Adelaide pushed hard against William’s chest and he stumbled back into the corner, giving her some pleasure. She walked forward with the full intention of giving him a sneak preview of the monster underneath the calm exterior, leveraging her hands against the wall on each side of his head.
“Who are you?” he asked, his mouth open in shock.
Adelaide delighted in the fact. Nobody had ever met a woman like her.
The elevator doors slid open and she turned toward the hallway before she could teach her companion a lesson.
A couple, no older than thirty, watched them in surprise. From the style of their clothes they looked to be tourists. Loaded with cameras and sunblock, she imagined these people had never stepped foot in Los Angeles before today.
She imagined what they saw: a blonde in thigh-high boots, denim shorts, a button-down black blouse, scars covering every exposed inch of skin, who’d cornered a middle-aged man in an expensive suit.
The couple smiled nervously, inching their way back from the elevator.
Adelaide gave them her best smile, the one she reserved for cover, and tugged William out onto the floor by his collar. A few feet to the right, she stopped beside the door marked 510 and pulled the hotel key card from her shorts pocket. Sliding the card into the door, she watched the little light turn green.
As the most luxurious the hotel had to offer, the room gave her exactly what she needed in order to reel the ADA in. Rose petals blanketed the floor, a round bed beckoning from the corner as champagne chilled on the dining table. Lined with golds, creams and reds, the decor presented her with the perfect intimate setting.
“This is a little romantic for just one person.” William closed the door behind him and walked toward the alcohol, helping himself. “Expecting company?”
Drink up, Adelaide thought, smiling to herself. You’re paying for it. Through a quick background check neither she nor Christian could discover where William Roberts got his extra income, the cash deposits in his account untraceable. She fully intended to find out whom he worked for, other than the state, and why they wanted the ledger so badly.
Glancing to the other side of the room, she motioned to the bathroom.
William understood the gesture. “Just don’t keep me waiting too long. I’m supposed to be meeting someone.”
Adelaide turned and strode to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She glanced at the black duffle bag waiting for her on the floor, a gift from Christian. Sitting down on the toilet, she remembered the old days when he’d leave her little presents in between fights in the ring, the fights that left her permanently scarred.
She made herself focus on the task at hand. She yanked her hand away from the ridged scar across her neck she’d unconsciously fingered and pulled the bag closer. She unzipped it. The 9mm that wouldn’t fit in her shorts beckoned for her grip.
But I wanted to use the knife, her monster whined. You never let me have any fun.
An unexpected vibrating noise made Adelaide jump. Reaching past the gun and skimpy lace inside the bag, she removed the phone Christian made her carry. Without a second thought, she answered, bringing the phone to her ear.
“We’re missing a shipment,” he greeted her. “I’ll be there in two minutes.” The line went dead and Adelaide moved quickly, replacing the phone. She fingered the lace before removing the gun from her bag, then made sure it would fire.
Chapter Two
William sat on the satin sheets, a glass of champagne in hand. No vibrating bed, he told himself in disappointment, but a grin slowly crossed his face. She was smoking hot.
He took a sip of the fizzling liquid. Cheap. But everyone made sacrifices to get what they wanted. “You don’t want to keep the ADA waiting, do you?” A bitter aftertaste coated his tongue. Cheap champagne indeed. “I could have anyone I want, but tonight, I chose you. Do you want to know why?” he yelled through the door. The bathroom door opened, casting his new friend in a soft glow.
She stood with the barest of lingerie covering all the right places. The outfit was accentuated by black heels. She’d pulled her hair up to show off the perfect line of her neck and collarbones, and William shifted to hide his approval.
“Looks good.” I’ve seen better, he thought. “You just keep that on hand? Or were you expecting me?”
She walked over to him, resembling a model, and motioned to the champagne.
He raised the glass in his hand. “Got some.”
Kneeling down in front of him, she balanced on her knees and pressed herself between his legs.
He smiled, feeling loopy, buoyant and willing. “So, are you a mute? ’Cause I could use one of those. We’ll have to cover up those scars though.”
She smiled sheepishly and nodded.
“I like the silent type. Clears my head. My wife talks too much.” He smiled down at her and took another sip of the liquid then leaned in to kiss her. He wanted to get on with the night. It’d been too long since he’d had company and he wouldn’t miss his chance. He’d waited three hours for Scott to show up, but the bastard had bailed on him. His employer wouldn’t be pleased, but he couldn’t think about that now. He wanted to work off the anxiety lodged in his chest and Blondie looked like she could help.
She avoided the kiss, pushing him back.
William released a gust of air from his lungs, getting annoyed with her resistance. “If you’re not interested, why the show?”
She took the glass from his hand and set it on the nightstand beside the bed.
“Finally.” Excitement rippled beneath his skin. I’m already buzzed. He smiled. That stuff is better than I thought.
She returned the smile, placing each of her hands on his chest and pushing him onto his back.
William tensed under her touch, focusing on the bitter taste in his mouth. His eyes roamed over to the champagne she’d set on the nightstand, understanding exactly why he felt so loopy. “You drugged me?”
She looked at him with a distant expression on her face, no longer the sexy woman he’d met a little less than an hour ago. Her eyes reflected the low light emanating from the nightstand as she quickly pulled a gun from her side and leveled it at his head. She slowly made her way into his lap, straddling him with a curious smile.
William felt everything: the satin under his body, the woman on top of him and her soft skin. His left arm felt numb, too. He tried to grope for it, but couldn’t move. His breath came in gasps and black spots covered his vision. Heart attack, he begged. Oh please, let me die from a heart attack.
She tilted her head in wonder, staring at him as the room door opened once again.
This time, a man filled the doorway, his shoulder-length brown hair framing an expressionless face.
Christian Wren.
Unable to focus, William flinched as Adelaide raised a photo in front of his face. He glanced at the subject of the picture, a dead man bleeding onto the concrete, and shuddered.
“What—” He breathed in sharply, the pain in his chest intensifying. “What the hell is that? You trying to scare me?” He took in another gulp of air. “’Cause you’re already doing a pretty good job.” His head swiveled to the man still waiting in the doorway. “What do you people want? Don’t you know who I am?”
She removed the gun from his head for a moment, tapping the photograph with it.
The man stepped into the room slowly, his eyes resting on William. “Maybe you can help us, Mr. Roberts.” He lowered his eyes to the woman, a smile crawling across his face. “You sent an undercover ATF agent to steal from me and I want to know why.”
William exhaled loudly, exhausted from fighting. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He tried to push the woman off his lap, but strong hands manhandled him back down.
She shoved the photo back into his face with the gun aimed at his head.
“Please, just get her away from me,” he begged. Close to hyperventilation, he addressed Wren. “You don’t know what you’re up against. You
and the DA are in deep shit.”
“Adelaide,” the man said.
In a single word, William had his wish. The blonde lowered her weapon, stepping away. Her eyes never left him, but he could breathe easier knowing he had a few more seconds.
“Beware, Mr. Roberts. What you don’t seem to realize is she can kill you at a moment’s notice, and trust me, it won’t be quickly.” Wren stepped closer. “Now, you were saying?”
“I assigned Scott to find the ledger by any means necessary.” William licked his dry lips. “We got ten thousand each.” It took him a moment to understand and he almost laughed at the fact he hadn’t noticed before. “Is she your assassin or something?”
Wren bent down to his haunches, leveling his gaze with William’s. “Your employer’s name.”
“He said he knew you. Said you were friends,” William sputtered, numbness spreading through his body. He reached for his chest. His heartbeat fluttered a mile a minute and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it. “He didn’t give me a name. Only money.”
“And my missing shipment of guns that were scheduled to be delivered to the DA?”
William felt his breath being sucked from his body and realized his last moments were upon him, but as his life played before his eyes, he didn’t regret a single moment.
“Adelaide.”
There’s that word again. He didn’t have a chance to ask what the word meant before the gun fired.
* * *
Two hours later, Christian Wren slowly walked to the bedroom door, turning the knob to ease it open. Darkness greeted him, but he expected Adelaide would be waiting.
Pushing the loose strands of hair from his ponytail back behind his ears, he entered her bedroom, feeling the weight of her stare on him. He enjoyed having her full attention and he always had. “Did you find the shipment?” He centered the tie at his throat as he waited for an answer.
He’d been waiting for her answers for nineteen years.
Adelaide rose from the couch and walked into the moonlight filtering through the window. Her black button-down men’s dress shirt made his breathing sporadic and he tried to regain focus as he moved toward her.
She nodded in confirmation. Success.
“And?” He hated her silence, wishing she could trust him after everything they’d been through, but the wish had gone unanswered.
She handed him a strip of paper with two words on it, a name: Harlow Vicente.
He stared at it for a moment, unable to conclude why she’d have this specific name and worried she’d already figured out what it meant. “Are you sure?”
She nodded again, but Christian couldn’t discern the expression on her face.
“Take something of his,” he said. His split-second decision would either destroy Adelaide or force her into Christian’s arms once again. He didn’t have the time to weigh the consequences right now and buried the possibilities deep. She’d already given herself to him. Nothing could change the past. “Make it hurt.”
Dealing in Los Angeles made the world even smaller. Everyone knew everyone else and it seemed the rumor he’d heard of the Vicente family returning had been true after all. Harlow Vicente had taken something of his and he’d make him pay. Christian inhaled in annoyance, but regained his composure as his gaze roamed over her body again. He’d have to hold off for a little while longer as he contemplated another way to ask the question bearing down on his mind. He’d tried to make excuses for Adelaide’s inattention to detail, but couldn’t reason it out.
“How did an ATF agent escape your notice?”
Her eyes fell to the floor and he couldn’t blame her for the shame she surely felt right now. She should be ashamed. She’d been trained to deal with situations like this, to find moles, to kill traitors, and Adelaide had failed him. Failure had no place in his organization and no place in his life.
She turned toward the king-sized bed on the other side of the room, making him briefly forget the situation at hand, but Christian wasn’t finished with her yet.
“You’re the only person I trust with these matters, Adelaide. What does it take to keep your focus these days?” Christian exhaled in frustration. He could never stay mad at her for long. Not with everything they’d been through. “It’s time for your medicine.”
He followed her to the bed, most of his anger evaporating at the sight of her long legs. This had become a ritual between them and he looked forward to their time together more each day. As his lifeline in every way imaginable, Adelaide gave him something no other woman could: power. He could never go a single day without the sight of her. The night she’d escaped the compound on her own had been the worst moments of his life. For two weeks he’d searched for her body, and he’d never put himself through that again.
She lay back automatically, staring at the ceiling above as she breathed in and out slowly.
He watched her chest rise and fall for a few seconds, enjoying the fact she’d stay by his side till death. Christian pulled the small black case from the nightstand, extracting the needle lying within, and gripped the end as he removed the plastic cap. He revealed the long, thin needle to her.
Adelaide didn’t move. Used to the dosages, she understood the sedative was the only way to keep her under control.
Christian didn’t bother with a warning. She wouldn’t feel the needle’s bite if he’d calculated the time of her last dosage correctly. He stabbed the needle into her thigh, pushing the plunger down.
* * *
Adelaide looked into his cold, calculating blue eyes as she had for almost two decades and still couldn’t bring herself to feel anything for the man positioned above her.
A five o’clock shadow showed around his jawline, the angles of his high cheekbones and lean bone structure shadowing the edges of his face.
The sedative took effect slowly, her body growing more immune the longer he injected her. For the best. Her breathing slowed, her eyes blurring slightly.
You can never get rid of me, her monster reminded her, watching from over Christian’s shoulder. The illusion grew foggy but would never permanently leave. No matter how many doses she received or how many lines she cut into her skin, the monster lurked behind every thought. You know they bred me into you, my love. We will always be together.
Adelaide closed her eyes, feeling Christian’s weight on her as a distraction. If it were only sex he wanted, she could keep her strength, could fight the monster longer, but Christian had never been a man to settle.
In one sharp movement, he nearly ripped a gasp from her throat as he pushed into her. Never gentle, Christian always took what he wanted from her without asking. The scar tissue left over from her sterilization with a hot poker caused the pain in her abdomen, but Christian didn’t care.
Their nightly ritual had grown taxing, forcing her to burn through her sedatives faster, but he would not relent. Daily injections turned into two or three and the exhaustion took a toll. Her mind felt fuzzy all the time and her body didn’t feel like her own.
They’re trying to control us, her own voice said, but it wasn’t her thought. You don’t want to be controlled, do you? Her monster didn’t wait for an answer. You know what you have to do. You know the day will come when you’ll have to kill him if you want to be free.
Adelaide squeezed her eyes shut, trying to clear her mind. She didn’t want to take more lives and she didn’t want to take more orders. Christian would see her dead before he let her go, leaving her with only one choice: he’d have to die.
The deed couldn’t be done by her hand though. The monster had grown too strong, craving more blood, and would soon take over if she kept up this pace. She’d killed two men tonight and the delusion in her head had slowly become reality, pulling cravings out she’d buried long ago.
Christian gripped her throat, cutting off her air. She loved the feeling, the physical pain, the burn, and her vision blurred as the pressure loosened. He kissed her, unwilling to stop for her sake.
Adelaide never returned his affections, not even when he’d kissed her in the Mexican compound all those years ago. She didn’t know how to respond, didn’t know what to do. He’d saved her life, but she didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to repay him.
“There you go,” he whispered. “There you go.”
He’d meant the words to be comforting.
Christian stroked the side of her face as he stared down at her. He’d been handsome when they met for the first time in her damned cell, and he’d grown into a contemporary god. His chiseled jawline, bright blue eyes and rock-hard body made most women melt in pleasure, but Adelaide knew she’d been the only one to taste.
He kissed her again, moving slowly from her lips to her jawline and then her neck.
His shoulder-length hair moved over her stomach and chest, his lips blazing the way, but she couldn’t feel it. The drug had taken its full effect and Adelaide felt slow and loopy. Numb.
She’d never asked Christian to keep his interests locked on her. Christian had brought on his own disappointment for falling in love with a woman who could never have a normal relationship, a woman with violent and bloodthirsty cravings behind every thought.
He’ll be the reason for his own demise in the end, her delusion said, mirroring her own thoughts. Adelaide let Christian’s hands roam over her body and vowed he’d never have her completely as long as she planned his death.
* * *
The morning brought a new kind of suffering. She’d skipped a dose but refused to apologize for it. The monster had grown stronger, torturing her throughout the night, and if the sedative wouldn’t help, she’d take matters into her own hands.
As far as Adelaide could tell, she stood in front of the window, unable to move. The trees outside swayed gently in the breeze and she only wanted to feel the soft caress of their leaves on her face, but suddenly she wasn’t alone.
Let Me Out (For Me, #1) Page 2
