She glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then said, “Okay, so I received a tip from an anonymous source close to the Andronetto brothers. My source said that the brothers have got close ties to an antique auction house here in Seattle. My suspicion is that they’re using the import business to smuggle in illegal and forged goods, then auctioning them off for massive profits. All I need is the proof. That’s why I’m here tonight.”
“Hmm.” Simon seemed to consider that a moment. “And you believe this source is legit?”
“I do. They gave me a heads up that one of the men who works for the auction house is supposed to be picking up goods from here at the Stagecoach tonight.”
Simon nodded and sat back, frowning at his glass of booze. “I don’t know. Sounds a bit too convenient to me. And the fact you just asked for Hendrix Andronetto at the bar means they’re on to the fact they’re being watched. The smart thing to do would be to call it off.”
“True.” She took another drink of her scotch and soda, enjoying the bite on her tongue. “But the Andronetto brothers aren’t exactly a brain trust. They know enough to be dangerous and they’ve got the muscle, but the real masterminds behind the operations are the bigwigs in the syndicate, and I doubt they bother with much oversight when it comes to the day to day operations.”
Simon narrowed those stormy gray eyes of his on her, making her heart do a little stumble before it righted itself. “Maybe. What time is the pick-up supposed to be?”
Alisha checked her watch. Eight forty-five. “Now.”
They both glanced over toward the bar just in time to see the bartender let another man in a brown suit behind the bar and through a doorway into a back room. It was hard to see what all was happening back there, but whatever it was it seemed shady as fuck. All of Alisha’s highly trained journalistic instincts went on high alert. She knew that guy in the suit from her research. “That man who just went back is Thomas Warren. He owns Warren Antiquities, the auction house the Andronetto brothers are allegedly involved with.”
Simon swore under his breath and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I don’t know. Even if they are stupid, it still seems weird they’d conduct shady business right out here in the open like this. Why bring it here to the bar? Why not just do it right at the auction house or maybe the docks or warehouse where the stuff is kept? Much better privacy that way.”
“Why indeed,” Alisha said. “Maybe they thought they’d have better crowd control here, rather than on the docks where anyone could walk up. Or maybe they’re just really lazy.” She scooted out of the booth. “I’m heading outside to see what’s happening out back. If you don’t want in on the story, then I guess this is goodbye. See you around, Simon. Stay out of trouble.”
She headed for the exit without looking back to see if he followed. If he did, great. If not, well, she’d planned on doing this on her own anyway.
Alisha barely made it out the door before Simon joined her. She gave him a quizzical look, but he just shrugged.
“You’ve piqued my interest,” he said, trying to look nonchalant about it, but she was having none of it.
“Is that what they’re calling it these days?” She gave him a look, then led him down the side of the bar to the back corner, their backs pressed to the wall behind them and her pulse pounding loud in her ears. Man, she loved this part of the job. The race to find the story, the rush of adrenaline in her blood. She held a finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet, then peered around the corner in time to see two men load a large crate into the back of a dark van. Oh yeah, something was up all right.
Her gut tingled in anticipation. She looked over her shoulder to see Simon watching the men too and she couldn’t hide her smile, seeing the same excitement sparkling in his eyes.
“You up for some recon?” she whispered as the guys slammed the back doors of the van, then got in to start the engine.
“Always,” Simon said, tugging on her arm. “Come on, let’s go.”
Two
As Simon steered his blue sedan out of the parking lot, tailing the van at a safe distance, he still couldn’t quite believe he was doing this. Sure, he wanted a new story idea, but was it worth partnering with his best bud’s sis to get it?
He gave Alisha some side-eye while she sat in the passenger seat, fiddling with the GPS on her phone, and decided, yeah, it was. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and right now, Simon was under the gun with a deadline from his publisher. He’d gotten a two-book deal when he’d sold his first title, and he was expected to turn in an outline—or at least an idea—for his next project any day now. He couldn’t afford to pay back his advance and the clock was ticking.
“They’re headed to the auction house,” Alisha said, squinting through the windshield at the van’s glowing red taillights ahead. “I’d bet my life on it. It’s not far from here. Only a couple of blocks.”
Sure enough, about five minutes later he and Alisha were parked at the curb, about half a block from Warren Antiquities, watching through a chain link fence while the two men from the bar parking lot unloaded the huge crate from the rear of the van. Two other men—it was hard to see their faces, but Simon recognized the brown suit from the bar so assumed it was Warren and Andronetto—exchanged cash. From the size of the stack, Simon guessed it had to be several grand at least, maybe more, depending on the denomination of the bills.
Alisha took several photos with her phone, then reached for the door handle, but Simon stopped her.
“What are you doing?” He scowled. “We can’t go in there.”
“Look, I need more proof and the only way to get it is through that fence,” she said, tugging her wrist free from his grip. “So, unless you have a better idea, I need to get closer to see what’s going on.” Before he could stop her again, she was out of the car and heading for the auction house.
Shit. Just shit.
Since dealing with all the press and paparazzi after his ex’s lies, Simon had done his best to live under the radar, but this mess tonight was blowing those plans sky high. Part of him wanted to start the car and drive away, but his inner SEAL just wouldn’t let him leave Alisha behind like that. It was his damned principles getting in the way again, as Mike used to joke with him. Those principles were what had caused him to leave the SEALs at just twenty-six so he could report the wrongdoing he’d seen and expose it to the world through his book. Funny thing, but as strong and mighty as the SEALs were, you couldn’t do a damned thing about injustice within the ranks while still a part of them, aside from reporting the problem and hoping the higher-ups would deal with it instead of covering it up. When the cover-up kicked in, full force, he’d left what he’d planned on being his lifelong career to start over again as a writer. Now it felt like he was at one of those turning points again. Stay in the car and stay safe or go after Alisha and figure out what the hell was going on here.
In the end, there was no choice at all.
With a muttered curse, Simon got out of the sedan and trailed after Alisha, careful to stick to the shadows to avoid being seen. Up ahead, he could just make out the shape of her near the back wall of the building. Something in her hand caught the light and flickered and he narrowed his gaze. Her camera. She was trying to take another round of pictures.
There was more movement in the lot behind the building and Simon spotted two guards walking the perimeter of the fence line, armed and definitely dangerous. They were headed straight for where Alisha stood.
Dammit. Clicking over into full-SEAL mode, Simon quickly traversed the distance between him and Alisha without making a sound, catching her from behind and pulling her back into the shadows before the guards could see her, one hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
She struggled against him, kicking him hard in one shin, and Simon bit back a grunt of pain.
“It’s me,” he hissed in her ear. “There are guards out back. They were going to see you. Understand?”
At his words, she calmed d
own and gave a curt nod. He removed his hand and loosened his grip on her. She stepped away and leaned back against the brick wall beside him.
“Sorry,” she whispered, taking a deep, slow breath. “But you scared the shit out of me.”
“Better me than them.” He shrugged, not sorry at all. “Stealth is all about surprise.”
“Well, you’ve certainly got that down.” Alisha watched him a moment, her wide smile showing off all her pretty white teeth and that damned dimple again. “Thanks.”
“Thank me later,” Simon said, eager to shift his attention away from forbidden territory and back on to the task at hand. He hiked his chin toward the fence line. “Did you see what they had in the crate?”
“No. I got a couple of shots, but the angle was all wrong, so they’re not what I needed.” She tapped the screen on her phone again. “Maybe if I climb the fence, I’ll be able to see in those windows up there and find out what’s in there.”
“No.”
“What do you mean ‘no’?”
“I mean, no. You’re not climbing up there. It’s too dangerous.” Simon crossed his arms.
“Then you do it.” Alisha gave him a look. Even through the shadows, he could tell it was the facial equivalent of a middle finger. “You’re the big, bad black ops guy, right?”
Well, shit. She had him there. That simmering tension inside him notched over into full boil. Adrenaline, anticipation, and…something else. Something Simon didn’t want to get into right then. “Fine. Give me your phone and I’ll take the shots.”
“Here.” She stepped closer. Being around her was all but impossible when she was the most infuriating, irritating, dead-ass sexy thing Simon had come across in a long time. He wanted to simultaneously spank her and kiss her silly. Which did nothing to calm the raging energy inside him. So much so that his fingers trembled slightly when he reached for the phone, fumbling it and causing it to clatter to the ground.
Fuck.
The ruckus sounded like a one-ton warhead going off in the otherwise quiet area.
“Who’s out there?” one of the guards yelled, shining a high-powered flashlight into the shadows. If it wasn’t for Simon’s quick reflexes, he and Alisha would have been caught for sure. As it was, they were hunkered down against the brick wall, breath held and hearts racing, just beyond the reach of the beam. Several long moments ticked by until the guard turned away to yell to the other one. “Get the dogs.”
Fucking hell. This night just kept going from bad to worse.
“Come on.” He took Alisha’s hand and started toward the opposite end of the building. They’d need to skirt around the block to get back to the car, but at least they could hopefully avoid those damned dogs, which were now barking and howling and generally sounding altogether rabid. “Let’s go.”
“Wait!” Alisha scrambled away from him before he could pull her back. “I need my phone.”
“Fuck your phone! We need to go, now!” he hissed, but she was already across the sidewalk and scrabbling for the damned thing. Thankfully, she nabbed it before the hounds of hell caught up to them. “Go!”
They took off, running like their lives depended on it, and honestly, they probably did. Neither of them looked back until the echo of barking and pounding footsteps behind them had faded. Then they slumped against a parked vehicle about a block from where the sedan was parked, the orangeish glow of the streetlights around them casting their panting breaths into foggy relief in the early morning chill.
“That was…” Alisha started, then shook her head.
“If you say fun, I won’t be responsible for my actions,” he said, giving her a warning glare while bent over with his hands on his knees, sucking oxygen into his lungs. Back in his SEAL days, that sprint would have been nothing. But while he still tried to keep himself in shape, he wasn’t part of the elite forces anymore. And avoiding the paparazzi meant he’d been slacking off on his running routine. When she didn’t answer, Simon looked up to find her grinning. “What?”
“It was kind of fun though, right?” She nudged him with her elbow, speaking between breaths. “I mean, in a Bourne Identity kind of way.”
“Bourne Identity?” He snorted. “You watch too many action movies.”
“Maybe.” She straightened and held her hand to her side, those full lips of hers parted and her eyes sparkling with excitement. “But there’s nothing like a little flight or fight to get the motor running.”
For a moment, Simon was sure he’d misread her meaning. They barely knew each other. She was Mike’s kid sister. He was the last guy in the world looking for love. Besides, she seemed so young and eager and fresh, so why the hell would she want to be with a jaded has-been like him?
Then he straightened too and looked into her eyes and…yep. There was definitely lust there. An answering hunger blazed hot inside him. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was the adrenaline, the rush of survival, against the odds. Maybe he just needed to get laid, since he hadn’t been with anyone in months.
Whatever it was, the minute her gaze flickered to his lips, Simon knew this was on. Big time.
Before either of them could change their minds, he had Alisha in his arms, his mouth on hers, kissing her like his life depended on it. For her part, she couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Her hands were in his hair, under his shirt, her fingers slipping beneath the waistband of his jeans to graze the top of his ever-hardening cock. A groan escaped him before he could stop it and Simon picked Alisha up, turning to brace her back against the wall of vehicle nearby, praying to God he didn’t set off an alarm. She tasted like sunshine and Chivas and something uniquely Alisha and Simon couldn’t get enough.
Finally, the sound of a car starting down the block made him pull back. If he didn’t get them out of there, he’d take her right that moment against the car and even as turned on as he was, he didn’t want that. If he was going full-blown forbidden with his best friend’s little sis, he didn’t want some quickie where they stayed mostly dressed and kept an ear out for anyone approaching. He wanted to fully savor the experience, since it would be a once in a lifetime thing.
He rested his forehead against hers and swallowed hard, their panted breaths mingled, one of his hands around her waist, the other braced against the car. “We should get out of here. My place is…”
“My apartment’s a block away,” she said, cutting him off. Her legs slipped from around his waist where she’d placed them when he’d picked her up. Slowly, her body slid down his, nearly making him moan again when the heat between her legs brushed against his aching cock. She took his hand and pulled him in the direction of the sedan. “Hurry.”
* * *
By the time they reached her place, Alisha thought maybe the urgency threatening to explode inside her would have died down at least a little, but nope. She’d wanted him for what seemed like forever, and tonight, she was going to have him. And sure, maybe tomorrow she’d regret it, but no way was she missing this opportunity. If she’d learned anything from her brother being a SEAL, never knowing where he’d be sent next, when or if he’d return home, it was that life was precious and you only lived once.
They barely made it inside her apartment before she was on him again like white on rice. She could tell by how he’d gone all quiet and brooding that he was having second thoughts and she needed him to forget those. Forget everything but her and this amazing chemistry between them.
And yeah, maybe it was a bit weird, him being friends with her brother and all, but they were both adults. They were free to make their own choices. Mike sure as hell never asked Alisha her opinion on the skanks he chose to date. Her love life was none of her brother’s business.
“Hey,” Simon said, between kisses. “Are you sure about all this?”
She pulled back slightly, pressing her hips against his and rocking slightly. Oh yeah. He wanted her. No doubt about that. “Positive.”
Her lips captured his again, her tongue gliding against his, tasting the dark sm
okiness of the whiskey he’d drunk earlier and his own unique Simon flavour. It was good. More than good. A girl could get used to that. Not that she would. Nope. This was a hot and heavy hook-up. A one-night stand.
The end.
So that meant she needed to make the most of it, right? Before the big finale, there was so much she wanted to explore on him. To prove her point, she grinned and gripped his cock through his jeans, trailing her fingers over him from root to tip and eliciting a deep, low, feral growl from him that damned near made her come right on the spot. So, so hot. “You want me.”
“I do,” he said, not denying it. “But what about Mike?”
“What about him?” Alisha frowned. “There’s just you and me tonight. No one else. And I want you too, Simon.”
He seemed to consider that a second while she nuzzled his neck and continued to stroke him. She could tell the second he gave in to his desire because his body melted into hers, his hips arching into her palm and his hands digging into her waist. Then he kissed her hard and deep and before Alisha knew what was happening, they were in her bedroom. Simon tossed her into the middle of her bed and followed her down. Their clothes came off in a frantic blur of caresses and licks and moans. He kissed his way down her body to lick her slick folds, leaving her teetering right on the edge of orgasm, her nails digging into the duvet and her thighs clamped around his head.
Guarding His Fake Family Page 2
