Absolute Power (Southern Justice #1 (45 page)

I couldn’t say that I agreed with his description of what I saw; hands on a face does not a hug make.

“But…I didn’t.” Dylan started, his hands dropping from my shoulders. His movements stop and he turns his eyes back to mine, which are the size of Rhode Island.

“Wait…” Carson shouted. “This is my fault. I told Dylan to lie to you, Claire. The woman he was with, it wasn’t for the reasons you think,” he pleaded with me.

“Dylan, I’m sorry. She got sick and there was an accident…” He rambled, but if I know anything about Carson, no matter how long he’d known Dylan, he would never lie to me.

I reached over, taking Dylan’s hand and bringing him back to me.

“Talk to me.” I swallowed down the dread, which was still lingering.

“Please.”

He nodded, pulling my hand for me to follow him to his office.

“Hey, Dylan?” Austin called and I’d honestly forgotten he was in the room. “I need to talk to you, too.”

Dylan looked in his direction. “Austin, can you hang out for a few minutes? This is important.” He held our laced fingers in the air. Austin pulled a six pack of beer from the bag, “I got time.” He handed a beer to Carson.

Dylan pulled me into the room, closing the door gently. I’m about to ask him what is going on when he places his index finger over my lips. “I haven’t laid eyes on you in several days, first things first.” Warm lips, full of passion and longing, softly graze mine. For a man who admitted he never desired kissing in previous relationships, he certainly loves to kiss me.

“I missed this,” he admitted softly.

In that moment, everything seems right in the world, my heart is pounding but not from panic or dread. With our foreheads touching, I whispered, “Me too.”

He guided me to his leather sofa, pulling his desk chair over in order to sit facing me. “Baby, I made a decision recently.” Diving right in was probably the best approach, like ripping off a bandaid.

“You know I left the department because I didn’t feel as if I was making a difference.” He held both of my hands in his, his forearms resting on his thighs, his face level with mine.

“I want to really help people, and protect those I care about.” His eyes dropped to our hands. Trying to reassure him, I gave them a little squeeze.

“The lady you saw me with, Franny.” He released my hands and reached behind him on his desk, a leather book in his hand. “She’s a woman who is asking for my help.” He handed me the book, which, as I take a closer look, is actually a diary. “Her husband has been beating the shit out of her for most of their married life.”

I perused the pages, dates with a paragraph or two, detailed injuries, and brief recounts of events. Line after line of how a man named Frank became angry over one thing or another.

“I want to take her case, show the bastard what can happen to a man when he hurts the woman he is supposed to protect.”

I couldn’t read anymore, the descriptions of cuts with knives and being tied to beds while being called terrible names.

“The law I swore to uphold failed her, just like it failed Lainie and, ultimately, you.” His eyes were serious, saying so much more than his words ever could. “I want to keep helping.” His words hung in the air. “To keep the monsters in hell where they belong.”

Like a light bulb being switched on, I knew what he was trying to tell me. I searched my mind, going back to that night. At the time I’d been worried I would be taken to jail, losing my freedom for assaulting a man. But if that man never had the opportunity to sit in a jail cell. If he’d never made it past the arresting officer’s car, he wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone what had happened.

“Greyson?” I confirmed.

“He used the system to his advantage. Going after you was going too far.”

A normal girl would have jumped to her feet, screamed for Carson to come in and arrest Dylan for essentially assisting a man in committing suicide. But that girl hadn’t held Lainie as she screamed at night, or held her hair as she vomited from her nightmares. She didn’t try to kick the last breath out of the man who did these things to her best friend.

“Claire?” He called, and my eyes flicked to his. “I want to help Franny, but if I have to choose you, or doing this, I choose you.”

What he was asking was dangerous, illegal and, yet, would help so many people. If I said no, he would walk away, let this Franny deal with her husband on her own. But what would happen to the next Franny? Or the next Lainie?

“Can I ask you something?” I pushed the lump in my throat to the side. This was bigger than me, something which could do a lot of good for a lot of lost people. “Do you help her by yourself or do you have ‘help’?” I used air quotes as if we both didn’t know what he was really doing.

“I have a lot of help. Austin, Chase, hell, even Carson has joined me.” The excitement was evident in his voice, his selfless acts bringing him the fulfillment he needed.

“Will you always…” I rolled my hand, praying I didn’t have to say the word.

“No,” he shook his head. “As a matter of fact, Franny wants her husband to live a long and painful life.” You could tell he had either the entire plan in his head or pretty damn close. I didn’t know if he had ever met this Frank guy, but he hated him on principle alone.

“Claire, I know this is a lot to take in.” He pulled my hand to his lips. “You could call the cops and tell them everything I just told you. Have me in jail and your name in the paper.” His look had changed, he had considered this as a possibility, “But I swore to myself, and to Carson, I would come clean with you. That I would give you the chance to…” He swallowed hard, rubbing his hand along his jean clad thigh. “Tell me you couldn’t stand behind me.”

When I woke this morning, I had been so angry, hurt and tired of crying. Now with a dose of the truth, and the assurance he had kept his word to me and more important, proved Shayla wrong. I knew what I had to do.

“Actually,” I smiled coyly. “I like the view when I stand behind you.”

Dylan knew me well, as my back found the cushion of the sofa, his lips covering mine. This kiss was different than a few minutes ago, domineering and a feeling I didn’t yet want to entertain. We were still trying to find our place in each other’s lives and although the feeling was there, I couldn’t risk opening my soul and letting him crush it by not returning my feelings.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” His breathing was labored, his scruff giving me chills as he kissed my neck. My cell began to vibrate in my pocket, so Dylan eased off me so I could check it.

“Lainie!” I giggle excitedly. “She wants to have dinner together.” I flashed a look in his direction; he returned it with a nod and a smile. Dinner doesn’t last all night and I have big plans for the rest of the night. I text her to come on over, and then pocket my phone.

“Claire, we need to talk about one more thing.” He extended out his hand to help me back up. “I want to keep you protected, especially if this were to go wrong somehow.”

I nodded, knowing he was right. If I were questioned, I could be charged as an accessory. “I think you need to always tell me you are going on a part run for the shop, just like you did this time.” Then a thought hit me after I finished my suggestion. “You are keeping the shop, right?” I placed my hand on his arm.

“Of course, it will be a cover of sorts. An alibi should I need one.” He walked around to his desk and pulled a drawer open, dropping Franny’s book inside. “And I think you’re on to something with our little code name for where I’m going.”

He pulled me tightly in his arms, so I breathed in his unique smell.

It’s interesting how things sometimes seem one way, like my perception of Dylan the first time I met him, and then they can turn out completely different, like the way I couldn’t get enough of him now.

We stood holding each other for a while, even though I know Austin needed to speak with him and I wonder if it had anything to do with motorcycle parts.

He pulled back slightly, his blue eyes now serious. My heart rate increased slightly as he searched my face. “Do you have any idea how easy you make it for me to love you?”

The air left my lungs and a feeling of euphoria pulsated from the top of my head to the very bottom of my feet. Pure joy danced in my chest, my fear of him not sharing my feelings for him, was completely crushed by his admission.

I closed my eyes and leaned into him, the weight of the situation almost too much. He loved me, not for what I could give him or any status I held. He loved me for me, for the person I was finally free to be with him.

“You’re pretty irresistible too, how could I not fall in love with you?”

Years from now I hoped we could look back on this moment, this one second in time, not for the agreement we had just made, but for the oath we had made to one another.

Dylan Morgan had come to me as a wrinkled man, one who’d thought he had life by the balls. He taught me how to really look at myself, and not be afraid to let the real me come out. And in some twisted and crazy way, he grew on me.

I read once, all of life’s greatest events should be sealed with a kiss. Telling the man who’d moved mountains for me, that I loved him, well that’s pretty big. Standing on my tiptoes, I pulled him to me and sealed the words I meant with everything in me.

Our first ‘I love you’ kiss would never make any romance novel. It wasn’t full of passion or lust. Instead, it was simple and followed by smiles, and a silent exchange of the words we sealed.

“C’mon. Let’s go put Carson out of his misery.” He opened the door, the sounds of a baseball game playing in the background. Carson and Austin are sitting with their feet up, beers in hand watching a large television screen on the far wall. They both turned in our direction, just as the front door opens wide followed by the cheerful voice of Lainie.

“Hello? Claire?”

She looks good, her skin tanned and glowing. Things must have gone really well for her. Dylan was behind me, his arms wrapped around my midsection, “You can never tell her.” He whispered as he nibbled on my earlobe. I had known this when she’d first sent me a text. A secret I would have to keep to myself.

“Hey, Darlin’.” Carson rights his chair, and then goes to the door to meet her. He takes her in a long hug, and her eyes close as she enjoys the fatherly embrace.

“What brings you out this way?”

She smiled brightly as she looked in my direction. “I just got into town and managed to get a dinner date with a really hot chick.”

Carson turned to me, his smile growing brighter. He can see my joy and acceptance on my face.

“Well, what a lucky girl,” he congratulated her.

Austin cleared his throat, standing rather shyly in the corner and I felt bad I haven’t included him. Dylan the ever-emerging gentleman, reached over and hugged Lainie as well. “You okay with me joining you pretty ladies for dinner?”

She kissed his cheek, “Seriously? Someone has to pay the bill.”

“Well, it a good thing my boss pays well,” he teases back. “Hey, Austin, come over here.” Dylan beckoned. “I want you to meet someone.”

Thanks

To my editing staff, Team Elizabeth. For without them, I would never be able to share this story with you.

Clo, for doing exactly as I asked of you, ignoring the fact we are friends when you told me everything which was wrong with my writing.

Other work by Cayce Poponea

Shamrocks and Secrets

Claddagh and Chaos

Crains Landing

Where to find me

Caycepoponea.com

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