by Bell, Shanna
“I need to know you’re not being tracked,” Alfie added.
“Tracked by whom?”
Alfie gave him a look Luca was becoming painstakingly familiar with—one of sympathy, like he was a poor sap who didn’t know a damn thing. It was the Tess look. He didn’t care for that look. Not one bit.
“The feds, Homeland Security, CIA, you name it,” Alfie whispered. “They know we’re not alone, but they’re keeping it from us. I need to be sure you’re not sent by their ruler.”
How the fuck had he ended up in a room, which was practically a broom closet, discussing alien overlords?
Tess patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much. This is one of those times your big bucks won’t seal the deal.”
“Money’s the root of all evil!” Alfie yelled, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. “It’s what took Loki from me.”
Loki? He wasn’t even going to ask.
Tess found it necessary to tell him anyway. “His cat,” she said. “Alfie has lost his cat.”
Grinding his teeth, he let go of her and took off his clothes. Tess continued stripping as well. His eyes were focused on Alfie. One wrong look at Tess’ glorious nakedness, and he would take the man out. Computers and aliens be damned.
Alfie seemed solely focused on alien tech though. He nodded and gestured they could get dressed.
Luca assessed the past week. Almost being gunned down by the Terminator, getting into a fight with bikers, and now this loon. He wondered how his life had spun this out of control. He’d only been a free man for just over a week, and already chaos was following him.
His gaze went to what he suspected to be the epicenter of said chaos: Tess Gibson. She was a menace. A curse. He’d easier deal with the seven plagues of Egypt.
“Are we done now?” he wanted to know. “Can you get whatever you need so we can leave?”
When Alfie started crying, Luca had a feeling they weren’t nearly done yet.
“We can’t leave without saving Alfie’s prized cat.”
“Come again?”
“Alfie’s cat,” Tess repeated, giving him a look as if he were the one being weird for not understanding her. “The poor thing is the love of his life.”
“A cat?”
She nodded. “Yes. His ex stole his cat. You must understand that he can’t think of anything but Loki right now.”
“Loki?”
“Yes. He’s named after the one from The Avengers. He’s a Norse god and one of the most misunderstood men in the Marvel universe. He actually has a good heart, but he’s got some daddy issues. Then again, who hasn’t? So what if he tried to enslave the world by cooperating with an alien race? He only wanted to get Odin’s attention. The second Thor needed him, he was right there, fighting by his side.”
Maybe he’d died and gone to hell. Or walked right into a wormhole and ended up in an alternate universe.
“Can we please focus?” His knuckles were burning, his head was pounding, even his eye sockets hurt. “You said you needed to get inside this bar to get your gear. I got you inside the fucking bar. Now you tell me I have to go chase after a cat?”
“A prized cat,” she corrected him. “Loki has won several beauty contests, which is why Alfie’s ex abducted him. We can’t leave Loki in her hands. She will sell him to the highest bidder, just to spite Alfie. The poor cat might end up in a loveless home. So, you see, to get Alfie to cooperate, I have to get him out of his depressed funk. And to do that, I have to reunite him with Loki.”
He gave her a look that, according to his former PA, had once made his personnel run. It had broken grown ass men into sobs. A look that could make lakes freeze over.
Unfortunately, that look bounced right off Tess’ big, hazel eyes. That smart mouth in a small package wasn’t going to back down.
Shit. Maybe he was losing his touch. Right along with my mind. Why else would he be running around town, fighting bikers, stripping to prove he wasn’t abducted by aliens, and now, apparently, going to save a cat.
Gibson.
Tess Gibson.
To be fair, she had warned him that he would rue the day he met her. Guess today was that day.
***
Where else would Alfie’s wife—ex—live but in a trailer park? And what else would the trailer be surrounded with but mud and dog poo?
When Tess walked up to the door, he blocked her with a stretched arm. “This time, we do it my way.”
“You say that as if my way doesn’t work.”
“It doesn’t. It so doesn’t. So far, nothing with you ever happened the easy way. There will be no more superhero talk, or Free Willy stuff. We do this the old-fashioned way.”
“You mean you’re going to throw money at it?”
“Damn straight.”
“That’s very disappointing. You do know that not everything in this world can be solved with money, right?”
“First of all, that’s not true. Apart from health, pretty much everything can be solved with money. And second, I don’t give a shit about Alfie’s ex and their love for a damn cat. I have one goal.”
She sighed. “Yes. One goal only. To take revenge on the people who got you in jail.”
“Exactly.”
He clenched his jaw when he almost stepped in a turd.
Tess looked over at him as she knocked on the door. “Not exactly a place for your cashmere slacks, is it?”
“For once, I’d love for you to know a sane person. Someone who actually lives in a house.”
She snorted. “That’s your first mistake. Thinking that only sane people live in homes. My experience has taught me the opposite. The bigger the house, the crazier the person. In fact, you being a bit of a snob is probably one of the reasons you were targeted by Cruz and the people he worked with in the first place.”
“Ah yes, your little theory about my incarceration being part of a big conspiracy. What was it again? A black hat hacker goes after the rich of the world. What was his name?”
“Onyx,” she said softly.
“Right. This Onyx spotted me because I invested in a pharmaceutical company. Then, this person made Grace and Cruz team up with him to get me into jail as a punishment.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“You don’t say.”
Oddly, she didn’t look disappointed, merely relieved.
“Well, don’t ever say I didn’t tell you the truth, Mr. High and Mighty.”
Ah, there she was with her barbed tongue. His gaze swept back to said plump tongue and before he knew it, he’d swiped a raindrop from her bottom lip.
Her eyes turned dark. An expression he had familiarized himself with. It happened when she got aroused, when she got wet. Fuck. He couldn’t go there. Not now. They were on a damn mission.
“Luca… I—”
Whatever she wanted to say got stuck in her throat because the door finally opened. A pretty little brunette stuck her head through the door. She wore ripped jeans and a tee in all the colors of the rainbow.
He gave Tess a stern ‘leave it to me’ look. “Mrs.…” Shit, he didn’t even know her full name. “Alfie?”
“It’s Fishburn. Mrs. Carrie Fishburn.” Her eyes watered. “That is, for as long as it lasts. I’m getting divorced. What can I do for you?”
“I’m here to buy your cat.”
“You want Loki?” Then her eyes narrowed. “Did Alfie send you? He did, didn’t he? Well, you go and tell that old man I’m not selling him. I don’t care how much you offer!” Then she slammed the door in their faces.
Tess gave him a pointed look. “I’d say that went well, but—”
“But you’d be lying,” he finished her sentence.
“Exactly. So, now what? Are you going to ‘make her an offer she can’t refuse’?” she added, with air quotes. “Or slip a note with numbers underneath the door until she eventually knuckles under?”
She had the oddest ideas sometimes. “No, Tess, I’m going to give her wha
t she wants.”
“Obviously, she wants to keep the cat. I’d say she already has what she wants. She didn’t want your money.”
“Ah, Tess. Your brain is like a library, but you have no idea about the human heart.”
“I know everything there is to know about the human heart,” she disagreed.
“Oh, I bet you can tell me everything about its physiology. How many veins it has, how many times it beats in a minute. But that’s all biology. What I’m talking about, and what Mrs. Fishburn suffers from, is a broken heart. That can’t be saved by a cardiologist. It needs something else.”
She put her hands on her hips. It was a stance she used when she got annoyed. It was great to be on the receiving end of it ‘cause it meant that, for a change, he was the one doing the annoying instead of getting annoyed. How the tables had turned.
“I really hate it when you get that condescending tone.”
“Likewise,” he fired back.
Her eyes turned into slits. “Fine. Then tell me, how are you going to mend her broken heart? How would you even know what she needs to get it fixed?”
“Easy, little spitfire. I’ll learn by just asking her.” He knocked on the door three more times until it opened again.
“What?” This time, Carrie wasn’t alone. The cat was in her arm.
Never before had Luca seen an uglier feline. It was tiny, thin, and had mean-looking eyes, as if he was plotting to take over the world.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot, Carrie. May I call you Carrie? It’s a beautiful name. My grandmother, may she rest in peace, had that name. She used to make me chocolate chip cookies every Sunday. You just reminded me of her.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry about your grandmother.”
Just as he’d expected, Carrie’s eyes turned soft. “Can I please come inside, so we can talk? I promise, afterwards, I will leave and never bother you again. I understand what it’s like to be going through a rough divorce.”
“You’re divorced?”
“Nope. I used to be engaged, but then she left me for another man. A man with money.”
One without the prospect of looking at twenty years behind bars.
Get out of my head, Tess.
Carrie’s eyes grew wider and he knew he had her hooked. After that, it only took an hour to tell her his life story while she served them iced tea. With chocolate chip cookies.
CHAPTER 18
TESS
As they drove back to Luca’s place, Tess let out a relieved breath. She considered herself an animal lover, but that damn cat had hated her. The ball of fur had battled her all the way over to Alfie’s place. For some reason, it constantly wanted to jump on Luca’s lap.
Of course, the cat had no idea that Luca was a silver-tongued demon in disguise. The kind that would say anything to get a poor woman hand over her cat to him. It hadn’t even cost him a single dollar. He’d just told her a sob story. To be fair, he hadn’t lied to Carrie. In fact, he’d told her exactly why he needed the cat. Then they went back to Alfie to reunite the two of them. To him, Luca had told another story, this time from a slightly different point of view, about how important a good woman was. How he should worship the ground Carrie walked upon, because she wasn’t really interested in the cat. All she’d apparently wanted was Alfie.
He had surprised the hell out of her by saving both Loki and a marriage. Yes, he was filled with a hunger for vengeance, but there was more to him. Perhaps he wouldn’t turn into Vader after all. Maybe he would choose the way of the Jedi, and stay Anakin. Which would make him even more dangerous to her, for she was a sucker for Anakin.
She needed to put a firewall around her heart, stat. ’Cause she had no business falling for Luciano Detta.
“How long will it take for you to assemble your gear?”
“A few hours, tops. Once I have my programs working, the second Cruz shows his face in front of a camera, I should be able to trace him.”
“Good. Hopefully it won’t take more than a few days to find him.”
She was going to need every second of those days. First and foremost, she needed the time to cover her tracks, and keep Onyx off her back. Luca might not believe her about Onyx, but to Tess, he was very real.
Then maybe you shouldn’t have told him about Onyx, as if discussing a cooked-up conspiracy.
I was scared!
No, you wanted to come clean but you chickened out when you should’ve told him about your part in the story.
Truer words hadn’t been spoken. Thing was, she had a system of how she dealt with certain situations. When she was pissed, she played Call of Duty. When she wanted to relax, she hopped on a bike on Mario Cart. But this? How was she supposed to prepare for having to face the loathing and hate in Luca’s eyes? The worst thing was that deep in her heart, she knew why she couldn’t tell him the full truth. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere between her twenty-second hug and rescuing a cat, she had fallen for Luciano Detta.
Well, crap.
***
All good things truly came to an end.
Tess stared at the little red dot on her screen. It had been less than twenty-four hours, and already the map showed her Cruz’s last location. Her mini-vacation was over.
She put her mug of hot chocolate on her desk. Staring at the screen, her elevated spirit plummeted by the second. It was close to midnight. She still hadn’t mustered up the courage to tell Luca of her role in all the evil that had befallen him.
Another bleep followed. This time, it was on her phone.
King of Spades. Shit.
The last call. Onyx’s last warning to back off.
Tonight might be their last night. Onyx was closing in on her.
Be brave, Tess.
Be the Force.
Don’t live with regret.
Carmen’s words had struck a chord in her. Not being with Luca the way she truly wanted would make her regret it. Forever.
She took a shower and went over to his room. Even though she knew how the night was going to end, she felt nervous. Like she was going to take on the last boss in Mortal Combat, and had only half her blood left.
***
Luca was already lying in bed. How convenient.
She took off her bathrobe, which left her totally naked. The smoldering heat that flashed in his eyes assured her he liked what he saw. Another thing she loved about him. He didn’t make her feel self-conscious at all. In all their make out sessions, he had adored her curves and especially her slightly out of proportion butt. According to him, her ass was her best asset.
He dropped the magazine he was reading and watched her sit on the bed next to him.
Her hands automatically went to his chest, then to his arm, sliding all the way back to his stomach. Never before had she considered a man’s body her property, but she did with him. And tonight, she decided to feast on him.
How to do this? Tell him she wanted to go all the way? Perhaps she should just keep it casual and sexy.
“So, I’ve been reading up on gay romance, and—”
Luca made a choking sound. “You’ve been what?”
Okay, obviously casual and sexy wasn’t her thing. She was more of the type to blurt things out.
Her fingers trailed over his tight stomach. “I want to reciprocate. Do to you what you did to me. Give you pleasure.”
“Aha. And so, you’ve been, um… doing research?”
She frowned. “Of course. How else would I know what to do? Since practice didn’t exactly make perfect, I’ve decided to hit the books.”
“Gay romance books?”
“Yes. Steamy gay romance written by a male author, to be more specific. If anyone knows how to write a sex scene from a male point of view, it should be him, right? I mean, no woman alive can know how a man feels pleasure like a man.”
He cupped her cheek. “You know, every time I think that there’s nothing else you can say or do to surprise me, you prove me wrong. You, Tess Gibs
on, are like an onion. You have so many layers, I don’t think I will ever figure you out.”
“Speaking of layers,” she said, as she slowly peeled off his boxers. “Apparently, men have layers of nerves on certain parts of their bodies.” She straddled his hips and slowly cupped his dick. He was already semi-hard, pulsing in her hand.
Luca folded his hands behind his head. “You don’t say? And where might those nerves be?”
“Why don’t I show you, instead of telling you?” Lowering herself over his body, she made a place for herself between his legs. On her way down, she flicked his nipples, enjoying the hiss that came out of the back of his throat. It got to her every time. Every lick, every nibble at his nipples, made her feel more confident, more capable.
She supposed that was Luca’s superpower. He made her feel like she could do anything. There were no taboos. Never before had she felt this comfortable with a man.
Slowly, oh so slowly, she kissed her way down, following the trail of hair that went to his special place.
He hissed when she kissed the tip of his dick. Then she started licking. Wetting the palm of her hand first, just as Luca had taught her. Nice and easy. She didn’t want to think of the time she almost bit him in the family jewels.
Then she descended lower, pushing her butt down and spreading his legs. When she reached his balls, loving on them with her lips and tongue, he made that sound again. It was the most beautiful sound in the world. She looked up to see he had closed his eyes. His head was rolling from the left to the right, a light frown between his brows.
“Yeah, right there,” he hissed. “That’s the spot.”
One by one, she took his balls in her mouth, all the while pumping his dick. He was rock-hard. This had been the easy part. Now, she had to practice what she’d read.
Her lips kissed his sack, then went to the small place right below his balls. He stiffened when she kissed around his anus.
“What are you doing?” His voice was hoarse.
He didn’t jump up though, and she decided to take that as a positive sign.
Her tongue drew circles around him. When he hissed and started to close his legs, she placed her shoulders between his knees. He took the hint and kept his legs spread.
