“Oh, I know all about your show and the other girls. Your beloved Mr. Grey is loose with his secrets.”
It was a gamble, but Blake was drunk and she was smart. The gambled paid off as he started to spill even more to her, but I was worried about how drunk he was getting. A man could get to a point where he would totally black out and go into a rage. Blake was that kind of a slime ball. He could barely stand, but the robust man still could have crushed her under the sheer weight of his body. She ducked around the desk again and dodged him. His beady head glistened as he struggled under the alcohol and weight of his own body. She needed to move things along, or else she would be trapped for certain.
There was a little more information I needed her to get. I watched as they played cat and mouse with each other. Every second they moved around, I wanted to leap from my car and run in there, but I couldn’t risk blowing our cover. It wouldn’t be long now before we had everything we needed to start rebuilding our future, if there was going to be one between us.
“Grey can shove it,” he stammered. “That prick thinks he’s getting some of the money, but I’m just gonna run with it. Maybe after the show, I’ll take you with me, baby.”
“Take me with you? What are you planning?” she pressed him. He was so drunk he wouldn’t even remember having sex with her if they did it. The very thought of his greasy fingers running over her perfect body was enough to make the rage come back around in full force. Without her intel though, we were sitting ducks.
“You are a cock tease!”
“No, you forced me in here and told me if I didn’t have sex with you, you would ruin my career,” she shot back.
“Who cares? You’re nothing but a singer. Just the same as the rest of them!”
“Then you won’t be taking me away tomorrow after the show?” she replied.
“The show? Nothing but a façade, sugar tits. You can come too, I guess. After you sing and those donations come rolling in, I’m gonna take all that money and get the hell out of this town. These people backing me are nothing but a bunch of morons.”
“Well,” Anna said softly. “This has been a lot of fun, but I think I’m going to go now.”
He stumbled in front of the door and glared at her. “I don’t think so, we had a deal.”
“Mr. Blake,” said Anna in a firm tone. “I don’t know much about sex, but I do know that this isn’t how it’s done. What you are trying to do is take advantage of me, and that’s not going to happen.”
“I’m done with your games, you little cock tease!” He lunged at her, moving faster than I thought possible.
That was all I needed to see. She had the intel we needed, and now her life was in jeopardy. I couldn’t wait around any longer and risk him actually touching her. Without a second thought, I darted through the back door and down the corridor, where I had seen his office before. As I ran around the final corner though, I skidded to a halt. In my rush to save her, I’d forgotten about Blake’s pet, Mr. Grey. He glared at me and cracked his neck as he took a step closer to me.
“Listen, buddy, I don’t care what kind of deal you have with Blake, but he has my girl in there, and I’m not gonna let anything happen to her.”
“If she’s in there, it’s of her own free will, so back the fuck up. I’m sure he will send her back to you when he’s all done. You see her on stage? She was practically begging for it.”
I lunged at him in a blind rage. I hadn’t felt this much anger inside me in a very long time, since I was a teen defending a boy in my town who wasn’t all there mentally. Even back then, I knew the difference between right and wrong, though I didn’t always act on it. Mr. Grey was a bully, just like the ones who’d beaten that poor kid, and I wouldn’t stand for it.
A crashing sound from inside the office made both of us turn before we could fight, and I ran for the door. Mr. Grey was right on my heels, and as I reached for the handle, he tackled me to the ground. The cold cement cracked against my skull, and the world around me started to blur.
All I could think about was Anna on the other side of the door and how she was going to make it out of there in one piece. I had promised her I would keep her safe, yet here I was, being dragged away like the common criminal she thought I was.
“I told you, Mr. Blake will send her back to you when he’s done. So why don’t you scamper on out of here like the rat you are?”
I jumped to my feet and met his gaze. “You seem to think you have the upper hand, but let me tell you a little something you don’t know about my girl in there. She can hold her own, and so can I.”
Grey laughed and started to unbutton his jacket. He was stalling for his boss. It took a con to know a con. I lunged at him for a second time, but I wasn’t going to let myself get distracted as I had before. I wouldn’t be able to help Anna if I didn’t take out Grey first. He moved quickly to the side, but I was ready for him this time. Immediately I recognized the military movements and compensated for them. I had fought soldiers before and taken them down, he would be no different.
In the back of my mind, I registered the sounds coming from the office, and I briefly wished I still had the monitor with me. Anna wasn’t screaming though, and she wouldn’t go down easily. I just needed her to hang on a little longer. Grey shifted his weight and lunged at me, throwing the first punch with a strong right hook, which connected briefly with my jaw. The blow was painful, but I’d been through worse.
Spitting out the blood, I grinned at him and swung my leg out from underneath me. He wasn’t expecting the guerrilla move and quickly lost his balance. His head hit the ground with more force than mine had, and when he struggled to stand back up, I knew the fight was almost over. He just needed one more solid blow. With catlike speed and reflexes, I leaped over to him and delivered one final blow to his jaw. His head hit the ground and his eyes closed. He wasn’t dead, but he would have one hell of a headache when he woke up.
Chapter Sixteen
Anna
He made his move, stumbling and tipping over the desk like a large beached whale. I didn’t know what to do, and the only thought I had was of the scuffle going on outside the door. I knew it was Nate coming to help me, but there was no time to wait around for a heroic rescue. Grabbing the almost empty bottle of whisky, I swung it just as Blake lunged for me and cracked it over his head. He went down fast and hard, but I could hear his heavy breathing as I stepped over him and unlocked the door.
When I saw Nate running in my direction, a surge of relief washed over me. I didn’t know what kind of man Mr. Grey was, but anyone who worked with Blake wouldn’t have helped me in my escape. Without thinking, I ran into his arms and let him hold me for a fleeting second before pulling away and gazing up at him. I couldn’t believe what I had just been through, and it was even harder to believe I was standing there with the man I swore I would hate for the rest of my life.
He took my face in his hands. “Are you okay? I was so worried about you. I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner, but this prick wouldn’t get out of the way.”
I looked past him at Grey and smiled. “It looks like you made it through okay anyway.”
“You too,” he said as he looked behind me at Blake lying in a puddle of his own vomit. “We should get out of here. I don’t know how long either of them are going to be out, but I don’t want to be around when they wake up. Especially that one, he’s a fighter.”
“Not Blake, he’s nothing but a drunken pervert. Did we get what we needed?”
Nate nodded as he took my hand and led me out the door. “Yep, you did a great job in there.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, not feeling very proud of myself. “Listen, about what I said earlier.”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about that right now. Let’s just get you somewhere safe, and we can worry about all the details later.”
“I think I want to go back to my hotel room,” I said carefully.
He squeezed my hand, but I pulled away as I climbed int
o his car. “Anna.”
“No, I’m sorry, but this has been a long night, and I don’t think either of them are going to come after me again. I just want to be alone, okay?”
“I told you how sorry I was. I never meant for you to get tied up in any of this.”
“No,” I whispered. “You didn’t expect to actually have feelings for me. That is something totally different. I’m sorry, Nate, but after everything that’s happened, I don’t know what I want right now.”
“Okay,” he said. “But I want you to call me if there is any trouble with them.”
We rode in silence to the hotel, but before I got out, I had to know what was going to happen to him. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the evidence we’d gathered wouldn’t do any good if Blake had already skipped town by the time they saw it. Even if we took it to the police right away, there was no way of knowing if the information would make it out.
“Tell me why you did it, was it just another score?” I asked him.
Nate shook his head. “No. This was going to be the last score, but that doesn’t matter now. I made some stupid decisions back in the day, and now I’m paying for them. This was going to pay off a very bad man, and then I was going to be free.”
“That sounds like another con,” I muttered.
“It’s not. I promise you that no matter what, I will never lie to you again. I wanted to get out of the game. If Blake wasn’t already going to be stealing the money, I never would have done this. I just didn’t see any other way around it.”
“Why should I trust you?” I asked him.
“Because I have no reason to lie to you. I know what you think of me, but that doesn’t matter anymore. You’ve made it clear that we are done. I’m just happy you are safe. I will drop the information off on my way home. Do you still plan on going on tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I know Blake will try and stop me, but you know what? If he knows what’s best for him, the show will go on like it was planned. He can’t change the lineup now, right?”
“Right, at least not without causing an uproar. You are a rising star, and people want to hear you sing, Anna. If he pulls you off the show now, he won’t bring in any money.”
My mind started to race as I came to a realization. This money was going to change Nate’s life. He wasn’t a bad man, but he was given an especially shitty situation. I didn’t hate him, far from it. Somewhere deep inside me, I already knew what my feelings for him were, but I was unwilling to come to terms with them just yet. I needed more time to heal, but there was something I could do to help him and put Blake away for a very long time.
“Nate, I want to help you,” I said.
He smiled at me. “You already have. Don’t worry, I always seem to land on my feet.”
“No,” I said firmly, “I want you to do the heist. Think about it. Blake will get the money either way, and I don’t want that to happen. This money was supposed to go to help veterans, not line the pockets of that swine. What do we do?”
His eyes widened in shock. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Listen, I don’t know where me and you stand, but I know I want to do this. So, what’s the plan?”
He grinned. “Give me until the morning to get something together, and I will let you know. Mind if I drive you to the big day?”
“I would really like that actually.”
“Great,” he said softly. “Promise you will let me know if you run into any problems tonight?”
“I promise. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
He nodded as I slipped out of the car and gingerly made my way back up to my room. I was exhausted; I was past that point actually. All I could think about was washing off the stench of Blake’s office and crawling into the sprawling bed. Still, a part of me wanted to call Nate and have him come back up to my room, but I knew he needed the time to get things together, and I wasn’t sure I would get any sleep if he came up. I took a quick shower before collapsing onto the bed just as my phone rang. Without thinking, I answered it.
“Hello?” I said groggily.
“You little bitch,” hissed Blake.
My blood ran cold as I bolted upright in bed. “I see you’ve come out of your drunken coma.”
“You think you and your boyfriend can pull a stunt like that and get away with it? I will end both of you.”
I sighed. “That may be, but if I don’t walk onto that stage tomorrow, you are going to have a lot of pissed-off donors. Now, I’m new to the charity business, but I don’t think pissed-off people are in a very giving mood, do you?”
“If you say one word of this to anyone, I will bury you so far in a smear campaign that you will never get out of it. You’ve got nothing, and no one is going to take your word over mine.”
“Save your threats, old man. I don’t want anything from you but my shot at being a star. You can call me the one who got away, but you and I both know that come tomorrow, the show will go on with me center stage.”
“Then you don’t plan on doing anything?”
“I don’t care about the show, I care about my future, and it seems the only way to make sure I have one is to keep my mouth shut. So, let’s make a deal: stay the hell away from me, and I will do the same for you.”
He paused for a minute, as if he was mulling over his options, but he knew I had him cornered. There wasn’t anything else for him to do. I was so tired that I didn’t care about much. I had wounded his pride but little more. A man with a skull as thick as his would be a lot harder to kill, but that wasn’t my end game. I just needed him to think I was as self-centered and uncaring as he was in real life.
“Fine, don’t screw up tomorrow. Got it?”
“Blow me,” I hissed before hanging up. I was done with him and his threats.
As I let the bed take control of my body, I realized I was a new person. I wasn’t the same timid creature that had come into Vegas a week ago. This town did have a way of changing people, and that was fine with me. Lola, Nate, and a few others had proven to me that the good people here still outweighed the bad, and in a few hours, there would be one less bad guy on the streets. My heart still ached for the girls who had come before me, including Maria. Hopefully when this whole thing was over, I would be able to help her.
“Shit,” I muttered as my phone started to vibrate. “Hey, Dad.”
“You are getting worse and worse at calling me, do you know that?”
“I know, I’m sorry. I feel like I haven’t stopped running today. How are you?”
“Be a lot better if I wasn’t crammed on this damn plane. They’ve been telling us we would be getting off for over an hour. I don’t remember Vegas being this pushy. Is this really what you want?”
“Plane?” I said as I shot up in bed.
“Yeah, honey. I thought I would surprise you, but when you didn’t check in, I started to get worried. I flew in for your big premiere!”
I swallowed back the fear and closed my eyes. I couldn’t think of a worse place for my father to be. I loved him dearly, but I didn’t want him to be caught in the middle of everything going on. He was already so protective of me, what would happen when he found out about Nate?
But there wasn’t any time to think about that. If he was in town, I needed to get to him and be with him.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he said quickly. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re always trying to take care of your old man but not this time. You plant your butt in a hotel room and get some sleep, honey. I will see you tomorrow, okay? Just wanted to let you know I was coming.”
I let out a sigh of relief and collapsed back onto the bed. “Thanks, Daddy, it means the world to me that you’re here.”
“I know it does, kiddo. How could I miss something as big as my little girl’s debut? I just know it’s going to be a show I will never forget.”
“Yeah,” I whispered as I dozed off to sleep, “that’s what I’m worried about.”
Chapter Seventeen
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Nate
“Are you ready for this?”
She nodded, but her hands kept fidgeting. “Yeah, it’s just a lot. Plus, my father is going to be there. I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“It’ll be okay. I’ve edited the footage so that it will only play from your vantage point. No one will ever know that it was you on the other end. Do you remember the plan?”
“Yep, go in like everything is the same, right? You’ll send the footage through after my opening number.”
“That’s right. The first donation was made this morning, and the second will be right before your number. Then the safe will be full, and Blake will send Mr. Grey to empty the safe while he’s giving his speech.”
“And you need to get there before he does, right?”
“That’s the plan,” I muttered.
Her hand slide over to mine. “What’s wrong? You seem like you aren’t as sure about it as you were before.”
I shrugged. I thought I was ready to take my final score, but things had changed after I left her at the hotel. After making one more stop to get the intel I needed on how to rig the device, I went home and started to edit the footage. It was unnerving to watch what happened through her eyes. I wanted to find Blake and cut him into pieces by the time I was finished. She had endured so much at his hand, and now I was sending her back in to be with him again.
It was an easy enough plan. Blake had set up the charity like a casino with all the money going to the veterans. Two large drops would be made before the payments started to trickle off. The big two were what we were after. It was essentially the same plan as Blake’s, but with the timeline moved up and a lot more chaos. He would never see us coming, but once we were done, he would go after the first person he could get to. I had to make sure Anna made it out. She was my main priority before the money and everything else.
Triple Threat: A Dark Romance (Deadly Passion Series Book 3) Page 10
