Guts & Glory: Brick (In the Shadows Security Book 6)

by Jeanne St. James

  Even without solid proof, Brick had no doubt the asshole was guilty.

  Londyn turned toward him after she finished loading the dishes from their once again very late breakfast. She was wearing some sort of light blue summer dress—a sun dress she called it—that matched her eyes, but with no bra and he seriously wanted to bury himself in those tits.

  Fuck. He had a difficult time not touching her constantly.

  Another reason they needed this going-nowhere job to be over.

  Especially since he had caught himself several times—while searching for any kind of evidence—hoping he didn’t find it so this assignment wouldn’t end any time soon.

  And that was just fucked up.

  He hated Florida and couldn’t wait to get back to colder weather so his fucking balls would stop sweating and he’d stop getting swamp ass when he ran.

  Even though he wasn’t a big fan of snow, right now he’d love to do a snow angel in a foot of it, in zero-degree weather while naked.

  Londyn, with a concerned look, stepped up to him and fisted his T-shirt like she always did when she was standing so close. She tilted her face up to him, her blue eyes searching. “Well?”

  Well?

  Ah, fuck. She had asked a question and he got so caught up in his own fucking thoughts, he never answered.

  Not that he had a solid answer to give her.

  In the end, Mercy had told him that D was leaving the decision to throw in the towel up to Brick. The client was still willing to pay the fees for another week.

  While he wasn’t thrilled with staying one more week, if they left now...

  Once they got back to Shadow Valley...

  Everything between him and Londyn would be over.

  He squeezed his eyes shut.

  “Brick.”

  That husky voice saying his name...

  It did things to him he didn’t know what to do with. He didn’t know where to compartmentalize all of it in his head. Things, like feelings, he didn’t want to explore caused by hearing his name on her lips during sex. His name on her lips when they joked around or teased each other. His name on her lips as she smiled at him.

  Or when she breathed his name right before their lips touched or he slid his cock home.

  This needed to come to an end. Not just the job but whatever was developing between the two of them.

  Because life was so much fucking easier when he only had to swipe right.

  Uncomplicated.

  Simple.

  Steady.

  Londyn was complicated.

  Complex.

  And made him unsteady.

  Especially when he caught Kramer staring at her tits or ass. Or making conversation with her when he thought Brick wasn’t within earshot.

  All of that, while he knew it was necessary for the job, drove him bat-shit crazy.

  And that was a problem.

  They were playing husband and wife, but sometimes he’d forget it was only pretend. He’d have to remind himself Seamus and Gertrude didn’t exist.

  “Hey,” she whispered, going up onto her bare toes and getting right in his face. “Why are you ignoring me?”

  “I could never ignore you, muffin,” he teased, though it came off as flat. He needed to let his frustration of the situation settle. He sighed, hoping that would help. It didn’t. “The client is willing to pay for one more week.”

  “So then... Another week of the bromance? Or are we packing our bags and heading back to winter?”

  “It’s not officially winter in PA for another couple weeks.”

  “Well, it wouldn’t hurt to work on my tan for another week.” A small smile curved her lips but he could see it. In her eyes. They spoke volumes.

  The second they stepped off that plane in Pittsburgh, their made-up life was over. They had promised not to touch each other and because they hadn’t kept that promise, they would have to keep the secret.

  Because, while Mercy had wanted Brick to take Londyn out of his hair for this job, when she had shown up in Shadow Valley it was due to heartbreak. The man didn’t want her to return to his house for the same reason, which was to lick her wounds. This time because of Brick breaking her heart.

  And, like it or not, once this job was over, if she expected more than what they already had... That hurt could very well happen. Which was why they never should have touched each other in the first place.

  Her knuckles grazed his jawline and he tipped his face down to hers. It was obvious she wanted to stay the extra week. He’d give her that much. “You have another week to work on your tan. Then we’re leaving Satan’s sweaty armpit.”

  That also gave him one more week to try to get a confession from that fucker. So far he’d done everything he could to get Kramer to trust him. To get Kramer to slip. To get Kramer to joke about it.

  Something. Anything.

  But he’d gotten nothing.

  In the end, he might not be able to complete his assigned task. It might end up being a failed mission.

  And failure was not in a Shadow’s vocabulary.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Londyn mentally groaned when, after ringing the doorbell, Kramer opened the front door. His face went from annoyed to overjoyed in a split second.

  “Hi!” she chirped.

  “Hey,” he purred.

  Yuck. “Barb here?”

  His smile spread and he jerked his chin over his shoulder. “Fighting a migraine again. She’s up in bed.”

  Damn. She never knew anyone who had that many migraines. How did Barb or her doctor not think that was suspicious?

  And now it was to the point where Barb was hardly ever getting out of bed.

  She didn’t have to plaster a concerned look on her face since she really was concerned with the woman’s health and safety. They only had a week left for Brick to find something on Kramer and Londyn was starting to wonder if Barb would make it that long. She was torn with what to do about the woman. They had no “solid proof” that Kramer killed his wife and none that he was causing Barb’s migraines.

  Not only was Brick frustrated and on edge, but so was she.

  Hence, why she was currently standing on their doorstep. She felt helpless and needed to do something, even though she wasn’t sure what.

  Her mind kept going back to somehow using the abused wife angle. It really was the only thing she had.

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Can you tell her I stopped by, please?” She turned to go, hoping Kramer would stop her.

  “Wait!” he shouted, then dropped the volume to just above a whisper. “Don’t go. Come on in.”

  She mentally pumped her fist in the air.

  Her gaze slid past him to the darker interior of the house. “You’re probably busy making money hand over fist with the stock market.”

  He opened the door wider as if that would make it more inviting. “I’m taking a break for lunch. Why don’t you come join me?”

  “We had a very late breakfast.” She patted her stomach, which drew his attention there. Which she noticed on its way back up to her face it got stuck on her chest for a long moment before breaking free. “While I appreciate the offer, Seamus will wonder where I’m at.” She shot a glance over her shoulder back at their house to make her point.

  “You’re visiting Barb. That’s where you’re at.”

  Oh, he was a sneaky shit.

  Londyn let a little smile toy with her lips. “Yes, but she’s unavailable, so I need to go home to my husband.”

  As she turned to leave again, his sharp, “Does he always keep you on such a short leash?” stopped her.

  Londyn chewed on her bottom lip for a second, wondering how she should play this. “No, of course not. He didn’t mind me spending time with Barb. But he would mind me spending lunch with you alone.”

  “You wouldn’t be alone with me. She’s right upstairs.”

  Right. She’s right upstairs and you not caring makes me want to stab you in the nuts with a rust
y fork.

  “Soooo. Anywhooo. I need to get back.”

  Londyn took a step back when he took one step out onto the front stoop.

  She wanted to move out of his reach when he dragged a knuckle down her cheek. The one where she used makeup to make it look like a new bruise. Now she wasn’t only an expert actress, she was a great makeup artist. Two more things to add to her resume for her job search when they were done in Florida.

  She winced at his touch to pretend it hurt. Though, she would’ve winced anyway, just from his creepy touch.

  “He could be watching,” she whispered, acting afraid of getting caught.

  “I can help you,” he whispered back, dropping his hand and returning to the shadows of the house.

  “How?”

  “Come inside, Gertrude.”

  The forcefulness of his tone surprised her. He’d used the same one that Brick did when he was playing a bossy Seamus. Kramer must think that she was some spineless twit and did whatever any man demanded.

  Was he fucking wrong.

  She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. Though, today she needed to play one. It might be their last chance to discover the truth.

  “Let me help you.”

  There was so much to unpack in those four little words. “You haven’t said how.”

  He lifted his gaze over her shoulder to Seamus and Gertie’s temporary home behind her. “Come inside before he sees us.”

  Aaaah, he was going to use her own fear to manipulate her.

  Brick had mentioned several times that a confession from Kramer would be the easiest way to tag the murder to him. But he also said it would be the hardest way to get what they needed.

  However, it could very well be the only evidence that may pin it on him because if any physical evidence existed, Brick said he would’ve found it. They also had to assume none existed because law enforcement hadn’t found any, either.

  But—and it was a big but—if Londyn could get a confession from him—since he wasn’t spilling his guts to Brick no matter how hard Brick tried—she may be able to convince Barb to leave him, which would save the woman from whatever nefarious plans Kramer had for her. And she could give the information to Brick for his client. What the client, Teresa’s father, did with it from there, she didn’t care, as long as Barb was safe and Brick’s assignment was successful.

  His stress level was dialed to a level ten and Londyn could see the effect it was having on him, plus his night terrors, which hadn’t popped up in the last couple weeks had returned.

  After his thrashing around in bed last night, she was lucky the bruise on her cheek wasn’t real. He had jerked awake drenched in sweat and moved to the spare bedroom in the middle of the night, against Londyn’s wishes.

  This morning Brick was right. It was time to end this and go home. But she could see that giving up would cost him, also. So, she might be the one who could coax that confession from Kramer. If she played the man right.

  Only, she knew Brick would not like her plan in the least. No matter what, she was a part of this assignment and if she was the only one who could get it done, she was going to do whatever she could to help him.

  That meant her plan was about to go into play.

  “Game time” whispered through her head. It was what Brick said whenever they were about to stage a scene as an abusive husband and a battered wife.

  With a last nervous glance behind her, she stepped inside and squeezed past Kramer, barely avoiding his touch as he closed the door. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she heard him turn the deadbolt.

  “I can only stay a little bit.” Unfortunately, the shake of anxiety in her voice was not acting.

  “How long?”

  “I told him I’d only be gone a half hour. Otherwise, he would’ve insisted that I wait until later when he could come with me.”

  As they stood in the foyer, Kramer glanced up the steps, then jerked his head toward the back of the house.

  Wringing her hands, Londyn followed with nervous excitement. Kramer was most likely a cold-blooded murderer and she was going to try to out-play him. Without Brick.

  “The bruises on your face... He hits you, doesn’t he?” He was playing dumb. Like he hadn’t watched multiple “scenes” through his binoculars over the past few weeks.

  She slammed on the brakes. “I need to go.”

  Kramer turned and held out his hand in a reassuring manner. Londyn eyed it suspiciously, which, again, was more reality than acting.

  “I can’t talk about this,” she hissed.

  “He won’t know,” Kramer insisted.

  “He’ll know.”

  “You’re safe here.”

  She struggled not to roll her eyes. She was a million times safer with Brick than with a man who murdered his wife for money. “Where are we going?”

  “Into my office where we can talk and it won’t disturb Barb.”

  “It’s soundproof?” That thought caused imaginary spiders to walk across her skin.

  “No, but our bedroom’s at the front of the house. My office is at the back.”

  “She won’t mind?”

  “Of course not. I’m just trying to help her friend. She came to me with her concerns a couple weeks ago. She’s worried about you.”

  Barb might be, but Kramer was only concerned with one thing.

  And it wasn’t Londyn’s safety.

  As soon as they entered the office, he closed the door, but, thankfully, he didn’t lock it. Since she was wearing shorts and a casual V-neck top, she had donned flats. She doubted beating Kramer with a sandal would have the same effect as cracking him with a three-inch spiked heel.

  He walked to the front of his desk, turned and perched his ass on the edge. “We’ve known each other for a few weeks now. I don’t want you to only think of Barb as your friend, but me as one, too.”

  Gag. “So, you think you can help me.”

  “I know I can help you.”

  “How?”

  “I can give you everything you want, Gertie.”

  Gah, she hated that nickname and it made it worse coming from his lips.

  “I can give you anything you desire and you wouldn’t have to get smacked around to get it.”

  Like she would voluntarily take abuse just to get material objects. Fsst. “And how can you do that?”

  “It might not be apparent, but I have plenty of money. I’m sure a lot more than your husband.”

  Arrogant ass. She was dying to ask him outright how he got that money, but she bit it back. “You have Barb.”

  His gaze dropped to her chest and didn’t he lick his damn lips? “But I want you. I told you that several times.”

  And each time she’d ignored it, playing “hard to get” to keep him on the hook. To keep him inviting her and Brick over to their house. A play that had worked well.

  She frowned. “Yes, you’ve told me that but... Are you only wanting an affair?”

  He shrugged one shoulder and lifted his gaze again to meet hers. “To start. Then see where it goes from there.”

  “Right. Me six feet under when Seamus finds out.”

  Kramer tilted his head and studied her for a moment. As if he was weighing what he should say next. A clock ticked somewhere in the otherwise dead silent room. Once. Twice.

  A third time.

  Then... “I can take care of Seamus.”

  Ice skittered down Londyn’s spine, even though she should be rejoicing from his statement. But it was only a start to what she hoped he’d reveal to her. The confession Brick needed. “What do you mean?”

  “Gertie, how about you just take some time and think about it. You would no longer be controlled, or ‘disciplined’ as your husband likes to put it when he puts his hands on you. You’d be free of all of that. And, like I said, I’d give you what you want. I promise I can make you much happier than him.”

  First of all... Kramer could never make her happier than Brick. Not even close. She was overru
n with joy every time he simply wore those silky little shorts of his.

  Second... Take some time? They didn’t have more time.

  She needed to encourage him to reveal his secrets. “Again, I don’t know how Seamus would accept me leaving him.” She lifted a hand. “Yes, I do. He wouldn’t accept it. He’s told me time after time he’d kill me before he’d allow anyone else have me.”

  Kramer’s brown eyes narrowed. “Again, I can handle Seamus.”

  How? Just say it, you shit! “By buying him off?”

  “You just let me handle that once you decide this is what you want. Think about it.”

  Damn it.

  He pushed off the desk and took a step toward her. “How about a taste of what I could give you?”

  Londyn fought her grimace and her first instinct to say no. More like scream, “Fuck no!” She swallowed down not only that but the bile that had risen.

  “You’re a handsome man, Chris. And Barb’s a lucky woman...” Lie! “But I can’t risk Seamus finding out.”

  “Just a kiss,” he insisted. He wasn’t asking, he was insisting.

  Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.

  She knew this was one of the risks with going one on one with Kramer. She knew this might be the game she’d have to play... But she needed to avoid it, if at all possible. Or at least put it off as long as she could.

  As he took another step closer, she panicked and lifted a palm to stop him. “I... I... can’t.”

  “No one will know except us.”

  And that was two people too many. “He knows everything,” she whispered.

  “I know you’re scared, but you don’t have to be.” Another step closer. “I can take care of you. No allowance. No strict rules. No calling me Daddy.”

  She forced her feet to remain in place. “I hate when he makes me call him that.”

  “Never again.”

  Her bottom lip trembled as she asked, “Do you promise?”

  Kramer was now toe to toe with her. He tucked a thumb under her chin and lifted her face. His soft answer of “promise” made her want to puke.

  “But Barb—”

  “Don’t worry about Barb or Seamus right now. I just need you to say yes.”

  He dropped his head until his lips were right above hers.