Page 46 of Dealing Dirty
Jackie’s voice interrupts my thoughts. “I’m going to remove my hand from this delicate little throat of yours, and I expect those decadent lips to produce a polite answer.”
His compliments drip with spite. The eyes I once mistook for soft now cling to my mouth, daring me to scream.
I’m not so bold as to make a break for it and not so naïve to know he wouldn’t call his dogs on me the second I got away. Rubbing my reddened skin, I narrow my eyes. Juliana Ramirez does not go down without a fight, and if that damns me to death by his hands, then I’ll be flipping him the bird on my way out.
“Your idea of foreplay needs some work,” I rasp, watching as his chest stills. “And unfortunately for you, I’m not the girl you’re looking for.”
Jackie’s brows scrunch together. He’s kind of cute when he’s confused. Like a puppy who can’t catch his tail. “You’re not a Mackville police officer?”
Head falling back against the wall, I snort. “Absolutely not!”
He takes a step back, letting his arm fall limp from its position beside me. “But I saw the man you were with. And what about that little show you put on out there?”
I try to recover, squaring my chest and tipping my chin. “Is this how you greet Diablo’s close friends? What a shame that I’ll have to inform him of how poorly we’ve been treated in his establishment.”
The wheels begin to spin behind his knowing eyes. “I won’t waste my breath arguing that you’re lying. It’s beyond obvious that you two don’t belong here.”
Crossing my arms, I glare a hole through his head.
He studies me for a minute before pulling a sleek black device from his pocket and dialing a code. “Alright, let’s call him right now.”
No.
I grip his wrist. “Wait.”
He snickers. “Lying. Little. Minx.”
In a moment of sheer desperation, I beg, “Please, just let me and my friend go. You’ll never have to see our faces again. I swear to you.”
Jackie presses a thumb between his eyes as if the motion will cure the slowly building headache. “Who are you?”
“I’m no one you need to worry about,” I say, inching toward the door to test the boundary of his generosity. He matches my step like a sly fox, and after a pregnant pause, I give.
“Juliana.” His voice caresses my name like a lover’s touch.
Shoving a hand through his lightly tousled hair, he gives me another inch of breathing room. “I know you. You used to work at Margie’s. But you and—Cassidy, right? You both quit suddenly.”
How could he possibly know that?
My pinched face betrays my thoughts, and I jump when he begins to chuckle. “Fate is one cruel bitch.”
“I don’t understand.”
A mocking smile rests on his lips. “Bruce has eyes all over this town, my dear. In fact, I know your friend is shacking up with that tattooed thug from The Pound, and I know that you’re connected to them.”
The hand that nearly choked the life from me now cups his jaw. “Which leads me to believe that man you’re with isn’t a random nobody.” I shrink away from him when he leans toward me again. “Back to my original question. What areyoudoing here?”
“How do you know about The Pound?”
He shrugs. “You didn’t truly believe Bruce would back off after that little display with the Campbell brothers, did you? If anything, it’s only made him angrier.”
“Why do you let him control you?” The question slips before I can think better of it, earning me a lethal glare. “Don’t you have a family or people who need you?”
Jackie’s mouth opens and closes. After a long sigh, he finally answers. “My wife left me long ago, and my two daughters haven’t had anything to do with me for years.”
I watch his throat work as he shifts his gaze.
“I have my… vices,” he says, bringing his eyes back to me. The insinuation makes me blush. “Bruce exploited them to get what he wanted, and at the time, I had agreed so I wouldn’t lose the ones I loved.”
