A Lover's Mask

by Altonya Washington

  “I’m sorry, sorry I doubted you.” She spoke in a whisper, her brown eyes wide and staring blankly into the distance. “To think you really could’ve been involved in something like that.”

  Fernando left the bed and knelt before her. “Don’t do that,” he ordered, catching portions of the sheet in his hands. “It’s not necessary. You had every right to think what you did. At least I know I played a convincing role.” He smiled encouragingly. “At least that’s what I thought,” he added, his smile fading a bit.

  “How’d Moses know we were in danger?” County asked.

  Fernando shook his head. “I have no idea, but I intend to find out,” he swore.

  “What about the girls?” she whispered, her voice holding traces of anxiety. “They can’t stay there.”

  “And they won’t,” Fernando vowed, kissing her bare shoulder. “Moses wouldn’t go into how he knew we were in danger, but he’s at work on this now and we’ll get every last girl off that damn boat. I swear.”

  Relatively at ease by that news, County nodded. Again, the soft-lit room was bathed in silence while they both took stock of all that had happened within the past months.

  “I guess I should be getting back,” County said finally.

  “To Chicago,” Fernando guessed.

  “It’s where I belong.”

  You belong with me, he corrected silently. “I don’t want you to leave,” he chose to tell her aloud.

  Contessa’s eyes filled with all the emotions she’d tried desperately to mask. She scooted forward and smoothed the back of her hand across his whiskered cheek. “Fernando, I just don’t know if we’re ready.”

  “Don’t,” he blurted, grimacing over the fact that he’d heard more of the statement than he’d wanted to. “Don’t tell me that. Don’t say it’s over.”

  “But I don’t know where we go from here,” she said, trying to swallow the sob rising in her throat.

  Fernando cupped her face in his hands. “Do you love me?” he asked.

  “I really believe I do,” she said, honesty glowing in her warm gaze. “But if that were true how could I have doubted you so fast? Believed you’d be involved with something like this—if I really loved you?”

  Fernando bowed his head, the muscle in his jaw working frantically as he fought to keep his frustration hidden. “Trust comes with love,” he said, sounding as though he were telling himself. “But you have to know someone in order to trust. Even then it takes a long time to build. Maybe it hasn’t been long enough for all of that to happen,” he finished.

  Contessa blinked, looking down at her hands blurred by her tears. “Maybe it hasn’t been,” she agreed quietly.

  “I don’t want to let you go,” he said, his voice firm as he pressed his forehead to her chest.

  County sniffled. “I don’t want to go,” she admitted, kissing the top of his head. “But we moved so fast and so many things were in the way to cloud our vision. Maybe we need to take a step back—to be sure we’re going in the right direction.”

  “I’ll buy that,” he said, looking up at her then. “Just please don’t say that we can’t see each other.”

  County smiled, unable to prevent the devilish twinkle from sparkling in her eyes. “Well, that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?”

  “Hell, no,” he agreed, bowing low to kiss her knee where it peeked out from beneath the sheet. “I never want to lose you,” he spoke against her skin and then fixed her with his striking eyes. “I’ve never known a woman to match me word for word, play for play—who can satisfy me physically so much that I find myself wondering what we’d be like together after twenty years.”

  County’s lips parted and she sat a little straighter.

  “I don’t want to lose any of that,” he went on, “so if it’s time you need, then that’s fine with me because time is all I want with you.”

  His words—so sweet, so dear and so heartfelt, rendered her speechless. Sniffing softly, she leaned down to place a tender kiss to his mouth. He reciprocated by pulling her close to cradle her in his arms. Drowsiness weighed her eyelids once more. Contessa fell asleep praying that Fernando’s embrace would belong to her always.

  “Any word from the guys?” Moses Ramsey asked as he and his captain exited the elevator.

  Carlos McPhereson shook his head, while extracting the razor-slim cellular from his pocket. “They’re sittin’ tight ’til the authorities get there. They’ll call once the boat is secure,” he said.

  Moses nodded, his dark gaze focused straight ahead as they headed down the hotel corridor.

  Suddenly, Carlos’s steps slowed and he fixed his boss with a probing look.

  “What?” Moses asked, stopping a few feet ahead of Carlos.

  “Man, do you think we got enough this time? Enough to put that son of a bitch Cufi under the jail?”

  Moses bowed his head and sighed. “I pray we do ’Los. But even still, we gotta risk it.”

  Carlos began to rub his massive hands together while grimacing at Moses’s summation. “I hate like hell goin’ full throttle out there and wasting years of work,” he confided.

  An apologetic smile softened Moses’s dark, handsome face. “I hate it too, kid. But we’ve already unzipped our fly here. No turnin’ back now, I’m afraid.”

  “You and I both know that it can be risky getting evidence found on the open seas to stick,” Carlos mentioned.

  Moses offered no response. Carlos was right. They’d both hoped their longtime surveillance of The Wind Rage would’ve produced hard evidence: land-based property, paperwork—something concrete that Cufi Muhammad and his partners couldn’t weasel out of. Unfortunately, neither Carlos nor the rest of the men in place had ever been farther than the ship.

  “Listen man,” Moses said, stepping closer to clap a hand to Carlos’s shoulder. “I couldn’t have asked for a better job to be done on this. You should be proud. We’re gonna get these fools and you’re gonna get your life back.”

  Carlos’s green eyes twinkled with devilish light. “Hell man, are you kidding? You know hunting down crazed maniacs is my life.”

  Moses’s grin wasn’t humor-filled. “No. That would be my life.”

  Carlos’s laughter died on his tongue as he took in the underlying meaning of his friend’s statement.

  “How is she?”

  “She’s fine,” Carlos responded without hesitation, knowing who she was without hearing a name. “But you can go see that for yourself.”

  Moses smoothed one hand across his bald head. “You know why I can’t do that,” he grumbled.

  “Because you’re not ready to tell her the truth.”

  “No. Because she’s still better off away from me.”

  “Mo—”

  “’Los? That’s the end of it, all right?” Moses asked, though he actually required no response.

  Carlos let the subject drop and followed Moses on down the silent hall towards Fernando Ramsey’s hotel suite.

  County left the bathroom feeling no better than she had before she’d gone in. She’d hoped a splash of cool water upon her face would leave her feeling refreshed and less edgy. It hadn’t. There was only one thing that would do that: knowing Cufi Muhammad and his ship of perversions was a thing of the past.

  Across the room, Fernando sat in the armchair near the window. He watched her for several moments once she’d left the bathroom. Unfortunately, her expression offered no clues to her mood.

  “Hungry?” he called, seeing her jump when his voice reached her ears.

  Wringing her hands, County shook her head and ventured slowly from the bathroom door. “I don’t think I could keep anything down,” she admitted, tightening the belt around the comfy terry robe she wore.

  “Sit with me?” Fernando asked, praying she’d not turn away from his closeness. He hid his smile when she showed no hesitation in closing the distance between them.

  County cuddled against Fernando, resting her head against his shoulder. She relished th
e feel of contentment that radiated through his powerful form and seeped into her weary body. The events of that night seemed as though they’d happened a lifetime ago and she shuddered at the gross inaccuracy of the statement.

  “Hey?” Fernando whispered, rubbing his hands across her back. “It’s all right, it’s over,” he said, hugging her close as her trembling intensified.

  “Is—is it?” County chattered out. “I have the most awful feeling that they’ll get away. It’s like the Ramseys can do anything—get away with anything.”

  Fernando ignored the painful stab her words sent through his heart. He couldn’t help but agree with her.

  “When will you go back to Chicago?” he asked, deciding to broach the subject and get it over with.

  County’s shivering ceased a bit. “Soon. I think it’s best.”

  The painful stabbing in Fernando’s heart grew stronger. “When can I see you?” he asked.

  “It’s hard to say,” she replied, forcing a light tone to her voice. “There’s so much I need to catch up—”

  “When can I be with you?”

  County breathed a relieved sigh when a heavy knock landed on the room door. The loaded question went unanswered.

  Fernando pressed a kiss to County’s head and went to answer the door. He nodded and stepped aside to allow his brother and Carlos entrance to the room. Moses went right over to Contessa and planted a soft kiss to her forehead before introducing her to Carlos.

  “Are the girls safe?” County asked, searching Moses’s intense, narrow stare.

  “We’re expecting a call about that any minute,” he assured her.

  “How good are the chances that they’ll pay for what they’ve done?” she asked, curling her fingers around the lapels of the denim jacket he wore.

  Moses flashed a quick look toward Carlos before smiling down at County. “That will happen—you have my word.”

  The sound of a cell phone pierced the air a second later.

  County turned away, while Moses handled the call. She, Fernando and Carlos were just indulging in a bit of idle chatter when Moses’s roar silenced them.

  “Idiots!” he raged. “Are they sure?…Dammit how the hell long did it take them to get there?”

  Carlos, Fernando and County stared wide-eyed as Moses ended the call.

  “The ship was empty.”

  The simple statement helped to maintain the silence for several more seconds. Eventually, the reality of the words hit home.

  “How?” Carlos asked.

  Moses shrugged, while shoving the cellular into his pocket. “When they stormed the ship it was empty. No passengers, no crew, nothing.”

  “But weren’t they watching the ship until the police arrived?” Contessa wanted to know.

  Nodding, Moses leaned against the message desk. “My guys saw no one leave. They haven’t got a clue.”

  “Son of a bitch!” Fernando raged, pounding a massive fist against the wall he stood closest to.

  Moses nodded toward Carlos and the two made silent decisions to leave then.

  “We’ll call once we get back to the ship, let you know what we find.” Moses told his brother.

  County saw the men out of the suite, then closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the door. A crashing sound caused her to whirl around a moment later. Her eyes widened once more at the sight of an overturned table courtesy of Fernando.

  “You’ve got to calm down,” she urged, taking slow cautious steps toward him. “This won’t solve a damn thing, you know?”

  Fernando slanted her a frosty glance and raised his hand. “All I know is you’re right to want to get as far away as possible from me and my damn screwed up family.”

  “Fern—”

  “No, Contessa,” he ordered, shaking his head as he turned his back toward her. “Hell you pretty much predicted this crap would happen.”

  County smoothed her hands across the sleeves of the ankle-length terry robe. “I was just talking,” she murmured.

  “You were still right. The Ramseys get away with anything.”

  “Fernando, I wasn’t including you in that. Hell, I shouldn’t have even said it. Cufi Muhammad had those girls, not your family.”

  “You forget my father, County,” Fernando whispered, fixing her with his steady transluscent stare. “Marc Ramsey—the one who provides that fool with all his feisty Americans.”

  County shook her head while moving closer. “This wasn’t your fault. What your father did wasn’t your fault. I won’t let you blame yourself for this especially when you’ve been so determined to get to the bottom of it.” She stopped right before Fernando and caught the collar of his shirt in her hands. “If you hadn’t delved so deep this never would’ve been discovered.”

  Fernando didn’t seem impressed. “You discovered it,” he reminded her.

  County’s smile was pure wickedness. “Well…” she drawled. “That’s because I’m Contessa Warren.”

  “And I don’t want to let you go,” he said, his stern expression softening a bit.

  “And I don’t want you to.”

  Fernando’s gaze faltered. “Maybe you should.”

  “But I don’t,” she argued, moving closer, “you should know by now Ramsey that I always get what I want.”

  “Don’t play with me County,” he warned, encircling her body in his steely embrace. “Now is definitely not the time to say things to me you don’t mean.”

  “I don’t want you to let me go,” she reiterated, searching his face with her luminous stare. “I want this. I want us.”

  “When can I see you?” he asked, restating his earlier question.

  “Anytime,” County replied without hesitation.

  The adorable eye-crinkling grin appeared. “When can I be with you again?” he asked.

  County curved her arms about his neck and grazed her teeth across his earlobe. “Now,” she whispered, laughing when Fernando lifted her in his arms and carried her back to bed.

  ISBN: 978-1-5525-4974-2

  A LOVER’S MASK

  Copyright © 2007 by AlTonya Washington

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  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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