Bullet Proof: A MacKenzie Family Novella (The MacKenzie Family) (10 page)

"Let's just forget it, okay?" She sipped the coffee, trying not to gag on the bitter regret lingering on her tongue.

His jaw tightened. "Bianca—"

"Look, we want different things." She sucked in a deep breath, keeping her gaze locked on the spot just to the left of Taz's head. Looking him head-on wasn't an option, not if she didn't want to make a total ass of herself and let loose with the tears she'd been fighting all night. She shouldn't be hurt. She didn't really know him well enough for that but the truth was, she couldn't help it—and if that wasn't just the sign she needed to get away from him as soon as this morning's appointment was over then she didn't know what was. "I appreciate that you're going through with the meeting this morning with the Davies-Smythes, but let's just leave it at that. It was probably just the residual affect of the drug, nothing to worry about."

The lie tasted worse than the disappointment of his words.

He opened his mouth, but the
bing
announcing the elevator's impending arrival stopped whatever was about to come out. Bianca sent up a quick prayer of gratitude to whoever was manning the line this morning.

The elevator doors parted and Vivi and Keir strolled into the living area. Vivi held a black duffel bag and made a beeline right for her.

"I brought you something to wear from your apartment so you didn't have to go to Bisu Manor in stud boy's workout gear," she said, her neutral tone doing a lot more to cover her curiosity than the look in her dark eyes as they bounced between Taz and Bianca.

She crossed over to the newcomers, glad that Vivi had been thinking ahead even as all she could think about was Taz. "How'd you get into my condo?"

Vivi winked at her. "It's amazing what a badge can do for a girl, even if it's only for a few more months."

"What do you mean by a few months?" Taz asked.

"Doesn't matter." She held out a duffel bag. "Go change and I'll go over the plan as soon as you get back."

Wanting to follow up on Taz's question, but knowing now wasn't the right time, Bianca took the bag without comment and made her way into the bathroom. Shutting the door behind her meant trapping her inside the room with all of the manly smells and mental images of Taz naked in the shower. It was miserable bliss. All she wanted to do was wallow in it, but she couldn't let that happen. There were more important things in life than her own heart breaking because she wanted a man who could never be a part of her life, not the new life she was building.
Suck it up, buttercup.
Taking her own advice, she blinked back tears and got dressed.

* * * *

Needing to do something before he chased her down in the bathroom and begged her to reconsider today, Taz snagged Bianca's coffee mug, took one drink and poured the rest down the sink. No one should drink something that tasted as bad as he felt.

"What in the hell happened last night?" Keir asked, oblivious to the fact that one of Bianca's long-lost friends was standing in the kitchen with them not even bothering to pretend not to listen in.

Even if he was the type of guy to get all touchy-feely and talk about his emotions—damn, the word made him gag almost as hard as Bianca's mostly sugar coffee—he wasn't about to do it in front of Vivi. "This isn't the place."

Keir shrugged and grabbed a mug from the cabinet before pouring himself half a cup of coffee and filling up the rest with milk he'd grabbed from the fridge. "Freddie would like her."

"What makes you say that?" He regretted the question as soon as it was out of his mouth. Really, he should consider investing in mouth staples.

Follow-up questions were his brother's best weapon for finding vulnerabilities. All he could do was blame the fact that his brain had moved out and not left a forwarding address the first time he'd laid eyes on Bianca.

Keir handed the mug over to Vivi without a word and she accepted without a thanks, her attention too focused on Taz. Her curiosity about how he'd handle whatever his brother was about to say next was written in all caps over her face.

"Just the obvious. He always enjoyed a hot chick." Keir grinned, no doubt enjoying the way the knife blade slid in smooth between Taz's ribs. "Not to mention anyone who can make you pull your own head out of your ass and make you remember the kind of men we were raised to be as opposed to the kind you've turned into would have made Freddie's day."

Yep. He'd hit an artery with that one. "Shut it, Keir."

A curious smile curled Vivi's cherry red lips. "Sounds like there's a story here."

He sent Keir a scathing look before his brother could open his mouth. "No story."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bathroom doorknob turn. Shutting down this conversation before Bianca emerged became priority number one. The door swung open.

"I mean it," he said, blood rushing in his ears. "No story."

"Whatever you say, brother." Keir shrugged and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Are you two always like this?" Bianca asked as she strutted out of the bathroom in head-to-toe black, from her ebony heels to her inky leather pants to the coal-colored V-neck shirt that clung to her curves. Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail that only highlighted her cheekbones and the lush fullness of her bold hot pink lips.

"Most people find me totally adorable. I don't know what his problem is," Keir said.

Vivi rolled her eyes. "The only thing adorable about you is the panda tattoo on your ass."

That shut his brother up and even put a red stain on his cheeks. Now, that was interesting.

"You brought the devices you need us to plant?" Bianca asked as she settled down on the barstool farthest away from where he stood.

She didn't glance his way, but still he felt her attention on him like an invisible rope binding them together.

"That and the plans for the house." Vivi nodded, her whole demeanor changing as Bianca's relaxed, smart-mouth friend was gone and iron spine Agent Yang had taken over. "You confirmed the meeting for this morning?"

Taz nodded. "We need to leave in thirty minutes.”

"Perfect." She set down a handful of what looked like clear marbles filled with a bundle of thin wires. "These are the listening devices. I need one of these in each room you can get into. The clear design helps them melt into whatever the room's design. They're motion activated and will pick up even quiet conversations in a midsized room. Anything bigger, you make sure to leave two of these suckers." She took out a small diamond broach. "This is for you. It's got a camera embedded in it." She handed a pair of glasses to Taz. "Same goes for these. You don't have to worry about turning the cameras on. We'll do it remotely."

"We?" Taz asked.

Vivi jerked her chin toward Keir. "Mr. Panda Tattoo and I."

"No DEA team?" Bianca asked.

Now it was Vivi's turn to have a little color creep up to her cheeks. "Because we'll be watching and listening along with you while you're inside, we'll be able to have someone on site in ten minutes if things go wrong, but this isn't exactly a sanctioned op."

Every nerve in his body went on full alert, sending out warning signals loud enough to be heard across town. "Why not?"

"Because Miss Sweet Personality is persona non grata," Keir answered, shifting just the slightest bit so he stood a half-inch closer to her. "She's on her way out."

Bianca gnawed away at her bottom lip. "Will you get in trouble for this?"

"Not if we come back with proof the Davies-Smythes are involved with Genie's Wish. Amazing how big arrests make the big wigs shut up—not to mention it's a helluva fuck you to everyone who has been a giant pain in my ass." Vivi unrolled the building plans for Bisu Manor onto the island and pointed to a corner room in the basement. "This is their panic room. Now, if I was kidnapping someone and using them as a drug guinea pig, this is exactly where I'd hold them."

"What about this?" Bianca pointed to what had been labeled wine pantry and was just off the kitchen. "There aren't any windows and wine cellars sometimes have their own entry requirements because of the wines' value and temperature controls."

"Good insight." Vivi nodded. "Check out both. If they have Gidget, and I'm still not convinced they do, then she'll be at one of these spots."

It was a good catch, but he didn't want Bianca anywhere near one of the possible holding sites. Taking her to Bisu Manor wasn't optional, but once he had her there, she wasn't going to be doing a damn thing that could get her into trouble. She might want to be Ft. Worth's version of Batgirl, but that didn't mean he was going to let it happen.

"And what if everything goes sideway?" he asked, because it would. Something always did.

Bianca sent a glare his way. "We won't let it."

CHAPTER NINE

Taz had barely pulled to a stop in front of Bisu Manor before Bianca had her fingers curled around the door handle, needing to put some space between them. He curled his strong fingers around her arm, stopping her before she could push the passenger door open and get out of the enclosed space where all she could smell was his warm, spicy scent and all she could think about was what could have been. She didn't have time for that right now. More importantly, Gidget didn't have time, nor did the good people of Ft. Worth who were about to get slammed with a drug that took far more than it gave. A lot more was riding on this than her broken heart.

"Let me go," she said, thankful the anxiety tightening around her throat didn't block her words.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Taz asked, not looking at her but not letting go either. "It's not too late to back out."

She went so still she would have sworn her heart stopped beating. That's what he thought of her—that she'd back out, that she wasn't capable. Good thing she knew better.

"Worry about yourself." She jerked her arm out of his grasp and pushed open the car door. "It's what you're good at."

Getting out of the car on shaky legs, she was halfway up the stairs leading to the manor's front door when Taz caught up with her. He grabbed her arm and wheeled her around. Fighting for balance, she grabbed the first thing she could, which just happened to be Taz's hard chest. His heart thundered under her palm, matching the dark look shadowing his eyes.

"I wish I could just worry about myself," he said, enunciating carefully, as if each clipped word was a blade slicing off a thin piece of her heart. "I'm good at it and it's all I was doing until I walked into this house last night and found you poured into that dress, surrounded by men who wanted nothing more than to fuck you every way to Sunday. I couldn't walk away from you then and I can't now." 

Flustered by the way he managed to piss her off and set off a wave of desire at the same time, she tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go. "I can take care of myself."

"Damn it, Bianca, I know that," he snarled, yanking her so close that their lips were only inches apart. "What I said last night, it was...it was bullshit. You're smart. You're capable. You can handle yourself. I just don't think I could handle it if you got hurt. I love you."

The world tilted and, judging by how her stomach felt, gravity had been temporarily turned off. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. She could only stretch up on her tiptoes and brush her lips against his. Electricity zinged through her, like a silver ball careening through a pinball machine setting off bells and whistles and lights.

He moaned and threaded his fingers in her hair, tilting her head so he could deepen the kiss. It was almost more than she could take, but she wasn't about to stop. He was right. What they were doing was dangerous. It could all go wrong, which is exactly why she needed something to go right—and this kiss was so wrong it was right. In their twisted little world, it worked and they made sense. Together they were bulletproof.

A loud cough from over her left shoulder jerked her back from the edge of falling for Taz. Ha. Who was she kidding? She already had and there was no going back now.

"Oh, my, I hope I'm not interrupting." Amelia Davies-Smythe stood in the open door. She wore a purple blouse, didn't have a hair out of place, and her understated makeup was perfect. For all intents and purposes, she looked like Ft. Worth royalty, via the British Isles, but the lusty look in her eyes as she gave Taz a slow up and down betrayed the image.

A barbwire thread of jealousy wound its way through Bianca and she managed, just barely, not to show her teeth to the other woman. Taz released her hair and his palm slid south, coming to rest on the small of her back.

"Bless your heart for worrying about that," Bianca said as she started up the steps. "But I thought you liked to watch."

Amelia laughed, the sound darker and earthier than was expected from an uptight British dilettante, but then again she wasn't only that. She was a kidnapping, drug dealing bitch. "You know, it's a sign of how interesting Oliver and I find you and your Kitten that we'd even see you today."

"You have exciting plans for later?" Taz asked, his voice not giving away either embarrassment at being caught kissing her or the real reason why they were at the manor.

"I wish, but no. The morning after a party is always a bit challenging." Amelia circled two fingers against her temple. "You two, however, don't look any worse for the wear. I hate you a little bit for that."

"We're just excellent at faking it." Bianca chuckled softly and strolled up the stairs, praying that her nerve wouldn't fail her or cause her to fall flat on her face.

"Now, that is a skill that can come in handy, believe me. Please come in. Oliver is taking care of a few things and will join us momentarily." She tucked Bianca's arm into the crook of her elbow and walked her through the foyer. "Let's have some tea in the salon while we wait for him."

On guard for the first sign of goons or the sickly sweet scent of roses, she let Amelia lead her past the room that had been the site of last night's orgy and behind the double staircase. Sunlight streamed through the large windows into the small room hidden away from direct exposure from the rest of the house. The wood-paneled walls, partnered with the overstuffed furniture, gave the already tiny room an oppressive feel that made her skin crawl. A tea tray sat on a small coffee table near a grouping of four green and white striped chairs.