Justice (14 page)

“For
what
?”

“I kind of took and didn’t give… and I snapped at you.”

Dallas laughed. “Baby, this was the best sex I’ve had in a long time.”

She raised her head so she could look him in the eye. “Technically, it was the best sex
I’ve
had in a long time.”

He cupped her cheeks. “Your pleasure’s mine, and believe me, this was amazing.”

Macey’s eyes filled with tears. “I love you.”

Dallas grinned. “I know.”

She leaned down and kissed him. “Do you?”

“Yeah, baby, I do.”

“Can I…?”

“Whatever you want.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask,” she pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter. Whatever you want.”

“In that case…" She smiled, separating herself from him and kissing his chest. “Your turn.” Macey slid further down his body and wrapped her lips around his cock.

“Baby,” he whispered as his fingers wove into her hair.

Macey closed her eyes and focused on the task at hand. She still loved his body. Loved his response to her. Even in her limited experience, she knew what they had was special. When Dallas gripped her hair and his body locked, she could feel he was close, so she added her hand to speed up the process.

“Now, Mase,” he rasped, and groaned as he climaxed.

She kissed his cock and then crawled up beside him as he caught his breath and folded herself against him. He wrapped his arm around her, slipping his fingers into her hair and kissing her forehead. “Amazing, baby.”

Macey buried her face in his neck. “That was fun.”

Dallas chuckled. “Yeah, it was.”

“Can we do it again?”

“What do you think?”

Macey giggled. “No?”

Dallas dragged her back over him and kissed her.

By the time Macey fell asleep, her body felt like goo and she didn’t wake again until the morning.

* * *

“Macey?” Dallas called as he pulled on a pair of shorts. She’d slipped out of his bed more than twenty minutes ago, and he’d expected her back by now. He dragged his hands through his hair and frowned when she didn’t answer him. “Mase?”

He walked into the living room and found her hunkered down against the wall, her head buried in her knees and her body shaking. He rushed to her, kneeling beside her. “Baby? What’s wrong?” She didn’t answer him right away. “Mase, honey, you’re scaring me. Tell me what’s happened.”

She raised her head, her face ashen. “I… I…" she handed him a piece of paper he hadn’t seen her holding.

Dallas looked at letters that had been cut out of what looked like magazines and newspapers. It read:
Well, hi there, pretty.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, trying to keep the rage from his voice.

“It…" she swallowed.

“It’s okay, baby. Take your time.”

“It was on my windshield when I came out of work yesterday. I… I thought it was some kind of flyer. You know, like, come take my yoga class or something. I forgot about it, but I was looking through my purse for my migraine stuff and the envelope was in there and I figured I’d just see what it was before I recycled it.”

“Did you take your meds?”

“No. I got sidetracked and I got sidetracked because the note was so fricking unexpected. Brock killed him. That information wasn’t public, at least it wasn’t supposed to be, and—”

“Breathe, Mase.” He waited until she did and then squeezed her arm. “Did you notice anything else? Were there flyers on any of the other cars?”

“I wasn’t looking, to be honest.” Macey closed her eyes. “It’s what… it’s what
he
said when… right before…"

“I know, baby.”

Her eyes flew open. “What do you mean, you know? Is that an, I know because you’re being sweet, or an I know because you really do know?”

“I really do know,” he said. “I read the file.”

“No!” Macey shook her head. “You weren’t supposed to do that! I told Brock you should never see it. He
promised
me.”

Dallas didn’t comment as he went to her purse and opened it to look for her meds. He found them and peeled open a square, kneeling beside her again. “Here.”

“Thanks.” She took the pill and set it under her tongue.

“Come on. I’m gonna call the guys and see what we can do.” Dallas rose to his feet again and held his hand out.

“How?”

“Well, I’m going to use this new contraption called a telephone,” he retorted in a southern drawl.

“Dallas,” she admonished.

She stared up at him, her deep blue eyes even darker filled with tears and Dallas’s heart broke. “Macey. We’re going to figure this out.”

“No, I mean, how did you find out? You weren’t supposed to see the report.”

“Why, honey?”

“Because then you'll know what he did. You’ll see me differently.”

He hunkered beside her again. “How will I see you differently?”

“Broken. Used. Dirty,” she whispered, dropping her forehead to her knees.

“Mase? Look at me.” He waited until she did and then he smiled. “Did you feel like I saw you differently last night?”

She blinked, her face forming a confused expression.

Dallas smiled again. “I know you have a migraine, baby, and I know that makes things cloudy for you sometimes, but I
have
seen the file, I
do
know everything, and I see you as more beautiful than before, if that’s even possible.”

“Are you sure?”

“Was there any question last night?”

She bit her lip and shook her head.

“Come on, baby.” He stood and held his hand out again. “Let’s give the meds time to work and I’ll make coffee after I call Brock.”

Dallas pulled her to her feet, bracing as she fell against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Best chest ever.”

He smiled. “You… and then Kate Upton.”

“Oh yeah, she’s got a great rack.”

“Macey,” he said, and laughed.

“What? I can’t admire a nice pair of breasts?”

“Admire away, honey.”

She frowned up at him. “Now you’re imagining her and me naked, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “Definitely.”

“Now you’re imagining her and me naked together, aren’t you?”

“Oh, I was doing that before,” he admitted.

“I love you so much it hurts,” she rasped, and hugged him again.

He gave her a gentle squeeze. “Ditto, baby.”

“Since you love me so much,” she said. “You’re gonna have to hold me back from murdering Brock. Are you okay with that?”

“No.” Dallas chuckled. “Because he doesn’t know I looked at the file.”

“What?” She pushed away from him. “How did you even get access to it without him? Brock promised he’d make sure it was out of your reach.” She frowned, laying her fingers over his lips before he could answer. “Never mind. I probably don’t want to know.”

“No, you probably don’t,” Dallas mumbled, before kissing her fingers and grabbing his phone from the kitchen island. He dialed Brock and frowned when he got voicemail. “Brock. Got a situation. Can you swing by my place as soon as possible? Thanks, brother.” He hung up and faced Macey. She was chewing her lower lip, her fear still written on her face. He pulled her close. “No one’s going to hurt you, baby. I got you, yeah?”

She did a face-plant into his chest again, nodding as she burrowed deeper.

“I’m going to take you and pick you up from work, I’ll either stay at your place or you’ll stay at mine, but no more being alone. If you must be without me, stay at your building. It’s more secure and you’ve got doormen.”

She dropped her head back to look at him. “Honey, you driving me and picking me up isn’t always going to work. In case you haven’t noticed, you and I sometimes have really different schedules.”

“That letter,” he said, pointing to the paper now sitting on the island, “has officially become FBI business. And what’s my job, baby?”

“You guard.”

“I guard. So, guess who’s getting guarded?”

“Melody Morgan.”

Dallas laughed. “Holy shit, if I had to guard that bimbo, I’d quit.”

Melody was once the biggest and brightest child-actor now turned slutty wannabe, surrounded by a posse, vicious rumors of drug and alcohol problems, orgies, and legal troubles. Most would say she was beautiful, but the others would say she looks used up and beaten down.

“Maybe she’s misunderstood,” Macey said.

“And maybe monkeys will fly out of my ass.”

Macey smiled. “That would be quite the trick.”

He ran his knuckles down her cheek. “No one will ever hurt you again.”

She nodded. “I hate that this is who I’ve become.”

“Who’s that?”

“The woman who can’t be alone. The one who has to lock her bedroom door in her own apartment. Whose heart races just getting out of her car and making a run for the elevator in case she’s being followed. The one who suddenly needs someone to hold her and tell her everything’s going to be all right.”

“Baby, you were that woman before, you just didn’t want to admit it out loud.”

Macey snorted. “You don’t know me.”

Dallas chuckled. “My mistake.”

She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Even though you’ve often been a pain in my butt, I love you for not letting me hide.”

“No point in hiding, baby. There’s too much to see.”

Macey ran a finger down his chest. “I’m gonna take a shower. Join me?”

“Definitely. I’ll start the coffee and be right in.”

She pulled off her cami and grinned. “Don’t be long.”

“I won’t.” He watched her walk away. She still tried to hide the front of her, the part of her body scarred the worst, but it was a start. He waited until she disappeared into the bedroom before starting the coffee and sliding the note and envelope into a plastic Ziploc bag. He stamped down his anger again and took a deep breath. His phone buzzed and since it was Brock, he answered it. “Hey.”

“What’s up?” Brock asked.

“Someone’s stalking Macey.”

“What the hell? Seriously?”

“Looks that way,” Dallas said. “Someone who knows confidential things about the case.”

“Such as?” Brock pressed.

“What the bastard said before he raped her.”

“Which was what?”