Page 59 of A Dirty Business
I was calling her on it, because she wanted this fucking thing between us as much as I did. I, at least, was being honest about it. Maybe if we both gave in, this fucking need would leave.
Her eyes flashed, and she knew what I was calling her on.
“This.” She motioned between the two of us. Her eyes hardening. “It has to stop. My job gives me purpose in life, and you’re eroding that. I can’t change what I’ve already done, but this can’t happen again. It does and I’ll quit Katya. I don’t want to, but I will if I need to.”
She was pulling out every intestine inside of me, one at a time, a slow tug each inch.
But fuck that. I wasn’t going to say the words she wanted to hear.
I started to leave, but I needed to see one more thing.
I hit the light switch by the door, and the entire room lit up.
I saw the painting.
It was me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
JESS
A week passed. No Trace. No mom drama. It was quiet, for the most part.
I liked it, but ... something was missing.
Justin slept over on the weekends after our shifts at Katya. Kelly slept at his place during the week. And I’d started going from work to the gym to the studio.
When he’d seen that canvas of him, my heart had lodged itself in my throat. I’d never intended anyone to see it, but I needed to get him out of me. Doing the daily grind of my job hadn’t done that. Keeping busy with Katya just made it worse, so yeah. I now had three more canvases of him sitting around the place, and all were in different textures, different colors. Each one had a different feel to it.
Fuck me, but this was annoying.
Maybe a one-night stand was the right option. Get under someoneelseto get Trace out of my system.
It was worth a try.
“Yo, Montell. Hold up.”
It’d been two weeks since I’d last seen Trace. I was trying not to think about him—nope. I wasn’t.
Hearing my name, I turned and saw another parole officer heading my way. Tall. Built like a thick cornerback. Pretty face. Blue eyes. Sandy-brown hair.
I gave a nod. “What’s up?”
Officer Reyo was the newest PO added to the department. I’d worked with him on a few house visits, and he was a solid officer. Kept his mouth shut. Followed protocol.
“You doing house visits today?”
I nodded, frowning a little. “Yeah. My partner is supposed to go with me.”
He shook his head, drawing up next to me and giving me a half grin. “Valerie called, asked if I could fill in?”
“What?” I started to pull my phone out because this had been planned since yesterday.
“She—uh—” He inclined his head, coughing, before taking a step closer to me. “She, uh, something came up. It was my day off, and she asked if I could cover her today.”
I pulled up our texts, and there was nothing there about this. “What’s going on?”
He opened his mouth, and I could literally see the bullshit starting to be delivered at my doorstep.
