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  Healing Hearts 9: Adding up to Love

  Afina is trying to resist a pull toward Internal Affairs agent, Avery Armos. So much so that she accepts meeting Gains Fanders for drinks with friends unaware that he's a dirty cop, or that he has ties to her ex criminal boyfriend's brother, and a hatred of Avery. As it becomes clear her organized, accountant life may turn upside down, she gives into the attraction, as she is quadruple teamed by Avery and his brothers during their personal style of interrogation. It seems her past relationship and a current dirty cop may force their worlds to collide, adding up to love.

  Unfortunately they are not aware of all the players in this game, and Afina suddenly becomes the main target in revenge and consequences to Avery's actions, to Gains actions and even others. It's a race against time to find her before she is whisked out of the country. Afina may be an accountant, but with military family, and a desire to fight for her life, she takes matters into her own hands. It's all in the battle to get back to her lovers, and not let a cop killer get away.

  Genres: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense

  Length: 43,489

  HEALING HEARTS 9:

  ADDING UP TO LOVE

  Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Healing Hearts 9: Adding up to Love

  Copyright © 2018 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  ISBN: 978-1-64243-323-4

  First Publication: July 2018

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2018 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  For all titles by Dixie Lynn Dwyer, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/dixie-lynn-dwyer

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  HEALING HEARTS 9:

  ADDING UP TO LOVE

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Epilogue

  HEALING HEARTS 9:

  ADDING UP TO LOVE

  DIXIE LYNN DWYER

  Copyright © 2018

  Prologue

  “Coast, where the fuck are you? Backup is on the way. Coast?” Avery Armos whispered hard into his radio. Why the hell wasn’t his partner responding? “Fuck,” he whispered, his gun drawn. He could barely see a few feet in front of him in the dark building. What had started as a tip to locating an operations center for Vendis Murto, a black-market criminal who killed two cops and left several women beaten and for dead after a night of partying, had turned into a nightmare. There were several men when they came onto the scene and started chasing the suspects. Both Coast and Avery were detectives, working street crimes and issuing warrants for suspects. Tonight had been no difference except for the tip. He could hear sirens in the distance. The Calvary was on their way.

  “Coast? Coast?” he repeated when suddenly there was gunfire. He saw the sparks from the guns going off, and he headed toward it. A man jumped out. He shot him. Avery was shaking when he turned to the right and saw his partner, Coast. He was shooting at a man dressed in black, but from the ground. The guy turned and shot him, Avery shot back, and the guy took a shot at him numerous times, hitting Avery in the arm and the bulletproof vest. He ran from the building, and with the sirens so close, Avery thought they would have him. He called into the radio as he looked at Coast. Blood bubbled from his mouth. He mumbled something, but it was incoherent.

  “Coast? Coast?” He reached for his neck to take his pulse. There was blood everywhere, and Avery’s arm ached. His chest was killing him, but he was alive. Coast wasn’t going to make it. He called it into the radio.

  “Officer down. Officer down. Suspect wearing black. Exited to the right of the building. Someone grab him. I repeat, officer down.”

  Chapter 1

  Two Years Later

  “You better watch your ass around him. I swear that dick has it in for you.” Detective Gains Fanders narrowed his eyes at Ray Summers. He knew his buddy was watching out for him, but Gains trusted no one. “I’m not scared of him, and he can snoop all he wants to. He ain’t gonna find shit on me.”

  “Armos is like a fucking pit bull. He’s got a reputation in Internal Affairs, never mind his stint before that in anti-crimes. He has something. I just know it.”

  “Yeah, he’s a fucking turncoat, a snitch, a rat, a dick on the other side of what cops do and what life is like for us on the streets,” Gains said and exhaled.

  “Hey, Gains, all I’m saying is that Agent Avery Armos has a fucking hard-on for you. He wants to jam you up, connect you to shit, and you need to get off his radar,” Ray told him.

  “Kind of hard to do when we’re in this deep, don’t ya think, Ray? Your ass is on the line here, too, so I don’t know why you’re sounding so unaffected by this.”

  “I know my ass is on the fucking line,” Ray snapped at him and then looked around them to be sure no one could hear. They were by the unmarked patrol cars outside the department in Sussex.

  “I’ve been thinking about the shit we’ve done. I think I want out sooner than later.”

  “Are you kidding me? What we’ve been doing is like a piece of cake. A few more skims off the tops of these drug deals and we’ll be sitting back waiting for retirement, perhaps even making them come a little earlier.”

  “We should quit while we’re ahead. We’ve been good cops for nearly twenty years. I just turned forty. You’re right behind me. What we’ve done in the last year was risky, and could destroy those twenty years and put us in prison with men we’ve locked up.”

  “Nah…ain’t going to happen. You have been enjoying life. You want to live that same lifestyle, then we need to do a few more of these.”

  “I don’t know,” Ray said and looked the other way, but Gains caught sight of Afina Stelling, the sexy, hot accountant who worked in the administration in the building. She also worked for Guardian’s Hope, and was fucking hot.

  He remembered her from that cop’s funeral a couple of years ago. Gains had laid low for a while and didn’t take the chances he was taking in the last year. It would be worth it. He was pretty confident that no one was onto him. Plus this was pretty petty stuff. Who would give a shit if they skimmed off the drugs and the money and resold the drugs to other dealers for profit?

  He fixed his tie and suit and gave Gains a wink. “I’m going make a move.”

  “Now? After months of watching her, you choose now?” Ray asked.

  “I’m feeling pretty fucking confident. Maybe she’ll say yes to some drinks somewhere.” He headed toward her as she walked down the sidewalk and, thank God, right toward him. She caught his eye and looked away. Was she not interested?
How could that be? He was a good-looking guy.

  “Hey, Afina, how are you?” he asked, and she looked way up at him. Even in heels she was petite, about five feet three, maybe four, but he was six two.

  “Oh, hi, Gains, what’s going on?” She looked at him. He in return eyed her over in the sexy business dress she wore in navy blue. The woman was a sexual fantasy come true. Big green eyes, long brown hair, full, lush lips that he’d love to watch wrap around his cock, a narrow waist, round ass, and she knew martial arts. She was fucking hot.

  She cleared her throat, and he realized that he was fantasizing about her instead of speaking to her.

  “Shit, sorry, you just get more and more beautiful, and I lose my train of thought.” Her cheeks went flush. Good, he was making progress.

  Then she gave him a sideways expression.

  “I’m late for a lunch date, but it was nice seeing you.” She started to walk away, and he pressed a hand to her waist. She gasped and stopped.

  “Listen, I know you’re a lot younger than me and really gorgeous and all, but maybe we could meet for drinks one night, and talk, get to know one another outside of the department?” he asked her.

  “I don’t know. I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “Why not? Come on, one drink and just friends?” he pushed and stared into those gorgeous green eyes.

  “Where do you hang out? I’ll show up and meet ya there. My partner Ray will come along, too, and you can bring some friends and it will be casual.”

  “Not a date,” she said to him. Not this time, but next time definitely.

  “Just friends from work meeting up and getting to know each other.”

  “Okay, I’ll be at Casting’s tonight around eight or so.”

  “Perfect, we get off around seven, so we’ll meet you there.”

  “Okay, see you later.” She walked away and toward her car. He watched and smiled, checking out her ass in the sexy dress she wore. He hoped she was wearing it later. He wanted to get a feel for that ass, and have those breasts pressed up against his chest. She was something else.

  He turned around to see Ray leaning against the car and looked at him.

  “Strike out?” he asked as Gains approached.

  “We did not.”

  “We?” Ray asked, eyes squinted.

  “Are heading to Casting’s tonight to hang out for some drinks with her and a few friends. I’m going to text a couple of the guys, that way you all can maybe hook up with her friends while I move in for the kill with Afina. She’ll be in my bed in no time.”

  “You are fucking dreaming. She’s like twenty-five years old and super smart, classy, and drop-dead gorgeous.”

  “She didn’t say no.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up.”

  “Oh, I am going to get my hopes up, and she is going to be mine. Then when I set everything up to retire early, she’ll be right by my side and enjoying the benefits of my wealth and my sex appeal.”

  “Oh brother, you have got to get real.”

  “A few more jobs and we’ll be set. I’ve been working on my portfolio and finagling some things, plus even set up investments to hide the money in, so no one will be none the wiser. With a babe like her by my side, I’ll be living the life peons dream about.”

  “If all goes well. I got a bad feeling.”

  “You’ve said that since day one, and we’ve been fine. Trust me, IA does not know anything about our deals.”

  “What about the criminals we’ve ripped off?”

  “None the wiser either, Ray. It will all work out. You’ll see.”

  Ray shook his head, and Gains smiled to himself. His latest job would be ripping off some merchandise from a warehouse belonging to Modara, a guy who lived three hours from Sussex. He was going tomorrow morning unless his casual get-together with Afina turned into him getting her in bed. He felt excited. The warehouse hadn’t been checked in months. A guy he knew on the inside told him about the shipments of drugs, guns, ammunition, and even money being stored there. Said it wouldn’t be missed. His plan was to go take some, store it in his own private location for safekeeping, and then sell the guns since they couldn’t be traced, to other men like Cortone and Murto. They would know they were hot product but not where he got them from. Being a cop he had resources, so why not use what he had to make some money? He’d worry about the process later. Right now he needed to figure out how to get a woman like Afina into his bed, and part of his life when he called all this crap quits and left town. She would make a sexy, beautiful lover. Tonight had to go perfectly.

  * * * *

  “So who are you meeting at Casting’s tonight?” Kai asked Afina.

  Afina was finishing up some bookkeeping work for Guardian’s Hope. She volunteered her time to do the accounting for the non-for-profit organization along with two other accountants who owned local firms. They worked together and shared the load in order to allow the organization to save money.

  “Melina, Jo, Amber, Frankie, and London,” she told Kai.

  “Then what was with the call earlier about whether or not the guy and his friends were hot?” Kai asked and smiled.

  “You heard that, huh?”

  “Who couldn’t? Jo is so loud. What was she doing, talking from inside the gym?” Kai asked.

  “Yes, she was. I don’t know where she gets all her energy from.”

  “I don’t know either. Every time I see her she is so spunky, talks about the next project she’s working on before she is even finished with her current one.”

  “I know. I would be exhausted doing what she does. The construction, and tearing down sheetrock and then redesigning homes. She’s so hands-on, but holy God, you need to see what she’s done to the Piedmont home.”

  “I totally want to. I saw North yesterday, and she said that Jo and her brothers are going to be listing it with her.”

  “Yes, that’s the plan.”

  “So back to the guys. Who are they?” Kai asked, not forgetting as Afina was hoping she would.

  “Oh, just some detective from the department in Sussex. He asked about getting together for drinks, and I kind of declined until he said as friends and then having other friends come along. I’ve been avoiding him for over a year now, and well, I’ve been working so much I hardly get to go out. So I figured I could get everyone together and just see what happens.”

  “So you fell for that, and now you’re dragging Jo and the girls along?”

  “Pretty much. You know, in case I don’t really like him or something.”

  “Well, are you attracted to him?”

  “He’s a good-looking guy, but older.”

  “How much?”

  “I think he’s forty but not sure.”

  “Have you hung out with him before or talked at all?”

  “Just small talk at the office and he doesn’t need to come by administration where I am, but he makes an excuse to stop in.”

  “Hmmm, sounds interesting.”

  “Like I said, I’m not sure.”

  “Maybe that other guy is on your mind still?”

  “What other guy?” Afina asked as she finished up what she was doing and closed down the laptop.

  “The night we were all out at Casting’s and that guy passed by that you said Mike had an issue with. Your face went flush, and Brook warned you about him.”

  “She didn’t warn me about him. Just warned me that Mike would be pissed, that’s all.”

  “You like him?”

  “I don’t really know him well.”

  “Really? Because I saw you went to the lady’s room, and then he was there and you two were talking a minute. He reached up and stroked your jaw. When you finished up, you pushed your hair behind your ear like you do when you’re nervous, but then I saw your face and you glanced over your shoulder at him. He was in a dead stare at you.”

  “Oh brother, are those men of yours teaching you investigative tactics?” Afina asked, and Kai chuckled.
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  “I’m just saying, there was definitely an attraction there.”

  “Well, I don’t really know him that well. We hung out at an event, and like I mentioned, Mike and my cousins don’t really like him because of the issue they had. I shouldn’t entertain it.”

  “So this guy tonight is safer?”

  “Probably, but not sure anything will come of it. So don’t go mentioning it to anyone.”

  Kai chuckled. “You mean like to your cousins Selasi, Zayn, and Thermo?” Kai teased.

  “Yes. That’s all I need is them calling me up and interrogating me. It isn’t a date.”

  “Does this guy know that?”

  Afina exhaled. “I can take care of myself, and I’m not going to pretend feelings if they aren’t there. That’s why with my friends around it will be perfect.”

  “Well, let me know how it goes, and no worries. I won’t mention anything to your cousins.”

  “Good. So, on another note, how is Faith feeling?”

  “Still sick in the morning, but now that school is out for the summer, she can rest and not worry about pushing herself so much right off the bat in the morning. I’m actually pretty excited about the baby.”

  “I know what you mean. I keep seeing these little outfits and want to buy them. This baby is going to be super spoiled.”

  Kai laughed. “I know.”

  “Could start setting the stage for others to follow in Faith’s footsteps,” Afina teased.

  “I guess it could,” Kai said.

  “My bet is on Amelia or Emma.”

  “You think so?”

  “Well, yeah, unless my cousins are ready for you to have a baby,” Afina teased.

  “Me?” Kai asked and pointed to her chest.

  Afina saw Kai’s cheeks turn red, and then she nibbled her bottom lip.

  “Oh…I seemed to hit on something here. Anything you want to share with your good friend Afina?”