Neco

I pounded up the stairs from my office. I’d been working on cracking a security system all morning. The King Agency crew had a retrieval tonight, namely stealing a big-ticket item back from the thieves that took it in the first place so the insurance company didn’t have to pay out, which also meant a little breaking and entering. Nothing new, but the house they needed to get into was like Fort Knox, high tech all the way, and it had taken longer to get in the back door of the system than usual. I cracked it of course. Always did. The men at the agency specialized in getting around the law when it was required. It helped that we had the kinds of pasts that made us perfect for this kind of work. Criminal pasts. A bunch of ex-street thugs that had finally wised the hell up enough to go legit—well, at least that’s how it appeared.

We did things our own way, and that wouldn’t ever change.

The reception was quiet when I hit the top of the stairs, the only sound the music Ruby had streaming from her computer. Some alt shit that she loved. Like always, my eyes were drawn to her. I’d given up fighting it. Not looking at her would be as easy as asking the sun not to rise. If she was in the same room, I knew it, instantly. Her every move, no matter how subtle—shit, her every damn breath. No matter how much she pissed me off and made me fucking insane. Which she did constantly.

Jesus, I’d even thought I’d seen her last night, outside my place. It’d thrown me. I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head after that. I’d had a hot, willing woman begging for it, and in the end, I’d sent her packing. I’d already fucked enough women pretending they were Ruby. Last night I couldn’t face it. I’d lain awake hard as iron, tossing and turning, refusing to even rub one out, desperate to get her out of my damn head. It hadn’t worked.

Which meant today I was tired and horny and pissed the fuck off.

My gaze slid over her from head to toe. Her back was to me, standing at the copy machine, straightening a stack of papers. Her ass jiggled as she worked and danced. Shit. I gritted my teeth and lifted my gaze. She’d cut her hair; it was up to her shoulders now. Her hair was thick and black, with that ever-changing stripe of color down the side of her heart-shaped face. Today it was purple.

She turned to me, blue eyes connecting with mine through her black-rimmed glasses, and I felt a gut-punch. It’d been like that since the first time she’d knocked on my window, scared as hell, tears running down her face—in need of a safe place. I’d been that for her, for the longest time. I never thought that would ever change. I’d been wrong. So much was different now.

I was different now—my soul was a hell of a lot blacker, that’s for damned sure.

Her eyes widened a fraction, like they always did when she looked at me, lips parting slightly, as though her breath had been pushed from her lungs. There was an innocence I sensed inside her that called to me, called on every one of my possessive and protective instincts. Something she used against me whenever she got the chance.

It made my dick hard every fucking time. Maybe that made me a sick motherfucker, but I’d never pretended to be a saint. I was far from it.

But my dick would have to deal, because Ruby wasn’t for me. I won’t deny I wanted her. I wanted her in a way that bordered on obsession. Who was I kidding? I was obsessed. But we weren’t right for each other. We were both marked by our childhoods, by what followed, and in a way, that made the pair of us as compatible as oil and water. Or more like fire and gasoline.

Being with her like that would only bring out the worst version of myself. A side of me I never wanted her to see.

Today was her twenty-fifth birthday. I never forgot, though I pretended I did. Neither of us needed a reminder of the past, of the day it all went to hell.

I held her gaze, forcing a look of indifference. Whatever it took to keep her at arm’s length. “Are the rest of the guys here?”

Her head tilted to the side and those blue eyes narrowed in defiance, bright and terrifyingly beautiful, lighting her up from the inside. “Nice to see you, too, Neco. Surly as always, I see.”

Always with the attitude. It’d piss me off if it didn’t turn me the fuck on so much. And today, the way she looked, that pink sundress, showing her inked-up arms, shapely legs, nice little peak of cleavage—I wasn’t in the mood to play her games. I was never in the mood to play her games. Unfortunately, Ruby didn’t give a shit what I wanted.

“You have a good weekend?” she tacked on when I remained quiet.

I dipped my chin and waited for the blast to follow. We didn’t just shoot the shit. Asking about weekends was not something we did, not anymore. Our interactions now consisted of her getting herself into shit and me bailing her out. Which meant she was about to do or say something to piss me off.

“You?” I could fake the “let’s be friends” deal when I had to. And it was fake, we both knew it. We hadn’t been friends since Ruby’s sixteenth birthday. We tried to pretend for a while, but it never was the same after that night. I sure as hell knew why being her friend wasn’t something I could be anymore. I could only assume she knew as well, going by her constant attempts to get under my skin and push me to breaking point.

Her lips curled up. They were soft and full, and looked even fuller with her dark lipstick. “I got some knew ink,” she said.

My gut tightened. “Yeah?” I swallowed, hard. Ruby had creamy, smooth, pale skin, and she liked to decorate it. The ink she chose was always colorful, feminine. I’d imagined tracing every tattoo with my tongue . . . a lot. I had a vivid memory of when she got her first one. I’d taken her to my guy, my present for her sixteenth birthday. I hadn’t wanted her to do it, but I knew if I didn’t take her, she’d just go and get it done behind my back. At least I knew she was going to someone I trusted. I’d watched while the guy inked the Superman logo on her hip. I’d questioned her choice and she’d looked up at me and smiled.

This is you. You’re my Superman. Now you’ll always be with me.

I slammed the shutters down on the memory. I did not need to be thinking about that night, what happened after, how everything between us went to shit. But it had been getting harder lately. Especially after the hell Hunter had gone through with his woman and kid a few months ago. Since Lulu had been kidnapped, almost raped, I’d been struggling with this thing between Ruby and I. Found my mind going back there, to that time, more than I wanted.

Ruby moved from out from behind her desk, expression too goddamn innocent. “You want to see it?”

My dick jumped behind my zipper, and my mouth felt glued shut. I needed to tell her no, or at least shake my head and walk away. Instead, I just stood there, trying to work out where it was, what it was.

Resting her pert little ass against her desk, she reached down, and pinching the bottom of her dress between her fingers, started to inch it higher. With the glasses she wore, she looked like a sexy schoolteacher. Ruby had her own style, her own unique look, and it suited the hell out of her.

My mouth went dry as she revealed inch after inch of creamy, bare thigh. Move. Get the fuck out of there. But my goddamn feet stayed glued to the carpet. It was on the same side she’d gotten the Superman symbol, and suddenly I was desperate to see it again. The last time I’d seen it, she’d been on the table getting it done.

But her dress stopped high on her thigh and the strength of my disappointment at not seeing it again made no sense.

“What do you think?” she asked.

There was a simple pale pink flower, small and delicate on the front of her thigh, high enough that I caught a glimpse of the edge of her yellow panties. I wanted to wring her goddamn neck for making me feel this way. I wanted to walk over there, shove her back on the desk, and give her what she wanted from me, hard enough the fucking walls shook.

“It’s a cherry blossom.” She tilted her head to the side again, looking down at it, thumb lightly brushing over her skin. “It’s a symbol, to me anyway, of moving on, of new starts. I’m not sure it’s finished yet, I might add some script.”

Moving on? What the fuck did that mean? My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked the screen.

Hunter: Stop looking up Ruby’s skirt and get your ass down here.

The guy was obviously watching us through the surveillance camera in his office. Hunter King, my best friend since we were snot-nosed kids, started the King Agency with his brother Van several years ago. While Hunter did a stretch in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, I joined the crew. Shoving my phone back in my pocket, and refusing to look back at Ruby who was still standing in front of her desk, gaze burning into me, I strode to the internal security door. I entered the code, and headed to Hunter’s office. Van had an office down here as well, along with a break room and other rooms the guys used if they needed a place to work.

I walked in and scowled at the stupid fucking grin my friend was aiming my way. I turned to Jude and shook my head when all I saw was a row of the big bastard’s glowing white teeth. Jude Wayland, an ex-cop and, at six-foot-five and two hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle, as intimidating as hell when he chose to be. Right now was not one of those times.

“Do not say one fucking word,” I growled. Jude pretended to lock his lips and throw away the key.

I turned to Van, who was also there, and the only fucker not smiling. “Let’s get on with this, shall we?” I glanced around the room. “Where’s Zeke?” Zeke Stanton was an ex-Marine, a sniper before he came to work at the agency. He and Van had enlisted together, had been in the same unit. But Zeke had stayed on after Van opted out. When he’d come home, he was a different man. There were some serious demons riding him, and sometimes I thought the guy had a death wish.

“Out on surveillance.” Van said. “It’s important, too important to pull him out.” He leaned against the wall. “Which means, with everyone else on high priority cases, you’ll be going it alone with this skip.”

Ruby walked in at that moment and handed Van a coffee and a muffin. “Thought you might need this since you got in so early.”

Van’s expression softened a little as he accepted it. Recently Hunter had taken a step back from fieldwork, the high-risk stuff anyway. He’d done it for his woman and son, but the guy seemed happy enough with the change in his position. He and Van had kind of traded off and Hunter now did more work in office. But Ruby and Van had grown close while he’d been behind the big desk. Looking after him, making sure he ate enough, that he had what he needed, was second nature to her. It would annoy me if I didn’t think she’d do the same for any one of the guys here.

She glanced around the room, pushing her black-rimmed glasses higher on her nose. “Anyone else want a drink while I’m feeling generous?”

The woman acted tough, but she was a natural nurturer. Always had been. It was one of the things I admired about her.

The guys gave her their orders while Hunter talked. “I’m not happy about you not having back up. Maybe we should hold off on this one. Pick this guy up when you have someone at your back.”

This skip I was going after was violent, yes, considered high risk, but nothing I couldn’t handle. His preferred targets were usually women, and I wanted him off the street as soon as possible. I shook my head. “We wait another day, we lose him. I know that for a fact. This is our one and only shot, for a while anyway. I want him out of commission.”

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know, Nec . . .”

“You need someone to play lookout?” Ruby asked, butting in. Hunter dipped his chin. “What about me?”

“No,” I said before Hunter could open his mouth.

She ignored me completely. “Come on, Hunt. How dangerous can it be? What? I’ll be sitting in a car feeding information to Neco?”

Hunter looked at her thoughtfully. “Yeah, basically.”

“You can’t be fucking serious,” I growled.

Van crossed his arms, adding his ten cents worth. “She’ll be safe. The truck’s like a fucking tank. No one’s gonna get to her.”

Hunter offered me a look that said sorry, but tough shit. “Van has a point. This is about getting you in and out in one piece.”

Tension filled me, until it overflowed. “Would you let Lulu do it?” I growled.

The room went silent, deathly so. Lulu was Hunter’s fiancée, the mother of his child, and I’d just compared her to Ruby. Fuck. I ignored them and turned to Hunter. “This isn’t happening.”

I could feel Ruby’s eyes burning into the back of my head, could feel her anger battering me with every word I said.

“We don’t have a choice,” Hunter said. “And you said it yourself, we can’t let this guy go.”

No one said a damn thing to back me up. Not a surprise. They knew what was between me and Ruby was deep, went back a long way, but I’d never claimed her as mine, and that’s what these guys understood. That was how our world worked. I also knew Ruby wanted me to back off, stop sticking my nose in, that I pissed her off when I got involved. Well, tough shit. She was my responsibility, had become my responsibility the first time I pulled her in through my bedroom window and wiped away her tears, and that would never change.

I walked out of the office before I said something I’d regret, the sound of Ruby’s Doc Martens thudding on the carpet after me. I ignored her and headed for the elevator.

She grabbed my arm. “What the hell is your problem?”

I spun on her. “You’re not coming with me.”

“My boss, says otherwise,” she fired back.

“Hunter has nothing to do with this. When it comes to you, he has not one fucking say. When it means putting you in danger, I decide. No one else.”

She stilled, then blinked. Something moved over her face, something that made my fucking gut coil tight.

“No.” She shook her head, eyes shooting fire. “I fucking decide. It has nothing to do with you. It’s none of your damned business.”

I growled, like a goddamn animal, probably because that’s how I felt. “Do not fucking push me today, Ruby. I mean it.” I crowded her. An asshole move, but I was on the edge. My shitty day had just gotten a whole lot shittier. The lack of sleep sure as hell wasn’t helping. She backed up, until her back met the wall behind her. “You are my business . . . whether I like it or not,” I damn near snarled.

She flinched, then scowled.

I couldn’t stop though, on a roll. “You’ve made sure you’re my business time and time again. Every time you call me for help, every time you get yourself into shit and I bail you out, you made yourself my business.” She was breathing heavily now, chest rising and falling. Her sweet handful-sized tits grazing my abs. My hips rolled forward, like they had a life of their own. It took everything I had not to press my aching cock against the softness of her belly. “I’m only giving you what you want, babe.”

“What I want, is for you to back the fuck up and stop being an asshole,” she fired back.

I gritted my teeth. “Jesus. Like always, I’m wasting my damn breath with you.” I stepped back. “I don’t have time for one of your tantrums today.”

That made her flinch again, and it made me a giant asshole. I hated it. But I needed this thing between us over. I needed to not want her anymore. Despising me, hating me wasn’t enough, not when under that anger I saw the heat. The kind of heat that could burn you alive and keep you coming back no matter how many scars each encounter left. Only the scars wouldn’t be mine, they’d be Ruby’s. And I’d cut off my own arms before I unleashed the full extent of the ugly inside me on her.

I took another step back and met her wide-eyed stare. “Don’t be there tonight. I mean it.” Then I turned away, bypassing the elevator, and took the stairs, getting the hell out of there.

* * *

Ruby

I pulled up a few houses down from the address Hunter had given me and hunkered down. Not that I needed to. It was dark out and the Explorer windows were tinted enough no one would get a good look at me. My nerves had been playing havoc all day. This would have been a pretty awesome way to celebrate my birthday, on my first job. I’d been harassing Van to let me do this almost since I started. But the excitement was doused by worry over how Neco would react to me showing up. He’d made it blatantly clear that he didn’t want me here tonight. The stubborn bastard would rather go in blind than let me help. I can’t deny it stung, knowing that he didn’t trust me to take his back. I may do stupid shit from time to time, but when it came to the important things, I was one hundred percent focused.

What was his damn problem?

He’d spent the last nine years driving home just how much he didn’t want me. And okay, it had taken a while, but I’d finally gotten the message loud and clear. Now I needed him to back the hell up and let me live my life.

Right?

I sighed and dropped my head back against the seat. That wouldn’t happen, though, would it? And it wasn’t just his fault. I was as much to blame. To say my and Neco’s relationship was complicated was a huge understatement. Complicated would be one thing. I craved the man’s attention in a way I didn’t fully understand, or could even begin to describe. My feelings were at constant war with themselves. Common sense tangling horns with some pretty crazy, wild lust. But it wasn’t just that. Wanting him so bad I ached was only a portion of the way I felt for the man. As much as I hated it, inside me there was still a scared six-year-old girl that relied on him to make her world a safer place. That part of me still needed a connection with him, no matter how much time passed, or how strong and independent a woman I’d become. That little girl was holding me back from living my life.

God, not having Neco around was not something I could bear to think about, though. But what we had now was . . . shit, it was toxic, and the longer I played my games, the more poisonous it became. I’d polluted what we had a long time ago. I’d asked for more. And nothing had been the same since . . .

Bang. Bang. Bang.

I squawked and jumped, spinning to the side window. Neco stood there, scowling through the tinted glass at me. Shit.

Here comes the lecture. I plastered a smile on my face and hit the button for the window, dropping it two inches. Pale green eyes that looked so striking against his brown skin met mine through the gap. And, shocker, he wasn’t happy. “Hey.”

“Hey?” Those unusual eyes narrowed.

I grabbed an earpiece from the passenger seat and handed it to Neco through the window gap. “You need this, right?”

“What are you doing here, Ruby?” he gritted out, ignoring my fingers poking through the gap.

“My job,” I said back through clenched teeth, waving the earpiece at him. I may want to violently tear the man’s clothes off like a horny rabid beast and eat him all up, but good God he brought out my surly side. I’d never wanted to slap anyone silly like I did him . . . and not in a sexy way.

“Your job is to answer phones, file shit, make Hunter fucking coffee . . .”

I dropped the earpiece and he caught it on reflex, then I hit the button and the window slid up, cutting him off. Asshole.

My skin flushed hot, mainly from anger. I hated that he saw me as someone so idiotic and pointless. It probably didn’t help that I confirmed that opinion every time I acted like an idiot to get his attention.

He banged on the window again, but I ignored him. Finally, after growling, “Do not move from this car,” he walked away and, I noted happily, shoved the earpiece in as he did.

My eyes slid over his back. The man was exquisite when he was walking away. He was also knee-meltingly hot from the front. In fact, he didn’t have a bad side. They were all good. The jeans he had on cupped his ass as he strode purposely across the street, showing off his solid thighs and long legs. His long-sleeved T-shirt was dark green and snug across his broad shoulders, looser around his middle, and those bulging biceps stretched the fabric to its limit, showing off every ripped inch.

He was beautiful.

There was no other word for him.

I forced myself to stop eye-fucking him and turned on the small mic clutched in my hand. Though I should have kept my mouth shut, I offered up a parting shot. “I thank you for your cooperation.”

His head swiveled on his thick neck and he fired a death glare at me.

I bit back a nervous giggle and watched him bound over a fence like the superhero I’d always believed him to be, and disappear into someone’s backyard.

I had no idea how long this kind of thing took. Hunter had given me instructions to observe and report only. If it looked like someone else was going into that house, I needed to tell Neco, make sure I saw him get out, or wait until he communicated that he was okay. Otherwise, I was to call it in quickly. I could do that. I could do a hell of a lot more than that, actually.

I sat there for what felt like forever. Okay, it was more like fifteen minutes, but knowing he was in there alone . . . I didn’t like it. Hunter hadn’t told me much about the perp, other than he was a mean son of a bitch. What if he was armed? Or if he hadn’t been alone in that house, like Neco’s informant had told him. A sick feeling started to grow in my belly.

I glanced around the interior of the car, trying to think what Van or Jude or Zeke would do? That’s when I spotted a pair of cuffs in the center compartment. Did Neco have cuffs with him? I hadn’t seen any. His jeans were pretty damn tight. I would have seen cuffs if he had them, right?

I grabbed them and gripped them tight in my hand. What if he was in trouble? What if cuffs were the thing that tipped the odds in his favor and he didn’t have any? I sat there for another five minutes. I hated this, this not knowing. “Neco, you good?” I said into mic. “Do you need back up?”

Nothing.

“Neco? Answer me dammit.”

I got a big fat nada in return.

Shit.

I opened the glove compartment where I’d put my Taser, just in case. I knew how to use it, had learned as part of my weapons training. I also had my gun, but I’d prefer to not shoot anyone if at all possible.

Grabbing the cuffs, I shoved them in my pocket then, opening the door, headed across the street, Taser clutched in my hand so tight my fingers were getting a cramp.

Let’s do this.