Chapter 10
Dejected from the way the evening had gone, Catalina unlocked her flat and entered with a small bag of groceries: bread, butter, and ham.
If she’d been smart, she would have eaten a few of the canapés at the Prestons’ party, but she’d been too nervous.
And later, everything had spiraled out of control.
She flicked the light switch, illuminating the foyer, locked the entrance door and kicked off her shoes, before she opened the door to the live-in kitchen and entered.
Before she even had a chance to set down her groceries on the kitchen counter, she realized that she wasn’t alone.
A gasp escaped her and she reared back, her first instinct being flight, because she knew there was no way she could fight Benjamin.
He was too tall, too muscular, too strong.
Her heart beat into her throat, and she took a steadying breath. She couldn’t just flee, now that he knew where she lived.
“How did you find me?” she choked out.
“DMV records.”
He had access to DMV records? Her chest deflated. It was worse than she’d expected.
“You’re with the police.”
“Not technically.”
Whatever that meant.
“So you broke into my flat.”
He reached into the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket. For a moment, she thought he was going to get out a weapon, but then she recognized the item in his hand: her set of lockpicks.
“You’re not the only one who knows how to use these,” he claimed and tossed them on the nearby table.
She thrust her chin up in defiance. What now? She needed time to think. “Mind if I put my groceries in the fridge?”
He stepped aside, but kept an eye on her as she placed the bread on the counter and the butter and ham into the nearly empty refrigerator. She’d just lost her appetite.
“What do you want from me?” she asked, without turning around to him.
“I want answers. Or you and I are gonna make a trip to the police together. I’m sure they will be very interested in finding out that you were trying to break into the Prestons’ safe.”
Slowly, she turned around to him and noticed the way he pinned her with his eyes. She saw something in them that reminded her of the previous night. Maybe she could use it to convince him not to involve the police.
“Would you really deliver your girlfriend to the police?”
Her heart thundered, drumming a nervous beat against her ribs.
Benjamin tilted his head to the side and scrutinized her. “Girlfriend? That’s what you’re going with?”
She shrugged. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to sleep with me again.”
She might not be a seductress, but she knew when a man wanted her. And Benjamin wanted her. She could use that to her advantage.
“What I want and what I have to do isn’t always the same,” he hedged.
But his answer told her enough to know that she had a chance if she played her cards right. But first, she had to see how loyal he was to the Prestons.
“I’m sure the pay from the Prestons can’t be all that much. They have a reputation for being stingy. Would you really wanna throw me under the bus for that?”
“I’m not employed by the Prestons. I work as an investigator and security expert for Scanguards. As for throwing you under the bus… I’d first have to know why you were trying to steal from them.”
Catalina hesitated. She didn’t know who Scanguards was, but assumed it was some sort of company that hired out security personnel. And the fact that he was an investigator could mean he had the right skills to help.
“So your security job with the Prestons is finished?”
“That’s right.”
He didn’t offer any more of an explanation, but simply stood there, waiting. The ball was in her court. She had to take a risk and give him an answer. It didn’t mean she had to tell him everything.
“My brother, Santiago, was sentenced to six years in prison for a theft he didn’t commit. And I need to prove that the Prestons framed him. He didn’t steal the damn necklace. My brother is innocent.”
She fell silent, waiting for Benjamin’s reaction. He didn’t speak immediately, as if he was digesting her words.
“Santiago Vargas is your brother.”
It was a statement, not a question, and it was odd the way he said it.
He motioned to the table. “I saw the court transcript with his name on it.”
“Then you know.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t really follow the case at the time. All I know is that a multi-million-dollar necklace was stolen, and that Santiago was found guilty and sentenced.”
“But he’s innocent,” Catalina insisted. “Santiago has never done anything bad or illegal in his life.”
“The jury seemed to think otherwise.”
“That’s because the Prestons used their influence to make sure he got convicted. They planted evidence. They framed him. And all the jury saw was a poor working-class man with brown skin and no money to pay for a decent defense. So now, he sits in prison in San Bruno.”
“What makes you so sure that he didn’t steal the necklace?”
“Because I know my brother. And the police never found the necklace anywhere.” She pointed to her surroundings. “We lived here together. They turned the place inside out and didn’t find anything.”
“They must have had evidence, or they wouldn’t have been able to convict Santiago.”
She caught his skeptical look. She couldn’t tell him what the evidence was that had convicted Santiago, because it was too damning.
Benjamin would assume the worst, too. First, she had to get him to promise that he would help her.
As a security expert, he was better equipped than she was to prove that the Prestons had framed her brother.
Knowing that any more talk of evidence would only make him less inclined to help her, she made a decision to tell him the truth about tonight.
“You wanted to know what I was going to steal from the Prestons,” she started.
He gave a nod.
“I wanted to steal the necklace my brother supposedly stole.”
Benjamin let out a gasp. “What the—”
She lifted her hand to stop him. “I know what you want to say. But I’m convinced that they still have the necklace. And if I can find it, I have proof that Santiago is innocent.”
“No, you don’t!” he protested. “All the police would assume is that you retrieved the necklace from wherever Santiago stashed it. That makes you an accessory.”
“I’m not stupid,” she snapped. She snatched the pair of glasses from the table and held them up.
“That’s why I was wearing these. They recorded everything I saw and did.
I know about chain-of-custody! I’m not an idiot.
I know I need to prove to the police and the court that the necklace was never stolen, so that Santiago will be released on appeal. Do you get that?”
Catalina stared at him, and he had to admit that he’d underestimated her. If the Prestons really had the necklace in their possession, and if it was still in the safe, Catalina’s plan might have worked. However, there were too many things that could go wrong—and had gone wrong.
“I see,” he said.
He took the glasses from her hand, inspecting them. There was indeed a tiny camera in the frame that could record everything the wearer saw.
“And the lock picking? Where did you learn that?”
“I had a temp job at a locksmith shop a couple of months ago, and the owner showed me a few things.”
So she wasn’t a lifelong thief and burglar, just a young woman who felt that injustice had ripped her brother from her arms and wanted to free him from prison.
He sighed. “Listen, Catalina, this is all good and well, but just because you don’t believe that your brother is a thief doesn’t mean that the Prestons framed him and still have the necklace. There’s no evidence of it.”
“That’s why I need help investigating them,” she said, her eyes pinning him. “You said you’re an investigator. You know much more about how to do this than I ever will. Please help me.”
Benjamin stared at her. He hadn’t expected her request.
“Santiago and I had nobody but a public defender to help him. We didn’t have the money to hire somebody who could investigate on his behalf and prove that all the evidence against him was doctored. That’s why the rich people always win. They have people. We have nobody.”
Her eyes pleaded with him, and he felt his heart soften, even though he suspected that Santiago was a lost case. But he couldn’t just help her break into the Prestons’ safe. That would help neither her nor Santiago, and Scanguards would land in hot water.
“I’m…” he started, the refusal already sitting on his tongue.
“If you help me,” she quickly said, stepping even closer so only a few inches separated them, “I’ll have sex with you whenever you want. How often you want. No matter how or where. Whatever kinky fetish you—”
He put a finger over her lips to stop her from continuing.
He knew he should turn down her offer. After all, when somebody offered sex as payment for a service like the one Catalina needed, it meant she was vulnerable, and he’d been raised never to take advantage of women in vulnerable positions.
It was unethical. Unkind. Unacceptable. Yet…
“I’m not into kink.”
The words were out before he realized that he’d made a decision.
“But I’m not going to turn down sex with you,” he added. “Not after how good you made me feel last night. But I have rules.”
She nodded, a sign that she wanted to hear them.
“I want sex daily for as long as I help you look into whether Santiago was wrongly convicted. There’ll be no sneaking out of my bed in the middle of the night.
And you won’t do any breaking or entering or any other illegal activities on your own.
You’ll follow all my orders, and you’ll always tell me the truth. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He slid his arms around her and pulled her flush to him so he could feel her breasts touch his chest muscles. He dipped his face toward hers, his mouth now hovering over her parted lips.
“Oh, and I require payment in advance. I hope that’s not a problem.”
“Not a problem at all,” she echoed, her heartbeat now drumming against his chest.
Benjamin sank his lips onto hers and began to reacquaint himself with her delicious mouth.
Feeling her in his arms again made him realize that even if Catalina hadn’t offered him sex in exchange for helping her prove her brother’s innocence, he would have helped her anyway—just so he could spend time with her and make sure she didn’t get into any trouble.
Her body molded to his as if she was made for him.
He could feel every muscle and every curve and loved how every touch turned into a sensual caress.
Despite his need to have her underneath him and bury his cock inside her sweet body, he didn’t rush things.
Instead, he explored her mouth with his tongue, sliding it along her teeth as if she could magically grow fangs.
It was an odd thought, but the idea sent a shockwave into his balls. Lust charged through him.
Her moans and sighs mingled with his as he slid his hands underneath her baggy sweatshirt. To his surprise, she wore nothing beneath, and he was free to caress her luscious breasts. When he squeezed them gently and played with her pert nipples, Catalina gasped, ripping her lips from his.
“Take it off me,” she demanded, her eyes deep pools filled with passion and desire.
He shoved the sweatshirt over her head and tossed it on the floor.
But before he could return to caressing her breasts, she unbuttoned his tuxedo jacket.
He shrugged it off his shoulders and freed himself from it.
He reached for her again and pulled her to him, one hand sliding down to her butt.
She wore jogging pants, and he could feel her shapely ass beneath his palm despite the thick material.
He yanked her to his groin, where his cock was rubbing against the zipper of his trousers, begging to be set free.
“Can you feel what you’re doing to me?” he asked, pinning her with his eyes, demanding she acknowledge his hard-on.
To his delight, she rubbed herself against him, not breaking eye contact. “You’re easily aroused.”
“It’s automatic with you,” he confessed.
Her drugging scent alone fueled his need to have her—and made the vampire inside him rattle the cage where he kept him leashed. He would have to be careful tonight, because the vampire would try to break out, eager for another taste of her blood.
When he felt Catalina’s hands on the buttons of his shirt, he helped her.
He was glad the bow tie was a clip-on and therefore easy to remove.
The shirt took a little longer, and it felt like an eternity, until he could finally free himself from it.
As he pulled Catalina back into his arms, the skin-to-skin contact sent a wave of pleasure through his body, and his skin tingled with excitement.
It felt like the first time again: thrilling and electrifying.
It felt so right. But one thing wasn’t: she was doing this to pay for his services. His conscience reared its ugly head, and he cursed the ethics his parents had instilled in him. He ripped his lips from hers, breathing hard.
“Stop, Catalina. I can’t let you do this.”
She stared at him, confusion and hurt in her eyes. “You don’t want to sleep with me?”
She tried to take a step back, but he didn’t release her from his embrace.
“I do. But not like this.” He shook his head. “I can’t let you pay with sex.”
“But I have nothing else to give. Please!”
He recognized the desperation in her eyes and knew he hadn’t been clear enough.
“I’ll help you with your brother, but I can’t accept payment for it.”
She looked even more confused than before. “But then why would you help me at all?”
“Because I like you and can’t bear the thought that you might get yourself in trouble if you’re doing this alone.”
“Oh.” She paused for a long moment. “But you do want to have sex with me. I mean, I can feel it. You’re hard.”
Yes, he was hard, and only a mind-blowing orgasm would get his erection down. But this was up to Catalina. It was her decision, not his. He stroked along her jawline and looked into her eyes.
“Yes, I want to sleep with you, but only if that’s what you really want. Not because you think you owe me something.”
The vampire inside him called him an idiot, but he shut him down.