Chapter 2
Chapter Two
D ane stared at the beer carrying deadbeat before them and sniffed, unimpressed. “Is this the little twat who brought you here?”
He’d recognised the kid instantly as Matthew Spencer, the younger brother of the sadistic fuck in charge of the drag races, but he couldn’t acknowledge that fact without tipping their hand.
Undercover work was not his and Eric’s usual purview, but they’d been tapped by their boss to lend a hand to the investigation, their in-depth knowledge of engines and their passion for racing cars in their free time making them ideal candidates for the job.
Personally, Dane couldn’t wait to get back to their usual job of everyday policing.
The Walker family had been Queensland police officers for four generations, and he and his brother were proud to wear the blues and continue that tradition.
Undercover work required a certain amount of deceit that didn’t sit well with either of them.
Especially when it meant deceiving the people closest to them, and distancing themselves from the one person they’d hoped to become very close to.
Even if it had been unintentional.
“Seems like babysitting wasn’t far off the mark,” he said to Eric, then joined his brother in sliding an arm around Emily’s lower back and pulled her into his side, smirked at the deadbeat glaring back at him as he did.
Yeah, he was just as possessive as Eric when it came to Emily Berringer and he didn’t care who knew it.
She was theirs.
Matthew stared at them, obviously confused. “Babysitting?”
Eric chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, kid. Private joke.”
“Guys,” Emily quietly scolded them.
“What the fuck is going on, Emily? Who the fuck are these guys?”
Emily looked up at him and then at Eric. “Um….”
“I’m Evan and he’s Derek,” Eric said, announcing the fake names they’d been given as part of their cover. “Who the fuck are you?”
Dane exchanged a quick look with his brother. They needed to get Emily out of there, but they also had a job to do and had to jump on opportunities as they presented themselves. And this little shit being Emily’s date was an opportunity too good to pass up.
“I’m her boyfriend, arsehole.”
Emily gasped, indignant. “You are not my boyfriend!” Then she looked up at Eric and added, “It’s our first date.”
So, the little jerk treated women the same way his older brother did.
Like possessions. Good to know . Dane decided to push some buttons.
They needed a way to meet this kid’s brother and figured picking on him should do the trick.
If anyone started hassling one of Dane’s siblings, he’d want to knock the guy's block off, and he hoped this kid’s brother felt the same way about him.
He laughed. “Your name is Arsehole? How much did your parents hate you?”
“You’re the arsehole,” the kid said through gritted teeth, then smirked as if he was about to drop some earth-shattering knowledge. “My name is Matthew. Matthew Spencer .”
“Spencer, huh?” Eric said, his tone and demeanour unaffected by the news. “Any relation to Shane Spencer?”
The kid’s smirk widened. “Yeah. He’s my brother. And if you know who he is, then you should also know to be careful how you speak to me. Shane doesn’t like it when people disrespect his family.”
Dane snorted. “He won’t much like us then.” Then he leaned down and nuzzled Emily’s earlobe. “Play along,” he whispered, then kissed the side of her neck.
Emily’s date continued glaring at them, drank down the rest of his beer, then tossed the bottle on the ground.
If he’d hoped to intimidate them, he’d failed.
Instead of smashing when it hit the bitumen, the bottle just bounced a bit then rolled away into the gutter.
Matthew pouted at the thing as if it had betrayed him, then folded his arms across his chest. Another ridiculous attempt to look meaner than the petulant child he was.
Dane would have found the whole thing laughable if it wasn’t for the simple fact that this kid’s older brother was a sociopath.
One who accrued power through fear and intimidation.
He and Eric had zero time for people like that.
People who used others, destroyed lives, and lost no sleep over it.
Removing those people from society though, they had all the time in the world for that.
After a long moment of ineffectual scowling, Matthew held out his hand towards them, obviously expecting Emily to take it. When she didn’t, he snatched at her and latched his hand around her wrist. “Let’s go, Emily.”
Crying out, she tried to yank her wrist free from his grip. “Let go of me.”
“You came here with me.”
“And she’s going home with us.”
In an instant, Eric had his hand around Matthew’s throat, and not in the sensual way he’d done to Emily. His intention this time wasn’t calm and controlled, it was violent. It was furious. “Take your hand off our woman.”
The kid let her go and clawed at Eric’s fingers. “Fuck you, man.” The words were garbled as he struggled for air.
“Er—. Evan, let him go.” Emily’s voice shook as she reached up and laid her hand on Eric’s shoulder, though he doubted it came from a place of concern for the kid. No. She’d never seen this side of Eric before. The possessive protector. “He’s not worth it.”
Eric’s lip pulled back in a snarl, then he released the little shit with a shove, sending him stumbling backwards, away from Emily.
Rubbing at his throat, Matthew spat on the ground at their feet. “Take your slut and get out of here before my brother catches you disrespecting me.”
Before either Dane or Eric could stop her, Emily stormed forwards and drilled a finger into the idiot’s chest. “You call me a slut then talk about disrespecting you ?” Her voice wasn’t shaking now.
She was downright pissed. And loud. “Well, fuck you, you little toad. You lied to me to get me to go out with you. You said you could hook me up, that I could get behind the wheel and race, but you had no intention of doing that, did you?” She pressed a hand to her chest, mockingly clutching at fake pearls.
“A woman behind the wheel? God forbid!” And then she went straight back to glaring at the dumbstruck kid. “You chauvinistic mouth-breather.”
Dane couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up from inside him. Watching Emily Berringer tear strips off Matthew Spencer was like watching a kitten tackle a pit bull. Probably dangerous, definitely ill-advised, but still, it was hands down the most entertaining thing he had seen in ages.
Until the little shit lifted his fist to strike her.
In an instant, both he and Eric moved to intervene, but not before Emily got in a shot of her own and slapped Matthew’s cheek.
The resounding crack of skin on skin was followed by a split second of silence, just enough time for her actions to register on her attacker’s face, right before his expression contorted with rage.
Again he lifted his hand to hit her, but Emily blocked the blow and landed another hit of her own, turning his rage to shock. “Want another one?” she demanded, raising her fists and shifting her feet into a defensive stance.
Dane was impressed, though he shouldn’t have been surprised. His sister, Karen—Emily’s future sister-in-law—had been teaching Emily self-defence. A skill she herself had learned at an early age.
Obviously deciding against tempting fate one more time, Matthew returned to scowling at all of them. “You two need to control your bitch.”
Eric folded his arms and chuckled. “Mate, the only bitch here is you.”
Dane copied his brother. “Yeah, better luck next time, Arsehole .”
The little shit glared at Emily for a long moment, then turned on his heel to leave, only to pull up short. “Where the fuck have you been?” he snapped.
“Move.”
The one word command had him scuttling to the side, revealing the man of the hour.
Shane Spencer. Known to the cops for a litany of reasons, but mostly illegal drag racing, intimidation, supplying party drugs to teens, and sexual assault.
He was a very bad man, and he was staring at Emily like she was his next meal.
“Well hello there, cutie. And what’s your name?”
Fuck .