by Shayla Black
Kristi
A little after two a.m., the lock on my door scrapes. My nerves jangle. I can only imagine how worried Aunt Tammy must be. I’m sure she’s tried to call me a dozen times by now. But I have to focus on whoever is prying their way into my room.
I dive toward the pillow and wrap my fingers around Ridge’s Glock. I’ve never fired a gun in my life, and I don’t know if I can point it at another human being and pull the trigger. But I have to believe that if it’s a fight to the death, my survival instinct will prod me to do what otherwise makes me sick to even think about.
Around the corner from the entryway, I hear the door open. I’m shaking so hard, I’m sure I’ll tremble out of my skin.
“Red?”
Ridge. I let out a sigh of relief and dart across the room. “You’re back.”
“I told you I wouldn’t leave you for long. You’re stuck with me for fifty years. I brought you a present…” He steps aside.
Sammie stands in the shadowy hallway, trembling and crying but otherwise unharmed.
I stash the gun, then rush to the girl and crush her in my arms, soothing her with a soft hand down her back when she breaks into sobs. I can’t help joining in. “Are you all right?”
She gives me a jerky nod. “Okay. So far no one has messed with me much.”
I’m afraid to ask what that means, especially now. It isn’t the time. Instead, I turn my gaze to Ridge, standing beside me, and give him my silent thanks.
“Since the creep who tried to buy me is conked out, can we go?” Sammie asks Ridge.
“Conked out? Did you hit him over the head?” I can’t imagine Sammie having the strength to do that, but she’s got the fortitude.
“No.” Ridge shakes his head. “I took Sammie around to meet her ‘buyer’ and offered him a crystal-cut decanter of scotch as a welcome-to-the-perverts-club gift. I insisted we toast. Did I mention I’d drugged the booze? So he’s in dreamland. Same with Sal and Rudy. Then I walked her over here, telling the guards I wanted a little two-on-one action.”
“And they bought it. So we can go now?” Sammie asks again.
Ridge pulls at the back of his neck. “It’s not that simple. I’ve got a few more obstacles to clear first.”
“Like what?” I demand.
“How long will that take?” Sammie snaps.
“I’m trying, ladies. I’ve got a plan. I need a few more hours… For now, strip down to your underwear and get in bed.”
“What?” Sammie crosses her arms over her chest, looking totally betrayed.
What is Ridge thinking? Given the worry tightening his face, I doubt it’s sex. “Are we still being watched?”
“It’s possible. I don’t know exactly where Donzelli is right now. In case he’s finished with his…ahem, nightly entertainment and decides to check in on his empire, we have to make this look good. Sorry.” He pretends to snarl our way, then grabs Sammie by the arm, shoving her toward the bed. Then he thrusts his hands in my hair and drags his lips up my neck before nipping at my ear. It doesn’t exactly cool my desire. “Are we good?”
Sammie, bless her, looks rattled and huddles near me when Ridge releases me to undress. Too bad that after his lips skim my skin, I’m a weak-kneed mess.
“Are you really pregnant?” my cousin asks.
I glare at Ridge. “You told her?”
“I didn’t know how else to win her trust in less than two minutes.”
“Are you going to marry him?” Sammie follows up.
“I never said yes,” I remind Ridge.
He grips my hair again with a surprisingly gentle touch as he leans in with a growl. “You will.”
If we get out of here alive, he’s right. I probably will. But he’s already cocky enough. No need to add to his ego. “We’ll see.”
He huffs. “Strip down. In bed. Go.”
While Ridge makes a show of removing his coat and shirt, folding them over an old desk chair across the room, I take off everything except my bra and panties, shielding Sammie while she does the same.
“You don’t look pregnant,” she whispers to me. “Are you sure? And how did you get mixed up with this guy?”
“Long story.” One that started with champagne…and ended with a plus-sign on a home pregnancy test. I still don’t understand everything that’s going on in this sketchy hotel, but I’m convinced the man I’ve fallen for is trying to put a stop to it. That makes him one of the good guys, right? That’s not wishful thinking?
Finally, we undress down to our lacy bits, and I shoo Sammie under the covers before clearing my throat. “Ready.”
Ridge darkens his phone and sets it aside, along with my device and a wad of cash that nearly makes my eyes pop from their sockets. Then he flips off the overhead lights and crawls in bed beside me. “Good. Now ruffle the covers. Make it look like we’re…busy.”
“All three of us?” Sammie sounds shocked. “Is that what you meant by two-on-one?”
Ridge turns to me. “Is she sheltered or something?”
I elbow him in the ribs—then start moving the covers. “She’s young. Focus. What then?”
Sammie joins in.
He hesitates. “If it weren’t a fucking Saturday night, the crowd would already be thinned out and Donzelli would be kicking back. But on a night like this, he might pause for some fun, but he doesn’t usually get far from the pulse of the action.”
“Won’t Sal and Rudy wake up?”
“Not soon enough to be a problem.”
“And Paulie?”
“Sulking at home like a bitch.”
“How do you know everyone’s names?” Sammie asks me, still agitating the covers with her feet while I do the same.
“I wish I didn’t.” I glance at Ridge. “Anyone else who could make this difficult?”
“Nah, Donzelli has lots of guys here, but I outrank them. They don’t dare question me.”
“How did you get mixed up in all this?”
“Fuck. I wondered when you’d ask.” He sighs. “Shortly after this sex ring started, a mobster named Luca Antonelli, who was Donzelli’s right hand, decided the organization had gone too far. He agreed to talk in exchange for immunity. But he already knew the local feds were lining their pockets with Donzelli’s money, so he went further up the food chain. The boys in DC knew they had to bypass the suits here in Vegas…so enter Ransom and me. We do the jobs too dirty for Uncle Sam.”
“You’re helping law enforcement?”
“In this shit hole, we’re replacing them. I’m deep undercover. First, Luca introduced me as his nephew who had recently earned a Harvard MBA and wanted to go where the real money was. He talked me up to Donzelli, Sal, and the rest, until they finally let me in. Then, when I seemed to be on decent footing with everyone, we staged Luca’s death. The feds supposedly shot him, then the building he was holed inside ‘accidentally’ caught on fire. The ME faked the match to Luca’s dental records. The mobster had a new identity and was in another state a few hours later, and Donzelli made me one of the family…but my investigation still wasn’t moving fast enough. So Ransom came on the scene recently, posing as a competitor while we worked together to gather information on their clients and evidence about their methods.”
Ridge could have been discovered and killed at any time.
“Oh, my god.” I really had no idea the lengths he’s gone to in order to bring this criminal organization down. “You’ve risked your life over and over.”
“Yeah, and I’d do it again. These guys are animals, and they deserve everything that’s coming to them. But I never meant to risk you.” Ridge turns to me, then wraps his arm around me, murmuring in my ear. “I’m sorry about New Year’s. I lied like a motherfucker to get free of Donzelli so I could attend Rush and Sophie’s wedding. I saw you and I knew I should walk away, but I couldn’t. I definitely never expected to fall for you that night. When you started calling, I didn’t want to give you any other reason to get attached until I was free to be wi
th you, but I’ve been trying to clean up this shit since the moment your hotel room door closed behind me. Sammie, close your ears.”
“But it’s just getting good,” she protests.
“Young lady…” I do my best impression of her mom because I’m dying to hear what Ridge has to say.
She huffs. “Fine.”
When her hands are pressed over her ears, Ridge pulls me closer. “I only ever meant to make you feel good. I told myself I would spend one night with you—no more—then I’d let you go. But by morning…I couldn’t. I didn’t intend to get you pregnant, Little Red. It’s shitty timing, but I don’t regret a thing. I know it’s asking a lot, but please don’t regret it, either.”
“You mean, if we get out of this alive and in one piece? We have a lot to work on, Ridge. I don’t live in Vegas. I don’t have a job here. And no matter how good the sex is, I can’t live with someone who might disappear one day to go undercover for a few years, especially once we have kids.”
“I know. I’m working on all that. I promise, we’ll figure it out. But…you’ve got to admit, the sex is amazing.”
“Ugh, I don’t want to hear this,” Sammie grumbles.
Ridge and I both laugh. This is the most terrifying, odd, surreal, what-the-hell situation I’ve ever been in. But I’m with Ridge. Weirdly, I feel as if I’m where I belong.
I cuddle against him. “It is. Get us out of here, then ask me to marry you.”
“And you’ll say yes?” He grins beside me in the dark. “Deal.”
Ridge
I don’t know what time it is when the buzzing of the phone on the battered desk across the room jars me awake.
Cursing the fact I fell asleep, I bolt out of bed and sprint for the device. I glance at the display. It’s nearly five a.m. But the caller’s name shocks me even more.
Ransom.
“What’s wrong? Why the fuck are you calling again so soon?” I snap since we’re only supposed to talk if there’s an emergency.
“I need out. Now.”
“What?” He’s leaving me alone on this case?
“You heard me.”
“Are you fucking serious? I’ve been working this shit for too long for you to just bail.”
“Look, I hoped we’d be done. But I’ve got to end my part in this fucking charade. I’m in love.”
The guy who hasn’t spent more than a few hours with the same woman since high school? “You?”
“Yeah. I took her to bed last night.”
“Am I supposed to congratulate you? You fucked some woman. Whoopee… You can’t be serious here.”
“She turned eighteen yesterday. She was a virgin. I willingly fucked her bareback—more than once—and she’s not on the pill. That serious enough for you?”
And then some. Whoa. For almost two decades, Ransom has sworn he would never settle down, never have more kids, and never let another woman have that much power in his life. So this is beyond significant.
“Shit. You’re not playing.”
“Nope.”
“But she’s your son’s age. You’re a grown-ass man. What are you going to do, finish raising her?”
“Fuck off. I called to give you a heads-up. I plan to dust Paul Carboni pronto so he can’t come after me again. I can do Donzelli, too. Since I’m a ‘dead man,’ neither will see me coming and no one will suspect me. God knows they deserve it for selling human beings like sacks of groceries. It will also get you a step closer to getting out of this shitty mess. What you do with the opportunity is up to you. I’m hanging up now.”
He’s got a point. More than one, actually. I have to get out of this fucking mess right now, too. But my brother? I’m worried about him getting mixed up with some barely legal chick who will fuck him up like his ex from high school. “Wait! I didn’t mean to piss you off. I’m just saying Lydia did a number on you, and this girl—”
“Havana.”
I snort. Ransom always did have his priorities in his pants. “With a name like that, I’m guessing she has a fuck-me mouth and great tits.”
“Shut up.”
“So she doesn’t?” I wait. Silence. “That’s what I thought. You can’t be into Havana for her intellect.”
“You don’t know her, so stop making assumptions. She’s way more mature than Lydia, who had everything handed to her as a kid. Havana has been on her own for two years. She’s got the biggest fucking heart. She wants to be a vet. She’s smart enough to do it, too. And by the way, I’m still here for you to bitch at because she saved my life last night. So back the fuck down. I’m telling you I want out, and this is how it’s going to go down.”
“Okay. Sorry. I didn’t know. It’s been a long night, and I’ve got major problems here.”
“Do you need help?”
I shouldn’t drag Ransom in deeper if he wants out. “If I do, I’ll let you know. Look, I think I speak for Rand and Rush, too, when I say we don’t want another girl to trample your heart. Does Havana really make you happy? Can you live with this girl for a month? A year? The rest of your life?”
“Yeah. I won’t say the age difference didn’t give me pause, man. I tried to resist. God, I fucking tried. But when you know, you know, at least according to Rand and Rush.”
That’s how it happened for me on New Year’s Eve. One look, one kiss…and my heart was Kristi’s. “They’re right. Listen, don’t touch Donzelli. He’s mine. The truth is, I need out, too. Like, now. I think I’ve finally got enough evidence.” Well, not really. But Ransom doesn’t need to hear that right this minute. I’ll figure it out. “And I have an idea. So let’s move on this.”
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah, I, um…met someone, too.”
“When?” Ransom sounds both curious and suspicious.
“Recently.” I wince. I hate to admit this, but he has a right to know. “And she’s fucking here now.”
“What?”
Yep, he’s pissed. I sigh. “Long story. Be careful with this girl.”
“Havana,” he reminds me with growl. “You be careful there, too, bro. Stay focused. Get Donzelli done soon.”
“Tell me when Paulie is dead, then I’ll make my move.”
“Is he home?”
“Yep. It’s just Rudy, Sal, and some of the other guys. Let me know once you’ve iced that stupid bastard. Be safe. I’ve got to go.”
There’s nothing more to say. I end the call.
“Ridge?” Kristi says softly across the room, sheets rustling. “Is everything all right?”
No, but it can be. With my brother bailing and Kristi in jeopardy, I have to cash out. Not in the next twenty-four hours. Not in the next two, even. Now.
Unless I can magically find the evidence I need before then, I’ll be blowing the three long years of progress I’ve sunk into this op. Pulling out prematurely will make my professional reputation suck hairy balls for a while, and I may lose all the clients Ransom and I have worked to acquire, but nothing is more important than the woman I’ll be spending my next fifty years with and the baby we’re having.
I text a code to an emergency burner phone and get the response I need. I’ll have backup in an hour. I have sixty minutes to solve this mess and get out.
“Yeah. How’s Sammie?”
“Asleep.”
“Good. You try to get more rest, too,” I say as I toss on last night’s discarded clothes.
Instead, Kristi stands and pads across the chilly room to me in nothing but her bra and panties. It’s the wrong time to appreciate how sexy she looks, but I can’t not notice the obvious. “What about you? It’s only been a few hours. You hardly slept.”
As much as I’d love to curl up next to the woman who stole my heart and protect her from what might come… “I can’t stay. You’ve still got my Glock, right?”
She nods. “Under my pillow.”
“Keep it handy.” Earlier, I stopped by Donzelli’s suite, where I keep a few toys stashed for special occasions, and picked
up a spare. “Hopefully, you won’t need it, but be ready for anything.” The next hour is likely to be fast and furious and all kinds of fucked up. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Alarm flits across her face. “Where are you going?”
Donzelli gave me enough of his rope that I might finally be able to hang him. Yeah, I could simply turn him over now and hope that justice will be served, but bastards like him have a long memory and an even longer arm. I’m going to try like hell to figure out how to put him away and keep him from pursuing a heaping helping of revenge at the first opportunity.
I press a hard kiss to Kristi’s lips, lingering a second longer than I should before I force myself to pull away. I hope like fuck that isn’t the last time I ever kiss her. “To end this for good. I love you.”
When I turn away, she grabs my sleeve and pulls me back. “It’s probably crazy, but I love you, too. Come back in one piece. You promised me fifty years.”
“That’s a promise I intend to keep.”
I’m reluctant as fuck to leave Kristi, but she’s as safe as I can make her until I smuggle her and Sammie out of this shithole. I have an hour to find the evidence to bring this organization down. Time to get moving.
At the end of the hall, I wave to the big guard with the movie-star teeth. He and Ingram are still waiting for their shift to end. “Seen Donzelli?”
“He showed up a few hours ago. Nothing since.”
“Good.” Since it’s barely five a.m. and Marco doesn’t do mornings, he should still be snoozing. “I’ll be back.”
Once I’m past their line of sight, I haul ass to the stairwell, charging up to Donzelli’s suite. Jimmy and his crew hooked up the cameras in the “merchandises’” rooms. Are they set to merely view—or record? If the latter, I’ll handle last night’s footage with Kristi. I don’t want anyone else seeing us together.
Then what? Three years undercover comes down to now. I need hard evidence. The idea of touching anything in Paulie’s whack-off corner in the third-level basement hits my ick button. Sorry, his “command center.” But I’ll get over it. The other problem? Donzelli never gave me the key to the place. But I won’t let that stop me.