“Evening boss,” he said when he moved across the room to sit down at the desk.
He knew the procedure and waited for the glass of bourbon to be placed in front of him. It was more alcohol on top of the drugs he’d taken and for once, he didn’t really want it. He wasn’t about to refuse it though and when the man opposite picked up his glass to drink, he did the same.
“What’s the news?” Eddie asked after putting his shot glass down.
“It’s not good,” Lincoln replied and wiped the back of his hand nervously across his mouth.
“You went to the girl’s house?”
“I did and she opened the door to make it easy for me to get inside,” Lincoln went on. “But Matt’s phone was switched off when I tried to contact him.”
“You didn’t get him then?” Eddie queried.
Lincoln shook his head and saw the unpleasant expression that spread across his boss’s face.
“Not at the time,” he admitted.
“So…”
“Matt came to the house after the job,” Lincoln said and lifted a hand to wipe at the sweat prickling on his brow.
Eddie getting to his feet was a bad sign and he started to pace around the office. It was usually a sign that his anger was growing and that showed in his voice when he spoke.
“Tell me what not good means then.”
“Matt pulled a gun on me,” Lincoln lied. “I wasn’t expecting him to come to the house, so was only tooled up with a blade.”
“Did he tell you what happened when he met with Collins?”
“No,” Lincoln answered. “But I’m assuming he didn’t go through with what we asked of him.”
“Why would you assume that?” Eddie asked when he stopped pacing.
“I asked someone to watch the apartment. They called me to say they saw Collins and his girlfriend leaving the place with bags. I get the impression they’re running.”
“What about Matt?”
“Pistol whipped me and knocked me out cold,” Lincoln went on lying. “He and the girl were gone when I came around.”
“Bastard,” Eddie cursed loudly as he launched the shot glass he was holding across the room.
It smashed to pieces against the wall and Lincoln held his breath. He’d seen his boss’s fury erupt enough times to know it wasn’t a good thing to be around when it happened. The curses grew louder as Eddie stomped back to the desk and threw himself down on his chair.
“Give me your glass,” he yelled.
Lincoln pushed it across the desk and half expected it to be flung against the wall too. Instead, Eddie poured himself a large measure of bourbon and knocked it back. The veins in his neck were popping and he leaned back in the seat to rest his head. It appeared he was trying to compose himself, but it didn’t work.
“That filthy, conniving, son of a bitch,” he bellowed and banged the glass in his hand down on the desk.
He lifted it again and Lincoln decided to speak as a distraction to stop his boss showering them both with broken shards.
“I’ve put the word out that we’re looking for the two of them.”
The tactic worked and Eddie’s temper abated slightly to make him put the glass down without breaking it.
“How the hell did Matt know you were at the girl’s house if you didn’t speak to him,” he said.
“I don’t think he did.” Lincoln replied. “He seemed surprised by my presence and I assume he came to get her because he didn’t follow through with what we asked him to do. We made threats against her, so it makes sense that he came looking for her.”
Eddie rested his head on the seat again and closed his eyes for a few seconds. His voice wasn’t as loud when he spoke and it appeared he was controlling his anger.
“But why not run in the first place, if that’s what he intended to do? Why even bother going through with a visit to Brett Collins’ place.”
“Maybe he changed his mind about it while he was there.”
“Why would he do that?” Eddie let out and pursed his lips as he thought. “Matt didn’t know Collins, so he had no reason to change his mind and every incentive to get the job done properly.”
“He could have been lying about not knowing him.”
“Did he call you to say he was going through with the job?” Eddie asked.
“Yes,” Lincoln confirmed.
“Then everything was going to plan up until that point,” Eddie went on. “If he was planning to bail out of doing the job, he would hardly call and say he was going ahead with it. He would have just run.”
“So something happened at the meeting?” Lincoln mused.
“That would be my guess,” Eddie agreed. “But what was it? He didn’t say anything to you at the girl’s house?”
“He started by telling me everything went to plan,” Lincoln told his boss. “I got a call from Billy to say that Collins and his girlfriend were leaving the apartment. The next thing I know, Matt pulled a gun on me. He made me turn and that’s when he pistol whipped me. It was nearly an hour before I came around and the house was empty.”
The angry expression returned to Eddie’s face and he brought his hand down forcefully on the desk. Fortunately, he wasn’t holding the glass now and the sound of his palm slapping hard on wood rang around the office.
“I want them found.”
“All of them?” Lincoln asked.
“Matt Harris for a start,” Eddie replied. “I want that bastard in my office and telling me why he fucked me over.”
“What about the others?”
“If they’re still around, bring them to me,” Eddie carried on. “But don’t waste too many resources on it. I’m not about to worry if we’ve run Brett Collins out of town. It means there’s one less competitor trying to muscle in on our business.”
“What about his contacts?”
“Fuck them,” Eddie spat out. “There’ll be other opportunities to expand and I’m not planning to chase him down if he’s gone.”
Lincoln nodded his head. One smashed glass and a few cursed expletives meant that things didn’t go as badly as he’d anticipated. The instruction to find Matt wasn’t exactly a surprise and he wanted to get his hands on him just as much as Eddie. The problem would be finding out where he’d gone, but something would turn up if the word was put out far enough. It always did.
“Is there anything else you need me to do?” he asked.
“No, you concentrate your efforts on finding Matt Harris,” Eddie said. “Keep me up to speed with what’s going on and no more fuck ups.”
Lincoln simply nodded his head as he got to his feet. He walked to the door to let himself out then headed along towards the stairs, with his mind working furiously. Information was what he needed, but there were no messages from Billy when he checked his phone. He needed to start putting the word out himself but decided to wait until he got home before phoning around. His headache was returning, so he got the painkillers from his pocket and took another one as he left the property.
“You’re going to take a fucking overdose,” he berated himself as he walked to the parking spot.
When he got in the sedan, he sat for a while to wait for the thumping in his skull to subside. He could make out the weariness settling over him and knew the mix of drugs and alcohol in his system was making him drowsy. What he needed was some rest, but there was no time for that.
He turned the key in the ignition and reached out to put the car in gear, but the sound of ringing stopped him from doing it. Fishing a hand in his pocket, he brought out his phone and didn’t even bother looking at the screen as he connected the call then lifted the device to his ear. Lincoln didn’t get a chance to say anything when the person on the other end of the line spoke immediately.
“I’ve got something you might like, Mr. Holt.”
Chapter 19
Brigitte wiped a hand across the bathroom mirror to clear the steam from the surface and leaned forward to look at herself. For a second, she wondered if
she was in the midst of a bad dream although knew there would be no waking up from what she was going through. Her fears that getting involved with Matt Harris could lay waste to her life were coming true and in a much worse way than she ever imagined. That didn’t mean she wanted to end things with him though. If anything, what she was feeling was the complete opposite of that and she couldn’t deny it to herself…, even if she didn’t understand the feelings she was experiencing.
“You’re a bloody fool,” she accused her reflection then turned away from it.
She tightened the knot of the bath towel wrapped around her chest to make sure it didn’t slip off. There was another one hanging on a wall bar, so she went to get it and leaned forward to dry her hair. She flicked her head back when she finished, then returned to the mirror to run fingers through her blonde locks and straighten them out. When she was satisfied, she went to hang the second towel up and walked to the door of the bathroom. She opened it to the sight of Matt stripped to the waist and watched as he peeled away the plaster on his chest.
“Does it still hurt?” she asked when she stepped through the door.
“A little bit but the medicine I took in the bar helped,” he replied as he looked at the blood-stained plaster. “I could do with another of these.”
“You’re lucky I’m here then,” Brigitte said.
She walked across to where her bag was sitting on a chair and unzipped it. She then leaned forward to get a closer look inside as she searched through her belongings. Matt saw the plaster in her hand when she straightened up.
“You’re smarter than me,” he said.
“Yeah, but don’t hold it against me,” she replied with a cheeky smirk and crossed the room to the bed.
She got the plaster out of its wrapper and stuck it in place over the stab wound.
“What about your arm?” she asked.
“I haven’t taken the bandage off and don’t plan too,” he said and lay down to rest his head on the pillow.
Brigitte dropped down beside him and settled her head on his shoulder.
“Do you really think we can do anything to get us out of this mess?” she asked after a few seconds of silence.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” he admitted. “The first thing is really to get somewhere safe and take it from there. Maybe I can talk to them when we’re hidden away and sort something out.”
Brigitte could hear the lack of conviction in his voice and closed her eyes to lie silently. She rolled closer and put her hand on his muscular midriff and the flutter of arousal came on within seconds. Considering the situation they were in, it made her wonder if she was sane. The feeling was definitely there though and there was no stopping the acceleration of her heartbeat as her fingers stroked gently on taut muscles.
“Don’t leave me,” she let out.
“I wasn’t planning to,” Matt replied.
He rolled onto his side, so they were facing each other and brought his hand up to her face. It was her that moved forward to bring their lips together and the kiss was gentle at first. The rush of passion was unstoppable though and what started out as a simple gesture of affection quickly became something more. Brigitte shivered as her body responded and she took the lead to roll Matt on his back and get on all fours over him.
“Are you planning to take advantage of an injured man?” he teased her.
“Was thinking about it,” she responded.
She leaned down to another kiss and was aware of his hands settling on her hips. The wet material of the towel stopped him from touching naked skin, but she suspected it wouldn’t be long before that changed. She lifted her head slightly to break the kiss, but nuzzled her lips on his for a few seconds before straightening up to stare down at his rugged, chiseled physique.
He remained still as she caressed fingertips over his bare skin and traced a line around the outline of his chest muscles. Her breath came out heavily as their eyes locked together and she tensed when his fingers stroked along her jawline then slid down to her neck. A rippling shiver trickled down her spine at the touch on sensitive skin and it was only when his hand moved lower that she broke the eye contact.
She glanced down to see the knot of the towel around her chest being loosened. The material draped open to reveal her naked body and she let out a gasp as his hands reached for her breasts to caress them. She wanted it and leaned in closer as the touches grew rougher to make Matt’s fingers sink deep in soft flesh.
“Are we crazy?” she asked when she was struck by what they were doing.
“We can stop if you want,” Matt said when he caught her gaze.
Brigitte grabbed his hand as it pulled away from her chest and dragged it back to her naked breasts.
‘No,” she told him. “Right now, I think we need a distraction.”
She ended the talking by leaning down for a kiss and the swell of pleasure grew stronger as he groped her. It was awakening her body and she could sense the prickle of sensual heat blossoming between her thighs. She forced her head down to lock their lips together more firmly and let out a muffled groan as the passion flared between them. Matt’s touch became rougher still as burning lust flooded his body and it was thrilling to knew that she was turning him on so much. She lifted her head then immediately moved to bring her breasts over his face and the invitation was eagerly accepted as his mouth came up.
The flare of carnal heat was instant when his lips wrapped around a nipple and the pressure increased as he sucked it deep. Brigitte closed her eyes as she was engulfed in the blissful enjoyment of an eager mouth and she groaned when his tongue joined in the action. The coarse feel of it rasping over her erect bud made it stiffer still and she wanted more when he let go.
Grabbing at the towel, Matt dragged it away to leave her completely naked over him. She stayed where she was to keep offering him her breasts and got what she wanted. His head moved back and forth as he licked and sucked her nipples until they were standing out from the smooth skin around them. It was her that ended things, with the hunger for more making her straighten up to run fingers through her hair.
Matt’s hands returned to her naked tits and the way he groped them brought out more excitement. She wasn’t about to let him have all the fun and shuffled down his body until she was sitting on his crotch. It let her feel how turned on he was getting and she exhaled slowly as she looked down at him.
‘”Something’s going on down here,” she teased as she wriggled around on a growing erection.
“You’re a bad girl,” he joked.
“If I was a bad girl, you’d be as naked as me,” she responded.
‘Well…,” Matt said and laughed.
Brigitte was quick to move off him and immediately saw the erect outline showing through his pants. Her hand went to it and she heard his groans as she stroked fingertips along the swollen bulge. It made him fully erect and she could see the way his cock was straining for release. She reached for the zipper and button at his waist and when they were loosened, he lifted his butt from the mattress. His eagerness was all too apparent and matched hers as she dragged the material down his legs.
Her breathing grew ragged when she threw the pants on the floor, then grabbed at his boxer shorts to drag them from him. They were both naked and she was quick to straddle his crotch and sit down. A shudder ran through her as the stiffness of his erection pressed between her bare thighs. She could feel the way it rubbed on her pussy as she squirmed around and couldn’t hold in the quiet whimper.
“Are you still taking the lead?” he teased as he forced his butt up from the bed to press harder against her.
“Don’t you like it?” she replied and interlocked their fingers to take hold of his hands then pinned them down to the mattress.
She circled her hips to grind herself on him as she leaned down for a kiss and their hunger for each other mounted. Brigitte let out a gasp as she lifted her head. She knew that Matt was powerful enough to take control if he wanted, but he showed no inclination
to do that and let his hands be held down as she worked her mouth to his chest.
She flicked out her tongue to lick wet trails across rippling muscles before kissing his hard body softly. Matt closed his eyes in expectation of her kissing lower, but opened them again when she got on all fours to turn around. A grin broke out on his face when he found himself gazing up at naked pussy and he grabbed at Brigitte’s hips to pull her down to his mouth.
The loud squeal of delight came out unbidden and she bit her bottom lip to hold in the noise. There was no way of knowing how thin the walls of the room were and she didn’t want the people in the neighboring rooms to hear. The kiss between her thighs made her gasp and the rush of pleasure exploded to life as Matt worked his tongue on her slick skin. It was the sweetest of sensations and she did nothing more than close her eyes to enjoy being the center of attention.
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