I turn to view the door and see four different cameras angled at the entrance, “How does he know you're looking for him?”
“I've known him my whole life. Even if I hadn't, he never forgets a face he's worked with.”
I start to ask more questions – despite how pissed off I know it will make him – but four men in identical suits stop a few feet from Jay.
No words are exchanged. Jay gets up and follows them to the back of the bank, where they disappear behind a door.
Chapter 28
2:39pm
It's been forty-five minutes since Jay left me and I'm so freaking bored. If I had known it would take this long I would have brought a magazine or book.
“Holly Montoya?” A man clears his throat, “Miss Montoya?”
Oh, right, that's me.
I forgot that's the name Jay told me he will be using. It makes me feel like a stripper.
“Sorry, daydreaming,” I smile up at the man who looks like your average business man, except for the earpiece he's wearing.
“Please come with us ma'am.”
That's when I notice another man in an identical suit standing nearby with the same earpiece.
“No thanks, I'm cool right here,” I airily breeze out, giving them my most friendly smile.
The man's features harden and he takes a step forward, “Mr. Cole is asking to meet you.”
“I'll wait here for him,” I sweetly reply. I have no clue who Mr. Cole is and there is no way I'm not following Jay's orders. Why did he leave me out here alone?
“We have strict orders to bring you to his office where he and Mr. Lincoln are having a meeting.”
“I'm not moving from this spot without Mr. Lincoln,” I inform them, my face imploring them to try and make me do otherwise.
The other man steps to his partner's side and whispers in his ear.
“Mr. Lincoln wants you to know it's safe to follow us, Ms. Evans,” He responds coolly, like saying my real last name makes me trust him.
“Well Mr. Lincoln can come tell me himself,” I raise a brow and cross my arms, hoping they will finally understand I'm not moving.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, startling me, and I pull it out, “Hello?” I don't know why I sound uncertain, only one person has this number.
“Follow the men, Lily. Vault wants to meet you,” Jay clips before hanging up.
I stay where I'm at, chewing my bottom lip, contemplating if it's safe or not. The phone, still in my hand, rings again. When I hit answer I don't speak, only wait for Jay to talk.
“I wouldn't send you up here if it wasn't safe.”
Click.
I slowly stand, growing more nervous and uneasy with every step as I'm escorted to the door I watched them take Jay. It leads to a room with elevator doors on each side. A third one directly across from me looks like it's a door made of gold, which I'm sure it's not. No one would have an elevator door made out of gold, would they? Etched on the elevator in black is a vault's spindle wheel.
The next thing I know one of the men is patting me down, removing my hat, glasses, phone, and gun. When he goes to rub down my breasts I smack his hand away.
“Don't even think about it.”
“Ma'am, I have to check every part of you or you don't go up.”
I cross my arms over my chest, “Then I don't go up.”
Probably not the best idea to get snotty with two armed men who just took possession of my weapon.
The man places a hand to his earpiece. He looks to the other man and they both give a curt nod as if in agreement. The other man has his hand scanned and punches in a code on a screen to the right of the gold elevator. The one who frisked me does the same and then he tightly grips my wrist and places it to scan mine.
He drops my wrist and I rub it, “You didn't have to be that rough. I would have done it if you told me to.”
“All due respect ma'am, but I don't think you would have,” he's smirking at me, seeming amused, and it makes me smile.
“You're probably right.”
“You've never dealt with Vault before, have you?”
“No, why?”
“You're in his house, you follow his rules,” now he seems anything but amused and forcefully pushes me inside. Once the door shuts we have our other hand scanned and the two men enter in a code again. There are no buttons to indicate a floor but it seems to be going all the way up.
“How did it know my hand?” I ask, because it's kind of freaking me out.
They don't respond. Big surprise.
The elevator finally stops and the door opens. We get out, me between the two men. The hallway we go down is short and the only door is at the end of the hall, where two men stand guarding it. When we approach, one of the guards opens the door and we walk in.
Inside is a waiting room and two women behind desks facing one another. The men keep walking and the two women don't even glance in our direction. The room actually has a homey feel, but I can't help having a sense of eeriness in response to it; everyone is too calm and quiet, it has me on edge.
I don't have time to take in my surroundings, because the minute I walk through the door all I can focus on is Jay standing in front of a wall of screens, fiercely staring me down. The door clicks shut behind us and he begins tromping toward me. I stand there wide-eyed as he comes at me, looking like he's about to eat me alive. I can't tell if it's sexual in nature or anger, and I hope it's option number one.
I stay unmoving the closer he gets. The whole moment feels in slow motion to me but I know it's all happening at a fast pace.
Jay doesn't slow down when he reaches me and for a second I fear he's going to tackle me. His body crashes into me, and an arm wraps around my waist. We begin stumbling back from the impact and collide with the wall. Jay's other hand is supporting my head to prevent it from getting smacked from the collision. His lips immediately crush mine, making them immobile. He stays compressed to them a half a second more before letting my mouth go, but doesn't make a move to let the rest of me go. His eyes are burning with a hunger I recognize, but there's also a flick of irritation.
“Damn baby, I don't know whether to fuck you or spank you,” he mutters, staring down at our lips that are faintly touching.
“Yes to the first,” I pant out, my breathing getting heavy from wanting this man, “and you spank, I spank.”
This gets a low groan in the back of his throat as he looks at me under hooded lashes, like he can't decide if he wants to look at my mouth or my eyes. A slight grin twitches the corner of his mouth, “I wouldn't put it past you, my little firecracker. We could have some fun with that. ”
A smile breaks out across my face and his lips brush against mine before he continues, “I wasn't sure why you weren't going with Vault's men and then I realized you weren't moving because I told you not to,” he pauses to take in a breath of air and to drink me in. “Fuck, baby, I got hard off that, knowing you refused to leave because I told you not to.” His lips slash across mine again.
“Why do you want to spank me?” I breathe into his mouth, not wanting to ever have our lips stop touching.
“Because we're in Vault's house and you do whatever the fuck his men tell you to, not fight them on every little thing,” he stops to grin at me, “I was relieved to see your stubbornness isn't reserved for only me.”
“Jay,” I hear a man speak not too far from us and it startles me – I thought we were alone with the way Jay tackled me to the wall. “My men are waiting for you to finish inspecting her.”
He gently places my feet to the ground, and while he does this I see his whole demeanor change. His body hardens and his eyes become withdrawn and restrained. He takes hold of my hand and moves in front of me, making his body block mine.
I see a man standing in front of the wall of screens Jay had previously been. He is insanely gorgeous. I would guess he's in his late thirties. His hair is blond and hits his shoulders at the same level mine does. Normally longer hair on a
guy isn't my thing, but on this man it only adds to his sexual appeal. His eyes are an arctic blue that seem to pierce right through you. His bottom lip's fuller than the top, making you want to bite down on it and suck. He's dressed in a suit and tie that fits him like a glove. A hot, sexy, glove.
“Vault, I told you, she's cool. She's not like us, she doesn't have anything in her bra.”
“Humor me,” he demands in the least humorous voice I have ever heard.
Jay turns enough to view me, “You got any weapons in that bra of yours?”
I open my mouth to lie, but words don't seem to want to come out.
“Shit, Lily! What the fuck do you have?”
I sheepishly reach down my sweatshirt and pull out one of his throwing stars that I had wrapped in enough cloth not to poke me. Jay looks shocked and I hear the Vault guy chuckle.
“Got any more in there sweetheart?” Vault asks.
My cheeks redden as I pull another one from the other side and Jay's jaw drops.
“You're killing me, babe,” Jay's jaw is grinding back and forth, and at first glance I think he's pissed but his lips keep jerking upwards holding back a smile.
The two men who escorted me in step forward and I hand them over. The one who frisked me doesn't look too pleased and darts a nervous glance at Vault. He points a finger in my face, “Pull a stunt like that again and I put a bullet through your fucking head.”
Jay immediately stands between us, “Get your motherfucking finger out of her face, or you won't have a hand to pull that trigger with, got it?”
“Did you forget who's house you're in?” The man snarls, “We took your weapons, what the fuck are you going to do?”
Faster than I can blink, Jay has the man in a choke hold and the guy's revolver jammed into his temple. The other guard draws his gun and points it at Jay as three other men enter the room with guns all aimed at him.
Wow, shit just got intense, fast. I place a hand on my pounding heart, which catches the attention of one of the men who now as a gun aimed at me. Like a bad action movie, my hands flatten out and come out to the side of my face in surrender. It didn't cross my mind moving my hand might make them think I was...what? Going for a gun or something?
Jay notices the gun aimed at me, “Vault, tell your fucking men not to point a fucking gun at her or I'll take you all out.”
“We all know you're not stupid enough to shoot me,” Vaults says.
Jay cocks the gun, “Try me.”
Vault laughs, “Damn, you've got it bad. Leave, guys. It's cool here.” His guards don't back down, “Leave!” They reluctantly retreat and Jay lets go of the man and hands him his gun.
“Your security sucks, Vault. I could have had both this dude and you shot before the others came in, and I'd have them down by now too.” The man snatches the gun and angrily leaves.
Vault and Jay are facing each other, eyes cold, and then they both start grinning.
“My offer still stands: Head of Security is yours whenever you want it.”
Vault gestures to the couches he has in the center of the room, and I take the opportunity to look around his office as we walk over to them. It's just as expensive looking as the lobby. To the left of the couches is a wall of security screens, with two closed doors on each end. To the right is a wooden wall, with one large piece of artwork taking up most of it and another closed door at the far right. Behind the couches is a desk, and instead of a wall behind it it's one long window overlooking the city.
Still holding my hand, Jay and I sit on the couch, opposite Vault. Jay puts his arm across my body and rests his hand between my legs, cupping under the middle of my thigh, making it sit on his fingers. It almost feels like Jay is having his arm be my armor, which it almost could be considering it's size. I have to sit up straight in order to see around his bicep. I feel like a child and I force it to move. I have his elbow rest on the top of thigh. I move his hand and clasp it between both of mine, giving it reassuring rubs with my thumb.
Before Vault sits he extends a hand out to me, “We haven't been probably introduced yet. I'm Benedict Cole, but in Jay's world I'm known as Vault.”
I accept his hand and firmly shake it. I'm about to say my name but I stop to look at Jay, not sure what name he wants me to use.
“He already knows who you are, and now he's got your damn hand print,” he gruffly responds to my silent question.
I give Vault a friendly smile, “Lily Evans. Are you the president of the bank? Is that why they call you Vault?”
Vault takes a seat and Jay shoots me a warning glance but I pretend not to see it.
“No sweetheart, I own the bank. I pay morons to run it for me.” I love the way he says sweetheart; it's extremely sensual and seductive, “I got the name Vault because I know a lot of people's dirty little secrets and I keep safe what ever it is a person from Jay's world wants kept safe.”
“Like people?”
Vault chuckles, “No, they don't give a shit about people. I'm talking money, or things worth a lot of money.” Vault focuses in on Jay, “Did you not tell her anything about me?”
“No.”
“He never wants to tell me anything.”
Jay curses and gives me a “shut your trap” glare but I pretend not to see that too.
“The scar on your temple,” I feel Jay's body stiffen and his hand squeezes mine but I still continue, “Did you get it from the same person as Jay?”
Vault's eyes cloud over in gloom, “Yeah, same night Jay's old man died and he got his third mark.”
“Fuck, Vault!” Jay cries, “She doesn’t know about that shit.”
Vault's head ticks back, “You never told her about your scars?”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
“You know why. Don't forget the real reason you got that mark.”
Vault curses, rubs the scar in the same manner I've seen Jay do countless times, gets up, and goes over to a drink cart to the left of the entry door. He pours himself a glass of hard amber liqueur out of a crystal decanter and knocks it back.
“You know better than anyone why it's better not to let people in.”
Vault sits back down, “She still has a right to know. Her not knowing could be more harmful than knowing.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Make her understand why your sorry ass can't get past this need for revenge. Maybe she'll help you realize there's more to life than killing Dragoni and you can start living it.”
“I can't do that. A lot of innocent people die because of him. It's more than revenge. Someone like him needs to be six feet under, and I'm the only one with enough balls to do it.”
“No, my brother, you're the only one still alive trying. You keep going the way you have for the past decade and you'll be dead before you reach thirty. Or you quit this shit, come work for me the way your old man kept wanting you to, and have a chance at a decent life.”
“So I can wait here like a sitting duck, ready to be killed when he comes here to do business?”
“You think after Susanna I would let him near my fucking place?” Vault's tone is level as he speaks; he seems to have more control over his emotions. Probably from dealing with men like Jay, men who react violently before thinking it through. “There is only one thing I ever had of his anyway, and it's the same object you're inquiring about.”
The room stills and it feels like Jay just sucked in all it's air. He roars out a slew of curse words and starts pacing the room. It's in his usual manner of head hung low and hands on his hips. He starts muttering more curses directed at Laz.
He stops behind me and the angry heat pouring out of his skin makes me feel like I'm in a sauna, “You have any clue why Laz wants it?”
“I'm assuming it's part of a plan to set Dragoni up and have a chance at killing him. She's the only other person crazy enough to try, but she doesn't have half a brain to her.”
“What's so fucking special about this dagger?”
“He never said, just paid my father a shitload of money to keep it safe. That was over twenty years ago.”
“Motherfucking Laz!” Jay roars, throwing a lamp across the room and shattering it against the wall. Neither Vault or I flinch; he seems as used to Jay's tantrums as I am.
Every inch of skin on Jay is inflamed in a red I thought only severe sun burns can cause as he starts pacing the room again. Vault seems used to this too and goes to pour us both a drink. We sit quietly, letting Jay think things through. I take a sip and instantly know it's whiskey. However, this one doesn't taste like the cheap stuff Stevie drinks. It coats my throat and lingers on my tongue as it smoothly goes down, making it easy to distinguish the different spices and the subtle hint of vanilla.
Jay stops at the entry door and finally starts talking to Vault again, “You giving me this dagger is going to piss him off.”
Vault lazily takes a drink from his crystal tumbler, “Yes. It will.”
“Why'd you say I could have it then?”
“Two reasons. The first being I need that file, and the second being once he knows Laz has it, he'll go after her and then come for me. You know where Laz lives and you know where I live. If you aren't willing to forget this revenge crap, I'll give you an opportunity to finally get him.”
“Why would you do that for me?”
He grins, “You're the only one with enough balls to pull it off and not get killed, and honestly, I want that fucker dead for what he did to my Susanna.”
“I thought you said going after him would get me killed?”
“I'm offering you the home court advantage.”
A slow, vengeful smirk spreads across Jay's face, and his eyes darken in malicious evil. How sinister he could look used to make me frightened, but now it just breaks my heart. What could make someone as tender and sweet as Jay turn into a blackhearted beast?
“Let him kill off Lazra. You'll know the minute he does and you'll know he's headed here next.”
“And in return, all I have to do is get that file for you?”
“Yes.”
“A file is worth Dragoni coming after you?”
Marked. Part I: The missing Link Page 21