She could feel herself giving in. It surprised her how little this one concession cost her. Normally, she would fight to get her way, but if this one thing made him safer on the job, helped him concentrate, she could suffer through it. “All right, copper. I’ll make you a deal. If I spot your surveillance guy, I lose them. If they can stay well hidden, I’ll let them stay.”

A relieved smile transformed his face, tripling her feelings of guilt. Because in the back of her mind, she knew with absolutely certainty that she wouldn’t be able to stay out of it. Starting tomorrow, he’d have her help whether he liked it or not.

Troy took both of her hands in his and rolled her over. He ripped open a new box on the nightstand and removed a condom, then slid it down his swelling erection. With one push of his hips, he seated himself deep inside her, eliciting a moan from Ruby’s throat.

“See how easy that was, hustler?”

Then he leaned down and kissed her, swallowing her persistent cries with his mouth as he started to move.

Chapter Eight

Troy looked up as Daniel entered the precinct, Brent and Matt close behind. For the first time since they’d received the news about Officer Tenney being found beaten half to death in Brooklyn, they looked like they had good news. Troy certainly needed some.

He’d left Ruby pretending to be asleep in his bed this morning. Knowing they needed to talk but also very aware of the fact that spending the night with him had been a concession in itself, he hadn’t pushed his luck.

If he pressed her too hard, forced her to promise she wouldn’t take unnecessary chances with her safety, she might break their hard-won agreement about the surveillance.

Knowing she had a car following her was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind as he sat behind a desk, narrowing down Lenny Driscol’s possible location.

She thought she’d kept her intentions hidden the night before, but he’d seen them in her eyes. He needed to solve this case before she found some way to interfere. The night he’d met her, he’d recognized her curious nature, and she wouldn’t be happy taking a backseat for long. She would not only threaten the case, but her safety in the process. Not to mention, it had taken some fancy footwork on his behalf to convince Lieutenant Rhodes to assign the protection detail and not bring Ruby in for questioning instead. Troy didn’t have long, however, before the man’s patience ran thin and he started looking for information anywhere he could find it. He couldn’t allow Ruby to be used as a possible source, something that could endanger her welfare, but he needed to work quickly or it would be unavoidable.

One thing he knew for certain. If he didn’t stop thinking about all the possibilities of what could happen to her, he would never get anything accomplished.

Concentrate.

His silent command helped for all of two seconds.

Scenes from the night before played on an endless loop in his mind. Ruby kneeling in front of him, Ruby beneath him, Ruby’s dark hair spread out on his pillow as she slept beside him. He’d woken up half certain she wouldn’t be there. But she had been. She’d placed her trust in him, something he suspected she didn’t do easily. Now he needed to earn it. Once a girl like Ruby gave her trust, her heart would follow. He meant to earn that, too.

Daniel propped a hip on his desk, breaking the cycle of his thoughts. “Morning, Bennett. You want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Good,” Brent answered for him. “Always take the good first.”

Shaking his head at Brent, Matt pulled up a chair and sat. “Tenney woke up from his coma this morning.

We just got back from the hospital. No permanent damage.”

A wave of relief rushed over Troy. “Great. That’s great. What’s the bad news?”

“Brent is still here,” Daniel deadpanned.

“Funny, ass**le,” Brent returned, seemingly unaffected. “The bad news is that tip we received about Tenney being involved with Driscol proved out. Tenney told us from his hospital bed that one of Driscol’s guys worked him over.”

Troy nodded, unsurprised. He’d already been convinced that Driscol was responsible, based on the fact that he’d gone into hiding and the evasive answers he’d gotten when questioning his associates. “That gives us what we need to bring him in.”

“Right. It’ll take us a day to put a team together. First, we need his location.”

Troy pushed his notes across his desk toward the men. “I’ve got it narrowed down to two places. Both in Brooklyn. Now that we know Driscol is our guy, the lieutenant will put more bodies on this. We should easily have his location by tomorrow.”

Brent picked up his notes and scanned them quickly. “Heard you put surveillance on a possible witness? The lieutenant wasn’t exactly forthcoming about the details.”

Troy shifted uncomfortably, knowing he had to come clean. His conscience wouldn’t allow him to leave his fellow officers out of the loop, unaware that a possible wildcard was in play. “Remember the girl pool player from O’Hanlon’s the other night?”

“The long-legged beauty with all that black hair?”

Daniel’s grin spread wider. “Sure, I remember her.”

Troy glared at him, then quickly explained the connection between Ruby and Driscol.

Brent’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you kidding me? She could lead us right to him.”

“Not going to happen,” Troy enunciated. “We’re not putting her at risk. She’s not one of them anymore, and if her association with me is discovered, we’ll be doing just that. We find Driscol on our own.” He turned to find Matt watching him silently.

“Guess a lot has happened between Friday night and this morning.”

“You could say that.”

Brent’s head dropped forward into his waiting hand with a smack. “Please don’t tell me you fell for this girl. She cheats people out of money for a living.”

Troy didn’t answer, merely raised an eyebrow. He had no interest in discussing his relationship with Ruby. Not when an axe still teetered so precariously over their heads, waiting to fall. “Thank Christ this emotional bullshit will never happen to me,” Brent continued. “If I ever see it coming, I’m going to haul ass in the opposite direction like I’ve got ten mother-in-laws chasing me with rolling pins in their hands.”

Matt gave an uncharacteristic laugh. “Your time is going to come, Brent.”

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” Daniel chimed in with a nod.

“Fuck that. If I go down, I’m taking you all with me.”

Daniel sighed. “I assume you’d be taking me along for advice on pleasuring a woman? You see, there’s this thing called a cl—”

“Are you lovely ladies finished?” Troy broke in impatiently. “We’ve got two locations to scout, and we don’t have a lot of time.”

…

Ruby walked briskly down the sidewalk, throwing occasional glances over her shoulder. Evening had fallen, and the cold wind nipped the skin of her cheeks.

After hiking her yoga mat higher on her shoulder, she dug her hands into her pockets for warmth. She’d spotted the unmarked police car five minutes ago, but she had to admit they were doing a good job of staying inconspicuous. If she hadn’t known to look for them, their presence might not have registered.