My Wicked Valentine (Club Wicked 1) (16 page)

“No one can see us except through the windshield, and no one
is there right now.” He squeezed hard on her nipple, and her hips twitched.
“Now, tell me what I want to know, and I’ll let you come tonight.”

She slowly licked her full lower lip. He thought his cock
might explode. “A vibrator.”

He smiled and released her nipple only to scrape his
thumbnail over it, eliciting a soft hiss from her. “What else?”

“Just that. It’s all I need.” She shifted her hips and
pressed her thighs together.

Unable to resist, he cupped the back of her neck and drew
her in for a kiss while continuing to torment her nipple and breast. The harder
he pinched, the more frantically she kissed him back. Fuck, he couldn’t wait to
have his cock between her lips when she was aroused like this.

With deep regret he removed his hand from her bra and slid
the cup back into place. Even more reluctantly he broke their kiss and closed
his eyes. He rested his forehead against hers, and their unsteady breath mixed.
“Stay with me tonight.”

She only hesitated for a moment. “Okay.”

A strange contentment filled him, and he nuzzled her neck
before finally moving away. “Let’s get this done with.”

As he got out and went around to her side, he tried to
analyze why the thought of having her in his bed, of waking up to her softness
pressed up against him, made him feel so good. A brisk wind slapped him across
his face, but he scarcely noticed it because at that moment he opened the door,
and she smiled at him. The pure warmth and sweetness that radiated from her
heated him like nothing else.

He helped her from the car and drew her against him. Instead
of asking why he wanted to hug her, she wrapped her arms around him and
snuggled closer to him. Something inside his chest hurt; then the pain eased.
Her scent filled his nose, and he deposited a kiss on top of her head before
letting her go.

After brushing a kiss across his lips, Lucia stepped back
and straightened her jacket while looking down the street at her parents’
house. She groaned and covered her eyes with her hand. “For fuck’s sake.”

He stepped around her for a better view down the sidewalk
and sighed. Waiting about five houses down were a group of Latino men standing
at the bottom of an elegant brick townhome. Even from this distance he could
see the family resemblance between them and Lucia.

He shut the car door and activated the alarm. “Friends of
yours?”

She slipped her hand into his as they started walking. He
enjoyed the contact, the feeling of her small hand held in his. He didn’t look
away as they got closer to the men. He noted that they all appeared to be around
his age or younger. They gave him a hard glare as they approached, and he tried
to keep from grinning. It was nice to see a family who protected and cared
about one another, but if they thought a menacing look was going to scare him
off, they were delusional.

“I forgot to mention my aunt, two of my uncles, and about a
million cousins all live within four blocks.” She groaned as a big red truck
pulled up to the curb and another man jumped out, this time a thickly muscled
guy with a short red Mohawk. “And that would be Javier, my little brother.”

Javier oozed arrogance as he sauntered down the sidewalk
toward them. Behind him the other men now split their glares between Isaac and
the young man coming their way.

Before Javier reached them, Lucia moved to stand in front of
him and fisted her hands on her hips. “If you act like an idiot, Javier, I
swear I will kick your ass.”

Isaac stepped forward and held out his hand. “Isaac
O’Keefe.”

Javier looked at his hand, then back at his face. “Hey,
fuckwad. Did you knock her up?”

With a shriek Lucia dropped her purse and gave Javier a
rather impressive fist to the stomach, hitting the other man just right to
knock the wind out of him. As Javier bent over, wheezing and trying to catch
his breath, she grabbed him by the ear and jerked his head up. “I am not
pregnant! And even if I was, it would be none of your business.” She released
his ear and stepped back with an embarrassed glance at Isaac. “I’m sorry.
Javier…well, he knows better than to say that.”

Isaac fought a grin and crossed his arms. “Remind me not to
piss you off. Where did you learn to hit like that?”

A flush filled her cheeks, and she turned her attention on
the other men gathered out front of what he assumed was her parents’ house.
Placing her hands on her hips, she yelled, “I’m not pregnant, you gossiping old
maids. Go home and annoy someone else.” She lowered her head and muttered,
“Javier is a Mixed Martial Arts fighter, and he taught me a few things.”

Javier gave a weak chuckle. “Worst mistake I ever made.”

She held her hand out to Isaac, and he gripped it, noting
the slight tremble running through her. Yeah, she was still strung really
tight. He’d need to handle the situation carefully to keep her from exploding
again.

“Wait,” Javier said and stood with a grimace. “Sorry for
being an ass, but you’re my sister. What is going on? Maybe I can help.”

Isaac exchanged a glance with Lucia. “May I tell him?”

She nodded and buried her face in his jacket.

He faced Javier and held the young man’s gaze. “Your sister
and I have been dating recently, and it has attracted a bit of attention from
the kind of filth that will destroy anyone to get what they want.”

Her brother glanced at Lucia, then back up at him. “Are you
like in the mob or something?”

Lucia giggled but kept her face against his chest. He wound
one arm around her and rubbed her back in soothing circles. “No. I assure you
all of my business is legitimate, but due to my wealth, I tend to attract the
wrong kind of attention.”

“No shit. You rolled up in a sick SUV that I’ve never seen
before. Kinda stands out.”

“While that may be true, I’m not going to hide the fact I’ve
worked hard and made money.”

Javier’s lips tightened, then softened into a grin. “I’d be
doing the same.” The smile fled, and he crossed his arms and tilted his chin
up. “Now what’s going on?”

“Someone is trying to blackmail your sister with fake
photographs of her in…delicate positions.”

Javier’s eyes darkened. “What do they want?”

“They want her to quit planning a party we’re working on
together.”

He glanced down at where Lucia pressed her face against him.
“Looks like you’re doing more than planning.”

“What goes on between your sister and me is none of your
business.”

Lucia turned around in his arms and laid a hand on Javier’s
shoulder. “Listen, these pictures, they are really nasty. I really don’t want
to show them to Mom and Pop.”

“Let me see one.”

She retrieved the envelope from her purse and handed it to
Isaac. “You show him.”

He waited until her back was turned before pulling out an
image. “Well, here is one for example.”

Javier swore and covered his eyes. “Oh, fuck. Someone give
me some mental bleach.”

“Yeah, that’s why we aren’t sure how to approach this with
your parents.”

“If you show Mom and Pop that, they will both keel over right
there or start throwing holy water at you.”

“That’s what I figured, but we don’t want them receiving
these images in the mail and being blindsided.” He quickly showed how the image
had been doctored. “So you can see that the proof is in the photo.”

Javier shook his head. “Put your thumb over her face or
something. If anyone else sees this, they are going to flip out and not listen
to you. You’re lucky I’m the cool one.”

Isaac nodded. While it was irritating to have to deal with
Lucia’s protective male family members, he was glad she had them to watch over
her. “Good point. Maybe I can fold the picture so only her face shows or
something along those lines. The idea of showing your parents pornography is
not on my list of things to do before I die.”

Lucia turned around and walked over to her brother before
giving him a hug. “Sorry about the sucker punch, but damn, do you really think
I would be so careless?”

He laughed and slung an arm around her. “True, plus I
haven’t seen you bring a guy home in a long time. We were starting to wonder if
maybe you liked the ladies.”

Isaac struggled to contain a laugh, earning him a glare from
Lucia before she turned her attention back to Javier. She went to punch him
again, but this time he blocked her with a practiced move and grinned. “Let me
go talk with the wolf pack, and I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, why
don’t you go inside and introduce your man to Mom and Pop. They’ve been worried
sick after your call saying you needed to see them right away. Pop even had
Aunt Rosa cover lunch for him at the restaurant so he could come home.” He
waved his hand toward the group of men standing in a tight cluster and giving
Isaac the stink eye. “Hence, everyone in the family now thinking you’re knocked
up because we couldn’t think of anything else that would have put you in a
panic.”

She glared at her relatives. A few of the younger ones
looked away while the older men remained stone faced. “It’s like living in a
fucking Hispanic soap opera.”

Javier laughed. “Tell me about it. Go on. I’m sure someone
has called Mom to tell her you’re here.”

Lucia wrapped her arm through Isaac’s and marched up to her
parents’ house, her chin held high. She started to stop and yell at her other
relatives, but he managed to get her up the stairs before she could go off
again. Watching her fight with her brother had been like watching a kitten
attack a pit bull.

The front door of her parents’ townhome was painted a
cheerful red, and the steps had been recently cleaned. He tried to ignore the
burn of her relatives staring at his back. She knocked on the door, then opened
it, pulling him inside after her. The scent of spices and delicious food hit
him the moment they came in from the cold, and his stomach tightened, reminding
him that he’d missed lunch in his rush to get to her side.

“Hi, Mom, it’s me.”

A woman’s voice came from deeper in the house. “Come in,
Lucy. I’m finishing up lunch. Your father is in his den.”

Taking a deep breath, she turned to him and fumbled with the
buttons of her jacket. “Can I take your coat?”

He brushed her fingers aside and deftly removed her jacket.
Taking care of his woman always made him feel good. No, wait, not his woman.
Lucia was his temporary sub and business partner. That was it. Still, when she
looked into his eyes, he resisted the urge to kiss her to take away her fear.
He kept telling himself it was a natural reaction to want to protect the sub in
his care, not because he really did care about her.

A lot.

She hung their jackets from brass hooks on the wall of the
foyer and led him farther into the home. The walls were painted a warm beige,
and colorful artwork added life to the home. The old oak floors lent character
to the space. He followed her as she took a left. The way her jeans cupped her
round ass gave him very inappropriate thoughts about her right before he was to
meet her father.

They entered a decent-sized room with a sliding glass door
leading out onto a back patio. Empty pots of various sizes stood grouped
together on one end of the porch while a white trestle covered with dead vines
blocked the view of the neighbor’s yard. Beyond that stood a small yard and a
very large plot of dirt he guessed was a garden in the summer months.

A dark-haired man sat on a circular couch facing a massive
TV screen. He had a pair of bright blue headphones on, and as Isaac looked
closer, he realized Lucia’s father was playing a video game. Right now he
appeared to be some kind of space ranger taking out aliens.

Lucia sighed and shook her head. “I forgot to tell you my
father is a video game addict.” She crossed the room and gently lifted one side
of the headphones. “Hi, Pop.”

The game on the screen paused, and Lucia’s father turned
with a smile. “Lucy, it is good to see you. Your mother and I were very worried
something bad had happened to you. Why didn’t you return our calls?”

“Because I told Mom I wanted to talk to you guys
face-to-face and that I was on my way over.” She turned to Isaac with a forced
smile. “Pop, I want you to meet my business partner, Isaac O’Keefe.”

Isaac found himself stung at the omission of calling him her
boyfriend. God, he was even driving himself crazy with his inability to deal
with this situation. Still, he didn’t like not being properly introduced. “Nice
to meet you, Mr. Roa.”

The older man looked him up and down before glancing at
Lucia. “From the way my son said you were holding my daughter, I expected you
two were dating. I know you wouldn’t let a man kiss you in public if you
weren’t involved.”

Lucia flushed and shot Isaac a pleading look, but he just
raised his eyebrows. He wanted to see how she would define their relationship,
not that they really had one, but it still interested him. “Well, Pop, we’ve
only been on a few dates. It’s nothing serious.”

Unable to stop himself, Isaac looked down at her and said in
a low voice, “It isn’t?”

She looked away but not before he saw the longing in her
gaze. “I should be asking you that.”

Now it was his turn to avoid her gaze. What the fuck was he doing?
He had a role to play here, and he was fucking it up big-time. They had more
important things to deal with at the moment than his messed-up heart. Life
would be so much easier if he just didn’t feel anything at all. Then he could
continue to be the cold bastard the rest of the world knew. Somehow Lucia had
reached past the gates around his heart and touched him.

Lucia’s father clucked his tongue. “You kids, always so
afraid to be honest with each other.” He walked around the couch. “I see it on
TV and in the movies all the time. These elaborate mind games people play with
each other. Whatever happened to being honest? Whatever happened to—“