Page 60 of Sunshine
Staring at the ceiling, focusing on a scuff mark that with pareidolia, looked like a horned demon, I recall the day I tackledMack. I swallow hard, closing my eyes to picture the anger and grief in Mack’s eyes, the lines on his face deeper than I’d seen in any stakeout photo we’d gotten.
“One of the higher-ranking members of Satan’s Ransom walked past the van, he eyed me as he did. And all I remember thinking is this guy’s out of fucks. He’s got nothing left. He was big. My size, but older, a bit lankier, more weathered. McCormack Wolfe. And that’s when I realized I knew him.” Looking down at Tessa, who’s now on her stomach, her fists under her chin, I see what she might have looked like as a young girl.
“We were childhood friends. Anyway, I was reeling from that revelation and he started walking up the path to the dealer’s building, there was a flurry of excitement in the van, everyone rushing to get photos and video, double checking the audio in the apartment building. And then time sort of stopped, for me anyway.” I shut my eyes, fully ensconced in the memory.
“The dealer walks out the lobby door, and Mack’s arm goes up, gun in hand. The dealer fumbles to get his own gun out.” I release a breath. “There they are, eye to eye, as if it’s the old west or something.” Opening my eyes to look at Tessa, I say, “I don’t know why, but I jumped out of the van and rushed Mack. Not because I wanted to save the dealer but because I wanted to save Mack from himself.”
“What happened?”
I look at her when she speaks. Her eyes are wide and full of interest.
“We land on the ground, the gun skittering across the concrete. The dealer takes off, but my guys are on him, and I’m left with Mack. He throws me off and gets a few good shots in before I get my bearings. Then he just stops, his fists dropping to his sides, his weary face speaking volumes before he even opens his mouth to say, ‘I’m going to kill them if you don’t stop me,and the only way you’ll stop me is by promising me you’ll take them all down’.”
“Them?” she asks.
I nod. “He didn’t just want the dealer gone; he wanted them all gone—every member of the Ransom.”
She blinks. “Why?”
I turn to Tessa, propping my head on one of my hands. Brushing back a chunk of hair near her eye with my other hand, I assess her face. “Because the club Prez wouldn’t get rid of the dealer, and he forbid Mack from taking him out on his own because the dealer was their top seller. That meant the Prez placed the dealer’s value above Mack’s and his niece’s. The MC was supposed to be his family—his brothers.”
Tessa bites her lip, shaking her head. “Poor Mack.”
“Later, when I had him in interrogation, he recognized me and offered to be my informant. But only if I promised to take them down.”
“Did he ask for immunity?”
“Nope, but I told the Crown attorney it was part of the deal anyway.”
She looks thoughtful a moment, her brow wrinkling before smoothing out again. “Doeshefeel guilty about betraying them?”
I open my mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. I look down, not knowing what to say, but she isn’t waiting for a reply. Instead, she kisses me sweetly, her hand finding and cupping my jaw.
“I’m sorry your friend went through that, and I’m glad he got out, but I hope you don’t compare yourself to him. You were working. It was your job. You did what you had to do. And the fact that you feel bad about betraying some of them only means you see the good in people. You weren’t the kind of cop that sawthem as one-dimensional criminals.” Her throat works. “Maybe that’s why you see the good in me.”
My eyes find hers. “There’s nothing but good in you. You’re just a bit bratty, but in the best possible way.”
She laughs. “Case, no one can absolve you of your guilt and help you see how good you are. You have to do that out on your own.” She strokes my beard, staring at my lips a second before kissing me again. “But for what it’s worth, I like you and think you deserve good things.”
I search her expression for dishonesty but see none.
“Actually, I like you a lot more than I should.”
She smirks and my brow arcs in question.
“You did spank my butt raw, after all.”
I move closer to her, pulling her against me as I do. “And I’d do it again in a second if you disobeyed me again. But if I recall correctly, you liked it too.”
She shrugs, but then wiggles her brows. “Yeah, I did.”
I laugh, feeling the darkness in me ebb. “So, I deserve good things, huh?”
Her head bobs and I raise a brow.
“And do I deserve a naughty neighbor who makes me crazy hot and irritates me in equal measure?”
A smirk spreads slowly on her mouth. “You definitely deserve that.”
