“Law, this is a game,” Lee informed me. “You entered the game, now you have to play it. You don’t take the meet; it’s disrespect. Darius won’t like that.”
“Do I care?” I asked.
Vance came closer and turned his body into mine, cutting Lee off from sight.
“Take the meet, Jules,” he said.
I looked up at him and opened my mouth to speak but he got there before me.
“Take the meet; listen to what he has to say. You can say no. Then you can tel him what you want. Maybe we can come to a compromise, maybe not. You don’t take the meet, everyone wil lose,” Vance went on.
“What do I have to lose?” I asked.
“You don’t want to go up against Darius. You do, since we made our positions clear last night, that puts us against him. That means war with you caught in the middle and the middle is an uncomfortable place,” he got closer and his voice dropped, “Jules, we’re talkin’ war between Lee and Darius. You don’t want to be the cause of that.” Again I opened my mouth to speak but he kept going, voice even lower, eyes intense. I’d never seen him so intense (wel , he was normal y always a trifle intense but this was something else). I stared at him.
“It’d be like Sniff goin’ bad and Roam chal engin’ him to a death match. In that situation, nobody wins. Do you understand what I’m sayin’ to you?”
I kept staring at him and it came to me. Eddie Chavez, Lee Nightingale and Darius Tucker, al friends, al close, just like Park, Roam and Sniff. I guessed that somewhere along the line, Darius turned, went bad. Regardless, Eddie and Lee stayed close to him, such was their bond. It was precarious, something would eventual y test it, something just like this was bound to happen. You couldn’t have a cop, a PI and a drug dealer remain friends without it going sour somewhere along the line.
But I didn’t want it to be me that made it go sour.
I nodded to Vance. “I’l take the meet,” I said.
He lips turned up at the ends and I knew he approved. I got that warm feeling again but kept my face blank and he moved away from me.
Lee and Luke were watching me, not amused anymore.
“Is everything okay with Jermaine and Clarence?” I asked.
“Vance took care of you,” Luke said. “You need to be safe, though.”
“You get in a situation like last night, you cal backup before going in,” Lee added.
“Backup?” I asked.
“Vance wil give you the number,” Lee said but didn’t answer my question.
I turned to Vance. “Backup?”
“You cal the Nightingale control room,” Vance said. “One of us wil take your back.”
Oh my God.
Were they serious?
“That isn’t necessary,” I announced.
Lee was making a move to go. “You’ve been smart so far, don’t be stupid now,” he warned then our talk was over.
He jerked his head to Luke and Vance and Luke made a move.
“In a minute,” Vance said.
They glanced at him. Lee nodded. Luke grinned. They closed the door when they left.
Vance turned and with his eyes on me and us being alone I total y forgot why I asked to talk to him in the first place.
“Jules?”
With effort, I cleared my head. “Um, I just wanted to say…” I lost it then got it back again, “thanks. You didn’t have to go that far with Roam and I appreciate it.” The air changed. Vance’s macho man forcefield clicked on and, I could swear, my body leaned into him a bit.
Then his eyes got soft and sexy. My bel y fluttered.
His voice came at me, smooth as silk. “You want to thank me, you ever want to thank me, you don’t say it to me.
You show me.”
I stared. “Sorry?”
He didn’t explain, he just said, “Come here.” Without hesitation, I went to him such was the power of the forcefield.
When I made it to him, one of his arms went around my waist, his other hand twisted around and around in my ponytail, fisted and he pul ed my head back gently.
Then he said, “Kiss me.”
My bel y plummeted.
“Sorry?” I repeated, this time in a whisper.
His face came so close I could feel his lips against mine.
“Kiss me,” he said there.
Oh crap.
I wasn’t sure I even knew how to kiss someone.
“Vance –” I breathed.
“Kiss me. Now,” he ordered.
I kissed him. I had no idea what I was doing but I just went for it. I figured it was better to get it over with because I was learning fast that Vance wouldn’t let it go.
I put my arms around his neck, grasping my right wrist in my left hand; I lifted up on my toes a bit, just as I put pressure on his neck. I opened my mouth under his, going for the gusto, but in the back of my head wondering if I should start smal .
Apparently I made the right choice. His mouth opened immediately, my tongue slid inside and that was al I had to do. That was the extent of “my” kiss.