Page 130 of Dancing in the Dark

“What the hell are you doing?”

Stunned, he stumbles back a single step. “What do you mean?”

“In there!” I point toward City Hall. “Those things you said about the Malones were a load of crap.”

“Crap?” He blinks. Blinks. Blinks. “Are you kidding? Or are you simply that ignorant?”

“Detective Malone is not an extension of the criminal dealings his dead father conducted before him. You’re reaching and you know it.”

“Am I? Fact: he’s Timothy Malone the Second’s son.”

“So?”

“Fact: he landed this case despite my warnings to Captain Bower in the past.”

“Because there’s nothing to warn about! Bower is a no-nonsense, grumpy old man who tolerates hardly anyone. The fact that he heard your previous warnings and Detective Malone is still a detective under his command means Bower trusts him. What makes you think your opinion is more important than his?”

“Fact,” he grits out. “Detective Malone married Chief Medical Examiner Mayet, a New York native, a mere few months after her appointment at the George Stanley facility. Some people marry for love, Sera. But let’s not be naïve and ignore those who marry for professional advancement.”

“Bullshit! I worked for Mayet! I saw them with my own damn eyes, long before you took your position at the Port Authority and made Malone your personal mission. Chief Mayet tolerates even less than Captain Bower. She adores her husband and would only ever marry for love. She lacks the patience or pretense for anything less.”

“Says you. Fact: Mayor Lawrence moved to town, bought a home up on the hills, and lives next door to…?” He lifts a brow. “Wanna guess? I bet you’ll get it the first time.”

“Coincidence! City records show the Malone property has been owned by that family for decades. Don’t act like they waited for Lawrence to settle in and then they bullied his neighbors so they could buy up the newly vacated real estate.”

“Are you even listening to yourself? That house—a mansion, by the way, and absolutely not something any standard cop could afford—was owned by the family for decades. That same family Detective Malone is apparently not associated with.”

“He—”

“Fact: Detective Fletcher recently moved apartments. His new building? Owned by the Malone family, and located directly next door to a bar the FBI once considered a hotspot for criminal activity. And Detective Fletcher’s daughter? Mira?”

I snap my teeth shut and glare. Her name is Mia, you fucker.

“She’s been collected from her school on multiple occasions by none other than Cato Malone.”

“So what?” I snarl. “Cato is the nineteen-year-old son of a dead man who hadn’t set foot in this city for decades prior to his death. Archer Malone is Detective Fletcher’s partner, so it’s entirely natural that families would mingle. Timothy Malone the Second died last year, so unless the FBI deemed his assets the profits of crime and something they wished to seize, then whatever that man owned at the time of his death became his sons’ inheritances. You’re digging for something that isn’t there, and you think sharing a last name makes Detective Malone guilty of crimes he never committed.”

“You would say that, though, wouldn’t you, Sera?”

I narrow my eyes.

“Worked for Mayet. You even attended Doctor Emeri’s recent wedding, no?” He moves a menacing step forward and stares down his nose at me. “For the sake of the life we once shared and the family we intended to create, I suggest you take a step back and reassess where you’re standing amongst all this. You should thank me for my discretion in there. I presented my suspicions to three high-ranking city officials with unshaking precision, and without mentioning the not insignificant fact that you slept in Detective Fletcher’s swanky new apartment last night. Inside a building owned by the Malone crime family.” Another step forward. “Next door to a well-documented establishment known to the FBI. I tried to warn you when this all began. I even went to your apartment in the hopes I could talk a little sense into you. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if I’m speaking to the Sera I once knew and loved, or a Malone family representative. Should I worry about a mafia hit with my name on it soon? Do you have that power yet, since you’re only fucking the friend of a mobster? Or must you aim higher? Cato’s still single, right?”

“You’re despicable.” I back up and place enough space between us that I’m not tempted to punch him in the damn face. “This isn’t about Malone. It’s about Fletcher.”

“It’s about them both! And my only crime is caring about you so much that I foolishly continue to step out on a ledge. I’m warning you, Sera, this ship is sinking fast. Jump before they drag you under. We once shared something special. We were going to be great. It’s not too late for you to reconsider. But, hey,” he taunts me with a smirk, “If you’re only going to run back to them and have my name added to a list for assassination, I hope you at least have enough decency to notify me in advance.”

“I’m not running to anyone. But that relationship we shared? The one you claim was so special?” I ignore the phone buzzing in my pocket. The vibrations throbbing against my hip. I ignore my pulse thundering wildly out of control, and my lungs as they struggle to function. I ignore it all in favor of bolstering my bravado and staring deep into his eyes. “Back then, I was a young woman desperately searching for outside validation so I could feel good about myself. I sought a partner, a man, to make me feel some semblance of worthiness. Unfortunately, I was too stupid to realize that as far as men went, you weren’t even all that good at it.”

His nostrils flare, and exactly how I knew they would, small lines wrinkle from the corners of his eyes.

“I was obsessively focused on you, Anderson. On pleasing you. On living up to the ideals you demanded. I said yes to a marriage proposal that never excited me, and then I fell pregnant with a child I thought, for a tiny second at the beginning, should never have happened. I didn’t want to carry your child. So, when everything went down, and we lost her anyway, I blamed myself. I was angry at you because your actions directly led us to the accident that ended her life, but I was angry at me too, because I was terrified my initial doubts had sealed her fate. But beyond all that, setting it all aside…” I lick my lips and back up another step. “Do you want to know what I learned about you after those years of trying so desperately to please you?”

“What?” He stares me down and balls his fists. “What is it you think you learned, Sera?”

“That you’ve always been a terrible card player and an even worse liar, which is why you never see the inside of a courtroom. Up here,” I point toward the corner of my eye. “You have a tell. And that tell is what makes this entire farce incredibly obvious to me. You don’t believe a single thing you said about the Malones. Not a single one,” I grin. “And you know what else I know? You’re a coward. Not in a million years would you challenge a criminal enterprise you actually thought would bite back. Which means what?” I give him no chance to respond. To stop blustering. To calm the redness in his face. “It means all that shit you said in front of the mayor was nothing more than an attempt to sling mud and, ultimately, scare me. Because none of this is about defending our city, and everything to do with the fact that I’ve moved on. You want Detective Fletcher out of the picture. It infuriates you that I would choose him after being engaged to you.”

“He’s a broke-ass single dad with a junkie ex and no assets to his name for the feds to even consider seizing. It’s embarrassing.”