He picked up the phone and called the front desk, then asked for Sam Cogan’s room. After a pause, he quickly disconnected. “He’s here,” he said triumphantly. “Don’t know his room number–yet–but if he’s here, I’ll find him.”
“Be careful, Ryan.” A shiver ran over her.
He shook his head briskly. “Who wants to shower first?”
After eating and showering, Ryan and Sera left Manny in the room and went down to the lobby to see what was happening. Things were still pretty quiet. No doubt a few people were tending hangovers.
As they passed the restaurant off the lobby, a man sitting at a table just inside the door grabbed her attention. She took a second look. Dominick Casas.
She clutched Ryan’s arm. “Is that him?”
“Who?” His biceps flexed beneath her fingers. Enough to distract her for a fleeting second to admire his muscles.
“Dominick Casas. Right there at the table just inside the door.”
Ryan looked over. “Yeah. That’s him.” A frown tugged his brows down. “How’d you know that?”
She shrugged, not meeting his eyes.
“I guess I can’t just walk up to him and start talking to him,” she murmured. “I’d better wait for Carly.”
“I know him,” Ryan said. “I met him with Vince. Let’s go say hi.”
She wanted to hold back, but knew that would only arouse Ryan’s curiosity, so she went along with him as he strode into the restaurant and walked up to Casas’ table. “Hey. Dominick.”
The man looked up. His moustache and long beard hid most of his face. Small, dark eyes peered out from beneath the bandanna he wore on his head. He looked at them blankly at first, then recognition surfaced and he smiled. “Tommy. How the hell are you?”
They exchanged small talk, Sera still hanging on Ryan’s arm like the good little girlfriend she was–not. Then Ryan drew her forward. “Oh, this is my girlfriend, Sara.”
Dominick laid his eyes on her. His eyes narrowed, his mouth drew in. Surely to god he couldn’t recognize her. She wanted to turn and run. This had been a mistake.
“Sara. Nice to meetcha.”
“Hi.” She smiled, trying to look normal. Casual. Hoping Ryan couldn’t feel the tremors in her body.
“Sara’s working for me now,” he told Dominick. “With my deliveries.”
“Ah. Good. Nice little business you got going, I hear.” His tone was patronizing. He had a pretentious air about him, as though he thought he was better than anyone else.
“You see Vince this morning?” Ryan asked.
“Not yet.” Dominick’s eyes were still fastened on Sera’s face. Her fingers tightened on Ryan’s arm. Her stomach muscles clenched.
Ryan laughed. “He was pretty shitfaced last night, so I guess he’s still sleeping it off. We’ll probably see you later.”
With a nod he and Sera moved off, back out to the lobby.
“What the hell was that?” he muttered once they were well out of sight and earshot.
She shook her hair back. “No idea. He’s a creep, though.”
He studied her. And she knew he’d picked up on something. Damn his perceptiveness. Again.
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped in, alone, to go back to the room. Ryan turned and pushed her up against the wall, his body pressing hers. She gasped and turned her eyes up to his face.
“What aren’t you telling me?” he ground out.
“N-nothing. Why are you asking that?”
“Dominick was looking at like he knows you. Do you know him?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Are you sure? He was looking at you kind of weird.”
“I don’t know him. Other than what I’ve researched about him over the years.”
He pinned her in place, and his big body pressing into hers felt way too good. He stared at her. “I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t trust me, do you?” She lowered her eyes. “I thought we went through all this already.”
The elevator doors slid open with a ping announcing their floor and he stepped back, releasing her. She stalked out ahead of him, chin pointed up. She could not tell him her fears about what had just happened.
In the room, Manny was just coming out of the shower. He walked out of the bathroom in his boxer shorts. Sera took in his muscular body. In his biker gear, Manny just looked big. Naked, he was ripped, with a six-pack of abs, slabs of pecs and bulging biceps. Sera blinked, bit her lip at the masculine display.
“Put some clothes on, for Chrissake,” Ryan snarled at Manny, who shot him a look of puzzlement.
“I am, man, I am.” He stepped into jeans, one muscled thigh at a time, unconcerned with Sera’s presence, zipped his fly and adjusted himself. Ryan looked like he was going to blow a gasket and she almost laughed, despite the tension still quivering inside her.
When Manny was dressed, Ryan told Sera, “Stay here. Manny and I are going hunting.”
“For…oh. For Sam Cogan?”
“Yeah.”
She watched them leave with a crooked smile. “Do what I say, little girl,” she muttered, moving around the room to pick up her things and stuff them into her bag. She occupied herself by packing so they’d be ready to go when they had to check out.
She looked at the bed and took a deep breath. She still couldn’t believe what had happened between them last night. If Manny hadn’t shown up, they probably would have had sex in that bed.
They’d had sex in that bed. Sort of. Eyes-rolling-back, heart-pounding, very one-sided sex. Heat shimmered in her and she pressed a hand to her abdomen.
When Ryan walked back into the room their gazes collided and slid away from each other.
Sera dropped her bag on the floor near the door. “Any luck?”
Ryan shook his head. “Nah. Not yet. We sweet-talked the girl at the front desk into giving us his room number, but he wasn’t there.”
“Maybe he left,” Sera said.
“She would’ve told us if he’d checked out.”
“Yeah.” She could only imagine the girl at the reception desk responding to Manny and Ryan’s bad-boy charm, and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Hey. Have you checked in on your mom?”
His eyes shadowed. “No.”
“Wanna do that? While we’re up here?”
He nodded and used his cell phone to call the hospital. She sat on the edge of the bed and listened to the short conversation he had, facing away from her as he looked out the window. She studied his back, the width of his shoulders, the strength in the muscles, her gaze tracking down his back to his ass, so tight and perfect in his jeans, then back up to the nape of his neck where his hair was tied. For some reason, the softness of his neck there looked so vulnerable, and as he spoke in low tones, asking questions about his mother’s care, she swallowed through a tight throat.
When he ended the call, he turned to face her and she dropped her gaze to her knees. “How’s she doing?” she asked.
“Okay. I mean, she’s hanging in there.” His jaw tightened. “They’re increasing her pain medication.”
“Oh.” She hesitated, unsure what to say. “You wouldn’t want her to be in pain.”
He shook his head. “No. Of course not. But they’re giving her really high doses now, which means…it’s probably near the end.”
Shit. She wiped her palms along her knees, her heart squeezing for him. “I’m sorry, Ryan.”
He gave a short nod but said nothing, his eyes shuttered, his mouth tight.
“Well.” She rose to her feet. “Come on, let’s go. We’ve got work to do.” Then she paused. “If you want to talk more about it…I’m here.”
He gave her another terse nod, but she caught the softening of his mouth as he turned toward the door.
They all went back downstairs and this time found Vince and Carly and several others sitting by the pool eating breakfast. Sera and Ryan took seats and ordered coffee. Yeah, the guys looked rough today. Rough and m
ean. Sera’s eyes shifted to Carly, very quiet this morning, and she frowned as she took in a faint discoloration on Carly’s cheekbone. Was that a bruise? Shit.
Her stomach felt like it was falling. Lord, she hated to see things like that. She tried to keep her face expressionless as she studied her coffee.
Why did some women put up with that? It made no sense. If any man ever laid a hand on her, he’d be flat on his back on the floor.
She tried to feel her usual contempt for anyone who would put up with being treated like that, but somehow Carly only aroused feelings of protectiveness in her. She glanced at Vince and felt an urgent need to kick his ass. Anger vibrated through her.
“Hey, Dominick!” Vince stood up and held up a hand to the man paused at the edge of the patio. “Over here, man!”
They greeted each other and Sera watched, the tension inside her dialing up several notches. She sipped her coffee, hoping she wouldn’t choke on it.
Dominick greeted the others and they pulled up a chair for him at the table. When his eyes fell on Sera, he paused. Then smiled lasciviously at her. Eeew.
Somehow she had to get things going. She wanted to spend as little time with Dominick as she could, but if he was attracted to her, she could make that work for her. Her stomach rolled at the thought and she fought it back. She had to talk to Zocco, and get him on board with her selling the sugar. And then he would get Dominick on side.
She would sell lots. She had to convince them that she would. She’d be a major player and then…she closed her eyes briefly, willed the pinwheels spinning in her stomach to settle down. It would work. It had to work.
But she couldn’t seem too eager. Couldn’t push too hard. This was absolutely critical to her success. This moment. This chance.
She looked at Ryan. He was watching her, amber eyes dark and steady. Steadying.
She licked her lips and turned to Carly.
“Did you say anything to Zocco?” she asked the other woman in a low voice.
Carly stared back at her blankly for a moment. “Oh. Yeah, I did.” Carly tugged at Zocco’s arm. He was talking to Dominick, and he tossed her hand off with a scowl.
“Hey, don’t bug me.”
Carly bit her lip, eyes flicking to Sera, who smiled reassuringly.
They both waited quietly as the men talked until finally Zocco turned to her. “What’d you want?” he asked.
Carly smiled at him. “Hey. Remember I was talking to you yesterday about the angel sugar?”
Zocco’s eyes narrowed. “Not here,” he bit out, eyes shifting around.
“Oh. Okay.”
Sera sighed inwardly. Carly was nice, but not the spiciest taco. Again, she wanted to lean forward and step in, to save Carly from herself.
Zocco’s eyes moved to Sera. “We can go talk inside. If you want.”
“Yeah.” She nodded, rose from her chair. She felt Ryan’s gaze on her, sensed his desire to come with her. She smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder as she passed behind his chair. “I’ll be back in a few, Tommy.”
He nodded and she followed Zocco into the hotel. He took a seat on one of the couches in the lobby. Nobody else was around except the hotel staff working the front desk, and they were too far away to hear anything.
“Carly says you want to sell sugar.”
She nodded. “It’s good stuff. I have lots of friends in L.A. who’d like it.”
He studied her, a hint of suspicion tightening his face. “You know what you’re doing?”
“Yeah.” She met his eyes.
Again he was quiet. “How do I know if I should trust you?”
She frowned. “Why wouldn’t you trust me?”
“Babe, anyone could be a cop.”
“I bought stuff from you already.”
“Yeah.”
She shrugged. “So check me out. I got nothing to hide.”
He nodded, stroking his chin.
“I’ll talk to Dominick,” he said finally. “See what he thinks.”
Her insides shifted. Perfect.
“Okay.” She smiled. “Great. Thanks, Zocco.”
They returned to the group and Sera slid into her chair beside Ryan who was talking to Vince and Dominick. Sera remained quiet, in the background, like the other women at the table, although it irked her no end.
Soon, music started, loud and thumping, and the bar opened. Drinks flowed and the atmosphere became less mellow, more hard-core. Energy pulsed in Sera’s body in response. People got up from tables, moving around to talk to others. She watched Zocco, hoping he’d talk to Dominick, as he moved from table to table to the bar. She felt Dominick’s curious gaze on her too, her skin tingling under his intense scrutiny. She stuck close to Ryan, letting him put his hands on her, nuzzle her neck, acting all lover-like, hoping the sexual energy between the two of them would blur out whatever else it was Dominick sensed about her.
When Ryan leaned against the bar, spread his legs and pulled her between them close enough to feel his erection, she realized her strategy had backfired just a little as hot molten desire flowed through her belly down to the ache between her legs. They couldn’t act like that around each other without getting turned on. She laid her hands on his chest, tipped her head back and met his eyes.
“Wanna make out?” he asked.
She choked on a laugh.
His eyes glinted and his hands slid over her ass, into the back pockets of her jeans, and rocked her closer. Oh yeah.
“Do you want to ride all the way back to Clover City with a hard-on?” she murmured.
Now it was his turn to laugh. He bent his head and kissed her mouth. “Smart ass.”
It felt natural, sizzling hot yet comfortable, and she couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel if Ryan was teasing her and looking at her like that because he really felt something for her. Something more than physical arousal layered over disdain for her lack of experience, and annoyance that she was even there.
She hitched a shoulder. “How’s it going?”
“Good. You?”
“Dunno.” They couldn’t really say much. “What time are people going to leave?”
“I don’t know.” He looked around. The party seemed to be just getting started. He grimaced. “I don’t like thinking of all these guys on the road on their bikes with a blood alcohol level high enough to breathe flames.”
“I know.”
They stuck around as long as they could but Zocco never approached Sera again and she didn’t think he’d talked to Dominick either. Disappointment weighed heavy on her as she and Ryan mounted his Harley for the drive back to Clover City. She hadn’t accomplished the one thing she’d set out to do that weekend.
Sure, she’d gotten hours of incriminating recordings. That was something. It just wasn’t what her goal had been.
She hung on to Ryan as they roared along the highway, the desert flat and wide on either side of them, baked golden in the sun. Heat shimmered off the highway stretching out in front of them. She tried to clamp down on her jittering nerves.
When he dropped her off at her motel, he turned off the motorcycle. “I should come in,” he said. “We need to talk about a few things.”
“Sure.”
Ryan coming into her motel room shouldn’t have been any big deal–they’d just shared a hotel room, although Manny’s presence had likely prevented them from getting naked together. It hadn’t been enough to stop Ryan from giving her a spine-sizzling orgasm, though. What would happen when they were alone in her room?
She unlocked the door and pushed inside, the air quiet and flat after being closed up for two days. She flicked on the light and dropped her bag on the bed.
“You never found Sam Cogan.”
He shook his head, frowning. “No, dammit.” He shrugged. “Maybe he wouldn’t have said anything anyway.”
“What do you think they wanted him to do?”
He met her eyes. “I think they wanted him to kill someone.”
She
gave a short nod. “Any guesses who?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and sat down on the bed. “There are a couple of unsolved murders with ties to the DAs. Could have been one of those.”
“But if they beat him up and kicked him out because he didn’t do it, then he might not know who did.”
“No. But if he told me who was killed, I could dig deeper and maybe find out.”
“Ryan.”
“What?”
“This isn’t about solving murders.”
“Sure it is. It’s about whatever we can find. I know they’re trafficking drugs and guns. We have lots of evidence of that. Enough for several arrests.”
“You want more.”
“I want enough to nail the DAs. Not just individuals within the gang, but the gang itself.”
“RICO.”
“Yes.”
She nodded. Ryan blew out a breath. “Okay. We need to go back to L.A. tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
“They’ll think we’re working. We can take off for a few days.”
“Fine.”
“When we come back, you’re moving into the house with me. So, you can check out of here.”
Her stomach clenched. “Okay.”
That had been the plan. If things went okay and everyone seemed to be accepting her as Ryan’s girlfriend, she would move into the house the ATF was renting. She would be living with Ryan, twenty-four seven.
“So,” Ryan said. “Tell me why you were acting so weird around Dominick Casas.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were. You were almost…nervous.”
“I was not!” She stood up straight and glared at him.
He shook his head. “I can’t put my finger on it, but he was looking at you funny too.” His brows lowered. “You’re not setting us up, are you?”
Chapter Nine
“Whaaaat!” Her mouth fell open and she stared at him as if he’d just slapped her face. Her insides constricted. “Jesus Christ, Ryan. I know you don’t totally trust me, but that is…that is…” Words failed her. She could not respond to such an egregious accusation. “You are such an asshole,” she said, shaking her head. She stalked to the door and flung it open. “Get out.”
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