she had been waiting for.
She didn't want what had to happen after they were uttered.
But her wants simply didn't have room in the reality the next afternoon when Enzo's phone rang on the counter, and he answered it on speaker while he scrubbed the oven. Even though he had scrubbed it the day before, and hadn't used it since.
Quirky, she decided.
He was quirky.
And she liked it more than she thought she possibly could.
"We got him. We got some shit to talk about. How soon can you be back?"
Her eyes had gone instantly to Enzo, trying to gauge what his reaction was, because inside, all she felt was dread.
Because a part of her was scared that what they had, what they were building while hiding out like fugitives on the run, was very insulated. It didn't have their real life stressors like work and the drudgery of normal, daily life.
What if they got back to the city and shit went to hell?
And that question, while it should have, didn't have a goddamn thing to do about her concerns about work.
No.
Because sometime between going to his family's house and meeting the crazy, amazing, loud, impossible-to-hate family of his, to the amazing hour-long sex session they had had after, to the breakfast that morning that involved a heavy makeout session for no reason, to the present second, she did it.
She fell.
Completely.
And she slammed right down into it.
Love.
It was such a foreign thing, this thing called romantic love. She knew all about normal love, the plain old-fashioned love one had for someone who was close with you, who shared ups and downs with you, who you could lean on, who you had created endless memories with.
That love was easy.
Hell, she might even be willing to say that she was good at that kind of love. Not in a wishy-washy way, of course. That wasn't her style. But in her own way. In her loyalty. In her willingness to drop everything if Atien or Biyen needed her. In her desire to do whatever it took to make them proud, to make them smile.
She was an old hand at that.
But this romantic love crap?
Yeah, this was completely new territory.
She was unfamiliar with the sensations of it - so unlike those of normal, familial type love. There was a similar heart-pull feeling, but this was somehow more intense. Along with it, there was a skipping heart thing that she always thought was a figment of romance novelists' and musicians' imaginations, not based on actual facts. But there she was with a freaking stammering heart like a teenager.
Then there was the stomach thing.
You know... that thing.
It was so cheesy that, in her mind, she refused to name it what it was.
Butterflies.
But regardless of whether she would stamp a name on them or not, there they were, all fluttering and unsettling, yet wholly welcome at the same time.
The other things didn't exactly surprise her. The almost chronic desire, a deep, pulsating ache to have his hands, mouth, tongue, and cock on and in her. But along with that, there was an urge to constantly put her lips on him. And not on his mouth or throat or earlobe or cock, or normal, sexual desire type places. No. When he wrapped an arm around her chest from behind that morning, she had, good lord, leaned down and kissed his forearm.
What the fuck was that all about?
She also felt oddly empty when his hand moved from hers. Never in her life had hand-holding seemed so needed, so welcome. Usually, she was swatting people away because she didn't want them all up in her personal space.
But she not only wanted Enzo all up in her personal space, she might have actually been okay with him like... attached to her hip for a while.
Jesus.
What a sap.
She needed to get a freaking grip.
They had just started dating and she was going all gaga over the man.
That would scare him off for sure.
"Honey," Enzo's voice cut into her head. When her eyes snapped to his face, there was a teasing smile pulling at his lips and a warmth she was getting way too familiar with in his green eyes. "We pulled up about three minutes ago," he added when she shot him a what look.
"Oh," she said, looking around to see that, yep, they had parked in the lot behind Gabe's place and that the engine and radio were even off.
She really needed to stop doing the drifting thing because Enzo was not the kind of man who let that kinda thing slide. She actually kind of respected that about him, but since it meant she had to be such a girl and spill her guts, she could really use to remember to keep her head in the present.
"It's nothing," she insisted when he just kept smiling at her.
"Uh huh," he said, going for his door.
She was out before he could come over and open her door like he liked to do. And even though they were walking into work, he reached down and took her hand again, making her stupid, traitorous stomach do the fluttering thing she both loved and hated. But maybe loved just a teensy bit more.
"Well well well," Xander said when they walked in, his gaze going right to their interlocked hands. "You motherfuckers owe me two-hundred bucks each," he declared to the room at large.
And that room consisted of not only Xander, Ra, and Kane, but also Gabe, K, Faith, and... yep, Atien.
It was so weird to see him there, sitting at her desk, looking like he belonged with his two-thousand dollar suit in another crummy neighborhood. He didn't look completely out of place, however, since K also dressed like he was constantly late for a business meeting.
"Fuck's sake, Espy," Kane said, shaking his head like he was disappointed as he reached into his pocket. But he was smiling. "Couldn't it just have been one more fucking day?" he asked, slapping the money into Xander's hand. "Hey, at least I wasn't as off as Ra was," he added, surprising her. Ra had done something like bet on when they would shack up? That didn't seem like him. But, then again, she really didn't know him at all, did she? "He was sure it was the first weekend."
"Way to think I'm easy, Ra," she said, smiling.
"Maybe he just thinks I'm fucking irresistible," Enzo shot back.
"Yes, hardy har," Faith said, shaking her head. "Let's get a move on. Some of us have work to get to."
"Alright, so," Xander started. "We all were at a dead end. Your father included, believe that shit or not," he said, giving the man a chin-jerk that her father returned with a small smile. "And then I got this call from fucking Tig of all people. Haven't heard dick from him in six months, then I get this call telling me that I needed to stop looking into this group, and start looking into the CEO, that word was he had been suspected several times of fucking with his own buildings to collect the insurance payout."
"And I think Espen was on the right path," Kane added, "when she started looking into all that copper piping and shit at the beginning. He had over twenty grand just fucking sitting there for anyone with two brain cells to rub together to come along and take it and resell it. You don't do that shit on a construction site. That didn't add up."
There was a swelling feeling inside at realizing it hadn't been wrong for her to spend an afternoon looking into that before the CEO called and sent her focus in another direction, looking into this environmental group.
There was a squeeze on her hand that she took as reassurance, something she certainly didn't need, but was happy to have regardless.
"So once we brushed that PAED shit to the side," Xander went on, "and focused back on the CEO... it didn't take more than an hour to find the muscle he used to sabotage his jobs," he added, waving a hand toward the bathroom.
"Wait... what?" Espen asked, eyes going big. "You have him locked up in the bathroom?" she hissed, looking at Xander who, quite frankly, was kind of known for doing some shady stuff. Then her focus went to her father, who absolutely wasn't known for that. "You let them lock him in a bathroom?"
"You're lucky we were there to stop him from killing the man," Faith chimed in, looking like it wouldn't have bothered her in the least if he had, in fact, killed the man.
Stunned, Espen dropped Enzo's hand and took a step forward. "Seriously?"
"I let you live your own life, Espy," Atien said, eyes wise. "I let you date men who aren't worthy of you without comment. I don't interfere with how you spend your time. I know when my input is, and is not, wanted. But I will not stand by when a man puts his hands on you. That is one place I draw the line."
"Really, he's not that bad," Kane said, flicking his lighter, a telltale sign that he was ready to excuse himself for a smoke break, but he clearly didn't want to miss out on whatever was going down right then. "He has a cut to match the one you got and, um, a nice new bruise necklace. That was when Ra finally pulled him off, you know, before he strangled him to death."
"Why is he still here?" she asked, shaking her head. "And what about the CEO?"
Xander's smile was devilish as he moved to stand. "Detective Conroy Asher is doing me a solid and letting me hang onto him for a couple extra minutes. He might be a cop, but he doesn't like men putting his hands on women either," he added, moving toward the bathroom to pull open the door.
He came back out a moment later with a face that was all-too familiar from only one encounter. It was like her brain decided to take a snapshot of him for safekeeping, knowing she might need to describe it again, unlike so many people who were brutalized who were too traumatized, too caught up in the moment to notice small details.
He was every bit as huge as she remembered, as mean-looking, as hardened. She guessed you'd have to be hardened to raise fists against a woman half your size.
His hands were in bracelets that looked like they barely fit around his huge wrists. The bruises on his throat looked every bit as bad as hers had been, so she knew he was feeling like he had been chewing glass every time he swallowed. The cut beside his eye wasn't actively bleeding, but the dried blood went all the way down to his jaw. And he was favoring his side. Somehow, she was okay with it too. Tit for tat and all that.
"Why is he still here though?" she asked as he led the man closer to her, then violently pressed him down into a chair, showing them all a rare darkness in Xander that he didn't often put on display.
"He's missing one little thing," Xander explained, reaching out to tap under her eye. "The rib thing, well, he was hurting from you, but I added to that. I don't like fuckheads marking up my employees. Plus, it slowed his ass down a bit. He was trying to run. But yeah, we all figured you'd kill us if you didn't at least get one hit in."
"He's chained up," she immediately objected, always being an advocate of fair fights, something that was instilled in her from a very young age in class.
"And he's a man with eighty pounds of muscle on you," Xander said with a shrug.
"What's the matter, bitch, afraid you'll break that little hand of yours?"
Well.
Really.
What was a girl to do?
Except break his goddamn eye socket, that is.
See, she'd been punching people, pads, and pieces of freaking wood for long enough to never break her 'little hand' when she struck. But she damn sure knew how to break things with her little hand.
And that is exactly what she did.
And she wouldn't lie; it was absolutely cathartic. It felt fucking good. It felt like closure.
So maybe her hand did sting a little after, but it was so worth it to watch the skin puff up and turn colors. Maybe that made her a bit of a vengeful bitch, but she was okay with that.
"So, what are they charging the CEO with? If anything?" she asked a minute later after Xander made the call to his detective buddy.
"Conspiracy to commit fraud. And they are officially investigating a previous fire and large theft claim."
"And this guy?" Enzo asked, jerking his chin toward the man in the chair who was glaring at Espen with his one good eye.
"Assault, since you can ID him. Conspiracy of some sort. And when Asher ran his record; he's got a few warrants. He won't have a private piss for a good decade."
Ten minutes later, the door opened, and in walked the detective Xander had mentioned.
Conroy Asher.
Apparently, K was familiar with him by reputation as well, when one of his women he had disappeared, Maze, went to Asher first for help in getting some Russian traffickers taken down before they realized she was onto them. He ended up not being able to help her thanks to a dirty office, but sent her in K's direction.
Asher was tall and fit with dirty blond hair he kept just a tad long for a cop, handsome, almost Midwestern, corn-fed features, meaning wide of jaw and strong of brow, and cornflower blue eyes.
Hell, he was the best looking cop she had ever seen, that was for damn sure.
And he swaggered in. Confidence seemed like it was there in his every step.
"Rhodes," he said, nodding at Xander, before looking at his new prisoner. "I see you had some trouble with this one, huh? Tried to elude you, did he?" he asked, lips twitching.
"Yeah, man. Like a fucking wild animal, he was," Xander agreed, close to laughing.
"And those bruises on his throat..."
"Totally there when I found him," Xander finished, rocking back on his heels, hands tucked into his front pockets.
"Figured. An upstanding PI like you wouldn't choke out a perp."
"Or like Atien Locklear," Xander agreed, this time freaking beaming at the wide eyes Conroy sent in Atien's direction.
"No, of course not. Atien Locklear would never," he agreed, yanking the man out of his chair, and pulling him toward the door. "Nice seeing you again, Rhodes," he said, and just like that, was gone.
"No fucking way is it that easy to get away with shit in this town," Espen said, wide-eyeing them all, her head actually almost spinning with everything that had just gone down.
"Oh, Espy," her father said, shaking his head like he used to when she was a young girl and found out something about the world was just plain unfair. Like he was charmed, but surprised, by her naiveté. "In a world where money is king, getting these men convicted of a crime is nearly impossible. When you got a clean cop such as Asher who sits at his desk knowing this shit is going down, but unable to stop it, who gets a call from Rhodes telling him he can finally stop being so impotent... so long as he overlooks some cuts and bruises, he's going to jump on it."
Well, she could certainly see the logic there, even if it only made her even more down on the so-called justice system. Were there really so few clean detectives? She knew the answer to that before the question even fully formed in her mind.
"Alright, well, I just wanted to see our girl get a good punch in," Faith declared, hopping up. "I have a mob bar to run," she added, moving toward the door. As she passed Espen, she sent her a sly smile, "I heard the bones breaking from across the room. You ever want to co-teach a class at the women's shelter, you let me know." With that, she was gone.
"So," Atien said, the next to break a strange silence given how many people were still in the space. "This is where you work. I have to say, I was expecting blacked out windows, broken furniture, and a desktop straight out of 2007."
"So, you did visit my old office," Xander mused, making everyone around who had indeed visited the office that must have fit that description exactly laugh.
"I had issues," he went on, watching her, "as you know, with you working here. Had I realized this team Rhodes has compiled, I may have bitten my tongue, and kept my objections to myself. I see now that I should be taking half the care and concern with the hiring and firing of my employees as Xander here has."
"I'm fuckin' blushing," Xander teased, but it was clear that those words coming from a man like Atien Locklear did mean a lot to him.
"It may be a small crew, but he has more talent in young Kane and not-as-young Ra here than I have in more than half my staff. And not only does he have skilled workers, but he has friends with long reaches. Had I known how protected you would be here, Espy, I would have been happy to know you were making your own way."
"So, you're not going to try to poach her back from me are you?" Xander asked, making two things happen simultaneously in her system.
On one hand, her heart leaped in her chest.
Poached?
If Atien could poach her, that meant that she worked for Xander. As in, permanently. She had the job?
On the other hand, though, for the first time in her life, her own success was marred by the fact that it would negatively impact someone she loved.
If she got the job, that meant that Enzo was out.
And, to be perfectly honest, he needed it more than she did. Not because of money, but because of his soul-deep need to build a better life for himself. He had been through so much.
Her smile that rose without her realizing fell as her head whipped around to look at Enzo.
"Don't," he said, shaking his head, looking sad, but she suspected it had nothing to do with not getting the job. "Don't you dare feel less excited for yourself because of me. This is fucking awesome, honey. You deserve this."
"Think it's time to let them in on the secret, X," Kane suggested, looking way too amused.
"Secret?" she asked, turning back to them with a raised brow.
Xander, well, he looked guilty as hell too, running his hand across the back of his neck, smiling down at his shoes. "Well, see, here's the thing," he started, but didn't go on.
"What's the thing?" she snapped, small-eyeing him.
"So, maybe I always had room for two new investigators. I mean, I had the extra desk and everything," he said, shaking his head at them. "Both your asses somehow missed that little tidbit."
"Wait," Enzo said, brows low. "So, you're saying that the day both of us walked in here, already sniping at each other, that you had planned on hiring both of us?"
"Pretty much. Ellie wanted me to tell you."
"And you didn't because..." Espen trailed off.
"Where's the fun in that?" he asked, grinning.
"Oh, you fuck," Espen accused.
All that worrying, all that competition, all the fighting her budding feelings for Enzo... for nothing. While they went behind their backs and bet on her willpower.
"You know, Rhodes," Atien broke in, an odd tone in his voice that, even with all her years knowing him - you know, her whole life - she still couldn't place. "I don't know if that is such a good idea."
Xander turned back, brows low. "Why the hell not?"
"Well, you know how it is. It's the same reason you don't want cops fraternizing. It clouds judgment. It makes them second-guess their actions when they are on a job together. And we both know there would be times when they would have to be on jobs together."
"Dad, what the hell are you doing?" Espen hissed, big-eyeing him, silently pleading for him to shut up.
"I'm thinking of you here, Espy. This is just asking for bad shit to go down."
"So, what? Enzo should start sending out resumes just because we are together? No fucking way."
"He only has to send out one. Well, really, that won't be necessary."
"Okay, enough with the cryptic stuff," she snapped, getting frustrated.
And her father knew her well enough not to get offended. Instead, his lips curved up slightly.
"I am suggesting you work here for Rhodes so you don't feel like you need to prove yourself amongst other employees who might cry favoritism."
"Ah, yeah, that was the plan."
"And I am also suggesting that your man Enzo here should come and work for me instead."
She was pretty sure her color drained. If that was possible. That was what it felt like. Because there was no way her father, one of the most respected private investigators in the city, was offering a job to a man with about two weeks of experience in the field who, before that, ran a street gang. That made no sense.
Right?
"What?" she hissed into the silence around them.
"Got to know him, Espy. I got a good feel off of him right off. Reminded me of how I used to make decisions back before I got into a business-mind and judged a man by his resume instead of the feeling I got off him. I'm going with my gut this time, like I always used to. It never steered me wrong. Enzo," he said, turning his dark eyes to the man who was almost alarmingly tense beside her, making her reach out and take his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I understand that you will need to think about this. It's a sudden development, and maybe you're happy here. But give it some thought. It's a good job at a good firm. You will make good money, and get to work on interesting cases. I will send you an email with the information packet," he added, walking over to them, touching Espen's cheek with a warm smile, then patting Enzo on the arm. "I have to get back to work, but I expect to hear from the both of you later tonight once you settle in."
There was a unanimous stunned silence for a good couple of moments after the door slammed.
"Dude, did Atien Locklear just offer you a job?" Kane asked, seeming a bit awed, even though Espen knew he liked the dirty side of private investigation a bit too much ever to go fully legit like her father would demand.
"I think he did," Enzo answered in the same hushed tone.
"I'm not one for telling a man what to do with his life," Xander broke in, looking at Enzo, "but you'd be a fucking fool to turn that down. I can pay, but I can't pay what Atien can pay. I can't offer you the insurance packages and stock options and 401k. And, not to overstep here, but it seems like you might be building something here," he went on, waving between them. "If a man is building a life, he has an obligation to build it on the sturdiest foundations he can find."
Enzo was silent for a moment, but being so close to him, Espen could swear that she could feel his body buzzing with the energy created by his swirling thoughts.
It was barely a moment before he looked down at her, giving her hand a squeeze, then offering her a nod.
And she knew.
Regardless of what the packet her father sent said, he was going to accept the job. And they were going to have parallel, but separate careers.
Time would just have to tell how that was going to work for them.