1
NOELLE
“Hey, Detective, your tits are showing.” Detective Marks pointed toward my chest and guffawed. “Keep those things in line before someone gets hurt.”
I glanced down at my black police-issued uniform and realized I’d missed a button this morning in my haste to arrive on time for my debriefing with Captain Delaney.
The result was a large gap in the middle of my breasts that showed a flash of my black bra.
Thank God I’d chosen the thick minimizer bra that helped keep my girls from bouncing every time I took a step.
A lurid gaze from another of my fellow detectives caused my skin to itch.
I jerked my chin up and slid the button into place without looking at it or the men heckling me from all corners of the bullpen.
The captain’s door stood open, and I barged into the room with my hands fisted at my sides.
Heat filled my cheeks, but I’d taken the time for a touch of makeup to help hide the bruised shadows under my eyes after a sleepless night of wondering why Captain Delaney had singled me out for this morning’s meeting.
“Detective.” Captain Delaney rocked his chair back and flicked his fingers toward an uncomfortable plastic chair across from him.
He’d always reminded me of a vacuum salesman, the kind of guy who showed up at your doorstep unannounced and fully expected you to listen to every word he said without interruption, then buy whatever bullshit he was selling.
I dropped into the seat, crossed my ankles, and tucked my feet beneath the chair with my hands folded in my lap.
He didn’t expect me to speak, and I had no intention of showing any of my inner turmoil.
He might be on the verge of firing me, for all I knew.
He leaned forward and the muted fluorescent light shone on his bald head, creating a halo that almost made me snort.
Nothing like an impromptu Christmas angel two weeks before Christmas to spice things up at the precinct.
“Good news, Detective.”
I straightened at the captain’s use of my title, especially because he said it with a hint of respect instead of the usual snark and misogyny I endured from my fellow detectives.
Being a woman in a larger body not only put me at the bottom of the totem pole in their man hierarchy, but it made me a daily laughingstock.
“Sir?” I kept my hands in my lap, squeezing my fingers so I didn’t leap to my feet.
A thin smile stretched his nonexistent lips. “I have a job for you.” He pushed a folder across the desk with one finger. “You’re going undercover.”
I snatched up the folder with a little too much enthusiasm and flipped it open.
Pictures filled both sides. “I don’t understand. The Steel Vipers?”
Flipping through the pages, I read the bios on each of the men.
Rafe Maddox, enforcer and leader of the Steel Vipers.
Ash DeLuca, mechanic.
Bishop Crane, former army and sergeant-at-arms.
The pictures attached to the bios held my attention.
All three men were gorgeous in a way that made my skin threaten to burst into flames.
