by Katie Reus
Steam billowed out from the open bathroom door, but he didn’t hear the kind of change in the water’s rhythm that went along with someone showering. He frowned and gently pushed the door open.
All stone and tile that looked like sandstone, there were sparkly pieces of glass on the wall that made up the shower enclosure. The room seemed to shimmer. A shadow was behind the enclosure, but it was unmoving.
Stepping to the side, he brought his weapon fully up and swept around the shower entrance to find a naked woman slumped on the built-in bench, a bottle of vodka grasped loosely in one hand as blood trickled down her side. Long, dark hair was plastered around her face and over her shoulders and breasts.
Shit.
This could be some sort of trap but he doubted it. Holstering his weapon, he stepped inside the enclosure, ignoring the pulsing jets and water splashing him as he twisted the shower knob off. Crouching in front of her, he felt the pulse point at her throat.
Steady.
Leaning down, he inspected the open wound along the woman’s ribcage. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was a—the woman shifted suddenly.
Screaming, she swung the vodka bottle at him. Roman ducked and grabbed her wrist, yanking it downward. She released the bottle. It crashed to the tile floor, glass shattering.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” the woman screamed, trying to wiggle away from him as he hoisted her off the bench, holding her around the waist—and tried to ignore how soft her lush body felt against his. He tried to be careful with her wound but was more concerned with subduing her so she didn’t hurt herself.
“Damn it, stop!” he ordered as she swung a fist at his head. He had one arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close and pinning one arm to her side, but she was moving around like an eel. “You’re going to cut yourself if I drop you.”
At that, she stilled. Breathing hard, she looked up at him. “You care if I cut my feet?”
He blinked once, mesmerized for a moment by the shocking blue of her eyes against her beautiful, almost caramel skin tone. Her eyes were like the Mediterranean on a clear day. “It’s not like I want you to slice yourself up.” What was the matter with her? And who the hell was she?
“Oh. Okay.” She was still tense, her body coiled like a snake, waiting to strike, but she didn’t try to punch him in the head again. Instead she held onto his shoulders and went semi-lax against him.
“I’m going to step out of the shower and put you on your feet. Okay?”
She nodded, her expression wary. Her eyes were wide and her teeth chattering, though she tried to hide it as she clenched her jaw tight.
His boots crunched over glass as he carefully moved backward. He didn’t stop until they were on the tile of the bathroom and far away from the glass. “I’m going to put you down, but if you attack me, I will restrain your hands behind your back.” He still might restrain her if it turned out she was a thief.
She swallowed hard, fear flickering in her gaze. Damn, he hated the sight of any woman being afraid of him, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think women couldn’t be dangerous. Just because she was petite and so fucking gorgeous it almost hurt to look at her, didn’t mean he’d be letting his guard down around her. “I won’t attack you.”
As he placed her on her feet, he tried not to look but damn, his gaze dipped down to her breasts. Lush, full, a little more than a handful, he wondered what it’d be like to cup them…
“Pervert,” she snapped, wrapping an arm around her chest before turning and grabbing a fluffy, white towel from one of the nearby racks.
She quickly wrapped it around herself but not before he got a full view of her entire, delectable body. She was petite with toned legs, but not lean. She was soft and curvy and he liked the little triangle of hair covering her mound. He supposed he could have pretended not to look, but why bother. He shrugged. “You’re the one naked in my friend’s house. Now why the hell are you here, passed out and wounded? Who are you?” He wanted to talk about the wound he’d seen on her ribcage. It was difficult to tell, but it might be a bullet ricochet.
Her eyes widened a fraction. “You’re friends with Vadim?”
Surprised she knew his friend’s name, Roman nodded. “Yeah. How do you know him?”
She pursed her lips together, eyeing him as if she didn’t trust him—when she was the one who’d broken into Vadim’s house.
“You know what, I’m calling the cops.” He went to grab his cell phone from his back pocket but she held her hands up.
“No, wait! Vadim and I have been friends for years. We did some work together years ago, before he got out of…the military.”
Roman lifted an eyebrow. “Which branch?”
She watched him for a long moment, clear she didn’t trust him. Well the feeling was fucking mutual. Finally she said, “Marines.”
He nodded. “That’s right.”
The tension in her shoulders seemed to relax at that. “The company I work for handled a couple government contracts and Vadim and I ended up working together. I came to see him because…well, it doesn’t matter. I forgot he’d still be on his honeymoon or I’d have never come. If you’ll just let me get dressed I’ll be on my way. No harm, right?” She laughed nervously and he didn’t miss the little wince she tried to cover up.
He frowned, ignoring the last part of what she’d said. He could see a spot of blood coming through the towel where she’d been wounded. “What kind of trouble are you in? Did someone fucking shoot you?”
Her beautiful face paled. “No.”
His jaw tightened. “Don’t lie to me.”
When she didn’t respond he sighed and pulled his cell phone out.
“Wait—”
“I’m not calling the cops,” he muttered. “What’s your name?” he demanded as he scrolled to Angel’s number.
He raised his eyebrows when she didn’t respond, watching and waiting. Finally she sighed, seeming almost defeated. “Taylor.”
Though Roman hated to interrupt Vadim and Angel, this called for it.
Vadim answered the phone on the second ring. “Why the hell are you calling my wife on our honeymoon?” he growled, not much heat behind his voice. “Is everything okay with Charlie?”
“Your dog is fine. There’s a woman at your house who says she knows you. Broke in, but hasn’t touched anything. She passed out in the shower and I’m pretty sure she’s been shot.”
“Are you fucking with me?”
“Nope. Says her name is Taylor. Dark hair, blue eyes, not very tall.” He wasn’t sure he bought her story.
The woman just wrapped her arms tighter around her middle, looking young and vulnerable; the sight disturbing to Roman.
“Taylor Arenas?” Vadim’s voice was shocked.
“What’s your last name?” Roman asked her.
She paused for a moment. “Arenas.”
“Yep.”
“Put me on speaker,” Vadim demanded.
“Hold on.” Roman looked at Taylor as he held the phone out. “I’m putting Vadim on speaker.”
The tension lines around her mouth lessened. “Okay.”
“You’re on,” Roman said.
“Taylor? What’s going on?” Vadim demanded.
“I…I’m in trouble, but I forgot you were on your honeymoon. I’m so sorry, Vadim. I never would have come here otherwise.”
“Fuck that. What’s going on?”
“Vadim, I…can we have some privacy?” she asked Vadim, carefully avoiding Roman’s gaze as she stared at the phone.
Roman snorted as Vadim said, “Taylor, you can say anything in front of Roman. Anything. He’s a former Marine too. I trust him with my life.”
Well, damn.
She took a deep breath, her eyes filling up with tears, which she angrily swatted away. It was clear she didn’t want Roman around but that was just too damn bad. “Long story short, Neal shot Hugh. He’s been diverting funds to a bogus company and when Hugh confronted him, Neal just shot and killed
him. I saw it happen and managed to escape—though he nicked me, but it’s just a flesh wound. But now something else is going on. I think Neal is somehow framing me but I don’t know how he’d have been able to do that. I guess he could have erased the video feeds at work but… I just don’t know. When I went to the police station one of the security guys who works for Neal was waiting and then there were cops at my place when I went home. I called some people from work and they both told me the police want me for questioning. It sounded like they thought I killed Hugh so I just ran. I knew I needed to get out of the city and you were the first person I thought of.”
Roman had no idea who the woman was talking about, but the way she spoke about them, without using last names, told him that Vadim must know the men. Or know of them.
“That motherfucker,” Vadim growled. He took a deep breath. “You can’t just run from the cops. You’ve been shot and you need to document it. You were shot at work?”
“Yeah.”
“Where in the building were you shot?”
“Hugh’s private elevator.” She wrapped her arms tighter around her small frame and Roman found himself wanting to pull her into his arms.
After hearing her story it was clear someone needed to protect her. She sniffled once, looking even more lost.
“Okay. Go to the hospital now.”
“I can’t.”
“You can and you will. Roman is going to take you and he’s going to call a detective friend of ours.”
Roman nodded. If Vadim trusted her and wanted to help her, he was going to trust her. He’d be doing some investigation of his own, but Vadim trusted almost no one. “Hurley?” he asked Vadim.
“Yes.”
Taylor shook her head. “Vadim—”
“No. Listen to me. You need to get ahead of this now. Without knowing any more details, I know that running from the police makes you look guilty as shit. You have got to get in front of this. This all happened this morning?”
“Yeah.” Her voice sounded small, broken.
Hell, if she’d just seen someone close to her get killed this morning Roman was impressed she was keeping it together.
“You can explain away your running through shock and fear, especially since you were shot and saw your boss killed. You’ve got to trust me on this. Roman will call Detective Hurley and have him meet you guys at the hospital. Roman?”
“I’m on it, man. Anything you need.” He wasn’t positive he trusted this woman, but he trusted Vadim. “Vadim, give me a second.” He looked at Taylor and pointed to the door. “I’ll be right outside.” Without waiting for a response, he left the room and closed the door behind him
Taking it off speaker, he spoke quietly to his friend. “You sure you trust this woman?”
“Yes. Hugh Powers owns, or owned, Powers Group. He was like a father to Taylor. She never would have killed him. I’d stake everything I own on it. Neal Lynch is a sleazy bastard. I only met him once and it was enough for me. I believe in Taylor.”
“Good enough for me.”
“Thank you. I…owe you for this.” Vadim had loosened up a little since he’d been with Angel, but that stiff, almost formalness crept back into his voice.
“You owe me for a shitload of stuff, including watching Charlie, and you know I’m going to collect.” He kept his voice light.
Vadim just snorted and asked him to return to the bathroom so he could talk to Taylor. Vadim and Taylor talked for a few minutes until finally Vadim convinced her to listen to reason. He also read her the riot act for breaking into his place but Roman was pretty certain his friend was impressed she’d broken in. Roman certainly was. Once they were done talking, Roman promised to call Vadim with any updates before disconnecting.
“Why are you helping me?” she asked as Roman slid the phone back in his pocket.
“Because you’re friends with Vadim and you clearly need it.” He needed more information on her story, but if she was willing to meet with a detective, that went a long way in proving her innocence. Not to mention Vadim trusted her.
Her eyes welled with unexpected tears and to his surprise and horror, she started crying. Big, ugly tears. Shit, shit, shit. “Don’t cry,” he commanded, as if the order would somehow make her stop.
She sobbed out something that sounded a lot like, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me’ before she cupped her face in her hands.
Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold back her tears but he couldn’t stand it anymore. Covering the short distance between them, he pulled her into his arms, rubbing a comforting hand down her spine. She buried her face against his chest and, taking him by surprise again, wrapped her arms around his waist and held on for dear life.
She might not know what was wrong with her, but he did. She’d seen someone close to her killed, she’d been shot and she was trying to deal with a shitty situation alone. On top of all that she was probably dealing with a healthy dose of shock and grief.
Even though Roman prided himself on staying away from any drama—unlike his twin—there was no way in hell he was walking away from a woman in need. After his father died, his mom had been left raising two, demanding boys. Looking back he knew how hard it had been on her. Maybe that was why something about women in need always called to him.
Even if he wasn’t sure Taylor was innocent in all this, he’d be damned if he let her walk away with no protection.
Chapter 4
Neal glanced at Benjamin Escobar, the head of security for the Powers Group, as the man swiped his security card over the elevator pad. “You don’t need to come with me.”
Over six hours later, Neal had finally been allowed to return to the building now that Hugh’s body had been removed and Neal had been processed for gunshot residue. He had some on him, which was easily explainable since he’d been in the vicinity of Taylor when she’d allegedly shot at him and because he’d supposedly gone to the aid of Hugh. It would be strange if he didn’t have any on him, but there wasn’t a ton of blowback on his current clothing, which was good. Now he needed to get rid of the other clothes and weapon he’d stashed and he couldn’t do it with Escobar hanging around like his shadow.
Escobar, who was about the same height as him at five-ten, shot him a stony glance before motioning to the elevator door that opened. There was an intimidating air about him that Neal could never ignore. “I’m not leaving your side while you’re here.”
For some reason, Neal wasn’t sure if Escobar was shadowing him because he was concerned, or for other reasons. He couldn’t help but feel paranoid, especially after he’d killed Hugh, but Neal wondered if Escobar had somehow guessed. The man was a straight arrow and it was damn annoying. No, Neal was just being paranoid. How could Escobar have any clue?
“The security cameras are up and running again so you have nothing to worry about.” Much to his annoyance the police had wanted to look at the video feeds immediately. He’d expected that. What he hadn’t expected was for Escobar to be able to link everything back online so quickly, but he’d done it as soon as he’d arrived at the office that morning. Neal thought he’d knocked the system offline for a while. He knew he’d erased everything, but still…it made him edgy worrying about the clothes in the empty conference room.
“Hmm,” was all Escobar said. Then, “Did Taylor say anything after shooting Hugh?”
Neal shook his head. “No. It all happened so fast. I guess she might have said something, but I was just trying to run for my life. It was…crazy. I still can’t believe she killed him.”
“Me either.” As usual, Escobar’s tone was unreadable.
Since Escobar clearly wasn’t going to leave and Neal couldn’t afford to make him suspicious, he decided to make use of him. “Will you bring Paige and Marissa up to my office? I want to speak to them.”
Taylor had called Paige and Marissa after she’d gone on the run. He was still raging that his man hadn’t been able to track down Taylor, but her running made her look guilty, which wa
s damn good to solidify his story to the police. He wanted her dead though. Dead and gone so she couldn’t cause him any trouble. And he still wasn’t positive he hadn’t shot her.
The police had examined the elevator and taken the bullets out of the outside of the doors, but they’d asked him a couple times if he’d been injured, wanting to take him down to the hospital. That line of questioning made him nervous. He hadn’t seen any blood or bullet destruction in the elevator, but maybe he’d missed something.
Escobar nodded without looking at him as they reached the top floor. “Of course. I’ll get them right now. What should I tell everyone else in the building?” He pressed the button to keep the door open as Neal stepped out.
Neal knew that almost everyone had stayed after he and Escobar had gone down to the police station. The crime scene and their floor was cordoned off from everyone and no one was actually working, but he guessed they didn’t want to just leave either. “Everyone can go home. I’ll let you handle making the announcement. I just…” He looked down, shaking his head as he covered his face with his hand, as if everything was too much for him to handle. “I can’t deal with everyone right now.” Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at the other man. “Tell everyone to come in tomorrow at ten. I’ll set something up in the lobby and speak to everyone at the same time.”
Escobar nodded and removed his hand from the elevator button, letting the doors close.
One of the first things Neal was going to do was fire that self-righteous bastard. But not right away. No, he needed to wait a couple months, to let everything die down before he made changes. For right now he couldn’t afford any extra scrutiny.
He owed some terrifying people money, but he’d been making his payments. The last six months he’d had no problem covering his debt. The interest was what was killing him, but the Chemagan deal he’d set up had been brilliant. In another three months he’d planned to close it down and call it a loss with no one being the wiser, but that fucking bitch Taylor had somehow figured out what he was doing.
