by Jayne Rylon
He wished he could argue, give her some comfort. The hell of it was Jeremy heard the clock ticking as loud as a jet engine. They didn’t have much time.
“Ramone, tell Suz to round up the rest of the boys as soon as they’ve enjoyed their rewards from this morning’s session.” Lily held her hands out, helping her charge to his feet. She tugged him closer, lifting to her tiptoes to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Have someone call when they’re ready for me to address the group.”
“Yes, Mistress.” He hugged her tight. “Thank you. We’ll make you proud.”
“You always do.”
Jeremy waited until the door had shut and Ramone’s bare feet slapped down the marble hall before facing her. “We should split up.”
“What? No.” She evaded his grasp. “This won’t take long. Then we can hunt Morselli. Find out what he has planned for us. You know as well as I, he wouldn’t have asked us here if it were only about handling the fallout. I assumed he was working for The Scientist. Now, though…What Ramone said makes sense. Morselli’s always been about power. He’s trying to take over. He needs something to produce or distribute the drug and he thinks we can get it for him. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Have you ever considered law enforcement?” Jeremy grinned. All through the night, he’d supervised her unnatural slumber between taming the bouts of drug-induced hunger ransacking her tiny body. While she’d dozed, he’d kept his tablet handy, typing in notes, building timelines, running probabilities, drafting reports on his theories for Agent Sterns.
By dawn, he’d come to the same conclusion.
Morselli had tried to usurp his partner. Maybe he’d acted too soon or underestimated The Scientist. The genius hadn’t evaded police in a dozen countries by being stupid. Now he needed help to finish the job. Somehow he thought Jeremy or Lily would be able to secure what he needed.
“You had it right.” She sat on the edge of her desk, distracting him with the graceful cross of one sleek thigh over the other. “Things are moving faster, running out of control. We should try to force his hand. I only need fifteen minutes tops to guarantee how key the safety of my subs and my staff is and how volatile the situation has become. I can’t take off until that’s done. I’ve earned the right to confront Morselli with you. Don’t take that away from me.”
“Shit.” Jeremy scrubbed his knuckles over his eyes, trying to erase nightmare scenarios. They could break her so easily. Not because she was weak, but because they were ruthless. He forced his respiration into a steady rhythm. “This is hard, Lily.”
“Like giving up control to you isn’t?” She hopped up, slapping her hands on her hips. “No matter what happens when we’re in bed, you have to trust me to take care of myself. Or was everything you said a lie? About needing someone strong enough…”
“No, never.” Their whispered confessions rushed through his memory. How could she think what they’d shared could be false? He spun to face her head-on, cupping her cheeks in his hands, hoping she didn’t notice the tiny tremble in his fingers. “I believe you’re capable. It’s just—”
“Yeah.” She relaxed into his touch. “I know. It’s freaky to trust someone after all this time. Hard to take another risk.”
“I can’t stand to lose again.” He trailed his fingertips over her cheeks to her parted lips. “Not when I’ve finally found everything I want, everything I need. The stakes are too high.”
“If you don’t consider me your equal, and treat me the same, you’ll lose me right now.” The shimmer in her eyes promised it would rip them both to pieces. “I’ll walk if I have to. I have my limits, Jeremy. I’ll surrender to you in everything but this.”
“Damn it.” He smothered her upturned face with butterfly kisses. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ll wait. This is so new, Lily. So different. Phenomenal. You’re going to have to bear with me, okay?”
“If you’ll do the same for me.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face against his tense pecs.
“Always.”
“For so long I’ve worried about getting caught, not wondering if it would happen but when and how much of my father’s damage I could fix before they stopped me. This is the first time in years, maybe ever, I believe things are going to be okay.” Lily’s whisper tore his heart. “I can handle anything when you stand with me.”
“Same here, Lily. Together. We’ll do this together.”
Chapter Eighteen
Jeremy observed from the hallway as Lily spoke to her intimate family, unwilling to infringe on their private moment or detract from her authority by hovering too close. He wished he’d seen them interact before he and the sultry switch had exchanged midnight confessions. Sitcom actors with false smiles and scripted, laugh-track reactions had nothing on the devout gazes of the men and women surrounding her.
Concern—not for themselves, but for the woman who formed the glue of their bond—wrinkled brows and had several holding hands with their friends and neighbors. The fierce loyalty she inspired in the group couldn’t be forced. She’d earned their allegiance.
“Would you look at that?” Lucas leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb, kicking his foot across the other. “Every last dude wrapped around her little finger. You joining them?”
“None of your business, really.” Jeremy studied the hired muscle.
“Agent Sterns seems to think it is, Romeo.”
Fuck. It hadn’t been his imagination. Lily’s help screamed military. He’d assumed they were the ex variety, earning a living with the skills they’d honed while enlisted. Should have guessed they were part of the special task force assembled from an alphabet soup of agencies to tackle what Sterns had codenamed Operation Romeo. “How long has he had you working from the inside?”
“About three months.”
“No wonder that asshole wasn’t in any hurry to put me in the game. Does she know?” Jeremy’s gut burned at the thought of the men deceiving her. She deserved the truth.
“Hell, no.” Steve joined their cluster. “She’d probably rip our balls off and make us eat ’em.”
Lucas laughed. “No doubt. Besides, once we cleared her of any involvement, we couldn’t risk her kicking us out. Manning this post keeps our ear to the ground and her fine ass covered.”
“What you’re saying is you’re wrapped around her finger too.” Jeremy raised an eyebrow at the men.
“Pretty much,” Steve growled. “So you’d better convince us you’re not fucking with her just to grab the inside line.”
“Give me a little more credit than that.” Jeremy glared at the overgrown goons. Reality was he would have issued the same challenge in their shoes. Hell, he probably wouldn’t have been half as nice about it. “Fine. How’s this? I’m glad she’s had someone on her side. Enough that I’ll make a case for keeping your jewels when I blow your cover to hell and back. I’m not about keeping secrets from her.”
“Oh damn.” Lucas’s wry grin leeched the bitterness from his curse. “I hope she’s as into you as she looked this morning.”
“Me too.” He clapped the man on the shoulder.
They might have swapped war stories and initiated the formation of a bond most safety and law officials found with other men of similar callings if pounding footfalls hadn’t put them all on full alert. They stood three-wide across the main entrance to Lily’s haven in the middle of the snake pit, braced for whomever was about to fly around the corner.
Jeremy sighed when Matt charged toward them.
“JRad.” The beads of sweat on his brow contrasted with his hardly winded tone. The guy trained non-stop outside of his police duties. “You need to come check this out.”
When Matt jerked his chin toward the wing housing their personal chambers, Jeremy waved him off. “Hold up a minute. What’s going on? You can speak free in front of these guys. They’re part of the team.”
“What the fuck?”
Jeremy wouldn’t have been surprised if a bl
ood vessel burst in Matt’s eye. He could relate. Why their superior had sent them into the situation without the full briefing they required, he couldn’t say. True, he’d signed himself up for this particular duty, forced his involvement. Still, the DEA douche bag should have mentioned any onsite backup.
“Maybe he doesn’t trust you two,” Lucas challenged Matt. “How do we know you’re not teaming up with Morselli for real?”
“Because the fucker is setting off alarms left and right in JRad’s system.”
“Screw that!” Jeremy wouldn’t tolerate someone taking a virtual sneak and peak around his computers. His programming should hold to wipe the reports and other incriminating data clean if anyone attempted to tamper with his network, but the existence of such protocol alone would implicate him. Worse, suspicion would spread to Lily. Questions he couldn’t afford to have asked would arise. Doubt would put her at risk.
“I’ll take care of this.” If he manned the terminal he could counter the attack, make things appear status quo by feeding the hacker what they hoped to see. The roadblocks he’d left should hold long enough for him to take control if he hustled. “I’ll be back. No more than an hour. Make sure Lily doesn’t leave your sight. This could go either way. If it’s a disaster, smuggle her out of here however you have to. Please.”
Not a word he used often.
“Between us and the guys in there, she’ll be safe.” Steve shoved Jeremy toward the door as he tried to steal one last glimpse of Lily through the open archway. He couldn’t even make eye contact long enough to wave before Matt urged him to hurry.
He jogged backward for a few steps then pivoted. With a long look over his shoulder, he began to run.
Lily forced herself to stand still instead of gouging out her security team’s eyes. Maybe she’d heard them wrong. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“Sorry, love.” Lucas grimaced. “Your Master said you’re not to leave until he returns for you personally.”
“Since when do you work for him?” Lily swore she could feel the blood vessels in her eyes bursting. “And for the record, he’s not my anything. Not after this bullshit.”
“I’d want to protect you too if I were him—” Steve should have known better than to try and reason with her.
“Stop. And…you’re fired.”
“We’re not going anywhere.” Lucas and Steve refused to meet her furious stare.
“I figured he made sure of that. What’d he bribe you with? Did he promise you I’d suck your cocks? Tell you he’d let you fuck me too?” Heat flamed in her cheeks. After last night, they probably expected nothing less.
“Jesus.” Matt stepped in. “It’s nothing like that.”
She growled. “They’re still fired.”
“Lily, wait…”
The plea fell on deaf ears. She refused to linger so they could see how deeply Jeremy’s betrayal cut her. Anyone who knew her worth a damn would realize the crack in her composure that allowed her to flip them the bird as she stormed to her office was telling enough.
Her journey seemed ten times longer than the trek from the public stage to Jeremy’s all-too-private quarters had been the night before though her furious stride ate up the hallway in a flash. She drew a wobbly breath as she approached what should have been her sanctuary. With her hand on the knob, she paused, afraid to step inside. Reminders of the lies Jeremy had fed her, and how greedily she’d gobbled them up, would surround her.
Fuck that. She swore to obliterate him from her soul. Somehow. The door crashed into the wall then rebounded, halfway closed. A well-placed shove of her boot took care of the rest.
Lily paced her chambers like a lioness trapped in a zoo. Apparently Jeremy had a different idea of always than she did. She could have whipped herself for imagining he’d meant forever-and-ever-until-death when he’d really meant until she turned her back and he could slink out of her realm.
Stupid motherfucker. Whether she referred to him or herself…well, either fit. More him if he thought she’d consent to act as an ornament for his collection, satisfied to be left idle. Locked away from the action. Screw that. She’d prepared herself to revolt if Morselli tried anything ridiculous. After all, he was a misogynistic dickhead if not worse.
But Jeremy.
How could he have sidelined her like this?
She punted a gleaming chrome garbage can halfway across the room, satisfied with the clang it made as it collided with a solid stone statue of a naked man in the corner. If only it had been the man she’d been foolish enough to call Master. His thick skull would have sounded like a gong when struck by the metal.
“Mistress.” A soft knock came on the door a moment before it cracked open. Ryan peeked inside. “I…uh…heard a crash. Are you okay?”
“Fine.” She put her back to him while she daubed a bit of moisture gathering at the corner of her eyes. Horrified, she slammed shut the floodgate of emotions Jeremy had pried open. Tears shed for someone undeserving only shamed her more.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Lily forced herself to swallow the bitter taste of betrayal. If one of her submissives needed her attention, they came first. Before tending the ragged hole in her chest left behind when Jeremy had ripped her heart out. Why had she allowed herself to believe this time could be different? That the man she’d fallen for would live up to his promises? How had he convinced her to believe?
For months she’d dreamed about the aura of integrity he’d cast when they’d last met. Maybe she’d built him up to be more than humanly possible.
“I’ll come back later.” Ryan began to shut the door.
“No, please.” She bit her lip then waved him to a chair. “Take a seat.”
“What if I show you a way out instead?” A mischievous smile crimped his luscious lips. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I overheard your doorstoppers. I was going to offer to diagram the servant quarters for you. There are passageways no one from the main house uses. You know, staff access routes. Morselli doesn’t like the workers to be seen in his hallowed halls.”
“Even here? In this wing?” Lily perked up. She crossed to Ryan and grasped his hands.
“Oh yeah, definitely here. Anywhere with a bedroom is likely to have access for twilight visitors. The passages are vast and intricate.”
“You know how I can get to Morselli’s office from here?” If she could search his desk, she was sure she’d find what she needed to locate The Scientist. Even if she didn’t, the access would put her into contact with more of the servants. They had to know where the man was stashed if he was campaigning to turn them against their boss and break free.
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Show me.”
The slave studied the intricate pattern of the wallpaper over her shoulder. “He would call me there often. To make me watch while he threatened my sister. I should have told you this earlier, but there was no time. I didn’t realize why it was important. Ellie…she worked in a laboratory. She didn’t know what they were cooking up, I swear. Each tech had only a tiny piece of the total puzzle. The job paid well. I told her to take it. It’s my fault.”
His shoulders slumped.
“You couldn’t have known.” Lily crossed the space to wrap him in her arms.
“I got myself hired on here, did whatever he wanted. I thought I could snoop around and pull her out somehow. I hadn’t managed more than glimpses before Morselli caught me. He made me do things. Bad things. Like yesterday. I’m so sorry we did that to you. But he said he would hurt my sister.”
“Shh.” She rubbed his broad shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll find Ellie. I’ll help her if I’m able. I’ll do what I can. Tell me how to get to his office and I’ll try my best.”
“It’s dangerous. Take me with you?” He raised his brows, looking for all the world like a loveable puppy. No way would she drag him deeper into the shadows.
Jeremy had reminded her she worked best alone.
“Not th
is time.” She silenced him with a finger over his lips. “If I can slip out, others can break in. I need you and Ben to stay. Lucas and Steve can’t cover the whole area by themselves. Worrying about the group will be a distraction I can’t afford. I’ll be quick. In and out.”
When he still didn’t respond she let some of her simmering anger show.
“Jeremy already has Morselli distracted. They’re probably somewhere in the holding cells. The safest time to go is now, while his attention is diverted.” She hated to do it but she played her ace. “Whatever happens, this is not on you. I’m ordering you to tell me.”
He scrunched his eyelids closed then gulped. “Yes, Mistress.”
Lily stepped aside when he angled toward the curtains. A whoosh of silk followed his yank. If it hadn’t been for the ornate pattern on the wall, she wouldn’t have noticed the slight disruption caused by the tiny gap around the outside edge of the wallpapered door.
“Swipe along the bottom of the molding.” Ryan took her hand and flipped it over. He cradled it in his larger palm as he demonstrated. “Feel that?”
“Yes.” She smiled up at him. “I just press it like this…”
The panel swung inward. If she expected a shadowy, cobwebbed rathole, she would have been disappointed. Though not as elegant as the furnishings in the rest of the house, the passageway gleamed with diffuse white light and utilitarian linoleum. The space reminded her of a hospital.
If she descended the five or six steps dropping the passage below the windows, she’d then have to either go left or right. A small plaque had an arrow pointing toward kitchen and another aimed at residential. “Efficient.”
“It takes a lot to run a place like this.” Ryan sighed. “Despite what he’d have you think, there are people everywhere doing his dirty work. Head toward the residential section. When you come to the staircase go down three flights. His rooms are on the main floor. They take up the whole wing. His office is at the very end of the passage. If you see anyone along the way—”
“Don’t worry.” She grinned. “I’m used to playing games. I’ll think of something.”
