by J. A. Coffey
Fully dressed, she disappeared from his line of vision. He was too angry-and still too aroused-to think straight, much less find the cajoling words that would convince her to untie him.
In a few short minutes, she reappeared and inched toward the bed, still keeping a good distance. "I never meant for this to happen, Davie," she said quietly.
David froze at her soft, husky words. The last time he'd heard that name was fourteen years ago. And there was only one person he had allowed to call him by that nickname. But she had been a scruffy little girl with clothes too big for her. Not this curvaceous and conniving temptress. Then he recalled the name she'd whispered to him while he'd been deep inside her.
Athena.
"Tena?"
Her dark eyes widened then quickly filled with regret. Tena Lewis. The woman standing before him was a far cry from the little tomboy he remembered. The last time he'd seen her, he'd been twenty-two and headed to California for school, ready to leave his life of stealing and cheating behind.
Apparently, she hadn't.
The reality of his situation came crashing down on him, and he released the short hold he had on his rage.
"Why the fuck are you doing this?" he snarled. "Who put you up to this?"
She let out a weary sigh. "Believe me, if I had another choice, I wouldn't even be here."
"That's not what I asked," he snapped.
"I'm just doing a job," she said. "I don't know why it's important to them, but apparently it is. And I'm just here to get what they want."
"And who is 'they'? How much are they paying you?"
She bit her lower lip and slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry. I can't say. You know that."
"Bullshit," he barked. Anger boiled over in him as he was made painfully aware of his awkward situation. "Get over here and untie me. And I promise I'll go easy on you. No cops."
Just a bit of strangling, he thought viciously.
She shook her head again. "Even if I believed you, which I don't, I have four meaner bastards to deal with."
The Acerras. Of course they were behind this bullshit.
"Sweetheart," he began in a deceptively mild tone, "you should worry less about them and more about me right now."
She flinched at his cold words, but stood her ground. "I don't doubt it," she whispered. She quickly turned away from him, went back to the desk, and came back with something thin and flat. Keeping her eyes intently on him, she slipped the black utensil between his fingers.
"Here's a plastic knife," she said. "The ridges are sharp enough to cut through the nylon. It'll keep you busy for a bit, but you should be out of them soon."
He gripped the plastic knife. "Tena, you're only making this worse for yourself," he growled. He ran the pad of his thumb over the ridges before he began viciously working the nylon.
"Really, Davie," she whispered, "I am sorry about this."
She walked away from him, but he followed her every movement. She slipped on a pair of long boots that came up to her thighs then slid something thin and black inside one of them. Without looking back, she quietly left the room.
The hotel door softly shut behind her, but David continued working the sheer material.
He'd just had sex with Tena.
Not just sex-amazing sex. The realization still left him reeling, and he couldn't wrap his mind around it. But one thing was for certain-he'd just broken one of his most important rules.
Don't be an idiot.
He'd been more than an idiot, however. He'd been a horny one. Hell, he didn't think 'idiot' was even an accurate enough term for what he just let happen.
But he would get his hands on her again-that he was certain. The anticipation of that moment helped fuel his cutting.
Chapter Six
Idiot!
Athena's stomach was in a web of knots as she made her way down the hall, toward the elevators, adjusting the short bangs of her long, black wig.
Why had she allowed it to go that far? And then to compound it by telling him her name. He would never forgive her. If he didn't kill her first.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Just thinking about the fury in his pale gray eyes made her shudder. The last thing she wanted was to be in David Carrone's line of fire, especially when he had always been good to her. But it was his wrath or her brother's safety, and she couldn't let anything happen to the only family she had left.
Athena reached the brightly lit elevator bank and jumped into the first one that arrived, almost knocking down an attractive, rugged Latino getting out. The man grabbed her arm to steady her.
"Excuse me," she muttered, blaming her guilt-ridden conscience for making her so jumpy.
But the man didn't release her. Instead, he held on to her arm, using his other hand to hold the elevator doors open. He studied her with piercing dark eyes.
"Can I help you, miss?"
Athena looked him over. It didn't take her long to recognize he was security. Although he didn't dress like security, he had the arrogance of someone in charge. Just the type she had been taught to spot as a kid.
"Uh, no," she said, pulling her arm from his firm grip. "I'm just heading to my room."
"This is a private floor," he said, giving her a once over.
She could imagine what he saw. Long, bone-straight black hair, tight black dress, and black thigh-high boots. She looked like a streetwalker...a hooker...someone there just to have a good time and get paid. Though the look had been intentional, she still had a sudden urge to tug down her skirt. This was a complete departure from the slacks and simple tops she preferred to wear, but tonight she needed to be someone else.
She offered him a charming smile-or one she hoped was pleasant. "I realized that when I couldn't find my room, sir."
"And what room is that?"
Athena pulled out the keycard Jay had given her earlier from her bra and held it up for the man to see. "1408."
"That's on the fourteenth floor," he said curtly.
"Thanks," Athena muttered.
As soon as he removed his arm from the elevator door, she jabbed the down button. A small frown tugged on his brow as his dark gaze still bore into her. She held onto her forced good-humor as the elevator doors slid closed between them. Once the doors slid shut, she lost her strained grin and slumped against the elevator wall.
Jay had been insane to insist they meet at Royal Courts. But to ease Luke's suspicion that she would purposely screw-up this final attempt, Jay had suggested picking up the "package" immediately after she had it in her possession. A part of her hadn't felt inclined to argue because she wanted this over with as soon as possible. His ridiculous plan, however, would surely get them caught.
She made her way to the room he had reserved, half expecting him to be there waiting for her. He wasn't. The room was standard with two double beds, nothing like the luxury suite she'd left Davie in. She had no plans to stay there any longer than she needed to.
After slipping off the wig and pulling out her phone, Athena set them aside then carefully extracted the small hard drive from the makeshift pocket inside her boot.
She stared at the small device for a second. It was protected inside a black anti-static bag. Handing it over to Luke still didn't sit right with her. They knew she was good at hacking into well protected security systems. She could have gotten them what they needed without getting herself dirty. Literally. Unless whatever it was they wanted, they didn't want her to know about it. But if she had been given the time, she would have copied the contents onto a separate drive before she handed them this. She figured Jay had thought the same thing, which was why he wanted to meet so soon after.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she sent Jay a blank text, letting him know she was there. As she waited for his response, she looked at the hard drive. She meant everything she'd said to Davie. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. She didn't know what the Acerras planned to do with this information, why it was so important for them to get their han
ds on it, but she doubted Davie would care about that minute detail.
Whatever the Acerras had planned for this couldn't be good.
Athena suppressed her overwhelming emotions. She couldn't worry about that now. It was done. She had to stay focused. Don't lose sight of the end goal. She'd been repeating that mantra to herself since she'd walk up to Davie in nothing but the towel.
She glanced down at her phone again, anxiously awaiting Jay's call. When it rang, she jumped. She was surprised and a little irked to see it was her brother calling.
"Tena? Did you get it?" Anthony asked immediately.
"Yeah, I got it." She could practically hear the relief escape him. "But you don't know what it cost me to do this. Davie was our friend, and what I just did was shitty."
"I know, Tena," her brother said with a long, drawn out sigh. "But we had no choice. Remember?"
Athena gritted her teeth at her brother's nonchalance. "Next time, think twice before you borrow someone else's money."
"Trust me, if I had it, I would give back every cent."
Athena was silent for a moment. Trust him? It had been a while since she'd been able to trust her older brother. Especially with money. Over the years, he'd become selfish and irresponsible, never stopping to think about the consequences of his actions. He was no longer the same guy who had dropped out of school so he could provide for them and keep them together after their grandmother had passed away.
Lately, he seemed more inclined to screw up and just have her cover for him. And since she often did, he had grown used to her bailing him out. Except the one time she'd been fed up and had refused. He'd ended up in the hospital, fighting for his life, and she had been sick with panic that she would lose him too.
Though she hoped after tonight things would change, she couldn't be certain. A trip to the hospital hadn't stopped him from continuing to borrow more money than he could ever pay back.
She asked the burning question that had bothered her since this all began. "Why'd you take their money in the first place? What the hell did you spend a hundred grand on?"
"A hundred? Shit. That's nowhere near what they actually gave me. It was more like forty-five, fifty. Those assholes jacked up the price," Anthony muttered. He didn't seem all that outraged about them practically doubling his debt. Only mildly annoyed.
"You should know better than to borrow that kind of money from anyone," she snapped. "We're not kids anymore, Ant. The Acerras aren't your friends anymore. They've changed, and they're not gonna just lend you that kind of money and look the other way when you don't pay up."
"It's not like I blew the money on bullshit," Anthony said defensively. "Or gambled it away, like I know you're probably thinking. I used it on a business investment that didn't work out."
Athena was relieved to hear her brother hadn't fallen back into his old vice, but that didn't change the fact that his latest business venture put her in this position.
"Was it worth it?" she finally asked.
He didn't respond.
Athena sighed. "Ant, I know you're trying to do your own thing, but you can't keep putting yourself, or me, in these situations. I may not always be able to help you. And if anything happens to you too..." Her voice cracked, and she couldn't finish the thought. They only had each other now, and she didn't want to lose the last family she had left in this world.
"Jeez, Tena, don't cry."
"Shut up," she choked out, smiling despite herself at the panic in his voice. Her brother wasn't used to her doing anything remotely "girly." Like crying.
The one and only time he'd seen her cry was at their parents' funeral, after a careless driver had changed their world forever. She and Anthony had been shuttled from one reluctant relative to another until their grandmother had finally taken them in. But she had been too old and frail to raise young children again, so without any real supervision, she and Anthony had practically raised themselves. And it had made falling in with an unscrupulous group of "lost boys", like the Acerras, that much easier.
They'd eventually learned to fend for themselves, to depend only on each other. After their grandmother had passed, Anthony, who'd only been seventeen at the time, had dropped out of school to take care of them and ensure they remained together. For that, she would forever be grateful to him.
"I promise this is the last time, Tena," Anthony said. "You don't have to worry about me, okay?"
She prayed her brother was right-and hoped that he kept his promise. If she bet on all the times he'd made the same promise to her... Let's just say, she was glad she didn't gamble.
She eventually ended the call and checked her cell again for messages. It was getting late.
Where the hell are you, Jay?
*****
"Jay, your timing sucks," David snapped into the phone. "She just left. Mind telling me why you didn't warn me she was planning her little visit tonight?"
"We all met last night, but she didn't tell me what she had planned until later this afternoon. Then I got pulled into some other shit," Jay said with a sharp retort of his own. "But I've been trying to get a hold of you for the last hour. Where the hell were you?"
Getting screwed. Literally and figuratively, David thought with a frustrated sigh. He looked over at the bed where he'd just freed himself from his satin bindings and unconsciously rolled his wrist. The tattered pieces now lay on the floor beside the bed, along with her torn panties.
"I got tied up," David said dryly, grimacing at the bad pun. "Anyway, a little heads up next time would be nice."
David had called in a favor from his friend, Jay Price, asking him to keep close to the Acerras. Jay was supposed to alert him if they were up to something so he could avoid the kind of situation that could again threaten the resort-or leave him tied up in bed with a painfully hard erection.
If he hadn't just freed himself, David would have never imagined something like this happening to him. And he certainly wouldn't have guessed the solemn little girl he'd introduced himself to over twenty years ago would be the one to do it.
"If I had known how she planned to do it," Jay said, "you would have been the first to know. But she kept that bit to herself, so I knew just as much of her plans as you did. Luke just wants me to deliver whatever it is she has with her."
His computer. David went to his laptop bag, which still had some weight to it. He opened it and was surprised, and relieved, to find the thin, black computer still there.
"What was she here to get?"
David could practically see him shrugging his big shoulders. His friendship with the muscular ex-fighter was an unlikely one. They had met years ago outside a local gun range when David found himself in the ironic position of being robbed at gunpoint right outside his car. As it happened, Jay had been leaving the range at the same time and had used his brute strength to disarm the kid of what turned out to be an empty gun. Not that either of them had known that when the kid had been waving the black barrel at him.
But nothing made for lasting friendships more than someone saving your ass.
"I don't know what it is," Jay said. "They kept that conversation on a need-to-know and referred to it as the 'package'." Jay paused then added. "But Gino let it slip that there may be a deal in it for Rome if they can get you tied to the Provenzano business. I can't be sure, but they may be trying to link you and your partner to that whole money-laundering situation."
David fell into the nearest seat and ran his hand over his face. That damn money-laundering case was never going to leave him alone. He had spent the better part of the last seven months trying to disassociate himself from that whole mess, but no matter how often he denied it, there were still people who believed he was trying to follow in his father's footsteps. To live a life of crime. Some even alleged he'd skirted the law because of his relatives' connections. Little did they know that he had no desire to be a part of the Carrone family "business."
The only thing that connected David to his father was their last name,
and that was as far as he cared for their connection to go. His mother may have been content to be a "Carrone Mistress," but David had wanted more than just being known as a "Carrone Bastard."
But if what Jay was saying were true, then the Acerras must think he had something to hide. He would need to confront this situation head-on. Getting law enforcement involved would only open him up to more rumors and speculation, and that was the last thing he or the resort needed.
Besides, it hadn't gotten to that point yet. Once he got his hands on Tena, he would shake the information out of her. The rest of tonight he would chalk up to bad judgment-and an overzealous libido.
"Do you know where she is?" David asked.
Jay grunted. "She's still there. She wouldn't let me in on her plan, so I figured I'd make it easier on myself and keep her close. I'm headed to her now."
David blew a sigh of relief. He knew exactly what Jay meant because he would have done the same thing. "What room is she in?"
"1408. I can bring her to you or you can go to her. Up to you."
David weighed his options. He didn't see how Jay would bring her back up to him without attracting attention. And for right now, he wanted to keep this one quiet.
He got up from his seat and began jerking on the rest of his clothes. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Make sure she doesn't leave."
"What if she gives me a hard time?" Jay asked. "She's not exactly the stay-put type."
David agreed. "Do what you have to do," he said. "Just don't touch her." The order sounded more possessive than he intended. He knew his friend would never put his hands on a woman, so his harsh command stemmed from something else. Something David wasn't yet ready to examine.
"All right," Jay replied. "Just get your ass down here."
Chapter Seven
Athena jumped off the bed at the loud knock on the door. It was followed by a soft beep, and a second later, Jay strolled in. She forced herself to relax. She had her pocket knife tucked into the inside edge of her boot in case the brute tried anything.
