by Cynthia Eden
But things were different with Kat. He was different with her.
She pulled back. Licked her lower lip.
A rumble built in his chest.
“No one is watching us now,” Kat whispered. “Why the kiss?”
“Because I want your mouth.” Get moving. No time now. “Because I want you.”
His hand twined with hers. No handcuffs. Just them. “Let’s go.”
Moments later, they were rushing back down the stairs. If anything, the crowd seemed even thicker. The music was louder. He pulled Kat closer as they weaved through the throng. The blond asshole who had been watching her earlier looked up, as if on cue, and his gaze settled on Kat.
Someone can’t take a message.
The asshole hurried toward Kat. “Hey! Hey!”
Kat stilled. Crap. “Let’s go,” Rick growled in her ear.
She didn’t go. Her head turned until she was staring at the blond.
He straightened. Puffed out his chest. Sauntered toward her.
Obviously, the woman could not take a direction to save her life. Hadn’t he just said they had to move? That they weren’t trying to attract attention? What game was she playing?
The blond smiled as he approached Kat. All toothy and extra-white grin. “Has anyone ever told you that you are absolutely gorgeous?”
“No.” She tilted her head. Stared at him. Kept her left hand twined with Rick’s.
“Hmm. Then, baby, you’ve been with the wrong men.” A dismissive glance toward Rick.
If I punch him, I make a scene. I’m trying to not make a scene.
But the fool was way too close to Kat.
And getting closer every moment.
“Why the hell are you with a guy like him? You need someone like me, someone who can appreciate all that you are.” His gaze dipped down her figure.
The blond’s body swayed a bit.
Yeah, drunk courage. Otherwise, that dumbass would know better than to come toward Rick. “You want to get your ass kicked?” Rick asked, genuinely curious.
The blond blinked. “No, I want…her.”
“You’re not getting her.” One fast punch would take the blond down. One punch wouldn’t attract too much attention.
Before Rick could swing, the blond stumbled toward Kat. He put his arms around her. Oh, hell, no.
Rick reacted in a flash. He yanked her back, put Kat behind him, and drove one fist into the blond’s jaw. The asshole went down as the music kept blaring.
None of the other dancers even paused to glance at the fallen man.
Kat grabbed Rick’s arm. “Did you just knock him out?”
“Let’s go.”
“One punch, that was pretty—”
“Let’s go.” He was two seconds away from carrying her out of there. He’d told the woman not to stop, and what had she done? Decided to have a slow-as-you-please chat with an asshole.
Luckily, Rick didn’t have to carry her out because she was finally moving, and at a really good clip, too. Moments later, they were outside, and his gaze immediately swept the area as he searched for threats. He kept to the side of the building, holding her close. “We’ll need transportation out of here.” Staying on the streets wasn’t ideal. They needed a car. Maybe a taxi or an Uber, but if they went that route, then they ran the risk that the driver might remember them.
“Got us covered.” She lifted her hand. Keys dangled from her fingers.
“Where in the hell did you get those?”
“The same place I got…this.” And just like she was doing some magic show sleight-of-hand trick, a phone danced next to the keys. He almost expected her to say Abracadabra.
Rick shook his head. “When? Where?”
“The blond. He looked drunk enough that he wouldn’t notice a bump and grab, and then he did me the solid of bumping into me first. Made everything easier.”
No way. “You’re a pickpocket?”
“I told you I had skills.”
Yes, she had. “I told you we needed to leave the club! Not attract attention.” He caught her elbow and guided her down the street. He kept looking for threats—and options.
“I didn’t attract attention,” Kat grumbled. “I was just doing what you asked.”
He stumbled. “I didn’t ask you to steal the guy’s ride.”
Lights flashed from a nearby parked car. A red Benz. He realized Kat had just pushed the unlock button on the keys.
“Look, his car is right here. Perfect.” She sounded particularly pleased with herself. She’s a pickpocket and a car thief. “What are we waiting for?”
The flashing lights were attracting attention. Jeez. His hand fisted over hers. He leaned in close. “Stop.”
“Why? And why are you so grumpy? I helped!”
Grumpy? Did he look like one of the seven freaking dwarves?
“You said we needed a phone and transportation. I got us both. You are welcome.” She shook off his hand and headed for the Benz.
Uh, no. “We aren’t stealing a car!”
She looked over her shoulder. “Why not?”
He glanced around again. They couldn’t stay out in the open like this. “Because it’s illegal, that’s why.” He kept his voice low. “I’m not going to be busted for stealing that dick’s ride.”
“I won’t be busted. The Feds will pretty much forgive anything I do as long as I testify for them. I’ll say I stole the car and made you get in. So…come on.”
They needed to get off the street. They needed to get the hell out of there.
She came back to him and brushed her body against his. “We can leave an apology note, okay? Will that work for you? We’ll take the ride to our new, hopefully super safe location and leave an I’m sorry note for the jerk.”
“The car probably has GPS tracking. We take it, he reports it as stolen, and then we’re busted. By the bad guys, and the good ones.” Rick grabbed the keys from her in a lightning-fast move.
“Hey!”
He tossed the keys near the car. The asshole could find them later.
“I’ve got a plan.” He could hear his plan in the distance. “And leave the phone, too. We don’t want to be tracked by it. He wakes up, and who do you think he’ll believe stole from him?”
The same guy who cold-cocked his ass.
She grumbled, “Maybe he’ll just think it was someone in the packed club? Like, those whole two hundred folks in there?” But she put the phone down. Grudgingly.
He didn’t have any more time to waste. No one seemed to be paying them much attention. He didn’t see the black vans or any Wilde agents. No sense pushing their luck, though.
“We’re not running.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “We’re taking our time,” he rumbled as they started down the street. “Anyone who sees us will see two lovers.” He nuzzled her. “That’s all. We go down three blocks, we take a right, and then we’ll hop on the bus.”
Her head pressed against him. “Are you serious? I give you a Benz and you give me a bus?”
His lips twitched. “We’ll take the bus until we get to the streetcar pick-up area. We’ll get on there, and we’ll be long gone before anyone starts hunting.” A lie, he knew people were already hunting her. “The streetcar runs until one a.m. on the weekend. We got this. Trust me.”
***
Eric Wilde stormed into his office. He tossed his coat aside, and his hands clenched into fists. Someone had broken into his place? His? Oh, the hell, no. “I want every security feed we’ve got,” he snapped to his assistant Dennis. “I want every shot, every signal. I want to know why in the hell I wasn’t alerted to a break-in here.”
“Uh, uh, yes, Eric, I’ll—”
A knock at the door. The open door. Eric glared when he saw Agent Bryan Brisk. He’d known the fellow would be showing up. Hell, he was actually surprised that he’d beaten Brisk to Wilde.
“We need to talk,” Bryan told him flatly. There was no sign of the other agent, Tom
Wayne. Was he downstairs?
Eric pointed at Dennis. “Get me what I need.”
Dennis rushed out. Bryan shut the door behind him.
The agent was still wearing one of his Bureau suits, but his collar was undone. His hair was rumpled, and a five o’clock shadow covered his jaw. “She’s compromised.”
“No, she’s not. Rick is still with her. She’s safe.”
“The problem wasn’t with the FBI. My boss doesn’t believe so, either. We misinterpreted the situation before.”
He didn’t need this crap right now. “Agent, look, I don’t have any intel to give you yet, but I will. So just get your ass back to your hotel room or wherever you were staying. When I know more, I’ll update you on the—”
“The FBI is taking over again. Wilde was breached. You and your agents are done with Kat for now.”
Eric crossed his arms over his chest. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve been told that I should take over Kat’s security detail again, immediately.”
“Oh, really? Because I wasn’t informed of this change. Didn’t get a phone call from your boss telling me that my team was out.”
The agent squared his shoulders. “I’m here. Thought that would be notification enough.”
“It’s not. I’ll talk to your boss myself. And, in the meantime, you should know…Kat is currently off grid.”
Bryan’s nostrils flared. “What the hell does that mean?”
“What the hell do you think it means?”
The agent’s face reddened.
“It’s a typical security response in situations like this,” Eric said as he struggled to keep his voice flat. Someone broke into my building. Someone will pay. There actually wasn’t a typical security response because shit like this had never happened before. No one should have gotten past Eric’s security, and he was pretty much losing his shit right then. But he kept up his calm front as he added, “Rick understands that Kat’s security has been compromised, so he’ll be going dark until they are at a safe location. He will be moving her, and fast, and he’ll make certain that she stays alive.”
“How long until he contacts you?” Bryan gritted out.
Eric smiled at him. “I don’t know. Why don’t we just wait and see?”
“Bullshit! You are lying to me. You’re lying to a federal agent. I could have your ass thrown in jail.”
Well, the agent had some anger issues. Good to know. “Why don’t you try?” Eric invited.
Bryan glared at him. “The leak was in your building. Isn’t it obvious what happened? A Wilde agent was bought off. One agent…hell, could be a dozen of them.”
“No,” Eric replied flatly.
“The big, high and mighty Wilde business is burning down around you. Your agents have sold out Kathleen O’Shaughnessy. You’re compromised. She needs to be brought to me. Now.”
Eric tried to think of a tactful way to say…Go fuck yourself. But, he’d never been big on tact. “Go fuck yourself.”
“You’re telling the FBI—”
“I’m telling you…get out of my office. I deal directly with your supervisor, no one else. Until I hear from him that Wilde is no longer in charge of Kathleen’s security, nothing will change.” He fought his growing rage. “But you’re not going to stand in my office and accuse my agents of being on the take. Everyone here has passed a thorough background check, and I’ve never doubted anyone on my team.”
“You were never dealing with a situation like this one, either. Twenty million dollars—that money will tempt anyone.”
“Good-bye, Agent Brisk. We’re done here.”
“No, you will be seeing me again.” Bryan turned on his heel and stormed out.
Eric stared after him, frowning. Eric had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The twisting, churning feeling that told him that things were about to get even worse.
Dennis poked his head inside Eric’s office. “Working on the security footage, boss.”
Eric nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. He reached for his phone and called his FBI contact. The line rang and rang. No answer.
Not a good sign.
What in the hell was going on?
Chapter Nine
The streetcar was deserted. Kat sat on the hard seat, her hands twisting in front of her. Rick glowered from the seat across from her. The guy probably had no clue how sexy she found his glower. She wasn’t going to tell him. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, “So you’re a Boy Scout.”
His brows lifted. “Hardly.”
“You wouldn’t let me steal a car. You wouldn’t let me steal a phone.”
“You did steal the phone.”
Yes, she had. It had been ridiculously easy. “Just what would it take to make you break some rules?”
The streetcar hurtled forward.
Rick didn’t answer.
Fine. Whatever. She glanced out of the window and stared at the darkness.
“I’d need a pretty good fucking reason to break the law.”
“My family never really worried about reasons. They just did it.”
“And you’re like your family? Like your dad?”
No. I never want to be like him. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. Isn’t that a saying? I don’t know how much more desperate I can get.”
“I’m not going to let you get hurt.”
“But what if you get hurt trying to protect me?” Her gaze flew back to him. “You think I enjoy having blood on my hands? Was that some sort of little trivia detail that was in my bio? Kat likes blood. She doesn’t mind innocent people dying. And her turn-ons include men who can cook.”
She surged out of the seat. Took four steps forward. Realized there was no place for her to go. They were trapped on the empty streetcar. She knew being alone there was deliberate. He’d waited to make sure no one else was getting on the car before he’d urged her inside.
Being alone with him was making her twitchy.
“Kat…” He rose. Seemed to swallow all of the space in the streetcar. “I don’t think you like having blood on your hands.” He caught her hand in his. “And I know you’re not like your dad.”
“Well, most people aren’t psychotic killers so it’s good to know you think I’m not like him.” She pulled her hand away and took a step back. “How about this? How about you stop with the touching and the hot looks and the whole simmering sexuality thing you have going on? Because I’m not in the mood to play.” She was at the end of her rope. “You say you want me. You know I want you. So don’t touch me again unless you’re following through, big guy. Touch me if you mean it. Touch me because that precious control of yours is shot.” The way hers was. Adrenaline crashed through her body. Her fingers were shaking. Her whole body was too tight and too strained and she was barely holding everything together.
She backed away from him.
Then he stalked forward. “I told you already, I’m not playing.”
Her back hit the side of the car.
“I warned you before, too, about what would happen if I took you.”
Like she’d ever been the type to heed warnings. That part should have been in her bio.
He kept coming forward. He stopped right in front of her, the heat of his body surrounding her. Churning up her emotions and her need even more.
His hand rose and his fingers caressed her neck. She knew he had to feel her racing pulse beneath his touch.
“I wasn’t supposed to want you,” he said.
She hadn’t counted on him, either. “Maybe it’s the adrenaline.” Or maybe it was just the appeal of the forbidden. They were supposed to stay apart, so she wanted nothing more than to get closer to him.
“But I…” A furrow dug between his brows. “I can’t remember ever needing someone so much.”
“What are you going to do about that?”
His hand rose. Sank into the thickness of her hair as he tipped back her head. “I think I’m going to make you scream.”
&
nbsp; Promises, promises.
“Scream with so much pleasure that for a while, we both forget everything else.” He kissed her. Deep and hard and with that wild need that she craved. Her hands flew up and locked around him. His left hand dropped to her ass and in the next instant, he’d lifted her up. He held her with that fierce strength of his, caging her between him and the metal wall. The wall vibrated as the streetcar hurtled forward, and the vibration shook through her whole body. Or maybe he was the one shaking her. The lust she felt for him shook her.
She’d long since kissed any hope of future happiness good-bye. When you were the daughter of a mob boss, you didn’t get some sweet, fairy tale, happily ever after BS ending. And with her father’s death, with the bounties on her head, she’d known that she was already living on borrowed time as it was.
But to have Rick…to have this. To feel this much need and lust for someone…to be able to let go even in the midst of chaos and just feel…it was worth everything.
“When I get you alone, you’re mine.” His rough promise.
Um, they were alone.
“Not here, sweetheart. Even as much as I want you, not here. Because the first time, I want to savor every single inch of your body,” Rick growled the words as he kissed his way down her throat.
Sounded like a great plan to her. But she got to savor him, too.
The streetcar slowed. His head lifted. “This is our stop.”
She sucked in a breath.
He stared at her. “Trust me.”
She didn’t exactly have a choice on that one. Other options at this point? None.
“Don’t run from me. Don’t lie to me.”
“I want the same from you.” She wet her lips. Saw the flash of his pupils as they expanded. “Don’t lie to me. Don’t run from what I am.”
“Baby, I’d never run from you.”
Easy for him to say now. Harder when he learned all of her secrets. If he learned them.
With a screech, the car stopped. A moment later, the doors surged open. They rushed into the night.
***