Indulgence (331 page)

“And where the fuck have you been?” Kyle asked.

Armando shrugged. The card game was stalled, waiting for his
response. He didn’t like all the bloodshot eyes peering into his private
thoughts.

“Anyone tell you thinking about things is dangerous?” Fredo
added like the Father Confessor he tried so hard to be.

“Thanks, Fredo. Glad you got my back,” he answered as he
threw down his worthless hand.

Just then, several retired SEALs entered the apartment. The
testosterone level was threatening to blow the place up, Armando thought.
Winning at poker wasn’t as important as when you left the party. You were a
pansy if you left first, especially if it was because you had a date.

Armando wouldn’t have that problem tonight.

Just as Armando had predicted, Sanouk displayed an uncanny
knack for playing poker, and winning. The more shit-faced the Team guys got,
the more he won. Fredo took a drink of the young Thai’s vodka collins, and
discovered it was mostly collins.

He had faked his way into picking up some enormous pots when
the rest of the guys thought he was too inexperienced. The lesson was painful
in terms of pride and costly in terms of nickels. They never bet big stakes,
unless they were in Vegas. Somehow the idea of losing to a casino wasn’t as
abhorrent as losing to one of your buds. No one wanted to be the one to make it
so a Team guy couldn’t pay his rent.

Kyle had put Brandon to bed in Fredo’s only bedroom. Gunny
was passed out in Fredo’s lounger. He’d been watching some nudie flick on the
VCR. The film had allowed Sanouk to sneak peeks while the guys were distracted.
It was important for the men to make comments about the size of the actor’s
dicks and the skanky girls with mullet hairstyles. The reddish cast to the
films indicated they were nearly a generation old.

“Fredo, you get these at a Mexican garage sale or
something?”

“No. If they came from there, they’d be in Spanish, or
didn’t you notice?” Fredo quipped back. His eyebrows scrunched in a serious
cluster, resembling a giant tarantula.

“Well, you
do
know they make some really nice ones
now, all artsy. They touch them up,” one of the older guys commented.

“I like these just fine. They get to it. I don’t want to be
teased. I want to see it happen. In gory detail,” Fredo answered, unmoved by
the comment.

Armando laughed. “If it puts Gunny to sleep, that should
tell you something, Fredo.”

“Each to his own taste, I say.”

“There it is,” Beale commented. “The professor of sex.”

Fredo was mumbling to himself when Sanouk declared himself
the winner of the largest pot of the evening. Since it was midnight, everyone
mutually agreed it was time to go home. Everyone left except the five from Team
3.

Kyle peeled Brandon from Fredo’s bed and the baby took one
look at the room full of SEALs and former SEALs and lay back down against his
daddy’s chest, falling asleep again.

“Since Coop’s not here, who’s not drunk?” Mark asked. Cooper
was usually the designated driver since he consumed no alcohol.

No one raised their hand, but everyone looked in Sanouk’s
direction.

“You got a driver’s license, kid?” Armando asked. “You can
drive my Hummer, but you’ll have to walk from my place.”

“Yes. My license is good here for thirty days.”

“Armani, everyone lives around here. Why don’t you have him
drop you off at Mia’s? He can come back here to crash and go home in the
morning with Gunny, unless the old guy wakes up,” Fredo said.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Mia’s house was fully lit. Armando could hear the music
inside before he got his door open. He turned to Sanouk with a word of caution,
“Don’t fuck up my car or I’ll have you on the next plane to Thailand, hear?”

“Yessir, Mr. Armani. I’ll be most extremely careful of your
vehicle. You need not worry.”

“He’s good,” Jones chimed in

“Keep the keys with you. I have a spare set hidden on the
truck,” he said to Sanouk.

“No problem.”

Armando said his goodbyes and headed up Mia’s walkway. He
figured his mother had been coming over lately, because there was a nice
collection of bright dahlias blooming in the front yard. He heard Mia speaking
with someone else in the house. A female voice.

Gina.

That was unfortunate. He looked down the street to try to
flag the boys down, but they were already nearly out of sight. Instead of
walking in or knocking like he usually did, he rang the doorbell.

Mia swung the door open. She was dressed in a pair of
skin-tight pants and a big shirt. Her hair was atop her head in a
rhinestone-encrusted clip. Armando heard the music turned down and saw Gina in
the distance.

“Now what?” Mia said to him.

“I need a place to crash.”

“Something wrong with your place?”

“I’m a little drunk. Was looking for a place closer by.”

“Then call a taxi. You’re not welcome here, right, Gina?”

“Sorry to bother you. I’ll just—”

“Oh, it’s okay. Let him in,” Gina said from inside the room.

Mia pulled the door open wider and allowed him to enter.
“You just can’t seem to leave me alone for one night. You gotta come meddling
again. You insult my friends, try to tell me who I can and can’t date…” Mia
began, picking up steam for a rant.

Mia’s chattering was background white noise. Armando had
locked on Gina’s eyes and wouldn’t let go. She was trying to avoid him, but
each time their eyes found each other, there were sparks Armando could not
deny. He wanted her in the worst way, even though he knew it was unwise.

Mia left to attend to Ricardo, who was crying in the back
bedroom.

“You want a glass of water or a soda?” Gina asked.

“Sure. Water would be perfect.”

He followed her to the little kitchen and leaned against the
countertop while she got a glass down and filled it with cold water from the
fridge. He could stand there and watch her all night.

“Didn’t see your car out front,” he said.

“Yea, well, that’s a long story.” She handed him the cool
glass.

He sipped his water and enjoyed the view as Gina went back
to the sink and rinsed some dishes. “My car’s in the shop. I had an accident
shortly after I left you at the beach.”

Armando stiffened, set down his water glass and crossed the
room to be at her side. “You sure you’re okay?”

Gina looked at the ceiling and exhaled. “I’m fine. It’s been
one hell of a day.”

“What happened?” He grabbed her right arm, drawing her into
him. She seemed to dissolve into his chest. Her arms wrapped around his waist
and she began to cry. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said as he stroked the back of her
head while she sobbed.

“Well this is a pretty picture,” Armando heard Mia’s words
behind him.

Gina abruptly pulled away and wiped the tears from her
cheeks. “Don’t sweat it, Mia. My fault entirely.”

Armando was grateful for the minute of space Mia gave them.
She didn’t react, but stood watching them carefully.

“Okay. So, I think I should call a taxi,” Gina said as she
brushed the hair from her face.

“I’d offer to take you, but I was dropped off,” Armando
said.

“Where’s your car?” she asked, frowning.

“Sanouk has it, along with several of the Team guys. I’m in
no shape to drive tonight,” he said.

“Sanouk? Who’s he?” Mia asked.

“Gunny’s son,” said Armando. “Came all the way from Thailand
to meet him.”

“And you just gave this guy the keys to your Hummer?” Mia
gave him the what-were-you-thinking look. “Gina, he wouldn’t even let me take
it to the store when he first got it. And now he lets a strange kid take it…”

“He’s not just a strange kid. His English is better than
most grunts on base.” Armando added, “Besides, Marky and Jones are with him.
They wouldn’t have let me drive. I’d never make it home.”

“That makes two of us,” Gina said.

“Gina stay,” Mia pleaded. “Stay here tonight. Tomorrow we’ll
get your car stuff handled. I’ll take you to work if you want.”

“No, I’m fine. I’ll rent something in the morning.” She
opened her purse, extracting her cell phone. Armando could not miss the snub-nosed
.38 tucked neatly to the side, and it worried him.

After Gina called the cab they sat. Mia went into the
kitchen.

“You’re packing tonight.”

“Yes. I always do these days.”

“Except that it’s illegal here. You know that.”

“I have a permit.” Her eyes were unflinching.

“You want to explain that?”

“Nope. None of your business.”

“You bring a gun into this house, in front of my sister and
my nephew, and it’s none of my business? How dumb do you think I am?”

“It isn’t what you think.”

“So a lot of things aren’t what I think. Like your ex. He
isn’t really your ex, is he? You just cheated on him with me. He’s still your
guy.”

“He is not my guy.”

“Well he
thinks
he is. I can recognize that.”

Mia came flying out of the kitchen. “Stop it, both of you.
You’ll wake the baby. And when that taxi comes, Armando, it’s yours. I want my
privacy, got that? I told you earlier I don’t want you coming around
unannounced, harassing me, my friends.”

Armando thought about revealing to his sister what he’d
learned about Gina, but he decided not to. When they heard the honk of the taxi
in front, he quickly turned to Gina.

“I want a quick word.” He nodded to his sister. “In
private.”

Mia’s eyes got huge. “What the fuck’s going on?”

Armando grabbed Gina by the arm and pulled her outside on
the front stoop. He motioned to the taxi driver to wait.

“Give it to me.”

“No.”

“I’m not asking. I will not leave while that gun is in my
sister’s home.”

The standoff was as electric as their embrace in the
kitchen. Her face shone in the moonlight, lips moist and pouting. Her defiance
of him turned him on. His hard-on was painful and made absolutely no sense.

“Then you’re coming with me. We share the taxi. No way I’m
leaving you here with that weapon, and I don’t care how many stories you tell
me.” His voice was husky with need. He could see she was in complete shock,
bristling under the command he’d given her. He turned, jogging back to the
front door to explain to his sister he was taking Gina home.

It gave Gina just enough time to get in the taxi and take
off.

“You’re losing your touch, brother,” Mia said as she leaned
against the doorway. “Now you’re scaring them off.”

“I always scare them off.” Armando whispered as he watched
the taxi barrel down the street.

It was the right thing to do, of course, but the pit of her
stomach clenched and Gina thought she might vomit. The cabby was looking at her
with a scowl in the rear view mirror.

“You sure you’re okay, miss?”

“I’m fine,” she said, which was a total lie.

There was no denying the chemistry between them. Even now,
with all the obstacles that separated them, she could feel her heart trying to
claw its way out of her chest, trying somehow to crawl back to him like she was
tethered.

I’m blowing it. I’m blowing the whole operation.
She
was supposed to be getting information about Carlos and what remained of the
Scorpion gang who were responsible for a significant number of crimes involving
guns, drugs and girls. With Caesar in prison, the operation was to get Carlos
and his lieutenants before they had a chance to organize and beef up their
security

She wasn’t doing anything she should not be doing, but she’d
not been spending as much time on her job as she should have, and walked the
line between wanting to tell Armando the truth to gain his trust and help, or
just breaking off their relationship completely. Problem was, if she had to go
through Mia to get to Carlos, that meant the SEAL was going to be right next to
her. It was too close.

Maybe her involvement with Sam had so infected her moral
compass and shaken her so much, she would never be good at any of this
undercover work. She could not reel in her emotions. She was making way too
many mistakes.

If I’m not careful, someone could get killed.

It was one thing to blow a mission, but quite another to risk
the life of an innocent.

But Armando wasn’t exactly an innocent. He was a veteran of
more bloodshed than most people on the force saw during their entire careers.
And his hardwired DNA made it so he would not give up on his sister. What was
she going to say to him to get him to back off? What
could
she tell him?

She needed advice, but knew if she went to her captain he’d
pull her off the case. Sam would be of no help. Who could she trust?

You wanted this, Gina. You wanted to prove to yourself
you could do this. Suck it up and deal with it.
She had to figure it all
out by herself.

Since the meeting with Sam had gone fairly well, she decided
to set up a time tomorrow to see Armando. She had all night to think about it,
come up with a plan. Maybe she could reason with the SEAL.

If
she could keep herself from jumping his bones
again.

Detective Clark Riverton got a call on his cell phone just
at the wrong damned moment. Daisy’s plump little ass was centered on his lap,
her love tunnel fully available to him in spite of the handcuffs. Her tan
Ranger Rick child’s shirt had hiked up, exposing smooth swaths of the flawless
tanned skin up her back. If his hands hadn’t been restrained, he’d be snaking
his way up her spine with his fingers, and then around to the front of her to
squeeze those drool-worthy tits big enough to make a girl fall forward. He was
hard as a rock, even after the phone rang for the third and then the fourth and
last time. His cock was always right, in matters of priority, but damn, he’d
been waiting for two days for that callback. Tomorrow would be the weekend.