by Paula Cox
Cliff pulled out onto the main road, hands tight on the wheel. He seemed just as on edge from their earlier conversation as she was. Good. Let him suffer.
“He’s ex-intelligence. He worked for the NSA and CIA, but Julian says he’s more like a cyber-mercenary these days,” he explained.
“And how does that help us any?”
“He’s going to have a look at that number. He’ll trace it for us, and hopefully, we’ll have an address to go with Lando’s name.”
Liana bit her lip. It was good news, but still… “Couldn’t you just text this Amos guy the number?”
Cliff glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Why? Is there some reason you wanted to stay home, princess?”
His words sent a flood of heat through her, as well as a relapse into embarrassed silence. Sometimes she was so good at saying what she wanted and asserting herself sexually. Most of the time, really. But Cliff made her nervous, way more nervous than a performer had any right to be ever. She could face a crowded theater with no problem. But meeting Cliff’s searing gaze and taking him up on his taunt was too much to even consider.
After another moment of silence, Cliff let out a satisfied chuckle. Prick. “Amos refuses to take work from anyone unless he’s met them first. He does a lot of illegal dealings. It’s standard.”
Well, that was a good enough answer, Liana supposed.
She decided it was better to sink back into silence than to try a conversation with Cliff. Maybe things would go back to normal for them soon. Or maybe not. But for now? Liana was reliving the moment in that study when he’d thrust her up against the wall and teased her with a voice as dark and sweet as sin.
***
Amos looked exactly how Liana had expected him to. His hair was long and oily. It hung in strings over his forehead as he worked at his computer, tapping at the keys in determination. He was young, much younger than Cliff must have expected since he seemed surprised to meet Amos. But Liana had figured as much. He had a kind face, with bright blue eyes, but she suspected there was something much darker hidden beneath the surface. He wouldn’t have acquired a house this nice with a computer room this big and high tech if he hadn’t learned to manage his business ruthlessly.
“This will take some time,” he explained, flicking his gaze away from the screen.
Besides, when they had first come to his door, it was the first time he’d actually looked at them. And even that was fleeting. His eyes were glued back to his work not a moment later.
“What kind of time?” Cliff asked.
“A few days, maybe.” Amos shrugged. “It’s always tough trying to trace phones without calling them. I’ll have to hack into a couple of satellites.”
“I need it sooner.” Cliff’s tone was stern and left no room for argument.
Amos argued anyway. “Dude, you’re not my only client. And this kind of shit doesn’t just figure itself out. It takes time.”
Cliff reached forward and slammed down the lid of Amos’ laptop.
“Hey!” Amos complained.
“Listen.” Cliff didn’t even need to posture himself threateningly to cause shivers to run up Liana’s spine. She could only imagine how his deadly tone was affecting Amos. “This woman’s life is in danger, and I will not abide that. I will pay whatever it takes for you to put this on the top of your priority list.”
Liana’s brows rose in surprise. She’d expected Cliff to threaten the kid, not offer him extra money. It seemed like a fair deal, actually. And she couldn’t help but feel warm in her gut from him throwing money around just to keep her safe.
“Two days,” Amos replied. “That’s the fastest I can do. Any more than that and I’d have to do it without covering my tracks, and that’ll just bring the Feds down on both our heads.”
Cliff stood, straightening his suit. He looked so out of place in the dark room, with all its monitors and LED lights. He was old world. This new world glow didn’t suit him.
“Fine,” Cliff bit out. “We’ll return in forty-eight hours.”
Cliff nodded at Liana, and she rose from her chair, sending an apologetic smile toward Amos as she joined Cliff by the door. When they stepped out into the light, Liana could see just how tight Cliff’s jaw was.
“Relax,” she instructed. “Two days is a pretty short amount of time.”
“It’s long enough.” He wrenched open his car door and slid in.
Liana followed.
“Nothing’s going to happen to me in those two days,” she said. “Or to you. In fact, I think we’d be better off if something did happen.”
Cliff speared her with his gaze, fingers hovering over the starter. “What do you mean?”
“I think we should increase security around us and announce our engagement properly,” she said. “We can do it at a performance. There’ll be lots of eyes around, so we’ll have a better chance of spotting Lando at it.”
“So put you out like a sacrificial lamb?” Cliff asked. He snorted and started the car, peeling out onto the street. “That’s a horrible idea. You’re not leaving my sight until we’ve got Lando in hand.”
“You don’t get to decide that!” Liana replied, blood heating. “Janelle has been texting me all week with offers for performances. There’s even a last minute opening at the Boulder Theater later this week. It would be a perfect opportunity.”
“And why are you so popular all of the sudden?” Cliff asked, ignoring her suggestion. “I hope you aren’t thinking of ditching our partnership.”
Liana mused that she wasn’t the one who seemed keen to ditch the partnership at all. But instead of saying that, she just said, “My performance at Rick’s caught a few people’s attention, just like it was supposed to before all of this happened.”
Cliff’s cynical smile cut his face in half. “So you don’t need me? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Don’t be so pompous!” Liana crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “I’m saying I have options and I’m still choosing you.”
Cliff’s hands tightened on the wheel.
“And it’s going to get you killed,” he replied. His tone was colder than ice.
But Liana had dealt with worse. “It’s going to get Lando caught and vault me into stardom.”
Cliff went silent. After a few moments, he said, “You don’t, though.”
“Don’t what?”
“Need me. To be famous.”
Liana’s rage dissipated. As far as compliments went, that was about the best she could expect to receive from Cliff.
“I know I don’t need you,” she replied.
But her pride did not allow her, at that moment, to finish that thought.
But I want you.
***
Two days went by, and they were no better off than they were before. Amos delivered the news over the phone this time.
“Whoever Lando is,” Amos said, “he’s just as good with technology as I am. I couldn’t find anything worthwhile.”
“So you couldn’t track the phone?” Cliff asked, agitation rising in his throat.
“I’m afraid not.” Amos sighed. “He scrubbed all the GPS data out of the satellite records. I’m going to keep trying, though. I didn’t get this far in life just to be beat out by some asshole with a more advanced computer system.”
Cliff laughed, despite the gnawing in his gut. “Thanks, Amos. I’ll make sure you’re well compensated.”
He hung up the phone with a sigh, turning to where Liana was watching him from the armchair by the fire. He knew exactly what she was going to say. They’d spent the last two days mostly ignoring each other because of what she was going to say. But it had been long enough for him to cool off a bit after their tumble in the sheets, so it hadn’t been bad timing exactly.
He still didn't’ want to hear it.
“Amos couldn’t find anything useful,” Cliff said.
Liana sat forward further in her chair, a faint smile playing on her lips. “What I�
�m hearing is that we need to move to plan B.”
“Nobody said having you perform and announce our engagement and seeing what happened would be plan B,” Cliff defended, slumping down into the chair across from her.
“Fine then,” she said snippily. “It’s plan C. What is your plan B?”
Cliff glared. “I’m still working on it.”
“So you’ve got nothing.”
“I never said that!”
Two minutes of conversation and he was already ready to throw some plates at the wall. How could she bring this out in him? Nobody else ever made him so angry. Then again, nobody ever tested him so much. They were too afraid to.
“Well, you didn’t say that you had any ideas, which to me means that you’re all out of them.” She sipped on her cranberry cocktail. He knew she liked the drink because of its taste, but he liked when she drank it because of how it stained her lips extra red.
“Liana.” It was a warning and a plea.
“Cliff.”
“Liana.”
“Cliff.”
“Stop that.” He pointed at her. “You’re being childish.”
“Stop that.” She pointed at him. “You’re being childish.”
Cliff’s lips ticked up into a small smile. Hers turned up too.
“Are you going to copy everything I do?” he asked.
“Are you going to copy everything I do?” she replied.
She was in dangerous waters. Cliff wondered if she knew how close the sharks were. Rather than say anything else, he began to test how much she would mimic him physically. He raised an arm. She raised one too. He poked his nose, she poked hers too.
He began to stroke himself through his pants.
Liana’s eyes bugged out. “You—you’re such a guy!” she yelled, tossing back the rest of her drink and storming out the room.
Cliff was disappointed. That could have been quite a fun game.
Chapter 15
The Boulder Theater. It was the biggest venue Liana had ever performed in, and her nerves were buzzing with excitement. It felt like only yesterday she’d been singing at open mike nights in crappy dive bars and dreaming of fame. Now she was actually getting bookings. People wanted to see her perform. Even though her last concert had ended with the piano catching on fire.
Cliff had decided not to announce their engagement before the show but had conceded to Liana’s desire to perform. Even he knew it was wrong to deny her of her dream. She was annoyed that he wouldn’t let her help catch Lando, though.
It wouldn’t even take much. They would announce the engagement, word would spread, and then Lando would make a move. Liana had it all plotted out in her head perfectly. But Cliff didn’t want to take any chances. He even thought her performing at all was risky, and so had hired a ton of extra help to look out for Lando in the crowd. The one thing Liana and Cliff agreed on was that Lando would be there. But Liana didn’t think he would act out without being pressured to. Not when there was so much security at the event. Anyone smart enough to block Amos from finding their location was smart enough not to make a move when the room was crawling with security.
But people were never smart when they let their emotions take over. It was the one thing almost all people could be relied upon for. And Liana wanted to use it.
But Cliff had told her no.
As Liana prepped backstage, she began to wonder why she’d agreed to his refusal in the first place. It was her life on the line, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t she be allowed to determine which methods she was comfortable with for catching their bad guy?
So frustrated by this line of thought, Liana applied too much bronzer and had to wipe it all off and start over again. One day, she’d be able to get someone to do her makeup for her. She smiled at the thought.
“You’re on in five,” announced the stage manager before whisking off to yell at the rest of the backstage crew.
Liana was only an opener for the evening, but it was still a huge deal. With enough determination, she’d soon be the headlining act of her own show. And she’d have fabulous hair and makeup and Cliff would drop dead when he saw her out of pure lust.
But for now? She’d make do with what she did have.
Free will.
***
Liana walked out onto the stage, and Cliff nearly forgot how to breathe. She looked absolutely stunning, with her long hair tied up in an elegant updo and an emerald dress that seemed to be painted over her curves.
Every man in the theater couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He wanted to punch them all. At the same time, the lion in his chest roared at being the one to get to take her home. Things had been tense between them, but they wouldn’t always be. And one of the things that Cliff had become ever more sure of over the last few days was just how much he wanted things to not be tense between them. He had gone back and forth with his emotions in regards to Liana, sure. She’d done the same with him. He’d gone from wanting to shove her out of his car to wanting to kiss her and never let her go and back again more times than he could count. But one thing was certain—she never bored him. There wasn’t a time when he wanted to escape her presence. Always, he felt the compulsion either to fight her or fuck her. But he always wanted to be close.
And then she began to sing. He’d heard her practicing her opening song dozens of times since she’d agreed to perform tonight, but none of those compared to how amazing she sounded once she was truly in her element. She belonged on stage. Nobody could convince him otherwise.
After her first song, she took back the microphone and introduced herself. Cliff used the moment to look around and see if anyone in the crowd looked familiar.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Liana greeted. “My name is Liana Caterina.”
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Cliff watched them, unable to see anything out of the ordinary. There were so many people. He had hoped that Lando might try to get close to him during the performance, but so far he saw nothing.
“I don’t want to bore you with my personal life details,” Liana continued, “But I do have a special announcement to make.”
Cliff’s eyes darted back to the stage. She wouldn’t…
“I recently became engaged to a wonderful man named Cliff Aurello. He’s the light of my life, and I look forward to spending many long years at his side.”
The crowd cheered again, louder this time. Cliff gritted his teeth. Was she allergic to listening to a goddamn word he said? She just put herself in so much danger! He rose from his seat and surged toward the backstage entrance. He would hang around back there until she was done and then sweep her out of here before anything more could happen to her.
But his anger was bittersweet. Liana started singing her next song, and he got caught up in the melody as he walked. He replayed her words again, savoring them. He’s the light of my life… A wonderful man…
It struck him how much he wished she’d been telling the truth. Cliff wasn’t the type to settle down. He definitely wasn’t a wonderful man. But he wondered what it might be like to be engaged to Liana for real.
He gained access backstage fairly easily. He’d informed the security staff at the venue that he would be bringing his own security and informed them of the threat he was hoping to avoid. They would have told a regular person to stay far away from their venue. But nobody said no to Cliff Aurello.
Except Liana. She said no a lot.
***
“You’re batshit crazy, you know that?”
Liana was still riding the high of her standing ovation and wasn’t about to be brought down by Cliff. “I sure am!” she declared. “And you’re a worrywart. I’m surprised you haven’t gone gray yet.”
She breezed past him toward her dressing room. The dress she wore was beautiful but not comfortable. She couldn’t wait to get back home and put on her pajamas. Maybe she’d convince Cliff to snuggle up and watch a movie with her.
“I can’t believe you’re not taking this seriously!” Cliff
bellowed.
Maybe not.
Liana sighed and turned to the large man, letting her smile dip but not fall off. “Cliff. Nobody attacked. My plan didn’t work, and I’ll admit that. But it was worth a try.”
He followed her into the small room, slamming the door closed behind him. “You were reckless. You should have at least given me a heads up so I could add some more security.”