by Remy Richard
Holden lit up at the idea. “You’re right.” He turned to his sister. “Lila, do you think if Sabrina described the other two guys you could make up a sketch of them?”
Lila swallowed a bite and nodded. “Sure. It might take a little while to get it perfect, but we should be able to create a reasonable sketch.”
Holden took the last bite of Sabrina’s pancakes and then reached for her juice glass. She pulled it out of his grasp. “No way. You have your own full glass right there.”
He grinned at her and moved to pick up his own glass. “Do you think you guys can get started on those sketches now?”
Lila nodded while Sabrina shook her head no. “Absolutely not. I refuse to do anything else until I’m allowed some clean clothes and shower. Even condemned men get to be clean.” She turned to Lila. “I know you’re a little shorter than me, but do you think you have anything that would fit me? I’m not picky, I promise.”
Lila surveyed her from head to toe. “Hmmm. I think I may have some comfy clothes that would be long enough for you. Yoga pants and a t-shirt at the very least. Let me go check.” She pushed her empty plate back and left Holden and Sabrina alone in the kitchen.
Sabrina hopped down from her stool and picked up the empty plates to rinse and load in the dishwasher. She ignored Holden as he came up behind her. “I seem to remember that you said the best way for me to keep an eye on you was to shower with you.”
She kept her head averted and concentrated on scrubbing the griddle. “That was yesterday when I was a prisoner. Today I’m part of the group, right? Your sister said so.”
Holden’s voice was gentle as he said, “You absolutely are part of the group.” His hands were even gentler as he turned her around to face him.
She concentrated on staring at his Adam’s apple and avoiding his eyes. “What exactly is going on here?”
He considered her question. “Can’t we just say that I’m grateful you’re still here after everything that happened last night?”
“Sure we can. Did you show Sam how grateful you were for his help too?”
He laughed. “No. I pay Sam so I don’t have to express my gratitude in other ways.”
“So just me then?”
“Just you.”
The silence stretched out between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, more like comforting. The mood was still a little heavy for Sabrina’s taste though.
“Wow, you save one little sister and everything changes. Pancakes, showers, clean clothes. It’s like the keys to the kingdom.”
He tilted her chin up so that she was looking into his eyes. “And I don’t have to shower with you to keep an eye on you. It could be purely recreational,” he said solemnly.
She laughed and slugged him in the gut. “I think I’ll shower solo for the time being.”
He nodded good naturedly, but leaned down to give her mouth a hard, quick kiss. He was starting to retreat when she slid her hands through his hair and pulled him back down to her, relishing the firmness of his lips and the sweet way he teased hers open. His hands shifted restlessly, sliding up and down her back and wandering down to her bottom to pull her closer.
Sabrina was about ready to push him down on the counter and have some kinky, syrupy sex when she heard Lila calling to her from the second floor. She and Holden broke their embrace simultaneously, both breathing hard.
She pressed a hand to her chest as if it could stop her heart from beating so hard. With the last of her breath she called to Lila, “Be right there.”
She faced Holden and bit her lip. “Just to be clear, that wasn’t an invitation to shower with me.”
Holden nodded but kept his eyes on her mouth. “Then you should go now, while I still have a little bit of control left.”
Sabrina turned to leave by sheer will. Never had she wanted to stay and test a man’s control more, but she had a feeling the Holden was playing for keeps and she wasn’t the kind of woman to be kept.
But it was getting harder and harder to walk away.
***
Harry pulled his head out of the sink and lifted bleary red eyes to his partners.
“When the fuck did this all go sideways?”
Mike leaned against the wall and puffed on his cigarette. “Are you sure it was Sabrina? I’ve never known her to double cross anyone in my life.”
“Positive. I talked to her before she fucked up my face to all hell and back,” Harry muttered with venom.
Stiles interrupted. “Your look at this all the wrong way. Now we have a person on the inside. She’ll get us what we want.”
“If she’s already helping them, what makes you think she’s going to flip and help us?” Harry protested.
“Because we’ve got something she wants,” Stiles said, examining his fingernails.
“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Mike asked.
“You.”
“Me?” Mike stubbed out his cigarette and tried to appear calm. “We’re not together like that, gents. She’s like a daughter to me.”
“Exactly. And what won’t a little orphan do to save her only father figure?” Stiles pulled out his pocket knife and starting cleaning the dirt out from under his nails. “You go back to the house and watch. She’s bound to come out sooner or later. Then you tell her what the deal is.”
“And what exactly is the deal?”
“She gets the program and you make it through this alive. Don’t forget you’re as much under the gun as we are. If you don’t come up with money quick, the Disalvo brothers are going to be after you. And they’re not as nice as we are.” He pointed the knife at Mike. “You make her understand that without the program you’re either dead or wishing that you were.”
“She might already know that I’m working with you guys. She may not buy it,” Mike said, his voice stuttering only the slightest bit. “She can see right through me. I’m not that good at lying to her.”
Stiles closed his knife with a decisive snap. “Who says you’re lying?”
Chapter Ten
Holden turned away from the desk clerk to see Sam ushering the two women into the lobby. He couldn’t hide a smile at the thought that Sam had certainly drawn the short stick on duties. Not one member of the trio seemed especially happy to be in the upscale hotel.
Sam was trying to watch every person, entrance and exit.
Lila was devoting all of her attention to looking at everything except for Sam.
Sabrina seemed to be fighting the urge to steal everything that wasn’t nailed down. Her hands clenched by her side and he could almost see the mental calculator in her head, adding up the cost of the expensive table top decorations and what she could get for them on the black market.
He wondered if she would ever lose that instinct. If there would ever come a point when she was truly happy and secure, if she could walk into a place like this and admire the art for its beauty and not its resale value.
As he walked over to where they stood in an unhappy clump, he caught her eyes and gave her an encouraging smile. She tentatively smiled back at him and he saw her shoulders, arms, and hands relax.
He wanted to slide one of his hands into hers when he reached her. Actually, that was only the tamest on an ever increasing list of things he wanted to do with her, but he didn’t dare do it. Leaving aside the fact that he was unsure of his welcome, he could handle the rejection if it came to that, he just wasn’t sure of Lila’s reaction.
The two women seemed to be getting along better, but Lila already seemed on edge. It was hard enough to get her to cooperate under the best of circumstances lately. Which was surprising because even though she’d been a little precocious, Lila had never been a troublemaker. It wasn’t until recently that she had started to question everything he said. Holden was inclined to think that she was just getting her teenage attitude a little late.
When he met up with them he started to explain their accommodations, but Sam stopped him with a shake of his head.
“Let’s wait unt
il we’re someplace more private.”
Holden nodded and led them to the bank of elevators tucked into the corner of the lobby. Sam kept up a constant vigil until they were enclosed in an elevator. He leaned forward and pressed six floors at random and then turned to Holden to find out what floor their rooms were on.
“Nine.”
Sam nodded and added that floor to their trip.
They all remained silent as the door opened at the third floor and then closed again.
Finally, Sabrina spoke up. “Why are we taking a floor-by-floor tour of the hotel?”
“In case someone is watching our elevator. At least we’re giving them a large selection of floors to check rather than leading them straight to us,” Sam explained.
“While we’ve got all of this together time, let’s go over the plan,” Holden said as he passed out room key envelopes. Sabrina looked a little surprised when he handed her an envelope. He guessed she still thought of herself as a prisoner. Hopefully that would change.
“The hotel only had a two room suite so here’s the layout: Sam and Lila, you have connecting rooms.” He waited for comment, but both of them remained uncharacteristically silent. “Sabrina and I will have a suite with two rooms and a sitting room. I wasn’t able to get rooms across the hall, but you two aren’t far from us. We’re on the same floor at least. And of course, you two are more than welcome to the sitting room.”
“Everyone should minimize their moving around in the hallways. The longer you’re behind closed doors, the better,” Sam said.
Holden watched as Lila’s face began to pale and a fine sheen of sweat broke out on her brow. He grasped her lightly around the wrist and felt her pulse pounding in double-time.
“Lila, your and Sam’s room both have balconies that overlook the courtyard.” She took a deep breath and focused on his eyes. “While I don’t think you should stand out there for very long, you can have the door open as much as you want.”
Sam’s lips tightened but he stopped any objections he may have had when Lila let out a broken breath. “Thank you.”
Holden gave her wrist one last squeeze and let go of her. Sabrina gave Lila a sympathetic glance and filled in the silence with inane observations about how nice the hotel was and how she wouldn’t mind living off of room service for a few days after Holden’s cooking.
Holden was grateful that it took the attention off of his sister, who no doubt was finding it difficult to calm down with all eyes on her. Finally, the doors opened onto the ninth floor and they all got off. Sam leaned back in for a moment to press the buttons to send the elevator to the remaining floors.
Sabrina laughed and shook her head at him. “I’m sure everyone in the lobby thinks there’s a five-year-old in this elevator.”
Sam cracked a smile for her and stepped aside to let the two women go ahead after checking the hallway. Holden hung back so that he could talk to Sam in relative privacy as Sabrina chattered to his sister.
“We got here safe and sound. Maybe you could lighten up a bit,” he said.
Sam sighed and hefted his bag higher on his shoulder. “I’ll lighten up when I’m sure that no one followed us here.”
They stopped in the hallway as both women located their rooms and went inside. Holden gave a wave to Sabrina when she looked at him before opening her door. She had a paper shopping bag that held her old clothes and a toothbrush he had scrounged up for her. Holden winced. He wasn’t exactly keeping her in the lap of luxury.
Sam noticed his attention and socked him in the shoulder. “We’re here until you finish the program. Are you sure it wouldn’t speed up the process to switch roommates?”
“What do you mean?” Holden played dumb.
“I’m just wondering which head made the room assignments,” Sam said acerbically.
“The one who says the greatest risk is to Lila and our greatest strength is you,” Holden pointed out logically.
“Fair enough.” Sam sighed and leaned back against the wall. “I have to ask you; do you think it’s the best thing for us to keep Sabrina with us? She’s told us everything she knows.”
“Yeah, and in return for that information, I promised her that she’d be safe,” Holden said.
“Safe could mean a lot of things. Safe could mean you putting her on the first flight out to the foreign country of her choice. Safe doesn’t mean sharing a suite with her.”
Holden forced himself to meet Sam’s eyes squarely. “I gave her my word that I would take care of her. And I intend to keep it.”
Sam sighed and shifted his weight. “Just remember that this woman is a con artist. I don’t know what you think you feel for her—” Holden started to respond and Sam held up a hand, “—and I don’t want to discuss it. I just need to know that if this comes down to a choice between Lila and Sabrina, you’re going to be thinking clearly.”
“It won’t,” Holden said in a firm voice. “I’m going to spend every waking moment on this algorithm and everyone is going to get through this unscathed.”
“That’s a pretty tall order.”
“I can make good on it,” Holden said. “All I need is time.”
“That’s the one thing we’re in short supply of,” Sam said wryly. “Let me know what else I can do.”
“Just keep an eye on Lila. That’s why you guys are bunkmates. I know it’s a lot to ask, but you’ll have some backup soon. Conner should be coming the day after tomorrow to help keep her occupied.” Holden gave a sick-looking Sam a smile and thump on the back. “I knew I could count on you.”
Before Sam could request a pay raise, Holden moved down the hall to his room and slipped his key card into the lock. He could hear Sabrina shuffling around in the other bedroom and steeled himself against going to her. If he was going to make good on his promises, all of his promises, he needed to stay away from temptation. And Sabrina was temptation personified.
Resolutely, he turned toward his own room and dropped his bag on the bed. A quick glance showed the furnishings to be sturdy and the desk to be large. That was all he really needed.
Setting up his computer equipment was as natural as breathing. He ran a system check and then immediately disabled the wi-fi connection. He sat down in the semi-comfortable desk chair and booted up his coding program.
From across the suite came the sound of thumping and bumping. He could almost believe that she was rearranging the furniture the noise was so loud. Only the force of his will kept him in his chair.
When she cried out, he couldn’t stop himself from going to her though. She could be hurt, he reasoned.
A fast jog across the suite later, he was looking at a disaster area and Sabrina was sitting in the middle of her bed, the Bible and Yellow Pages spread out around her and a glum look on her face.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked, turning in a circle to view the damage. Most of the drawers were pulled out at an awkward angle and a couple hung drunkenly from the edge of the bureau.
Sabrina shrugged. “Looking for the mini-bar key.”
“Wow. Am I that hard to live with? Five minutes in a room with me and you’re already jonesing for booze.” He pushed aside a lump of covers and sat down on the edge of the mattress, careful not to touch her.
Sabrina raised a brow at him and lifted her arms above her head to stretch. Since the shirt Lila had loaned her was already too short, the stretch revealed a good bit of her pale, toned stomach. A frisson of heat ran through his spine and pooled in his stomach. It was like swallowing a hot coal. He looked away and tried to concentrate on her words.
“I wouldn’t exactly call this the first five minutes we’ve been together. I’ve watched you sleep after all,” she said with a sly smile.
“Don’t even pretend like your time at the house was terrible. If you leave aside the fact that we locked you in your room and that dangerous criminals broke in, it was quite the vacation for you.” He laughed at the disgruntled sound she made. “Hey, you got your pancakes, didn’t you
?”
“I guess so. Although I wouldn’t have minded more time to search the outside of the house. Your gardens are amazing.”
Unthinkingly, he laid a hand over hers on top of the comforter. “When this is over, you can look to your heart’s content.”
He could have kicked himself as a look of surprise crossed her face before melting into a bittersweet smile. “Yeah, maybe,” she said softly and he understood that she was actually saying the opposite.
There was a silence between them that should have been awkward, but somehow wasn’t. Finally Sabrina hopped up from the bed and pulled on his hand to get him standing. “So where’s your room?”
He pointed the way and waited in the sitting room while she checked out the mirror-image room.
“Already set up to work, I see. Well, don’t let me distract you,” she said impishly. Almost as if she knew that she distracted him just by breathing.
“Actually, I need to talk to you about something. Come sit in here.” He waved her into the sitting room and took a seat on an upholstered armchair so that she couldn’t sit next to him. He needed all of the blood to his brain he could gather and sitting next to her wouldn’t help in that endeavor. When he was around her, blood tended to pool far south of his brain.
“This sounds serious,” she said as she curled up in the chair opposite him.
“Sort of.” Holden paused to gather his thoughts. “I’m not sure if you were aware, but before the police arrived last night, I deleted all of the security camera footage from the past few days so that they wouldn’t see you on it.”
Sabrina nodded and curled in tighter.
“Before I deleted the footage, I watched it on fast forward. Just to make sure that there wasn’t a shot of our intruders faces. You know they didn’t lift their masks, but I did see something interesting. You. Taking a gun after you, very handily I might add, beat the hell out of your friend Harry.”