Heaven's Watcher

by Kayden Claremont

  The door opened. A woman dressed in a black suit walked in. She crossed the room and handed the file to Darius. Turning, she looked Heaven up and down and gave her a who-the-hell-are-you look.

  “That’ll be all.”

  She must have heard the waring in his tone because she quickly disappeared behind the door.

  As he opened the file, he paused. He wasn’t sure what information it contained. Some of its contents could cause Heaven to run off half-cocked. “Everything in this office is for my eyes only. Understood?”

  Her smile faded. “You have to tell me everything you find out about Andy. We’re in this together.”

  He traced his finger down the sheet and flipped the file open. He leafed through several pages.

  “Wow, you read fast. You can’t comprehend it that fast?” When he didn’t answer, she sat on the edge of her seat. “So?”

  He tapped his finger to his temple. “What is your brother’s name?”

  She gave him a quizzical glance. “Andy. Andrew Gaither. We had the same mother—different fathers.”

  He wanted to believe her, but what she’d told him about her brother wasn’t the same information as in the file. Flipping back a few pages, he asked, “How old is he?”

  “He’ll be twenty-nine next month. His birthday is the nineteenth.”

  He was relieved that matched. He nodded. For her own safety, he couldn’t give her any information. “Do you know his height and weight?”

  “He’s my brother. You have to tell me what’s in that file.”

  He gazed over the top of the folder at her. Her expression changed from eagerness to doubt. Darius’s heart cracked.

  He ground his teeth to keep from handing her the file.

  “Fine. He’s six-one, and he used to weigh around one hundred and eighty pounds. I’m not sure what he’d weigh today. After all, I haven’t seen him since he died.”

  He smirked at her sarcasm. She was such a spitfire. “When was that?”

  “Seven months and eleven days ago.” She leaned on the desk to get closer. “What is it?”

  “Nothing.” Darius scanned the file from front to back again to avoid eye contact with her. He had to stop her from digging any further to find her brother. “Some of this doesn’t match what you’re telling me.”

  She thumped her fist on the desk. “What did you expect? He’d keep his name and his address the same after faking his death? He probably has a false identity now.”

  Darius stared at the words on the page, so she continued, “There are things he can’t change. His eyes are bright blue similar to our mothers. He has a pear-shaped birthmark on his left butt cheek. You can’t fake that.”

  If the information in the file was correct, it was too dangerous for Heaven to continue to search for her brother. His heart shattered at having to lie to her, but he had to persuade this passionate woman to move on with her life. “Whether he’s faking things are not, I have to be sure the situation makes sense for me to pursue it.”

  “What do you mean for you to pursue it? I’m the one who’s going to find him.” Heaven breathed in sharply. “He’s not an it. He’s a person. He happens to be my brother.” She held out her hand. “Give me the damn file. The only way he’s getting out of this alive is by turning state’s evidence, and in order to do that, he has turn himself in to the DA’s office and let them protect him.”

  He closed the file, laid the folder on his desk, and rested his fingers on it. “No.”

  “What the fuck?” She stood and thumped her fist on the desk again. “He’s my brother.”

  “Yes.” Darius slipped the file into a drawer and locked it. “You’re too close to the situation.” He shrugged. “Besides, Andy’s dead. You said it yourself.”

  He watched as the realization that he wasn’t going to share the information with her formed on her face. Her eyes filled with anger, then turned to hatred.

  He pressed the control in his pocket to call his men.

  She leaned over the desk, her face inches from his. “If anything happens to my brother, I’ll kill you.”

  The door opened and two large security guards entered the room.

  Darius rose and buttoned his jacket. “Please escort Ms. Vaughan to the lockers, let her change her clothes, and escort her to her bike.”

  He walked past her, nodded at the men, and exited the room. Fighting back emotions he hadn’t experienced for a long time, he headed toward the staircase. Better she hated him than for her to get herself killed. Until he could figure out which watcher betrayed him, Heaven, and Andy, his main goal was to keep her safe.

  He dashed up the stairs two at a time. He had to find the traitor and rescue Andy. When he reunited Heaven with her brother, he prayed she would find it in her heart to forgive him. Until then, he had to keep a clear head, which meant he had to stay away from her.

  Chapter Six

  Fuming, Heaven raced her motorcycle up the 215, the desert scenery of rocky outcroppings passing in a blur. After leaving the casino, she had gone straight to the DA’s office and begged for Darius’s home address. He might think he could control her at work, but he’d double-crossed her, and now she’d make him pay.

  He was such a backstabber! She’d make him tell her where her brother was even if she had to beat it out of him.

  She’d been such a fool. Letting him touch her, trusting him. Something insider her broke the second he betrayed her.

  Driving to his house was the best way to handle the problem, but there was no way she would let Darius or his crooked boss win. Turning off the highway, she slowed to the posted speed limit and navigated the road winding between the mountains. Never would she have believed Darius would live in such an exclusive area. But after spending her life in Vegas, she understood dirty money could buy the best of things.

  As she turned right, the headlights lit a sign to a gated community. It read Heaven’s Gate.

  A few feet ahead, a uniformed man sat in the guard booth. The sound of the baseball game blasted on a tinny radio as she stopped.

  The guard stuck his head out of the booth. “Good evening. How can I help you?”

  Lifting the helmet visor, she said, “I’m here to see Darius Turner.”

  The guard hesitated for a moment, then said, “You mean Darayavahush?”

  She wasn’t sure who Darayavahush was, but she was counting on him to help her find Darius. “Sure.”

  The guard nodded as the gate lifted.

  Heaven gunned the bike up the steep hill. She pulled into the only driveway and parked her bike under a tall palm tree as the last of the sun’s rays kissed the mountains.

  Climbing off the bike, she scanned the street. Twenty minutes out of Vegas, up in arid mountains, each house was massive, resembling a hotel more than a home. Deep pinks and dark purples streaked the sky as the sun disappeared behind the mountains behind it. The building was a three-story, slate-gray brick with massive turrets on either side of an arched entrance. It resembled a medieval castle.

  Impressive palm trees lined the drive and huge cacti framed the entryway. Not the place she pictured Darius living in, however, this was the address the DA’s office gave her.

  Heaven marched through the archway into a spectacular courtyard with a magnificent fountain that was bigger than her apartment. The noise of the water splashing almost made her smile. She paused at the fountain a moment longer, letting its calming sound surround her, then continued toward the ten-foot double doors up a set of steps.

  She rang the doorbell. No answer. Impatiently, she pounded her fist against the door. “Darius Turner, I want to speak to you.”

  Nothing. She continued to bang on the door as she called his name.

  Moments later, the door opened. Heaven’s breath caught.

  Darius stood before her, water dripping from his blond hair to his naked shoulders, then meandered down his rock-hard abs before disappearing under the towel wrapped around his waist. His muscular calves peeked from under the towel
. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  At his commanding tone, she cleared her throat. She wouldn’t back down. “So, does the boss know you’re working at Heaven’s Gate?”

  “I live here.”

  That confirmed the DA’s information, even though it didn’t make sense. “So, you live here with this guy Darayavahush?

  Darius ran his thumb across his chin. “My name is Darayavahush.”

  “I’ve never heard anyone call you that before.”

  His lips pulled tight. “Pete, the guard, is an old-fashioned guy. He’s the only person to use my real name. Most people can’t pronounce it, so I shortened it to Darius.”

  When he grinned at her that way, her anger and determination to get him to tell her whatever he was hiding started to dissolve. “So, you really live here?”

  “Heaven’s Gate is an exclusive holiday resort. It’s a great place. Never any trouble. Most of the guests are—good.”

  “Bullshit. People come to party in Vegas, to let go, lose their inhibitions, and do things they would never consider doing back home. We’re called Sin City not Good City.”

  “This”—He waved his arm around the room—“isn’t Vegas.”

  Before she could argue, he lightly patted her arm and desire hummed through every inch of her.

  “Come in.” He stepped back for her to enter and waited while she took in her surroundings before he said, “The elevators are this way.”

  He sauntered in that little bit of a towel toward the bank of steel elevators on the left. They appeared out of place in the midcentury décor. But hell, so did he, with his sculpted back and shoulders. And his ass under that terry cloth…mmm-mmm.

  Heaven reached out toward the control panel to keep from grabbing a handful. “Which floor?”

  He pushed a key into the lock and struck the button. “I live on the top floor.”

  “Yet you answered the door dripping wet?”

  “Peter phoned me from the guard house.”

  Of course. Darius was used to being in a position of power and authority. Was that what attracted her to him? His sense of entitlement? No. It was his rock-hard abs. The way he had made her explode in total bliss with only his fingers. He was a man who knew how to please a woman, especially her.

  When the doors opened, he nodded and she stepped into a grand room filled with soft light and quiet jazz drifting from the walls.

  Darius walked into the room and crossed the to face a floor-to-ceiling window.

  She followed him, amazed by the sight of the strip’s lights twinkling against the twilight sky. They appeared small although she could recognize each outline. “I’ve always known it’s called The Strip, but I’ve never appreciated until now how much it looks like a row of tall buildings against the desert darkness.”

  “Yes, I had this place built so I could watch it grow.”

  “Funny.” Heaven nudged him, and the impact with his unmovable, muscular chest sent waves of excitement through her.

  He gazed down at her, a questioning expression on his angelic face.

  “Vegas has been a gambling town since the thirties. You’re not that old.”

  His sensuous lips curled into a generous smile as mischief twinkled in his eyes. “If you say.”

  A massive chandelier shone above her, making his wet shoulder sparkle.

  To her right, a floor-to-ceiling marble fireplace stood guard. Its intricately carved cherubs begged for her touch. The room’s warm wooden floor and honey-colored walls glowed, giving the space an elegant yet relaxed feeling.

  Straight ahead, golden draperies framed a wall of glass doors. The arched transom above them reminded her of a church window.

  Indicating the couch in front of the fireplace, he said, “Please sit down.”

  To get the information she needed, she would appease him and sit where he told her. She perched on the edge of the sofa, trying not to leave an indent of her butt on the expensive fabric.

  “Ready for a glass of wine?”

  “I didn’t come here to socialize.” Her eyes roved over his chest and down to the towel. She wanted to rip off the fluffy fabric and screw his brains out. So much for beating the shit out of him. Her cheeks flared with heat.

  He shrugged, walked to the bar, and poured wine into a glass. With the wineglass in his hand, he returned and sat on the arm of the chair opposite her. “Why did you come here?” His low, controlled voice jolted her from her sexual fantasy.

  Raising her finger, she said, “I need to know what was in the file. I have to find Andy before you or the boss can kill him.”

  After taking a sip of wine, he said, “You’ve seen him. He’s alive.”

  “He’s hiding from you because of the boss.” She pointed at him again. “We both know you would do whatever the boss ordered you to do.”

  He gazed over the rim of the glass at her. “I would never kill anyone. I couldn’t do that even if he ordered me to.” He slowly twirled the glass, watching the wine leave fingers on the glass. “Your brother is safe.”

  “So you say.” But as she gazed into his eyes, she saw the truth. He would help her find Andy. She held out her hand. “Give me the file.”

  “No.” He set his glass on the table, crossed to stand much too close, and leaned into her. “You’re trying to prosecute the boss. That doesn’t have any bearing on my taking care of you and your brother.”

  The honesty in his voice caused her to melt. To hide her feelings, she scowled. “Still, I have to find him. We both know he’s hiding from the boss.”

  “It looks like he’s hiding, but I’m not convinced it’s from Del. Maybe he’s hiding from the loan shark. Your brother is into him for a lot of money. Those types have been known to break a leg or two to convince a person to pay up.”

  The words rang true to her heart. She stared at the expensive rug. It was imperative she find Andy before the loan shark’s thugs did. “I have to leave.”

  She got up and started to cross the room when he caught her arm. His heat pulsed through her. “Stay.”

  Heaven gazed into his twilight eyes, and for the second time in that many minutes, she wanted to kiss him…and so much more.

  “When you danced in the club, I couldn’t take my eyes off you.” His breath fanned her cheek. “I would never hurt you. I won’t let anyone hurt you or your brother.”

  He ran his fingers up her arm toward her shoulder.

  Heaven wanted him to pull her against him, to feel his hard body against his.

  “You’re helping the DA prosecute the boss. I get it. I’m making it my job to keep you safe while you do that.”

  When she heard the conviction in his voice and that he wasn’t going to get in her way in regard to his boss, her defensive wall crumbled. “Sorry.” She shook her head. “It’s just that in my line of work it’s hard for me to trust anyone.”

  “Yeah, in mine, too.” He let go of her arm. “We should talk.”

  Heaven knew she should go, should leave before anything could develop between them, but she couldn’t. His scent of soap and sizzling male surrounded her. Her nipples hardened. This man was pure danger.

  He adjusted his towel to cover his erection, and her pulse quickened. Her throat went dry. She never experienced this instant attraction to anyone. She ached to let herself go and enjoy the moment. She wouldn’t.

  He twirled her hair in his fingers. “I’m waiting for more information on your brother’s location. But right now, I’m going to have dinner. Then I’ll tell you everything.”

  She bit her lip to keep from smiling. Darius would give her the information. She’d won. She’d find Andy before the loan shark did.

  “Do you want something to eat?”

  She wanted to eat him and have him eat her. “I could nibble on a little something.”

  His eyebrow arched.

  Heaven wished she could take back those words. They were out in the open between them.

  “First, let me put on some clothes.” He crossed th
e room and disappeared.

  She’d wanted to shout, “No, stay naked” but she stopped before making a complete fool of herself. She wasn’t a lovestruck schoolgirl, so why was she acting this way?

  Who was she kidding? She knew exactly why she acted this way. Darius Turner was cover-model handsome and had exposed a kindness most men wouldn’t reveal because it might make them appear less masculine. Nothing could make him less manly.

  Within minutes, he appeared in gray sweatpants and a matching tight-fitting tee.

  Heaven knew exactly what she wanted for dinner—him.

  “If you’ll follow me…” He walked through another doorway.

  She didn’t know what else to do, so she trailed behind him. Looking around, she realized a professional chef would have been envious of this sleek kitchen with its luxurious wood cabinetry, six-burner gas stove, and gigantic fridge-freezer combo.

  She slid into a padded chair at the double island and felt at home.

  Darius moved around the kitchen with the skill of a person who spent his whole life cooking. “Hope you like pasta.”

  “Yes.” She was suddenly as hungry for food as she was for him. She licked her parched lips. Lust filled his dark eyes, and her sex pulsated.

  “Ready for some wine?”

  Nodding, she struggled to make her throat work. “Please.”

  He placed a glass of red in front of her and smiled. “Hope you enjoy this. It’s my favorite.”

  He raised his glass toward her, so she quickly grabbed hers and clicked it against his. “Cheers.”

  “To you.” He sipped the wine and turned toward the stove to stir a pot.

  Heaven felt as if she belonged here, with this man. It wasn’t true. She didn’t belong anywhere near him until she saved Andy and put the boss away. “Have you lived here long?”

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Yes. At the casino, I spend my days solving problems. The only problem I have here is whether I’m going to cook or order in.”

  Heaven sipped her wine, savoring the delicious full-bodied aroma. “And you’ve worked for the casino for a long time?”