“You should reconsider. The package deal we’re offering is more than competitive, Aspen. It’s insane for you not to accept it,” Winter added, eyeing her body over then focusing on her lips.
She adjusted her stance and felt her unsteady movement before Storm took her arm to steady her.
She pulled away and cleared her throat.
“Maybe you should sit down a few minutes?” Storm suggested in that tone of his that instantly got under her skin. Those dark eyes alone could do her in.
“I don’t think so. I just need some fresh air. If you’ll please excuse me.” She turned to walk toward the hallway that led to a balcony that overlooked the city. She had been in this penthouse before for a more intimate affair and business deal only a month or so earlier. It was an impressive set up.
She thought about Winter and Storm as she entered the balcony closing the door behind her.
It was dark out here but the cool night air caressed against her heated skin relieving some of the warmth. She wished it could also deflate her hardened nipples and aroused state, but no such luck. Why she continued to torture herself she didn’t know. She turned down offers of sex, casual relationships with men because none of them came close to the effect Storm, Winter, Zin, Weston, and York caused within her. Maybe she was just using her crush on them as a defense mechanism to resist her needs and desires for safety and comfort. She knew damn well that in their arms, any of their arms, she would feel safest. It was so crazy. Meanwhile, never had any of them hugged her long enough to prove such capabilities. It was becoming pretty damn obvious that she created this image of them in her head as protectors. Perhaps it stemmed from them being retired military men? Navy SEALs specifically was a definite turn on. Then there were their connections to the Russian mafia, their ability and charismatic personalities that could land any piece of ass they wanted or directed their attention to, and yeah, she found it all sexy.
Fuck, that pissed her off. Just thinking of other women having sex with them, touching those muscular bodies she knew were to die for.
She took a deep breath and released it.
Get them out of your head. This isn’t doing you any good.
She heard the door to the balcony open and thought for sure that Winter or Storm would be there. How would she hide her hardened nipples? Her flushed cheeks and the way the cream coated her thighs? But as she glanced over her shoulder, she saw Weston and York.
Two of the five men she was trying so hard to keep a distance from.
“We thought we saw you come out here. How are you feeling, Aspen?” Weston asked. Weston Galloway. A prize fighter and master in martial arts, retired Navy SEAL, accounting major, business entrepreneur, the man—just like his buddies—was one major, sought-after bachelor in the Chicago and Texas areas.
“I’m feeling great, and you?” she asked, hearing the attitude in her tone. Weston’s eyes widened at her reply while York Reiss and his amazingly sexy hazel eyes stared at her then the cleavage in her dress.
“You seem a bit out of sorts tonight, Aspen. Anything we can do to help ease your mind?” York asked then reached over and moved her hair off her shoulder before he caressed his thumb and forefinger against her ear lobe.
“Out of sorts? Hmm…I don’t think so. I was just getting some fresh air before I called it a night and headed out of here. How about you two? Any plans for the rest of the night with any of the entertainment John has prancing around the penthouse this evening?” she asked, referring to the single bimbo women John always had attend these events in case any of the businessmen he invited were looking for free sex.
It kind of annoyed her, but at least she didn’t come across as one of those women available for a sexual fling. She established years ago that she was not easy. In fact, her sex life was considered so secretive that there had been bets as to who could land her in the sack and as their women. She had gotten entirely fed up with the flirtatious actions of men she had to deal with on a regular basis that she called in a friend to pretend that he was her lover. It worked and everyone backed off.
But Jester eventually took a job in Texas for work.
“We’re not interested in the ‘entertainment,’ Aspen. We came here tonight because we knew that you were attending,” York told her. She shot her head up to look at him.
Weston quickly added, “We wanted to offer you the business position with our company in Texas and perhaps if things worked out you could assist here in Chicago next. You’re perfect for the job and certainly could get our employees trained accordingly.” She felt disappointed and didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she lusted for these men, yet she had all the signs of someone with a crush. But not them. Not a bunch of men involved with things she should be intimidated by. Besides, it seemed their agenda kept coming back to keeping her out of Chicago. She knew why. They didn’t know that she knew why, but still, it pissed her off. How badly she would love to hear one of them, if not all of them, say they wanted her with them.
But that wasn’t the case. She lived for danger. She almost felt numb to pain and she knew it stemmed from her past.
“I really don’t think I have the time right now to help you out. The offer was more than generous, and I would love to assist, but I’m in the middle of something major right now that has all my time wrapped up.”
“Would you at least think about it for the next few weeks? Maybe give us a definite answer in a month? We have some things we’re working on, too, right now and it would be better if you started after the summer,” Weston said and then caressed her hand and brought it up to his lips. He kissed the top, and her heart skipped a beat as she locked gazes with his green eyes.
“Please? For us?” York added as he caressed her hair off her shoulder.
It was too much, having two men touch her at the same time. Although every nerve in her body knew their innocent touches were anything but innocent, she needed to maintain her composure and ensure these men couldn’t get through the walls she built so strong.
“I’ll let you know in a month or so.”
They both smiled.
“Excellent. We’ll let Storm, Winter, and Zin know.”
Then they heard the door open and Zin walked out. He smiled and looked her over appreciatively, and she was glad she wore the slim-fitting black dress that accentuated her figure. Why she wanted them to desire her she really didn’t know, especially when she would never allow them to know how she felt about them. Not that it mattered. These men didn’t feel the same desire for her.
“Aspen, are they trying to change your mind about the job opportunity?” he asked, approaching and giving her a kiss on her cheek. She felt claustrophobic even though she was outside on the balcony.
“We should head back inside,” she said when Zin stopped her by taking her hand. She nearly lost her footing and wound up against his chest. They stared at one another. He towered over her as did the others.
He held her gaze, and she swore he was going to kiss her, but then he stepped back. He turned from her making her feel like shit. As if she weren’t good enough, not even for a one-night stand. Or perhaps he thought of her as a sister because of Porter. After all Porter had to have told them that she had been abducted years ago. It was probably why they acted like overprotective brothers. As soldiers they put the needs of women and children first. Too bad they didn’t know exactly what her needs were. Or maybe it was too bad she couldn’t tell them and let them try to ease her fears, her resistance to physically connecting to another human being in a more intimate way. They knew she had hang-ups. In fact, they knew more than most.
“Be careful. Are you getting a ride home with someone?” Weston asked, sounding fatherly.
She shrugged her shoulders. “The night is still young,” she said with attitude and opened the door and exited the balcony. She thought she heard cursing, but the sound of laughter as some drunk woman was lifted up over a guy’s shoulder before they headed down the hallway to the bedrooms blocked out any othe
r sounds.
Tonight, just like all the other nights the past four years, she would go home alone, and sleep in a bed scared, with the lights on. This was her future, the torture she continued to experience night after night. The nightmares ruled her mind and no one could help her get past them. No one.
She put on her game face and headed into the main room. Gary Sparks spotted her, and his eyes brightened, and he stopped talking to his friends to get to her.
“Aspen, I finally caught you alone. Can we talk about the meeting this week?” she didn’t want to but at least the business dealings would take her mind over the balcony scene.
She smiled and looped her arm through his.
“Sure, but someplace where no one can overhear the plans.”
He winked. “Alone with Chicago’s most sought after bachelorette? Aren’t I a lucky bastard?” He chuckled and she smirked as they headed toward the study.
Then the thought hit her. The guys always showed up whenever she was in town in Chicago for business or whatever. They ran different businesses in Chicago and Texas. Were they keeping an eye on her for Porter so closely that they would follow her here? Was this what their job offer was all about? Her temper flared as she thought about how stupid she was to be affected by their good looks and charms. They were being bodyguards as if she were some kid in need of a babysitter. Well hell. They would know soon enough just how independent and resourceful she really was. She knew more than they gave her credit for. Finding out who had been responsible for her abduction and why gave her the courage to take her life back. Oh yeah, Storm, Zin, Winter, Weston, and York would know soon enough how capable she was. Not even death intimidated her anymore.
Chapter 2
Storm Jones stood by the desk and shook his head.
“How the hell did she pull this off? Since when did she do business with the Russian fucking mob?” he said aloud to Zin as Zin pulled the information up on the computer screen.
Winter, Weston, and York stood there looking just as shocked as Storm felt.
“The woman is amazing, but this, this shit is going to cause some big-ass trouble. Andrei Renoke, that slimy Slavic bastard, is going to shit a brick,” Winter said.
“How can we be sure that it was Aspen? I mean, she doesn’t work for Dmitri. I know they spend a lot of time together and she’s helped him with that organization he started, but still. I’m not sure she has the capabilities of pulling this off,” York added.
“How could she? This is a twenty-million-, maybe forty-million-dollar deal from what my sources say. Everyone is trying to figure out how Dmitri came out on top with the bidding on this construction job. Clearly Andrei used his political and mob ties to get Clarence to give his company a shot,” Winter said.
Storm ran his hand through his hair.
“Hell, we know she’s good at a lot of things besides retraining employees. It had to be her. We saw her with Gary Sparks at John Brothers’s party. Read this description again of the unidentified woman who flew on Clarence’s jet yet wasn’t seen clearly by anyone to identify her,” Storm told Zin.
“Okay, here is the description. The identity of the individual who apparently coordinated this multimillion-dollar deal with Cartwright Productions stationed in Houston, Texas, is assumed to be a woman. Black hair, shapely figure, fashionable attire and wearing a scarf tied around her hair and large sunglasses, was clearly an attempt to hide her own identity from reporters. The unidentified woman, whose name was not on the flight list, disappeared in the private aircraft of Clarence Cartwright. No further information is available at this time,” Zin read from the article.
“Aspen. You’re right, Storm. It has to be her. I bet that plane went to the Caribbean where she was supposed to meet her friends and do that cruise thing. At least that’s where Porter said she was,” Weston added.
“Well, her brother would know. So if she was there, then maybe we’re all mistaken,” Weston added his point.
“I spoke to Porter that day, and he said that his sister had to fly somewhere for a meeting with some big shot and then would head back out to meet her friends. It was her. I’m telling you, we need to hire her to retrain our employees in Texas and get her out of Chicago. The security firm could have gotten a bad rap when that woman, Cherise, was abducted and held hostage by her ex. If our employees were better trained, they would have asked the right questions and identified the guy as a possible threat to the women not a long-lost brother. These people need better training,” York told them.
“Either that or we’re going to have to downsize this operation, focus on more of our non-legit commitments that bring in a shitload more money, and start doing these missing person investigations on our own. I don’t know about you guys, but sitting in the back of a van for days at a time sucks,” Weston said. They chuckled and agreed.
“I think we need to think about this more before we ask for Aspen’s help. Our priority, and Porter’s, is to keep Aspen out of Chicago and business like this. He is going to fucking flip out and he’s not the only one. You guys do realize that Dmitri is going to hire our company and Brock, Smith, Rex, and Reno’s company to do all the security work this project entails,” Storm said.
“Holy shit. She just landed us the biggest contract of our business careers,” Zin said aloud.
“She couldn’t know about our illegal dealings could she? Like know we have been trying to get out and go legit? I mean is this an opportunity to do just that?” Weston said.
“She couldn’t know. I mean she could hear rumors, maybe even believe some of them. But to go to this extent, and to wind up fucking over Andrei Renoke? Goddamn, I wonder why Dmitri didn’t even talk her out of this,” York added.
“Dmitri doesn’t know how we feel about her, just that we’re protective of her because of Porter. This job doesn’t help us to get out of the business, it brings us deeper. We’re under Dmitri Sanclare’s payroll. You all know whom Dmitri answers to,” Storm said.
“Whether Aspen was the one to negotiate this deal or not, Storm, if Dmitri got it, then we would have been hired for it. You’ll do whatever you can to put a deeper wedge between you and her. It’s not going to work,” Zin stated.
They got quiet and Storm knew why. He started walking away from the computer.
“I know you don’t want to go over this again, but we haven’t seen Aspen in weeks. Not even by chance at the café downtown or at any events. I kind of miss seeing her,” York admitted.
“Who the fuck doesn’t, York? She’s all we ever think about, but you know the deal, so why torture ourselves?” Zin said.
“We don’t need to torture ourselves. It was torture enough knowing what she went through and not being able to find her sooner,” Weston added.
“We’ve been over this. We watched over her with Porter and his team for the past six years with her only knowing about us the past three. It’s better this way. She deserves better than a bunch of fucking retired Navy SEALs who have connections to the mob and could get her fucking killed,” Storm stated firmly.
“Like fucking around in Andrei Renoke’s business dealings isn’t going to get her killed, or at minimum threatened or hurt by the fucker?” Winter asked.
“He’s fucking right. The fuck already has his eyes on her and she doesn’t even know it. She ignores just about every man that flirts with her. She won’t see him for the dangerous man he is. If she finds out that Andrei was connected to that sex slave operation the Feds nearly busted, she might do something rash,” York said.
They were all quiet and Storm thought about that a moment and something clicked.
“Like maybe sabotage a major multimillion-dollar business deal to get revenge on him for what she went through years ago?”
Winter whistled. “The shy, scared little seventeen-year-old who can’t sleep in the dark, sure has grown a set. That’s if what you just said pans out to be true,” Winter told Storm.
Storm looked at his team, his best friends and family.
* * * *
Aspen Brooks took a sip of Bordeaux from the heavy crystal wine glass. The venue for the fundraising event was top notch as usual. This year Dmitri hosted it at the Fairmont, in Chicago. Through the elaborate dining area and along the massive windows a view of Grant and Millennium Park could be seen. It was impressive.
She scanned the area trying her hardest to avoid particular people she had no tolerance for exchanging false pleasantries with. She wondered where India was. That woman couldn’t stand still for too long. She more than likely was searching for tonight’s lover. Her closest friend and fellow cohort when a Friday night of blowing off some steam and stress were needed, was currently flirting with a Brazilian gangster named Pantaro.
Aspen shook her head. Sometimes she wondered if India did this type of stuff to get under her brother Silas’s skin. Even Aspen knew better than to mess with a Navy SEAL. Her own brother, Porter, was part of the same team as Silas, along with Piers, Ren, and Reid. Three very attractive men with bodies that could blow the socks off most male models. But Aspen wouldn’t even think about hooking up with any of them.
No, it seemed she had more dangerous, exotic tastes when it came to men. She preferred the fantasy over the reality. She didn’t do relationships, commitment, and closeness. In fact, she wondered if she were even normal. As most women, India included, talked about their sex lives, their fantasies fulfilled, and guys they would do again, or even consider settling down with. Aspen was different. Her heart was sort of cold, distant, and surrounded by a protective shield. So much so that sex did nothing for her. She tried it three times and none were anything to reminisce about. She knew where that wall, that desperate need to keep on guard came from. She wasn’t going to think about it now. All it would do is make for another sleepless night. It was bad enough that she was twenty-seven years old and couldn’t sleep in the dark.
The American Soldier Collection 10: Compromising Love (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 3