Bound by Moonlight (30 page)

“On loan to Vice.”

“After Manny?”

“I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation.”

“Integrity. Good. I’ve heard positive things about you, Detective, and I checked. I like to know as much as possible about people before I make an investment in them.”

“I’m afraid I’m not following.”

“I remember my friends and reward them. When I get into office, I’ll be making some significant changes. Those who stick by me will benefit from them. I’m
not stopping at mayor, and every administration has a place for men of integrity.”

“I have a job, Mr. Cummings, but thank you.”

“And you have a modest paycheck that demands more than it returns, and a partner who garners all the attention and commendations because of who she’s sleeping with and who her father was partnered with on the streets a long, long time ago. That has to annoy even a man of integrity.”

Babineau placed his palms on the table and began to rise. “Thank you for lunch, Mr. Cummings.”

Cummings laughed. His hand pressed Babineau back into his chair with surprising strength. “Loyalty. That’s another quality I’m looking for. I have nothing against your partner. She’s a fine officer, but her career is becoming a bit too . . . compromised for what I’m looking for.”

“And what are you looking for?”

“Stepping-stones to a senate seat—and beyond. The right people: good, decent people in the right places who remember who helped them get there. The commissioner is a close friend. My opinions carry weight with him. I could fast-track a career for the right individual.”

Babineau leaned back in his chair, suspicious and tempted. “And what would this individual have to do?”

“His job. I want to make a strong stand against crime, Detective. I want people with me who will be assets, not roadblocks. You’re in a position, should you decide to stay undercover, to be one of those assets. I need to bring down an element in our city that’s had free rein for too long.”

“Blutafino?”

“Him, and those he associates with. If you’re interested I’d like to share my plans with you, starting with what I was doing at his club when we bumped into each other. But first, let me ask you something, Detective. Would you have any problem helping me tear down Max Savoie and that crooked empire built by Jimmy Legere? If you have reservations because of his relationship with your partner, I’ll understand.”

For a moment all Alain Babineau could see was Savoie’s smug face as he drawled, “She said it was nothing.”

“No, Mr. Cummings. I’d have no problem at all.”

M
AX STOOD AT
the edge of the skeletal wall, twelve stories up, with nothing between him and an open view of the city.

“Not going to jump, are you?”

Charlotte could hear the smile in his voice when he answered, “Not today. How did you get up here? This is supposed to be off-limits.”

“Not to the long arm of the law.”

“Why don’t you come over here and put those long arms around me?”

“Why don’t you take a few steps back first?”

A chuckle. “Afraid of heights, Detective, or just the fall?”

“Actually, it’s the sudden stop. If I were afraid of falling, I wouldn’t be here.”

He turned toward her and the wind caught his raincoat, flaring it out behind him like black wings on a dark angel. Her breath caught, partly due to the danger, partly to the delicious drama of that pose. This was the way she always thought of him: alone, arrogantly braced before the elements, powerful, and harshly gorgeous. Once he’d been hers—now he belonged to many.

He waved his arm wide. “What do you think of the Towers?”

They were called the Trinity Towers, three bold spires rising from bleak surroundings with bold hopefulness. The unifying three-floor triangular base would boast trendy shops and offices, the two outer eight-story towers, plush condominiums. The central spear, jutting like a defiant middle finger to flip off an uncaring city, would house those Max protected and now would be able to shelter. She thought the concept was magnificent. She thought he was, too.

“I’d prefer some glass between me and that long fall.”

“This floor is the last to be closed in. I was thinking I might like to have it.”

“For what? Offices?”

“No, I like to keep my feet on the ground for business. I was thinking I’d like to have a place to stay in the city.”

“And you need a whole floor?”

“So I can see both the city and the river. Close to work for those late nights. What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Living here.”

Was he asking her to live here with him? Her heart jumped to a quick yes, but her mind was cautious. She made a point of looking all the way down the long, long distance to the far end of the building.

“I guess it would be all right if you wanted a bowling alley or a shooting range.”

His smile unfurled slowly. “I’d planned to put up a few walls, but if you want a bowling alley or a shooting range, it’s not too late to talk to the architect.”

Here she was, at the cusp of taking that next frightening
step. As much as she wanted to go forward, part of her still wasn’t ready. So she took cover behind her job. “Atcliff wants a decision on whether I stay with Homicide or assist Vice. Any opinion on that?”

“It’s nice to be asked. This would be a very nice place for me to keep my very sexy mistress. Then we wouldn’t have to go to shabby motels.”

She smiled. It
would
be the perfect cover, keeping her in the game and allowing them to spend more time together. “Always thinking ahead, aren’t you, Savoie? Babineau is staying on with Vice. He’s gotten the go-ahead to bring down Manny Blu now that he’s inside.”

“Then he’ll be staying undercover.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve told Tina and Oscar they can stay with me at the house.”

She nodded. “They’ll be safe with you.”

“I saw you on the news,” he mentioned. “You looked good. I seem to remember owning a jacket like that.”

“Hmmm, what a coincidence.”

“You wore the pearls I gave you.” His tone wasn’t so casual now.

“They looked good with the jacket.” They’d made her feel close to him. She hadn’t been back to their room at home since he’d moved Tina and Oscar in with him.

Their circumstances had changed so fast, she didn’t know how to get things back to where they’d been before.

“How’s the little girl?” He angled away from her, his movements restless now.

“Doing well, considering. She wants to thank you.”

“Not necessary. Better she forget about my part in it.”

“I can tell you from experience that won’t happen. You’re a hero to her—the one who rescued her from hell.”

“I’m no hero,” he growled. “I would have left her there, to punish an injury done to me over twenty years ago.”

“The way Jimmy would have? But you’re not Jimmy. You couldn’t turn your back. That’s not who or what you are, Max.” There was no doubt in her voice, or in her mind.

He stopped pacing and turned to face her. “Why are you here, Charlotte?”

“There are some things I need to tell you, and I wanted to do it face-to-face this time. I’m taking a short leave of absence. I’ve got things I need to deal with before I can go forward on anything else.”

“Am I one of those things?”

“I’ve got a flight to California in the morning. I got a call from Mary Kate’s doctor. She’s semiconscious. She’s asked for me.”

“And you don’t want me with you?”

“Not this trip, baby.”

“Why not? I love you, Charlotte. Why can’t I make you happy? Why won’t you let me make things easier for you?”

She shook her head. “You do. I’m crazy about you, Savoie. Always have been, always will be. There’s nothing I want more than to just stop the world and lose myself in you.”

“Then do it.”

She stared up at him, her eyes full of conflict, full of yearning.

“I want you,
cher
. When I was asked what was closest to my heart, there was only one answer for me. It was you. Just you.”

He slowly sank down to his knees before her, then his hands curled lightly around her ankles as he laid his cheek atop her feet, his eyes closed. A gesture so totally submissive, yet backed with such amazing strength, her heart dropped into her shoes.

Pushing her toward taking that step.

“Oh, geez. Get up, Max. Get up.”

She knelt awkwardly. When she couldn’t pry him up she leaned over him, circling his strong shoulders with her arms, nestling her face in his dark hair to whisper, “I love you, baby. And I need to take care of this. I’ll only hurt you if things stay the way they are.”

“I don’t care.”

“I do, Max. If I didn’t, I’d just hang on tight and let you deal with everything.”

“Let me,
sha
. Let me take care of you. I will. I promise.”

“I don’t want you to take care of me, Max. I want us to take care of each other. I’m not unhappy because of you. It’s the things I can’t face in my past that keep me from being all the things you need me to be. The things you and I both deserve.

“I need to open my closet and clear all that ugly shit out of there, and I have to do it now, before I damage what I care about most.”

“And what’s that?”

“My future with you. I haven’t been able to deal with what happened to Mary Kate, but I’m ready now. All I need is for you to tell me you’ll be here when I get back.”

“Right here in this spot or in the general vicinity?”

A snort of a laugh escaped her, and she looked into his eyes to see the unwavering devotion there. He’d wait. Forever. “Savoie, you drive me crazy.”

“And you love that about me.”

The truth of that statement centered her. “Yes, I do.” She touched his face, and was lost at the rough feel of him beneath her fingertips.

There was no one else for her. No one else she would ever want. Max Savoie was it, her everything. Her lover. Her mate. Perhaps even the father of her children. Thrilling. Terrifying.

“Oh, screw it,” she muttered, and yanked him to her for a kiss.

Max’s hands slipped under the teasing hem of her cropped shirt. “Where do you want me to touch you?”

“Everywhere. Anywhere you’ve been before is good. And if you can find someplace new, go for it.”

He grinned, wide and wicked. “I’ll see what I can do.” Her shirt went flying off, followed by her bra.

She’d expected a hot, hungry feasting to match her frenzied impatience. So when his breath blew soft and moist, when his mouth suckled lightly, when his tongue flickered with a delicate finesse, he woke a startled shiver that quickly triggered an earthquake in her primed system.

As she loosened her fingers from his hair, her breath
spilled out in a wondering gust. “Wow. That
was
new. You haven’t even gotten my pants off yet.”

He nipped at the swell of her breast, his voice full of smug accomplishment. “But, I seem to have gotten you off to a nice start. Unfortunately, that was my only new trick.”

“Good thing I like the old ones, too.”

A
N HOUR LATER,
splayed out on her back with only a tarp between her naked skin and the rough subflooring, Cee Cee gave a contented sigh. Max eased from her with a groan, then collapsed alongside her. With the exception of his jeans about his ankles, he was still fully dressed, his raincoat spread over the both of them.

“I’m going to just lie here for a moment, then I’ll call for room service. What would you like?”

She smiled without opening her eyes. Her fingertips traced intricate patterns on the heated skin of his low back. And amazingly he felt the stirrings of arousal again. Nothing he had the energy to act on, but infinitely pleasurable nonetheless.

“Espresso and éclairs. And a hot bath. And a mattress would be nice. This plywood is murder on my butt.”

“It’s only seven o’clock. Maybe I could find a store that’ll deliver. I wonder if we have the hot water plumbed yet.”

Hearing footsteps, Max lifted his head, a soft growl of warning stirring in his chest.

“Hey, Max, are you about ready—” LaRoche broke off as he came around one of the supporting walls. He continued toward them, grinning. “Hey, Charlotte.
Didn’t know you were here. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” He lifted up Cee Cee’s lime green bra with the tip of the yardstick he was carrying. “This belong to you, or is the day crew having more fun up here than they should be?”

“Just christening our new apartment,” Cee Cee told him, unperturbed by his presence. “Looks like we’ll be neighbors.”

LaRoche’s smile widened. “Sorry I didn’t bring champagne. Three’s a crowd, so I’ll catch you later on. Some things have come up that we need to discuss, Max.”

“Tomorrow, Jacques.”

“Okay. Tomorrow it is.”

As he started to turn away, Cee Cee called, “Jacques, watch his back for me.”

Frowning slightly, he nodded. “You got it.”

Once LaRoche was gone, Max stood to quickly restore his clothing, his mood suddenly somber. As she hunted around for her attire, he said, “I’ll ride down with you. I’m finished here for the night.”

“Okay, but just to my car. I’ve still got to pack.”

As she stood beside him in the elevator, she resisted the urge to grab onto him and hang on.

When the doors opened, Max placed his palm on the small of her back to guide her. Such a simple thing, yet it wasn’t—because it was Max. Because he conveyed everything that was good and solid in their relationship with that easy gesture. The unspoken support, the confident intimacy, the sense of unity without the need to control. And even after all they’d put each other through, there was trust.

She turned into him, put her arms about his middle, and laid her head on his shoulder. His other hand came up, cradling her cheek as his lips moved over her hair. His chest rose and fell as he breathed in their mingled scent laced with her perfume,
Voodoo Love
. She depended on him to be strong, and he didn’t disappoint her. When she stepped back, he let her go.

The early evening was thick with gathering humidity as a storm crept in from the Gulf. Cee Cee glanced around, expecting to see Giles or Pete waiting for Max with one of the sleek cars from Legere’s massive collection. Instead, she saw a motorcycle.