Page 29 of Mine To Break
Chapter Twelve
The doorbell rang. Relieved, but also irritated at feeling so relieved, Mal shoved the box of Patrick’s goodies away and went to the open the door. “I gave you the code for a reason.”
Colby flashed a grin and lifted both hands full of takeout. “Hungry?”
“You’re forgiven. I hope you got Kung Pao Chicken. I love some spicy Chinese food. Here, we’ll just eat in the living room. What do you want to drink?”
“I’ll start with just water, and then whatever you’re having. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a variety. I haven’t eaten at this place yet, but Elias swore they have the best Chinese in town.”
She hit the fridge door for two glasses of water and then the silverware drawer for forks and several large spoons. She set the glasses down on the coffee table, watching as he sorted through the red and gold containers. “I don’t like plastic silverware and I don’t eat with chopsticks.”
He laughed. “The only thing in my cupboard is plastic crap. I refused to spend good money on kitchen stuff when I’m never home.”
“I’ve noticed.” She put a little reprimand into her tone. “You can’t keep up this pace for long.”
Sitting down with his Orange Beef, he sighed. “I know. But putting in all these hours the past year has really helped my career. Elias is feeling the pressure, too, though. Vicki isn’t going to want him working so much either. I think he indulged my frantic work habits just to keep himself busy while they were split up.”
“You’ve been partners for awhile?”
“About a year, plus I spent some time as a beat cop. But they promoted me pretty quickly thanks to my military experience. Elias has been a great mentor, but he’s getting ready to move on.”
She heard a bit of uncertainty in his voice and read the tension in his shoulders. “What will you do?”
“They’ll give me a new partner.” Colby paused, staring down at the food for a moment. “If I stay.” He looked up at her, taking a deep breath. “That’s the first time I’ve let myself say that, and I’m surprised. It feels good.”
She couldn’t deny that she liked the idea of him leaving the force, especially if they were going to try and make a relationship out of this. She’d only seen the tip of the iceberg, but her patience and concern with the hours he was working would quickly run thin. But she had to be careful. If he was her submissive, she’d want to be sure he was making a good, well-thought-out decision. Even if it meant that he wouldn’t be in danger and they’d have more time together. If his dream was to be a cop, she’d have to learn to deal with the pressures of his career, even if she didn’t like it much.
“Elias has been great. If they’d given me some other partner, I don’t know that I would have lasted this long. They probably would have sent me packing already.”
“I thought you said you two were doing great.”
“We are. We’ve really hit the cartels and gangs hard this past year. But the harder we hit, the worse the violence on the streets get. It’s a vicious circle. And Elias has been covering for me, helping me. I didn’t even realize it. I guess I wasn’t hiding my symptoms as well as I thought. Now I know why I don’t have any other friends on the force but him, and he’s aiming for a promotion. Sooner than later. So I need to decide what I want to do.”
“I have to admit that I never really paid attention to the violence on the news until I met you.”And what I hear now chills my blood because I know you’re out there.She didn’t say it aloud though. Not yet. She didn’t feel as though she had the right, because her opinion might sway him toward a decision he wasn’t ready to make.
“It’s rough out there and getting worse every day. The war on drugs is the stupidest war we’ve ever started. It just escalates, and cartels have infinite resources. It doesn’t take much to buy some illegal guns and give them to desperate men who’d sell their own mothers for their next hit. We shut down one dealer and three more pop up. It’s the same thing we saw in Afghanistan. The real terrorists are never stopped. All we do is bomb the innocent and make their lives more miserable, driving many of them to join the terror cells because they simply have no other choice.”
“There are other departments, right? You don’t have to work narcotics.”
“True.” He ate quietly a few moments before continuing. “I’m realizing now that I didn’t join the force for the right reasons, and I’m damned lucky Elias has been covering my back all this time. Without him, I wouldn’t have made it so long.”
“You’re a good cop. I don’t doubt that.”
“But I’ve been stupid. As hyped up and out of control as I’ve been, I’m damned lucky I didn’t go off half-cocked and hurt somebody. That’s the last thing I want to do. A cop’s primary goal is protect and serve, not seeking out a new battle to take his mind off all the other shit in his head.”
She settled back on the couch, pleasantly full and ready for a glass of wine. “I think you’re doing just fine at protection. And you certainly served me dinner just now.”
He might not think he was submissive, but he was sensitive enough to detect the heat in her voice. The subtle reminder that she was the Mistress, and she was pleased with him so far. “Is there anything else I couldserveyou, Mal?”
“For starters, you could grab that bottle of wine on the counter and a glass. Of two, if you like wine. I’ve got a couple of beers in the fridge if that’s more your style.”
She didn’t ask him to take care of the food, but he’d bought enough for a small army. He grabbed the untouched containers and the two they’d demolished, put the leftovers in the fridge, and paused, looking around for a trash can.
“Under the sink. The wine glasses are in the cabinet above the dishwasher.”
“You said the bottle’s open already?”
“Yeah, a few days. Hopefully it’s still good.”
