The Perfect Stroke (67 page)

I’m done.

Shell-shocked. That’s the only way to describe the last month. I had watched as they hauled Roman away. The smug look of satisfaction on Paul’s face as he sneered at me was almost as bad as the betrayal shining in Roman’s.

I love him and he hates me. He has good reason. In all the scenarios where I told Roman who I really was, I never once thought I wouldn’t get the chance to try and explain. Roman won’t see me though. I’ve been trying, and each time he ignores me.

Instead, I’ve spent my time cleaning out my locker at the station and ignoring the snarls and looks of my once fellow cops, wadding up the sticky notices that littered my locker declaring me a snitch and sometimes much worse. I go through meeting after meeting with IAB, turning in every bit of evidence I had gathered against Paul Banks and the three men that worked under him and doing my best to make Roman appear to be a poster child for clean living magazine.

It worked. Roman’s charges were dismissed. I was stripped of my badge and reprimanded, but any charges that might have been filed against me were negated in exchange for helping with IAB’s investigation. I might have not been wearing a wire each time I met with Paul, but I had been using a mini voice recorder in my pocket, catching Paul’s instructions and plans each time. The best evidence came, however, when I informed the detective in charge about a small firebox that Paul kept in his home office. It was a gamble. I remembered it from the times during my training that I would join Paul and several other squad members for a cookout and we planned the best way to set me up to meet Roman. I didn’t realize what a complete moron Paul was until IAB found the trophies Paul kept from every crooked deal he ever made. He was using the proof inside to blackmail members of the squad to do his bidding, but in the end, the proof only helped to arrest him. If karma is real at all, it should lock him up for a long fucking time. His trial is scheduled to begin soon, and I for one can’t wait.

That’s not what tonight is about, however. Tonight is a last ditch effort. I’m at the strip club. I know Roman won’t be here, but he’ll be told I am, especially when I demand to dance. I was never fired, so technically I’m still on staff. It will probably blow up in my face, but maybe Roman will at least come here to talk to me.

Okay, as plans go, it’s shit. I know it. I just know I have to try.
I have to
. I kept expecting him to reach out to me, especially when he found out that I had cleared his name at the expense of my career.
I heard nothing
. I thought he would at least talk to me when I showed up at the Stable demanding to see him after Paul was arrested.

I was escorted off the premises. Which leads me to now. I don’t have any hope held out that tonight will end differently than the other numerous times I’ve tried. However, it is my last time to try. If I don’t see Roman tonight, I walk away. It won’t be what I want, but I need to move forward with my life. Besides, I’m getting pissed at him. I know he’s mad and he gets to be angry, but to just refuse to talk to me and walk away as if we were nothing to each other…?

“Ana? What the fuck are you doing here?”

I stop in front of the back dressing rooms, shock flooding through my system. Of all the people I thought would be here tonight, this wasn’t one of them.

“Allen?
What—I mean,
how
… When did this happen?
”

“I’m working for Roman a few nights a week. Just to see…”

“
See what
? Why would he let you work for him? I don’t understand,” I mumble, thoroughly confused. What am I missing here? And why does Allen seem… almost normal? What happened to the angry brother who hated the world? I have so many questions, but before I can ask them, Allen is grabbing my hand.

“You need to get out of here,” he grumbles, his grip firm as he tries to pull me away. I jerk against his hold, easily breaking free.

“I’m not going anywhere. Tonight is my regular night to dance,” I announce. Allen’s eyes go wide and he shakes his head in disbelief. I try to stand tall at my announcement, but avoid looking into Allen’s eyes. The last thing I need is for him to read the panic in them.

“Are you crazy?
” Allen cries. “Roman isn’t going to let you dance!”

“Well, he didn’t fire me. Until he does, I’m dancing.”

“Ana, you’re being stupid. If Roman finds out you’re here, he’ll have you escorted out of the club so fast your head will spin. Hell, as mad as he is at you right now, he may have you arrested for trespassing.”

“Then he’ll have to be the one to tell me that himself, won’t he? And when did you become Roman’s right hand man, anyway?”

“I’m trying to change, and Roman’s helping. I’d be glad to talk to you about it. Some other time. Not tonight. There’s shit going on and I need you out of this club.”

“There’s always shit going on. Allen, I can’t leave. I have to talk to Roman,” I finally tell him, desperation and honesty breaking through my stupid plan.

“Ana, he doesn’t want to talk to you right now. You need to give him time. He…”

“He has had time! I at least deserve him telling me that he hates me and never wants to see me again! He owes me that!”

“I don’t owe you anything, Ana.”

I freeze when Roman’s voice interrupts. I turn around slowly to look at the man who has haunted my dreams. He looks as good as he ever did, his suit impeccable, his hair a little longer, but I like it. He has circles under his eyes and a five o’clock shadow that I’ve never seen on him before. It looks good.

“We need to talk, Roman,” I tell him and hope like hell my courage doesn’t disappear.

I hate her. At least that’s what I’ve been trying to tell myself. People don’t lie to me and live. They sure as fuck don’t betray me as deeply as Ana did. I’ve cut her out of my life. I’m done. Those are all things that I’ve repeated to myself over and over the last month. Things that I tried to drum into my head even as I would jack off to the memory of her sweet pussy draining me dry. I thought I had succeeded. I was able to function through the day now instead of wanting to drown myself in booze. The only time I allowed my obsession with her to overtake me was when I was home alone. That had to be progress.

One look at her tonight, and I know I’ve been lying to myself. She’s wearing faded jeans, the fabric worn so much the once dark blue color is practically the color of ice, faded and cold. My fingers itch to hold her ass and see just how soft the cloth would feel. She has on a black t-shirt and it makes her look pale and washed out, but even with that, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.

“We have nothing to say to each other, Ana. You can leave peacefully or I’ll have Bruno escort you.”

“Boss, I can take her home. Ana and I need to talk anyway,” Allen interjects.

Over the past month, Allen has made great strides. I’m even starting to like the kid. I, however, don’t want his interference here.

“You need to go back to work, Allen,” I tell him, not taking my eyes off Ana.

“Ana,” Allen says, and she puts her hand in his and squeezes it. He’s her goddamn brother and that small touch fires jealousy inside of me. I need to get her the fuck out of here before I crumble.

Allen leaves. I never take my eyes away from Ana, and she’s staring right back at me. I can pick up her nervousness, but then again, I’ve always been attuned to Ana and her body.
Her body.
Jesus, she looks good. Her curves seems fuller, her lips more prominent. What harm would come from just one small sip from them?

“You need to leave,” I order again, my voice gruffer as I fight the hard-on that’s pressing against the zipper of my slacks.

“I don’t want to. I don’t think you want me to either, Roman,” she says, taking a step towards me. It’s all I can do not to back away from her.

“You would be wrong. For some strange reason, I don’t keep women around who think they can play me.”

“I was doing my job,” she says, her face flushed.

“You betrayed me. I don’t give people a second chance to do that, Ana.”

“I need you to give me one,” she says, and her hand reaches out and touches my stomach. I want to groan when electricity charges between us, firing through my blood and making my dick jerk in reaction. People around us have grown quiet. It’s then I remember we’re standing at the dressing rooms of the other girls. I grab her hand on my stomach and practically pull her down the small hall. I don’t stop until we make it into the back room where the private dances are held. This is where the minx tortured me in the beginning; it seems apt that this is where it should end. It’s deserted when we get there, though I know it will be busy in here soon. I lock the door and turn back to Ana. Her breathing is so ragged, it shakes her body, her face even more flushed. Those violet eyes are dilated. I try to swallow down my need.

“Ana, you need to go.”

“I came here to dance,” she says, kicking off her shoes. I watch her and I’m at war with myself, knowing I need to send her away, but wanting one last taste of her. And why shouldn’t I? She owes me. I’m still who I am. I can take this and send her away. She wants to play the whore? Why shouldn’t I let her? Surely that’s the only reason I don’t stop her when she peels those jeans down over her hips, revealing the peach-colored flesh I want to bite into. They slide further down her legs and she gracefully kicks them off.

Fuck it. Let her dance. I sit in a cushioned chair, waiting and hoping like hell I manage to look bored because I’m anything but.

“I’ve missed you Roman,” she whispers, lifting her shirt over her head.

“If you want to dance, Ana, then dance. But I don’t need the commentary,” I warn her, my voice cold.

I can’t hear her say words that shouldn’t mean a damn thing to me. It shouldn’t matter in the least that she misses me. I don’t miss the fire in her eyes at my words. I’m pissing her off. Good. She should be pissed off. She should feel anger, because it’s all that I’ve felt since that day in the cemetery. Nothing has made it better. Even learning that she told the court that she planted all of the shit on me under orders of a superior officer did nothing to soothe my anger. I wanted to choke her. I wanted to scream and kill her.
I wanted to fuck her.
No matter the anger and hate inside of me, it always boiled down to that. I wanted to sink into her tight little cunt and fuck her so hard and raw that she’d never walk right again.