by Meghan March
Something about her being hurt had taken my hardened sense of right and wrong and thrown it out the window until she was safe again.
“But you’re okay? You’re not injured?”
“I’m fine, Rhett. I swear. I’m just . . . being careful.”
I could tell there was a hell of a lot that she wasn’t saying, but I’d get there as soon as I could. I dug my keys out of my pocket and hopped in the Jeep, putting my phone on speaker and dropping it on the passenger seat before I fired up the engine.
“Does Carver know you’re in there?” I checked the rearview mirror and backed up to get out of my parallel parking spot.
“Not exactly.”
My hands gripped the steering wheel harder than necessary. “Did he do something?”
“I don’t know, but I’m trying to figure it out, I swear. I disabled the sensor that would’ve notified him when I engaged the door. He was out in the garage, last I knew.”
I tried to keep my voice calm as I floored the gas pedal and roared down the street. “None of this makes any sense, Ari. He’s there to protect you—”
She cut me off, and the fear in her tone finally came through. “It’s not safe to talk about on the phone. Please. Just get here.”
I softened my voice. “Hold tight, Red. I’m on my way.”
39
Ariel
Dramatics weren’t my thing. Being capable was. But when my fingers went to work and I couldn’t figure out how someone could have deleted the security footage, I went down another path. Carlos. The things I found chilled my blood, and it didn’t take long before I knew I was in way over my head.
I was a realist. Bad people were everywhere. Evil existed. And even knowing this, I was still a naive, trusting idiot, and I’d stumbled into the crosshairs of something I wasn’t equipped to handle on my own.
Cyber threats? No problem.
Cocky hackers? I could handle that.
A man standing over me close enough to kill me while inside a secured estate? Um, nope. It turned out I couldn’t handle that all by myself once I figured out who had sent him.
I might have been naive, but I wasn’t stupid. As soon as I discovered what I’d walked into, I knew I had to tell Rhett. I probably could have worded my text better so as not to send him into a panic, but I needed to get him here as quickly as possible, and apparently, that worked.
I looked around the safe room, thankful it was well-appointed. It had been another huge draw when I’d selected this house from Erik and Esme’s list. Whoever had built it must have been a security nut. It was a dream setup, and the price of the rental had reflected that.
The room was upscale—white plaster walls covering eighteen-inch concrete walls reinforced with thick steel sheets. If someone just stumbled into it through the master bedroom closet, it would be easy to assume it was a luxurious dressing room, given the ornate cabinets lining two walls, the island in the center topped with a slab of fancy granite, and the massive leather sofas.
That was, until you locked the door and engaged the hydraulics, and the whole place gave itself a little makeover. The cabinets pulled away to reveal a security center with dedicated landlines separate from the rest of the house, and a cell-signal amplifier strong enough to penetrate the walls.
This was the second main access point to the security system, with the first being in the garage with Carver. I’d hooked up my laptop and gotten to work. Instead of using my cell, which I wasn’t entirely sure was safe, I set my number to work through a secured VOIP connection.
I’d texted Rhett through another secure channel, and decided to keep Carver unaware until I knew whether he could be trusted.
Now, I was set up with my laptop on the luxurious queen-sized bed that had transformed from one sofa when the hydraulics kicked on. I’d helped myself to a bottle of water from the fridge and a package of Oreos from the pantry—both stocked for the apocalypse.
As I twisted the cookies apart and ate the creamy filling, I focused on what I knew as I waited for Rhett.
The things I thought were true, weren’t. Which made me an idiot for not digging deeper into Carlos’s background from the beginning. But he’d given me no reason to. A fellow tech-lover, he’d talked about rebelling against his family’s expectations when he’d gone to Berkeley and graduated a few years before me.
It hadn’t occurred to me that I should have checked his records to make sure he’d really gone there. Brace for the spoiler—he hadn’t. No, Carlos had had an education of a very different sort.
Part of me hated getting Rhett involved in this, especially if it put him in danger, but I didn’t see that I had any choice in the matter. Besides, if they touched a single hair on his head, I would use every skill and resource I had to burn them to the ground.
I wouldn’t let Rhett suffer for my bad judgment.
I wouldn’t.
40
Rhett
The ride in the patrol car to the hospital kept playing through my head as I hauled ass to Ari’s place, my knuckles white as I clutched the steering wheel. When I finally pulled up to the gate, I punched in the code and my vision turned red at the sight of Carver washing the car in the driveway. I wanted to rip into him for whatever had Ari spooked and locked in a goddamned panic room, but she’d obviously made the decision not to tell him, so I did the same.
He gave me a nod as I jumped out of the Jeep. “She knows you’re coming? She’s been quiet all day. I’ve been staying out of her way.”
“She asked me to come by. We’d appreciate some privacy.”
He schooled his reaction, but I knew what he was thinking. He’s here to get some.
No, motherfucker, I was here to handle whatever scared her enough to go into lock-down mode.
I jogged up to the front door, closing and locking it behind me before charging toward the master suite closet. I had no frigging clue where the panic room door was as I scanned the mostly empty white racks and shelves. I’d just found my way out of a maze at Mount’s place, and now I was faced with another hidden entrance.
Turning toward a shelf, I pushed on the side, hoping something would move but knowing it was a long shot. When it didn’t budge, I pulled my phone from my pocket and tapped her number.
“I’m here.”
“Oh, good. Hold on, let me hit the lock.”
“I don’t see a damned door or where it’s hidden.”
“Give me a second. Wait, should I have you answer a question first? To make sure you’re not being held at gunpoint or something?”
“Ari . . .” My patience was wearing thin, but her tone had lost a little of the fear from earlier, which reassured me.
“Who was your favorite comic book hero?”
Why did this question not surprise me? “Superman.”
“Because you wanted to save the world and everyone in it, right?”
“Open the damn door, Ari.”
“Okeydoke.”
I ended the call as soon as the shelf I’d tried to push out of the way started moving. Fucking hidden doors.
As soon as the opening was wide enough, I saw Ari’s deep red hair and I charged toward her, wrapping her in my arms. She reached out and slapped a button, and the door slid closed behind me.
“You scared the shit out of me, Red.” As much as I wanted to demand an explanation right then, there was something else I needed more. I cradled both sides of her face in my hands and crushed my mouth against hers, letting my tongue sweep inside.
When I finally pulled back, I checked her for injuries, my hands roaming her bikini-clad body. She stood motionless and let me.
“I told you I was okay.”
“And I need to make sure for myself.”
Her gray gaze met mine, and I asked the question that was burning on my tongue. “What the hell happened?”
Her expression changed in a single moment, all lightness leaving it. She swallowed as though she didn’t want to tell me, but dug up the courage to do it anyw
ay. “I fucked up. Big time.”
My first thought was that she’d hacked the NSA, and Feds were going to be bearing down any minute.
“Tell me. Everything.” From my tone, I was pretty sure she got that I was seconds away from shaking the answer out of her.
After she took a deep breath, she dropped a bomb. “I think I’m the reason your dad was killed.”
41
Ariel
Deep breaths. I can tell him without losing it. I can.
“My boyfriend—”
“Ex-boyfriend,” Rhett said, correcting me, and I nodded.
“Ex-boyfriend. Carlos Herrera is really Carlos Alberto Moreno Herrera.” Rhett showed no sign of recognition at the name, so I continued. “He’s essentially the crown prince of one of Mexico’s deadliest drug cartels.”
Rhett stilled, every muscle in his body tense and ready to spring into action. “You had no idea?”
I shook my head. “No clue. Until now, when he started displaying latent possessive tendencies.”
His eyes narrowed. “Tell me what the hell you mean by that? Break it down in simple terms.”
Sucking in another deep breath, I braced myself to tell him the truth. “He thinks he owns me.”
Rhett’s hands curled into fists. “No man fucking owns you. And he will never touch you again, I swear it.”
“I know, but he seems to have other ideas. He sent his goon here to threaten me when I didn’t use the plane ticket he sent me yesterday to go home to California.”
Rhett’s expression darkened to something deadly. “Someone came here? Threatened you? In person? And you didn’t think you should tell me that on the goddamned phone?”
I explained about the cameras and the missing footage, and my concern about my phone being tapped.
“The resources they have are insane. I don’t know who we can trust, and I wasn’t taking a chance. They said if I told anyone, they’d die. I’m not risking you. He sent a second plane ticket. Told me I’d better use it this afternoon—”
Rhett took two steps forward. Instinctively, I stepped back, my knees dropping out from under me as I hit the edge of the bed.
“You don’t belong to him. You don’t go to him. No one orders you around. Ever. You get me?”
“But he said—”
Rhett reached out to cup my chin. “He’ll have to bring an army to get through me. No one touches you. Over my dead body.”
There was no way I was going to use Rhett as a human shield. He wasn’t going to suffer for this. I refused.
“But—”
“No buts. He doesn’t touch you. Ever again. In any way. You belong to you and no one else.”
For a moment, it shocked me that he didn’t throw out the caveman phrase that I belonged to him. By recognizing I belonged to myself, he wasn’t marginalizing how hard I’d worked to become independent and self-sufficient. He recognized that it was a massively important part of my identity that I couldn’t and wouldn’t surrender. Something surged in my chest with the realization.
Rhett didn’t just see me—he saw me clearly. He understood me in a way no one else had before. And that meant everything.
I wanted him. Now. This man came rushing to my rescue only to find out that I’d gotten myself into a horrible position, and yet he didn’t judge me for it. Instead, he vowed to protect me in any way he could.
His presence gave me strength because I was able to lean on him without worrying that I was sacrificing any of my autonomy.
No one else could make me feel the way Rhett could. He wasn’t my childhood crush anymore; he was a man who could handle life at my side. I’d never had that. Ever. And the possibility intoxicated me.
“You scared the hell out of me.” His words came out roughened with emotion.
“I’m okay.” I took his hand and pressed it to my chest. “I promise.”
My heart hammered beneath his palm, and I swallowed as I slid it so he could feel my hardened nipple. His gaze burned into mine, and I knew I would have to ask because he wouldn’t push. Not right now.
“I want you.”
He didn’t make me repeat myself. His fingers closed around my breast, catching my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Shivers of arousal shot to my clit, and his mouth covered mine again and our tongues collided.
Rhett tore his mouth away and tugged my wrap away from my hips. “I’m going to touch every inch of you. Memorize you. Drive every other thought from your head except how perfect you are. How much you matter to me.”
I melted. “Okay.”
Rhett tossed the wrap aside and I reached for his shirt. He let me drag it up and over his broad shoulders. I pressed my lips over his heart.
“You matter to me too.”
My words unleashed him. His nostrils flared as he yanked at the tie to my bikini top and it fell, revealing my breasts. He lowered his head, capturing a nipple between his lips as he pushed me onto my back and braced himself to kneel over me.
Heat sizzled through me as he nipped with his teeth and tugged before switching to my other nipple, leaving the first one hard and aching. I wrapped my hands around his shoulders, at least until Rhett lifted and caught me under the armpits to haul me further up the bed while he stayed braced over my thighs. With his eyes on mine, he moved a knee between my legs, and I slid them wider apart to make room.
Oh God. I knew what was coming, and my body was already aching for it. Rhett’s gaze never left my face as he untied my bikini bottoms and pulled them from my body.
“You belong to you, but this is my pussy. Mine. No one else touches it. Tastes it. Fucking thinks about it. I don’t care if that makes me a dick. I don’t share.”
Hearing that declaration come from Rhett sent a shock wave of heat through me that ended with a hard thump of my heart. “No one else.”
Rhett reached down and spread me wide with his big hands, stroking from bottom to top with his thumb. “Already wet for me, Red.”
“I can’t help it.”
“I wouldn’t want you to.”
His thumb circled my clit, and pleasure mounted until I was writhing beneath him, on the edge of coming, and he’d barely touched me yet.
Rhett bent down and replaced his fingers with his mouth, ripping a moan from my throat. With each lick and nip and then the thrust of a finger inside me, I tumbled closer and closer to shattering.
“I’m going to—” My words broke off as he plunged a second finger inside, and an orgasm burst over me.
I twisted on the bed, bucking against his mouth as he continued to drag out the waves of pleasure until I didn’t know when they stopped or began again.
When Rhett finally rose, I was a boneless mess.
He produced a condom from the pocket of his jeans before he kicked them off. My eyes fixed on the bulge in his boxer briefs, and how much I wanted to return the favor.
When I tried to sit up, Rhett held me down with a hand on my chest. “You put that mouth on me, and I’ll be coming in a second. Right now, I need to be inside you.”
I understood. I needed the connection too.
Sheathed and rock hard, he notched the head of his cock against my entrance and powered inside. I gripped his shoulders and lifted my hips to take him deeper. With each thrust, the connection intensified until we moved together in a perfect rhythm, and when I screamed his name, he roared mine. I let go of everything, and the orgasm swamped me as Rhett’s cock pulsed inside. When he collapsed on top of me, our ragged breathing merged into a single pattern.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him tight, feeling like I could face anything with him by my side.
I was right. He was so much more. He was a gift, and he was mine.
42
Ariel
Once our skin started to cool, Rhett pressed a kiss to my forehead and levered off me to take care of the condom. When he came out of the attached bathroom, I rewrapped my sarong to fit like a dress.
He planted a swift kiss on my l
ips before surveying the interior of the safe room. When he’d arrived, he was wholly focused on me, so I supposed it wasn’t surprising that he was taking in the details.
“Do you want to hear all of it?”
He nodded. “Absolutely. Lay it on me. Don’t leave anything out.”
I proceeded to tell him everything I knew and everything I didn’t. By the time I got to the end of it, I didn’t feel like I had a better handle on the situation.
“I don’t know why he targeted me. I really don’t. It doesn’t make sense, unless he was after my technology.”
Rhett’s expression darkened. “What kind of technology do you have that the cartel would be interested in?”
I shrugged and considered my pipeline. “I have a few pet projects that I mess with when I have time.”
“Like?”
“Facial-recognition software that works with wearable cameras and can be synced to any database. Information about the subjects recognized by the software can be relayed through an earbud. It’s not ready for use, but it’s not far off. I was playing with stuff I thought could make cops safer on the streets. You know, for people like you and my brother.”
Rhett closed his eyes for a beat before opening them. “Who knows you’ve been working on this?”
“A few people. I haven’t made a big deal about it, but R&D knows because several of them contributed ideas when I got stuck, and they helped me get unstuck.”
“It could be valuable to the good guys and the bad, so that’s a possibility. What else?”
“Some other products that don’t seem to have much useful commercial application, except maybe the advanced scent-blocking technology. It’s better than what’s available now. Even drug dogs can’t sniff . . .”