Ladies of the Night OMNIBUS Collection: Sizzling Romantic Suspense

by Taylor Lee

  In the rarified world in which they both worked it was well known that Diamond’s success was due in no small part to Ian’s standing in the community and his urbane dealings with other company leaders. While Diamond chafed at the patina Ian brought to her client negotiations, she reluctantly accepted what she scathingly called his “interference” was a necessary evil. But she attributed her challenged relationships to sexism never acknowledging that her intransigence might be the cause.

  To Ian’s surprise the only people she treated more callously than her male counterparts were the women she hired. She could be positively brutal to the women who aspired to join the ranks of the vaunted “ladies” and few of them made the grade. Indeed to date the only women who’d successfully navigated the rocky waters of Diamond’s formidable initiation rites were Sapphire, Ruby and Topaz. And there was no question that the only reason the superbly qualified, but timid Topaz had succeeded was because she was Ian’s niece and he’d insisted that Diamond hire her.

  Watching her incendiary interactions with prospective LOTN agents, it wasn’t surprising that so few of the potential recruits passed muster. Seeing that she was even tougher with the three agents she’d hired, Ian surmised Diamond wanted to be sure that they could stand up to the certain abuse and prejudice they would face in the male-dominated special operative world. It was ironic that all three successful agents had not only survived that challenging domain but had fallen in love with their admittedly sexist counterparts.

  At the sound of a throaty purr, Ian looked up startled to see Marsha literally crawling toward him. She was on her hands and knees, naked from the waist up. Her pendulous surgically enhanced breasts swayed from side to side. Her generous rump cheeks swinging in tandem, she approached him with what could only be described as a predatory leer on her face. She growled again and stared up at him with what he imagined she thought was a seductive expression then reached for his crotch. Unfortunately for them both, she took him by surprise. Without thinking he leapt from his chair and knocked her hand off his thigh. At his unexpected response she flailed to the side in an unflattering clash of arms, legs and buxom body parts.

  Following Marsha’s most unladylike tirade of verbal abuse mixed with angry tears, Ian managed to help her to her feet and put on her clothes. The roar of her expensive automobile throwing up a noisy explosion of rocks in the driveway underscored her fury. Watching her from the doorway Ian knew he should be embarrassed, even a little ashamed. Instead, he felt relief. Running his hands through his carefully cropped hair, he tried to sort through his unexpected emotions. For God’s sake, he was the one who’d invited Marsha to come to his place for dinner. He’d given Manuel carte blanche to determine the menu right down to the expensive wine that his manservant knew he liked. And in most circumstances Ian would have enjoyed the food, the wine and the woman. He certainly had the last time she’d been over.

  But tonight had been a bust on every level. Tracing it back to when he’d begun to feel discombobulated Ian acknowledged that it had all begun when he’d dismissed Diamond. Only now he allowed himself to remember the hurt expression on her face when he’d indicated that his dinner guest was about to arrive. With a pang of self-awareness, he remembered her banked excitement when Manuel mentioned the scrumptious wine, then her clear distress when she understood he expected a guest. Christ, Ian hadn’t realized until now that he’d served her that identical beverage the night before, and that she must have assumed that Manuel was preparing it for her. Or worse, that the wine she’d thought was special was one that he served to any and all women.

  He wasn’t surprised that Marsha was furious. She had a right to be. He’d behaved badly or at least carelessly. He walked back to his office making a mental note to have Manuel send her an appropriate reparation in the morning. Manuel would know what to send. He was good at that. A penance that acknowledged that Ian had upset her and that she had a right to be angry with him, but in no way spoke to the possibility of a return engagement. Manuel always found just the right gift. Expensive enough to salve hurt feelings, but also impersonal enough to confirm its finality.

  Wondering if Diamond had had a chance to study the emails he’d sent to her, Ian toyed with the idea of calling her. Glancing at his watch, he decided that it was not too late to call. After all they were leaving for an important mission in the morning. Essentially the first operation on which they’d partnered. Flipping open his phone, he hit the number for her private line. It took him a second hearing her sensual voice to realize that the seductive tones were her recorded message indicating that she wasn’t available. He shoved at his annoyance at the taped message. After all they planned to leave early in the morning and he would have thought that she’d be spending the evening preparing for what was certain to be a challenging assignment.

  Ian didn’t know when it occurred to him that his greater concern was where she was. As far as he knew, Diamond didn’t really have a social life. He’d be surprised if she had a man, despite her brains and beauty. At least that was his assessment of her prickly protectiveness that was clearly intended to spurn advances from brave men. It wasn’t as though she wasn’t gorgeous. If she chose, her social calendar would be chockful of dates. But he was sure he’d have heard the other women gossiping about it. Discussing their obdurate boss seemed to be a favorite topic among the three women who obviously both liked and feared their cantankerous superior. Ian frowned and determined that he’d talk with Topaz in the morning. If Diamond was involved with someone, he should know about it—if for no other reason than to satisfy his curiosity. Or at least that’s how he reassured himself.

  Chapter 7

  “Where were you last night?”

  Diamond looked at him in surprise. As usual Ian’s expression was amused, but she didn’t miss the hard edge in his voice. Or the briefest flash of anger in his slate gray eyes. The hackles on her neck flared at his preemptory assumption that it was any of his business.

  Assuming a bored expression, she retrieved a magazine from the table top and began leafing through it.

  Without meeting his gaze she asked, “And my whereabouts last evening concerns you how, Col. Ross?”

  Studying the pictures of Kanye & Kim, Diamond ignored Ian’s sharp intake of air and focused on the photo spread with unseeing eyes.

  She sucked in a sharp breath of her own when Ian reached for her arm and grasped her wrist, hard. Staring up at him, she frowned. Under normal circumstances, Diamond would have quickly answered his question assuming that he was teasing her. But his tight grip on her arm surprised her. For once Ian’s usually smooth, impenetrable facade had a crack in it. It wasn’t like Ian to show any emotion other than a slight disdain mixed with amusement when he looked at her. Not so today. If she was reading him correctly, he looked downright pissed.

  The memory of the night she’d spent after fleeing from Ian’s mansion came back to haunt her. Diamond didn’t know when she finally fell into a fitful sleep. The last time she glanced at the clock it was 3:30 a.m. It had taken her nearly a bottle of Pinot and a couple of Aleve to deaden the pain wracking her throbbing head and ultimately allow her to drift off. Too soon her alarm had jolted her awake. She did her best to keep from looking in the mirror as she hurriedly dressed. Tugging her Pierre Balman Skinny DSquared jeans over her butt, she managed to suck in enough air to fasten the ornery button on the low rise pants. It usually took until mid-morning for the skin tight pants to loosen enough to let her breathe normally. Well at least the damn things weren’t in danger of falling down.

  Throwing her makeup in her purse, she grabbed a banana from the tired looking bunch on the stainless steel counter and headed out to the three flights of stairs leading down from her roof-top loft. She closed the reinforced steel door behind her with a heavy sigh. She always hated leaving her elevated refuge when she left for a mission. It was her sanctuary. People who saw where she lived—and few did—always commented how ‘like her’ it was. Diamond assumed the observation usu
ally wasn’t meant as a compliment—but she agreed. It was ‘like her’ because she had designed every inch of the high tech industrial space to her exacting specifications.

  From the artfully stressed cement floors to the stainless steel counters and appliances, the loft had a hard, shiny, almost surgical edge that Diamond loved. The walls were also cement, but stained to look like redwood. Low recessed lighting gave the one room vaulted space a mysterious glow. The only natural light came from the skylights blanketing the ceiling. Windows were decidedly absent. The furniture was minimal, ultra-modern and made for lounging. The counter where she ate had stools but she rarely sat on them. She much preferred to eat standing up or lounging on her UrbanChic upholstered platform bed.

  Her bed sat five inches above the floor and flanked one whole wall. Built into the sides of the frame were coffee table like structures that held her food trays, wine bottles and other necessities. She didn’t bother to make her bed in the morning. That wasn’t necessary. Its only bedding were sumptuous satin duvets that she changed with the weather. And the raft of pillows that served as her headboard—and, not incidentally, as a replacement between her legs for the lovers that she never took.

  Two thirds of the spacious room was empty except for the high-end exercise equipment. Worthy of a torture chamber for the addicted exercise fanatic, it contained every apparatus known to man—or woman—to lengthen, strengthen and tone her body. A leather-bound punching bag hung from the ceiling on a sturdy metal chain. Its scarred surface spoke to the hours of abuse Diamond had inflicted on it. On the side of the space were racks of gloves, helmets, shoes, mirrors and other accouterments for the fanatical warrior. The ferocious fighter had learned early on that peace came for her, if ever—at the end of an arduous attack on the leather bag which never gave in to her desire to destroy it.

  Knowing she was already late, Diamond didn’t bother to open her car door. She cleared the entrance to her Porsche Boxster GTS convertible in a dashing leap worthy of a leather chapped cowboy mounting his stallion. Smashing her Oakley’s over her eyes, she yanked on her leather driving gloves and roared onto the freeway. Her sun-streaked hair streaming behind her, she masterfully negotiated the early morning rush hour traffic. With a saucy grin she pumped on the accelerator and wondered for the umpteenth time why she’d never been nailed for speeding. Particularly given how many awed traffic cops had stopped her and ultimately let her go sans fine or ticket. This morning, speed was a necessary evil. Ian had told her to be at his private hangar no later than 6:00 a.m. It was already thirty minutes past that time and she’d be lucky if she arrived by 7:00. Thank god she’d packed her suitcases last night and wedged them into the trunk of her Boxster. She’d have been dead in the water if she hadn’t spent her evening getting prepared for a trip that was already scaring the shit out of her.

  Dragging her attention back to the man who was gripping her wrist she noted that Ian’s response to her impertinent question was measured—but with an edge Diamond wasn’t accustomed to. His careful response underscored his annoyance.

  “In answer to your insolent question, your ‘whereabouts’ is my business when you show up nearly an hour late for a flight. A flight that thanks to you is now over an hour behind schedule. We’ll be hard pressed to make our noon meeting with Senator Walker.”

  Diamond started to apologize but the words stuck in her throat. She realized that she wasn’t sorry. Actually if she said what she was really thinking, she’d have told him that he was lucky she’d arrived at all. For the better part of the previous evening, the indignity of him offhandedly sending her on her way to make room for his “woman of the night” Diamond had come close to calling him and telling him to shove the mission up his ‘oh so arrogant’ ass. Fortunately the numbing effect of the wine had kicked in preventing her from making an embarrassing drunk call. But, now, here she was. At his beck and call.

  Seemingly surprised at her silence, Ian’s frown deepened. The edge in his voice sharpened.

  “Hmm, so rather than an explanation, hell, maybe even an apology, my partner chooses rudeness instead?’

  At the memory of her ragged night, Diamond intuitively knew that how she responded to him now would set the tone for their upcoming mission. She reminded herself that on an arrogance scale of one to twenty, Ian would score an even hundred. Hell, the most chauvinist men she’d worked with in the past would have had trouble hitting fifty. Glaring at him, Diamond lifted her chin slightly and shrugged. She decided she’d be damned if she was going to apologize to him.

  Her conclusion must have shown on her face because Ian’s frown faded replaced by his usual amused smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He released her arm and instead reached over and pinched her cheek. His eyes danced with merriment.

  “Uh oh. I’ve seen that look before. Right before you give me the stink eye and flounce out of the room with your head held high and that curvy ass of yours swaying from side to side. Which, let’s face it, may be a challenge, given that we are on a relatively small jet.” He added, his grin widening, “May I presume, my prickly porcupine partner, that the apology I expected is not forthcoming?”

  Diamond tried to laugh at his outrageousness but his taunt stung. Particularly knowing that he was making light of her anger. Making light of her. She managed to quell an angry response and asserted as flatly as she could, “First of all, I don’t flounce. And second, you’re the one who owes me an apology.”

  At his start of surprise, Diamond choked. Oh damn, now what would she say? Tell him that he should be sorry at how he treated her last night? How he’d made her go home in tears? How she’d come close to calling him and telling him that not only was she not going to Washington with him but that they were through as business partners?

  Fortunately Ian saved her with his humor.

  “Actually, my fair Colonel, you do flounce, although I’m damned if I know how you do. Christ, I don’t know how you get those DSquared’s over your butt much less swing your curvy behind from side to side. That is one tight pair of skinny jeans. And given those five inch Dolce Gabbana sandals, you, my dear, are a walking wonder!”

  Diamond wasn’t surprised that the urbane man knew the brand of her $500 blue jeans or who designed her outrageous shoes, but his flippant gibe outraged her. She slammed the entertainment magazine down on the glass topped table with an audible smack.

  “Now you’re going to tell me how to dress, Col. Ross?” Her voice rose dangerously as she shoved to her feet. “Is that part of the deal, part of working together? You’ve now become my wardrobe manager?”

  Ian rose beside her and encircled her in his arms. Shocked, Diamond tried to pull away but he held her firmly. He was obviously still amused but seemed to be making an effort to contain his humor at her expense.

  “Hey, hey, sweetheart.” He held her chin between his thumb and forefinger forcing her to meet his gaze. She slammed her eyes shut but he shook his head and said, “Uh uh, Tiger. Hold on, Diamond. Obviously we started out on the wrong side of the continental divide today. Let’s begin again. You were upset when you arrived, and I’ll admit that I was more than a little annoyed that you were late. But I have a feeling that we wouldn’t be where we are today if it hadn’t been for last evening.”

  Diamond couldn’t hide her surprise or her dismay. God, had she been that obvious? Had he seen her reaction to the gorgeous woman who’d arrived for what was clearly a private dinner with Ian? She knew if he had noticed her upset, then the woman would have too. Oh God, this was getting out of hand. Before she could free herself from Ian’s hold, he stepped back, his expression serious.

  “Look, Diamond, we’re about to engage in a challenging mission. It’s imperative that we clear the air. You and I need to be communicating as well as we always have—perhaps even better. Regarding your late arrival this morning: That’s not an option, Col. Davis. Frankly it shocks me that I have to say that. Hell, you’re a smoldering volcano when one of your ‘ladies’ is five minutes late
; but today you were so late you held up the plane.”

  Ian paused, obviously assuming that she would apologize for her tardiness, but Diamond surprised them both when she couldn’t make the words come. She hadn’t realized how truly upset she’d been and how angry. She merely shook her head and turned away.

  Ian allowed the silence to stand for a moment.

  “Well, it’s clear that you’re angry with me and that it is apparently me who needs to apologize.”

  When she turned and stared at him not believing what he’d said, he nodded.

  “Look Diamond, I behaved like an ass last night. I had too damned much on my mind. I never should have had you come by the house. It was rude of me and unnecessary. We could have talked on the telephone and you could have saved yourself a trip. My apologies.”

  Diamond stared at Ian in disbelief. That was it? That was what he was sorry for? That he’d inconvenienced her? That they should have talked on the phone? Not that he had embarrassed her in front of Manuel. And, more important, made her look like a total ass in front of one of his coterie of gorgeous, smug women? But, no, apparently that scintilla of self- awareness hadn’t even made so much as a blip on his conceited screen. Hell no. Apparently Ian, the supposedly sophisticated man about town, was completely clueless when it came to what made women tick. Particularly what made her tick! Good God, what did that say about this nerve-wracking venture they were about to embark on?