Dark Temptation (Dark Saints MC Book 2)(41)

Bear left his bar stool, and I sat there a moment. Is this how it started with Deputy Chief Janning? I wondered how far the Deputy Police Chief and the Prez of the MC went back.

I’d learned a lot from Janning about how The Saints and the PAPD co-existed. And about how the citizens of Port Az may not want to sit next to The Saints at the local diner but they appreciated having them handle the dark corners of the world we all lived in.

The devil you know.

I put the envelope in my bag and felt Benz’s arms around me. He lay his head on my shoulder.

“Let’s go. I’m sick of sharing you.”

One year after the night Bear first tipped me off I was at the loading area at the back of the Port Azrael Grand Hotel with a gun on a South American drug trafficker.

The hotel wasn’t grand in the slightest. It was run down and had seen its good days decades ago. Ricardo Pilar was there, making a show of renovating it if anyone asked.

But really, he was using the loading dock as a distribution point for heroin. I’d watched for a year, I’d tracked, and I’d orchestrated a reason for him to be there in person to receive his biggest shipment yet. It was in a truck that appeared to be hauling hotel banquet tables.

Along the way, I had help, eyes where I needed them, and information that could only be gained on the street. These days even Janning didn’t question it.

“Don’t try it, Pilar.” I saw him think about trying for the gun at his belt. I looked over to my partner, Peter Peck.

“On it.” Peck covered me while I bent over, relieved Ricardo Pilar of his weapon, and slapped the cuffs on him.

I pulled him up to his feet and recited his rights. I’d done everything I could to make this bust. I wasn’t going leave a single detail available for a defense attorney to poke a hole in.

Pilar looked at me as I finished. He had a smirk on his face. I didn’t like the look of it.

I walked him out to our vehicle as the evidence team took photos. This was my collar, and Janning was letting me handle it top to bottom.

I shielded Ricardo Pilar’s head, and he got in the back of the vehicle. I got in, and it was just Pilar and me.

“You think you’re the winner eh? You think this is some big bust for you.”

“I’m not the one in cuffs now am I?”

“You’re fucking a Saint? Don’t get used to that taste.” It was an empty threat snarled from a man headed to jail. Still, it scared me that Ricardo Pilar knew anything about my life. I was the one watching him, not the other way around. I didn’t like that he knew who I was and whose bed I slept in.

Some would say it was dangerous, being in love with a Dark Saint. I knew it was the opposite. Benz and his club were the dark guardian angels this town needed. I accepted it. Beyond that, I was grateful for it.

“Let’s go. There’s a night of paper work ahead.” Peck said as he got in the passenger seat.

He was right. Ricardo Pilar was off the streets. And so was the heroin he wanted to bring to town. It was a win. A win with an assist from The Dark Saints.

The engine turned over, and I stole a glance in the rearview mirror at Pilar.

He smiled.



Booking and paperwork took most of the rest of my shift. Assistant Chief Janning walked out when I did as the sun was coming up over Port Az.

“Good work Guffy.”

“Thank you.”

“Keep that up, and I’ll be looking at you for a promotion, maybe even recommend you to The Rangers.”

“You know, I think I’m good right where I am for a while.”

“Yeah? Port Az grows on you.”

“Well, that and Peck still can’t remember his computer password. I can’t leave him high and dry.”

“There’s that.”

“See you tomorrow.”

I drove the short distance to my place.

Our place.

Before I could even turn the key Benz was at the door opening it for me and sweeping me up in his strong arms. My feet left the ground.

He kicked the door shut and his lips met mine. The kiss was part greeting and part promise. I missed him after working twenty-hours to put this case over the top.

Benz put me down.

“I got eggs going Detective, let’s get you fed.” I looked at his face and noticed a fresh cut on the brow over his left eye. I looked closer at it and inspected the rest of his face.

“Did you clean that?”

“Yeah, Mama Bear insists on that shit.” I figured if she cleaned it she also was okay with Benz no stitches. I didn’t ask how the cut got there. It was what worked for us. If I needed to know what happened, he’d tell me. I trusted him. That’s what it came down to.

I had no doubt if I knew every detail I’d worry over every minute.

This was better. This was the life we’d figured out together, night by night, moment by moment.

“I heard you got Pilar dead to rights. Nice work, year in the making.”

“You always hear this shit before the ink even dries on the fingerprints. I swear.”

“Come on.” Benz took my hand and led me to our kitchen. I loved our place. It was the same apartment, a whole floor, that Benz had brought me to the first night. He was better at making house than I was and for sure better at making eggs.

“Mama taught you how to make a killer omelet, another thing I owe her for.”