Yet, as the feline pressed her face into his neck and sniffed, he had a feeling he wouldn’t have to dig anything up. Cella Malone was so direct it had a tendency to be off-putting. She seemed to have no qualms about discussing her work with KZS, easily admitting that, “Yeah, sure, I kill people for a living.” She was blunt and annoying and rude and insisted on involving him in the most ridiculous bullshit.
But when her nose rubbed against his neck and brushed against his ear, he kind of didn’t care about all that. Who would? What she was doing felt so good that at the moment, nothing mattered.
Malone’s forehead brushed against his chin, then his cheek, and yet she still hadn’t kissed him. Not yet.
“You always keep your eyes open?” she asked softly.
“I like to see what’s coming at me.”
“Oh, very nice.” She studied him. “You going to put your arms around me?” Crush still had his arms crossed over his chest.
“I’m comfortable.”
“Such a sexy, uptight hard-ass.” She rubbed her nose against his and despite his best intentions, Crush couldn’t help but smile.
“There you go. Now you don’t look nearly as fierce.”
“I figured you’d like fierce.”
“I do, but I’m helping you out for future females. You don’t want to scare them off, do you?”
“I’m told my non-expression is more terrifying.”
“Because we have no idea what you’ll do. Sniff and move on or start tearing off limbs.”
“That’s lovely. Thank you.”
“Uh-oh. The scowl’s back. Better distract you before I end up torn limb from limb.”
“If you’re that worried—”
She kissed him, cutting off the rest of his words.
It wasn’t a nice kiss, either. Oh, it was amazing, and he never knew anyone could have such soft lips, but it wasn’t “nice.” In fact, he didn’t know a woman could make a simple kiss so wonderfully raunchy and dirty. Crush secretly liked dirty. And he got the feeling Malone liked dirty, too, but that she didn’t keep it a secret.
She invaded his mouth with her tongue, fingers digging deep into the back of his neck and head, kind of holding him there. Crush’s entire body loosened, his arms falling away from his chest and to his sides, then reaching around her waist and pulling her off the chair. The chair ended up between them, so Crush kicked it out of the way. Keeping a solid grip on her, he returned her kiss. But he wanted more.
Without thought to anything but the demands of his body, Crush pushed her up against his refrigerator, his body pinning hers there. He let his hands slip from around her waist and travel up until they could grip her breasts, fingers squeezing while his thumbs circled her nipples through her shirt and bra. Her entire body shook and then her hands were pressed against his chest, pushing him back.
“What?” He heard the growl in his voice, and was kind of appalled by it.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” Malone shoved and he released her, watching her drop to the floor.
She panted, gold eyes watching him close. Gold eyes that were accusing him. “You didn’t tell me you were a powder keg about to go off.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
She stepped away from the fridge, but she never took her eyes off him.
“You kissed me,” Crush quickly argued, feeling the need to defend himself.
“I know,” she shot back.
“Then why are you looking at me like—?”
She pointed an accusing finger. “Don’t play coy with me!”
“What?”
“You and I both know what’s going on here and I see now that I’ll need more time than just some quickie on your kitchen table. I’ll need a whole night to work with”—she moved her hands around in the air as if rubbing his entire body—“all this.”
Crush scratched his head. “I’m so confused right now.”
“That’s ’cause you’re not paying attention.” She shook her head. “I gotta go.”
“Why?” And his own question caught him by surprise.
“The kid’s expecting me home tonight, otherwise I’d totally stay. But I’m trying the whole good mom thing.”
“Yeah. Good luck with that.”
“I don’t like the tone and do not snarl at me.”
She took a step, stopped, walked back to him, and placed her hand against his crotch.
Crush jerked at the feel of her stroking his cock through the thick denim of his jeans. Of course, the way those fingers were working him, he might as well be naked.
“Goddamn,” she murmured, then again shook her head and snatched her hand away. “See what you’re doing?”
“What I’m doing? How is this my fault?”
“It is your fault. You and your big cock! Dammit!”
“You’re insane.”
“Certifiable.” She wagged a finger. “But you’re not getting out of this now. Better put some time aside, because when I nail you, I’m going to need all night.”
Her cold gold eyes scowled down at his crotch again and, after what felt like forever, she stamped her foot, spun away from him, and stormed out, slamming his front door behind her.
Crush looked over at the dog gazing up at him from under the table. Where it was safe.
“I don’t understand how this is my fault,” he told Lola, which got him a vicious bark.
“You don’t have to be mean about it.”
When Cella got back home, she walked in through the front door, passing the living room where her family was enjoying pie and TV. When they saw her, they all cheered, “Cella!”
Annoyed, she snapped, “Oh, shut up!”
Cutting through the kitchen, Cella headed into the backyard. She stopped by the table where Meghan and Josie sat doing schoolwork and glared down at her daughter.
“I hope you appreciate what a good mom I’m being,” Cella told her.
“You mean at the moment? Ow!” Meghan lifted her leg and rubbed her shin, which was probably where Josie had kicked her under the table.
“You’re a wonderful mom, Aunt C.,” Josie said, ignoring Meghan’s brutal glare. “And Mom’s inside.”
Taking the hint, Cella headed to the Davises’ house. When she walked in, Jai’s mother took one look at her face and pointed in the direction of the office that mother and daughter shared.
Cella marched through to the office, dropping into a free chair across from Jai’s desk.
“And hello to you, too,” Jai said “Is something wrong?”
“That man is hung like a donkey.”
“Oooookay.”
“I will need all night to work that shit. And I will work it.”
Jai sat back in her chair and her eyes briefly closed. Oh, and there was a sigh.
“Explain to me why you can’t just say ‘he’s really cute, I think I like him, I can’t wait to get to know him better’? Why can’t you say that?”
“Because I’m freaking out.”
“Freaking out about what?”
“I like my pretend boyfriend. Which is just weird.”
“Honey, calling a man your pretend anything is weird.”
Cella chuckled. “I like calling him that. It annoys him.” Cella threw her hands up. “You see? I enjoy annoying him.”
“Sweetie.” Jai leaned over, took Cella’s hand. “You enjoy annoying everyone.”
Cella thought on that a moment and finally admitted, “You might have a point.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Crush woke up the next morning and decided that he wasn’t going to sit around waiting for Baissier to come at him—or, even worse, fantasizing about a long-legged and heartless feline with an amazing tight ass and right hook. Instead, he was going to do his job and find out why Whitlan was really back in town. And then, he’d take him down. If it turned out Crush could nail Baissier in the process ... well, that would just be a bonus, now wouldn’t it?
So, just before noon, Crush walked into a Y
onkers bar. As soon as he opened the door, with the early afternoon sun behind him, those already drinking or “working” looked up to see who was coming in. But as Crush’s shadow grew on the floor and he stepped farther in, they all quickly turned away except the bartender.
“Hey, man.” The bartender laughed. “Dude ... what happened to your hair?”
Cella looked at her vibrating phone again, before quickly sending the call to her voice mail.
“What are you doing?” Rivka asked.
“Avoiding someone.” To be specific, Cella was avoiding Blayne. As the Group’s hybrid kids got older, Cella and Blayne had been eyeing some of them for their respective teams. Although Blayne could give two shits about the males, she wanted Cella to leave the females to her for her precious roller derby team. But after watching Hannah handle herself in that fight with the grizzlies yesterday, Cella knew she wanted the bear hybrid to try out for the Carnivores. Which meant that she would be forced to listen to Blayne Thorpe whine about it.
Before putting her phone back in her pocket, she checked the time.
“Do you have to go?”
“Not yet, but I promised I’d meet some of the guys for training today. But don’t worry, I have time. Your bachelorette party is more important than anything right now.”
“I don’t care about a bachelorette party.”
“Of course, you don’t. You’re in love, blah, blah, blah. But your friends do care and that’s all that matters.” Cella wasn’t lying when she’d told Jai that she adored Rivka. She really did. How could she not? A fellow She-tiger, Rivka always looked so cute and girly with her curly black hair that it was hard to believe she was one of KZS’s Cleaners. Born and raised in Israel, she’d been recruited by KZS when she was twenty and they’d moved her to the States. With minimal equipment, she could dispose of a battalion of bodies in less than six hours. She was also loyal, dependable, and took great care of Cella’s kid. In the end, that was all that mattered to Cella: Were you someone worthy of being around Meghan? The fact that Bri actually loved her, too, was the least of Cella’s concerns.
Returning to her checklist, Cella said, “I’m thinking open bar.”
Rivka put her nearly empty cereal bowl on the side table. “Are you insane? Do you have any idea how much these feline bitches can drink when it’s on someone else’s tab?”
After debating an open bar, crafting a reasonable guest list and making wardrobe decisions, Cella had just moved on to dinner options when the front door to Rivka and Bri’s extremely high-priced penthouse opened and a voice from the hallway called out, “Where’s my pussy at?”
The two females looked at each other, then back at the living room archway. A few seconds later, Bri came sauntering through with a large deli bag smelling delightfully of fresh pastry and coffee.
He stopped in the archway and stared. “Oh. Cella. You’re here.”
Tilting her head to the side, Cella asked, “Do I count as your pussy, too?”
He scowled. “No, you do not.” Bri walked farther into the room. “And what are you doing here”—he pointed at Cella and Rivka—“canoodling?”
Cella tried to see it from Bri’s point of view. Both females were on the couch, Cella’s back against the armrest and her legs over Rivka’s legs with Rivka toying with Cella’s shoelaces. Okay. The visual might be easy to misinterpret by regular full-humans, but a feline should ... oh, forget it. Bri was still a guy and to him nothing was more frightening than having the mother of his child good friends with his fiancée. And considering how much Cella enjoyed messing with Bri’s mind, she could understand his concern.
“Don’t get paranoid. You always seem to forget, baby’s daddy—”
“Stop calling me that.”
“—that as cats we’re naturally affectionate when we actually like someone. I like Rivka, but that doesn’t mean I want to bone her.” She looked at Rivka. “Do you want to bone me, sweetie?”
“Doesn’t everybody?”
And that’s why Cella loved Rivka. How could anyone think Cella had a problem with Rivka marrying Bri? She had a great sense of humor and actually made the man much less uptight accountant guy.
“Do not freak me out before my wedding,” the male warned. “Just do not freak me out.”
“Speaking of which, do you know what’s going on with our kid?”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s acting really stressed out. Especially anytime I mention school to her.”
Putting the coffee cups on the table, Bri dismissed Cella’s concern with a wave of his hand. “She’s probably just worried about her decision to stay on Long Island with the family and go to Hofstra. A decision I’m sure you’re not making easy on her.”
Cella stared at the tiger standing in front of her until she finally managed to grind out, “What do you mean her decision to go to Hofstra?”
“Oh.” Bri looked at his fiancée, then back at Cella. “Meghan, uh ... didn’t mention that to you?”
Crush knocked on the door in the back of the bar and it slowly opened. The man protecting the door looked him over, then asked, “Let him in?”
“Of course.”
Crush walked into the room. He could tell from the general funk that an all-night poker game had been going on. But as soon as he stepped in, most of the players picked up their winnings and headed out the door into the alley behind the bar.
Dave “Charming” Lepke smiled at Crush. “Come on in.”
Crush walked in, making sure to check the dark corners and behind the door before moving across the room to stand in front of the well-known gambler turned bookie. In his late sixties, with a full head of white hair, Charming still had the imposing build and attitude of a man who used to break guys’ arms for being late paying back their gambling debts.
“I was hoping to buy in,” Crush told him, holding up a wad of money. “But everybody ran away.”
“You should be used to that.”
“I never really get used to it.”
“Your money’s no good here and you know it.”
“I know. And yet I’m here. Don’t you wonder why?”
Charming studied him for a bit before he motioned his man out. Looking at Crush and back at his boss, the bodyguard asked, “You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
With a warning glare at Crush, he walked out, the door closing behind him.
“How could you not tell me?” Cella yelled at her daughter’s father while pacing in front of him. “How long have you been keeping this from me?”
“Calm down.”
Cella stepped into him and gritted out between clenched teeth, “Tell me to calm down again.”
“That’s it.” Rivka pushed her arms between the two, forcing them apart. “Bri, why don’t you put the food in the kitchen?”
He walked out and Rivka faced Cella.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” Cella asked.
“Because she wants to stay. She wants to stay with the Malones.”
And Cella asked with all honesty, “But why?”
Rivka started laughing, her hand covering her mouth.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Cella, she’s not trying to hurt you.”
“No. She just hates me.”
Rivka put her hands on her hips. “You just leap, don’t you? From the tallest building of stupidity.”
Cella shrugged. “It’s a skill.”
“So,” Crush asked, “should I expect any visits from your associates?”
“Not from mine. They’re terrified of you, kid. And you being a cop doesn’t change that.” Charming lifted his chin. “What’d ya come here for?”
“I had questions.”
“About?”
“Frankie Whitlan. Heard he’s back.”
Charming laughed. “Is back? Frankie Whitlan’s been back. For years. I wouldn’t say right under everybody’s nose, but he hasn’t exactly been hiding, either. But he is protected.”
“By
who?”
“Everybody. Feds. Your people. Everybody he’s ever worked with, he’s got dirt on. Not your typical bullshit, guy-cheating-on-his-wife dirt, either, but put-you-under-the-jail dirt. He goes down, a lot of people go down with him.”
“Then why hasn’t anyone taken him out?”
“Because he makes a lot of people a lot of money. And Whitlan’s smart. Very smart.” Charming leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “And I’ll give you this, because I’m such a great guy, and because I’ll never hear from you again after today ... Whitlan has an office on Staten Island.”
“An office? What does he need an office for?”
“Outwardly, he’s gone legit. Has rich friends, lives a rich life. But he hasn’t changed. You want to find him, start there.” Charming tapped the table. “But be careful. The man likes to kill.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, people I’ve heard of, not me, of course, or those I know personally, but others ... they kill because they have to. Because someone’s stealing their money, damaging their merchandise”—Charming eyed him—“or is just a rat. But Whitlan kills because he likes to. Heard a story a few years back that he used to round up his friends, hire a couple of hookers for the night, go to some desolate part of Jersey or upstate, and then send the hookers out.”
“Out to do what?”
“To run. He and his friends would hunt them down. First it was just about fucking them, then he started killing them. Had to stop, though, when the ones running the girls got a little fed up at losing perfectly good merchandise every week.”
The door opened and Charming’s man walked into the room. “They’re here.”
“You better go,” Charming told Crush. “And good luck, kid.”
“Did you know?” Cella demanded of Jai, one skate tapping against the floor of Jai’s Sports Center office.
“Did I know what?”