Body of Trust: A Romantic Suspense Novel

by Jeannine Colette

  Sienna gets that oh my God stare of hers. “You’re never going to believe who’s here.” As I turn in the direction she’s staring, she pulls me back and says, “Don’t turn around.”

  “Why not?” I ask, not liking the excited tone in her voice.

  “It’s Jesse, the bartender.”

  “What?” I swivel fast, and sure as all hell, there he is, standing at the other end of the bar, sipping on a beer and gazing this way.

  It’s clear Jesse Grant doesn’t follow directions. His unpredictability makes him dangerous.

  “He looks so good out of his uniform. We should go say hi.” She moves in his direction, but I pull her back.

  “No way! He’s here, doing his own thing, and we are not intruding. Besides, he said there’s a no-fraternization policy at Villa Russo. He could get in trouble.” I applaud myself for my quick thinking.

  “Ugh. Fine. But if he comes over, then it’s fair game.”

  “He won’t come over here. Trust me.”

  Her body sways as she peeks over my shoulder. “From the way he’s staring at us, he certainly looks interested.”

  She’s wrong. He doesn’t look interested. He’s annoyed, mostly at the fact that we’re here at a club when, according to him, I’m not safe.

  The bartender brings our drinks, and I slide a twenty over to him, catching a glimpse of Jesse to my left. He tightens his jaw as his nose flares with the sharp breath he takes.

  Sienna and I cheers. As I drink, I stare at Jesse and let him know I see him and don’t care about his pissed off face.

  The room turns red from the intense lighting that changes colors with the song pace. As it electrifies blue, I put my back against the bar and look at the dance floor, which is now a rainbow of colors.

  Three men are a few feet away. One of them is eyeing Sienna up and down, practically undressing her with his eyes. She doesn’t notice until a guy with a red shirt and sweat beading on his upper lip, comes over to talk.

  “You wanna dance?” he asks her.

  “No, thank you,” she answers immediately.

  He doesn’t seem to take the hint. “We’re nice guys. Is it wrong to want to dance with a beautiful woman?”

  “We’re waiting for our boyfriends,” I chime in.

  One of them scowls. “That’s what girls say when they’re blowing a guy off.” He creeps up close to Sienna. “You got a problem with my boy?”

  “No means no.” She stares him down. “Just because you ask me to dance doesn’t mean I have to.”

  The tallest one sidles up to my side and leans in. “Your friend is awfully defensive.”

  I look at him and raise a shoulder. “Yours doesn’t seem too keen to being told no.”

  He laughs and takes that as an invitation to invade my personal space. “What about you, pretty thing? You want to dance?”

  I step away from him. “I don’t dance.”

  “And like my friend said, our boyfriends are coming,” Sienna adds.

  They don’t appear to believe us as one of them spits on the floor and hisses, “I don’t like your type.”

  “And what type is that?” Sienna gets in his face, not afraid of his attitude.

  I, on the other hand, can feel my heart pulsing at the altercation.

  She weaves an arm around Jesse’s waist and pulls him into her. “What’s going on over here?” Jesse appears behind the guys.

  Sienna grins. “Told you my boyfriend was coming.”

  As Jesse parts through the guys to get to us, he doesn’t hesitate to knock them with his shoulders as he glares down at them.

  “These guys giving you a problem?” he asks me with a glare in his eye, making the guys step back.

  “No problem here,” the tall one says, tapping his friends on the shoulders. “We were just asking the girls to dance.” Luckily, he gets his friends to walk away without another word.

  Sienna laughs as she hugs Jesse. “Check out who’s our knight in shining armor! Those guys were total creepers and not our type. Some people just can’t take no for an answer. Can we buy you a drink?”

  He shakes his head. “I’m good. You okay?” His question is pointed toward me.

  I give a small smile. “No harm, no foul.”

  His eyes hold mine as Sienna gulps down her drink and sets the empty glass on the bar. “Now that the trash has been taken out, I need to dance. Come on, girl.”

  As she grabs my hand, Jesse looks at her incredulously. “You’re just inviting unwanted attention by going out there.”

  “That’s the point.” She takes my glass from my hand and puts it on the bar.

  “We just told those guys we don’t dance,” I explain to her as we hit the edge of the dance floor.

  “With them, no. With each other, yes. And maybe, if we’re lucky...” Her words trail off at the end because her back is turned to me as she pulls me onto the crowded dance floor.

  At the center of the floor, she releases my hand and throws hers up in the air. Her ass sways to the side while she rotates her torso and juts out her breasts, dancing like a genie in a bottle, luring you to rub her lamp. My dance moves are all shoulders and sidesteps.

  She’s laughing as she drifts and moves to the rhythm. When I spin toward the bar, I notice Jesse is gone. I’m wise enough by now to know he hasn’t gone far.

  The DJ plays a mechanical beat, rapid enough to speed up your heart as it builds and builds and then drops, and the room goes silent seconds before this fast-paced rhythm is blasted.

  A guy walks up behind Sienna, and she widens her eyes as she mouths to me, Is he cute?

  I know her type, and the guy behind her is definitely it—tall with the dark Mediterranean skin tone and a head full of hair. I give her a thumbs-up, and she pushes her butt into his groin.

  As the guy gyrates behind her, I stay close because that’s what girls do. Another song passes when she finally faces him. Her smile says she’s happy with what she sees, and by the next song, the two are making out on the dance floor.

  Feeling all kinds of uncomfortable, I back up to give them some space. Suddenly, massive plumes of fog come pouring out from the sides of the dance floor.

  I have to hold my hand up to my face to wave away the thick white clouds. I’ve stopped dancing as the lights glisten across the space in red, green, and blue. I’ve lost Sienna in the fog, and I spin in an attempt to find her. I move forward but walk into another couple. I dance to the side and collide with a girl who is not Sienna.

  The cloud of white grows denser as I rotate, disoriented in the mist. A strong pair of hands grips my waist from the front, and as the husky silhouette of Jesse appears before me, I instinctually grasp on to his arms.

  I might be confused by the man, but I’m also a mix of angered and turned on. But one thing is certain; he always appears when I’m in trouble.

  His lips brush against my ear, his breath hot tickles skin. “She’s behind you.”

  I don’t have to turn around to know that Sienna is near. Knowing he has an eye on her relaxes me.

  I lessen the grip on his biceps, but he holds me closer, pulling me into his chest. As his hips grind against mine, I inhale sharply.

  His fingers splay on my hips and move lower toward my backside. I lift my chin, and our eyes lock. I can’t see anything but him—Jesse and his sharp features, masculine jaw, and lips so stunning that they put the world on pause. The music slows, and I get lost in the intensity of his stare.

  I wrap one hand around his neck while the other drifts across his chest, feeling the steadiness of his body.

  He takes the lead.

  Heat radiates off of him as we move in sync. With every swerve of his hips, I grow breathless. His eyes roam to my mouth. I lick my lips and then let my teeth skim my lower one. His palm moves to the center of my back and presses lightly, pulling me flush against his body.

  His head drops to my shoulder, and I can feel his lips brush against my tender skin.

  “I thought you
couldn’t be seen with me?” I ask huskily.

  His head rises as he lets his lips trail up my neck and to my ear. “You make it hard for me to stay away.”

  I inhale a ragged breath and close my eyes as his fingers travel up my rib cage, sending a quake down to my core. His chest puffs out, and I can feel his heart pulsing through his heated skin.

  My cheek brushes up against his rugged one. I run my fingers across his jaw. He turns toward me. His lips are so close as his eyes bore into mine. I can feel that searing energy. That passion he alludes to with one stare. I want it. When I said this man was dangerous, I wasn’t lying. He has the ability to destroy me.

  “I don’t know who to believe anymore,” I speak against his lips.

  His brows curve in. “No one. Not even me.”

  “Then, why can’t you leave me alone?”

  His mouth curves into a devilish smirk. “If I knew how, I wouldn’t be here.” I turn away at his admission, but he curves a knuckle around my chin and brings my gaze back up to his. “Tell me to go.”

  My mouth parts to tell him just that. Instead, I find myself smiling. “I would, but something tells me you’d just follow me tomorrow.”

  His brow rises, like he didn’t expect that. “Is that good or bad?”

  “Both,” I breathe.

  His grip tightens as his lips collide with mine. He tastes like mint, and pure man. I lose myself in the way his tongue slips against mine, savoring it with a draw of his lips before going back for more.

  Jesse doesn’t just kiss with his mouth. He devours with his hands and hips.

  His lips are as tempting as the devil.

  His touch is as gentle as a saint.

  Both heaven and hell are in thou soul of this man. In this moment, on this dance floor, I’ll follow him to either afterlife

  The bulge of his erection presses into my belly as a moan drifts from deep inside my soul. Teeth, tongue, hands, lips, we devour each other on the dance floor. I push my body against his, feeling the hard ridges, and melting into them.

  I lose myself in his embrace until he breaks away. His gaze is stormy, filled with guilt and lust, then suddenly break away.

  His eyes do a quick surveillance of the room. The fog has lowered, and the dance floor is still packed with people lost in their own dances. Sienna is to the side now. She doesn’t seem to have noticed our moment.

  “I have to get you out of here,” he says, and I move my hand to my lips, confused. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  His hand slides against mine as he lightly pulls me toward Sienna and taps her on the shoulder. He speaks into her ear, and her face twists in concern.

  Sienna steps away from her dance partner and turns to me. Her hands are on my shoulders as she moves me toward the back of the club.

  “Where are you going?” Jesse asks.

  She turns back to him like he’s crazy. “To the restroom. Where else?”

  Sienna pulls me by the arm, and Jesse follows.

  “You can go at home!” he shouts.

  “Jeez. That’s, like, a thirty-minute drive. What’s with you?” she asks, annoyed. “Give us five, and then we’re out of here.”

  He curses to himself as he puts his hands on his hips, looking like he’s keeping himself from punching the wall. “Two,” he warns.

  She sticks her tongue out at him and pulls me to the back of the restroom line. “Are you okay?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Jesse said you’re sick and you need to go home. That’s why I rushed you to the restroom.”

  I look out the door to see Jesse is leaning against the wall about ten feet away, like he’s guarding the entrance.

  If he told Sienna I’m sick, it must have been for a good reason. At least, I hope it was.

  “Yeah. I’m feeling queasy, so if it’s okay, can we just get out of here?”

  “Yeah. It’s cool,” she says. “I have to pee like a racehorse. We’ll use the ladies’ room and then bounce. My dance partner was totally a meh kisser,” she says as we move up in the short line.

  It’s a coed restroom, so there are men and women around us.

  Sienna nudges me in the side. “I see you and Jesse decided to break the no-fraternization rule,” she sings.

  “We were just dancing. It wasn’t anything.”

  “Don’t skip out on a chance to have some fun with him on my account. I might think he’s cute, but I give you full permission to have a go at him. You need to do you.”

  I give her a half-smile. “Thanks?”

  She bounces as we move up again. “I know; I’m the best.”

  There’s something in the air that is making me nervous. It could be Jesse’s abrupt need to leave. Then again, it could have been an excuse to get out of our kiss on the dance floor. I’m sure he’s regretting it. Our lives are too complicated right now.

  Still, there was an urgency in his voice. Even now, the concerned gleam in his eye put me on alert.

  A stall opens, and Sienna tells me to go first. I lock myself inside and use it. It’s a nice restroom. Being a coed room, the stall has a floor-to-ceiling door, so there’s no peering at the shoes of the person next to you or awkwardly peeping through the slits in the wall to the people washing their hands. In fact, I can’t even hear the idle chitchat of women fixing their makeup or checking their hair by the sink. The added privacy, combined with the music, makes me feel like I’m in a little bubble.

  The ground beneath my feet is bouncing with the fast-paced beat of the next song. There are trumpets and what sounds like a synthesized horn pulsating over and over. I imagine the people on the dance floor are jumping more than dancing.

  I exit the stall and wash my hands. Sienna isn’t out here. She’s probably in another stall. I poke my head out of the restroom to see if Jesse is still waiting outside. He’s still here but moved a few feet to the side. His body is turned away from me, and I can now see it’s because one of Sienna’s bodyguards has moved nearby and he doesn’t want to be seen. The bodyguard has his back to the restrooms and is looking toward the front of the building.

  I’m a few steps away from the restroom when a man thrusts into me and pushes me toward the back of the hallway. I push against him, but my force is nothing against his brute strength.

  “Get off of me!” I yell into the deafening music.

  “It’s okay, Amelia. It’s me, Rocco.” He hushes me with his hand as he forcefully moves me toward an exit, burying me into his thick-bellied side.

  In his jeans and button-down, I didn’t recognize him.

  I know Rocco. He’s been good to my family for a while now. My guard is lowered, but my what the fuck meter is on high alert. He opens the back door and walk-drags me with him down the stairs toward an alleyway and a waiting Lincoln parked behind the club.

  “Stop! Where are you taking me?” I demand.

  He turns and explains abruptly, “You’re in trouble, Amelia.”

  I push back and forth, against the strength of his insistence that’s moving me with him toward the car. “What kind of trouble?”

  “Your father sent me to bring you to him.” He sounds out of breath as he opens the passenger door.

  “My father? The same man who told me to stay home wants me to go to him? He must be pissed that I left the house. I’ve been asking about his whereabouts all weekend, and now, he wants to tell me where he is?”

  While Rocco has no reason to lie to me, I have this feeling in my gut that something is wrong. I turn in the alleyway, looking at my surroundings. It’s dark back here. The air is chilly, and I feel cold. There’s no one out here, except for us, which is creepy. In a city of eight million people, there’s always someone around.

  “What about Sienna?” I thumb back toward the club and the steel back door.

  He tugs on my arm again. “Her father doesn’t want her.”

  “But she’s at the club. I have to tell her I’m leaving.”

  “She’ll be fine.” He is
hurting my wrist with the way his fingers are wrapped around it. “Give me your bag.”

  I pull it close to me and try to step away. “I need to get Sienna!”

  “There’s no time. Get in the fucking car, Amelia.”

  It’s in this moment that I see it. The menacing glare that pours through his black eyes. Jesse told me not to trust anyone. He included himself, which means no one is off-limits.

  Rocco might be a friend of my father’s, but he’s also been someone who just appears. Like when we go to restaurants, he’s always behind me. And when I go to work, it’s his car I see—I’m certain of it. Rocco’s been following me for some time now. The bubble my father created for me has kept me blind to the outside world. To the truth.

  “No!” I yell, hoping someone will hear me.

  He doesn’t like my resistance. Rocco places his arms on my biceps and grips them harshly. I can feel my skin bruising as he tugs. My palms are sweaty, and my chest quakes. I’m frightened, not knowing what will happen if he gets me into that car.

  I kick him in the shin, but he won’t budge. Thrashing and fighting, pushing and shivering, my body goes wild as I try to get away. His strength is too much, and my adrenaline can only last for so long before I start to lose steam. The harrowing feeling of failing to get away takes over my gut. His will is determined as he forcefully pulls me closer to the car.

  I’m almost in when the steel back door of the club comes flying open and slams against the brick wall.

  Jesse grunts as he flies over the stair railing and lands at Rocco’s feet. His fist is quick in the perpetrator’s face as he pummels Rocco with sharp and swift jabs. Over and over, Jesse unleashes a fury of violence on Rocco’s face and body. The man doesn’t stand a chance.

  I’m panting, gripping my chest as tears well up in my eyes.

  Rocco is on the ground, holding his stomach in pain. Blood spits from his mouth. The sounds from his throat are like that of a wounded animal.

  Jesse wraps his arms around me. “Are you okay?”

  I nod. “I think so.”

  His hands are running up and down my arms and then to my waist as he checks for injuries before holding me tightly to him. “It’s official. You’re not allowed out of my sight again.”