Page 57 of Brutal Power

I straighten my top and take a deep breath, looking around to make sure nobody noticed that little groping, and fortunately the place is pretty empty for a weekday afternoon. I’m honestly impressed that Brody can quote T. S. Eliot from memory, but I’m not about to actually follow through with that deal.

Maybe at home.

“We have work to do,” I say and swat away his hands when he tries to grab at me again. I skip out of his reach and try not to grin my face off. That man can’t stop himself from touching me all the time and I catch him staring at me sometimes when we’re at home just sitting around doing nothing. When I get changed, when I brush my teeth, when I so much as move a muscle, he’s looking at me, and he always looks hungry.

I love it.

He follows me back into the main atrium, even though he looks unhappy about it, and I lead him over to the cafe. There’s a young guy sitting with a laptop and an old gentleman drinking a coffee and reading what looks like a spicy romance novel, but otherwise the place is deserted. We order drinks and take them to a table in the far corner.

“What are the chances we get stood up?” I look around and check the time. He should be here by now.

“It’s possible, but Captain Kennedy isn’t stupid.” He reaches out and touches my hand. “Relax. It’s okay. We’re in a bookstore in the middle of the day.”

I hadn’t notice that my fingers keep drumming on the table. He’s right though, I have a lot of nervous energy. I feel exposed and nervous, but I need to keep it together, since we’re definitely safe right now. Safe enough, anyway.

“And if he decides that he is stupid? He didn’t seem like your biggest fan.”

“He knows how this goes,” Brody says, his voice getting softer, his expression harder. “He’ll be here.”

And Brody’s right. We don’t have to wait much longer before the captain appears at the edge of the cafe, scowling around until he spots us, and stomps over. The old cop’s wearing jeans, a windbreaker, and a Chicago Cubs hat pulled down low over his face, and I swear I’ve never seen someone look more like a police officer trying to hide in my life. He slumps into the chair next to me, leaning back and crossing his arms, like he’s afraid he’ll catch a communicable disease.

Though he must not realize he’s already got it. The man’s been infected by the Quinn organization the same way all those other cops in his precinct have.

“I’m fucking here,” Captain Kennedy grunts. “Why’d you call?”

“Thank you for joining us,” I say sweetly and he gives me an annoyed look. “How are you, Captain? Everything good?”

“I don’t have a lot of time. Let’s skip the small talk and get to why I’m here.”

Brody’s jaw ticks. “Be nice to my wife, Kennedy.”

The captain looks like he wants to tell Brody to fuck right off, but instead he gives me a pained smile. “I’m doing fine. You’re doing fine. What the fuck do you two want?”

I kick Brody’s shin under the table to keep him from making a big deal out of Kennedy’s bad attitude. “We were actually hoping to work with you, Captain,” I say sweetly and lean back in my chair to study his reaction. He gives me nothing, which means he already figured that before showing up. “It’s not even a huge deal, really. Call it a minor favor.”

“I don’t normally do minor favors for crime families.” He glances at Brody. “What the fuck did you tell her about me?”

“Hear her out,” my husband says with iron in his tone. I swear to everything holy, the way he’s looking at Captain Kennedy makes me absolutely fucking wet. There’s a menacing power to my husband that only comes out when he’s playing the boss role and I love it so much.

“We have a mutual friend,” I tell the annoyed Captain. “Maggie O’Malley. From the zoning committee.”

“Yeah, sure, I know old Mags. What’s she got to do with this?”

“She’s got a neighbor problem. The sort of thing the police can handle, but haven’t, not yet anyway. We were hoping you could help us out by helping her out.”

Captain Kennedy looks thoughtful. “I like Mags,” he admits. “Feisty old broad. Doesn’t take any shit. Not terrible for a fucking bureaucrat.”

“Help her with this neighbor issue and we’ll owe you one.” I give him my best smile and note that Brody’s staring straight at me. The silly man is getting charmed by me and I’m not even trying. Which only makes me want him even more.

“I don’t typically do open-ended jobs like that.” Captain Kennedy licks his lips.

“We’ll pay the usual amount,” Brody supplies. “Which is more than fair considering how small this problem is.”

Captain Kennedy tilts his head side to side but the shrew bastard’s delaying. I can tell his head’s working, and I don’t like that, and I especially don’t like it when he speaks up. “You need this,” he says. “It’s important to you or else you wouldn’t have come straight to me.”

I glance at Brody. He’s got a poker face on but Captain Kennedy’s dead right. “We’re taking this seriously,” Brody says carefully.

Captain Kennedy waves a hand in the air. “I’ve got problems too, you know. I’ve got a bunch of fucking open cases stemming from that little goddamn war you threw a while back. You remember that? The fuckinggas leakbullshit? If you can give me an arrestconnected with that mess, maybe I can help Mags with her neighbor issue.”

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