Page 37 of Wild (Chicago Underground 4)
“And here I thought you liked me.”
“I do like you. That’s why I don’t want you raped and dumped in the river.”
His words sobered me, but I refused to let it show. Never let them see you sweat. I raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to let me in or not?”
A buzz sounded from the door beside me, signaling it was unlocked. With a quick glance at the distended mass of distracted people, I slipped inside. Chase grabbed my hand and yanked me to the back room. The dimly lit space had only room for two. Once there, he pulled me into a bear hug. It should have been all bones and angles, with his thin form, but instead warmth enveloped me, outside and in. Cardboard particles and dust tickled my nose and brought tears to my eyes.
“Damn, girl,” he said, releasing me. “I’m sorry I freaked out on you, but give a guy some warning. I almost had a heart attack when I saw you.”
“Next time, I’ll put an announcement in the paper, let you know I’m coming.”
“There isn’t going to be a next time. You shouldn’t be here, not in the station, not in Chicago. Just start over. Start a new life somewhere else.”
“And let them win?” I teased, although the joke was really on me. I had long ago given up any delusions of triumph, licking the boots and sucking the cocks of Chicago’s elite.
“If you want to beat them, stay alive.”
“So earnest, so loyal,” I cooed. “I love that about you, Chase.”
He sent me a cross look. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Acting fake.”
That’s what I got for being honest. I did love Chase, in a little-brother kind of way. I had always appreciated that he’d never made a move on me. Sure, he was gay, but I found that most men weren’t too discriminating about the warm, wet place they put their dicks.
We’d met in my early days in the life. He’d worked for some dealer. Now he was on the city’s payroll. Not much of a step up, in my humble opinion, but at least it gave him the respectability and confidence he’d always wanted.
“Fine,” I murmured. “If you want the truth, I came here to see Luke.”
“Now how did I know that?”
I ticked off the reasons. “Because I’m his informant. Because he’s working my case.”
“Not anymore. You stopped being his informant a long time ago, and he just got kicked off your case, off all his cases. He’s on administrative leave.”
“The hell he is.” Luke must be going crazy. Administrative leave was an insult, like getting fucked in the ass, too fast and too hard, and I knew exactly how that felt.
“Yeah, well, the captain was a little pissed when he found out you had been to his apartment.”
Guilt turned my gut. “I didn’t know where else to go.” As soon as the words were out, I realized how pathetic that sounded. “I didn’t know who to trust at the time.”
He shrugged, unconcerned, except I saw the way his mouth was set. Frustrated. Protective?
“You don’t need to involve him in this, and you know it.”
If Jade was right, Luke was already involved in this, maybe more tha
n me. He’d been on the scene longer, fighting Henri when I was just an unholy gleam in my father’s eye. “I need to talk to him.”
He wanted to refuse; I could tell. But he wouldn’t. I hadn’t given away his previous life to Luke or anyone else, so he owed me. I wouldn’t have told anyway, but he didn’t need to know that.
“I’ll bring him here, but don’t…” He looked away. “Don’t do that other thing you do.”
I grew still. The only sounds were the muffled and nebulous rush of people through the wall, as if I held my ear to a shell. Empty, hollow, how I felt inside. “Fuck him?” I offered quietly. “Is that what I shouldn’t do? Don’t worry that we’d make a mess in here. I’m a professional.”
“Hurt him,” he said, his mouth taut, body tense. “Don’t hurt him.”
