18. Her Next Con
CHAPTER 18
Her Next Con
Henry
I took another minute to catch my breath while Nikki held on to the sofa with my cock still inside her. Panting a breath, I kissed her bare shoulder before I pulled out and went to the lobby bathroom to discard the condom and clean up. When I came back, she had pulled her dress down and zipped it up, but she stayed where I’d left her.
I came up behind her and placed my hands on her hips. God, she looked hot in that dress. She spun around and slapped me across the face. What the fuck? Not the response I’d expected, given how just a few minutes ago she’d told me she loved me.
“What was that for?” I rubbed my cheek.
“That was a dick move. Literally.” Her cheeks flushed bright red.
“A promise is a promise.” I reached for her hand, but she pulled it away. “Nikki, I just got you back. The thought of losing you again, I can’t breathe.”
“So you’re gonna manipulate me with sex? ”
“I didn’t make you do anything you didn’t want. You could’ve stopped me at any time.” To prove my point, I pressed my palm below her navel and slid it down. She was so wet for me. I nuzzled her neck. “Admit it, that was the best you’ve ever had.”
She gave me one of her sexy moans, so familiar now, so intimate. When she recovered, she met my gaze. “All the orgasms in the world can’t make me forget why I’m here. I won’t stop until…”
“Lisa.” I suppressed a smile.
“I know my own sister’s name.” She slapped my hand.
“You paused. I figured…”
“Fuck off.” She pushed me away from her and stomped upstairs.
She was so damn stubborn. I sat on the sofa, leaned back, and shut my eyes. When it came to Nikki, I couldn’t think straight. I wanted her to be happy. I wanted to keep her safe. But where Nikki was concerned, she couldn’t have one without sacrificing the other.
I peeked at my watch; it was three in the afternoon. Good enough for me. I sauntered to the cooler behind the bar to grab a beer. After a couple of long swigs, I spotted Nikki’s purse by the door. I set the bottle on the counter and went to pick up the bag.
When I dumped all the contents on the coffee table, Nikki’s phone skipped across the top, followed by the manila folders, stacks of money, and Mom’s jewelry. She had close to half a million dollars in cash. Why did she keep this in her personal security box? Everything about Mom’s actions seemed paradoxical at best. Had she killed Dad? Was that why Jonathan kept her as his prisoner? But why had he taken her out to dinner as if they were old friends? Was it all a ruse to throw me off?
“What are you doing?” Nikki stood, looming over our loot. She was in her pajamas—white skimpy shorts and a tank top in that oh-so-thin fabric.
“You’re not mad at me anymore?” I asked.
She sidestepped the coffee table, braced her arms on the back of the sofa, and let those long legs of hers straddle me. I hadn’t recovered yet from our last round, but my cock stood at attention anyway. She rubbed against me, and I fell back, chest pounding.
“You can sex me up anyway you want, Henry,” Her words vibrated inside my pants. “But that won’t stop me from doing whatever it takes to help Lisa. You have to accept that. Now be a darling and order us a pizza. I’m starving.” She plopped herself next to me and grabbed a manila folder off the table.
“I’m sorry.” I unbuttoned my jeans.
“Okay.” She shrugged as her eyes roamed the papers she placed on her lap.
“Maybe later you can tie me up and have your way with me. Would that make us even?” A guy could dream.
She stared at my chest and then moved down to my abs. “Maybe.” She smiled.
I adjusted my pants and ambled to the bar to find my phone. I called the pizzeria on First Street and placed an order.
“Anything?” I offered her a beer.
“No.” She shook her head. “There’s an insurance policy here for you with Tessa as the beneficiary, though.”
“So what now?” I took the folder from her. “My mom is trying to kill me to get even more money? This is ridiculous.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions.” She picked up another folder. “Here’s another insurance policy for her, with you as the beneficiary. Look at all this. This is pretty much everything I keep in my getaway bag.”
“You keep a getaway bag? ”
“I’m a thief, Henry.” She paused to look at me with her eyes full of meaning. “Today was a good example of what a normal day looks like for me.” She placed her hand on mine. “I have to be ready for whatever comes at me. And I’m a hundred percent sure that’s exactly what Tessa’s been doing all these years.”
“If she’s so innocent, why did she leave the restaurant with Jonathan? The bartender saw them.” I wanted to believe Mom was innocent. It hurt less to think my dad’s brother was to blame.
Nikki frowned, staring at the coffee table as if the answers were written on it. “I remember this necklace.” She picked up a sapphire pendant on a platinum chain and let it hang from her fingers. It turned several times, catching the light with every turn. “Tessa used to comb my hair while I played with her jewelry.” She laughed. “Even when I was supposed to be cleaning her room. She didn’t care.”
I swallowed tears, ducking my gaze. Nikki believed in Mom. In her mind, there was no doubt Mom was yet another one of Jonathan’s victims. I wanted to believe that too.
“Here. Put it on. It matches your eyes.” I took the necklace from her.
Grinning, she faced away from me and put her hair up. I clasped the chain and kissed the nape of her neck before she let her hair fall back in place.
“It’s lighter than I remember.” She wrapped her fingers around the stone.
“You had smaller hands then.”
“True.” She met my gaze.
A loud knock on the door made her flinch. Her pupils got big, eyes on full alert. Yeah, Nikki was a thief. And I was no longer a poor construction worker. Would that change the way she felt about me? I rubbed the side of my face. I was an asshole for even thinking that .
“Relax. That’s probably the pizza guy.” I got up and peeked through the curtain. “It’s Dom and two other people.”
She dropped the folder on the table and padded toward me to peek out the window. “Holy shit. That’s Derek and Valentina. Why are they here?”
“Who are they?”
“Derek’s the one who gave me the money to buy this place.” She looked frazzled as her gaze darted between the papers on the table and her clothes.
“Half of it,” I said out of habit.
“Right.” She winked. “I hope they’re not here to get their money back.” She rushed back to the coffee table, dumped everything back into her bag, and slung it over her shoulder. “Keep them busy. I need to change.”
“Wait. He’s one of your marks?”
“Yeah, but we’re friends now.” She raced up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.
I stood there watching her tiny shorts and her shapely ass until she disappeared into her bedroom. Great. Now we were playing hosts to an old mark. I donned my T-shirt and buttoned my jeans before I opened the door.
“Are you guys decent? Took you long enough,” Dom said. “Can we come in?”
“Sure.” I let the door swing wide open.
Derek and Valentina walked into the hotel lobby. Valentina’s gaze darted from the eclectic living area Nikki had set up in the middle of the lobby to the bar on the opposite end, and finally landed on the grand staircase.
“I love it. It’s so pretty.” Valentina smiled at Derek.
She stood tall with big brown eyes and dark hair that fell in thick curls down her back. She was beautiful with a calm energy about her. By the look on Derek’s face and the possessive arm he kept around her waist, I could only assume they were together.
“Thanks,” I said. “I have plans to renovate it and hopefully open it up again.”
“We’re looking for investors, if you’re interested.” Nikki descended the stairs in yet another one of her bombshell numbers, black this time.
The sapphire necklace sparkled over the smooth skin on her chest. Blonde waves cascaded around her shoulders as she kept her hot blue eyes trained on me, inviting me to play along. Jesus, not another con. I shook my head once. No way in hell was I going to let Nikki take more money from this asshole.
“Darling.” She kissed Valentina’s cheek, Derek’s, and finally Dom’s.
I could watch her all day. Something about this side of Nikki excited me. It also scared the shit out of me.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” she asked Dom.
He cleared his throat. “I have news. They came along because Valentina wanted to see you.”
“Good news first.” Derek smiled at Valentina.
Valentina bit her lip, no doubt intimidated by Nikki’s bigger-than-life act. Nikki picked up on it, reading Valentina the same way I did. This was a trick we both had to learn when we were kids, when we realized we couldn’t trust anyone.
“Why don’t you join me for a drink? We’ll let the boys get to know each other.” She wrapped her arm around Valentina’s waist and ushered her to the bar.
Valentina took a seat near the window, while Nikki drew the curtains open to let the sunlight shine through. As soon as she went behind the bar to pour drinks, I turned to Dom and Derek. “I have beer.”
“I’ll take one,” Derek said.
“Me too.” Dom nodded .
“Coming right up.” I joined Nikki behind the bar. “Where did those come from?” I pointed at the two glasses with a C etched on the globes.
“They were in the back. So was the wine. It’s fancy stuff too.” She showed me the bottle and then took a sip from her glass.
“No more cons for today, Nikki.” I gripped her arm and whispered in her ear.
“I’m just being friendly. You should try it too.” She pointed her chin at Dom and pressed her lips against mine before she went to join Valentina.
“Fuck off, Derek. I got it all under control,” Dom said.
I had obviously walked in at the tail end of their conversation. I pretended I hadn’t heard anything and handed them each a bottle of beer instead.
“Cheers.” I raised my drink and then took a sip. “Dom, I wanted to apologize for the other night. You saved our lives, and I was an asshole to you. Didn’t even thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it, man.” He patted my shoulder. “I was happy to help.”
“Thank you.” I nodded once. “I owe you one. Call on me anytime.”
“I’ll remember that.” He pointed an index finger at me. “This is Derek Cole, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you.” Derek shook my hand.
“Henry Cavalier.”
Derek seemed like a nice enough guy. Meeting one of Nikki’s marks was odd to me. How had Nikki conned him out of a quarter of a million dollars? He obviously didn’t have a problem getting beautiful women. How had he not seen it coming?
“Cavalier?” Derek’s eyebrows furrowed for just a second, slanting a glance toward Nikki. “That Cavalier.” He pointed at my family’s crest plastered just over the main entrance.
“Yeah.” How could I explain I wasn’t Nikki’s next con. I wasn’t a mark.
“I see you’re out of the doghouse.” Dom grinned.
I chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it.” My heart rate hadn’t really come back to normal since the excruciating time we’d spent at the bank, and the mind-blowing sex we had behind the sofa.
“Did you find your mom?” Dom asked.
“No. Not yet.” I exhaled before taking a long swig of beer.
“If you need anything, just let me know. These days Derek has nothing exciting for me.”
“That’s the way I like it.” Derek drank from his beer as his gaze zeroed in on Valentina.
“Well, if you mean that, I have a favor to ask.” I swallowed. It’d come down to this, having to trust someone I’d just met. But I wasn’t a kid anymore. It was fucking time I faced Jonathan.
“Oh yeah.” Dom rubbed his hands together. “What have you got?”
“I recently found my dad’s will. Do you know anyone who can help contest a counterfeit will?”
“Let me guess.” He met my gaze. “You make a move, and your uncle puts another hit on you. With a professional this time.”
I nodded. “It’s a card I can’t play just yet. Not with Mom missing and Lisa still in jail.”
“But you can’t let the asshole keep what’s yours?” Dom had a real knack for seeing the big picture. His eyes turned hard with determination as if he could see, play by play, what would happen if I sued my uncle. “If you trust me with it, I can take a look, come up with a plan. ”
“You live for this shit, don’t you?” Derek chuckled, shaking his head.
“You know I do, man. Can’t walk away from a good fight.” Dom shrugged.
“Give me a second. I’ll get the papers.”
On my way up the stairs, I slanted a glance over my shoulder toward Nikki. She appeared engrossed in her conversation with Valentina. I knew better than to believe the act. Sooner or later, I’d have to tell her about the will. For now, I wanted to enjoy this moment with her—when I knew she wanted me for me, and not my family’s money. Trusting her would be easier if she wasn’t looking for her next con in every goddamn corner.