She removed her blouse and his eyes got caught up in the sight of her. He didn’t want this to go by too quickly. He wanted to savor every minute of it and fumbled for the car’s intercom phone.
Upon hearing the driver’s voice, Eddie cleared his throat and worked at sounding ‘routine’. “Martin,” he said, in the calmest tone he could muster, not sure if he’d made the mark. “Don’t take us directly home. Cruise the city until we advise differently.”
After the driver’s verbal acknowledgment, Eddie replaced the phone and no longer felt the need to tamp down the growing desire that was now bulging in his Levi’s.
They shimmied out of their pants. Rio straddled his lap, dressed in nothing but a red silk bra and matching panties.
He tossed his T-shirt aside and drew Rio to him, enjoying the feel of her near-nakedness against his bare chest. Encasing her in his embrace, Eddie showered her with soft, sensuous kisses.
She shivered beneath his hands tracing over her arms and up to her shoulders. He followed the straps of her bra down to the mounds of her breasts and slipped a fingertip underneath the edge of her undergarment.
Rio tilted her head and arched backward, releasing a soft, satisfied sigh.
Eddie latched onto her buttocks and raised her up until her bosom was nearly level with his mouth. He played with the garment’s straps at her shoulders.
“You’re going to drive me crazy,” she said.
“I wouldn’t do that to you.” He dug a finger under one bra strap and skimmed it down her arm. “I aim to please,” he added, and then followed with the other strap. His gaze fell over her and then he peeled the garment’s fabric away from her breasts.
The way he looked at her was driving her nuts. She could tell by the hunger lighting his eyes, and his half-opened-mouth smile that he was enjoying the view.
His lips brushed over her aroused nipple and she pressed herself against him with urgency.
He trailed his hands over her shoulders, down her back and latched onto her bottom. “Slow down.”
“I don’t want to slow down.” She wriggled under his touch. “I want to go fast and furious.”
He moved her swiftly onto her back and gently laid her on the seat. He ripped her skimpy panties away and tossed them aside. His hand, skilled and gentle, left a teasing trail between her legs and spread them apart so he could work his magic.
Eddie seduced her into total submission, dipping his finger inside her and then dragging it back out. She rocked beneath his touch and, wanting to reciprocate the pleasure, she sought him out. He throbbed as she closed her hand around him. Rio stroked, gently at first, but quickly hastened into a frenzied pace, matching his speed.
“Now, Eddie...now,” she urged him. “I need to feel you inside me. Now.”
“As you wish.” He pushed his way inside.
Rio let out a delightful gasp and wrapped her legs around him, encouraging him to plunge deeper.
Eddie’s gaze fell over the wonder beneath him, the gorgeous body begging for climactic relief. He pumped faster, harder, wanting to satisfy her every desire and whim.
She tightened around him in rhythmic spasms and his shaft hardened like the strongest steel. He responded to her conclusive tremors, pouring himself into her.
He fell atop her, exhausted and satisfied.
But for all the pleasure they’d just brought one another, Naomi seemed determined to extinguish their fire long before it had a chance to ignite.
And then there was the stalker—who’d been amazingly quiet as of late. Perhaps Switzer had lost interest or realized that Rio was out of his league.
CHAPTER 27
BLAKE Switzer had been following the limo around town on its seemingly aimless journey across the city. Blake guessed that LaCall was on a mission to divert any potential tails Laraquette’s driver had acquired on the way home.
It made perfect sense. They had to be worried about that fruitcake ex of LaCall’s. Rio must be scared out of her wits with a stalker and LaCall’s crazy, pregnant ex-girlfriend sneaking around.
Finally, the limo pulled into the parking garage of the Plaza Towers and Blake followed them inside. Initially, his intention was to watch her get out of the car and head inside. But then she emerged wearing LaCall’s shirt, and he was bare from the waist up. That brought out the angst Blake had managed to suppress until now.
Irritation pushed Blake out of his own car and sent him charging across the parking garage toward Rio and LaCall. He caught up to them at the doorway leading inside. Blake grabbed her wrist. “I cannot believe you!”
LaCall came at him full-force, yanking him by the shirt and throwing him against the wall. “Don’t ever put your hands on her.” LaCall’s eyes glared with viciousness. He was marking his territory, and Blake didn’t like it. He didn’t like being choked either.
Blake wrapped his hands around LaCall’s wrist. Tugging. Aching. Struggling. “You talk about protecting her? Look what you’ve done to her with your pregnant girlfriend.”
LaCall released Blake and pushed him backward. “Get out of here,” he said in a near-monotone voice. There were no misgivings emitting from him. Obviously, he did not consider Blake an issue, much less a rival.
Smug bastard.
Blake turned to Rio. “How could you do this? How could you let him degrade you like this?” He gave a waving gesture at her inappropriate attire. “In the back seat of a freaking limo for Christ’s sake!”
“This is none of your business, Blake.” Rio’s cold stare sliced through him before she turned her back on him. She simply walked into LaCall’s arms and disappeared inside the building.
Feeling utterly disappointed, Blake turned and headed for his car.
Hard to believe he’d ever had feelings for the slut.
* * *
Arriving at the Federal Building with Rio the next day, Eddie still hadn’t gotten past Switzer’s performance back at the garage of the Plaza Towers. So much for the guy losing interest. His temper tantrum definitely proved otherwise. Eddie wouldn’t be surprised if the stalker struck again.
He needed to step up his surveillance. Maybe he’d ask James Laraquette to bring in private bodyguards. Make it really hard for Switzer to get to Rio.
Eddie and Rio strolled through the entrance and he purposefully pushed his hatred for Switzer aside. As long as he knew who the enemy was, he felt confident he could control the situation and keep Rio safe—with a little help from her father and his resources. Once Eddie got James onboard, he could concentrate on Perzinsky and the poker tournament.
“LaCall.” Bradley stopped them in the path leading toward their desks at the back of the bullpen. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” His tone was anxious and weaker than usual.
“Sure, what’s up?” Eddie asked.
“In private.” Bradley managed to locate the strength he’d temporarily lost from his voice.
Eddie looked at Rio. He hadn’t talked to James yet. He didn’t like the idea of her roaming around alone. Not even here. At the Federal Building.
“Go ahead,” she said. “I want to go have a little chat with our soon-to-be informant anyway.”
“Rivera...” Eddie raised his voice enough to grab the attention of his coworker sitting two rows of desks away. When Rivera looked up, Eddie waved him over.
Rivera closed the manila folder, dropped the pen and pushed himself up from his desk. He closed the gap between them a few steps and then said, “What’s going on? Why does everybody look so serious?”
“Go with her, please?” Eddie asked, pointing to Rio.
She looked at him, opened her mouth as if she were about to object, but instead, rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Come on, Riv.” She latched onto his wrist. “Let’s go.”
Was she pissed? Sure. Did Eddie care? No.
They disappeared through the entrance and Eddie turned to Bradley.
“I really don’t want to get in your business,” Bradley said.
Eddie beli
eved him, but still. “Then don’t.” He studied Bradley’s face, easily guessing what this was about. Naomi and her accusation.
“Well...” Bradley folded his arms across his chest and finally his gaze met up with Eddie’s. “Let’s pretend for a moment that I am her overprotective older brother.”
Eddie could almost believe it. Bradley was playing the part to the hilt. The tension was getting a little too thick to suit Eddie. “So what...?” he asked. “You saying you want to kick my ass or something?”
“All I’m saying, LaCall, is...I don’t want to see Laraquette hurt by this.” Chris paused, as if choosing his words carefully. “And if you leave her for your pregnant ex-girlfriend...it’s going to hurt.”
Eddie remained silent while he debated on whether or not to give in to Bradley’s whims. He’d begun to consider Bradley a friend, and because of that, Eddie wanted to clear his name. And not just with Bradley but the others, too. Except Switzer. Eddie didn’t give a damn what Switzer thought.
“Okay, you want an explanation?” Eddie said with determination. “Get Gabe, Rivera and his girl, and Rio,” he added her name into the mix. He didn’t trust her care to much of anybody else.
* * *
Lester recognized the cop right away when she entered the room. The chick from the poker tournament. He’d known there was something off about her, but he hadn’t been able to identify it. Not until now. “Well, hello, Miss Scarlett,” he said, letting her know he was on top of things.
“Afternoon, Lester.” Her greeting was a little too friendly to suit him. Cops only acted like this when they wanted something. Something that usually involved snitching. Well, Lester had news for her. He wasn’t a snitch.
And he wasn’t afraid of her either. “Afternoon? That’s pushing it,” he said with a cool air. “What do you want? Let me guess...you want to talk about some alleged marker sham, too?” he added, just so she’d know he wasn’t going to be as easy a mark as she was probably thinking.
“Markers? No.” Surprisingly, she seemed genuinely uninterested in his markers scheme. “I want to talk about the poker tournament.”
“Lose your seed money already?” He laughed. “I’d love to help you, but I’m kind of indisposed right now.” He raised his cuffed hands. The hardware tended to put a damper on things.
She tapped her fingernails on the table. They had purple tips. It was kind of sexy, in a freaky sort of way. “No. Surprisingly, I’m winning.”
“Then quit your bitching.”
She leaned forward and propped her elbows on the table. The relentless gleam in her eyes cut through Lester, leaving him with a definite, bone-tingling chill.
“I haven’t begun to bitch,” her icy tone breezed past, surrounding him with bitter resolve.
He came to the conclusion that taking a determinate stance against her bad-cop attitude was his only hope. “If you don’t want to talk about the markers,” he said, “then what do you want?”
“Okay, here’s the deal.” She paused, seemingly growing tired. Or frustrated. “We know the tournament is rigged. You help us with the particulars...who, what, and how...and we’ll see what we can do about the markers thing.” She put it out there and eyed him placidly for a time before rising and exiting the room.
Like that was really going to work. He chuckled as the door closed between them. Lester Perzinsky wasn’t about to play ball with a bunch of pansy-ass cops.
CHAPTER 28
EDDIE entered Gabe Dalton’s office and closed the door behind him. The accusatory faces of his critics threatened to chase away the composed front he tried to maintain.
Rage doused red on Gabe’s face and Eddie could easily guess that his boss had been filled in on last night’s events at the restaurant.
“I have a simple question for you, LaCall.” Gabe didn’t wait for a response or a concession from Eddie before continuing on. “Is there a grain of truth in what that girl said last night?” His tone had grown progressively angrier with each word and by the time he reached the end of his inquiry he looked ready to explode.
Eddie gazed into the faces of his accusers: Gabe, Bradley, Rivera, and Victoria. Rio was the only one sparing him their evil-eyed retribution. He was ready to deal with the wrath of the others if it meant he could spare Rio the humiliation. “No. There is no truth in Naomi’s accusation. I know this because I have never had unprotected sexual relations with her. If that’s not enough...I haven’t touched her in over six months. I’d think she’d be showing by now...if it were mine.”
“Okay.” Gabe’s expression softened. “Now that we’ve got that straightened out.” He waved at Eddie’s accusers. “Everybody out. Except LaCall.”
Gabe studied them, one by one, as they filed out of his office. When the door closed behind the last one—Rio—Gabe settled his attention back on Eddie. “Okay, LaCall, in light of there being a stalker in the midst, we really don’t need your scorned lover thrown into the mix. What do you plan to do about her?”
“I had a restraining order issued against Naomi this morning.” Eddie paused. He’d underestimated his former lover from Phoenix. “If there is a next time...she’ll go to jail.”
“The next time she pulls a stunt like this, give her a choice. Jail or leave Vegas,” Gabe said. “And make sure she’s escorted back to Phoenix.”
Eddie wasn’t expecting that. But he liked the idea. Just get rid of her altogether. Eddie felt his mouth spreading into a smile.
“And wipe that silly-ass grin off your face.” Gabe pointed an accusatory finger at him. “This is mostly your fault.” His glare hardened. “Something you want to tell me?”
Eddie’s heartbeat chased his nerves. He shook his head. What was Gabe accusing him of?
“If there is a mole in the FVC Unit,” Gabe said, “I’d like to know about it.”
“A mole, sir?”
Gabe flung a file at Eddie. The corner pierced him in the chest. The stinging sensation was probably more of a mental reaction.
“Cut the crap, LaCall.” Again, Gabe looked like he was gearing up to explode. “You were sent here under false pretenses. Who is your suspect?”
Eddie knew when to relent. He sucked in a deep breath and prepared to come clean.
* * *
Rio should’ve knocked. And she should’ve closed the door when she heard their voices, but she didn’t. Eddie and Gabe kept talking. Obviously, neither of them knew the door was cracked open.
“The Treasury Department does have reason to believe there is a leak in the FVC Unit.” Eddie’s confession floated out on a troubled tone. “More than one target under the Unit’s investigation seems to know what the Feds are going to do before we do it.”
Seriously? A leak. Oh, shit. This was bad. Wait...what was it Digger said...? A mole? Something about someone pretending to be something they weren’t. Eddie? Was she talking about Eddie?
Rio’s heart thudded against her chest.
“Who is your suspect?” Gabe asked.
“Well frankly, sir,” Eddie said, “I’ve backburnered the investigation in light of all that’s been going on.”
“Then who was your suspect?”
“I didn’t get far. Just preliminary assessments.” Eddie was stalling to answer. Why?
“Who?” Gabe said, more demanding this time.
“Well, oddly enough—” Eddie laughed. “At first I thought it might be Laraquette.”
Me! Seriously? Eddie thought she was a crooked cop?
Gabe laughed out loud.
Thank you, Gabe.
“She does live above a cop’s means. When her tires got knifed, I thought she’d pissed off one of her customers.” Eddie paused. “That was all before I found out about her father.”
Wait a second...! Before he found out about her father, he’d slept with her. Was that just part of the job? Had he used sex to reel her in easily?
“Well, I can see how you’d think that...in the beginning,” Gabe said. “But you couldn’t be more wrong ab
out Laraquette.”
Rio pushed the door open to prevent the conversation from progressing further. Whatever Eddie’s other justifications might be, she didn’t want to hear them. She’d had her fill of Eddie LaCall. He’d screwed her for the last time.
Both men stopped. Silence stiffened the air.
Gabe fixed his eyes on Rio. “What’s up?” he asked.
Rio stepped inside the room. “I just wanted to confirm that Lester Perzinsky definitely knows something.” She wouldn’t give Eddie the satisfaction of seeing her true—hurt—feelings.
“He gave you something?” Eddie piped in anxiously.
Rio shook her head and kept her gaze fixed on Gabe. “No.” As far as she was concerned, Eddie LaCall no longer mattered. “Nothing yet. But he definitely has the answers.”
Eddie’s attention faded from the conversation as he took the time to answer his phone.
“Let’s just sit on him then,” Gabe said of Lester.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Rio agreed. “A couple of days in the hole will drive him crazy.” She laughed devilishly, having effectively shoved LaCall away from the foreground of her mind—for the time being. She opened the door and backed out into the hallway.
She’d told Gabe she didn’t have a desire for a partner. And look what happened when she was forced to pair up with one. Somebody was going to pay for this.
* * *
Oh, God. Eddie rubbed his forehead with a one-handed massage. How much had she heard?
“Rio…” He leaped to his feet. “Wait up.” Considering the call he’d just gotten from her father’s private eye—Naomi was downstairs—Eddie should stick close to Rio.
Not that he necessarily thought Naomi was a danger to her, he just knew that his ex being anywhere near Rio was daunting, at the very least.
He chased after Rio in the hallway and literally bumped into Switzer.
“LaCall—” Switzer’s tone took on a smug pitch. “Your other girlfriend is downstairs asking for you.” His gleam of hatred left Eddie and traveled on to Rio and settled on her stoic poker face.
Her attention finally landed on Eddie. There was nothing in her eyes for him. No sorrow. No regret. No remorse. No nothing.
Vegas, Baby Page 21