Layers Deep (10 page)

It’s now or
never.

I turned
around as the window of different model of a Bentley he must have
owned rolled down. Adding an extra sway to my hips, I paced my
fuck-me walk the way I’d practiced at home, in my new and only pair
of five-inch heels.

He leaned over
to the passenger side, and with his lips in a straight line he
gritted through his teeth, “What the fuck are you doing?”

Not exactly
the greeting I expected. “You interested, hun, or not?” I replied,
chewing my gum like a cow.

One of his
brows rose. “Get in.”

“Deposit
first.” I stretched out my hand. It took all my willpower not to
just jump into the car to my mouth-watering hunk.

He struggled
not to smirk, and his mouth finally softened. Cross reached into
his wallet and pulled out a handful of crisp hundreds. His dimple
sank just a little in his chin and my heart raced. I counted the
batch he gave me, acting indifferent while my pulse jeopardized my
cover.

“You’re mine
until morning,” he stated bluntly. “Now get in.”

I hopped into
the Bentley. My mini rose up. One more inch and my panties would
show. Cross pressed the gas and the tires squealed underneath us,
pushing my back into the leather seat. Inside, the aroma of coconut
air freshener with a hint of scotch overpowered me. He added more
life through the pedal, jutting me back even further. The car
responded to his gentle touch—always purring, even when he fuelled
it to the max.

“Do you drink
and drive?” I asked.

“No, why?”

“I smell
scotch.”

“You have a
good nose. Now can you tell me what the fuck you think you’re
doing?”

His tone threw
me off guard, and it took longer than usual to get my wits in
order. At least I hadn’t had any tequila tonight. I took a deep
breath, saying, “Applying for a position. If it’s a hooker you
want, a hooker you’ll get, but I prefer you call me Katie.” I
fluttered my lashes.

The scar on
his lip lifted by a fraction. He liked Katie.

“Did you know
women get kidnapped from here? They just disappear and never come
back.”

If Cross was
trying to scare me, it wasn’t working. It would take a lot more
than that for me to run the other way. I’d trained for this; I’d
always known I was meant to do something big with my life. Being a
police officer was just a stepping stone. I’d been waiting for an
opportunity to make a difference. It wasn’t all about using
Cross—not anymore. Whatever this job entailed, it was important to
him to do it right, and I wouldn’t let him down.

“All jobs come
with consequences.”

“But why,
Allie? Why would you risk this?”

“I have a need
to prove myself.” My tone changed from a girlish flirt to my own,
serious and confident.

His grip
tightened on the steering wheel. “You were hired the minute I laid
my eyes on you. All you had to do was fill out the paperwork.”

Really?
Was I right to feel the connection that first day we saw each
other? The little pause when his gaze came to rest on me—Tristan
had sought me out at the academy on purpose. It was me he’d wanted
all along.

“Why me?” I
asked.

“Because
you...”

“... look like
a hooker?” My gasp lingered in the air between us.

“No!” He
pressed the brakes harder than intended stopping on a red light.
“Maybe a hooker was the wrong word to use, Allie. The job requires
someone who can deal with palmy men.” Cross raised his brows.

He was
referring to my stripping days. Yes, if there was anyone I could
deal with, it was men with sticky fingers and twitchy palms.

“With your
experience, you’ll blend in easily. I need someone as beautiful as
you who will force every single cock-sucking pimp to wag his tail
like the dog that he is, before we rip his balls off.”

His dirty
mouth with the dimple in his chin just became sexier than before.
That beautiful tightening in my stomach returned as heat flowed
along my skin. And, did he just call me beautiful? I shut my eyes.
Concentrate, Allie.
I’d never had this happen before. How
did Cross manage to make me feel so self-conscious? I’d never been
so confused when I applied to the force, but there was nothing
normal in the way Cross hired. And
I
chose to prove myself;
now
I
had to suck it up. I shook my head.

“You’re
looking for someone who can pose as an escort girl, not a street
whore, aren’t you?” Suddenly my eighties dress up felt awkward.

“You’re not
only gorgeous, but also smart. That’s a lethal combination. But not
exactly for an escort girl, either. I don’t want you to worry about
the specifics but yes, you’ll definitely get to use your skills
from the past, including the stripping ones. We have two weeks to
get you prepared. This is not something you can screw up because if
you do, God help us both.” He turned his head to look at me on a
stop sign.

What kind of a
job was he hiring me for exactly? I needed to know what I was in
for before we moved forward. Pole dancing or taking off my clothes
for strangers wasn’t exactly on top of my list. Although, at this
point, I was sure no matter what Cross asked me to do, I’d do it in
a heartbeat. After all, he’d promised to get rid of Wright for me.
Hadn’t he? Cross was a man of his word and hopefully Wright was on
the other side of the planet. Better yet, I hoped he’d sent him to
the moon, without any way to return.

“I never fail,
but you need to tell me what the job is.” I felt my jaw tighten.
This was not something I would budge on. “All cards up front.”

Cross let out
a long exhale and pulled over to the curb. His gaze devoured my
face, then my cleavage and exposed thighs. I squeezed my knees
together. He clicked his seat belt free and reached over my legs to
the glove compartment. His warm breath trailed on my thighs and I
held on to the sides of the seat. I could have sworn he took a
longer inhale while down there too. Everything inside me turned as
my thighs tightened to hide the sweet pulse deep between my legs.
Cross sat back up, his jaw set firm, and I knew he was fighting his
desires as much as I was mine.

“This job
requires you to be on duty twenty-four seven. Sign it.” He handed
me the sheet.

“What is
it?”

“An NDA. You
will not speak to anyone about this, ever. Understood?”

Somehow, I’d
thought I already had the job. Was I mistaken? For the first time
since we visited my mother, doubt crept in as to whether he’d
actually hire me. And by now, I couldn’t imagine not working for
him. I had finally met my match, and he believed I was the right
choice. I couldn’t let him down.

“Of course.” I
scribbled on the last line.

“You didn’t
read it.”

“I trust
you.”

“Mistake
number one. Don’t trust anyone. Do you really want this job or
not?” He raised his brow again.

The bossy
Cross was not as much fun as the flirty one.

I turned
toward him, well aware my rising mini exposed me more than I would
have liked, but Cross was wrong. “You’re not just anyone. And if I
can’t trust my potential employer who will keep me safe, then who
can I trust?” I stood my ground.

The silence
between us sizzled with a mixture of impatience, apprehension, and
hormones. I swear if it weren’t for the street light directly above
us, I’d have straddled his lap to taste that scar on his upper lip
again just to convince him I was right. We breathed in the same
sequence. His chest rose and lowered at the same time as mine. This
was it. This would decide whether or not we would work together. No
matter what he’d said, Cross had to know the same. He had to know I
trusted him; but Cross needed to trust me too.

“It will be
dangerous,” he finally said.

“I never
thought otherwise,” I replied.

“If something
goes wrong, you could be sold to a pimp who’ll use you to service
fifty men a day.”

My breath
stilled.
Human sex trafficking.

“Then it’s a
good thing we trust each other,” I whispered.

“We do, don’t
we?”

I wish I’d
known this at the time, but I’d broken through Cross’s thickest
shield at that moment. His eyes softened. The tension in his neck
eased.

And as much as
my mind urged me to think twice, every nerve in my body guided me
to trust him with my life. After all, it would be my life we’d be
selling, wouldn’t it?

“How did you
know where I’d be?” he asked.

“You’re not
the only one who has sources,” I said, remembering the past
evenings I’d spent driving around the city asking about a man in a
Bentley. “Why would you say a hooker?”

“Initially I
wanted to see if you were up for an odd job. You took it to a whole
new level.” He chuckled and started driving again. “You were very
composed for someone who could be fucked by a stranger on the
street.”

How could he
say things like that with a straight face? As a cop I was used to
vulgar language, but the way he blurted the words out insinuated he
was the stranger and I would be the one who was fucked—and in a
good way, too. The suggestion of a warm body beside mine felt
arousing.

“Then it’s a
good thing you’re not a stranger,” I said.

“Is it?” he
smirked.

The tone of
his voice zapped me below my belt as I imagined him being a
stranger who picked me up on a corner and offered to fuck me. My
panties dampened. The pressure inside me was too much. A few more
seconds of his foreplay and I’d combust in his comfortable leather
seat with my legs wide open. Suddenly it felt as if I’d had a
bottle of Comisario.

“How can you
handle so much tequila?” he asked out of nowhere.

I welcomed the
change of subject and wondered how he’d known what I was thinking.
“Practice.”

A slight frown
appeared at the side of his face. “Drinking won’t be a problem,
will it? I know you’re not an alcoholic, but you should know that I
have an issue with substance abuse.”

“Yet you smell
of scotch all the time.” I rolled my eyes.

“A sip is not
the same as addiction.”

“No, it won’t
be a problem. I may like a drink or two...”

“...or three.”
He cleared his throat.

“Or three when
I’m off duty, but my job is as serious as they get. Lives depend on
it, and I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it.”

“That’s what I
thought. Allie, I can only ask you to do this after you’ve passed
the necessary training… and a physical.” He stretched the last
word.

I knew he was
talking about my strength, fighting abilities, and endurance, but
his face hinted at examining my body inch by inch, with his own
hands and fingers. Plus with the background check he’d done on me,
he must have known we had regular drug testing at the force and my
tests were all clean. And hadn’t our tumbling around on the gym
floor been enough to show him my strength?

“I understand.
We can get started on the physical as soon as possible.”

Cross’s grip
tightened around the steering wheel. His knuckles whitened before
he let go of the tension, saying, “I haven’t hired you yet.”

“You said I
had the job when you walked into the auditorium.”

“Then I have
to fire you for tonight.”

My pulse
raced. He couldn’t let me go. I needed the job badly. As much as I
loved being a cop, I could no longer imagine being away from
Cross.

“Tristan, if
there’s one thing I can guarantee it’s that I’m not only the best
option you have, I am the only option you have. I. Don’t.
Fail.”

“Don’t you
think I know that? You’re my only chance, Allie.” The sudden gloss
in his eyes surprised me, like I held control over his entire
future. “If I had a choice I wouldn’t hire you. I’d keep you far
away from the scum we’ll be dealing with. But you’re too perfect
for the job. You’re beautiful, smart, and strong.”

He called me
beautiful again.
Stop it, Allie!

“And most
important, you’ve already seen the man we’re looking for. Almost a
month ago my cousin Gabriel Silver stopped you from following the
bastard in the park. You were on your bike.”

I recalled the
Saturday afternoon as clear as if it were yesterday because I’d
agreed to swap a shift with Laura. We usually tried to stick to our
schedules, as switching meant sleep deprivation for a day or so.
And Gabriel Silver had a strong physical resemblance to Cross. That
kind of chiseled face couldn’t be forgotten. He was Cross’s cousin
and business partner.

“The guy you
met that day, Martinez, is our key to finding my girl.”

His
girl?
My throat tightened. An urgent tug of jealousy yanked at
my heart and the little devil on my left shoulder burst in flames
of glory.
You like him!

Of course I
liked him! Even Mother Teresa would have liked him.

I blew a
stronger breath onto my shoulder, pushing the coercive bastard off.
Cross looked at me like I was losing my mind, but continued. “He’ll
be selling Kendra to the highest bidder at one of two auctions. If
he’s successful, my chance to find her will be gone.”

I forced my
cop instinct to return to my brain. “So, we go to the auction, get
her back. What’s the problem?”

“It’s not just
any auction, Allie. If we don’t get her that first night, if she’s
not there, you will be sold as an undercover whore. I have to make
sure you’re sold to the right guy, which means infiltrating the
auction.”

“I trust you,
Tristan; you’re not going to fail me.”

“You remind me
of someone who was as strong as you. Someone I failed. And – don’t
ever trust anyone completely,” he said.

“Do you?”

“Outside of my
family, no.”

He came with
as many issues as I did, didn’t he?