“Connor,” I said softly, “come in.”
Sure, let the tiger—no, the lion—into my room. He was going to eat me alive.
He rubbed his neck with his large hand and came inside. Shaking my head and fighting my guilt, I shut the door and turned to face him. He moved straight to the terrace, opened the door, and stepped outside.
The terrace overlooked the Vegas strip. Sitting down in one of the chairs, I mentally scolded myself for admiring his backside as he pressed his hands to the railing.
“How have you been?” I crossed my legs and leaned back in my seat, attempting to be casual.
“Great,” he said sarcastically. Okay, maybe I deserved that. His father had just passed away a few weeks ago. “Listen . . .” He had turned to face me, but his voice stopped as his eyes settled on my legs.
“What?”
His mouth twitched as he dragged his gaze up to my face. His pupils dilated, taking over the soft green of his eyes. “I can’t be here with you,” he said in a deep voice, shaking his head.
I stood up, my legs trembling a little as I moved toward him. He touched my face with the back of his hand, and I leaned into his touch. “Connor, what happened to you?” I snapped my eyes shut as painful memories hurdled to my mind.
A few moments of silence, and then, “You happened to me.”
My cheek tingled from the loss of him as my eyes opened.
He’d already gone.
10
Connor
I leaned back in the lounge chair, my legs stretched out, wearing only my black swim trunks. The sun was hot on my skin as the poolside DJ spun an engaging mix of electronic music. Vegas was wild. If I were in a better mood, I’d have enjoyed it.
Lauren was walking my way in a tiny black bikini, her boobs practically spilling out of her top. She shifted her sunglasses to the edge of her nose and flashed me a smile as she sat down in the empty lounge chair next to me. She plopped her large bag down between our seats and slapped my knee. “Hey, cowboy.”
Really? Did I give off a horse-riding, rodeo vibe? I brought my bare feet to the ground and removed my aviator sunglasses. The sparkling, cool water of the pool beckoned me.
“What happened to you last night? You never came back.” She reached into her massive bag and dug through it for a moment. Then she pulled out a bottle of tanning oil and handed it to me. “You mind?”
The woman would fry, but who was I to judge?
She lay on her stomach and swept her brown hair over her shoulder, offering me access to her back as I stood. My breath hitched when she unclasped her bra strap. What the hell? This had to violate some code of business ethics. I shook my head and poured the oil onto my palms. “I was tired and went to bed. Sorry. How was it?”
“It was amazing. You missed out.”
I rubbed the oil over Lauren’s back, and her shoulder blades pinched back a little. I wasn’t the least bit turned on.
What was happening to me? It had been almost a month since I’d gotten laid—since before my father died. I still couldn’t believe I’d kissed Olivia. And the things I had thought about doing to her tight body last night . . . shit, now I was getting hard. I hoped to hell the bulge in my shorts wasn’t apparent—that was a lawsuit waiting to happen.
My phone began to ring, vibrating noisily against the side table, and I did my best to wipe the oil from my hands with my towel. “Sorry,” I muttered as I grabbed my cell.
“Tell me that you didn’t come back last night because you went back to that girl’s room—Olivia, right?”
Ben, Jesus. “No. I was tired.”
“What? Really?”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I said and mouthed to Lauren, “Be right back.”
“When do you go back to New York?” Ben asked as I weaved my way through the rows of sunbathers to the outskirts of the pool area. “Monday’s the plan, but I don’t know. Part of me wants to high-tail it out of here tonight.”
“Why?”
Olivia, mostly, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. “Could you do me a favor? Could you ask around about Declan Reid?” I shoved a hand through my hair. “Discreetly.”
“Sure. The guy who owns the club, right?”
“Yeah.”
“What for?”
“I don’t want to raise any flags, but maybe you could gain some insight about him without anything pointing to me . . . I might do a business deal with him, and I just want to make sure he’s legit.”
“You getting the vibe he’s not?”
“I don’t know. This whole businessman thing is new to me. Maybe everyone does it this way.” I thought longingly of the three job offers I’d turned down this week: bodyguard, rescue attempt, and a missing person case. It was hard puttering around in Vegas when I knew I could be out there helping people.
“I’ll see what I can find out. No worries.”
“Thanks, man. Ring me later.” As I started back for my seat, I spotted Olivia standing at the edge of the pool, by the deep end. My mouth clamped shut in frustration as my eyes raked over her insanely hot pink bikini.
It looked like she was about to jump in the water, but two men were flanking her sides. And she didn’t look happy. Before I realized what I was doing, my feet carried me through the maze of chairs.
Olivia was waving her hand between the two men, and one of them had placed his hand on her hip. Gritting my teeth, I shoved my phone in my pocket, prepared to use my fists to remove the men if necessary.
But I didn’t get the chance. I stilled about ten feet away when Olivia twisted the man’s hand back, and he dropped to his knees before her.
Wow. When had Olivia become such a badass?
“Back off,” I growled on approach just as the man was rising to his feet.
Once the men walked away, Olivia angled her head at me. “I had them. They were just drunk and stupid.” She folded her arms, and her eyes bore into me. Her skin was glowing from the sun, and her chest heaved.
“Where’d you learn to do that?”
“I took defense classes, and I box.”
The woman got sexier every minute.
This was bad.
“Anyway, I was trying to swim, so if you don’t mind . . .”
Before I had a chance to respond, she slipped into the pool and disappeared beneath the water, her hair fanning out behind her.
I rubbed my jaw, not sure what the hell to think. I still needed to cool off. The pool would be big enough for the both of us.
I hurried back to return my phone. Lauren’s eyes were shut with wires trailing from her ears. Good, I didn’t want to dive into small talk. I tucked my phone under my towel and went back to the pool.
The water felt like a warm bath, but it was still better than roasting beneath the sun.
“Are you following me?”
Olivia was just a foot away. Her hair was slicked back, revealing her flawless face.
Beautiful. I couldn’t think of a better word to describe her.
I was going stiff again. Shit.
She shook her head, huffing, and started toward the crowd of people gathered at the other end of the pool, flailing their arms to a David Guetta remix.
Without thinking, I started after her. My hand shot through the water and touched her back.
Turning toward me with wide eyes, she swallowed. “What?”
This wasn’t right. How could I do a deal with Declan if it meant being around Olivia? I couldn’t control myself around her.
“Tell Declan I can’t do business with him.” My hand fell to my side, splashing into the water. Her mouth formed a sexy O and dirty thoughts pushed into my mind. What in the hell was wrong with me? “Sorry,” I added.
“Declan will be upset.” Her plump bottom lip slipped between her teeth.
“Goodbye, Liv—Olivia,” I said, my voice breaking a little as I turned away. I moved toward the closest set of steps, preparing myself to book the next flight back to New York, but Olivia’s finger
s on my back arrested me.
“You’re doing the right thing,” she said, loud enough for me to hear over the music but low enough not to draw too much attention.
What was she talking about? But I didn’t ask. I didn’t even look back.
I grabbed my stuff carefully, glad that Lauren’s eyes stayed shut. She could stay and party in Vegas for all I cared. I’d shoot her a text from the airport to let her know there would be no deal.
I wanted the best for the company, for my brother, but I couldn’t be around Olivia for another minute.
Olivia
“This was our best shot. What happened?” Blake barked. I was thankful the phone was set to speakerphone and safely resting on the dresser next to me.
“Maybe he figured out that Declan’s shady.” I zipped up the side of my sequin dress and studied myself in the full-length mirror in the hotel room. “Connor wouldn’t have been able to help us if he’s not crooked, anyway.” Thank God.
“I’m not buying that. Last night you told me that Declan still hadn’t talked to Connor about business. Why would Connor all of the sudden jet out of there?” A crackling sounded through the phone as Blake blew out his breath. “What’d you do, Liv?”
“I didn’t do anything. I don’t know what happened. He said he couldn’t do business with Declan.” I sat in the desk chair and spun to face the window, which overlooked the strip’s infamous Eiffel Tower.
“Get him back.” Blake’s sharp voice grated on my ears. What had I ever seen in him?
“I can’t.”
“He’s one of our best leads so far.”
“Not if he’s innocent. If he’s a straight-up guy, there’s no point in getting close to him,” I protested.
“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” Blake insisted. “Besides, Declan’s going to flip when he learns Connor took off. What if he fires you? The last nine months will be for nothing.”
Unfortunately, Blake was right. Declan would be more than pissed, and he’d probably blame me since he knew about our history.
Before I could speak, there was a knock on my door. “I gotta call you back.” I slipped the phone into the dresser drawer and hurried to the door.
I peeked through the peephole. Declan’s pinched face sent me a step back. He must know.
When I opened the door, Declan walked right in. “Lauren just got a text from Connor.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Don’t play dumb, Livvy.”
So it was Livvy, now?
“What?” Folding my arms, I leaned against the wall, trying to bottle my hate for the man.
“You’re screwing with a very important business deal.” Dressed in black slacks, a black dress shirt, jacket—and even black tie, Declan looked dangerous. He stalked toward me with predatory steps and placed his palm on the wall near my shoulder. I could almost feel his warm breath on my face.
“Declan,” I warned, wondering if I’d need to drop his ass to the floor.
He cupped the back of my head with his free hand and pulled me close to him until his mouth was at my ear. “Get out of Vegas and go back to New York. Make this right,” he hissed.
Both of his hands dropped to his sides as he stepped back. I thanked God.
“I want a meeting scheduled with him when I’m back on Tuesday.” His eyes darkened to black as he focused on me.
I wanted to lash out at him, but I bit my tongue and forced a nod.
“Leave now.” He walked through the door, glancing over his shoulder at me before disappearing.
11
Connor
I studied the text on my phone. Ben had nothing to tell me about Declan yet. Maybe that was a good thing.
“Sorry, what were you saying again?” I shoved my phone back into my jeans pocket—I’d given up on the suit—and looked at the man before me.
Wes didn’t look like the brilliant guy I’d pictured. The head of research and development looked more like the leader of a biker gang, given the tank top, his large tree trunk arms covered in tattoos, and his shaven head.
“You ready to see what we’ve been working on?” Wes patted me on the shoulder and motioned to the massive double doors in front of me. We were in the basement of the building where, according to Wes, “all of the cool shit takes place.”
“It has to be better than pushing papers upstairs.”
Wes grinned and approached a glass screen mounted on the wall next to the doors. He pressed his palm to the screen and said his name.
“Identity confirmed. You will have five seconds to now enter your passcode,” a female voice stated.
Wow. What were they working on that needed a handprint, voice recognition, and a passcode?
The doors slid open to reveal what could only be a gun lover’s paradise. Weapons lined the sterile, white walls: everything from old-fashioned revolvers to hard-core assault rifles. I followed Wes down to another door, which also required verification.
Wes rubbed his hands together, a smile on his lips, as we entered a room. There were several people standing in front of the far wall, which was completely covered in a screen lit up with images. “Here’s where all of the magic happens.” Wes introduced me to all ten employees, although by the end of the introductions, I’d already forgotten the first nine names.
“We have a project that is going to change everything for Matthews Tech. We’ll become the premier defense company in the country.”
That was a bit hard to believe.
“Have you seen or heard of the electromagnetic field railgun?”
“Sure. The military is wrapping up tests, but there are some issues with it. Such as its massive size.”
Wes smirked. “Well, we have some of the best minds here. Your father hired engineers from NASA, scientists from MIT, and myself, of course. Not only have we created the EMF railgun, we improved it.” Wes tapped on a keyboard, and the image of a hand-held gun appeared on the wall.
The crowd of employees surrounded us, eager for my reaction. “That can’t be an EMF gun.” The gun with its silver handle, which led to two thin rails, or strips of metal, looked like something out of some science fiction film.
“Applying Faraday and Lenz’s laws of electromagnetic energy, we’re able to generate magnetic fields to produce voltage . . .” Wes lost me as he pointed to several mathematical equations that came on the screen. He rambled on about the science behind the weapon and didn’t gain my full attention until he motioned for someone to hand over the prototype of the weapon. “Basically, it’s light years ahead of its time. The military is building the big gun for a naval vessel—this one here is for up, close, and personal.”
My jaw went slack as I weighed the gun, which sat heavy but balanced in my palm. It was game changing . . . and a dangerous device. If it got into the wrong hands . . . “Does the government know we have this?”
Wes took the gun back. “Not yet. Unfortunately, your dad never got to see the final results. We finished it just last week.” Wes pressed a small silver object on the butt of the gun, and a microchip popped out. “The weapon is useless without the chip,” he added while handing the gun and chip off to another team member.
I folded my arms and leaned against the counter behind me. “When do we present this to the Department of Defense?”
Wes laughed. “No clue, that’s not my department. I just design the stuff. The people in suits handle the rest.”
“Okay,” I drawled, not sure what I was supposed to do now. I glanced at my watch. “I have another meeting, but it was nice to meet you.” I was pretty sure he wanted a slap on the back and approval from me, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. And what was more terrifying: The fact that my father’s team of civilians had managed to do something that the military hadn’t? Or the fact that no one seemed to know what to do with it?
Olivia
“No one is in the club. You’re good to go,” Blake’s reassurance was a whisper in my earpiece.
I’d done this
kind of thing numerous times before, with a team member hacked into the security cameras, but it always made me nervous. I hurried down the hall of The Phoenix and to Declan’s office.
“Hey Olivia, it’s me now.” Sean was our tech guy. He could hack into anything and everything, including FBI computers. He’d once done just that, to prove we needed to beef up our security.
“Hi, Sean.”
“Make sure you place the device I gave you flat against the screen of the keypad,” he instructed.
“I remember.” I reached into my pocket for the thin black strip. I pressed it to the keypad screen and held my breath as I waited.
“Got the code,” Sean announced.
That was fast.
“You can remove the strip. Type six, five, six, nine, one, one, zero.”
I tapped the numbers and released the breath I’d been holding as the door popped open. “I’m in.” The lights automatically turned on as I entered the room. Shoving the device into one pocket, I retrieved another small object from my other pocket.
“Great. You know what to do now.”
I peeled off the back of what appeared to be a quarter, revealing a thin, adhesive disc. I stuck it to the modem. “You getting anything?” I asked as I walked around behind Declan’s desk.
“It’s uploading. Only one percent so far,” Sean answered.
It would take forever. But Declan wasn’t supposed to be back from Vegas until tomorrow, and the club was closed on Mondays, with no deliveries in the afternoon.
“You think we’ll find anything on there about his relationship with Konstantin?” Sean’s voice popped into my ear.
Konstantin. A man I hated more than Declan. A lot more.
“How many times have we caught Declan and Konstantin meeting on tape? Five times now? We need more than a little video footage of them just being seen together, though,” Blake came on the line, and his announcement had me rolling my eyes.
I didn’t need a reminder as to why I’d been playing the good little secretary for Declan for so long. “I sure hope we find something soon. Otherwise, this whole charade will have been a colossal waste of time.” I rubbed my sweaty palms against my jeans and waited. There was no point in attempting any of the desk drawers or filing cabinets in the room. Not only did they require a key, but I also doubted Declan would leave a paper trail of his criminal activities. Hell, even the computer was a longshot, but we had to try.
The Hidden Truths Series Box Set Page 54
