Aegis Security 02 - Sinful Surrender (11 page)

Lifting her arms over her head, she stretched sore muscles she hadn’t known existed, pushed up on her palms, and glanced toward the clock on the bedside table. 3:45 a.m.

Snow continued to fall outside in big, chunky flakes, whipping against the villa in the storm, but without even looking to her side, she knew she was alone. Rolling to her back, she stared up at the ceiling and listened to the soft hum of the heater in the ceiling.

God, she was in trouble.

After their last crazy ravishment of each other, Brian had pulled the covers over her limp body, kissed her, and climbed out of bed. She knew he was in Aegis-operative mode now—checking the doors and windows, doing research about her time on that reality show on that fancy laptop he’d grabbed from his room before they’d come to the villa, trying to figure out who was harassing her so he could keep her safe—and part of her didn’t mind, because she
did
feel safe with him, but there was so much else to work out between them.

A tightness squeezed her chest—the same tightness she’d felt in the bathroom when she’d first arrived—and she pressed her fingertips to her closed eyelids as she drew unsteady breaths that did nothing to alleviate the pressure. Now that her emotions weren’t ruling her anymore, her brain was functioning again, and she knew exactly why she’d been so mad at Brian earlier. It wasn’t just because he’d lied to her. No, the reason was simply that she was already falling for the guy, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to stop it.

Geez, she was so stupid. Stupid for being weak. Stupid for letting this happen so fast. Stupid for feeling these things so soon, especially when she barely knew the guy. But something in her gut told her Brian Walker wasn’t like any other guy she’d ever met. And more than anything, she wanted to
get
to know him better so they could see if this crazy relationship had a chance of being something more.

That is never gonna happen when your brother catches wind of all this.

Jake… Shit.
Most days Grace could handle her overbearing brother. She’d told him long ago to get his nose out of her business and to stay out, and for the most part, he’d listened. But this wasn’t just
her
business. It was his. She knew he had very strict no-cavorting-with-the-clients rules for his operatives. And when you combined that with the guilt he felt over the different ways the two of them had been raised—him with their father’s money and her with a Vegas showgirl mother who’d refused to take anything from the son of a bitch who’d knocked her up—everything inside Grace told her once Jake found out what had happened here, he was going to come down hard on Brian to try to protect her.

She sat up. Pushed the unruly hair back from her face. Blew out a frustrated breath and looked around the dark bedroom. She didn’t need anyone protecting her. Couldn’t these men figure that out?

Her gaze swept the room and landed on Brian’s black duffel sitting on a chair in the corner. And before she could stop it, a profound sense of loss swept through her.

Even if they could make this work with him living in—shit, she didn’t even know where he really lived—different parts of the country, there was no way they had a chance if Jake fired him. Grace knew what Aegis operatives got paid—and it was good. Her brother went above and beyond to keep his guys happy so they wouldn’t jump ship. Brian was ex-military, and though he had to be good if her brother had hired him, she was sure he wouldn’t be able to find another job stateside with those kinds of perks. If he lost his job all because of her—because of some woman he barely knew—that would kill their budding relationship faster than a bullet from a gun.

Which meant… There was only one thing she could do, but doing it… Yeah, doing it wasn’t her first choice. Because it meant walking away from something that might have been special if she’d given it half a chance.

Throwing back the covers, she tossed her legs over the side of the bed and reached for her sweater from the floor. She wasn’t getting any more sleep, so she might as well locate her phone and book a flight out of Denver for the afternoon before she changed her mind. Assuming, that was, that she could get to Denver. Frowning, she tugged on her sweater and told herself to worry about that later.

Glass shattered somewhere in the villa. Grace whipped toward the sound and froze. The room was dark, making it hard to see, and the door was closed, but she spotted Brian’s gun lying on the top of the dresser where he’d left it last night before dropping her on the bed.

No sound met her ears. She couldn’t even hear the heater anymore. Grace strained to listen, wondering if he’d broken a glass. Waiting for his quiet curse as he cleaned up the mess.

Silence spread like a vast cavern through the room. Grace’s heart rate inched up. If Brian was purposely trying to freak her out, he was going to hear about it. Slowly, she took a step toward the door and reached for the handle.

“Grace?”

She jerked her hand back and froze. Conflicting thoughts shot around in her head. She knew that voice. Knew it well because it belonged to the only other person besides Brian she trusted implicitly. And there was no logical reason for it to be here now.

“Grace?” the voice called again. “Time to come out here and join the fun. McDreamy’s gone. It’s just you and me. And you’ve got something I want.”

Grace’s heart felt like it had taken up permanent residence in her throat. Hand shaking, she opened the door and stepped into the living room, where Holly stood on the other side of the couch, one arm down by her side, holding something Grace couldn’t see.

Grace’s pulse skyrocketed. She glanced all around. There was no sign of Brian.

“H-Holly,” she managed. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking what’s mine, Grace.” There was a bite to Holly’s words, and her dark brown eyes held no hint of mischief as they so often did. No spark of friendship either. “Where’s your notebook?”

“My notebook?” Grace asked, having trouble catching up. “Why would you want—”

Her voice cut off abruptly when links clicked into place in her mind. The harassing e-mails back home, the threatening phone calls even after she’d changed and unlisted her number, the notes left on her front porch and
inside her house
on the counter in her kitchen.

Holly had access to her house. Holly knew every time Grace had changed her number or e-mail address to protect herself from some insane stalker. Holly had talked her into coming up here to Vail. She’d also encouraged her to find a guy to have a “wild fling” with to take her mind off everything.

To distract her? It seemed like that now, but Grace didn’t want to believe it. And she still needed to know why.

“You came all the way up here for my notebook? Why?”

“Why?” Holly scoffed. “Because I deserve it. You never should have gotten that contract. I’m the lyrics. You’re just the music. Anyone can write music, but lyrics takes talent. Talent you never had. You only got on that reality show because your mother’s a Vegas show slut and your father was a womanizing billionaire. That may make for good reality TV, but you couldn’t even make it past the third round. I knew you were going to fail there, just like you always fail at everything. The only reason you got that contract with Royalty was because you fucked Tate Kendrick. Just like you fucked McDreamy. That was a bad move on your part, Grace. A very bad move. I told you to get rid of him.”

Panic pushed its way up Grace’s chest, and she looked around the empty room again, searching for Brian. Needing to find him. “Holly.” Her gaze snapped back to her friend, and a new sense of panic filled her when she saw the venom in Holly’s eyes. A bitter hatred Grace had never noticed until right now. “Where is Brian?”

“Gone.”

Gone.
The word echoed in Grace’s head, and dread filled her stomach.

“It actually works out better than I planned,” Holly went on, a smug smile across her face. “Instead of an anonymous stalker the police will never find, they’ll link your disappearance to some guy who followed you to Vail and picked you up in a bar. And since he’s already dead, he won’t be able to tell them otherwise. Then the contract will be mine.”

Dead? No!

Fear and rage and disbelief swirled inside Grace like a firestorm. “No one will believe this. And Royalty will never give you my contract.”

“Oh yes, they will,” Holly snapped. “Because we have a business partnership. In writing. You remember those forms you signed years ago, Grace? The ones my lawyer drew up that give each of us permission to finish out the other’s work should something happen to one of us? This counts.” She pulled her arm from behind her back and pointed a gun straight at Grace’s forehead. “Now, where’s the fucking notebook?”

* * *

Brian’s head hurt like a motherfucker. At the moment though, all he saw and felt was a blinding red as he looked through the kitchen window toward the living room of the villa.

Grace stood steps from the open bedroom door with her hands up. The same psycho woman who’d nailed him with a shovel was pointing Brian’s weapon straight at Grace’s head.

Oh no, you crazy bitch. You are not fucking taking her from me.

He moved around the side of the building, found the master bath, and hoped like hell the storm muffled the sound for breaking glass when he shoved his elbow through the small window.

An alarm would go off in the security center, but it didn’t sound in the villa, and for that he was thankful. He was also thankful that black widow hadn’t checked to make sure he was still alive before she’d swiped his keys and let herself in.

He wiggled his way through the small window, then crept soundlessly into the master bedroom. His heart lurched into his throat when he heard Grace’s panicked voice pleading with the woman holding the gun.

“Holly. Think about this. My brother knows I’m here. And Brian isn’t just some guy who picked me up in a bar. He’s one of Jake’s operatives. No one will ever believe Brian is my stalker.”

Silence echoed from the other room. Brian inched along the shadows, moving closer to the open door.
Son of a bitch
. The gun he’d left on the dresser was missing.

“It’s no matter,” Holly said. “It’ll look like your stalker took him out. I can still make this work. Now give me the notebook so we can be done with this. Because if you make me look for it, Grace, I’m going to make you suffer.”

“Holly—”

“
I’m
the talent,” Holly yelled, her voice rising. “You’re just the fucking name. Why do you think I agreed to work with you? Not because I liked you. Not because I thought you were going to lift me up. Because of your name. And you betrayed me with it. Now give me the damn notebook!”

Brian’s pulse was a roar in his ears as reached the edge of the open door. Grace’s back was to him. Options raced through his mind. He judged the distance, the probability of grabbing her and dragging her through the door before Holly’s gun went off. Knew he wouldn’t make it. Then he spotted his Beretta, tucked into the back waistband of her jeans.

She’d grabbed it before she’d gone out there. His smart, sexy, amazing woman.

“The notebook!” Holly screamed.

They were out of time. He knew panic when he heard it. Panic and desperation.

Brian lunged through the door. “Grace!” His hand wrapped around the gun at her back, pulling it free. His other arm shoved her behind him. “Get down!”

Grace screamed. Her body hit the ground. A shot echoed through the room. He fired and threw himself over Grace.

A crash echoed, breaking glass and wood, followed by a thud. Then everything went still.

“Oh my God. Oh my God,” Grace repeated, her voice shaking, her body trembling beneath him.

Brian pushed himself up and looked toward Holly. Her eyes were wide and lifeless, her hair a wild red mess around her face, her body lying in the broken remnants of the coffee table. The gun was feet from her on the floor. A bullet wound gaped dead center in her chest.

He looked back behind them. Her shot had hit the plaster to the right of the bedroom. Inches from their heads.

“Oh my God,” Grace rasped, trying to push up.

He captured her, turning her away from the carnage. “Don’t look.” Pulling her tight against him, he held her close while she shook and worked to steady his own raging pulse. “It’s over now.”

Grace dug her fingers digging into his back. “I didn’t know it was her. I didn’t know. I didn’t think. I…” She swallowed hard and froze against him. “Is she…dead?”

His eyes slid closed, and he pulled her in tighter, needing her warmth right now Needing her. Hating the answer. “I…didn’t mean to hit her there. But when I saw her pointing that gun to your head, I just reacted. I’m not ready to lose you.”

She sank into him, burying her face in his chest. And he went on holding her tight until her shaking eased. Outside, sirens echoed, but they were moving slowly because of the storm. They never would have gotten here in time. He’d done the right thing. But knowing he’d killed her friend… He wasn’t sure if she could ever forgive him for that, no matter how crazed the woman had been.

“I was wrong,” she whispered. “I guess I needed someone to watch over me after all.”

She was lightening the mood, surprising him all over again when she could do the exact opposite and push him away. Relief filled his chest. He slid his fingers up into her hair and held her against his heart, hoping she could feel what she meant to him with every soul-shattering beat. “You do. You have a knack for finding trouble. Something tells me you always will.”

And he wanted to be the one to go on watching over her. If she’d let him.

Brian stood in the middle of Jake Ryder’s office at Aegis headquarters in the rolling horse country of Kentucky and stared out at the view. Pristine white fences that stretched for miles. Horses loping across the fields. Trees waiting for spring, standing tall against the blue sky.