by K. A. Linde
“You’re an ass.”
“Been called worse.”
Reyna shook her head. She didn’t want to argue with him. “How are things here?”
“Quiet.”
“That’s good.”
“It is. I don’t know how these people even got mixed up with Elle. They seem to just want a normal life.”
“We all want a normal life,” she muttered. “We’re fighting for a normal life.”
“True. You’re still going after Harrington, right?”
Reyna’s eyes glanced down the empty hallway, wondering if anyone was listening. “Keep your voice down.”
“I have feelers out. Other spies that I was in contact with.”
“Are you insane?” she demanded. “You’re on the outs. If they find where you are, they’ll kill you. What happens if your negligence brings Harrington to their doorstep?”
“I’m being careful.”
“You better be,” she snapped. She sighed and sized him up for what he was telling her. “Can any of your contacts get into the camps?”
Everett shook his head. “None of them are that stupid.”
“Yeah.” Well, there went that idea.
“Well, here they are,” he said, stopping in front of one of the nondescript black doors. “Let me know if you need me, Reyna.” He placed his hand tentatively on her shoulder.
She jerked out of his touch. She still hadn’t forgiven him for all he had done to her. Finding this place was only the tip of the iceberg as far as she was concerned. Everett had a lot more making up to do.
He held his hands up. “I get the picture. You can forgive murderers but not me.”
“You turned me in. I was tortured. Then you help us with information at the last minute, which resulted in my brother being captured and tortured. Excuse me if I’m not running to make you feel better about the shit you’ve pulled.”
“I didn’t know about the stuff with Brian. I just saw the trap for what it was. Would it have been better if I hadn’t told you? Then no one would have gotten away.”
“It was some well-timed information.”
Everett sighed heavily. “You should trust me, Reyna. You’re running out of friends.”
“I appreciate what you’ve done, but it doesn’t absolve you of everything else. We have a truce. Not a friendship.”
Reyna turned her back on him and knocked twice on the door to Drew and Laura’s room. Everett blew out a long breath before disappearing back down the hall.
“Rey!” Drew said, flinging the door open and enveloping her.
“Hey, big brother.”
“I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Well, here I am.”
“Hey, Reyna,” Laura said. She stood from the twin bed in the corner and came to give her a hug.
“It’s so good to see you. How’s my niece or nephew doing?”
Laura patted her belly. “Making mama sick as a dog unfortunately.”
“Sounds about right.”
“Those new Elle people didn’t help much. They looked worse for wear. Shell-shocked. Going to need to get them some therapy. Even the children looked horrified,” Laura said with a shake of her head. “I wonder what happened to them.”
“I…I think you should sit down,” Reyna said.
Drew raised his eyebrows. “What’s going on?”
“Both of you.”
Laura retreated back to her twin bed and took a seat. Drew looked uncomfortable and curious then relented. He had a pallet against the opposite wall but took the chair in the corner.
“Tell us,” Drew said.
Reyna took a deep breath and told them the truth. She told them everything. Start to finish. She didn’t leave anything out even though she wanted to. She didn’t want to tell them why the new Elle people were so shell-shocked or about Brian’s feeding frenzy or how he was now. She especially didn’t want to tell them that he didn’t want to see them. Any of them. But she did. She told it all.
Then she held them as they cried. And cried.
As they begged to see him. And threatened her if she didn’t let them come back with her. And cried some more. But by the end, she just held them longer, hating that Harrington was doing this to her family.
And though Beckham had told her not to mourn the living, she couldn’t help but feel a piece of her brother had cracked away with his turning. And her entire family felt the reverberating repercussions.
Chapter 19
A knock at the door finally broke them apart. Reyna rubbed her raw, red-rimmed eyes, and then answered. Everett stood there, looking grim.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I have a rather annoying vampire demanding to see you,” he muttered.
“Beckham?”
“Something important I presume, as he looks ready to tear me apart to get to you.”
“Sounds like him. Give me a minute. I’ll go.”
She turned back to Drew and Laura and pulled them both in for hugs.
“Are you sure I can’t come with you,” Laura asked.
“As much as I want you to, no. It’s safer for you here while Brian is…transitioning.”
“I know. I know you said that, but he’s my husband. Wouldn’t you be there if this was Beckham?”
Laura had her there. Reyna would. She’d kill someone before they kept her from him. That didn’t mean it was the right thing for Laura, or for Brian, right now.
“I’m sorry. As soon as he’s in a better place. Any change at all. I’ll bring you to the house, okay?”
Laura grumbled her disagreement, but Drew put his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll be ready for that.”
Finally, Reyna withdrew with an ache in the pit of her stomach and left them behind to deal with this together. Beckham was waiting for her right where she’d left him. He was pacing in frustration. She knew that he hated being barred from anything.
“What’s happened?” Reyna asked.
He visibly relaxed when he saw her. “Just got off the phone with Gabe. It seems his contact has come through.”
“That’s good. When does he go?”
“Not him,” Beckham said somberly. “Us.”
Reyna tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, us?”
“We’re going to meet his contact.”
“Okay…but why?”
Beckham shrugged one shoulder. “Gabe told me to hurry.”
Reyna would have laughed at how much that made him want to tear Gabe limb from limb, but she didn’t think this was going to be a good thing. Gabe had made it sound like this person was dangerous. Not that she wasn’t used to danger. She frequently found herself surrounded by grade-A murderers. When had this become her new normal?
They returned to the car and found Gabe beside it, bouncing on the balls of his feet like the fighter he was. “Thank fuck! Took you enough time!” he cried, his Irish accent bleeding through.
“Got here as fast as we could,” Reyna told him.
“Look, this guy isn’t someone to be messed with. If I’m saying that, then you can believe he’s the real deal. I thought I was going to get the meeting, but he asked for you two.” Gabe looked put out by that.
“Why?” Reyna asked.
“And how did he know about us? Did you tell someone?”
“Fuck no! I’m not an idiot. But this guy, he just knows. He knows everything. That’s why we’re going to see the scary motherfucker.”
Beckham looked skeptical. “When are we meeting him?”
“Tonight. But we’ll have to get you cleaned up before you meet him. I don’t know why, but that’s what they told me.”
“Fine. Done. What else?” Beckham asked.
“And you need payment.”
Beckham�
�s eyebrows rose. “How much?”
“Not that simple.”
“It never is,” Beckham muttered.
“Wait, slow down. What does he want?” Reyna asked.
“He trades for valuable information and priceless personal items,” Gabe said. “I was going to give him the O’Connor family ring.” He spun the giant ring around his right ring finger possessively. “But now you two have to find something to give him.”
“I don’t have anything,” Reyna said. “I mean…quite literally. Everything I owned—even my camera—was destroyed by Harrington.”
“I’ve got enough for the both of us,” Beckham told her. “I’ll pick something up. Where are we meeting him?”
“He’s going to send a car to collect you from this address,” Gabe said, passing over the piece of paper he’d written it on and a key. “To open the building.”
Beckham glanced at it and pocketed the key. “Fine. Anything else we need to know?”
“Yeah…like the guy’s name?” Reyna asked.
Gabe shook his head. “No idea. He keeps his identity secret. If he wants you to know, he’ll tell you.”
“Great,” Reyna grumbled.
“This guy…he’s…I mean, I’ve only heard rumors, but usually there’s some truth in every rumor. So just…be careful.”
“What exactly are we walking into?” Reyna asked.
Gabe shook his head. “I don’t know much else about this guy. Just give him your payment and ask your questions about Harrington. We need something we can use to take him down, so be specific. Then get out of there.”
Fear tingled down Reyna’s spine at the declaration. Beckham seemed utterly unaffected by it, but what else was new? She didn’t like that Gabe seemed freaked by this guy. What the hell could he do to someone like Gabe or Beckham? He couldn’t be worse than Harrington. This guy might be cloaked in mystery, but he wasn’t her first. She wouldn’t quake in terror like she had the first time she’d met Beckham. She was a different person. She could handle this.
* * *
—
Beckham sent Reyna with Gabe to get her appropriately attired. He’d made a few quick calls and then suddenly she was being whisked away to some secret upscale spa. Reyna couldn’t understand the extravagance. They were undercover. They were trying to not be seen. And yet Gabe was walking her through the back door of a ten-story luxury spa.
Beckham assured her that he still had some undercover connections, but she didn’t see how having one at a spa was beneficial. Until now of course, where otherwise she might have been outted to Harrington. She’d stopped second-guessing Beckham long ago though. He knew what he was doing and wouldn’t put her in unnecessary danger.
She spent the next two hours in hair and makeup. When she had been living with Beckham, she’d been treated like a doll. And while it was fun sometimes, the endless makeup thing wasn’t really her thing. She was more of a jeans and Chuck Taylors kind of girl.
But by the end, her dark hair fell long and luxurious down her back. Her skin glowed. Her eyes were lined and shimmery. She looked mysterious with her cat eyes, vampesque contoured cheekbones, and bright red lipstick. She looked like a whole new person.
“Wow,” she muttered. “You guys are kind of geniuses.”
The girls laughed and swatted her hand away from her hair. “Don’t touch it,” one girl said.
Reyna held her hands up. “No touching. Got it.”
“Now for the real fun.”
The woman marched her down the hallway and into a giant closet full of clothes, from the floor to the ceiling. Reyna’s eyes bugged at all the gorgeous garments. For a second she missed the lacy, silky, ridiculous clothes Beckham had once picked out for her. This was larger than her own closet had been, and it made her nostalgic for easier times. Who would have ever guessed that she’d be missing that life?
There was no way that Reyna could pick from the closet. So the women just made her try on dozens of outfits before deciding on one.
Reyna’s heart raced when she saw herself in the full-length mirror. She looked…sexy. Alluring. Exotic.
A black dress hugged her figure down to her upper-thighs. Lace peeked out from the bottom of the scandalously short dress and ran up over her hips. The bustier top held her breasts up where they nearly spilled over the material, and fine spaghetti straps accentuated the entire thing. She had on red-backed black high heels and no underwear. The dress didn’t allow for it.
Beckham was going to die when he saw her.
Gabe whistled low when she finally reappeared. “Holy shit, Reyna.”
“Yeah,” she said, running her hands down the sides of the dress.
“Stop doing that. It’s distracting as fuck.”
She pulled her hands back. “Sorry.”
“You look like a meal served on a silver platter. Jesus Christ!” Gabe took a step back. “I’d fuck you so hard in that.”
Reyna laughed softly. “I won’t tell Beckham you said that.”
“If he doesn’t, then there’s something wrong with him.”
A blush crept up to her cheeks. “Stop! You’re going to ruin my makeup.”
“That’s not the only thing I’ll ruin.”
“You’re ridiculous. Is this going to be okay to meet your contact? I mean…is this too much?”
“Uh…no. That is just the right amount.”
Reyna smacked his arm. “You’re trouble.”
He bared a broad smile and winked. “That’s my middle name.”
Gabe escorted her back downstairs and drove her to the address he’d been given for them to meet. It was in a nice part of town. Not too far from where Beckham’s penthouse had been. Reyna hadn’t been back to this part of town since that fateful night when she’d run out on Beckham after they’d had sex and he’d bitten her. All this time and she hadn’t stepped foot near here.
She shivered as they stepped out of the car and Gabe hurried her inside. She’d put on a long black coat, but was still cold.
Beckham was waiting for them in the entrance to the building, looking dapper as fuck in a tuxedo. She had no idea where he’d acquired a tailored tuxedo in a matter of hours, but she really didn’t care. All she could do was stare. Seeing him in regular clothes for so long at the mansion had made her sensitive to him in a suit again. Or maybe she always would be. Because damn, he looked good.
He smiled at her approach and that made it all the better. “Little One…”
“Becks,” she murmured.
“You need a minute?” Gabe asked with a laugh.
“You should go. We’ll be in touch when we’re finished.” Beckham tossed the key to Gabe. “And lock up after us.”
Gabe grabbed the key out of the air and then grinned wickedly as he strolled backward. “I’d take a look at what’s under that jacket before you go.”
Beckham’s eyes were wide with hunger on her body. “Can I rip his throat out?”
Reyna laughed softly and shook her head. “You like him.”
“Hardly.”
Her hands went to her jacket and she slowly unbuttoned the front. She let the front fall open and reveal her dress beneath. Beckham sucked in a harsh breath. A feral look crossed his face. She knew that look. It said Maybe we can skip this meeting.
He took a step forward, bridging the distance between them. His hands went to her hair and she blocked him. “Uh-uh. Not the hair. My stylist would kill you.”
“I’d like to see her try.”
“All look and no play,” she said teasingly. “You’ll have to wait until after.”
A growl ripped from his throat and Reyna tensed. Her body ignored the clear sign of danger and went straight to really fucking turned on. Worse yet, she wasn’t wearing any panties.
His hand trailed down her front—over her breasts,
down her stomach, and to the short hem of her dress. Her breathing hitched as he slipped his hand underneath the material and up between her thighs. Her core pulsed before he even touched her.
She wanted him.
God, did she want him.
“Look at that,” he said. “Open to me.”
A finger stroked across her exposed—and now wet—opening. She tilted her head back in ecstasy at the feel of him. Would it be the end of the world to mess her hair up? She could live with that.
“I love knowing when you want me,” Beckham said against her ear.
“All the time,” she gasped out.
He pressed a finger up inside of her and her body shuddered in response.
Okay, forget the meeting. Maybe they could reschedule. Or show up late. She knew neither of those things was possible and Gabe had gone to a lot of trouble to get this meeting, but her head was all fuzzy, and dammit, she just wanted Becks.
He stroked inside of her once and then twice before removing his hand. She whimpered in frustration.
“Now who has to wait to play until later?”
“So cruel.”
“You have no idea, Little One.”
Reyna grumbled under her breath and snapped her jacket closed again. “Well, did you get the thing?”
“I have something I’d guess he would want.”
“And that is?”
Beckham stilled her hands as she was finishing buttoning up her jacket and forced her to look at him. “Don’t.”
He easily unbuttoned the jacket again before sliding the material off of her shoulders. Reyna’s breathing hitched at the movement. A small shiver ran up her body at the chill in the room.
Then Beckham removed a black velvet case from his own jacket and held it before her. She tensed, wondering what wonderful thing Beckham had believed to be a great enough price for their contact. He flicked the clasp at the front then lifted the lid, revealing a dazzling diamond necklace.
Reyna’s hand went to her throat. She’d never seen anything like it. It was absolutely the most beautiful piece of craftsmanship she’d ever seen. Five rows of diamonds created a choker with tiny teardrop diamonds hanging from the last row. Then a V of glittering diamonds festooned the choker with five pear-shaped diamonds gradually getting larger the closer to the bottom, until the last diamond was roughly the size of a flat golf ball. The necklace was outrageous and extravagant and probably cost as much as a medium-sized Caribbean island.
