Playing Easy to Get

by Kresley Cole

  She could see the anger and pain in Vince’s eyes. But for her, he knelt on the floor. She trembled as fear and gratitude mixed inside her.

  Tony laughed. “You always were an arrogant bastard. All right, Paulie. Put him—”

  The door to the lobby opened.

  Allison swallowed as she watched an extremely attractive man in his early thirties walk nonchalantly into the lobby. He had long, dark hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and the palest blue eyes she’d ever seen. He was wearing a black pair of slacks and a black T-shirt that showed his ripped body off to perfection. Tattoos marked both of the arms he had crossed over his muscled chest.

  He appeared to be unarmed and yet he walked into the firefight with an unfounded confidence.

  He paused near Vince. “Little Vinnie. Long time no see. How’s your mama doing? She still making that gravy that used to be so good that even the angels in heaven wept in envy?”

  Vince gaped and stared in complete disbelief. Allison held her breath, waiting to see if the newcomer was a friend or a foe.

  He turned toward her and looked at the man holding the gun as if there was nothing strange about it. “Cousin Tony?” he asked. “Is that you?”

  Tony tightened the hand he had in her hair. “Who the hell are you?”

  The man looked offended by that question. When he spoke it was in a thick New York accent. “Tone…tell me it ain’t so. I know it’s been awhile—fifteen, sixteen years or so—but damn. Surely you haven’t forgotten me? Me?” He gestured at himself with both hands, and shook his head in disbelief. “I even took your little sister, Maria, to her first prom ’cause your father was afraid to let anyone else near her.”

  “Joe?”

  “Yeah. Little Joseph. You oughta remember me. My grandfather, Big Joe, is the man your father replaced in the family.”

  Vince’s jaw dropped as he stared up at the man. Allison didn’t know what to think. She still didn’t know whose side Joe was on.

  “I heard you was dead,” Tony said in an angry tone.

  Joe shrugged. “Not yet. But if you don’t drop that gun, you will be.”

  Tony laughed as he surveyed Joe’s tough, unarmed stance. “Yeah, right. Whatcha gonna do, Joe? Talk me to death?”

  Joe duplicated his laughter. “Nah. You know me, Tone. I’m Big Joe’s grandson. We don’t talk, we act.” His face sobered as he glared dead at Tony. “And you, if you have any brains, should be afraid. Remember, I took a bullet for you and you threw me to the dogs, you bastard. I owe you one. Now drop the freakin’ gun and I might let you live.”

  “Fuck you, Joey.” Tony moved the gun away from her head to shoot at Joe.

  Allison acted without thinking it through. She elbowed Tony hard in the ribs and shoved his arm away. A shot fired into the wall. Tony hit her hard with one hand before he started to bring the gun back toward her.

  Vince launched himself over the counter, knocking Tony to the ground where they wrestled. Joe was only two steps behind as Allison scrambled to get clear of the chaos.

  Sam grabbed the shotgun and angled it toward Paulie who froze instantly. Two seconds later, a gunshot sounded.

  Allison held her breath as terror sliced through her. Who was hit? She stared at the three men on the floor in horror, waiting to see who it was.

  Joe got up first with the gun in his hand. “Vinnie?”

  “It wasn’t me,” Vince said as he pushed himself up.

  Tony lay on the floor, groaning as he held his hand to his bleeding stomach.

  Joe looked at him with no sympathy whatsoever. “Hurts like a mother, don’t it? Now you know how I felt when you walked off and left me to die. But you’re lucky, you bastard. I’m at least going to call you an ambulance.”

  Vince didn’t respond as he grabbed Allison to him and held her in a crushing embrace. “Are you okay?”

  Before she could answer, a dozen people, male and female, came running in with guns in their hands. They were dressed like a SWAT team, in black clothes with flak jackets. They quickly surveyed what was going on as they swarmed into the lobby. Two of them checked on the man Allison had shot while two covered Paulie and two more went to stand over Tony.

  A small Vietnamese-American woman glanced at Sam. “You okay, buddy?”

  “Like a peach, Tee.”

  She smiled, then looked at Joe. “What about you? Did you get shot again, Joseph?”

  “No,” he said drily. “The only person who’s ever shot me on the job, Tee, is you.”

  Tee arched a brow at him. “What about Moscow?”

  “That was luck.”

  “Egypt?”

  Joe made a noise of annoyance. “Just secure them and call to the other side for a medic.”

  She nodded before she complied and called for help.

  Allison stepped back to look at Vince’s shoulder. “How bad does it hurt?”

  “You ever slammed your hand in a door?”

  “Yes.”

  “That doesn’t even come close. But I’m alive, so I’m not complaining.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. “Thanks.”

  Joe came over to them. “I ditto that. Good reflexes for a civilian.”

  She gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t know. I think it was pretty stupid myself. I could have gotten us all killed.”

  “But you didn’t,” Joe said. “I appreciate that.”

  “Well,” Allison said with a lightness she didn’t really feel. “I appreciate the fact I didn’t get us all killed too.”

  Vince smiled, until he looked back at Joe, then his face sobered.

  “Same Vincenzo,” Joe said with a sigh and a heavy accent. “You never could keep your nose clean.”

  Vince narrowed his eyes on Joe. “I’m not the one who went to jail.”

  Something passed between them. Something that was laced with pain and sadness.

  Joe cocked his head slightly and narrowed his eyes on Vince. “I thought you knew better than to let Gino get his hooks into you.”

  Vince gave Allison a sheepish look before he answered. “He dangled a carrot I couldn’t refuse.”

  “And that was?”

  “He said he knew who killed my father.”

  Joe scowled at him. “Gino’s the one who killed your father, Vin, and most likely, mine too. Didn’t you know that?”

  “Yeah, I learned it a few months back when I went to kill Jimmy Tatalia. Lucky for him, he came clean and I let him live.”

  “Jimmy is a lying sack of shit,” Tony snarled from the floor.

  “Yeah, right,” Vince yelled back. “He had proof that you and your father took out mine. It was a fucking initiation for you.” Vince started for Tony, but before he could reach him, Joe pulled him back.

  Vince glared at Joe. “Give me a gun, Joe, and let me blow his ass away.”

  “I can’t do that, Vin.”

  An angry tic worked in Vince’s jaw.

  Allison saw the pain in Vince’s eyes and it made her ache for him.

  “I just wanted out and away from you people,” Vince snarled at Tony.

  “Yeah, sure. You were going to the Feds to rat us out. Little Sal heard the whole thing.”

  Vince looked ill at that as he scowled at Tony. “I don’t know why Sal lied, but he did. I had no intention of going to them. Ever. But I will now.”

  “And we’ll kill you,” Tony snarled.

  “Hey, hey,” Joe snapped, holding up his hand. “If anyone here is going to make a threat against someone’s life, it’s going to be me. Besides that, both of you are talking to the Feds right now and that’d be me too.” He curled his lip at Tony. “Now why don’t you be a good boy and just lie there quietly and bleed.” He glanced over to Tee. “He opens his mouth again, shoot him.”

  Tee’s dark eyes twinkled as she moved to stand over Tony. She pulled out her gun and checked the clip. “With pleasure.”

  The door opened to admit a small group of paramedics who quickly went to Frankie, Tony and Vince.

>   Allison stepped back as they had Vince lie down on a gurney so that they could cut his shirt off and apply a pressure bandage to his wound.

  She didn’t say anything while they worked on Vince, but she hoped he’d be okay. Given how well he was dealing with the wound, she took it as a good sign.

  Joe came over to stand beside her. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m okay, I think.”

  “Good.”

  She glanced over to Tee and the other agents. “Just who are you people anyway?”

  Joe laughed, but didn’t answer. “You want to ride to the hospital with Vince? I’m sure they’ll have to air-lift them out of here to the mainland for a hospital.”

  She glanced nervously at Vince, not sure what he’d want. “I would like to.”

  “Yo, Vin,” Joe said as they lifted the gurney up. “You want some company for the ride to the hospital?”

  “Not if it’s your ugly ass. I’d rather be alone. But I’ll take Allison in a heartbeat.”

  Joe made a noise of disagreement. “My ass may be ugly but at least it ain’t hairy like somebody else’s I know….”

  It was Allison’s turn to duplicate Joe’s snort. “Trust me, his butt’s not hairy. I know that for a fact.”

  Joe gaped while Vince gave him a shit-eating grin. Smiling, Allison followed the medics out to the helicopter that was just coming in for a landing.

  While they waited, she moved to Vince’s side. He took her hand in his and offered her a tender smile. “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”

  “I’m sorry you did.”

  “Ah, it’s okay. Better since you’re still speaking to me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I speak to you?”

  His eyes darkened with shame. “I’ve had a bad past, Allison.”

  “You ever beat small children?”

  He frowned at her. “No.”

  “You ever knock around a girlfriend?”

  “Hell no!”

  “You ever shoot someone who was defenseless?”

  “No. Never.”

  She reached out and took his hand into hers. “We all make mistakes, Vince. All of us. The past shapes us, but it’s what we do with our future that defines us.”

  He gaped as he looked at her. “You’re an amazing woman, Allison.”

  “I have my moments,” she said with a smile and a wink.

  The medics returned to lift him into the helicopter. Allison didn’t get a chance to say much more to Vince as they flew to the hospital and as soon as they landed, he was whisked away for surgery to remove the bullet in his shoulder.

  She paced the waiting room and was on the verge of complete boredom when the doors opened to admit Joe, Mr. Zimmerman and Tee.

  Mr. Zimmerman headed straight for her. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I told you,” Joe said.

  Mr. Zimmerman glared at him. “Yeah, but you lie.”

  “Only to Tee.”

  Tee snorted. “No you don’t. You know I’ll shoot you if you do.”

  “Well, there is that.”

  Mr. Zimmerman ignored them. “I want you to know that the actor playing Harry has been fired and if you’d like to go on with your fantasy—”

  “That’s okay,” she said, feeling a strange sense of peace. “I think I’d rather stay here with Vince, just in case he needs something.”

  Mr. Zimmerman looked pleased by that.

  Joe and Tee handed her a picnic basket that had a sweater and food inside. But more than that, it had a portable DVD player and a case full of movies.

  “I’ve spent way too much time in one of these things,” Tee said. “I know how tedious the wait is and there’s never anything good to eat or watch.”

  “Thank you.” Allison set it aside and as time passed while they waited for word, she found out that Mr. Zimmerman—Z—was Vince’s brother-in-law and Joe was his cousin.

  It wasn’t until the next morning that they were able to see Vince again.

  Allison paused in the doorway of his room. He looked groggy and tired, but at least his color was good and the doctor had told them that he would be back to normal in no time.

  Vince froze as he saw Allison hesitating. Her clothes were wrinkled and her face flushed. It was obvious she’d spent the night here. He didn’t know why, but that thought made something warm run through his veins.

  “Hi, angel,” he said softly.

  Her smile made him forget about the pain of his wound. But it started a whole other pain that wanted a taste of her.

  “Hi.” She came into the room, followed by Joe and Z.

  The men moved to the foot of his bed while Allison came to stand beside him. “You need anything?”

  He took her hand into his and kissed her knuckles before he rubbed it against his cheek. “Nope, what I need just came in.”

  Her blush deepened.

  “You know,” Joe said, exchanging a look with Z, “there are some of us in here who don’t want to go blind from the PDA. So could you two be a little less sweet before my teeth rot out?”

  Vince shook his head at him. “By the way, where the hell have you been all these years, Joey?”

  Joe shrugged. “I got out and I got legit.”

  “And you just forgot about all the rest of us?”

  “No,” Joe said, his eyes dark in sincerity. “I didn’t. I’ve kept in touch with Z, which is why I’m here now. He’s the one who got my head on straight back when I was working for Gino. He tossed me a lifeline and I took it.”

  Vince looked at Z as his gratitude swelled. “Then we have a lot in common.”

  “Yeah, we do.”

  Vince took a deep breath. “So you’re one of the federal agents who rents the island from Z?”

  Joe gave a solemn nod.

  And Vince could see where this was headed. His stomach knotted as he stroked Allison’s palm with his thumb. “So what are you going to do with Tony and the rest?”

  “Don’t worry. They won’t be coming after you again. Ever. They’re going to have much bigger problems to worry about. I called my friends in the FBI and Treasury Department. They’re already here and watching them.” Joe shifted uncomfortably. “It’s why I made myself scarce and cut all ties to the family. Had I stayed in New York, I would have done my job and brought down all of you.”

  The knot tightened even more. “So you’re sending me to jail too, I take it.”

  “No.” The word stunned Vince. “Z handed me his file on you last night. He told me the two men you took out were under indictment for various illicit crimes and that they tried to kill you first. That makes it self-defense in my book.”

  Vince couldn’t believe it. “You’re just going to let me go?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Vince narrowed his gaze. “What?”

  “I could use you in my division. I run an interesting government task force. When you’re feeling better, we’ll talk more about it.”

  Vince looked up at Allison. “What about Allison?”

  “I’ll be talking to her too.”

  “But I don’t have any education,” she said, hanging her head. “All I did was graduate high school.”

  “Hey,” Vince said, shaking her hand until she looked at him. “You’re the smartest woman I know. Don’t you ever be ashamed that you didn’t go to college.”

  Joe agreed. “We can educate you on the job. But for a woman with no academy training, you handled yourself incredibly well under pressure. You have a natural ability to cope and that makes you desirable for what we do.”

  Z stepped forward. “Well, now that we know you’re going to live, we’ll leave you two alone.”

  Joe nodded. “We’ll be back to harass you later.”

  “I’m sure you will.”

  Vince watched as the two men left, then he turned his full attention back to Allison, who absolutely took his breath away. “I can’t believe you haven’t gone back to your fantasy.”

&
nbsp; “Why would I want to do that?”

  Before he could respond, she leaned over and whispered softly in his ear. “Baby, you are my fantasy and there’s no place else I’d rather be than right here with you.”

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  Allison had a strange sense of déjà vu as she entered the Wal-Mart where she used to work. She hadn’t been home in almost five months…not since she and Vince had rented an apartment in Nashville so that they could begin training to be agents for the Bureau of American Defense.

  The last few months had all been a whirl in her mind. Between training during the day and spending her nights with Vince, she hadn’t had any time to spare.

  But now it was time to put her past to rest. She’d come back home to sign the papers to sell her house and she’d wanted to say goodbye to a couple of friends who’d worked here with her.

  As she neared the book aisle, she paused. There was a new employee who was holding a Rachel Fire romance novel open and reading a passage out of it. The woman was probably a couple of years younger than her with long dark hair. Allison knew the wistful look in her eyes.

  Before she could stop herself, she walked over to her. “It’s a great book, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” the woman said, smiling.

  Allison flipped to the last page where the entry form for the contest was. “You should definitely enter.”

  “Nobody ever wins those things except women who don’t need them.”

  She smiled knowingly. “Oh hon, trust me, they do…. I did.”

  The woman gaped at her. “Did you really?”

  “Oh yeah, and it was the best time I’ve ever had.”

  She saw the woman’s gaze go past her, toward someone else. Allison turned her head to find Vince drawing near. He didn’t pause until he pulled her back in his arms and kissed the back of her head. “Are you ready?”

  “I am.”

  The woman’s gaze dropped down to Allison’s hand, where her engagement ring rested. “You’re a lucky woman.”

  “Believe me, I know, but never, ever stop thinking for one minute that you can’t be too. Dreams really do come true. You just have to have the courage to see them through.”

  The woman scoffed. “That’s easy for you to say.”