by Jami Alden
He’d managed to keep it totally on the down low, from her of all people.
She shook her head, muttering to herself as she wiped down the bar and readied the glassware for the night. She might not be looking for herself, but she had what she considered a more highly evolved sense of when someone was lusting after someone else.
Either Jack was a master at masking that kind of thing, or the last two years had wreaked total havoc on her intuition.
In any case, it was wholly unfair of him to drop a bomb like that, to kiss her like that—like he was desperate for the taste of her and only her—and then leave her hanging without so much as a call or a text.
Talia snatched up a corkscrew and wrenched the corks from several bottles of wine.
“Is everything okay?” Susie watched her from the entrance of the main dining room.
“Yeah, why?” A cork came free of a bottle of cab with a satisfying pop.
“If you’re not careful, you’re going to crack the neck off that bottle.”
Talia loosened her grip and carefully set the bottle down on the back bar. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
Susie approached the bar, lines of concern creasing her usually smooth forehead. “Is this about the necklace? Did they find out who sent it?”
The mention of it immediately sent Talia’s stomach plummeting, reminding her that she had much bigger things to worry about than Jack’s unexpected advances.
“Not yet,” she said, grim. “And to make it worse, I got some flowers last night.”
Susie cocked a perfectly waxed blond brow. “How do flowers make it worse?”
“It was a gardenia plant—the same kind of flowers he used to give me.” No need to clarify who he was since Susie knew all about her past with David Maxwell.
Susie winced. “Let me guess—no idea who they’re from.”
Talia shook her head. “It has to be someone close to him. The only other person who knew he gave me gardenias was Rosario.”
Susie gave a little shudder. “You called the police, right?”
“For all the good it did. As of now, anonymously giving jewelry and flowers isn’t a crime.”
Susie rolled her eyes. “Right. But they’ll get right on it once you have a knife in your chest—” She clapped her hand over her mouth as she realized what she’d said. “Oh, God, that wasn’t funny—”
Talia gave a little laugh and held up her hand. “No offense taken. Anyway, you’re right. Until someone actually threatens me or tries to hurt me, there’s nothing they can do about it.”
“Well, you should tell Jack, if you haven’t already. He seems to jump at the chance to come to your rescue.”
Talia wasn’t sure if she was being paranoid or if there was a snide undertone in Susie’s voice. Either way, the mention of Jack brought a rush of heat to her face.
“Yeah,” she mumbled, and ducked down beneath the bar under the guise of retrieving glasses, praying Susie hadn’t noticed her blush.
But as she straightened, she found Susie studying her as if she were a bug under a microscope. “Something happened.” It wasn’t a question.
Talia’s cheeks flamed higher. “No, nothing, I mean, not really—”
“Spill it,” Susie said.
Talia pressed her lips together, debating whether to tell Susie the truth. Susie had made no secret of her interest in Jack, and Talia didn’t want to hurt her feelings. But the tangled mess of confused desire was too much for her to keep contained.
“Jack kissed me,” Talia blurted. At Susie’s urging, Talia quickly filled her in on how Jack had practically mauled her at the gym. How he’d kissed her with heart-pounding desperation before telling her how much he wanted her. Wanted her to want him back. How Jack’s kiss had sent electricity surging through every pore. “I haven’t felt anything like that since high school,” Talia said, amazement in her voice.
Susie leaned back. “Why do you look so surprised?”
“I guess I’m surprised I liked it so much. And I had no idea he was even attracted to me—”
“Then you’re the only one,” Susie said. “The other night? In my office? There was so much heat coming off you I was afraid my office was going to spontaneously combust.”
Talia shrugged. “Even so, probably nothing is going to come of it, not after I ran out of there like a freak, and he hasn’t even called me, just a text telling me to let him know if I get any more creepy gifts.”
Susie smiled knowingly. “You’ll hear from him before the night is through. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just happens to show up at your place later, just to make sure you’re safe. Maybe he’ll even tuck you into bed, tell you a naughty bedtime story—”
Talia slapped at her with her rag and Susie skittered away with a laugh.
The place began to fill, and soon Talia was kept hopping. She was grateful for the distraction the crowd provided. It meant that she could only check her phone every fifteen minutes or so to see if, following Susie’s predictions, Jack had been in touch, and it kept her from watching the door the entire night, hoping he’d show up in person.
A group of business types bellied up for happy hour. Later a pack of women came in, laughing and chattering as they ordered bottle after bottle of wine. From snippets of conversation, Talia deduced they were a group of moms ready to tie one on and let their hair down away from their children.
Talia didn’t care who they were, as long as they tipped well and didn’t argue when she took their car keys shortly before last call. She watched as the last woman fell into a cab. The bar was now silent except for an alternative rock song playing softly over the stereo system.
Reality began to creep in, and with it thoughts of Jack, the kiss, and the unsettling “gifts” she’d received in the past week.
Talia buttoned up the bar and went back to the office to retrieve her purse. Susie was at the desk, stylish, heavy-framed glasses perched on her nose as she stared at the computer screen.
“Good night tonight?” She looked up as Talia came in.
“Excellent night,” Talia replied. “We cleared over five hundred in tips at the bar alone.”
“Thank God,” Susie said. “I’ve been trying to streamline costs—changing our liquor vendor like you suggested has helped, but we’re still running thin.”
Talia nodded sympathetically. The restaurant business was merciless in the best of cases and got hit doubly hard when the economy took a dump. The fact that Suzette’s had survived the past few years was a home run. “I’ll look over the bar numbers again tomorrow and see if there’s any other places to cut.”
Susie thanked her. “You heading out?”
Talia nodded. “If that’s okay with you. I haven’t sat down since five-thirty. I think I’m about to collapse.” She collected her coat and her purse from the hook on the wall.
She started out the back door to her car and gave a startled cry as a heavy hand fell on her shoulder. She whirled and found herself nose to chest with Peter, one of the sous-chefs. He was six foot three and easily three hundred pounds and looked like he should be lining up on a football field instead of stirring risotto at the stove.
He held up his hands, a look of embarrassed apology on his dark face. “Sorry, Talia, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just a little jumpier than usual. See you tomorrow.” She started for her car, but Peter stayed in step with her as they reached her little Honda. “Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked as she fished out her keys. In the six months that she’d worked at Suzette’s, she’d had a few friendly conversations with Peter, but he didn’t usually seek her out.
“Susie told us some weirdo is sending you stuff,” he said. “We agreed we’re gonna take turns making sure you get home safe.”
The gesture was so kind and so unexpected that Talia felt the sting of tears in her eyes. “Oh, that’s so nice, but not necessary—”
He held up one massive hand. “
We don’t have security in the parking lot and you live by yourself.”
“I appreciate a walk to the car, but following me home is too much to ask.”
“Between all of us, no one has to go more than once a week, and you’re only five minutes away. It’ll make us feel better if we know you’re home safe.”
Talia searched his face, looking for an angle. But all she saw in his dark, kind eyes was sincere concern. She felt a prick of shame that she was so scarred that her gut instinct was to question his motives.
“Can’t always depend on the law to help us out,” Peter continued, “so it’s important we look after each other.”
Talia nodded, an upwell of emotion making her throat so tight she could barely push a heartfelt “thank you” past her lips. Suddenly she was blinking back tears.
She got into her car and pulled out of the parking space and waited till she saw Peter’s headlights behind her. As she pulled out of the parking lot, there was a burgeoning warmth in her chest.
From the glow of headlights behind her. From the knowledge that after so many years of feeling so alone and hating herself for allowing David Maxwell to use her, she’d found a new life with people who found her worth caring about.
It was no longer just her and Rosie and Jack, her mysterious, reluctant hero whose motives for helping her were not so mysterious any longer.
She shied away from the thought as she pulled into her driveway, as though Jack might somehow hear it and be offended. His words rang in her head. I didn’t want you to fuck me because you felt like you owed me.
It wasn’t fair to Jack to lump him in with the amoral lowlifes she’d dealt with most of her life. Jack had proven that over and over again in the past two years. There was no doubt what kind of a man he was.
A man who wants me, she thought with a pulse of excitement as she pulled into her garage.
She grabbed her phone from the center console and reassured herself that, no, she hadn’t missed a call or a text or a—she waited a minute for her mail to load—no e-mail either.
Nothing but a text from Rosie saying she was back in her dorm room and didn’t want to disturb her sleeping roommate.
She slung her purse and coat over her shoulder and climbed out of the car. Once she was safely inside, she took a quick look around. She opened the front door and let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding when she found no mysterious flowers, no envelopes, nothing. She waved at Peter and flicked the porch lights on and off to show she was in safe, and he flashed his lights in turn.
With her newly appointed posse of guardian angels, she wouldn’t need Jack around.
It was weird, but even her irritation with Jack felt kind of… good. When was the last time she’d gotten in a snit over a guy not calling? When had she actually felt genuinely attracted and interested enough to care?
For years all she wanted was for the man in her life to leave her alone. And now here she was, channel surfing on her couch while sparing the occasional glare at her still-silent phone.
In spite of everything that had happened this week, it all felt so refreshingly… normal.
She gave a little smile and entertained the morbid thought that maybe a seemingly benign stalker wasn’t a bad thing if it had gotten Jack to finally show his hand and make a move.
But what if he hadn’t called because he regretted it? Worse, what if he changed his mind or hadn’t meant it in the first place?
There was something to be said for being numb to the whole man-woman craziness, she thought as her brain futilely churned. She stood from the couch and paced to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. Maybe the alcohol would calm her down enough to sleep.
On the way back to the couch, the blanket she’d wrapped around herself to ward off the chill snagged on the buckle of her purse strap and sent it and its contents skidding across the linoleum. Talia swore, set her wineglass on the table, and bent to gather her wallet, sunglasses, lipstick, and other miscellaneous items that littered the floor.
As she reached for a small tube of hand cream, she noticed a square red envelope next to the refrigerator. She picked it up and felt something flat and hard inside. She tipped it, and a disk slid into her hand, silver, shiny, unremarkable.
Except for the fact that Talia was damn sure she hadn’t put it in her purse.
Her hand shook with dread as she turned the disk over. There was a typed label stuck to the front. Her stomach bottomed out as she read, To Talia. Hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane. Wish I could be there to watch with you.
Watch. A video of some kind. Even as her brain screamed at her that she was guaranteed not to like what she was about to see, her hands were pressing buttons on the TV and loading the disk into the player as though on autopilot.
The scream filled her living room and turned her knees to water. Talia sank to the floor, frozen, her eyes locked helplessly on the screen.
On herself. Naked. Bound.
On Nate Brewster, naked, hulking, his almost grotesquely muscular body covered in tattoos, a wickedly sharp blade in his hand.
The hand arced down and she watched as the blade sliced into the skin of her back. The scar in her back burned, the pain as real to her now as it had been in that basement. Terror washed over her, pulled her under, and she was back there, naked, helpless.
She huddled on the floor for long minutes after the recording ended, her body racked with shudders so fierce they bordered on seizures.
Somehow she managed to crawl to her phone. Her hands were shaking so badly it took her five tries to dial. Finally there was a ring on the other side.
Normal. Hysterical laughter burst from her chest as she held the phone to her ear. Had she really thought for one second her life could be normal?
As she waited for Jack to answer, she curled into herself, her heart shriveling at the certainty she’d never get away from her past, never get away from what happened. It would always be there, lurking, waiting to suck her under all over again.
Chapter 7
The party at the Four Seasons in Palo Alto was in full swing, the crowd so loud Jack wouldn’t have known anyone was calling if not for the violent buzzing in his pocket. He pulled the phone out and felt a tightening in his gut when he saw Talia’s number.
His stomach tightened with fear. While he wished she was calling to chew him out about the way he’d mauled her at the gym today, his gut was screaming that something had happened.
He thumbed the button, praying he was about to get an ass-chewing as he practiced his apology.
“Talia?” he said when he was greeted with nothing but silence.
The choked breath sent his stomach down to his knees. Crap. Something else had happened. “Talia, what’s going on?”
“C-can you please come over?”
The raw fear in her voice made his blood run cold. “What happened?”
Another shaky breath. “I… It’s me, Jack. It was in my purse—” Whatever she said devolved into sobs, and Jack could only make out every third or so word.
Jack did a quick check on the Blankenthorn’s position and moved to a quieter corner of the ballroom. “Talia, slow down. What was in your purse?”
He heard gulping sounds as she tried to stifle the sobs. “Please, just come over.”
His heart thudded to a stop as the connection was broken. He tried to call back but Talia wouldn’t pick up.
Cold sweat filmed his body underneath the suit and dress shirt that had been required wardrobe for tonight’s assignment. He dialed Talia again, still no answer. He looked up and saw Diana Blankenthorn frowning pointedly at the phone in his hand and quietly swore. He knew what he was about to do might cost him his job and Gemini Securities an important client, but he didn’t care.
Both Alex Novascelic and Ben Moreno, senior security specialists like Jack, were covering the party. The Blankenthorns would be well protected.
But Talia was alone. Alone and terrified.
The knowledge pr
opelled him out of the ballroom, ignoring Alex’s questioning frown as Jack brushed by him.
“Gotta go,” Jack said curtly.
“Danny’s not going to like this,” Alex called.
“I’ll deal with Danny,” Jack snapped over his shoulder. “You tell Moreno to cover the south entrance.”
Jack rushed to his car and within a few minutes was hauling ass up the freeway. He called Talia to let her know he was on his way. Still no answer. His adrenaline spiked and he forced himself not to dwell on all the reasons why she might not be picking up the phone.
Striving for some semblance of calm, he called the sheriff’s department and got a promise they’d send someone over to check on her. He disconnected, doubting a black-and-white would make it there before he did.
He looked at the clock. After midnight, an obnoxious hour for a call, but Jack knew from long experience working with Danny—first in the Green Berets as a member of his team and then after getting hired on with Gemini—that Danny liked to receive pertinent information as soon as it came in. There would be hell to pay if he found out he’d been kept in the dark.
Then again, there would be hell to pay any way Jack cut it, but there was no sense in delaying the inevitable.
Jack braced himself as he used the voice activation to make the call. Danny’s reaction to the news Jack had switched up the security detail was met with predictable enthusiasm.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re bailing on one of our most important clients for Talia Vega?”
Jack hadn’t mentioned Talia by name; he’d told Danny only that he’d had to leave the Blankenthorns in Moreno’s care to deal with a personal emergency. “How did—”
“Oh for Christ’s sake,” Danny said wearily, “you forget how well I know you and your goddamn damsels in distress. What else could it—”
Danny cut out and Jack could hear a feminine voice murmuring in the background, one that no doubt belonged to Caroline Taggart, Danny’s wife. “Nothing, baby, go back to sleep.” Danny’s voice was muffled with an undercurrent of tenderness Jack wouldn’t have believed Danny capable of had he not heard it himself.