I was screaming no in my head. The last thing I wanted was to have Rico on the team. He’d only mess things up since he always thought with his dick and never his brain. Roman had to know this.
“I don’t know, Rico,” Roman started, relief pouring through me.
Rico was practically bouncing on his feet. “I’m not going to mess it up. Why did you make me your right-hand man if you don’t trust me? I want in on this job, boss.”
I could see Roman thinking about it, and it was pissing me off. I balled my fists at my side, doing anything I could to stop from yelling how bad an idea this was. Rico was a ticking time bomb.
Roman finally raised his eyes from the picture and looked at me, then Rico. “Fine, Rico, but Tag is still in charge. You know why I assigned him to be, so no arguments.”
Rico looked over at me, then back at Roman. “No problem. I have no issues with Tag.”
Yeah, right.
And Roman, you’ll regret this. You are both idiots.
Roman looked back to me. “So we are clear on what is expected of you tonight?”
Digging my fingers into my palms, I nodded. “Very.”
Romans thin lips curved into a smile. “Wonderful. You may go get ready now, Tag. Rico, sit down so I can fill you in on exactly what you’re to do and what I expect. Tag, I’ll let you know what Rico is assigned.”
“Fine, I’ll check in here before we head out to the club.”
Roman nodded, essentially dismissing me.
I closed the door to his cabin, resisting the urge to pound my fist through it. Damn Rico! This job was bad enough as it was, let alone having been assigned to babysit her ass, but now even worse with him on the team. My mind was a flurry of trying to figure out how to screw it up without it looking like it was screwed up. Now that Rico was joining, he’d make damn sure to get her in that car and on the yacht.
It felt like a bell just rang in my head. A plan started to form, making me smile. It would work; it had to. Maybe Rico begging to be on the job was just what I needed, come to think of it, even though I hated the little weasel.
As I walked to my cabin, a knowing smile finally appeared on my face. All I had to do was sit outside the club, phone in hand, and wait for Derek to do his job. I knew he’d make her panties melt; he always had a way with the ladies. There was no doubt in my mind that’s why Roman chose him for that job. The girl didn’t have a chance against him.
As I walked in my room, it hit me that I still hadn’t gotten a good look at her picture. Why hadn’t Roman showed me one so I knew who we were grabbing? That seemed very odd to me, and it was something I’d ask him before we left for the club.
I picked up my laptop and fired it up, intending on finding her picture on my own. I typed in her name in the search box and waited for all of the information to load. There wasn’t too much, but enough. I clicked on the images section and waited for it to load.
Once it did, my heart literally seized in my chest. It felt like it stopped for one second, then beat faster and faster, like I’d run a long race. It pounded as I clicked on one of the few pictures on the screen.
Once that showed up, I zoomed in to look at her face.
Stunning was the only word I could use to describe her.
Absolutely, undeniably stunning.
I was screwed.
Chapter 6
“Hey, sorry I’m so late.”
I looked up and saw Trish pulling out the chair next to me on my other side. Ever since the guy from the bar had approached me, I’d forgotten she hadn’t arrived yet. Now that she was here, though, I was relieved.
“Hey,” I said, standing up to give her a hug. I’d had more to drink, so I was a little wobbly on my feet. “No worries,” I continued, addressing her apology. “I’m just glad you made it.”
We both sat down on our chairs and she glanced his way, her eyes then turning to mine in question. I gave a slight shake of my head, and she got the hint. She slung her purse over the back of her chair and offered her hand to him.
“Hi, I’m Trish. How do you know Kimberly?”
He gave her his heart-stopping smile that I’d been getting all night, and once again I felt myself swoon, for lack of a better term. He reached his hand over and gave hers a quick shake, rubbing my arm lightly as he set it back down beside him. I took another long sip of my drink, needing something to calm my hormones before I launched myself into his lap.
I was getting drunk.
“I don’t know Kimberly,” he said in his deep, husky voice. “I came over for Penny.”
Trish’s eyes widened for a second, then a knowing smile came over her face. “Oh yeah? Well, good. Penny’s amazing.”
His eyes shot to mine, his smile deepening. “I can see that.”
Oh. My. God.
Trish pushed her hair behind her shoulder, then scooted closer to me. “So you guys just met tonight? Here?”
He scooted closer to me, his arm going around the back of my chair. “Yep. I saw her from across the room. No joke.”
Sparks flew up my neck at his brief touch and words. It hit me then that Kimberly and her friends still hadn’t come back from the dance floor. I sat up in my chair, glancing around, but of course couldn’t find her in the enormous crowd.
“So what’s your name?” Trish asked him.
My head turned to look at him, ashamed I couldn’t remember it.
He gave me a look like he was waiting for me to tell her, making me feel worse. He grinned, then turned to Trish. “Derek.”
Derek.
How could I forget that?
Just then, Kimberly and company came back in full-on giggles. It was obvious they’d had more to drink and some inside jokes had been born. When Kimberly saw Derek sitting by me at the table, her eyes grew big and she rushed over and wrapped her arms around me.
“Penny, babe!” she yelled a little too loudly in my ear. “Why didn’t you bring this hot man out and dance with us?”
I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. She knew I hated it when she did stuff like that. I felt my face start to redden and took another drink.
“You must be Kimberly,” I heard Derek say with a laugh.
I felt her turn her head to face him. “Hell, yes, I’m Kimberly. Who might you be?”
Her arms untangled themselves from around my neck as she reached to return his handshake after he introduced himself. “You are hot, Derek,” she announced loudly, making her sorority sisters start giggling again.
Derek ran his hand through his dark, spiky hair, making me stare. He caught my eye as he replied to Kimberly. “Well, thanks.”
“I hope you’ll stay for the party. It’s my birthday, you know.” She grabbed a chair from behind and sat down by us, not quite scooting herself into the middle.
I felt Derek give my shoulder a little squeeze, as if he knew how uncomfortable Kimberly had made me a few minutes ago. His touch felt so good. “So I’ve heard. Happy birthday.”
She pursed her lips and blew him a kiss. “Thank you! So you’ll stay?”
I would have given her shin a small kick if it could have been done without him seeing, but since I couldn’t, I just gave her a look instead. She totally missed it, though, since she was looking at Derek, much to my annoyance.
Derek laughed again, looking back at me. “I’d love to, if it’s okay with Penny here.”
Kimberly looked at me then, one of her eyebrows raised.
“Of course it’s okay with me,” I answered.
Kimberly let out a breath. “Good. I would’ve killed you had you said no.”
That made Derek laugh some more as he took another pull from his beer. Kimberly turned to look straight at him, peppering him with a million questions. This was typical of us. Kimberly the overly social one, me the overly subdued one.
Trish gave me a few looks as Kimberly laid it on thick with Derek. I just shrugged and stayed quiet. The little touches and caresses Derek was giving the back of my neck let m
e know his interest seemed to be with me.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Smiling because I knew it was Trish, I pulled it out.
Why the hell are you letting her do this?
Smiling more because just as I read it, Derek’s hand traveled up to the bottom of my scalp, massaging once.
Because he hasn’t stopped touching me since he got here.
I knew the minute she read it by the big smile that came over her face. She looked up and gave me a wink, putting her phone back in her purse. She seemed to have gotten caught up in a conversation with one of Kimberly’s sorority sisters, and from the little I could hear of it, it wasn’t something Trish cared about one bit.
Just then, sexy waiter came over, plopping down on his knees next to Kimberly.
“Hey, babe, I got off early. Mind if I join your party?”
That got Kimberly’s attention off of Derek. She moved in her chair to face him in a way that gave him a peek up her short skirt. His eyes widened as he ran his tongue over his lips.
“Of course not, baby,” she purred, running her fingers through his hair.
Leave it to Kimberly; she’d have her choice of men to leave with tonight.
Sexy waiter grabbed her hand and pulled her up, leading her toward the dance floor again. Some of her sisters hopped up and followed, leaving Trish, Derek, the girl that had been talking Trish’s ear off all night, and me. Trish looked over and mouthed, “Help me.”
I laughed and stood up, grabbing a hold of the table to catch my balance. “I need to run to the bathroom. Come with me, Trish.”
I looked at Derek as he stood up and told him I’d be right back. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Don’t make me wait too long, sugar.”
The feel of his hot breath on my ear and the look in his eyes as I walked away told me I had much to look forward to in the night ahead.
Later, I’d find out I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Chapter 7
Eli and I were outside of the club, sitting on some benches a few yards down and pretending to be interested in the nightlife around us. The lights were flashing everywhere and the beat of the music was so heavy, I thought my eardrums might burst. Derek, Jose, and Rico had gone in a while ago, and I still hadn’t heard anything from any of them since. My temper flared, not knowing what was going on inside, plus the worry that Rico was going to do something to screw the whole thing up. I’d given him strict orders to stay the hell away from her but had no doubt he’d ignore me anyway.
My thoughts drifted to right before we left the yacht to come here. We were all standing in Roman’s quarters, loading our guns and going over the plan one more time. Roman had finally pulled his head out of his ass and was passing around a few pictures of Penelope Santoro. Derek made a few inappropriate comments about how much he was going to enjoy his part of the job, while Rico practically drooled over each picture he held. I stayed silent, never giving away my attraction for the girl we were supposed to be kidnapping in a few hours.
I glanced over when I heard some girls’ obnoxious giggles. They were all dressed up in clothes that highly suggested they wanted some action. I shook my head, never getting over how some women just didn’t get it. Their hair was perfect and their make up just right. And of course they were loud and annoying. My guess is they were part of this birthday party Penelope was here for. I glanced up to the sky, begging the man above to please not let her be just like them. But then again, why would He care what I wanted?
I got up and ran my hand over my head, losing the last of my patience waiting for Jose or Derek to text or call. Derek should have made his first move by now. We weren’t supposed to rush it; we needed to let her think this was a legitimate pickup on her. I walked down the street, telling Eli to walk the opposite way. If I didn’t hear from one of them within five minutes, I was going in.
As I passed the group of giggling chicks, one of them stepped out and touched my arm. I shook her off, glaring. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she shrunk back.
“Sorry,” she told me. “I just noticed you sitting on that bench and wanted to get to know you a little bit.”
I started to laugh and shook my head. “Let’s pretend you didn’t just do that. Trust me, you want nothing to do with me.”
I started to walk again, not missing the shocked look on her face. One of the girls with her asked her what I had said, but I was too far away at that point to hear her answer. Little did she know how lucky she was I didn’t take her up on her offer.
I only had one girl on my mind tonight, and she was in that club. With any luck, she wouldn’t be with us on the yacht very long. Once she woke up from the drugs I had to give her, I’d set my plan in motion.
It was the only way to save her from Roman’s idiotic plan, and myself from having to be saddled with her. And while I still had no idea what Roman’s plan was, I knew she deserved no part of it. Our world was no place for someone like Penelope Santoro.
Just as I was heading back to go into the club, my phone finally vibrated in my pocket.
Jose: Derek is in. He’s been sitting with her at her table the past 20 min. So far so good.
I blew out a breath of relief, but still furious it took him this long to tell me.
No excuse for taking so long to tell me. I want to see both of you outside in 15.
Jose: Dude relax. These things take time. I’ll text Derek.
I shoved my phone back in my pocket and headed toward Eli. While I wanted no part of this job, Roman should’ve just had me be the one to do it all. Derek was too cocky and Jose too stupid. The way things were going, the whole job would take too long.
When I reached Eli, he had a smug look on his face.
“What is it?” I asked.
He put his phone inside his jacket pocket and just shook his head. “Rico. He’s a damn idiot.”
Anger burned in my gut. “What the hell did he do now?”
“He just texted me saying he’s got five hot chicks surrounding him. I don’t think he remembers he has a job to do.”
I knew better. Rico was obsessed with the girl. He just wanted to appear he wasn’t.
“With any luck, one of them will lace his drink and take him back to her place and keep him.”
Eli let out a huge laugh, making me cringe. It wasn’t that funny, and he could draw attention. Just as I was about to tell him to shut the hell up, a lady interrupted us.
“Hey, baby,” she began, looking straight at me. “Wanna blow job?”
I looked her up and down. She was short, not more than five feet, and her skin was completely leathered and worn. Her bleached blonde hair was stringy, and her skirt was so short I had no idea why she even wore it.
“Yeah,” I answered, “but not from you.”
It took her a minute to get what I was saying, and once she did, she gave me the middle finger and called me a few choice names. As she started to stomp off, Eli called out to her.
“Hey, you didn’t even ask me, bitch!”
She turned and gave him the middle finger too, making him laugh again.
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