Sapphire (25 page)

Jase scoffed, not hiding his annoyance. “Well at least she’s consistent. That’s essentially what she said to my boss.”

Sapphire debated saying aloud what she was thinking when Jase probed.

“But what, Agent Shaw? Out with it. I can see those wheels spinning in that high-speed brain of yours. What else did she say, that you don’t understand?”

Sapphire chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. She wanted to tell Jase what she was thinking but didn’t want to reveal how much Diamond’s words had hurt her. Deciding she had nothing to lose, she soldiered on.

“At the time, I thought she was just rubbing it in that if you did come after me that I shouldn’t think it meant anything. That I needed to understand that I was just another woman in a long line of conquests. It…it hurt because you already had come on to me.” She added bitterly, “The first night we were together.”

When Jase started to protest, she held up her hand to stop him. She needed him to understand what she was thinking.

“Now…now I wonder if Diamond was telling me that out of concern. That she was genuinely worried that I might get hurt.”

Jase was quiet for a moment. “Hmm. I think you’re right, sweetheart. That was the essential read I got from Ian.” He sniffed. “Maybe we both misjudged Diamond Legree. I was annoyed as hell at the way she was bullying you. Which made her warning me all the more incomprehensible—inconsistent with the way I saw her treating you.” He shook his head. “Perhaps we both misjudged the Iron Queen. As hard as it is to believe, maybe there is a maternal side to her under that prickly pear cactus exterior.”

Sapphire didn’t want to dwell on her relationship with her boss. She needed to go back to what Jase had said about
theirs.

“What did you mean, Jase, when you said that Ian thought we could use the
thing
between us against Roberto?”

Jase took an audible breath.

“Let’s just say that Ian and I had a long talk. The fact that he brought out a bottle of 1956 Highland Park single single malt Scotch made it clear that he intended to hear my side of the story whether I wanted to tell him or not.” At her gasp he added, “Yes, Sapphire, the kind of Scotch that cost $5000 to crack open.”

Still struggling with the idea that Jase may have told Ian that he was falling in love with her, Sapphire persisted. “So… so you did? Tell him…what you told me?”

“Yeah, I did.” Jase paused for a moment then glanced at her. “By the way, you were wrong. He didn’t laugh. In fact when I told him that I didn’t think I had it in me to allow you to continue on the mission—”

Sapphire cut him off. “What? You told
him
that?”

“Yes, I did, and more. Fortunately, unlike you, he believed me. Also, Ian, who is almost as good a commander as I am, came up with a solution. We both knew damn well we weren’t taking you off the operation. You are the best and likely the only chance the good guys have of taking Ventrilo down. When I told him that it would be impossible for me to allow Roberto to make a play for you without killing him, he suggested a way that we could use my
tender
passions and rock-hard dick to our
professional
advantage.”

“I…I don’t understand, Jase.”

Jase snorted a mirthless laugh. “I’m not surprised, baby. Women just don’t get what happens when a guy is thinking with his dick instead of his brain. Let me give you a little lesson in how to capitalize on ‘Dick Behavior.’ Ian and I decided that we’d make use of my out of control emotions. We agreed to play up my possessiveness. That I should make such an ass out of myself, that you get sick of it. And that you appeal to Roberto to help you get rid of me.”

Sapphire came to immediate attention. She stopped trying to decide how she felt about how Ian and Diamond and the others knowing about her relationship with Jase. Instead, she began to focus on the plan. She agreed that the quickest way she could hook Roberto was to make it seem as though she preferred him to Jase. But after a moment’s consideration, she thought she could see another way of piquing his interest
and
dealing with the upcoming auction. She turned to Jase deciding that it was time for her to test his leadership style. Determine if he was as inclusive as he proclaimed.

“Hmm. That’s an interesting thought, Jase. But remember, our primary goal is to find the girls that Ventrilo plans to sell and get them out alive. The best way to do that is to get me into the auction.”

Jase shook his head. “No, baby, we can’t do that. It’s too dangerous. There’s too many fucking things that can go wrong. If Roberto is planning the auction the way our intel describes, his clients are going to arrive with private militias that could protect a country let alone a single man. There’s no way that we can get our resources there in the magnitude we need to take them down. It would be a fucking bloodbath and the likelihood of success minimal.”

Sapphire interrupted.

“Exactly. That’s why we have to rely on strategy, not firepower.”

Jase’s frown darkened and Sapphire thought she’d lost before she ever got started. She was pleasantly surprised when after a moment he nodded in agreement.

“You are correct, Agent Shaw. And frankly I haven’t been thinking of much else except that strategy and how to design it so we have a ghost of a chance to succeed.
I’ve concluded that we need to ensure that Roberto invites me to participate in the auction and that we can get enough of our guys in with me to do a strategic strike and get the girls out. Which, of course, is why we have to make him think that you and I are no longer a couple.”

Sapphire couldn’t hide her excitement.

“Honestly, Jase, that’s what I’ve been doing since Noah and Grayson told us about the auction. Only I came up with another plan. Don’t you see? If somehow I can get included in the auction, essentially thrown in with the girls he already has, then I can get first-hand knowledge of what they are doing and communicate it to you.”

Jase was adamant.

“No, Agent Shaw, that idea is a non-starter. There’s no way that I would consider letting you go into that auction as merchandise. Hell, the very idea gives me heart failure. How the hell could I protect you if I’m not even there?!”

Sapphire virtually crowed as the solution came to her. It was too simple, too brilliant not to work. She tried to keep her tone calm professional, not betray the excitement she was feeling.

“Then how about we figure out a way to make sure that we
both
are there? Me as merchandise, and you as one of the buyers. All we need to do is figure out how to keep Roberto from suspecting our motives so that together we can free the girls and take his sorry ass down.”

When Jase didn’t respond, Sapphire assumed he was dismissing her idea. In the dark interior of the automobile she saw his jaw tighten becoming even more rigid. She also swore she saw a tic beating at the corner of his eye. Seconds later he began weaving in and out of traffic heading for the next exit. He took the ramp at breakneck speed then barreled down the service road and pulled into an empty lot.

Dragging out his cell phone he punched in a code and barked into it.

“Ian, patch Agent Davis into this call. Agent Shaw has an outrageous idea for how to take down Roberto. I need both you and Diamond to help me convince her that it is too dangerous. And if by chance you agree with her, as I’m concerned that I might, we need to figure out a way to make it work and give both of us a fighting chance to survive.”

An hour later as they pulled into the valet parking area of the
Caligula Club,
Sapphire couldn’t resist teasing Jase.

“What can I say, Commander Malone, except that our plan is brilliant—for a ‘dick plan’ that is.”

Jase slid his hand across the seat and put it on her knee. Inching his fingers along her bare thigh, he pinched the inside of her upper thigh, eliciting a sharp squeal from Sapphire.

He conceded with a grunt. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it? If I can meet the minimum requirements of my role, it just may work.”

Sapphire lifted a questioning brow.

“I don’t understand. What’s the minimum?”

Jase winked at her and drawled. “Well, as Ian and I agreed, my being successful presumes that the first time that Ventrilo so much as touches you, I will refrain from cutting off his dick and shoving it up his hinky ass.”

Sapphire stared at him in disbelief and then smiled.

“I see, Commander Malone. I assume that is another consistent element of ‘dick plans.’” She added, “As one of the other parties who will be there when he makes a pass at me, and as much as I would like to help you make your gruesome wish a reality, my sense is that castration isn’t sanctioned by our agency colleagues. At least until we take Ventrilo and his ugly operation down.” Her smile widened. “However, once we accomplish our mission, both you and I know that one of the advantages of working off the grid is that only people like us know what actually happens on the dark side of the veil.”

Jase squeezed her hand and winked at her.

“Do you know how sexy you are when you put on your Dark Phoenix cape and demonstrate that you’re as ruthless and unscrupulous as I am?”

Chapter 27

W
hen they entered the
Caligula Club
they were met by Noah Walker. The imposing man’s warning gaze conflicted with his smile and pleasant greeting.

“Good evening Mr. Malone. Good evening, Miss.”

He bowed slightly to Sapphire as though he hadn’t met her, and turned back to Jase.

“Mr. Ventrilo requests the pleasure of your company, and that of your lovely companion, in the Hallowed Hall.”

Jase frowned, surprised at the request. Ventrilo never played openly in the Hallowed Hall as the hard core BDSM dungeon was called. Roberto preferred acting out his depravity in the privacy of his quarters. No doubt because he was careful about revealing the extent of his personal appetites unless he and his men had thoroughly vetted the invited members.

Noah explained in a low voice. “Mr. Ventrilo is planning a special evening and extended the invitation to a select group of members. Hence the meeting in the Hall.”

Jase nodded his understanding of the coded message.

“Thank you. Please convey to Mr. Ventrilo that my companion and I will be pleased to join him.”

Noah led the way down the corridor to the opposite end of the hallway from Roberto’s private rooms. He stopped in front of the paneled double doors and knocked. Jase had been in the dungeon only once. At that time, he’d hoped that he’d never be invited again. He was not a neophyte when it came to kinky sex and was knowledgeable about the BDSM scene, but the equipment and contraptions scattered about the dimly lit cavernous hall spoke to darker, bottom-of-the-well passions, more sinister ones than in sanctioned clubs. Instinctively, Jase reached for Sapphire’s arm and pulled her closer to him. He was relieved when she didn’t pull away. There would be time for that later. For the moment, he needed her next to him.

Jase recognized most of the men who were present. They were the elite members who had private rooms of their own in the darkened corridor of the basement level in the club. They were leaders in a variety of professions, from politicians to CEO’s of multinational companies. The thing they had in common was more potent than money. It was power. Not that they weren’t wealthy. Most of them were in the top .001% income level in the country. Whether they controlled government agencies, corporations, political seats, military echelons or merely managed their inherited wealth, in this setting the currency that spoke the loudest was power. That Roberto Ventrilo knew what these men did in the privacy of their off hours, and with whom they did it, was
his
currency. The drug lord held the balls of some of the most influential men in the country in his hand. That the evening’s host could squeeze said balls at any time he chose—threatening to unmask them and their ugly inclinations—argued that Ventrilo was the most powerful.

As they were waiting for the Noah’s knock to be answered, Jase asked quietly. “Any word on the auction? Or the girls?”

Noah nodded in the affirmative and responded as quietly as Jase.

“Mason told me that Roberto has an announcement to make. Intimated that big plans are on the horizon and that the assholes he invited to join him tonight are going to get a gold plated invitation to attend.”

Jase blew out a satisfied grunt. The fact that he was being invited into the decadent chamber confirmed that he’d succeeded in creating a cover strong enough to fool an international criminal mastermind. Rather than dwell on his success, he focused on Sapphire. She returned his gaze and smiled sympathetically as if she knew the tornado of emotions storming his brain. He smiled in return and whispered in her ear.

“Show time, Agent Shaw. Time to get your game on.”

Sapphire smiled sweetly.

“It’s always on, Jase. I only show it when I wish to. The rest of the time I keep it under wraps so I don’t scare the men I’m about to trap.”

Jase grunted in mock disgust. “I’ll remember that, Agent Shaw. As long as you remember that I’ve been trapping saucy little girls since I was five years old and to this day my streak is unbroken.”