First Taste of Darkness (8 page)

But there was nothing else for her to say. Jess spun on her heel, and, taking one determined step at a time, she left that place. 

She didn’t look back. What would have been the point? Blake was gone. 

And it felt like he’d taken her heart with him.   

“She left on the flight this morning,” Carson said as he trailed after Blake.  “Wouldn’t even let me carry her bags…”

The place seemed so damn empty now.

Empty except for the scent of strawberries that lingered in the air.

“Look, boss, are the cops set?  Are you sure they aren’t going to be asking any more questions about the Heart?”

Blake didn’t give a shit about the Night’s Heart right then.  He stepped inside his bedroom, then paused. The bed had already been remade.  New sheets, fresh covers.

No Jess.

“The cops aren’t a problem.” He’d taken care of them easily enough. “The problem is Hayden Finn.” A dead man shouldn’t be a problem, but he was. Blake turned to level a hard stare on Carson. “I want to make sure he was working alone.”  Because if the son had been anything like the father…

Then you have someone working with you, in the background.

That had been Jeremiah’s way. Only with old Jeremiah, he’d always eliminated his back-up,
after
the heist.

Blake rolled his shoulders. He’d sent Jess away because he had to make sure—absolutely damn sure—that no other threats existed for her.

As soon as he made sure that any would-be partner was eliminated, then he’d go to her again.

It’s just beginning for us.

Once she was safe.

Carson’s brow furrowed. “Of course the guy was working alone.  No one else was at that rundown motel. Just him.” He gave a little laugh. “And with him dead, the Heart’s safe. You can relax and take it easy, boss. Stop seeing danger that isn’t here.”

“The cops checked Hayden’s phone.  Over the last two days, he made seven calls. All to the same number.”

Carson whistled. “That sounds—”

“Like he might be calling an accomplice?”  Yes, it did. “The number tracked back to a disposable cell.  And whoever had that cell, well, the SOB must have already realized that his plans didn’t work out.”

Carson’s gaze darted around the bedroom. “You sure about that?” Now a thread of worry had entered his voice “Boss, are you
certain
the Heart is safe?”

Blake frowned, and his stare slowly tracked to the right. This was his private suite. His alone.  And he’d been the one to oversee the installation of the security system for this area.

A system most didn’t even realize was in place.

Because he was a cautious bastard, Blake actually had twin systems—one in his suite here, and one at his suite in the Landon Hotel.

Blake headed toward the wall on the right—a wall that wasn’t, not really. A quick press on a hidden lever had the door—
not a wall at all—
swinging open.  Security lights glowed from inside. Carefully, but quickly, Blake typed in the code that would allow him to step into the room without triggering the alarm sensors.

The room was five feet by eight feet. The floor was lined with alarms that would sound if anyone tried to access the area without using his code. And, at the back of that small room, his safe waited.

Blake knew safes. He’d sure spent plenty of time cracking them.

“Uh, boss?” Carson called. Carson hadn’t entered the room. He never did. Blake never allowed anyone to get close enough to see him input the safe’s combination.  And he also made sure to change the combination regularly.

In just a few seconds, he had that safe open.

Plenty of jewels were inside. Bright, sparkling blue diamonds. Glittering gold necklaces. He’d amassed his fair share of goods before he’d ditched his old life.

But…

There was one thing missing.

An unassuming black pouch. One that should have been as big as his hand.

One that held a fucking fortune.

It was
gone.

“Uh, boss?”  Now Carson sounded nervous.

He should.

Slowly, Blake turned toward him. “We have security cameras positioned right outside my suite. No one should be able to get in or out without the hotel’s security team knowing.”

Carson nodded. “R-right. Of course.”

“And the only way up,” Blake said, his words flat and hard, “is the private elevator. You can only access it with a keycard.”

A keycard that Blake possessed. A card that Carson possessed.

Blake stalked toward his head of security. With every step, the fury grew within him.  “The Heart is
gone.”

Carson’s eyes nearly doubled in size. His gaze flew from Blake to the safe—then back to Blake. “But…but no one has been up here! After the attack at the Landon Hotel, I doubled the security! No one got up. Just you—”

“And you, Carson,” Blake cut in, the fury seeming to burn right through his skin as the betrayal cut deeply. “You’ve been up here.”

Frantically, Carson shook his head. “Only when you were here. I came when you were here and when—” He broke off, his lips thinning.

But Blake already knew what he’d been about to say.

No, no, no.

Carson cleared his throat. “I came in this morning when you were gone. Before I arrived, Ms. Delaney…she was here alone then.”

“Jess didn’t know about the safe!”

“She knew about the Night’s Heart.”

“Because I told her.” His hands had clenched into fists. “No,” Blake corrected, voice grim because his response hadn’t been one hundred percent accurate. “Finn told her—he mentioned it when he took her.”

But Carson looked doubting. “Are you sure he just…
told
her?”  Caron’s gaze hardened as he focused on Blake. “She had access. She had opportunity.”  Then his eyes widened. “She wouldn’t let me touch her damn bags.
Of course,
she wouldn’t let me carry them!”

Carson started to storm away. Blake grabbed him and jerked him right back. He didn’t even care if he was hurting Carson’s wounded shoulder. “You have the only other access card to the elevator.”

“And your lover didn’t
need
one. You brought her up, and you let her right inside.”

“Jess was kidnapped!” The words came out as a roar.

“Was she?”  Carson’s words were quiet and cold. Controlled. “Or was she involved with Finn all along? Are you sure he took her away—or did she go with him, all the better to draw you out?”

He wanted to drive his fist into Carson’s face. This was the man who’d been his closest confidant for years.  And Blake wanted to beat the hell out of him right then. “Jess was tied up. He hurt her. You saw her neck. Her wrists!”

“A good show,” Carson snapped, nodding. “That’s what it was.  I’d bet on it. He didn’t actually do anything to put her at risk.”

“Bullshit,” Blake threw right back at him. “Jess saved my life. She pushed me out of the way before Finn could shoot me!”

“Finn wasn’t aiming at you. He was going to shoot me.”  Carson’s words were still cold.  His gaze steady. “He wanted to take me out, probably so they could both work on you.  She pushed you—hell, maybe she did it so you
couldn’t
help me.”

His temples were throbbing. His heart racing.  Blake shoved Carson away from him even as he yanked out his phone. Calling the cops wasn’t an option.  What was he going to say? 
Someone took my already stolen diamond. Fuck that.

Besides, he would handle things, his way.

In seconds, he had the video surveillance crew on the line. “I want to know every single person who came in and out of this suite. I want to see the footage,” he demanded.

But he’d need more than that. More than footage.

Jess? 

No.
She couldn’t have betrayed him. He wanted her to be good. To be as perfect as she seemed.

Carson stood beside him. Waiting.  Listening to Blake’s demands as he talked with the surveillance crew. When Blake was finished, Carson said, “Let me dig into her life. Let me find out who she really is.”

“I know who she is,” Blake snarled, but the words felt hollow. 

“If she took the Heart, we have to go after her.”  Now tension hardened Carson’s face. “She’ll try to get out of the country. She’ll run, and you’ll never see the diamond—or her—again.” 

“Yes, I will,” Blake said softly. 

Because he’d already told her. If she ran—

I’ll follow. 

***

Blake stood in the video surveillance room. A wall of screens stared back at him.

“W-we’ve been watching all morning, and I-I checked with the other shift, too,” the young guard, Andrew Perkins, said with a nervous glance back at Blake. “No one but Carson entered your suite, sir.  He escorted the lady downstairs.”

And the footage of that escort was playing right then, looping on one of the screens before Blake.

Jess’s body was tense, strained, and her grip on the small bags she carried was incredibly tight.

There were no actual cameras inside his suite. Blake didn’t allow that.  But the cameras strategically placed in the private elevator and in the hallway showed that no one else had gained access to his suite.

“The system was up?” Blake demanded. “The whole time?” Because that was how Hayden had managed to get inside the Landon Hotel. A two-minute interruption in the security system.

“Y-yes, sir. Carson—he made sure that we were watching for any glitches.”

The door opened behind him. Blake looked back. Carson stood there, his face appearing even more grim than it had an hour before.  “We need to talk.”

He wasn’t in the mood to talk. But Blake gave a grim nod and headed toward him.

Lowering his voice, Carson said. “Our dead man, Hayden…turns out he has one living relative.” He put his hand on Blake’s shoulder. What the hell? As if he were comforting Blake? Screw that. “The man’s cousin, Joe Burns…he lives down in Seaport, Florida.”

Burns. Fucking Burns.
“She was going to marry him.” There was no forgetting that name for him.  

Carson exhaled. “I think she’s running back to the guy now. With the diamond. They’ll get it, then disappear.”  He released his hold on Blake and pulled a small, plastic bag from his coat pocket. A phone had been placed inside that bag.

“I found this, stuffed between the mattresses in her old room here at the Imperial. The last few calls received are still there.”  His voice dropped even more as he said, “They were from Hayden. From the phone that the cops took from him. I checked the numbers—four times—they were from him.”

He’d been played. Fucking played by a pair of big, bedroom eyes and a slow, sexy smile. Played by an innocent act, one meant to betray him from the very beginning.

She already had a head start on him. 
A start I damn well paid for.

“Get the jet ready.”

She was running back to her lover. With
his
heart.

Hell, no.

No one betrayed him. No one.

Jess was about to discover just how dark and dangerous Blake really was.

You wanted to know my secrets? Baby, you’re about to see who I really am. 

The fury swept over him, consuming the man he’d tried to be. 

***

When Jess climbed the steps leading up to her little beach house, she was bone tired. Her connecting flight had been delayed—for over four hours—and she’d been trapped in the airport. Trapped with memories of Blake filling her head.

 A man who’d sent her away without even a good-bye.

The night sky glittered down on her, and the roar of the ocean filled her ears. Normally, that roar soothed her, as did the scent of the salt water that filled the air. From the moment that she’d first set foot in Seaport, she’d known it would be her home—the beach had just seemed to comfort her.

She was finding no comfort now.

Wearily, she reached for the little fake rock near her door. Her key was hidden there. Not exactly high-tech security, but it worked for her.  Her beach house was positioned high up on stilts, just like the three others that surrounded it. It was a quiet area. Peaceful.

Far, far from the bright lights of Vegas.

She slid the key from the hidden compartment in the rock, and she inserted it into the lock.

“I’ve been waiting for you…”

The voice came from the darkness near the far right edge of her balcony, and Jess let out a little scream when she heard it.

But then recognition pushed through her.

That was Blake’s voice.

Happiness filled her. A bubble of wild, pure happiness. He’d come after her. He’d realized he’d made a mistake, that they had something between them. Something real. Something worth fighting for.

She dropped her bags and ran into the shadows, ran right to him and Jess flung herself into his arms.

His arms immediately wrapped around her, but his hold was tighter, harder than it ever had been before.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Jess said, the words tumbling from her.
He’d said he would come after me. I should have believed him.

“I had to come.”  He was still holding her tightly, and she loved it. The ache in her chest had finally eased.

She pushed back against him a bit, so that she could stare up into his eyes. But it was too dark there. He was only a shadow. “Come inside, Blake.”  Where she could see him. Touch him. Kiss him.

She took his hand and led him back to her door.  He bent and grabbed her bags.  Then they were inside. She hit the light switch and illumination flooded her little house.

Smiling, Jess turned back to Blake. “I know, it’s not a luxury suite, but it’s—” She broke off because now she could see his expression.

Blake didn’t look the same to her.

There was a wildness in his eyes. A cruel twist to his lips.

“Blake?”

He smiled, but the grin didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve done nothing but think about you since you left Vegas.”

That was good. At least, it sounded good. So why did she feel so nervous?

Blake shut the front door. Locked it. His gaze swept around her home, lingering for a moment on the canvases that covered the left wall. “Your work?”