14. Elena
14
ELENA
V oices alert me from my bed, and I quickly turn off my bedside light and wait to see if they continue into the house. I thought Nash said he was working at the bar all night. I tip-toe to my closed door and place my ear against it, and I hear a woman’s giggle. Closing my eyes, I try to picture where the sound is coming from and if they would see me opening the door. It seems like they are in the living room which is off from the corridor that leads to my bedroom. Ever so slowly, I open the door and slip into the darkness. I carefully choose each step so as not to alert them to my presence. Then the giggles turn to moans, and I hear male grunts accompanying it. What the hell is going on?
Turning the corner, I still. I can’t believe what I’m watching as disbelief bubbles through my veins. Fucking Nash has a woman bent over the couch and is fucking her, his hands are knotted in her brunette hair and twisted around his palm as he thrusts into her. I thought he said he was getting me an in not his dick wet. She is giving him a performance judging by her exaggerated moans. He dirty talks to her in Spanish, and it makes me want to gag, but she seems to like it as her tits jiggle with each one of his thrusts. It’s not long till it’s over and she’s screaming, and he’s grunting his release. I stay in my position as he pulls out and gets rid of the condom while she pulls her skirt back down.
“Thanks for that,” the woman says as she leans forward and kisses him. Nash stiffens against her for the merest of moments before he kisses her back.
“Anytime.” He grins at her.
“Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer,” she says, running her finger along his chest. “Your cock always fucks me so well.”
Gag.
“Your pussy takes it so well.”
Ew.
I think I’m going to be sick. Then he slaps her ass and sends her on her way. As soon as he shuts his front door, he shakes himself, and a look of disdain slides across his chiseled features.
“Another satisfied customer,” I say, stepping out from the shadows.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Ellie. What the fuck?” Nash curses, jumping out of his skin. “How long have you been there?”
“Not that long.”
He blinks at me. “Did you …?” He looks between the couch and me.
“You look like you would have had more stamina than you did, but she seemed to be happy even if her screams were a little fake. Who am I to yuck someone’s yum?”
He runs his hand over his shaved head. “You watched me fuck her?” I shrug. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You’re not an exhibitionist I gather?”
He stares at me as if I’ve sprouted a second head. “You … I … I fucking need a shower.” He grunts, then gives me his back as he starts to leave the living room.
“Really? You hardly worked up a sweat,” I yell back as I turn and head toward my own bedroom.
Next thing I know, his hands are on me. Instinct kicks in and before he has a chance to touch me further, I kick out his legs and have him on his back with a knife pulled from my thigh to his throat. “Don’t ever walk up on me like that unless you want me to end you.”
His eyes are wide as he stares at me. “Who the fuck are you?”
“No one,” I say as I start to release him, except he catches me off-guard and flips me onto my back, and the knife is now against my throat. Not like I haven’t been in this position a time or two. He probably thinks that because of his strength and size he has what he thinks is me in a vulnerable position, that he’s in control.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asks again through gritted teeth.
“Like I said, I’m a journalist.”
He shakes his head. “You just took me out and then pulled a knife on me.”
“I take self-defense classes.”
He shakes his head again. “You don’t learn that in a self-defense class.” As he pushes the knife against my throat, the sharpness of the blade pushes into my skin, but it hasn’t yet punctured it. “And you don’t seem afraid of this knife against your throat.”
“Brooks told me I could trust you, so I am.”
His brows pull together as he glares at me. His eyes then move to where he is holding the knife against me, and he releases it. The weapon falls to the floor with a clang, and he jumps off me quickly. “I need a shower.” He disappears from the living room.
I hop up and head back to my room.
A little while later, there’s a knock on my bedroom door, when I look up, I see a freshly showered Nash. “I’m sorry … about before.”
“Thanks,” I tell him, but he ignores my answer, lost in his own mind.
“I shouldn’t have scared you like I did,” he says, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“You didn’t scare me.”
His brows rise high on his face, he’s about to say something but then shuts his mouth. “The Dominguez family is hosting a charity function next week. I got an invite to the gala.”
“Is that why you were fucking that girl?” I question him.
“Yes,” he answers seriously.
“I appreciate the effort, going over and above for me.”
“It’s costing me five grand for the effort,” he snips.
“You paid her five grand to fuck her? You got ripped off, you could have got a better fuck for that price.”
Nash pinches his nose. “She’s one of the event organizers. I had to purchase a ticket to the event, which was five grand. She was free.”
“Was going to say, that wasn’t a five grand worthy fuck. I’d be wanting my money back if it was.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my fucking dick.”
I shrug. “Okay,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“You are fucking infuriating.”
“I know.”
His hands beside him turn into fists. “Brooks has to be punking me sending you here,” he says, looking me up and down.
“I appreciate you putting your dick on the line for me.”
Nash shakes his head. “She only had one ticket. I think I should go, scout the party, and find out where your friend is. If she was trafficked, she might be there or at the after party, they like to use the women as favors.”
“I know,” I sneer.
His brows pull together at my tone. “Do you have a photo of your friend?”
“No.”
“No? It doesn’t have to be a recent one,” he explains.
“Like I said, I don’t have any photos of her. Guess I’ll have to move to my plan and get my own invite.”
“No,” he answers.
I shrug. “I don’t really care what you say.”
He pinches his nose again. “Ellie, please let me check it out, get in with them, and see if I can be invited to the next party.”
“I’m not a patient person. I’m not waiting. I shouldn’t have listened to Sophie. I work better on my own,” I grumble.
“You don’t have an ounce of preservation, do you?”
“Why? Because the big, old, grumpy man doesn’t scare me. Please. I’ve been surrounded by worse people than you.”
“I’m not old,” he argues.
“You are compared to me, so …”
Nash throws his hands up in the air. “I’ve had enough for one night.” He walks away from my room.
Good. The last thing I need is for him to be suspicious and start messing up my plans.
Nash is working out in his makeshift beach bum gym. His shirt is off, and the tattoos and scars are showing across his tanned, muscular body. For an older guy he’s still quite buff, he has a nice six-pack, and I can see each muscle strain as he works out. Not a bad sight. He stiffens when he sees me standing there looking at him.
“Morning,” I call out. I get a gruff nod as he resumes his workout. Last night I messed up when he touched me, for one second, instinct kicked in and I didn’t think. A reporter shouldn’t be able to do those moves. “Do you mind if I join you?”
“I’m finished anyway, it’s all yours.” He grunts.
“Nash,” I call his name as I grab his large bicep with my fingers. He shrugs me off and walks inside. Shit. I’ve really pissed him off. “Hey, what the hell is your problem?” I yell after him as I follow him inside.
“Nothing. Nothing is my fucking problem,” he says as he continues walking through his home, ignoring me.
“Yeah, sure sounds like it.” I follow him.
He shakes his head as he reaches his bedroom and goes to slam his door behind him, but I stop it, pushing it back which makes it hit the wall with a thud. “Hey, I should be the one upset here. I had to bear witness to you fucking that woman last night.”
He whirls around and glares at me. “I said I was sorry for that.” His eyes narrow on me, and I can tell he is plotting interesting ways to kill me in his head. “You’ve been here for twenty-four hours, and you have been nothing more than a fucking pain in my ass. Right now, I hope the cartel fucking kidnaps you, so I don’t have to deal with you.”
Rude.
“You think I want to be here with you? You’re the last person I want to be fucking stuck with as well. You’re not a fucking ray of sunshine either,” I yell back at him.
He takes a step toward me. “I don’t trust you.”
“Feeling’s mutual, buddy.” I glare back at him. Silence falls between us as the tension swirls. “Do it. I can see you’re dying to.”
“I would never hit a woman.” He looks highly offended at my suggestion.
“I would never touch you,” he spits.
“Wasn’t asking you to touch me. I would get more joy out of my vibrator than the performance you gave last night.” That’s it, the next thing I know he is picking me up and throwing me onto the bed. He stands at the edge and glares at me, his ego wounded by my comments.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Fight me and I’ll tell you.” This is what I need, it’s been too long since I’ve had to fight someone. The adrenaline I was used to feeling on a daily basis hasn’t been there and if picking a fight with this man is the only way for me to get my daily dose, I’m sure as hell going to do it.
“I’m not fighting you. You’re fucking insane,” he sneers.
“Maybe.” I grin sending him a wink. “Are you too chicken shit to fight a woman?”
“I want you gone as soon as you’re finished with whatever it is you’ve got going on. Do you hear me?” He points his finger at me.
“Gladly, I’d rather be anywhere else than here.”
“Feeling’s mutual,” he says.
“Guess we’re stuck with each other for the foreseeable future.” I smile up at him as I lay sprawled out on his bed. His eyes glance down at my exposed leg for the briefest of moments before returning to my face. Did he just check out my legs?
I do so love ruffling the man’s feathers. My life has been so boring since dying. I think I need a little more excitement, does that make me crazy? Probably. As I’m wearing a summer dress, a wicked idea flashes through my mind, and I relax my legs, letting them fall open. I don’t expose anything but let the hem of my dress slide up my thighs. His eyes move again, ever so slightly at the action, but he catches himself doing it and stiffens. Good to know he’s not one hundred percent immune to my charms.
“Guess so.” He huffs.
“Do you think that woman you fucked last night is going to come through with the ticket or was she just after your dick?” I ask, changing the subject.
“She assures me she will get me a seat near the heads of the cartel.”
“You trust her?”
“Not one hundred percent, why the hell do you think I fucked her? To seal the deal,” he explains.
“Guess some women are desperate,” I say, rolling my eyes.
He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose again, annoyed with my antagonizations. I can see he wants to keep arguing but shuts his mouth. “Rosita will come through for us.”
“Guess you better go shopping for some clothes then. Can’t imagine you have a tuxedo sitting around here,” I say, waving my arms around his sparse room.
“No. Never needed one.”
“Is there somewhere around here where you could get one?” This is a beach town so I can’t imagine there are a lot of places.
He lets out a heavy sigh. “Some of the big resorts have places. I’ll put in some calls and see what I can find.”
“Good.”
He gives me a gruff nod. “Now, can you get the fuck off my bed so I can have a shower?”
“Fine.” I grin, sliding off the bed, making sure my dress rides up my thighs. Nash turns away, refusing to look at me until I’m standing up. “Enjoy your shower.”