“I just wanted to say thank you for defending me against that horrible Officer McRatrick.” She puckered her bottom lip in a pout before shimmying off the countertop. When he took another step away from her, she shrugged and turned back toward the cabinet. “You think I’d take advantage of you when you’re in a vulnerable state?”
He chuckled softly behind her. “In a heartbeat. And do you actually call him McRatrick?”
“Only in my head, but it still counts.” She sighed as she tried, and failed, to reach the glasses again. “And I have to say, your lack of trust stings. I haven’t done anything to warrant it.” A glance over her shoulder told her he was staring at the rounded curve of her ass that the stretch had exposed.
Good.
“You’re right. And I’m not going to allow that to change. Too much is at stake for me to risk being manipulated. Even by such a beautiful and, I’m certain, pleasurable temptation.” He cleared his throat and then brought his gaze up to meet hers. “But I am willing to offer you a mutually beneficial truce.”
“Excellent idea. You’re quite the diplomat.” She paused as if actually thinking up the terms to a truce then said, “You release me and I’ll stop tormenting you.”
He leaned in again, this time grabbing two glasses from the cabinet before quickly stepping away from her.
“I’m being serious, Nikki. The least you could do is return the courtesy.”
She smiled seductively as she unbuttoned one of the buttons that hid her body from him. “Oh, I was being serious. Would you like me show you playful? Just so you have something to compare against, of course.”
His face paled as his gaze remained locked on the new bit of skin she’d revealed. But as her fingers tugged at the next button, he seemed to remember himself. “No.” His gaze shot up to her face. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“See, already trusting me more. I like that.” She let go of the button, but leaned forward so the shirt would pucker slightly. “So, what terms were you thinking of for our little truce?”
“You stop tormenting me and I let your sister come and go as she pleases for the duration of your stay?”
It was a good counter but she thought she could get a better deal.
“I can’t stop tormenting you completely. It’d go against my nature.” Her nature up to that evening had been steady and cautious but she found she was delighted by the amount of havoc she was causing him. Apparently he brought out the worst in her—or possibly the best. She wasn’t sure which was true just yet. “But I tell you what, you let Izzy come and go as she pleases and I’ll stop traipsing around here half naked.”
“You honestly expect me to believe you’d wear nothing but my shirts and panties for the next week?”
So he expected her to be here for a week. That was a handy piece of information. She’d have to call her firm in the morning to tell them she was on vacation. She had the time and she wasn’t currently in the middle of any critical cases, so it shouldn’t be a problem. But, if she was going to give him a week of her life, she was going to do what she could to make sure it was on her terms. “Sweetheart, I’d walk around here naked for months on end if I thought that’s what it’d take to break you.”
His gaze swept down her body and she could just imagine him picturing her naked.
“Now that I’ve said that out loud, it kind of sounds like fun,” she said as she jumped up to sit the countertop again. “What do ya think?”
Chapter Four
What did he think, indeed.
When he’d walked into the kitchen and seen those fantastic black lace panties peeking out from underneath his shirt, he hadn’t thought twice about snuggling up behind her under the guise of being helpful. It’d seemed like a good idea. Why it seemed like a great idea, he still wasn’t sure. Maybe he’d let the mock flirting in front of the other men lull him into stupidity? Regardless, it turned out to be a phenomenally bad one. Nicola Rathe was his captive and, as much as he hated admitting his mother was ever right, this time she was. Nikki would do whatever it took to free herself.
And that included driving him insane. Cradled between her smooth thighs, all he could think of was leaning forward—taking her mouth with his and sliding his hand under that damn shirt. Even now, standing across the room from her, he still wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any other woman.
The thought of her picking one of his shirts and a pair of lacy panties as a permanent wardrobe? Yeah, that wasn’t going to work for him.
“Agreed. Izzy can come and go and you’ll wear clothes.”
“Aw. Too bad.” She made a show of closing the button she’d just undone. “Guess it’s time we moved on to bigger issues, then.”
Bigger issues? What could possibly be a bigger issue? “Like?”
“Like what is it, exactly, that you want from me?” The wink she threw at the end of the statement made his heart stutter. Needing some sort of distraction, he turned away from her and focused on opening and then pouring the wine for them.
“Specifically, how do you expect me to help free Molly?”
Thank god. They were back on safe ground. Relatively safe, that is. He doubted any topic would be completely safe with her. Wineglasses in hand, he turned once more to face her. “You, my dear, are going to be the bait we need to lure your father out into the open. Once you get him out of the hole he’s been hiding in, I’ll take care of the rest.”
All trace of teasing flirtation disappeared. “You’re going to take my father on, face-to-face? That’s the big plan?” She hopped down from the counter and braced her arms across her chest.
“Is that concern I’m seeing on that beautiful face of yours?” He hoped it was anything but. He could deal with angry. Hell, he actually liked angry. He was even okay with her manipulative side. Granted, the manner in which she tried to manipulate him was difficult for him, but he was managing. He wasn’t sure how genuine concern from her would affect him, though. She was already throwing him off balance. If he weakened at all—
“He’s a dangerous man.”
Fuck. She was concerned. There was no reason for her to give a damn about his well-being, but there was no mistaking the worry in her eyes. And there was nothing for him to do about it but reassure her. “As am I.”
She glared at him before snatching one of the glasses of wine from him and then walking over to the table.
“He’s strong, but I’m stronger. I will win, Nikki.”
She drank the entire glass in one smooth drink before looking back up at him. “Is she that important? You would sacrifice yourself for her?”
His life was a small price to pay, especially if saving Molly meant bringing down Rathe. “Yes.”
“Who is Molly to you?”
He was older than his sister by eight years, and that was a lifetime ago when she was eight and he was sixteen, but still, he was a little disappointed he hadn’t made a lasting impression on Nikki. “You don’t know me?”
“Isaac…” She tapped a delicate fingertip against her lip as she thought. “Wait,” she whispered softly. “Once, when I was at Molly’s there was a man—” She stopped suddenly and shook her head. “A boy. Must have been sixteen or seventeen. He was fighting with Molly’s parents. And she was so scared.” Nikki looked up into his eyes, her own expression speculative. “But not of him, she was afraid for him. I followed her downstairs, but he’d already left. She ran outside and called his name—your name,” she corrected. “And you turned.” She paused and closed her eyes as if she wanted to relive the memory before saying it out loud. “You gave her a hug and then you looked me in the eye and nodded. Told me to take care of your baby sister and then left.”
He sucked in a shaky breath at the painful memory. “I’d forgotten you were there that day. It was the first of many times my parents kicked me out.” They were fighting that day because his parents had demanded he get his first ink. He was so young. He had no idea why they pushed so hard. But it hadn’t taken long for him to discover the truth.
She opened her eyes slowly as if she didn’t want to let the memory go. She positively glowed as if she’d found some forgotten treasure. But then she sighed and the glow disappeared as she held up her glass for him to refill. It was as if nothing had happened, that he’d imagined the change. But, as he walked over to the table, he was certain he’d seen it. The air around her had been charged before she’d opened her eyes. If only he could make her sparkle like that again. He’d be willing to relive all his most painful memories.
“So you were a bad boy?” she asked as he refilled her wineglass.
The soft, sultry way she said it made him sound like every girl’s wet dream—which was a hell of a lot better than the truth. Rebels were sexy. Troubled youths? They were just an inconvenience. “Depends on who you talk to.”
“I don’t listen to gossip.” She studied him closely for a moment and then nodded decisively. “And you are definitely a bad boy.” She lifted the glass to her lips, this time making a show of savoring the drink. But to be that glass cradled between her lips…
His whole body tightened at the wayward thought. Fuck! He was seriously losing it.
“So I’m to be bait. How are you going to get close enough to capture him and yet keep me far enough away to make sure I’m safe?”
Good question. “I’m working on that. Now that I know you’ve agreed to help, I’ll be able to come up with a more detailed plan.”
“Be careful with those details, I hear that’s where the devil likes to hide.” She took another sip of the wine, this time humming her satisfaction as her throat moved to swallow it. “This is very good wine, by the way. Not that I expected anything less than the best in a Marrow home.”
“So glad our hospitality is living up to your expectations.”
“I didn’t say that exactly.” She laughed and set the glass on the table. “So, when you have him—my father, that is—are you going to kill him?”
His chest filled with pride at the certainty in her statement. She believed he could—would capture her father. “Do you want him to live?” He had no plans on killing Rathe, but if she wanted the monster kept alive he needed to find out why.
“No. There’s no jail that can hold him. Even if there was, there isn’t a court that would convict him. I don’t want to be doing this again in another two years.”
Her lack of faith in their justice system was understandable. “What do you want to be doing in two years?”
“Lying on a beach as far away from this fucked-up little world as geographically possible.” She didn’t know where the idea had come from. She hadn’t taken a true vacation in years. But, now that it was out there, she had to admit it had some appeal. Not as a lifestyle—she craved the chaos and fast pace of her career too much to be happy relaxing on a day-to-day basis—but definitely as a vacation option. There was nothing like the sun, sand and drinks with little umbrellas to make your problems melt away.
“What, you don’t want to spend more time with me? That hurts.” He clutched his heart in mock pain. “And here I thought we were getting along so well.”
“You’re a good temporary distraction, but I plan on being a distant memory in two years time.”
“Don’t worry. When I get my hands on him, it’ll be finished. You’ll never have to deal with your father again. But something tells me you’ll never be a distant memory. Not to any of us.”
She finished the wine and then stood to stretch. Every muscle from her arms to her calves tensed for a second and, with his shirt riding up an inch or two with the movement, it painted the image of womanly perfection.
“I hope you’re wrong about that,” she said when she relaxed. “You seem like a good guy, but I meant what I said. I’m not looking for family or alliances.”
She took a step away from him, but he couldn’t let her go. Not yet. “And what is it, exactly, that makes me seem like a good guy? The bonding you or the using you to presumably kill your father? I’m a little confused.”
She didn’t bring her gaze up to his, but her lack of immediate answer made him believe she was giving his question some real thought. “Does it matter?”
“Yes, it matters. Why don’t you hate me? Why aren’t you angry?” God, what he’d give to have her angry with him. That’d be so much easier to deal with. With her smart, sultry attitude and intelligent questions, he could already feel the desire to trust her—to treat her as a partner in this instead of his pawn. And if that happened, it spelled disaster. Say what she might about Molly or her father, the only thing she wanted was to be free of him. He had to remember that.
“Maybe I do. And maybe I am. I might be manipulating you to get what I want just as you’re manipulating me.” She took another step, but paused as she rested her hip against the table. “On the other hand, I might understand why you bound me. Like you, I’d do anything for my sister. And I might really want to help Molly. She stood by me when nobody else would.”
“And you have no plans on telling me which one it is, do you?”
She turned to look at him and smiled. “Now why would I do that? It would spoil all the fun of this game we’re playing.”
He sank into a chair as he tried to figure out where their conversation had taken such a wrong turn. “You think you’re playing with me?”
“I know, you think you hold all the cards in this game. It hasn’t once occurred to you that you wouldn’t be able to keep me if that wasn’t what I wanted.”
She waved flirtatiously at him, just a flick of her delicate fingers, and then walked out of the room.
What the hell was he going to do now? His captive seductress seemed convinced she was playing him, and he wasn’t entirely convinced she was wrong at this point. And if that wasn’t bad enough, she seemed to be enjoying the game far more than he. Even with all the scenarios and contingencies he’d come up with while planning this, he’d never even come close to dreaming up something this crazy.
His whole body was shaking with a combination of frustration and exhaustion as he stood, making him glad she’d already left. The last thing he needed was for her to see him like this. It would only encourage her to keep pushing him. And he wasn’t sure how much further he could be pushed before he fell off the edge.
He picked up their empty glasses and put them near the sink just as he heard the upstairs shower kick on. Perfect. As if he wasn’t already dealing with enough, now he got to picture her naked with warm jets of water sliding down her perfect fucking body. Just lovely.
He debated a quick workout. Any form of physical exertion would go a long way in relieving some of his tension and, with a gym set up in his basement, he wouldn’t be far from her. He could probably hear her if she screamed. She would probably be safe enough only two floors away from him.
Almost as soon as the idea had settled in his mind, though, he dismissed it. “Probably” just wasn’t good enough and two floors was too far to be away from her. Not so soon after the attack. Sad truth of it was, even though he needed space, she was lucky he wasn’t camped out in front of the bathroom door. Hell, who was he kidding? That was probably exactly what she wanted. The woman had been in his house less than twelve hours and she’d already started screwing with his head. Say what one may about the Rathes, but they were geniuses at manipulating. Each and every one of them. Still, being raised a Marrow, he wasn’t exactly a novice.
The shower stopped just as her phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced up at the ceiling before digging it out to look at the screen. Not surprisingly, Izzy’s name lit up. He’d been watching Nikki for weeks and, outside of work, Izzy was the only person he’d seen Nikki with. In those weeks he’d never given it much thought, but now he was left wondering how solitary her life was.
The phone stilled and then started buzzing in his hand almost immediately. Izzy again. She was going to keep calling until she got to speak with Nikki. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind. And since he had promised Izzy free rein, he’d better get the phone to Nikki before she had the chance to call him on the technicality. He really needed her to stay dressed. A turtleneck and a pair of mom jeans would be a godsend right now.
He knocked on the bathroom door just as the phone started its third series of buzzing. Its insistence was starting to wear on him. Nothing was more important that getting that infernal buzzing to stop. Nothing, that is, until Nikki opened the door. Her hair was damp and tousled as it swept across her bare shoulders. And the fragrant steam escaping the room held a welcoming—calming—temptation. But, no matter how tempting or welcoming, he couldn’t touch her. And he had to remember that. She was his captive, and there were some lines a man never crossed.
“Izzy,” he said, nearly throwing the phone at her.
She caught the phone easily but shot him a questioning look before answering it.
“Tell her to bring you some damn clothes.”