Lori clenched and unclenched her fist as Ken filled a glass of water and dropped a handful of pills inside. She made sure that she didn’t move too much and kept her weight on the lug. Hopefully, if neither man knew how much she’d recovered from the last hit of the Taser, they wouldn’t notice how much stronger she was now.
Except judging by how fast the pills were dissolving in the water, she would have to make her move sooner rather than later.
“This won’t be as quick as your uncle,” muttered Ken as he poured in a few more pills. “But it should be much less painful. I promise.”
She needed to buy time. The more control she had over herself, the better chance she’d have of surviving. “Did you hurt my uncle?”
“I tried not to. I’m just in a tight spot here. Grayson and I have always had a side deal. In exchange for me bringing him into the fold, he’d set aside a portion of the returns as a sort of thank-you fund for us to split. The other members are already upset with me for agreeing to take on the Devereaux brothers. If they knew what Grayson and I had arranged, I’d be dead. Screw the FBI arresting me. I’d never even make it to whatever minimum security place they’d send me to.”
“Better him dead than you?” she spit out, not even trying to hide her disgust. So much greed. “What did you even need the extra money for anyway? You already have billions.”
His eyes glazed over and for a second, he seemed to look past her. Lori took the opportunity to subtly shift her weight, judging how fast she could spring away if she had the chance. But soon enough, Ken’s attention was back on her. “Enough talking. I have a late-night meeting tonight with some friends.”
He picked up the glass of water as the lug wrenched her arms behind her back. Ken grabbed her chin in his meaty palm and tried to pry her mouth open, but Lori kicked out at his shin.
He barely ducked away as a few drops of water sloshed over the glass. Shooting her an annoyed glance, he motioned for the lug to adjust his hold. In order for him to do that, he’d have to let her go, though. She braced herself for her chance, and as soon as the lug’s grip loosened, her elbow shot out toward his face even as she started to run for the door. She didn’t connect with his face, but he must’ve jerked back because he didn’t have a chance to grab her as she skittered away. Before she reached the door, Ken moved to block her path.
Desperation set in as she adjusted her course and ran behind the kitchen island, searching for any sort of weapon she could use to fight her way out before they brought out the Taser again. She didn’t risk the few precious seconds it would take to glance over her shoulder as she reached the cabinets and pulled drawers open, desperately searching for a knife or anything she could use against the men.
On the third drawer, she struck gold. She reached in and grabbed two knives as the now all-too-familiar sting of electricity shot through her. Her body went limp and she tumbled to the floor. One of the knives clattered on the tile next to her.
But not both. Somehow, even through the shock, one of the blades had remained in her hand.
She wiggled away, trying to draw attention to her feet as she pushed the small steak knife into the sleeve of her sweatshirt, but in just a second the lug was on her. He grabbed her ponytail and hauled her up. Instinctively, her free hand tried to reach up and stop him, but her weak muscles only raised it a few inches before falling back at her side. Damn it. Even if she did have a weapon, how was she supposed to fight off two guys like this?
Ken wasn’t going to take any chances this time. “Hold her with one arm and tilt her head with the other,” he ordered.
The lug wrapped an arm over her waist, trapping her arms at her sides, and then pulled her ponytail harder until her neck was at the best angle for the poisonous drink to be poured down her throat.
“This won’t look like a suicide,” she slurred. “There was a struggle. Defensive wounds.” All the freaking marks on her body where she’d been shocked.
“We’re following the plan!” shouted Ken as he once again picked up the glass and approached her. She was determined as all hell to keep her mouth shut, but he covered her nose, and in moments, her traitorous body gasped for air. He took his chance and started to pour. She refused to swallow, and it sloshed out around her face and down her shirt.
He stopped pouring and held a hand over her mouth the keep the foul liquid inside, waiting for her inevitable need for air to do his work for him. But as she fought her need to breathe, the sweetest sound she’d ever heard came to her ears. The sound of a key in the lock.
Ken heard it, too, and his hand dropped from her mouth. Lori didn’t waste a second as she spit the water at his face. Ken screamed as he rubbed at his eyes, and she wiggled her arm until the knife fell from her sleeve and her palm wrapped around the handle.
“Lori!” shouted a voice that made her heart swell.
Michael was here.
#####
Michael was going to kill him. Red rage filled his vision as he pointed his father’s gun at the stranger holding onto Lori. “Take your hands off her,” he ordered.
Luke stayed behind him, which was probably best, considering Michael was planning to shoot the second Lori was out of the way. “The police will be here any second,” said Luke. “There is no way out of this. But if you let her go and step away slowly, things will go smoother for you.”
The man adjusted his grip on Lori so one arm was around her throat and the other around her upper chest, effectively using her as a shield. “Hey, I don’t have anything to do with this.” He motioned to a terrified-looking Ken with his head. “He’s doing this. Said it was easy and the money was good. I’m just the driver.”
Just the driver, his ass. “I believe you,” said Michael. “Now back away.”
Instead, he just stood there, eyes darting around the room like a cornered animal. That wasn’t good. Cornered animals were desperate and unpredictable.
But then Michael saw a flash of silver as Lori brought her arm up and slammed a knife into the man’s arm. He screamed as she lunged forward. Except she didn’t run into his arms like he’d hoped. She fell straight toward the ground. The man ran around Michael, but Luke was ready and body slammed him, tackling him to the floor.
Michael bent next to Lori as she struggled to roll over. She looked as if she’d been through hell. The entire front of her hooded sweatshirt was soaked in something, and her eyes were bloodshot and ragged. Thankfully, he didn’t see any obvious sign of injury.
“Michael,” she whispered.
“I’m here. I’m here,” he said desperately. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
She smiled even as she coughed. “Ken.”
Michael looked up and saw that Ken was gone, having snuck out the door in the commotion. “The police are on their way. He won’t get far.”
Luke grunted as he adjusted his hold on the man Ken had hired. “Mother fucker,” he muttered.
“You okay over there?” called Michael.
Luke reached back and slammed his fist into the man’s face. “Just another day,” he muttered.
“Grayson and Ken were working together. They had a side deal. That’s why Ken killed him.”
“Shh,” said Michael. She’d been through too much already. They could regroup when Evelyn got there.
She shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. He’s terrified of them, Michael. You need to catch him now, or you won’t get a chance to.”
Just then, a pair of police officers entered the apartment, guns drawn.
“Ken Kemmerling,” shouted Michael. “He ran out of here just a minute ago. You need to catch him. He tried to kill her. And we need an ambulance!” Damn it. He should’ve asked for the ambulance first.
One of the officers went running while the other radioed in that he was with Michael, Luke, Lori, and an unarmed suspect. The guy on the other end said something that Michael couldn’t make out, and the officer nodded soberly as he ended the call.
“It looks like they fo
und your guy,” he said.
Michael let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
“He took a swan dive off the roof. Would rather kill himself than be arrested.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“How do I look?” Lori tugged at her blouse so it would sit just right.
“Terrible,” said Michael from behind his desk with a scowl. “Go put on some jeans.”
Lori smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Don’t be bitter. It’s not attractive.”
“It’s unprofessional to run personal errands on work time,” he said. “Don’t you have enough to do at your desk?”
“Fillon Corp has some great positions that I’m qualified for. From what the recruiter said on the phone, I basically have my pick.”
“You want positions? I have tons. Missionary, doggie…I’ll even buy you a damn Kama Sutra if that’s what you want.”
She laughed as she walked around to lean against his desk, right in front of his chair. He rested his hands on her hips and looked up at her. “I like you here. Close by when I need you.”
“I’ll be close by at your apartment,” she reminded him. “The movers will be over tomorrow to get the rest of the boxes and Quinn is already spending the rent money you gave her. How much closer do you want me?”
He tugged her closer until his knees were between hers and stared up with a burning heat in his gaze. “You have no idea just how close I want you,” he said in a husky, desire-filled voice.
“Would you two get a room already.” Luke sauntered into the office.
Lori jerked in surprise and pulled herself away from Michael. “Did you ever hear of knocking?”
He raised a brow. “Did you ever hear of keeping work and play separate?”
Her cheeks got redder as Michael narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Please don’t encourage her. She’s about to go to an interview at Fillon Corp. I’m already stressed enough.”
“We could be murdered at any moment by the people we gave a hundred million dollars to and you’re worried about your girlfriend not working fifteen floors below you? Priorities, Michael. Priorities.”
Lori smiled and waited to hear how Michael would shoot him down. She could listen to the two men bicker all day.
“They are not coming after us at any moment, actually. I was contacted by someone else from the Thirteen Stars. They wanted to assure me that even though Ken had certain issues he was working through, that everything is still a go. So it doesn’t look like they know we’re involved with the FBI. Evelyn made sure that the deal Ken had with Grayson made headlines, so they all knew the true motives of what he was doing and wouldn’t dig any deeper.”
“And does Evelyn know about this yet?”
“Well, I assumed you wouldn’t want to call her.”
Luke snorted but didn’t disagree. “So we’re still on, right? Look for the leaders and bring them down.”
“Bring them down safely,” clarified Lori. “You two need to be careful.” Sure, Ken had been crazy and working outside of the Thirteen Stars, but these people were dangerous. Her close call had given her a new appreciation of life and also a new paranoia.
One of the reasons that moving in with Michael after only being together for three weeks seemed like such a good idea. Not for him to look after her. But because he needed someone to look out for him. They’d be safe as long as they stuck together.
And if they happened to have lots and lots of hot sex while sticking together, well, that just made the deal sweeter.
“And you need to listen to Evelyn, Luke. She knows what she’s doing.” Michael had told Lori the story of Evelyn’s profile. Without her behind-the-scenes help, he might never have made it to her in time.
Luke didn’t answer and stood. “I listen to Evelyn.” He started out of the office. “Sometimes,” he added as he left.
Lori shook her head and checked her watch. “I have to get going. They’re expecting me at one thirty.”
“That’s forty-five minutes. It doesn’t take that long to get three blocks.” Michael intertwined his fingers with hers.
“No, but it takes that long to get there and then go over my prepared answers for the thousands of possible interview questions.”
He took a deep breath and looked down at her. “You’re really doing this, aren’t you?”
“I’m not going to be that woman who sleeps her way to the top, and as long as I’m with you, it’s always going to be that way. And, trust me, I did plan on advancing here.”
“So you are planning on sticking with me for a while.” A self-satisfied grin covered his face.
Somehow she hadn’t considered that he would doubt that he’d be stuck with her. She was moving in with him. “Of course. I love you.”
There was a pause, and Lori realized it was the first time either of them had said the words. It seemed so natural. As though it wasn’t some big revelation but simply a statement of how things were.
Michael leaned forward and kissed her. She thought he was going in for a quick peck, but his palm pressed into the small of her back and pulled her up against him.
Even though she knew she needed to be going, she rested her hands on the side of his face and pulled him closer. Closed her eyes as she fell deeper into the kiss.
Before she became completely overwhelmed, she pushed away. “Nice try on the distraction. I will not be missing this interview no matter how sexy you are.” She backed away and held up a finger in warning.
“Fine. I surrender.” He held up his hands to prove his point. “Go. Get another job. Leave me. I see the way it is,” he said in a joking tone.
She picked up her bag and portfolio folder from the chair in his office. “I’m going.”
Lori had one foot out the door when she heard the words she’d been waiting for.
“I love you too.”
~~~~~THE END~~~~~
Luke and Evelyn are going to have out their issues in the next installment, Testing The Boss, coming November, 2015!
AMAZON US
AMAZON UK
Billionaire Luke Devereaux gets what he wants and what he wants right now is to bring down the shady organization threatening his family. Teaming up with the FBI is his only option--even if that option comes in the sultry Evelyn Price, the ice-princess who's all business.
Refusing to be distracted by the sexy, rich playboy, Evelyn forces herself to stay focused on the case, gearing up for the criminal takedown of her entire career. As the enemy closes in with Evelyn as its next target, it's up to Luke to keep them out of danger. The more they work to protect each other, and fight for control, the harder it is to resist their undeniable attraction.
And the one thing Evelyn has learned from working with him is that Luke Devereaux gets what he wants.
Touching The Boss (Billionaires In The City Book 5) Page 17