Alana

Thank goodness, I was able to give him the slip. I ditched my contact who had been waiting for me in an unmarked car down the street from the club. Telling Greg that I already left, I was able to hop into the first cab out front. I got to my apartment without any cars following me. I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. I was still trying to understand what just happened. The entire cab ride I thought about Tony and what he did to me. The pleasure was so intense I collapsed into a blissful sleep.

This whole assignment was way over my head. How the fuck did I ever think I could be a cop, let alone a detective? My first makeshift undercover job and I ended up wrapped around the central figure in the investigation. Stupid local police. I was done. Tomorrow, I was calling Greg and ending this shit. No way was I going to go after someone who I couldn’t resist and who couldn’t keep his hands off me. I didn’t care if it cost me everything I thought I wanted. Tony’s eyes trapped me in them, and I felt torn between right and wrong. I hated myself for the lack of backbone and the sudden hormonal awareness.

Kicking off my shoes, I jumped into the shower, ignoring the spider hanging out in the corner of the room. My apartment was a total dump, but that was what happened when you were a poor eighteen-year-old with loans up the ass and living in a crumbling apartment building. The spray took a minute to get to me all the way on the third floor, so the water was freezing. Once it warmed up, I managed to wash off most of Tony’s smell. And damn, did that man smell incredible. It was like he was a cologne commercial mixed with a natural scent and a taste that I couldn’t quite put into words. It was manly yet fresh, woodsy type of smell. My body was coming back to life just thinking about him. The way he acted as if this was more than just a hook up played in my mind. Would he dare come looking for me?

The water was warm for about a minute before the damn cold water kicked in again. The woman next door must be giving her dogs a bath again. She takes better care of those dogs than she does herself. It was kind of gross that the funk came from her and not them. I hopped out before I got hypothermia. With the towel wrapped around my chest, I looked into the mirror, which didn’t even have a chance to get steamed up, and saw a girl who I didn’t recognize. My makeup was still on and I looked about five years older and more experienced. Maybe that was why Tony was all over me. He didn’t see the plain Jane in my jeans, tees, and ponytails. That girl was the real me.

My father’s murder was something my mother never got over it and ended her own life two years ago, leaving me completely heartbroken at sixteen. Having wanted to be a cop since the death of my father at the hands of men like Tony, I’d spent my life seeking justice and being a tomboy. I didn’t do girl things, so Tony was going to be sorely disappointed in the real girl if he came here.

And something about Tony Franchetti could lead me down that road as well. Either I’d be gunned down for spying on them or end up with a broken heart when he left me for someone else. I screamed out to myself, frustrated with how it all went down tonight. I was just supposed to go in there and look for a job. I had assets for days, and the rumors about them was there wasn’t any known fraternizing with the staff. Which was total bullshit, since I almost got fucked in twenty minutes. I agreed like a fool, and there was probably going to be hell to pay when I told the cops to go fuck themselves, but I couldn’t do this. It would ruin any hope I had of making it here in the police force. Thoughts of running away started ran through my head. Yep, at this point it would be a smart decision.

Stepping into my bedroom, kitchen, and living area all at once, I changed into a pair of shorts and one of my threadbare tees. I looked at my phone and decided that speaking to Greg couldn’t wait until morning. My mind wasn’t going to rest until I got this off my chest.

I called him and he picked up on the first ring. “What the fuck is going on? I caught you jumping into a cab and you came out in someone’s suit coat.”

“Yeah, totally forgot that I was wearing it. It’s An…Mr. Franchetti’s coat. Greg, I’m calling because I can’t do this. I didn’t get the job.”

“How could you not get the job? For fuck’s sake, you looked like a fucking porn star. And a great porn star at that. So how the fuck did you end up with his coat?” Wow, he was pissed off at me. If he knew I left, why didn’t he call me? He was supposed to be a friend of my father’s on the force, but he was acting like a real dickhead right now.

“He saw me as potential in another area.” Maybe this would tone his harshness down a step.

“What do you mean? He’s running some other hustle?”

“No, he wanted me to be his lover. I refused, but the man was insistent. I snuck away the first chance I got, but I can’t go back and enter his web.” Being his lover was more than I could handle. I wanted to be held, fucked, and loved by a man I’d just met, and that could lead to nothing but trouble.

“What? That’s even more perfect. If you get close to him you can bang his brains stupid. He may spill all his secrets.” I gasped. He wanted me to prostitute myself out in the name of the law? That was low and the most fucked up thing I’d ever heard him say to me.

“Do you think someone who you consider a high-stakes criminal is just going to be that fucking naïve? You’re way off.”

“Wow, you’re a feisty, swearing little thing aren’t you. You spent an hour in there and you are completely different.”

“I’m not. I just was polite before, but you didn’t seem to listen.”

“Listen, Franchetti has been shot for fucking around with some broad before. He didn’t think with his head and it cost his ass.” It burned in my gut to hear about him with another woman, but it wasn’t that he fucked her. He’s a grown ass man, ten plus years older than me. It was the fact that he risked his life for a woman he wanted to keep with him.

Greg didn’t understand and I wasn’t going to explain it to him, but I couldn’t risk my feelings for a man only to betray him. “Exactly. You know that phrase. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. He’s not going to fall for it and I’m not going to risk it. Sorry, but I can’t.”

“You’re going to ruin your chances with the force.”

He was trying to push me, but it wasn’t going to work. “There are a thousand other police departments all over the country. I can look elsewhere.”

“We can make sure that’s not possible.” That was lower than low. He’d never been anything but nice to me and now he was threatening me.

“Are you blackmailing me?”

“Let’s just say they may not like what they read in your file. You know, working in Franchetti’s club for cash.”

“You’re an asshole.” I hung up the phone and sat on my bed. Tears were pouring down my face. I needed to get out of here tomorrow. Something told me that Tony at the very least would want his expensive coat back. I wanted to hide from Greg so he wouldn’t try to force me into this. He wasn’t the man I’d come to know since my father’s death. Greg Simms was ruthless.

“How could I be so stupid?” I guessed a 4.0 GPA meant shit when you didn’t have any damn street smarts. That wasn’t true, I had some. I just was hoping to be a part of the good guys. The problem was it was looking really hard to distinguish them with the blurred lines. 

I grabbed my ratty suitcase and packed up all my clothes, then stuffed my bookbag with my textbooks. School wasn’t going to start for another two months, but I had found them on sale and snatched them up. Well, they were going to need to be returned if I didn’t get out of this mess before school started. Where was I going to stay? He knew all my cousins that lived here. I didn’t have many friends out of high school, but Greg knew that. I had some distant family in Colorado. Maybe I could go to them. Whatever it was, I couldn’t stay here.

I collapsed in bed at four in the morning, worn out from pure exhaustion. Everything was packed by the door and ready to go. It was around six when I heard the smoke alarms going wild. There was a fire in the building. What the hell? I was up on my feet, slipping my gym shoes on and snatching up my suitcases. This was some crazy shit. I grabbed all I could just as my door was kicked in.