Weston (7 page)

“Yeah.” Kage folded his hands over his abdomen. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m going to go after him,” he said. “I’ll keep him busy and his attention off Rocki, until she can contact her superior and have the squad watching her back.”

Kage stared at him a few beats. “I’m in.”

“Hell, no. You’re staying away from Darrell.” He stood and strolled across the living room, stopping at the fireplace. He leaned his elbow against the hearth. “I’m going alone. You have Janie to think about now. I wouldn’t put you in the position to deal with your uncle or link him to you more than he already is by blood. You’ve worked too fucking hard to stay clear of him.”

“Already there, bro. It’s family.” Kage clasped his hands behind his head. “The only way you’d be able to step away from Uncle Darrell is to hand over your girl or distract him by handing me over in exchange.”

That wasn’t going to happen. Even if Rocki meant nothing to him, he’d never willingly let any woman walk into the underground or hand her personally to Darrell. He dropped his chin and stared at his boot. Kage would never let him go in alone, but putting him into contact with his uncle would personally kill Kage.

Not much fazed his friend, but he walked on the right side of the law. His need to remain untouched by the Archer name bore deeply into his soul. Even if no one found out Kage had entered his uncle’s territory, Kage’s guilt over his own involvement would eat away at him.

“I’ll go back in,” Rocki said from behind him.

His gaze snapped to hers. She stood at the entrance to the living room, her clothes wrinkled, and lines from her hand imprinted on her cheek. Her midnight-black hair lay messily around her shoulders. His chest tightened as he wished he had time to take in the warm, sleepy Rocki. Rocki, who was in his bed moments ago with his dog. Rocki, who had bigger balls than most men.

She wasn’t going back to Darrell.

Despite her skill and dedication of taking care of herself, she was his responsibility. So he said the first thing that popped into his head. “Hell, no.”

F
or the first time in months, Rocki spent time alone without worrying about who was watching. She studied Tony’s living room. But her comfort was all an illusion, because despite how safe she felt with Tony, she had to catch Darrell before she could really relax.

She’d gone over every move she’d made while staying with Darrell, and still couldn’t figure out how she’d given herself away. She crossed her arms and cupped her elbows in her hands. God, maybe she was going crazy. Drug deals, weapons bandied about in public, money exchanged, her every moment watched by either people working for Darrell or cameras aimed on her room.

Four months of working in a life that disgusted her and hustling her butt off to please Darrell, during which she’d accomplished nothing. And for what? She’d screwed up. Darrell insinuated he’d known her identity from the beginning of their relationship. Why would he allow her to remain inside? In what way did keeping her around benefit him?

She inhaled deeply. Nothing made sense.

After everyone left and Tony and Rocki were alone, he agreed to give her space to figure things out and took Brute out for a run, despite her telling him it was a bad idea. It was dark, and Darrell’s most active hours came after the sun went down. In the house, with her, would be smarter.

She was safer with Tony around, and together they’d be able to stand a chance against Darrell and his men.

Instead, he was outside by himself, no gun, practically no clothes—since he ran in shorts and sneakers only—probably bringing trouble with him. She let her head fall back against the couch. Okay, maybe he had the ability to watch out for himself.

He
was
bossy.

He had a hard body.

He picked her up and deposited her in the chair when she tried to leave without one single grunt of exertion. His chest, solid and hot against her, made her dizzy. She blew out her breath to lessen the claustrophobia of being shut inside the house and helpless. She hated to admit it, but he was right.

Tony was more than capable of protecting her. He turned from teasing to serious in a beat. She’d observed him with a weapon. He was trained, and she had no doubt highly skilled, going by the way he moved, listened, and stayed aware of what was going on. If only she felt more confident in her abilities around him. It pissed her off that deep inside, she was relying on him because her own confidence had taken a nosedive.

Tony helped keep her mom protected and out of the state—far out of the state and across an ocean. When she’d asked for help, he didn’t hesitate. During the meeting with the guys from the agency, he’d stayed by her side, and she liked the attention.

In her mind, she divided her current problems into two categories: Darrell Archer and Tony Weston.

One of them she hated and feared. The other one she liked and wanted. She had neither time nor skill to handle either one.

Tony was out of her league, domineering, invincible, and tempting. Darrell…well, he just freaked her the frick out.

From everything she knew, controlling men were never happy for long, unless they were made to feel needed. At least that’s what she’d gleaned from her father leaving before she even knew him. The moment a woman showed any backbone, like her mother had, they hit the door. Her father left a few months after her mom ignored his wishes and went back to work after Rocki was born.

Her mom would never admit the reason, but there were enough hints given for her to figure it out herself. Then when she became an adult, she found men intimidated by her career. They wanted a woman who couldn’t outshoot, outsmart, and outstrategize them. Until now, she never felt like any of them were worth the trouble of getting them to believe in her need for a career alongside a relationship.

Two knocks followed by two more raps startled her out of her thoughts, sending her heart racing. She hurried over to the door, peeked through the eyehole, and then stepped over to the newly installed control box and shut off the alarm. She folded her arms, waiting for Tony to come in. Her stomach lurched and she swallowed her nervousness down. The stress was definitely getting to her.

How could she want him and not want him at the same time?

He swung the door open, spotted her, and his gaze turned intense. “Everything okay?”

“No.” She sighed. “I don’t like the idea of waiting to see what happens.”

“I told—”

“I also don’t like having to stay here.” She paced a short path in front of him. “I don’t like knowing my mom is with two strangers, probably having the time of her life, or the way everyone looks at me as if you just asked me to marry you. Have you told them our date was fake at the bar the other night?”

“No, I—”

“See! Even you aren’t telling the whole truth. All I want is for someone to tell me how to take Darrell down.” She untangled her arms and held her hands between them. “Look at me. I’m a mess. I’m shaking. My heart is beating all weird as if I’m going to pass out.” She inhaled deeply. “I’m probably getting sick. I’m under too much stress, and staying here is not helping. I probably caught some virus from you, because you’re always touching me.”

God, she loved how he stuck beside her, but she was starting to depend on him to always be around. He was temporary, and despite how she was acting, he wasn’t going to be here all the time to help her.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, reaching for her.

She slapped his hands away. “Stop that. I can’t handle—”

“Hey…” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him.

Her chest hit his, and she gasped. “You can’t—”

“Shut up.” He captured her mouth in a kiss.

She continued talking, and he sucked away all her words until she fell silent. Her legs wobbled, and he wrapped his arm around her, lifting her. God, he tasted good. Really good.

She stroked his tongue, kissing him deeper. He laughed against her mouth and pulled back. She frowned, licking her lips, liking the way he tasted.

His gaze warmed. “Hungry?”

“Yeah, starving,” she whispered, studying him.

He held up a sack she hadn’t even noticed him holding. “I stopped at the burger joint a couple miles down the road.”

“You snuck French fries out of the sack,” she said, rubbing her mouth.

He burst out laughing. “Right before I ran up the driveway.”

She knew it. Her hunger came from the salt on his lips, not his kiss turning her into a starving lunatic. “I need to get away from you; you’re distracting me.”

He stuck a fry in her mouth and led her into the kitchen, carrying the rest of the food with him. She sat at the kitchen table and practically ripped the burger out of his hand.

“I should’ve realized you haven’t eaten.” He strolled to the fridge and pulled out the milk. “You’ll feel better after you eat. You’re probably feeling whacked out from going so long without food.”

She chewed, suddenly ravished. When she finished swallowing, she answered, “Too busy to eat.”

He returned to the table with two full glasses. He studied her, his mouth hard. She wiped her chin with the paper napkin and glanced away. She knew she was a sight, wolfing down the food. It was past the time to take little bites and worry about manners. She ate simply because she was starving.

“My fault,” he muttered. “That won’t happen again. You’ll eat when you’re hungry from now on.”

Unsure of how to accept his semi-apology, she shrugged his concern away and remained silent. None of today’s events had anything to do with him. She was the one who’d dragged him into her business. If anything, she owed him.

She wadded up the paper from her burger, her hunger appeased for the moment. “You know what bothers me the most? Gino working for Darrell.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions.” He wiped his mouth with his hand. “I’d bet my Camaro on Darrell lying about most of the things he told you. It’s how he works. He’s planting doubt in your mind and buying himself time to line up all the cards. He’s a player. A very skillful manipulator who’s had a lifetime of practice.”

Hope filled her and she leaned forward. “Then I should contact Gino? You think he’s innocent? He’ll want to know what happened. We can get a team back in there and—”

“No.” He dug out a few fries from the bottom of the bag and popped them into his mouth. She waited while he chewed, and then he continued, “I’m not saying Gino’s clean. There was something odd about how he answered my questions about you on the phone. I understand you were undercover, but I’ve had a chance to work with Gino for the last several years and something didn’t feel right. I want to talk to him alone without him knowing you’ve escaped or Darrell discovering your true identity.”

“When do you plan on talking to him?” she said.

He brushed off his hands. “In the morning.”

“Why can’t you set something up with him tonight?”

The longer she stayed with Tony, the more complicated the case became. She needed to clear her head, toughen up, and take back control. To do that, she needed to figure out why Darrell sent her to Tony and Kage when he knew she was working undercover all along. But going against Darrell on her own was getting her nowhere. To move forward, she’d need to keep a professional distance from Tony. He messed with her mojo.

“Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking?” He leaned back in the chair. “No lies this time.”

“What lies?” She gazed over his shoulder at the new kitchen window.

“Where do I start?” He grinned, and she had a feeling he found her amusing. “Nails?”

“Oh.” She put her hands on her lap under the table. “Yeah, that was necessary.”

His mouth curved into a full smile. “Real estate?”

“What’s wrong with that?” She rolled her eyes. “I could sell houses if I wanted to.”

“Right.” He leaned forward, captured a lock of her hair, and tugged her forward. “Sweetheart, I saw what you drive. Your Porsche does not need a timing belt, and no way could you afford a car of that caliber while working part-time painting other women’s nails and selling real estate in Bay City.”

Close enough to kiss him, she stared at his mouth. “Ha. I didn’t lie about my car. The Porsche isn’t mine. Remember, it’s Darrell’s car. I really do have an old Honda Accord that needs a new timing belt. It’s expensive, and I haven’t had time to take it into the mechanic.”

“I’ll fix it for you.” He skimmed his lips against hers. “You can watch if you’d like.”

A low pleasing sound came from her and she fought to keep from closing her eyes and wrapping herself around his body. “I’d like that.”

“Me too, sweetheart.” The words vibrated against her lips.

Then he was gone and she blinked. He stood beside her. Before she could ask what he was doing, he picked her up and she could only hold on to his shoulders—huge shoulders—and continue kissing him. Her hunger had nothing to do with food this time.

In the bedroom, he put her on her feet without letting go. He locked his gaze on her, smiled tenderly, and exhaled. His confidence put her at ease.

She liked how he took her choices away. Left up to her, she’d keep pushing him away, because that’s what she was supposed to do, but it was also the last thing she wanted to do. “I want you to know, I don’t normally sleep with men…and never on the job. I mean, I’ve had boyfriends, but I don’t—”

He covered her mouth with his finger, sliding the tip along the width of her bottom lip. “I know.”

Good. She wanted him to believe what she planned to do meant something to her. Not that she expected roses tomorrow, but she wasn’t a skank. Yet she felt like one, and right now, she wanted to be the skankiest woman ever and show him she was better than all the women he’d been with before.

“I think I’m stressed,” she whispered.

His chest rumbled under her hands. “Let’s see what I can do to de-stress you, huh?”

She nodded, her stomach doing cartwheels as he slowly stripped her of her shirt. She quivered at the concentrated way he took in all the new discoveries he seemed to find on her body. He made her feel special and perfect, even though her hips were too slender and her breasts were too large for her frame.

He planted his mouth on her abdomen. As he tasted his way up her body, she sank her fingers into his hair, guiding him higher until he straightened in front of her.

“Your turn,” she said.

He toed off his running shoes and socks. She zeroed in on the shorts hanging low on his hips. Hooking her thumbs under the waistband, she stepped closer until her nipples touched his chest and lowered the shorts.

He growled and kicked off the offending material, picked her up, and threw her on the bed, landing softly braced above her. She laughed. His reaction toward her was dangerous. He was extremely pleased.

From what she knew of Tony, he had little patience. He proved her opinion of him next. His tongue touched hers and her whole body moaned. Her legs relaxed, and his hips settled between her thighs. Heat shot through her and she melted, conforming her body to entwine with his.

Without another thought, her hands came up to his arms, over his shoulders, and around his head, holding him in position as she kissed him back. She deepened the kiss, losing herself in the security of him holding her. He controlled the situation and she let him, loved letting him lead, knowing wherever he took her would be a wonderful place she’d want to stay and enjoy herself.

“I want you,” he muttered.

She lifted her hips, giving him permission. “Okay.”

“Not yet.” He pulled back and stared down into her eyes.

She tilted her head, languishing on the bed, barely able to question what he meant when he showed her. His head went down and he worked his way south, over her breasts, her ribs, her abdomen. She squirmed on the bed, half hoping he’d come back, enter her, and half wishing he’d continue not listening to her, because she liked where he was going.

She got her wish. His mouth sealed around her heat. She came up on her elbows, staring down at him in fascinated horror. “Uh,” she panted, “Tony?”

Oh. My. God.
She felt his smile against her most private spot and…and…“Never mind.”