He found that very interesting. Apparently Valeri Richmond didn’t want to get tangled up with the cops any more than he did. That made him feel a little easier. If he had made a big mistake in grabbing her, she wouldn’t be in a hurry to sic the law on him. What he wanted to know now was why she wanted to avoid the police.
He made his voice sound reassuring. “I’m not a cop. I promise you.”
“A private investigator?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what?”
He sighed. “If you must know, I’m what most people call a soldier of fortune.”
Her face mirrored her disgust. “A mercenary. No wonder you don’t have any principles. What I don’t understand is why you rescued me from Sabhad just to hold me prisoner.”
He shrugged. “There might be some things I’ve done that I’m not particularly proud of, but there’s no way I’d dump a woman into what could be a sticky situation without making damn sure she’s not going to get hurt.”
“Pretty high morals for a mercenary.”
“I prefer to think of myself as an adventurous entrepreneur.”
“Think of yourself how you like, you’re still a paid killer.”
That stung. He didn’t usually bother to defend his profession, knowing that most people simply wouldn’t understand, but for some reason he felt compelled to say something this time. “Anything I’ve ever done in the call of duty has been in self-defense, or in defense of innocent people. There are some real problems in this world that can’t be taken care of with conventional methods. Without people like me there would be a hell of a lot more innocent deaths to mourn—women, children...even babies.”
For a moment his throat closed, then he shut his mind down from the memories. In his job, he couldn’t afford sentiment.
She watched him, her dark eyes brimming with suspicion. “You said that Sabhad called you. How did he get your number?”
“I didn’t say Sabhad called me. I said I got the call. Sabhad called the organization.”
“What organization?”
“That, I’m afraid, comes under the category of top secret.”
“You mean it’s unofficial.”
“If you like.”
“And illegal?”
He sighed, wondering how he’d allowed her to lead him off the subject. They could use someone like her in the organization. “I mean,” he said carefully, “that it’s an association that isn’t listed in the Yellow Pages. Call it a sort of employment agency.”
“For itinerants.”
His eyebrow twitched. “You’re beginning to bug me, lady.”
“So what did Sabhad want when you met with him?”
He closed his eyes briefly, picturing the scene: the gold damask drapes at the long windows; the sunlight casting a shadow across a magnificent Persian carpet; huge bowls of flowers everywhere, scenting the air with an almost sickly sweet fragrance; Sabhad in a long white shirt tied with a red sash, his dark, somewhat cruel features set off by a white turban. He’d looked spectacular, imposing and dramatic, as if he’d just stepped off a Desert Song movie set.
“He was very upset,” Nat said, remembering the man’s wild, black eyes. “He told me that he loved you very much, even though he knew you had married him for his money. He didn’t mind that you didn’t love him, he said, because you had given him such beautiful little girls.”
“That’s a bunch of lies,” Valeri said scornfully.
Ignoring her, Nat went on, “He said that you had become bored, though he couldn’t understand that, since he had given you everything that money could buy.”
“Except freedom, apparently.”
Nat raised an eyebrow. “So you admit you could be married to him?”
“I admit no such thing. I’m generalizing. So go on, what else did he say? So far I’ve heard nothing really convincing.”
He had to hand it to her, she stuck to her guns. If she was lying, she was doing one hell of a job. “Sabhad then showed me the photos of your two daughters—”
“Of someone else’s daughters.”
“—and told me that he’d agreed to give you a divorce on the condition that you signed for joint custody. He wanted to be sure that both of you remain in the girls’ lives. You had refused to sign the papers. He was afraid that you’d disappear and never see the girls again. He couldn’t bear to see their little hearts broken that way. He begged me to find you and bring you back. He was hoping that once you saw how miserable your children were without you, you’d have a change of heart.”
“And you believed all that garbage.”
“I did when he played the tape. The cries of those kids were heartwrenching.”
“He played a tape?” She sounded disgusted. “Boy, he must have really laid it on thick to get to a tough nut like you.”
He probably deserved that, Nat thought ruefully. He hadn’t exactly been too sympathetic toward her. Even if he’d felt it.
Valeri, it seemed, was now on a roll and didn’t intend to quit. “If you are so experienced in all this low life, why would you take the word of a man like Sabhad? Why would you accept money to force an innocent woman into doing something she obviously didn’t want to do? That’s kidnapping, and even you can’t be above the law. This is not Saudi Arabia, it’s a free country, and if I wanted to leave my husband I’d have every right to do so.”
He watched the toe of his boot tapping on the floor. There was no way he could make her understand. “It was the kids,” he said quietly. “I agreed to do it for the sake of those little girls. I was hoping you’d change your mind about leaving them once you heard them crying.”
He wasn’t about to tell her that he’d been attacked by pangs of guilt from the moment he’d shoved her into his car. He couldn’t afford to give an inch, just in case he was wrong about her. He’d made enough misjudgments over this deal.
His first indication that he was in real trouble had come when he’d taken off her shirt and pants. His intentions had been decent enough. He figured she’d be more comfortable, and would prefer not having to wear clothes that were any more creased and crumpled than they already were.
The minute he’d started unbuttoning her shirt he’d been helpless to prevent his mind from conjuring up all kinds of erotic images. He’d been sweating by the time he was through.
And just now she was sitting here almost completely destroying his will. She looked so damn sexy in that clingy shirt which left absolutely nothing to the imagination. When she’d looked at him with that warm, soft invitation in her eyes, he’d been utterly unable to resist tasting her inviting mouth. After all, that’s what any red-blooded man would have done.
He’d actually been stunned by the soaring excitement he’d felt the moment his lips had touched hers. Considering his suspicions about her, he’d have liked to think that if she hadn’t put a stop to what was happening between them, he would have. But if he were totally honest with himself, he had to admit that he couldn’t be sure.
The knowledge had shaken him more than he cared to admit.
“You took the word of that...monster, over mine.”
He looked up. “So why don’t you start explaining how come he has pictures of you cozying up to him and the kids?”
She shook her head, looking as if she were about to burst into tears again. “I don’t know. I wish I did. I must have met them at some time...but I don’t remember....” Her beautiful dark eyes pleaded with him. “Think about it. Do you honestly believe that a man would bring the mother of his children back at gunpoint? What kind of father is that?”
“A desperate one, I’d say. Who knows how they go about things in Saudi Arabia? All this could seem very normal over there.”
“Then all I can say is, I’m really glad I’m not married to the man. I’d last about six seconds with him.”
Nat could believe that, at least. “So how about sharing with me what it is you’ve remembered? If you tell me, maybe we can wrap this up tonight and we
can both go home.”
She looked as if she were fighting whatever was going on in her head. For a moment he thought she would actually say what she was thinking. Then, as if coming to a decision, she gave a quick shake of her head. “The only thing I’ve remembered is where I live in Sacramento. I don’t remember anything else.”
Frustration made him curt “All right, then. I’m tired, and there’s not a lot I can do tonight. Maybe when we’ve had some sleep we can both think more clearly.” And maybe, he added silently, after an uncomfortable night she might just be ready in the morning to tell him why she was afraid of the cops and what it was she was fighting so hard to keep a secret.
Valeri felt all the strength draining out of her as Nat got up abruptly from his chair and strode over to the bathroom. He threw words over his shoulder as he reached for the door. “Don’t move. I’m only going to be a second and I’d catch up with you before you reached the road.”
She didn’t doubt that. She’d never felt so tired in her life. Her head ached again, and she thought longingly about the unfilled prescription in her pocket.
Remembering the envelope she’d been given, she pulled it out and ripped it open. Inside was a small note wishing her luck, and five twenty-dollar bills. The hospital staff had been generous. At least she had some money. The knowledge brought her a smattering of peace. She wasn’t totally helpless.
Just as soon as she got away from this brute, she’d hitch a ride to the nearest town. From there she’d have to find a way to get to Sylvan Springs.
The bathroom door opened again before she had time to think about anything else. She wasn’t prepared to see Nat, clad only in his dark blue briefs, emerge briskly from the bathroom and head for the bed.
“I suggest you change into your underwear,” he said, sliding under the comforter. “You’ll be more comfortable and you’ll look more presentable in the morning.”
Valeri hoped fervently that her expression wasn’t giving away her confusion. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to look without seeming as if she were trying to avoid staring at him.
He’d thrown her into a tumult of emotions, none of them familiar. He affected her in a way she would have described as immoral if anyone else had described it. He seemed to reach a strange, primitive level of her being that she hadn’t even suspected existed until now.
Instead of being repelled by him, which would certainly be more appropriate given the circumstances, she seemed driven by this wild sense of desire that she didn’t associate at all with the Valeri Richmond she knew.
Could she have changed that much in six years? She didn’t think so. There was nothing in her memory so far that would indicate such a drastic alteration in her personality. No, it was the man himself. He literally exuded a raw kind of animal magnetism that was impossible to ignore.
Everything she had been taught while growing up dictated that she should stay as far away from this downright sexy male as she could get. Yet feelings and cravings she didn’t understand were begging her to find out what it would be like to make love with a man as erotic and primitive as Nathan Thorne.
It was as if her mind were at war with her body. Her mother would have turned over in her grave if she knew the torrid fantasies racing through the mind of her refined, conventional daughter.
“Well?”
The tenseness of the word startled her. “Sorry?”
Nat scowled. “Are you going to sit there all night glaring at me, or are you going to get undressed and into bed? I’m tired and I need some sleep.”
She was going hot and cold again. Sleep with him? Practically in the nude? No way. No damn way. “I’ll sleep here,” she said, indicating the broken-down armchair in the corner of the room.
“Uh-uh, sweetheart. I need to know where you are if I’m going to relax enough to get some sleep. Which means you get in this bed right next to me.”
“You can tie me up to the armchair,” Valeri suggested, a little desperately.
“Right. And you’ll get a whole lot of rest that way. Believe me, you’re gonna feel a whole lot better in the morning if you lie down and go to sleep.”
She pressed her lips together in an unconscious gesture copied from her mother.
Nat stared at her a moment, then cursed. “You don’t have to worry, I’m not going to touch you again. I’ve never had to force my attentions on a woman, and I’m not about to start now. Especially with someone who could be leading me into a nice little trap.”
Her voice sounded thready when she answered. “Trap?”
“Yeah.” He propped himself up on one elbow to look at her. “How do I know this isn’t some story you and Sabhad have cooked up between you to get me into the mansion?”
She looked at him in astonishment. “Why in the world would I want to do that?”
“I don’t know,” he said grimly, “but I have a lot of enemies out there. Sabhad could be working for one of them.”
Valeri sat up straighter. “I can assure you, Mr. Thorne, there is no way on this earth that I would ever be involved with your revolting cloak-and-dagger affairs.”
He pursed his lips. “If I didn’t know better, Miss Richmond, I’d say that you are a prude.”
“If conducting my life with a certain amount of decency and respect is considered prudish, then I guess I am.”
“Decency and respect, huh?”
She lifted her chin. “Yes.”
“Then why are you so damn afraid of the cops?”
His accusation took her completely by surprise. She stuttered, “I...I’m not afraid of the police. Why would I be?”
“You tell me.”
She made a wild effort to recover her composure. “Look, I’m tired, my head hurts and I just can’t think straight anymore. So I’d appreciate it if you’d just stop bullying me.”
He narrowed his amber eyes to slits, but his voice was softer when he answered, “Then get into bed and stop arguing with me. We both need some rest.”
“I prefer to sleep here.”
“You’ll sleep here if I have to come and get you.”
He threw the comforter back and she got up hastily from the chair. “All right. But I’m keeping my clothes on.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
She walked warily over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. He didn’t move, and after a moment she slid her legs under the comforter, balancing herself on the very edge of the mattress.
“Wait a minute.” He leaned over the side of the bed and came up with his belt in his hands.
“You’re not going to tie me up again?”
“Believe me, this hurts me more than it hurts you.”
“I sincerely doubt that.” She watched in rebellious silence while he fastened one end of the belt to both her wrists and wrapped the other end around his arm.
“There. Is that comfortable?”
“About as comfortable as a ride on a three-legged mule.”
For a moment she thought she saw a flash of sympathy in his eyes. Then it was gone. With a muttered “Good night,” he stretched out an arm to switch off the bedside lamp and immediately fell asleep.
At least, she thought he was asleep. She wouldn’t put it past him to fake it, just to see if she’d try to make a break for it. He needn’t have worried. She was far too tired to even think about running away.
Even so, she lay in the darkness, listening to him breathing beside her, painfully aware of the warmth radiating from his body. Her mind was wide-awake, her body tingled all over.
She hadn’t even known she’d been capable of such feelings, but what really shocked her was not so much the nature of the sensations rocketing throughout her body, but the source of her turmoil. Her tastes must have changed considerably in the past six years.
She lay for some time staring into the darkness, struggling to replace the lost time. Visions wafted across her mind, some hazy, some more defined. None of them suggested that she’d had any kind of relationship since her d
ivorce. Nothing that would account for the way she reacted every time Nathan Thorne so much as looked at her.
Nor could she remember any more about the recent days, and what had brought her to Carson City, Nevada. She must have been looking for her father. That seemed the most likely scenario, but it still didn’t explain what part Sabhad played in all this, and why he had found it necessary to hire a mercenary to bring her to his house.
One thing seemed fairly certain now. Nathan Thorne was apparently as much in the dark as she was. Though that didn’t make him an ally, exactly, it did suggest that he wasn’t the enemy she had at first thought him to be.
Much as she longed for someone she could trust to help her find Alex, she still couldn’t afford to confide in Nat. He may or may not know about the accusation of murder against her father, and she couldn’t quite shake the suspicion that he might be a cop, and that his story of being a mercenary was simply a cover-up. In any case, he almost certainly would turn a suspected murderer in to the police—if he found him.
Valeri closed her eyes. Poor Alex. If only she knew he was all right. He’d been injured, she knew that much. She didn’t know how and to what extent. She could only hope and pray that he was safe and not too badly hurt. Tomorrow, she would have to make a run for it. She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to find him before the police did. Each day that went by could make things worse for him. Even now, she didn’t know how long it had been since he’d called her.
Though the accident had happened last night. If she had been on her way to look for him, it was possible he’d called her sometime yesterday. She was still trying to figure out a way to escape from Nat’s clutches when she drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Nat awoke with a start, coming wide-awake in an instant, a habit he’d learned a long time ago. It was just starting to get light outside, the pale dawn filtering through the thin window curtains.
He moved his head just enough to confirm that Valeri was still beside him, her bound wrists snuggled under her chin as she slept. Her dark hair was spread across her pillow, and her face looked flushed from a slight sunburn.
In sleep, she looked utterly defenseless, and incredibly sensuous. He wondered what she’d say if he laid his hand on her soft breast.
The Mercenary And The Marriage Vow Page 8