Chapter 2
Chapter Two
“You’re supposed to be locked up!” The man in the black mask stumbled back when Tyler barreled toward him. “I put you in the damn room myself!”
Tyler shrugged. The bastard had a gun up and aimed at him. An annoyance. Why did the prick keep doing that? He should know better than to go around waving a gun. “I don’t always like to stay where people put me.”
“Get the fuck back!” A yell. The gun trembled in his gloved hand. “I will shoot! Don’t you test me! I will?—”
The double doors behind the man flew open. Four federal agents stormed inside. All wore bulletproof vests and take-no-shit expressions. “ Drop the weapon!” A roar from the lead agent. “Drop it now!”
The masked man shuddered. He also dropped his weapon. And immediately threw his empty hands into the air.
“I took the liberty of calling in a few friends,” Tyler revealed. He kicked the weapon to the side. No sense leaving it too close to the perp. “You were so busy stealing jewels from the party guests that you didn’t notice I was free and taking out your crew.” He still held his broken cue in one hand, but his left lifted a cell phone. “Borrowed this from one of your buddies, after I knocked his ass out.”
The perp swore.
The Feds swarmed him. Yanked off his mask.
Ragged, blond hair slid over the lead robber’s forehead. His features were twisted in rage as he glared at Tyler. He looked young and mean and…scared. You should be scared. You’re about to be locked away. You pulled a gun on me, asshole. You don’t walk away after that.
Tyler smiled at him. “You’re under arrest.” A joint task force operation. They’d formed it to take down this crew of high-profile robbers. This crime ring was going down.
While the Feds cuffed the perp and started reading him his rights, Tyler tossed the cell onto a nearby table. Champagne still bubbled in the flutes on the table. The guests were gasping and begging to be set free. They also wanted their jewelry back.
“We arrested the bodyguards outside.” It was the FBI agent in charge, Grayson Stone. Gray to his friends, and Tyler was one of the very few people that Gray considered a friend. Most people just considered Gray to be an all-around asshole. Because he was. “They tried to stop my team from entering.” Gray shook his head. “Dumbass mistake.”
It was just as they’d thought. “The security company is compromised.”
Gray nodded. “We were suspicious of them. They had too many ties to the other thefts.” He surveyed the scene. “That’s why I wanted an inside man here.” His head cocked as he looked at the wooden cue Tyler held. And the blood on the cue. “Stop to play some games, did you?”
Tyler shrugged. “They took my gun. ”
“Uh, huh.”
“And my knife.”
“Sure.”
“I had to improvise.”
“You are good at that.” Gray holstered his gun. He also snagged the black bag that had been tied at the ring leader’s waist. He opened the bag. “Well, well…” A whistle. “That is a whole lot of sparkle.” His eyes shifted to Tyler. “Nice job. If you hadn’t been in here, if you hadn’t been able to make contact with me and the other agents, we wouldn’t have known the bastards were at play. The bodyguards outside kept signaling that all was fine. Before we ever realized what was up, the robbers would have been in the wind.”
“You shouldn’t be here!” Spittle flew from the blond jerk’s mouth as he glared at Tyler. “You should have been locked up, you big bastard! You shouldn’t be here!”
Yeah, well, as to that…
Tyler turned away. He headed for the library. The key wasn’t in the lock. Tyler glanced back at the now cuffed blond. “Key.”
“Fuck yourself!”
Whatever.
Tyler lifted his foot and kicked in the door.
As the wood shattered, a nearby redhead in a shimmery blue dress let out a shriek and collapsed back against her date.
Gray frowned and hurried closer to Tyler. “What in the hell are you doing?”
Tyler pushed open the broken door.
Gray crowded in behind him. “Oh. Sure. Yeah. I might have broken the door in, too, in order to get to her.” Low. He waved. “Hi, ma’am.”
Esme stood near the bookshelves. Her hands were behind her back. She appeared to have not moved at all from that spot. Her lashes fluttered. “Is the danger over?”
“Yeah.” Tyler dropped the cue.
Her smile spread across her face. Her disarming dimples winked. “You took out the bad guys?”
“Who is she?” Gray whispered. “Other than, you know, the future mother of my children.”
Not fucking happening. But he ignored his buddy. It was either ignore him or punch his ass out. “They’re in custody,” Tyler answered her question. He should move toward her. He should not be drinking her in like a man dying of thirst. And why had he just elbowed Gray? Because the asshole was practically drooling, that was why. “Don’t you have people to arrest?” he snapped to the Fed.
“Of course, they are in custody.” Esme gave a decisive nod. “Bet you didn’t even break a sweat subduing them, did you?” She strolled toward Tyler. All relaxed. Confident. Sexy.
She stopped in front of him.
He looked down at her.
“Can I get my ruby ring back?” Esme asked sweetly. “Sentimental importance, you know. And I did help save the day.”
“Evidence,” Tyler bit out.
Gray nudged him. “Use more words.”
“The ring is evidence,” Tyler managed to say. “You’ll get it back, eventually.”
Her jaw angled up. “I suppose I can wait.” Her gaze shifted to Gray and dipped from the top of his head down to his black dress shoes. Then up again. She nodded. “Are you some sort of agent, too?”
“She knows?” Gray asked .
“She knew the first minute that she saw me,” Tyler told him. Like that didn’t set off alarm bells.
“A lucky guess. My mother always did say I led a charmed life.” Esme’s hand moved to her chest. Pressed lightly to her damn gorgeous breasts. “It’s been such an exhausting night. Please, can I get an officer to escort me out of here? To take me home? I just…a man held a gun on me earlier,” she revealed as she looked—wide-eyed—at Gray. “I’m shaken.”
She hadn’t appeared shaken at the time. Tyler’s head cocked as he studied her. She sounded shaken right then, but there was something about her eyes. Something that said… I’m not scared of any damn thing.
“Sure,” Gray said, clearly more than happy to help her. “We can get you an escort home. No problem. We’ll need to get a statement first. Your contact information.”
A sigh slipped from her, and then she was glancing back up at Tyler. “Meeting you was very interesting.”
He could not look away from her.
And he could suddenly remember their kiss all too well.
“How many did you take down?” she asked.
“Five.” He’d give Gray credit for the leader since Tyler hadn’t gotten the chance to knock out the SOB.
“Impressive.” A pause. “Was it hard?”
“No.”
Gray called out for another agent. Probably the person who would escort Esme away from the scene. They would have questions for her, first, though, as Gray had indicated. Questions needed to be asked. A statement taken. Protocol had to be followed.
She drifted past Tyler. His hand reached out and touched the back of her hair. He could have sworn the darkness felt slightly…damp. Tyler frowned after her .
“Holy shit.” Gray soundlessly whistled. “I think she may just be the woman of my dreams.”
“No.” Very, very definite. “She’s not. Get over that shit. Now.”
“Bossy.”
Yeah. He was. And she was also not for Gray. But he wasn’t going to argue the point because he had work to do. Victims who needed to be freed. More statements to be taken. A scene to secure.
Esme looked back.
Tyler realized he should say something to her.
But he had no idea what the hell to say.
She sent him a little wave. “Don’t forget me.”
Tyler didn’t think he could if he tried. There were some people you never forgot.
The young agent that Gray had called forward—Agent Sam Garcia—took Esme’s arm and escorted her forward. And that was when Tyler noticed the raindrops on Garcia’s back.
“They are fucking gone!” Jorlan Rodgers erupted out of his bedroom suite. His hands were waving, his tux wrinkled, and a vein near his forehead bulged to an alarming degree. “ Someone stole my diamonds!”
Tyler and Gray exchanged a long look. Then Gray turned to the angry billionaire and tried to sooth him by saying, “Look, Mr. Rodgers, we have all the jewels that the thieves tried to steal. They’re currently being kept as evidence.”
And Jorlan had just snatched the big evidence bag from one of the uniforms on scene. He upended the bag and glittering gems flew across the gleaming, marble floor.
“What in the hell?” Gray exploded. “That’s fucking evidence! You don’t do that shit!” He motioned to the stunned agents and uniformed cops who leapt into motion.
“My diamonds aren’t there!” Jorlan rounded on Gray. “They were stolen from the safe in my bedroom. I want them, now. Bad enough that these morons held me at gunpoint. For them to take my diamonds…” He whirled back and glared at the blond thief who was being marched out by two cops. The ring leader. “You will pay,” he vowed.
The blond thief blanched.
“You need to calm down,” Gray announced. Then, blasting, “ Do not touch those!” He snapped at two women in red dresses who’d edged closer to the jewels. “What in the hell is this? A circus? Bag and tag the evidence. I want guards on the jewels.”
Jorlan’s breath heaved in and out. His nostrils flared. “Not just anyone could get in my safe.” His gaze swept dismissively over the blond and his young crew that were being cuffed and led away. Jorlan whirled back to face Tyler. “You were supposed to guard my possessions.”
That had been part of the deal. They’d suspected a hit would occur that night. And in order for Tyler to get admittance to the party so that he could catch the robbers in the act, Jorlan had needed to extend an invitation to his old boarding school buddy.
“Where the hell were you during the theft?” Jorlan snarled.
Was that snarl supposed to be intimidating? Tyler barely managed to contain an eye roll.
“Locked in the library,” Gray answered when Tyler remained silent. “But he got out via your secret passageway.”
Jorlan’s eyes narrowed. “How the fuck did you know about that?”
“And then he stopped the bad guys so…yeah, you should thank him,” Gray instructed.
Jorlan didn’t thank him. The vein bulged even more. “Five million dollars’ worth of diamonds are missing. Someone got in my bedroom. Got to my safe. No one leaves until I have my diamonds!”
The rich prick didn’t get to make demands. Time for him to realize that extremely important fact of life. Time for him to?—
Esme isn’t here.
Tyler did a double-take. Nope, no gorgeous brunette in a body-hugging black dress. Guests were being questioned, yes, so maybe she was being interviewed in a different room…
Tyler took off and began searching for her.
“Hey, asshole!” Jorlan yelled after him. “I was talking to you!”
Like Tyler cared. His heart was racing, and tension had burned its way through his body. Several of the other agents had wet hair. He’d noticed that a few moments ago. First, he’d seen the slight wetness that darkened the back of Garcia’s coat. Then he’d caught the slick hair some of the late arriving agents and uniforms sported. And a few moments before, he’d seen a flash of lightning beyond the picture window on the right.
Why did Esme’s hair seem damp?
If she’d been in the library the whole time, why was her hair damp? It shouldn’t be damp. Not unless she’d been outside. Like some of the agents. Like some of the uniforms. If she’d been outside and she’d gotten caught in the rain…
Impossible, right? Unless…
He bounded down the circular staircase that led to the first floor, and, sure enough, right next to the mansion’s entrance, he saw Esme. An FBI agent in a bulletproof vest waited at her right side. Not Garcia. An agent that Tyler didn’t recognize.
“A ride home would be great,” Esme was saying to the agent. “And I’ll come in tomorrow to answer any follow-up questions. It has just been such a grueling experience. I think I’m about to crash.”
Tyler rushed up behind her.
“Having the gun shoved at me, being locked in the library…” She fanned herself. “Oh, my. I feel a little faint just remembering about it all.”
“You don’t look faint,” Tyler informed her.
Her shoulders stiffened. The light from the massive, overhead chandelier poured down on her golden skin. She slowly turned so that she could stare straight up at him.
“Nope,” he added. “Not faint at all.” Damn gorgeous, though. He reached out and caught a lock of her hair.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Esme breathed in that husky, tempting voice of hers.
He tucked the lock behind her ear. His fingers lingered against her cheek. “Your hair is a little damp.”
“I just walked outside with the agent. I wanted to get some air. It was raining, though, so we came back in.”
The agent beside her nodded. “We’re waiting for the rain to slack up, then I’ll be taking her home, Marshal Barrett.”
“Marshal?” Her brows rose. “Is that what you are? A U.S. Marshal?” Then her brows lowered. “What is a marshal doing here?”
“Joint task force.” And he’d been doing a favor for a friend.
“Oh.” Her tongue swiped along her lower lip. “I thought U.S. Marshals hunted big-time, federal fugitives.”
“We do.” He kept staring at her. “Esme, I’m afraid that I can’t allow you to leave.”
She took a step toward him. “Why not?” A blink. “Because you met me, fell in love at first sight, and decided that you just can’t live your life without me?” A soft sigh. “That is so beautifully romantic.”
Tyler shook his head.
“No? Too bad.” Her lips curled down.
Yes, it was too bad. For her. “I need to search you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Diamonds are missing from Jorlan’s safe.”
A slow blink. “And that has what to do with me, exactly?”
“Your hair is wet.”
“Yes, I told you that I just went out with the agent.”
Good try with a cover story. He might have bought it, if he hadn’t touched her hair in the library. “It was damp when I kicked in the library door.”
Gray rushed off the staircase and hurried toward them. “What is happening right now? Why did you go barreling off, Tyler?”
Esme didn’t spare Gray a glance. Her whole focus seemed to be on Tyler, and she looked fascinated. Not scared or intimidated. Fascinated.
Like that made any sense.
But damn if he didn’t feel fascinated by her, too. Almost admiring, Tyler shook his head. “You nearly got away with it, didn’t you? Hell, getting locked in the library was a stroke of luck for you, wasn’t it? It put you in exactly the spot you wanted to be. And I left you alone, so there were no witnesses to see…” He trailed off.
“To see what?” Gray demanded. “Could you clue me in?”
Sure, he could. “She went out on the library’s balcony. She crawled across that five-inch-wide ledge that runs on the side of this freaking mansion.” He poked his head outside and looked up at the ledge. Too freaking narrow. And with the rain? Slick. He ducked back in and glared at her. “You could have broken your neck,” he rumbled, angry. “You shouldn’t take risks like that.”
“Ah, I hate to point this out, but you were the one who wanted to go for a stroll along the ledge,” Esme reminded him, voice mild and helpful. “I was the one who showed you the secret passageway. Because I am a great asset to law enforcement that way.”
Tyler grunted. “How’d you know about the secret passage?”
She smiled at him.
He almost forgot to breathe. Mental note, her smile is lethal. He sucked in a breath. “If I ask Jorlan right now, will he tell me that he showed you that passageway?” Or did you find it when you scoped out the building, while you were planning your theft?
She leaned toward him. Conspiratorially, she revealed, “Jorlan isn’t really someone you should trust. So, don’t go taking his words at face value. The man can lie easier than he breathes.”
He took that as a no. Jorlan had not shown her the passage. “What about you? Are you someone I should trust? ”
Her long lashes fluttered. “Don’t I look trustworthy?”
Another mental note, when she deflects, she lies.
Gray tapped him on the shoulder. “What exactly is occurring here?”
“Your U.S. Marshal friend isn’t letting me leave.” A definite forlorn tone trembled in her voice. “After my excruciating night, after the way I bravely put myself between your friend and a gun…did he even tell you about that, ah—I’m sorry, what was your name?”
“Agent Grayson Stone.”
“Right. Grayson.” A nod. “I stepped between Tyler and a pointed gun, trying to save his life because that is just the kind of person I am?—”
A disbelieving snort broke from Tyler.
For the moment, she ignored that oddly adorable snort. “And now, he’s turning on me. Accusing me of—of committing some sort of crime here tonight, when all I wanted to do was help law enforcement.”
Tyler shook his head. “Don’t buy the act, buddy,” he advised Gray. “She broke into Jorlan’s bedroom. She cracked his safe.”
No change of expression showed on Esme’s lovely face.
“And then she took his diamonds. She walked back across the ledge that led from his bedroom to the library, and Esme was in place before I could open the library door. Damn.” Another shake of his head. “You are good, lady.”
“That’s a crazy story,” she murmured.
“If it hadn’t been raining, there would have been nothing to tip me off. But your hair was damp.” He looked at her dress. It didn’t look damp, but it was so dark that it would be hard to tell if there were wet spots on it. Hard to tell, unless you were touching the dress. Touching her .
“Wait. Hold up.” Gray’s fingers rose to pinch the bridge of his nose. “ She has the diamonds?”
“I’m going to search you,” Tyler told Esme.
“Don’t you need permission for something like that?” All innocence, she tipped back her head. The dark curtain of her hair trailed down her shoulders.
He stared back at her and then smiled. Baby, you just admitted your guilt. And he could see it in her eyes. She knew it, too.
“Dammit,” Esme swore. Then she lifted her hands. “Have at it. What do I have to hide? Frisk away.”
“Uh, Tyler…” Gray began.
But Tyler was already searching her. Not the top of her body. The top of the dress was far too damn tight for that. But it billowed at her legs. Especially near that tempting slit of fabric that revealed so much thigh. His hands carefully patted up her left leg. Found nothing.
Then he went to her right and…
Bingo.
He lifted up the silky fabric of her dress—slightly damp fabric—to reveal the small, black bag that was strapped to one supple upper thigh. A supple, gorgeous thigh.
“How on earth did that get there?” Esme wondered.
He unstrapped the bag. Opened it. Diamonds spilled into his palm.
“Holy shit.” From Gray.
Still kneeling in front of Esme, Tyler glanced up at her. “You warned me.”
“Did I?”
He tucked the diamonds back into the bag. Shoved the diamonds and the bag at Gray. “Cuffs,” Tyler snapped.
She frowned at him. “Are you about to get kinky? Now? With all of these people staring at us? ”
“I’m about to put you under arrest, baby.”
“Baby?” A pleased curl of her lips. “What a fascinating first date.”
Cuffs were slapped into his hand. He hooked one around her right wrist. Being extra careful because…because hell if he knew why. He turned her around. With her back to him, he pulled her other wrist toward him and snapped the second cuff in place. “Esme…” Hell, he still didn’t know her last name. “You’re under arrest.”
She looked back over her shoulder at him. All smoldering eyes. All plump, kissable lips. And she smiled. “No, I’m not.”
Uh, yes, yes, she was. Thus, the handcuffs. And the next item of business? He was going to read Esme her rights. Going to escort her to a jail cell. Going to lock her sexy self away.
Why did that last thought make his chest ache?
“My handsome U.S. Marshal. Tell me, have you ever heard of these two magic words before?” Esme’s husky voice poured over him.
Magic words? What in the hell was she talking about? There were no magic words in his world. There was no magic at all in his life. There was crime and evil and a job to do.
With her hands still cuffed behind her back, Esme turned to face him fully. “Two ever-so-magic words.” A delicate pause. “Diplomatic. Immunity.” She hummed. Might have bounced. “I have it. My father is the French Ambassador. I’m Esme Laurent, and you…” She rose onto her toes and brought her mouth even closer to him.
He bent nearer to her.
“You…my dear, handsome U.S. Marshal…you are shit out of luck.”
Then she kissed him again.