Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Dean
Iwatch my tiny dancer from where I’m parked across the street. She looks around when she pulls out the envelope I left in the mail slot, but I know she won’t see me. I’m the last person she would expect to see in Thorngrove. I’m the last person she’d expect to come for her.
I treated her like absolute shit when we attended the same college in Cherokee Falls. It wasn’t how I wanted to treat her—most of the time—but it was the only way to keep her safe. Because even then, I knew that my life was going to take a dangerous turn.
I have a knack for making people see whatever version of myself I want them to see.
It’s why I knew I’d be specializing in Undercover Operations when I graduated and joined the Cherokee Falls Police Department.
I could have joined a federal agency and taken my career further.
But I tend to straddle the line of being a cop and the criminal my cultivated persona has become.
I take full advantage of living the life of a crook while knowing I’m safe from prosecution since it falls under the clause of maintaining my cover.
The real danger is the possibility that one of my nefarious associates could discover that I’m a cop.
I like punishing the bad guys…the really bad guys.
But if any of them ever find out that I’m the reason they were busted, I’m a dead man.
One of them came close last year. Victor, the president of the Hell Hounds—a notorious motorcycle club—overheard a phone conversation with my captain when I was standing outside their clubhouse.
Thankfully, I spotted him before he heard too much, and I was able to spin it as a deal for guns to supply his club.
It was stupid. The Hell Hounds don’t have any code of honor.
If I hadn’t been so quick on my feet, I’d have met the reaper that night.
For the first time in years, I questioned my life choices.
I thought about the man I’d become and the man I could be.
The man I would be if I’d done things differently in college.
I’ve never wanted a suburban life as a family man with a wife and two point five kids.
But I did want—I do want—to know what a certain dancer looks like when she dances just for me.
Sloan is just wild enough to handle my life the way I live it, and I can’t wait to make her see that she’s always been mine.
So, when I got the call from the new Captain of the Thorngrove Sheriff’s Department’s Southside Division, offering me a position as the head of their undercover operations, I agreed to an interview.
I was shocked when I walked in and saw that the Lead Detective had the same face as my dancer.
What surprised me even more was the recognition on her face when she saw me.
Because even though I know she is Sloan’s little sister, Becky, due to my obsession with her sister, there is no reason for her to know who I am.
I’ve kept detailed tabs on Sloan the past five years with Mac’s help.
Even though he graduated with the same degree in Criminal Justice as me, he went to the dark side before we left college.
He’s a master hacker and makes a fortune working for organizations ranging from motorcycle clubs to crooked billionaire business moguls.
He’s even done work for the mafia. But he’s still my closest friend.
He’s the only one I trust to know me on both sides of the law.
So, of course, he’s the one I trust to help me track my tiny dancer.
Six Years Earlier
“Here come our girls.” Mac bumps my shoulder with his as we sit in the crowd at the Spring Showcase.
“Not our girls,” I correct him. “Sloan hates me, and Sheila will never be with you if you keep running with the thugs you’ve been working for.”
“Sloan only hates you because that’s the way you want it,” he reminds me, ignoring my jab about his extracurricular hacking job. “What are you gonna do when we graduate next year and she runs back home to Thorngrove to escape you?”
“She’ll never escape me…even if I let her think she has,” I tell him seriously. “Now, shut it.”
Mac looks like he wants to say more, but he locks it down and turns his attention back to the stage as Sloan and Sheila take center stage with the rest of the junior class.
Sheila is exactly what you expect a dancer to look like—tall, blonde, and slim with very little curves.
Sloan is not. She’s short with brown hair so dark it looks almost black, and thick in all the right places.
It doesn’t take away from her grace on the stage, though.
She glides through the routine without a care in the world…
until her eyes find me. It’s like she could feel me watching her and I get a sick satisfaction at the thought of her seeking me out.
I give her a nod followed by an evil grin as she misses a step.
She shakes it off and finishes the dance, looking over her shoulder at me once more before exiting the stage.
I’m waiting for her with a dozen black dahlias when she comes out of the dressing room.
“Your little dance was almost flawless, Sly,” I say with a smirk. “Too bad you tripped there at the end. I didn’t mean to distract you.”
“What are you even doing here, Dick?” She sneers the nickname she’s dubbed me with. “Don’t you have a frat party to attend or something?”
“Fuck no,” I scoff. “I don’t do preppy boy shit like that. I may hit the tittie club later to watch some real dancers, though.” I lean in until my breath ghosts over her lips. “Wanna come with? I bet they’d let you on stage.”
I laugh when she snatches her head back before handing her the flowers.
“Oh, look.” She buries her face in the blooms to inhale their scent before looking at me with that sly grin I’m becoming addicted to. “They’re the same color as the hole where your heart should be.”
Her voice is sarcastic, but I don’t miss the hint of disappointment lingering there. I’m tempted to admit that if I did have a heart, it would only beat for a tiny dancer like her. But that will only lead me down a path of putting her in danger.
“I knew you’d like them since they’re bigger than most of the other flowers…
kind of like your ass being bigger than the other dancers.
” I jump back when she swings the bouquet at my face.
“Hit me up if you change your mind about dancing at the club,” I say before turning and walking away to the sound of her growl.