The Firm Hand of the Law Read online

  “Not yet,” he said firmly. “Not until I can trust that you won’t…”

  “Trust!” She almost spat the word. “You don’t get to talk about trust. You’re as trustworthy as crotch rot.”

  “You will speak to me with respect,” Gareth growled. “I know…”

  “I don’t respect you,” Lily shot back. “You’re a liar and a cheat, and you are just as bad as any criminal.”

  He’d had enough. He grabbed the little hellion, dragged her over to the couch, hauled her over his knee and started whacking her bottom. There was no further attempt at discussion. Words weren’t getting through to her, so maybe his palm on her ass would. She was wearing jeans, but those didn’t last long. He pulled them down and pushed her panties up so her cheeks were bare jiggling rounds bouncing with every impact of his palm. He spanked her long and hard without any discussion, swatting her bottom until his hand was tingling painfully and she was bucking with every slap, whining for clemency.

  “You’re entitled to your feelings,” he informed her squirming frame. “But you are not entitled to be rude. If you keep this attitude up, you won’t be sitting from now until this case goes to trial.”

  “If it goes to trial!” She was hoarse, but her cracking tones conveyed complete derision and lack of faith in the process. He couldn’t blame her for that, but that, like everything else, was no excuse for bad behavior.

  The spanking continued, not overly hard but long. He kept the intensity down so as to be able to keep spanking her for longer. The longer she spent over his knee, the more likely she might actually see sense, or at least vent her frustrations more fully.

  “There are rules in this house, Lily. And you are staying here so I can make sure you’re safe. That’s the end of it. You can hate me if you like, but you’re going to watch your mouth and you’re going to behave yourself.”

  She was silent for a moment, then a big sob escaped her. “I don’t hate you,” she said in those vulnerable, whispery tones. “I hate what you did to me.”

  “And I’m sorry,” he said, helping her stand up so he could look into her eyes. “I truly am. I’m sorry your business came second to this case, but my priority was, and always has been protecting you.”

  “Because it’s your job,” she said, lowering her lashes.

  “It’s my job,” he agreed. “And it’s my privilege.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “I do,” he said, smoothing his palm over her hot cheeks. “You know I care about you, don’t you? You’ve been screaming at me for the better part of a week, Brannigan, but you have to know I care.”

  She twisted where she stood, back and forth before nodding. “I guess.”

  “You guess?”

  “I know,” she admitted. “But…you knew.”

  “Mm-hmm, and I’m not asking you to forgive me for that. I’m just asking you to get your temper in check so I don’t wear my arm out tanning your hide.” He smiled a little. “Can you do that?”

  Lily bit her lower lip, looking outright adorable as she nodded guiltily. She was so cute with her pants and panties around her knees, the curve of her bottom bare and pink. He stood up and pulled her into the first hug she’d allowed him to give her in what seemed like forever.

  * * *

  Things settled into an uneasy state of calm over the following days. Gareth was still as overbearing as ever, and she was still grounded, but at least she didn’t have to fight him anymore. She had spent so much time of late being upset that she was quite frankly unable to sustain it.

  “Lily!” Gareth called her into the kitchen upon his return from work one afternoon. She had dutifully stayed in the house just like he’d asked her to, curled up on the couch like a faithful hound waiting for master to return. If anyone else had made that comparison she would have been most upset, but in reality it had involved a long, comfy nap. As much as she missed the bar, she did not miss having to work every single hour the good lord sent.

  “You want to get back at Jasper?” He asked the question as soon as she walked into the room.

  Her answer came without delay. “God, yes.”

  “This is your chance. We’re setting up a sting to take him down and flip him.”

  “Oh.” Lily scrunched up her nose. “Jasper won’t flip.”

  “Everybody flips. The more they have at stake, the quicker they turn.”

  “Not everybody flips,” Lily insisted, her eyes narrowing.

  “Okay, Miss Literal, not everybody,” Gareth sighed. “Everybody with a bit of common sense or any interest in self-preservation does. You know why there’s so much hate for snitches? Because at the end of the day, everybody is a snitch. Everybody tells when it comes down to it. And those that do hold their tongues? They’re usually the ones who have nothing to lose. Almost nobody truly has nothing to lose.”

  He spoke like a man who knew what he was talking about, and Lily was inclined to believe him. Everybody knew bad things happened to snitches, but a lot of the time nobody knew who had snitched in the first place. Maybe Gareth was right. Maybe everybody rolled over if they had enough pressure put on them. She liked the idea of that pressure being applied to Jasper.

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “His weakness for women is going to be his downfall. Can’t get him on smuggling or tax, but we can definitely get him for solicitation.”

  “Jasper doesn’t need to pay prostitutes,” Lily pointed out.

  “Not usually he doesn’t, but you need money and he wants you. A few of the officers have been working on this sting for a while, and it’s become pretty obvious that Jasper doesn’t make good decisions where you’re concerned.”

  “What?” Lily’s jaw dropped. “You want me to sleep with him?”

  “No, not sleep with him, just offer to sleep with him and arrange a transaction. That’s what we need, evidence that he entered into a verbal contract to pay for sex.”

  “Huh.” Lily shrugged. “Why not? Sure. I’ll do it.”

  “Really?” Gareth cocked his head to the side. “You know it will involve being in the same room as him? And maybe having to deal with him being amorous. I don’t want you to do this if you’re not comfortable or if you think it will traumatize you in any way.”

  Lily snorted. “Dealing with Jasper isn’t going to traumatize me. You didn’t think I’d say yes?”

  “No,” Gareth admitted, “I didn’t.”

  A small smirk appeared on Lily’s face. “You shouldn’t ask questions you don’t know the answer to. And you shouldn’t assume you know what I think.”

  “I won’t make that mistake again, Miss Brannigan. Let’s get going.”

  * * *

  “I look like a hooker,” Lily said a few hours later, tugging at a skirt that was barely long enough to cover her crotch. Funny how she felt more exposed in it than she had done just wearing panties. A listening device had been hidden in the chunky platform of a shoe she would never have worn unless she really were considering prostitution as a career option. The only good thing about the outfit was that it gave her an extra couple inches in height. That was always fun.

  “That’s the idea,” Gareth said, his expression plainly concerned. He obviously didn’t like any of this one bit, but with her consent and surrounded by officers eager to get Jasper Woodcock, he wasn’t forbidding the operation. “If you’re not comfortable with this, I can have one of the female officers take your place and pretend to be you.”

  “Right,” Lily said. “Because I’m just an interchangeable blonde.”

  “Not what I meant,” Gareth said. “I mean this sort of operation carries risk, and you don’t have to assume it.”

  “It’s not that complicated. He offers to pay me for sex. I accept and you bust him for solicitation.”

  “In an ideal world, that’s how it happens. But people aren’t always predictable.”

  “It’s just sales,” Lily shrugged. “Like a pack of gum.”

  Gareth took
her by the shoulders and gave her his ‘seriously serious’ look. “Except it’s you. Your body is the merchandise here. That carries risk even if you’re not intending on actually going through with the transaction.”

  “I don’t see how.”

  “This is serious, Lily.”

  “I know, Gareth.” She mimicked his tone, staring dead into his eyes. She understood what she was supposed to do.

  “Okay,” he said, kissing her. “Then off you go.”

  Lily tottered somewhat precariously into the depths of Paramor Pictures. Gareth was not far away, but for all intents and purposes she was on her own as she walked down the hall which was ominously empty. The place had a creepy vibe after hours. It needed a few moaning porn stars to liven it up, she thought to herself, trying to calm her nerves with funny thoughts as she got closer to the office.

  “Jasper?” She peeked into his office and saw him there, sitting behind his desk with a smirk so triumphant she wanted to knock it right off his face.

  “Lily Brannigan. I knew you’d come around sooner or later.” His chiseled features were cruel. She noticed that there were cuffs on his desk, cluelessly ironic.

  “I’m not doing this because I want you,” she reminded him as she walked further into the lion’s den, hoping he wouldn’t see the total loathing in her eyes. “We had a deal, right?”

  “Oh, I know,” he purred. “That’s what makes this so enjoyable. I should have had that shack of yours destroyed years ago.”

  Shack. The word made her anger rise. He read it in her eyes and laughed. “I hope you look that way when you’re in my bed.”

  “I want some of the cash up front,” she said, ignoring the talk about being in his bed. It made her skin crawl.

  “Shh,” he said. “We don’t have to talk money yet.”

  “We do,” Lily insisted. “Or I’m out of here.”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” he said. “You came here for a reason.”

  Lily was starting to feel tense. The sting concept was simple: get a solid contract for sex, maybe exchange a little money in advance, and then bust Jasper. Problem was, he was too busy enjoying himself to get down to business in any sense of the word.

  “I came here to get paid.” She tried to push the issue again.

  “So direct,” Jasper frowned. “This is starting to feel a little transactional.”

  “It is transactional,” Lily scowled back at him. “You think I came here because I like you or something?”

  Jasper smiled slowly at her. “You can pretend you don’t like me, girl, but it’s always been a matter of time before you and I got together. Now you have a reason to give yourself, that’s all. This isn’t about money.”

  Lily cursed inwardly. This was turning into anything but a sting. Jasper’s delusion ran deeper than she’d ever imagined. The psycho actually thought he’d done her a favor by having the bar burned down. He was so narcissistic he couldn’t fathom someone not actually liking him.

  “This is about money for me,” she said. “I got rent to pay.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jasper insisted. “You won’t want for anything.”

  Again, not exactly a statement of transaction. Either he knew what was going on, or he truly thought she was there to kindle some kind of relationship.

  “Get out of there, Lily,” Gareth’s voice murmured through her ear piece. “Abort.”

  “I wanted this quick and easy,” she said, shaking her head as she backed away. “I don’t need a relationship. I need cash. I’ll see you around.”

  “Not so fast.” Jasper stood and moved between her and the only door with the quickness of a serpent. “You need money? There’s money in the desk.”

  “Is that… what?”

  “This will never hold up,” Gareth murmured again. “Get out.”

  “You’re blocking the door,” she said out loud so Gareth would know why she wasn’t coming out. “Just get out of my way…”

  “I thought you were here for money?” Jasper was starting to look suspicious. He was many things, but he was not a stupid man. “If you want money, take money.”

  Lily stared at him. She did not know what to do. It was clear from the way things had happened that Jasper wasn’t soliciting her for sex. The sting would be useless, and she was in serious trouble. Gareth’s words of warning rang hollowly in her mind. As always, she should have listened to him.

  “If I take the money, can I go?”

  “Every dollar you take is a minute you have to spend with me.”

  Lily’s heart skipped a beat. Maybe he was taking the bait after all. “Having sex?”

  “Not necessarily,” Jasper purred. “I’m not some lust crazed monster. We never really got to know one another very well, did we?”

  “I know you well enough. You’re ruthless, dangerous, and cruel.”

  “True,” Jasper agreed without any sense of shame. “That doesn’t mean I’m all bad.”

  “Yes, it does.” She was on firmer territory with this part of the conversation. Telling Jasper exactly what she thought of him was cathartic to say the least. “You’re the worst person I know. You’re the scum that scum feeds on.”

  “Such a fine line between love and hate,” Jasper said, not at all concerned by her hatred. He seemed to feed on it. “You’re burning for me, aren’t you, Lily? You know where you’re meant to be, where you were always destined to be.”

  “I don’t believe in destiny,” Lily said. “I came here to get paid. That’s it.”

  “Like I said, take the money.”

  “Sixty dollars an hour isn’t a high enough rate to put up with you.”

  Jasper laughed. “It almost sounds like you want to prostitute yourself to me. Why would that be?”

  The glint of knowledge in his eyes scared her. He knew. He’d probably known all along. This wasn’t a sting. It was a trap Jasper set for the sting. A scorpion trap.

  “Uh… I’m going now,” she said, her mouth dry. She tried to keep her composure as she walked toward the door where he still stood, blocking her way. “Excuse me,” she said, her tone as polite as it was strained.

  “I don’t think so.” He extended his arm and wrapped his hand around the base of her throat, pushing her back. The gesture was not rough, but there was ample menace in it. “I think you’ll stay here until I’m done with you.”

  “Let me go, Jasper.”

  His fingers closed around her neck. She didn’t ask again. She kicked out as hard as she could, the point of her oh-so-pointy shoe catching him right in the most sensitive spot of his anatomy. Jasper let go of her neck, made a sucking noise, then crumpled to the floor in slow motion.

  “Keep your money. That’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do,” she informed his prone body. Then she stepped over him and walked away, leaving him groaning on the floor.

  She was barely out the Paramor studio’s door when Gareth grabbed her and pulled her close, hugging her tight. “Are you okay?” His hands ran over her body along with his eyes, checking every inch of her for injury.

  “Oh yeah,” she said, grinning. “Sorry your sting didn’t work.”

  “I’m just glad you’re safe,” he said, hugging her close. “I thought that was about to go bad.”

  “It did go bad,” Lily said. “For Jasper,” she giggled. “I can’t tell you how good that felt. Thank you for making that happen.”

  He tapped her bottom lightly as he led her away. The rest of the cops were likewise retreating, leaving Jasper to his private agony. “We’re going to have to keep you well away from him from now on. It’s safe to say you have a price on your head.”

  “Worth it,” Lily crowed. “So worth it.” Grateful for the chance to face her tormentor and deliver a blow that he would likely remember all his life, she hugged Gareth tight. “Thank you.”

  “We didn’t send you in there to do that,” he reminded her.

  “I know, but he didn’t take the bait, and he put his hands on me. It was self-defe
nse, officer, I swear!”

  “Mm-hmm…” His large palm smoothed over her cheeks. “Don’t you let this go to your head now, okay? That’s as close as you’ll be getting to him. We’ll be taking a different approach from here on out.”

  “Good, because he knew exactly what you were doing. He never had any intention of paying me for sex.”

  “We got that much,” Gareth agreed. “He’s smart. But even the smartest people make mistakes. That’s all I’m going to say on the subject.”

  “You have a plan, don’t you?”

  “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say.”

  “I just put my ass on the line. I think you can tell me what you have up your long blue sleeve.”

  “I can tell you I love you, and that I have no intention of letting you get near danger ever again,” he said, holding her close, clasping her bottom very firmly just in case she thought of disagreeing.

  “I was never in any danger,” she said, nipping his nose lightly. “You were there.”

  “Aw,” he said. “Your confidence is cute, but you were certainly in danger. Anyone in arm’s length of a subject is.”

  “My legs are more dangerous than my arms,” she grinned.

  “You got lucky,” he said. “Don’t start thinking you can fight monsters now.”

  “I don’t need to fight monsters,” she said, grinning. “I am the monster.”

  “If you’re a monster, you’re one that’s going home to bed,” he said firmly. “That’s quite enough monstering for one day.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Lily said playfully. “I don’t feel tired. I feel… excited.” She gave a little shimmy, letting her hips wiggle back and forth. “I want to put this costume to good use.”

  Gareth grinned down at her. “You’re one of those, aren’t you?”

  “One of what?”

  “One of those people who gets off on danger. Adrenaline junkies.”

  “Takes one to know one.”

  “Maybe,” he admitted, cupping her tightly covered ass. “Does this make us even?”

  “For you not telling me that the bar was going to be burned down?” Lily tilted her head to the side. “I don’t know if getting to kick Jasper in the balls is enough to make up for that, but it goes a long way.”