Down & Dirty: Romantic Suspense Series (Dirty Deeds Book 3) Read online

  Every move she makes . . .

  Tanner Jones is on a mission. One with more at stake than simply proving she’s worthy of heading up the revenge-for-hire company of Dirty Deeds. The last thing she needs is a babysitter, especially when it comes to the overbearing, broody Detective Ben Archer. Not while she’s busy getting up close and personal with Casper Addison, the third—and hottest—member of the original Dirty Deeds team. He’s promised to help her take down Chicago’s biggest gun runner. That is, if Ben doesn’t succeed in taking her down first.

  He’ll be watching her . . .

  The minute Tanner Jones starts warming up to Casper Addison, the sexy minx becomes Ben’s top priority. And not just because Ben can’t bear the thought of the stubborn beauty cozying up with a dangerous viper whose story has more holes than the scars riddling Ben’s body. But as soon as the savvy detective discovers the damning evidence, he’s kidnapped. And once Tanner comes to his rescue, Ben has all the proof he needs that Tanner’s the one woman who can help him destroy the monster who haunts his past—and the only woman for him.

  Books by AJ Nuest

  Romantic Suspense

  The Dirty Deeds Series

  Dirty Deeds

  Dirty Little Secrets

  Down and Dirty

  Fantasy Romance

  The Golden Key Chronicles

  Rowena’s Key

  Candra’s Freedom

  Caedmon’s Curse

  Braedric’s Bane

  The Golden Key Legacy

  A Furious Muse

  The Sacrifice

  A Wizard Rises

  A Time of Reckoning

  Contemporary Romance

  Jezebel’s Wish

  A Million Reasons (formerly titled She’s Got Dibs)

  Down & Dirty

  Dirty Deeds - Book 3

  AJ Nuest

  eBOOK EDITION

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Mystical Press

  Down & Dirty: Book 3 of the Dirty Deeds series

  Copyright © 2017 by AJ Nuest

  Edited by Jennifer Herrington

  Cover Design by Arial Burnz

  eBook Edition License Notes

  This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights: you are not allowed to give or sell this e-book to anyone else. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, you are depriving the author of her rightful royalties. Please pay for your copy by visitingAJNuest.com to access current buy links. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except for small excerpts for review or media purposes.

  * * * * *

  This eBook is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places, events or locales, is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Dedication

  For the Floozies

  And for everyone everywhere who has been done wrong

  Acknowledgements

  A huge, huge thanks and my undying devotion to the wonderful Jennifer Herrington, editor extraordinaire. She believed in this story from the very beginning and stuck with me to the end. Thank you, sweetie!!!

  I couldn’t have written Dirty Deeds without the support and help of several incredibly talented writing pals. The amazing, stupendous, fan-frickin’-tastic Arial Burnz, Kelly Moran, Mackenzie Crowne and Rachel Brimble—I am in awe of your brilliance! There aren’t enough hugs in the world for India Caedmon at Nom de Plume Book Reviews. I wanna adopt her and you should, too. Go right now and follow her everywhere possible on the interwebz. She’s fabulous with a dose of spectacular on top.

  Always and forever, I thank my husband and two beautiful children for putting up with my lunacy, for talking to me as if my characters are real, for repeating themselves when my head is stuck inside a story, and for pretending to the world that I am normal when we all know I’m so…not.

  Chapter 1

  Visualizing a ball of fire in front her opponent’s face, Tanner batted at the flames with each aggressive jab of her fist.

  The dude’s jaw ratcheted back from her three-part volley, and she smirked as he teetered and stumbled a few steps to the right. A rough shake of his head to rearrange whatever marbles he had left, and he ran his tongue along the front of his lime green mouth guard, rolled his broad shoulders and squinted at her as if rethinking his approach.

  A snort scuffed the back of her throat. Like coming at her from a different angle was gonna get him anywhere. She flexed and shook out the stiffness in her fingers, eyes glued to his face as she paced left. This latest contender just might represent the final notch she needed in her title belt, and standing between her and the ultimate prize was a very, very bad place to be.

  “Nice speed, but you blew a prime opportunity.” Xander fisted the ends of the white towel he’d slung around his neck. A ladder of glistening tendon rippled down his torso as he shifted his weight onto one hip. He dipped his chin at the cadet who’d scribbled his name on the roster, along with a whole slew of other Chicago PD recruits who’d volunteered for punching-bag duty. Though why a fresh batch showed up at Smith Manor every morning only to walk out limping seemed wonky to her. “Disorient and disable. Hesitate, and you might not get another chance.”

  Okay, was he for real? Like, for real, for real? She didn’t need to be coached by Mr. Ridiculously Perfect and his backseat advice.

  Molars squishing the rubberized plastic between her teeth, Tanner raised a brow and pointed at the wooden bench spanning the wall of the lower level gym, and—more specifically—the two recruits she’d already smacked to hell and back.

  One planted a crushable ice pack on his knee, winced and prodded the swollen skin around his eye. The other stuck his finger in his ear and swung his jaw back and forth, apparently taking a crack at whether or not the ball was still seated in the socket.

  A disinterested glance to the side, and Xander refocused on her. “Beginner’s luck.” A dual set of raised veins popped along his biceps as he crossed his arms. Boosting his scruffy chin, he squinted at her past the bridge of his nose. “Now quit playing with your food and get it done. Charlie’s waiting for me to head back upstairs and look over the wedding invitations.”

  N’uh-uh. No frickin’ way. An irritated growl heated the center of her chest, and Tanner balled her hands against the urge to jam her thumbs straight into the Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. Had the second in command of Dirty Deeds seriously just called her out on beginner’s luck?

  Striding toward the cadet, she dodged his right cross, blocked a left upper-cut and seized his wrist. Two months they’d been at this training-for-the-field crap. A tight spin, and the dude’s guttural grunt echoed off the fluorescent lights as she flipped him to the mat. Ever since that gut-sinking afternoon Tanner realized the wait might stretch on into forever and had approached Xander for help. Rolling onto his side, the young man representing one of Chicago’s most recent finest shoved up on his arms, dragged a couple of steadying breaths into his lungs and levered to his feet.

&
nbsp; At every turn, she’d surpassed Xander’s expectations and yet, still, Professor Egghead treated her like this was day one?

  It’d never be enough.

  Her eyes slipped shut, and she shook her head. No matter how much she listened or how hard she tried, she would never, ever, ever be enough.

  A tired sigh parted her lips, and she blinked as the recruit lurched forward then back, fists perched high and tight near his chin. Dumb. This entire exercise was nothing but a waste of time and if something didn’t give soon, she’d have no choice but to cut her losses and split.

  Jumping off her toes, she pin-wheeled a roundhouse sweep of her foot and caught the guy square in the diaphragm mid-stagger. Air blurted past his mouth guard as he thumped to his ass. Scattered applause from the benched peanut gallery muffled his wheezing groan as he collapsed onto his back.

  She never should’ve gone to Xander in the first place. Looking back, she should’ve thought twice before assuming he’d ever understand. The last thing Tanner wanted was to walk away from the best opportunity she’d ever been given but, honest to God, how long did Eden expect her to last?

  She had obligations, dammit.

  A running leap into in the air, and Tanner scissored her legs in a butterfly kick. Smacking to her side, she jabbed her elbow into her opponent’s gut. Had made promises her kid brother and two little sisters were desperate for her to keep. The guy’s head bounced off the mat, and his buddies oohed a sympathetic laugh, jostling one another on the bench. Eight mind-numbing weeks since any jobs had been contracted, and where had her patience gotten her?

  Bossed around by God’s evil reincarnation of a McMacho Albert Einstein, and somehow drafted onto team bridesmaid for not just one wedding, but two. Her hand to God, the swoony vibe that had filled the manor the past few months was enough to make a confirmed bachelorette strap on her tight leather cat suit and dive headfirst into the closest all-male revue.

  Tipping onto her shoulders, Tanner braced her hands near her ears and flipped to her feet.

  “Excellent. Target’s down, but not out.” Xander raked his hand through his blond spikes, nodding toward the poor schmuck sucking air on the mat. “Leave him like that, and he could easily rally.”

  Hands propped on her hips, Tanner slid a death glare in Xander’s direction.

  Of all the hard knocks life had cracked across her chin, never, in her wildest dreams, had she imagined herself in this position. She’d been hired to fight for the underdog. By Eden Smith, no less. Owner of Dirty Deeds, and the best—and only—revenge-for-hire specialist in the city. Not once during the interview process had Tanner agreed to picking out linen samples or casting her vote on vanilla frosting versus chocolate butter cream.

  All she’d wanted was for Xander to suggest a scam she could sink her teeth into. Or if he didn’t have one, maybe fork over a couple clues about where or how she could find one on her own. Anything to keep her career chugging in the right direction. And so she could prove, once and for all, she was ready to step in and fill Eden’s shoes.

  Dropping her arms, she eyed the cadet as he climbed to his feet. The second Xander had recommended they “reassess her training,” she’d known she’d waded into quicksand up to her elbows, and the more she struggled to get free of the trap, the deeper she’d eventually sink.

  The guy gave new meaning to the words anal probe. Was one of those weird purists suffering the hardcore signs of OCD in a way that made Tanner come down with a serious case of back off.

  Too bad he also held the keys to the kingdom, and if she ever hoped to get anywhere, earning his stamp of approval had to come first.

  Typical. The way she’d hooked her dreams to that unachievable star.

  No amount of wishful thinking on her part had ever amounted to squat.

  Squaring off against her opponent for round three, she tracked his steps left, ankles crossing, the fluorescents winking off the angry glint in his blue irises behind his knuckle sandwich.

  Ticked things hadn’t gone his way, huh? She popped a quick jab between his wrists and his head flew back. Get in line, dude. She’d already reserved every seat on that plane.

  Another jab, and the guy’s arms slammed down like two rigid planks at his sides.

  Tanner hesitated as his muscles twitched. His eyes thunked back in his head, and her jaw dropped the same distance her brows shot up her forehead.

  A seizure? Panic made her retreat a step, and she immediately came forward. Holy shit, had she snapped his neck? Accidently inflicted some weird neural damage?

  A fast glance at Xander, and she reached for the guy just as he collapsed to the mat with a body slamming Timber!

  And behind him…crackling Taser in hand…stood a smiling Charlie.

  Oh, good grief. Tanner slumped. Well, so much for crimping the cap on any aspirations she might’ve had over taking him down. She stole a peek at the mat. First item on the agenda was to double-check the guy had John Hancocked the disclaimer.

  “I don’t know why you guys always go to so much trouble.” Nudging the dude’s leg with the toe of her stiletto boot, Charlie shook her head. “Just get yourself one of these and it’s goodnight, Irene.” She tossed the Taser in the air and Tanner bounced it off her knee like a hacky sack before catching it against the waistband of her stretchy yoga shorts.

  “Now that’s how it’s done.” One long-legged stride onto the mat, and Xander scooped Charlie into his arms, burying his shadowed cheeks in the thick blonde hair trailing past her shoulders.

  And cue exit, stage right.

  Tanner left them to their smoochie-face canoodling and strode for the bench, pried the mouth guard off her teeth and rummaged around inside her gym bag for her reusable water bottle.

  Not that she could blame the guy for glomming onto Charlie whenever she entered the room. As it was, most men stopped dead in their tracks the second she appeared, and Tanner had a pretty strong suspicion it wasn’t because they were interested in learning more about Charlie’s personality.

  Her hourglass curves had hopped straight off the garage wall of a 1940s pin-up calendar. Toss in her hypnotic blue-gold eyes and natural sun-streaked hair, and Charlie McGovern was the epitome of pure va-va-va-voom.

  Popping the plastic cork on the bottle, Tanner glanced at the below-average bumps filling the bra inset of her electric blue racer-back top. No big surprise, she came up short in comparison yet again. Thanks to the shallow end of her gene pool, she was nothing but angles and lines. Sinewy, toned muscle, sure, but more sharp elbows and knees.

  She tipped the bottle for a swallow and caught eyes with the two cadets visually patting her down from the bench. A brisk tug to make sure the bottom edge of her top hadn’t inched past the scars, and she flicked a dark scowl between them. “What are you looking at?”

  As if an invisible wire connected their chins, they jerked their focus toward their dazed co-worker, groaning and curled in the fetal position on the mat.

  “Nothing. Not a thing…” they muttered in unison.

  That’s right, buckos. “You plan on carrying your friend outta here, keep it that way.”

  A smack of her palm to reseal the water, and she traded the bottle for an old hand towel she’d stashed in her bag.

  Without fail, hopping into the sack with men anywhere near her twenty-four years on this planet ended in an ice-cold bucket challenge of sexual frustration. From start to finish, they were nothing but a pack of bumbling idiots, and the only ones who ever got any gratification were them.

  “Tempting as that may sound, we’re gonna have to wait.” Charlie raked her nails through Xander’s short hair, the brilliant flash pinging off her gigantor blue-diamond engagement ring making Tanner wince like she’d posed for a photo op. “You’re never gonna guess who just walked through the door.”

  Xander’s reply stayed muffled against Charlie’s neck, and Tanner’s tired sigh warmed her skin as she dried her cheeks with the towel.

  A husky murmur parted Charlie’s
lips, and she batted her lashes. “Not even if it’s Adder?”

  Xander jerked back from her so fast, Tanner flinched, and then frowned with the same unease that creased his brow. Wow. She clenched the threadbare cotton under her chin. Other than those twelve grueling hours following Charlie’s abduction a couple months back, Tanner had never seen the guy’s freak shoot so far out in space.

  She faked a delay by wiping down her arms and legs, glancing in their direction. According to everything she’d heard, Casper Addison was the third and what had been missing, original member of the Dirty Deeds monarchy. After their founding mentor and Eden’s adoptive father, Malcolm Smith, had been murdered, Eden had sent both Xander and Adder the same coded message, asking them to return for Malcolm’s funeral and the reading of the will.

  So, shouldn’t Adder’s long overdue arrival be a good thing? Didn’t his showing up mean they could finally lock in the remaining details of the estate?

  “Funny thing is, if I saw him on the street, I swear I wouldn’t have recognized him, Xander.” Charlie’s hands fell to her fiancé’s shoulders, and he turned his head, studying her out of the corner of his eye. “He looks so…different.”

  Adrenaline darted up Tanner’s spine, and she shivered as the cool rush lifted the hair on her arms. Something was definitely not right. Charlie wasn’t the type to hesitate. And with the anxiety simmering off of Xander, this whole Adder-returning-to-the-fold scenario came off weirder than a double feature of Sharknado one and two.

  Then again, it’d been over ten years since they’d seen the guy. Wasn’t it sort of a given Adder would’ve changed? Or maybe he’d simply altered his appearance one too many times and, exactly like Tanner’s mother had always warned, his face had finally stuck that way.

  “Fat and bald, huh?” Xander cocked a brow. “I always knew that arrogant little shit would let himself go to pot.”