Dark Nights Dangerous Men

by Elisabeth Naughton, Cynthia Eden, Katie Reus, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, Joan Swan

  * * * * *

  Lizzy fidgeted with her hands as she waited for her parents’ gate to recede and let them up the driveway. She wasn’t necessarily worried about her parents since they had top of the line security and a giant wall surrounding their estate, but she still needed to see them. Even if she dreaded telling them what had happened with Benny. It would give them more ammunition against her brother, but they had a right to know. And she’d never been particularly good at lying to her mother anyway. So while she knew she could keep it a secret for a little while, eventually she’d slip up and it would create more drama from her parents later. Something she’d rather deal with now than in the future.

  As they pulled under the stone covered entryway by the front of the palatial house, her chest tightened even more. This was it. Part of her wished she’d let Porter take her straight to his place but she couldn’t be a coward.

  “Hey. You okay?” Porter reached out and lightly brushed her cheek with his knuckles. The action took her off guard, as did the concern in his eyes. Okay, the concern wasn’t really surprising, but she couldn’t take how sweet he was being. It only reminded her of how amazing he was. Sure he was dominating and sometimes a little pushy, but when she needed him, he was there for her.

  Her throat tight, she nodded and turned away because she didn’t trust her voice. No, she wasn’t okay, but getting this over with as fast as possible was the best way to go. Like ripping off a band aid. When it was done she’d be going back to Porter’s place. The thought of being cooped up alone with him was terrifying on too many levels. Part of her was looking forward to it more than she should, especially considering the circumstances. But the other part, the part that lived in the real world, knew that her emotions were high right now and if anything physical happened between them it would be a mistake they’d both regret.

  Moments after she rang the doorbell, the oversized, ornate, custom-made door flew open. Abigail, the older woman who kept order in her parents’ house, let out a yelp of delight. “Lizzy! You don’t come by here enough.” She quickly pulled Lizzy inside and into a tight embrace.

  The petite, dark-haired woman Lizzy considered a second mother finally stepped back and looked her up and down with a critical eye. She frowned, like she always did when she saw her. “You’re too skinny.”

  Lizzy bit back a smile at Abigail’s standard phrase—she also told her brothers they were too thin when they came by. Turning to Porter, she said, “Porter, this is Abigail. She takes care of everything around here.” And she did. When Lizzy and her brothers had been young, Abigail had watched all of them when her parents worked—which had been very often. When she wasn’t watching them, she was keeping an eye on every other employee in the house. Gardeners, housekeepers, it didn’t matter. If they needed something, they went to Abigail first, not her parents. Nothing ever got past her.

  After introductions were made, Abigail took Lizzy’s arm and led her toward the back of the house, to the lanai no doubt. “It’s Wednesday so your parents are still at the country club but they’ll be home soon and…”

  Lizzy half-listened when she heard Porter’s phone ring. He glanced at the caller ID then immediately answered. From the conversation she guessed he was talking to Grant. Though guilt jumped inside her, she realized this would be the perfect time to figure out what her brother’s note had meant. Benny had told her to check their secret childhood hiding place and until she knew what he’d hidden there she didn’t want to tell anyone else. Even Porter.

  “Abigail, would you mind bringing us tea and snacks out on the lanai?” she asked quietly.

  “Of course not.” Abigail patted her hand and hurried off in the direction of the kitchen.

  Once Lizzy and Porter stepped outside, she made a vague motion with her hand that she’d be right back. He frowned at her but didn’t stop talking to his brother. After walking the length of the pool, she then rounded the corner of the pool house. Without turning her head she knew she was out of Porter’s line of sight. Picking up her pace, she practically sprinted across the yard to the corner where a giant oak tree stood.

  In the past decade it had grown larger but the odd shaped knot near the base hadn’t changed much. When she and Benny had been kids they’d often hidden notes there for each other. Barely nineteen months apart in age, they’d been much closer with each other than with their other two brothers who were five and six years older.

  Reaching through the small slit opening at the center of the knot, she felt around until she grasped a small metal box. Quickly she pulled it out and opened it, not sure what to expect. Her brow furrowed at the gold key inside it but she took it out and shoved the box back where she’d gotten it.

  Opening her palm as she stood, she turned the key over. It was gold and smaller than her house key and there was an ‘M’ engraved on it, but she had no idea what it was for. Benny had said she’d know what to do with whatever she found here, but as she stared at it, she didn’t have a clue. Just great. Why did her brother have to be so cryptic?

  “Lizzy.” Porter’s deep voice caused her to freeze for a moment before she spun around to face him.

  His pale blue eyes glittered like flecks of ice as he assessed her. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing.” Shrugging, she shoved her hands in her pockets. The skirt she wore was slim fitting and she knew once she removed her hands he’d be able to see the outline of something in her left pocket but there wasn’t time to hide it anywhere else.

  She thought about telling him what she’d found but quickly brushed that idea aside. Porter had already made it clear what he thought of Benny and she wanted to find out what the key opened first. If it posed a danger to her or anyone in her family, she didn’t want to be responsible for putting it in the wrong hands.

  He stalked toward her with the grace of a jungle animal. Her heart jumped in her throat. Not because she was afraid he’d hurt her, but because of that unmistakable predatory look in his eyes. He used to look at her like that right before kissing her. The distance between them closed in seconds.

  Before she could think about backing away, his big hand closed around her waist and held firm. Instinctively she started to tug against him, but he wouldn’t let her.

  “You are a terrible liar,” he murmured before leaning so close his mouth nearly touched her ear.

  She tried to suck in a deep breath but found it impossible. Her lungs refused to expand. The spicy scent of his cologne and something that was pure Porter twined around her. It made her think of sex. Hell, everything about him made her think of that. Her breathing was shallow and all she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat. Like a bass drum it thumped in her ears with no reprieve.

  When his hands slid down her hips in a sensuous stroke, she froze. What was he doing? Her mind told her to pull back and out of his embrace before they did anything stupid. But it was hard to care about reason when he was holding her so tight, when she could practically feel the sensual energy pulsing from him. She started to place her hands on his shoulders until she realized what he intended. Then it was too late. He’d reached into her pocket and plucked the key out.

  His eyes glinted with frustration and a touch of anger. “You want to tell me what this is?”

  Rage and embarrassment burned inside her that he’d used her attraction to him against her. She could feel her cheeks flame. She’d been about to throw her arms around him when he’d simply been feeling her up for that key. Despite her heated face, she held his gaze. “Not particularly.”

  “Then why’d you lie?”

  “I—”

  “What. Is. This?” Each word was punctuated and precise.

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know, okay?”

  “Where did it come from?”

  The note her brother had left said not to trust anyone but Porter wasn’t just anyone. And he had resources she didn’t. “If I tell you, you have to promise you won’t tell your brothers…Or your father or anyon
e at Red Stone.” She figured covering all her bases was the smartest thing she could do under the circumstances. Porter was smart and would figure out a loophole if she let him.

  He stared hard at her, his eyes turning glacier cold for a moment. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He glanced down at the key and turned it over in his hand. His expression was thoughtful. “I’m pretty sure this is a safe deposit box key because I have one just like it. Is this from your brother?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” he muttered. When she didn’t say anything else, he growled at her. “Do you know why Orlando came after you? I can’t believe you’re holding back information when your best friend could have been hurt today.” There was no hiding the disgust in his voice.

  She jerked back. His words were like a slap across the face, stinging and brutal. She would have never done anything to endanger Mara or…anyone. “I told you I don’t anything about Orlando’s motives and I’m not lying!”

  “Then what aren’t you telling me?” He stared at her as if he didn’t quite believe her.

  Lizzy rubbed her palms against her skirt. “Benny left me a note the other night. All he said was that he left me something in our childhood hiding place and that I’d know what to do with it. But I don’t. I have no clue what that key goes to or if it’s a safe deposit box key like you said. And if it is, I don’t even know what bank it’s for.”

  Porter shoved the key in his pocket. “Do you still have that note?”

  Her lips pulled into a thin line as she nodded. “Yeah, it’s in my purse.”

  “Good. I want to see it now.” There was none of the softer, gentler side of Porter she’d come to know in his voice or his expression. Right now he was angry with her and she wasn’t sure that she blamed him. She doubted there was anything in the note he’d be able to decipher that she hadn’t, but a twinge of guilt slipped into her veins. Maybe she should have told him about it from the beginning. She shouldn’t care what he thought about her but right now she hated the mistrust she saw in his eyes. Aloofness or annoyance she could deal with, but this was a side of Porter she never wanted to see again.

  * * * * *

  Orlando slammed the door to his office shut and headed for the balcony of the second story room. Even the perfect sunny view of the Atlantic did nothing to calm his rage.

  None of his men could find Benito Martinez. At least part of his plan to scare Elizabeth had gone into effect but with Benny missing he lost a lot of leverage with her. He couldn’t threaten to hurt her brother if he wasn’t around. Not to mention Benny still owed him money.

  Yes, it was a pittance compared to what he was bringing in monthly but in this business he couldn’t appear weak. Especially since he’d just taken over for his dead father.

  Right now people in the industry were looking at him, judging him, wanting him to fail. No doubt expecting that he wouldn’t be able to fill his father’s shoes. As he blindly stared at the ocean one of his private cell phones rang in his pocket. He didn’t give this number out to many people, so even though he didn’t recognize it, he answered on the second ring. “Yeah?”

  “Hello, Orlando.”

  Speak of the devil. “Where the hell are you, Benny?”

  The other man snorted softly. “Like I’m going to tell you.”

  “I’m eventually going to find you so make things easy on yourself and—”

  “Enough. I’m not paying your money back and you are going to leave my sister alone. Forever.” Benny sounded sober and sure of himself, a very rare occurrence for this pathetic man.

  Orlando gave a sharp bark of laughter as he walked back into his office. “You just keep digging yourself into a deeper hole, amigo.”

  “I’m not your friend and I’m going to tell you exactly why you will leave Elizabeth alone. I have something of yours and unless you want me to release it to the Feds, you’ll do what I say.”

  “You have something of mine?” Doubtful. Orlando was ruthless in checking people when they came to his home. No wires, no weapons, and he had scramblers set up all around his house to make it almost impossible for the Feds or the locals to listen in on him. Not that he did much business at his house anyway. But it paid to be careful.

  “Why don’t you check that false bottom in your desk and tell me?” There was a smug satisfaction in Benny’s tone. Also something he’d never heard from the other man before.

  For the first time in as long as he could remember, Orlando experienced real fear. As Benny’s words registered, something glacial slithered over Orlando’s skin, chilling him straight to his bones despite the even temperature in the room. “What did you just say?”

  “Check it,” Benny ordered.

  Orlando’s hands actually shook as he did what the other man said. It took a few tries to get the bottom off—the seaming was impossible to see with the naked eye thanks to brilliant craftsmanship.

  His hiding spot was empty.

  A dull ringing started in his ears as if he’d been smashed in the back of the head with a bat. Benny had stolen from him?

  His father had always taught him to hide things most treasured in plain sight. Safe deposit boxes were discovered, safes could be broken into and those were often the first places anyone with any training looked. So Orlando had kept his most cherished possession close at hand—in case it needed to be destroyed. He’d always felt smug that it was hidden right under everyone’s noses.

  Now, all smugness was buried and only the rising bile in his throat remained. “You son of a—”

  “Save the threats and the curses. I just want to be left alone or I go to the Feds. But not before I make copies of what I took and send it to everyone you work with.”

  Those words almost stopped Orlando’s heart. Or at least that’s what it felt like. “When did you take it?” He wasn’t sure why he asked. That wasn’t important. But some morbid part of him needed to know.

  “When you invited me over for that fight.” Now Benny laughed, the sound sharp and cutting. “I didn’t even know if I’d find anything in your office but you have the same ridiculously expensive desk as my dad. Imagine my surprise…” He trailed off again for a moment before continuing. “I thought that was why you brought me to your house yesterday, because you knew what I’d done.”

  The other man’s words hung heavy in the air and heavier in Orlando’s heart. Getting Benny to place that large bet on the televised UFC fight had been part of Orlando’s ultimate plan to blackmail Elizabeth into aligning herself with him. Of course he’d checked everyone when they’d entered his home but when they’d left…Orlando never would have considered Benny enough of a threat to take anything of value from him. Least of all this. He’d gotten cocky and stupid in his desire to use the pathetic junkie. “You have signed your own death warrant and that of all those closest to you. I’ll start with that pretty sister of yours. But I’ll play with her for a long time before I kill her,” he growled.

  Benny sucked in a sharp breath. “Anything happens to her and I’ll not only do everything I said, I’ll post copies of it on the Internet.” The phone line went dead.

  For a moment, Orlando stared at the phone, disbelieving that Benny had actually hung up on him. Him.

  With a snarl he heaved his arm back and threw his phone across the room. It splintered into pieces against the wall before falling onto the plush carpet with a soft thud. Orlando’s hands balled into fists. He needed to break something. Namely Benny’s face.

  As he stared at his Louis XV style vintage desk he wanted to rip it apart with his bare hands, one piece at a time. The desk had been his father’s. Expensive, sturdy, masculine. He’d kept it out of respect for the man and because it had always made him feel powerful sitting behind the large thing. Now it could burn to ashes for all he cared.

  His father had been wrong and now Orlando would pay the price for it. But not if he got to Elizabeth first. No matter what Benny said, Orlando knew the deg
enerate wouldn’t let her die. He’d trade his soul before that happened.

  As he managed to calm his erratic breathing he realized that things had drastically changed. He needed Elizabeth now for more than just arm candy and he didn’t care about the collateral damage anymore. One way or another he’d find and keep her. In doing so he’d bring Benny to his death and keep all his secrets. If he didn’t and what Benny had stolen got out…Orlando was a walking dead man.

  Chapter Six

  Porter tried to keep his eyes on the road but was finding it increasingly harder to keep his focus off Elizabeth. She wore a form-fitting, strapless dark blue dress that hugged all her curves and showed off miles of sexy tanned legs. Sitting in the passenger seat next to him, her legs were crossed, causing the slit that ran up her thigh to splay open seductively. But he knew she wasn’t trying to tease him. She’d been completely distracted from the moment they’d gotten into his SUV. Probably because they’d left the relative safety of his home and she knew she wasn’t as guarded anymore.

  Even though he didn’t doubt his ability to protect her, he’d had a team of guys assigned downstairs to cover the elevator entrance from the parking garage of his condo and two guys standing guard directly outside his front door. Not subtle and definitely not a long-term option but for now it was the only choice they had.

  He had to keep Elizabeth safe.

  And if he had his way they wouldn’t have left his condo for anything in the world. Anything except his younger brother’s engagement party. Porter and Elizabeth were both in the wedding—he as the best man and she as the maid of honor. There would be extra security at the party and it was a very low key affair, not highly publicized, so he wasn’t worried about anything happening on site. It was transporting Elizabeth there that had him worried. He didn’t like bringing her out in the open.