A Matter of Time 07 - Parting Shot (MM) (26 page)

“See,” Aaron said to the man on the screen as if he were schooling him. “This is what comes of letting your little head think for your big one.”

I watched from the floor, where I was sprawled out on a tarp using Aaron’s suit jacket for a pillow. “What are you talking about?”

He turned in his chair and looked down at me. “If Clay Wells had been less interested in your ass and more focused on business, he would have surmised from what he knew of me that I don’t share. I never share, and thus inviting you and me here was an exercise in futility.”

“That’s crap,” I scoffed.

“What the hell do you mean by that?"

“You told me when we first met you shared your boyfriends. You used to get off watching them get fucked by other people.”

“Yeah? So?”

“So you did, in fact, use to share them,” I pointed out.

He scowled at me.

“Right?”

“I guess,” he snapped.

“No guess, it’s the truth.” I pinned him down. “So what you’re actually asking him to have known is that, with me, your agenda suddenly changed.”

His eyes were locked on my face.

“Isn’t that correct?”

He nodded.

“The man had no idea that you weren’t actually going to give me to him or to anyone else for that matter.”

“No one touches you but me. Ever.”

I laughed softly. “Which is real nice of you to say and all, very scary alpha, but I’m the one who makes that decision Sutter, not you.”

He took a quick breath.

“And since you’re the only one I’ll let touch me, we’re on the same page.”

It was endearing the way he was biting the inside of his left cheek as he quickly nodded.

“But your point, that you don’t share, I mean, how the fuck was he supposed to know that?”

“I would have,” he groused at me. “I make it my business to stay up to date on everything.”

“That’s gotta be hard to do.”

“Hard yes, impossible, no. It’s lazy to do anything less. I know everything about anyone I’m even thinking about going into business with.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Of course.”

“So that guy Goran, you know all about him?”

“Yes.”

“You know who he fucks?”

“Names and dates, yes.”

I was impressed, and Aaron could see it on my face. “I’m sorry you stopped a business deal because of me.”

“No,” he said, smiling. “I’m glad you discovered the man was a snake. Imagine if I had made the mistake of going into business with him. Then any one of his indiscretions might have tarnished my reputation. But now I’m free of him, thanks to you.”

“Okay. So what do you think Clay Wells is going to do now?”

He thought a moment. “If I was him, I would try to find some leverage to get us to open the door.”

“Like?”

“Like holding a gun on someone you love and threatening to shoot them if we don’t open up.”

“Yeah, that won’t work,” I replied, yawning and rubbing my eyes. “You’re already in here with me.” Clay Wells would be wasting valuable time looking into my background, only to find an estranged father, stepmother, and half sisters who weren’t sure what city I lived in.

I was thinking I should get up and give Aaron a chance to rest. The cement floor covered by the thin tarp wasn’t much, but he had to be exhausted. “Hey,” I said, looking up to make the offer that we switch places only to find him sitting there, frozen, staring at me. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you know your voice is different when you talk to me?”

“What do you mean?” I wasn’t sure what his point was.

“I mean it changes, just the sound.”

“Does it?”

“Yes. So I always know when you’re speaking to me.”

I watched him as he stood up and then sank to his knees beside me.

“You don’t even know what you said, but even if the words had been lost on me, I would have heard the tone.”

It took a second, and then it hit me.

Everything I loved was in the room with me.

Way to fuck up the declaration. “Shit, Aaron I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

But he cut me off when he rolled forward, took my face in his hands, and kissed me. He led with his heart, and I felt it as his mouth claimed mine, as his tongue pressed inside, as his hand cupped the back of my head to keep me still.

He made love to my mouth, coaxing, sucking, his other hand lifting to my throat, curling gently over my Adam’s apple. The pressure was slight, but like his hand in my hair, immobilizing. He wanted me there, under his power, his mouth sealed to mine, making me his with every kiss, halting breath, whimper, and moan.

God, I loved him, and when I couldn’t breathe, I tore free so I could. “I love you,” I said, and it wasn’t half as terrifying as I figured it would be.

“I know.” He smiled, lips hovering over mine. “And I love you back, Duncan Stiel, and we’re going to live happily ever after.”

“As soon as we get out of this giant thermos,” I said wryly, taking hold of his hips and easing him close.

He loved me. And I loved him back, so fiercely, so completely. I had been blindsided from the start. People would say it was too sudden, but I knew my heart just as well as I knew my mind, and it was as true for me as it was for him. I had wanted to be his from the moment the man had first taken hold of my hand to lead me toward the cab the night we’d met.

I was a sucker for hand holding—that fast, I had been a goner.

“Oh shit!” he gasped.

“What’s wrong with you?”

He was staring at me with wide eyes. “I’m so stupid.”

“No, you’re really not.”

He made a noise like the jury was still out. “Yeah, I am. I’m a huge dumbass because I just now figured out a way to get us out of here.”

“Good,” I grumbled. “Because I was stupidly thinking you were focused on me, you unromantic piece of crap.”

He snorted out a laugh, kissed my forehead, and then got up and walked to the computer.

“What’s your idea?”

“Have you ever had a subscription to an antivirus software site that runs on your computer and has live updates?”

“Sure.”

He nodded. “Well, that’s the same way Keystone works, with web support, so technically, if I put this interface offline, someone should check.”

“But there’s no Internet on the grounds. Clay explained that to us.”

“No, he said there was none for guests to use. But think about it: he checks people in just like at a regular hotel, and he has to have Internet access to do that. More importantly, this system could be hacked just like any other program if he didn’t have help.”

“I hate to tell you this, but it’s Saturday. Nobody gives a crap.”

“Unless they’re paid to care,” he explained. “If you bought the special upgrade that included 24/7 support, like Clay Wells probably did to make sure the surveillance at this resort never goes down, then maybe someone is monitoring it as we speak.”

“That’s a big gamble.”

“Yes, it is.”

I got up and sat down beside him. “Okay, take it offline.”

He turned to me. “If I take it off and no one’s there, we’re screwed. I won’t be able to see anything at all while it’s down. We’ll be blind.”

“It’s okay,” I comforted him. “Do it.”

It took only minutes for him to pull the system down, and it was really strange to see the usual blue screen of death on every monitor on three walls at once.

We sat together in the darkened room with the cerulean glow, and after a minute, I felt his hand slide into mine. “I have a villa, remember? The one on the Amalfi Coast.”

“Yeah.”

“I really want us to go there after this. Can you do that?”

“Is it nice there now, in April?”

“It’s nice all year round.”

“I can ask,” I promised, “though I did just get back from a different FBI task force. I bet my captain would like to actually get some use out of me.”

“Sure,” he agreed. “But you should see it. The ocean comes right up to the edge of the property, and then I have this infinity pool that is separated from the Jacuzzi by only a small rock wall you can just go right over. It’s very decadent.”

“Oh yeah? You get laid there a lot?”

“I have, yes. But I’ve never taken anyone I loved there, and if you let me, I’d love to give it to you so only you could say who’s allowed in it from now on.”

“You’re just going to give me one of your homes?”

“Yes, if you’ll allow it.”

“How ’bout you just put my name on it, too, and I’ll put your name on the greystone I own in Lincoln Park.”

“You own a greystone?”

“Yeah. It’s nice too. I mean, it’s just a small row house, but it’s really pretty.”

“Why don’t you live in it?”

“I need to get some more cash to finish the renovations on it.”

He scowled. “How long have you been fixing it up?”

“Couple years. The thing is, the contractor keeps finding more and more things wrong with it, but I’m just not ready to give up on it yet. He even offered to take it off my hands.”

“How nice of him.” Aaron smiled, but it wasn’t a nice one. “What’s his name, baby?”

“Don’t do that,” I warned him. “He’s Jimmy’s cousin, so you know he’s not screwing me. He’s a really good guy. It’s just trashed.”

“I’m sure it is.” His grin turned positively evil. “The contractor’s name, please.”

“Parrish Remodeling,” I said, studying his face. “So you don’t really want half of it, do you? Too small-time, right?”

“No,” he insisted. “I would love if you’d put my name on it. Really. As I said before, your sense of quid pro quo makes me delirious. To you, it’s not the amount of money, it’s the thought. It’s the doing things together. I’ve never had that before, with anyone, and to have someone finally get it, understand how I see the world… you have no idea what kind of gift that is.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yes,” he said, leaning in.

I moved sideways so he missed me.

“Duncan!” He was incredulous.

“Look.”

He spun around, and there, flashing in the bottom right corner of the screen, was a chat window. We couldn’t get out, but they could get in. The flashing yellow box was a lifeline.

Aaron didn’t take any chances and immediately asked for the supervisor. Once he had the right person, once Lisa Deems was on the line with us, he asked her to put us through to law enforcement and to ignore any other communication coming from the same server or from Buona Sera.

The typed-back “absolutely, sir
”
was very nice to see.

W
E
SAW
the FBI, state police, and Sedona police come to the front gate of the resort. I had no idea before that point Clay Wells had a helicopter. But he did, and Aaron and I watched it fly away from inside the room. His men watched from the ground. They made the smart decision to open the gate, and once everyone was in, Aaron and I came out, squinting in the early morning light on a beautiful Sunday in Sedona.

Agent Summers arrived with the FBI contingent, and while Aaron went over what we had found on the tape, including Nick McCall, she explained it turned out the DEA also had Wells under surveillance, and between the two of them and what we’d found, he would certainly be going away once they caught him.

Aaron was thrilled, but getting me to the hospital and eating were on the top of his priority list. Agent Summers said she would get me there immediately and he thanked her graciously, but refused.

He got to his phone, and half an hour later Miguel was there, driving a Hummer, traveling with the same security team from Vegas. Two of the men were dispatched to our room to pack and gather bags, and two were sent to find Jaden while Aaron spoke to Miguel.

“What must that kind of money be like?” Agent Summers asked me, shaking her head.

“I think I’m gonna find out.”

She chuckled. “I think you are, Detective. I will see you Tuesday morning in my office in Chicago.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll be there.”

“Duncan!”

Aaron put me into the back seat of the Hummer, and said until I was checked out, I probably shouldn’t eat. It was fine with me. I was freezing, light-headed, and nauseous, none of which were conducive to food.

“So is there a hospital in Sedona?” I asked as I reclined in the seat, looking over at him.

He was scowling as he brushed my hair back from my face. “Probably, but you’re going to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t have enough time to fly my own doctor out.”

Which wasn’t really an answer, but I took it and stopped talking. I was really sleepy, and when Aaron moved over next to me, I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. “Thanks for worrying about me and taking care of me.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he said, rubbing his cheek in my hair. “I can’t wait to do it full-time.”

I wasn’t awake when Jaden Cobb was added to our party but woke up when we finally drove away. He sat quietly between the two men who had rousted him from his room, looking uncomfortable as he clutched his backpack to his chest. I waited to see how Aaron was going to handle the situation.

“So let’s recap. You got scared, talked to my father, decided to sell me out, let me bail you out of that mess, and finally decided cooking school was too much for you and sold your ass to Clay Wells.”