by Lara Swann
Running on instinct, I had mine off before I’d realized I was doing it - and then held it out to her. “Go ahead, cover up.”
For a moment it looked like she was going to refuse me, before obviously thinking better of it. She let it hang from the top of her shoulders instead of slipping her arms inside, but it seemed secure enough and at least it covered most of the sheer outfit she had on. I felt simultaneously relieved and disappointed that those gorgeous curves were covered up, and then let the flare of irritation at my obvious distraction refocus my attention again.
I gestured her out of the room ahead of me, watching as she took careful steps forward. It was obvious she was resisting both the urge to glance over her shoulder at me, and down at the body behind her.
As I watched her, I noted the strappy silver heels that shortened her stride a little, which would make us slower - but also meant a dash to escape was less likely. I could sense the way her hips would be moving under my jacket and even if I couldn’t see that gentle, seductive sway, it was hard as hell not to think about it.
Despite the adrenaline and pounding rhythm of the blood still rushing through my veins from the hit, I could feel my body becoming interested, and it was all I could do not to curse out loud. I had to be in control here, and acting like something was going wrong was certainly not the right way to do it.
Even if everything was going wrong.
This is why you don’t mix women and business. It’s fucking confusing.
I stepped up to join her, glancing briefly around the main suite and feeling relieved that it at least held no surprises for me tonight.
Noticing the way the jacket flowed against her body, covering her from shoulder to ass, another idea struck me. I slipped my arm in between it and her skin, curling around her waist and pulling her close to my body.
I felt the shudder run through her, but tried to ignore it - just as I tried to ignore how rich and soft her body felt against mine. Instead, I pressed a small gun to her side. She started against me, giving a small cry before her hands shot up to cover her mouth.
My eyes narrowed, but the way she tried to stop the natural cry reassured me a little. I was sure I could feel her racing heart against me, and it wasn’t doing anything to keep me calm and controlled at all.
When it was obvious she’d gotten herself under control again, I nodded. Tucked up close together like this, the small gun I pressed to her side was almost impossible to see, and we’d appear to be any high class couple leaving for the evening.
“We’ll leave the hotel like this. Just walk next to me - don’t say or do anything. And keep your eyes down. Understood?”
She hesitated a moment, then nodded again, glancing up at me once with those big, hurt eyes of hers before looking down at the floor. That was probably the instruction she was most likely to slip up on, but there was no way I could let anyone meet that gaze - her devastating eyes were far too expressive, and terrified, for that.
We started moving together, and after I gestured her through the door I flicked it to Do Not Disturb. I didn’t know if it would make a difference, but it couldn’t hurt, and hopefully it would give us enough time to get out of here.
And if no one missed Viktor Kovalski then I’d have some breathing room until tomorrow - even if the chances of no one noticing his disappearance were vastly different from Martin Feber’s.
There was no one in the hallway as we headed towards the elevator, and we made it into one without issue. The woman next to me was breathing hard from the stress, and I could feel the tension pouring off her - probably similar to the controlled ferocity that had my muscles tight and ready. But she didn’t say or do anything, and as the elevator descended I let myself hope that I might make it out of here after all.
Then my body noticed just how close we were in this tight space, and the way her sweet scent curled around us had me reacting in all sorts of inappropriate ways. The insane urge to press her against the wall of the elevator and take her mouth in mine surged up within me, and it was all I could do to push away thoughts of tasting her full red lips and feeling her go breathless at my touch.
It was completely fucked up, and I didn’t understand any of it. Self-sabotage of the highest form. I shouldn’t have even taken her with me, let alone allowed her to distract my usual laser-sharp focus.
Stress. People react in unexpected ways to intense stress. That’s why you’re fucking up.
Except that my whole life had been intense stress - and I was used to the stress from hits. Though kidnapping a witness…that was something else entirely.
The elevator dinged and the sliding doors combined with the sudden noise of people and activity brought me back to reality. The woman beside me didn’t seem to have noticed my distraction - or if she had, she’d kept quiet about it. I squeezed her waist slightly and started forward out of the elevator, using action to refocus myself again.
This was the real test, and my body was immediately on full alert. I kept myself relaxed and casual, sweeping my eyes around the place almost absently while noting the different clusters of people. The lobby area wasn’t too busy, and everyone was - as always - distracted with their own business, but I knew this part was the big risk.
I could feel the tension and anxiety radiating off the captive woman beside me, and it was obvious she wanted nothing more than to scream and yell and make a scene. Her eyes stayed on the floor, but they darted around as she wracked her mind for some advantage. My pulse sped up and I nudged her again with the gun, leaning in to growl against her ear.
“Don’t even think about it, baby.”
The tension in her body increased, but after a moment she gave a jerky nod and we continued moving. The pace was maddeningly slow and sedate, and I could tell she was feeling that far more than me - I was used to it by now. Acting calm and casual despite intense inner tension was part of the job.
Pressed up close to her, I felt it when she started to tremble, and that earlier disquiet stabbed through me again. I resisted the urge to reassure her - tell her that everything was going to be okay.
God knew, everything was not fucking okay.
As we approached the exit without incident, my mind started turning to the next part - where the hell I was going to take us. I’d had a plan in mind, but I needed to re-evaluate fast. I was no longer safe - whatever had just happened, there was going to be far more than the relatively incompetent police force after me.
And the Russian bratva would have a much better idea of how to find out who had done this.
Not to mention, I couldn’t go back to my apartment with her anyway. In fact, I didn’t have anywhere that was equipped to hold a hostage. I wasn’t in the damn kidnapping business.
Fuck.
I needed somewhere safe to regroup and work out what the hell was going on with Viktor’s murder. Then I’d try and clear everything up.
And if not…you’d been planning on leaving NYC anyway.
We moved up to the wide, elegant doors of the hotel and I nodded at the doorman with a smile as he opened them for us - making my life a lot easier as I continued holding onto her while we stepped out onto the sidewalk.
By the time we’d made it a few paces down the road, several taxis had already passed and my chest started to ease as I worked out what I needed to do. When we were a little way away from the hotel, I flagged a taxi, ignoring the furtive glances the woman kept giving me.
I was just glad I’d convinced her well enough to be quiet and acquiescing. She got into the taxi at my gesture and I pressed close to her again as I directed the driver to Central Park, near the Metropolitan Museum, trying to ignore her obvious repulsion at my constant close presence.
I’d go through with the evasion I’d already planned, and then hole up in the safe house I’d prepped months before. I hadn’t needed it yet, but the rent and arrangement were worth it to keep it available for exactly this kind of situation.
Or, this situation sans woman.
Sh
e didn’t say anything on the stop-and-start drive in New York’s unforgiving traffic, and instead we sat there in a tense silence. That expectant quiet continued as we left the taxi, then headed down the street and hailed another - this time to Broadway. I could feel her nerves and tension increasing with every move we made, and I was pretty sure it was only the gun that I still held which kept her compliant.
Unlike any job I’d ever done, this was starting to get to me. The last thing I wanted was to kidnap someone. I knew I didn’t have a clue how to do that - and even more, I didn’t like how it was making me feel.
I’d lived alone my whole life, and having her here attached to me like this was probably unnerving me just as much as it was her.
Okay, maybe not quite as much.
We left the taxi on Broadway, and I kept a tight grip on her among the crowds just starting to come out of the theater.
Perfectly timed, as always.
They were leaving the performance that I’d supposedly been at all evening - the tickets were bought, I’d used my credit card to buy the requisite food and keepsakes, and I’d been caught on camera there. And now I’d made it back in time to head out at the same time as the rest of the audience.
That would have given me some satisfaction if the crowds didn’t feel far more dangerous with her here. I walked quickly and tried to avoid most of the hordes of people - not easy on a Friday night - keeping the woman tucked into me. She could no doubt sense my tension as I hurried her along, and I felt her eyes on my face more than a few times.
After a few tense moments, I turned my head to catch those soulful eyes - and almost stopped as the intensity of our gazes meeting shot through me.
Fucking stop it.
A similar shudder seemed to go through her, but I forced myself to ignore it and keep my expression stern and unforgiving. The desperate calculation I’d caught turned quickly to fear and she bit her lip to keep from saying something.
“Eyes down.”
She swallowed and, after a moment’s hesitation, obeyed. My eyes swept over the people around us, but there were too many rapt conversations about the evening’s performance for us to attract any attention.
I navigated us through the swarm of people, managing to keep us far enough away from anyone else that she couldn’t reach out to anyone. As we finally entered the parking lot, I started to breathe just a little bit easier.
It only took moments to locate the dark Mercedes I’d left there hours before, and as we headed in its direction, I could feel her tension increase. Her steps became smaller, and the hesitation was obvious. I guessed this was the most terrifying part for her - leaving the public to be taken away somewhere unknown.
I had a moment’s stab of sympathy for her, but I couldn’t provide any reassurances. Not that she’d believe me anyway.
I unlocked the car with a press of a button, and stepped around to the driver’s side, opening the door.
“Get in.” I gestured at her, withdrawing the gun I’d held at her waist, but keeping it discreetly trained on her.
She looked back at me, wide-eyed, and bit her lip again as the trembling in her limbs increased.
That small gesture had me overcome with the sudden desire to press her up against the door, take those full, delicate lips in mine and join our mouths with some of my unexpected heat.
Fuck. Stop it.
I had to be on top of everything here - and I couldn’t afford crazy fantasies sneaking up on me like that.
I shook myself and indicated the car again, eyes narrowing at her.
She took one last look around the parking lot, but as she sensed the last of my patience wearing away, she slipped into the drivers seat, looking back at me with a slight confusion. I gestured again, indicating the passenger side, and for the first time irritation crossed her soft features as I watched her clamber over to the other side.
I had to bite back a little smile at the indication that she still had enough left in her to be annoyed by that little inconvenience - it was somehow reassuring to know the terror I’d caused wasn’t completely overwhelming. At least, not quite.
I slipped in beside her, keeping the gun resting on my knee and pointed in her direction. She glanced at it warily, but the shock of having it there had obviously started to wear off. Instead, as I started the car and slowly maneuvered us out into the traffic, her eyes roamed over the sights passing outside.
She hadn’t been that interested in staring outside the taxis, but then I guessed she’d known from my direction where we’d been going. Now she had no idea, and I could hear her breathing quicken as that hit her. Her hands were clenched against the seat despite the relatively slow pace, and I worried for a moment that she was starting to panic.
She’d held it together for all of the critical moments so far, and I could hardly blame her now, but unease gnawed at me as I watched her out of the corner of my eye. I had no idea what to do with a woman in the midst of a panic attack.
To my relief, a few minutes later she seemed to have herself back under control, and she looked over at me.
“Where are you taking me?” Her voice quavered a little, but there was a strength there that I found myself respecting.
It didn’t change that I stayed silent, ignoring the question that had probably taken some guts to ask.
She didn’t seriously expect me to tell her, did she?
If she was observant enough - which I thought she might be - she could probably work it out as we drove, but I didn’t have a way to stop that. When we eventually left the safehouse, I wouldn’t use it again anyway. And there was nothing about it that could lead anyone back to me, so I had to be satisfied with that.
“What…what are you going to do with me?” She tried again, and despite the initial hesitation, her voice was clearer this time.
Who the hell knows.
I didn’t have an answer to that question for myself, let alone for her. So I stayed silent and concentrated on the traffic.
She looked at me expectantly for a few minutes, fear and uncertainty in her eyes, before eventually realizing I wasn’t going to answer. Her shoulders slumped and she slouched down in the seat, bringing her knees up and clasping her hands around them as she stared out at the passing lights of NYC at night.
“Fine. Ignore me. Bastard.”
It was muttered, but the irate tone of voice stirred something else inside me. I fought the way my mouth tried to lift into a smile, and the desire to gesture with the gun again to make a point.
But I wasn’t an intimidation kind of guy, and if she could rail at me a little bit maybe it would help with some of that fear. She’d been silent and obedient the whole time, but now that we were alone and she’d obviously realized her silence wasn’t a life-or-death situation for me anymore, she seemed to be confident that I wouldn’t do anything if she started to speak.
And she was right.
I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, taking in the attractive curl of her hair around that soft face, and the way that even while she was scrunched up with my jacket over her, she still looked stunning. My cock reacted instinctively and I tried not to stiffen obviously.
Fuck.
I was in way over my head with this. And I couldn’t let that get in the way of everything else I needed to work out.
The rest of the journey passed in relative silence as I tried to focus on what I needed to accomplish tonight. Getting us to safety was just the first part - the night was young and I needed to make the most of every moment to work out what had gone wrong. My first stop would need to be the source who had given me so much information about Martin, including exact locations and timings. My second would need to be my client - if he really existed.
This didn’t seem like a simple case of mistaken identity and getting the wrong man. The room had been Martin Feber’s. And everything about it had been too neat and easy - until it all fell apart.
This had to be deliberate. A hit on Viktor Kovalski.
A
nd no one casually arranged for a Kovalski to be killed - especially the bratva boss.
I let my mind twist on that, and just how badly I’d been played, for the remainder of the journey. The woman next to me didn’t try to say anything more, and as we slipped through traffic laden streets, it seemed like her constant terror had slipped a little, into exhaustion. I couldn’t blame her - being this tense and on edge did that to someone. At least if they weren’t used to it.
By the time we eventually pulled into the safehouse in Union City and came to a stop, she jerked upwards in surprise, looking around with wide eyes.
From the dazed and slightly guilty look on her face, I guessed I might have been lucky enough that she hadn’t been keeping track of where we’d gone.
I switched off the engine and pulled out the key, opening my door and giving her a quick glance as I got out.
“Stay there.”
She scowled but didn’t move as I went around to the other side and opened the door for her. Giving me a wary glance, she stood up and looked around at the empty streets and nondescript, identical houses. It wasn’t a bad area, but she shivered anyway, hugging herself as she moved away from the car.
Now that we’d made it here, I didn’t insist on standing pressed up against her, instead gesturing her up to the front porch and using my greater reach to open the door from behind.
“Go ahead, girl.”
She stepped nervously inside, but as reluctant as she was to be trapped alone in the house with me, she seemed more jumpy about having me behind her than the thought of whatever she’d find inside.
With a couple of grunts I directed her down the corridor, then left into the main room. She paused just inside it, looking around at the bare furnishings - sofa, armchair, TV - while I went straight to one of the cupboards at the side. It should have what I needed.
Most of the other equipment, weapons and documents I might want were downstairs in the basement, but I always kept a large duffel bag full of the most useful items here for quick access. I unlocked the cupboard with one of the smaller keys on a large keyring that I almost never used - everything in this place was lockable.