Shades of Desire: 10 Sweet & Spicy Romances

by J. A. Coffey

  Luke laughed again, obviously enjoying his ignorance. "There was no damn debt. You think I'd give that addict a hundred grand to gamble away? We needed your hard drive, and Anthony thought Tena could pull it off. For twenty grand, he set this whole thing up. Obviously, he knows his sister better than anyone because as soon as we fed her that story about calling in his loan, and made a few threats to keep things interesting, she didn't hesitate to take the job." Luke leaned back in his seat, looking thoughtful. "I guess Anthony can be a sneaky, clever bastard when he wants to be."

  David ground his teeth. Rage at Anthony's deception burned in David's gut. The bastard. He not only used Tena, but he had put her at risk for his own benefit. Tena would do anything for her brother, and Anthony knew it. The fact that he had taken advantage of her loyalty pissed David off more than anything. Anthony was supposed to watch out for her, keep her safe, and yet, he'd conned his own sister and put her in harm's way. If Anthony had been anywhere near, David would have gladly rammed his fist into his face.

  "Did you already pay him?" David asked tightly.

  "We gave him half to start, half if Tena came through."

  Luke's nonchalance over shelling out ten grand made David curious, then it suddenly dawned on him, and he bit back a curse.

  "And you used the money you've cheated from my casino to pay him," David stated coolly.

  Luke smirked.

  "Prove it," Gino barked.

  "Consider it a gift," David replied. "I said I would help you with Rome's case, but my guy doesn't work for free. You can use the money you stole from me to pay him."

  The two brothers frowned as he headed toward the door. Before he stepped out, he threw over his shoulder, "And after tonight, stay the hell off my tables."

  *****

  It was well after midnight when they got back to Royal Courts.

  Apparently Davie had some questions for her about last night and her break-in. Since Athena hadn't walked out with anything, she didn't consider it such, but she could sense the anger in him, so she'd said nothing during their return to the resort. Though she wasn't one to cower in the face of a man's anger, she didn't want to make her situation worse. If she could get out of this by answering a few of his questions, she would put up with his temper.

  Right now, however, she couldn't stand a lecture or another harsh word. All she wanted was for him to hold her, but from the hard set of his jaw, that wasn't going to happen. She sighed. She'd be fine once she got over this sudden irritating need to be comforted.

  As they neared his suite, she was surprised to find a raven-haired beauty in an elegant, figure-flattering red dress standing outside his door.

  "Lisa?" Davie called out, annoyance plain in his voice. "What the hell are you doing here?"

  Athena tried to pull away from him, but his hold on her arm only tightened, keeping her at his side.

  The woman turned her gaze to them with a look of equal surprise. Athena would have never believed such a thing as violet eyes if she hadn't seen this woman. She was stunning.

  Athena immediately became self-conscious standing there beside Davie in her skimpy black dress. If this was the kind of woman he dated, he had no need for her. She was glad she hadn't met the woman until tonight. Athena would have never had the courage to seduce him and know what it was like to lay with him.

  Lisa turned her violet eyes and charm on Davie, virtually ignoring her. Athena narrowed her eyes, instantly disliking the other woman for her arrogance and total disregard of her as potential competition. Maybe Athena didn't stand a chance with David Carrone, but she didn't know that.

  "David, honey, I came to surprise you," Lisa said sweetly, her voice bubbly and light. "I didn't like how we left things last night."

  Athena stiffened. So this was probably the airhead Davie had flirted and talked sweetly to over the phone. The one he had probably spent the night with yesterday. Athena couldn't help the stab of jealousy that pierced her. She shouldn't be surprised-this was David Carrone, after all-but it still stung to have one of his many lovers standing in front of her.

  And the way this woman regarded him with obvious familiarity annoyed her.

  Athena tried to pull away again, but this time he tugged her closer to him.

  "Now is not a good time," Davie snapped.

  The woman's smile was suggestive, and she was seemingly unaware of the tension surrounding them. "I know you must be busy. But I can wait and keep you company."

  This time Athena rolled her eyes. The woman was either dense or pretending to be.

  "As you can see, I already have company," Davie said exasperated.

  Lisa glanced over at her for the first time, giving her a quick once over. "Her?" She didn't bother to conceal her disbelief. "Just send her away, and you and I can go inside and...make up."

  "Not tonight," Davie said curtly. He stepped around the dumbfounded woman and opened the door to his suite. He hustled Athena inside and turned back to the other woman. "Good night, Lisa," he said when she didn't move from her spot just outside the door.

  The woman sputtered for a few seconds until she eventually found her words. "Really, David? Her?" Lisa asked, sizing her up again.

  That did it. Athena had had enough of the woman's subliminal insults and was about to let her have it when he lashed out, his tone cold and hard.

  "Go home, Lisa. And don't come back here."

  Davie slammed the door on the beautiful woman's face, and a prickly silence filled the air. He went to the mini bar and poured himself a drink. Athena stood in the middle of the suite, noticing the splendid décor of the large hotel room for the first time. It was designed with rich reds and gold, and the mahogany furniture had a classic appeal. The suite was fit for a king-or at the very least, for the man who owned and operated this beautifully designed resort.

  She watched, unsure of what to do next, as Davie downed the pale brown liquor.

  "Who was that?" Athena blurted, wanting to break the strained silence in the room. But they both knew, aside from that being a dumb question, she was just stalling.

  He shook his head. "No, sweets. I'll be asking the questions here."

  She shrugged. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

  He stared at her for a minute. "You had a chance to bring Luke the hard drive," he began. "Why didn't you?"

  She looked away and shrugged again. What did he want her to say? That she loved him and couldn't go through with betraying him like that again. That was a truth she wouldn't dare share with him.

  "I guess I changed my mind."

  "Fair enough." He set his glass down and made his way toward her. "So what the hell did you think you were doing trying to strong-arm those guys?"

  Athena shrugged yet again. "It was all I could think to do to make this all go away," she admitted.

  "They mentioned something about a recording. Do you still have it?"

  She shook her head. "I was lying about that. I needed them to think that I had just as much dirt on them to put them away so that they would leave Anthony alone. Leave all of us alone."

  He stared at her for a long while, incredulous. "Are you fucking crazy?" he barked. "Why would you take such a stupid risk? What do you think would have happened if I hadn't gotten there in time?"

  "I would have figured something out," she replied, suppressing a shudder at the thought of what would have happened if she hadn't. "Besides, they bought it, so it all worked out."

  "What if they hadn't?" he snapped. "They could have fucking hurt you. Did you think about that?"

  "My brother-"

  "Fuck Anthony. You need to stop risking your ass for him!"

  "Stop fucking yelling at me!" she shouted back, her body rigid with tension. She closed her eyes, trying to ease the sudden sting in them. "I just wanted this all to go away, okay?"

  Maybe she hadn't thought her plan through, but at that moment she had been only thinking about protecting the men she loved.

  When she opened her eyes again, she
saw him through a veil of unshed tears. He muttered a curse then quickly closed the gap between them. He pulled her into his arms, and she leaned into his warm embrace.

  "Don't you dare cry," he said gruffly against her temple, gently rubbing her back. "And I wasn't yelling. I was just talking loudly."

  Keeping her face hidden in the warm, wide planes of his chest, she smiled ruefully, thinking about the time he'd "not" yelled at her for her carelessness many years ago. It had been the one and only time she'd gotten caught with stolen merchandise and had almost seen the inside of a juvenile detention center. She had made the mistake of keeping her treasure-a beautiful, bright diamond ring-on her. To her young girl eyes, it had been as bright as the lights lining the Vegas strip. And just as captivating.

  But when the police had gotten a hold of her with the stolen ring, Davie had literally come to her rescue, insisting to the authorities that someone had sold him the ring and he'd given it to her as a gift. No one had actually bought his story, but thankfully neither of them had been arrested. Davie, however, had later given her a proper tongue lashing for her sloppiness, but it hadn't bothered her one bit. To know he had taken that kind of risk for her, that he had cared enough to save her, made her heart swell.

  "You can't fight my battles for me anymore, Davie." she said quietly. "I can take care of myself now."

  He continued running his hand slowly down her back. "Then just let me help you," he said. "Or would you rather keep putting yourself in these kinds of situations?"

  "Okay," she said just to placate him. After tonight, she might not ever see him again. She would go back to her life, and he would continue on with his. "So what did you give Luke to make him agree to leave us alone?"

  "Something a bit more useful than my hard drive," he said simply.

  She pulled away from him and frowned at his vagueness. He smiled and stroked her cheek with his finger. "Don't worry about it. Just know that they won't be bothering you again." He must have seen the fear and uncertainty she tried to conceal because he added, "Trust me, it's done. Now stop worrying."

  She nodded, biting her lip. Trusting anyone never came easy to her, but with Davie, she always had. It was the Acerras she didn't trust.

  "Now," he said coolly, his eyes boring into hers, "I need you to clear some things up for me. You were just supposed to bring Luke the hard drive, right?"

  She nodded. "Yes."

  "And you were here last night trying to get it?"

  She glanced away, but nodded again. Why was he asking her this? Was he trying to remind her of her betrayal to him?

  "Then mind telling me what you planned to do with the flash drive?"

  She looked at him blankly, trying to suppress her rising frustration. What freaking flash drive? What the hell was he talking about?

  He must have taken her confused silence for a facade because his eyes turned to steel. "Don't lie to me," he said evenly. "I know you were here, and I know what you were after, but I don't understand what you planned to do with the information on that flash drive."

  Frowning, she tilted her head to the side, trying to make sense of what he was accusing her of.

  His jaw flexed. "Tena, don't lie-"

  "I'm not lying!" she snapped. "I was here last night, yes, but I don't know anything about a damn flash drive. When I got here, I went to your office first, but you had already taken the computer with you. So I went to your partner's office, figuring his hard drive would be a good enough substitute. But when I got there, someone was already in there, so I hauled my ass out."

  He was silent for a moment, obviously trying to gauge whether she was telling him the truth. She sighed in defeat. She couldn't blame him if he was finding it hard to believe her.

  "Was it a man or woman?" he finally asked.

  "A woman."

  "Describe her."

  Athena quickly ran off the description of Red Skirt. She had a pretty good memory so it wasn't hard.

  Davie's frown deepened. "Would you recognize her if you saw her again?"

  "Yeah, why?"

  He shook his head and ran a hand roughly through his hair. "I need to step out for a bit." From the distant look in his eyes, he was already gone, his attention a million miles away. "Can I trust you to stay here and wait for me?"

  She hesitated then agreed. It was the middle of the night, she was dressed like a hooker and weary to the bone. All she wanted was to sit still for a moment.

  He came up to her, cupped her chin, and gave her a fast kiss. When he pulled away, he stared down at her, his eyes fierce. "I'm trusting you to be here when I get back."

  Before she could respond, he was out the door, and she stared at it. A range of confusing and conflicting emotions filtered through her. Did he really trust her?

  Could he?

  She had nearly jeopardized his company tonight. How could he ever trust her after this?

  Shoving the bleak thoughts aside, Athena sank down on the edge of the bed and stared at nothing in particular.

  Finally, she could relish being still for just a moment.

  Chapter Eleven

  David returned to the suite much later than he'd anticipated, half expecting it to be empty.

  It wasn't.

  On the large, four-poster bed, Tena slept, wearing one of Royal Courts' pale gold bathrobes. He stared down at her from the foot of the bed, enjoying the serenity of the sight before him. Even in sleep, she was beautiful.

  Lying on her side, her head resting on her arm, she looked innocent and harmless. But David knew better. She was smart and cunning, but it was her body that was her biggest weapon, wreaking havoc on his mind and senses, and leaving him wondering how he could ever be the same.

  Her actions tonight had also opened his eyes to the flaws that still plagued their systems. After tonight, they would need to amplify their resources and procedures to prevent another internal-and external-intrusion.

  He'd spent the last couple of hours preparing for Judith's arrival in the morning. The security team was on high alert, and her computer had been confiscated. Every move Judith had made in the resort was currently being reviewed and archived.

  He'd also left Carlos a message, informing his security chief of what he'd learned tonight. David wouldn't rush to judgment just yet, but when Judith Bell arrived for work in the morning, he fully intended to question her. She could have a perfectly sound explanation for being in Gabe's office the other night, and it could all turn out to be nothing, but he wouldn't take any chances.

  Making his way around the bed, David couldn't take his eyes from Tena's still form. He would have never guessed the girl he'd felt such strong protectiveness would ever elicit such possessiveness in him. He wanted her right here with him, and away from the dangers she seemed inclined to put herself in, especially for her brother. If it meant tying her to the bed, David would do whatever it took to keep her out of harm's way.

  It still irked him to think of what Anthony had done. The one person she should have been able to rely on the most had violated that trust. He could only imagine how hurt she would be over that knowledge. The more David thought about it, the more he thought against telling her about her brother's deception. As much as he wanted her to see Anthony for the manipulative bastard that he was, David wanted to protect her from any more disappointments, from any more hurt. He would figure out a way to deal with her brother himself.

  Her smooth, long legs peeked out of the robe, and memories of those legs cradling him brought a rush of desire through his rigid body. All he wanted was to lose himself in the beautiful woman lying there. Instead, he reached out and pulled the robe over her exposed thigh. His knuckles brushed against her smooth skin. She shifted, releasing a soft sigh, but didn't wake. He ran his knuckles over the soft spot again, enjoying the delicate feel.

  David wanted to feel more, but moved away from her before his needs got the better of him. She was obviously exhausted. He would let her sleep.

  Turning away from the bed, he sta
rted toward the ensuite bathroom and his gaze landed on the black dress draped over the small sofa. Right beside it, he spotted the other half of her black, thigh-highs. The one he'd freed himself from earlier, and had left in tatters on the floor, was nowhere to be found. Neither were her torn panties.

  David lifted the sheer black material then smiled as an idea began to form. They never did quite finish their game...

  *****

  Athena noticed two things when she woke. One, the heavy dip beside her on the bed. And two, she was sleeping on her back.

  She never slept on her back.

  She tried to turn away from the soft glow of the lamplight, but her arms wouldn't move. She tugged on her arm, but they were stretched above her head. The smooth bindings around her wrists kept her hands together and close to the headboard.

  Athena blinked frantically, trying to clear the haze in them. The shadow beside her came into focus, and she immediately recognized the male figure sitting beside her.

  "Davie?"

  She blinked again, trying to make sense of what was happening. The last thought she'd had before she'd laid down to rest her eyes was of giving Davie a piece of her mind for virtually trapping her in this room without letting her know when to expect him back.

  "Morning," he drawled, his voice laced with amusement.

  She couldn't get a glimpse of the bedside clock, but a quick glance at the window revealed it was still dark out. Athena tugged at her arms again. The smooth ties weren't too tight, but they were definitely secure.

  "Davie, what is this?"

  He reached over her head and leisurely trailed his fingers over her palm and down along her arm. "Just finishing the little game you started," he murmured.

  Athena pressed her lips together. So this was retaliation? "Okay, look. I'm sorry about what I did. Or almost did. I know it went too far, but if you untie me now, I'll leave here. We can forget last night, forget everything."

  His hand rested on her waist and the heat of his hands burned through her borrowed robe. "Now why would I want that?" He stared down at her lips and her breath caught. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget last night."