Naked Vengeance

by Sophia Rae

  Like she was a real person.

  “I said I wanted to talk, because I do.”

  Still confused, and a little nervous, Allison leaned forward in her chair. “But, why?”

  “Why don’t I want to jump right into that bed?”

  She nodded.

  “Because when I take a woman to bed, I take her to my bed. I don’t share and I prefer to know her first. Women should be treated with respect.”

  Oh man, did men like this really exist? This had to be a setup, a trap. Roman sent this man in as a test to see what she would do.

  “So, what do you want to talk about?”

  Max kept his hand on her knee. “I want to discuss the fact that you have nothing to worry about.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m going to get you out,” he said in a low whisper.

  The room closed in around her until complete and utter darkness consumed her.

  ***

  Max knew he shouldn’t have just blurted the truth out like that. Now because of his poor timing, Allison sat slumped against the side of the chair.

  Dammit.

  “Come on, Allison,” he said as he patted her soft, pale cheek. “Wake up.”

  She stirred under his touch. Like Sleeping Beauty, only he didn’t get to kiss her. He never would’ve dreamed the last missing girl from the club was still being kept captive. Yet here she sat.

  Not only did she have the body of a pinup, Allison Myers had the face of the girl next door. Her tall, willowy curves begged a man to glide his hands over them. And her little excuse of a dress left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

  He knew Allison had been ordered what to wear, say and do to all the men who came through this room. Roman had no problem whoring her out like a piece of trash.

  Sick fuck.

  Max brushed Allison’s blond hair off her creamy shoulder. It didn’t need to be done, but he couldn’t sit here another second without touching those silky strands.

  The instant he’d come through the door of her room, Max had nearly swallowed his tongue. If a more intriguing, beautiful woman existed, Max didn’t know where. Allison couldn’t have been more perfect if he’d conjured her up himself.

  Slowly, her lids fluttered open, exposing gorgeous blue eyes. She blinked several times, as if trying to focus in on his face.

  “Allison?”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “You passed out,” he said without moving back to give her the air she probably needed.

  She smelled so damn good, he couldn’t stand up now if he wanted to. Between her exotic scent, the feel of her skin, her hair, and that damned dress, he now had one hell of a hard-on. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her.

  But at least she would see he wasn’t gay.

  Allison jerked upright. “You said something about getting me out.”

  “Yes, but we have to stay quiet.”

  Hope glistened in the moisture that gathered in Allison’s almond-shaped eyes. He would get her out of here, find the other women and bring this perverted bastard down.

  “Wh-who are you?” Allison’s voice shook, more than likely from anxiety.

  “I’ve been trying to work for Roman for a while now. My name really is Max and I’m one of the good guys, but that’s all you need to know. The less you know the better.”

  Allison nodded.

  “We’ll have to convince Roman we’re lovers, though,” he told her. “He can’t think anything’s up, or he’ll fire me. I’m working as a gate guard to gain information on him.”

  “Are you a cop?”

  He smiled. “Just concentrate on keeping Roman happy.”

  “How long?”

  He hated the fact he’d have to leave her here to “entertain” Roman and his friends, but he didn’t have a choice. Max certainly didn’t want to think about what all she may have to endure until he could get her out. Or what the other women had gone through—like his sister.

  “Hang in there a few more days.”

  Cynicism still swam in her eyes. He didn’t blame her for not trusting him, not after all she’d been through. He still wanted to gain her trust. He wanted her to know he wouldn’t let her down.

  “Why can’t we just leave now? Roman’s gone.”

  “We need to gather more evidence and find out what happened to the other women. I promise we’ll get you out.”

  Allison looked him straight in the eye. “I want you to get me out.”

  Max swallowed the lump in his throat. “Fine. I’ll get you out.”

  She released a breath and Max forced himself to back away. The woman was supposed to be beautiful, tempting, alluring… It was her job. Damn, she was good.

  But why the hell—no, how the hell had someone as pure-looking as Allison gotten mixed up in such a screwed-up world?

  “I want you to know you can trust me,” he said once he came to his feet. “I will be working the front gate every morning, and I’ll make sure I see you after each shift. Okay?”

  Allison looked up with her big, sparkling eyes and nodded. “Will you do something for me?”

  Between her whisper-like voice and her pouty pink lips, Max would damn well do anything she asked right now.

  “Will you call my sister and tell her I’m okay?”

  Anything except that. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  Her hopeful gaze dropped to her lap. “Oh, it’s okay.”

  “If I called, that might compromise the investigation, and I want this man put away for a long time.”

  He waited a beat for her to respond, but when her head came back up, her eyes had turned to steel. Anger didn’t even diminish her beauty.

  “I want him to rot in hell for what he’s put the other girls through.”

  Max tilted his head. “What about what he’s put you through?”

  Allison looked away. “At least I’m still close to home,” she whispered. “Who knows where the other two girls are.”

  That’s what worried Max the most. His sister had been sold—she had to be out there somewhere.

  Max forced himself to sit back in his vacated chair now that her color had come back. Only now he feared he would have tears to deal with.

  “Did you know the other two girls?”

  With her head tilted to the side, her long, blond hair shielded her face. “Yeah. Carly disappeared about a week after I started, so I didn’t get to know her really well. Ashley and I hung out a couple of times, though.”

  Max fisted his hands on the arms of the chair. He hated the way her voice had hitched, hated the hell she would have to endure for a few more days. He wanted her out of here now. He wanted to pick her up, carry her out and say to hell with the investigation.

  But Carly needed him. As usual.

  “Weren’t you scared to keep working there after two women disappeared?”

  She turned her face back to him. Her red-rimmed eyes were dry. “I couldn’t afford to be. With it being a gentlemen’s club, I knew I’d bring in a good bit of money. I needed that job so bad, I just took extra precautions.”

  “Like what?” he asked.

  “I bought pepper spray. When I’d pull into work, I’d always wait and walk in with another girl, then walk out with other girls after work. I always parked near a light.”

  Max hated this part of his job. He hated making victims remember the initial attack. Unfortunately, it had to be done in order to catch the psychopaths that littered society.

  He tried to put the image out of his mind of his sister and Allison being treated as whores. They were people. He didn’t know Allison’s story, but he knew Carly’s.

  The poor girl never seemed to keep her mind in the right place. And always seemed to fall for some poor schmuck with a sad story.

  “How did Roman get you?” Max asked, getting back to the present.

  Allison took a deep breath in. Her chest rose, then fell slowly. “I was taken to Hank’s office. He’s the manager of The Excali
bur. He told me an associate had a job offer for me and I could still work at the club, this would just be extra income. I couldn’t turn it down, so I agreed.

  “My first night on the job I was given this address, and Hank assured me the client would meet me here and it was completely safe.”

  Lying bastard. Max vowed to bring Hank down right along with Roman.

  “Roman met me at the door,” Allison said with a shudder. “He was everything a dancer like me wants in a client.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Rich.”

  “You want some man to come whisk you away from your daily life?”

  “No.” A sad smile spread across her angelic face. “We aren’t naïve enough to think a white knight is going to come in and take us to a castle to live happily ever after. Basically, we are just looking for a good customer who thinks our dances are worth a lot of money.”

  Max hated thinking of her on a dimly lit stage with strange, probably married, men leering at her, flapping dollar bills her way.

  Like waving kibble at a puppy.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Max offered a smile. “Yeah, just thinking.”

  Allison kept her questioning eyes on him. For the life of him, he couldn’t make himself look anywhere else.

  Maybe she would see something in his own eyes, something that would make her trust him, believe in him. He didn’t want to leave without her having some reassurance that it would be okay. Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but it would get better from here.

  Because he couldn’t stand sitting here a second longer without reiterating the truth to her, Max leaned forward and patted her arm. “It’ll be okay. This will all be over and by this time next week, you’ll be back home where you belong.”

  Allison closed her eyes and leaned her head against the side of the chair. “I pray you’re right.”

  “I wouldn’t have told you if I thought there was the slightest chance we couldn’t get you out. I’ll personally get you away from this bastard.”

  Truer words had never left Max’s lips. He would get Allison home where she belonged. And he’d to do the same for his lost sister.

  ***

  Could her life get any more humiliating?

  Not only did Nick have to stand in the back of the club, now Grady hovered near the bar. The men were at least smart enough to keep their distance from each other.

  Grady all but screamed FBI with his dark suit and crisp white shirt, especially the way he kept his glaring eyes roaming over the room. She doubted anybody else noticed, but the way he stood, his gun pushed the side of his jacket out.

  Eve had already done one set. One set with her boss and her…what should she call Nick? Her temporary lover?

  They’d both kept their eyes focused in her direction, Nick more than Grady. Her body burned every time she looked back and saw Nick, his face unreadable.

  But Eve knew he hated this. He might act tough and strong, but deep down Nick hated watching her strip for other men. But he couldn’t hate it nearly as much as she did.

  Eve touched up her make-up and piled her hair loosely on top of her head with only one large gold clip. She stood to examine her navy, gold and white “sailor” outfit.

  The white skirt hugged her hips, the navy and white vest barely buttoned over her chest and the gold stilettos were taller than her usual four-inch shoes.

  She prayed she didn’t teeter off the stage into some man’s willing lap.

  Eve bent over toward the mirror and reached inside her vest to pull her breasts together. The more cleavage, the better.

  One more set and she’d be done for the night. Except she wasn’t really looking forward to going back to the hotel with Nick, who had been insistent on discussing the fact she could be pregnant.

  Eve placed a hand across her flat stomach and prayed. Surely life wouldn’t be that cruel to place a baby in the hands of a woman who couldn’t even take care of herself, much less an innocent child.

  Dirty diapers and three a.m. feedings would definitely put a damper on her field career.

  When Eve’s music began, she pushed the unpleasant thoughts aside and concentrated on not throwing up at the fact she had to go out on the stage and strip with her boss watching.

  The second she stepped onto the stage, Eve looked to the bar, where four familiar eyes would be watching her. But something didn’t look right.

  Where had Nick disappeared to? Grady stood in the same spot as before, but Nick was nowhere in sight.

  The two-minute dance seemed to take two hours. Eve had to get off that stage and find Nick. Something really important had to have come up or he would be there.

  Surely he wasn’t in any danger or Grady would have come to the dressing area and gotten her out as well. And if Nick had needed back-up, Grady would’ve gone with him.

  So where the hell had he gone?

  Once Eve finished, she didn’t even take time to change into her own bra and panties. She left on the sheer gold lingerie and pulled her jean shorts and white tank over them. She slipped into her own white sandals and headed to the front of the club.

  When Grady caught sight of her, he straightened from the bar.

  “Where’s Nick?”

  “He’s taking care of something,” Grady replied.

  “Did he leave?”

  Grady shook his head. “No. He’s right behind you.”

  “Are you done?”

  Eve turned at the sound of Nick’s angry voice. “Yeah, where were you?”

  Nick took her by the arm. “Let’s go.”

  Shocked and a little more than irritated, Eve waited until she and Nick were outside and in his rental car before she said anything.

  “What the hell was that for?” she asked as he started the engine.

  “I just wanted you out of there,” he said.

  Eve kept her eyes on the side of his face. “Why all of a sudden?”

  “We’ll discuss it when we get back to the room.”

  Anger boiled through her. Eve crossed her arms and jerked around to sit against the seat. “Fine, but I don’t know what I did to put you in this pissy mood all of a sudden.”

  “It’s not all of a sudden,” he replied.

  She threw her hands up. “What the hell is your problem? You were fine on the way to the club. Did something happen I need to know about?”

  He flashed a quick glance her way. “I said we’ll talk in the room.”

  “Fine,” Eve conceded. “But don’t blame all your bad moods on me.”

  Nick smacked the steering wheel as he pulled into a parking spot at her hotel. “My bad moods are because of you.”

  He threw the car into park and got out, slamming the door behind him.

  Eve could only stare for a second as he stalked toward the side entrance. Her body’s actions finally caught up to her mind. She got out of the car and ran after him.

  He used the keycard for the side entrance, then marched four doors down to their room. Without a word, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.

  The second Eve stepped in behind him, she slammed the door.

  “Now tell me—”

  Nick turned and crushed his mouth down onto hers, pushing her back against the door. His hard body always felt so perfect up against hers. It amazed her how one person could be made to fit with another’s body so well.

  Eve relaxed, letting his forceful kiss carry her to a better state of mind. Her body had already become moist for him.

  “When we’re in here, it’s about sex,” he said against her lips. “Remember?”

  She put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. “No. Tell me what has you so upset.”

  “I’d rather not talk right now.”

  Eve held up her other hand to his chest when he moved in again. “I’m not having sex with you until you tell me why the hell you pulled me from the club and where you were while I was doing my last set.”

  Nick held his hands out to the side. “Fine
. You want to know what I was doing? I was in Hank’s office informing him this would be your last night of employment.”

  “What?”

  “I also told him to tell Roman you wouldn’t be taking that job, either.”

  Rage flooded through her body as she charged at Nick. Before she knew it, her fists were flying. Unfortunately she only made contact once before he caught both her wrists. She struggled to free herself, but he had a good hundred pounds on her.

  So she brought her knee up.

  “Fuck!” Nick dropped her hands and fell to the floor.

  “How dare you do this to me,” Eve shouted down to him. “After all that talk about trust and working together as a team. Why the hell did you do that? Do you know what you’ve done? We may never get another chance to find the three missing girls.”

  Beads of sweat glistened across Nick’s forehead. After a minute, he got to his knees, then to his feet. Still bent at the waist, Nick panted and held himself.

  “When we talked about working together, circumstances were different,” he groaned out.

  “What circumstances?”

  He tilted his head up. “You weren’t pregnant then.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nick watched a play of emotions come over Eve’s face. Anger, confusion, disbelief. His balls ached like a bitch, but he had to explain his feelings.

  “Look,” he said as he attempted to come to his full height. “It’s not that I don’t trust you or think you aren’t capable of taking care of yourself, but if there’s the slightest possibility you could be carrying my child, I don’t want to take the chance.”

  “Our child,” she said.

  “What?”

  “You said your child, but the baby would be ours.”

  “Sorry.”

  Eve moved toward him. His dick twitched with fear. “Whether I’m pregnant or not, we have to help these girls, Nick. I may be their only way out. I have to take the chance. Yes, there’s a great possibility I’m pregnant, but there’s an even greater possibility these girls will never be heard from again if we don’t do something.”

  Exasperated, he ran a hand through his hair. “Would you listen to yourself? Even you admit the fact there could be a baby. Don’t you care you could be putting him or her in danger?”