Three Dirty Secrets (Blindfold Club #4)

by Nikki Sloane

  Chapter

  EIGHTEEN

  Getting an appointment to see Caroline Getty hadn’t been an easy task, as her schedule was hectic. I’d told the Marshal I’d spoken with that I only needed ten minutes of the Chief Deputy’s time, but I had to drop my name to get penciled in.

  Her office was at the back of the room, and I felt every pair of Marshal eyes on me as I was escorted to it. It was like the cowboys could sense a Fed on their turf, and it made them uneasy. Tension had grown between the departments after an incident two years ago. I’d transferred to the Chicago office a month before a federal judge had been assassinated, and the Marshals made a fucking mess of the case that should have been ours.

  Caroline looked similar to her younger brother. She had the same silver eyes, soft brown hair color, and long, straight nose. Her dark gray business suit was paired with a bright blue dress shirt, and her long hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. Everything about her from her stiff posture to the gold star on her hip screamed business.

  When I wasn’t undercover, I assumed the same would be said of me. I might own that exact same suit.

  She stood behind her desk speaking on her cell phone and motioned for me to take a seat. My escort, a guy with sideburns which were too long, took one of the unoccupied chairs. He assumed this was a work-related conversation.

  I kept my voice low not to disturb Caroline’s conversation. “I need to talk with the Chief Deputy about something alone.”

  “She’s going to bring me up to speed as soon as you leave, so let’s save time.”

  “It’s personal.”

  The Marshal’s expression flooded with surprise. “Um, okay. I guess I’ll leave you two girls to chat.” His gaze flicked up to hers and he sobered when he realized Caroline was no longer on her call. Her dark expression sent him running from her office, and the door swung closed behind him.

  For a quiet moment Caroline and I exchanged a knowing look, wordlessly acknowledging the sexism which was still rampant in our professions. She had it much worse than I did, and I was struck by how far she’d climbed in spite of it.

  She thrust her hand out. “Chief Deputy Getty.”

  Her handshake was like mine. Firm and dominating.

  “Special Agent Adams.”

  “Thanks for your help on the Serbian case. Is that what we’re talking about?”

  So, she did know who I was. When she took her seat, I followed suit. “No, ma’am.” God, the words were stuck in my throat. “Uh, it’s about Silas.”

  My statement grabbed her full attention and her shoulders straightened. “Why the hell is the FBI interested in my brother?”

  Oh, Christ. “They’re not.” A lie. I’d used Silas’s gallery showing to get close to Roland. “I mean, I can’t discuss ongoing investigations, but his involvement was minimal, and it’s over now.”

  Her pretty face soured. “Awesome. So this is a heads-up after the fact? Typical of the Bureau.” Her sharp gaze made me feel an inch tall. “Okay, thanks for letting me know. Next time, ask my fucking permission before pulling one of my family members into an undercover op.”

  I gnashed my teeth. “It was nothing. He was completely safe, and he doesn’t know I’m undercover.”

  She paused. Her thoughts were clear through her eyes. Her cop eyes, as Silas would say.

  “He doesn’t know?” she repeated. “You’re still in contact with him?”

  Oh, yes. There’d been plenty of contact last night in his bed. “Yeah.” My voice faltered. This conversation was about to get awkward. “I’m seeing him.”

  She went entirely still. Didn’t even blink. “Meaning, what? You’re sleeping with him?”

  My non-answer was answer enough. I held my head up, readying for her to send a volley of nasty things my way. I didn’t want to introduce myself like this, but it couldn’t be helped.

  Her shoulders tensed and her voice rose. “You’re fucking my brother as part of an undercover case?”

  “No. I told you, his part in my op is done. I’m fucking your brother because I want to.” Way to win her over. I sighed, set my hands on the armrests, and pushed myself to my feet. “I like him. I wish we hadn’t met while I was UC, but Silas is connected with people who only know me as my cover. I can’t tell him I’m FBI until my work’s done.”

  Caroline’s expression was thinly veiled anger. “Okay. Why are you telling me this?”

  “I wasn’t sure if you knew who I was. My cover took months to build, and I can’t risk it getting blown if you decided to stop by his gallery.”

  “You want me to lie to him?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “When you made Chief Deputy, I was thrilled. I’m sure this boys’ club gets on your nerves sometimes like it does mine. I didn’t ask for this assignment, but I was willing to do it because of the cases I could help close. Like the Serbian one. You do what you need to. All I’m asking for is the chance to do the same.”

  Hopefully my appeal to her as an ambitious woman in law enforcement would make the connection I needed.

  Her gaze lingered on me, then shifted to look out the one tiny window in the office. “I’m not about to get in the way of the FBI. You threw us a bone when we needed it, so your cover’s safe as far as I’m concerned.” She turned back to focus on me. Caroline was a beautiful woman, but her expression now was intense. The chip on her shoulder had to be bigger than mine, which meant it was as big as a glacier. “Silas is a big guy, but he’s still my little brother. Keep that in mind.”

  Her subtle threat was actually a little sweet. “Understood. Thanks for your time.”

  I was halfway out the door when she spoke again. “Adams.” She still wore the intense expression, but it had an edge of authority now. “As soon as your work’s done, you tell him. Or I will.”

  My next stop was to Shane’s desk, and I loomed at the edge of his cubicle. “Come on,” I said. “Let me buy you lunch.”

  He paused his typing on the computer and glanced at me. “You’re buying lunch? That can’t be good.”

  “I haven’t kept you in the loop about something,” I admitted. “Let’s get out of here and I’ll correct that.”

  I spilled the story over a plate of shrimp tacos, filling Shane in on my night with Silas following the showing, and hurried through the part where he had arrived at the blindfold club looking for me. I glossed over details, but Shane got the gist. He did his part, listening without questions or judgment.

  “He RSVPed Payton McCreary’s wedding as my plus-one. I went to his gallery to confront him, and I, well, I ended up spending the night.”

  Shane wiped his mouth with his napkin and gave me a direct stare. I wished he’d say something. His silence was unnerving.

  “We’re together, like a couple. I even asked him for that. Christ, Shane, will you say something?”

  “What do you want me to say? This is a gray area. You can have your own life, as far as the Bureau is concerned, but getting involved while undercover isn’t a great idea.”

  “I know that,” I snapped. My frustration leaked out and I scowled at myself. Shane was only stating the obvious, there wasn’t a reason to be pissed at anyone but myself. Maybe I could be pissed at Silas, too. He’d been impossible to resist.

  “You going to tell him?”

  I flattened my lips into a line and shook my head. The last time I’d revealed I was undercover was still too fresh and raw. “We’ll get Roland, and I’ll be out. Then I’ll tell him.”

  “Wait a minute.” Shane jolted with alarm. “Didn’t you say his sister was a Marshal?”

  I waved a hand. “I already took care of it. We spoke this morning.”

  “How’d that go?”

  Honestly, better than I’d expected. Caroline Getty was driven and focused. She wasn’t happy I was lying to her brother, but she saw the ends that justified the means. At least, I believed she did.

  “It went fine.” Could he sense how much I wasn’t saying?

  I r
efused to second-guess myself. I liked Silas, like, a lot. We’d stayed up until two in the morning talking about everything from movies to music. He had an eclectic taste, just as I did, but he used the different genres of music to infuse mood into his art. His charcoal piece had been an angry, aggressive one, which explained the rap.

  I’d woken at seven this morning, dressed quickly, and kissed him goodbye before high-tailing it to my apartment. It’d been a mad dash to get ready for the day after that, and I’d tried my best not to think about him.

  Because he made me giddy.

  It was something no other man had done. After Reno, I felt like I was all darkness. Silas was light, my opposite, and it rubbed off on me in the best possible way. I liked Regan, the woman I was around him. But lying brought reality crashing back to me. All I’d wanted was to be an FBI agent. Not sharing such a huge part of my life with him was eating me up.

  At least coming clean with Shane helped a little.

  “I have a feeling,” Shane said, “that something’s going to happen soon. We’re gonna catch a break.”

  God, I hoped so.

  I went home Saturday night cursing both Kirk Roland and Victor Bennett. Another weekend down, and Roland hadn’t shown his face. He hadn’t reached out to Julius, either. I went home to my apartment pissed off at the situation.

  There was a small UPS package sitting on my green rug, and the box looked like it’d been too big to fit in my mailbox. I scooped it up and carried it inside, curious. I didn’t remember ordering anything recently, and didn’t recognize the sender. Once I was in my apartment, I cut it open, and a laugh bubbled from my throat. Without reading the packing slip, I knew instantly who’d sent me the pair of patterned underwear. They were black with orange pumpkins on them.

  I dug my phone out and sent a text message to Silas, not sure if he was still awake.

  I smiled. Silas’s simple gesture had brightened my shitty day and I was grateful.

  His single word sent a thrill through me.

  We fell into an easy pattern of dates after that. Not necessarily seeing each other every day, but we always talked. Sometimes he’d work late into the night to finish a project, or I’d be assisting an investigation at the office that spilled into after hours.

  Hope dwindled further each weekend that passed without hearing from Roland. I considered going to his office, but Shane advised against it. Not only would it skirt the edge of entrapment, but he felt strongly that Roland would have shown up if he had interest. Fuck, I’d been so sure I had him on the hook. Just another one of my instincts that was dead wrong.

  It was early November when I took Silas out to celebrate the sale of his red piece, the one with the people having sex in the fog. He’d sold it to a decorator who was designing a fancy restaurant on the Gold Coast, and it made sense. The painting made me hungry.

  We’d finished our meal when Silas laid his gaze on me, his expression unreadable.

  “You have plans tomorrow night?” His voice was casual, but I picked up on the tightness. Was he nervous?

  “I don’t think so. Why?”

  “I’m doing Joseph and Noemi’s photo shoot.”

  “Oh.” Conflicting emotions surged through me. Joseph and Noemi would be naked and probably fucking while Silas took pictures. I’d heard they were both exhibitionists from Payton.

  I wouldn’t have said I was a jealous type, but Matt’s betrayal had knocked me sideways. And maybe I wasn’t jealous of my boyfriend looking at another woman, as much as I was jealous he’d be doing it without me.

  But Silas was an artist, I reminded myself. Surely he’d used nude models before, and his tattoo work had to have put a lot of naked people beneath his needle. Not to mention, he’d already received the payment for the photo shoot. Payment that had been one of the hottest nights of my life.

  Why had Silas asked if I was available tomorrow?

  “You want me at the shoot?” My voice was coated in surprise. “Are they okay with that?”

  His smile was cryptic and got my blood hot. “Yeah, Joseph said it was fine.”

  “What aren’t you saying?”

  He laughed lightly. “Joseph’s got an idea, but I can’t tell you about it.”

  “What kind of idea?”

  “Did you hear what I just said, how I can’t tell you?” Silas seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. “It’s a secret, Regan.”

  “I’m great at keeping secrets.” It was supposed to roll out of my mouth with a fun and flirty tone, but I choked at the end. My stomach bottomed out each time I was reminded of my deception.

  Thank God he didn’t notice. “Nice try. You’ll have to show up to find out what it is. You game?”

  My pulse jumped. Obviously I didn’t have a problem watching other people have sex; I did it twice a week. Yet it was behind a monitor, and the filter kept me from feeling connected. It wasn’t live or interactive, and the couple usually didn’t have the chemistry of two people in a real relationship. How would Joseph and Noemi compare to the shoot Silas and I had done? I was suddenly anxious to find out.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’m totally game.”

  Chapter

  NINETEEN

  Like last time Silas had done a shoot, I sat on his worktable and watched as he adjusted the lights. This time, though, there was no music. He’d said it would be distracting while he tried to give guidance to the subjects. He wore a red printed t-shirt and dark jeans beneath it, and my gaze flitted over his brawny form. He must have sensed my stare, because he turned and took me in, watching my dangling feet swing beneath the table.

  “What are you smiling about?” he asked, an amused smile playing on his lips.

  “I’m wondering what kind of patterned boxers you’re wearing today. Horseshoes? Shamrocks? One of the other marshmallows from Lucky Charms?”

  He must not have remembered. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and peered down over his defined stomach to the orange waistband protruding above where his jeans stopped. “Penguins.”

  “Christ, put your abs away or I’m going to need to change my panties.”

  Someone cleared their throat behind me.

  Joseph. He wore an immaculate black suit with a crisp white dress shirt and a gold tie. Beside him, Noemi looked stunning in a cream-colored cocktail dress that draped over one shoulder and left the other exposed. They were quite the pair, even with fifteen years separating them. She was soft and feminine, and he was hard and distinctly masculine.

  “Wow,” I said. “You two look great.”

  “Thank you,” Noemi said, her eyes shining.

  Silas put his hands casually on his hips. “I’m all set up.” His gaze turned to Joseph. “You ready?”

  “I suppose.” Joseph’s hand extended to the white backdrop, wordlessly asking Noemi to lead the way.

  She walked on her gold heels and stepped cautiously onto the thick paper. “Just in the center?”

  “Yeah,” Silas said. “I’ll need to take some test shots.”

  Joseph stepped up and slipped an arm around Noemi’s waist, turning his head toward her so his lips were right by her ear. Whatever he whispered caused a smile, and pink color bloomed over her cheeks. Shit, I hadn’t thought this through. I’d forgotten how powerful it was to see Joseph like this. Intimate, and in love.

  Silas snapped his test shots, evaluating the results in the viewer, and made adjustments.

  Meanwhile, Noemi fidgeted. “I feel weird not smiling. Should I be smiling?”

  “If you want to,” Silas said. “Do whatever makes you comfortable.”

  “Are you nervous, baby girl?” Joseph asked, his voice soft and perhaps teasing.

  She almost seemed shy, but I’d worked at the club long enough to know looks could be deceiving. There’d been a few quiet clients who’d morphed into alphas the second I’d left the room.

  “No, I’m not nervous,” she said, her voice breathy. “Are you?”

  “I am, a little.”

  H
er eyes went enormously wide and her head snapped his direction. “What?”

  “I’m good to go,” Silas interrupted. “Joseph, go ahead and take a knee.”

  Wait a minute. I jolted upright. My breath stalled when Joseph’s hand darted inside his pocket and he sank down, his other hand clasped on Noemi’s.

  “Wait.” Her voice trembled. “What are you doing?”

  She wasn’t paying any attention to the furious clicks of Silas’s camera. Her focus was only on the man down on a knee who produced a small black box.

  “Wait,” Joseph repeated. “I haven’t heard you use that word in a while.” He pulled the box open, revealing the diamond ring nestled in black velvet. It twinkled under the bright lights, and she gasped.

  “Wait! Oh my God, you can’t do this.”

  Confusion blanketed his expression. “I can’t?”

  “I mean, my father. He’ll be upset you didn’t ask his permission first.”

  A coy smile stretched across Joseph’s lips. “I already asked him, baby girl.”

  “You did?” She looked concerned. “What did he say?”

  A tight laugh escaped him. “He said no.” Her mouth fell open as if she were about to speak, but he cut her off. “He said he knew it wouldn’t stop me, and it was your decision to make. His daughters are the most important thing in his life, and although I don’t deserve you, as long as I spent the rest of my life trying to, he’d allow it.”

  “Allow it?”

  “Yes.” He smirked. “I had to bite my fucking tongue, but I did it.” His expression melted into one that was intensely serious. “I love you, Noemi. More than anything. Marry me.”

  Her throat bobbed as she appeared to swallow hard. “Is that an order?”

  “Only if you say no.”

  Emotions welled in her eyes. “Yes,” she gushed. “Yes. Wait, no.”

  The pleased look on Joseph’s face shattered. “What?”

  “I have a stipulation, and you won’t like it.” Her teeth skimmed over her bottom lip for a second. “I can’t take your last name.”

  She was right, he did not like that. His jaw set. “Sure you can.”