Things We Hide from the Light (Knockemout Series, 2)

“Get out of the car.”

“You’re not supposed to be working tonight,” she muttered, gripping the wheel.

“Get. Out. Of. The. Car. Angelina,” I ordered through gritted teeth.

“Help! This woman kidnapped me!” the idiot in the back seat shouted.

“Shut up, Melvin,” Lina snapped.

I yanked open her door. “Don’t fuck with me, Angel.”

She released her seat belt and stepped out of the car and into my body. I knew better. Knew I couldn’t trust myself this close to her. But hadn’t it already been a foregone conclusion when Grave had filled me in on the situation?

Somehow I’d known it would end like this.

“Are you gonna back up or just stand here and crowd me all night?” she hissed, doing her best to stand defiantly in front of me and still shrink away from making any physical contact. That killed me.

Her jeans were torn on one knee. There was dirt all over her sweater and jacket. And I thought I caught a hint of a limp. But it was her face that sent my blood pressure skyrocketing.

“He do this?” I demanded, gripping her chin and tilting her head so I could see the bruising. Anger was a living thing under my skin. It ate at me and took every ounce of control not to unleash.

She reached up and gripped the wrist of the hand that held her face, but I didn’t let go. “The only thing he’s guilty of besides hacking into state databases is having pointy elbows.”

“Why are you bringing in an FTA?”

She rolled her eyes insolently. “Can we skip over the part where you pretend to care so I can be on my way? I’ve had a long day.”

“Don’t listen to her! I didn’t skip out on bail! I was innocently walking home from reading to shelter dogs when she tackled me in an alley and threatened me,” her passenger whined.

“Shut up, Melvin,” Lina and I said in unison.

I pulled her around the trunk of her car and took inventory of her in my headlights. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” The bruising under her cheek was ugly and swollen. I hated it with every fiber of my being.

She batted my hands away. “Is this part of all traffic stops now?”

Having her this close wasn’t just frying my circuits. It was destroying them.

The anger that bubbled up inside wanted to claw its way out of my throat and let itself loose on the world. I wasn’t cold now. I wasn’t empty now. I was a volcano about to erupt.

“It was an accident.” Lina’s tone was calm, almost bored. Her voice was a beautiful poison in my veins.

“You said you recovered assets, not hunted down people,” I reminded her.

“I do. So before you call me a liar again, someone called in a favor. Not that it’s any of your business.”

She kept saying things like that. Things that were technically true.

But despite the fact that I was furious with her, that I’d insisted I was done with her, I needed to know she was okay. I needed to know what had happened. I needed to fucking take care of it.

She was my business and I wasn’t done with her. I was just getting started. I accepted the truth, pretending that I had a choice.

“Who called in a favor? Who asked you to do this?”

“Jesus, Nash. Relax. No laws were broken and your sister-in-law and friend—despite being drunken pains in the ass who refused to follow orders—are safe. Knox picked them up and drove them home.”

“I realize that.” The fact that my brother thought it wise to leave Lina alone to handle a criminal on her own was another issue that was going to have to be raised. Most likely with fists.

Fuck.

The emotions she raised in me were dangerous. Gone was the even-keeled lawman with a badge. Gone was the empty shell of a man. In his place was a fire-breathing dragon that wanted to lay waste to everything.

I wondered if this was how Knox felt most of the time.

I reached out and cupped her chin again, angling her beautiful face so I could examine the bruising. Touching her, even just like this, lit something inside me.

“You need ice.”

“I’d get to it faster if you weren’t holding me up.”

I blew out a bad-tempered breath. “Get him out of the car.”

“What?”

“Get him out of the car,” I said, enunciating slowly.

“Oh no. I’m not falling for that. I’m driving this ass’s ass to the station and getting a receipt. Then he’s all yours.”

“I don’t want you transporting him,” I said. A wave of possessiveness washed away all rational thought. I didn’t care. I just needed her safe and close.

“I don’t give a shit what you want,” she snarled.

“I’ll give a shit enough for the two of us. Get his ass out of your car.”

She crossed her arms. “No.”

“Fine.” I stepped back and started to round the car. “I’ll do it.”

She grabbed my arm and I reveled in the touch. “You take another step near my FTA and I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” I challenged when she trailed off. I wanted her to push back. Wanted to meet in the middle in a tangle of anger and lust.

“Why are you doing this?” she hissed, shoving her fingers into her hair.

“Wish I knew, sweetheart.” But I did know. She could lie to me. She could put herself in danger. She could avoid me or hate me. But I still wouldn’t be able to leave her alone. Because I wasn’t done with her.

I hated myself for how much I wanted her.

“I don’t belong to you. I didn’t break the law. The only thing I was in danger of was bruising my ego taking this idiot down. So unless you want to abuse your authority and detain me, I suggest you let me do my job.”

“I don’t want to care, you know.”

“Poor Nash. Are you being forced to play the hero for the villain?”

I pinned her against the car with my hips. Her eyes dilated. Her delicate nostrils flared like a doe scenting danger. But her hands had a mind of their own. They gripped me by the shirt and held on tight.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Angel.”

“From where I’m standing, it looks like you’re the only one who’s going to get hurt,” she shot back.

I was standing on the side of the road caging an angry woman against a fast car. My heartbeat hammered in my head, a steady thrumming that matched the throb in my cock. She wasn’t the safe choice, the smart choice. But for some electrifyingly stupid reason, my body thought this woman who lived her life in the gray area was the right choice.

I cupped her jaw and ran my thumb over her lower lip. The light in her eyes changed from fury to something just as dangerous. I was vibrating with need. I couldn’t trust myself to be this close to her.

But just when I’d nearly talked myself into pulling back, she nipped the pad of my thumb with her teeth.

The tiny zing of pain shot through me, down my spine, and zeroed in on my balls.

I could feel her heart racing against my chest.

We both moved at the same time. I dipped at the knees just as she spread her legs, making room for me.

This. Now. Her.

My blood demanded more. Any performance fears I had evaporated into the night, burned off by the heat of lust. I needed to make her mine. To prove to her she belonged to only me. Sliding my hands under her knees, I yanked up and out, spreading her legs until my erection nestled at the juncture of her thighs. Even fully clothed, the feel of her body welcoming mine was almost too much to bear.

“I need you—”

“I don’t want to need you, but I do,” I said, nuzzling my face into the silky smooth skin of her neck.

“Damn it, Nash,” she breathed. “I need you to back up and let me breathe.”

I stilled against her but didn’t move back. I couldn’t. The pulse in her throat fluttered just beneath my lips.

“Nash. Please? Just back up and let me breathe.”

It was the please that damned me. I would give her anything, as long as she gave me everything.

I bit out a curse and stepped back, letting her slide to the ground.

“If I’m not going to be your emotional support fuck, I sure as hell won’t be your hate fuck.”

“Angel.”

She held up a hand. “We’ve already proved we can’t trust each other. And I’m pretty sure we just proved we can’t trust ourselves to be anywhere near each other.”

“I don’t know how long I can fight this,” I confessed.

She leveled me with a look. “Try harder.”

“I am trying. I’m furious with you. You betrayed my trust.”

“Oh please,” she scoffed. “I was more honest with you than I have been with anyone. You just refuse to acknowledge that there’s a whole world out there beyond the black and white.”

“As I was saying, I can’t stop thinking about how mad I am at you. But all I want to do is get down on my knees and bury my face between your—”

She slapped a hand over my mouth.

“Don’t finish that sentence. We’re dangerous to each other. I can’t keep my head on straight when you’re touching me. We’re the worst decision we could make. And if I’m the one saying that, it means something.”

But for once in my life, I wasn’t worried about consequences. I wasn’t thinking six steps down the road. All I knew for certain was that I wanted her. Even though she’d lied. Even though she’d hurt me. Even though she wanted to fight me on everything.

I wanted Angelina Solavita.

“Excuse me? I know you two are in the middle of a fight, but I really have to pee.”

“Shut up, Melvin!”

I rode the ass of the red Charger the entire way to the station, not giving her an inch of breathing room. When we arrived, I was out of my SUV, opening the door of her car before she’d even shut off the engine.

“Back off, hotshot,” Lina warned.

But I was already hauling the scrawny felon out of the back seat. “Let’s go, asshole,” I said.

“I feel like the name-calling is uncalled for,” he complained.

“What’s uncalled for are bruises on her face,” I said, spinning him around to look at Lina. Seeing her hurt unleashed something ugly inside me. Something that wanted to sweep all her infractions under the rug. Something that wanted to keep her close so no one else could get near her.

“I told you, she’s the one who tackled me after the brunette hit me with dog poop and the blond showed me her boobs. It’s not my fault she got banged up.”

I shot a look at Lina. She shrugged. “Naomi and Sloane,” she said by way of explanation.

“Listen, I’m really hungry,” Melvin whined. “I ran out of my cousin’s place before dinner. You think I could get some crispy nuggies or maybe some of those smiley face mashed potato things? You know, comfort food. I’m feeling pretty stressed out.”

Christ. Did his mom still cut the crusts off his bread too?

“If you apologize to the lady for assaulting her, I’ll feed you.”

“I’m sorry your face ran into my elbow, Lina. Honest. My mom would kick my ass if I even thought about hurting a lady.”

“Apology accepted,” Lina said. She turned to me. “Now give me the receipt.”

“Let’s go,” I muttered, pushing Melvin ahead of us.

“Damn, gorgeous. What the hell happened to you?” Grave asked Lina when we trooped inside.

“Pointy elbows,” she explained.

“I got them from my dad. Most of his body parts are sharp and pointy,” Melvin announced. “So about those nuggies…”

I shoved Melvin at Grave before I was tempted to jam one of my elbows into his face. “Do me a favor and take care of this. I’ll deal with the paperwork.”

Lina looked like she was about to laser me in half with her eyes.

“I have to make a call,” she said and stalked out into the hallway.

“Got a pretty good limp,” Grave observed as if I hadn’t already cataloged her every move.

By the time Lina came inside, hiding her limp as best she could, I had her paperwork ready.

“This is for Murtaugh,” I said handing the first slip over. “And this is for you.”

She took the second slip of paper and then gave me the heated death stare. “A speeding ticket? You’re joking.”

“Pulled you over going fourteen over the limit,” I reminded her.

She was so mad she sputtered. “You…you…”

“You’ve got two weeks to pay it or contest it. Though, if you’re thinkin’ about fightin’ it, I wouldn’t. Seein’ as how I was the one who pulled you over and I’d have no qualms about taking a day off to sit in traffic court.”

She took a deep breath and, when that didn’t seem to calm her down, sucked in another one. Fury radiating off her, she pointed at me and shook her head before backing through the door.

“You sure you know what you’re doing there, Chief?” Grave asked.

“No fucking clue, Hopper.”

Instead of going home where I didn’t trust myself to leave Lina alone, I took my bad mood out of town. My tires kicked up a cloud of dust into the night sky as I sped down the dirt lane. The lights were on in the big house, so I slammed on the brakes and got out of my vehicle.

I stomped up onto the porch and pounded on the front door until it opened.

“Christ. What the hell is—?”

I didn’t give my brother the chance to finish his sentence. My fist connected with his jaw and snapped his head back.

“You fucking fuck!” he snarled.

One punch didn’t feel like enough. I was happier than a pig in shit when he barreled into my gut with his shoulder. We went flying, smashing through the porch railing and landing on a leafy bush.

I kneed him in the general vicinity of the crotch and flipped over to get on top of him.

He let me land another punch to his face before sneaking one past my defenses. I tasted blood and anger and frustration in a delirious cocktail.

“What the fuck is your problem?” he demanded as I smashed his face into the shrubbery.

“You left her alone to handle a criminal.”

“Jesus Christ, you idiot. Did you get a look at him? Lina eats guys like that for breakfast.”

“He fucking hurt her.”

I landed a jab to his ribs. My brother grunted, then rolled me off him with some fancy leg sweep move.

He grabbed me by the hair and bounced my face off the mulch. “He bruised her. You’re the asshole who hurt her.”

I threw an elbow over my shoulder and felt it connect with his jaw.

Knox grunted, then spit. “If anyone should be kickin’ anyone’s ass, it’s me kickin’ your ass for messin’ with her head. She’s my friend.”

“And I’m your fuckin’ brother,” I reminded him.

“Then what are we doin’ fightin’?”

“How the fuck should I know?” The mad was still in me. The helplessness. The need to touch her when I knew I didn’t have the right anymore.

“Knoxy?” Naomi sang drunkenly from somewhere inside the house.

“He’s outside fightin’ with Uncle Nash in the yard. They broke the porch,” Waylay reported.

“Great. Now you’re gettin’ me in trouble,” he complained.

We both flopped over onto our backs on top of the crushed greenery. The stars were brilliant pinpoints in the inky black sky.

“You left her alone,” I said again.

“She can handle herself.”

“Doesn’t mean she has to.”

“Look, man, what do you want me to say? She needed me to take Daisy and Sloane, who were both three sheets to the damn wind. If I don’t ever hear another Spice Girls karaoke song in my life, it’ll be too soon.”

Lina needed Knox. I let that fact rattle around in my head.

When she’d gotten into trouble, she’d called Knox and not me. For good reason. I wasn’t stupid enough that I didn’t see that. Yet here I was, lying in the dirt, pissed off that I’d created a world where Lina went to someone else when she needed help.

“How did you fuck it up?” Knox asked.

“What makes you think I fucked anything up?”

“You’re here rolling around in the landscaping with me instead of giving her hell. What did you do?”

“What do you think I did? I pulled her ass over and gave her a speeding ticket and a ration of shit.”

He was silent for a long beat and then said, “You’re usually better with women than this.”

“Fuck you.”

“If you want my advice—”

“Why the hell would I? You couldn’t tell Naomi you loved her until she got abducted in sex handcuffs by her sister and that asshole.”

“I was working through some shit, okay?”

“Yeah, well, so am I.”

“My advice is work through it faster if you want a shot with her. She was packin’ a suitcase today. Naomi said she and Sloane had to practically twist her arm to agree to stay long enough for them to go out.”

“Packing?”

“Said she was gonna move back into the motel until someone else could replace her on the case. Then she was going home.”

Leaving?

Absolutely fucking not.

Lina wasn’t going anywhere. Not until we’d hashed this out. Not until I figured out why she was under my skin and in my blood. Not until I found a way to either get her out or keep her close.

But these were not things Morgan men said out loud.

Instead I stuck with our comfort zone. “So now you’re fine if I hook up with your friend? Christ, man, you’re fuckin’ mercurial.”

“Bite me, asshole. Accordin’ to Naomi, Lina feels something real for you. Something you didn’t fully fuck up yet. Unless that speeding ticket put the final nail in that coffin. And since you’re over here makin’ a fool of yourself over her, I’m thinkin’ maybe there’s something there worth exploring.”

I scraped a leaf off my face. “Lina feels something? What did she say?”

“I don’t fuckin’ know,” Knox said, irritated. “Daze and Sloane were singin’ it with British accents between verses of ‘Wannabe.’ Ask them once they sober up and leave me the hell out of it.”

We were quiet for a while. Just two grown men lying in a ruined flower bed staring up at the night sky.

“Heard Naomi threw dog shit at the guy Lina was chasin’ and then Sloane distracted him by flashin’ him her tits,” I said.

Knox snorted next to me. “Jesus. No more girls’ nights out. From now on, the three of them go out together, it’s with a goddamn escort.”

“Agreed.”

We heard the creak of the screen door but never saw the bucket of cold water coming. It hit us both in the face.

Sputtering and swearing, we got to our feet to face the enemy only to find Naomi, Waylay, and Waylon on the porch looking down at us.

“No more fighting,” Naomi said regally. Then she hiccupped.

Waylay snickered as she turned the hose on us.