Page 14 of Lust
Briggs shouted from behind, “I think that’s our cue to leave.”
Poker chips tinkled as they were rounded up, signaling Liza should probably leave too, but this was all too weird. Why would Joe lie about how long he’d been dating someone? If this was true, then when he’d told her two months ago that he was in a serious relationship, he might not have been dating at all. What did he do, go out and find a girlfriend, just to prove Liza wrong?
An icky feeling rolled in her gut, and she tried not to think it was related to guilt, but the feeling wouldn’t go away.
After packing up the poker, the boys shuffled toward the door, all with their gazes downcast. Houlahan lifted a palm as he exited, saying over his shoulder, “Catch you at work, G-Man. Then we’ll answer those questions you need for that case.”
He shut the door, leaving just the three of them left.
“What case?” Liza looked at Joe.
Anger flared in his expression. Tension sizzled in the air as his gaze darted around the kitchen before landing on the baseball. He picked it up and then collected her jacket before walking back to the door, yanking it open, and shoving her into the hallway.
5
Liza stood in the hall,gaping as Joe handed over her jacket.
“You know what?” he said. “I’m glad you brought the baseball. Now you can take it back and know that we’re done with it.” His brow furrowed at the ball between them. “It was supposed to mean something else. It was supposed to mean we were on the same team, but that hasn’t been the case for years. You forgot, Liza, that you were the first one to stop taking calls from me. The past two months of playing phone-tag are nothing compared to the years you avoided me while I was with the Feds.”
He shoved the ball at her chest. She had no choice but to take it.
“I’m done playing games with you, Liza. We’re done being friends.”
“Joey!” she protested. “You don’t mean that. I’ve been busy, that’s all.”
“Yeah, well, while you were busy, I grew up,” he said. “But you got jaded. You got mean. And it’s Joe, not Joey. Don’t make me fucking say it again.”
Pain cut straight down her middle, from her heart to her stomach, like she’d ripped in two. He turned away. She seized his wrist. An intense electric shock cracked between them, searing from her hand down to her elbow. She gasped, let go, and stepped back, shaking her hand to dispel the sensation.
Joe pushed Liza gently into the hall and closed the door with a resoundingclick. The last thing she saw before it closed was Tanya’s smug smirk over his shoulder.
Liza’s breath became ragged. Her heart pounded like a jackhammer. Her skin went sweaty, prickly, and hot in waves.
This isn’t happening.
“No,” she mumbled. She refused to believe Joe had kicked her out, just because… of what? Some offhand insults she’d thrown his way. Absolutely not. He’d always given snark as good as he got.
There was something else going on. He was lying. He had to be.
She pulled on her hair. This was too much to comprehend. Joe was herfriend.
A woman’s voice filtered through the closed door and a sick feeling unfurled in her stomach—lust. Tanya’s. A snarl curled Liza’s lips. Heat zipped up her neck. Every instinct wanted to kick down the door, shove her Glock in Tanya’s face, and squeeze the trigger. If she’d actually had it in her hands, she almost thought she’d have done it.
She shook her head—this wasn’t like the potential trafficker in the alley, this was run-of-the-mill sexy-time lust. There was no threat, so why was she acting all irritated?
Only one way to find out. A self-imposed stakeout.
Liza shoved the baseball into her pocket and exited the building. At ground level, she crossed the street, hugged the shadows along the sidewalk, and shimmied up the fire escape ladder on the building opposite Joe’s.
Screw that bitch. Screw Joe.
Liza needed closure. None of this made sense.
Taking two ladder rungs at a time, Liza was on a third level fire escape before anyone had noticed. The night was dark, giving the perfect cover for a stakeout. Liza checked the window of the apartment attached to the fire escape. Both curtains and windows were closed. It didn’t look like anyone was home. Perfect.
She squatted and kept her body hidden in the darkness between a tall planter and the building. She settled her gaze squarely across the way—at Joe’s. He’d kept the curtains open and the lights on, so she had a clear view inside.
She wished she hadn’t.
