by Hart, Lena
“Geez, Tena, don’t cry.”
“Shut up,” she choked out, smiling at the panic in his voice. Her brother wasn’t used to her doing anything remotely “girly.” Like crying.
The one and only time she’d seen her brother cry was at their parents’ funeral. At eight and twelve, they had lost their parents to a careless driver and their world had never been the same after. They had been shuffled from one reluctant relative to another until their grandmother had finally taken them in. But she had been too old and feeble to raise children all over again, so Athena and her brother had learned early on to fend for themselves and depend only on each other.
Eventually their grandmother had passed on and without any real supervision, she and Anthony had practically raised themselves. And that made it easy to fall in with an unscrupulous crowd that felt almost like being part of a family.
“I promise this is the last time, Tena,” Anthony proclaimed. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
She hoped her brother was right—and would keep his promise. If she bet on all the times he had kept a promise to her… Let’s just say, she was glad she didn’t gamble.
When she hung up the phone, she checked on the computer. The transfer was complete. Now she just had to come up with her story. She glanced at the clock again. It was getting late.
Where the hell was Jay?
****
“Your timing sucks,” Dave snapped into the phone. “She just left with the computer. Mind telling me why you didn’t warn me about her unexpected visit?”
“I just found out about it this morning and couldn’t get away,” Jay explained mildly. “But I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last two hours. Where the hell were you?”
Getting screwed. Literally and figuratively, Dave thought with a frustrated sigh. He looked over at the bed where he’d just freed himself from his bindings and unconsciously rubbed his wrists.
“I got tied up,” Dave said dryly, grimacing at the bad pun. “Anyway, just a little heads up would be nice next time.”
“If I had known how she planned to do it, you would have been the first to know. But unfortunately she kept that bit to herself, so I had little knowledge of how she planned to take it.”
Dave had called in his favor with his friend, Jay Flint, just to keep close to the Acerras and find out what they were up to. The brothers had been frequenting his casino a lot more after the break-in and Dave doubted it was all a coincidence. But when he’d asked Jay to stay close, he had hoped to avoid this kind of situation. Being tied up and left alone with a painful erection was not a position Dave wanted to find himself in again.
“Do you know what they plan to do with the laptop once they get it?”
“No, they kept the conversations on a need-to-know.” Jay paused then added. “But Gino let it slip that there may be a deal in it for Reese if they can get you tied to the Provenzano business. I can’t be sure, but they could be trying to link you and your partner to that whole money laundering business.”
Dave leaned back in his seat and ran his hand over his face. The Provenzano scandal was never going to leave him alone, he thought wearily. He had spent the better part of the year trying to disassociate himself from the Provenzano scheme that had hurt their casino’s reputation. But no matter how often he denied it, there were still people who believed he was trying to follow in his father’s footsteps. Some even alleged he’d skirted the law because of who his relations were. Little did they know that he had no desire to be a part of the Carrone family business.
The only thing that connected Dave to his father was his last name and that was as far as Dave wanted it to go. His mother may have been content to be a “Carrone Mistress,” but Dave had wanted more than just being known as one of Robert Carrone’s illegitimate offspring.
But if what Jay was saying were true, then Dave would just have to confront this situation head on. He would only be opening himself up to more rumors and speculation if he got law enforcement involved. And it hadn’t gotten to that point yet. Once he got his property back, he would chalk up this night to bad judgment and a bruised ego.
“Do you know where she is?” Dave asked.
Jay grunted. “Yeah. She wouldn’t let me in on her little plan so I figured I’d make it easier on myself and keep her close.”
Dave grinned, relieved. He knew exactly what Jay meant because he would have done the same thing. “What room is she in?”
“1408. I can bring her to you or you can go to her. Up to you.”
Dave weighed his options. He didn’t see how his friend would bring her back up to him without attracting attention. And for right now, he wanted to keep this one quiet.
“Where are you now?” Dave asked.
“On my way to the room.”
Dave got up from his seat. “Good. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Make sure she doesn’t leave.”
Dave hung up the phone and jerked on his clothes. He found the missing half of her black thigh-highs on the bathroom floor and smiled with cold anticipation. Stuffing the stocking in his pocket, he left the room. He had every intention of finishing what she started.
Chapter Six
Athena jumped at the loud knock on the door. It was followed by a soft beep and a second later, Jay strolled in. She forced herself to relax. He had sent her a text a few minutes earlier saying he was on his way up.
“What took you so long?” she greeted him, jumping off the bed. She stood there for a moment, apprehensive.
“Traffic,” he said, shutting the door behind him.
Athena rolled her eyes. “Right.”
She walked to where she’d placed the hard drive and held it out to him. “Here.”
Jay looked at the small, black device and cocked an eyebrow. “That doesn’t look like a computer.”
“It’s not. But I couldn’t take it with me. It was too risky. They best I could do was copy it over onto this hard drive.” He continued staring down at her with his crystal blue eyes, which made her fidget. “It’s just as good as having the real thing. This way, they have everything they need without having to go through all the firewalls.”
He reached out and took the hard drive. “Where’s the computer?”
“Where I left it.” He stared down at her and she added, “In his hotel room.”
He walked over to the bed then pulled open her bag.
“What the hell are you doing?” Athena snapped.
He didn’t answer her. She went to grab for her bag but he pulled out the laptop and placed it on the desk with the hard drive.
“You don’t need the computer. Everything Joey needs is in the drive.”
She was about to inform him that the computer would soon be useless once the word got out that it was stolen when a hard knock came at the door. Athena jumped and whirled around. Jay went to the door, not sparing her a glance. He opened it and stepped back. To her dismay, Dave walked in.
“What the hell…,” she choked out.
Dave strode into the room, tall, dark, and impossibly handsome in the full light of the hotel room. He was also extremely pissed.
He headed directly toward her and her heart lurched as his gray eyes held hers with ferocious intent. Athena backed away until she came up firmly against the wall. She instinctively raised her hand in a weak attempt to ward him off.
He continued toward her until he had her trapped. She literally had no place to turn. Her senses were too aware of his nearness for her mind to form a coherent thought. But looking into his steely gray eyes, all she could think about was how dark they had turned when he’d been thrusting into her.
Dave wrapped his hands around her wrists and pulled her close to him. He leaned down until his lips were nearly brushing her ear. At his nearness, her body grew warm beneath the black cocktail dress.
“Leaving a defenseless man tied-up with a raging hard-on is not very polite.” His blasé tone did nothing to conceal the ice in his eyes. Still holding on to her wr
ists, he dragged her to the bed. She began to panic.
“Sit,” he barked, pushing her down.
Athena didn’t argue. She looked over at Jay, who was still standing by the door and thankfully hadn’t appeared to hear Dave.
“What’s going on?” she asked cautiously.
He smiled down at her, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Then he turned back to Jay. “Where is it?”
Jay nodded toward the small desk. “Over there. She also copied it to a hard drive.”
Athena couldn’t believe what was happening. Had Jay sold her out?
“What’s going on here?” she snapped, unable to take the suspense any longer.
Both men ignored her.
“What do you want me to tell Joey?” Jay asked.
“Nothing,” Dave said. “I don’t want them to know you’re involved.”
“Right. Or you’ll be owing me favors,” Jay said. “But Joey’s expecting me to bring your computer by later this morning.”
“Tell them what you need to, but hopefully I’ll have this resolved before you meet with him.”
“All right,” Jay said then threw a questioning glance at her. “Then you’re cool?”
Dave turned to her. “Yeah. Tena and I go way back. She can handle me.”
Without another word, the other man slipped out of the room and to Athena’s surprise, she found she missed his presence. Being alone in the room with Dave’s penetrating stare left her feeling horribly exposed.
Without a word, Dave sat down on the small sofa and held her gaze from across the room. He regarded her like a king on his throne would regard a traitorous subject.
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Look,” she began. “You got me. You won. So you can stop trying to intimidate me.”
Dave smirked but his gaze remained hard. “Don’t underestimate how pissed I am,” he began casually. “I don’t think I’ve been screwed that good since…ever. I have to give it you, Tena. You’re good.”
Athena had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about her stealing his computer. “This wasn’t personal,” she murmured.
He scoffed. “Oh, I think it’s pretty damn personal.” His eyes skimmed down to her chest, which displayed an ample amount of cleavage. Her nipples hardened thinking of the way he had brought them into his warm mouth. Okay, stop it, she scolded herself.
“I found the costume you left behind,” he said casually. “A bellhop uniform. Clever.”
Athena shrugged. “A maid’s getup seemed a bit trite.” She tried to mimic his cool demeanor but wasn’t sure she was succeeding.
His attitude might appear laid back but his gray eyes were shooting silver bullets. “So why don’t you tell me why I shouldn’t have the police here hauling your pretty little ass away?”
Athena’s heart pounded in her chest. “Calling the cops won’t solve anything and you know it. They’ll just find another way to get what they want.”
“And what is it they’re looking for?”
She shrugged. “All I know is that whatever it is, it’s worth forgiving two-hundred thousand dollars over.”
He was silent for a minute then said quietly, “Why don’t you start from the beginning.”
Athena began hesitantly at first, telling him how Joey Acerra approached her, promising to square off her brother’s debts if she pulled this off.
“The two-hundred grand?”
Athena nodded.
He frowned. “Is Anthony still gambling?” His tone was full of censure.
“Coming from the man who’s running a casino,” Athena retorted. “I think you’re the last one to pass judgment.”
“I’m not judging,” he snapped. “But if you needed the money, you could have come to me. Or I could have—”
“I’m not taking your money,” she interrupted sharply.
He looked at her derisively. “No, you’d rather just steal from me instead.”
Athena glanced away. Funny how pride made irrational thinking seem pretty damn rational. He was right. All of this could have probably been avoided if she had asked him for help from the beginning. But she wasn’t accustomed to asking anyone for help. And despite his generosities in the past, she couldn’t see herself coming up to him, after fifteen years, and asking for money she would have never been able to repay. But then maybe that would have been the better alternative.
“Look, I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have come to you about this, especially after all you’ve done for us. For me. And I really feel terrible about this.”
To her surprise and absolute annoyance, he threw his head back and laughed at her declaration. “Oh no, sweetheart, you’re not getting off that easy, so save your apology.” Then he asked, “Why the hard drive?”
He probably wasn’t going to believe her but she told him anyway.
“I was going to give Joey the hard drive and tell him I couldn’t grab the computer so that I could return it to you. He would have had copies of all your information but at least that would have been all he had. A bunch of copied files.” Even to her ears that didn’t make it better.
Dave was silent for a moment, as if trying to gauge if she was being honest. Athena sighed.
“And what about the flash drive?” he finally asked.
Athena frowned. “What flash drive?”
“Never mind,” he said smoothly. He stood up from the sofa and Athena jumped up from the bed. Alarm filled her as he advanced toward her.
“Look, I told you everything. If you were gonna call the cops, you would have done it already.”
His smile was mocking. “How do you know they’re not waiting outside right now?”
Athena looked at him searchingly. He wouldn’t…would he?
He must have read the apprehension on her face because he let out a loud sigh. “I’m not gonna call the cops,” he said with exasperation. “But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna just let you walk out of here.”
“What more do you want,” she whispered. “I didn’t take anything else.”
He glanced over her then said, “First, I’m gonna talk to Joey and put an end to this mess. That’ll give me some time to decide what to do with you.”
“Let me leave, Davie,” she said quietly. “And I promise I’ll never step foot in here again.”
He regarded her for a moment then said, “I’d rather you stay.”
Frustration rose in her. She wanted to leave and put this night behind her. She glanced at the door. He couldn’t force her to stay there and she wasn’t obligated to. He had his property back and he’d said he wouldn’t call the cops. She decided to call his bluff.
She got in three steps toward the door before he grabbed her from behind and pulled her back against him.
“We’re not done,” he said close to her ear.
She began struggling in earnest, fighting desperately to escape his tight hold. But instead he tossed her on the bed and, before she could orient herself, he fell on top of her.
“Relax,” he said gruffly. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”
Athena looked up at him, her breathing coming out in short gasps. Their bodies pressed solidly against each other, her legs slightly spread. A shiver ran down her as he wedged himself deeper between her thighs until he was pressed solidly against her, with her legs cradling him.
She didn’t moving a muscle. His eyes were now a smoky gray as he peered down at her. As if driven by instinct, he rolled his hips firmly against her. Their earlier encounter left her with no panties and she could feel every hard inch of him. The dull throbbing between her legs began to beat harder and she released an involuntary moan at the familiar sensation.
The fine sensual thread between them snapped.
In a whirlwind of frenzied movements, he had her dress hiked up and his thick shaft in hand. Lifting her legs over his shoulders, he drove into her with one hard thrust.
Athena melted around him. A jagged moaned escaped her as he pumped deeply inside her.
No words pa
ssed between them, no light touches or kisses—just carnal, body-jerking, heart-pounding pleasure.
She tried to meet him thrust for thrust but he took possession of their bodies, controlling the depth and speed of their joining. She was on fire but all she could do was cling to his forearms as he surged into her.
With a harsh groan, he reached between them and roughly stroked her swollen clit. The pressure inside her exploded and she broke into sharp, tiny pieces.
Minutes later, small, delicious shivers still racked her body. She was acutely aware of his weight and his harsh breathing. He remained deep inside her, heavy and firm.
He lifted himself up and stared down at her. There was no arrogance like before, no lazy smile or sly satisfaction on his handsome face. No tactless comments that made her feel as if she was just one of many.
No, instead, there was barely concealed bemusement in his eyes, followed by a frown.
She pushed against his shoulders and he rolled away from her. She jumped off the bed, rolling her dress down. He began arranging himself and she carefully averted her gaze. Was this normal for him? Wild romps whenever he wanted? She rushed toward the bathroom but he made a move to grab her.
“Tena, wait.”
She quickly slipped out of his grasp and dashed into the bathroom. She didn’t want to hear another comparison about how she was the best or greatest he’d ever had. Knowing he’d been with enough women to make such a claim did nothing to soothe her strained confidence.
Evidence of their wild lovemaking began running down her thighs and she clenched her legs together. They hadn’t used anything. Clearly, her common sense was fleeing her as fast as her confidence. What bothered her the most, though, was the increasingly devastating effect he was having on her heart.
“Sweetheart, running away like that after, does little for my ego,” he said through the door.