Committed (28 page)

“You mean the DA’s secretary?”

“She had that many brain cells?”

“Gio, your bitch is showing.”

“Yeah, well, bitch is my best friend.” She shuffled her papers, scowling at nothing. Since getting shot, she’d been on the temperamental side, but Damien had chalked it up to stress.

“Noticed. Anything you want to talk about?”

She sighed. “Not really. So tell me more about this girl.”

“She’s a nice white girl. Her name is Poppy. And she works at a high school, in the library.”

“Oh, so the nerdy type, huh? Watch her, those are the ones who are into some freaky shit.”

Damien smothered the laughter bubbling up inside of him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I hooked up with a records keeper once some time ago, and he wanted to do some weird stuff.” She shook her head. “Not my style.”

He almost wanted to ask more questions, but he wouldn’t. It went against his policy of keeping those parts of his life separate.

“Send her flowers. Everything will be fine,” Gio insisted.

“Okay.” Flowers were easy enough, but he had a feeling it would take more than that to win her over. “Want to talk about whatever’s bugging you?”

“No.” Gio gathered her papers and stood.

“Hey.”

Gio stopped at the office door, glancing over her shoulder.

“If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

Gio rolled her eyes. “In bed with this Poppy, I’ll bet.”

Guilty
.

He chuckled and shook his head as she left.

It only took a few minutes to locate a florist in the north part of town with a delivery service. Ten minutes later, he was assured a bouquet would arrive before the end of the school day. Maybe that would cushion his news that dinner and a movie would have to wait. Pity, since he’d hoped to make use of the remote-controlled vibrator again.

“Would it be the end of the world if we had some damn lunch yet?” Matías flopped into one of the two guest chairs, a scowl on his face.

“About to order. Want anything?” Damien handed a menu over.

“How’d the weekend go?” Matías asked as he flipped through it.

Damien glanced through the open door.

“Good. Really good. You? Do anything?”

“Reread all the old Emilio files.” He sighed. “There’s just nothing on him that we don’t already know.”

Maybe it was time to give up the persistent hunt. It wasn’t looking good. It was frustrating to be so far behind Emilio, with no resources at their disposal or backing from the department. Huck Finn was considered a huge success because it removed the head of the big snake. But the big snakes weren’t the most deadly, and he feared they’d let the most dangerous one out of their grasp.

No, he needed to see this through.

Poppy scanned through the library’s returned books and placed them on the cart.

Just a little while longer and her day would be over, and she was so looking forward to this evening.

She was already running through her closet mentally, putting together outfits, discarding some, tweaking others, trying to decide what she was going to wear tonight.

“Miss?”

Poppy turned toward the entrance to the library. A huge vase full of pink, orange, and yellow blossoms completely hid whoever carried the extravagant bouquet.

“Oh, dear.” She circled the desk and took the vase as water sloshed over her hands. She cringed. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” LaToya Marshall leaned against the desk and brushed some of the water off her T-shirt. “Who gave you those, Miss?”

“I don’t know.” Poppy hoisted the vase onto the counter. There was only one person who would send her flowers. She tugged the card out and opened it.

Something sweet for the sweetest thing of all
.

The line was cheesy and silly, and she loved it.

“Who is it from?” LaToya asked again, peering over at the card.

“Someone I’m seeing.” Poppy pressed the card to her chest. It didn’t have Damien’s name on it, but she didn’t need that to tell her it was him.

“Like a boyfriend?” In the last few weeks LaToya had opened up to Poppy, but what she wouldn’t give for the girl to be a little quieter right now.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? You mean you don’t know?”

“I mean, we like each other and we’re just seeing where it goes.”

“Oh, Miss.” LaToya shook her head slowly. “That’s not how it works. He’s got to ask you to be his girlfriend or he’s just a player.”

“Ooooooh?” Poppy leaned against the counter. “What do you think I should do?”

“You should tell him to stop being a player and get serious. Put a ring on it if he’s real
serious, because Miss, boys will say anything to get you to kiss them.” LaToya spoke with such a serious expression that Poppy didn’t have the heart to tell her relationships were more complicated. Let her keep her simplistic view.

Besides, Poppy had done a lot more than kissing, and she had the marks to prove it. She’d had to change outfits twice before she found something that didn’t show off the heart-shaped bruises on her breasts.

The bell rang, echoing down the halls, unleashing a flurry of activity.

“Bye, Miss!” LaToya turned and jogged toward the door.

“Don’t run.” Poppy shook her head and chuckled.

“Sorry, Miss.”

Her desk phone rang and she groaned.

“Library,” she said into the receiver.

“I’m looking for a book, but not just any book. I need a book with a princess in it who does stuff.”

Warmth curled through her chest. “Well I have a few of those. Are you looking for anything specific or can I recommend something to you?”

“Oh no, I need something where the princess also likes to be tied up, spanked, and—”

“This is my work number,” she hissed into the phone, heat crawling up her neck.

Damien chuckled.

“I got the flowers.” She admired their blooms and leaned in to sniff a pink rose.

“Do you like them?”

“They’re beautiful.”

“Good. Look, I hate to do this, but I’m going to need a rain check on tonight. I know, I know, I don’t like it either. My boss is being a dick and sending me out tonight to do some things.”

“Maybe tomorrow night?” She was disappointed, but she’d had him most of the weekend.

“I’d like that, but I’ll be honest, we’re starting a new case and things get a little crazy.”

“Okay. Well, just let me know when you have time to fit me in.”

“Sweetness, I’d like to fit you in right now.”

She shivered and her breath caught in her throat.

“Would you like that?” he asked after a pause.

“If you’re going to talk like this you have to call me back on my cell phone.”

“You didn’t answer.”

“I’m working.”

“So am I.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll behave. Give Mario and Yoshi a scratch for me. I’ll be by before you know it. Promise.”

She wanted to believe him. If she went two weeks without seeing him again, she didn’t want to think about the emotional fallout.

“Poppy? You there?”

“Yes, sorry. I’ll see you when I see you.”

“Soon. I’ve got to go.”

“Okay. Bye.”

“Bye, sweetness.”

She hung up and stared at the blooms, not so bright anymore.

“Open the door, I’ve got pizza.”

Poppy scurried to the door and pulled it open. She breathed a sigh of relief as Nikki stepped across the threshold, two pizzas in hand and Kyle on her arm.

“Hey, guys.” Poppy closed the door as they took over her kitchen. “Thanks for coming over. Again.”

Kyle wheeled on her, hands on her hips. “Dude, you won’t answer your fucking phone. I was going to come over whether you invited me or not.”

“Sorry about that,” Poppy said sheepishly.

“Darling, ignore her. I want to hear all about this man. Give me a hug.” Nikki enveloped her in a tight squeeze, which was exactly what Poppy needed.

She sighed and rested her head against Nikki’s shoulder. Where did she even begin?

“I’m hungry. You two get your cuddle-fest over with. I’m getting some pizza.” Kyle pulled down plates and opened the boxes.

“How you doing, smalls?” Nikki asked quietly as she rubbed Poppy’s back.

“I’m hanging in there.”

“He has you tied up in knots, doesn’t he?”

“Yup.”

“Can I give your cat a piece of sausage?” Kyle asked.

“No.” Poppy twisted in Nikki’s hold. “That’s Mario, and don’t give him that or you’re cleaning up his puke.”

“Oh, sorry, dude, no sausage for you. All for me.” Kyle popped the piece of meat in her mouth and carried her plate to the island. “No talking without me.”

“Let’s get some food in you, dear.” Nikki stroked her hair. “I see you still aren’t wearing heels.”

Poppy had completely forgotten about Nikki’s heel camp, for which she suspected her feet were grateful.

“Holy hell. Did he get you these?” Kyle walked around the bar to examine the bouquet on her coffee table.

“Yeah, those were his rain-check flowers.”

Nikki served up Poppy two slices of pizza before getting herself some, and together they went into the living room to join Kyle.

“Those are some nice flowers. He either really likes you or he’s guilty of something. Which is it?” Kyle sipped her drink, studying Poppy.

Poppy hadn’t looked at the flowers that way. She rolled the thought around in her head a moment. “A little of both, I think.”

“Explain.” Nikki snapped her fingers at Poppy. “You’ve barely said anything about him. First time I see him, you can’t get away fast enough. This last weekend, well, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t holding your hand under the table at IHOP.”

“Oh God.” Poppy buried her face in her hands. She’d hoped they hadn’t noticed, but clearly that was too much to ask.

“Spill.” Kyle poked her in the side and she twisted away.

“Fine! Give me a second to actually reply.” She shoved Kyle’s hand away. “Well, he likes me. I think even I can read those signals loud and clear. But he had to leave over the weekend for work, and now he’s putting off our date tonight—because of work. We talked a little about it, but I don’t think he gets it.”

“And what about your mother?” Nikki leaned forward, her food forgotten.

Poppy groaned. “She’s still not speaking to me.”

“What about your mother? What did I miss?” Kyle demanded.

“Damien spent the night here Friday and my mom dropped in Saturday morning. Just let herself in, which she never does, and walked into the bedroom.”

“Oh my God. I bet she lost her shit.” Kyle’s eyes were open wide.

“She did.”

“Wait, I know she’s conservative, but did she still think you were, ya know, a virgin?” Nikki asked.

Poppy nodded.

“No way.” Nikki clapped her hand over her mouth.

“Yeah, isn’t that crazy shit?” Kyle shook her head and picked her pizza back up.

“It’s not pretty. But she really pissed me off because it wasn’t just me she was yelling at. She started accusing Damien of being a lazy, good-for-nothing person just because he’s black.”

“Well, your mom is kind of crazy.” Kyle shrugged. “I want to hear more about Dom Cop, though. Unless there’s more to the mamma drama?”

“No, I’ve tried calling her and she won’t answer. Neither will my sister.” Poppy shrugged. “It hurts, but it’s not like we’ve been really close since I was a teen.”

“I’m sorry. It’s never easy when you don’t get along with family.” Nikki’s face creased in sadness. Her family had cut her off years before, when she came out of the closet as transgender. It was a pain she knew well.

“How’s the play with him?” Kyle asked, providing a perfect segue.

“Amazing. It’s crazy, but I’ve always been switchy, I’ve never really gotten the submissive urge like other people talk about. But I’m a total sub for him. Or as much of a sub as I’ll ever be.”

Her phone vibrated against her hip and her heart leapt into her throat. It was him. She just knew it. They’d kept up a steady texting conversation all day. All normal stuff, but it felt good to have that line to him.

Kyle nodded. “There are some people you just click with.”

“That makes sense.” Nikki placed her empty plate on the coffee table. “Our dynamics are different with everyone. It sounds like you really like him.”

“I really like him. It kind of scares me how much.” Poppy bit her lip. Could it be love? It was too soon … but it felt right.

“But how do you feel about being submissive to him? Is that something you’d want to do more of?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t know. Like, when I’m in it, it’s all I want, but I don’t want the play to change me.” Poppy chewed her lip. These were things she hadn’t thought through yet.

“He’s not changing you. He’s just bringing this hidden side out of you. It’s like the fine china. You don’t serve just anyone on that stuff.” Nikki picked up her paper plate. “But everyone
can have paper plates.”

Nikki smiled at Poppy. “What I’m saying is it’s okay. You aren’t changing. You’re just getting more in touch with that side of you. You’re evolving.”

“I guess so.” Poppy pulled her knees up to her chest. It made sense, and she couldn’t deny what they had was amazing.

“How’s the sex?” Kyle asked.

The heat in Poppy’s cheeks redoubled. “Good,” she croaked.

“What? I have to make sure he’s taking care of all of you.” Kyle grinned and poked Poppy in the ribs.

Kyle picked up her drink, holding it out to the other two. “Here’s to great partners, kinky sex, and pizza.”

“Hear, hear,” Nikki said.

Poppy shook her head and laughed. If it was love, she was in it. There would never be any holding back with Damien. Ever.

“Miss Mercer?”

Poppy glanced up from her desk. Officer Carney ushered a petulant Sidon into the library.

“Yes?” she replied.

“Sidon here has something he’d like to tell you,” Officer Carney prompted.

Sidon rolled his eyes and slid his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry for causing a disturbance during class. It won’t happen again.”

His posture said the opposite. Her heart fell a little. It seemed as if he’d chosen his path. “Thank you, Sidon. I’m glad to have you back with us.” She wanted to shake the boy and hug him all at once.