If Travis could see me right now he’d piss himself laughing. I admit I was laying it on pretty thick, but the guy was a cockroach.
I pinned my forearm across his neck, pressing down on his windpipe, and glared right in his face. Dalton looked ready to shit his pretty white pants and I had to forcibly swallow the laugh bubbling up inside me. Was this guy for real? What a pussy.
“Go ahead,” Dalton wheezed, his face turning red as he tried his best to glare at me with contempt. Too bad it failed because he was busy choking. “I’ll have you arrested for assault just like I did with John.”
“He had you arrested?” Grace shrieked at John from somewhere to the right of me. I turned my head in time to catch her wild stormy eyes hit Dalton. “I’m going to kill you myself,” she snapped. “Casey, step aside.”
I ignored her crazy demand and laughed at Dalton. “Looks like there’s a line of people itching to get their fist in your face. Maybe I should call Henry out here,” I told him, even though I figured Henry either wasn’t here or was passed out upstairs to have missed all the commotion. “I’m sure he’d like a turn.”
“Fuck … you …” Dalton gasped.
“No!” I bit out. I took my forearm off his windpipe. He only had a second to suck in a breath before I jerked him forward and slammed him back against the wall. His head snapped backwards with a satisfying crack. “Fuck you, Dalton.” The phone in my pocket rang and I ignored it. “You need to learn some fucking respect. Maybe you do things differently where you’re from, but here, we don’t step out on our women and we don’t take kindly to those who do. Grace must’ve thought you were something special to keep you around, but newsflash, bud, she is so far outta your fucking league she may as well be in the stars. Sucks for you that she moved on so easy, because she’s moving on with me. Grace might be outta my league too, but I’m not going to fuck it up like you did because I’m smarter than you. I don’t know why you’re here, but I want you gone. So here’s what’s going to happen.” I grabbed his shirt and leaned right into his face, ignoring everyone behind me. “You’re going to turn around and leave. You’re not going to talk to Grace. You’re not even going to look at her. You don’t get to take Mitsy with you either because you don’t deserve that crazy little piece of shit dog that Grace has somehow come to love. If you don’t, I’ll personally make sure you’re breathing through a tube for the rest of your life.”
I yanked him off the wall and spun him around.
“Seriously?” he snapped, and then he did exactly what I told him not to do. He looked at Grace, who stood there with her mouth open, her eyes on me and her expression dazed. “You’re moving on with this Neanderthal?”
My arm cocked back and my fist hit his face before he could blink.
“Ooowww!” he cried, stumbling backwards.
I sucked in a breath because damn, that felt good.
“You heard the man,” John warned, stepping up beside me. “Fuck off.”
Dalton skewered John with sneering glare. “You always had your nose in Grace’s business. It wouldn’t have surprised me if you were fucking her while we were together.”
Grace hissed and suddenly launched herself in the air like a cat, her aim true as she landed on Dalton. They both crashed to the ground in a pile of limbs and loud grunts. It took both John and I to pull her off him. I took hold of Grace, trying to calm her down.
“I am calm!” she shouted, slapping at my hands while John dragged Dalton to his feet and shoved him down the drive.
“Mate, good luck with your career,” John called out to his back. “It’s who you know in this industry and unfortunately for you, I know a lot of people. You’ll be lucky to be doing Best and Less catalogues after this.”
Dalton shot him the finger but he kept walking, mumbling something about us all being crazy. Satisfied he was actually leaving, I regrouped, remembering my reason for being here. Grace and the killing. She was obviously remembering the same thing because she started inching unobtrusively away again.
“Grace,” I said warningly.
“Seriously!” She threw up her hands, exasperated. “It’s just a little scratch in the leather. Get over it already!”
“A scratch? A fucking scratch?” I pointed at my car. “The seat is completely mangled!” I yelled. My phone started ringing in my back pocket again, and again I ignored it. “I’ve given years of my life restoring that car. I love that car. Do you know how much money I spent having that seat shipped from the States?” I spouted off the astronomical figure and even John flinched. Grace paled as my phone started ringing for the third time.
“Hell,” I muttered.
“So I’ll get you a new one,” she replied as I tugged my phone out and checked the display. Tim. I exhaled sharply. “Just tell me where you bought it.”
John shook his head, obviously knowing something about cars because he replied, “It’s not like buying a litre of milk from the corner store,” as I answered the call.
“Casey. Your first interview is here,” Tim hissed into my ear.
I turned my back on an arguing John and Grace and walked to the end of the porch so I could hear him better. “I told you to put all my appointments back.”
“I did, but I couldn’t get hold of the first one. He just arrived.”
“Remind me who the first one is again?”
“Jesus, Casey. It’s Seth.”
My brow furrowed. He made it sound like I was supposed to know who the fuck Seth was. “Seth who?”
“Seth McKinnon. Quinn’s father.”
“Oh shit,” I mumbled for the thousandth time that morning. Seth was Travis’s father-in-law and a recently retired agent with the Australian Federal Police. He’d only just returned from a one-year undercover stint before handing in his badge. The problem with taking him on at our firm was the bad blood between him and Travis. Travis had punched Seth in the face at the time of Quinn’s abduction by the Zampettis. It was a story we brought up at every possible occasion because it was fucking funny. What wasn’t funny was being late for his interview. Travis would have a hernia if he found out I was making his life that much harder. “Tell him I’ve been held up and I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll go get him coffee and a danish.”
“No!” I yelled and then lowered my voice. “For the love of … We want to hire him, not run him off. Send Alice.”
“I can’t because Alice will give Jean a tip and he—”
“Tim,” I growled.
“I’ll work something out,” he whispered quickly and hung up the phone.
I stalked back and interrupted with an “excuse us” to John and grabbed Grace by the wrist without stopping. Slapping my palm on the front door, I shoved it open, dragging Grace past a startled looking Mac on the couch, a growling Mitsy on his fluffy blue doggy bed in the corner, and Cooper with his head half stuck in the fridge, and up the stairs.
“Casey,” she panted when we reached the top. Her chest was heaving up and down from the sudden exertion, distracting me. “What are you doing?”
I shook my head, clearing it. “I’m going to punish you,” I enlightened her, feeling angry all over again. “And when I’m done, your ass is going to be so sore you’ll never treat someone else’s property with such disrespect again.”
She jabbed a finger in my chest and my eyes narrowed. “You touch me and I’ll—”
I cocked a brow. “You’ll what?”
Grace paused, her eyes beginning to look suspiciously wet. She blinked and then went in a completely different direction. “You don’t step out on women?”
I paused, completely thrown. Wasn’t I about to do that to Grace with Morgan?
No, of course I wasn’t. When push came to shove, I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d voluntarily touch another woman now that Grace and I were officially together, no matter how temporary it might be.
“No,” I told her. “I don’t.”
She nodded carefully, de
ep in thought before she spoke again. “And I’m … ah … moving on with you?”
“Hell yeah, you are.”
Then another pause and this time her voice was soft when she spoke. “You think I’m out of your league?”
My voice softened in response. “Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you?” I echoed.
“For what you said to Dalton. For not bringing up the whole cold bitch thing because that would have been awkward—”
“And unnecessary,” I added.
“I was handling it though, before you arrived.”
My lips twitched. “Of course you were.”
Grace nodded, satisfied with my response, and it was then that I realised we were in her bedroom. Alone. Grace must have been on my wavelength because she bit down on her lip as she stared at me with silent intent.
“Goddamn,” I growled, because there would be no punishment today.
Taking her hand, I pulled her inside the walk-in wardrobe and shut the door behind us. “This is crazy,” she breathed. “I can’t even be around you for a minute without thinking dirty thoughts.”
“Stop talking,” I ordered and slammed my mouth down on hers before she could speak again.
My cock started hardening the instant I thrust my tongue in her mouth and got a taste. She responded violently, grabbing at the belt of my pants with rough, urgent movements. I tilted my hips back while I kissed her, giving her easier access. She took it, yanking down my zipper and slipping her hands inside my boxer-briefs. I groaned deep in her mouth when they wrapped around my cock, feeling an ache of relief at her touch.
Grace pulled off my mouth with a gasp when I grabbed at her shorts and shoved them down hard and fast.
Straightening back up, I slid my hand inside her panties, skimming through all that delicious wetness until my finger was inside her. My body shuddered as she squeezed around it.
“Casey!” she cried out when I began to fuck her with it.
There was no finesse to my movements. I was too turned on and she made sexy moans in my ear that only intensified my lack of control. Her hand tightened on my erection and her other one slid around my neck and up into my hair, grabbing and pulling at it as she jacked me off.
“Christ,” I panted, in between nibbling her ear and sucking on her neck. “I need my cock in you so bad.”
Finding her lips again, I kissed her, my entire body screaming for release as she fisted me hard and fast. I thrust my cock into her hand, adding more friction.
“Grace?”
We both froze at the sound of Henry’s voice, my finger stilling inside her and her hand freezing on my erection. I gritted my teeth with frustration.
“Oh shit,” she breathed.
Oh shit was right. I know I was all for telling Henry we were seeing each other, but catching us like this wasn’t how I’d planned on going about it.
I shoved away from her quickly, snatching my hand from her panties. I felt the loss when her hand let go of my cock as we both began putting ourselves back together. Grace tugged up her shorts and started smoothing her hair haphazardly while I tucked my hard, aching cock back in my pants. After smoothing my shirt, I buttoned my pants and yanked up the zipper.
“Slim,” I whispered, trying to get her attention.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she chanted.
“Grace?” Henry called again, his voice sounding closer. My heart pounded at the possibly of getting caught. Grace’s brother would rip my nuts clean off.
Grabbing her shoulders, I faced Grace towards the mirror so she could see her reflection. Her hair was wild, her tank top all twisted. Beard burn covered half her face because I hadn’t shaved this morning, and red marks dotted her neck where I’d sucked on it.
“We’re done for,” she hissed to my reflection in the mirror. With a final attempt at smoothing her hair, she ordered me to wait there before disappearing out the door and shutting it smartly behind her.
“What were you doing in there?” I heard Henry ask.
“I was looking for something.”
“Oh.” There was pause, and then, “What happened to your face?”
“Nothing. I’ve just been out running,” she replied, her voice a touch too casual. “Why?”
“Because you look like you’ve just had wild sex.”
I bit back a groan. We would’ve been having it right now if it wasn’t for your timely interruption, I told him silently. Thanks for the cock-block, man.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Who would I possibly be having sex with? I was out running and fell in some shrubbery.”
I heard him laugh at the same time I smothered my own.
“You could be a bit more sympathetic,” she snapped irritably. Grace was getting completely caught up in her little tale as though she believed it herself. My lips twitched because she was fucking adorable. “I even twisted my ankle.”
No! She did not just say that. I hoped she knew that she was now going to have to fake that injury for the rest of the week. I glanced at my watch.
Shit.
I pulled out my phone and sent Tim a quick message to say I’d be another twenty minutes before setting the ring tone to silent.
“Have you seen Casey?”
She’s seen a lot more of me than you’d like, Henry.
“No, why?”
“Because his car’s out the front but I didn’t see him anywhere.”
“He’s in the bathroom.” That came from Mac, which meant she was on to us. Shrewd bitch, I thought affectionately. That woman didn’t miss a single thing. I owed her for having my back on this. “Henry, have you got a sec? I need you to check something on that new contract I was reading. From what I can see, it sounds like they’re trying to cut our royalties.”
“They fucking what?”
Their voices slowly faded and after a moment of silence, my phone vibrated.
It’s okay to come out. I’m out the back with John.
I tapped out a reply to Grace before I left the confines of her wardrobe.
I have to get back to work. You. Me. Wednesday night. I don’t care where the fuck it happens, but it’s happening.
It wasn’t until I was back in the car and heading towards the office that I realised the issue of my backseat hadn’t reached a satisfactory conclusion. Tomorrow night, I vowed. I would yell at her some more tomorrow night.
Frank strode into my office just after lunch on the Wednesday. His pace was rapid and his brows drawn, telling me he meant all business. He shoved a report under my face without any preamble and barked, “We got that lead on the Janie Berg case.”
Shoving all thoughts of getting my hands on Grace later that night aside, I read the page in front of me, my pulse racing in anticipation of closing this case quickly.
It held an address, the photo of a house, and a map where the house was clearly marked on the street. Frank had detailed all entry and exit points, including windows, along with the information of each neighbouring residence. I glanced up, meeting Frank’s fierce eyes.
Janie Berg was a six-year-old little girl, kidnapped from school on Monday. It wasn’t until the bell rang signalling the end of lunch that it came to light she hadn’t returned from the school playground. Teachers were supposed to be monitoring the playground where the kindergarten kids played, but reports indicated a five minute window during a teacher changeover when the area hadn’t been supervised.
Five goddamn minutes. That was all it took to bring someone’s entire world to a grinding halt.
The only witnesses were the other six-year-olds in the playground. As eager as they were to help with descriptions, the information hadn’t been worth the paper it was written on. All we managed to get was the kidnapper was male.
I snatched the report holding Frank’s meticulous information and stood. “Sure you still want that retirement, Frank?”
Frank didn’t answer the question, and I didn’t expect him to. The man never did anything without investi
gating every angle first, all but getting a NASA report before taking action.
Moving around the desk, I started for our equipment room at the back of the office. Tim glanced up from his desk as we strode out. “He’s going to have to call you back,” I heard him say as we continued down the back hallway. Punching in the security code, I opened the insulated door, Frank following behind.
“Where’s Travis?” I barked, grabbing two bulletproof vests from the shelving.
“Already on his way in. Said he’d be—”
“Here,” Travis said quickly. Pushing past Frank, he grabbed two handguns from their box while I picked up a box of ammunition from the shelf on my right. Travis handed one of them to me.
“Talk, Frank,” I ordered as I loaded the gun in my hand. The Janie Berg case was mine, but Frank needed to update Travis on the situation so he wasn’t walking in blind.
“The information was called in by a neighbour two doors down. Said she noticed movement inside the residence indicated. Last night she heard a kid screaming,” he continued as I passed the box of ammunition to Travis. Travis began loading his gun while Frank spoke. “When she got a good look, she rang the police, gave them a description that matched Janie. They rang us. We checked on the lead and it came through. The little girl is in that house.”
“Tell him what the police don’t know,” I grunted at Frank.
Frank’s eyes went flat and hard. “The kid’s dad was a former member of the outlaw biker gang The Sentinels.”
“Was?” Travis questioned.
“Dead in a drive-by three years ago. No arrest was made.”
“Shit. Is this random then, or is the MC involved somehow?”
My expression was grim as I tucked the gun in the back of my pants. “We don’t know. Sherry, the kid’s mum, says it has nothing to do with the MC but something’s not sitting right with me,” I finished as we left the equipment room, Travis pulling the heavy door shut behind us.
“Tim, hold all calls,” I barked as the three of us filed past. “Frank, I want you to get in touch with Detective Kerr. Give him an update on what we know.” I glanced at the page again. The house was in Blackheath. Frank had listed the estimated travel time as one hour and thirty-six minutes. “Get hold of Blackheath Police. Let them know what’s going on. Give them ours and Kerr’s contact info and also our ETA.”