Velvet Ropes by Rosemoor Patricia

Author:Rosemoor, Patricia [Rosemoor, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-03-16T13:28:19+00:00

“WHAT THE HELL was all that macho posturing?” Stella demanded the moment they got in the car.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Liar.” Not knowing when she’d ever been so irritated with Dermot, she started the engine and, with a jerk, wrestled the shift in gear. “What a performance.”

“That was no performance,” he assured her. “It was running on instinct. Self-preservation. The only thing someone like Johnny Rincon understands.”

“For a minute there, you scared me.”

“Remember who I used to be years before I met you.”

“You’re not that person anymore,” she argued, trying to convince herself.

“Don’t discount the past. We can never forget it completely. Yes, I’ve changed, but part of me will always be that tough gang kid I once was.”

A fact that Stella had difficulty accepting, both for him and for herself.

She’d spent years fighting to stay out of a gang herself. She’d been raped when she’d threatened to cut a gang’s criminal plans short. And she’d spent years as a beat cop helping to make gang members pay for their crimes.

So she didn’t want to think about Dermot’s early history. But apparently what she’d seen as a brilliant performance had been a slice of his own life.

She shuddered at the realization.

We can never forget it completely…

Not her, either. Did that make her a perpetual victim, someone always to be pitied? She hoped not.

Winding her way along a side street, she kept one eye on the rearview mirror for another set of lights that would indicate someone might be following them. To her relief, nothing. The street behind her remained free of another moving vehicle.

Dermot waited until they were on the main drag before asking, “So was tricking me into going to Skipper’s worth the trouble? Was it good for you?”

She ignored his sarcasm. “We got three things confirmed. We know Officer Luis Zamora is associating with career criminal Johnny Rincon. Johnny knew about you being under suspicion for Tony Vargas’s murder, so that means Luis is probably the leak. And we know Luis owed big money to Tony. We could be dealing with a bad cop. I hope not. But it’s not looking good for Luis.”

“Too bad we didn’t get anything new.”

“We did. Johnny’s comment about my mouth, asking me if I ever learned…” She shuddered again.

“You think he’s connected to the threatening note and the gang members who played you?”

“It’s obvious that he knows about it. And the reference to the past…he knows about the attack, too. Not that I’m surprised. He might not have been the guy who raped me, but he was leader of the Vipers. Undoubtedly he was the one who gave Rick Lamey his orders to teach me that lesson.”

Stella didn’t much feel like talking after that, and thankfully neither did Dermot. Or perhaps he was simply trying to be considerate. Whatever the reason, they drove the rest of the way to the club in silence.

When he opened the door to trade cars, he asked, “You’re going to follow me, right?”

“That’s the plan. Don’t worry if you lose me.

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