The Heart of A Killer

Seventeen

Anna and Dante worked diligently the next day on the list of Tony Maclin’s friends. Several were clean-cut, average students who were so far away from the drug element that after running a diligent background check they were easy to eliminate from the suspect list. A few had moved out of state, one lived out of the country, and two had died together in a car accident during college.

That left four who were questionable and who lived locally. Anna brought Roman in on the list of names.

After the three of them ate lunch in one of the interrogation rooms, they divvied up the four names and decided to head out separately to do interviews.

“I don’t think Anna should go alone,” Roman said. “Whoever is doing these killings might be tailing her.”

She bristled. “I refuse to have a watchdog or bodyguard. You two should be more concerned about yourselves.”

“And you need a partner,” Roman argued. “Neither of us had someone leaving us love notes and flowers.”

They walked out to the parking lot and Anna turned to stop them. “The notes and flowers were left when I wasn’t around. Whoever it is doesn’t want to face me.”

“Right now he doesn’t,” Dante said. “But that could change anytime.”

“We’ll get through this list faster if we split up. And I don’t want to change routine.”

She knew Dante warred with his protective, Neanderthal instincts, but she lifted her chin and refused to back down.

“Fine, but you stay in touch at all times.”

She hadn’t realized how tense she was until he gave in. “And I’ll take two of the names on the list,” Roman said, snatching two files.

“Fine. We’ll meet back here afterward.”

“At least check in with me when you’re on the road?” Dante asked.

She nodded, surprised when he came over to her and yanked her against him to press his lips to hers. “Talk to you soon.”

She blew out a breath and laid her hand on his chest. “Was that absolutely necessary to do in public?”

His lips curled. “Yeah, I think it was.”

She watched him walk away, enjoying the fine view of his ass before turning to see Roman’s quirked brow.

When Dante drove away, Roman turned to her.

“A change in your relationship?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She walked toward her car, but Roman followed, so she stopped, turned to face him.

“I trust Dante,” she said before he asked the question.

“Why?”

“We talked, got some truths out.”

“Yeah? What did he tell you?”

Things she couldn’t tell him. “I just do. You know me, Roman. I don’t lay my trust on someone easily.”

He shrugged. “I guess you know best. I still want you to be careful.”

She laid her hand on his arm. “I know you do, and I appreciate you looking out for me.”

“I always will, Anna, no matter who it is. But just because you trust him doesn’t mean I will.”

“Fair enough.”

“You be careful out there.”

“I will.”

Evan Amarola, the guy on her list to check out, apparently had moved out of his family’s home in the Kirkwood area and now lived with three of his buddies in a four-family flat off Grand, which was a far cry from the suburbs.

These were older homes, some in disrepair, and not a lot of trust in the faces of people as she drove by and parked.

The grandmother of one of Evan’s buddies owned the fourplex. She was a suspicious old woman with pink curlers in her hair, a faded flowered cotton housecoat and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. She left the screen door locked when she answered the door.

“What do you want?”

“Is Evan here?” Anna asked, flashing her badge.

The woman, Mrs. Baker, squinted as she read the badge. She wrinkled up her leathered face even more. “What’d he do now?”

“Nothing, as far as I know. I’d like to ask him some questions about a friend of his.”

“One of these other losers who lives with my grandson?”

“No, ma’am. Someone he went to high school with.”

“Eh. I guess you can come in. He’s still in bed. Let me go kick him.”

Anna opened the screen door and stepped in.

The house smelled like cat pee, cigarettes and not-recently bathed old woman. Anna was grateful for her strong stomach, because the three together were a lethal combination.

Three cats wound their way around her legs, and she saw evidence of a few more skirting in and around the furniture.

“You can sit down if you want,” Mrs. Baker said, the cigarette still clenched between her teeth.

Given the stench in the room, there was no way in hell Anna was going to sit on the furniture. “I don’t intend to stay long, but thank you.”

“Want some coffee?”

Anna’s stomach lurched. “I’m good, thanks.”

Mrs. Baker shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m going in the kitchen to work my puzzles. The kid’ll be out in a minute.”

Anna stood in the center of stink central and waited, trying to hold her breath.

Fortunately it wasn’t too long before a barefoot guy in jeans and no shirt yawned and headed down the hall. His short hair stuck up in all directions and he looked like hell.

“You wanted to see me?”

“You Evan Amarola?”

“Yeah.”

“I need to ask you some questions about Tony Maclin.”

Evan cocked his head and frowned. “Tony? That was like, ten years ago or somethin’.”

“Twelve,” Anna corrected.

“I didn’t have nothin’ to do with that.”

“Didn’t say you did. What I’m interested in is who he was hanging out with at the time of his death.”

“Oh. Well, shit, I don’t remember. Tony had lotsa friends.”

“Any sell him drugs or get him involved in drug dealing?”

“Drugs? Probably. Tony was pretty stressed about college and it started to freak him out. He was different senior year.”

“How different?”

“Nervous. On the go all the time. Started missing school. He was always really good with his classes, but they didn’t seem to matter to him anymore.”

“You ever see him do drugs?”

Evan looked hesitant.

“Whatever you have to say isn’t going to hurt the guy now,” she reminded him. “He’s dead.”

“Yeah, I saw him do some coke and E at some parties. And before school he smoked a little pot to relax.”

“Would you say he was doing drugs every day?” Anna asked.

“Maybe.”

“Who was his dealer?”

“I don’t know.”

Anna wondered what Evan did know. According to the information she’d been able to dig up, he and Tony were close. Closer than Evan was letting on based on his answers. “Did he seem to have drugs on him pretty regularly?”

“Yeah.”

“Did someone at school deal?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t do drugs.”

Anna gave Evan a sidelong look. “You know, considering you’ve been in and out of jail for the past twelve years, and all of them on drug and theft charges, I’m going to have a hard time believing that answer, Evan. Want to try again?”

“Okay, maybe I did party a little. But I wasn’t dealing.”

“I’m not accusing you of being his dealer. I’m also not trying to pin anything on you. What I need is to figure out who Tony’s source was back then.”

“Why?”

“You don’t need to know the answer to that,” she said. “But I’d sure appreciate the help.”

She could see the wheels turning in Evan’s mind.

“Yeah? What could I get for this information?”

“Nothing. Other than me not coming back here every day to hassle you.”

His face fell. “Oh.”

“You either know the answer to the question or you don’t. If you do, I’ll keep coming back here, or bring you down to the station, until I get the answer I’m looking for. It’d be a lot easier to get it now. Then I leave and you don’t see me anymore. Trust me, you don’t want me getting familiar with you and what you do in your leisure time.”

“I don’t remember his name,” Evan said in a hurry. “He was a college student though, some guy who graduated from our high school a few years ahead of us. All the kids used him.”

“Do you know what college he went to?”

“Wash U. He was a med school student there.” Evan grinned. “I think he was paying his way through medical school by dealing at some of the high schools.”

It shouldn’t take much investigating to figure out who the guy was.

“Thanks, Evan.”

For the first time since this whole nightmare began, Anna had a speck of hope. She climbed into her car and headed out.

When she pulled onto the street, she noticed another car pulling out from the curb, going in the same direction as her. Normally she wouldn’t think that strange-probably someone who lived in the area, except when she turned north, so did the car. When she changed lanes, so did the car behind her.

To test her theory, she made a right turn at the next stoplight.

As did the car behind her.

She kept her movements normal, didn’t speed up or slow down or appear to be looking in her rearview mirror. She wanted to make sure she wasn’t simply being paranoid.

Damn Roman and Dante for putting those kinds of thoughts in her head, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

It was a greenish-colored Jeep, older model, kind of beat up. She wasn’t going to call it in until she knew for sure, because if she did and it turned out to be nothing she’d be ribbed for being paranoid.

Then again, there was a killer on the loose, and she was a possible target. She probably wasn’t being paranoid enough.

She made another turn, this time right again, doubling back to where she’d started out.

The car, which had managed to stay within a few cars of her, made the right turn again.

She turned left next time onto Arsenal and headed west.

He followed.

At the first street she could she turned into Tower Grove Park, figuring if this was coincidence he’d go straight.

The two cars between them passed, and he turned into the park.

She pulled over. So did he.

Heart pumping, she called it in, including his tag number, then got out of her car, her hand on her gun.

He was already getting out of his car. When she recognized him, her heart rate sped up.

“Stay in your vehicle.”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Get back in your car, goddammit.”

He kept coming toward her. Why the hell was Sam Maclin following her?

“Sam, get in your car or I’m arresting you.”

He stopped, held his hands up. “For what? For wanting to talk to you? For asking you why you came to my house to harass my mother?”

“Turn around and put your hands on the hood of your car.”

“Jesus Christ.”

He laid his hands on the hood of the car. She came up behind him and kicked his legs apart, grabbed a wrist and slapped handcuffs on it, then the other. Then she turned him around to face her.

He was just as angry now as he had been when she and Dante had come to see him and his mother.

“Why are you following me?”

“To tell you to back the hell off my mother.”

“You could have handled that with a phone call.”

He smirked at her. The bastard. “It’s more effective in person.”

“Is that a threat?”

“I’m not threatening anyone. You upset my mother by dredging up Tony’s murder. She’s not sleeping again, taken to wandering the house at night. Leave it alone.”

She studied him. “Any particular reason you want me to leave it alone?”

Could he be the one leaving notes on her car? Could he be the killer?

“Yeah. I just told you. It upsets my mother. When she’s upset she can’t paint.”

She stepped closer. “How long have you been following me?”

“I came to the station to talk to you, saw you leave, decided to follow.”

“Uh-huh. Like I said, a phone call would have been easier.”

“And like I said, it’s not as effective. Figured I could talk you out of reopening my brother’s case if I talked to you in person. A phone call just wouldn’t do it.”

He had attitude coming out his ears, and a demeanor she just didn’t like. “You’re a real smart-ass, Maclin.”

A black-and-white screamed into the park and slid to a stop in front of them.

Sam caught sight of the squad car and shot a glare at her. “Great. So now you’re going to arrest me for what? For wanting to talk to you about my mom and my brother?”

“There are friendlier ways to have done it, Sam. And you were the one harassing me. You don’t follow a police officer.”

“You want us to take care of this creep?” one of the uniforms asked.

She studied Sam. He had no fear in his eyes as he glowered at her, ignoring the uniforms. If he’d exhibited even one ounce of fear, she’d have let him go with a warning. But without that, he freaked her out.

Killers showed no fear.

“Take him in,” she said, grabbing his arm and handing him over to Lincoln.

“You’ll be sorry,” Sam said as the officer took him away.

She ignored him and slid back in her car, then headed toward the precinct.

Dante was already back at the station when she arrived. She grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at her desk.

“My guy didn’t pan out,” Dante said. “He was like a saint, so squeaky-clean I felt dirty interviewing him.”

Anna nodded. “Well, I guess that’s too bad.”

“What did you find?”

“Cat pee, stale cigarettes and unbathed old lady.”

Dante made a sour face. “Fun. Did you get anything out of it other than that?”

“I did,” she said, and gave him a rundown of what Amarola had told her.

Dante nodded. “That’s a solid lead. Now we need to find Dr. Drug Dealer.”

“Yeah. Also, I was followed on the way back.”

“What?” Dante sat up in the chair. “By who?”

“Sam Maclin.”

Dante’s eyes narrowed. “Son of a bitch. You grab him?”

She took a sip of her coffee and nodded. “He’s in holding.”

Dante stood. “I want to talk to him.”

She grabbed his arm. “Not right now. I want him to cool his heels for a while. He’s got an attitude.”

She knew that wasn’t Dante’s first choice, and from the look on his face it was probably a good idea not to let him anywhere near Sam at all.

“What did he say to you?”

“To back off his mother and the reopening of the investigation.”

“Huh. He couldn’t have called you?”

Funny that they were on the same wavelength. “That’s the same question I asked him.”

Dante stared at the back of the precinct toward the holding cells. “Is he worried about his mother or himself?”

“That’s what I’m wondering. You think he was in the alley that night?”

“It’s possible. He was fifteen at the time. File says he was at home. And he sometimes ran with the same crowd as Tony.”

“Guess we should check that out.”

“Check what out?” Roman asked as he came in. “Did you get a lead?”

“Yes, and that isn’t what we’re talking about.” Anna filled him in on what she found out from Evan Amarola, and what happened with Sam.

“He tailed you? That’s suspicious as hell, especially after the roses and cards. We need to figure out where he was the nights of the murders.”

“I’m going to go talk to him,” she said, grabbing her notebook and a pen.

“I’ll do some backtracking on his whereabouts the nights of the murders,” Roman said.

“His mother isn’t going to like that.”

“And?” Dante asked. “You’re not trying to be her friend. You’re trying to solve a case.”

She stopped, realized what she’d been doing. Her first thought was how this would affect Susan Maclin because she’d already lost one son. What was she thinking?

She had no objectivity here. She lifted her gaze to Dante. “You’re right.”

Roman laid a hand on her arm. “You interview Sam first, see what you can get from him about the nights of the murders. We’ll go from there. I’ll do the background on him.”

“Okay.”

They called for Sam to be brought into an interrogation room. He didn’t look any less subdued after spending some time in holding. In fact, he looked more pissed off than ever, and focused his glare on Anna.

“He’s got a bug up his ass about you,” Dante whispered as they entered the room.

“So I noticed.” She and Dante took a seat across from Sam.

“You’ve been read your rights and you understand those rights?” Anna asked.

“Yeah.”

“I understand you waived your right to have an attorney present for questioning?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t do anything wrong. What do I need a lawyer for?”

“We need to know your whereabouts on the nights of June twenty-third and June twenty-seventh.”

“Why?”

“Do you know where you were those nights?”

He shrugged. “Probably in my studio working on some art.”

“Do you know that for a fact?”

“No, but that’s usually where I am. I’m working on a project, so I’ve been spending a lot of time in there. Why?”

“Two people were killed in the same alley your brother was killed in.”

“Huh. So?”

Wasn’t he a real bleeding heart. “They were beaten to death, just like Tony.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Again. So? What does this have to do with my brother?”

“That’s what we’d like to know,” Dante said.

He shrugged again, refusing to look at Dante and keeping his gaze focused only on Anna. “People get killed all the time, especially in the city.”

“That’s hardly a high-crime area,” Anna said. “And to be beaten severely in the same manner as your brother, in the same location, isn’t a coincidence.”

A flicker of interest lit in his eyes. He sat straighter in the chair. “So you’re saying whoever did these murders is the same person who killed Tony?”

“I’m not saying that.”

“So what am I doing here, and why are you talking to me about it?”

She let the question linger in the air, until recognition dawned in his eyes.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I had nothing to do with those murders. I was working at the time.”

“Can anyone verify that?” she asked.

“Yeah. My mother.”

“Someone other than a family member?” Dante added.

He rolled his eyes. “The studio is at the house. So no, no one else but her.”

“That’s too bad,” Anna said, feeling a small twinge of guilt for going after yet another member of the Maclin family. Then again, he’d come after her today, and in doing so put himself on her radar. He had no one to blame but himself.

“You’ve put yourself in a bad position, Maclin,” Dante said. He stood and walked around the table to Sam’s side, then stared down at him. “You harassed and threatened the detective here, and you have a connection to a prior crime in the alley with a similar method of death.”

“What connection? Because he was my brother?”

“Because you can’t verify your whereabouts on the night your brother was murdered, and now these murders. Doesn’t look good for you.”

Now the venom in his eyes was directed at Dante. “This is bullshit. You’re trying to railroad me because you don’t have any other suspects.”

“And you’re trying to deflect because you killed the two men. Maybe you even had something to do with your own brother’s death that night twelve years ago.”

Sam shot out of the chair and lunged at Dante. “You’re full of shit!”

Two uniformed officers hustled into the room to subdue Sam, cuffing him and slamming him into the chair.

Dante hadn’t even flinched, hadn’t moved from his spot against the desk. He just smiled at Sam as he was restrained.

Sam glared at Dante, then at Anna. “I want a lawyer.”

And just like that, the interview was over.

“Sure,” she said.

She and Dante left the interview room and met up with Roman in the hall.

“That was interesting,” Roman said, coming in from the viewing area. “He’s hiding something.”

Dante shrugged. “Maybe not. I was baiting him. It could be he was pissed off at the implication that he had something to do with his brother’s death, which we all know he didn’t.”

Anna nodded as they headed down the hall back to the main squad room. “But he might have had something to do with the current murders.”

She stopped. They were alone in the hall, so she lifted her gaze to Dante and Roman. “If he did, he’s cagey. Doesn’t appear to act as if he recognizes us.”

“A good killer wouldn’t,” Roman said. “He’s not going to play his hand.”

She let out a sigh. “We’ll see how this plays out.”

“Let the guilt go,” Dante said as they moved back to the desk. “You want this case over with. If Sam’s your guy, it’s over.”

“And Susan Maclin would lose another son.”

“Neither of which would be your fault.”

She threw the notepad on her desk, irritated at herself for the knot in her stomach.

Dante was right. This wasn’t her fault.

“You need to focus on something else,” he said. “Let’s find that medical student and work the drug-dealer angle.”

“You’re right. What we need to do is figure out who was connected to Tony’s high school who was also in medical school back then.”

Dante sat, crossed his legs at the ankles. “Shouldn’t be too hard to narrow it down. Not a ton of people go to medical school.”

“That’s what I figured, too.” She turned to the desktop and started her search.

Dante stood and leaned over her shoulder. “Is that the Wash U website?”

“Yeah.” She wrinkled her nose. “I was hoping it was going to be easy, but hell, it’s hard to even get a list of staff and medical students. You have to know exactly who you’re looking for.”

She searched a while longer, then shoved away from the desk and stood.

“This is bullshit. We’re getting nowhere.”

“And you’re tense and not thinking clearly.”

She shot him a glare. “Don’t tell me how I’m thinking. I’m as clear as I can be.”

“With the death of a friend on your mind and Sam Maclin added to the list. We’ll call the school and get them to release the names of all graduates of Tony’s high school within a specific date range who went to Washington University and attended medical school. Then we’ll go from there.”

She nodded and made the call. When she hung up, she said, “They’ll have it for us tomorrow.”

Maybe something would pop soon. It was about damn time.

That evening she went home and changed into a dress to go to the funeral home for Jeff’s visitation, something she dreaded but had to do.

They all had to do it, and she took comfort in having Dante by her side.

They met Roman and Gabe outside, both of them wearing suits just like Dante.

Gabe came up to her and kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful.”

She’d worn a simple black sheath with short sleeves, nothing special, but still she smiled up at Gabe. “Thanks. And you all look classy in your suits. Jeff would have loved to see you dressed up like this, especially you, Gabe.” Anna smoothed the lapels of his dark suit and fought back tears.

“Aw, shit, Anna. Don’t cry.”

She lifted her gaze to Gabe. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

Roman smoothed his hand down her back. “They said the casket will be closed because… Well, you know.”

Anna turned to Roman and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s still in there and we all know it.”

Roman nodded. “But we’re all together, and we’ll handle it.”

Dante swept his hand behind her neck. Even without words she felt comforted by his presence next to her as they all walked inside together.

What was she going to do when this case was over and Dante left?

She’d deal, just as she always did. She’d go back to the way her life was before he swept into town and turned her life upside down.

No problem, right?

Ellen Clemons was there, holding vigil in front of Jeff’s casket. Her eyes were swollen from crying. Anna’s heart went out to her.

Anna hated funerals, hated that they represented loss. She’d hated them ever since her mother died of cancer when she was six years old. She hadn’t understood then that her mother was gone and would never come back, but slowly it had sunk in that it was just her and her dad left. She’d never feel her mother’s arms around her hugging her, never smell her mother’s perfume, never see her mother’s smile again.

Death sucked. It ripped the people you loved away from you, sometimes well before you were ready for it to happen.

Often way before you were ready for it.

Sometimes brutally. She’d seen it plenty of times when she had to notify next of kin in a murder case she investigated, had seen families crumple when they were given the news about their son or husband or brother or sister. It was devastating.

Losing Jeff to a sick killer? There was no reason for that, no way to explain it. No wonder those families fell apart when their loved ones were inexplicably taken away from them.

As she tensed, Dante stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders and whispered in her ear.

“Breathe. You can get through this.”

His touch, the sound of his voice, reminded her to stay in the here and now.

“I’m fine.”

“Yes, you are. Did I mention you look incredibly sexy in black?”

She turned to face him. “That’s a totally inappropriate statement for this venue.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “It’s never inappropriate to tell you you’re beautiful. Now relax.”

She shook her head, but the rising panic had disappeared.

Probably part of his plan. She’d have to thank him later.

While she visited with those she knew and hung close to the guys, she also surveyed those who wandered in, wondering if Jeff’s killer was here. Or maybe he’d be at the graveside service tomorrow. She planned to attend, not only to pay her respects, but to see who showed up.

“See anyone who looks out of place?” Roman asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t know Jeff’s friends, but we should make sure to have the funeral director make us a copy of the guest sign-in list.”

Roman nodded. “I’ll go take care of that now.”

“How are you holding up?”

She lifted her head and smiled as Gabe moved in next to her and slid his hand in hers. “I’m doing okay. Did I mention that you clean up nice?”

Gabe looked so different, and yet not at all out of place in a dark suit, his hair combed back away from his face. She was so used to seeing him in a do-rag and tank top, with worn jeans and boots, his tattoos showing, that she almost couldn’t accept him looking like a businessman.

“What? I can do suits.”

She arched a brow. “Yes, you certainly can. You look very handsome.”

He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Makes you want to leave Dante and run off with me on my bike, doesn’t it?”

His comment caught her by surprise, and she laughed, nearly out loud. “Stop it, damn you. I’m supposed to be solemn.”

“Bullshit,” Gabe said as Dante and Roman surrounded her. “Jeff wouldn’t have wanted our tears. He’d have wanted us to laugh and celebrate his life.”

“I agree with that,” Dante said. “And then he’d want us to kick the shit out of the son of a bitch who killed him.”

Roman nodded. “And that’s our job, to make sure we catch the bastard who did this.”

They were right. Jeff wouldn’t have wanted them to be down and depressed. “We’ll catch him. In the meantime, we’ll head out tonight and have a drink in Jeff’s honor,” she said.

“And a roll of the dice at his favorite casino,” Gabe said.

Anna’s lips curved. “Jeff would have liked that. I’m game.”

Despite the night starting out so badly, they’d had a great time at the casino, doing shots and shooting craps. By 2:00 a.m., though, Anna was yawning and barely able to keep her eyes open, so she and Dante left. Roman and Gabe decided to play on.

Normally alert on caffeine and adrenaline, Anna was appalled to realize she’d fallen asleep on the way home. Having Dante in her life was making her lazy.

But it was also nice, she realized as she laid her head on his shoulder when they walked to the front door, to have someone to lean on at the end of a really hard day. He opened the front door, flipped on the lights and did the customary search of her house.

She yawned, though she woke herself enough to be alert for anything out of the ordinary. Everything in her house was secure, so she kicked off her shoes and fell onto her back on the center of the bed, letting her eyes drift shut.

“I’m too tired to even get undressed.”

“So you’re going to sleep like that? In the middle of the bed on top of the covers?”

“Thinking about it.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’m immobile. You’ll have to sleep on the couch.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Yeah. How much you got?”

He grabbed her feet and started rubbing them, and she moaned.

“That’s not going to get me off this bed. If anything it’ll ensure I’ll fall asleep faster.”

Except he moved from her feet to her calves. She felt the press of his body on the bed as he straddled her, his hands sliding under her dress to caress her thighs.

She shivered.

“Oh, that’s nice. But I’m still not moving.”

He slid his hands higher, found her panties and drew them down her legs. All thoughts of sleep fled as her body came to life in a roar of desire, especially when he pressed a soft kiss to her inner thigh.

“I’m pretty sure,” he murmured against her skin, “that I can get you to move.”

She shuddered out a sigh. “Give it your best shot.”

When he put his mouth on her, her hips shot up and she clenched the blanket, lifting against the heat and wet of his mouth. She could only think of the pleasure he gave her. He was the center of her universe right then.

Yeah, he made her move, all right, made her rock against him until she shattered so fast her head spun.

Then he was above her, his face so damn beautiful she had to reach up and touch him, to assure herself he was real, that she hadn’t fallen asleep and dreamed all this.

But when he kissed her, when his lips swept across her mouth and the velvet softness of his tongue rasped against hers, she knew it was real, that he was solid and hard and hot against her.

This was life and she intended to celebrate it tonight. After all the death surrounding her for the past weeks, she wanted nothing more than to feel utterly, completely alive.

Dante lifted her dress over her hips and slid inside her in one smooth movement that made her gasp, made her draw her knees up and plant her feet on the bed so she could rise to meet his thrusts.

They were silent, but they didn’t need to speak. Their bodies did all the talking as they moved in unison, both of them knowing exactly what to do, what to say to each other. It was as if they’d been doing this forever, not as if this was only the second time they’d made love.

And when he gripped her hips and drove deep, she felt the hot stirrings of orgasm once again and raked her nails down his arms, demanding he give her that release.

He stilled, smiled down at her and then lowered his body on hers, kissing her with an intensity that brought the climax she sought. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and rolled through the orgasm, felt his body tighten and held him as he came, this time not afraid of the intimacy. Instead, she needed it, needed to feel close to him, to feel him shuddering against her as she did against him.

He stayed on top of her, his face buried in her neck as they breathed together. It was almost as if there was something he wanted to say, but hesitated.

She wondered what it was, because he rolled to his side and pulled her with him. She listened to the sound of his heartbeat, content to just be with him.

“I like being with you, Anna.”

Somehow she didn’t think that’s what he’d wanted to say.

She wondered what he really had on his mind.

Dante had lived a solitary existence for so many years that getting close to Anna had come as a shock.

Oh, sure, they’d been in love before, but that had been teenage love. And hell, what had he known about it back then? He’d had no example to learn from. He sure hadn’t had much love and affection as a kid, no great parental guide of a loving couple to emulate. His time with George and Ellen had been short. He’d grasped the concept of a loving family, but they hadn’t been his from the start. He hadn’t trusted in the permanence of it. And then he’d had to leave.

Life in the army and in Special Ops was all about working on his own. He hadn’t put down roots, hadn’t had time or opportunity to fall in love. His thoughts over the years had always come back to Anna, had always centered on her. He figured it had to do with the trauma she’d gone through and how guilty he felt over leaving her after that night. He never thought it had to do with love. He didn’t know love.

Now he wasn’t so sure. Yeah, he felt protective, especially with a killer out there targeting all of them. She was vulnerable and he needed to make sure nothing happened to her.

But what would happen after the killer was caught? And what about now?

Making love to her was different than being with other women. He couldn’t explain why. It was just…different.

God knows she wasn’t easy. She was one of the hardest women he knew. She had issues. Lots of them.

So why, lying next to her like this, did it feel so damn right?

And what the hell was he going to do about it?