Chapter 8

Dani

"Dani." Margie's voice made me jump the next morning as I sat at my desk, studying a new file.

"Sorry." I smiled and stood. "I must have zoned out there for a second."

"I have no clue how." She smirked and glanced around. "It's loud as shit in here right now."

I glanced around, noticing all the busyness for the first time that day. I had a way of diving into my own world when I was working.

"What's up?" I turned back to her and started to point out that her thick blue eyeshadow was smeared, but maybe she meant to do it in that fashion? You never could tell with Margie.

"Someone is here to pick up the kid you brought in last night."

"Oh good." I grabbed my wallet off the desk and slipped it into my back pocket as I followed her to the front. My pulse spiked at the idea of seeing Johnny again, though it was so far beyond wrong.

The walk to the front took a little while due to them wrestling a toked up asshole in the main lobby. I stepped back and crossed my arms over my chest and scanned the room for Johnny.

My dream the night before left me breathing a little off kilter. We had been back at the auto shop, but it was just him and me.

"What are you thinking about Danielle?" He moved around the old refurbished Mustang in front of me, the game of cat and mouse we were playing leaving me more than excited. I love the way he whispered my name. Seductively. Reverently.

"You," I mumbled and slid my hands up the hood of the car. "And all the things I want you to do to me."

"List them out." He moved closer, and I stiffened, my skin covered in goose bumps at the mere anticipation of him touching me. I wanted him to grip my hips, to lick my neck, to spread my legs and see how badly he turned me on.

It was his power. His edge of danger.

"I want you to taste me." I arched my back and pressed my breasts to the hood. The white cotton dress I had on wasn't me at all, and yet, it left me feeling pretty, girlie, beautiful.

"Dani? You fade out again?" Margie stood in front of me, a concerned look on her face. "You're a little pale, and you're panting. Let's get you to sit down for a minute sweetheart."

"No. I'm good." I pulled out of her hold and walked toward the receptionist desk. "Who checked in to pick up Jason Moretti?"

"I did." A big guy that had to be almost seven feet moved toward me.

I lifted my eyebrow and took his file from one of the ladies at the desk. "And you are?"

"A good friend of his. I'm Cade." He extended his hand and offered me a smile.

"Right, and he's a minor." I closed the file. "You're not his guardian, so try again."

"I have a note from Ryder. He's dealing with some other shit right now. He's not going to be able to come up here." The guy handed me a note.

"Who's Ryder?" I glanced down at it. Oddly enough, it was made out to me, but he used my full name. Why not just call?

"That's Jason's Uncle Johnny." He smiled. "I'm taking Jason right back to his house. Seriously."

I read through the note and shook my head. "Alright. Fine." I glanced back. "Bring Jason up."

"Sure, Markum. No problem." One of the girls got up and walked over to talk to a group of cops eating something near the back of the room together.

"Who are you again?" I turned to the guy, not sure I felt comfortable with the exchange we were about to make, but Jason was almost eighteen. He wasn't a child.

"A family friend. I have been for years." He slipped his hands in his pocket. "Here, you wanna call Ryder. Give him a buzz and talk to him."

"Yeah. I do." I reached out and took the guy’s phone. It was already ringing by the time I held it up to my ear.

"Ryder." The voice was gruff, and I realized I didn't know Johnny's voice nearly as well as I'd thought I did. Hell, I had only met the guy once.

"It's Dani Markum, NYPD."

"Danielle. You letting Jason go with Cade?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I can do that. Everything okay?"

"Yep. Thanks so much." The phone clicked, surprising me a little.

"All good?" Cade asked as they brought Jason around to the front.

"I guess so." I turned to face the kid. He looked a little like Johnny, which was enough to have me worried for him. "Don't fuck up again. You understand me? You're running out of options, and I know you don't want to live behind bars for the entirety of your twenties, right? Or do you?"

"I don't." He rolled his eyes and walked to the door. "Thanks, Danielle."

"Dani, and it's Officer Markum to you, Jason," I yelled after him, but it was no use. He was already half way out the door and headed back to his bad choices. Some part of me wanted to care, but it was hard to give a shit about kids that were making horrible choices. There were plenty of young girls being sold into sex slavery that weren't give any choices, and here I was trying to help kids that were. It was fucked up on far too many levels to let myself think about it.

So, I didn't.

*

After visiting another parole family, I returned to the station and walked the long hallway to the cafeteria. Oliver moved up beside me and pressed his shoulder to mine.

"You grabbing something to eat?"

"How did you figure that out?" I smirked and glanced over at him. He was handsome, but not at all the kind of guy I wanted in my life. I'd gone from Seth who was a rich prick to a painful divorce. The last thing I wanted to do was date a cop who could quite possibly be a little crazy and who owned a bunch of guns. I'd seen it happen too many times.

Not only that, but I wasn't at all attracted to him.

I wanted a touch of danger in my life. I yearned for it, and yet the starched blue uniform I wore said that it would never happen. Not without completely throwing caution to the wind and becoming a different person, one I wouldn't recognize.

What do you have to lose?

"Hey. You alright?" Oliver stopped at the opening to the cafeteria and moved in front of me.

"Yeah. Just a long day. I'm good." Something dark caught my eye near the door. Johnny. His black leather jacket looked good on him, and his dark sunglasses fit his persona perfectly. Thick muscles lined his arms under his jacket, and they pressed against the material as he moved. His jeans hung low on his hips, and the bulge at the front of his pants had me imagining all the wrong things by the time he made it to me.

"Where's my nephew, cop? I came to pick him up, and he’s fucking gone," he barked in my face.

"Hey. Back the fuck up." Oliver put his hand on Johnny's chest and pushed him back a little.

Johnny reared out and popped Oliver in the face. "Don't."

"Johnny. Stop. Come on. Let's go talk, and we'll figure this out. You're going to get your ass in trouble assaulting officers." I glanced over at Oliver. "Sorry. It's okay. He's just upset."

"Yeah. I am." He growled and moved toward me.

Every cell in my body lit on fire. It was disturbing how badly I wanted a night with him. What the fuck was wrong with me? I was a cop. He was a bad guy. Or was he?

"Come on." I turned and walked out of the cafeteria, assuming he would follow.

"Dani. Where is Jason? I asked about him up front, and they said you released him this morning." He gripped my arm and pulled me back, forcing me to turn.

"Markum?" One of the other cops nearby turned and gave me a look of support. "You alright?"

I lifted my hand. "Yeah. I'm good. Just a friend."

A friend? Why would I grant Johnny that title? I growled and swatted him again.

"Back the fuck off," I bit out through clenched teeth. I turned and walked toward the back door. I pushed the door open and walked into the darkening parking lot before whirling around. "I let him go with Cade. You gave him a note, and I fucking called you, and you okayed it."

His brow drew tight, and his eyes darkened. "I didn't send a note, and you didn't call me. Where is he, Dani."

"It's officer Markum."

"No. It's Dani for now, and be lucky of that." He gripped my arms and turned us, pressing me to the back wall of the precinct. The hard press of his strong body against mine left my mind spinning. I had to get my shit together. I'd obviously released the kid to the wrong person. Fuck.

"I have a tracker on him." I glanced up at Johnny. He didn't look anything like the man I'd met the day before. He was emotional and unruly. Fear fluttered through my chest for the first time in a long time. "We'll find him. Okay?"

"You're coming with me, Danielle." He leaned down and pressed his lips to my ear. My eyes fluttered shut. I was in deep shit.

"How do you know my name?" I whispered and pushed at his hips to keep us as far apart as we could be. The intimacy of him pressed against me made me weak.

"It's not hard to find out." He breathed in, and I moaned.

"Don't."

"You want me to as bad as I want to." He brushed his lips by my ear, and fuck me if I didn't moan again. "You're lucky you're a cop."

"Why is that?" I hated how hard my heart beat against my chest, how wet my panties were because of him. I needed to get Captain to reassign Jason's case. I couldn't fall for a man like Johnny, and yet my body already had.

"Cause I'd turn you around and fuck you right here in front of all your boy toys if you weren't." He nipped at my ear again and pressed his hips forward. "Help me find Jason. This is your fucking fault."

"Move and I will." I pushed again as the air whooshed from my lungs. He moved, and I sagged against the building for a second before getting my legs beneath me. I walked past him toward my cop car. "I'm driving this time."

"I'm not riding in a cop car. Period." He moved toward his bike and glanced over at me. "And you aren't either. Get on. Now."

I looked around. What the fuck was I doing? I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it off, leaving the white one beneath it. "I shouldn't be doing this."

"I'm sure there are lots of things you want to do that you shouldn't be doing. Just make this the first of many." He extended his hand to me as his eyes moved down my chest.

Where I'd normally want to cover myself, I didn't this time. I wanted to pull the t-shirt off and let him see me, really see me. It had been too long since anyone had seen me.

No. I couldn't do it. "I'll drive in front of you. I'll get the tracker on my phone."

He smiled, and my stomach tightened. "You sure about that?" He took off and left me running for my car.

"Dammit, Johnny," I mumbled as I got in the car and took off after him.

A soft voice inside of me chanted the same two things over and over as I finally caught up with him.

This is so fucking wrong.

But if feels so right.