Playing with Fire (23 page)

“Nicky,” she said in reproof, trying to gather it up, the action lifting her breasts in an enticing fashion. “What are you doing?”

“Yes, Nicky,” a voice said, silky smooth. “What
are
you doing?”

Chapter

T
WENTY
-
ONE

Reign turned her head and stared at the woman standing in the doorway.

She recognized her from the night on the yacht when Sal was shot. Blond, very pretty, her make up done perfectly, and wearing a green dress definitely not off the rack.

Why the hell is she here?

Nick looked just as startled. He cast Reign an inquiring glance and moved casually to block any direct view. Luckily he had very nice wide shoulders. Pleasantly, he said, “I think we met before on the Arianos’ yacht.”

“I’m Carmen.”

“Right.”

She sauntered in and glanced around at the cinder block walls, the spools of fabric resting against them, and the factory window, and said, “I kind of expected more, you know? This big designer thing, so I’d have expected something really chic, ya know. But I’m not all that impressed. I’m not getting it.” The words were slightly slurred.

What Reign didn’t get was what the visit might be about. She edged a view around Nick’s shoulder. “Sorry to disappoint. We work here.”

She suddenly understood Nick’s protective stance. The woman was carrying a gun casually in her hand. Reign’s entire body chilled.

Okay. Easy
.

Sal had mentioned her before. Reign knew her family, but she was quite a bit younger, not
that
much older than Vince, and they’d never been introduced. This was beyond awkward and into some zone she’d never visited before.

Nick moved again to obstruct her view, and apparently use his body as a shield, so she no longer had any grasp on the situation. “I’m not sure what you thought you might see.” His voice was utterly calm. “First time I’ve been here too, but like you it just seems like an office to me. But then again, like she said, people do work here.”

Reign whispered, “She’s obsessed with Sal.”

Sal had mentioned once that Carmen texted him so often it had started to make him uncomfortable, and that even as a teenager she’d been pretty sexually aggressive.

Nick said quietly, “I’m getting there is something going on. I have never hurt a woman, so this could get interesting, but if she swings that weapon our way, all bets are off. I’ll take her down.”

“Why are you whispering?” Carmen turned from inspecting a bolt of scarlet silk that was pooled on the floor. Her eyes were visibly dilated, even from a distance, and Reign got the first jolt that told her maybe something besides Sal was a part of this impromptu visit.

Drugs
. Great. Perfect
.

“What do you want?” Nick asked it casually, like he was inquiring if she wanted some iced tea.

“Just to talk to Reign. You’re in the way.”

Reign couldn’t even remember being quite so cold. She’d been shot at enough lately. This was becoming surreal. Nick merely asked, “Why?”

“Sal and I. It won’t happen while she’s in the picture. I’m being practical.” Carmen’s sandals scraped the floor, but Reign couldn’t see what she was doing. “Tell me, why do
you
like her so much, Mr. Fattelli? Or should I call you Nicky like she does?”

He said gently, “I think you might be a little under the influence”

“Of?”

“I’m not quite sure. Apparently it is a substance that makes you think it is acceptable to walk into a design business carrying a gun before lunch and threaten the owner. Sort of like robbing a convenience store, but with a little more class. You do realize the weapon you have pointing my direction is much more likely to take out a window if you fire it? You can’t even hold it steady.”

“Are you sure?” Carmen sounded a little less hostile and more confused.

Maybe time to do something to help as well. Someone else might have wanted to call 911, but she wasn’t that person. Reign took out her phone and pushed a different button. When Sal answered she said, “Carmen is here. Maybe you could call her parents.”

“Oh shit.” His voice was thick. “I was asleep.… Yeah, give me a minute to wake up … these painkillers.
Why
exactly is she there?”

“I’m not sure, but she has a gun and I think it has something to do with you.”

“Reign.
Shit
.” He obviously woke up.

“Nick is here too and it is fairly under control.… But call them? She seems pretty high and really wants to point that gun at me, but at the moment, Nick gets that honor.”

She could hear Nick talking in the background in that same even voice, and Carmen was responding, but with him between them Reign wasn’t quite sure what was happening. She was only barely able to hear him since her heart was pounding so hard the beat echoed in her ears.

Sal said, “Are you fucking kidding me? I’ll be right there.”

“No.” Reign kept her voice low. “First of all, you are in no shape to drive and we both know it. Maybe just talk to her a little?” She tapped Nick on the shoulder. “Would you mind handing her my phone? It’s Sal.”

“I’ll set your phone on the edge of the desk, but she’ll have to come get it.” He reached behind with an open palm but didn’t as much as look anywhere except, apparently, at Carmen, who Reign couldn’t really see. He leaned forward and then straightened again. “Sal wants to talk to you. Maybe you could set down the gun when you pick up the phone.”

“How do I know that’s Sal?” she asked suspiciously. “You’re trying to trick me.”

“I don’t try and trick anyone. Since you know my name, maybe you know my reputation. Tricks just aren’t my thing. By the way, your father is a pretty no-nonsense kind of man. He isn’t going to be happy with you over this little stunt. Now, just set down the gun and talk to Sal. No harm, no foul, Carmen.”

“He’s only interested in
her
.” There was a definite wobble of tears in her voice. “I don’t even
want
to talk to him.”

“If you don’t pick it up and at least give him a chance, the other option is the police and they are going to bust you not just for attempted assault and possibly even attempted murder, but for taking whatever it is that has you thinking this was a viable option. If you drove here, and I sure am hoping you didn’t, they’ll get you for DUI too. Jail time isn’t fun. I visited way too many people in prison. None of them seem very happy with the situation.”

To his credit, the man was persuasive and utterly unruffled. Reign had to give him that. A moment later, he moved with lightning speed, and she saw he was in possession of the gun and Carmen had her phone, and she was speaking incoherently into it, tears running down her pale face.

Louise chose that moment to walk back in, her hands full of paper bags. She stopped short, taking in the sobbing woman on the phone and Nick holding the gun. Eyes wide, she said, “Holy crap, a girl steps out for two seconds to grab some Chinese food and she misses everything.”

*   *   *

“Well, I will say Reign Grazi is never boring.” Nick held the door for Reign later that afternoon and watched as she gracefully kicked off her shoes and sank down on the couch in their hotel suite.

Reign shut her eyes. “I suppose that’s something.”

“Can I make her a cocktail?”

“You know my tipple.”

“Yes I do. Pink and delicious. Fits perfectly into my mouth.” He grinned and moved toward the bar.

“I didn’t say ‘nipple.’” She opened one eye. A good sign. She did seem a little wiped out. Who could blame her? If he hadn’t happened to be there, it could have gone south pretty fast. He wasn’t giving himself the credit for a fairly amicable resolution, but unfortunately it could easily have been tragic. Reign wasn’t the type to call for assistance, so who knows what might have happened.

He murmured, “Oh, my mistake. The usual?”

“Of course.” She sat up. “Do you think that maybe all this time, Carmen has been the one? Maybe she’s the one who hired the man you shot in my closet.”

He reached up and took a bottle off the top shelf, carefully poured two fingers of Johnnie Walker Black into a glass, and added ice from the drawer. “No.”

She didn’t either, he could tell as he walked around to hand the glass to her. Reign at least offered a faint smile. “It would be nice if it was that easy, right?”

“She’s just a little messed up.” Nick settled down next to her. For himself he’d grabbed a cold Corona, and he took a drink. “Sal Ariano doesn’t do too much for me, but it seems he did at one time for you, and she sure seems like she’s into the idea of a relationship with him.”

“
He’d
like to know what I see in you that I don’t see in him.” Reign propped her now bare feet on the coffee table.

“My charm, I suppose.”

She stared at her bare toes, which were nicely tinted with pink polish. “As I haven’t quite figured it out yet myself, I avoided that answer.”

“No comment, but I doubt if she hired them they would have accidentally shot Salvatore Ariano unless they are completely inept.”

No, they’d merely shot the tall man standing next to Reign Grazi.

Him. Seconds after Sal had come over to talk to her, but they’d thought it was him.

It was hard to deny he might have been the target that night, but she’d definitely been the goal this afternoon. He also understood why. She looked delectable in the soft blouse, her hair tumbling everywhere.

Ariano was in love with her.

And so was he.

It stopped Nick as he sat there, like a moment frozen in time. That wasn’t why he’d stepped between Reign and Carmen’s murderous tendencies this afternoon.… He would have done that for quite a few people, and truly, he’d felt in charge of the situation once he’d known what was going on.

It wasn’t even why he’d insisted she stay with him, and it wasn’t really anything about their relationship, except he liked her there next to him. Not just because he desired her—he did, but that was a little different.

It felt like the right fit. She was fiery and sexy and brave, but also compassionate and caring in many ways.

Her sense of independence was something they had in common. He’d had his since his father was killed, so on that level, they really understood each other. Right now he was protecting her, but never would she ask him to take care of her. That was not Reign and it never would be, and he understood it.

Simple, but true.

He
loved
her.

Oh shit
. This was going to freak her out, because he wasn’t about to give her up to Ariano or anyone else, yet she didn’t want a man involved in her life in a permanent way. He hadn’t even met her son yet, but he wanted to, which was a first in his life.

“Nicky?”

He realized she was looking at him expectantly. “What did you just say?”

Her brows drew together. “I said that it was nice of Sal to meet them at the hospital when her parents decided to take Carmen in. He called me when I was on my way here. That pretty doctor came and picked him up and took him to the Emergency Department, since Carmen was incoherent and they thought seeing him might calm her down until they figured out what she was on.”

“What was it?”

“Cocaine, I take it, or that’s what she
thought
it was. A couple of the friends she was sharing that particular recreational experience with had a similar bizarre reaction. She’s doing pretty well, or that’s what he said. They don’t think it was very pure, but when dealing with people who sell drugs, who can you trust?”

“Very few. She picked the wrong dealer.” Nick reached over and took her feet and swung them onto his lap. “Lie back and relax. That’s decent of Ariano to go there and decent of you to feel sorry for her, all things considered.”

“You don’t like Sal?”

“Of course not, Reign.”

A true look of confusion crossed her features. “He’s—”

“Frickin’ nice. I know. I’ve heard about it often enough. Don’t worry, the feeling is mutual. He hates my guts because we’re involved. I don’t like him because he’s slept with you and it’s pretty obvious he misses the event.”

“
He
suggested I stay with you.”

“Because he would rather see me take a bullet than you and knows I’d do it. That doesn’t mean he likes me. It means he likes you.” Nick rubbed her foot, sensuously massaging the arch. “Look, I don’t care what his motivations are or even how he feels, though obviously you do, but he has the right idea. I suppose I am going to grudgingly admit today was not his fault, but still, you need me.”

“Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?” Reign reclined against the cushions and her gaze was steady. “And while you think over the answer, please keep rubbing my feet because that feels really, really good.”

“I think I’ve made up
my
mind.”

“That I need you?”

“Or I need you. Could be a two-way street.”

“I drove down a street I thought was two-way before. Turned out to be a dead end.”

“Hey, don’t lump us all in together.”

“Sorry, but in my experience, most men think with their dicks.”

“That is an undeniable truth.” He smiled wickedly on purpose and trailed his hand up her thigh. “Guess what mine is thinking right now?”

“The usual.” She sipped her drink. “You’re kind of predictable, Fattelli.”

“I like a woman who understands me.” To his disappointment, he discovered she was wearing underwear, but on the bright side, that could always be removed.

Reign gave him a considering look. “Knowing you can’t wait to get me into bed does not mean I understand you. With your hand up under my skirt, I’m not going to take a lot of credit for that obvious conclusion. To say I understand you is an assumption I don’t think I agree with at all.”

Considering the revelation he was still grappling with from a few moments ago, he had no desire to have her know what he was thinking. Instead he leaned forward and kissed her. She tasted like fine whisky and Reign, which happened to be a very fine combination. Against her lips he murmured, “You were absolutely right. I can’t wait to get you into my bed.”