Stay with Me (The WITSEC series Book 1) Read online

  “My husband has money,” he said with a shrug.

  Luca laughed, enjoying the detective very much. He had such a kind smile and Luca really thought that under different circumstances, they could be friends. He was still laughing when the elevator arrived and the door opened. He instantly lost his smile as he recognized the towering form of Detective Kane Delancey. If it were possible, the man looked even bigger than he had the first two times he’d seen him. Luca had been so happy he hadn’t been at the station when he’d arrived this afternoon to look at mug shots. Judging by the frown on the man’s face even now, Detective Delancey wasn’t happy to see him either.

  “Hey, Delancey,” Detective Ryan said, sticking out a hand. Luca watched Delancey acknowledge the other detective as he shook his hand.

  “Ryan? What’s up?” Delancey asked, completely ignoring Luca as he let the elevator doors close.

  “I was just about to take Mr. Price home.”

  “What?”

  Luca was pretty sure he heard a growl in the surly detective’s voice. He couldn’t really understand it at all. Everyone liked him. He had more friends than anyone he knew and it was weird being ignored completely, like he wasn’t even standing there. Rude. That’s what the asshole was. Gorgeous but rude.

  Detective Ryan held out a hand, indicating Luca as if Delancey hadn’t even seen him. “Mr. Price looked at mug books for hours and I’m taking him home now.”

  Delancey grunted. “Did he recognize anyone?”

  Luca cleared his throat and waved a hand in front of the detective’s face. “Helloooooo… I’m right here, you know.”

  Detective Ryan snorted and reached up to cover his smile as Delancey turned and frowned even deeper when he looked at him. His expression was fiercely angry but from the reaction of Detective Ryan, he wasn’t seriously dangerous.

  Luca could only hope.

  “Fine. Did you recognize anyone?” The man’s voice sounded like sandpaper.

  Luca shook his head. “No, but I’ll come in tomorrow and look some more.” He had no idea why he’d just promised to do that after Detective Ryan said he could do a police sketch. Maybe his brain was simply leaking out of his ears after looking at all those criminals.

  The detective swept a glance down Luca’s body before looking back up and meeting his eyes.

  “Don’t you have to work tomorrow? I mean someone has to clean up the store or something, right?” Detective Delancey asked.

  “Actually, my boss is having someone do that. He’s hired security guards to watch over everything while the jewelry cases are being…”

  “Did you bring the list of stolen inventory?” Delancey interrupted.

  Luca gaped at him. “Rude much?”

  That time Detective Ryan did laugh.

  “Actually, I forgot it. I’ll bring it back tomorrow,” Luca said, frowning at the mean detective. Why does he hate me? Luca really had to clear the air… or maybe just run away. This guy really didn’t want to talk to him. That was clear. “You know what? I can work with Detective Ryan or just your partner. Neither one of them hate me so if it’s okay, I’ll just work with them.”

  Detective Delancey opened his mouth to say something when the elevator pinged. Luca turned when the doors slid open and Detective Murphy stepped out. She had a brilliant smile on her face.

  “Hey there! I see you made it,” she said to Luca, sounding really happy to see him.

  Luca couldn’t help but smile back at her. Her sweet personality was contagious. He was sure that if they got a better chance to be acquainted, they could become good friends. He loved women. He didn’t sleep with them but that didn’t mean that some of his best friends weren’t women.

  “Hi, Detective Murphy.”

  “Did you look through the mug books, Luca?”

  “Mr. Price got through five of them but he’s been here for hours and I was just getting ready to take him home,” Cassidy Ryan said. “No luck so far but he promised to come back and sit down with a sketch artist.”

  “And look at more mug books,” Delancey added.

  Luca frowned at him. “Right.”

  “And bring a list of the stolen inventory,” Delancey added, his frown easing as he looked at his partner. Clearly he liked her a lot and for some reason, Luca felt his heart squeeze a little. He was definitely right about the kind of man Kane Delancey was. He probably wanted to get into his partner’s pants. Luca never went for straight guys even if everything else about Kane Delancey was just drool worthy. Straight guys just weren’t his thing at all. He never hid who he was and he could never be with someone who was going to force their relationship to remain in the closet. It just wasn’t in him.

  Relationship? What the hell is wrong with me?

  His phone rang and he held up a finger as Delancey opened his mouth to say something else—probably something nasty. He pulled out his phone as he turned away, swiping the screen and accidently hitting the speaker button.

  “Hey, Tony. Before you say anything, I know. I’m late. Sorry.”

  “Where are you, Luca?” Tony’s voice yelled over the beat of techno music. “You know the party never gets started until you’re here, guuuurl…”

  Luca knew he had to raise his voice to be heard over the thumping music. “I know. I’m so sorry, buddy,” he yelled into the phone. “I’ll be there as soon as possible!” He hung up the phone, turning back to the three detectives. They were all staring at him. He grinned shyly and shrugged, holding up the phone. “I didn’t think he’d hear me otherwise. Sorry.”

  “Whatever,” Delancey growled, spinning on his heel and marching away from the rest of them. He slammed the palm of his hand on the glass door to the office and disappeared inside as the rest of them stood there.

  “Did I miss something?” Detective Murphy asked. The expression on her face was priceless as she stared between Luca and Detective Ryan.

  “It’s official. Your partner’s a dick and apparently, forgetting to bring the inventory list is wicked bad,” Luca said. The detectives laughed and he looked at Ryan. “I’ve really got to go now.”

  “Okay, I’ll take you,” Detective Ryan said.

  “You live in West Hollywood, right, Luca?” Murphy asked.

  Luca was only slightly surprised and then he remembered giving her his personal details for the report she had to write or something. He nodded.

  “I do and I’m late for a party. I always take the bus but Detective Ryan said he’d take me home since he was just leaving.”

  Murphy turned to the handsome detective. “I can take him, Cass. I’m going that way and your house is the other direction. I only came back because I forgot my car keys when I left with Delancey earlier.” She turned to Luca. “Would that be all right, Luca?” Her smile was infectious and Luca couldn’t help but smile right back at her.

  “Sure!” Luca looked over at Detective Ryan. “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

  Detective Ryan reached out and patted Luca on the shoulder as Murphy turned and headed back into the office to grab her keys. “Of course, Luca. I’ll probably see you tomorrow then.”

  Luca shook the hand he held out, nodding. “Great. Thanks for being so nice today and for offering the ride.” The door to the office opened again and Kelly Murphy stepped back into the outer lobby. They all got into the elevator and rode it down to the parking garage. After shaking Detective Ryan’s hand, Luca and Detective Murphy headed for her car which turned out to be a red and white Mini Cooper. He grinned widely as soon as he saw it.

  “This car is so cool, Detective,” he said as she unlocked the door for him.

  “You have to call me Kelly, okay, Luca?”

  “Sure, Kelly.” Luca got into the car and she slipped in behind the wheel after unclipping her gun and reaching across him to lock it in the glove compartment. He thought it was awesome that he’d made a new friend who carried a gun. Not that he was ever a big gun nut or anything. Luca just liked the feeling of being protected when he was near s
omeone who carried one. He really wished Detective Delancey were gay and actually liked him. It would be super fun being next to him when he was wearing a gun. When he suddenly pictured how hot the man would look wearing only a gun, Murphy’s car got uncomfortably warm. He reached over and rolled down the window as she pulled the small car out onto the main street, quickly merging with traffic as they headed toward West Hollywood.

  Kelly turned on the radio and Luca smiled when the eighties sounds of the Bangles came out. He began nodding his head in time with the music as he turned to look at her profile. She asked him to give her the exact address and after he did, her smile faded just a bit.

  “You know his bark is a lot worse than his bite, Luca,” she said out of the blue.

  “Whose bark?” Luca asked even though he knew full well who she was talking about.

  “Kane’s. He’s just transferred here and there’s a lot going on in his life so don’t be offended by anything he says or the way he says it. He’s a really nice guy,” she said.

  Luca smiled at her. “No he’s not, but that’s okay. I just don’t understand what I did that made him hate me. I mean, he doesn’t think I stole the diamonds or something, right?” he asked as the thought occurred to him.

  Kelly snorted, shaking her head as the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. “No, he doesn’t think you stole the diamonds. Like I said, he just has a lot on his mind.” They were nearing his street so he reached out and pointed.

  “You can turn here, Kelly.”

  “Sure.” She steered the Mini up to his building and idled in front since there was nowhere on the street to park. Parking was a bitch in this part of town which is one of the reasons Luca was happy he didn’t have a car. You couldn’t leave a car in the same place on the street for more than twenty-four hours, so anyone who had a job at home was constantly having to shuffle their cars around on the street so that they wouldn’t get ticketed. And Luca had heard that tickets in WeHo started at like ten thousand dollars or something. When she put the parking brake on, Luca launched himself over the handbrake and hugged Kelly tightly. She oomphed out a little breath of air in surprise before patting him gently on the back.

  “Thanks so much for the ride, Kelly. I didn’t even ask where you live but I know this was out of your way.”

  “You’re more than welcome. Cassidy lives over in Holmby Hills but I’m close by. Just off Sunset.”

  Luca smiled. “Thanks again. Well, see you tomorrow if you’re at the station.” He got out of the car and bent over, talking through the window. “Let’s do this again when I have time to take you to dinner.” He hooked a thumb behind him. “I just have a birthday to go to.”

  “No problem, Luca. I look forward to it.” She sent him a huge smile and waved at him from the driver’s seat. He waited a few seconds, watching her drive away and then turned and ran into his building to change, already an hour late.

  ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

  Delancey walked into his house an hour later, still kicking himself for the way he’d reacted to Luca Price at the station. He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a Corona, uncapping it and leaning back on the kitchen counter as he looked through his living room to the balcony. He was really happy that the marshals had agreed he didn’t have to leave his place when he went undercover on this case. The night he, Ryan, and Williams had gone to Something’s Fishy to meet Jarrett Evans and Thayne Wolfe, he’d intended on asking them to back him up and take care of his ferrets while he was on assignment.

  He turned around, opened his freezer, and pulled out a Hungry Man dinner of Salisbury steak. After removing it from the box, he threw the whole thing into the microwave to heat up. He wasn’t particular about what he ate when he was only feeding himself. He never cooked if he didn’t have to. The only home-cooked food he ever got was when he went over to his mom’s house. She was an excellent cook.

  He tried to go over to visit at least once a week just to see her and his younger sister Glenna. Now that he was undercover, he was worried that he was going to have to limit his visits, at least until he made absolutely sure Enoch Moore or his son couldn’t find any of them. There was a small possibility that Moore had forgotten them or the desire he had to kill Kane and his whole family, but he wasn’t terribly hopeful about it. When he’d testified in court, Kane had taken the stand and pointed right to Moore when the prosecutor had asked him to identify the man who’d murdered his father in cold blood. The expression of hate on the man’s face had been chilling at the time.

  At twelve, Kane had been intimidated by the older man. At thirty-two, he knew when he saw him again, his reaction would be much different. He was old enough to understand who and what Moore was… and that was the problem. Keeping his emotions in check as he confronted Brandon Moore was going to be challenging enough. If he saw his father—a hired assassin and boss for the Irish mob—Kane hoped he’d get through it without blowing his cover. He hadn’t told Marshal Brady or any of his colleagues how he felt about the assignment—not really. And in truth, Kane thought he’d been able to bury all those feelings but as soon as Sarah had ordered him into the office that morning, the nightmares had started again.

  His happy, smiling father, could make everyone around him laugh. He would stand behind the bar and tell jokes that had his patrons coming back night after night for the emotional release of happiness. At home his dad talked about sports and fishing—his favorite hobby. He loved hopping onto the deep-sea fishing vessel that launched out of Long Beach Harbor and spending the day catching a variety of fish.

  Kane could still remember standing at his father’s side as the boat swayed in the water, watching men gut and clean their catch right there, out at sea. Seagulls always followed the boat because they knew what was coming. When they’d dumped fish entrails into the sea, the birds would dive for them before they sank into the water. It was great fun. Kane reached up and rubbed his knuckles over his sternum, suddenly feeling the loss of his dad more than he could stand.

  The microwave beeped and he set down the Corona which had grown warm in his hand as his mind wandered. He took his dinner out of the oven and set it on the counter. When he pulled back the plastic covering, steam poured out, burning his hand before he could pull it away.

  “Fuck!”

  Kane shook his hand and looked down at the shrunken lumps of meat in some sort of gravy. The powdered potatoes made to resemble real mashed potatoes looked like something he’d had once in a school lunch. The green beans—if that’s what they were—were overcooked, wrinkled, and… Fuck this! Kane grabbed his dinner and tossed it into the trashcan, leaving the kitchen and running up the stairs.

  He opened the door to the guest bedroom and the musky scent of his ferrets spilled out of the room. He smiled as Toto stood up on his hind legs and pawed him through the bars in greeting. His mate, Dorothy, generally the more energetic of the two as most ferret females were, rolled to her four little paws and walked gingerly to the bars of their enclosure. The enclosure was large, actually two square cages stacked on top of one another and connected by a tunnel Kane had fashioned out of a dryer hose. They would crawl up or down to a different level depending on their moods. Both levels were covered in carefresh bedding with odor stop but they also had small litter boxes in all corners of both levels.

  Both ferrets were litter trained but now that Dorothy was preparing to whelp, she had accidents now and again. It was more sanitary for Kane to put down bedding that would soak up mistakes and it was easily swept out and cleaned each day. When the little ones came in a week or so, the whole family would no doubt need the bedding, though ferrets did a fairly good job of keeping their homes clean after they were litter trained.

  He walked up to the bars and grinned at them both, going about the business which brought him up the stairs. He filled their bowls with a high-protein dry food and then changed their water bottles, rehanging them on the side of the enclosure as he spoke to them. When he was done cleaning the
bedding and litter boxes and wiping down any areas they’d missed with hypoallergenic wet wipes, he lifted them both out of the cage and sat down in a rocking chair he kept in the room to play with them for a while.

  Dorothy had long brown hair but the pinkish white of her skin showed through. She was heavily pregnant so Kane gently scratched her ears as he ran his other hand over her belly. When one of his jills was in season, they were very rambunctious. But as Dorothy prepared for her litter, she loved to just curl up on his lap and bask in his attention.

  His much larger hob—Toto—ran all over the place, up and down the chair where he sat, twirling his pure white body on the ground and doing flips as he literally ran off the energy of being caged up all day. Every once in a while, he would stop on Kane’s chest and put his little paws on his cheeks and nuzzle his lips. For some reason, he was crazy about giving kisses on the mouth and it made Kane laugh every time.

  All five of Dorothy’s kits already had homes and their adoptive parents were looking forward to the time when they’d be able to take their new pet home. As soon as Kane knew Dorothy was expecting, he’d had his vet run a sonogram so that he could make arrangements for their adoptions. He had no other ferrets at the moment and once Dorothy’s kits were weaned and had gone home with their new families, Kane had already decided he was out of the breeding business. Dorothy and Toto were both nearly five and he wanted to let them live out the rest of their lives as an old married couple.

  After he’d played with them for an hour, he returned them to their enclosure and closed the door to the bedroom, heading off to the shower. In the morning, he would start his own adventure with Enoch Moore, someone he never thought he’d ever have to think about again. He wasn’t looking forward to it but he knew his involvement might help someone else’s family stay safe. If that were the case, there was no choice in it at all.