All Messed Up: Windy City Kink, Book 2 (25 page)

“I know.”

He kissed her mouth.

“Tell me about your fiancée.”

“Huh?” He frowned. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“Kevin. He told me that she dumped you because she didn’t believe you cared about her.”

“Ah. Yeah.”

“Stupid bitch,” Mallory said.

He choked on a laugh and stroked her hair. “Okay.”

“Really. If she didn’t know you well enough to know that hell yeah, you care, you care a lot, then she deserved to lose you.”

“Huh,” he said, running his hand over her hair again. “Maybe she wasn’t sure I cared about her because I didn’t.”

Her breath caught.

His voice was rough, but gentle. “Not like I care about you.”

Her heart melted. “Oh, Joe.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Joe sat on a stool at the counter in Mallory’s kitchen the next Friday night while she made them dinner. Actually she was dishing out Greek food she’d picked up—moussaka, Greek salad and bread—onto two plates. Since the meeting she’d had that afternoon she’d been quivering with excitement and dying to get home and tell him what had happened at work.

“So tell me,” he urged now. “What happened?”

She set a knife and fork on his plate and pushed it across the granite counter toward him, then walked around to take a seat on the stool beside him. She picked up her fork and poked at her food.

“Well. About three o’clock this afternoon, Sandra called me into her office,” she began. “They’ve had some meetings this week about Felisse.”

She’d met with Sandra on Monday. The CEO had listened to everything Mallory had to say. Sandra hadn’t denied that she’d known about what was going on but hadn’t admitted it either. Mallory had been careful to not make any threats, such as going to the media or threatening to quit. She’d been open and honest though, about her concerns and fears for the company. She’d told Sandra that she’d raised these issues with others and felt that she was being punished for it. She was really open about how much that disturbed her, and not just for herself, but that that kind of culture was growing in the company.

She’d told Sandra she loved working there and wanted the company to be successful, and then she’d made the suggestion that Zafir should put Felisse through clinical trials to see if it was safe for some of the off-label uses it was being promoted for. Then they could be confident that they were doing the right thing.

She’d returned to her own office, unsure of what was going to happen next. Would they walk her out the door? Would she continue to be punished for raising this until she was forced to leave? She and Joe had talked about how long she would give it before she decided on next steps, and had agreed on two weeks.

“They’ve decided to stop promoting the off-label use,” she announced.

“Christ.” Joe stared at her. “Really?”

She nodded. “It’s not all good,” she admitted, though she couldn’t stop smiling. “They know there’s no way to put the toothpaste back in the tube. It’s out there and doctors are doing it. But the company is going to take a stand and come right out and say that’s not what the drug is intended for. They’re going to go back to do more trials and see if it’s safe to use for weight loss and even sexual dysfunction.”

“Fuck, Mal. That’s exactly what you wanted.”

“Just wait. It gets even better.” She bit her lip and met his eyes. “They fired Steve.”

Joe’s eyes widened. “Holy shit. They fired your boss?”

She nodded, sucking on her bottom lip. “Yeah. It was all coming from him, this push to get doctors prescribing Felisse for other things. They walked him out this afternoon.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I know. I feel…kind of mixed up about that. I didn’t want him to be fired. I’ve worked for him since I moved to Chicago and learned a lot from him. So there’s guilt. But I keep reminding myself of that performance review, and how he was punishing me for speaking up.” She sucked in a long breath. “They offered me his job.”

Joe’s jaw dropped, fork halfway to his mouth. “Are you serious?”

She grinned and nodded. “Yeah! I’m actually getting a promotion out of this.”

Joe just stared at her for long moments while excitement bubbled inside her. Then he laughed, dropped his fork to his plate and reached for her. He hauled her off her stool and up against him, and wrapped his arms around her in a tight squeeze. “Holy shit, Mal! Holy, holy shit!”

She laughed and gasped at his embrace.

“That is unbelievable! Christ, what a relief.”

“I know. God, I know.” He loosened his hold enough that she could lay her palms on his cheeks. “This is so much better than I could have ever expected. Relief doesn’t even describe it.”

“Congratulations, gorgeous. You so deserve that.”

“I didn’t know how I was going to be able to continue working for him, even if things did work out. So yeah, I’m relieved, but it’s not going to be easy. There are a lot of people who were on board with Steve’s whole plan. I’m going to have to turn that ship around, and there could be a lot of resistance.”

“You can do it.”

“Especially if I have the backing of the CEO. That’s the only way I could do it.”

“We need to celebrate!”

“I actually picked up a bottle of champagne on my way home.”

“Fucking awesome.” He gave her big, long smooch on the lips. “Mallory, Christ, can’t even tell you how happy I am for you.”

“Thank you.” She beamed up at him. “Thank you for supporting me through all this.”

“I did fuck all.”

She giggled. “You did a lot. Helping me research things and making me think about options. And being there for me no matter what I decided to do.”

“You gotta call your parents.”

“Yes! After we eat.”

Joe released her and she slid back onto her stool.

“This moussaka is really great,” Joe said, enthusiastically resuming eating.

“Yeah. I often stop at Opa Souvlaki on my way home from work and pick up food.” She gave him a sideways look, a smile perched on her lips, eyes flirty. “Petros is trying to fix me up with his nephew Damon.”

Joe gave her a look. “Like hell he is.”

“Why aren’t you eating your olives?”

“I hate black olives.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“I might have to rethink this relationship.”

He laughed. “Babe. You like black olives?”

“I love them.”

“Then this relationship is perfect.” He picked up the three olives on his plate with his fork and fingers and transferred them to hers. “There.”

She dissolved into laughter. “You’re right. Perfect.”

After they’d eaten, popped the cork on the champagne and toasted Mallory’s new job, she called her parents and told them what had happened.

“So proud of you, Mallory,” Dad eventually said, when he’d heard everything.

“I know you thought I should blow the whistle. I was so afraid.”

“I didn’t think that at all,” he objected. “Only you knew what the right thing to do was, for you. Just wanted you to be safe and happy and satisfied with your choice.”

“I thought you wanted me to save people from dying.”

She heard his chuckle. “Well, yeah. But I recognized the personal risks to you, honey. Whatever you decided to do, we’d support you.”

“After I went to the CEO, if nothing happened, I was going to walk away.” She bit her lip and met Joe’s warm eyes as she talked. “Would you have supported me then?”

“Of course.”

She closed her eyes as a rush of love flowed through her. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, honey. But see? I was right. Doing the right thing is rewarded.”

“Oh.” She set a hand on her heart. “Dad.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Okay, you were right.”

He laughed and passed the phone to her mom, who also shared her excitement and relief. And it was her mom she told about Joe. “He’s here now,” she said. “We’re, um, together.”

Mom’s pause made her edgy. “I just wish I knew him better,” Mom said. “He seemed very nice though.”

“You saw him for two minutes.”

“I know. Huh. Maybe we’ll have to come visit.”

Mallory grinned at Joe. “And check him out?”

“Of course.”

“You can come any time,” Mallory said. “But first we have to deal with Joe’s dad. He’s coming tomorrow.” That was a whole long story she’d need to tell her parents, but that would be for another time.

“Put Joe on the phone,” Mom demanded.

Mallory grimaced and handed her phone to Joe. “She wants to talk to you.”

His eyes went wide, he put his hands up and shook his head. He actually might have paled a little.

“C’mon, lieutenant,” she whispered. “Big tough cop like you can’t be afraid of my mom.”

He nodded vigorously and mouthed, “Oh hell yeah, I can.” But he took the phone and said with hearty cheer, “Hi, Mrs. Hurst.”

Mallory leaned back into the couch cushions and sipped her champagne, watching and listening.

“Uh-huh,” Joe said. “Yeah. Definitely.” He listened. “Of course.” Then he met her eyes. “Oh yeah. I really do.” More silence. “I’d like that. Yeah, well, my family’s kind of going through some stuff right now. But one day, for sure. Yes. Yes. Okay. Bye.” He handed the phone back to Mallory.

Not sure what had been said, she smiled. “Mom, were you interrogating him?”

“Certainly not. Just making sure he knows how precious you are.”

“Aw.” She looked at Joe, who smiled back at her. “Thanks, Mom. I think he’s pretty precious too.” Joe rolled his eyes but grinned.

She ended the call. “There. Now they know. So. What time does your dad arrive tomorrow?”

“Eleven. I’m picking him up at the airport.”

“Are you nervous?”

“Nervous? Nah. More like freaking the fuck out.”

She laughed and shifted closer to snuggle into him. “That’s perfectly understandable.”

“Last time I saw him I wasn’t impressed. I guess neither of us was.” Joe swallowed. “Not sure how this is going to go.”

“It has to be positive that he wants to see you. And he’s coming all this way.”

“I guess.” He didn’t sound very convinced of that though.

Joe picked up Tim at the airport. They greeted each other with an awkward handshake that turned into a stiff, one-armed hug. Joe drove Tim to the downtown hotel he’d elected to stay at.

“You sure you don’t want to stay at my place?” Joe asked on the way. “I’ve got lots of room.”

“Yeah, this’ll be fine. I don’t wanna impose on you.”

“It wouldn’t be imposing.”

Tim smiled. “Let’s see how this goes. Maybe next time I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Joe nodded. It was true—they were strangers to each other.

“You been to Chicago before?” he asked.

“Lived here,” Tim said. “Long time ago.” He gazed out the window as Joe sped along I-90.

Joe wasn’t sure why he was surprised by that. Obviously, Tim had had to meet Mom somehow, and Joe was pretty sure Mom had never lived in California. He couldn’t help but be curious about their history.

“How’s your mom?” Tim asked quietly.

Jesus, had he read his mind? Or had their thoughts both followed the same path? “She’s uh, good.” Should he tell Tim Mom had left Dad? Christ. He mulled that over for a few moments and decided the answer was no.

“Good,” Tim replied.

“Mallory and I want to take you out for dinner tonight,” Joe said.

“Mallory?”

“My girlfriend.” Whoa. That was the first time he’d said those words for a long time. And the first time he’d ever said those words about Mallory. A strange warmth spread through his chest. “Mallory Hurst. Kinda funny story. We met on the plane when I was coming to California to see you.”

“No kidding?” Tim turned to look at him. “Met on the plane? How’d it turn into her being your girlfriend?”

Joe smiled. “We discovered we had a lot in common. I stayed in California that week and we saw each other quite a bit. Neither of us really thought it was going to turn into anything more, but when we got home…it did.”

He felt Tim’s assessing stare. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more to that story. Maybe some time you’ll share it.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” He shot Tim a glance. “Does that sound like I’m being a jerk? Didn’t mean to. It’s just…you know…personal.”

“I know.” Tim’s lips twitched. “Like the story about me and your mom is for me.”

“Uh…yeah.”

After a few more minutes of silence, Tim said, “I want to talk to your mom.” His voice had gone hard.

“What for?”

“What for? Seriously?” Tim gave a bark of mirthless laughter. “She kept the fact that I had a son from me for thirty years and you want to know why I want to talk to her?”

Joe’s eyes narrowed and his fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “I’m not letting you talk to her if you’re gonna be pissed at her.”

Tim sat silent. “Well,” he finally said. “Gotta say I like that you’re protective of your mom. But c’mon, Joe. You know that was a shitty thing to do.”

Joe sighed. “Can’t argue that point.”

“Give me her number.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Fuck. If they talked, Tim would find out—maybe—that Mom had left Dad. Then what? His gut tightened into a mass of knots. Wow. He’d thought his life had been messed up before when he’d run off to California to meet his biological father. Now—holy shit. How much worse could things get?

His brothers were pissed off at him and blaming him for his parents splitting. Now Tim was in the picture with the potential to really complicate things.

And yet, this was what he’d wanted. A chance to get to know his biological father. Shit.

“Tell me about Mallory,” Tim said, changing the subject. This was an easy one to go with, because Joe liked talking about Mallory.

That kept conversation going until they were downtown at the Doubletree. Tim checked in, and they decided to walk to a nearby pub for lunch.

Surprisingly, after a couple of beers, they kept talking. And talking. Tim wanted to hear about Joe’s police career, asking all kinds of questions. Turned out Tim had worked for the FBI and was now the Director of Security for the Port of Long Beach. Joe was pretty interested in that.

“Retired from the FBI after twenty-two years of service,” Tim told him. “But I needed something else to do. This job was a great fit. I now oversee over eighty security personnel, including Harbor Patrol offices, and I also direct the Homeland Security Program for the port.”

Wow. Joe blinked at that. He was both impressed and fascinated, and it was his turn to ask all the questions. He learned about new high-tech systems they had in place, how they worked with the Long Beach Police Department, the Port of Los Angeles, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Marine Exchange and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He also learned more about his dad’s FBI career.

“My last assignment with the FBI was as the Special Agent in Charge for the Counterterrorism Program in the Los Angeles office. I led three Joint Terrorism Task Forces.”