Chapter 29 Rob
ROB
“That was really smooth,” Sinner laughed, not for the first time today.
“Shut it.”
“I mean, not only did you practically confess your undying love to her, but you were begging.”
Rolling my eyes, I hunched against the cold wind. “I was not begging.”
“Oh, please. I’ve never seen such a desperate man in all my life.”
Slowly turning to him, I did something I never thought I would. “Like when you told Cara your dick was useless and begged her to take you back?”
The smile dropped from his face. “What?”
“Oh, did you think I didn’t see that? See, funny thing, when you went off to California, Cap had me install equipment at her house so we could keep an eye on her for you.
Yeah, he never told you because he didn’t want to admit he was wrong.
Well, that and after you announced to her that your dick had been electrocuted and didn’t work, he thought you might not want that information out there. ”
Smirking to myself, I faced the tarmac again.
“You…you saw that?”
“Oh, there’s not much I haven’t seen. But that was definitely my favorite moment. I especially loved how she made you stand there and announce it in front of Drew and Sarah.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his jaw clench in irritation. “It wasn’t what it looked like.”
That made me laugh. “So, you weren’t begging the woman you loved to take you back after you’d been a complete ass and thrown her out of your life?”
“For a good reason! She was in danger.”
“You’re still telling yourself that? Even after you married the woman and fathered all her children?”
“Fathered her children? Who says shit like that?”
“Smart people, and don’t change the subject. The point is, we all do and say things when shit is on the line. You would have gotten down on your knees if it meant getting Cara back, and while I’m not quite that infatuated with Krista right now, I know I’m at great risk of getting there fast.”
“You married her in Vegas,” he said incredulously. “You barely know her!”
“And yet, there’s something about her,” I said thoughtfully, trying to pinpoint it. “She’s feisty, which I definitely like. She took down several attackers all on her own.”
“Okay, so she’s a hellhound. That’s really what you want?”
“And she’s vulnerable,” I said thoughtfully. “Not in the way Cara was, but…she’s not as confident as she appears. But she hides it well.”
“So, you want a woman who doubts herself,” Sinner surmised.
Turning to him, I smiled. “I want a woman who’s confident, but is also willing to admit to herself that things aren’t always as they appear.
There has to be some level of apprehension in life.
You can’t go through your days not worrying about what might happen.
Confidence can be just as dangerous as uncertainty. ”
“Nicely put, oh, wise one.”
The plane pulled down the runway, the nose turning toward us as it rolled to a stop. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to see Krista. As much as I wanted to keep her safe, I also needed eyes on her to see for myself that she was fine.
And I wanted to hold her.
Maybe that made me a pussy or something, but I liked the idea of having a woman to hold at night. And no one fit so comfortably in my arms like she did.
The minutes dragged by as I waited impatiently for the plane to shut down and the stairs to lower. I was practically bouncing on my feet, ready to run over and drag her off the plane.
And Sinner knew it.
He kept chuckling, shaking his head at me. Yes, I was falling for her. I didn’t even know if it was real or just the excitement of something new. Hell, I hadn’t been with a woman who made me feel this way in a long time.
How did I know if any of it was real?
Finally, she stepped onto the stairs, and that was it for me. I was stalking toward her, ready to claim her as mine as soon as her feet hit the ground.
“Save it for the bedroom!” Sinner called behind me.
As soon as she was off the stairs, I wrapped my arm around her waist and tugged her to me. Her lips met mine in a flurry of passion and promises of things to come. But it was the way her fingertips trailed lightly along my jaw that really set me off.
Growling, I pulled her tighter, grinding my erection into her. A playful chuckle tickled my lips as she pulled back and looked into my eyes.
“Geez, alright. I get the point. You missed me.”
“Don’t fucking play with me.”
“Oh, you haven’t seen me play yet.” Her face turned serious with every second that passed. “You know, the next time you want to see me, you don’t have to invent a crisis where I have to rush to your aid.”
“I wish that was the case.”
“So, what’s the job, boss?”
Anger rumbled in my chest, and no matter how hard I tried to tamp it down, nothing worked. “Just so you know, I’m not okay with you being here.”
“Understood.”
“I may become a jealous ass and say or do things that make you mad.”
“You don’t say,” she smirked at me.
“You will listen to me every step of the way, and if you do something I don’t like, you will pay for it later.”
“Ooh, spankings,” she said, waggling her eyebrows at me.
That only made me mad and turned on at the same time, which was difficult to decide how to deal with.
Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, we walked back to Sinner and the waiting vehicle.
I didn’t like being out here, exposed like this.
But I also dreaded heading back to the hotel where we would inevitably put our plan in place and her in danger.
“Aren’t we going to wait for Claire and Derek?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the couple who were most likely mounting each other.
“They can get the next vehicle. I’m sure they want their privacy.”
I was surprised when she snuggled into my side, wrapping her arm around my waist. “So, do you really need my help, or were you just saying that to get back on my good side?”
I was about to open her door, but boxed her in against the vehicle instead.
“Trust me, if there was a way to keep you out of this, I would. There’s nothing I want more than to make sure you’re as far away from these assholes as possible.
But since you are so insistent that this woman doesn’t come to any harm, we’ll do things a little differently. ”
“I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Good,” I smiled at her, brushing my thumb across her lower lip.
All I wanted to do was take her home and fuck, make her wish for a life with me, but none of that was possible until we got out of this mess. Then I could convince her to come home with me, to stay with me at Reed Security. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy, but what other alternative was there?
“I think there’s something you need to know before we move forward.”
“Yeah?”
Curiosity flooded my system, but then a thought hit me. What if she was going to tell me this wouldn’t work? What if she said she didn’t have the same strong feelings for me that I had for her? Fuck, maybe I was wrong to blurt that out without thinking.
Blinking up at me with a coquettish smile on her face, she shocked the hell out of me. “I wasn’t mad at you because you wanted me to stay behind.”
“You weren’t?”
“Do you really think I need you to explain to me the dangers of going against the mafia? I’m not a child, and I’m not an adrenaline junkie like Claire or the infamous Maggie I keep hearing about.”
“Then…”
“You were going to leave without saying goodbye because you perceived I would be a problem. You didn’t even give me the benefit of the doubt. I don’t want to live like that. Trust me or don’t, but if you don’t, this will never work.”
I nodded.
“And…I’ve been told that you have feelings for me, so it would kind of suck if you screwed this up now.”
“Then I’d better make sure I don’t screw this up.”
I tugged the door open, shifting her out of the way. Once she was inside, I shut the door and thanked my lucky stars that I hadn’t completely screwed that up, and reminded myself that not every woman was like the women at Reed Security.
“So, what exactly is the plan?”
“Basically, you go in as yourself. I need you to be a distraction so I can sneak in through the back and get on his computer.”
“And how would I distract him?”
“You’d have to tell him who you really are. Convince him you’re not Alicia, and that all you want is for him to leave you alone.”
“Okay, but what if the tracer is still active?”
“Then I guess he’ll find us, but I’m hoping it’s worn off by now. Otherwise, he would have found me already.”
“If he’s in the mafia, won’t he have a lot of security? Are you sure you can get in?”
“He has a shit ton of security. Guards at every door and cameras in every hall.”
“So, piece of cake,” she grinned.
“He has one problem, though. The sensors on his doors are connected. As long as I open the back door at the same time the front door is opened, the alarm will be triggered, but it will show the front door opening, and I’m betting his guards will think nothing of it.”
“That sounds like a big hope.”
“It’s our only way in,” I explained. “So, while you keep him busy, I’ll find something I can use to blackmail him, then stroll out from the back and threaten him.”
“If he doesn’t kill me first.”
I winced at her words. “I have faith in you.”
“Okay, but say I walk through the door and he does try to kill me. What do I do?”
“In that case, Chance will be on the roof across from his apartment. He’s a sniper, and he’ll take him out.”
“So, why don’t we just do that?”
“Because that would only fuel the threat. We need to eliminate it.”
“It sounds simple enough,” she agreed. “Go in, manipulate a mafia boss, threaten him with destruction, and walk out as if nothing happened.”
“Exactly.”
She looked over at me and grinned. “This could be fun.”
“Don’t get that look on your face. You’re not joining the team.”