“Yes. It’s dulled down a lot, but it’s still there.”
“It will be for some time. By tonight you should feel nearly back to normal.”
“Thank you for helping me. I think the pepper spray was more horrifying than anything Dagor has done. I know Dagor wants me dead. So with him, I know what I’m fighting for. But the pepper spray caught me off guard. I couldn’t see, and my eyes felt like they were boiling to the point of blistering. I had no idea where I was, and there was no one to help. For those first few minutes of coughing and wheezing, I was completely defenseless.”
Sergio reached over and squeezed my hand. He rested his hand on mine.
“I know,” he said.
“If this isn’t your normal work, why are you here?”
“It’s hard to explain. When Dagor first found me, he assumed I was something more than what I am. I guess the Terminator nickname must have led him down this path of reasoning. But he wanted me to find you and bring you to him. I didn’t know him, though I knew he wasn’t on the up and up. When he said your name I remembered I had heard of you from YouTube.” He smirked, remembering the video.
I slapped his hand away from mine. Damn video!
He chuckled. “I won’t bring it up again. Anyway, I said I’d get back to him. I investigated Dagor and found he was wanted by the police and the whole nine yards. The next thing I knew, he was back in my office sweetening the deal with recovering the trophy. I took the job to stop him from hurting you and getting his hands on the trophy.”
“Why does everyone want the trophy?”
Sergio hesitated for a moment. I didn’t know if it was because he didn’t want to tell me or because we’d arrived at his place. He parked and killed the engine.
“Let’s go upstairs,” he said. “Someone wants to see you, and then we can all talk.”
“Who wants to see me?” I was leery about anyone who wanted to see me. All anyone wanted was the trophy, and I didn’t have it.
His lips curved into a smile, making his face friendly and warm. He could never be in the same classification of handsome as Greyson. Greyson was hotter than any advertisement model. Sergio had a handsome quality of his own, though. It just took time to see and appreciate it.
I climbed out of the car. It didn’t matter who wanted to see me. Sergio was on my side now, and I believe he wouldn’t jeopardize that. I had to believe it. My list of allies was thinning with Greyson and Remy out of the picture.
We crossed to the elevator. It was floor level and waiting for us with open doors. I stepped in and sought refuge farthest from Sergio.
My senses were returning. I could see better and smell again. And the scent currently swirling my senses was from the shirt Sergio gave me. It had a scent I’ve never encountered. It was light, clean, and smelled a little like ocean air combined with citrus. The combination was intriguing. That . . . and Sergio was shirtless.
Though Sergio was of a shorter stature, his tan chest and arms were sculpted. Not like a body-builder’s physique, but more from everyday life. He wasn’t bulky with rippling muscles; he was defined, toned, and smooth. It was disconcerting to see him this way. Before, he was awkward and annoying, now he was genuine and intriguing.
I hugged my side of the elevator, hoping he didn’t come near me. I could see a smile twitch and play on his mouth.
As the elevator door opened to his floor, he said, “You can relax. I know you want me, but you’ll have to control yourself for a little while . . . at least until our visitor leaves.”
My jaw swung open. Where did this ego come from? Sergio 1.0 would have never said that, even if he was teasing. I hustled out of the elevator.
“Do you have any other shirts I can borrow?” I asked Sergio. I was already on my way to find one.
“Yes, but what’s wrong with the one you have?”
“It’s a little itchy,” I lied. “Maybe some of the chemicals rubbed off on it.” Damn, I’m a good liar. I even believed that one myself.
“I’ll find you an outfit to change into. You should take a shower to rinse off completely.”
“That would be wonderful. A shower would feel like heaven.”
His hand reached over and rested on the small of my back. Thankfully, we were only a few steps away from the door. He unlocked the door and let me in. My eyes scanned the room. The last time I was here the room was filled to the brim with people. Now, it was empty except for one . . . David.
Chapter 13
David’s eyes widened at my appearance. “What happened?” he growled at Sergio.
“Catarina pepper sprayed her. I’ve already wiped her down with solution, but she’ll have to shower.”
David inspected my eyes and face. “Do you feel okay?”
“I’m a lot better. There’s still a dull burning sensation.”
He nodded. “It sucks being sprayed. I’d rather be stunned with a Taser.” His eyes drifted to Sergio’s hand, which was still on the small of my back. “I’ll show her to the shower,” David said. He touched my hand to lead me to the bathroom, but then stopped to inspect them as well. “What happened to your hands? Was this from Catarina, too?”
I shook my head as I surveyed my hands. The swelling was completely gone, but there was still some bruising and a few cuts.
“That’s from Dagor.”
David turned to Sergio in a flash. “You were supposed to protect her. You promised me,” David growled in a low, threatening tone.
“That happened yesterday. And as soon as you lowered your damn gun from my head, I ran back and helped her,” Sergio growled back, just as low and just as fierce.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” David barked. “I would have helped.”
“Because I didn’t know you knew her. I assumed you would hurt her like Dagor. Until today, when you were pointing your gun at my head again, I didn’t know you were friends.”
“And that’s the only reason I’m teaming up with you.”
I was feeling left out of the conversation, but I didn’t want to involve myself in their pissing match. They obviously needed to work out their issues or get a timeout. I just wanted the cool water of a shower pouring on me. I headed for the bathroom. They could duke it out, whip out their guns, or measure their male anatomy for alpha ranking for all I cared. I slammed the bathroom door to block out their bickering.
“Sorry!” two voices growled from beyond the bathroom door.
It was quieter on the inside of the bathroom. I turned the shower knob to lukewarm and stepped inside. The water stung my raw and tender skin. The water quickly bit those spots first. After a few moments of wincing, the stinging and burning dissipated.
After ten minutes of water pouring over me, I decided I should go into the living room to see if the boys were still alive. I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. I found a towel in the narrow closet and patted the droplets.
I cracked the bathroom door open and listened. I detected the soft murmur of voices; they must be playing nice now.
“Sergio,” I called, “do you happen to have clothes for me?”
“Yes, I’ll be right there,” he answered.
“I’ll bring them to her,” David said.
“I have to get them from my closet.”
“Give them to me. I’ll give them to Nadia.”
“Why?”
“You could be a pervert.”
“Are you kidding me? How do I know you’re not the pervert?”
I rolled my eyes. Dagor would have been easier to deal with than these two. I slammed the door closed.
“Sorry!” they echoed.
A minute later, Sergio’s clothes were delivered to me by Sergio, with David close on his heels. I snatched the clothes and shut the door.
“Are you happy now?” I heard Sergio say.
“Yes,” David replied.
I slipped on Sergio’s T-shirt, making sure there weren’t any lingering Sergio scents. Otherwise, David might have to have pervert talk with me. I slid on
the black running pants. Both fit rather well considering they weren’t mine. Just a little on the baggy side; nothing so bad as to fall down and embarrass me.
I cracked open the bathroom door and listened for bickering. Once I verified it was safe, I walked out to the living room. The boys were hunkered down on folding chairs, scrutinizing a laptop on a card table. I found a third folding chair and wedged myself between them to make sure they were separated.
“Are we all better now?” I asked.
David smiled at me with a wink. Sergio nodded warily.
“Stop bulling Sergio,” I said.
“Not going to happen until he can prove he’s trustworthy. He’s not on my side yet.”
“Am I on your side?” I asked, still not knowing who David was working for.
“We’re always on the same side.”
“And what side would that be?”
“My side.”
“You know what I mean,” I said.
He nodded. “Yes, I know what you mean. But I’m not telling you.”
I huffed. “What are we looking at?” I asked, inspecting the laptop screen, which was currently showing a city map.
“We’re figuring out the best plan of attack,” David said.
“You know he has Catarina, right?”
“Sergio filled me in. Are you feeling better? Your eyes are still red and puffy.”
“I’m much better. Where’s Dagor?”
“I believe he’s at the apartment he took you to before,” Sergio said. “Catarina might be with him, or he may have already killed her since she was of no further use. I’ve called him several times to see what he wants me to do, but he’s not answering. I figure he wants me out of the picture now that he has the trophy. That way, he can collect the reward by himself and cut me out.”
“How do we get to him?” I asked.
“That’s the problem. I don’t want to go in there with guns pointed if Catarina’s still alive. He would use her as a shield and shoot back,” David said.
“Is there a way to lure him to a safe spot?”
“I don’t think so,” Sergio said. His eyes brightened after a moment of thought. “I could make another call to him. I’ll leave him a message saying I have Nadia in my custody. He would jump at the chance to finally get his revenge. He would even risk missing his ride to Panama just so he could finish his twisted vendetta.”
“Obviously Nadia would be somewhere safe, and we could nab him, the trophy, and then find Catarina,” David said.
“It could work,” Sergio said thoughtfully. “Where should we tell him to go? He’ll ask me why I can’t bring Nadia to him.”
“If he thinks there’s still a bomb in Mya’s house, you could tempt him to come and push the button,” I said. “Tell him Mya and I will both be inside. He would go for that.”
“He does have an insane amount of hostility toward you,” David said. “I think it would work.”
“Oh!” I turned to David with concern. “I have to call Mya. She was supposed to stay at the casino so Dagor couldn’t find her. But when I called Greyson today, his new assistant director wouldn’t put my call through. I even tried Remy, but she took over his phone too. I was full of pepper spray and couldn’t do anything or see anything. I should have called Mya right away, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Are you kidding me?” David growled. “Mya could be anywhere.”
I fished out my phone and dialed Mya. She answered right away. I pressed the speaker phone button so David could listen.
“Mya, where are you?” I asked.
“I’m out shopping. Why?”
David tapped me on my shoulder. “Tell her to go back to the casino,” he said in a low whisper.
“Who was that?” Mya asked.
David and l gaped at each other with large eyes. How did she hear that?
“Uh, it was Greyson. He needs you at the casino.”
“Greyson, is that you?” Mya asked. “What’s with your new assistant? She seemed nice at first, but then she wouldn’t let me talk to you. It was very odd. She said you were busy and couldn’t take personal phone calls.”
I looked to David for a response.
“Just get to the casino. I’ll explain there,” he said, mimicking Greyson’s voice.
I thought he was spot on, but Mya wasn’t fooled.
“David?” she whispered.
My eyebrows shot up. How did she know? David glared at me.
“Uh, that was Greyson,” I fibbed. “He was walking out the door when he said that. Maybe he sounded like David. They are brothers, after all.”
“Oh,” Mya said.
Sadness suffocated her single word. I punched David in the arm as hard as I could. He winced but didn’t make any sound.
“Mya, I’ll meet you at the casino. We can split a pitcher of margaritas and talk about how dumb Fiona is.”
“Yeah, okay,” Mya said, slightly happier with the promise of talking about Greyson’s newest employee.
“Call me as soon as you arrive,” I said.
“Okay, bye.”
I ended the call.
David blew out a long and slow breath. “That was close.”
I nodded. I was thankful Mya was safe despite Fiona’s interference. Greyson was going to hear an earful from me the next time I saw him. But since he’s on lockdown with Fiona, I didn’t foresee that happening any time soon.
“Sergio, make the call to Dagor,” David said. “We don’t have much time to spare. Let’s get this done.”
Sergio picked up his phone from the card table. “I’ll make the call in the bedroom so there isn’t another mistake on voices.”
We nodded and watched him disappear into the bedroom. He closed the door behind him.
“I need to go home to Mya,” David said. “I miss her so much. I haven’t heard her say my name for so long I nearly forgot what it sounded like.”
“You’ve been gone way too long. I know she’ll forgive you, but I hope she at least makes you suffer for a while.”
He tousled my hair. “I’ve suffered enough. Believe me.”
And I did. We sat together lost in thought.
“Let’s roll,” Sergio said on his way out of the bedroom.
“He’ll be at the house in thirty minutes. He didn’t tell me where the trophy was. But I think it may be with him because he said I had to finish Catarina off at the apartment. I think that means he wants to split as soon as he kills Nadia.”
David and I stood to leave.
“Go to the casino and meet up with Mya,” David said to me. “Sergio and I can finish this.”
I didn’t want to see Dagor ever again. And I wasn’t keen on seeing Catarina either. Not going with them was no loss.
“I’ll call a taxi,” I said.
“I would offer to drop you off at the casino, but Sergio and I can’t be late. With Dagor so excited to kill, he may be early.”
“It’s not a problem,” I muttered. “I’m used to taking taxis.”
“Why don’t you take my moped?” Sergio offered.
It would save me taxi money, but it could also create a hospital bill that would cost more money. However, I only had two dollars on me, so the taxi wouldn’t get me very far.
“The moped is insured, right? You won’t be mad if I accidentally total it, will you?”
Sergio grinned. “The moped was for your benefit. What better way to look goofy and friendly than on a moped?”
“As long as you won’t be mad if I ruin it,” I said, contemplating if I was going to make it to the casino in one piece.
Sergio and I followed David out the door. I stood between them in the middle of the elevator. When the elevator arrived on the ground floor, Sergio led me to the moped.
“Go ahead and check it out,” Sergio said.
Straddling the bike, I hesitantly lowered myself onto the seat. With the kickstand on the ground, it was sturdy enough that I could play with the steering and controls.
“The key goes into the ignition here, and the start button is here.” Sergio showed me the throttle, brakes, and the blinker. “And here is the horn.”
Toot, toot.
A burst of giggles escaped my lips. It sounded like a kid’s bike horn.
“And here’s the helmet . . . you should wear it,” Sergio urged.
It was a no-frills black helmet with a chin strap. My brain couldn’t afford any more concussions. I accepted the helmet gladly. I stood while he lowered it onto my head and looped the strap to tighten it.
“David and I are leaving. I suggest lapping the block a few times so you get a feel for it.”
I nodded. When he didn’t move, I lifted my eyes to find him gazing at me. There was something in the way his eyes lingered. I wanted to know what it was. It was as if he was happy to be near me, but it saddened him as well.
“Sergio?”
He hugged me. Not his goofy Sergio 1.0 clumsy hug, but a hug that made the world vanish for a flittering moment. It was unexpected and tender although it was crossing the friendship line. Somehow, I didn’t mind.
He lowered his lips to mine. I watched in slow motion as he closed in for a kiss. Was I going to let this happen? I needed time to think . . . would one kiss hurt? It might enlighten me as to what I want. Do I wait around for Greyson when he doesn’t want a relationship? Do I take Caleb up on his insane wager? Or, do I want to try a new possibility?
A hand shot between our faces before the kiss could be sealed. David glared at Sergio while his hand remained a barrier.
Sergio scowled at David. I sighed and started the moped.
“She’s not yours,” David barked at Sergio.
“I’m not Greyson’s either,” I said. “He made that clear.”
David opened his mouth to speak, but I turned my head and gently twisted the throttle. I teetered for the length of two cars. Then I was on my way.
The moped was easy to drive. I just had to remember to take it easy on the throttle and the brakes. In fact, the moped was fun despite the lingering remembrance of Sergio’s near kiss and Greyson being oblivious of me. But I would see Mya soon. Her sparkling happiness was infectious. I needed that happiness . . . desperately.
High Stakes Page 14