Out of Turn (14 page)

I was suddenly snagged around the waist and yanked toward someone. It was the guy. He’d grabbed me and had moved me behind him while he faced off with Kade.

“Get out of the way,” Kade ordered.

“I don’t think she wants to go with you,” the man said.

“I don’t give a shit what she wants,” Kade snarled. He pushed roughly past the man and grabbed my arm.

The guy threw a punch at Kade, which I knew he could have blocked, but he chose not to. The crunch of bone on
bone made me flinch. When Kade looked back at me, his mouth was bloody.

I decided I didn’t like this job very much.

“Fine,” Kade said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “I was through with her anyway.”

He turned and stalked away, disappearing into the crowd.

“Are you all right?”

I swung my attention back to the guy.

“Yeah. I’m okay,” I said. “Thanks for helping me.”

He gave me a small smile and held out his hand. “I’m David, and you’re welcome.”

I shook his hand. “Kathleen.”

“Can I buy you a drink, Kathleen?”

I forced a smile. “Sure. I’d like that.”

David motioned to a nearby cocktail waitress and soon I was sipping a vodka tonic. Sipping because I certainly didn’t need more alcohol, not when I felt responsible for keeping Kade out of trouble.

David asked me what I did and I told him I was a bartender. He didn’t bat an eye at that. He didn’t wear a wedding ring, so I assumed that though he had a daughter he must be divorced. Now that he was talking more, I could hear the trace of a British accent.

When I asked him what he did for a living, his answer was vague.

“I run security for a firm in Switzerland,” he said.

“That sounds interesting,” I said. “What kind of firm?”

His smile was enigmatic. “The kind of firm for which people pay a lot of money to retain their anonymity.”

I took a drink to hide my dismay. I’d heard about the big, prestigious banks in Switzerland in movies and such. That was what Kade was trying to hack into? I broke out in a cold sweat.

“It’s been lovely meeting you, Kathleen,” David said. “But I have an early meeting tomorrow. Do take care and perhaps choose your company more wisely in the future.” He turned to go.

I panicked. It hadn’t been thirty minutes yet.

“Wait!” I said, latching on to his arm. He looked back questioningly. “I mean, we were just getting to know each other.” I smiled and threw in a come-hither look for good measure. “Surely you can stay a little while longer?”

David paused, a slight frown crossing his face. “You seem awfully self-destructive, Kathleen. First you’re with a man who mistreats you in a quite brutal fashion, and now you’re flirting with a complete stranger.”

Okay, well that was brutal honesty for you. And he didn’t know the half of it.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “I’m just… alone. And I don’t know what to do now.” I shrugged. That sentence was actually true.

David studied me. “Come with me, Kathleen,” he said.

I followed him. Maybe I should tell him I was hungry, so he could get me something to eat? That should stall him long enough for Kade to finish up and get out of his room.

Two big men followed at a distance, then rode down in the elevator with us. I could tell they were some type of security detail for David. They had telltale bulges under their jackets and their eyes never stopped scanning in all directions.

A limousine was waiting downstairs and David motioned me inside. It was just the two of us then, the bodyguards riding in another car.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“My hotel.”

Shit. “I’m really hungry,” I said, hoping he’d catch the hint.

“I’ll order you something there.”

Great. Kade had given me one job and I couldn’t even manage it. We were going right where he’d asked me not to go. He was
so
going to fire me.

The bodyguards left us at the door to his suite when David dismissed them, which made me nervous. Why had he brought me back here? Hotel rooms with strange men hadn’t worked out so well for me in the past.

“Where are you from, Kathleen?” David asked, gesturing for me to precede him into the suite, which was even nicer than the one Kade and I were staying in. I headed for the windows to take in the view. I figured if Kade was in here, the farther I could get David away from the door, the better the odds for Kade to get out. And moving across the room also put me out of David’s immediate reach.

“The Midwest,” I said vaguely.

“Runaway?”

“Orphan.”

He poured two glasses of wine from the bar and handed me one. I took a sip.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

I shrugged and asked to use the bathroom. Maybe Kade was hiding. But when I went through the bedroom, it was dark and empty. I gave a sigh of relief. Perhaps Kade had
made it out early. Going into the bathroom, I shut the door and flipped on the light, then immediately had to stifle a scream.

“Did you forget how to tell time?”

I spun around. “Jesus, Kade! You scared me to death!” I hissed. “What are you still doing here?”

“I said I needed thirty minutes,” he reminded me. “Has it been thirty minutes?”

I immediately felt guilty. “I’m sorry. He wanted to come back here and I couldn’t stop him.”

“So you came along,” Kade said. “Why?” His irritation was obvious. He reached behind me to turn on the water.

“I don’t know. I thought maybe if you were still here, I could distract him or something, so you could get out.”

“And how did
you
plan on getting out?”

I didn’t have an answer. I hadn’t thought that far.

Kade snorted. “That’s what I thought.”

I bristled. “Listen, I’m just a girl he brought back from the club. I’m not suspicious. But a strange man walking out of his bathroom
is
.”

Kade’s lips pressed into a thin line and I had a brief moment of satisfaction that he knew I was right.

“Did you get what you needed?” I asked.

“Do you even have to ask?”

How Kade could make arrogant sarcasm sexy was beyond me.

“Okay then. So, there are two bedrooms here. I’ll get him into the other one and you get out. I’ll meet you back in our room.”

“I don’t like that plan,” he said.

“I’ll be fine.” And I really hoped that was the truth. I reached over and turned off the water. “See you soon.”

I switched off the light as I left the bathroom, taking a deep breath before stepping back into the living room. David was still sipping his wine by the windows.

I picked up my wineglass and headed back over to him, walking slowly and putting enough sway in my hips to get his attention. “So, David,” I said after taking a healthy swallow, “I didn’t get a chance to thank you properly for your help tonight.” Yeah, I was the same age as his daughter—oh well. Men were great at rationalizing inconvenient facts like that. And I noticed his eyes had dropped to my cleavage.

David cleared his throat. “Thanks aren’t necessary,” he said.

My palms were sweaty and my heart was jackknifing in my chest, but I tried to ignore all that. I needed to distract him enough for Kade to get out. The more time that passed, the greater the chance of discovery. I remembered the amount Kade had whispered in my ear. A cut of that would be very nice.

I set my glass down, my hands shaking. Making myself put one foot in front of the other when I desperately wanted to run in the other direction, I got close enough to David for him to get a whiff of my perfume.

“But,” I said quietly, taking the wineglass from his hand, “I like to pay my debts.” My voice was steady and calm, thank God.

It seemed any thoughts of maybe saving the lost and abused orphan were long gone, because he swallowed heavily. Turning, I headed for the bedroom and he followed
closely behind. “I mean, this is what you intended, bringing me back here, right?”

“Perhaps,” he admitted.

That I was right didn’t surprise me in the slightest. Gathering my courage, I gave him a little push and he sat down on the bed. Being in a bedroom with a complete stranger who obviously expected sex was unnerving. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

David seemed willing to let me take charge, which was unexpected given his earlier behavior but gave me an idea. Opening his closet, I spied what I needed. Dragging a tie from the rack, I turned to face David.

“I like to play games. Do you like to play games?” I gave him what I hoped was a wicked smile.

“I… could be persuaded,” he said, his gaze raking down my body.

Although I strained my ears, I didn’t hear the door to the suite open or close. But then again, Kade was always as silent as a ghost.

I climbed onto the bed, straddling David and forcing him backward until I could stretch his arms over his head. My top gaped and his eyes were locked on my breasts, which was fine with me, as I was able to tie his hands to the headboard with no fuss at all. I made sure the knots in the silk were tight.

It felt strange, and more empowering than I wanted to admit, to be the one in full control of a sexual situation. I remembered the harrowing attack by Stephen Avery months ago and how powerless I’d felt. I’d learned a lot about my own sexuality since then, learned it could be one
of the most useful weapons I had—though using it as such still left me feeling scared and uneasy.

Sitting back on my haunches, I could feel proof that David was way into this. I unbuttoned his shirt and had the brief, wayward thought that it was too bad this wasn’t real—he was a good-looking guy who obviously took good care of his body. I guessed him to be in his late forties.

“I’m afraid I have to be going now,” I said, climbing off him. He was tied up. He couldn’t get me now. Relief flooded my bones. Please, God, let Kade have gotten away.

“Wait—what? You’re leaving?”

“I did what I came here to do. Time to go.”

“It was a setup,” David said, his voice no longer friendly.

“Afraid so,” I confirmed, more cheerful now that I felt safer.

“Who do you work for?” he asked.

“In a roundabout way… you.” I smiled at his confusion and a bit of pride made me say, “When you hire the best to do a job, you should expect the unexpected. And Kade Dennon is the very best of the best.”

Understanding lit his eyes. “So that’s what this is about.”

I nodded. “I’m guessing he’s hacking your company even as we speak. Which reminds me, I’d better get going. Thanks for the drink. The maid will find you in the morning.”

“Tell Dennon he can try all he wants, but he’ll never hack into my system.”

Gone was the affable British gentleman. David was heading toward seriously pissed.

I shrugged. “I guess you’ll find out soon enough.”

“Find out what?”

“Kade never fails.”

With that parting shot, I left the bedroom, only to be grabbed and hauled against a man’s chest.

“So I’m the best of the best, huh?” Kade’s eyes glittered with an emotion I shied away from identifying. The breath caught in my chest.

“This is new information to you?” I asked, twitching an eyebrow upward.

“It is that
you
think so.”

My stomach twisted, surprised and glad that Kade cared what I thought about his competence. “I’m not wrong, am I?”

His smirk made heat curl low in my belly and I was acutely aware of our bodies pressed together.

“Not about this, you’re not.”

I wondered what he
did
think I was wrong about.

He released me and took my hand. “Let’s get out of here before he gets loose.”

“He’s not going to get loose,” I insisted. “I tied him well.”

Kade snorted. “Of course he’s going to get loose,” then he headed out of the room before I could retort.

Ten minutes later we were back in our room, and I was watching over Kade’s shoulder as he typed on his laptop. It was gibberish to me, but it amazed me what he could do. His fingers flew over the keyboard.

“So what did you need from his room?” I asked.

“His fingerprints.”

Kade did something with a little device attached to his computer, and more lines of text appeared on the screen.

“Aren’t you tired?” I asked. It was getting late and the time change was catching up to me. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow they’ll have changed the algorithm,” he said. “Besides, I don’t quit when I’m tired. I quit when I’m done.” He said this matter-of-factly and I knew he’d work all night if he had to, which actually made me admire him even more.

I decided he probably didn’t need me hanging over him, so I retreated to the bathroom and showered. After wrapping myself in one of the hotel’s satin bathrobes, I went back to the couch and lay down. Kade was still working.

He hadn’t turned on any lights other than the little floodlight above the minibar and I didn’t, either. It was easier to see the neon skyline this way, with the room darkened.

A while later—I must have dozed off—Kade woke me with a “Done.” Yawning, I pushed myself up. “You got the money?” I asked.

“And sent your cut to your bank,” Kade replied, coming to sit next to me on the couch.

I snorted, bending my knees so he could sit. “I hope it wasn’t much. I didn’t do anything but screw up.”

Kade unfolded my legs to rest them on his lap. “You kept him occupied, kept him from calling his security down on our heads. Dead bodies left in my wake are bad for business.”

I laughed. “I can’t imagine why that would be,” I teased.

His mouth curved in a half smile as he leaned back against the couch with a sigh. His eyes slipped shut and I knew he must be tired. It was really late. And yet…

“Kade,” I said softly. “About earlier, I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry for what, for telling the truth?” He didn’t open his eyes.

“I don’t regret anything, Kade,” I said. “And most certainly I don’t regret us being friends. But I hate it, more than anything, that you’ve lost Blane because of me. And if there were a way I could turn back the clock and change that, I would. In a heartbeat. He’s all you have. You need each other.”

Kade finally opened his eyes, their penetrating blue pinning me in place. “What do you know about what I need?”