Dana Mentink - Act Of Valor

Her father snorted. “He works practically round the clock, plus he’s a Red Sox fan and that just speaks to his poor character right there.” He threw up his hands as if he’d just set the universe in order.

Violet stood as tall as she could manage. Good thing she was wearing heels. Even so, she had to tip her head to look Zach in the eye. “With or without a butcher next door, I am a very competent woman, thank you very much.”

“Vi...” Zach towered over her, handsome face close enough for her to reach out and touch the fatigue lines that grooved his forehead. She kept her hands clenched by her sides. “This isn’t about competence,” he said wearily.

The softness in his voice almost broke her resolve. Bossiness she could deal with, but tenderness... She swallowed. “I will not be forced out of my home. I’m safe and I’m not scared.” She tried to believe her own brash statement.

They all stared at her. Zach folded his arms across his chest. It seemed like the entire diner went dead silent.

Noah cleared his throat. “We’ll assign a detail to watch her place.”

Zach shook his head. “No. It’s not enough. Vi, I want you to stay with your parents.”

Right next door to the home he shared with his brothers? It was part of the reason she’d been so anxious to move away. It killed her an inch at a time to see him every day, watch him bringing his girlfriends to the house for family dinners, to try and pretend she was happy for him when her own heart was protesting. In the months before Jordy was killed, she thought she’d actually achieved some level of normalcy, accepting that Zach and the Jamesons had their own lives and loves that didn’t involve her. It’s the way he wants it , she’d finally convinced herself. She thrust her chin up . “Badge or not, you don’t get to tell me what to do, Zach.”

His eyes sparked, narrowed, pinned her in that way he probably did when he was staring at someone he was about to arrest. She stared right back, hoping the fire in her eyes matched his.

“Okay,” he said, after a breath.

She was thrilled at her victory until he continued.

“If you’re going to ignore all good sense and stay at your apartment, I’m sleeping on your sofa. End of story.”

Satisfaction turned to outrage. “You most certainly are not.”

“Zach,” Noah said. “This isn’t your call. You’re off shift, and you’ve had a long day. Go home and rest.”

Zach shot him a glance. “Is that an order since you’re the chief now?”

“Interim chief,” Noah said, putting his coffee mug down and wiping his mouth. “But don’t make it that way.” The cops glanced uneasily at each other. “You’re putting in full-time hours. You’re exhausted. This is Violet’s call, not yours.”

Violet’s breath caught as the seconds ticked by. She could not stand to see tension between Zach and Noah, not now, not because of her. She touched his hand, just grazing his fingertips. “Zach,” she murmured, then louder. “You win. I’ll go to Mom and Dad’s tomorrow, after I get some things together. I’m exhausted, and I want to tell the building’s superintendent in the morning so I’ll stay one more night at the apartment.”

Her father frowned. “But tonight would be better, really, Vi...”

She gave him the sternest look she could manage. “I’ve made up my mind.”

He huffed out a breath. “All right. Tomorrow morning. We’ll get the room ready for you.”

“By we he means me,” her mother said.

“I’m not giving up my airport job, mind you, only my living space and only temporarily.”

After another long moment Zach relaxed. It seemed as though all the cops in the room did, as well. “All right, but I’m still spending the night on your sofa,” Zach said.

Her nerves ignited. “That sofa is as comfortable as sleeping on a sack of potatoes.”

“I’ll survive.”

“I don’t want you to bother.”

“No bother.”

“Zach, you can’t sleep on my sofa.” Exasperation crept into her tone.

“Then I’ll stretch out in your hallway and annoy the neighbors. They can step over me on the way to the elevator. The butcher will love it.”

She glared. He stared. She fisted her hands on her hips. He hooked thumbs in his utility belt and gave her a slow, sassy smile, one that said, “I win and there’s nothing you can do about it.” She could have resisted further, but the smile was edged with something deeper, something soft that played at the edges of his mouth, tangled with the stubbornness.

“The butcher stays awake until three in the morning and plays nonstop polka music,” she said in a last-ditch measure.

“Then I guess I’d better eat a hearty meal before I go off to the torture chamber.” He had the audacity to wink at her.

She shook her head, biting back the retort that would not do any good, she realized.

“How about some lunch?” he said. “All these cops are starving, right, guys?”

They all broke into loud agreement, probably happy the standoff was at an end.

Zach cocked his head. “You see? Starving.” He struck a plaintive expression that made him look all of ten years old. “Please feed us, Vi, before we keel over from hunger.”

Violet looked from Zach to her parents, to all the other cops gathered around the table and she knew that she had lost the battle.

Fine , she resolved. I’ll do what you want, just for a while, but I’m not going to let good guys or bad guys have control over my life.

“Lunch is coming right up,” she said through gritted teeth.

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