Mistress's Master: Men in Blue, Book 3 (29 page)

“Give me a little more credit than that.” Jeremy glared at the overgrown goons. Reality was he would have issued the same challenge in their shoes. Hell, he probably wouldn’t have been half as nice about it. “Fine. How’s this? I’m glad she’s had someone on her side. Enough that I’ll make a case for keeping your jewels when I blow your cover to hell and back. I’m not about keeping secrets from her.”

“Oh damn.” Lucas’s wry grin leeched the bitterness from his curse. “I hope she’s as into you as she looked this morning.”

“Me too.” He clapped the man on the shoulder.

They might have swapped war stories and initiated the formation of a bond most safety and law officials found with other men of similar callings if pounding footfalls hadn’t put them all on full alert. They stood three-wide across the main entrance to Lily’s haven in the middle of the snake pit, braced for whomever was about to fly around the corner.

Jeremy sighed when Matt charged toward them.

“JRad.” The beads of sweat on his brow contrasted with his hardly winded tone. The guy trained non-stop outside of his police duties. “You need to come check this out.”

When Matt jerked his chin toward the wing housing their personal chambers, Jeremy waved him off. “Hold up a minute. What’s going on? You can speak free in front of these guys. They’re part of the team.”

“What the fuck?”

Jeremy wouldn’t have been surprised if a blood vessel burst in Matt’s eye. He could relate. Why their superior had sent them into the situation without the full briefing they required, he couldn’t say. True, he’d signed himself up for this particular duty, forced his involvement. Still, the DEA douche bag should have mentioned any onsite backup.

“Maybe he doesn’t trust you two,” Lucas challenged Matt. “How do we know you’re not teaming up with Morselli for real?”

“Because the fucker is setting off alarms left and right in JRad’s system.”

“Screw that!” Jeremy wouldn’t tolerate someone taking a virtual sneak and peak around his computers. His programming should hold to wipe the reports and other incriminating data clean if anyone attempted to tamper with his network, but the existence of such protocol alone would implicate him. Worse, suspicion would spread to Lily. Questions he couldn’t afford to have asked would arise. Doubt would put her at risk.

“I’ll take care of this.” If he manned the terminal he could counter the attack, make things appear status quo by feeding the hacker what they hoped to see. The roadblocks he’d left should hold long enough for him to take control if he hustled. “I’ll be back. No more than an hour. Make sure Lily doesn’t leave your sight. This could go either way. If it’s a disaster, smuggle her out of here however you have to. Please.”

Not a word he used often.

“Between us and the guys in there, she’ll be safe.” Steve shoved Jeremy toward the door as he tried to steal one last glimpse of Lily through the open archway. He couldn’t even make eye contact long enough to wave before Matt urged him to hurry.

He jogged backward for a few steps then pivoted. With a long look over his shoulder, he began to run.

Lily forced herself to stand still instead of gouging out her security team’s eyes. Maybe she’d heard them wrong. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“Sorry, love.” Lucas grimaced. “Your Master said you’re not to leave until he returns for you personally.”

“Since when do you work for him?” Lily swore she could feel the blood vessels in her eyes bursting. “And for the record, he’s not my anything. Not after this bullshit.”

“I’d want to protect you too if I were him—” Steve should have known better than to try and reason with her.

“Stop. And…you’re fired.”

“We’re not going anywhere.” Lucas and Steve refused to meet her furious stare.

“I figured he made sure of that. What’d he bribe you with? Did he promise you I’d suck your cocks? Tell you he’d let you fuck me too?” Heat flamed in her cheeks. After last night, they probably expected nothing less.

“Jesus.” Matt stepped in. “It’s nothing like that.”

She growled. “They’re still fired.”

“Lily, wait…”

The plea fell on deaf ears. She refused to linger so they could see how deeply Jeremy’s betrayal cut her. Anyone who knew her worth a damn would realize the crack in her composure that allowed her to flip them the bird as she stormed to her office was telling enough.

Her journey seemed ten times longer than the trek from the public stage to Jeremy’s all-too-private quarters had been the night before though her furious stride ate up the hallway in a flash. She drew a wobbly breath as she approached what should have been her sanctuary. With her hand on the knob, she paused, afraid to step inside. Reminders of the lies Jeremy had fed her, and how greedily she’d gobbled them up, would surround her.

Fuck that. She swore to obliterate him from her soul. Somehow. The door crashed into the wall then rebounded, halfway closed. A well-placed shove of her boot took care of the rest.

Lily paced her chambers like a lioness trapped in a zoo. Apparently Jeremy had a different idea of
always
than she did. She could have whipped herself for imagining he’d meant forever-and-ever-until-death when he’d really meant until she turned her back and he could slink out of her realm.

Stupid motherfucker. Whether she referred to him or herself…well, either fit. More him if he thought she’d consent to act as an ornament for his collection, satisfied to be left idle. Locked away from the action. Screw that. She’d prepared herself to revolt if Morselli tried anything ridiculous. After all, he was a misogynistic dickhead if not worse.

But Jeremy.

How could he have sidelined her like this?

She punted a gleaming chrome garbage can halfway across the room, satisfied with the clang it made as it collided with a solid stone statue of a naked man in the corner. If only it had been the man she’d been foolish enough to call Master. His thick skull would have sounded like a gong when struck by the metal.

“Mistress.” A soft knock came on the door a moment before it cracked open. Ryan peeked inside. “I…uh…heard a crash. Are you okay?”

“Fine.” She put her back to him while she daubed a bit of moisture gathering at the corner of her eyes. Horrified, she slammed shut the floodgate of emotions Jeremy had pried open. Tears shed for someone undeserving only shamed her more.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Lily forced herself to swallow the bitter taste of betrayal. If one of her submissives needed her attention, they came first. Before tending the ragged hole in her chest left behind when Jeremy had ripped her heart out. Why had she allowed herself to believe this time could be different? That the man she’d fallen for would live up to his promises? How had he convinced her to believe?

For months she’d dreamed about the aura of integrity he’d cast when they’d last met. Maybe she’d built him up to be more than humanly possible.

“I’ll come back later.” Ryan began to shut the door.

“No, please.” She bit her lip then waved him to a chair. “Take a seat.”

“What if I show you a way out instead?” A mischievous smile crimped his luscious lips. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I overheard your doorstoppers. I was going to offer to diagram the servant quarters for you. There are passageways no one from the main house uses. You know, staff access routes. Morselli doesn’t like the workers to be seen in his hallowed halls.”

“Even here? In this wing?” Lily perked up. She crossed to Ryan and grasped his hands.

“Oh yeah, definitely here. Anywhere with a bedroom is likely to have access for twilight visitors. The passages are vast and intricate.”

“You know how I can get to Morselli’s office from here?” If she could search his desk, she was sure she’d find what she needed to locate The Scientist. Even if she didn’t, the access would put her into contact with more of the servants. They had to know where the man was stashed if he was campaigning to turn them against their boss and break free.

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Show me.”

The slave studied the intricate pattern of the wallpaper over her shoulder. “He would call me there often. To make me watch while he threatened my sister. I should have told you this earlier, but there was no time. I didn’t realize why it was important. Ellie…she worked in a laboratory. She didn’t know what they were cooking up, I swear. Each tech had only a tiny piece of the total puzzle. The job paid well. I told her to take it. It’s my fault.”

His shoulders slumped.

“You couldn’t have known.” Lily crossed the space to wrap him in her arms.

“I got myself hired on here, did whatever he wanted. I thought I could snoop around and pull her out somehow. I hadn’t managed more than glimpses before Morselli caught me. He made me do things. Bad things. Like yesterday. I’m so sorry we did that to you. But he said he would hurt my sister.”

“Shh.” She rubbed his broad shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll find Ellie. I’ll help her if I’m able. I’ll do what I can. Tell me how to get to his office and I’ll try my best.”

“It’s dangerous. Take me with you?” He raised his brows, looking for all the world like a loveable puppy. No way would she drag him deeper into the shadows.

Jeremy had reminded her she worked best alone.

“Not this time.” She silenced him with a finger over his lips. “If I can slip out, others can break in. I need you and Ben to stay. Lucas and Steve can’t cover the whole area by themselves. Worrying about the group will be a distraction I can’t afford. I’ll be quick. In and out.”

When he still didn’t respond she let some of her simmering anger show.

“Jeremy already has Morselli distracted. They’re probably somewhere in the holding cells. The safest time to go is now, while his attention is diverted.” She hated to do it but she played her ace. “Whatever happens, this is not on you. I’m
ordering
you to tell me.”

He scrunched his eyelids closed then gulped. “Yes, Mistress.”

Lily stepped aside when he angled toward the curtains. A whoosh of silk followed his yank. If it hadn’t been for the ornate pattern on the wall, she wouldn’t have noticed the slight disruption caused by the tiny gap around the outside edge of the wallpapered door.

“Swipe along the bottom of the molding.” Ryan took her hand and flipped it over. He cradled it in his larger palm as he demonstrated. “Feel that?”

“Yes.” She smiled up at him. “I just press it like this…”

The panel swung inward. If she expected a shadowy, cobwebbed rathole, she would have been disappointed. Though not as elegant as the furnishings in the rest of the house, the passageway gleamed with diffuse white light and utilitarian linoleum. The space reminded her of a hospital.

If she descended the five or six steps dropping the passage below the windows, she’d then have to either go left or right. A small plaque had an arrow pointing toward kitchen and another aimed at residential. “Efficient.”

“It takes a lot to run a place like this.” Ryan sighed. “Despite what he’d have you think, there are people everywhere doing his dirty work. Head toward the residential section. When you come to the staircase go down three flights. His rooms are on the main floor. They take up the whole wing. His office is at the very end of the passage. If you see anyone along the way—”

“Don’t worry.” She grinned. “I’m used to playing games. I’ll think of something.”

Ryan nodded. “If you’re not back in an hour, I’m coming after you.”

“Fair enough.” She tugged him lower for a gentle kiss. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I hope you’re right.”

But he didn’t look certain when he disappeared behind the curtains.

Lily ignored the fine vibration of her fingers as she laid them on the brass handle at the top of the short flight of stairs. She hadn’t had to use her mind-your-own-business glare even once on the trip to Morselli’s office, though she’d passed several housekeeping carts at a brisk yet reasonable pace.

Bits of muffled conversations bulged then faded away, echoing through the hallway as she passed by. She wondered if anyone had heard her cries as she submitted to Jeremy last night or the gentle murmur of their hushed conversation this morning.

Damn him for conning her. He played the game like a pro—she’d give him that.

Shaking off the lingering blend of disgust and disappointment laying heavy in her gut, she pressed her ear to the door and held her breath. As she expected, she heard exactly nothing. Not even the rustling of someone dusting the mantle disturbed the absolute silence.

In and out, Lily. Get it done.

She shoved the panel far enough to slip behind the thick, blood-red curtains. The reek caused by overpowering cologne with a hint of expensive whiskey choked her. Morselli probably considered the stank attractive. Nasty.

Early afternoon sunshine sparkled through the window, casting her shadow across the desk and a trophy case on the opposite wall when she nudged the material aside. The pounding of her heart obscured the sound of birds swooping over the lush grounds or the splash of gentle waterfalls emptying into the nearby pond.

How could something so disgusting be nestled in the heart of such beauty? It would have seemed more fitting if the estate had looked like the wicked witch’s tower or maybe the cracks of doom. Instead, she wondered where to begin her search. Skipping obvious spots like the notes on the desk blotter, she aimed for something a little subtler.

Without the security of locked doors and easy access to house staff, Morselli wouldn’t dare leave crucial information in plain sight. Skimming the shelves of a barrister bookcase, she found nothing but antique volumes on hunting. After riffling through a chest in the corner, turning up nothing more damning than a bone-handled knife, which looked brand new, she wondered if the trip had been a bust.

Lily spun in a circle, scanning every surface for signs of recent use. Dust-free and pristine, the room provided no clues. The light glinted off a crystal decanter on the mantle. Sparkles danced off the surface and the mirror behind it.

A smudge marred the gleaming surface.