Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 114820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“No. I mean…no, I didn’t. That is…no.”
“Ezra, we need you to come in,” Rus said. “We need to talk about this.”
“I’m not coming in unless I have a deal. I didn’t kill her.”
Rus glanced at Moran and said, “Okay, let’s get that on the record. Let’s get your story down.”
“Not without a deal. You talk to Harry. You get me a deal.”
“Were you there?”
“Not without a deal, Zachariah.”
This man-to-man shit he thought he had stuck in Rus’s craw.
He ignored it and said, “You know how it goes. You’re a businessman. Harry can’t give you something if he has nothing to go on.”
“I can tell you who did it.”
“We know who did it. Carrie Molnar.”
His voice was a squeak when he said, “You have her?”
Yep.
She was there. She either did it, or she was involved. He was involved too. She could confirm that.
And Ezra was terrified of what she’d say.
“What can you tell us about that night, Ezra? Something to go on,” Rus pushed.
“Not until I’m promised a deal. In writing.”
“How are we going to get something in writing to you? We don’t know where you are. I have to tell you, and this is no lie, you need to talk to us. You need to give us your story. You need us to hear your side.”
“Just get me a deal!” he shouted.
And then the line went dead.
“Fuck,” Rus bit.
“Ezra Corbin disconnected,” Moran said for the recording before he turned it off.
They all looked at each other.
“He’s not far,” Rus said.
“No, he isn’t,” Bohannan agreed.
“Shit,” Moran said.
Then they all got up from the table and exited the room.
Because they had more stones to turn.
THIRTY-THREE
Vixen
It was after ten that night when there was a knock on Rus’s door.
He checked the peephole, saw Lucinda with another knot in her hair, wearing something the color of porcelain, a camelhair coat over it, and he opened the door.
“Hey,” he greeted.
Then he was going backward while kissing her because she threw herself at him.
He heard the door snick shut as his thighs hit the arm of the couch, and she leaned all her weight into him.
He went down.
She came down on top of him.
He flipped their positions and lifted his head.
His voice was gruff when he noted, “That’s a lot to avoid telling me how you own a mountain. Understand, though, that is not me registering a complaint.”
She smiled slyly at him, and seeing it, he was done talking for a while.
He had her body under his. He had her smell. He had her mouth. And he had her hands all over him.
He managed to tug off her coat.
She managed to get her hand down his jeans at his ass.
He pulled her skirt up and went for hers, but she caught his hand and took it in a different direction.
He broke the kiss.
“Baby,” he murmured questioningly.
“Please, Rus.”
She needed it. He heard it, he saw it, and when she guided his hand into her panties at the front, his hard cock beaded, because he felt it.
It didn’t take long, he kissed her between watching her while touching her, listening to her excitement escalate, then with a soft rasp, her face flushed, her eyelids drifted closed, and she came for him.
Rus cupped her for a few moments before he slid his hand out and wrapped his arm around her. He shifted them so he had his back to the couch, her held close to his front, and what he expected would happen next…happened.
The orgasm knocked loose her hold on keeping it all together and being strong for everyone.
She shoved her face in his throat and started silently weeping.
He held her and stroked her and stayed silent, giving her the time she needed.
She didn’t need much.
He listened as she got it together but didn’t take her face out of his throat.
“Okay, I just used you and it wasn’t cool.”
“If I didn’t want a part in that, I would have let you know. So put it out of your mind.”
She pulled her face out of his skin and looked up at him, eyes still teary, a little smear of mascara, but otherwise her usual gorgeous.
“It’s been romantic. The tall, dark, handsome agent from the FBI rides into town in the pursuit of justice. He meets the local vixen with the heart of gold…that’s me.”
He smiled gently at her. “I followed that.”
Her return smile was much smaller than his.
“They connect,” she continued. “And their attraction grows during his dogged attempts to get his man. Along the way, he gives her daughter a strong man to lean on in a sad time, and her parents and brother peace of mind. I think when it happened, it was supposed to be rose petals and candlelight and soft touches and simultaneous orgasms. Not…that.”
“Alternative story,” he returned. “The FBI guys shows in pursuit of justice and meets the beautiful, interesting, classy businesswoman with a heart of gold. He still carries bruises from a long-term relationship that she helps him realize wasn’t healthy for much longer than he thought. She also helps him understand he’s carrying a weight of blame it wasn’t his to carry, and I can guarantee you, unloading that was a serious fucking relief. But this class-act woman was so together, she was giving him a complex. So, when she attacks him one night in his hotel room, he’s fucking thrilled he has something to offer. Even if it’s an orgasm and holding her while she lets go, it’s an honor he gladly accepts, because he figures she doesn’t do that very often.”