Page 54 of Lust
Blood boiled in Joe’s veins, coursing around, kicking up a storm. He tensed. And then turned to meet Parker’s golden, smug stare.
The man wore a tight black muscle shirt and slouch jeans that probably cost more than Joe’s car. With long hair hastily pulled back at his nape, day-old scruff that, for once, didn’t seem manicured from an in-house barber. A red blistering welt covered one side of his face.
Shit. Parker was disheveled.
Joe’s lips quirked. He gestured at Parker’s wound. It looked like how Liza had left some Faithful. “Disagreed with your sister?”
Another squint of Parker’s eyes. Joe could practically hear his thoughts calculating:How much does he know?
Enough. Joe knew enough.
Parker leaned forward with menace. He opened his mouth, but Joe spoke first.
“Save me a repeat of the speech you gave me twenty years ago, Parker. I don’t give a shit what you think. We’re not kids anymore. What’s between your sister and me is just that—between us.”
A low animalistic snarl ripped out of Parker.
Instead of returning Parker’s anger, Joe was only tired. This man had no reason to be shitty. Joe had done nothing to him except ignore his warning to stay away from his sister.
And there it was. Like a lightning bolt of clarity.
“You’re Pride, and you can’t stand the fact that you’re not right about something.” Joe laughed harshly. “I mean, you fucked up, right? You didn’t want me near your sister and, as it turns out, I’m the only one she can be near. Liza hasn’t been lonely all these years because of the sin she senses, it’s been because of you and your arrogance. If you hadn’t warned me off, I would have made a move a long time ago. So from where I’m standing, it should have been me warning you away from her.” It was as though the words stoked a long-dormant fire in Joe. Vehemence rocked to the surface. His fists clenched as he glared at Parker. “Youruined everything.”
Parker’s violence dissipated, and what replaced his demeanor was more alarming: calm. It turned the man into something so deathly quiet that Joe felt like Aesop’s mouse who’d scurried over the sleeping lion’s outstretched paw... only to be caught. His life now hung in the balance, dangling over sharp teeth and a gaping chasm, at the mercy of the lion’s whim.
Amused eyes leveled on him as Parker dusted imaginary flecks from Joe’s wet shoulders and said, “You think because you’re with the Feds that you’re untouchable?”
“Fuck off.”
Parker stepped back. He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t need to. He prowled away with the cocky sureness of the lion walking away from a mouse.
Joe got in his car and drove out. He didn’t stop until he got to the precinct. It was either go there, or go home to his empty apartment, and he wasn’t ready to face those ghosts.
He used a locker room shower to clean himself. He changed into a spare suit he kept in his locker, and then sat at his desk and wrote everything he knew about the Lazarus family and the Deadly Seven.
There was one part of that fable most people forgot. The lion ended up owing his life to the mouse. Parker should take care who he pisses off.
17
Liza checkedher cell for the tenth time since waking. No message from Joe. After he’d left her at the rooftop pool, she’d called and called, but hit voice mail every single time.
This morning, she’d completed her workout, another stress test with Parker, jogged five miles, and then came back to her room and tried him again. Nothing.
Lying on her unmade bed, she daydreamed. For her, yesterday had been a wondrous revelation. She could still feel the touch of his lips down her spine, on her stomach, lower... a pleasant shiver ran through her and she pressed her thighs together with a lazy smile. He was incredible.My Joe.
The very thought of his name sent butterflies zipping in her lower belly. Since he’d left, a nagging in her soul had ruptured. She longed to be with him again, but the betrayal in his eyes last night had been so deep. He truly believed she would never have picked him if given the opportunity.
But maybe she had.
Maybe the way she felt for him factored into it.
She glanced at the tattered baseball on her nightstand, an ever-present reminder of their shared life. Picking it up, she realized her need for their bond had been very different from his. Running her thumb over the signatures, she realized her pleas for help had been nothing but childish defiance and flexing her newborn independence. The unfairness of having to pick up Wyatt’s share of the chores when he’d left for seven years of training, the trapped feeling when Mary wouldn’t allow her to go to a party, or an argument she’d had with Flint about the way she dressed. She’d run to Joe’s house and usedCodename: Baseballto justify her anguish. Seemed so childish now.
But Joe...
She rubbed her thumb over his signatures.
He’d used the ball for very different reasons. He’d never once tried to get out of responsibilities. Instead, he’d cashed inCodename: Baseballfor comfort after having his eye swollen shut by a fist from his father, or needing someone to sit with him at Emergency for X-rays, or simply just to sit with him when he received no affection from his family on his birthday. Liza had filled a hole in his life. He’d needed her like he’d not needed anyone else.
