“Easy.” James is by my side in an instant, supporting my weight, as he takes me towards the bathroom. He knows I need to pee, and straight after that I’m having a wash.
“Run the shower,” I whisper. My throat is hoarse and scratchy, but I manage to get the words out.
“You can’t stand, Lois. We need to wait.” I ignore him, running both the bath taps at once before motioning for him to turn the shower on. My eyes tell him what my words cannot, and he does as I say.
Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, I take a moment to get my breath back before indicating that he should sit beside me. He does. Now we’re both naked and the water’s running, it’s time to tell him everything. He’s right. We can’t go on like this. We’re both on the same side and I need to make that clear.
“Alain has everything bugged,” I murmur. “He runs a tech company called Proveria and they make tiny mics that can be sewn into fabric or clothing. That’s how he’s been spying on you.”
James’s mouth creases into a tight line and he nods as he ponders this information. He doesn’t look shocked. It’s as if the pieces are finally clicking into place, and he can now understand how Alain has kept tabs on him this closely for so long.
“Adie told me,” I continue. “He can overhear everything. You either need to whisper and hope for the best or tell your secrets while you’re naked and immersed in water. That was his advice, anyway. Oh, and I’m not working for the fucking enemy,” I hiss. There. I’ve said it. I can’t keep up this pretence any longer.
James lets his head roll back on his shoulders as he stares up at the ceiling. His face features a myriad of emotions as he does so. Relief, annoyance, exasperation, fury… I can read all of this and more in his expression. It’s rare that I can pick up much from the man besides me, but clearly this is my lucky day.
“I knew it,” he mutters. “What did Alain do?”
I repeat the tired old tale, going all the way back to when I’d tied him up on the bed. I start at the beginning and I don’t leave anything out.
“He threatened to start putting bullet holes in you and have Adie thrashing around straight after he’d been whipped. I caved. I’m not sorry. The reason I haven’t told you sooner was because I thought it would be easier if you hated me.”
James puts his head in his hands. This is obviously more than he can deal with right now. I know the feeling.
“We haven’t got time for this,” I croak. “We need to work together. We’ve got twenty-four hours to finish this and get back to Adie.” Sliding into the bathtub, I wince as the water hits my ravaged ass. Bloody sadists are a pain in the ass.
James runs two fingers down my cheek in sympathy and then moves in to kiss me lightly.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I should have known you would never do the dirty on me.”
“Don’t apologise. I would have done exactly the same thing had the tables been reversed. Actually, screw that. I wouldn’t have been anywhere near as nice. I still remember the treadmill incident. You should have gloated at my distress and left me there to suffer, but even though you thought I was a two-faced duplicitous bitch, you helped me. You’re a good man, James Leveritt.”
James shakes his head. “I wish I was, Lois. I wish I was.”
In response I squeeze his hand. None of what has happened is his fault. I know James will never forgive himself for Alaina’s death, but he isn’t to blame. The guilt rides solely on another’s shoulders. Deep down, he knows that, but he’ll always be wondering if there was something he could have done differently – something that might have saved her life. Perhaps that’s why he’s so careful with everything he does these days. He can’t face the thought of making another mistake and risking someone else’s life. The man before me is the best operative I’ve ever seen, and there’s a reason for that. His life has been sink or swim from the very beginning.
“What now?” I murmur? I’m not sure where we go from here. If he has any bright ideas, I’d love to hear them.
“I think you should run. I have a bad feeling about all of this. Alain has never forgiven me for what happened to Alaina, and his end game is to destroy me. He knows he can do that via Adie and yourself. If I take you out of the equation, that’s one less death to deal with.” James’s lips are stretched into a grim line. He wants to do damage control, but I’m having none of it.
“Are you going to risk Adie’s life on that?” My stare goes right through him and I watch as he exhales slowly.
“Adie knows what he’s up against. He’s had enough of this shit. He would want me to get you out of here. He would insist upon it, in fact.”
I shake my head obstinately. “I’m not leaving you.” Sinking my head under the water to rinse my hair, I stay under there for far longer than necessary, so I don’t have to hear his reply. It will be something along the lines of ‘You’ll do as you’re told.’ I won’t. I signed up for this and I’m going to see it through all the way to the end.
When I come up for air, James’s brooding face is staring down at me. Some kind of plan is percolating in that head of his and it makes me nervous. Soaping my hair quickly, I hurry up and finish. All I want to do is sleep. I’m so tired I could cry, and as usual, James can see right through me.
“Come here.” James opens a towel up and waits for me to get out of the bath. He then wraps it around me and carries me into bed.
“Talk to me, James,” I whine. His silence frightens the hell out of me. Is it guilt? Is it fear? Or is he just trying to figure a way out of this mess?
“Sleep, Lois. You’re exhausted. We’re both exhausted. Let’s lie down. Everything will seem better in the morning.” James tucks me into bed and makes me a cup of cocoa. The Italians love cocoa. They call it ‘cioccolata calda’ and it’s much thicker than the stuff we get at home. Normally, it’s not something I’d drink, but today it hits the spot. My body is screaming for sugar and any calories are most welcome.
“How come I get to sleep in the bed tonight?” I ask sleepily, greedily inhaling the scent of molten chocolate. God, this is good.
“I think you’ve earned the privilege this evening, Lois. Get some rest.” James then sits down on the chair beside the wooden desk and opens up a magazine. He thumbs through it listlessly.
Snuggling down under the covers once I’ve drained every last drop, I pat the side of the bed for James to come and join me. He shakes his head.
“No, Lois. We need to keep our distance.” He needs to keep his distance, more like. It seems like we’re back to square one.
“I trust you, James,” I murmur. “You won’t get any sleep on that chair.” My eyes are already flickering closed. I haven’t got the strength to argue about this tonight.
“Sweet dreams, Lois. See you in the morning.”
I’m asleep long before the lights go out.
I wake up to the distinct sound of a gun being cocked. It doesn’t scare me. I figure James is just getting ready for the day ahead. I’ve rarely seen him leave the room without a firearm, and due to the amount of unsavoury customers this hotel seems to attract, I can’t say I blame him. Pulling my hand up to wipe the sleep from my eyes, I come up short and there’s the distinct jangle of a chain. I am not amused.
Blinking my eyes open, it’s to find a gun aimed squarely in-between my eyes, and an unfamiliar face sitting on the side of the bed next to me. As if that wasn’t cause enough for concern, my right arm is handcuffed to the bed.
“Good morning,” the face says pleasantly. The man in front of me is clean shaven, has short, dark brown hair, and wears a suit like every other bloke in this place. He’s quite attractive in a clean-cut way but lacks the rugged masculine appeal of both James and Adie. His accent is ostensibly Italian, but I can tell he’s from America, and if I had to put money on it, I’d say he was from New York.
“Good morning,” I reply, a good deal less cheerfully. “Your work?” I look pointedly at the handcuff above me.
He shakes his head. �
�Not me, I’m afraid.” I can’t think why he’d lie about that, so I have to assume he is telling the truth. My guess is that James is out trying to locate Ranieri, and he didn’t want me to run into any trouble until he returned. We’ll need to have words about that. It appears we still have a trust issue thing going on.
“So, what can I can do for you?” I say politely. If he was going to kill me, he’d have done it by now, unless I’ve killed someone he cares about, in which case he’ll probably want to drag it out slowly. In any case, I don’t have the energy to dissolve into panic. Hopefully James will be back shortly.
“I hear you’re working for Alain Dumortier, is that right?” Clean-cut gets straight to the point, and my breath catches in my throat. This could go one way or the other, and I’m not overly optimistic.
“Who are you and what do you want?” If he can be direct, so can I.
“Who I am is not important. It’s what I want you to do. What I’m about to tell you must remain in complete confidence. You can’t tell a soul, not even your partner. Think you can do that?”
“There are microphones all over the place. Nothing stays in confidence around these parts for long,” I mutter.
Clean-cut holds up a round little box which I recognise as an audio jammer. This guy isn’t mafia. I don’t know how I know that, but I do, and with absolute certainty.
“Fine. Let’s get on with this. You don’t have long.” My day really doesn’t need to get any more complicated than it is already, but that’s exactly what happens.
By the time Clean-cut has finished with me, my life expectancy on this world has decreased even further, and if James finds out what I’ve just done, he’ll kill me. The good news is that by the time he does, I’ll probably be dead already.
Chapter Nineteen – James
I sleep like shit in the high-backed chair, but I relish the kind of punishment it provides. It’s not nearly enough to make me feel better, but it’s a start. If I’m honest, I was pretty convinced that Lois was on our side, which was why I didn’t leave her alone. If I’d thought she was really working for Alain, I’d have slit her throat days ago. My conscience is still smarting, though. I’ve done things I’m going to regret in the last few days, so I’m just going to have to hope they don’t come back to haunt me. If anything happens to her, I am never going to forgive myself.
Having got up early this morning, I decide to try to take matters into my own hands and get a head start on plans for our return to Lavande. I need to find an ally in this place. Preferably someone who can infiltrate Alain’s compound and leave me with an arsenal of weapons, but that’s extremely unlikely. To be honest, I’ll take whatever I can get. We’re pretty desperate. I also need to scout out Ranieri’s room and see if there’s anything of interest located inside. We are running out of time. If we don’t get back to base today, there will be consequences. While I don’t think Alain will blow his brother up, I certainly wouldn’t want to put money on the fact.
As I head towards the dining room, I wonder whether Ranieri will meet me. The little note I slipped him last night said I’d be interested in a trade. I have very little in collateral to offer him, bar a girl who loves pain. In a few hours’ time, the ‘Predicament Bondage’ session will begin, and I can choose who to pair Lois with this time. If Ranieri wants the pleasure of controlling Lois, he’ll meet me here, but there are no guarantees.
The room is empty when I enter. The long table has been laid out for breakfast, and the tempting smell of sweet croissants and pastries perfume the air. It mingles with the scent of freshly percolating coffee. I suspect it will be awhile before most of the men surface. They will have had as much sleep as me if they were doing what they were supposed to last night. It will be interesting to see who tops the leader board this morning.
Grabbing a carafe of coffee, I fill a white mug full to the brim and take a sip, not caring that the bitter, black liquid is scalding hot. I need something to wake me up. It won’t do to let my guard down around these halls.
The first sign I have that I am not alone is the soft padding of leather shoes upon the tiled floor. I don’t turn around. He’ll notify me of his presence soon enough.
“Good morning.” Ranieri’s voice calls across the room, and I turn around slowly.
“Good morning. Did you have fun last night?” I smile, cutting the tension between us, and take a seat at the table, hoping Ranieri will follow. He does.
“I don’t think Antonio is going to be very happy with me this morning, but yes, I had fun.” He smiles smugly. “How’s Lois?”
“Exhausted. I’ve left her sleeping.”
“And did you keep your word?” He waves the bit of white paper I gave him in the air. I have to smile.
“Yes. I didn’t let her come. If you want her this morning, she’ll be desperate – no two ways about it.” Ranieri’s eyes are sly as he regards me. He knows I want something.
“So, Leveritt. What are we trading?”
I don’t beat about the bush. I haven’t got time for that shit. “A rather large shipment of cocaine went missing around these parts a couple of months ago. You know anything about that? My boss is rather curious.” My face is then hidden by the coffee cup, and I keep it there, glancing up at him through the narrow gap it allows. Steam is pouring up my nose, but it’s worth it because I see a flicker of something cross his eyes.
“You ask a lot for a couple of hours with a girl.” He’s got a point, but she isn’t ‘just a girl.’ She’s fucking amazing.
“You have no idea how impressive Lois is, but I’ll bite. What else do you want?” There’s always something. Money, influence, power… or sex. I kind of get the feeling that Ranieri already has plenty of the first three, but I’ve been wrong before.
“I want her for this morning’s session and then a foursome, later. This afternoon at three pm. If you can give me that, I might have something you can use.” Fuck. That isn’t going to give us much time to hop on a flight and get the hell back to Adie. We’ll be cutting it mighty fine. Mind you, if I don’t have the information that Ranieri has, there’s no point going back, so it’s not as if I have a choice.
“It’ll need to be sooner than that. We’re booked on flights out of here at five thirty. If you can fit us in earlier, we’re on.”
“Sounds good.” Ranieri inclines his head and I do the same in return. I want my information. Where is that fucking shipment? The silence lengthens as I wait for him to tell me, but he’s hedging. He’s not going to tell me now. He wants to check me out first, to make sure I’m not going to fuck him over. That’s what I would do, anyway.
“I’ll trade at our appointment. I don’t do business until I’ve had coffee.” Ranieri winks at me, puts his hand in the air, and then waltzes out of the door. “I’m in room three hundred and ninety-eight, by the way,” he calls out as an afterthought. I already knew that. Thanks for nothing. That man had better have what I want. If he’s playing me, there will be hell to pay.
My thoughts are consumed with the afternoon ahead. I have no idea how Lois will take what I’m about to tell her, although I’m fairly sure she’ll do whatever is necessary to stop Adie’s innards from being thrown all over the place. That’s generally what love’s all about, isn’t it?
Anyway, I’m lost in my head by the time I open the door to our room, so when I find a pair of hands wrapped around my neck, when I distinctly remember cuffing one of them not so very long ago, I’m a little taken aback.
It then takes approximately three seconds for world war III to erupt in the form of a naked little hellcat who would probably breathe fire, if she could.
“Next time you fucking leave me on my own, please do not cuff me. It’s a little hard to defend myself when I’m wearing this very fetching steel bracelet.” She whacks the thing into the side of my skull to make sure her displeasure is known, but I can’t do a thing about that because I’m still trying to prise her hands off my neck. Memo to me: never trust handcuffs.
“Calm down, Lois,” I choke. I could take her legs out from under her, but I don’t want to risk hurting her if we’re going back to Alain today. Besides, I probably earned this.
“I am not calm. I’m very irate. If you ever pull this stunt again, I promise you you’ll be wearing your testicles as earrings.” Judging by the look on her face, I don’t doubt her sincerity on that score.
“Can you let me explain?” I wheeze.
“Can you explain?” Actually, no, not really, but I’m up for having a go, if it means she’ll take her hands off my neck.
“Sit. You can kill me later,” I croak.
Rolling her eyes, while giving me a murderous look, she eventually does what I ask.
“Ranieri?” she questions. That woman is far too astute for her own good.
“Ranieri,” I confirm, rubbing my neck. “He wants a foursome in exchange for the info.”
“Great, let’s go.” Lois appears to have more enthusiasm for the idea than I do. Maybe the thought of an orgasm is fuelling her eagerness.
“Not now. We’re going to have some breakfast, and then I’ve given you to Ranieri for the next challenge. That was part of the deal. Think you can handle him?”
“If I can handle Adie and Alain, I can handle Ranieri.” Lois rubs at the red circles around her wrists, and I have to admit I do feel a bit guilty.
“You can’t handle Adie, and you certainly can’t handle Alain. You just refuse to admit it,” I snort. I see where she’s going with that, though. She’s a tough chick. I get it. I then smile inwardly. Adie is welcome to her. That woman is going to make his life miserable.
“So, what was with the handcuffs?” Lois holds her hand up, to display the red ring around her wrist, just in case I’m absolutely stupid and don’t understand basic English.
“It was to keep you out of trouble while I was gone. Fat lot of good it did. How did you get out of it, anyway?” Placing my hand around her right wrist, I gently rub at the red mark it’s left. I feel her breath catch beside me and my cock pulses. I cannot control myself around this woman. The longer I’m around her, the worse it will get. Removing my hand as if stung, I clench my fist together tightly.
Embers: A Dark Romance Love Triangle (A Special Agent Novel Book 5) Page 19