Stolen Seduction (2 page)

driven her to Chicago tonight.

She lifted a gloved hand and gently touched her bruised cheek, winced at the sharp pain. Man, Dad.

You owe me big-time.

She didn’t bother to turn on the lights; didn’t want to give any of the nosy neighbors reason to be

suspicious. She skipped stairs to get to the third floor quick, paused on the landing and thought

about her lazy cousin. The safe would be in his home office—to her right. Though the piece she

sought was rare, monetarily it was of very little value, especially to someone like Bryan. He wasn’t

exactly the sharpest tack in the box, but he wouldn’t be so dumb as to leave the bronze in the vault

because he’d know that’s the first place any of them would look.

So where would he keep it? Hailey rubbed a hand over her mouth. Close to him. Where he could

look at it and know it was still there. Knowing Bryan, the greedy miser, probably under his frickin’

pillow.

Hailey turned slowly. Bedroom.

Billy was humming along to some heavy metal music in her ear, and Hailey found the sharp beat

oddly reassuring as she headed for the suite at the end of the hall. The door was partway open when

she reached it. One look inside confirmed exactly what she’d forgotten about her no-good cousin:

the man was a slob.

“How’s it goin’?” Billy asked.

“Slow.”

She stepped over a pair of sneakers strewn across the floor. Over dirty Jockeys and a damp towel,

like he’d ripped them from his body. One glance at the expertly made bed told her Bryan’s tornado

had obviously blown through after the housekeeper had made up the room.

What was it with the rich that they thought everyone else was at their beck and call?

Thanking her lucky stars she’d walked away from this kind of life, Hailey checked the closet first.

She was quick and efficient, but careful to put things back where she found them. When that proved

useless, she moved to the bureau, dug through the nightstands, took a careful sweep of the entertainment armoire and the wet bar.

And still no sign of the bronze.

On a breath she dropped to her knees and peered under the bed. Dust bunnies and a couple of skin

magazines. Not the piece she sought.

Okay, not in his bedroom suite. Think, Hailey. Where would he hide the damn thing?

“Oh, shit,” Billy said in her earpiece. “H, crap. We’ve got trouble.”

Her head darted up, one gloved hand braced on the mattress. “Define trouble.”

“Bryan’s back early.”

Faintly, a car engine cut off, followed by the slamming of doors and footsteps and voices outside

below. Hailey’s heart rate jerked as she pushed up from the floor and paused to listen.

The front door opened and snapped shut. Feminine laughter and a deep chuckle echoed up the staircase. Followed by a squeal, then footsteps pounding up the steps.

Damn, damn, damn.

She glanced quickly around the room, contemplating her options. She tried the balcony door. It was

locked. There was nowhere to hide in the closet without being seen, and the bathroom was nothing

but miles of marble and glass. A shriek, followed by girlish giggling and a male growl, sounded outside the room. Something hard hit the door with a thwack.

On instinct, Hailey dropped to her stomach and wriggled under the bed. Then held her breath and

hoped like hell Bryan and his latest mistress were only here to pick up something they’d forgotten.

“I’m so glad we left early,” the woman crooned. “I thought I’d die if I had to listen to one more story about homeless brats.”

Something about the muffled female voice was oddly familiar. Lying on her stomach with her face

pressed into the dusty floor, Hailey strained to listen.

“You’d never know it by looking,” Bryan said. A loud clank echoed against the floor. Glancing up

through the sheer bed skirt, Hailey realized it was one of Bryan’s shoes. “You seemed enraptured.”

Oh, shit.

“Bored out of my freakin’ mind is more like it.”

Another shoe hit the floor, followed by two silver stilettos, which landed just in Hailey’s line of

sight.

Please, God, do not let this be happening.

“I’m sure Madeline would have fit in perfectly well,” the woman said with a sarcastic lilt. “Since

she’s perfected boring to an art form.”

Bryan’s chuckle at the mention of his wife was gravelly and full of lust. Hailey’s stomach rolled at

what she suspected was coming next.

A shuffle of cloth, the rasp of a zipper, Bryan’s belt hitting the floor with a thud. “Not you,” he

growled. “You’re not boring at all, are you?”

“Never.”

The woman gasped, and the next moment the gigantic bed dipped above. Something sharp jabbed

into the back of Hailey’s arm. She bit into her lip hard to keep from screaming, realized—as her

eyes watered from pain—that it must have been a loose coil or sharp metal point sticking out of the

box spring, and shifted to the side as soundlessly as she could. When moaning echoed from above,

Hailey closed her eyes tight and pressed her forehead into the hardwood floor.

No, no, no…she was going to be sick. If she had to lie here and listen to these two have sex, she

was seriously going to lose it.

“H,” Billy whispered in her ear. “What’s going on?”

“Can’t…talk…now,” she managed as quietly as she could, swallowing back the bile.

Slurping sounds drifted to her ears. The bed shook and jiggled. Hailey wiggled her arms around and

pressed her hands against her ears so she didn’t have to listen.

She was never having sex again. Not after this. She was never going to be able to look at a bed

again without remembering this horrendous night.

Suddenly the mattress stopped moving. Were they done already?

“Are you going to let me see it? Tonight?”

In a moment of clarity, Hailey recognized the voice. And the burning pain in her arm slid to the

wayside.

Lucy Walthers, a secretary at their main headquarters in Miami, and a woman Hailey interacted

with on a weekly basis. No way. Lucy was screwing Bryan? She was at least ten years younger than

Bryan.

“Let’s not talk about that now,” Bryan said.

The bed moved once. Stopped.

“Tonight, Bryan. You know I’ve been waiting so long.” When he grunted in obvious frustration, she

added in a sexy voice, “If you let me see it, I’ll let you do that thing you’ve been begging me to let

you do for months.”

Silence. And then he groaned. “Yes, yes, yes. Tonight, yes.”

She laughed, the bed dipped, but then the mattress stilled and her voice grew serious. “Where is it?”

“Somewhere safe. Someplace no one will find it.”

“You’re so clever. They all underestimated you, didn’t they?”

He growled and the bed bounced once, like they’d rolled across it. “They all did. Especially Garrett.

And Hailey, that bitch. She’s never getting a piece of this company. I’ll do whatever it takes to make

sure of that.”

“Whatever it takes?” the woman asked in a startled voice. “You don’t mean…”

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Bryan groaned, the way a man does when he’s on the edge of control.

“Bryan, wait—”

The bed picked up steam again and skin slapped above, followed by a series of grunts and groans.

But Hailey barely heard it. Because at the moment, all she could focus on was the roar of her blood

echoing in her ears.

Thoughts of Bryan’s ‘message’ filtered back through Hailey’s mind as she lay there, hands covering

her ears.

What had her father written in that note he’d left her? Your participation in this endeavor is a matter

of life and death. You’re the only one I trust. At the time she hadn’t thought he’d meant her life.

Now she wasn’t so sure.

Out of nowhere a memory from her childhood erupted in her mind, one of her many Indiana Jones

adventures with Bryan in this very house.

And like a lightbulb going on, she instantly knew just where he’d hidden it.

Four hours later

She’d passed parched two hours ago.

Hailey scanned the patrons of Players Sports Bar as she pushed the side door open and stepped into

the smoky establishment. It was close to ten o’clock, three hours after she’d planned to be here. She

glanced around the room, but didn’t see anyone she recognized. No doubt Mr. Dark and Mysterious

was long gone, but considering the way her luck was running lately, that was probably a blessing in

disguise.

She found an empty table in the back corner, shrugged out of the thick winter jacket she’d changed

into in the car and sat with her back against the wall so she could keep an eye on the door, just in

case. Even knowing this was one of those weaknesses she’d never cop to Billy—or anyone—didn’t

stop her. Sure, she was flirting with danger by even being here, but no matter how many times she’d

tried to talk herself out of this little pit stop on her way back to Lake Geneva, curiosity kept winning

out.

A waitress came and took her order. Minutes later she was savoring the hops lingering on her

tongue and the golden liquid sliding down her throat. She needed this after what she’d been

through. Deserved it after what she’d had to endure.

Billy had been going nuts sitting in the van while she’d been in that house, but he was getting no

sympathy from Hailey. He hadn’t been subjected to Bryan and Lucy screwing each other blind. She

shuddered at the memory. Took another long drink. And that didn’t even take into account the nice

gouge in her arm she’d gotten from a metal spring thanks to their little gymnastics routine. Luckily,

she’d had a tetanus shot recently, but the slice still hurt like an SOB. The only good part about the

whole ordeal was that she’d gotten what she’d come for.

Classic ‘80s rock pumped out of a jukebox at the end of the room. Pool balls clacked and thumped

against bumpers. A group of twentysomething college kids were playing darts along the far wall,

drinking and laughing without a care in the world. She glanced at the flat-screen TVs mounted over

the bar, which were replaying the day’s sports news on ESPN, as her nerves slid back to the normal

range and her heart rate slowly came down.

One beer. Then she was gone. Since they’d driven two cars into the city, she and Billy had split up

after she’d finally gotten out of the house. If she didn’t get back to Lake Geneva soon, he’d start to

worry. A little of her curiosity had been eased, seeing where Mr. Dark and Mysterious hung out after

work. Enough to get her by for the next few months, at least. Tonight of all nights wasn’t really the

time to “bump” into him anyway.

She finished her beer and was just pulling a ten out of her pocket when the bell above the big old

oak door at the front of the bar jangled. And Detective Shane Maxwell stepped inside.

Her stomach did a little flip, and her hand froze in her pocket. Though she tried to keep her pulse

steady and even, it jerked back up in the triple-digit category. Just like it had when she’d met him in

Key Biscayne three months ago. Just like it had when they’d danced and talked most of the night together at the wedding of her ex and his sister shortly thereafter in Puerto Rico. Just as it did whenever she thought of him, even now.

Okay, coming here had been a bad idea. Her mind hadn’t been playing tricks on her all these

months after all. He was just as gorgeous as he’d been back then. Tall, fit and athletic, with naturally tan skin, deep chocolate, mysterious eyes, and all that messy dark hair. Since she’d seen him in

shorts and a tee on Rafe’s boat in Florida, she knew the body beneath those worn jeans and that faded leather jacket was in superb shape. And just the visual was enough to make her hormones surge

all over again.

Really, really bad idea. She was clearly still operating on an adrenaline rush from the night’s activities, because she most definitely wasn’t up to seeing him. Not tonight, at least.

As she was reaching for her jacket from the back of the chair, she heard the bartender’s booming

voice say, “Hey, copper. How ‘bout a cold one?”

Sound in the bar seemed to fade into the background, and from her spot near the back hallway, she

heard Shane’s deep and sexy voice—a sound she knew all too well. “Mick, you read my mind.”

“Long day?”

“Longer than Bonds’s home-run streak.”

Liquid poured, then glass clapped against the wooden bar. And the fact Hailey was zeroed in on exactly what was happening way across the room was a big ol’ red flag that it was time to leave.

She grabbed her coat and turned without looking at Shane, then realized way too late she was

trapped. The brick hallway led to a pay phone and the bathrooms. The side exit that spilled out into

the alleyway between this building and the next was up dangerously close to the end of the bar

where he was sitting. She’d slinked in easily enough earlier, when activity in the bar and attention

on the Cubs scouting report on the big screen had distracted the patrons. But there was no way she

was getting out that side door now without Shane seeing her.

Shit.

“You see the news about Blane?” the bartender asked.

“Didn’t have to,” Shane said. “Heard about it downtown.”

“Shit, man. Dumbass rookie. Boy’s set for life with the Cubs if he wants, local hometown talent and

all, then goes and gets himself in trouble with that girl. What was he thinking?”

“Wasn’t,” Shane said, his glass clinking against the bar again. “Most of these guys aren’t when

there’s a girl involved.”

“Pride of Chicago, my ass,” the bartender said with a huff. “Girl flashes her titties at him and he’s