Lethal Attraction: Against the Rules\Fatal Affair Read online

  She heard Freddie moving toward them as she rammed the heel of her hand into Peter’s nose, sending him flying backward, blood bursting from his face.

  “You fucking bitch! You motherfucking frigid whore! You broke my fucking nose!”

  “Book him, Cruz.” Sam’s hand shook as she brought it up to her throat. “Two counts attempted murder, assaulting a police officer, stalking a police officer, possessing bomb-making materials, breaking and entering, violating a restraining order, and anything else you can think of.”

  Freddie hauled Peter up off the floor and snapped cuffs on his wrists. “With pleasure.”

  “Does he know you’re only half a woman?” Peter screamed. “Did you tell him you’re barren?”

  Sam’s heart kicked into overdrive as pain shot through her gut. “Get him out of here.”

  Long after Freddie dragged the shrieking Peter from the room, Sam stood there trying to get her shaking hands under control. Finally, she turned to leave the room and found a crowd of coworkers waiting for her.

  Captain Malone stepped forward. “Well done, Sergeant.”

  “Thank you,” Sam said, her voice shaky. She heard the whir of the wheelchair before she saw it. Oh God, she groaned inwardly at what her father must’ve heard. The crowd parted to let him through, and her heart almost stopped when she saw Nick with him. “So you heard all that, huh?” Sam said to her dad after the others left them alone.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, her cheeks burning. “It must’ve been embarrassing for you—”

  “That was the most entertaining fifteen minutes of my life—right up until he grabbed you. You should put some ice on your neck. Those bruises are gonna hurt.”

  “I will.” She bent down to kiss his cheek.

  “Proud of you, baby girl,” he whispered.

  She rested her head on his shoulder. How she wished he could wrap his strong arms around her the way he used to. “I think it’s finally over.”

  “I think you’re right. Since I’m here, I’m going to go do some visiting. I’ll be back in a bit, Nick.”

  “I’ll be right here,” Nick said.

  “That’s what I figured.” Skip turned his chair and started down the long corridor, no doubt heading for Chief Farnsworth’s office.

  Nick held out a hand to her. That he did just that and nothing more finally did it for her. Curling her hand around his, she fell the rest of the way into love with him.

  CHAPTER 30

  “I’m sorry,” Sam said when they were in her office.

  “What the hell for?” Nick asked.

  “For using you and our relationship to stick it to him. I didn’t know you were there. I hate that you heard it.”

  “You think that bothers me?” His hazel eyes were bright with emotion. “You nailed him. That’s all that matters. So what did you say that made him go ballistic?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters to me.”

  Reluctantly, Sam told him what she’d said. “I don’t want you to think…”

  As if he could no longer resist, he put his arms around her. “What?”

  Again her cheeks burned with embarrassment and discomfort, but this had to be said. “That I think of what we do…together…as fucking.”

  “Baby, come on. I know that.”

  “Because it’s so much more than that,” she said, looking up at him.

  “Yes.” He brushed his lips over hers. “It is.”

  “I love you, too.”

  He went perfectly still. “Yeah?”

  Pleased to have caught him off guard, she nodded. “Since that night at the party for me, too. I shouldn’t have married Peter for many reasons, but mostly because I always loved you. Always.”

  “Samantha,” he whispered, leaning in for a deep, passionate kiss.

  “No PDA on duty, or any other time,” she mumbled when she came to her senses and remembered where they were.

  “Very special occasion.” His hands slid down to cup her ass and pull her tight against his erection. “Does that door have a lock?”

  With her hands on his chest, she tried to push him back. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “I’m way past thinking.”

  She went up on tiptoes to roll his bottom lip between her teeth. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

  Groaning, he released her. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  “Um, what he said about me…at the end…We should probably talk about that.”

  Nick rested a finger on her lips. “Later.”

  Grateful for the reprieve, she took a deep breath. “So what’s with you and my dad?” she asked, grabbing a half-empty bottle of soda from her desk.

  “We’ve reached an understanding of sorts.”

  Raising a suspicious eyebrow, she studied him. “What sort?”

  “That’s between me and him.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  He tweaked her nose. “You don’t have to.”

  A knock on the door startled them.

  “Enter,” she called.

  Gonzo opened the door. “Um, sorry to interrupt—”

  “You’re not interrupting anything,” she said with a meaningful glance at Nick. “What’s up?”

  “There’s a woman here to see you. Wouldn’t give her name, insists on seeing you and only you. Looks shook up.”

  “All right. Bring her in.” To Nick, she said, “Do you mind taking my dad home? I’ll be along soon.”

  “Sure.” He leaned in for one last kiss.

  “Don’t talk about me with him.”

  “Dream on,” he said, laughing as he left the room. “Put some ice on that neck.”

  Sam took in the view of his fine denim-clad ass and sighed with delight. That he was hers, all hers, was something she still couldn’t believe. She wished she had time to indulge in the happy dance that was just bursting to get out.

  Gonzo accompanied a distraught woman to the door and showed her in. “This is Sergeant Holland.”

  “Have a seat.” Sam gestured to the chair and dismissed Gonzo with a grateful nod. “What’s your name?”

  The woman’s manicured fingers fiddled with her designer purse as she looked at Sam with dark, ravaged eyes. “Andrea Daly.”

  “What can I do for you, Ms. Daly?”

  “It’s Mrs. Daly.” She looked down at the floor, sobs shaking her petite frame. “I’ve done an awful thing.”

  Sam came around her desk and leaned back against it. “If you tell me about this awful thing, maybe I can help you.”

  Andrea wiped the tears from her face. “The night the senator was killed…”

  The back of Sam’s neck tingled. “Did you know him? Senator O’Connor?”

  Andrea shook her head. “I’ve never done anything like this. My family means everything to me. I have children.”

  “Mrs. Daly, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what it is you think you’ve done.”

  “I was with Terry O’Connor,” she whispered. “I spent that whole night with him at the Day’s Inn in Leesburg.” She wiped her runny nose. “When I saw him on the news being brought in this morning…I couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t do it.”

  “I know.”

  Incredulous, Andrea stared up at Sam. “I risked my marriage and my family and you already knew?”

  Sam reached out to her. “You did a brave thing coming here. It was the right thing.”

  “A lot of good that’ll do me when my husband reads about it in the paper.”

  “It won’t be in the paper. If your husband finds out, it’ll be because you tell him.”

  “Do you mean that?”

  “Terry O’Connor doesn’t remember you. He was so drunk he couldn’t even offer a description of the woman he said he’d been with. I’m sorry if that hurts you, but it’s the truth. So the only two people who know he was with you are in this room. I know what I’m going to do with the info. Wh