by Desiree Holt
The reality that Sergei had such a major role in this whole mess still shocked her. You think you know someone, and then they turn out to be a stranger. Her mother, especially, would be a long time getting past that. Zoe dreaded seeing her the next day, seeing the shame and pain on her face, but Zak would be with her so she’d be able to get through it.
“Ready to hit the hay?”
She looked up to see Zak standing in front of her, his face lined with exhaustion. “Is everyone gone?”
“Yes. We have the house to ourselves again, and our guardian angels are patrolling outside.”
She sat straight up. “You don’t think…I mean, there’s no one left out there, is there?”
“No. They’re all gone. And I’d venture to say by the time DHS finished, the last traces of the Russian mafiyah in San Antonio will be gone, too.”
“What about Caz Morgan and Max Detwiler?”
“Picked up at Caz’s ranch where they were waiting for a report on Sergei’s success. Tomorrow, we need to go into the city and meet with Allen for a final wrap-up, but right now, I think it’s time for us to go to bed.”
“I vote for that,” she agreed.
Zak scooped her up in his arms and carried her through the kitchen, down the hall, and into his bedroom.
“This is where I should have put you in the first place,” he told her. “This is where you belong.” He held her gaze with his darkened eyes. “Right?”
“Right.”
“Okay. A shower to wash off the filth of those people and to relax us, then sleep.”
She was sure she’d fall asleep standing up, but the moment they were in the shower together, every nerve in her body woke up. She as sure that Zak’s swollen erection and the hunger in his eyes had a lot to do with it. She closed her eyes and hummed with pleasure as he glided his soap-slicked hands over her body, squeezing her breasts, pinching her nipples, and letting his finger trail down the hot crevice between the cheeks of her ass.
“Feel good, kitten?” he murmured in her ear.
“Mmm,” she hummed. “More than good.”
He slid his hands over every inch of her naked skin, rubbing and caressing before rinsing her off. Then he leaned her against the shower wall, lifted one of her legs to wrap around his hip, and as he slid his tongue into her mouth, he thrust two fingers into the hot well of her sex.
“Oohhhh.” Heat flared through her, making her nipples ache and her sex throb around his touch.
While he fucked her with his hand, he mimicked the motion with his tongue in her mouth, licking every inch of the inner surface. She hadn’t thought she’d be able to do more than stand there, but his touch lit her up like the Fourth of July and made every nerve spark and flare.
He kissed her until neither of them could breathe, then drew the tip of his tongue across her lips and along her jaw line. She tried to rock back and forth on his hand, but he held her in such a position it was nearly impossible to move. Her inner walls gripped down on Zak’s hot fingers, and with each slide and retreat, her need grew.
“I have to touch you,” she murmured. “Don’t let me fall.”
Pressing the one leg around his waist and wrapping an arm around his neck to balance herself, she slipped a hand between them and closed her fingers around his throbbing shaft.
“Jesus!” The word came out on a breath of air.
“Feel good?”
“So good,” he murmured.
They maneuvered themselves so that as he stroked in and out, she matched the movement of his hands with hers on his cock.
“I have to be inside you,” he rasped, setting her away from him.
“What—” She looked at him from beneath her eyelashes, caught up in the sensuality of the moment and the pulsing desire in her body.
“Just hold on.” His voice had a raspy quality. “Just—hold on.”
He slid open the shower door and reached for something on the counter.
When she saw what he had, she gave him a half-smile. “Anticipating, were you?”
“Hopeful.” He rolled the condom on with one hand, then lifted her leg again to wrap it around his hip, spread the lips of her sex, and drove into her.
“Oh, God!” The words whispered from her lips as he filled her completely.
Zak held them like that for a moment before taking her mouth in a voracious kiss, and then he began to move his hips. Thrust and retreat. Forward and back. In and out. Slower, then faster, his mouth still glued to hers, feeding from her like a starving man.
He slid a hand between them and found her clit, rubbing it in time with their movements. The pressure built inside her, stronger, higher.
He tore his mouth from hers. “Now, Zoe. Right now.”
He gave her clit a pinch, and she went right over the edge. The spasms of their release shook them both, easing at last and leaving them limp and spent. She had no idea how long they were like that, bodies glued together in the aftermath of their passion.
Finally, Zak eased her leg down and gave her a soft kiss. “I love you, Zoe. I never stopped.”
“Me, either,” she whispered.
I have one more thing to say,” he murmured as his kips touched hers again
“Mmm? What’s that?”
“The water’s cold, and I’m freezing my butt off.”
She burst out laughing. “Me, too.”
He turned off the water, and when they stepped out on the bathmat, he dried them both off. Then he carried her into the bedroom and held her while he slid them both between the covers. When he pulled her against his body, spoon fashion, she curled herself so she fit perfectly against him.
“Mmm,” she murmured. “Good.”
Nestled against him, she fell asleep with his arm across her waist, his hand cupping her breast, and his warm breath in her ear.
****
Zak woke her shortly after seven, waving fresh coffee under her nose. “Marty will be here with the helicopter at eight.”
“You’re kidding, right?” She sipped the coffee gratefully. “It feels like we just went to sleep.”
“We’re due at Homeland Security at ten, and I thought you might want to do a little shopping first, unless you want to go to the meeting in jeans and a T-shirt.”
“Shopping? At this hour? No one’s open except Walmart. Although,” she grinned at him, “after looking at the lingerie you got there I’m sure I can find something.”
“No Walmart today. Guardian Security has a client that owns a string of boutiques in Texas and Arizona. I called the owner, and they’ll have one of the shops open just for you.”
“Can you do other magic tricks, too?”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Try me, only when we’ve got more time.”
Marty dropped them at the Guardian offices so Zak could pick up a vehicle. Lainie Coyle, the owner of Texas Smart, was waiting for them at the boutique in one of the new high-end shopping centers.
“You’re so kind to do this for me,” Zoe told her. “You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”
“I owe a lot to Zak,” the woman said. “Come on into the dressing room. Zak gave me the sizes and described you. I know you’re short on time so I picked out a few things for you. I hope you like them.”
“Are you kidding? At this point, I’ll be ecstatic with anything. I love your clothes.”
Half an hour later, Zoe was dressed in a short-sleeved summer silk suit in navy with a red, white, and blue print shell and navy heels. Her hair was brushed back and held in place with a heavy gold clip from the accessories department, and Zak had insisted she take the other three outfits as well.
She was embarrassed when Lainie wrote out the slip. “I’m afraid Zak has all my identification and credit cards.”
“Already taken care of,” Lainie assured her.
“Oh, but—”
“I can’t have my future wife walking around naked, now can I?” he teased.
Heat crept up Zoe’s cheeks. “You haven’
t actually asked me,” she whispered while Lainie pretended not to hear.”
“That’s next,” he assured her. “After the meeting.”
She had to admit clothes made the woman. She felt human and confident in her new outfit, ready to hear anything and deal with it.
Zak parked in the underground garage where DHS had its offices, and they rode up in the elevator to the twentieth floor. Allen Fairchild came out to meet them when the receptionist buzzed him.
“We have quite a crowd this morning,” he told them, leading them into a conference room. “I thought it would save time if we only had to go through this once.”
Zak nodded in agreement.
The first person they saw in the room was Reno, who came forward to give her a hug and shake hands with Zak.
“Good job. And nice work getting us a pat on the back from Uncle Sam.”
“I agree,” Zak told him, “but the important thing is Zoe’s safe now.”
Reno nodded. “The client always comes first.” Then he winked at her before he took his seat again.
As Zoe surveyed all the faces, the only other one she recognized was Detective Morales. She began to tremble, and Zak took her hand, squeezing it.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered, bending to her ear. “It’s almost over.”
Allen sat down at the head of the table and introduced everyone. Sitting with Joe Morales was his lieutenant, Keith Colson; three men Allen introduced as DHS department heads, an agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the head of the local Drug Enforcement Agency office.
“I think we’re all here,” he said at last. “I’ll make this as brief as possible and still cover all the details.”
Zoe listened carefully, trying to absorb everything. She heard again how the five men, sons of established local mafiyah, concocted the idea to take things even further. Branch out even more. Going to law school and getting their degrees put them in a better position than their fathers to control what they wanted. They created a network of businesses that fed into each other, drew up papers to legitimize activities that skirted the law, and drew on the muscle they inherited from their fathers to squash anyone who dared go against them. Meanwhile, they lived at the top of society, pulling strings, and manipulating people who didn’t even know what was happening.
“They had their sights set on Lombardo Simulations,” Fairchild explained, “because they wanted to be able to sell the programs for exorbitant prices to drug cartels, Third world rebels, criminals of every kind, but most especially to terrorists.
“Whose idea was it to find someone like Nate Dunning?” one of the men asked.
“They needed a good front man, and after chumming the social waters, there he was. Rich, good social standing, with an unbearable ego but without a lick of common sense. He was the DI figurehead.” He turned to Zoe. “And all that stuff he spouted to you about expansion and growing the company? It was being spoon-fed to him.”
“They built the organization one block at a time,” he went on. “First a couple of legitimate businesses, with public success and recognition for Dunning. By the time they had prostitution, then drugs, up and running, Nate was in so deep he couldn’t get out. So he played his part and got richer and richer.”
“I had a hard time getting my head around his relationship with the cartels,” the DEA man told him.
“Caz always preached it’s better to keep your enemy close than anger him,” Allen said. “And he felt he could actually use the cartels without them realizing it.” He paused to take a sip of water. “They had contacts in the Middle East which allowed them to expand their flourishing white slave trade, and they used the ports of Galveston and Corpus Christi to smuggle people in with shipments of merchandise for one or more of their blind companies.”
“The Russians have been making money for a long time supplying arms to terrorists,” one of his own agents pointed out, “using the proceeds from drug sales and the slave trade.”
Fairchild nodded. “But Sergei was aware of the importance of technology in today’s world. And he had a bright, young cousin who was doing wonderful things with simulations. If you can plan how to rescue hostages, he reasoned, why couldn’t you reverse the process and be prepared to defend against a hostage rescue? For terrorists, this would be a treasure, and for Sergei, a gold mine. Not to mention the fact they could add a little on the side with the pirated games.”
“I think I feel sick,” Zoe said, gripping Zak’s hand.
“I’m a little sick myself at the way they used you,” Fairchild told her. “Introducing you to Nate was a simple matter. Dinner with a charming, wealthy man. Sergei knew you wanted to expand, and Nate had ready, easy money.”
“I was a damn fool,” she said, embarrassed that her stupidity was out there for everyone to see.
“You were a businesswoman looking to expand and were introduced to a man who came highly recommended and who supposedly had impeccable credentials.”
“But then Nate made a mistake,” Zak ventured.
“Right. He carelessly left records out where Miss Lombardo could see them. Then, when she called him on them, instead of making up a plausible story, he argued with her and told her it was none of her business.”
“So Nate then became a liability,” Allen went on. “And so did Miss Lombardo.”
“Who put the rohypnol in my drink?” Zoe asked.
“That was Sergei,” Allen said. “He actually bragged about it, the idiot. How easy it was and then how he managed to walk you into the den with no trouble and talk to you until the drug took effect.”
“And killing Nate?”
“That was him, too. I know that night is still a blank, but it seems you actually did argue with Dunning loudly enough so people could hear you. Sergei simply took advantage of it. When everyone had left, he took Nate into the den where you were unconscious on the couch, shot Nate, put the gun in your hand, and called 911.”
“And it almost worked.” Zoe swallowed the bile rising in her throat.
“I have to take the blame for that,” Lieutenant Colson said, speaking up for the first time. “You looked so good for it, we just didn’t take the time to ask ourselves why. Plus, we were under enormous pressure to put it to bed.”
“I’m just glad it’s over.” She shuddered.
“Are you through with us?” Zak asked?
“Yes.” Allen Fairchild leaned forward on his elbows. “But we’ll have a lot of wrapping up to do. Miss Lombardo, we’ll need you to try and recreate as many of the sims as you can so we know how the terrorists figured to counteract them. Then we’ll want you to rewrite them for your clients for their own protection as well as ours. And we still have questions about Nate Dunning and the others.”
“Understood,” she said. “I want to do whatever I can to help clean up this terrible mess.”
The agent rose and extended his hand to her. “I’ll be calling you.” He grinned. “But I think you can take a breather for a little while.”
She and Zak shook hands with him, then with everyone else in the room. Finally, they were in the elevator going down to the garage.
“I can’t believe I don’t have to hide anymore,” she said.
“You’re free to do whatever you want. Including rebuild your business if you want to.”
She shook her head. “I actually don’t know what I want to do. I have enough money that I can take the time to figure it out. Right now I just want to hang out with you.”
He squeezed her arm. “That sounds good to me.”
“So where are we off to now?”
“You’ll see.”
“Ooh! I love surprises.”
“I hope you like this one.”
When they didn’t head for the Interstate but instead drove toward the center of downtown, she looked at him. “The Riverwalk?”
The collection of colorful shops and restaurants that followed the winding San Antonio River was a world famous tourist attraction. On their first
date, Zak had taken her to dinner there, and she wondered if that was where they were going again. But when he pulled off the street to the raised entrance of one of the city’s newest hotels, she looked at him, puzzled.
“Are we going to eat here?” she asked.
“In a manner of speaking. Have patience.” He winked at her.
He waited for the ticket from the valet service, then ushered her through the revolving door and over to the elevators. Now she really was confused, but Zak looked so pleased with himself she decided to keep quiet and let him play this out.
The elevator doors opened smoothly on the top floor, and Zak led her down the corridor, their footsteps muffled by the thickest carpet she’d ever walked on.
“Don’t we have to register or something?” she blurted out.
“The company keeps a suite here for high profile clients. I marked it off on the books for a couple of days.”
He pulled a key card from his pocket, slipped it into the lock, and pushed the door open.
Zoe had been in luxury suites before, but this one was beyond anything she’d ever seen. The sitting room was huge and filled with vases of fresh flowers. Partially open double doors led into the bedroom beyond, which appeared to be just as large.
Zak guided her to the glass wall and slid the doors open to the patio, which overlooked the Riverwalk. Barges of tourists glided past on the water, and from below, she could hear the music of a mariachi band. A table had been set for two with china and crystal.
She stared at Zak in amazement. “When did you do all this?”
“While you were still lazing in bed this morning. Like it?”
“Are you kidding? But what’s the occasion?”
He reached in his pants pocket and took out a small box. When he opened it, a diamond winked in the sunlight. “Recognize this?”
She touched the diamond ring with the tip of a finger. “Is this…?”
He nodded, grinning. “The one you threw in my face? One and the same.” Then he sobered. “I could never give this to anyone else, kitten, and I couldn’t return it. I kept hoping that one day something would happen and we’d find our way back to each other.”
“Too bad it took my almost getting arrested or killed to do it,” she said with a rueful smile.