Venice Heat (4 page)

“Oh crap, I’m sorry. I’m used to getting close to a guy really fast—I mean, wait, that totally didn’t sound right. Made me sound like a whore.”

“Does it have something to do with your work?”

His question earned him a flash of suspicion in her gaze. “No. Not at all.”

They walked in silence, saying nothing. Eiji stuffed his hands back into his pockets and decided to watch the people they passed. Even at that time of night, many wore little clothing. Quite a few of the women sported bikini tops rather than blouses.

After some time of discussing inconsequential matters, they ended up back at the house she had rented from him. Eiji waited by her side while she searched inside her purse for the keys. He was about to ask if she’d lost them when the entire bag upended from her hands, and the contents scattered over the porch. He bent to snatch several items up before they rolled off into the dirt.

“Wow, you’re fast,” she said, sounding impressed. “That was some martial arts stuff you did at the bar, wasn’t it?”

He raised his brows at her and didn’t answer. A tube of something that might be a type of makeup escaped toward the edge of the porch. He put a foot out to capture it while dumping the rest into her outstretched purse.

“Thanks.” Her head tilted to the side brought his attention to the bouncy silkiness to her curls, and he experienced an itch to run his fingers through it. Women with short hair had never appealed to him before.

He stooped to grab the tube and noticed something else, what appeared to be a photograph, facedown. After turning it over, he froze and then took his time straightening.

“What are you looking at, Eiji? Don’t tell me I had a naked picture of myself in there.” When he glanced at her, she laughed. “I was kidding. What is that?”

She reached for it, and he handed it over. Her gasp told him she hadn’t expected it to be what it was.

“Tell me about it,” he commanded in a low tone.

Shae eyed him, a curl of annoyance on her lips, but she answered, “It’s a picture of my mother after she was killed. I didn’t know it was there. I think my stupid brother is trying to pull the mess he pulled on my sister. If he thinks that will work, he don’t know me very well.”

Eiji frowned. “Your brother?”

“Never mind. Anyway, she was attacked by a bear in Vegas. That’s how he left her.”

“He?”

Pain filled her eyes, but it disappeared, replaced with anger. “The bear.”

“This is right after she was killed? She hadn’t been moved?”

“Damn it! Can’t you take a hint?” she shouted. “It was my mother, Eiji. Maybe in your culture, it’s okay to be so nosey you keep asking questions about how a person’s mother passed, but not here. Not with me. Good night!”

She turned and flounced to the door to stab her key through the lock. Eiji leaned out and grabbed her arm to whip her back to face him.

“
Gomennasai
. I’m sorry.” He took the picture from her hand. “This is not a bear attack, and it is not in Vegas.”

Chapter Three

After a restless night of sleep, which lasted only a few hours, Shae opened her eyes to sunlight streaming in the bedroom window, directly in her eyes. She’d thought about closing the curtains but had forgotten, her mind so full of what Eiji told her and the implications of what he’d said. Of course, he could be dead wrong.

She dragged herself from bed and took a long, hot shower and then rifled through the clothes she’d brought with her for something appropriate to wear during the heat of the day. Last night, after Eiji left, she’d run into the house to call her father. There’d been no answer. Next, she’d tried Kasen, and Sheila, his wife, had answered his cell.

“Hey, Sheila, I need to speak with Kasen—now, please,” she’d demanded.

“Shae, hi to you too. Anything wrong?”

She’d gritted her teeth. “I…well, I don’t know. I wanted to speak with my dad, but he’s not picking up. That leaves Kasen, and I know it’s late, but I also know the man doesn’t believe in keeping regular hours, so please put him on.”

“He’s in the shower. Let me walk in there. Hold on.”

Shae picked up sounds of doors opening and closing, and then the unmistakable tapping of water hitting a shower floor. Sheila’s muffled voice mixed in, and then Kasen came on. “It’s late, Shae.”

“Whatever. I want to know why you lied about where Mom died.”

“Excuse me?”

She started to tell him about Eiji, but changed her mind. Her brother didn’t need to be in her personal life, but then she realized where her thoughts were going. She and Eiji had just enjoyed conversation and dinner. Neither had said anything about taking it further, and while Eiji had opened up some, he still seemed pretty cold to her. That might be his culture, but she’d met Japanese people before. None seemed as closed off as he did. Focusing on the conversation, she’d explained to Kasen the details of what Eiji told her.

“And you assume I’m the one that lied.”

“Well, you’re the one that told us girls the details. Dad had a hard time talking about it. He still does. We were all out of the country, and you were the one to make arrangements and take care of Dad, who was a mess.” She’d started pacing the room. “As a matter of fact, I don’t appreciate you stuffing that damn picture in my purse for people to see.”

“What people?”

“Jackass!”

When Kasen spoke again, he’d cast his voice low and threatening. She should have known she wouldn’t get anything out of him when she made him angry or disrespected him. His ego weighed a ton.

“Don’t call me again asking me stupid questions. You’re on vacation. Rest up, because as soon as we get even a hint of where to find our next target, I’m putting you on it. Your ass is going to charm the hell out of any and all the shifters I tell you to. If you even imagine betraying the family, I will deal with you.”

Shae had shivered despite herself, but she’d demanded, “Who the hell do you think you are, Kasen? I answer to Dad, not you. Or did you forget that?”

He’d laughed. “That’s changed as of earlier tonight.”

After those chilling words, he’d hung up the phone, and she knew even if she tried, he wouldn’t answer any more of her calls until he was ready. She’d dialed her dad and left messages with no luck. Now, at nine in the morning, she picked up her cell phone to try again. The voice mail came on. She stomped her foot in frustration and threw the phone on the bed. Sometimes if her dad was in a meeting or on assignment—which he frequently was—he didn’t answer, and one had to wait until he got free. He always returned her and her sisters’ calls. The only thing she could do was wait for him.

Stepping into a pair of booty shorts, she considered calling Darryl, but doubted he’d be awake. He’d been drinking heavily the night before and didn’t appear to be the early-to-rise type. She would, without a doubt, call him, though. Dating one man had never been in her makeup, and the determination to remain free of a relationship had increased after her mother died. The devastation her dad suffered after he lost her mom seemed like too much to bear, and it was a strong possibility with their line of work. They’d lost many men and almost lost Kasen once. He bore the scars to prove it. Nope, no falling in love for her. Just fun and sex, nothing serious.

Of course, that meant she could play with Eiji. He looked like he was hung, and the challenge of breaking through the cool exterior might be enjoyable. She picked up her phone and dialed the number he had given her before she drove to Venice from San Diego. Eiji picked up on the first ring, sending a certain warmth spreading through her that she tamed in a heartbeat.

“Hey, I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, is there a problem with the house?”

So they were back to the impersonal stuff? “No, I thought I’d walk along the boardwalk this morning after grabbing some breakfast and wanted company. Are you up for it or too tired from our late night?”

He didn’t answer right away, and she waited in silence for him to make the decision. A small, niggling doubt made her question if he was attracted to her, but she dismissed it. Eiji had kissed her, and experience and the hardness that had pressed into her belly told her he liked it.

“I will pick you up,” he said and cut the line.

Shae laughed and went back to getting dressed. The man hadn’t even waited to arrange the time, so she assumed he would be on his way as soon as he dressed. She wondered where he stayed and determined she’d ask him later. A sense of anticipation stirred in her core, but she didn’t suppress it. Nothing wrong with desiring a man, and boy oh boy did she want Eiji. His sexy voice with that heavy accent gave her chills. She’d felt the rigid and defined muscles beneath his shirt when his lips touched hers. Seeing him naked, and soon, meant playing her cards right, which was what she did best. Even if Kasen had been rude and condescending, seducing men was what the Keith sisters did. They lured the shifters into a false sense of security so that they revealed their true natures, and then the backup team came in and took them out. Shae and her sisters never slept with the shifters, of course, but they could bring them to their knees fast. Since she wasn’t on the job and just going after a regular man, she could go all out. Eiji would be putty in her hands before the end of the week, maybe sooner. Then she’d see what Darryl was about.

Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Shae went to answer it. She opened the door to find Eiji dressed in cargo pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Despite being overdressed, she thought he looked good. “You’re going to melt. Don’t you have any shorts or T-shirts, or are you ashamed of your legs?”

The glare made her giggle. She dragged him inside, and then, on impulse after she shut the door, she stretched up on tiptoe and kissed his lips. The brush up lasted a heartbeat, and she turned away humming to go put on her sandals. When she returned to the small entrance area, she pretended not to notice he hadn’t moved, that it seemed like every muscle in his body had petrified, and he seemed to concentrate on breathing. If she didn’t know better, she’d call the man a virgin, but no, he knew a thing or two—at least about kissing.

“Ready?” she asked, amused.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, something he did often, she noticed, and he nodded.

They left the house and walked along the street. “Did you have breakfast already?” she asked. “I’m starving.”

He eyed her, but didn’t reveal in his expression what he thought of what he saw. The fact annoyed her. She was used to men fawning over her. Not that she expected it or anything.

“You eat a lot for a small woman.”

She made a noise with her mouth and waved the comment off. “Please, you haven’t seen anything. From the age of nine, when I began training how to kick ass and take names, I’ve had a big appetite. Maybe it’s all the sparring. Whenever I’m in town back home, I spar with my old instructor or any of the other men that work for my dad, to keep my skills honed.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why do you push yourself so hard?”

She realized her mistake and could have kicked herself. “My dad’s obsessed with keeping his girls safe. He’s funny that way.”

To her relief, Eiji took this at face value. She figured he put it down to the weirdness of American women, but sometimes in her field of taking out shifters, she ran into trouble. A shifter might catch on before her team swooped in to deal with them. The creature would then try to kill her, and she had to handle her business. Of course, her dad had insisted she and Sakura, her older sister, always have a protector, a man who worked closer to them than the rest, but he might not get there in time, so she had to be prepared. Shiya, her youngest sister, had always worked at home, behind a computer screen, until she took it into her head to get out in the field for the first time. Their dad giving his permission had shocked them all, but they had abided by it. Now Shiya was out in Alaska, in the middle of who knows where, with two polar bear shifters as her lovers. Thinking of it for the millionth time, a niggle of worry ate at Shae, but she shook it off. What captured her attention more than that right now was what Eiji had shared.

“We can go back to Abbot Kinney Boulevard or to the boardwalk,” Eiji suggested. “I have eaten at a restaurant there. The food is good.”

She turned toward the boardwalk and the beach without commenting, and he shifted directions with her. “Eiji, I guess I was too shocked last night to really question you. How do you know it wasn’t a bear attack that killed my mother, and what about that bridge you mentioned?”

He looked away as if he didn’t want her to see his face. “I’ve had experience with animal attacks.”

She gasped. “You?”

“No.”

When he didn’t elaborate, she guessed he’d seen a few cases in his line of work. “And the bridge? I mean, you said yourself you haven’t been in America long, and I got the impression this is your first time here.”

“Not my first, just not long each time.” He stopped walking and faced her, holding out his hand. “Do you have it?”

She’d considered leaving it in the house, but knew she wanted to question him after she hadn’t been able to reach her dad. They moved to the side so as not to block anyone passing, and she put the picture in his hand. When he held it up to show her, her stomach knotted, and the usual feelings of loss stirred, but Eiji touched the lower part of her back with such a gentle pressure, she drew comfort from him.

“Look past your mother,” he instructed. “See the window? The bridge is there.”

“Yes, I know. You showed me all that last night, but—”

“This is what is called Miami-Dade County. You know it?”

She nodded.

He continued. “As I said, this picture was taken in Miami, not in Las Vegas.”

“That could be a random bridge. How do you recognize it if you’ve only been here a few times and not that long?”

“A few years ago, I participated in a video conference with the police in Miami. A drug trafficking ring were operating their business out of Tokyo and smuggling cocaine to Miami. We shared many photographs, which included Asian nationals. A few of the photographs showed this bridge. I spent hours studying them, so I remember it well.” He tapped the picture. “This is Miami.”