by Sophia Rae
Once Eve and…what was his name? Hank. Yes, Hank. Once they were out of sight, Nick took one last disgusting swig of his warm beer and tossed some bills onto the bar.
With all eyes on the stage as another stripper worked the audience, Nick moved away from the chaos of the bar. He stood against the wall by the office within hearing range, but kept his eyes on the stage so he didn’t look suspicious.
“Eve, I’d like to talk to you about something,” Hank said.
“Am I in trouble?”
Nick rolled his eyes at the innocence in her tone. Trouble wasn’t the word for it. Once she’d stepped into that office, she’d upgraded herself from trouble to deep shit.
“Not at all,” Hank assured her. “In fact, you’re doing so well, I have a little side job you may be interested in.”
“Like two jobs?”
Lay off the stupid act, Eve, you’re going into overload. Nick hated standing by waiting for something to happen. At this point they didn’t even know if this operation still existed. It had been two months since the last dancer went missing. Right before Eve started dancing.
If these guys had a clue what Eve was up to, they would kill her. He had no doubt. Why had he agreed to this?
“The money is great,” Hank explained. “You would still work here, but you would also work with an associate of mine. He runs an upscale business. We like to call it an escort service.”
“I don’t know, Hank,” Eve replied.
Good girl, Nick cheered in his head. Don’t jump right for it, get more information.
“I work here nearly every night. When would your associate need me?”
“We’ll work something out,” Hank promised her in a condescending voice. “Would you like me to schedule a meeting with him?”
“Um…sure. Has he been in here to see me dance?”
“Nearly every night. His assistant just left, actually.”
Nick wanted Eve out of there. She’d found out enough for one night. If she pushed too hard, they might get skeptical.
“So what’s the name of this guy I might work for?”
Damn the woman, she just had to ask one more question. But now that she had, Nick couldn’t wait to hear it.
“Roman Burke.”
Fuck.
Nick fell back against the wall, his knees barely holding him upright. Somewhere in the distance music blared and men cheered while a tall, slender woman jerked off her Jane of the Jungle outfit. Smoke filtered over the colored lights. Impatient men yelled their orders to the bartender. Nick stood frozen, unable to do anything but concentrate on breathing.
All the while, Eve stood inside some dingy, smelly office making a date with the devil.
Nick should know. Roman Burke was his stepbrother.
Chapter Four
Keys jingled against the door and Allison had to file away her plan of action and focus on Roman. He always came at this time of the day to check on her. She’d never met a more predictable man. The sex he came for at eleven in the morning, three in the afternoon, and midnight always made her physically ill. Unfortunately, he would allow some of his workers to “enjoy” her as well.
“Darling.” His rich, baritone voice erupted from behind her. “I hear you didn’t eat your breakfast.”
Allison pasted on her most convincing smile, turned and stepped toward him. Should she tell him she’d lost her appetite once she found out she was being sold? In the matter of minutes, her life had gone from shitty to shittier.
“I’m sorry. I guess I was still full from that lovely dinner you had your chef prepare for me last night.”
When Roman Burke smiled, he didn’t look like the devil. Unfortunately, Allison intimately knew the monster that lurked behind that charming grin.
Roman Burke enchanted women. He made his way through life by becoming the master manipulator and before you knew it, he’d spun you into his web of cruel sexual acts. She’d been wound so tight, so long ago, she feared she’d never break free.
With a gentle hand, he cupped her chin and looked into her eyes. “You’re feeling all right?”
“I’m fine.” You cold-hearted bastard. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Allison slid her arms around his narrow waist through his Italian silk beige suit jacket, trying not to shudder when his strong arms pulled her against his body…and his erection. The rich, exotic scent clung to his clothes, his body and made her want to gag. Did he bathe in this shit or just continue to dab it on throughout the day? Probably both, she decided. Vain bastard.
Roman’s hands slid down her thin, cotton sundress. When he lifted the material, he fisted his hands around her ass and squeezed. Allison gritted her teeth and suppressed a scream at his bruising touch.
It never got any easier. Actually, that made her grateful, because the second being somebody’s live-in whore became easy, Allison knew she wouldn’t have any fight left.
“You know what I’m thinking?” he purred in her ear.
“I have an idea.” You’re thinking you want to get in all the fucks you can before you ship me off to some other tyrant.
Allison concentrated on the clear vase full of white orchids that decorated the antique mahogany table just over Roman’s shoulder. She concentrated on the plush carpet bunched beneath her toes. She concentrated on not throwing up due to the nerves rolling in her stomach.
She concentrated on anything other than his filthy, repulsive hands roaming all over her bare flesh. When he slipped the dress over her head, Allison stood before him completely naked.
As with every time before he began his sexual pleasures with her, he would roam his eyes over her body. Inwardly she cringed at the way his eyes took on a more evil, demented look.
He shrugged out of his jacket, laying it carefully over the burgundy wingback chair beside them. His tanned fingers came up to her shoulders as he started walking her backwards.
When her bare ass came in contact with the glass French door, she wanted to die. He intended to take her here, like this, for all the groundskeepers to see. All his guards to see. All the guests in the cottages to see.
Sick pervert.
“You don’t want to close the drapes?” she asked as she ran a fingertip along his smooth, square jaw line.
He undid his belt, unzipped his pants and freed his not-so-impressive erection. “I want everyone to see how wild you are, how passionate. I want them to know you’re mine. I want them to want you like I do.”
Like they didn’t already?
Roman had muscles on top of muscles, which only added to his stamina. The rough, intense sex always lasted a long time. Then again, one minute with Roman was too long.
With little effort, his hands circled her waist as he lifted her off the ground and onto his cock. Allison locked her ankles together, pumped her hips and made all the moans and groans to make him believe he pleasured her. She even yelled his name when she faked her orgasm—just like always.
His breath came in heavy pants against the side of her neck. Humiliation enveloped her at the thought of strange men looking up and seeing her naked ass plastered against the glass door. But what did it matter? They all knew what she was anyway.
A whore. And in a few weeks, nobody would even remember her name.
***
“Make sure she gets anything she wants,” Roman informed his guard as he left Allison’s room. “We want her to look refreshed and well cared for when she leaves here.”
The young man nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Roman needed to get back to his office and make some calls. This Eve Morgan was becoming more and more of a problem, hence the reason he insisted on meeting with her. Hank had been one of his henchmen for years. The man was a lazy slob, but a loyal employee. He assured Roman that Eve was eager for a meeting.
Now he had to make sure his meddling brother stayed away. If he had to, he’d kill him, but he really hated getting his hands dirty. He hadn’t killed single-handedly in nearly a year.
; Roman stepped into his dimly-lit office, crossed the oriental rug and took a seat in his leather chair. Eve would be a nice replacement when Allison left. Both women had bodies that would give a corpse a hard-on and Roman truly considered keeping Eve for himself. Nothing would torture her more than the knowledge that everyday for the rest of his life, she’d be having sex with the man who killed her father.
Ahh, yes, perhaps the lovely Miss Morgan would keep him company longer than any other woman. Then again, if her body was tainted by his brother’s, well, he didn’t want Nick’s leftovers.
This would be a special case, one in which he’d have to play day by day.
Roman pulled his Blackberry from his middle desk drawer and put a call in to Hank. This meeting had to get underway sooner, rather than later.
Now that he knew his meddling stepbrother was hanging around, he could get his revenge on him as well. Stupid prick, Roman thought bitterly. Always wanted to save the damn world like he was fucking Superman.
Nick had always been the golden boy, the best in school, the best in Roman’s mother’s eyes. She chose her stepson over her own flesh and blood. Nick had to pay.
Revenge was the best fuel to any fire and the second Nick stepped into the game, the flames instantly escalated. Some men needed an excuse to be vengeful, Roman didn’t need reasons. Money, women, power, those weren’t reasons or excuses, they were merely his lifestyle now.
A lifestyle he refused to give up.
***
Eve pulled on a gray tank and a pair of navy-blue boxers. She wrapped her wet hair in a towel and applied the hotel’s complimentary jasmine lotion over her arms and freshly shaven legs.
Ahh, the life of a dancer—she had to shave every day. Everywhere.
Steam billowed out of the bathroom when she opened the door and stepped out. Nick lounged on his double bed with his back against the thin, wooden headboard—the same position he’d been in when she’d gone into the shower.
After they left the club, she tried to talk to him about the upcoming meeting with this Roman character, but he hadn’t said a word. Not one. She’d waited for him to scold her or to try to talk her out of going any further. But he hadn’t.
He’d shut down.
Eve stared at his expression now. Brows drawn together, lips thin, jaw clenching. His intense concentration made her curious. Did he know something she didn’t? Had Grady called with more information?
“Nick.”
Other than the lift of his eyes, he remained motionless and tense.
“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” Eve stood at the foot of his bed, waiting for an explanation.
“Everything,” he muttered.
Eve tossed her dirty clothes she’d carried from the bathroom onto her bed. “Care to elaborate?”
“This whole mess,” he exploded, coming off the bed. “You’re getting in too deep and I think you should just take the name Hank gave you and give it to Grady. Let me, him and the feds handle this mess from there.”
Eve wanted to tell him the truth, she really did, but she needed his help and she couldn’t risk him leaving. God, she hated being caught in a position where she needed somebody, especially someone as cocky as Nick.
“I agree we should give Grady the name, but I’m not backing down.”
Nick closed the gap between them. “Eve, there comes a time when you just need to back off. Now that we have the name, you can get out of this whole ordeal. Quit the club and go back to whatever it is you used to do.”
“I used to tend bar at a titty club back in Virginia,” she said in her most convincing voice. “That’s how I know so much about stripping, and I lied and told Hank I’d done it before so he’d give me a job.”
Nick lifted a dark brow. “You tended bar at a strip club?”
“Yeah. Is there a problem?”
“No, just hard to believe, that’s all. You seem…”
Eve waited for him to finish his statement, but he just shrugged.
“I seem what?” she finally prompted.
“Too intelligent to waste your life behind a bar or up on stage taking your clothes off for other men.”
A smile split across her face before she could help it. “You think I’m intelligent? Wow, that may be the first compliment I’ve ever heard come from your mouth. If you think I’m so smart, then quit trying to talk me out of backing down. Trust me enough to know I won’t do anything stupid.”
Nick lifted his hand toward her, but dropped it just before she could feel his touch. Damn. She wanted him to touch her. It was hell being in such close quarters with him, aching for him, but knowing a sexual relationship would screw up this whole operation. Not to mention she knew absolutely nothing about seduction—even though she played the part on stage every night.
“I trust you,” he said roughly. “It’s all those unknown players in this game I don’t trust. I’m not all-knowing, Eve. If someone snuck into the back door of the club and grabbed you, I wouldn’t know it because I’m out front.”
His words sank in. Not only did he worry about her, he cared. It wasn’t what he said, but the tone in which spoke, not to mention the way he looked at her. Those hard, coal-like eyes softened; his head tilted to the side.
Against the thin cotton tank, her nipples peaked. There was no hiding the natural transformation. And she saw on his face the moment he noticed how aroused she’d become. The man had the most potent effect on her.
Nick cleared his throat and stepped back. “It’s late, Eve. Get some sleep and I’ll call Grady in the morning and fill him in.”
Even though the moment—if that’s what that fleeting second could be called—had passed, Eve waited for him to say something else. Something along the lines of, “Your bed or mine?” Yeah, like that would ever happen.
“This isn’t going to go away,” she said, propping her hands on her hips.
“What?”
She gestured between them. “This thing.”
Nick crossed his arms over his broad chest. “And what thing would that be?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Nick.” Eve took a step toward her bed, tossed her dirty clothes into the floor at her feet and pulled the tacky gold-and-green comforter back. “This sexual tension isn’t going to just disappear.”
She got into bed and propped herself up against her pillows. Nick still stood between the beds, looking down at her. He didn’t look happy.
Eve had a feeling his grouchiness had something to do with the bulge in his pants.
“We don’t even like each other,” he stated.
“What does sex have to do with liking somebody? Just because we don’t like each other doesn’t mean we don’t find each other attractive.”
Clearly uncomfortable, Nick took a step to the end of his bed and sat with his elbows resting on his knees. He looked down at the floor and sank his hands into his thick black hair.
“Fine,” he conceded, looking back up. “I’ll admit you’re attractive, but I find many women attractive. That doesn’t mean I sleep with all of them.”
“But you want to sleep with me,” she added with a grin.
“Has your ego always been this big?”
Eve shrugged. “This has nothing to do with ego. It’s the simple truth.”
When Nick came back to his feet, Eve had to suppress her giggle. She’d never imagined anything would make big, bad Nick Shaffer nervous. Then again, she’d never imagined herself being this bold about sex.
“Don’t worry,” Eve went on to say. “I want to sleep with you also, but I’m not going to.”
“Are you always this blunt?”
The strain from the past few days had caught up with her. Eve yawned, nestling further down under the thin sheet and bedspread.
“There’s no need to dance around each other, ignoring the fact we find each other attractive. Now that it’s out in the open, we can move on and work together to find this killer.”
Eve reached up and clicked th
e light off. Darkness fell over the room.
“Good night, Nick.”
***
The ice-cold spray from the shower head pelted Nick’s back.
Damn woman. He grabbed the bar of soap, scrubbing his frustrations out on his rough skin. Did she think discussing their attractions would make life easier? It sure as hell wasn’t working for him.
Now all he wanted to do was go out there, jerk her covers off and strip her naked. He wanted to run his fingers all over her firm, petite body. Then he wanted to trail his tongue along the same path until she squirmed beneath his touch.
He wanted to hear his name drift from her lips as he tasted her. He wanted to hear her scream with pleasure when she climaxed. He wanted her begging for more.
Fuck.
Nick rinsed off and stepped from the shower. Cold water didn’t even squelch his desire for Eve, and he had a feeling the urge to have her would only get worse.
Night after night he would have to watch her seductive routines on stage. That right there only gave him incentive to put an end to this mission. A mission he hadn’t wanted any part of to begin with.
Nick pulled on a pair of gray cotton shorts and slipped out the bathroom door, leaving the door ajar just a crack to see around the tiny hotel room. Eve lay on her side, facing him. Her breathing came slow and easy, and for a moment, Nick could only stare.
He’d never seen her look vulnerable before. With her full lips slightly open, her head pillowed in her hand, thick lashes falling against her pale cheek… Nick couldn’t believe the transformation she could make from a revenge-seeking vixen to a woman who appeared to be the epitome of innocence.
Careful not to wake her, Nick pocketed a key card and his cell. Because he’d asked for a room at the end of a hallway, he stepped just out the side door of the hotel to make a call. If anything happened, he would hear her scream.
Grady wouldn’t care the time of night or day. Being head of an FBI team, time didn’t factor in when there were new leads on a very important case.
