Cops 02 - Love on the Run (20 page)

Tony opened his drawer, rummaged through it a bit before closing it and walking back to the bed. He sat down on the side and held out his hand. “You can use this to lock the door when you leave.”

Bianca stared down at the key in his palm and then back at him. “Oh…okay. I’ll give it back when I see you later tonight.” Her blush got a little deeper, and she looked away. “I meant, if I see you…”

Tony smiled at the look on her face. He cupped her chin and turned her head to meet his eyes. “You’ll definitely see me later.” He kissed her lips, her nose. “And the key is yours to keep.”

Tony grabbed the rest of his things and left the room. He paused at the doorway and turned around. His breath caught at the sight of her lying there. Jesus, she was so fucking beautiful, it just blew him away.

“What’s wrong?” She looked at him oddly.

“Nothing. I…” He cleared his throat. “I forgot how good you look in my bed.”

The smile she gave him was nearly his undoing, had him ready to drop to his knees and promise her anything, so long as it meant she’d keep looking at him that way. He left before he could make a complete fool of himself, taking fresh images of her with him, a silly grin plastered on his face.

“Who is he?” Bianca looked up into Traci’s smiling face as she stood in the doorway to Bianca’s office.

“Who is who?” she said innocently.

“Oh, come on.” Traci laughed and walked further into her office. She stopped and rested a hip against the corner of Bianca’s desk. “Only a man could make a woman look the way you’re looking right now.” Traci continued to scrutinize her. “And judging from the smile that was on your face when I walked in, he must be some man.”

“He’s nobody special,” Bianca lied, the words feeling phony on her tongue and sounding false to her ears.

“Well, he may not be special to you, but you’re certainly special to him.” Traci walked out of her office and returned carrying a huge basket filled with fruit shaped like flowers.

She sat the bouquet on the desk in front of Bianca.

Bianca knew she was grinning like an idiot, but she couldn’t help it. It was such a simple gesture, and yet it meant so much to her.

“So, open the card already.” Traci held the envelope out to her. Bianca took it from her and pulled out the card inside.

Bianca —

Something to brighten your day the way you’ve brightened my life.

I love you,

T.

P.S. — Save the chocolate sauce for tonight. I have plans for it involving my tongue and your skin… “Yeah, you don’t think he’s special, just like I don’t think I need to lose twenty pounds.” Traci patted her ample backside. “Honey, I swear, I haven’t seen you look this happy in weeks.”

Bianca could only laugh, not even bothering to try to deny it. She removed the plastic wrapping off the basket and offered some of the fruit to the other woman.

“So, are we going to meet him tonight?” Traci asked as she chewed on some pineapple shaped like a daisy.

“Tonight?” Bianca gave her a blank look. “What’s tonight?”

“Don’t even try to get out of it. You know we all get together and go out once a week.

After Richard died, we stopped for a few weeks, but now it’s on again, and you promised that you’d go the next time we went out.” Traci crossed her arms in front of her. “Besides, we’re going to that restaurant, Rumba, and every Thursday is Brazilian Night, so you have to go.

We need for you to show us how the dances are supposed to be done.”

Traci leaned across her desk and whispered. “And, you didn’t hear this from me, but Richard wasn’t the only guy at the station who wanted you.” Traci sat back with a smile.

“Make sure you wear your comfortable shoes because they all want to dance with you.”

“Are you kidding me?” Bianca stared at her in surprise. “I don’t know about all that, Traci,” she hedged. “I don’t want to give anybody the wrong impression.”

“Oh, it’ll be fun. Most the guys know they don’t really stand a chance with you.” Traci wiggled her eyebrows. “And those who don’t know will figure it out pretty fast when your boyfriend shows up.”

Bianca remembered agreeing to go out with her coworkers, and the restaurant did sound like fun. So did the idea of spending the night out with Tony.

“So, what do you say?” Traci persisted. “Will you be there?”

“I guess I’ll come,” Bianca said, giving her a smile.

“And you’ll bring your boyfriend?” Bianca just shook her head at the hopeful note in Traci’s voice.

“I’ll see what I can do.” She laughed and pulled a chocolate-covered strawberry from her basket. “But I make no promises.”

“Good.” Traci looked happy as she stood and prepared to leave. She paused at the doorway. “Your man wouldn’t happen to have an accent, would he?”

“No.” Bianca frowned. Traci’s question sent a chill of apprehension down her spine.

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that some guy called several times for you before you got in today, but he wouldn’t leave a message. So I thought it was a personal call.” She shrugged. “When the gift arrived, I just figured it was from him.” “If it was important, I’m sure he’ll call back.” She kept her voice light and her expression nonchalant so Traci wouldn’t know just how bothered she really was.

“You’re right,” Traci agreed. She glanced at the basket again. “Well, enjoy your gift. I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks,” Bianca said, distracted. Her thoughts were still on Traci’s words. The only person Bianca had known with an accent was Viktor, and she was pretty damn positive that he wasn’t the one who’d called, so she had no idea who it might have been. And that’s what bothered her.

She glanced at the basket again, and her thoughts shifted to Tony. When she’d finally woken up that morning, she almost thought she’d imagined the past few hours, had only dreamed that she was with Tony again, that he’d told her that he loved her. But when she looked around his familiar bedroom, felt his warm sheets wrapped around her, and smelled his scent on the pillows, she knew it was real.

She’d heard men tell her many times how much they loved how she looked, loved how she felt, loved how she made them feel. But she’d waited all her life for a man to tell her how much he loved her. She hugged herself. God, and now that it had finally happened, it felt so much better than she could have imagined, especially when it came from a man that she felt the exact same way about.

Her cell phone rang. Bianca snatched it up and a huge grin spread across her face when she saw the number.

“Hi.” She barely recognized her own voice. It sounded all soft and breathless, like a little sex kitten, and it made her blush. She covered her eyes and shook her head. Jesus, she had it bad.

“Hey, baby.” Tony’s voice was a deep rumble, and it just poured over her, made her want to moan.

“You must have known that I was sitting here thinking about you.”

“Oh, yeah?” His voice dipped even lower. “Were they good thoughts or bad thoughts?”

“Definitely good.” She cleared her throat. “I got your gift. Wow. It was…”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I know. It was probably kind of sappy and a little over the top, right?”

“No!” she insisted quickly. “It’s beautiful.” She stared at the bouquet. “Nobody ever…”

Her voice trailed off; she hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“I take it that nobody ever did that before,” he said quietly. When Bianca didn’t respond, he joked, “I see I have a lot of work to do.”

“No,” she argued. “You don’t need to make up for other men’s mistakes, Tony.”

“I’m not just making up for their mistakes.” Tony’s voice turned serious. “I’m making up for mine, too.” She heard someone calling Tony’s name through the phone. “I hope I didn’t cause you to get into trouble at work today.”

“Nah, Elizabeth covered for me like she promised, so everything was fine.”

Next she heard a man speaking to him, and he sighed. “I can’t talk long. I just got another case. A couple of dealers were found dead this morning.” He sounded apologetic. “I still want to be with you tonight, but with this new investigation, it’ll be pretty late before I can get away.”

“The nerve of them to mess up our plans by getting killed,” Bianca teased, and Tony laughed.

“Seriously,” she continued. “I’m going to be up late anyway, so it won’t be a problem.”

“You working late, too?” he asked.

“No, I’m going out for dinner and drinks with some of my coworkers.” She hesitated. “I thought that once you’d left work, if you wanted to…if you weren’t too tired…you could just…well…meet me.” Bianca knew she sounded like a complete idiot. She was glad she was speaking to Tony over the phone and didn’t have to be in the same room with him at the moment.

“Are you asking me out on a date, Bianca?” She groaned at the amusement she heard in his voice. It took her a moment to realize that she was nodding her head and that Tony couldn’t see her response. That was probably a good thing. Her face felt so hot, she was positive it was the same color as the red blouse she was wearing.

“Yes.” She swallowed her embarrassment. “I am.”

“In that case, I’d love to.” Tony sounded pleased. He paused for a moment, and Bianca could hear him talking to someone.

“Listen, baby, I gotta go. Leave a message on my voice mail at home with the information about the restaurant tonight.”

“Okay,” she promised, “I will.”

“And Bianca,” he called out before she could hang up. “I want you to know that I meant every word I wrote on that card.”

“Oh, yeah?” Bianca was smiling so hard her face hurt. “Even the part about the chocolate sauce?”

Tony chuckled, his voice soft and sexy. “Especially the part about the sauce.”

“I love you, Tony,” she blurted out. The groaning sound Tony released more than made up for the nervousness that raced through her at saying those three little words for the first time during the light of day.

“I love hearing you say that.” Heat filled his low whisper.

“I love saying it.” Her voice came out equally soft, equally needy. “I love being able to finally admit it.” “Good. I love you, too. I’ll see you later.” A soft click told her that the call disconnected, and she leaned back in her chair, staring at nothing for several long seconds, feeling so excited she was damn near giddy. She wished Clarke was back from her honeymoon so she could tell her that the search was over. She’d found the man who made her happy.

She was still daydreaming when the phone on her desk suddenly rang, startling her, and she quickly picked it up.

“Bianca Mendez.” Silence greeted her. She glanced at the display on the phone. No number listed. The call had been transferred to her from the in-house operator.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” She knew someone was on the line; she could hear noises in the background.

“Is this Ms. Mendez?” The caller’s words sounded slightly muffled, as if he were trying to disguise his voice, but Bianca clearly detected his accent. She immediately went on alert, certain that this was the same person who’d called for her earlier.

“Yes. Who is this?” she demanded.

“I’m a friend of Viktor’s.” I don’t think so. She’d spent enough time with Viktor over the past few weeks to know that he didn’t have any friends. He’d trusted exactly two people, and she was one of them. She didn’t know who the fuck this guy was, but he definitely hadn’t been a friend of Viktor’s.

“Viktor?” She kept her voice purposely bland. “Viktor who?”

“Listen, I need help, and Viktor told me to call you. He said I could trust you.”

“Really?” Was that before or after he was killed? “Listen, Mr…what’s your name?”

A dial tone was her response as the caller abruptly hung up. The earlier apprehension she’d felt had given way to outright fear.

Bianca hesitated for a brief moment before she dialed Tony’s number. She hated to bother him again. It was obvious that he was busy, but there was something very wrong with this situation, one too many coincidences that had her more than a little shaken.

After several rings, Bianca heard the automated voice prompt that said the call was being transferred to his voice mail. She debated with herself about whether to leave a message. She was still nervous and on edge about everything that had happened lately, and Bianca didn’t want to leave some crazy, frantic message that would worry Tony

unnecessarily, especially if she was just overreacting.

Bianca sighed. I’ll tell him tonight. She hung up the phone and ignored the voice inside her that warned her this was far from an overreaction.

*

Bianca had gone shopping on her lunch break, trying to find something to wear for later that evening. She’d used up just about her entire lunch hour before she’d finally found an outfit in a pricey little boutique on Michigan Avenue.

Now she stood at the register, waiting for the cashier to ring up her purchase. She had the feeling that she was being watched. Bianca lowered her eyes and tried to subtly peer through her lashes. She caught several men throughout the room looking at her. The intent behind their gazes was clearly written on their faces — purely, and only, interested — so she dismissed them.

What she felt was different, darker, and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Bianca tried to brush it off as her imagination, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. And after last night…she didn’t even want to think about that. The images were still too fresh in her head. She couldn’t afford to take anything for granted, couldn’t be too cautious.

“Here you go, ma’am.” The cashier held her bag and receipt out to her.

“Thank you.” Bianca smiled and took her purchase. As she headed out of the store, she thought of her new outfit, and it made her feel a little better. It cost a fortune, but damn, she looked good in it.

Besides, she reasoned, this was the first time she was going out on a date — a real date — with Tony, and she wanted to look nice. Memories of the last time they tried to go out on a date intruded on her thoughts, and she pushed them to the side, knowing in her heart that this time would be different.

She was about a block away from work when the sensation that she was being watched became so overwhelming, she had to fight the urge to run. With her heart racing, she picked up her pace, quickly maneuvering through the busy downtown streets. She was only feet away from the entrance to her building when a hand suddenly landed on her arm.