Page 15 of Dirty (Chicago Underground 5)
He didn’t pause in his exploration. “If this little game of yours is going to work, we have to look like lovers.”
A game, then. “I’m great at faking it,” I said blandly.
His laugh was soft—seductive. Did he know how he sounded? Did he do that on purpose? “I’m sure you are. Though I’ll know. Don’t doubt that.”
I attempted to snort my derision at his statement, but it came out breathy. “Spare me the promise of your magic dick.”
“I didn’t say I’d make you come. I said I’d know if you didn’t. I’m sure you can moan very nicely, but the truth is in the eyes. I bet you close them when you’re pretending.”
“By that point, the guy is usually too far gone to notice,” I admitted.
“I wouldn’t go so easily.”
No, he wouldn’t. Even though his thumb stroked the column of my neck and his mouth grazed the curve of my ear, this wasn’t surrender. If I were to pull up my skirts right here, right now, he wouldn’t take me.
“Then don’t tease,” I said crossly. “There’s a word for people who do that.”
His laugh turned husky. “I’m not the one holding back. But that will change. Very soon.”
Before I could process that unnerving declaration, he stiffened and stepped back, letting the stale stink of the street flood between us. In his raised hand, I recognized the ominous shape of a gun. My heart beat an erratic tattoo of fear and disbelief—and relief. This would be the end.
His voice turned cold as he said, “What is this?”
Mine. The gun was mine, not his. He wasn’t going to use it on me. Of course not. I wasn’t going to be shot again—what were the odds? I blinked away the sense of inevitability that had claimed me for a few surreal moments.
“A girl’s got to protect herself. Surely you didn’t expect me to meet you unarmed, now that I’m without that lovely security of headquarters.”
Even in the dark, I could see his scowl. Or maybe just feel it wafting in the air, slipping along the invisible cord that connected us.
“Ah, so we are back to that. I wonder what I would have to do to make you trust me.”
“Don’t sell me out to your boss. That’s a start.”
“Because of what I did, what you did, I’m walking around with his boot shoved up my ass. Try again.”
Stop using me. Want me. Fight for me. “I want you to go inside that club and pretend to be my pimp. Help me get proof that the girl was kidnapped. Even if she played a part in their deaths, which she didn’t, it would have been within her rights. Self-defense.”
“And you? If you’re serious about clearing her legally, that’s going to mean taking this to my boss. It means working with the DA. It means testifying.”
Every cell in my body revolted at that idea. “That’s what she deserves. She should have her life back, a clear name. She deserves a regular life.”
“It means going public with your identity, with what you did. Everyone in Chicago will know.” His tone was grim.
“Afraid of what people would think of me?” I asked, feigning disinterest, though the idea of him ashamed of me made my insides tighten.
“I’m afraid of what your father will do if it comes out,” he said quietly. “I’m fucking terrified of what you’ll do if he lashes out at you.”
It shouldn’t have surprised me that he knew. He had seen every crack and flaw in me, so why not this? Even stranger that Luke should worry about such an eventuality. Surely it would happen one day. So strong was my certainty that it had never occurred to me to fear it. Luke would be reunited with his long-lost prostitute, and I would be returned to the waiting hands of my father, both of us where we belonged. No reason to worry over it, no reason to fret.
“I’ll be fine,” I said gently, feeling unaccountably protective. Did he stay up nights worrying about each of his informants, about each prostitute he tried to help? Did it break his heart to think of his lost love in my place? Even the thought of her couldn’t dampen my warmth toward him. A man in love was a beautiful thing, even if he wasn’t in love with me.
“If we go in there, then it’s real. I’m really your pimp. You do whatever I say.”
I smiled. “Playing out a fantasy? I like that.”
“I’m not kidding. Going in there half-cocked is asking for trouble.” He put up his hand. “Don’t say anything.”
