A Silverhill Christmas (10 page)

Alexi swooped into the room and spotted her immediately. Unfortunately, the man seemed to have radar where she was concerned. She gave a slight nod of her head and he returned the gesture, cutting a path through his guests.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” His gaze swept from her head to her toes in a split second.

“The crab puffs are good.” She held the little delicacy aloft, waving it in front of his face.

His nose twitched. “You are being discreet as I requested, Victoria?”

“Discretion is my middle name.” She popped the crab puff in her mouth and mumbled, “And Tori is my first.”

“Excellent. Then have a good time and eat all the crab puffs you like.” He straightened his cuffs and brushed past her.

Yeah, she'd do that, oh, and find Grant.

She exchanged inanities with a few more plastic people, none named Grant. Wandering onto the patio, she nearly tripped and fell into the bubbling hot tub, already crowded with slick bodies. Most of those bodies had curves, except for one man lounging against the side, one arm each draped across the shoulders of two bikini-clad babes. How had they shed their party clothes so quickly?

Tori dragged a chair close to the edge of the Jacuzzi and took a sip of champagne. A player would most likely hang out in the hot tub with the ladies. She'd been an ex pert on the species at one time.

Kicking her legs up on the chair across from hers,
Tori leaned back, pretending to stargaze, and listened in on what passed for conversation between these people. She needed to hear one name.

“Do you want to join us?”

Tori's gaze shifted to the grinning man in the hot tub. She batted her mascaraed lashes. “I didn't bring my bikini.”

“No bikini necessary.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “I'm sure Alexi wouldn't mind.”

She laughed. Although she had no intention of climbing into that hot tub, his smarmy invitation had given her the opportunity to ask his name. She opened her mouth and a tray of drinks appeared beneath her nose.

“Would you like another?”

The low voice sent a ripple of desire down to her toes. Slipping her legs from the chair, she sat up and grasped her glass. She raised her eyes to the bearded cocktail waiter hovering beside her, his tray loaded with champagne flutes balanced on his palm. He'd slicked back his long hair and gathered it into a short ponytail, but those chocolate brown eyes still burned with intensity, turning her insides to jelly.

No mistake about it—Rio McClintock was in the house.

 

T
HE LADY KEPT HER COOL.
Her gaze darted around the patio, and then she frowned into her champagne flute. “Are you crazy?”

“Are you?” Hot tub boy had already lost interest in Tori and was passionately kissing one of the blondes who flanked him. Rio had interrupted just in time. No way would he allow Tori to slip out of the sexy number that hugged the curves of her body and hop into the Jacuzzi.

“Ivan has already seen you once today.”

“Not with a beard, and I don't think Ivan was invited.”

“He might not have been invited, but you can bet your false facial hair he's lurking around here somewhere. Alexi's guys do a lot of lurking.”

“Yeah, I know. They harassed me on the water, too.”

She gasped. “Then you really are crazy.”

He lifted a glass from the tray and took her half-filled one. “Meet me in the kitchen.”

Jerking her head toward the hot tub, she whispered, “But I think that might be our man. I was getting close.”

“Too close. He
is
our man.” Rio's too-small rubber-soled black shoes squished through the water pooling on the patio as he walked toward the hot tub. He crouched and extended the tray to Grant and his bevy of beauties. “More champagne?”

Grant grabbed two stems with his stubby fingers. “Who's ready for more?”

The women squealed and grabbed for the remaining glasses while Rio studied Grant.
He must be new to the game since he didn't warrant a blip on the CIA's radar.
Before he ran into Tori earlier today, Rio had already scoped out the known drug dealers on the island and none showed signs of a major deal going down.

The way Grant soaked up the high life had
novice
writ ten all over it. Rio didn't need the location of the drop. He'd tail Grant like a dog sniffing meat.

The women emptied his tray, and Rio jostled through the crowd back to the kitchen. As he loaded up another tray, Tori staggered through the swinging doors.

“Hey, can a girl get some crab puffs around here?”
Tori slurred her words and grabbed the edge of the chrome island in the middle of the busy kitchen.

If any of the catering staff recognized her as the Prince's ex, they didn't blink an eye.

Rio parked his tray on the countertop and stooped down, cinching the handles of the nearest garbage bag. “I'm going to empty this out back. Any more trash to go out?”

“You can take this one.” One of the staff kicked at a bulging bag and Rio plucked it up in his other hand.

As he kicked open the back door to the side of the house, Tori gagged.

“Uh-oh, I think I'm going to be sick.” She rushed past him and out the door.

Rio smiled as he hoisted the trash bags.
Man, that woman had an endless well of resources.
He shut the kitchen door behind him and hauled the trash toward the bin at the corner of the house.

Tori stepped from the shadows. “How do you know that man is Grant?”

“Over there.” Rio thrust his chin toward the shadows beyond the trash bin. She followed him into the darkness and he hoisted the plastic garbage bags into the bin.

Brushing his hands together, he turned toward Tori. The moon cast a shimmering glow around her red hair, and her green cat eyes made her look like some fire goddess from the volcano.

“I got here before you did, princess. I did a little covert recon around the property. When the party started, I lingered as I passed around the drinks and caught several names before I hit pay dirt.”

“How'd you get in here, and if it was so easy how come you didn't do it before? I know Alexi's had plenty of parties here before this one.”

Rio patted his fake goatee. He had a harder time answering that question. Sure, he could've infiltrated the catering staff on any number of occasions over the past few months he'd been watching Alexi. But he'd never wanted to take the risk…before. Once Tori had entered the picture, his tolerance for risk had climbed sky-high. He didn't want to leave her here on her own.

“Well?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Thanks to you, I had a purpose. You gave me a name, and I wanted to match it with a face.”

“But I planned to give you that information. Don't you trust me?”

“I trust you, princess.” He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “I don't trust Ivan. I couldn't know with certainty if you'd make it back to that park, or if you'd get the opportunity to leave me a note beneath the rock. Didn't want Ivan catching you in the act, putting you in harm's way.”

“Now you've put yourself in harm's way.” She shivered.

“Better me than you.” He wedged his hands on the rough stucco on either side of Tori's shoulders. Her musky perfume invaded his senses, and each time her pulse throbbed in her throat, another warm wave of scent enveloped him.

Dipping his head, he kissed her mouth, tasting the fruity champagne on her lips. She gripped his forearms and kissed him back, hard and sweet.

The side kitchen door banged open and Tori jerked. Rio pressed his body along hers, and her heart beat wildly against his chest.

“Hey, dude. You still out here? I need help delivering booze to hot chicks.”

Rio touched a finger to Tori's lips, still moist from the kiss. It wouldn't do for the other bartender, Hugo, to find him out back with one of the guests…the host's ex-wife and the hottest chick at the party.

One footstep hit the gravel, and then Hugo must've thought better of venturing any farther into the darkness. The kitchen door creaked and slammed shut.

Tori released a pent-up breath. “We'd better get out of here. If we're caught…”

“Was it worth it?” Rio traced a fingertip around her mouth.

“You had your chance, cowboy.” She grabbed his hand. “You passed when we had a nice, safe hotel room. You prefer making out under the threat of danger?”

“Maybe it's the beard that's making me reckless.”

She tugged at his fake facial hair. “You go through the kitchen and get back to work, and I'll wander down by the lawn and make my way into the house through the patio.”

“Be careful.”

Tori broke away from Rio's warm embrace and crept toward the torchlit path to the grassy lawn that rolled to the edge of the cliff. She glanced over her shoulder to find him still watching her from the shadows and pressed her fingers against her lips as if to keep his kiss there.

She kicked off her sandals and hooked her fingers around the straps. Her toes squished against the wet grass as she sauntered toward the cliff that tumbled into the ocean. Alexi didn't allow Max anywhere near this lawn without close supervision. His parenting skills definitely needed work, but at least he watched out for Max's physical safety.

She planned to walk along the edge and then cut through the patio. She didn't want anyone to make a
connection between her and the handsome bartender with the black goatee.

Dance music from the party boomed across the yard. Alexi must've kicked things up a notch. The thumping beat ruined the beauty and solitude of the scene spread before her.

Tori stepped out of the edge of light cast by the house and gazed across the ocean. A soft breeze toyed with the hem of her dress and she inhaled the fragrant air. Maybe if the CIA nailed Alexi on this drug deal, she could scoop up Max and make a quick getaway.

A muffled thud and a groan filtered through the thick foliage bordering the lawn to her right. Tilting her head, Tori crept toward the bushes and parted the branches and leaves.

Two men struggled near the edge of the cliff. Shouting, Tori scrambled through the foliage and landed on her knees, the dirt and sand on the other side of the bushes pressing into her flesh.

Both men looked up. The darkness obscured their features, but one had a beard and the white shirt of the caterers. Tori launched to her feet and yelled, “Hey! What are you doing out here?”

The bearded man choked out a response, which the other man's fist cut off. The waiter stumbled backward, his arms flailing to his sides. His attacker shoved the teetering form off the edge of the cliff.

The bearded man disappeared into thin air without even uttering a cry.

Blood pounded against Tori's temples, and the metallic taste of fear flooded her mouth. She spun around toward the bushes and slipped, grunting as she landed on the rough ground. Heavy footsteps crunched the dirt
be hind her and a calloused hand clamped across her mouth.

A voice growled in her ear. “Don't tell anyone about this accident, princess, or you'll never see your son again.”

The hand pressed against her mouth shifted to the back of her head, blunt fingers plowing through her hair. Her assailant tipped her forward and shoved her face into the dirt.

He growled, “Stay there.”

Panting, Tori inhaled bits of sand, her muscles tense and aching. The man gave her one more push before heaving to his feet and plowing through the bushes.

Tori scrambled to her hands and knees and crawled toward the cliff's edge. Sobs wracked her chest as she peered down at the swirling water. The tiny slice of moon didn't do much to illuminate the scene, but either the water swept the man away or he lay sprawled on the jagged rocks. Nobody could survive that fall…not even Rio McClintock.

She screamed into the abyss, “Rio!”

Staggering to her feet, she brushed the dirt from her knees and ran her hands across her face. There was only one way to discover if Rio had been the bearded man in the fight.

She retrieved her sandals by the bushes and smoothed her dress. Ducking, she picked her way through the foliage and almost ran across the lawn to the patio.

While she brushed the wet grass from her feet, she
studied the partygoers lounging in the hot tub or sharing intimate conversations in the shadows of the house. Nobody had heard the drama on the cliff.

A waiter bearing a tray of drinks and appetizers floated onto the patio, and Tori's gut twisted. Not Rio. He didn't float.

She slid into the house, her gaze darting around the room lighting on one white-jacketed man after another, the sick feeling in her stomach rising with each disappointment.

Her heart stopped. Rio exited the kitchen, his long hair tucked up under a cap. When his gaze collided with hers, he raised his brows. Tori glanced around the room quickly, and then tilted her chin back toward the kitchen. She had to speak to him again, and that secluded spot behind the trash bin seemed like a good bet.

Rio continued his rounds of the room, tray in hand, and Tori wandered back toward the patio, flirting along the way just like any other guest enjoying the party. She exchanged banter with a couple near the Jacuzzi, and then slipped into the yard. She crept up to the corner of the house and peeked around it.

The kitchen door burst open. “Any more trash to go out?”

Rio's insistence on hauling trash probably made him the most popular member of the catering staff. He trudged toward her, two plastic garbage bags clenched in each hand.

He dropped one into the bin. “We can't keep meeting like this. It's dangerous. Have you noticed? All of a sudden Alexi's goons have made an appearance at the party.”

Her mouth almost too dry to speak, Tori ran her
tongue along her teeth. “You have to get out of here, Rio. Now.”

Jerking his head up, he narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“I—I just witnessed a murder.”

“What?”

“One of Alexi's men pushed another man from the cliff. I saw it all. I thought it was you. The killer then threatened me.” She choked and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes.

Rio's strong arms went around her, drawing her against his chest. “Could it have been two of Alexi's guys going at it?”

“No.” She sniffled against his shirt, inhaling his warm, masculine scent. She wanted to stay right here, but Rio had to leave. Gathering his shirt in her hands she looked into his face. “I thought it was you because the man was dressed in a white shirt and black pants…and he had longish hair and a beard.”

Rio sucked in his breath. “Hugo. We have to call the police.”

“No!” Tori yanked at his shirt. “We can't do that. The man who killed Hugo told me that if I told anyone, I'd never see Max again. He means it, Rio. If I cause any trouble for Alexi here, he'll snatch Max away from me.”

“Is there any chance he could've survived the fall?”

“No. You should know that cliff face better than anyone. If the rocks on the way down didn't kill him, the water did. The ocean on this side of the island is rough in the winter. I looked over the edge, but I couldn't see or hear anything. Hugo's gone, Rio, and now you have to leave. Alexi knows something.”

Rio scratched at his fake beard. “That's why I put this cap on and tucked in my hair. When the goon squad
showed up en masse I figured something was up. The guy I paid off to take his position must've spilled his guts, but why go after Hugo?”

“How long before they question the next waiter with a beard and long hair?” She pushed against his broad chest. “Get out.”

“Come with me. I don't want to abandon you here alone.” He grabbed her hand.

“No.” She yanked out of his grasp. “I can't leave Max. I won't leave Max again.”

“What if Alexi hurts you because you witnessed the murder?”

“Even if Alexi's thug tells him about it, Alexi won't harm me. He'll just use it against me. He has Max. He knows I'll do anything to see him. But my guess is Alexi's guy isn't going to be too anxious to tell his boss that he killed someone while his ex-wife watched.”

Rio took her face in his hands. He brushed the pad of his thumb across her mouth, and then replaced it with his lips. Tori sagged against his body, getting lost in the desire that washed across her skin.

He whispered against her hair. “I want you out of here, Tori.”

Tracing her fingertip along the hard ridge of his jaw, she kissed the muscle ticking there. “Then disrupt Alexi's deal with Grant.”

 

T
HE FOLLOWING DAY
T
ORI
folded her arms across her stomach as she joined the clutch of staff members peering over the drop-off. Had someone found Hugo's body already?

“What are you looking at?” She sidled up next to Alexi's personal chef.

He pointed to a rainbow-hued parachute. “Someone's parasailing.”

Relaxing her shoulders, Tori blew out a breath. Someone parasailing beat out a dead body any day. As she turned to leave, one of the security guards caught her arm.

“Prince Alexi would like to see you in his library.”

The tension she'd just released gripped her shoulders again, but she pasted on a smile. “Lucky me.”

What did Alexi want with her? He must know something. Had the killer from last night really admitted to Alexi that Tori had been present when Hugo went over the side? Did they realize yet that they killed the wrong guy, that Hugo had represented no threat to them?

Tori wiped her palms against her cotton skirt before tapping on the library door. Alexi called out, “Enter.”

She pushed at the heavy door and paused on the thresh old. Alexi glanced up impatiently from his papers and snapped his fingers. “Come in and shut the door behind you.”

“What do you want, Alexi? I'm not one of your gofers you can summon at will by snapping your fingers.” She slammed the door behind her. Tough talk always gave her strength.

And a poker face would keep her alive.

He looked up, a slow smile spreading across his face. Yeah, she knew why she'd fallen for him—dark, dangerous and silky smooth. She'd always gone for the dark and dangerous type, but while sharp sophistication marked Alexi, rough masculinity defined Rio. She'd put her money on rough and masculine any day.

“That's what attracted me to you, Victoria. You always had fire, especially in bed.”

She widened her eyes. “You mean even when I was drugged?”

He laughed. “Lust was our drug.”

“Crack must be your drug now if you believe that.” She wedged a shoulder on the doorjamb. “Besides, I thought you were attracted to me because of that green-eyed, red-haired lucky charm thing I had going.”

His nostrils flared as he dropped a sheaf of papers on his desk, a dull red staining his cheeks. His superstitious nature embarrassed him, but not enough to abandon it. “That, too.”

“Did you call me in here to discuss my…fire?”

“Did you enjoy yourself last night, Victoria?” Alexi rested his elbows on the table, his dark eyes now flat and un readable.

“Sure. Good food, good drink and vacuous company. What's not to like?”

“You used to enjoy vacuous people. You felt right at home with them.”

Tori winced and then ground her teeth. He had her there. She'd been as shallow as the rest of them, trying hard to distance herself from her staid, religious family and then later to bury the guilt over her parents' deaths beneath a round of parties.

“Then I had a son.” She shrugged off the doorjamb and straightened her spine.

“Ah, yes, Maksim.”

“Get to the point, Alexi.”

He shoved up from his chair, his tall, lean form hunching over the desk as he flattened his hands on the surface. “I'm taking Maksim home next week.”

His words punched her in the gut and she swayed on her feet. “But you said…”

Alexi sliced his hand through the air. “I said you
could visit with him here for as long as we stayed. We're leaving.”

Tori's thoughts ricocheted through her brain at warp speed. If the CIA moved in on Alexi tonight, could they bring him in immediately? If she notified Rio that Alexi planned to leave next week, could he speed up the process? “You can't leave.”

Alexi straightened to his full height and slammed his fist against the desktop. “I can do whatever I wish. I'm Prince Alexi of Glazkova.”

“I'll get an attorney. Hell, I'll call in a whole battery of attorneys. I'll tie you up in so many legal knots you won't be able to make a move without consulting the courts.”

Cold steel shot through his voice. “Don't threaten me, Victoria. I can whisk Maksim out of this country at a moment's notice.”

She squeezed her eyes shut against the hot tears burning behind her lids. She wouldn't allow herself to break down in front of this man.

“We don't need to battle.” He stepped from behind the desk and leaned his hip on the corner. “I have a proposition for you that will allow you to spend Christmas with Maksim. You'd like that, wouldn't you?”

Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, she raised her chin. “What kind of proposition?”

“Come home with us.”

Tori staggered back, bashing her thigh against a bookshelf. “T-to Glazkova?”

“I can make all the unpleasantness of your charges go away.” He spread his hands, which looked soft and effeminate compared to Rio's. “Come back with me as my wife, as Maksim's mother, the rightful Princess of Glazkova.”

“I can't do that. You're a criminal. You exploit people's weaknesses and make money off of them.”

He shrugged. “What do you care of that? My mother never meddled in my father's business. Turn a blind eye. Enjoy all that Glazkova has to offer the royal family, enjoy your son.”

“And if I displease you in some way? You'll take Max away or trump up some phony charges against me.”

“Don't displease me.”

A shiver ran through her body. Hugging herself, Tori turned away from Alexi's piercing gaze. What if she pretended to accept his offer? Right here. Right now. Her chances of escaping with Max might be better.

She had to play this right. She couldn't acquiesce too easily. Time to take advantage of those acting classes she'd dabbled in when she'd lived in L.A.

Biting her lip, she glanced over her shoulder. “I'd be with Max? You wouldn't interfere with our relationship?”

“Maksim needs a mother. I see that now.”

“And you'd conduct your business outside of the palace? I don't want Max's life endangered by the shady characters that comprise your business associates. I don't want to see evidence of it in our home.”

“I've already done that.” He brushed his hands together. “I have a secure center of operations now. Nothing is conducted out of the palace anymore.”

She clasped her hands in front of her, turning slowly. “And you promise I'll get to be with Max as much as I like?”

“He's your son.” He extended his hand. “Come. Let's seal this deal with a kiss.”

Her flesh crawled with disgust. If she gave in too easily, he might suspect her. If she didn't give in at all, he
might withdraw the offer. She took a shaky step forward. “Th-this might be too soon, Alexi. I'm just getting used to this idea. I haven't committed myself to it yet.”

He raised one dark brow. “I realize there's a lot of animosity between us. You betrayed me, and I took Maksim away from you. But I'm offering you a chance to be with him again. Let's take this first step.”

She shifted her gaze from his face to his proffered hand and back again. Licking her lips, she edged closer. His familiar cologne almost made her gag.

Just as she scooped in a deep breath, his arm shot out and wrapped around her waist. He dragged her into his sphere and pressed his heated lips against hers.

Instinctively, she jerked back, but his fingers weaved through her hair and he pulled her closer, parting her lips with his tongue.

The library door swung open and they jumped apart.

Alexi's right-hand man and accountant, Melvin, colored to the roots of his hair. “I'm so sorry, Prince Alexi. I knocked and thought I heard a response.”

Alexi rounded on him and snapped, “What is it?”

The man cleared his throat as two uniformed officers stepped into the room behind him. “There are two police men here, Prince Alexi. They have questions about one of the catering staff from last night.”

“Questions? What kind of questions?”

One of the officers stepped around Melvin and flipped open a notebook. “The body of one of the waiters from your party last night washed up on a beach a few miles north of here.”

Alexi shrugged, his face a mask. “That's unfortunate, but what does that have to do with me? There were no accidents here last night.”

Tori folded her hands in front of her, trying not to wipe Alexi's disgusting kiss from her mouth.

The officer scribbled something in his notebook. “Your party is the last place he was seen alive. Did any of your guests report anything unusual last night? Anyone staggering along the cliff edge? The young man had a large quantity of alcohol in his system.”