Totally, Sweetly, Irrevocably(51)

She and the man were nose to nose, shouting at each other. Another person was in the truck; a woman wearing nothing but a bra and panties similarly covered in chocolate and other odds and ends, from what Rick could see.

Looked like Gina had finally caught her ex red-handed. Or sticky-handed, as it were.

“Holy shit,” Joe muttered. “What the hell is going on here?”

Rick was pretty sure he knew. His heart sank. She’d broken her promise to him. And worse, the passionate fury in her face as she screamed at her ex seemed way too personal for it to be stemming only from anger at his break-in. You didn’t get worked up like that over an ex being with someone else unless you still had feelings for him. And where did that leave him?

He tried to shove his feelings down for the moment. He had a job to do. He waded right in, grabbed the shirt Gina and her ex were still fighting over and tossed it to the guy. Tony, if he remembered the name right.

Gina glared up at him. “What happened to five minutes?”

“Really? You’re going to get mad at me? You two are disturbing the whole block. Half the neighborhood has called in complaints.”

She blinked and looked confused. “I didn’t realize we were that loud. I was so pissed…”

“Yeah. No shit.” He turned back to Tony. “Get dressed.”

Gina’s gaze shot back to him at his tone. “Rick, you can’t let him go. He broke in and—”

“I’m not letting anyone go,” he snapped at her.

She stopped short. The hurt in her eyes broke a little piece of his heart, but she’d started this whole mess.

“Yeah, you’re right you’re not letting anyone go,” Tony said. “I want to press assault charges. She hit me with a jar of frosting, right in the face!”

She rounded on him. “I didn’t hit you with anything. It was rolling out of the truck that you were vandalizing and I was trying to keep it contained. It’s not my fault your face was in the way when I tossed it back inside.”

“Are you serious? No one is going to buy that line of shit. You’re jealous I’m with someone else and are trying to get back at me.”

Gina’s face went bright red and for a second Rick thought she might start swinging. Her fists hung at her sides but they were shaking. “Jealous?! Of what? You’re a pathetic, cheating loser. Getting rid of you was the best thing I ever did. Seriously,” she said, pointing to the woman who was still huddling out of sight, “she could do so much better. Why she is even with an asshole like you is beyond me.”

“Shut up, Gina! God, you are such a bi—”

“Enough!” Rick said.

Gina flinched. He was sorry for it, but he was barely containing his anger as it was. If Tony opened his mouth one more time, Rick was going to plant his fist in it. He needed to get the situation under control before he lost it totally.

“You,” he said to the woman still in the truck. “Come down from there.”

“Wait. Rick,” Gina said, grabbing his arm like she was trying to keep him from looking in the truck.

“I can’t,” the woman said. “My clothes are in that pile.”

Rick froze at the sound of her voice, dread running through him. He brought his flashlight up and shone it at her. She had her arms across her chest, though she couldn’t hide the fact that her chocolate-smeared body was covered with only a bra and panties. And lots of chocolate frosting. With sprinkles.

“Jenny?” he asked, staring into the truck.

Gina sighed and rubbed her hand over her face.

“Give her some clothes. Now,” Rick said, grinding out the words.

“You know him?” Tony asked the woman, his tone pissed. “Figures. You girls are all the same.”

Rick took a threatening step toward him. Joe must have sensed how close Rick was to losing it, because he took care of wrangling Tony. It was almost funny when Joe explained who the woman was in the truck. Tony glanced over at Rick with wide eyes and a pale face.

Yeah. The dickless bastard had a right to be scared. If it weren’t against the law to beat the shit out of suspects, Tony would be a bloody mess in the middle of the street. Might be anyway. At the moment, Rick’s love of the law and his job were starting to run a distant second to the satisfaction he’d get from rearranging Tony’s face.

Gina had gathered up Jenny’s clothes and taken them to her, closing the doors of the truck enough that Jenny could get dressed without everyone watching her. Rick pulled out his phone and called Stacy to come get their sister. She lived the closest to them. And she wouldn’t tell their parents what had happened.