Chapter 6
6
R hys opened the fridge and stared into it. He didn’t know what had happened out there in the yard, but whatever it was, it deeply disturbed Jordan. His fingers tightened on the handle of the fridge at the memory of her tears and her tortured expression. He didn’t know who or what had put it there, but it was high time he found out.
Rhys reached in and snagged two longnecks. He contemplated going for the stronger stuff, but Jordan was on call. He shut the door and headed back outside.
Whatever was bothering Jordan was affecting her. She may not want to admit to it, but he saw it. She didn’t sleep well. Nightmares plagued her. The last time she had slept over, she’d had one that left her talking in her sleep and then waking up screaming and fighting the blankets. She had refused to talk about it then, citing that it was just a bad dream.
But it hadn’t been her first.
She’d got out of bed, thrown her clothes on, and gone for a run in the middle of the night, taking Honor with her.
Rhys hadn’t liked it. He had offered to go with her, but she said she’d wanted to go alone but allowed his K9 to go with her.
He slipped out the patio door and found Jordan sitting on the stairs, staring off into the distance. The sun had finally gone down, basking them in darkness. Stars twinkled off in the distance with a half-moon resting off in the backdrop. Honor lay down behind Jordan. He found it so fitting that his dog literally had his woman’s back. Honor lifted her head to glance at him. He could see the worry in her eyes. She whined and turned to press her nose against Jordan’s back. Even the dog could tell something was bothering her.
He stepped over Honor and took a seat on the step next to Jordan. Without a word, he popped the top off and handed her a bottle before he opened his own. He placed the caps on the patio ledge next to him.
They sat in silence for a while. Tension rolled off Jordan. Rhys figured he would wait for her to begin. He wasn’t going to rush her. This was a big step for her, and he didn’t want to force her.
“When I left Atlanta, it wasn’t just because of Omara and Jason,” Jordan announced. Her voice was low but steady. She paused and took a sip of her beer.
Rhys remained quiet. He would let her go at her own pace, so he just gave a nod to acknowledge her statement. After helping apprehend Derrick, Jason’s father, Rhys could see why Jordan had moved to Columbia. Her sister and nephew had been in danger. It had only been a matter of time before Derrick did something horrific. He had laid his hands on Omara before, and there was no telling what would have happened later had Jordan not moved here and stepped in.
Jordan cared for her sister and nephew deeply, and it showed.
“They were my top priority, but some shit went down back in Atlanta.” Jordan paused again, her voice ending on a hitch.
Rhys took a drag of his beer and eyed her. Whatever it was that made her pack up her life, leave a job she loved and move, had to be serious.
“I’ve never had much success when it came to relationships. Maybe that’s why I’m the way I am now. I know I can be hardheaded, stubborn or bitchy, but there is reason for it all.”
“I wouldn’t call you bitchy,” Rhys murmured, attempting a little humor to break the tension. He wouldn’t consider her too much of a bitch. His ex-wife, Sara Beth, was the queen of bitches. If anyone looked up the definition of a bitch, Sara Beth’s pale face would appear.
“I’m being serious.” A small smile ghosted her lips. She bumped him with her shoulder slightly, bringing the bottle back to her lips. She took a swallow before releasing a sigh.
“I am, too.” He snagged her hand and lifted it to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the back of it, unable to keep from touching her. He wanted to make sure she felt comfortable speaking with him. If they were to have a future, there couldn’t be any secrets. He wanted to know everything about her—the good and the bad. It wasn’t going to change his feelings for her.
“Anyway, there was this guy. We started dating, and he was different than anyone I had been with before.”
Rhys kept his face neutral. Her past was her past. He wasn’t jealous of anyone before him. He had her now, and if he played his cards right, he’d be her last.
“He was suave, said all the right things, always seemed to want to gift me things, appeared interested in my day. He had me thinking he was the perfect boyfriend,” Jordan said. She entwined their fingers together.
Her grip on his hand was tight, but he wasn’t bothered by it. He gave her a squeeze to encourage her to continue her story. The sounds of nature surrounded them. It was one of the reasons why he loved living out in the country. The city just couldn’t compare.
“Okay,” Rhys said.
“But I ignored all of the red flags that were going up. I just pushed them aside, thinking that I couldn’t be suspicious of every man. That it wasn’t fair on him for me to judge him based off the last guy I had been with. So I squashed down all the warnings and continued my relationship with him. Everything was going well, until things started getting weird. When I questioned him about his job, or places he’d be going, he would get defensive. He even started getting verbally abusive. I didn’t want to believe it was abusive at the time. I just chalked it up to him being stressed, but it got worse. It wasn’t until I finally confronted him that I found out the truth.”
She paused and released his hand. She placed her beer down on the stair and stood. Honor whined at Jordan moving away. She repositioned herself to lean off the stairs where she could keep an eye on Jordan.
“And what was that?” Rhys didn’t like the way the story was going. Who was this punk, and where could he find him? He knocked back the rest of the beer and now regretted that he hadn’t brought him a few more. Jordan hadn’t lied when she’d said they would need a drink for this.
“He’d been using me. When he’d ask about my day or how things were at work, I thought he had been sincere, but in reality, he was getting information from me. Imagine my surprise that I got called in to my captain’s office with accusations of being a leak. A mole.”
The bottom of Rhys’s stomach gave way. This woman would never be a mole or leak out important police business. She was one hell of a policewoman, and there wasn’t one person at the CPD who didn’t trust her.
“There’s no way,” he bit out through clenched teeth. Those assholes in Atlanta didn’t know a good cop when they saw one. He refused to believe anything else about Jordan. He’d seen her in action.
“I was so embarrassed that day when I left, suspended until an investigation could be performed on me and my police work.” She reached up and tucked a few wayward strands of hair behind her ear. She silently paced in front of him, walking back and forth before she continued her story. “I was so pissed off that I drove straight to his house.”
Rhys stood, no longer able to let her relive a hell she had experienced.
“Jordan—”
“No, I have to finish. I have to tell you this so you will know who you are involved with.” Her eyes flared with anger. She rested her hands on her waist and stood to her full height. “Do you know what I found when I showed up to his house unannounced?”
“What?” Rhys’s stomach clenched in anticipation. He hoped and prayed the son of bitch had been just cheating on her, but his gut was screaming that there was more to the story.
“That my boyfriend, who I assumed was an entrepreneur, was in fact the nephew of one of the deadliest gangs. I had been dating Bravon Huff, the nephew of Victor Huff.”
Rhys paused in shock. Of course he knew who Victor Huff was. There wasn’t a cop who didn’t know about the Demon Lords’ leader and how he came into power. It had been a big deal a couple of years ago when Victor was arrested and sentenced to prison. That trial had made national news. The SWAT team had been tangling with the Demon Lords for years.
Rhys faintly remembered a trial that had gone on about the nephew of the gangster. Apparently, this nephew hadn’t been identified until the case was broken. No one had known what he had looked like. He had been like a ghost, operating under his uncle. His case and trial had been drowned out by his uncle’s.
“Fuck.” Rhys ran a palm along his face.
He stepped toward her, but she held up a hand at him and shook her head.
“I just need you to know that I was basically crucified at my last precinct. No one trusted me. I was labeled a snitch. Even though there was evidence that I didn’t know about Bravon and who he truly was, no one I worked with believed me. I had to sit in a courtroom for the world to see and hear testimonies of my life, intimate details that I would never want to be made public. But I got the son of a bitch. Bravon is now sitting in prison because of me.” She slammed a hand on her chest, tears now running down her face.
He grabbed her and brought her into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and held on to her. Rhys knew without asking that she thought he would turn tail and run from her.
But he knew her.
The real Jordan.
Her body shook, but no sobs escaped her.
“Let it out, baby. It’s okay.” He tightened his hold on her.
Jordan’s fingers clutched his shirt while she stubbornly shook her head.
“If I cry, then he wins. He thought he could hurt me. Bravon thought he could drag me down to his level, but that was—is—not me. He didn’t know me as well as he thought. He figured he would be able to manipulate me, use everyone turning on me to his advantage, but he learned the hard way.”
Her large eyes stared up at him, and it was then that Rhys knew without a doubt that he was in love with Jordan. His heart was filled with nothing but love for her. This woman before him was strong. She had been dragged to hell and back and still stood strong. He wouldn’t expect anything else from Jordan, and if anyone else thought differently, then they didn’t know the real woman.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured.
Relief was evident in the way her body softened. He pushed down the anger simmering inside him. Why would she think he’d run at the first sign of trouble? It was her past, and she was here now and had made a new life for herself. Starting over was extremely hard, and she had done it. He was proud of her that she was able to move on with her life and rebuild. Not many would be able to recover from something like that. He knew her heart. “And neither are you.”
“Rhys, what would I do without you?” she whispered. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on to him tight.
He kissed the top of her head. “You are never going to have to find out.”
Jordan glanced up at him, and the sight of her big brown eyes did something to him. At this moment she needed him. This strong woman had lowered her guard for him, and he saw the vulnerability. He took pride in knowing he was one of few who she truly trusted. He’d never break that trust.
He’d wear it like a badge of honor.
Rhys lowered his head and took her lips in a bruising kiss. He wouldn’t stand for her to be hurting and he couldn’t do anything about it. Jordan may be strong, but she would need someone to lean on, and that would be him.
He dominated the kiss. His tongue swept into her mouth, tasting the slight hint of beer. He relished the feeling of her pressing closer to him. He reached up with one hand and gripped her face. She was always so responsive to him. Her tongue dueled with his, teasing him. Her moans filled his ears. Rhys slid his free hand down along her torso and arrived at her plump ass. He gripped it tight, holding her in place against him.
He wanted her to feel what she did to him. His hard cock was straining at his jeans, demanding to be released. The soft feel of her breast leaning into him drove him mad. He needed to have her just as bad as he was sure she needed him. He could feel it in the way she returned the kiss. It was heated, deep and full of passion.
Which described Jordan.
Rhys tore his mouth from hers. He opened his eyes and found hers still closed. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
“You are mine. I don’t care what that motherfucker tried to do to you. I’m just thankful you came to Columbia. If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be standing right here together,” Rhys said. He rubbed her swollen bottom lip with his finger. He couldn’t wait to see her pretty mouth wrapped around his cock. He pushed that thought aside for a brief moment. He had to get the rest of his feelings off his chest. “Just know that if Bravon and I ever are in the same room, it won’t be pretty, and after I kick his ass, I’ll thank him.”
Jordan grinned and stood up on her tippy toes and brought his head down for a quick kiss.
“You are saying all the right words. Officer Newman, if you don’t take me inside and fuck me hard, I’ll kick your ass.”
Rhys barked a laugh and swooped down and lifted Jordan into his arms. Her squeal filled the air. Her arms came around his neck as he turned and walked up the stairs.
“That’s cute, baby. You thinking you can take me on.”
Jordan scoffed at him but fell into a fit of laughter. She tightened her arms around his neck. He stopped at the door and whistled for Honor who lay out on the patio and drifted off to sleep. She raised her head and scrambled to her feet. She trotted over to them. Jordan opened the door to allow them to enter the house.
Once inside, he stalked through the house with Honor behind him. They arrived at Rhys’s bedroom. Jordan slid out of his arms and stood before him. He turned to Honor who stood out in the hallway waiting to be let in. Rhys shook his head at the pooch.
“Sorry, Honor. Go guard the house.” He shut the door in her shocked face.
Tonight, he wanted Jordan completely to himself. He trusted Honor to do her job this evening. He switched his attention back to Jordan who had already taken her shirt off. She stalked toward him, pushing him up against the door. He inhaled sharply at the glint in her eyes.
He knew this look.
“I love when you use your authoritative voice,” Jordan murmured. Her fingers came to rest at the edge of his jeans.
“Is that so?” He arched an eyebrow at her. “Get on your knees.”