Authors: Ella Grace
“Look at how beautiful you are.”
She opened to eyes to see his admiring gaze roaming over her. She’d barely noticed that her shirt was unbuttoned, her bra was off, and her skirt was bunched up at her waist. She lay sprawled out in his arms like a willing sacrifice awaiting his pleasure.
“You make me feel beautiful.”
“Let me make you feel good.” His hand, strong yet tender, parted her legs further and then delved beneath her panties.
Sabrina tried to keep her eyes open, she really did. She loved watching him. When he was turned on, his eyes would glimmer hot, like golden brown embers, and his mouth would take on a sensual slant, tilting at the edges.
But despite those intentions, her eyes closed as desire swamped her, drowning everything but her need for fulfillment. His fingers, one…then two, pressed into her. She grasped his wrist, digging her nails into his skin as he took her higher, then higher still. Her hips moved sensually, then frantically. He covered her cry of delight with his mouth, devoured her sounds of ecstasy, swallowed her breath, took her essence inside him. When he lifted his head, the feral look in his eyes told her all she needed to know. He wanted her. Right here. Right now.
Sabrina shifted around to straddle him and with fingers much too shaky and excited for finesse, hurriedly unzipped his jeans. She felt the same urgency…had to have him inside her right this minute.
Her hand had just barely skimmed his hard silky flesh when a noise outside the room penetrated her pleasure filled mind.
The pounding on the door was followed by Sammie’s voice. “Bri? Are you here? We’ve got company arriving.”
“Oh no.” Sabrina dropped her forehead against his shoulder. “I didn’t close the closet door. I don’t want her to see the board.”
Harsh, breathless laughter rattled through Ian. “Go. I’ll be behind you in about five minutes when I’m able to walk again.”
“I’m sorry.” She planted a quick, hard kiss on his mouth. “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
Though his smile was pained, his eyes glittered with promise. “I’ll make sure you do.”
Chapter Nine
Sabrina checked her watch as she headed to the guesthouse. Their new client was supposed to arrive at nine this morning but was early. Sammie hadn’t arrived yet, but according to April Cantrell, their receptionist, the man had asked to speak with Sabrina only. Maybe she’d worked with him before though she hadn’t recognized the name Holden.
Both her sisters were better at dealing with clients than she was—their people skills more honed. Sabrina had a tendency toward bluntness when diplomacy would work better. She could be agreeable…she just had to work harder at it. She would get the facts of the case, and when Sammie arrived, her sister could soothe any ruffled feathers.
If Ian hadn’t gone for a long run, he could have come with her. His people skills were excellent. She’d seen him charm, soothe, and ease the most frazzled of nerves. How on earth they got along so well was anyone’s guess.
In between feeding the massive amount of company who stopped by to welcome the newest addition to their family, the weekend had been spent sharing and reviewing all the information they’d both gathered on Cruz.
Tomorrow, Ian would head to Chicago where they believed the man who ordered Cruz’s death lived. What would happen once they identified him was still a mystery. The man was responsible for at least two deaths that they knew of. Who knew what else the guy had done?
For a brief moment, Sabrina stopped in front of the newly rebuilt guesthouse to admire the structure. Last year the original one had been destroyed by fire. She and her sisters had never hesitated to rebuild, all agreeing that their parents’ murderers had taken too much from them already. The guesthouse was part of their legacy and now served as the main offices for the Wildefire Security Agency.
They had rebuilt it identical to the one that had been destroyed. A smaller replica of the Wilde mansion, the house held all the charm of an old Southern mansion but was built with twenty-first century material. The structure could withstand the fiercest of storms. Fire could still destroy it, but the only person who would want that was rotting in prison, serving a life sentence for the murder of her parents.
She walked through the foyer and then stopped at the door to the reception area. April stood in front of their prospective client, holding out a cup of coffee for him. Hearing the woman giggle like a schoolgirl made Sabrina smile. Apparently the man had charmed his way into their receptionist’s heart already. That was no easy feat. The mother of four boys, April was nobody’s fool.
“Hello,” Sabrina said. “Sorry, I didn’t get your full name Mr. Holden. I’m—”
April stepped aside and Sabrina caught her breath. Without missing a beat, she pulled her weapon from her side holster, her heart pounding with dread. Even though every molecule in her body was telling her to run and warn Savvy, she held the gun with unwavering calm on the man in front of her. How the hell had he found her?
Her eyes never moved from her target. “April, go to the main house. Lock all the doors.”
“What’s wrong, Sabrina? Should I tell Savannah or Zach?”
“No. Not yet. I’ll call you when it’s safe. If Ian comes back, send him over here, please.”
Thankfully April didn’t argue. The instant Sabrina heard the door shut behind her, she said coolly, “You have five seconds to tell me why the hell you’re here before I call and have you arrested.”
“Relax, Sabrina. I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Oh yeah? I suppose that’s why you held me against my will, tied me up. Just a little friendly kidnapping?”
“Actually I paid a big price for letting you get away.”
“Gee, forgive me if I don’t feel a bit of remorse for that. And you didn’t ‘let’ me do anything.”
“That’s true. I believe Mr. Mackenzie was your rescuer.”
This man knew way too much about her already. She wanted answers. Now.
“Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want?”
“Mind if I sit?”
“Answer my questions.”
“Fine. I found you through Mackenzie.”
“Try again. The truth this time.”
“It wasn’t him directly. When he came for you, the cameras caught his image. I found out who he was. From there, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together and find you.”
“It took five months to get that information?”
“Actually no. I got that information within hours of you leaving. There was just no reason to pursue you.”
“And now there is?”
“Look, I really would like to sit down. With this humid weather, my knee is killing me.”
“Fine. Sit.” Her gun remaining steady in one hand, with the other she withdrew her cellphone from her jeans’ pocket and hit Ian’s speed-dial number.
“Hey, babe. What’s up?”
“Are you headed back to the house?”
“Yeah. Got maybe a mile to go.”
“Can you come straight to the office?”
“Sure thing. Something wrong?”
“I’ll explain when you get here.” She slid her phone back into her pocket, gave a quick nod to the man in front of her. “Start talking.”
“You don’t want to wait for Mackenzie?”
“No. He’ll try to persuade me not to shoot you. I want to make that decision after I hear what you have to say. Now start talking.”
“Very well. I’ll cut to the chase. My name is Holden Marsh. I’m a DEA agent working undercover to bring down Robert Silva.”
“And he is?”
“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of him. He likes to stay off the grid, work behind the scenes. Suffice to say he’s one of the most dangerous criminals in the world and our government, along with several others, has been trying to apprehend him for years.”
“And what was he to Armando Cruz?”
“His one time friend and mentor.”
“A friend who had him killed. Which you sanctioned, by the way.”
“Not my decision, but I had no choice but to let it move forward. Cruz was a dead man the minute he spilled his secrets to a shrink.”
“So why are you here, now, to see me?”
“I need your help.”
Sabrina unsuccessfully swallowed a snort. “And I should help you…why?”
“Because I’m trying to save a woman’s life.”
“Who?”
“Lauren Kendall. Cruz’s former mistress.”
The lead block that had developed in her stomach the instant she recognized Marsh settled deep. “I know who she is.”
Dawning understanding flickered in his eyes. “Now it makes sense. That’s why you were there, wasn’t it? You weren’t just looking for evidence on Cruz. You know Lauren. She was your client?”
She wasn’t ready to share anything with this guy until she got answers. “What’s happened to her?”
“Silva has her.”
“What makes you think I care?”
“You disappoint me, Wilde. You don’t look the type to play games.” When she continued to just stare at him, Marsh released a harsh breath. “Look, I know you have questions but I can explain.”
The front door opened and Ian called out, “Sabrina?”
“In here.”
“What’s going on? What—”
Keeping her eyes and gun on Marsh, she heard rather than saw Ian pull his gun from beneath his shirt. The man rarely went anywhere unarmed.
“What the hell’s he doing here?”
“Seems Mr. Holden Marsh has come to ask for our help.”
“That’s a rather simplistic way of putting it,” Marsh said, “but yeah, I do need your help.”
“We need to get out of here. If this asshole knows you’re here, then so does his boss… Let’s get your family to a safe place.”
“Once again, my so called boss has no idea who you are, much less where you are.”
“And we’re supposed to believe you, why?” Ian snarled.
“He says he’s DEA.” Sabrina said. “Undercover.”
“That right?” Ian said. “I have some friends in the DEA. Could they verify that?”
“Doubtful.” Slight sarcasm entered his tone. “The whole undercover thing sort of hinders the everyone knowing about it scenario.”
“So we’re just supposed to take your word for it?”
“No, but if you’ll let me explain, I think you’ll be more inclined to believe me.”
“Fine.” Ian said. “Talk.”
“I started working for Silva almost two years ago. It's taken me almost that long to gain his trust, get inside his inner circle. When you escaped, I was on shaky ground. I managed to pull it off so it looked like you did it on your own.”
“What does this Silva know about Sabrina,” Ian asked.
“Nothing…and I’d like to keep it that way. For now, he knows only what Walker told him—what you’d told Walker. That you were Lilah Green, a private investigator who had some kind of information about Cruz. That you wanted more and then you’d share what you had.”
“So Walker was on this Silva’s payroll, too.”
“Silva used him as a gofer and a weasel—two things Walker excelled at.”
“Silva knew I would be there that day?”
“Yeah.”
“Sabrina wasn’t supposed to survive, was she?”
“Hard to say. Silva isn’t big on sharing his plans. I was going to have to figure out a way to get you out of there, but Silva nixed my plans. He liked the way you looked.”
“Gee, guess I got lucky.”
“We both did. I would’ve blown my cover if I’d tried to spring you inside Cruz’s place.”
“How did you explain my getting away?”
“Wasn't easy. Fortunately the security cameras only work half the time. Silva knew that so when he asked for footage, I told him the camera was down.”
“And your friend Garrett? How did he explain my escape?”
“He didn't. Since I couldn't make him lie, I had to take him out.”
“You killed him?”
“Don’t worry. As you’ll recall, he wasn’t a very nice man.”
“And you told this Silva I killed Garrett and then escaped on my own?”
“No. I admitted to killing Garrett. Told him the man tried to rape you and I had no choice. That’s how you got away. That I was fighting Garrett…you saw your chance and took it. Since Silva didn’t want you touched until he got his hands on you, he was basically all right with the killing.”
“Basically?” Ian asked.
Marsh shrugged. “I took some punishment for it. Silva likes things to go smoothly. When they don’t he has a volatile temper.”
He returned his gaze to Sabrina. “Don’t mourn too much over Garrett’s death. The bastard helped kill an entire family a month before that, including a five-year-old child. Like I said…not a very nice man.”
Sabrina swallowed hard. “This Silva ordered the death of an entire family? Just what kind of evil is he?”
“The worst kind. No remorse, no conscience. His word is law and if you betray him, you're marked for death.”