Operation Date With Destiny (32 page)

“
Is it just me or is there something familiar about this whole scene?
”
he asked
when she took the seat beside him with that graceful ease that drove him wild.

“
There
’
s no adoring women hanging off your every word here,
”
she said dryly.

“
Just for the record—even if you beg me there
’
s no way you
’
re going to get me back to your room as easy as last time.
”

“
I think you
’
re safe there.
”

“
Oh? That
’
s not the message I was getting earlier. That kiss felt a lot like there were still feelings there, to me.
”

“
That kiss—was a mistake.
”

“
I don
’
t make mistakes,
”
he shot back arrogantly.

“
First time for everything.
”

“
Prove it then,
”
he challenged her.

“
Prove
what?
”

“
That it doesn
’
t mean anything. Right here, right now. Kiss me again and tell me it doesn
’
t mean anything.
”

“
How old are you?
Ten?
”

“
Kiss me and tell me you don
’
t think we have something pretty damn good going on.
”

He saw her open her mouth to argue then something must have occurred to her…what, he had no idea, but something changed her mind and he saw the moment that denial was replaced by some kind of reluctant acceptance.

****

Why the hell not?
At first the thought surprised her,
and then
within
moments it was followed by a sobering thought
. She wasn
’
t going to be able to say goodbye to him.

She needed to break this thing off because she knew that if she went back—the sense of security and all the warm fuzzy feelings that went along with that place would be her undoing. She
couldn
’
t
think straight on
the island
. There were too many things clouding her
judgment
…too many false hopes. She had to end
it
here…but not tonight.

She
’
d finish this—make sure Rothman was arrested and then she
’
d walk away…walk away from all the impossible things she couldn
’
t take a chance on risking her happiness on…or Jackson
’
s for that matter. He already thought the sun shone out of Johnny
Tupperoni
’
s ass. There was no way she could risk seeing her brother lose another person he cared about when
Tupperoni finally came to his senses and
realized
playing house wasn
’
t what he wanted.
And e
ventually he
would. H
e
’
d
missed his old way of life and then things would turn ugly
. W
hile she could pick herself up and move on—she wasn
’
t going to let someone else be ripped from her brother
’
s life and hurt him all over again.

But this she could do.

One last night together before she said goodbye.
Leaning across she slid her mouth across his and put everything she knew she could never give him after today into one hotter than hades kiss.

“
Are y
ou
just going to
sit there all night talkin
’
or are you gonna
’
do something about it?
”
she asked quietly, pulling back to look him in the eye.
If her heart wasn
’
t feeling so battered and bruised right now, she would have laughed at the expression on his face. She did smile though when he stood up abruptly
,
grabb
ing h
er hand
and
almost dragging her from the bar and up the hallway towards her room.

****

Outside the room, he came to an abrupt halt and turned, pinning her against the wall. For a moment he allowed his body a moment to
savor
the feel of having her pressed so tightly against him as he dropped his head to kiss her hungrily—maybe he was giving her one last chance to pull away—maybe he was simply giving in to the desire to touch her again and couldn
’
t wait the two extra seconds that it would take to open the door and go inside. He no longer even cared that his ego was sitting back and shaking its head at him pathetically.
Nothing mattered right now, except that finally he had this woman back where she belonged—
by his side
.

God he
’
d missed this over the last few days. The thought of losing her unsettled him more than he thought possible. He wasn
’
t stupid enough to think whatever changed her mind just now would be enough to give them a happy ever after—but he hoped that at least it meant she wasn
’
t as eager to get rid of him as he
’
d feared.

He knew he hadn
’
t been misreading the signs
. H
e
knew
she felt something for him—something more than just lust…and yes, he could finally acknowledge he was whipped…well and truly and the guys were never going to let him live it down…and he didn
’
t even care!

****

Destiny fumbled in the pocket of her jeans for the room key, stifling a moan of encouragement as Johnny did that thing with his tongue against her neck that drove her wild. She reached for the handle of the door and pushed it open, dragging him buy the shirt inside the room, and clicked the lock behind them.

For a moment Destiny ignored the tiny niggle of danger—her hormones raging and desire overriding everything around her, but then she heard the click of a light switch and opened her eyes to discover the room had been thrown into blinding light.

There wasn
’
t a great deal she recalled after that though—something went across her mouth and somewhere in the distance she heard the sound of punches being thrown and flesh connecting painfully, with flesh.

“
What are we gonna
’
do with him?
”
she heard a voice growing further away.

“
Bring him. He might come in handy to keep her under control.
”
That was the last thing she heard before she felt herself slipping into a dark, cold place.

Chapter
Nineteen

Destiny blinked and tried to focus her eyes and tried to work out where the hell she was.
She was on the floor
—that much was certain. She could smell the dust and dirt and feel the grit beneath her cheek. The last thing she remembered was
Johnny
whispering completely inappropriate and yet utterly knee weakening things into her ear and then it all got hazy. A few moments of struggling to lift her head and it came back to her. She remembered Rothman
’
s voice in the room moments before everything went fuzzy and dark.

“
Destiny, Destiny, Destiny,
”
Rothman tisked sadly.
“
You seem to be constantly trying to ruin my plans.
What am I going to do?
”

She lifted her head and a dark form detached from the shadows and came towards her and
realized
Rothman had been watching her while she
’
d been unconscious. She just hoped that
’
s
all
he
’
d been doing to her.

“
You could drop dead. That would solve all
my
problems
,
”
she managed to force out over another niggle of nausea.

“
Such a smart mouth,
”
he said, coming to a halt beside her before
hankering down beside her on his haunches, h
is voice sounding dangerously soft as he reached out a finger to trace her jaw line. Destiny pulled her head away, but she couldn
’
t move very far. A sly grin began to spread across his face and he let his finger trail further down her neck and to the collar of her shirt.

She fought hard to keep the disgust from her face at his touch. She wasn
’
t scared of him—far from it –she was furious that she was in a position where she was unable to do anything. She
’
d been
helpless once before—but that was because she was a young girl. After that she
’
d studies martial arts and made sure she was
never
helpless
ever again
. It meant very little now though tied up and unable to defend herself. At least this time he wouldn
’
t have the upper hand—using her fear to get off on. All she needed was one shot—one opportunity to strike and she
’
d use it—she
’
d make the bastard pay.

“
I hated that your father had such complete control over everything—including you...but I always knew we
’
d meet up again someday. It was
destiny
,
”
he told her, caressing her name and seeming to enjoy the play on it.

“
I
’
d almost like to see how long it takes Tre
’
ago to work out what you
’
ve been doing with his money. It
’
d be worth the wait to see how he decides to deal with you.
”

Rothman gave a particularly nasty chuckle taking her chin firmly between his fingers.
“
Unfortunately, the mighty
Samuel Tre
’
ago
’
s
days of ruling his fortune are well and truly over. I almost feel sorry for him,
”
he said, his gaze falling onto her lips and she forced herself not to show how repulsed she was becoming at his lustful looks.

“
I
’
d start feeling sorry for yourself. You
’
re going to become Tre
’
ago
’
s cell mate.
It
’
s gonna
’
suck to be you.
”

“
I wish I had more time to enjoy breaking you,
”
he said, dropping his voice.
“
I always planned to one day be the man who broke that spirit and smart mouth…now I
’
ll just be the man who had you killed, instead.
”
He took her by the arms and pulled her upright, lowering his head as though he were about to kiss her.

Destiny dropped her head forwards catching his lip and he jerked his head back, a hand quickly going to his mouth to wipe at the bright red streak of blood she
’
d drawn.

“
On second thought—maybe I
’
ll just forgo your imminent death and take you with me—a fiery woman is not something you throw away lightly
.
His voice lowered coldly,
“
I
’
m going to make you beg me to kill you, Destiny—after I
’
ve made sure you
’
ve learnt to respect me.
”
He shoved her
away from
him, hard, and Destiny fell on her side, her shoulder catching the fu
ll brunt of the fall, painfully, as Rothman
left the room without looking back
.

She bit her lip until the pain passed then let out a long slow breath to calm herself. She needed to focus and clear her mind. If she lost her cool now—she may as well lay there and give up. She rolled onto her back, took a deep breath and as though launching into a series of sit ups, finally managed to pull herself into an upright sitting position.
Once, she could have done it a lot more efficiently, but with a still tender side and having been out of the Army for the last twelve months—it was a hell of a lot harder than she
’
d expected.
Scanning the room, she tried to assess her options. Then she saw him across the room, slumped on his side—hands tied behind his back.