Riskier Business (Crossing the Line 0.5)(27)

“You rule my world. You know you do.”

“Tell me you love me.”

“I love you. I love you,” Ruby chanted, unable to hold back the rush of sensation any longer. Legs clamping hard around his waist, she rode her climax out relentlessly, hips pumping in a blur as Troy came apart beneath her. He shot forward to capture her whimpers with his mouth, swallowing them with throaty groans. Ruby could sense how badly he wanted to raise his hand and slap her bottom, and his hard-won restraint somehow made her orgasm all the more powerful.

When she’d finished shaking, Ruby slumped down into his welcoming embrace and buried her face against his neck. He kissed her hair once, twice, whispering praise and love, words that made her heart swell huge in her chest. Finally, Troy laid them back onto the mattress, still wrapped around each other.

Blue eyes pleaded with hers. “Please don’t spend the night away from me anymore.”

She traced a pattern on his sweat-slicked chest. “I won’t. I promise.”

His long release of breath fluttered her hair. “Sleep now. We’ll worry about everything in the morning.”

Ruby nodded through a yawn. Tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about her father coming after her mother. Tomorrow.

Right before she drifted off, a little voice in the back of her head warned her tomorrow would be too late.





Chapter Nine


Troy locked the door of his police vehicle and headed toward the station at a fast clip. He’d woken early and headed to Brooklyn with the intention of tracking down Jim, but he’d had no luck. In truth, he hadn’t really expected Ruby’s father to show himself in his old neighborhood. Surprisingly, he hadn’t shown up at Pamela’s apartment last night as they’d expected. Daniel had been waiting with backup to arrest him for breaking and entering, a short-term solution to keep him off the street until they could figure out where to put Pamela. Now Troy began to worry that Jim had either spotted the police lying in wait, or they’d somehow tipped their hand yesterday at Mancuso’s.

Whatever it was, he didn’t like it. Something didn’t feel right. Until today, he’d been able to predict Jim’s moves accurately, but since this morning, he’d started feeling as though he’d underestimated the man. The entire drive back from Brooklyn, he’d been racking his brain for something he’d failed to see. Last night in Mancuso’s, Jim’s eagerness to confront Pamela had been palpable. There had to be a reason he’d neglected to go straight to her apartment.

He had a sudden vision of how beautiful Ruby had looked, curled up beside him in their bed this morning, bathed in predawn light. Her hair had been a tangled mess on the pillow, courtesy of him waking her in the middle of the night for a quick, pounding f*ck. Christ, as soon as he’d stretched out on top of her, she’d been frantic for him, as if they hadn’t made love just hours before. He’d been forced to hold her down and cover her mouth to keep her quiet. And damn, he’d loved every frantic, sweaty second of it.

She was counting on him. The giving of trust last night had been a tangible thing and it weighed heavily on his shoulders. He couldn’t let her down.

Troy came to a dead stop when he heard the gun cocking behind him. He didn’t even have to turn around to know who held it.

“Holding a gun on me outside the police station?” Troy turned slowly, hand itching to reach for his own weapon. “You’re either desperate or stupid.”

Jim shrugged. “Either of those options makes you dead if you touch your gun.”

Troy whistled under his breath. “You know, this whole meet-your-girlfriend’s-father thing is really turning out to be a pain in the ass.”

“You know, under different circumstances, I might have liked you.” He pointed the gun at Troy’s midsection. “But probably not. Put your gun, cell phone, and whatever other police bullshit you’re holding on the ground and slide them over to me.”

“Go f*ck yourself.” As confident as he sounded, Troy knew he was at a disadvantage. This early in the morning, only a handful of cops were inside the station and most of them were exhausted from the night shift. There were cameras all over the parking lot, but only an off chance someone was inside monitoring them. That footage was only accessed if an incident took place, but it would happen after the fact. His only chance was to stall and hope another cop arrived to distract Jim long enough for him to draw his weapon. On top of everything, the possibility of having to injure or kill Ruby’s father made him ill.

Jim laughed without humor. “You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Can’t imagine my daughter dating a pushover.”

“Damn right.”

His tone turned almost conversational, but amusement lurked in his eyes. “You must hate me like hell, knowing the situations I put her in. Did she ever tell you about the time we lost that match in Duluth, Minnesota? I left her as collateral until I could pawn my gold ring to pay up.” When Troy’s hands curled into fists, Jim laughed. “Relax, it was only for about an hour.”

“I was conflicted about killing you before. Not any longer.”

“You won’t get the chance.”

Troy’s jaw tightened painfully. “What the hell do you want?”

“I’ll have what I want soon enough.” Jim raised the gun slightly higher. “For now, though? I have to tie up some loose ends. Namely you.” He jerked his chin toward a blue Impala idling at the curb about sixty yards away, just outside police station property. “You’re coming with me.”