by Cynthia Eden
The elevator felt awfully small. “How many of the staff members at this place work for you?”
“A lot less than you’re thinking. If they all worked for me, it would be too easy for others to spot them. Plenty of real staff members and guests come and go as they please.”
She reached out her hand and stopped the elevator.
Dex merely lifted a brow.
“Who are you?” Lacey asked.
“I’m Dexter Ryan, but you know that.”
“That’s not what I mean.” She crept toward him. Why did she always feel almost as if she was being pulled closer to him? “Heather called you a monster.”
“Um, yes, but considering she tried to shoot you in the heart, do we want to take what she says as gospel?”
“Are you a monster, Dex?”
His eyelids didn’t so much as flicker. “What do you think?”
Chapter Fourteen
She couldn’t stand this close to him, couldn’t smell so good, couldn’t look like the best dream of his whole life and think he was a monster.
Dex’s muscles ached from tension as he stood before Lacey and waited for her reply.
“You play with people’s lives.”
Guilty.
“And I think you have more power than most people can imagine.”
He did. He knew where a lot of bodies were buried. Mostly because, he’d buried many of them.
But I’m not a monster. I’m a man. Don’t look at me and think—
“What matters to you, Dex? Why do you do this job?”
He wanted to touch her so badly. He didn’t. You. I do it for people like you. For the people in the world who were good. Because the world wasn’t all shit storms and nightmares. There were people out there worth fighting for. Things out there that mattered. “You ever see four-year-olds play soccer? They run around the field, trip over each other, and laugh like hitting the ground is the best thing that ever happened to them.”
A faint furrow appeared between her eyebrows.
“You ever seen a sixteen-year-old boy take his first girlfriend to the prom? He’s nervous as hell, his fingers shake so badly he almost crushes her corsage, but when he drives away with the girl in his truck with him, his smile is so big you’d think he won the lottery.”
The furrow grew deeper.
“And have you ever watched an eighty-nine-year-old grandmother wipe away tears when she sees her granddaughter walk down the aisle while wearing the dress she wore so many years ago?”
“Dex…”
“Those are good moments, Lacey. Good people. That’s why I do the job.” He was talking about moments he’d seen from other people’s lives. Because it was those people who mattered. “Someone has to fight. Someone has to do the dirty work and make sure that the world stays safe. And no, it’s not pretty. And, no, it’s not a job that lets me keep my hands clean.” His hands were covered in so much blood that he’d never be able to wipe it all away. He’d stopped trying long ago. He looked down at his hands. The hands that had touched every single inch of her body, and he had to ask her, “Do you think I’m a monster?”
There was a quick beep of sound, and then a voice blasted over the intercom, “Sir, are you all right? Is there a threat?”
Dex’s gaze lifted to sweep over Lacey’s beautiful face. “Yes, there’s a threat all right,” he muttered. The biggest threat he’d ever faced.
Her eyes widened.
Hell. “Everything is fine,” he said, making his voice louder so that he’d be heard.
“Then we will restart the elevator, sir,” the voice responded quickly.
There was a hum and the elevator jerked a little. Lacey’s stare darted to the upper left corner of the elevator. “You’ve got eyes watching us, hmm?”
He didn’t bother glancing toward the video camera. “They’re being extra vigilant now. Considering what happened, they have to be.”
Her attention returned to him. “Whoever is watching obviously saw that I was the person in here with you. Do those agents think I’m some kind of threat to you?”
You are, baby.
The elevator dinged.
The basement level had been buried deep. They’d needed to pass a few storage floors before reaching the lobby level. The doors slid open, and Lacey turned away.
He followed her and reached for her arm. “You didn’t answer my question.” He pulled her closer to him. They were back in the main heart of the lodge. Staff members bustled around. Fresh flowers had been placed throughout the area. A fire crackled from the massive fireplace. Everything seemed so normal.
If only.
Lacey turned toward him. Put her right hand on his chest and tipped back her head. “You didn’t answer mine, either.”
Do those agents think I’m some kind of threat to you?
His head lowered toward her mouth. “You’re the biggest threat out there,” he murmured.
He saw her eyes widen in surprise as he went to take—
“Lace?”
Dex stiffened.
“Lace, is that you?”
Very, very slowly, Dex straightened. Several different things occurred to him in that one moment.
First…Lace? Who the fuck was calling her Lace in that familiar tone? As far as he knew, only Eric called her that, and that voice damn well didn’t belong to Eric Wilde.
Second…Shock was on her face. Shock, surprise and…she’d just flushed. Her cheeks had gone pink.
Third…Dex turned his head to see the man who spoke way too casually—with way too much familiarity—to Lacey. A man with long hair that had obviously been carefully styled to appear tousled. Tall and lean, wearing jeans that looked old and ragged but were no doubt from a stupid expensive designer because everything this guy did was by careful design.
The man had an image to maintain, after all. As soon as Dex had gotten a look at him, Dex had recognized the prick instantly. He was rich. Famous. The drummer for one of the biggest bands in the country.
He was the jackass who’d wanted to marry Lacey.
“Tim?” Lacey’s voice wasn’t warm and welcoming. It was more hesitant. Careful.
Tim Wraith.
A wide smile split the guy’s face. He rushed forward with his arms up, as if he intended to hug Lacey. When his hands lifted, the sleeves of his shirt pulled back a bit, and Dex glimpsed some of the fellow’s signature tats.
Lacey stood a bit uncertainly near Dex. The uncertainty was a new thing, coming from her. The drummer was about to pull her into a hug in three, two, and—
Dex stepped into his path. “Who the fuck are you?”
Tim staggered to a stop. Seemed to notice Dex for the first time. Seemed being the key point there. No way had he actually missed Dex, considering Dex had been plastered to Lacey when the drummer had called her name. Dex had been about to kiss her.
A necessary act, of course, since they were continuing their cover of being a couple. So a little PDA was a good thing.
Kissing her was also necessary because he just wanted her mouth.
“Uh, sorry, mate,” the faint Australian accent slid through the man’s voice. “Just saw my girl so I had to give her a big—”
“No.” Rage slid into Dex’s gut. “You didn’t.”
Tim laughed and craned around Dex. “I’m seeing her right now. Clear as day. And, damn, Lace, you’re sexier now than when—”
“You didn’t see your anything. You saw my fiancée.”
Tim stopped laughing. His head snapped back toward Dex.
“And I’m still asking…” Even though Dex knew perfectly well who the drummer was. “Who the hell are you?”
Tim straightened. “Don’t you recognize me?” His jaw jutted out.
“Should I?” Dex knew he sounded annoyed. That was the point. A million thoughts swirled through his head, but the main one…
Why is this SOB here? In Fortune, at the same time Lacey was there. In Fortune, the day after she’d nearly been killed.
“Don’t know music, eh?” A smirk. “I’m Tim Wraith. I play drums for Implosion Night.”
Dex lifted his brows. “Good for you.”
Tim’s mouth tightened. “And who are you?”
Dex reached for Lacey’s hand. He threaded his fingers with hers and pulled her to his side. “I’m Dex.” A pause. “Lacey’s fiancé.”
Tim took a surging step forward. Then caught himself. “Thought you said that word a minute ago. Figured I’d misheard.” It sounded as if he was choking. His gaze dropped to their joined hands, or, more specifically, to the ring on Lacey’s finger. “Fucking fast.”
The veneer and warmth that had first been in his voice when he called out, “Lace!” was gone. His nostrils flared. His jaw tightened and then he was jerking his chin toward her as his green gaze locked on her face. “Thought you didn’t want commitment. Thought that wasn’t your style.”
“Tim.” Her voice was measured. “I never said it wasn’t my style. I told you that I didn’t want to move in with you.”
Tim’s breath heaved out. “I missed you.”
What. The. Fuck.
Dex grunted. “Yeah, I hope she hasn’t missed you.” He’d wanted to draw the other man’s attention back to him, and with those words, he got it.
Tim glared.
Dex smiled. “I mean, if my fiancée is missing another man, then I have a real problem on my hands, don’t I?” He brought Lacey’s hand to his mouth. Pressed a kiss to her knuckles. The move was deliberate. He wanted her diamond to flash again.
“When…did you meet?” Tim choked out.
“If you’re trying to ask if I was seeing Dex when we were together, the answer is no.” Once again, her voice was very measured. “My relationship with Dex is a recent development.”
Tim was staring—or, rather, glaring— at the ring once more. “You got swept away, huh? The controlled Lacey Amari fell?”
The guy was way, way hung up on her. A problem.
“You could say that,” Lacey replied. From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Dex.
He almost smiled because he could practically read her thoughts. Swept away. Blackmailed. Whatever. Semantics.
A curved blonde made her way to Tim’s side. She slid her arm around his waist. “I was waiting with the bags forever. You just left me there.” Her full lips pulled down in a pout. “I don’t like to wait.”
Tim didn’t look her way. “Congratulations,” he said to Lacey. And only to Lacey. His stare was fixated completely on her once more. “As you can see, I’ve moved on, too. This is Fiona.”
Fiona gave them a smile. It didn’t reach her eyes. Though when her gaze measured Dex, she did lick her lower lip. She ran her long red nails over Tim’s shirt. “I’m starving. Let’s go. I don’t want to eat alone.”
“I was just catching up with an old friend.” Tim pushed her away. “Go have your meal. I’ll join you later.”
“But—”
“We’re leaving,” Dex cut in. This jackass had some serious issues. And the first thing he needed to do…stop eye-fucking Lacey. “Lacey and I have plans, so…” So bye. “Interesting meeting you, Jim.” Not really.
“My name is Tim, not Jim.”
“Right. Sure.” He shrugged. “Good luck with your boy band.”
Tim’s eyes glittered. “It’s not a fucking—”
Dex didn’t bother to listen. He was already walking away with Lacey by his side. He’d put up with enough bullshit already. The last thing he wanted was that dick anywhere near Lacey.
He headed straight for the private elevator that would take them back to their suite. In order to get down to the interrogation area, he’d had to utilize a special, secondary elevator, one equipped with additional security and one accessed only with an agency clearance card. To get back to their suite, they had to go up via the club-level elevator.
Lacey followed him into the elevator. He pressed the button to shut the door, and when he glanced back, he saw Tim watching them.
As the doors closed, Dex lowered his head and took Lacey’s mouth. The kiss was hard, hot, and possessive as all hell. He wanted to send a message, and he needed to be certain that message was received.
She’s mine. Stay the hell away.
Chapter Fifteen
“I don’t think he can see us anymore.” Lacey pushed against Dex’s chest. “But thanks for the show.” She felt shaky and uncertain—two things she hated with a passion. The elevator was already dinging—a sign, of course, that they’d reached their floor—and she realized that she’d kissed him for far too long.
And he didn’t even mean the kiss. It wasn’t real. Just for show. Like everything else.
“Screw him.” Dex’s voice was an angry snarl that she didn’t expect. And then he followed it up with… “Wait, guess you already did.”
She stiffened. Her eyes lifted to meet his. “Yes,” she told him clearly. “I did.”
Dex’s jaw clenched.
The doors were open. Without another word, she strode away from him. She passed the agents in the hallway and jabbed her keycard over the sensor so she could get in the damn suite. She could feel Dex closing in behind her, and whatever else they had to say to each other—they were going to do that shit in private.
She pressed her lips together to hold herself in check until she heard the click of the door shutting behind Dex. Then she whirled. “How dare you act like some kind of jealous—”
“I am.” Guttural.
Also not the response she’d expected. “What?”
His breath heaved out. “I’m fucking jealous.”
“Why?”
He stalked toward her. “Because he had you.”
“Yes. You knew that before.” She threw her hands into the air. “We’ve had this discussion. What does it matter?”
“You loved him.”
The statement had her gaping. Then quickly recovering. “No, I didn’t. If I loved him, I’d be married to him right now.”
He stopped his stalking. Appeared unsure. Off-balance. Probably a first for him. “But…”
“You need to calm your ass down and get some things straight.” Now she was the one to surge toward him. She jabbed her finger into his chest. “I had a life before you.”
“I know that,” he rumbled.
“Do you, really? Because—newsflash—I had lovers before you.”
“Not really in the mood to talk about—”
“I don’t care about your mood! In case you missed it, I’m having the day from hell! Someone tried to kill me, and now my ex is suddenly popping up in my face. That is crazy. That is the worst kind of coincidence, and I don’t think—”
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all.” His hands had clenched into fists. “There’s no way it can be.”
“What?”
“I think Tim is obsessed with you. I think he’s been watching you. I think he followed you here.”
She didn’t speak. A cold chill swept over her skin.
“Right.” A nod from Dex. “You thought the same thing when you saw him, didn’t you?”
Yes, she had thought that because just last month, when she’d been working another case, she’d turned around and Tim had been there. He’d said that he was scouting locations for a music video shoot. That could have been the reason but…
“Is that why you didn’t love him?” Dex pressed. “Because you could see the darkness slipping through with him? Slipping through those cracks when he tried so hard to pretend everything was perfect?”
“Nothing is perfect,” she whispered. “Not with anyone or anything.”
“I don’t know about that. I think you’re pretty damn close to perfect.”
She sucked in a breath. “Is that a compliment from you?”
“Yes.”
“So one minute you’re snarling at me and saying you’re jealous—when, by the way, we are not engaged, in case you forgot, so you don’t actuall
y have a reason to be jealous—and then in a big, one-eighty, you’re throwing random compliments at me.” She was still jabbing him with her finger. She started to yank back her hand.
Too late. His fingers closed around her wrist. “I haven’t forgotten that we’re not engaged. I also haven’t forgotten that I had the best sex of my life with you last night.”
“There you go,” she said shakily. “Tossing out those compliments—”
“I had you, and I don’t like to think of you with anyone else. I’m jealous. I’m possessive. And I…don’t like him being close to you.” The confession seemed torn from Dex. “I don’t trust him. Don’t trust the way he looks at you.”
“How does he look at me?” she asked softly. Curiously.
“Like he can’t look anywhere else.”
She swallowed.
“I’m sorry that I snapped at you,” Dex added, his voice all rough and gruff.
“Snapped? Is that what we’re calling it?”
His fingers stroked over her racing pulse. “Fine. I can do a better apology.”
“Good. I would love to hear it.”
Another careful caress over her pulse. “I’m sorry that I was an asshole who upset you. I was way out of line. You didn’t deserve that shit from me. I’ll get my jealousy in check. I’m sure most of the men who see you fantasize about having you in bed, so I’ll deal with that—why are you laughing?”
“Because that doesn’t happen when strangers meet me.” Said with certainty. “Why in the world would you think it did?”
He brought her wrist to his mouth. Pressed a kiss to the pulse that jumped even faster now. “Because you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.”
She highly doubted that. She knew the circles he wandered in, and she was sure super models and celebrities were plentiful there. “Tim liked me because I was different. Because I didn’t immediately fall at his feet like everyone else. I was a challenge. To him, I’m still a challenge because I left.”
“Oh, baby, you are so much more than that.” Once more, he kissed her wrist. This time, she could have sworn she felt the lick of his tongue. “But you know what?” Dex murmured. “Don’t worry about Tim. I’ll handle him.”
Now she was extra worried. She was also sidling closer, as if she couldn’t help the movement when she knew she should be backing up. “Handle him,” Lacey repeated. “Does that mean you’re going to throw him in some secret CIA cell some place?” Because, apparently, those cells were hidden everywhere. Even in swanky lodges.