Chapter 5 #2
“What pocket?” She glanced over her shoulder at him.
He flashed her a wide smile. “The hidden one near your right hip. Come on, you had your ‘second favorite knife’ hidden in there.”
Yes, she had hidden it there. A switchblade that could extend in a blink and was dangerously sharp. But she hadn’t realized he’d known the pocket was there. Charlotte figured he must have seen her pull her knife from that spot. Yes, that must have been it. Her fingers slid into her hidden pocket.
And touched a card.
Slowly, she pulled it out. Bemused, Charlotte gazed down at the playing card.
The King of Hearts stared back at her. “How—”
“Want to know a fun fact about me?”
She would very much like to know all the fun facts about him. Slowly, she turned back toward her.
“I grew up in Vegas, and when I was a punk teen with way too much time on my hands, I even worked as a magician’s assistant for a while.”
That had not been in his case file.
“Abracadabra,” he said, and with a roll of his fingers, the Queen of Hearts appeared in his hand. The card seemed to just appear from thin air.
Holy crap. “You did cheat!”
Soft laughter. “I play to win.” The laughter slowly faded. “I never would have lost you. Understand that with certainty. No one would have taken you from me.”
A little shiver darted down her spine.
She slipped from the room. Charlotte closed the door behind her with a soft click.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five—
“Fuck,” Logan breathed. He grabbed the table. Held on with a death grip. Lust still burned in his blood. Kissing Charlotte had been a major miscalculation. He’d known that he should not do it but…
He’d put her on the table.
He’d been so close to her…
Desire had burned in her eyes, and his control had snapped.
He’d expected her to shove him away. Had thought that her stickler self would follow the rules and not kiss the enemy.
I don’t want to be her enemy. I want to be her lover.
He’d kissed her, and need had exploded within him. Her taste had sent him past the edge. He’d wanted to absolutely gobble her up. His hands had been eager to rip away her clothing, and as he’d pushed up her dress, he’d been seconds away from touching what he wanted most.
Then Freya had come back in.
Freya.
She’d seen him with Charlotte. Because she did enjoy good gossip, Freya would let it be known that he had a weakness.
As if Ares didn’t already understand that fact.
Ares, you bastard, did you really think you could take her from me? The Greek had deserved to lose his casino for that move. As for Pierre, the French prick had all but been drooling over Charlotte.
No one drooled over his PA that way.
He looked down at the table. The Queen of Hearts stared regally back at him. He’d tossed her down as soon as the door closed behind Charlotte. Why in the hell had he told her that bit about working with the magician? Normally, he kept all of his secrets close to his chest.
But…
I needed her to know I would have never let her go.
He shoved away from the table. The walls seemed to press in on him. He had to get out of there. Violence lingered in the room, seemed to fill the air, and he knew that he’d be dealing with Ares again, soon.
Only next time, no one would be there to stop Logan once they began to fight.
Logan yanked the knife from the wall. Her second favorite knife. He manually pushed the blade back into place before tucking the knife in his pocket. With hard, angry strides, he marched for the door. He yanked it open and nodded to the guards who waited.
“I had someone follow Charlotte,” said the man on the right side. Evans. Evans McCall had worked for him just under two years, and he was the VP of security at the hotel. “Not too close,” Evans elaborated, “just as you ordered. But no one will be messing with her. Count on it.”
“Good. Because I’m afraid a big target may be on her back after tonight.” He headed for the elevator.
Evans rushed to keep up. “Boss?”
“Going for a run.” He entered the elevator. Stabbed the button so he could go to his suite and change.
Before the doors could close, Evans threw his arm into the elevator. “Sir. Is that a good idea? It’s…it’s nearing two a.m.” His hand curled to stop the door from extending again.
He was aware of the time. “That means the roads won’t be as busy.”
“Sir, I heard what went down earlier.”
If the man hadn’t heard, Logan would have been disappointed.
“First, let me offer my apologies for the weapons search.” Evans appeared both contrite and embarrassed. “I swear, my team examined every person who went in that room. I don’t know how we missed the weapon that Ares had.”
And the one that Charlotte had? Because that makes two weapons you missed. Sloppy work.
“It won’t happen again,” Evans vowed.
“It better not.” Just that. He didn’t have to make threats. Evans would understand the seriousness of the situation.
Evans kept his hand in place. “You will need guards,” Evans said quickly. “For your run tonight.”
“Well, then tell them to get their running shoes on and be prepared to haul ass. I’m leaving in five minutes.” He pointed toward the VP’s hand. “Move it.”
Evans moved his hand. “Five minutes. Done.” But worry darkened his eyes. “We’ve talked about these late-night runs before. They are too dangerous—”
“Can’t hear you. Doors are closing.”
And…
They did.
Logan leaned against the back wall of the elevator. What the hell am I going to do with Charlotte?
“So, what in the hell am I supposed to do now?” Charlotte demanded as she rushed across the hotel room. A hotel room on the sixteenth floor of the building owned by Logan.
Her partner, Jamar Miller, peered at her from his position near the desk. A desk loaded down with computer monitors and tech equipment.
She’d just come into the hotel room. Room 1648. Yes, fine, she’d entered semi-dramatically. Used her key. Hauled open the door. Marched in and started with her big question a she threw her hands into the air.
Jamar frowned at her. “Afraid you’ll need to bring us up to speed,” he said, then he turned around one of the computer monitors so that it slanted toward Charlotte.
The new position allowed her to see the face of their boss, Jezebel Jenkins, on that particular monitor.
“We both lost the audio feed,” he revealed.
“The French jerk called you a rabbit, we got images of all the players at the table, and then the glasses got smashed to hell and back. No video feed. No audio feed. Jez and I were totally in the dark for the rest of the scene upstairs.”
Oh.
He leaned back in the desk chair. It squeaked beneath his weight.“So bring us up to speed, would you? What happened?”
They didn’t hear the make out session. “Logan won a casino.”
Jamar’s dark eyes widened. “Are you kidding me?”
“No. He also won a villa in France. Also a ridiculous amount of cash.” She rubbed her hands together. “A fight broke out. Logan and, ah, Ares, went at it. I may have wound up pulling my knife on Ares.”
Jamar nodded. “That can happen.”
“What?” A sharp exclamation from Jezebel. She’d been avidly listening and watching. “That cannot happen! You are supposed to be playing the demure assistant. Not the knife-wielding assistant! You know how important this cover is.”
Yes, she did. But… “I’m afraid that ship has sailed.” She eased closer to Jamar and the computer screen that showed Jezebel’s face and shoulders.
Jezebel glowered at her from the screen.
Where was Jezebel, actually? She could be transmitting from somewhere else in Vegas. Could be that she was in the exact same hotel. Or she could be in London. Madrid.
With her boss, you just couldn’t be certain.
Jezebel had been in the spy business for nearly fifty years.
She’d started as a prima ballerina. She’d charmed princes, sultans, warlords.
She’d taken down terrorists and drug kingpins.
She’d smiled and slyly maneuvered, and she’d always gotten the job done.
Now we have one last job to finish. A very important job.
“The players from tonight’s game believe that Logan and I are romantically involved,” Charlotte revealed. No getting around it. She had to pass along that bit of news.
She expected some shock. Perhaps some outrage.
Jezebel just nodded. “Yes, well, that is to be expected, isn’t it? Especially since he took you into the private card game. Only partners and fuck buddies are allowed in there.”
Her jaw dropped. Wait, wait, wait. Had Jezebel just said—
“Why are you looking so stunned, Charlotte? Surely, you know how these games are played.”
No, she didn’t. She was feeling like she was in way over her head with this case. Or maybe just over her head when it came to Logan. “He said he’s done. Logan, that is. Logan said he was done.”
Now there was shock and outrage. “The hell he is! I helped him! I protected his grandmother. He owes the CIA! That man is not done with us.”
Charlotte grimaced. “He doesn’t enjoy being blackmailed.”
“Who does?” Jamar muttered.
“I heard that!” Jezebel snapped.
“I meant for you to,” he fired right back.
“Told you from the beginning, this plan is crap. You are sending my partner in alone. Keeping me on the edges where I can’t really help her.
She needs someone to watch her back. When the trap is sprung, she will be in it alone.
You know what this jerk does to his victims. You know how quickly he can make them vanish.
If we don’t handle this right, we will lose Charlotte, too.
” Real anger hummed in his voice. “Do you want that to happen? Because I don’t. ”
That was the thing about Jamar. He truly was the best partner at the CIA.
Seriously, she would have been lost without him years ago.
Jamar told you exactly what he thought. He pulled zero punches.
An all-around, great guy. Deadly, sure. He had mad killing skills.
But he was also a loving father. A devoted husband.
And an agent who was also working his final case at the CIA.
Who am I supposed to trust when Jamar is gone?