Chapter 6 : Primal

What the fuck?

I stared at Daniel, my mind processing what he had said.

I felt an onslaught of emotions all at once—surprise and fear, before landing on anger. Anger at Daniel and Peaches. How could she stab me in the back like that? What happened to women sticking together? I guess something like that didn’t matter when money was involved.

I controlled my expression this time, trying not to give anything away. Daniel leaned back in his chair with a cocky smirk, knowing that he had me right where he wanted me.

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied in a measured voice, taking the route of playing dumb.

Daniel’s eyes narrowed at my act. What did he expect me to do? Break down and tell him everything?

“Cut the act, Simons,” Daniel said, rolling his eyes.

I resisted the urge to tell him he didn’t know everything because he used my fake last name, the one I gave the Moltons when I started working for them. My real last name was Parker. That was the name my dad gave me when he legally adopted me. But correcting him would just make me look even more suspicious in his eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never had the pleasure of meeting anyone named Peaches,” I said, giving him a sweet smile. “All I know is that you broke into my apartment and now you’re talking nonsense about women and other things named after fruit. I have no idea who or what The Cherry Pickers are.”

Daniel raised one eyebrow. “So, you’re trying to tell me that there is another beautiful blonde that Peaches met at a diner this morning named Audry?” he asked, trying to prove his point.

I wondered who called me beautiful, Daniel or Peaches? Was he repeating Peaches' words or was it something he added on his own accord?

Focus, Audry!

I was annoyed with myself for being distracted by my attraction to Daniel. This was not the time to be absent-minded.

“Yep,” I said unhelpfully. “Wasn’t me. Crazy coincidence though.”

Daniel frowned as his hands clenched on the table. If I wasn’t so terrified of him finding out my secret, I would be having a good time. He was just so fun to mess with.

He didn’t say anything for a moment, so I took the opportunity and stood up.

“Well, if you don't have anything else to say, I’m pretty tired. I’m going to bed, so close the door on—”

Suddenly, I felt a warm hand closing around my wrist. I was right next to where Daniel was sitting and I snapped my head to look down at him.

“You aren’t going anywhere just yet, Audry. Sit back down,” he demanded.

We glared at each other. My blue eyes were on his dark brown ones. I was pissed at him for ordering me around and I was sure he was angry at me because he could tell I was hiding something from him. But with his intoxicating touch and his penetrating stare, I felt the annoying chemistry between us. I had always been submissive in the bedroom, and Daniel’s tone and words turned me on, no matter how much my subconscious fought against it.

Daniel and I wanted each other on a purely primal level. Even though we both hated each other, neither of us could help the attraction we felt. It was instinctual.

As the moment dragged on, his expression changed and his eyes glanced down to my lips for a fraction of a second. I had never been more turned on in my life and all I was doing was having intense eye contact with someone.

Finally, I pulled my wrist out of his grasp and without his distracting touch on me, it was easier to think. I strode away from him and into the kitchen.

“Fine, if you’re going to stay, would you like a drink?” I asked him in a clipped tone.

I heard Daniel get up from his seat and I turned to see him walk into the kitchen with his usual swagger. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. I had to force myself to look away from his arm muscles.

“Yes, I would love a drink,” Daniel answered, his eyes burning holes into my skin.

I opened the fridge and leaned down to look at what I had to offer him. I could be wrong, but I could swear I could feel his eyes on my ass. I looked back to confirm, and Daniel quickly glanced away. He had totally been checking me out.

“I have water and tequila,” I said flatly, ignoring how good I felt just by the idea of having some sort of effect on him.

“Surprise me. They are both clear, so I won’t know which one you gave me until I taste it,” Daniel said, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

I poured a shot for both of us and handed him a water bottle.

“Wow, did Mr. Uptight just make a joke?” I teased, handing him over the shot I just poured.

“I’m only uptight around people who are hiding things from me,” he said, and downed his shot without even grimacing.

Show-off.

I took my shot, trying to copy him and not show how disgusting it tasted, but I didn’t succeed. It wasn’t like I drank tequila for the taste. I hopped up on my counter and sat, crossing my ankles.

Daniel opened his water and took a swig.

“So, do you want to tell me why I found you poking around in the storage room, and why you’re asking around for information?” Daniel insisted. “You have to admit, it looks pretty suspicious.”

“What’s it to you if I’m asking around for information? How does it affect you?” I snapped.

“So, you admit you did meet Peaches in the diner this morning.”

Damn it. I needed to watch my mouth around him. He just pissed me off so much that it was easy to let him get under my skin.

“Audry, you better tell me. Or else, I’m going straight to my father. It’s not going to look good for you,” he warned me.

Shit. Daniel might not have anything concrete against me, but planting seeds of doubt on his father's mind wouldn't be good for me, or for my plans. I had no choice but to come clean.

But there was no reason I needed to show all of my cards either.

“Fine, I was looking into something. All right? That’s it,” I said, hoping by admitting it, he would just drop it.

Of course I wasn’t that lucky.

“You’re going to have to do a hell of a lot better than that. That was entirely too vague,” Daniel said annoyingly.

“All right, fine." I sighed. "Do you remember that big shootout on 12th Street a year and a half ago that your gang was a part of?” I asked slowly.

Daniel nodded immediately.

“Yeah, I went to jail that night and a couple of our members died. That was one of the worst shootouts I’ve ever seen,” Daniel confessed in a quiet voice.

His dark eyes were sad. He must have been friends with the gang members that passed away.

“I’m looking into my father's death.” I begged myself to not cry. “He was shot that night,” I admitted, purposefully keeping out the fact that he was a cop. For the same reason that I didn’t tell Peaches. People who grew up on the streets didn’t trust cops. Hell, I didn’t while growing up. “That’s why I was in the storage room yesterday. I knew that your family was there that night. That’s why I joined the gang. I wanted to gain information. I knew that being one of you guys was the only way you would trust me.”

I didn’t reveal that I joined the gang to bring them down. That would be a dumb move on my part to tell something like that to the leader’s son.

“Your father was a gang member? Did I know him? What was his name?” Daniel pressed, obviously interested.

Crap. I didn’t think he would question me about this. I couldn’t say my dad was a part of the Moltons or the Taddeos.

What the hell was I going to say?

“No… my dad was, uh, from Ohio. He was part of a gang there and, um, he was just visiting to do some business here,” I clumsily explained.

Oh, my goodness. Could I be a worse liar? I should be better than this. I had been in the police academy, for God's sake. My explanation was so weak, Daniel definitely wasn’t going to buy it. I scolded myself. I should have a better cover story for how long I’d been working on this.

“What have you found out so far? Are you close to discovering who murdered your father? Maybe I could help you out with it?” he suggested.

Daniel pushed off the wall and slowly came over to stand in front of me. My heart rate increased as he put two hands on either side of the counter where I was sitting and stood in between my legs.

Oh, my fucking God.

I could feel the body heat radiating off him in waves. We were on the same eye level because I was sitting on the counter and he stared deep into my eyes. He was so close to me. Daniel smelled like tequila and some kind of cologne that made me intoxicated by him.

For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. Why else would he be standing so close? But he simply stared at me. Why was he just looking at me?

Oh.

I forgot that he had asked me a question. I had to think very hard to remember what we were talking about. Quickly, I sobered up when I realized the topic was my father’s death. It was like a metaphorical ice bucket to my libido.

“Well, I think I know which gang is responsible,” I told Daniel, referring to the information Peaches had told me today.

He closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief, surprising me. “Don’t tell it’s those bastards,” Daniel murmured.

I was sure he knew the gang I was talking about. It was rumored that they were the Moltons' biggest rival.

Daniel came even closer to me, ending the small space between our bodies. Like a switch flipping, I was turned on again as he stared at my lips. He lifted his arm and gently tucked my hair behind my ear in a surprisingly sweet gesture.

I thought for sure he was going to kiss me because he hadn’t looked away from my lips. I didn’t care that he annoyed me like no one else, that I hated him for obvious reasons. At that moment, nothing mattered. I just needed to feel his lips on mine again. To hear him whispering my name, making me see stars and forget about the outside world for just a minute.

But Daniel Molton didn’t kiss me. Instead, he clenched his jaw and focused his darkened eyes on mine.

“I’m guessing you want revenge on the Taddeos.”