Brutally Beautiful

by Lynne Connolly

  He glanced at her and smiled. “It doesn’t now. There were some very nasty people after his blood five years ago. They’ve gone now, supplanted by new drug barons, or lords, or whatever the fuck they call themselves.” Somehow, the curse word sounded odd coming out of such a well-spoken mouth. Lawrence used the crisp accent of the English upper class, while Nick favored the Estuary version. The different accents suited the personas they’d taken on for themselves. “There’s no danger for him or people who associate with him anymore.”

  Jim broke into their conversation. “He won’t leave us alone for long.” He reached into his briefcase. Gen had wondered why he kept it so close. It was hardly likely that anyone would steal it in a private suite. He gave her what looked like a disposable phone and a couple of business cards. “I’ve written my private number on the back, and there’s a number programmed into the phone. The phone is safe. Nobody can break into it, I promise you, so you can say what you want. The number is my corresponding phone.” Lawrence glanced at Jim, nodded, and reached for his card case. He scribbled on the back of a card.

  Jolted into action, Gen did the same. The only cards she had were the ones associated with her job. She scrawled her address on the back and then paused. “It doesn’t seem right to give you Nick’s address.”

  ”I don’t need it.”

  They exchanged cards, putting them away quickly.

  “He uses a mailbox service,” Jim said.

  Lawrence chuckled. “That’s my brother. Belt and braces. Thanks. And look after him, will you?”

  “I love the business chic,” Yolanda said, her softly accented Texan melting into the air. “He looks good with hair.”

  Nick returned to the sound of laughter, and they could move into teasing about his hair and when he was bald. “Easier,” he said. “I ran over it every morning with the razor and that was it. Now I have to go for trims and shit. And shampoo it and walk around with wet hair for an hour. Or piss about with a dryer. I might shave it again.” He glanced at Gen, favoring her with a teasing smile that melted the flesh from her bones. “Do you think you’d put up with me bald?”

  “Intimidating,” she said.

  “That was another reason I did it.”

  Yeah, to intimidate people. He never let anyone forget that. But in this company he was relaxed and…happy. Nick didn’t give much away, but Gen had learned the signs of his happiness and tension; with Nick it was all in his shoulders. Tension showed in the line of his muscles, and relaxation in the way they flowed like a gently undulating strip of water as opposed to an ocean in a storm.

  Shit, living with a poetry lecturer was turning her into a poet too. Not a good one, but she could learn, she thought happily. If he gave her a chance.

  * * * *

  When they got home, she made love to him. She took him into the shower and offered herself in the way he loved, turning her back and bending over to give him control. She pampered him, washed him, kissed his cock and balls, made his eyes roll back in his head, then took him to bed. She’d looked up the TV schedules, but she couldn’t find a football game—match, he told her to call it, but it didn’t sound natural—so she cuddled close and said what she had to. “I’m in love with you.”

  “Nah.” His scoffing response came just as she’d expected, and she was ready for it.

  “It’s not something I planned for, Nick. It just happened.”

  “Infatuation. A crush.”

  “I’m thirty, not thirteen. I know the difference.”

  “Just give it six months, and you won’t remember what I look like.”

  Although she knew he’d try this, it still hurt. “Are you saying I’m an airhead who doesn’t know what she wants?”

  He turned his head to meet her gaze. “No.”

  “Then believe me. Nick, don’t go. Tough this out. If you do go, take me with you.”

  He put his hand on her stomach and spread his fingers as if he wanted to touch all of her in one handspan. “Baby, I do. But it’s not real. It’s the glamour, meeting someone new.” He flicked a glance over the room. “All this.”

  She glared at the painting on the opposite wall, the one thing about this apartment she didn’t like. A trendy, garish splash of red and purple, it didn’t work in this otherwise tasteful, restful space. “Not that.”

  At least he laughed. “It was here when I bought the place, and I decided to leave it until I found something else I liked better. I haven’t had the time, and I guess I got used to it.”

  “It doesn’t fit here.”

  He shrugged. “I like it, in a perverse way. Things shouldn’t always be what you expect. And no, I wouldn’t take you with me.”

  “Why not?”

  “You’re building a career. You like New York, and don’t deny it. You need your independence. Don’t you want to walk down the main street of your old home and stick your middle finger up at everyone there? You said you did.”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t seem important anymore. And my career is dead. We’re exposing Bennick on Monday, and that’ll be that. I work for him, and mud sticks.”

  “No, sweetheart, no. You can ride it out. There’s no proof you did anything wrong.” He frowned. “Bennick might try to frame you, but we have the evidence that will hang him.” He paused. “Well, lock him away for a good long time, anyway.” She realized what he’d been thinking. They did that more and more these days, anticipate each other’s thoughts.

  “He could reach out. He’s a dangerous man, and we don’t know all his secrets.” If he thought she was in danger, he might stay. “He could come after me.”

  He traced a line from her stomach to her breasts, drawing around one nipple in a way that made her squirm. “He could, couldn’t he?”

  “Stay with me, Nick.”

  He sighed, dropping his forehead to her breasts, and she felt his submission. “Until I know you’re safe. Yes, I’ll stay.”

  A promise. Jubilation poured through her. Perhaps she wouldn’t need the phone and business cards Jim had given her after all.

  He kissed her nipple, sending it instantly hard, before taking it into his mouth and sucking, caressing her with his tongue. This wouldn’t be a frantic fucking, although she loved those too. She’d told him, so she didn’t need to hold back anymore. She’d never known anything like the warmth, the complete happiness when she saw him, shared the same room as him. He didn’t even have to look at her to give her pleasure, but when he did, he made her ecstatic.

  He kissed down to her pussy, making her navel and hips very happy on the way, and flicked out his tongue to savor and taste. “Mmm, I’d know your taste anywhere.” His breath heated her, curled around her legs. “Give me a pitch-black room full of naked women with their legs open, and you’d be the one I’d choose. Every time, baby.” He licked her up, dived in, went far beyond tasting to devouring in an instant.

  He chose to do it fast this time. He brought her to the brink of orgasm with his tongue and fingers, drawing out her juice so he had more to lap up, so it eased his way. She was quivering by the time he came back up the bed, covering his cock in the expert way that broke her heart, because it told of past dreams shattered, of a life he’d never wanted. He eased inside her. He took her at his leisure, pressing deep, and then pausing until she opened her eyes and met his dark gaze.

  “I’ll stay,” he said, “because I love you too. And I know the difference as well as you do.” He lifted, drove inside, kept her gaze until she hooked her arm around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss that seared her, linked the two places of intimate joining in a ribbon of fire.

  They joined as one, moving together until they achieved their ultimate aim. And this time, they came together, gasping and crying out their passion into the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nick lay holding the woman he loved, wondering how he could make her wishes happen. He wanted to give her everything, and if that included staying, then he’d try to do it. But it might not be po
ssible without him getting locked up forever, and that wouldn’t suit either of them. He couldn’t see the point.

  He switched off his emotions, relieved he could still do it, and set his mind to work. One solution occurred to him that he couldn’t deny. It wasn’t enough to jail Bennick; he had to get hold of that computer, the one at his house, hold it against him so he didn’t order another hit. Because he’d bet Bennick was into more than importing illegal immigrants. Why not get them to bring a few things in with them? Small things that didn’t take up much space? Buy it at a discount or put it against their debt to him, and he’d have not only the drugs but the people to sell them. A sweet deal, and someone as ruthlessly ambitious as Gen’s boss wouldn’t be able to resist. If he was lucky, he’d get more evidence. Everything he could collect.

  The alternative he wouldn’t even consider—the easy way. Getting rid of the bastard. Instead, let him suffer, and Nick would hold him to ransom.

  The decision made, he found it easier to fall asleep. He’d never slept this well in his life before. Incredible how great a good night’s sleep made him feel.

  He took her to work on Monday and decided to strike then. She’d said her boss would be back at work full-time today.

  Bennick lived in the burbs, at a modest, respectable address. Nick walked past once, taking snaps with his phone camera while he pretended to make a call. At the end of the street, he ducked into an open garage and studied the pictures, blowing up the one that showed the front door.

  Shit, that would be too easy. His eyes narrowed. Yes, he thought so. Clever security. Okay, so the back.

  He hadn’t done this for years, and despite his determination to keep a cool head, adrenaline stirred. It would give him the edge he needed, but he had to keep it under control.

  The back way had one door and one window, and in this area, he’d guess nobody would overlook him. He pulled on the acrylic knit cap that would keep his hair from getting loose. Fucking easier to be bald. Then he snapped on a pair of latex gloves.

  He was inside the house in five minutes and had the alarm disabled in thirty seconds. Jim might be good at computers, but he couldn’t beat Nick’s expertise at security systems. He’d kept up his interest as a kind of puzzle, something to exercise his brain, so he knew the recent developments and how to break them. He used his smartphone to detour the emergency warning system before he cut the power.

  Just in case he didn’t have much time, he skimmed the rooms. Downstairs he found a living room, with the inevitable big-screen TV, a large kitchen, and a smaller room with a half bath but no computer system. Upstairs, then.

  He hit pay dirt in the first room he went into. A computer tower and a laptop. After ensuring they weren’t hooked up to a separate alarm system, something he’d have done had the articles belonged to him, he set to work. A multitool was a wonderful thing, and he could carry one around without suspicion. Thirty seconds and he was into the tower. Another twenty and he had the hard drive disconnected. He stuffed it into the pocket of his leather jacket. Then he bent to pull out the plug for the laptop. No need to make it look like a general break-in. Bennick was hardly likely to report this to the police. Now Nick needed to leave a message of some kind.

  He glanced around, looking for a pad and pencil. A simple message would work: You leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone. Just to tell him who got here before the cops.

  No need, as it turned out, because the man himself was standing in the doorway of the large study, a gun trained on Nick’s midsection. “Put it down.”

  Nick took stock, his mind working rapidly. Too far to jump the bastard. The window was a possibility. Narrow but doable, and only one floor up. The man had a patch of lawn, which would be reasonably soft after this weekend’s rain. Nick’d watched it fall from the comfort of his own bed, his woman in his arms.

  First rule, to chat. Establish a line of communication, as the hostage negotiators put it. “Taking the day off?”

  “Sick.”

  Fuck. The man was wearing sweats, and his forehead was sheened with sweat. So he could be telling the truth. Or he could be high. Either could work for Nick, but in different ways. He had one weapon—the laptop—and if the fucker thought he was putting it down, he was insane.

  Nick had done his research so he knew Bennick got into work at around eight thirty and he was expected in that morning. A simple call to the office had established that.

  Jim had scheduled the leak to hit the desks of the principals of departments at seven that morning. If anyone got into work early, they could have turned this around and already be on their way. Nicely calculated to inflame interdepartmental rivalry: whoever got Bennick’s scalp would get the prize. Jim had been sure to put the recipients on the To: line of the e-mail, making sure they all knew who was getting the leak. One of them wouldn’t take long. That was why Nick had got here first thing, although he hadn’t banked on Bennick being home. His phone vibrated, but he didn’t check the caller or even glance down to the pocket where he’d stashed it. Probably someone telling him Bennick wasn’t at work, and he didn’t need that information now.

  “You take many sick days?”

  “First one in two years.” Bennick talked as if he was chatting with a casual caller. “Courts are unhealthy places.” He motioned with his gun. “Put it down.”

  “What?” If Nick wasn’t mistaken, Bennick’s hand trembled a little.

  “The laptop. If you do that, I might let you go.”

  Now he was sure about that last bit. Bennick had no intention of letting him go. He was going to kill him. But he’d wanted Nick’s compliance before. That gave Nick an in. “If I do, what then?”

  Bennick smirked. “You work for me. You’ve got to be desperate to try this. I have records at work and in a safe-deposit box at the bank. You can’t get a hold of all of them. What were you trying to do, take me over?”

  “Something like that.” If Bennick thought he’d won, it gave Nick an edge. His one aim was to keep Gen safe. That was all. He didn’t matter anymore, not if she was in danger. And now he’d shown his hand, she was in more danger from this man standing three strides away, grinning. Cocky. “So you’ll give me my green card? I earned it.”

  “That remains to be seen. If you do me a few favors, then you’ll get it.” He leaned against the door.

  Talk, Nick, talk. He’s weakening. He must really be ill. A bad head cold could do that. Could make his aim shaky. Nick thought coldly. He didn’t want any record of him being here, so getting shot and leaving blood traces wasn’t the way to go. Bennick would reveal Nick’s identity, and after a quick fingerprint and DNA check, Nick’s time here was over. But he could still help the woman he loved.

  Nick leaned a hip against the desk behind him. “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to leave Gen alone. If anything happens to her, I’ll know, and I’ll use what I have against you.” An empty threat, if Bennick only knew it. The cops should be arriving soon to arrest him. Then he’d have no leverage. “Is that a deal?” Watching, waiting long enough to take Bennick off his guard. The only chance he had, because Bennick wanted to kill him. In all his years running gangs, he’d never seen it so clearly signaled on a face: the taut lines around his mouth, the hard eyes, already preparing for the shot. Even the slight trembling, because although Bennick had used other people as his murder weapons, he probably hadn’t done it himself yet.

  No fucking chance. Bennick had to know he’d fight, had to know that the killing an intruder defense wouldn’t work here.

  Bennick’s grin widened. “It’s a deal. But I’m going to work you hard. Now I know you have another skill, I can use that too.”

  “What? You mean you’re not just into forging green cards?”

  “They’re not forged. They’re real. Just the information is a bit…tweaked. And that’s not going to keep me in fast cars and women, is it? Do you think this house bought itself? When I moved in here, I had one room at the front. This one, as it
happens. Now I own the whole thing. Bought the house, ejected the other tenants. All mine.”

  “You want money? I’m a lecturer. I don’t have that kind of cash.”

  “You have deposit accounts in different names in banks all over the world.”

  Nick knew that was a bluff. Even if it was true. He shrugged, making sure his shoulders were loose and ready for action. “It takes time to get to it. I live on my salary, plus one working bank account, enough to cover my story of a legacy.”

  Bennick’s hold on his weapon loosened, just a tad, but it was what Nick was waiting for. Pushing back against the desk, he kicked up, high, aiming for the gun. It went off as it sailed into the air. Fuck. Messy. Ah well, it couldn’t be helped. When it came down, he was waiting. He grabbed the barrel, he turned it, and oh, fuck, Bennick jumped him.

  He had no choice. He fired. Bennick went down, bleeding heavily.

  Done. Game over. Nick stood over him. “You’ll be dead soon. Gut-shot people rarely recover.” But he felt no triumph. No remorse either, because Bennick was a bastard. Nick’d seen this scenario before. Oh, not the exact one, but similar things happened. “You should have come into this room firing. Only stupid people gloat. Or amateurs. You never meant to make me work for you. You knew you couldn’t handle me, didn’t you? If you’d let me go, I’d have killed you anyway, you must have seen that. And no, I’m not gloating. Just shooting the breeze while I wait for you to pass out.”

  While he kept an eye on Bennick bleeding over his carpet, Nick went to the computer tower and replaced the hard drive. No chance of using it now, though he’d keep the laptop. The hard drive was hooked up to the Internet, so perhaps it didn’t have the more sensitive information on it. The laptop would have that, and maybe he’d keep a few innocent people from being prosecuted. That was all he could salvage from this fucking mess. But if the cops discovered a computer without a hard drive, they’d know for sure that someone else had been there. He’d have to reenable the security before he went too. He wiped the inner and outer case, just to be sure and because he had the time.