Landon's Desire (Book Three of The Pulse Series 3)

by Rose, Jennifer

  He didn’t hear Carl come into the room, too engrossed in what he was doing.

  “Why do you have a picture of your toes?” Carl asked over his shoulder.

  Landon reached his arm back grasping the nape of Carl’s neck and pulling him in for a kiss. “How do you know they’re mine?”

  “I’d know those toes anywhere, so?” Carl sat beside him on the bed.

  “I’m practicing taking pictures with this,” Landon held up the lighter. “It’s a camera, pretty awesome huh?”

  “It is…I take it Johnson gave it to you?”

  “Don’t sound so worried, he gave me this too,” Landon showed him the belt buckle.

  “I hate belt buckles,” Carl said.

  Landon smiled, remembering their first night together and Carl’s awkward moment with the belt, he then shook his head getting back to the conversation before he ended up attacking Carl.

  “It has a microphone in it. If anything happens or things get weird, Johnson will have his men in there in a matter of minutes.”

  “I’d feel better if I was going with you,” Carl confessed.

  Placing his hand on Carl’s chest, he pushed him down onto the mattress and straddled his hips, pinning his hands over his head and peppering a mass of kisses over his face and neck.

  Carl struggled and laughed. “Stop fucking around I’m trying to be serious,”

  “I don’t need serious right now, Babes, I need your back on this,” Landon said, with pleading eyes. “We need to be a united force. I have to know you’re behind me one hundred percent and that you are here where you’re safe. I can’t do this worrying about you too, I can’t work like that.”

  Eyeing Landon, he realized Landon was talking about going it alone, instead of having someone else at his side, in fear of something crazy happening. It must have been awful for him to lose someone the way he did, someone that counted on him and he equally counted on.

  “Did you love Steve?” Carl asked.

  “Yes, I loved him very much.” Landon affirmed, releasing Carl’s hands and resting his elbows on either side of Carl’s head. He played with the curls above Carl’s ear and smiled. “Loved being the operable word, I…”

  “You what?” Carl asked, pulling Landon’s shirt from his waistband, mapping up the warm skin of his back.

  “I better let you get back to work,” he said, rolling off of Carl and offering his hand to help Carl to his feet.

  Embracing his arms around Landon’s middle, he put his cheek against Landon’s cheek and whispered into his ear, “One hundred percent of you better come back to me in one piece Landon Kyle.”

  ***

  The image reflected in the mirror showed a well-dressed, good looking, confident man. But inside, Landon’s stomached churned restlessly with nerves. It had been a long time since he did anything like this, the last time he was merely a participant set up in a restaurant to watch while a drug deal went down and the bad guys were arrested, uneventfully.

  A boring three hours he’d never get back.

  This was not going to be anything like that.

  They had already said their goodbyes, because having Carl hanging around was causing him to seriously lose concentration. He needed his mind one hundred percent in the game.

  His phone sounded and he quickly answered.

  “Kyle,” he said, after looking at Johnson’s number.

  “Ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said, taking a deep breath and adjusting his tie in the mirror.

  “Once you get here we’ll do a quick sound test and remember,” Johnson said. “The code word is wicked headache.”

  Landon laughed. “I already have one, thanks.”

  “We have a few men posing as waiters on the inside and few outside,” he said. “This is some swanky house this guy lives in. We’re in a moving van at the house across the street.”

  “How did you manage that?”

  “The place is for sale, the nice real-estate agent was more than happy to cooperate.”

  “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” Landon said, and hurried downstairs.

  His eyes lit up the moment Landon strolled into the club, he grinned and walked over, taking Carl’s hand in his, giving him a peck on the cheek.

  “Do you have any idea how beautiful you look in a suit? Mmm...,” Carl hummed.

  “Thanks. I only have a minute, Babes, but I wanted to give my man a kiss before I left.”

  Carl loved it when he called him his man, made him feel owned; he liked the idea of Landon taking possession of him. He loved…

  “Be careful,” Carl said, kissing his lips hard against Landon’s, breaking his thoughts. “I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.”

  A huge smile spread across Landon’s face. “Great…I’m getting hard and have to get through the night like this,” he leaned in and whispered in Carl’s ear. “Keep the bed warm, I’ll be as fast as I can.”

  He winked.

  “You better be…oh, and don’t have any fun, I mean it!”

  Landon kissed Carl before heading to the back door to fetch his car, rattling his keys and whistling.

  ***

  At the rear of the property stood two perfectly erected white marquees, one consisting of three walls of every food imaginable, and the other featuring a live band, a large well-stocked bar and dance floor.

  Landon walked slowly around the buffet tables helping himself to a few jumbo shrimp from a giant clam shell sculpted in ice. Silver chafing dishes offered an assortment of pastas, vegetables, potatoes cooked four different ways and enough meat to feed a small nation. There was even a whole pig with its head still attached and an apple in its mouth. There was a cluster-fuck of smells blending into one nauseating stench, Landon moved on without touching any of it.

  The final table was every kid’s fantasy come true, with dozens of goldfish bowls filled with every single confectionary imaginable at one end, and a chocolate lovers heaven at the other, complete with heart shaped brownies, cupcakes and tarts. Tall glasses had been layered with fluffy vanilla, strawberry and chocolate mouse and topped with bright red maraschino cherries. Landon plucked one off the top and popped it into his mouth, chewing as he left the tent.

  As Landon walked into the dance marquee with its fairy light lit ceiling and music blaring at the far end, he walk over to the bar and requested a glass of ice, a glass of ginger ale and a shot of whiskey. The bartender complied, handing him the three glasses and watching as Landon dipped his finger into the whiskey rubbed it around the rim of the glass with ice cubes and added a splash of ginger ale.

  “Cheers,” Landon said, slipping a twenty dollar bill into the tip jar.

  “Thanks.”

  Landon chose the great outdoors over the loud music and crowded dance floor. By his estimation, there had to be close to a hundred people in attendance and probably a houseful too.

  “Landon.”

  A cloud of heavy cigar smoke and the voice that sent the taste of acid to the back of Landon’s throat, alerted him that Briggs had spotted him.

  “Briggs.”

  “Let’s not be so formal, Landon,” Briggs kissed his cheek. “Call me Michael.”

  He blinked a few times as his stomach rolled.

  “Michael.”

  “I’m so glad you came. Did you have something to eat? Can I get you a drink?”

  “I have one,” Landon held up his glass.

  Briggs snatched the near empty glass from his hand and sniffed it. “Whiskey and ginger,”

  “I’ll go with you,” Landon said, following after Briggs.

  “The same again,” Landon told the bartender, making sure he saw him slipping another twenty into the jar.

  “You got it,” the bartender said, tipping his head with a smirk. “And you sir?”

  “A rum and coke,” Briggs said, his eyes fixed on Landon. “I take it your friendship with the bartender is finished?”

  “Excuse me?” Landon
asked, taking a cautious sip from his drink detecting the slightest hint of whiskey on the rim of the glass.

  “When you agreed to come tonight, I assumed the two of you are not seeing each other anymore. I’m glad, sorry if I’m being harsh, but I don’t want there to be any obstacles in our way.”

  Briggs was enemy number one, but Landon had to remember he was playing a part and had to give Briggs a false sense of security if he was going to take him down. It had to be tonight, he couldn’t do this for an extended period of time. Playing the part of Briggs’ boyfriend wasn’t a possibility. His mind shifted for a moment to Carl, lying breathless beneath his weight while he pounded into him.

  “Yeah, well I don’t want to talk about him,” Landon said. “Fresh start and all.”

  “Here’s to fresh starts and new friendships,” Briggs tapped his glass to Landon’s and took a long draw from his glass. “Shall we find a quiet little corner where we can be alone?”

  Wicked headache was sitting on the tip of his tongue, as his heart started racing and he downed the rest of his drink to calm himself.

  Briggs placed his hand at the small of Landon’s back. Landon’s mind was thinking of excuses he could use so as not to be alone with Briggs.

  “I know you,” an overly zealous voice said to his right.

  Alarm had him turning to find a tiny little redhead smiling up at him, somehow she looked familiar. Relieved that he hadn’t been exposed and he wasn’t going to be left alone with Briggs as long as he engaged in conversation with her, he smiled back.

  “You are...?”

  “Molly, I’m the maid of honor,” she reminded him. “You took us to the bachelor party, you’re Leonard, right?”

  “Close, I’m Landon.”

  “That’s right, Luscious Landon,” she giggled.

  “I’ll get us fresh drinks,” Briggs said, clearly frustrated, walking back to the bar.

  “Come say hi to Eliana,” Molly said, tugging his arm. “She’s inside opening gifts. Did you meet her fiancé Tyler? You have to meet him, he’s such a doll and he loves her so much, he’s taking her to Paris for their honeymoon.”

  This was the break he needed; he could survey the house, see if he had a chance at all of getting into the office and get away from Briggs.

  “Lead the way, Molly.”

  She looped her arm into his and talked incessantly along a cobblestone path to the house. All the while Landon smiled and nodded his head as if listening to her drone on about the wedding and flying to Monaco, as he studied his surroundings.

  Once inside the house, Molly led them to the living room where a dozen or so people were gathered around the happy couple, who were tearing open ornately wrapped presents.

  “Look who I found, El,” Molly announced, pulling Landon into the group.

  “Hello again, Landon,” Eliana said, as she stood and kissed him on the cheek. “It’s good to see you. My father was so excited you accepted his invitation tonight. Thank you for coming.”

  “You look lovely,” Landon said, steering the conversation in a different direction. “This must be Tyler?”

  “Tyler, this is Landon,” Eliana made the introduction. “My dad’s date tonight.”

  Landon wanted to be sick as he shook the young man’s hand. “Nice to meet you Tyler, I hope you will both be very happy together.”

  Tyler beamed as he draped his arm over Eliana’s shoulders and pulled her into his side, they looked like the ideal couple, well bread and reeking of daddy’s money. They’d no doubt live in a stately house that daddy paid for, have two point five children, a dog, and cat and at the end of the day, he’d become bored with her bratty demands and have an affair with his secretary. Thenceforth, she’ll file for divorce, take him for everything he has and move on to husband number two who will also have a seedy affair and then look out hubby number three.

  It was inevitable.

  “If you will excuse me,” Landon said, bowing out of the room while he had the chance.

  Walking through the kitchen where he nodded to a few guests deep in private conversations as he stepped into the hall. Landon’s eyes gazed up at the camera in the hall noting the red light was off.

  Bonus, he thought.

  He sauntered along the hall, his targeted door in sight, when the washroom door across the hall opened and two girls came out giggling and laughing. He nodded as they passed and waited until they were out of sight before trying the handle to the office door.

  It was unlocked and opened easily, even though his hands were shaking like he was going through withdrawal. His slipped in the door and closed it quietly behind him.

  He could hear muffled voices and the bass of the music playing outside and the ticking from the clock on the wall, which mimicked his heart thudding wildly.

  The room was dark except for a green banker’s light on the desk, illuminating its clean surface. The papers Landon had come across before were gone, he wasn’t at all surprised.

  He searched the perimeter of the room for false panels in the wooden paneled walls, a safe hidden behind a picture and anything that might contain some sort of switch that would reveal a hiding place.

  The desk unfortunately gave him no more to go on than his own at home. Each drawer containing the usual office supplies, a stapler, pens, pencils, odd papers and letters of a personal nature, but nothing that spelled out criminal activity. He spun round in the chair viewing the bookcase on the back wall.

  Behind the desk the built in bookcase housed collections of untouched books, a few ornaments and a fancy cigar box with a very expensive bottle of Dalmore 62 displayed in a glass case. Landon was well impressed.

  He opened the two doors underneath the bookcase to find a safe and beside it a filing cabinet, both neatly concealed. He took a deep breath and opened the top drawer revealing dozens of folders. The usual inventory type paperwork, household financial records etcetera, nothing out of the ordinary, and then he opened the bottom drawer and grinned.

  Labelled in bold italics, private stood out like a sore thumb, begging to be snooped through.

  “Mr. Briggs, you’re fucked.” Landon whispered with a smile.

  He took the lighter camera from his pocket and laid out the folder taking picture after picture of falsified inventory lists of imported parts, the serial numbers blacked out on one copy and highlighted on the other, he quickly flipped through it, not wasting any time. Once he was done, he put everything back, slipping the lighter into his pocket and listened at the door to make sure no one would see him leave.

  He stepped into the hallway, then heard the notable sound of stiletto heels on hardwood and casually leaned against the wall, appearing as if to be waiting to use the facilities.

  A svelte blond dressed in a tight fitting emerald green sequined dress walked towards him with a smile, she changed her tiny excuse for a clutch from one hand to the other and held out an offered hand.

  “Alexandra,” she said, her acquisitive eyes trailing over him. All she needed was a line of drool at the corner of her mouth and she would have depicted the perfect cougar.

  “This is Landon,” Briggs materialized as if from nowhere, startling them both. “My date, hands off, Ally.”

  “Too bad you pitch for the other team,” she said, stroking the backs of her fingers across Landon’s jaw, “you certainly are pretty.”

  “Thank you,” Landon smirked, with a twitch in his brow.

  Briggs opened the door to his office and waved them both inside.

  “Landon, this is my ex-wife Alexandra, mother of the bride.”

  “I didn’t realize you were married,” Landon said.

  “My having a daughter didn’t give it away?” Briggs asked, taking three crystal glasses from his desk drawer and setting them on the desk.

  “Gay men adopt, hire surrogates, so I hear,” Landon informed him.

  “That’s true, but I guess I should have told you I’m bi-sexual.” Briggs laughed, as he uncapped a bottle of Macallan and
poured a small mount into each glass. “To endless possibilities.”

  Landon scowled and threw back his shot, turning over the empty glass and setting it on the desk. “I’ve had enough. I’ll bid you both good night and see myself out.”

  “Tisk, tisk, just Landon,” Briggs said, as he sat down at his desk and pressed a button on his phone. “You can’t leave yet, the parties only begun.”

  “Oh, fuck,” Alexandra said, rolling her eyes and filling her glass to the brim.

  Landon looked to her, confused. She raised her brow and shrugged her shoulders with a bored to death look, and sat in one of the large arm chairs in front of the desk.

  “You’ve been a very naughty boy,” Briggs said.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Landon asked, as beads of perspiration formed on his upper lip.

  The terrifying thought that he was sunk, that he had been found out while snooping, had him cursing himself internally for being a bumbling idiot, thinking he could outsmart someone like Briggs.

  Wicked headache.

  “Seems you have a thing for bartenders,” Briggs said, taking a sip of his scotch. “Care to tell me what you’re up to?”

  “I’m not up to anything,”

  “Then why would you have the bartender rim your glass with whiskey?” Briggs asked.

  Sheer terror traveled up Landon’s spine, he played it as cool as possible taking the seat beside Alexandra, crossing his ankle over his knee and sitting back.

  “For the taste of course,” he explained. “You know I’m not a big drinker.”

  “Oh honey, you may as well confess, he knows,” Alexandra said. “He’s got spies all over the place, if you pissed in his petunias, he knows it.”

  “Knows what?” Landon asked, playing stupid and stood as the door opened and the same two goons that accompanied Briggs to Pulse appeared.

  “I’m leaving, you’re fucked,” Landon snarled, as he stepped towards the door.

  “No just Landon, you are,” Briggs announced and snapped his fingers. “Make sure he’s not wired.”

  One goon held Landon while the other emptied his pockets onto the desk, his wallet, spare change and the lighter sat on Briggs’ desk. Landon easily wrestled free, knocking one of the goons to the floor while the other took a stance in front of him, ready to fight. Landon stepped forward and felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, right before everything went black.