Under Fire (9 page)
“Yes, I suppose you do.” The light turned green and he gave his attention back to the road.
Cori gaped at him in disbelief for a moment, then faced forward in disgust. Really, what had she expected? An undignified, weepy show of gratitude for her safety and well-being?
She gazed out the window at the sunny January day, hardly listening as Tony prattled on about his sculptures and an upcoming showing at a small gallery.
Was Zack resting comfortably? Had his nurses begun his breathing treatments? Damn, she should’ve checked before she left. What if he relapsed? In his weakened condition, he might not survive another round with pneumonia.
If she hurried, she’d have a few minutes to drop by the hospital before her job tonight. He’d asked her to come, so it wasn’t as though she were pushing herself on the man. Nothing wrong with making certain he was being taken care of.
“Here you are.” Tony pulled to a stop in front of the only rental place in town, just off the square. He put the car in park, letting the engine idle as he scooted around in his seat to face her.
Brushing his knuckles lightly along her jaw, he leaned so close she caught a nice whiff of expensive cologne. “Why the silent treatment? Darling, please don’t be angry with me.” His long blond hair tickled her cheek as he fitted his lips over hers.
After the initial shock of contact, Cori realized she wasn’t surprised by the kiss. Not really. Especially not after he’d shown some jealousy over her visits with Zack. She could’ve pulled away—probably should’ve—but curiosity got the better of her judgment, in spite of her annoyance with Tony. She couldn’t help wondering whether her girlfriends were right.
By keeping Tony at a distance, was she truly missing out?
Relaxing, she opened herself to the kiss, angling her head for better access. He groaned, spearing her lips with his tongue, invading with his moist heat. Devouring her mouth.
The tingling began, welcome and long denied. Tightening her nipples, inciting the warmth at the apex of her thighs. Her response wasn’t totally unexpected. Tony was a seducer of the first order, and she’d been too long without a man’s touch. Without passion. She needed to be held, to feel a man’s strength pressing down on her body, his hardness sliding into her.
I don’t have to wait.
She buried her fingers in his hair, pressing closer, deepening the kiss. So easy to let him follow her home. She had no doubt he’d be fantastic in bed. Within the hour, they could be naked. Slick with sweat. Tangled in her sheets.
She buried her fingers in his hair, pressing closer, deepening the kiss. So easy to let him follow her home. She had no doubt he’d be fantastic in bed. Within the hour, they could be naked. Slick with sweat. Tangled in her sheets.
She didn’t love him, found it difficult to even like him some days, but tender feelings had nothing to do with hot, blistering sex.
Because that was all it would be. A hard, pounding, break-the-headboard fuck.
Sex, not lovemaking.
A kind, handsome face with huge blue eyes and framed by rumpled black hair ghosted into her mind. His beautiful, genuine smile, filled with hope.
Come back tonight?
The memory was a bucket of icy water dousing her blind lust in an instant. She still ached to be held and touched, but not by Tony. She didn’t want an empty encounter that would leave her lonelier and more dissatisfied than before.
The next man she invited into her bed would be the last. The one who’d make sweet love to her for the rest of their lives. Cherish her as much as she did him.
Tony wasn’t that man.
Placing a palm on his chest, she pushed him back, breaking the kiss. The heat of his arousal radiated off him in waves, his heartbeat thudding under her fingers even through his sweater. The raw hunger in his dark eyes left no question about what his answer would be if she issued the invitation.
His fingers trailed down her throat. “I knew you’d taste just like honey. I’ll bet you’re sweet everywhere.”
Oh, God. She might not want
him
specifically, but her body reacted all the same.
him
specifically, but her body reacted all the same.
Time to escape. Giving him a smile she hoped wasn’t as fake as it felt, she grabbed his hand before it could complete its journey into the vee of her sweater. “Not too subtle, are you?”
“Why waste energy better spent on more pleasurable things?”
“True, but my life doesn’t lend itself much to indulging right now.” She reached for the door handle. “See you Tuesday?”
He wasn’t so easily deterred. “You enjoyed our kiss as much as I did. Don’t try to deny it, Cori.”
“All right, I did, but—”
“We’d be good together,” he said, lids heavy. “Come home with me. Just for an hour or two.”
Anxiety balled in her stomach, the urge to get away suddenly very strong. “I’ll admit I considered it. But I’m not ready to take that step at this point, with you or anyone.” Okay, the “or anyone” part wasn’t quite true. Tony, however, did not need to know that.
His gaze chilled and Cori suppressed a shiver. Had it been her imagination, or had something dark and ugly slithered through his eyes for a second?
The fleeting impression vanished as he nodded, his expression serious. “I’m willing to wait. When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”
“Thank you.”
Seizing her opportunity, she scrambled out of the Viper and slammed the door, giving him a wave. He drove off without so much as a nod in her direction, leaving her standing in front of the E-Z Rental. . . . He hadn’t even waited to make sure they switched out her car with no hassle.
She frowned after the Viper’s disappearing taillights, bothered. Yes, she’d wanted to put space between them. Was, in fact, relieved to see him go. But a true friend and gentleman would’ve gone inside, put her safety above his disappointment over not getting her into bed.
A real man, her dream lover, would’ve stayed with her no matter what.
A man who bore a helluva resemblance to a raven-haired firefighter with stunning blue eyes.
Arguably, Zack’s return to the living was good news.
The bad news? Tanner was on the way to his room.
Funny how that knowledge didn’t feel so very different from when he’d plummeted over the side of the bridge.
Nothing to do but lie here and wait for the impact. Zack hadn’t yet been moved from the ICU with its strict visitor’s rules, or the others would’ve accompanied the captain to provide a buffer between them. As humiliating as the dressing-down in front of Eve and Six-Pack had been, the idea of facing Tanner alone had him a little freaked. He wasn’t afraid of the man by any means, but he wasn’t exactly in shape for another bout in the ring, either.
Over the past few hours, his battered body had come to vivid life by painful degrees. His head pounded, his muscles ached, and his chest burned with every rattling breath. He was so frigging miserable he couldn’t sleep, yet being awake was sheer torture—especially the disgusting breathing treatments to unclog his lungs. The pain meds that provided a couple of hours of blessed fog weren’t nearly enough.
A fifth of Jack might do the trick.
The door opened and Tanner walked in without knocking. Which didn’t surprise Zack. What did was the hesitance in the captain’s green eyes. Even before the tragedy that had claimed his family, Tanner had been a hard man. Fair, but tough. The type of man who strode boldly through life without remorse for his unbending attitude, viewing the world in black-and-white.
Today, Tanner had grooves of stress cut deep around his mouth and silver in the dark brown hair at his temples . . . and his world had dissolved into a palette of murky gray.
Zack shoved down a wave of sympathy. “Cap.”
Tanner stood over his fallen man, hands in the pockets of his regulation trousers, electing not to waste time mincing words. “Knight. All the shit I said the other day, I was wrong.” His mouth tightened. “Can you forgive me for being such a fuckhead?”
In spite of himself, Zack choked a hoarse laugh. “You could’ve just said it with Hallmark. Sir.”
One corner of Tanner’s lips tugged upward. A thin crack in the veneer. “Didn’t get by the store this week.”
Zack let the silence stretch for a minute, and considered his next words carefully. Holding the captain’s gaze, he continued. “Forgive, sure. Forget? That’ll take a while.”
“You want your pound of flesh, I won’t fight you. I’ll get written up or suspended, maybe both.”
“And what would that solve?” If Tanner got suspended, he’d go home and drink himself to death. Maybe he even wanted to. No way would Zack be a party to a good man’s destruction simply to assuage his hurt feelings.
“Probably nothing, but it’s your call. I’m not asking for leniency just because I’m apologizing.”
“Are you? Apologizing, I mean.”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Zack. More than you’ll ever know.” His voice was rife with sincere regret.
Zack was only human. The part of him that was still hurt and humiliated by their run-in wanted retribution, no matter how messy. The more insistent part of him wanted the team to regain its cohesiveness. These guys were his brothers, his only family.
Destroying Tanner would finish them as a team.
Hadn’t the captain—
all
of them—been through enough?
all
of them—been through enough?
“I accept, and I recommend we put this behind us,” Zack said quietly. For one second, he could’ve sworn Tanner swayed on his feet.
“Thank you.” He stepped closer, gripped Zack on the shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I’m goddamned glad you’re all right.”
Zack managed a smile. “Me, too, Cap.”
“I’ll come by again soon and we’ll talk. Get some rest.”
It wasn’t until after Tanner left that Zack realized the captain had never addressed the touchy issue of appointing Salvatore as acting FAO.
And whether Zack would ever recover the position.
A noise jangled near his head, startling a curse from his lips. Why did hospital phones need to be set loud enough to make a person’s brain bleed? Groaning, he rolled to his side and reached for the receiver with his free hand—the one without the IV—and brought it to his ear.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Knight. Back from the dead, are you?”
The clipped, cultured voice, dripping with feigned cordiality, curdled his bone marrow.
Oh, God.
Not Delacruz. Not now. “How did you know where to find me?” No need to ask why the man had bothered. At least the rusty croak from his illness masked the fear and strain behind the question.
Not Delacruz. Not now. “How did you know where to find me?” No need to ask why the man had bothered. At least the rusty croak from his illness masked the fear and strain behind the question.
“With a minimum of difficulty. Your landlady seemed to think something horrid must’ve befallen you, and there you are.”
His landlady! Dammit, he’d forgotten that his rent was long overdue. And now, as far as she was concerned, Zack had gone AWOL.
Shit!
Shit!
Delacruz chuckled as he went on. “And I’d thought perhaps you were avoiding me by not answering your cell phone.”
The bastard’s smug tone grated. “Considering the damned thing is sitting on the bottom of the Cumberland River? No. Besides, if I want you to fuck off, I’ll tell you straight up. Like now, for instance.”
“That’s what I admire about you,” Delacruz said smoothly. “Such indomitable spirit. I like you, Zack.”
“You don’t like anything but money. Which, FYI, I don’t fucking have any more of.”
“Oh, where there’s a will and all that.” He paused. “I assume your old man is resting comfortably in the nursing home?”
The veiled threat shredded Zack’s forced calm, fired his anger. Darius Knight had been a lousy father in his day, a selfish motherfucker, but was now just a pitiful shell of a man. His father deserved to face his debts, the trouble he’d caused. He did
not
deserve to be murdered for them.
not
deserve to be murdered for them.
Zack held the receiver in a death grip. “You stay away from my father, you sonofabitch. Or I’ll kill you.”
Delacruz laughed. “Noble as well as spirited, even after all he’s done to you. ‘The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children,’ ” he quoted. “Exodus 20:5.”
“Euripides, 484 through 406 BC.”
Bastard.
Bastard.
“I stand corrected,” he said in amusement. “My faith in you is restored.”
Zack closed his eyes against the pounding in his head. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I mean that an intelligent young man such as yourself will have no problem solving the dilemma of how to come up with another fifty-thousand-dollar installment, let’s say, two weeks from today. I’m feeling generous, in light of your accident.”
Zack’s hands started to shake. He wondered whether suppressed rage would cause him to stroke out like his father. “You’re pissing into the wind, Delacruz. I’m not a magician.”
“But you
are
a genius. Be a problem solver, Zack. I’ll expect good news in two weeks.”
are
a genius. Be a problem solver, Zack. I’ll expect good news in two weeks.”
Their connection was ended with a
click
. For a few seconds, Zack sat with the receiver pressed against his ear, the pressure building in his chest, white-hot and unstoppable.
click
. For a few seconds, Zack sat with the receiver pressed against his ear, the pressure building in his chest, white-hot and unstoppable.
Fifty thousand. Two weeks.
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