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  “I’ll give you a call if something changes, but for right now, we are still hanging, too.”

  “Oh. Ok, Carina. You just better give me a call if you find yourself in any trouble.”

  “Depends on what you call trouble.”

  “What?”

  I giggled. “Nothing. I will call you if I need you, ok? Love you, girl.”

  “Love you, too.”

  I hung up the phone and saw my panties in a ball just to the side of my feet. I bent to grab them, then balanced myself against the wall to slide them back on. Harrison stood in front of me, silently watching me.

  “I just want you to know,” I said, almost losing my balance. I may have fallen over if he didn’t step in and grab hold of my arm. “I don’t normally do things like this. I just… I don’t know what came over me, but things were just clicking. So, I just went with it. I hope that you don’t think any less of me.”

  I pulled my dress down and met his eyes as they stared deeply into mine. From the corner of his mouth, a smirk appeared.

  “No, I don’t think any less of you because of what we did. I mean, I didn’t expect it to happen, but I am certainly glad that it did.”

  He stepped closer to me and put his hand on the small of my back while he softly pressed his lips into mine. I put my hand on his chest and felt fire race over my skin at his touch. After we released, I stood still like a schoolgirl who had just gotten her first date with her crush.

  “Do I need to put you on my back again so we can go down the stairs?”

  My legs felt like jelly, and it seemed as though they would collapse under my weight as soon as I tried to walk down the flight.

  “No. No, I can maintain. Just make sure you hold onto me though. I don’t want to lose my balance.”

  “My pleasure.”

  He opened the door for me, and with that, he put his arm around my waist, and we walked, side by side, down the stairs, slowly, joking with each other in the process like we were the best of friends for the past years of our life. When we got to the bottom, he opened the door and peered down the dark hallway to see if there was anybody in sight.

  “Alright, we are good. Come on.” He took my hand and led me down the hallway. My legs felt as though they were beginning to regain the strength to walk on their own.

  When we made it back into the bar, the crowd was beginning to disperse. It was nearly 2:30 am, and most bars around the city closed at that time.

  “I can take you home if you want me to,” he said, confidently.

  I wanted round two of our rendezvous because after going a year without sex, once was all I needed to get my thirst for it again, but I decided against it.

  “No, no, Harrison. I think I will let Freya come and pick me up. She offered a little while ago, and I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

  “No explanation needed. I am still somewhat of a stranger, you know? So, I understand. As long as you leave me with your number, I will be fine with that.”

  “Sure,” I said with a flirtatious smile.

  After we exchanged numbers, I made the phone call to Freya so she could pick me up. Ten minutes later, she gave me a call to let me know she was outside. I wrapped my arms around Harrison’s statuesque body, copping one last feel of every muscle that I could, then we released.

  “Please let me know when you’ve made it home,” he said.

  “I will.”

  Just inches away from each other, he leaned forward and softly pressed his lips against mine. I closed my eyes, imagining him on top of me with his abs contracting each time he thrust himself inside of me. God, I wanted him again. An eternity passed by me in a matter of seconds and when his lips pulled away from mine, I snapped out of the lucid daydream.

  “Until next time, Harrison,” I said as I walked away from him with the scent of an intoxicating kiss still permeating my lips.

  I could feel his eyes on me as I walked to Freya’s car and opened the passenger side door.

  “Are you alright?” she asked. I didn’t respond to her with words. I continued smiling off into the distance as I snapped my seatbelt across me.

  “Carina? Are you alright? Do I need to call the police? Did he do something to you? Carina!”

  “Freya, everything is fine, ok? I am good.” A few cars drove out of the parking lot as she sat idle near the front of the building.

  “Let’s just say that you were right, you know? Before we left. You were right about me needing to come out.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She looked back and forth between me and Luzano’s front door.

  “What?! You did not! You did not let him fuck you, Carina! Did you?” I leaned my head back onto the headrest with the same smile still dancing across my face. “Oh, my God! Spill the deets, girl! And I want a play by play, too! Not a fucking synopsis!”

  She accelerated on the gas pedal, and as we pulled away from Luzano’s, I started thinking about Harrison. I didn’t know if this was just a one-night-stand or what, but what I did know is that I wanted him again. No other man had made me feel that way before, and I would do anything to feel that way with him again.

  Chapter 7

  Harrison

  Mason sat at his desk when I walked into the precinct. His fingers tap danced across the keyboard as chatter filled the room.

  “What’s up, man?” He damn near fell out of his chair when I spoke.

  “Got damn it, man! You scared the shit out of me,” he said as he closed out his program nervously. “I didn’t know anybody was behind me. How long were you standing there?”

  “Not long. Maybe a few seconds.”

  He spun around in his chair and stood up. His belly protruded from beneath his shirt as he tucked the access clothing back into his waistband. “Alright, good. So, what they got you working on now? Something major, I know.”

  “Tony Dellucci.” He looked as though he had just seen a ghost. The color faded from his face as my brows lifted to the middle of my forehead.

  “You alright?”

  “Yeah,” he said, recollecting himself. “Yeah, I am alright. I was just thinking about how bad that guy is, you know? I mean, he has a lot of shit going on in the city and it is about time that somebody went after him to shut that down. It will do Chicago a lot of good.”

  “Yeah. I don’t know much about him, but O’Malley is going to brief me a little more on what I need to know before I start the case. That is where I am headed now.”

  “Alright. Well, um, yeah,” he grabbed his cap, “I need to start my patrols. Good luck with that, man and let me know if you need any help.”

  He bumped into his desk as he maneuvered past me. His behavior was odd, even for Mason, but before I could think twice about it, O’Malley called me into his office. I pushed my thoughts aside and made my way inside.

  O’Malley rocked back and forth in his chair, waiting for me to take my seat.

  “So,” he said, getting right to business, “we’ve got a little more intel on the Dellucci family. I’m sure it will help you in your case.” His chair creaked as he leaned forward and slid three pictures onto the table.

  “Nico, Luca, and Carina Dellucci. These are the children. We finally confirmed Carina’s identity. I think they will be excellent points of contact for you, especially the youngest brother. He seems a little more gullible than the rest.”

  I squinted my eyes and as I scanned through the pictures, I came to a halt when I landed on Carina. Flashbacks of the woman I had sex with on the balcony of Luzano’s blinked in and out of mind. I grabbed the picture and held it closer just to make sure it was the same woman.

  Everything matched; the smile, the complexion and body type. The only difference was the curly hair that she had in this picture vs the straightened hair I remembered just a day ago.

  “You got something, Harrison?” O’Malley asked while I examined the picture.

  “Got something?” I asked as I looked up from Carina’s face.

  “You are looking
at that picture like you’ve already got a lead. I strongly suggest that you tell me if you do.”

  Even though I only spent a short amount of time with Carina, I knew she was someone special. She was different from a lot of women that I dealt with in the past. For the most part, they were just good for a fuck or two to keep me entertained, but I didn’t feel that way with her. Something about her was different. The way we fed off each other during our conversation and the amount of comfort I had around her was something I had never experienced before. I had already called her several times over the weekend and as much as I hated to admit it, I knew I had a thing for her.

  I looked back down at the picture of her beautiful face. I couldn’t believe that the woman that had found a place in my heart, quicker than anyone else, had a connection to the crime family that I was set to take down. How the fuck could something like this happen?

  “Harrison,” O’Malley demanded. “What is it?”

  I knew that if I told O’Malley, he would want me to exploit her just to find out more about her family but as of right now, I didn’t have any facts. It was clear that the woman I fucked at the bar was the same woman in this photo, but what if somebody got it wrong? What if Carina was mistakenly identified as being Tony Dellucci’s daughter? I never actually caught her last name the night before, so maybe she could just be the wrong girl. The shit was too confusing for me right now and I couldn’t answer him.

  “Nothing. I just thought I saw her the other day, that’s all.” I dropped the picture back onto his desk and leaned in my chair.

  As I looked up, I saw O’Malley’s inquisitive glance aimed in my direction like a double-barreled shotgun. A few moments of silence passed by before he spoke up.

  “Well, you know, she is a cutie and you are a pretty boy yourself, so I would assume that she would be the most logical way in if there was one. But, how you tackle this is up to you. Take the papers and get the fuck out of here so you can start getting some more intel on that family.”

  I gathered the papers and exited his office. For the first time in my life, I was becoming a little apprehensive about my next move. If Carina was connected to the mafia, I was unsure of how I was going to handle everything. Granted, we just met, but there was something about her that I knew I wouldn’t be able to shake.

  Chapter 8

  Carina

  I walked into school Monday morning, still on a high from my weekend outing with the girls. Harrison called me a few times since we met. Not enough to become something serious, but just enough to keep my interest in him piqued. Our phone conversations had turned into hour long ones getting to know one another.

  After I dropped my things off in my classroom, I headed to the teacher’s lounge. Jade and Margo stood near the coffee machine, preparing their morning burst of energy.

  “Hey girl,” Jade said as she stirred cream into her coffee. “How was the rest of your weekend?”

  I wasn’t sure if Freya told them what happened between me and Harrison, so I treaded lightly.

  “It was good. Just grading papers and getting caught up on school work, you know? The normal two days for me.” I grabbed a small bowl from the cabinet and filled it with instant oatmeal. The apple cinnamon mix filled halfway as a small cloud puffed up just above the ceramic.

  “How was yours?”

  Margo let out a small laugh. “Remind me never to drink that much liquor again. As soon as we left Luzano’s, we went to Seven-Two and I had too many drinks. I don’t even remember what happened the rest of that night. All I remember is waking up the next morning in my bed, wearing the same clothes I had on the night before, with a splitting headache. Jade was in the bed next to me sound asleep.”

  “Yeah,” Jade interjected, “you were drunk as hell. It took me and Rhea to get you into your house and up the stairs and all three of us nearly fell back down the stairs while we tried.”

  I stifled a laugh as I put some water in my bowl and then slid it into the microwave. From the sounds of it, they had no idea that I had a fun time with Harrison on the balcony of Luzano’s. If they knew, then I was sure that would have been the conversation of the morning.

  A few minutes later, the door opened again. Freya walked in and stood in the opening as the light from the hallway blazed into the dimly lit room. She stood there like a superhero who was getting ready to stop bad guys from committing a crime. Finally, she let the door close behind her as a smirk appeared at the corner of her mouth.

  “So, Carina, how are you this morning?”

  I smiled and faced the microwave. “I am good. Why are you singling me out?”

  “Oh,” she said, making her way to the coffee machine. “No reason. I was just wondering how you felt because I know it has been a long time since you,” she paused briefly, “went out.”

  One of Jade’s brows lifted above the other. “Why did you say, ‘went out’, like that? There is no need to speak in codes around here.” Freya cleared her throat as she slid the hazelnut flavor into the coffee maker. With her eyes, she directed Jada’s attention towards me.

  “Ok, what am I missing?” Jade asked, taking her cue.

  “Nothing, Jade,” I said as the microwave beeped and as I took the bowl out, steam rose above it sending the smell of apple and cinnamon around me. “Freya is just being mean.”

  “Mean?” Freya said with a smile. “No, being mean would be me telling the girls that you had sex with that man on the balcony of Luzano’s.”

  Jade and Margo’s mouths hung open as they held their coffee mugs in their hands.

  “What? You did what?” Margo asked with a voice of disbelief. “No, you did not. You did not! Did you?”

  “Damn it, Freya!” I said as I stirred my oatmeal until it thickened to my liking.

  “What?” she said, laughing. “Girl, you knew I was going to tell them eventually, so don’t act surprised.”

  “Wait, you had sex with that man that came to the table? On the balcony?” Margo asked in disbelief. “Holy shit! I never would’ve thought that you would have the balls to do something like that!”

  “I guess if you get enough liquor in her system, she turns from schoolgirl to vixen,” Jade said as they all laughed out loud.

  “Shut up! I don’t know what came over me. I guess it was just, I don’t know, I was caught in the moment.”

  “So, how was it?” Jade asked, stepping closer to me with a curious eye.

  I sprinkled the top of my oatmeal with sugar as they waited impatiently for my response. I took a deep breath, then exhaled as I leaned against the counter with the bowl in my hand.

  “It was good,” I said, smiling as I recollected the feelings from that night. “It was really good and,” I twirled my spoon around in my bowl. “And I’d do it again without thinking twice about it.”

  “You little slut!” Margo said, laughing. “And I am so jealous! The only thing we did was run into corny ass men who used the same lame ass pick up line.”

  Just then the bell rang signaling first period was about to begin. We all grabbed out things and quickly headed out of the teacher’s lounge.

  “So, you know we are going to have to finish this conversation later, right?” Jade said.

  “Alright, alright. Later, ok? I need to get back to my classroom and get ready for my kids but I promise you that I will fill you all in, ok?”

  “You better.” Margo said as she and Jade turned to walk down the long hallway.

  Freya stood next to me, smiling, as she blew steam off the top of her mug before she took a sip. “Did you really have to tell them right now?” I asked. I knew eventually I would tell them everything that happened, but I had hoped it would be over wine in the privacy of one of our apartments. Not in the teacher’s lounge at work.

  “No, I didn’t have to tell them right now, but you know it is Monday and the day is already hard to get through on its own. So, I felt like this would help pass the day. You know our chat messages will be funny all day because of this news, s
o,” she winked at me, “you’re welcome.”

  “Whatever, Freya.” I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t really mad at her for telling them.

  She laughed and with that, she went her way to her classroom and I made my way towards mine. Even with them knowing what happened on the balcony at Luzano’s, I still wasn’t ashamed of the fact that I let it happen. I figured I needed it, especially seeing how it loosened me up over the past couple of days. I felt like I had just started living life again. For so long, I had allowed my past failed relationships to dictate my love life but now, it seemed I had finally jumped over that hurdle.

  When I got to my classroom, I removed the stack of papers I graded over the weekend. I made smiley faces inside the zeroes of the 100% papers. That was the first time I’d done anything like that since my last relationship. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought that things were beginning to change. I wondered if that time with Harrison was just for that purpose, or if there was something deeper between us. Only time would tell.

  The children flooded into the classroom, rambunctious and full of energy like they did every Monday. For them, their weeks went in reverse order of adults. Mondays, they were full of energy and by the end of the week, they were generally much calmer because of all the strength they exerted throughout the week. For adults, it seemed we got more energy once the week was ending. Now that I thought about it, the way that the children handled the week made a lot more sense than the way we handled it.

  Lunch time was just around the corner when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and Harrison’s name flashed across the screen. I grabbed it from my desk and stood to my feet while my class did an assignment.

  “Sarah, can you please watch over the class? I need to step out and take this phone call quickly.”

  “Yes, Ms. Dellucci.”

  I went into the hallway and cleared the jitters from my voice, then answered. “Hey, Harrison. How are you doing?”

  “I am good. I didn’t catch you in the middle of anything, did I?”