A soft kiss touched her neck as his warm breath trailed down her body. No words were necessary. That kiss said it all. He felt what she felt. Pure magic. True connection. Something so powerful, words could never describe it.
And it would only last for one night.
6
Dax looked at the beautiful woman he couldn’t get enough of one last time. Slipping his arm from her warm, delicate body had been one of the most torturous things he’d ever done. His eyes couldn’t be ripped away as he dressed, watching every slow breath that left her body.
So sweet.
So innocent.
So not his to claim.
Yet, that’s what he had done tonight. Claimed her in a way he had never claimed a woman before. Four separate times he took her to newer heights she’d probably never experienced before. Maybe she had. But if her responses were any indication to go by, he didn’t think so. He showed her what could be the most powerful passion to ever exist between a man and a woman. He also showed her how one rips another person’s heart out without thought or compunction.
That’s how he felt. His heart was being ripped from his chest and thrown helplessly to the ground with pounding feet destroying every last part of it. How could’ve he ever thought this one night would be enough?
One night would never be enough. But that’s all he’d been given.
Tempted to lean over and give her one more kiss, he walked away instead, afraid the slightest movement would wake her. This was hard enough as it was. Facing her awake would be worse. Spilling his guts about everything sat on the tip of his tongue, and that was the last thing he could do. He would never put her life in danger, and that’s exactly what would happen if he told her who he was and what he was trying to do.
He trusted her, but only to a certain extent. She was best friends with Lily Chilani, daughter of Martin Chilani, one of the most notorious mobsters out there. He wasn’t sure she would be able to keep this kind of secret from her best friend. It wasn’t fair that he had to put that sort of pressure on his own friend’s shoulders. Ryan could handle himself.
But Sarafina. His sweet Sarafina. He wouldn’t risk that kind of emotion on her.
He quietly let himself out, flipping the bottom lock behind him. The stairs had creaked mercifully like she told him. Standing a few minutes by the front door had been another form of torture. Had she heard him trying to sneak away? The answer had been no. Because after standing like an idiot that seemed to go on for ages, no trailing footsteps emerged.
It was for the best. A clean break. No ties. No heavy emotions. Cutting the rope with one quick slice.
Dax hailed a cab, getting out a few blocks later to a subway station. Taking a few different lines before hailing another cab, he made it to his place over an hour later. Perhaps he was being too careful, but sometimes a man could never be careful enough. In case anyone—one of Chilani’s men—had been outside her home, he didn’t want them to follow him home.
After taking a quick shower, washing away all the delicious evidence from the night, he sat down at his kitchen counter with a hot, steaming cup of coffee.
Before he could change his mind, he pulled his phone out, hitting the last number he wanted to call.
“Everything set for tonight, Sloan?”
“Yep. You turned your phone off last night after you sent me the text about the location. Not a smart thing to do. What happened?” Sloan, his supervisor, asked with concern.
“Nothing. I needed some time to myself. It wasn’t easy betraying my friend like that.”
He heard a heavy sigh on the other end, hating himself for making his boss the bad guy. What they did, while difficult, had been the right thing to do.
“Can we trust this information? How did you get it? I need details.”
The worst part he had wanted to avoid—to pretend it wouldn’t be asked at all, to test his feelings for a woman he shouldn’t feel a thing for.
“I overheard a phone conversation. I could only hear Franklin Chilani speaking, but that’s the gist of what he said. No idea who he was talking to.”
Done.
Lie complete.
Sarafina would never be involved in any way. What difference did it make if he heard the conversation or if she did? Not much. Besides the part where she wasn’t involved in any way. That’s all he wanted. She needed to stay safe.
“Well, I’d say that’s pretty good information, then. He is one of Martin Chilani’s right-hand men. You can come in, but I don’t want you anywhere near that pier tonight or the precinct. We’ll call the NYPD for back up.”
“Are they all clean? Can we trust them?”
“I have people I can trust there, and that’s who I’ll call. Martin Chilani doesn’t have everyone in his pocket. The most important thing is for you to stay out of the picture. I don’t want your cover blown now. This is the critical part.”
“You don’t have to remind me, boss. I don’t want to see Ryan get hurt either. Maybe it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him, but he’s still my friend.”
“I know. Did everything else go okay last night? Any problems pop up?”
Besides the part where I met the most amazing woman and can’t keep her, nope, no problems. “The night went well.” He took a sip of coffee to gain some of his equilibrium back. “I even talked to Martin Chilani. He definitely looked me up, trying to test me. He said we would talk some more, but he never came up to me. I didn’t want to make anything obvious by pursuing him.”
“Good choice. Come in later and write it up, then take the day off. We’ll talk more after we have Martin Chilani himself in custody. Did you get the impression he would be there? Our intel said so.”
“Based on the conversation, no, I’m not sure.” Probably would’ve been able to give a more solid answer if he actually heard the conversation, but the lie was already out there. No going back now.
Dax hung up with Sloan and roamed around his empty house. Damn it if Sarafina wouldn’t look good here. She would fit in perfectly. He lived on the Jersey side, putting up with commuting rather than dealing with the hustle and bustle that surrounded him when he worked. His house sat in a small community still being developed but would have plenty of space after everything was completed. Would she like it? Would she fall in love with the airiness, the space, the homey feeling like he had right away?
Well, those questions didn’t matter. He would never see her again. Just as it should be.
The day went slow. It made Dax want to crawl out of his skin. Going back into the city to write his report, then heading back home had been difficult. The entire time he ached to turn his vehicle toward Sarafina’s place rather than his own. Once at home, he had nothing but his tortured mind and memories to get him through the night.
Shortly after midnight, he got a call. The information was surprising as hell. Franklin Chilani was in custody for weapons charges, smuggling, and a whole other slew of crimes, petty ones that he would probably skate on. Not the weapon charges. They would make it stick even if he had to stand over the shoulder of the prosecution the entire time. Make sure they dotted every I and crossed every T.
None of that surprised him.
What shocked him was the arrest of Travis Chilani. What the hell had he been doing there? Nowhere in their reports had it indicated Travis Chilani had joined the business. Guess dear old dad decided it was time to show his son the ropes.