Cops 02 - Love on the Run (14 page)

It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. The damage was already done.

*

Bianca saw Jack’s Explorer parked in the driveway next to Clarke’s Volvo as she pulled up to their house. She parked her car and sat there while she tried to work up enough courage to go inside and talk to them.

She dreaded this conversation, but she refused to let her friends believe that she’d had any part in trying to sabotage Jack and Tony or their investigation.

Finally, Bianca took a deep breath and got out of the car. She walked quickly up the stairs and rang the doorbell.

When Clarke opened the door, Bianca searched her face and found nothing but concern and understanding in her eyes.

“How are you doing, sweetie?” Clarke asked gently.

“I’ve had better days.”

“Come here.” Clarke pulled her into an embrace. “You look like you need a hug.”

“Yeah.” Bianca’s laugh was shaky, her vision blurred by unshed tears. “I could definitely use one.” She held on tightly to Clarke for several long moments before she finally released her.

Clarke ushered her in. She closed the door and led her by the hand over to the couch.

Once they were seated, Clarke asked, “Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m fine.” She met Clarke’s eyes. “Is Jack angry?”

Clarke hesitated. “Yes. But not at you,” she quickly added. “He and Tony got their asses chewed out pretty good today, and he’s still pissed about that.”

“I’m so sorry, Clarke. I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with that story. I’d never do that to Jack.”

“Oh, I know that, and so does Jackson,” Clarke said. “I’ve seen your work too many times before, and as soon as I saw that garbage, I knew immediately that it wasn’t yours.”

Relief flooded her upon hearing Clarke’s words.

“You wanna talk about what happened?”

Bianca looked at her friend. “Yeah, I do.” She began to speak and didn’t stop until she’d told Clarke everything, including about Tony and her.

“Oh, sweetie.” Sympathy filled Clarke’s voice. “I’m so sorry that you had to deal with all of this on your own. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you to experience all of that with your cousin and now this situation with Tony.” Clarke paused. “I’ll be honest; I can see why he’s upset. But I also know him well enough to say that he won’t stay that way for long. Once he calms down, I’m sure he’ll realize that you would never have done anything like that to him.” Her tone hardened. “In the meantime, I say we pay a visit to that little bastard Greenley. I’ll slit his tires, and you can throw a brick through his windshield.”

Bianca gave her a small smile, knowing that Clarke was joking and trying to make her feel better. However, her thoughts were still too wrapped up in memories of Tony and their argument to truly appreciate her friend’s efforts.

“You care about him a lot, don’t you?” Clarke’s softly spoken words caught her off guard, and Bianca stared at the other woman in surprise.

“It’s okay.” Clarke smiled knowingly. “Trust me, I know the feeling. I know how hard it is to keep your feelings for another person a secret, not just from them, but from the outside world as well.”

“You knew.” It wasn’t a question, really. The look on Clarke’s face made it obvious that she did.

Clarke nodded. “I’ve known for a while that the two of you were more than just friends.” She laughed softly. “I’d have to be blind not to know. Tony doesn’t just look at you like a man who wants a woman; he looks at you like a man who knows a woman -physically and intimately. Hell, you two throw off so much heat when you’re around each other that I’m surprised you both don’t just spontaneously combust on the spot.”

“I still can’t believe you never said anything.”

Clarke gave her a sheepish grin. “Jackson has been teaching me the art of discretion.”

It was Bianca’s turn to snort. “In other words, Jack told you to mind your own business.”

“Well…yeah. I guess you could say that.”

Bianca couldn’t help but laugh at her friend.

“But seriously,” Clarke continued, “I was also hoping that you would come and talk to me.”

“I know.” Bianca sighed, suddenly feeling embarrassed that she hadn’t confided in her friend before now. “I just…”

“You just thought that since we know that Tony likes to play rough when it comes to sex, if we knew about the two of you, we’d know that you like it rough, too.”

Bianca stared openmouthed at Clarke. “Damn,” she finally said. “How in the hell do you do that?”

“What can I say?” Clarke shrugged and smiled. “It’s a gift.” Her expression sobered.

“Listen to me, sweetie. Before Jackson, I never would have imagined that I’d like half the things he’s shown me. And now, I can’t get enough of them.” Clarke chuckled. “But my point is that just because you crave more than vanilla sex, it doesn’t make you strange or perverted, it just makes you…you. Trust me, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little kink in your life.” Clarke paused. “Or, in your case, a lot of kink.” Their laughter filled the room, and on impulse, Bianca reached over and hugged Clarke again.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “You are without a doubt the best friend, best sister, best family, a girl could ask for.”

“Ditto, kiddo.” The tears and emotion in Clarke’s voice matched her own. “And don’t worry about Tony. Just give him some time. I know he’ll come around.”

Bianca seriously doubted it, but she kept her thoughts to herself. Talking about Tony hurt more than she could deal with at the moment.

They both looked up at the sound of Jack’s footsteps coming up the stairs from the basement.

“Hey, baby I — oh, hi, Bianca. I didn’t hear you come in.” Jack walked into the living room where they sat.

She’d been nervous about how Jack would react when he saw her, but now she realized that Clarke was right. He didn’t seem angry with her at all.

“Hey, Jack.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “I hear you had a rough day today.”

“Yeah, it pretty much sucked.” Jack studied her carefully. “But I suspect yours was about the same.”

Clarke stood up and walked over to Jack. She gave him a brief kiss on the lips before she turned to Bianca. “I’m going to let the two of you talk for a while. I’ll be back.” As she walked past Bianca, Clarke leaned down and kissed her on the cheek before she left the room.

“I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am, Jack. Did you get in a lot of trouble today?”

Jack shrugged. “Tony and I received written reprimands because we’re the lead investigators on the case.”

Bianca’s face must have shown how upset she was because Jack gave her a reassuring smile.

“Trust me, Bianca; it could have been a lot worse. Fortunately, there’s no way to prove that the story was based on information received from someone in the department.

Otherwise, we could have been suspended, or worse.”

“I want you to know that I didn’t have anything to do with that story. I didn’t know about it until…until later.” She couldn’t even bring herself to say Tony’s name without wanting to cry. “Greenley wrote that story using the notes he took from my computer.”

Jack nodded slowly. “I believe you. I couldn’t imagine you deliberately doing something like that to either of us, especially Tony.”

From his words, it was obvious to Bianca that Jack knew about her and Tony, too.

“I wish Tony felt the same way you did.” “It’s not the same for Tony,” Jack told her. “I suspect his feelings for you are a lot different than mine, and that’s why it’s harder for him to forgive than it is for me. I know he’s pissed off right now, but he’ll get over it, and when he does, he’ll forgive you.”

Bianca tried to hide the skepticism she felt, but the look on Jack’s face told her that he’d seen that, too.

“Listen, Bianca, I’ve known Tony for a long time. He’s my partner, my best friend, my brother, and I probably know him better than anyone. He’s had a lot of women over the years, but I can tell you that he never had a relationship with any of them, never spent extra time just hanging out with them, and never really tried to get to know them, until he met you.” Jack paused. “I know your relationship with Tony is none of my business, and he’d probably kick my ass if he knew what I’d said, but I care about the two of you, and I just want you both to be happy. I believe that you make each other happy.”

Bianca nodded, desperately wanting to believe Jack, needing to hold on to some measure of hope that this wasn’t the end for her and Tony.

“Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes.” Bianca and Jack glanced in Clarke’s direction as she walked back into the room and sat on the couch next to Bianca. Reaching for Bianca’s hand, Clarke said, “Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us? Afterwards, we can talk some more, if you’d like.”

Bianca smiled. Leave it to Clarke to always be so sensitive to everybody’s feelings, to always try to make everyone feel better. She was sorely tempted to take Clarke up on her offer, still so in need of a sympathetic ear, a strong shoulder to lean on. But Bianca refused to continue to dump her problems on her friends.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna head out. I’ve already taken up more than enough of your evening. I’m sure you two have better things to do than listen to me all night.” Bianca’s words were meant to be a joke, to lighten the mood, but the sadness in her tone was evident — even to her own ears.

“Hey.” Clarke gripped her hand tightly, preventing her from standing. “You being here is never a problem. You know that.”

Bianca glanced at Jack, and the expression on his face confirmed Clarke’s words.

“Yeah,” she finally said. “I do.” She picked up her purse. “But it’s late, and I’ve had a pretty long day, so I’m gonna go.” Bianca stood. Clarke and Jack followed behind her as she walked to the door. Turning, she hugged Clarke, then Jack.

“Thanks again.” She looked between them. “For everything.”

“Anytime you need us, you know we’re here for you,” Jack told her.

After she left Clarke and Jack’s house, Bianca got into her car and drove in the opposite direction of her apartment, her entire focus on seeing Tony and trying to make things right between them again.

Tony was about to enter his building when the sound of a familiar voice stopped him.

“Hi, Tony. How’ve you been?”

He turned around and looked at her. “How’s it going, Lisa?” He watched her strut toward him, those long legs moving across the pavement like it was her own personal catwalk. Her raven waist-length hair hung straight down her back and swayed back and forth with each step she took. Her smooth, dark chocolate skin was flawlessly done, and her makeup still looked fresh, even at ten o’clock at night.

“Much better, now that I’ve finally caught up with you.” She smiled, and her even white teeth contrasted with her dark skin. “I just got into town yesterday, and I’ve been trying to reach you since I got here.”

You shouldn’t have. “Oh, yeah?” Tony tried to sound interested. Lisa was a flight attendant he’d met several months ago, and they’d hooked up a few times when she’d been in town. Tony hadn’t seen her since he’d been with Bianca, and he really had no interest in seeing her now.

“Yeah. I was hoping that we could spend some time together before I flew out again this weekend.” She stepped closer until their lips practically touched. “I’ve never met another man who knows how to play like you.”

What Lisa wanted was obvious, and Tony knew exactly where this was headed. For that reason alone he needed to send her on her way. It had been a shitty day, and he was still fucked up in the head over Bianca. The last thing he needed was to complicate matters by getting involved with a piece of ass from his past.

“So, are you gonna invite me in?” Lisa moved even closer; her body brushed suggestively against his. Still, he needed something to distract him from his thoughts of Bianca that were eating him up inside. If nothing else, Lisa made a damn good distraction.

“Yeah,” he said. “Come on in.”

*

“Make yourself comfortable.” Tony closed the door behind Lisa. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

He walked into his bedroom and sat on the bed with his head in his hands as he tried to get his shit together. Tony had been fucking since he was fifteen, and not once during that entire time did he ever have to talk himself into getting some pussy.

Lisa was still as gorgeous as she always had been, and from the way she’d been all over him in the elevator, she was still as eager. Yet Tony had no interest in her whatsoever. This shit with Bianca had him even more fucked up than he realized.

Finally, Tony stood and walked out of his bedroom. He heard Lisa in his guest bathroom when he walked past the door. He was still contemplating calling the whole thing off and sending her home when someone knocked on his door. He opened it and found Bianca standing on the other side.

A multitude of emotions flowed through him when he saw her. His body still battled with the lingering anger and the arousal that never seemed to go away whenever she was around. Even in jogging pants, her hair in a ponytail and no makeup, she was more stunning than Lisa could ever hope to be.

Tony didn’t know how long they’d stood there staring at each other before Bianca finally spoke.

“Hi, Tony. Can I come in? I was hoping we could talk about —” Bianca stopped speaking suddenly, and her gaze moved past him.

Tony glanced over his shoulder and saw Lisa, wearing only a towel, lurking in the background, far enough to be out of the way, but close enough to make sure that Bianca saw her there.

He looked at Bianca again. “This isn’t a good time, Bianca.”

She nodded. “Yes, I see that now. Well, don’t worry. I’m leaving. What I had to say obviously wasn’t important. Good-bye, Tony.”

Tony tried to harden himself against the hurt he saw on Bianca’s face. He tried to pretend that he wasn’t affected by the way her beautiful green eyes shone with unshed tears.

And when she walked away and left him standing there without a second glance, he tried to convince himself that he didn’t feel his heart shatter into a million pieces.