Frisk Me(65)

Luc met his father’s gaze stonily. He knew his dad was wary about this Ava Sims thing, but his father wouldn’t even tell him why. And his dad had been plenty friendly to her when she’d come over to dinner. The whole family was.

So if there was a problem—and it was evident from Tony’s irate face that there was—then he’d just have to explain to Luc what the hell that problem was.

Luc gave a careful shrug, shooting his dad an easy grin. “She’s a gorgeous woman. We’re enjoying each other.”

Tony’s lips rolled inward and he wrapped his fist gently against the table. “Nobody’s arguing that she’s gorgeous. We all liked her well enough at dinner, but what the f*ck you thinking, getting your cock tangled up in her reporter’s world? I thought you hated this story shit, and now you’re yakking it up via pillow talk.”

Luc’s own temper went off. “Okay that’s enough,” he snapped. “I can understand your concern, but you don’t get a vote in who I sleep with.”

“I do when you’re screwing the press.”

Luc plowed his fingers through his hair. “Look, Pops, you know how I feel about all this hero crap, but that’s got nothing to do with what Ava and I do in our time off.”

“So no cameras in the bedroom, huh?” Vincent asked, sounding genuinely curious. “Because if there’s a way to crop you out of it so it’s just her tight—”

Luc gave his brother a warning finger, his eyes never wavering from his father.

“Seriously, what is the big deal?” Luc asked his dad.

Tony leaned forward and there was anger in his eyes, but there was something else too. Fear.

“Playing nice with her for the sake of the department is one thing. We were all set to get her on your good side. But for the sake of her story, not your pecker!”

“What difference does it make?” Luc asked, his own voice rising. “I’m allowed to talk to her about myself while in uniform, or as long as the entire Moretti family’s around to chaperone, but not in bed?”

“Well I can’t keep you from saying something damned stupid in bed!”

Luc threw his arms up. “What is it you think I’m going to say? It’s not like there’s some cliché mob connection that we’re trying to bury behind the badge.”

“That’d be cool, though,” Vin said to himself. “Very bad-ass.”

Luc dimly registered what was happening. His hotheaded brothers were trying desperately to diffuse the mood and prevent a fight. A feat that normally was Luc’s duty.

The change in roles irritated him all the more. He didn’t need to be protected, not by them, not by his father.

“I’ve got nothing to hide,” Luc said, leaning forward and meeting his father’s dark brown gaze.

Luc nearly winced as he heard the police therapist’s words coming out of his own mouth. How many times had Dr. Kaperski leaned forward in that very way, looking into Luc’s eyes and telling him he had nothing to hide?

That it wasn’t his fault.

“Of course not,” Tony said, looking away.

A quick glance around the table showed that Anthony and Vin weren’t meeting his eyes either, and Luc very slowly set his beer on the table, instincts buzzing in a bad way.

“What am I missing here?”

For a second, nobody responded, but then Vin gave him a not-so-gentle kick in the shin, brother-to-brother. “Just that you should be careful. Who knows what her motives are, you know?”

“Her motives are to get in my pants,” Luc said crassly. Ava wouldn’t appreciate the sentiment, but she’d like it a hell of a lot better than what his family was implying.

“So she doesn’t ask about your career?”

“Sure, I guess,” he said, feeling more agitated than ever. “I mean, you guys know that. You f*cking told her all about it when she was at our house for dinner.”

His message clear: they couldn’t have it both ways. They couldn’t welcome her to the Moretti fold while telling him not to let it get personal.

It had been personal for weeks.

So what had crawled up their respective asses?

“Just be careful is all we’re saying,” Tony said. “We don’t want her asking about Mike.”

The table fell silent, and Luc waited for either brother to give their dad shit for breaking the unspoken code.

We don’t talk about fallen cops around family.

Certainly not around Luc.

But to his surprise, Anthony and Vincent exchanged a look that Luc was left out of.

A worried look.

“She hasn’t asked, has she, bro?” Anthony asked. His older brother had a smile pasted on his face, and since Anthony didn’t smile, the humming Luc had been feeling escalated to a full-on siren.

He pointed around the table. “Someone tell me what exactly I’m not supposed to tell her about Mike. It’s all public record if she wants to see it.”

There. There it was on his dad’s face. Guilt.

Luc’s eyes narrowed. “It’s public record. The Shayna Johnson case, Mike’s death.”

“There are police records, of course,” Tony muttered.

It was an odd distinction. A crucial one.

“Police records, but not media records?”