Redeeming

by Calle J. Brookes

  “Get involved in something that isn’t their business? Ask questions I don’t plan on answering?” He abruptly stood, causing the chair to clatter across the concrete floor. He crossed over to her and crowded her. “No. Give me your phone.” He held out a hand expectantly.

  “No.” Why had she been so stupid to mention her phone? She should have waited until she had a better chance. She didn’t know him, despite his connection to Cody. She certainly didn’t trust him. The entire reason she was at his place at all was because of something he’d done that was illegal! How alone they were in that moment sank into her head with a thud. She had no protection against this man. None at all. It had been stupid to come over here like this, no matter how pressed she’d been for time. She could have stalled Cody somehow, some way.

  “Give it. Now.” His tone had hardened. Her fingers clenched around the cell. “Payton…I can take it from you.”

  She fought the urge to shiver. Not for the first time since she’d knocked on his door, she was aware of how big and strong he was, and how vulnerable she was. She’d never be doing anything this stupid again. The only excuse she had was that she hadn’t been thinking straight. Two of her close friends were missing, and she’d foolishly been consumed with the need to protect another one. Noble, sure, but still pretty stupid. “It’s my phone. I don’t know you. And we’re down here alone. Why should I give it to you?”

  “Because you’re down here, alone, with no way to escape. With a man who is bigger, stronger, and a hell of a lot meaner than you will ever be. You do not know what I might do to you, in order to get what I want. And Payton…I always get what I want.” Something in his expression shifted, became almost calculating. He stepped closer to her. She stepped back. He kept coming; she kept backing away until she felt the bookcase behind her. She had nowhere to go, and he seemed to like that idea. He lifted a hand and she tried not to flinch.

  She wasn’t used to men like him, especially not right in her face like this. “What are you doing?”

  His hand settled on her cheek. His thumb bumped her glasses. She fought the urge to straighten the frames. “Testing something.”

  “What?” Her voice broke. They both heard it. His dark eyes darkened even further, even in the harsh fluorescent lighting.

  Chapter Four

  Testing a theory; that’s what Luc was doing. He’d wondered from the first moment he’d seen her on the security monitor just how soft her skin would be. It was soft and pale, much paler than his. He ran his finger over her cheek, stopping just beside her mouth.

  Her trembling mouth. It was soft and pink and probably tasted like the finest cream or sweetest cotton candy.

  She was bubble gum sweet; one thing he most definitely wasn’t. The two of them shouldn’t touch at all. But here she was, in his lair, right there for the offering. Literally in his lair. The sounds of the fire above them still roared, and even with the specially modified air conditioning in the shelter he could smell the smoke, heavy on the air. He brushed his thumb over her lips once, twice. Pretty blue eyes widened behind her glasses.

  She was a beautiful woman, even with her glasses and sweatshirt and jeans; why hadn’t he realized that before? Luc had never realized how lovely she actually was. Of course, next to Cody most women would be overlooked; he wouldn’t make such a mistake again.

  She wasn’t wearing any makeup. Why did he like that so much?

  He spent most of his time with women who were painted practically from hairline to neckline. He’d never liked that, but had accepted it as the norm for the crowd he’d found himself in from the time he was fourteen.

  Made it was her lack of artifice that had him wondering what she would do if he leaned in closer and brushed those lips with his own.

  And why shouldn’t he? She was trapped in his lair, after all. Wasn’t the Beast entitled to at least one taste of Beauty before he sent her on her way back to her ordinary little life? Why not?

  Luc decided quickly—like he always had. He kissed her, pressing his lips to hers. His tongue darted in. If he wanted the taste of her he needed he’d damned sure better act quickly.

  A good girl like Payton would push him away fast.

  Her hands were on his chest, one still clutching her phone. But she didn’t push him away, or kick him where it counted.

  She squeaked instead. That opened her lips enough for him to kiss her even more deeply. Had she done it on purpose?

  He preferred to think she had. He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her tighter against him. She was smaller than the last woman he had kissed—Cody—and thinner. Not fragile, but more delicate than he was used to, that was for certain.

  He slipped one hand into her hair, tangling in the end of her ponytail. He deepened the kiss, then pulled away after a moment. He rested his forehead against hers, feeling the press of her glasses into his brow. He caught his breath. “That was better than I expected.”

  She stared up at him for a moment. Her eyes were different, not quite blue, not quite gray, but something in between. At first they’d been unremarkable, but now he realized they were very striking. She looked up at him with surprise in those eyes. “Why did you do that?”

  “Sometimes my base nature gets the best of me.” He smiled at her, then pulled on the ponytail until her head tipped back even farther. He didn’t pull enough to hurt her, by any means, but enough to have her in his control.

  He’d always tried to control what he wanted.

  It shocked the hell out of him when he realized he wanted her.

  When had he last wanted a woman physically? He’d not acted on those type of urges in years; random sex had always sickened him. He’d far preferred relationships with women who understood that he’d wanted nothing permanent, but favored long term arrangements. And who wanted the same. He’d kissed Cody a few times, but nothing ever went past that point. And neither of them had minded. And those kisses hadn’t heated him even half as much as this simple kiss had.

  Weird.

  “Let me go, please.” She was trembling and he could easily admit that thrilled him. For her, he’d almost consider a one-time thing. Almost.

  But he knew instinctively that she would never go for that.

  “Certainly.” He stepped away from her. “Please, sit down. Make yourself at home.”

  “Why do you have an underground shelter?”

  He grinned at her. “To lure unsuspecting scientists to my lair, where I can do wicked things to them. How do you want to begin?”

  Her eyes widened and he laughed outright. “It came with the property, Payton. I just enhanced it to meet my needs. Terrified of tornadoes; don’t you know? Relax. I am not going to hurt you and I am not going to have my wicked way with you. Although I would certainly like to.”

  He would. But he would never act on that desire. Good girls like her were not for him. Too many complications, definitely.

  He was better off sticking to the women of his social class who knew the score better than this little blonde waif who’d probably grown up behind a classic white picket fence.

  A massive rush of sound had even the bunker rocking, and his attention turned immediately toward the security screens. He had eight men up top, his security team. They knew how to handle themselves during emergencies—even attacks of this nature. But he still felt concern for the men in his employ. And someone should have checked in with him by now. The dogs both woofed and tried to crowd closer to him. He nudged Ren aside, mildly surprised at how the shepherds were acting. They weren’t clingy animals, and had been trained to be working machines, not house pets, though he made sure someone gave them affection, as well. He wouldn’t have monsters on his property, even the furred kind. Rath crowded up against Payton and she hugged the big animal slightly, running her fingers through his fur.

  “Be careful with him. He’s a guard dog, not a pet.” And the big muscled beast probably weighed close to what she did. The dog could kill her so easily.

  “He�
�s fine.” Her face had paled even more, if possible, and her gaze was trained to the screen. “Are we going to be ok? Is this room going to burn, too? Is it airtight?”

  It struck him then, what he’d heard and read about this woman. What Cody had mentioned about her friends Paige, Alessandra and…

  Payton had been in the same lab explosion, hadn’t she? “We’re basically just waiting out the storm, baby. Were you there when the PAVAD lab exploded back in September, Payton?”

  She sat down on his bed, and pulled in a shaky breath. He could see her shoulders tremble. Rath followed her, woofing in her face. Luc tensed, ready to fight the dog if he had to.

  Ready to use the gun to put the animal down if needed.

  The dog laid his head in her lap and she stroked the fur until she’d calmed herself down. “I was in it. I don’t like to talk about it.”

  Had she been hurt? He knew there had been injuries, but he wasn’t sure of the specifics. His informant in the PAVAD division had one task—to report to him the whereabouts of his sister and Cody. Everyone else was just periphery. “I know that someone died.”

  “He was a nice guy. Only twenty-two. He handled all of the filing for my department. He didn’t deserve to die.”

  “People rarely do. Were you hurt, Payton?”

  She rubbed her arm. Her expression was far away for a moment. “I had a broken arm and a concussion. I was the last one out of the building. My friends Paige and Al were with me when my lab exploded. If they hadn’t pulled me out, I’d have died. As it was, we were the last ones rescued. I’m not even sure how we survived, we were so close to the detonations. Paige broke a window; my office had some of those little basement windows. She broke one and we had air. Al pulled me out from under the filing cabinet, but she had to break my arm to do it. It took her a couple of tries. We almost didn’t get out.”

  “Your lab? I thought it was the supervisor who was the main target?” He’d known that, and had discussed it with Cody a few times. To help her deal with some of it. She hadn’t been in the building that day—she’d still been in the hospital recovering from the beating the man who’d blown up the lab had given her. Luc had found her by the road, and called 9-1-1 earlier. He’d stayed with the unconscious woman until his people had managed to identify the owner of her car. He had stayed with her until her friends had arrived at the hospital.

  Payton Asher had been one of those friends. He’d watched her and the others from the waiting area outside the intensive care unit. He’d never introduced himself. But he’d made it a point to learn all of their names and their connections to his sister—and Cody. He’d made a point of stopping by Cody’s hospital room when she’d awakened from the coma. She’d remembered him and he’d found himself checking on her every few days. Their friendship had grown in the months since. He’d rarely met anyone—male or female—that he’d connected with as well as he had Cody. With Manny dead, she was probably his closest friend. Besides the men in his security team; he knew that said something about him. But he didn’t care.

  “I don’t want to talk about it. Even with you. It’s none of your business. And we’re not supposed to talk about it.” She stared at him. “How do you know it was Marianna who was targeted? That was classified. Did Cody tell you?”

  “I have my ways of knowing things.” And he did. He made it a point to keep tabs on everything his sister did. Needed. He always would. And he had since he’d tracked her down when she was nineteen. He’d followed her for the last eight years, always watching from a distance. She was all he truly had. She and Cody and little Lucy. They were the only people he cared about. They were his family.

  “Well, you shouldn’t.”

  A thought occurred to him. “I do. And I’ll continue to do so. You don’t worry about it.”

  She bit her lip. “I should report you.”

  He looked at the computer screen, winced when he saw what remained of the little two door car she’d driven up in. She wouldn’t be driving it away from his place. He’d have to replace it. He looked back at the girl. She was at least ten years younger than he was, wasn’t she? So young, so sweet, so pretty. His palms itched; he did want to touch her.

  He stood and stepped over to his bed. He stared down at her, knowing what she saw when she looked up at him. He was a tall man, at six-foot-six. He was muscled—he made a point of keeping his body in shape—but lean. And he deliberately dressed in dark clothing. Expensive clothing, but always in black or dark blue. And he’d made a point of making people afraid of him. Especially in the media.

  Fear got the results he wanted every time. Would it with her, as well?

  “You won’t.”

  She was either foolish or braver than she realized. She crossed her arms over her chest, but remained on his bed. Did she realize how vulnerable that made her? How soft and sweet and alluring she looked right then? He could swallow her whole. Women like her were the kind who made men like him want to strip them naked and debauch. Ruin all that goody-goodness with one night of sin. At that moment, he’d give his right knee to have that one night with her. Just for the hell of it. “Maybe I will. What are you going to do to stop me?”

  He motioned to the files he’d taken from her when she’d arrived. He’d dropped them on the small counter just inside the bunker door. “Do you really need to ask?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  So, so naïve. He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back on the bed slightly. She caught her weight on her hands, eyes wide. “What are you doing?”

  Luc leaned over her, knowing she would pull away. He put a hand behind her back. The bed he’d had installed in his bunker was a custom made one—taller than average for a taller than average man. It put her at just the right position—for intimidation. And for sex. He made sure she felt overwhelmed, knowing she would cave to the pressure.

  Her kind always did. “If you so much as say one word to that boss of yours, or anyone else, Cody probably loses her job, or goes to jail. And that kid there with her? Disappears into the foster care system, probably never seen again. Or worse. The men who killed her parents and tried to sell her will find her and finish what they started. You want that on your conscience? Tell me, Payton, do you want that to happen to your friend?”

  “She’s your friend, too. And she cares about you. Why would you do that to her?” she whispered. He couldn’t miss the sudden disgust in her eyes when she looked at him. “Don’t you care?”

  He felt like a slug. But he’d certainly felt worse in his life. He’d get over it. “Hmmm. Maybe. But do you want to risk it? I’d send Cody to jail in a heartbeat if it protected my own ass. Understand?”

  He wouldn’t. Cody cared about him, helped him, and was the closest friend he had. He’d never endanger her in anyway. He’d go to jail for the rest of his life to protect her if that was what was needed. He’d die for Cody without a second’s hesitation. But this woman didn’t have to know that.

  “You’re horrible. Evil and nasty. How can you even bear to look at yourself?”

  He kissed her. Too quick for her to react or push him away. Better she learned what kind of man he truly was and early. “Easily. I’ve lived a lot worse. You’d better believe it.”

  Chapter Five

  How could he do that? How could he know that Cody and Lucy were growing closer together, but still threaten that? Just to protect himself? Was he really that cold? Was he a sociopath or something? She knew enough psychology to understand some of the signs. Did this man have them? Why hadn’t Cody seen it? Had she? Why would she still be his friend?

  “Are you blackmailing Cody? Is that why she’s going along with whatever you’re doing?” She couldn’t see that happening. Not Cody. The other woman would punch someone before they made her a victim.

  But Cody really loved the little girl she was taking care of. What if he’d threatened that, too? Would Cody cave to pressure, then?

  “That’s between us.” His smile was all ice.

>   “What do you want from me?”

  He was silent for a moment. A roar sounded above them, either the storm or another bomb of some sort. She tried not to scream. The dogs were up on the bed now, and she could feel their fear as they shook and shivered. Poor animals. He didn’t seem to care about them at all, did he? They were just tools to him, weren’t they? She wrapped her arms around one of the dogs and glared at him. “He’s scared. Don’t you care?”

  “Not as much as you do, apparently.”

  “Then why did you adopt them?”

  “They weren’t adopted, they were purchased. They are guard dogs. Apparently not very good ones.”

  “They can smell the smoke and it terrifies them.” And her, but she wouldn’t let him know that. She was having a hard time pushing memories of the lab explosion out of her mind. She’d laid there under that filing cabinet and known chances were good that she would die.

  And then Al had told her she could get her out, but she’d have to break her arm to do it. Payton would never forget how she’d felt in that moment.

  He’d hit things on the head when he’d said she wouldn’t let him hurt Cody and Lucy. Or anyone else she cared about.

  “They’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t deserve them.” She rubbed the dog’s head, and his brother snuggled against her from behind. She was essentially sandwiched between the two large animals and she had to admit she found their presence mildly comforting. She loved dogs and if she lived in an apartment complex where she could keep one, she would have already had one. But she’d always had to rent a home; until her student loans were paid off, she’d not be owning her own place.

  He stepped toward her and grabbed the dog’s collar. He pulled the dog off the bed. At least he was gentle. “They’re not supposed to be on the bed.”

  “They’re scared.”

  “Being scared isn’t an excuse.” The dog hopped back up beside her and looked at them with soulful eyes. “Down.”