HIS Choice: An H.I.S. Novel (H.I.S. series Book 2) (5 page)

“You put a picture of a drug dealer and a buyer, a councilman at that, in your newspaper. Your name is on the article.” He pointed at it. “You’ve interfered with a dealer’s livelihood, and he’s not going to
be happy.”

Wait until he heard what else she’d witnessed. No matter what he said, it would make the paper before she reported it
to him.

“I’m glad if I stopped him from dealing. He should be arrested and not be on
the streets.”

“Do you realize how dangerous these people are? What you did was stupid. You just made an enemy, and you don’t want Magic Shop as an enemy. You need to stop digging into their activities. People who anger them tend
to disappear.”

Kevin’s face came to mind and how the police had blown her off, stating he’d probably just skipped town. She
knew better.

She stopped her anger from rising about Kevin. Shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, she responded, “I make enemies all of the time. I’ve received so many threats, I’ve lost count. I’m not stopping. It’s my job.” He wasted his breath if he thought he could scare her off. She knew it was dangerous, but for her brother’s sake, she refused
to quit.

“I wouldn’t blow off a threat from Magic Shop if I were you. Leave exposing organized crime
to us.”

Yeah right. Sure she would. They were obviously so good at taking care of Magic Shop that she caught several drug dealers operating in
the open.

“Detective Cooper, I’m a journalist. I’ll do my job. I won’t let someone scare me off. I will find out who the Magician is.” Her heart seized at the thought of walking away from her brother’s killer. It wouldn’
t happen.

He shifted in his seat. “We’re investigating them, and I’d rather you stopped. This is serious,” he paused. “Just
be careful.”

He kept
surprising her.

“Okay, settle in because we’re here for a while. We’ll go through your night and each of these pictures.” He reached down and plugged the thumb drive into
his computer.

She inwardly groaned at the thought. She’d survive if that’s what it took to keep her from fighting a ridiculous
obstruction charge.

* * * * *

Megan rubbed her gloved hands up and down her arms and stomped her feet to keep warm. She looked skyward and hoped the sun would win its battle of attempting to peek out of the fast moving, gray clouds before it set. Light flakes of snow landed on her face. She wished she could convince her sources to meet at a Starbucks instead of out in the bone-chilling cold on a street corner just outside Magic
Shop territory.

Raven, a tall, thin, African American man in his twenties who continuously stroked his goatee when he spoke, was her best source. He didn’t know the names of the men in the photos, but told her he’d seen the two suspected officers around before, once in uniform. He also confirmed the other two were a couple of the organization’s problem solvers. After speaking with Tyrone, her heart beat a little faster. She had his name. AJ. No last name, just AJ. The object of her desire, the man who’d scared her half to death and then invaded her dreams, now had
a name.

She returned to the newsroom to submit the article about AJ. She’d received a long lecture from Kristen about watching the fight. Not about the story itself, but the fact Megan had withheld the information earlier and that she’d placed herself in significant danger for it. Thankfully her friends had left for the day because what she’d received from her boss was nothing compared to what she knew she’d receive
from them.

Bob greeted her as she entered her brownstone door. She scratched behind his ears and relaxed at the responding purr. “Did you behave today? No parties? Are you to be a father again?” She chuckled as he meowed. “That had best be a no to the last question or you will never go
outside again.”

She’d slipped out of her wet boots and into her comfy slippers when her cell phone rang. She checked the caller ID
and smiled.

“Hi, Mom. Are
you home?”

Megan’s parents, Jeffrey and Tonya, vacationed in Palm Beach, Florida annually. The first time they’d visited had been to escape Hurricane Katrina. She wouldn’t be surprised if when they retired from the casino that they
move there.

“Megan Elizabeth Rogers, what have you been doing?” her mother asked in the voice that told Megan she was in trouble, especially since her full name had been spoken. “We just got home and I’ve been reading your articles. You need to stop what you’re doing, right now. It’s not safe. Those druggies
kill people.”

She shook her head and silently sighed. Her parents had been overprotective of them growing up and still were. She had known they wouldn’t approve of what she was doing, but she wouldn’t stop. Even
for them.

She placed the phone between her shoulder and ear to feed Bob. You’d think she starved him with the way he acted when she opened a can of wet food. Heaven forbid he had to survive off the dry stuff in
his bowl.

“Mom. You know I’m just doing
my job.”

“Your job doesn’t require you to mix with the dregs of society,
Megan Elizabeth.”

She cringed. “Actually, Mom, it does. I’m an investigative reporter. I investigate, wherever it takes me.” She always had to remind her mother of that. “You know why I want to bring
them down.”

“Getting yourself killed won’t bring justice for your brother. He wouldn’t want you risking your life trying to avenge
his disappearance.”

“Mom, no matter what you say, I’m not stopping. This is my job. This is what I do,” she stressed. “The Magician needs to be identified and removed from the streets, and I plan to
do it.”

“And you’re very good at your job. We’re proud of you, but we don’t want to lose you too. Remember, your brother disappeared investigating
this gang.”

How could she forget? She did worry about her safety at times, but her blood ran too hot to allow them get away with Kevin’s disappearance. “Mom, I’m being safe.” Now that she thought about it, it had been odd that no one had bothered her on
the streets.

“How close are you to ending this?” her mother whispered in a
broken voice.

“Not as close as I’d like. Don’t worry, Mom.”

“I’m your mother. Of course I worry like any good
mother would.”

She didn’t need her mother more upset. “Have you talked to Leann since you’ve
been home?”

“She’s pregnant again.” At twenty-eight, Leann, her sister, had two children, one six and one four. Megan loved her niece and nephew even though she saw them mostly via Internet
video calls.

Megan found herself jealous. She realized how much she wanted a baby. She’d hoped it would happen with her and Marcus. But what were her chances now? “That’
s great.”

“When are you going to settle down and give
me grandchildren?”

She groaned. Her mother asked it every time they spoke. And since her breakup the answer had been the same. “When I find the right man, Mom.”

“What about Marcus? Can’t you two get
back together?”

She slammed the refrigerator door after removing
the milk.

Her mother loved him. Megan admitted that he was charming. But he wasn’t faithful. She removed the cocoa from the cabinet and slammed that door. Dang
the man!

“Listen, I need to go.” She had to end the call before she received the lecture about still being single at her age. Heck, she was only twenty-five.

“Remember what I said. Stay out of the
drug area.”

“Goodbye, Mom. I
love you.”

She set the pot with milk on the stove
to warm.

“You aren’t going to listen to me
are you?”

“Mom.”

“Goodbye, Megan. I love you, too. Take care
of yourself.”

Why was everyone on her about finding a man? She wanted a man, but she didn’t want another cheating son of a biscuit eater, nor a criminal. She lied. She wanted the criminal. But she wanted him for sex,
nothing more.

She blew on her cocoa to cool it and looked down at the photos and notes spread out on her dining table. She had to have
missed something.

She had to stop returning to the photos of AJ. She felt a burning need to
touch them.

The ringing telephone captured her attention. Only telemarketers called her on her home phone. Eventually finding the wireless handset on the fireplace mantel, she answered, prepared to reply, “No thank you,” to the person at the
unlisted number.

She wasn’t afforded
an opportunity.

“You’ve messed with the wrong person, bitch. You will die,” a low, male voice growled before ending
the call.

A death threat
.
Pushing aside the sudden shaking in her limbs, Megan smiled. Her first exclusive had
been successful.

AJ almost spat out his coffee when he saw his face looking back at him from the newspaper. Dammit. His boss will be pissed. The enforcers were expected to stay under the radar when they fulfilled
their orders.

Sure people on the street knew what his job was and knew better than to interfere. But now, all of fucking Baltimore knew where he was and what he was doing. Not what he fucking needed right now. His boss would be nothing compared to what his brother would have
to say.

Megan Rogers, the same reporter that exposed the councilman. She was very brave but very stupid. As expected the ringing of his cell phone broke
the silence.

“Yeah.”

Pacing the apartment, he was too restless to sit. This call meant trouble. He was typically called last because every other method
had failed.

“Did you see the fucking newspaper
this morning?”

“Yeah, I’m looking at it now.” He poured his coffee out in the sink, losing his taste
for it.

“God fucking dammit! How’d she get that
fucking picture?”

He wished he knew. He must be losing his edge and that could be deadly in
his job.

“She’s poking her fucking nose in where it doesn’t fucking belong. She’s been out snapping fucking pictures the past few nights, and she’s got a fucking picture of me she keeps showing around, trying to find out who the fuck I am. We’ve had her fucking picture out so she can be avoided, but somehow she is still catching them in the fucking act. Thanks to her, the fucking police have pictures of more than a dozen of our dealers
in action.”

When Damian’s temper raised so did his use of the word fuck. AJ dropped his head back and closed his eyes, the coffee swirling in his stomach. “I agree she’s poking her nose where it doesn’t belong.” He knew where this call was headed, and he didn’t
like it.

He had one job. Make people disappear. Forever.

No matter what he’d become, he still held on to his morals regarding women. He didn’t hurt them. And he couldn’t imagine hurting Megan. If he hadn’t been residing in hell right now, he’d have wanted to spend time with her, get to know her. But he’d just fuck that
up also.

“I want you to put the fucking fear of the Magician in her. I’m sending you instead of one of the other fucking boys, because they get a bit too fucking heavy handed. I don’t want her fucking hurt,” he paused, “yet. We can’t fucking afford for another reporter to fucking disappear so soon. She needs to get the fuck out of
our business.”

Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, he thanked God that his boss had called him before one of the others. “I can give her
the message.”

“Do it.” The call ended without an opportunity
to respond.

Great, now he had to go scare a woman he’d rather protect. Why the hell had he let himself sink
this low?

* * * * *

The article received a greater positive reaction than Megan expected. Violence, even amongst drug dealers, drew readers. No matter the logic, when it happened to be criminals victimizing criminals, it was considered
poetic justice.

She couldn’t hold the newspaper in front of her face forever. They weren’t leaving until they had
their say.

She sighed, calmly folding the newspaper, then placing it on her desk. Four frowning faces and one sour looking one focused on her. Why Merissa had come over was beyond Megan. Did she think they’d be friends again? Like
nothing happened?

“What’s wrong with you? You stood there watching a fight. They could’ve turned on you, Megan.” Kelly’s hands flew through the air emphasizing the anger in
each word.

“I was well hidden. Besides, you wouldn’t have walked away.” Megan had been lucky that AJ hadn’t thoroughly searched the area. What would he have done with her had he found her? Beat her? Killed her? She shivered at
the thought.

Kelly walked away and pulled out her
cell phone.

“Do you need me to go over the crime statistics in that area again? Especially crimes against women?” Kyle was a walking fountain of information. Megan freely admitted her jealousy of his being able to read or hear something once and commit it
to memory.

She gave her friends a slow smile. “I know it’s not safe, but I protect myself, and I will do what
it takes.”

“There are safer ways than trolling for trouble.” Kyle pulled at the knot of his Scooby-Doo tie and unbuttoned the top button of his light blue shirt. It was the tell-tale sign that he
was stressed.

“Kyle’s right. Use your sources to nail down something solid, instead of walking down crack alley with trouble looking
for you.”

“Janet, I’m tired of waiting. I needed to do something myself. Besides, it paid off yesterday.” She’d identified criminals in Magic Shop. It disturbed her that AJ happened to be one of them. Her attraction to him befuddled
her mind.

Kelly returned and slapped a sheet of paper down on her desk. She tapped it with her long, ruby red fingernail. “Call him and hire him,”
she demanded.

Megan picked up the paper and furrowed her eyebrows. “Who is
Trent McKenzie?”

“He’s into security and has agreed to be
your bodyguard.”

She shook her head and held the paper out to Kelly. “I don’t need
a bodyguard.”

Her friend crossed her arms over her chest. The stance pushed her breasts almost out of the short white dress with large red and blue flowers. “Yes
you do.”

The group nodded their heads almost simultaneously and crossed their arms over their chests matching Kelly’s stance. Well, Janet crossed hers over the top of her baby bulge. Merissa just
walked off.

“Call him or we’ll hire
him ourselves.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll call him but I’m not promising. Is that satisfactory to my three mothers?” Maybe she’d hire him, or
maybe not.

“You can’t confuse me with your mother, honey,” Kyle said smiling and restoring
the laughter.

The conversation turned to Kelly’s investigation into a series of
arson cases.

* * * * *

AJ’s head ached. He didn’t look forward to the job at hand. He should’ve followed his heart and taken her and run far away. His heart? More likely his protective nature
towards women.

Those beautiful dark blue eyes. He’d witnessed her fear yet she’d still followed. Now he had to scare her away from his employer. Thank God, the man hadn’t ordered him to
kill her.

After running into her, he’d recovered quickly, remembering why he was there. Yeah he’d rather have stayed and fucked her, but he’d had a job to do. He’d ensured the job won over his sizzling libido, but it had been a hard and bloody battle
within him.

Here she was confusing his thoughts again. Do his job and scare her off? Or protect and love her? It was lust
not love.

He had to remove his mind from the gutter. Leave it in his dreams and
his hand.

Approaching her front door, he reminded himself again that his job was to scare her and
nothing more.

He anticipated that she’d freak out when she saw him. She knew what he did for a living. Something would be wrong with her if she wasn’t afraid. Of course, she had pulled that stunt of following him so who knew
with her.

She opened the door, alarm blazed across her pale face. He met her startled eyes with a sharp glare. When she opened her mouth to scream, he rushed forward and clamped his hand over her mouth, pushing her back into her house. He kicked the door shut and pulled her against him, her back against his front and held her tight while she struggled to fight him off, twisting
and kicking.

Seeing what had been underneath the thick coat sent a ball of fire smacking him in the chest before storming to his groin. Her tight, worn jeans and white, form fitting sweater displayed a normal body not one of those emaciated model wannabees he used to date. That, coupled with her girl next door look made her
absolutely adorable.

His cock throbbed
to life.

He dipped his head to her long, blonde hair and inhaled. Pomegranates had just become his
favorite fruit.

Shit. He had to remember his purpose. It was hard to push his lust away, but he had to. If he didn’t do this job right, his boss would send someone else who wouldn’t care how they
treated her.

“Stop fighting me, my little dove. I’m not going to hurt you,”
he growled.

He had no idea where the endearment came from, but he liked it for her. It fit. But he had to remember she wasn’t his. She couldn’t be his. She was a reporter who happened to be overzealous in
her job.

But dammit, he wanted to be buried deep inside her. He closed his eyes as he imagined his cock being squeezed in her liquid
velvet heat.

He snapped open his eyes and grunted when she landed a kick to his shin and pain radiated through his leg. Son of a bitch
.
He had a fighter on his hands. That made her even
more desirable.

Shifting his weight to his good leg, he tightened his hold around her waist and arms. “I’m serious. I’m here
to talk.”

Her fruitless
struggles continued.

He leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice, “If you want me to hurt you, I will. If you don’t want me to hurt you, then cut this bullshit out, and let’s have
a conversation.”

Now he just had to keep from
kissing her.

* * * * *

Megan froze at his statement. She’d opened the door expecting to meet Trent even though he wasn’t due for half an hour. Trent. Maybe he would arrive early after all and
save her.

A sense of uneasiness overcame her. She’d expected Magic Shop to send her a message about the article, maybe a phone call or note, but she hadn’t expected them to send someone to her home, especially an enforcer. This was bad, very,
very bad.

“Okay. I’m going to remove my hand from your mouth. Scream and I’ll just cover it back up. Then I’ll rethink my position on hurting you. Do you
understand me?”

She remained still. His erection pushing into her back bothered her. Whether it was a good or bad bother wasn’t relevant right now. Nor could
she decide.

She closed her eyes, controlled her breathing, willing her racing pulse to slow while she figured out the best way to extricate herself from this situation. She
slowly nodded.

“Good girl.
Here goes.”

“Let me go!” She almost fell to her knees when he released her. He had to stand a little over six foot tall, but he’d picked up her five foot six frame and held her off the floor like she weighed nothing. She wasn’t heavy, but she wasn’t light either. She’d never overpower a man
that strong.

He braced his legs apart and crossed his arms over his chest. He had the dark and dangerous look mastered. A pistol peeked from under
his jacket.

She swallowed the scream that burned the back of her throat and turned away from him to run. She had to get to the rear door. No matter what he said, he could only be here for one reason. It was to
kill her.

He grabbed her arm, halting her and turned her toward him. She stood stiffly, her racing heart ready to explode. Their gazes locked, and he dropped her arm as if it had
burned him.

Fear wrapped its frozen hands around her heart. She crossed her arms over her chest, not in an attempt to intimidate or stand strong, like that would matter to him, but in an attempt to hide her trembling. She needed an escape option.
And now!

“Tsk, tsk, Megan. Aren’t you going to invite me in to sit down or offer me
a beverage?”

“No and no. Tell me what you want then leave, or I’ll start screaming. My neighbors will call 911, and you’ll be arrested.” Her faltering voice brought out a mischievous expression on his face, the corners of his mouth lifted into a
sensual smile.

Her insides melted and lust launched
through her.

Stop it! This man might be here to
kill me.

Her pistol. Hell
.
He stood between her and her purse. If she moved him closer to the fireplace, she had a statue on it that she could use to hit him over the head. Only she didn’t want him that far into
her apartment.

She sent a silent prayer that he’d told the truth about not hurting her and that Trent would arrive early. Surely he’d break down the door and
save her.

AJ’s expression snapped to a serious, cold, menacing stare. “This is your warning to stop what you’re doing. Stay out of Magic
Shop business.”

His gaze raked over her, and she couldn’t miss the flash of hunger in his eyes. Chills crept across her flesh. His bold, lust filled gaze frightened and excited her at the
same time.

“Tough.” She planned to stand strong, but her quivering voice
betrayed her.

Were those footsteps outside her door?
Please. Please.

“Not tough. You need to back off. These people can, and will, do terrible things to you should you continue on this witch hunt of yours. I’d hate to see anything happen
to you.”

She knew the danger. She knew what could happen, but her brother deserved justice. Had people warned him off the story? Was this how it had started for him? She gritted her teeth. He’d never have given up and neither would she, no matter who showed up to
threaten her.

“You have to back off. I was sent to give you a message. I don’t want to come back and deliver the punishment. You were lucky they only wanted to give you a verbal warning this time,” he
said gravely.