No, Colin wasn’t responsible for her father’s disappearance, Julia assured herself, tapping her fingernails against the counter. He was hiding something for sure, but the man wasn’t a killer. Not based on what she’d seen, at least. If he was her father’s killer, or even his kidnapper, he never would have brought her to the City with him. Wasn’t that right?
The thought was replaced by a shiver as a man with curly black hair stepped beside her. His eyes were dark, and he was wearing a suit to match. Tall and lanky, the Dracula look he had going on was complemented by a collared shirt and a crooked smile.
Clutching her purse, Julia shot him a dirty look. “This seat is taken.”
As though he hadn’t heard her, the man smiled and draped his arm across the back of her chair. “Do you believe in love at first sight?” he asked. “Or should I walk by you again?”
Shifting in her seat, Julia inched forward as far as she could. “Please. Does that line ever work on anyone? This isn’t exactly a frat house.”
“I should say it isn’t. I own this penthouse. Though it’s seldom I actually sleep here. I do a lot of traveling. For business. But enough about me. It’s a party. I’d much rather focus on more fascinating subject matters. Griffin.” He gave her hand a squeeze.
An icy feeling lingered against Julia’s skin. She needed to steer the conversation back on course. Hoping to do just that, she cleared her throat. “Delilah. And as it happens, I find talking about business stimulating. What do you say, slick? Cut a girl in on some fast cash?”
Griffin’s charcoal irises went wide. He looked briefly over his shoulder then back again. “I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but I’m not exactly in the stock business, sweets.”
“Then I’ve come to the right place. Because I’m not looking to make a purchase.”
His bushy brows furrowed. “What are you looking to do, then?”
“I want to become a manager,” Julia said. Taking a deep breath, she faced her target with a head-on glare. “They say drug dealing makes a killing in the US every year. I’m just looking for my piece of the pie.”
A sinister smile formed on Griffin’s lips. He slid from his barstool, offering her his hand. “You know, the view from the bedroom is even better. We can get a lot more comfortable in there. Delilah.”
Julia swallowed. Fiddling with the zipper on her knapsack, she wondered just how long it was that Colin planned on playing Hardy Boy by his lonesome. Exactly how was it ‘teamwork’ when they spent the duration of the party apart? “Can’t. I’m actually here with someone. I’m sure he’s probably wondering where I am, so, if you’ll excuse me.”
“My bad,” Griffin said, catching her by the arm. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
There was little sense in lying about this part. Julia slipped free of his grasp. “His name’s Colin.”
“Westwood,” Griffin muttered under his breath. “What’s a sweet thing like you doing with a guy like him?”
Julia tapped her foot against the ground. There had to be something nice she could say about Colin. He was a decent dresser. Certainly smelled better than most men. He had an incredible smile and smoky-blue eyes. He had an amazing chest…
She cleared her throat. “Colin’s an…interesting guy. You got something against him?”
Griffin smiled. Leaning in close, he cupped a hand around the side of his mouth. Clamping down on her shoulder, he said, “Watch yourself, sweets. Colin Westwood isn’t someone you want to make friends with.”
With that, he disappeared into the crowd.
* * * *
By the time he reached the hallway, Colin’s blood pressure had risen to an unhealthy level. It was no use. The image of Julia’s slender figure surrounded by every scumbag who had eyes was eating him alive.
With that tight little T-shirt she had on, and jeans that hugged the contours of her legs, it wasn’t hard for every man there to see what made her so desirable.
He flexed his sweaty fingers. Julia Dyson was an attractive woman. An attractive woman who had come there on his arm. She wasn’t his, per se, but she’d agreed to remain at his side until they found her father. The thought of those leeches plying her with drinks and fixing their eyes against her body was going to be the death of him if he didn’t find a way to calm himself down.
His phone was vibrating. Bringing it against his ear, he strayed from the sounds of rap music. “Go ahead.”
“’Bout time, Westwood,” John Rizzo answered. “I was just about to take my little prize to the cops.”
“Cool your jets,” Colin replied gruffly. “Where are you?”
“Last door on the right. Don’t try anything cute. You get your disc when I get my money.”
Colin rolled his eyes. He started forward and slipped his phone into his pocket, making sure his good luck charm was still where he’d put it earlier.
The bastard was in for a hell of a surprise, as he had no intention of giving him a dime. Holding him at gunpoint while he demanded he tell him what he’d done with Tucker, that was another story.
Colin made his way down the hall. Reaching the end of it, he stopped in front of the last door on the right. With his hand around his pistol, he looked behind him. Confident he was alone, he opened the door.
Thoughts of Julia sitting in the center of that pit of horny bastards burned in his mind for the thousandth time. He may just as well have thrown a piece of sirloin to a pack of lions.
Looking around the dark room, he was surprised to find it empty. There was a ceiling fan, but not much else to speak of, short of a large open space. Hearing nothing, he squinted and searched for the image of a figure. There was nothing in front of him but a window.
Taking a step back, Colin got beside the door and felt for the light switch. Flicking it, he found that the light didn’t turn on. He heard a noise that sounded like footsteps. Walking backward, he reached for the doorknob.
The door had been shut behind him. Colin jiggled the knob, finding he had no luck as he attempted to turn it. He lifted his leg and kicked the wooden barrier as hard as he could.
It didn’t budge. He kicked it again unsuccessfully. As he stepped back, someone jumped him from behind. His arms were snatched. A thick rope was tossed around his neck.
Colin tried to fire his gun, but the rope was pulled hard against his throat. He fought to breathe as the pull intensified, causing his vision to blur. Firing a gunshot that went somewhere over his shoulder, he elbowed the man behind him, causing him to briefly loosen his hold.
Colin struggled against his attacker, gasping for air as the rope was pulled harder against his trachea. Kicking at his attacker’s legs, he caused the man to stumble, taking himself along for the ride.
Getting to his knees, Colin delivered a swift punch to his attacker’s face. As he attempted to get a look at him, someone struck a blow to the back of his neck. Realizing they had been trying to knock him out but failed, he clutched the stinging bruise and collapsed to the ground as a knock came at the door.
“Colin!” Julia’s voice.
Colin struggled to lift his head. The room was spinning, ground moving along with it. He tried to speak, but no words escaped his lips.
The door was opened, and Julia—who appeared to have six heads—charged across the floor. A look of terror displayed on her face as she crouched beside him.
Ignoring the pain shooting through his neck, Colin stumbled to his feet. He struggled to maintain his balance, and he jumped in front of Julia, aiming his gun around the room.
His attackers were gone.
Colin took several deep breaths. Julia was safe and unharmed. But how much had she seen? The struggle? The faces of the men who’d tried to off him? He turned to her, assuring himself that he owed her no explanation, but feeling as though he wanted to give her one just the same.
To his astonishment, Julia didn’t seem suspicious at all. Pretty blue eyes full of something he couldn’t describe, she perched on her toes, bringing her fingertips against
the spot where the rope had been pulled against his skin.
Colin groaned. Her touch stung against his flesh, but his insides were warmed by the sensation. Eyelids falling closed, he leaned helplessly into her caress.
Gently, Julia stroked the wound as though she were a nurse caring for an injured soldier. Hardly caring what she knew and what she was thinking as she surveyed the mark that had nearly been the death of him, he allowed her to do what she wanted, thinking only about how good it felt and how much he wanted her to touch every part of him the way she was his neck. A grunt of need escaped him, and he hardly realized he’d made a sound.
“We should call the police,” Julia said.
At the sound of her asinine suggestion, Colin awoke from his trance. He turned, staring her down. “Do you always make a habit of barging into people’s bedrooms?”
Julia snatched back her hand. “It’s lucky for you I got here when I did, Westwood. That guy would have wallpapered his living room with your brain matter if I hadn’t stepped in.”
Colin held a drawn fist. He did all he could to keep from snatching Julia by the arm and dragging her, literally, from the scene.
Did she have any idea how dangerous those men were? That had she come thirty seconds sooner, it was very likely she would have been killed? Though he supposed her not knowing that was for the best. She’d be terrified if she had any idea what was really going on.
He took a deep breath. “A guy pulled a prank. It happens.”
“Someone trying to kill you is more than a prank! We need to call the cops and report this.”
He clasped her wrist. “Do you have some sort of a death wish?”
“Someone tries to kill me, I notify the authorities.”
Turning, he dragged Julia to the door, not stopping even when she dug her nails so deeply into his shirtsleeve that he thought for sure he was bleeding. He stared into her eyes. “Allow me to explain to you what you’ve just gotten yourself into, since it’s obvious you’re not aware. It doesn’t matter to these men whether you’re involved, or whether you’re an innocent bystander on the street. So long as you’re a presumed threat, they won’t hesitate to do whatever’s necessary to keep you from exposing them. And now that my attacker has heard your voice—something that isn’t hard to forget, my dear—you’re in as much danger as I am.”
“That’s crap, Westwood. No one here even knows who I am.”
“The point is that we’ve been seen together. And attractive or otherwise, these men won’t think twice about taking you out of the situation.”
“You think I’m attractive?” Julia blinked.
Colin bit his tongue. He hadn’t intended for that to come out the way it had. Though he supposed he had nothing to hide. “I asked you to come to New York with me, Julia. Do you honestly think I would have done that if I didn’t like what I saw?”
As though just then becoming aware of his hand on her arm, Julia pried herself free. “Of course not. It’s obvious to me that you take very good care of yourself.”
“And?”
“And…”
“I just assumed you weren’t finished yet. Thought maybe you’d want to take another opportunity to compare me to the devil.”
Julia looked as if she was about to crack a smile. But if that was the case, it faded before he could tell. “I’ve taken care of myself a good number of years. I’m not about to start taking orders now.”
“Do you honestly believe that you can just take it from here? Rescue your father and keep your pretty little neck in one piece?”
“Yes!”
Colin shook his head. He bent to the ground, picking up the rope that had almost killed him. It was thick, enough so that it could be used to tie horses to a fence. The horror in Julia’s eyes grew as he held it in front of her face.
She swallowed visibly. “You said yourself it was a prank.”
“I was trying not to scare you. I didn’t think you’d take comfort in knowing I was lured here tonight by someone who wants me dead.”
Julia stared at her feet. He thought for sure she was conceding, until she looked up, her blue eyes becoming wide. “So you were deceiving me when you said you had a lead on my father’s disappearance, weren’t you? It was all a lie to get me to make that ridiculous agreement to be your whore!”
“It wasn’t a lie!”
“Then tell me why there are people here tonight who know who we are.”
Colin opened his mouth to reply but quickly decided against it. Julia had said there were people there who knew who they were—what had she meant by that? Taking her by the arm, he dragged her through the doorway. He forced her to walk with him through the building, stopping only when they reached the curb outside. “I said there are people here who may have information about your father’s abduction. There are. Undoubtedly.”
“But this was really just an opportunity to drop off whatever it was you were carrying in that briefcase. Tell me the truth.”
Surprised by Julia’s quick assessment, Colin shut his mouth. Dammit, it was the truth. He’d lied to her, and he’d put her in danger by doing it. And the worst part was that Desmond had been right.
“You’re trembling,” he said, very anxious to change the subject. He brushed Julia’s quivering lip.
At first, he wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t attempt to bite off his finger. But to his astonishment, she remained in place. Soon, he was caressing her cheek then tracing the outline of her mouth. He gave no thought to how odd his behavior must seem.
Julia clasped his hand. She stared at him, holding his wrist in place. It was as though she was trying to decide whether to push him away or help him get closer.
Deciding that he would help her out a bit with her decision, Colin swooped in, slipping his arm around her waist.
Julia looked at him, bewildered. “What are you doing?”
“I want to kiss you, Julia.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“The woman who hides in men’s bedrooms can’t handle a simple kiss?” He laughed, brushing her cheek with his knuckles. “Why Ms. Dyson, I do believe I’ve found your Achilles’ heel.”
Lowering his mouth, Colin kissed her lightly, bringing his lips against hers. Julia didn’t kiss him back, but she didn’t pull away, either. Indulging himself, he formed a line of kisses along the groove of her neck. Her gasps became sighs as he moved his mouth lower, trailing along her soft skin.
God, she tasted like vanilla. Savoring her sweetness, he slipped the sleeve from her shoulder, nearly taking hold of one perfect round breast. Julia pushed him back gently.
“We have to stop,” she said. “This is getting out of control.”
“Don’t think.”
“Colin—”
“Quiet, sweetheart.”
Her voice was drowned by his mouth as he laid his lips over hers. So warm, so soft, Julia eagerly returned his kiss. She drew back just long enough to say, “I hate you,” and then she kissed him back, her delicate hands collapsing against his chest.
“That’s right,” he whispered, hardly able to contain himself as she stroked him, “give in to what you want.”
Where a feisty, stubborn girl had been stood a woman who was driving him to the brink of madness. She threatened to do him far worse than any killer could.
“Later,” he whispered, drawing back after a moment that had been entirely too short. “I’ll make every last one of your fantasies come true, I promise.”
At that Julia shoved him, nearly knocking him to the ground. Colin caught his balance. He stood straight, adjusting his collar.
Taking a steadying breath, he did all he could to remind himself of the precariousness of their situation. It was the only thing keeping him from taking her right there.
Julia’s face was red, and she looked as if she was about to explode. How he wanted to wrap his arms around her and kiss away every last one of her tears. But he knew his advances would not be welcomed.
“We can do thi
s the hard way or the easy way,” he said. “Either way, you’re staying with me until we get to the bottom of this.”
Julia crossed her arms, turning her attention to the passing cars. “Not that I ever had any real intention of becoming your booty call, but when someone threw a noose around your neck, our deal was officially broken.”
So her word had been nothing but a lie. No wonder Abigail Newberry had looked at him so smugly. Not to worry. He would thoroughly enjoy showing Julia how wrong she’d been in attempting to double-cross him.
“Exactly why the situation has just become too dangerous for you to handle on your own,” he said. “With an attempted killer on the loose, this case has just gone from amber to red alert. And if you think these men wouldn’t take you, use you for their own pleasure, and then use you as bait to lure me back to them, then you really do have a lot to learn.” He lifted her by the waist, tossing her over his shoulder.
Julia pounded rock-hard fists against his back. “Bastard! Put me down, you pig-headed son of a bitch!”
With what felt like blocks of steel slamming against him, Colin strode to the corner. Keeping Julia secure, he crossed the street and made his way up the block where his car was parked.
Moments later, he stood before his destination. Finding a vacant space, he nearly stopped breathing.
The Mercedes, along with their luggage, was gone.
Colin swore, raking his fingers through his hair. Julia’s kneecap rammed hard against his stomach.
“Hit me again,” he said, his voice laced with warning, “and perhaps I won’t make your stay as pleasant as I intended.”
Chapter 8
Somewhere between West Fifty-Fifth and Forty-Third Street, Julia began to lose her desire to fight Colin. From the position he was holding her in—upside down, slung over his shoulder—she couldn’t see much besides the sidewalk beneath them. Colin had refused to call the cops about the car, just as he had about the attempt on his life. The fact had definitely raised her suspicions.
Blood was rushing to her head, and it was making her insanely dizzy. She was glad she hadn’t had anything to drink. Yet, in spite of it all, she felt strangely relaxed.
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