It wasn’t his party, nor was he responsible for the security of the guests. He was private security for one client, and that client wanted to leave. He briefly toyed with the idea of telling Santini’s head of security about the woman, but it would hold up his client. At least that’s the excuse he was using. The fact he would sound like an idiot describing a disappearing woman wasn’t lost on him. Nor the fact that he’d made a massive mistake turning his back on her. No need to share that with anyone.
This was his first client since he and his brothers started the new personal security division of the business they’d taken over from their father. This night had to go well. He’d just screwed up big time. Whatever game the woman was playing, he said a prayer that his client wasn’t her target.
He hit the bottom of the stairs and quickly made his way through the ballroom. He tossed the alarm remote to Vincenzo, the security guy at the door, and gave him a wave. Vincenzo gave him a nod in return. When he arrived on the jetty outside of the building, he gave his men the signal to move out.
The client and his date were just settling onto the speedboat they’d hired for the evening when suddenly another guest started shouting. Mitch whirled around, his hand automatically moving toward his gun in the shoulder holster under his jacket.
“Mio orologio! My watch!” the man yelled. “It’s been stolen!”
Three of the Santini security guards moved over to the guest. “What kind of watch was it, sir? What does it look like?” Mitch heard them ask in Italian. Learning new languages had always come easy to him, so he had picked up a few during his free time, Italian being one of them.
“It’s a Rolex Pearlmaster. Gold with the sapphires and the diamonds on the front.” The man’s accent was thick. “Someone, they take it!”
Mitch turned back around and stepped onto the boat. Now he knew what she had been after. As they left the dock, a slow smile spread across his face.
Chapter Three
Alex took her time as she turned slowly so that her back was to the building. She took a deep breath. She lifted one leg and braced herself with it against the far wall. She brought up her other leg so that her back was on one building and her feet on the other.
“You can do this,” she whispered. “You’re a badass.” She was a badass, but she’d be jailed badass if she wasn’t careful. She glanced down at the alley below and shuddered. If she fell, it would be a very hard landing. It would have been fabulous to have water beneath her rather than an alley but then the buildings would have been farther apart, and she wouldn’t have been able to escape this way.
She took a deep breath and started moving sideways. She had practiced it several times, so she knew her dress would snag on the stucco a bit, but if she kept up a decent pace, it wouldn’t get too caught. First her left foot, then her back, then her right foot. Left, back, right. She repeated the words silently as she shimmied across the length of the building until she was at the back corner. She let out a deep breath.
This was the tricky part. She had gone a bit higher as she worked her way across so that the balcony of the other building was slightly below her now. She took a beat. She thought about the watch and felt the weight of it again in her skirt. Her client was going to be very happy to get it back. Pride swelled in her chest. That she could give someone back some joy, some modicum of happiness, made every job worth it.
Her back throbbed. It was scratched up and stung from the salt of her sweat. Her legs were a bit wobbly, but the end of the job was in sight. She just had to make it to the balcony. The adrenaline that had worn off poured back into her system. She could do this. She was a badass. No. She was the badass. She rocked this job.
She said a silent prayer as she reached out with one hand and grabbed the rope she had tied off on the opposite roof. She pulled it closer to her. Then with a deep breath, she pushed off the wall with all her might and swung toward the balcony. It was an odd angle, and if she missed, she would end up splattered all over the cobblestones below.
She lifted her legs and sailed over the railing. Letting go of the rope, she landed with a soft thud, but her momentum caused her to fall backward into the railing, hitting it with her lower back. She reached out and grabbed a drainpipe that was hanging off the side of the building. It gave a bit and then halted her fall. She froze until she was sure it would hold her, and then slowly, she regained her balance.
She took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking. That had been much too close, but she’d made it. Yes!
She straightened up and then proceeded to remove her shoes from the dress pockets and put them back on her feet. That done, she removed her wig and then took off the dress to expose a smaller, black cocktail dress underneath. She took off her gloves and tucked those and the wig into the costume dress. Then she folded everything so it resembled a wrap and draped it over her arm. She paused for a minute to straighten her clothes, making sure she was presentable. Then she opened the door from the balcony and stepped into the restaurant.
“Signora, il balcone è chiuso questa sera.” The balcony is closed this evening. She whirled around to see a waiter standing there staring at her.
“Mi dispiace. Ho solo bisogno...” I’m sorry. I just needed... And she made the international gesture for a cigarette. “Non dirlo a mio marito. Gli ho detto che stavo andando in bagno.” Don’t tell my husband. I told him I was going to the restroom. She winked at the waiter.
He shook his head slightly and gave her a tight smile. “Of course, Signora.” And then he gestured for her to precede him.
She walked casually toward the stairs, and when she noticed in a mirror above the bar that the waiter was no longer behind her, she quickly went down the stairs and out onto the boat landing outside of the restaurant.
She glanced over at the Santini’s dock. Polizia had arrived and people were milling about. No one paid her the slightest bit of attention. Tension eased a bit in her shoulders. She hailed a water taxi and climbed onboard.
It had been close. Running into James Bond on the balcony was a huge mistake or massive bad luck. He could have called for Santini’s security, but he didn’t. Confusion wrinkled her brow. He should have called for security. I would have called security, she mused. Her eyes narrowed for a second and then she gave a tiny shrug. The stars were aligned tonight. No point looking a gift horse in the mouth. She’d done it once again. She had beat the odds and won. Her fingers brushed the watch as her lips curved into a small victory smile.
Chapter Four
Alex woke with a start, sitting up in bed. She froze, her heart hammering in her ears. Listening intently, she tried to figure out what had pulled her out of a deep sleep. She heard the sound again. “Damn.” Below her window, Giuseppe had started to bellow out another song for the tourists in his gondola.
Gondoliers in Venice did not actually sing but every once in a while, Giuseppe would get a group of Americans and they wanted him to sing. He would happily oblige as long as they paid him extra. He would be in big trouble if anyone found out, but the other gondoliers looked the other way. They figured the joke was actually on the Americans because Giuseppe couldn’t sing a note.
Alex gritted her teeth in frustration. She’d worked damn hard to pull off last night’s job. She deserved a chance to sleep in today. Euphoria zoomed through her blood stream. Success!
She smiled as she rolled out of bed and padded across the hardwood floors to the kitchen. Satisfaction bordering on smugness filled her head. Another job well done. She frowned as the memory of the balcony reared its ugly head. Not so well done really. She had almost gotten caught. Where the hell had sexy James Bond come from?
A hand grabbed her left upper arm. She spun and brought her right fist around to punch her assailant.
“Don’t hit me!” Leo yelled, trying to duck out of the way. It was too late for her to pull the punch—the momentum was behind her and she was slightly off balance—so her fist connected with his head.
“Ow!” he moaned as he
sat down heavily on the floor. “Are you tryin’ to kill me?”
She stared down at him, hands on her hips. “Well, it serves you right for sneaking up on me. What the hell were you thinking? I could have shot you if I had a gun in my hand.”
Leo glared at her, still rubbing his head. “You don’t own a gun. Besides, you knew I was comin’ by this morning.”
He was right, she did. Thoughts of Balcony James Bond had thrown her off her game again. She should have known sooner someone was in her place and that it was Leo. She offered him a hand up. He stood for a moment and then wandered over to sit at the little table by the window. “I’m getting’ too old to be knocked down by the likes of you, lass. Me old bones can’t take it.”
“You could have knocked,” she grumbled as she turned and grabbed a couple of coffee mugs out of the cabinet. “I expected you to knock.” Guilt swamped her. Leo wasn’t a young man. She needed to be more careful. She’d die if anything happened to Leo.
“I did knock. You didnae answer, so I let myself in. I wanted to make sure you were OK.” Leo’s accent, part Scottish, part Italian, part whatever, always got a bit thicker when he was upset. He touched the side of his head again.
Her heart squeezed, but she said nothing. Thankful she’d set the coffee maker on a timer, she filled two cups of steaming black coffee and walked over to the table. She set the mugs on the table and sat before she took a sip of her coffee.
“How did last night go?” Leo asked.
“How do you think?” She couldn’t stop the victory smile that curved her lips.
“You got it?”
“Don’t I always?” she asked as she slid off the chair. She disappeared into the bedroom and came back with the watch in her hand.
Leo smiled as he took the watch and held it up to inspect it. “It’s a beauty. Glad it went okay. My nonna had a bad feeling last night, and she’s always right about these things. She had me a wee bit freaked out. Glad it wasn’t about you.” He tucked the watch in his pocket.
She glanced in his direction, fear and guilt quickly flitting through her. No need to mention how she almost got caught last night. Besides, his nonna had to be a hundred if she was a day. She could have a bad feeling for any number of reasons.
She took a sip of coffee and burned her tongue. “So, what’s next? Which city?”
She studied Leo. His blue eyes always sparkled, making his cherubic face seem younger, but his gnarled fingers and his graying hair gave away his advancing years, years that had not always been kind to him. She wasn’t sure exactly how old he was but figured he had to be in his sixties. As her handler, he dealt with finding the jobs. He knew her criteria, what she was willing to do, and where she was willing to go. He was the point of contact for her clients.
He gave her an assessing look. “You know, you could take a vacation or even retire. You’ve made a fortune—”
“Not this again! We’ve been over this. I don’t want to retire, I don’t need a vacation, and I had a fortune before I even started this career.”
“Alex”—Leo reached out and tweaked her nose—“we’ve worked together since you were eighteen and I caught you stealing me wallet. That’s almost ten years. I love you like a daughter.”
She swallowed hard. God knew, she loved Leo far more than her father, wherever he might be. Leo was the only family that counted in her world.
“So, don’t take it the wrong way when I say it’s high time for us to slow down a wee bit. Europe is getting hot for you right now. A break would do you some good.”
Alex reached out and put her hand on Leo’s arm. “I know you’re just watching out for me, but I’m not ready to stop. Look, the cops aren’t really searching for me in any country other than Sweden, and there’s no need for me to ever go there again.” She shuddered at the memory of the cold night she’d almost been captured.
“What about Croatia and Greece?” he asked archly. “I believe the cops there are asking around for any information about a pretty, young thief.”
“Asset Repossession Specialist Extraordinaire, thank you very much”
Leo snorted. “You know the acronym spells ARSE, don’t you?”
“Ha, very funny.” She shook her head at him. “The cops there don’t know it’s me. Hell, most of the jobs I do are never reported to the cops. I’m not on a watch list or anything. It’s fine. I’d rather continue.” She begged him with her eyes to understand. Without her job, she had nothing. This was what she was built for. This was her purpose. Anxiety forced her to move. She hopped up from the table and walked over to the far set of windows. She opened the long white curtains and then did the same to each set in the room. At the last window, she admired the view of the canal below.
She couldn’t stop. Stopping was death to her. She needed to be moving, planning, researching. She needed to be busy with something that challenged her, otherwise…she stopped. The past was not going to catch her. Not now. Not ever.
Besides, she wasn’t some out-for-profit thief who’d work for the highest bidder. She had principles; she righted wrongs. The last thing a woman who’d had her heart torn out needed was for her ex to take her valued possessions, too. That was where Alex came in. Okay so she wasn’t fixing the world, but she got to offer the women who hired her a bit of closure. Give them back some pride. It was a good thing that she was doing, and no one was getting hurt. Well, no one who didn’t deserve it.
Turning back around, she went over and sat down on the purple sofa. The whole place had been white when she moved in. She’d painted the walls a soft gray. Usually she didn’t decorate, but she’d decided this apartment with its high ceilings and ornate woodwork deserved a bit of attention.
Leo sighed heavily and shook his head. “Okay, have it yer way.” He grabbed both coffee cups and joined her on the sofa. “Here,” he said as he offered her the mug. “Another offer has come in, but I’m giving you fair warnin’. I’ll be hangin’ up me hat in the not-too-distant future.” He pointed at her. “You should think about doin’ the same.”
She smiled at him. “So, what do you have for me?” She leaned back into the over-stuffed cushions and sipped her coffee. The fear that had been gnawing at her chest ebbed slowly.
His lips curved into a matching smile. “An American this time, so it’s a chance to go home, take a break from Europe for a while.”
“Back to California?” she asked, alarm bells ringing in her head. “Who is it?”
“New York. The Hamptons, to be specific, and it’s Jameson Drake.”
“Drake!” She jerked her hand and spilled her hot coffee down her pajama top and on to the purple sofa. “Shit.” She quickly grabbed a bunch of napkins off the coffee table that had been left from yesterday’s take-out and mopped up the mess. “Jameson Drake is a ruthless, unforgiving, hard-hearted S.O.B. Who in God’s name actually fell for him?”
“Apparently, Diana Sterling.”
She threw the napkins back on the table. “Diana Sterling? Isn’t she married to Jeffery Sterling? As in the Sterling Bank of New York?”
“Yes, which is what makes it all the more interestin’.” When Leo wiggled his eyebrows, Alex smiled. “The client gave him a car that she would like back.” He paused. “Seriously, lass, are you sure you want to take on Jameson Drake? He’ll destroy you if he catches you. He’s the vindictive type.”
“You’re right, but bullies like him need to be taught a lesson.”
Leo grinned. “And the fact that you find him—what was the word you used, despicable?—has nothin’ to do with it, right?”
“He is despicable. He ruins family-run hotels so he can buy them for pennies on the dollar.
“Diana Sterling wants her car back, and he should be gentleman enough to give it to her. He’s bringing this on himself. If he wasn’t such an asshole, I wouldn’t have to steal from him. So, find out all the details you can from your sources and then talk to Diana and get her side of the story. It will be interesting to see what she has to say
.”
Righteous anger coursed through her. Jameson Drake was exactly the reason she did what she did. Men like him had all the power, and it was time women took theirs back.
Leo downed his coffee in a gulp and got up. “I’ll check it all out, but I’ll say it again. I’m not big on this one. Jameson Drake has a mean streak a mile wide.”
“Noted. Come back once you have the details, and we’ll make some decisions from there.”
When Leo left, she turned back to the window. Jameson Drake. The surge of energy that always came with the idea of a new job made her fingers tingle. It would be a challenge, but she loved challenges. The chance to put Drake in his place, it was like the Holy Grail.
What if it went wrong somehow? She twisted her long blond hair around her finger. Drake would be out for blood, no doubt. Before last night, she wouldn’t have even considered she could make a mistake. A chill ran down her spine as if someone walked over her grave.
Chapter Five
“Hey, honey, I need a drink. Why don’t you bring me another beer and shhpeed it up thisss time,” a drunk man snarled at the passing waitress and then grabbed her ass.
Alex seethed as she walked by the slot machines. It was barely six o’clock and this guy was drunk off his ass. It always amazed her how men felt they could do whatever they wanted to women, like women were possessions to be ordered around.
Biting the inside of her cheek, she kept going. The last thing she needed was to call attention to herself. This was a scouting mission. As much as she wanted to turn around, grab the guy by the balls, and squeeze as hard as she could, it was better to let it go. For now. If he was still here when she left, he was in for one hell of a rude surprise.
Break and Enter: A Sexy, Thrilling Romantic Suspense (Callahan Security Series Book 1) Page 2
