A Man to Trust (14 page)

“It began on our wedding night.”

A betraying muscle jerked along his jaw, but his voice remained gentle. “What happened?”

“Scott and I flew to Vegas for a quickie wedding. I thought it was romantic.”

Jake reached up to cup her cheek. His thumb caressed the curve of her chin.

“Scott started drinking on the flight.” Her voice shook.

Jake’s hand moved to the base of her neck and he pulled her to him, wrapping his other arm around her waist, his embrace offering comfort.

She sighed. “He continued drinking throughout the day . . . and gambled heavily. It was a side of him I’d never seen before. And I didn’t like it. We were scheduled for a late night ceremony at the casino chapel, but I had second thoughts.” She closed her eyes at the ugly memories.

Jake held her firmly against his chest, cradling her head on his shoulder. He rested his chin on the top of her head and stroked her hair with extreme tenderness. He remained silent, not pressing her to continue. Just holding her.

Now that she wasn’t looking at him, she was less tense. She closed her eyes and let the memory of the evening return.

Scott and a handful of partygoers all drained their shots and slammed their glasses onto the bar with whoops of triumph. Angela tensed when Scott turned and pulled her against him for a rough kiss, to loud, unruly shouts of “get a room” and raucous laughter.

It seemed he’d turned into a different person the minute they’d stepped off the airplane. When he finally released her and turned to order another shot, she bit her bottom lip and wondered if marrying him was the right thing to do. She had really only known him for six months.

The next few hours only reinforced her doubts as Scott continued to drink, losing thousands of dollars at the card tables.
By the time they reached the chapel, she was in a full-blown panic.

“Scott, maybe we should think about this.”

He turned to her with a scowl. “What are you saying, doll?”

Her heart raced. She loved him . . . didn’t she? “I—I just think we might be moving a bit too fast.”

For an instant his eyes flashed with icy fury, then the anger was gone, replaced with a look of tenderness and hurt. Maybe she’d imagined it?

He held her tight and kissed her brow. “I’m sorry, I know I’ve been a little wild tonight. It’s just that I’m so happy. I love you and want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you.” He cupped her face in his hands and gave her a gentle kiss.

Her tension eased, although a hard knot of uncertainty curled in her belly. She ignored it. He loved her and she loved him. She was just having pre-wedding jitters.

But when the preacher announced them man and wife, Scott turned to her and his eyes held that same cold look she’d seen earlier and her doubts returned.

“Scott, is everything okay?”

Without answering, he took her hand and led her to the elevator and back up to their room. The uncertainty uncurled in her belly, its tendrils invading every part of her body as the tension mounted. When the door to their suite closed behind them, Scott went over to the built-in stereo system and put on soft, romantic music.

Angela gave a shake of her head. She was being silly. Scott was her husband now; he loved her. She was just nervous because she’d never been with a man.

“I’m just going to freshen up.” She gave him what she hoped was a confident sensual smile, retrieved her nightgown from the closet and headed into the bathroom. After putting on the sheer silk negligee, she brushed her teeth and combed her hair. This was it, her wedding night. Her stomach fluttered.

When she stepped back into the room, Scott stood by the bed with a drink in his hand. His eyes drifted over her in a hot, carnal appraisal as she walked toward him. Angela hesitated, not seeing any tenderness in his possessive gaze. A ripple of unease slithered up her spine when he downed the drink in one gulp and placed the glass on the bedside table.

He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. Tugging her forward, he covered her mouth in a demanding kiss. “You’re mine now, doll,” he whispered into her ear, then shoved her onto the bed.

A surge of unease rolled over her when she looked into cold, hard eyes. Where was the man she’d fallen in love with? He reached down and yanked her gown over her head, his eyes shining with satisfaction as they roamed over her naked body.

Angela trembled, and a glimmer of fear shivered down her spine.

“Wait.” Her voice shook and she scrambled off the bed.

Scott grabbed her and shoved her back down. His lips curved into a sneer and his eyes filled with lust.

“What are you doing?” Her voice shook. There was no tenderness or love in his cold stare.

“Fucking my wife.”

Not even bothering to undress, he freed his erection and lay over her. He trapped her arms above her head with one hand, shoving her legs apart with the other.

“Scott, please, don’t. Not like this,” she begged tearfully. She attempted to roll out from under him.

Ignoring her plea, he held her in place and covered her scream with his mouth as he roughly entered her body, taking her virginity and her innocence forever.

When she finished speaking, silence filled the room for a long moment. Although Jake continued to stroke her hair with a gentle touch, she felt his muscles tighten into hard knots of tension as she lay cradled in his arms.

“Bastard.” His voice was little more than a growl.

The outrage and anger evident in Jake’s voice warmed her and she snuggled closer, the memory of that night becoming a little less painful.

“Yes,” she said softly. “He was.”

Jake pushed her gently back onto the bed and kissed her forehead, then her lips. His thumb moved to stroke the burn at her breast again, then moved to the scar on her inner-thigh. His lips soon followed the same path as his thumb. She trembled as a need began to burn again in her belly. As though the pleasure he’d given her had never happened, desire flooded her.

Jake kissed her, his hands caressing her body with a gentle touch, as though she were a fragile piece of spun glass he was afraid to break. When he touched her like that, with such tender reverence, a feeling of utter contentment filled her, knowing Jake would never hurt her like Scott did.

He found the cut at her knee from where Scott pushed her through the patio window, kissing it before moving down her leg to her ankle. He ran his fingers gently across a bump left by the same fall through the window, pressing his lips to it before working his way up her other leg. He paused when his hand brushed across the cigarette burn at the back of her knee. He flipped her over onto her belly and kissed his way to the spot and gave it the same sweet attention as her other injuries.

She gasped, craving his intimate touch as his lips continued their exploration up her body. The feel of his hands cupping her butt caused her to shiver with mounting desire. Moisture flooded the apex of her thighs when his lips moved to join his hands in their sensual ministrations.

She froze when Jake’s hand feathered across the puckered scar on her back, just below her hip. From where Scott carved his initials, branding her as his on her wedding night.

“Motherfuck.” The grip on her hips tightened and a deep, angry growl vibrated from him. A tense silence filled the room, stretching on for what seemed like forever, only broken by Jake’s harsh breathing.

Despair rolled over her. An anguished cry tore from her lips and she buried her face into the crook of her arm.

“Sshh.” Jake resumed his gentle strokes, kissing the scar just as he’d done the others and then moved up her body with the same healing kisses. Washing away the memory and humiliation with each caress, each kiss, each tender word. Reaching her back, he lifted her thick heavy hair to brush his lips at the base of her neck, igniting a fire within her.

Her stomach fluttered with feminine delight when Jake suddenly flipped her onto her back as though she were as light as a feather and captured her mouth in a hot, hungry kiss. A deep, sexy sound rumbled from his throat, his thick erection against her leg.

Oh, yes.
Her eyes rolled up into her head and she arched into him, her body going up in flames, silently begging for his touch.

The way his hands moved over her, his whispered words of need and demanding kisses, awoke something deep inside her, something primal, a part of her that wanted his possession. Him, only him.
Jake.

An emotion she’d thought lost forever swept over her and she gave Jake her trust. As desire overtook her, she reached down and curled her fingers around his rock-hard erection, and began to stroke.

Jake groaned, pulled her hand away, and rolled on top of her, entering her again in one smooth move. Bringing his hand to her cheek, he lowered his head and took her mouth in another tender kiss.

“Let me replace all those bad memories, Angel.”

He then proceeded to do just that as he made sweet, passionate love to her, leaving only memories filled with erotic sensual pleasures and Jake.

J.D. tossed the file folder on Rick’s desk. “The intel has to be wrong,” he snapped.

Rick scowled. “I’m sorry. I understand Jake has feelings for her. But from what we found, it doesn’t look good.”

“Damn it.” J.D. slapped his hand on the desk. “Dig deeper. I don’t give a shit what the paper trail says. I can’t go to Jake and tell him Angela laundered drug money for her husband. I need verified, undisputable proof.”

Rick swore, then opened the file and tapped a pointed finger against the pages. “The FBI traced illegal offshore deposits to a Milwaukee bank account in her name. An undercover agent matched the dates of the deposits to major drug transactions out of Chicago. What are we supposed to think? They also found a safety deposit box under the same account stuffed with cash.”

“Well, just . . .
fuck
.” J.D. ran his fingers through his unkempt hair. How was he going to break the news to Jake? His mind wandered to Stacey.
Shit
. Stacey would be devastated. She loved Angela like a sister.

Rick scowled at him. “You need to pick her up and bring her in for questioning. Hopefully we can clear her.” He paused, his eyes turning icy. He glanced at the file before meeting J.D.’s gaze. “There won’t be any immunity for money laundering. The current DA will never go for it. If she did it, she will be prosecuted.”

Jake woke to the fragrant bouquet of sex and woman. He smiled and opened his eyes to study the sleeping angel in his arms. They’d made love until the early morning hours and the sheet was in tangled disarray, leaving him completely bare and covering only a delicious portion of her heart-shaped ass. Her silky hair tickled his nose as she nestled her head on his shoulder. Her soft breasts pressed against him, a slender hand splayed across his chest, a shapely silken leg thrown over his. His body tightened, wanting to slide inside her again.

He clenched his fist, recalling the evidence of abuse on her body. Overwhelmed with the need to comfort her and his own mixed emotions of rage and desire, he’d been reckless and made love to her without a condom.
Shit.
Just that one time . . . but still.

They probably should talk about it so he could assure her he was clean and healthy. He wasn’t concerned about Angela. She didn’t strike him as the type that slept around. But what if she got pregnant?

What if she did? Would that really be so bad?

A rush of adrenaline shot through him, his heart pounded a frantic beat.
Damn.
He was in some serious trouble here.

He scowled and traced the letters on her hip. In total, they covered about a half-inch in diameter. They were rough, but you could still read the initials,
SB
.

His jaw clamped tight. The only man claiming her would be him.
Maybe
they could be disguised with a tattoo? Or surgically removed?

She stirred and lazily opened her eyes, smiling shyly up at him. A soft blush brightened her cheeks. “Morning.”

He tugged her more intimately against him. The downy curls between her legs tickled his thigh, making him hard again. Her shyness was endearing, especially after the way they’d sated each other with their bodies during the night. He now knew her intimately. Knew exactly what she liked . . . where to touch her to make her tremble with need, or to make her cry out with pleasure. The memory heated his blood and he leaned down to kiss her.

He ended up kissing the back of her hand when she covered her mouth. “Morning breath,” she mumbled.

Jake grinned, removed her hand to kiss the inside of her wrist, before rolling her under him. “I bet you taste just as sweet in the morning.” And he intended to find out.

His cell phone rang.
Damn.
Jake glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was still early.

Angela pushed at his chest. He groaned and rolled over to fish the phone from his shirt where he’d tossed it on the floor. She giggled and grabbed the sheet from the foot of the bed. A blush crept across her pale skin like moonlight across the water as she stood and wrapped it around her body.

“Jake here,” he snapped into the phone, never taking his eyes off her. She looked sexy as hell, and he fought the urge to take her back to bed and make love to her again. Her hair was mussed from him running his fingers through it, her full lips plump from his kisses. A love bite marked her neck. She showed every sign of being a woman who’d been thoroughly pleasured.

She smiled seductively. “I’m going to freshen up,” she mouthed.

“Jake, can we meet for breakfast?” J.D.’s voice floated across the line.

Jake was barely listening as he watched Angela turn and stroll into the bathroom, mesmerized by the seductive sway of her hips.

J.D.’s voice finally penetrated his mind. “Yeah, what?”

“Listen, Jake. We have some new information on the Beebe case. I’m on my way over to your place now.”

“I’m not at my place.”

A brief moment of silence followed his declaration.

“Where are you?”

Jake hesitated, although he was certain his brother had figured it out from his disapproving tone.

“Damn, Jake.”

Something in J.D.’s tone raised the hair on the back of his neck. “What is it?”

“Just stay there,” J.D. said. “I’ll be there in an hour.” The line went dead.

Jake stared at the cell phone as unease crawled through him. Something was up. His mind replayed the incident at the zoo, adrenaline pumping through him in a hard rush.

He jumped from the bed and paced the floor. Tortured by images of what might have happened if the sonofabitch had somehow snatched Nick. He stopped, clenched his fists, and took a calming breath. The boys were safe.

They were staying with his late wife’s parents in Minnesota, thinking they were there for a fun summer getaway. Nick’s grandparents had always treated Alex and Wesley with equal affection and were happy to have them.

His father-in-law, a retired cop and ex-Marine, would be able to protect them if the bastards somehow discovered their location. Which wasn’t likely. However, they were being kept under police surveillance, just in case.

The sound of a blow dryer came from the bathroom. He stood to retrieve his clothes from the floor, needing to get dressed before J.D. arrived.

He should have gone home after the long drive back from Minnesota after dropping off the boys. But he’d still been filled with fear and rage at the thought of his son being snatched, and his desire for Angela. Wound too tight to sleep, he’d driven to the safe house instead.

Jake raked his fingers through his hair. Not only had he slept with a woman under his protection, he knew it wasn’t going to be the last time. He wanted her still
.

Jake opened the bathroom door and stepped inside. All the air left his lungs as the sight of Angela bent over, her long hair hanging down in front of her as she blew it dry. The tiny towel that covered her didn’t come close to shielding her sweet cheeks, or dark curls between her thighs that peeked out at him. Those luscious curves called to him. They had an hour, after all.

Fumbling desperately with the pants in his hands, Jake retrieved his last condom from the wallet. He watched her and stroked his erection, once, twice, as she wiggled that tempting fanny in front of him. With a hand that shook slightly, he sheathed himself.

Jake stepped up behind her and wrapped one arm around her waist, placing the other on her back to hold her in place. “Don’t move,” he said hoarsely.

She gasped and turned the blow dryer off. Dropping it to the floor, she reached up to grip the counter.

He reached around to caress her pleasure point and slid his erection between her thighs, rubbing along her core until they were both drenched with her excitement.

“Now, Jake.” She pushed seductively against him.

Hell yeah.
Jake was about to explode. Gripping her hips, he slid inside her warm heat as the towel dropped to the floor.

No, he hadn’t had enough of her yet. Not by a long shot.

Angela had just finished putting the last plate into the dishwasher when a knock sounded at the door. J.D. had arrived and she was curious about what he wanted. Had they discovered who was trying to kill her? She added detergent and set the dial, grabbing the dishtowel on the counter to dry her hands.

When they had finished making love, Jake held her tenderly and told her of the incident at the zoo. That explained his dark mood when he’d stalked into her bedroom.

Her stomach did an excited flip-flop when she recalled the way he’d seduced her, taking his pleasure with her body, and giving pleasure back to her with equal intensity. He was an amazing lover. If not for the scars left on her body, the memories of Scott would have been gone forever.

Angela’s pulse raced when she remembered how Jake had made love to her without a condom. Just once, but once was enough. She’d stopped using birth control after Scott’s death. Angela mentally counted the days from her last period. It was more than possible.

She imagined a little brown-haired boy with Jake’s unkempt hair and hazel eyes and a smile curved her lips.
Maybe twins?
What would be the chances of that? Pure happiness bubbled inside her. Something she hadn’t felt since before her mother’s death.

An unbidden truth slammed into her, right there in the kitchen while she was drying her hands. She was falling in love with Jake Bauman.

Holy crap
.

She grew lightheaded and reached for the counter as the room spun. Angela swallowed hard, wanting desperately to talk with Stacey.

Bracing herself to the new reality of her world, she tossed the towel on the counter before joining the men in the living room. The instant she stepped through the doorway she knew something was wrong.

Jake turned and met her gaze. She flinched as though struck. Gone was the tender lover from only a short time ago. Instead, the arrogant detective who’d informed her of her husband’s murder over a year ago glared back at her. The one who’d looked at her as though she were a criminal. She stiffened and protectively wrapped her arms around herself.

“What?” Her voice trembled.

A muscle twitched along the side of Jake’s jaw as he watched her with hard, angry eyes. Angela’s heart raced as dread filled her.

J.D. waved her to a chair. “Take a seat.” His voice was hard.

She slowly made her way to the leather love seat, never taking her eyes from Jake. A coldness settled into her bones as she sat down.

J.D. cleared his throat. “Angela—”

“—They found the offshore account, Angela,” Jake said harshly. The way he said her name left no doubt of his fury. Just twenty minutes ago, she’d been Angel.

She fought back tears that threatened. “What bank account?”

“The one you used to launder your husband’s drug money.” Jake threw the words at her accusingly.

She shook her head and stared at him in disbelief. “What? What are you talking about?”

His eyes filled with contempt. “Oh, you’re good.” He sneered. “You know just how to play a man.”

J.D. placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Jake, you don’t want to do this.”

Angela felt her world crash down around her. “Jake . . . I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tears slid down her face and she swallowed a sob. He still didn’t trust her. How could she love a man who had so little faith in her? Her spine stiffened and she lifted her chin.

She slowly stood, filled with despair and anger. Anger at him, and anger at herself for thinking he was a man she could trust. Could possibly love. Pain ripped through her heart and shredded it. Would she never learn?

Ignoring the man standing in front of her, she turned toward J.D. “Are you here to arrest me?” She held her hands out, palms up, wrists together.

J.D. frowned. “I’m not going to handcuff you, Angela. But I’m afraid I do need to take you in for questioning.”

She shrugged. “Whatever.” She didn’t care, as long as she was away from Jake. Tears burned at the back of her eyelids and she rapidly blinked them away. Dammit, he wouldn’t see her cry. A tremor ran through her. What if she
was
pregnant?

Angela placed a hand over her stomach, keeping her gaze away from Jake, unable to stifle a soft sob at his betrayal.

She took a step forward, but a hand on her shoulder brought her to a halt. She tensed. Her bottom lip quivered, refusing to look at him.

“Angel,” Jake said, his voice gentler now, although anger still hid in its depths.

It was too late. He’d hurt her and she didn’t want his soft words. “The name is Angela,” she said quietly, pulling from his grasp.

J.D. shot Jake a questioning look, before taking her arm and leading her out the door, with Jake following behind.

Michael Hirschman swiveled his chair around to admire the picturesque view through his office high-rise window overlooking Chicago’s lakefront. He glanced back down at the police sketch his informant sent him and met the cold eyes of John Mallory. He returned his attention back to the phone call. “Do you have the woman?”

“Yeah, we got her,” Snake’s second in command answered with a dark laugh. “And she’s a feisty one.”

“I want her unharmed,” Michael snapped. “We need her as a bargaining chip. Keep her out of sight, but don’t fuck with her. Got it?”

“Yeah. I got it.”

Michael frowned at the sarcasm in the guy’s voice. It wasn’t easy working with a bunch of hoodlums, but Snake somehow managed to keep tight control over them. He could see that control slipping with this new threat.

“Snake needs to lay low,” Michael said. “Going after the cop’s son wasn’t a smart move. Cops protect their own. He’s now moved to the top of their Most Wanted list.”

“He gets that,” the guy replied curtly.

“Have you contacted Angela?”

“Not yet, but soon. We’ll let you know when we have her.”

“Do that!” Michael slammed the phone onto the receiver.

This plan had better work. The cops were getting too damn close. They’d tracked an offshore account back to Milwaukee, held in Angela’s name. Michael no longer wanted her dead. At least, not yet. First, he needed to find out what other information was out there that could potentially lead the cops back to his doorstep.