“True, but—” From the corner of her eye, she spotted her mother and brothers making a beeline for her. Damn it, they’d told her they weren’t coming because they were too embarrassed by her disgraceful pregnancy.
“Will you excuse me, Hector?” Heart drumming, stomach clenching, she looked back and forth between her man and her family. “I’m going to run to the ladies’ room.”
He frowned at her, didn’t appear to believe her, but all he said was, “Don’t be long.”
“So commanding,” she tsked under her tongue and took off like her heels were on fire. After placing her empty glass on a passing tray, she made sure her family noticed her change of location and followed her.
As she prepared herself for war, she led them to the far end of the room. Double doors opened into a gorgeous marble statue garden. No one meandered about, the air perhaps too cold and damp. Hadn’t stopped the vultures out front.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
The unfamiliar male voice came from behind her, and she whirled. Someone had shut the doors before her family had reached her. From the shadows of one of the statues stepped the handsome guy she’d seen in Alfonzo’s, when she and Hector had interrogated Brenda Marks.
He wore an expensively cut tux, polished loafers. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said again.
“And why is that?” She didn’t see a weapon on him, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Her fingers reached past the side-slit in her dress and closed around the butt of her pyre.
The moment she touched the handle, he disappeared from view—only to materialize behind her and grab onto her wrist, shocking the hell out of her.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “No weapons.”
Threat! Throwing her head back, she nailed him in the chin and he released her.
She spun, aimed—only to watch him disappear once again. “Coward,” she growled. “You want to play, because I’ll play. Prison rules.”
“Damn it, woman. I’m not going to hurt you. Had I wanted to do so, I would have. I’ve had numerous opportunities.”
He’d spoken from her left, but when she turned, he’d already moved on. “Who are you?” she demanded, still not seeing him.
“Mia Snow’s informer. For now, you can call me Anonymous.”
His voice had come from the right this time, but again, when she turned he was nowhere to be seen. Her heart thundered in her chest. “You’re also an otherworlder.”
“Part Arcadian, to be exact. Now, then. I’m going to appear in front of you, and if you fire at me, I’ll dodge, easily, and take off. You won’t get to hear the tidbit I’ve got for you.”
Indecision battled with curiosity inside her, but in the end the curiosity won. She lowered her gun to her side. “Start talking. If I don’t like what you’re saying, bad things are going to happen to you.”
A warm chuckle rose. As promised, he appeared in front of her. She studied him anew, noting details she’d missed at first glance. His eyes were the same electric blue as Mia’s. In fact, Noelle thought, frowning, the two shared similar facial features, too. The same sloped nose, the same cut cheekbones, the same full lips. It was like looking at a taller, penis-toting version of the AIR captain.
Were they… could they be… related?
No way, she decided next. He’d said he was Arcadian. Had proven it with his abilities. Mia was human. Right?
“I’m emailing you an address,” he said. “There you’ll find another of Phillips’s victims.”
“And the vic is… ?”
“His competition. A year ago, he treated Gerard Hendrick to the same pyre-fire as Bobby Marks. I watched him.”
Was that so? “And you never reported it, even though you’ve been helping us? Why would you omit a detail like that?” Their investigation would have gone a lot smoother and a lot faster.
“Because Phillips is mine.” Hard tone, determined. “I don’t like him, and I don’t like what he’s doing. When I see an opportunity to cut at him, I take it, as long as I know he won’t be captured.”
She recalled the theory she’d batted around with Hector. “He took a woman from you? Someone you love? You’re searching for her.”
The blue in his eyes darkened to black as he nodded. “If he’s dead, I’ll never find her.”
“If he’s locked up, you can talk to him any time you want.”
The corners of his mouth lifted with condescension. “You’ll never lock him up. Anyone who tries to take him in will die. But let’s say a miracle happens, because I can practically hear your thoughts and know you think it’s possible to catch him. He’d just escape. Believe me, I know. I’ve been watching and studying him for over a year.”
“Well, I haven’t yet had a crack at him.”
“Wouldn’t make a difference. He’s always a few steps ahead of you, keeping tabs on your progress.”
The words left him so easily, and yet each was like a rock slamming into her skull. “How? Do we have a mole in AIR?” If so…
“Not to my knowledge, but then, watching AIR isn’t hard to do. Anyway, right now Phillips isn’t sure whether you have his identity or not. He’s content, still doing business as usual. You approach, and that ends. He’ll want to know what you know, who you’ve told, and he’ll do anything to find out.”
“Even kill us all, yeah, yeah, you informed me of that already.”
Her flippancy irritated him and he scowled. “Maybe he’ll simply interfere with your investigation by getting rid of you and your partner and making everyone else too afraid to take on the case.”
“Kinda like what he does with his customers, huh?” As if she and Hector couldn’t handle themselves.
“Exactly.” His eyes narrowed, his gaze lasering into her. “So listen up. I know you’re planning to do something stupid tonight, like talk to him. Don’t.”
Trying to tie their hands, hold them back. “We’re not afraid of him, Mr. Anonymous. Someone has to take him down.”
“Yes, and that someone will be me.”
“You’ve had a year,” she reminded him. Merciless, like Hector. “Maybe longer. You haven’t exactly succeeded, now have you?”
“I’ve done a better job than you.”
“Ha!” Was she this annoying when telling people how much better she was? “We’ve had a week. Give us another, and Phillips will be behind bars and Big Daddy’s bitch.”
His fingers flexed before curling into fists. “You have no idea the shit storm you will unleash if you continue on this path.”
Whatever. Nothing she couldn’t handle. “Why not tell all of this to Mia? Why come to me directly?”
White teeth flashed in a sudden grin. “Big scary tattoo guy is more likely to listen to you than to her. And now, enough questions. I told you what I wanted to tell you. You tell Mia I want that list of names and descriptions of every female you’ve found.” The smile faded, leaving an expression of pain. “And tell her… tell her that Dare is back.”
Thirty-seven
BY THE TIME NOELLE returned to Hector’s side, the guy—Dare?—had indeed emailed her an address, which she forwarded to Mia with a note about what had been said. No reply had come in, but then, she hadn’t expected one. Mia wouldn’t contact her until she’d verified the information.
Frown fierce, Hector eyed her up and down. “I was about to start a search and rescue. Where were you?”
She grabbed another glass of champagne. “You’ll never guess what just—”
“Noelle,” her mother huffed from her left, cutting her off.
Damn it! Her family may not have followed her outside, but they’d sure as hell waited for her return, hadn’t they. And they were about to pounce, fangs and claws probably bared.
A quick glance, and she spotted her mother decked out in a regal black dress, diamonds glittering at her neck and fingers, her hair upswept. All three of Noelle’s brothers trailed behind her.
“Incoming,” she muttered. “There will be bloodshed. There w
ill be casualties.” Before, she’d hoped to warn her brothers. Threaten or insult Hector and suffer. Too late. Her mother was a lost cause.
“Phillips?” he asked, on alert.
“Worse.”
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse arrived, forming a half circle around her and Hector. Carter, Anthony, and Tyler were taller than she was, but not taller than Hector, and that made her grin.
All three possessed the same shade of milk chocolate hair, but only Carter, the oldest, had Noelle’s gray eyes. Anthony and Tyler had brown. Like mud, she thought with a snicker.
“I’m surprised to see you out in public,” her mother said, chin in the air. “In your condition and drinking alcohol no less.”
Maybe this conversation wouldn’t be such a trial after all. Fighting a grin, Noelle drained her glass. “This is my baby we’re talking about. She’s been ready to party since the moment of conception. Maybe even before.”
Gasps of outrage, twitters of embarrassment.
“I should have put you over my knee a long time ago. Maybe then you wouldn’t enjoy hurting others quite so much.” Carter, the eldest and the Tremain heir, glared up at Hector. “Who are you?”
“The guy who will punch your fucking nose into your brain if you talk to her like that again.” Hector spoke without any menace, and that made the threat all the more real.
Carter paled.
Noelle stopped fighting and grinned. My man deserves a reward for that.
She made the introductions, and her mother—the warden of the Tremain household—gave him a look that said she’d seen better things on the bottom of her shoes.
“I always have the people hanging around my daughter investigated, Mr. Dean. Your yearly income is laughable, and you spend most of it on… on…” Madam Tremain lowered her voice, whispered disgustedly, “professionals. Who do you think you are, bringing that kind of filth around someone of Noelle’s pedigree?”
Going straight for the heart. Or groin. Wonderful. And the longer they hung around, the worse it would get.
“He’s the best man I know,” she interjected, praying Hector believed her. Because it was true! “Better than the bastards you raised.” When her brothers sputtered in offense, she glared them into silence. “You know you are. And guess what, Mother. Hector’s better than you. Now, if you’ll excuse us… I see guests in need of a good flashing.”
Noelle gave her glass to a slack-jawed Anthony and dragged Hector to the other side of the doorway. His gloves were still in place, so she didn’t worry about being burned.
Concern for Hector’s feelings nearly overwhelmed her as she whirled to face him. “I’m so sorry.” Their differing social status had always bothered him. To be reminded so brutally, and in front of witlessness… “She’s a snob and I meant what I said. You are my favorite man.”
His expression remained blank. “Don’t worry about it. She didn’t tell you anything that wasn’t true. Didn’t say anything other people aren’t saying.”
“Hector—”
Every muscle in his body stiffened, stopping her. “Game face on,” he said. Determination radiated from him. “Mr. Phillips just walked in.”
Noelle paled. “Wait. Before we approach him, I have to tell you what happened when I left you.”
The story she next told him made Hector’s blood run cold. Noelle was a capable agent, and he hadn’t been apprehensive about her safety. Much. Fine, he’d been apprehensive. But as her words played through his head, he realized she could have been shot, stabbed, abducted, and he wouldn’t have known until too late.
That was a quandary for another night, though.
“What do you want to do?” she asked.
Hector took one look at Xavier Phillips and knew Dare—tell Mia that Dare is back, he’d said. Dare, Mia’s missing younger brother?—had told the God’s honest truth. Nothing Hector said would get Phillips to talk. Nothing would trip him up. Too much confidence radiated from him. He was too at ease. Too… perfect.
Phillips was tall and lean with coiffed blond hair and flawlessly tanned skin. Two Arcadians flanked his sides, guarding him as they would a national treasure. He stopped to shake hands with people, conversed, laughed, but never stuck around, and the guards never allowed anyone to get too close. He made the rounds, socializing. Acting friendly, charming females, and it was clear almost everyone liked him.
Only a few men revealed their fear around him. Their laughter was forced, their expressions frozen. Clients, definitely, who knew a ruthless side to the man that the others did not. A man who had abducted and sold countless women, as if they were no more important that sweaters. Strange, though, that Phillips had shared his identity with them rather than use a middleman. Made Hector wonder if Phillips had had to threaten them a time or two.
Things had worked out for Margarete Marks, but Hector doubted many others had come to enjoy their circumstances. Fury rose inside him, sparking the heat and the itch in his arms.
“Noelle,” he said, purposely not glancing at her. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything.”
So eager to please, he thought. She assumed her family had hurt him when, in fact, the opposite was true. She’d rushed to his defense. Had called him the best man she knew. Her favorite. For a moment, he’d felt like king of the world. He couldn’t let her know, not while they were here. She’d stop being so eager to please. “Stay by my side and stay quiet.”
Dare wanted him to walk away, but he couldn’t do that. Wouldn’t do that.
“Uh, okay. Why?”
“That’s not staying quiet.”
A pause. A clink of her teeth as she gnashed her jaw. “Come on.” He kicked into motion, and as promised, Noelle stayed by his side. Shockingly, she stayed quiet, too.
When they reached Phillips’s crowd, Hector shoved his way to the front, earning a few grunts, groans, and several protests—at least until his determination and savagery were realized, then everyone quickly backed away.
The Arcadians stepped in front of Phillips to shield him, but the confident businessman waved them back and frowned at Hector. “I hope you have a reason for such a rude display.”
“I do. My name is Hector Dean, and I’m with AIR. I know what you’ve done, what you’re doing, and I’m coming after you with everything I’ve got.”
Smiling, Hector stalked away, a gaping Noelle still at his side and still silent.
“You made yourself a target,” Noelle seethed the second they were in the car and speeding along the highway. She hadn’t known what to expect as she’d followed him through the ballroom, but that short and sweet conversation wouldn’t have entered the realm of possibilities. “After that Dare guy told us to stay away from him.” Not that she’d planned to do so, but still!
“Yes, I did. And Dare is the name of Mia’s missing brother. I don’t know if the guy you talked to is legit or not, but her brother was once under the influence of a very powerful Arcadian female. A very evil Arcadian female, and he can’t be trusted. So I did what I thought was right.”
Putting himself in danger, and Noelle out of it. Placing focus on him and him alone. Such a Hector thing to do and something she should have anticipated. Well, now he would just have to deal with the consequences.
“Does your home have shields to protect against teleportation?” she asked.
“No.”
“Then you’re staying with me.”
“No,” he repeated. “I want the Arcadians to come for me.”
Of course he did. “So you can, what? Be hauled to Phillips’s lair and burn everyone to ash?”
“Yes,” he replied, his tone dripping with relish.
Damn you, Hector Dean. “What if they shoot you in the head rather than take you to Phillips?”
A heartbeat of silence, then a shake of his head. “That’s not his MO. Phillips likes to make the kill himself. He likes to prove his power.”
“That happened once, you idiot! Twice if Maybe Dare Maybe N
ot Dare can be believed. And twice does not a pattern make. Therefore, you’re going to stay with me. But go ahead. Argue with me. See what it gets you.”
“Noelle—”
“Hector.”
That golden gaze flipped to her, tortured. “I’m too volatile right now.”
Her voice dipped huskily when she said, “And I know exactly how to calm you down.”
His nostrils flared with his sharp inhalation of breath. “No. I can’t risk you. I won’t.”
Think again. “Phillips saw me with you, and I’m very well known. He might try to get to you through me.” She wasn’t above a little manipulation of her own.
F-bomb after f-bomb filled the car. “All right,” he finally growled. “Okay. I’ll stay.”
So gracious.
As excited as she was by the thought of having her man in her house, in her bed, all night long, she was also scared for him. He already battled a ton of shame over his past, and the number of people he’d burned. Did he really think he would suffer no mental anguish this time around?
Afterward, he would remember the screams, the smells, and his fear for hurting Noelle would increase. All the progress she’d made with him would be defeated in a single night.
“Noelle,” he said, suddenly grave.
Suspicion arose, and her heart skipped a beat. “Yes?”
“What if I can’t ever touch you freely, as you need?” Suspicion confirmed. He’d already jumped to that thought path. Mouth drying, she peered over at him. He’d successfully cleared his features of any emotion, and she couldn’t read him. “Hector,” she said softly. “I’d rather have a conversation with you than have sex with someone else.” Truth.
His jaw clenched, as if he were biting down, but he didn’t say another word and neither did she.
Thirty-eight
HECTOR KNEW BETTER THAN to stay the night with Noelle. Did he have the will to resist her? Probably not. Knowing her, she’d come on strong. She always did, and that was just the way he liked her. Definitely not.
But then all she had to do was breathe and he’d grow hard for her. He craved her more than… hell, anything. And he loved her. Damn, did he love her.
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