Sweet Seduction Shield (22 page)

"My name," he
husked against my lips.

I sucked in a
small breath and whispered, "Ryan." And that's all it took for him
to release his hunger, his desire for more, his need. To allow
himself to let go and take what he wanted without conscious
thought.

I gave myself
over willingly, letting myself be swept away by the firm and
demanding press of his lips, the sure and determined seeking of his
tongue, the hungry and passionate feel of his touch. We were both
so lost to the moment, a moment that was turning X-rated at an
alarming speed, that we didn't hear the back door open.

It wasn't
until he was standing right before us, arms crossed over chest,
fierce scowl on his face, that Ryan pulled back, realising we were
no longer alone.

But it wasn't
until the guy said, "What the fuck?" very loudly and very angrily,
that a sense of dread replaced the lust of before in my mind.

"Harvey,"
Pierce said, standing immediately to face the man who glared at us
with no small measure of shock.

"Jesus Christ,
Pierce," the guy said. "You wanna completely ruin your career?"

Career? Oh
God. This guy was a cop, another detective. I could see it now in
the clothes he wore; casual, comfortable, but designed to blend in.
A jacket over jeans, just like Pierce used, to hide the shape of
his holstered gun. The set of his jaw let me know he was
disappointed, the look in his eyes shouted his shock. He hadn't
expected Pierce to get involved with a witness under his care, and
I couldn't really blame him.

But I also had
no idea how close he was to Ryan, whether he was friend enough to
cover his faux pas or sink him in it.

"I'll, ah, go
check on Daisy," I announced, thinking it better to leave the two
men alone to battle it out.

"Yeah, I think
you've done enough damage here for one day, Mrs Costello," the cop
said. I didn't miss his obvious use of my married name, a name
associated with a criminal.

But I didn't
have time to argue or deflect, or even to just turn the other cheek
and walk away, because Ryan launched himself across the space
between them and landed an upper cut to the guy's jaw.

Chairs crashed
and cupboards banged as the two of them went hell for leather at
each other's throats. The women were the first to arrive, having
been just in the other room talking quietly amongst themselves. I
saw Eva grasp Daisy and swing her up into her arms and head off in
the opposite direction, thankfully taking my impressionable
daughter away from this scene. But Abi and Kelly had no problem
launching into the thick of the action, trying to tear the two men
apart.

In the chaos
an elbow met Abi's nose. She'd gotten too close to the brawling men
and suffered for it. Blood began to pour down her chin, as Kelly
swore blue murder, demanding the men, "Act like adults and calm the
fuck down!"

Then Ben
stormed in, with Nick and Adam behind him. He saw the men still
trying to deck each other, heard Kelly's admonishments, and then
finally, as if in slow motion, he clocked his woman's bloody nose
and face.

"Oh fuck no!
Stone, Pierce! Quit fucking around!" Nick shouted, reaching out to
stop Ben in his tracks, and being deflected easily with a shoulder
shove.

Adam tried to
get around a flailing Nick, but the two ended up just getting
tangled, as Ben landed on Pierce and the other guy; Harvey Stone, I
was thinking. And tore them apart, practically flinging them to
opposite sides of the room.

"Who the fuck
hit Abi?!" he shouted, and the room went deadly silent.

I'd made it to Abi's side, as had Genevieve, and we'd both
pulled her back from the melee and were attempting to stem the flow
of blood. Our movements ceased at the threatening tone in Ben's
voice. All of us standing there and staring at
the
M
ā
ori warrior who loomed over everyone
right then.

Neither Pierce
nor Harvey answered, and truth is, I hadn't seen whose elbow had
connected with Abi's face. But I sure as hell wasn't going to let
Ryan get the blame for it.

"That other
guy started it." I pointed directly at Harvey Stone, who cocked his
head at me and just blinked. Then a small twitch of his lips,
before his face went blank.

"Ah, are you
OK, Abi?" Pierce asked, making me think he might have actually been
the one who inadvertently caught Abi on the nose.

"I'll live,"
she mumbled, nasally.

"You two
fuckers won't if you don't apologise right the fuck now!" Ben
demanded.

"I'm really
sorry," Harvey said, beating Pierce to the punch by a
millisecond.

"Me too,"
Pierce added. "We hadn't realised you'd come in the room."

"No?" Ben
asked, crossing his arms over his chest and staring the two men
down. "So, what was so fuckin' important you had to act like
cavemen and in the process hurt my woman?"

Again, no
answer, just heads tipped down, eyes focused on the ground.

Ah, hell.
These people obviously all knew each other, were probably normally
good friends.

I sucked in a
breath, and said softly, "Ah, that would be me."

Ben stared at
me for a second and then huffed out a laugh.

"Fuck me," he
muttered. Then as he walked over to check on Abi he added under his
breath, "Here we fuckin' go again."

And I had no
idea what he was talking about, but everyone else seemed to,
because one by one they all began to laugh.

Including the
guy who had started it; the detective called Harvey Stone.

Tension still
hung in the air, thick and oppressive, despite the laughter of only
moments before. Harvey Stone stood, leaning against a bench, arms
folded, hard look on his surfer boy face. I didn't know the man,
but I got the impression that scowling was not a normal facial
expression for him. With the sandy hair, tanned skin and ice blue
eyes bracketed with laugh lines, I could picture more of a genial
personality. But I might have been wrong.

Especially
since he was still sending daggers my way as though I had lured
Pierce to the evil side, possibly destroying his career in the
process.

The kitchen
was once again filled to the brim. Abi and Ben the only two to have
left, and that was out of necessity; Abi's nose hadn't stopped
bleeding and Ben, being the type of man he was, needed to tend to
his woman more than eavesdrop on Pierce and Stone's continued
argument.

The rest of
the onlookers though, were eagerly awaiting the fallout.

I wanted to
escape and check on Daisy and Eva, but I wanted to take Pierce's
back more. Ryan had thrown that first punch because Stone had
slighted me, in what I could see now was only an offhand way. But
Pierce's quick-fire reaction was almost heartwarming, if you
overlooked the aggression and violence of punching someone on the
jaw.

In any case,
he deserved my support. Funnily, just like Kelly and Genevieve had
suggested when I first woke up. Which made me realise I was feeling
a little light-headed, exhausted from the small amount of exercise
and large amount of emotional turmoil since I returned to the land
of the living. I didn't give in to the need to sit down, just
swayed slightly on my feet, surreptitiously reaching a hand out to
steady myself against the back of a chair.

"You got a
problem with this?" Pierce asked, his arms also crossed over a
puffed up chest, matching Stone.

"If I did,
would it stop you making a monumental fuck-up of your career?" the
other guy threw back, effectively knocking the air out of Pierce's
lungs with the verbal punch.

"This has got
nothing to do with my job," Ryan returned, stance unchanged,
despite Stone's sharp edged remark.

"Now that's
just plain whacked," Stone said, and I wondered if he was eager to
experience another fist to the jaw. "Since when has it been
appropriate to get involved with a witness you're protecting?"

I felt more
than saw the defeat enter Ryan's body. The truth of Stone's words
hitting harder than if he had actually swung a punch towards
Pierce's stomach. The whole room became shadowed in concern. If
emotions could be felt physically, I swear every person listening
in on this conversation would have been giving off dread in waves
of crushing pressure. I felt tight all over, as though my chest was
being constricted by an invisible force. As though the room was
filling up with negative energy that would pulverise me with one
small shove.

I couldn't
meet anyone's eyes, knowing I'd see their agreement with what Stone
was saying. See their judgement of both Pierce and myself. Knowing
Stone had a valid point, one that shouldn't be ignored, despite how
Ryan and I felt about each other.

This sucked.
It actually hurt. The swaying of before had become a trembling and
I was determined that no one would see me crumble when faced with
insurmountable odds. I briefly considered just walking out of the
room, making a quick escape. But I haven't had to face moments of
sheer terror in the past and overcome them, to be beaten by the
ugly truth coming out of a cop's mouth.

I ignored the
stand-off, the fact that Pierce was unable to form a reply, and
walked over to the kettle. My movements were a little jerky at
first, but as the water from the tap began filling the kettle I
breathed through the physical responses my body was making and
pulled my once best friend about me like the shield it was.
Confidence.

Confidence in
the face of adversity. In the face of fear.

And I was
scared what this conversation would mean. To Pierce and I, although
we hadn't even started. I didn't want us to have to stop exploring
whatever arced between us. So, I was scared that we would be forced
to. Even if it was the right thing to do.

The kettle lid
clunked down and I placed the device back on its stand, pressing
the button to start it boiling. I pulled out three mugs from the
overhead cupboard I'd seen Abi and Ben use, spooned in coffee and
sugar - stuff it, Stone could take his cup of Joe sweet - and then
turned to the fridge to extract the milk.

No one talked
while I did this. No one got in my way or asked me what the fuck I
was doing. Everyone just watched. Silently. No doubt incredulously.
But I didn't care. The longer I acted as though nothing could touch
me, as though I was encased in a thin sheet of ice, the easier it
all became.

The kettle
bubbled and steam rose, then with a small hiss and whistle it
clicked off. I poured the boiling water over the coffee and sugar
granules in the mugs, added milk, stirred and then picked one up at
a time and placed them on the table's surface.

Now, the fun
part.

"Give us a few
minutes privacy, please," I said to the room at large, hoping my
crisp tone wouldn't offend. I still didn't make eye contact with
them, but instead acted as though I expected my request - no,
demand - would be met.

I sat myself
down and took a sip from my mug, noting it was still too hot and my
tongue burned. I placed the drink on the table, turned it slightly,
so the writing on the front was facing directly outward, and rested
my hands in my lap.

Silence. Then
when the bystanders all realised I wasn't joking, one by one they
left the room until just Pierce, Stone and I were left.

"Take a seat,
Detectives," I ordered, then flicked a steady gaze at Stone. "I'm
assuming you're a detective too?"

For a brief
moment I thought he'd ignore me, but eventually he nodded his head,
making his pale locks fall forward over one eye, and then he pulled
a chair out and sat down. A small, shallow breath of air slowly
leaked from my pursed lips.

Pierce walked
around to my side of the table and pulled out the chair next to me,
making the next breath of air I sucked in almost hitch in relief...
and surprise.

The men didn't
touch their steaming mugs of coffee.

"Right," I
said, head up, shoulders back and eyes flashing ire at both men. "I
feel it necessary to point a few truths out to you."

Pierce's arm
came up along the back of my chair, a move so simple, yet screaming
for everyone's - especially Stone's - attention right then. I
glanced over at him and received an encouraging, if slightly
amused, smile.

"You know my
history, so I won't bore you with details," I started, "but I will
remind you that there is more than just my involvement in this
sordid mess to consider." I met Stone's gaze directly, making sure
he understood the next words out of my mouth were important. "My
five year old daughter is in one of the rooms inside this house.
Regardless of what you think of me, or what you think is going on
between myself and Detective Pierce, she is innocent and deserves
your protection."

"I'd never
consider anything else," he replied, eyes hardening.

"Then, I ask
you to move past whatever disappointment and anger you have with
Detective Pierce until this is over. Until my daughter is safe.
Making a scene about it right now is counterproductive."

"I wasn't
making a scene," he argued, and I lifted my hand in the perfect ice
princess stance and silenced his words with my flat palm up between
us.

"You were
making a scene," I corrected. "It wasn't necessary," I pointed out.
"Nothing will happen between Detective Pierce and myself to
jeopardise his career." Ryan stiffened, the heat of his glare on my
cheek felt real. "I respect him too much to place him in that sort
of position," I added.

"Marie,"
Pierce said in warning, preparing to argue against my
statement.

"I also need
him too much to jeopardise his career," I announced over top of his
next words, making his mouth slam shut with finality.