by Cynthia Eden
The blond. He stood against a tall, white column. There was no sign of the woman who’d been with him earlier. The man’s gaze was locked straight on her. She could have sworn she saw…
Fury.
Yes. He was staring at her with absolute rage in his eyes. No, not me. Dex. He was focused on Dex. Her breath caught because she knew that couldn’t be good.
The blond’s hand began to slide toward the inside of his tux—“Dex?”
The lights went out. The ballroom was plunged into complete darkness, and, somewhere, a woman screamed. That one scream was followed by another and another.
Great. Hello, panic. Here we go.
“Everyone, calm down.” Dex’s commanding voice rang out. “I’m sure there is no cause for alarm. Just a temporary outage so…”
Every instinct she possessed screamed at her, and she kept seeing that blond’s hand slide toward the inside of his tux. So maybe…screw calm. “Everyone, get down!” Lacey shouted.
“What?” Dex asked. “What are you—”
She threw her body into his just as a gunshot rang out.
More screams. Footsteps rushed by as people frantically moved for the exits, and a spiky heel slammed into the back of her hand.
“Dammit!” Lacey swore. “That hurt.”
Beneath her, she felt Dex’s entire body harden. “You’re hit?” He rolled her, moving quickly so that he was on top and his hands flew over her. “Where, baby? Tell me where, and I’ll make sure that you’re—”
The lights flashed back on. The brightness was disorienting. She had to blink a few times and Lacey found herself staring straight into Dex’s wild gaze. A gaze that was frantic and worried and—
“I’m not hit,” she said as her hands pushed against him. “Are you?” She knew the sound of a gunshot, and one had fired.
He released a breath, as if he’d been holding it, and Dex grimly shook his head. “No, I’m good.”
Good didn’t seem to be the right word.
He rose, slowly, and his gaze surveyed the room. Half of the ball attendees had already fled. As for the others, they were crouched in corners. She did her own visual scan of the area. No one appeared to be armed. There didn’t seem to be any casualties.
The blond guy is gone. Because she was specifically looking for him, Lacey noticed his absence. Roman Valentino wasn’t crouched in any corner.
“I say…I think that’s a bullet hole.” Jonathan’s voice wobbled as he pointed toward the wall that was less than two feet away from Dex.
And, yes, he was correct. From what she could tell, there was a bullet embedded in the wall.
Security personnel raced into the room. And right behind them, she saw Charles—their concierge guy—enter the ballroom with fluttering hands and a look of panic on his face.
“It’s a good thing you grabbed Lacey and ducked,” Jonathan continued as he clapped a hand around Dex’s shoulder. “I do believe one of you might have been shot, if you hadn’t, ah, what’s the phrase? Hit the deck?”
Lacey smoothed back her hair. There was no reason the shot would have been aimed at her. Obviously, Dex had been the target.
And she’d saved his ass. Boom. She’d be sure to tell him exactly how much he owed her as soon as they were alone and—
“We’re getting out of here.” Dex locked his fingers around her wrist. “Now.”
But they needed to investigate. They had to take stock of the scene. See if the shooter was still there. Go find Roman Valentino. They—
“And I didn’t grab Lacey,” Dex snapped over his shoulder to Jonathan. “She grabbed me.” He was hauling ass to get them out of there. In her heels, she had to race to keep up with him. As they blew by Charles, Dex glanced down at her. “I didn’t anticipate the shot. That shit should never have happened.” His eyes burned with fury. “Believe me, there will be hell to pay.”
Chapter Six
“I don’t understand what’s happening.” Lacey wrapped her arms around her stomach and peered at Dex as they stood on the second floor of the lodge—the so-called Whisper Floor. “You brought me here to help with a case. How can you be surprised when gunfire erupts if we are working a mission?”
He clenched his hands into fists because his fingers were shaking. What in the hell was that shit about? His fingers never shook. He was always freaking rock steady. But this…
Right after the shot, he’d wanted to flee the ballroom with her, but the pricks from hotel security had stopped to interview him and everyone else. Well, those still present, anyway. A shooting at this place was a nightmare for management. By dawn, half of the guests—probably far more—would be gone. The lodge was known as a beacon of safety and secrecy, and for this to happen…
Unacceptable.
She stopped hugging herself and her hands fell to her sides. “You should at least thank me for saving your ass.”
And you should scream at me for risking yours. “How did you know a shot was going to be fired?”
“Because I saw the blond guy—Roman—staring at you as if he hated you with every fiber of his being. Just as I was realizing he was hate-glaring at you, I saw his hand reaching for the inside of his tux. That was right before the lights went off. My instincts screamed, and I reacted.”
Dex sucked in a deep breath. “Good reaction.” But Roman as the shooter made no sense to him. The shot was far too risky to make in the dark, especially with Lacey right there. “You didn’t mention this to the lodge’s security team.”
Her delicate eyebrows arched. “Was I supposed to do that? Do you want them knowing this intel or do you have other plans in place?”
He already had other plans in motion, and she obviously knew it.
“You didn’t want another agent for the role I’m playing,” she noted. “That was why you brought me, an outsider, into whatever web this is, but I’m guessing that doesn’t mean other CIA operatives aren’t here.”
Again, she was right. He did have other operatives in position, and they were currently scrambling. They’d be in charge of the investigation, not any locals.
A lock of hair slid over her cheek. He reached out—just as she moved her hand to slide the lock back—and their fingers tangled.
Lacey went still as her gaze held his.
“Thank you for risking yourself to protect me.” Dex had to force the words out. The very fact that she had been in jeopardy…unacceptable. Someone would pay.
“It’s part of the job description,” she told him breezily. “Protect and defend, and it’s why you brought me out here so—”
“No,” he growled when his control snapped. He could actually hear the snap. “Not the job description.” He locked his hands around her and hauled her against him. His mouth crashed into hers as need and fear and lust surged through him.
The need and lust were easy to understand. He wanted Lacey. He thought she was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. The longer he was with her, the more he wanted her.
The fear—that was different. He wasn’t usually afraid of anything or anyone, but the idea of something happening to her, of her being hurt when she stood right beside him…
Can’t happen. Won’t happen.
Her lips were parted beneath his, and Lacey kissed him back with the same raw need that he felt. The kind of need that made him want to rip away her clothes, forget everything else, and just get lost in her.
The kind of need he didn’t usually feel because he controlled his emotions, not the other way around. But with Lacey, everything was different. She was different.
And he was becoming different the longer he spent with her.
Her hands curled around his shoulders. Her body pressed to his. A soft moan built in her throat and he absolutely wanted—
“Ahem.”
Dex wanted to be alone with her, not dealing with bureaucratic bullshit.
“Mr. Ryan, I must insist on speaking with you again. Multiple witnesses believe that you were the intended target, they put you neare
st the location of where the bullet hit, so I just need to go over some safety protocols with you.”
Dex slowly lifted his head and gazed down at Lacey. Her lips were red from his mouth. Her gaze—languid, sensual—held his.
“Charles is waiting for you,” she said softly. Her voice was the best, huskiest temptation ever.
“Charles can fuck off,” he replied. He’d been in the middle of other things.
“Ahem.” That ahem sounded offended. “Sir, it is of the utmost importance that we speak—”
“He’s one of your agents,” Lacey continued without even missing a beat. “So go and give the man his instructions then come back to me.”
She’d tagged Charles? Since when?
Lacey eased away from Dex and glanced over at Charles. “Am I to assume that this area is secure? No one else is lurking in any corridors up here?”
Dex turned his head toward Charles.
“The floor is secure,” Charles agreed. His back was ramrod straight, and the man’s expression was carved into tense lines. Dread practically poured from the fellow.
It should. Charles was on Dex’s payroll, so to speak, and the man should have made sure that no freaking shooters were in that ballroom.
“Let’s have that chat, Charles,” Dex said silkily.
Charles flinched. He turned away.
Instead of immediately following, Dex caught Lacey’s hand in his. “Stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Shouldn’t I go investigate? Talk to the other guests? Find out who the hell is trying to shoot you?”
Not me, love. I’m not sure the bullet was for me. “This is a safe spot.” The safest one at the moment. “I’ll be right back.” Then, before he gave in to the urge to pull her into his arms and maybe never, ever let go, Dex released her hand. He left her and strode after Charles.
***
Being on the second floor—the Whisper Floor, as Dex had called it before—gave Lacey a killer view of the scene below. Women in gorgeous gowns and men in expensive suits were rushing about in a frenzy. Some of the lodge staff members stood to the side, and she noticed the way they carefully eyed certain guests. Ah, so you’re an agent. And you’re an agent…
From a distance, it was easy to see what might get lost in a crowd. She could even see Dex as he and Charles huddled together.
Then Dex looked up. His intense, gray stare landed on her. She remembered the kiss. The passion that had nearly knocked her off her feet.
Lacey found herself backing away from the balcony. From him. She edged back toward the arches—
“Don’t trust him.”
Lacey stiffened when she heard the low warning. The whisper had just seemed to sound right in her ear. She whirled even as her heart raced but…
No one was there.
No one stood near her. No one stood anywhere close by at all. The arches stretched around her as her head turned to the left and the right. Odd. She had been so sure that she’d just heard a voice.
Absolutely certain…
She moved away from the arches and looked over the balcony once more. On the floor below, Dex was leaning in close for what appeared to be a very heated conversation with Charles. Poor Charles. The man looked like he was facing the devil himself.
Maybe he was.
But…
Her lips pressed together. Dex kissed me like he’d go crazy without me. And for just a moment, she’d felt the same way. Like she couldn’t get close enough to him.
Adrenaline.
And…more.
Her hand curled around the wooden top of the balcony. Then her head lifted, and her gaze darted over the second floor. That whisper had seemed so real. Yet no one else appeared to be there.
Whisper Floor.
Body stiff, she headed back toward the arches. Then she turned, surveying the—
“He’s lying to you.”
Again, a whisper, just teasing her left ear.
And, again, no one was there.
***
“I want to know what the fuck happened, and I want to know now. If there was a man or a woman in the ballroom with a gun, I should have known the minute I stepped inside.” Pissed didn’t even begin to describe the way Dex felt.
“Yes, sir.” Charles nodded.
“This isn’t some amateur-level operation. I told you how important it was. I was counting on you, and you’re screwing this to hell.” He stepped closer. “Lacey could have been shot. If she’d been shot, everything would have been lost. Everything.”
Me. I would have been lost.
He stiffened. Glanced up. For just a moment, he caught sight of Lacey as she leaned over the balcony. Her expression was pensive. Then she looked away, and her gaze seemed to sweep toward the arches…right before she stepped back.
Oh, shit. The arches.
He bounded away from Charles and rushed for the stairs.
***
“He’s using you. Don’t believe a word he says.”
No one was beside her, but the words were spoken as if another person was less than a breath away. Lacey bent and smoothed her hands over the cascading fall of her dress. Then she frowned at the fabric. Held it in a loose grip before straightening. Slowly, she circled around the edges of the Whisper Floor. With every step, she kept that loose grip on her dress, as if she was keeping it raised so she wouldn’t trip on the long fabric, and when she got to the far right…
She saw the shadow from the corner of her eye.
Lacey yanked the knife from the sheath on her thigh, and she attacked. She lunged forward and shoved the knife against the throat of the man who’d stood under the arches in that section of the second floor.
The blond. Roman.
He blinked at her.
She pushed her knife harder against him. “You’ve got something to stay to me?” Lacey snarled at him. “Say it to my face. I’m not a big fan of people who lurk in corners and whisper ominous shit to me.”
His lips parted, but he didn’t speak.
“Whisper Floor,” she snapped at him. “Took me a minute to remember why that seemed so familiar to me.” She didn’t take her gaze off her prey. “Read about another hotel with arches like this place once. Down in Mobile, Alabama. Article said you could speak into one end of an arch, and someone all the way on the other end could hear you.”
“Move…the knife.”
“I don’t think so. That knife stays exactly where it is and you tell me why you are up here trying to warn me away from my fiancé.”
“Because he’s using you.”
Tell me something I don’t know. “He loves me,” she threw right back, not missing a beat. “All of me. He knows exactly who I am.”
“Yes…fuckin’ bet he does.”
What? Her lips parted.
“Lacey!” Dex roared her name as he bounded up the stairs. “Lacey! Baby, where—”
“I’m here, and I have a new friend,” she called to him.
Dex ran to her side. Stopped. Whistled. Then, voice amused, Dex said, “Oh, darling, you’re already using your engagement present. So very happy that you’re enjoying it.”
Sweat trickled down Roman’s left temple.
“This jerk was hiding in the corner, whispering into the arch about how I couldn’t trust you.”
“Was he now.” Only Dex’s words weren’t a question.
“When a man hides in a corner near a woman, it makes you think he might be planning to attack. So I attacked first.” She rolled one shoulder in a shrug. Her grip on the knife never wavered. “That’s who I am. A fight-first-and-question-later kind of woman.”
Roman’s gaze jumped to Dex. “Call…her off.”
Lacey’s stare hardened on him.
“Are you implying that my fiancée is some sort of attack dog? Someone—something—to be called off?” Dex’s voice wasn’t amused any longer. It was furious. Rumbling with dark intent and power. “Because I will kick the living hell out of you if you disrespect her by wor
d or deed, so watch your damn self.”
“She’s not your fiancée. Obviously…bodyguard.”
Now Lacey laughed. “What is it about Dex that makes you think he would need a bodyguard? Obviously,” she used the word deliberately, “he can take care of himself.”
Roman’s eyes widened. “You’re…actually…marrying him?”
“I’m wearing the ring. Did you miss it? It’s pretty big, so I’m surprised you didn’t notice it.” As she stared into his eyes, there was something about him that nagged at her. She didn’t think they’d ever met before, but there was a familiarity there. Something she couldn’t quite place. “How do I know you?”
His expression shut down.
Dex’s fingers slid to cup her shoulder. “He’s not going to fight. He’s going to walk away. Aren’t you, Roman?”
Roman gave a jerky nod. The blade nicked him.
“I hope you’ve satisfied your curiosity with this little meet-and-greet,” Dex continued, still using his I-will-destroy-you voice of fury. “Because it’s time for your ass to go, Roman.”
“Consider it satisfied.”
Lacey slowly lowered her blade. “My curiosity isn’t satisfied.” In fact, it was working toward a fever pitch.
Roman swiped away the trickle of blood on his neck.
“Why were you warning me about Dex?” Lacey wanted to know.
“Because he’s an asshole,” Roman replied flatly. “You can’t trust him.”
Interesting. His tone had just told her…“You hate him.”
Roman’s stare flickered toward Dex. “You can say that. And to think, we were once best buds.”
“Friends make for the worst enemies,” Dex tossed out.
Okay, there was apparently lots at play between them. Time to cut to the chase. “Did you shoot at Dex in the ballroom?” she asked Roman.
“No.” An immediate reply.
And one she didn’t buy. “You were reaching inside your jacket before the lights went out—”
“Because I had a telephone call to make. I was reaching for my phone. I didn’t shoot at Dex.” He swiped at his neck again and left a faint smear of red near his Adam’s apple. “Now, we’re done. I’ve been assaulted and treated like a criminal, so I think my night is complete.” With that, he stalked toward the stairs—