On The Rocks (38 page)

He glared at her and she grit her teeth.

“No, go on,” he said, voice deceptively
soft. “Who am I?”

Chest heaving, Kizzie dropped her gaze,
understanding her mistake. She was angry as all get out but in
truth, she wished he’d touch her. Hated that she needed to feel his
hands on her, to know the connection between them was still there.
Wished they could go back four minutes and come at this with more
level heads.

Xander crooked his fingers at her. “Let’s
hear it, Princess. Who am I?”

“You’re my Dom,” she mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

Nostrils flared, she flashed her eyes up.
“You’re. My. Dom.”

Xander bobbed his head. “I’m your Dom.”

“And I’m just your sub. The girl you really,
really
like to fuck.”

“You have a problem with that?
Just
being my sub?”

Yes. No. She didn’t know. Sex with him was
supposed to clear things up, not complicate matters.

“What do you want, Kizzie?”

Chuckling softly, she looked away. Lennox
had asked her that once. And the answer for Xander was the same. “I
don’t know.” She shook her head. “I don’t want anything.”

“Yes, you do.” He stepped forward and
repeated himself. He
hated
repeating himself. “What. Do you
want?”

A loud buzzing cut through the tension
between them, and she glanced at the floor. Stooped to pick up the
bag.

“What do you want, Kizzie?” he demanded,
louder.

She looked up at him from her crouch. Saw
her white panties, folded up and tucked into his breast pocket.
Sure enough, she remembered everything they’d done this evening.
Thought of everything they
could
do, given the time.

Saw his hand. Gold band. Fourth finger. And
thought of everything they
couldn’t
do, time on their side
or not.

Eyes on his, she thumbed the button and
pressed the phone to her ear.

“Gracie,” she said quietly. “Hey, Sam…”

Xander backed away. Opened the door. Closed
it with him on the other side.

Agent Hayford started talking. Still in a
crouch, Kizzie rocked back against the wall and closed her eyes.
Rubbed her fingers against her temples.

She had to go be Agent Baldwin now. Had to
put on her game face and break into a laptop and protect the NOC
list.

But she just wanted to be Kizzie. To stay
right here, curled in this tight ball, and protect her heart.

XANDER STOOD OUTSIDE the closed door, hand
still on the knob, realizing just how wrong he’d been.

Time wasn’t the problem.

He and Kizzie could spend an eternity
together, working at this Dom/sub thing. They could meet in wild
locales around the world and have mind-blowing sex. He could mete
out punishments and she could accept them with whimpers and
screams. They could learn each other’s deepest desires,
expectations, and needs. Get into a rhythm.

But just like this door, there would always
be something standing between them: Their jobs. And all the secrets
that went with.

Identity was a powerful thing. The drive to
protect it even more so. And on that, both he and Kizzie were
fighting like hell.

But only one of them could give up their
profession. Only one of them
had
to.

Her.

She just didn’t know it.

Cursing, Xander stalked back to the party.
And as he slipped through the crowd, his attention was divided.

He wanted to go back to Kizzie. He knew she
wasn’t sleeping with Lennox. Knew that kiss the man had planted on
her had been as much of a surprise for Kizzie as it had been for
him to witness it. But the anger at seeing Tate, coupled with
Kizzie’s need to protect him, made Xander forget about being a
patient Dom. That madness he’d suppressed over the years came
rushing up, and Kizzie happened to be in firing range.

But Kizzie and Lennox were personal. For
now, he had to set them both aside and focus on the business he was
here for. Phone in hand, he dialed Phil.

“You’re late.”

Xander knew it. He didn’t need Phil
reminding him.

“What’s going on, X?” The sound of a breeze
came over the phone. If Xander had to guess, Phil was near the
garage eyeing that incredible car collection. “You’re way off your
game.”

Xander took a deep breath to keep from
yelling at his brother. He didn’t need Phil’s introspection at the
moment. And he sure didn’t need to slip and tell the man that
Lennox Tate was spitting distance from either of them. As it stood,
Xander was distracted enough for the entire team.

“I’m good. I’m ready. Get Naima on.”

Phil took the hint, and moments later
Naima’s voice filtered through the line, the loud music in the
party echoing as it came through both her phone and his.

Xander stepped into the hallway headed back
to the main house to hear better.

“What’s the trouble?” Naima asked. “We’re
behind nearly eighteen minutes.”

Again, he didn’t need the reminder.

“We’re a go now. Nai, I’m coming your way
for the ring. Need a landmark.”

A long pause. “I gave it to you, luv. When I
saw you last.”

Xander shook his head even though she wasn’t
there. “No you didn’t.”

Once she’d intercepted him on his way to
Kizzie, he’d made an excuse and told her he’d be right back. But
she didn’t give him the ring.

“Yes, I—” A gasp filtered through the line
and Xander pulled up short. “Oh, no. Oh, god, no. The bathroom. I
must’ve left it in the bathroom. I took ill—”

“Which one?” Gritting back his anger, Xander
spun on his heel. He needed a destination, not an explanation.

“Second floor.” Naima said. “I’ll come to
you.”

“Stay where you are.”

“Xan—”

“Stay,” he barked. Xander jogged down the
hallway and hit the stairs. “Phil, where are we on eyes?”

The breeze kicked up a little over the line
like Phil was in motion. “Abrahan and Sanzio both came up from the
office a while ago. Chips put them inside the party now.”

“I have a visual on Sanzio. My three
o’clock,” Naima offered.

“Time to delivery?” Xander came off the last
step and onto the second floor.

“Thirty-seven. Probably have the next twenty
clear.”

Which meant he might have ten minutes and
would be comfortable with five.

Pending he found the ring.

Moving quickly, he hit the bathroom she’d
indicated. Threw open the door and flipped on the lights. A frantic
search of the place turned up a couple of wet face towels and not a
damn thing else.

He scrubbed his hand over his head. That
ring could be anywhere. A building over, close to two hundred
people were busy tripping the light fantastic. No telling how many
had come down here to use the facilities. And even if they hadn’t,
someone
had.

“Please tell me it’s there,” Naima said.
“Xan? Did you find it?”

“No.”

The line went quiet on her end, and he knew
she was beating herself up over this mistake.

“We abort,” Phil piped in.

Xander darted back to the staircase. “I’ll
do it manually. What’s the time?”

“Thirty-three. But you’re naked, X. We scrub
it and pay up, we still have the list.”

That wouldn’t be enough.

He dropped another story. Started in on the
last. “Seven, eight minutes. Keep me posted.”

As Xander came to the bottom level, he hung
up the phone. Jogged down the basalt hallway, slowing as he reached
the huge metal door. Working quickly, he thumbed through the
gallery and came up with the image of Abrahan’s retina. Held it up
to the scanner.

Nothing.

He tried again, but the first lock still
didn’t disengage. The buttons on the keypad were dark, not backlit
as they had been the day he’d come down with Abrahan. Which could
only mean one thing.

The door was already open.

STANDING A LITTLE ways off of the dance
floor, Sanzio watched the crowd sway to every shift and turn of the
beat. Part of him wanted to join in the fun, but after the
revelations of the evening, he couldn’t muster up the energy.

Abrahan had lost his ear because of him, and
the thought made him sick to his stomach. All these years he’d
thought his brother despised him for no reason at all, but now he
understood Abrahan’s resentment. Understood why Abrahan wanted to
get as far from life in Belém as he could. As far from
him
as he could.

So much of Abrahan’s pain was his fault. Had
he known when he was younger, Sanzio would have done something
about it. Changed his ways. But how could he? Abrahan had shut
everyone out.

Including the little boy who wanted nothing
more than to be just like him.

Sanzio heaved a sigh, eyes on the gyrating
hips of a woman in a frilly pink skirt. She moved and rocked those
hips so quickly it was a blur, her arms flying wildly in the air,
hair loose and flowing. She covered a lot of ground, shaking past a
thin man in cargo pants, and a petite woman in a blue gown.

His gaze lingered on Naima Duquesne. She
hugged the wall, rocking side to side, attention on the dancers.
She glanced at her watch and looked around.

He turned away. Abrahan had asked him to
leave their new associate and his wife alone for the duration of
the evening. The least he could do was his respect his brother’s
wishes.

Well, that wasn’t
all
he could do. It
wasn’t all he
would
do. He would leave. Sanzio would get out
of his brother’s hair so maybe Abrahan could find a few moments of
the peace he so desperately craved.

Had Sabine already gone for the diamonds? He
had to find her, let her know she wouldn’t be going with him.
Abrahan was her husband, after all, and he loved her— even if he
didn’t trust her. He shook his head. How could he have even
considered deceiving his brother so? Each time he and Sabine slept
together was just another betrayal of a man who had given them both
so much.

They could still be partners in this
business of theirs— they’d
always
be partners. Sanzio would
just run things from Belém. Clean up his appearance; clean up his
act so Abrahan would come to trust him more.

Decision made, Sanzio checked his watch and
scanned the crowd again. Xander’s wife had been standing alone a
long time. Odd considering how close they were at lunch a few days
before.

A twist of his head and he spotted Abrahan
tucked in a spot on the other side of the room. His two guards
flanked him, as they always did.

Sanzio covered the distance between them
quickly, and as he approached Abrahan’s gaze seemed to shutter.

“
Mano
,” he said, leaning forward to
speak into his brother’s good ear. “Have you seen Xander?”

Abrahan sighed heavily and shook his head a
little. “Please, Zio. I’ve asked you to leave him be for the rest
of the night. Our business will soon be complete, and you will be
free to hate the man all you like.”

“Something is not right though.” He pointed
to the people on the floor. “His wife is here alone. And has been
for a while now.”

His brother twisted his head, searching the
dance floor. “Perhaps our guest has found another young woman to
dance with.”

Sanzio shook his head. “The feeling I have
about this… In my gut.”

“
Maninho—
”

“There’s something not right. And so close
to the delivery, shouldn’t he be with you now?”

Abrahan flicked his wrist to turn his watch
around. Mashed his finger to the button on the side of the elegant
timepiece. The face glowed white in the darkness.

Pushing himself upright, he dusted his
clothing and snapped down his jacket. “It’s time.” Abrahan walked
off, leaving Sanzio standing there. Then he turned back. “But as a
precaution, perhaps you should bring his wife.”

23

Kizzie came to the bottom level of La Casa
Sulle Rocce, tiptoeing across the hard floors, trying to keep her
fuck me heels from screaming out her location. The lights in the
carved rock hallway were low and the place seemed abandoned. Still,
she kept her guard up in the event Abrahan had left one of his men
down here.

She checked her phone. According to the
sat-link, Sanzio and Abrahan were both still in the party. She
never did get a tag on Sabine, but chances were good the woman
wasn’t a threat. By the clock, almost twenty-two minutes had passed
since her chat with Lennox. Maybe fifteen since her convo with
Xander. She forced them both aside and stayed in agent mode.

As she reached the door, Kizzie came face to
face with a barrier she hadn’t expected.

“Shit,” she muttered. A retinal scanner and
keypad were there, preventing easy access. The extra security
measures hadn’t even crossed her mind. Abrahan’s office dangled
four stories above churning water and jagged rocks. Wasn’t like
someone was going to actually scale the cliffs to get in here. No,
they’d have to drop down through four levels of the huge mansion to
reach this place. Why the overkill with the bonus protection?

Aside from keeping people like her out, that
is.

Kizzie pulled an earpiece from her clutch
and shoved it in her ear. Dialed her former partner while she
studied the keypad. Everything digital had an override function. It
would be easy enough to reset the pad and then enter the original
factory admin code. As for the retinal scanner, they had enough
images of Abrahan back at Mission Control. She’d have Tate shoot
one over to her and she could do a crop and enlarge from her phone
in less than thirty seconds.

Behold the majestic electronic device…

In her ear the ringing kept going. And
going. And going.

Lennox had bailed. At least he was
consistent.

Another check of the clock on her phone; a
quick dial to reach Dornwell Holdings.