Read Mine Until Dawn Online

Authors: Ednah Walters,E. B. Walters

Tags: #Romance, #Suspense, #Contemporary, #Adult

Mine Until Dawn (10 page)

“Ashley,” the women screamed and pointed at Jade’s cousin.

Ashley giggled and extended her wrists to be cuffed. “I’ve been very naughty, Officer Knight.”

This was a piece of cake. “Sorry, ma’am, but I must first find the evidence.” He nodded at Faith and she started the music. The disco song
Hot Stuff
thumped through the air and he started to move his shoulders and hips. The women screamed, starting to sing along and rock their bodies to the beat.

“Work it, baby,” a woman yelled and the others picked up the cry.

Vince shoved the handcuffs in his back pocket while dancing. He loved the oldies and was thrilled when Faith had suggested using one. Grinning, he pulled the tail of his shirt off his pants and started on the top buttons.

“Take it all off,” one woman yelled.

“More skin.”

“Show some hot stuff.”

Whoa, these women were acting crazy. Where was Jade? He needed to see her or this act wouldn’t last. He twisted and glanced behind him. She stood by the door, her eyes wide with admiration. Much better. As long as she kept staring at him like that, he was cool. She gave him another thumbs-up sign and moved forward to join the others. His gaze followed her until she sat beside her cousin Faith, right behind the bride-to-be and in his line of vision. Good.
Now look at me.

Instead of looking at him, Jade kept her eyes lowered and whispered something to her cousin. The screaming sounds of the women rose as he revealed more skin. He didn’t focus on any particular face. Just gave them a sweeping glance and kept dancing, but his gaze went back to Jade, willing her to look at him.

When the buttons were undone and his shirt hung loose, she turned those hazel eyes on him. It was a slow perusal that started lower, much lower that deemed decent. He felt a stirring behind his zipper. When her hand crept up to press against her chest, he knew he had her.

Sweat formed on her forehead and her heart pounded so hard Jade thought she was about to have an arrhythmia attack. That arrow of hair disappearing in Vince’s waist was intriguing, his six-pack abs and the expanse of his smooth chest perfect. He lifted his arms, rocked his hips as he straddled Ashley’s legs and thrust closer to her face.

A hot, juicy fantasy formed in Jade’s head. She saw herself reaching out to pull zipper down, taking him in her hand and…

Jade’s brain short-circuited as her body and senses hummed. A major sexual upheaval started in her lower extremities and it was his fault for being so damn hot and agreeing to do this. She shifted and frowned. Could it be her imagination or was a bulge behind his zipper growing? Her gaze found his.

What was he doing staring at her? Jade glanced at the others from the corner of her eye, but no one noticed he’d deviated from the script. Not yet anyway. But it wouldn’t be long before someone noticed he was focusing on her and not the bride-to-be.

Jade tried to stare him down. An impossible feat since he was grinding that gorgeous body of his, making it impossible not to imagine him between her legs. She tried to direct his attention to Ashley, but his grin widened. Then he had the gall to shrug off his shirt and throw it to her. She caught and brought it to her chest, his musky scent drifting from the soft fabric straight into her chaotic senses.
 

“Keeping secrets?” Faith whispered in her ear.

Too embarrassed to say anything, Jade kept her gaze fixed on Vince. He was no longer staring at her. He stepped away from Ashley, unbuckled his belt while rocking his hips, unbuttoned his pants and executed more thrusting moves, and pulled the zipper halfway to display black silk underwear. The women went wild and Jade stopped breathing.

He twisted and rocked, muscles flexing and inviting under his skin. No tan lines. Imagining sunbathing nude, her imagination went wild. A woman slipped rolled dollar bills behind Ashley’s ears. Vince went on his haunches to pull them out with his teeth. Jade grinned. He was good. Better than most pros. The smile disappeared from her lips when some women scooted forward to slide bills under the waistband of his bikini briefs, lingering to touch some skin or caress his chiseled abs.

Shameless hussies, Jade wanted to hiss.

The phone rang, putting a freeze on Jade’s smoldering jealousy and causing her to inhale. When no one appeared interested in answering it, she ground her teeth, gripped Vince’s shirt and got up.

“What?” she snapped into the receiver when she picked it up.

“There are two men down here who claim to be the strippers.”

Relief sent air rushing out of her lungs. “Do I have to come downstairs to sign them in, Lambert?”

“Nah, I’ll bring them upstairs.”

“Thank you. You’re a life save—”
 

A piece of clothing landed at her feet, cutting her off. She looked down at Vince’s jeans. She looked up to glare at him and frowned. The strong angles of his face appeared strained. The women were all over him, slipping dollar bills under the waistband of his underwear, but he wasn’t enjoying himself anymore.

“I’ll be waiting at the door, Lambert.” Jade hung up the phone. Vince danced around Ashley, the handcuffs dangling in his hand. Jade knew what was coming up next—Ashley handcuffed to the chair and Vince on his knees, sucking the lifesavers off the T-shirt covering her magnificent chest. Two of which happened to be placed near her cousin’s nipples.

It wasn’t happening. Not if she could help it.

Jade stooped low and snatched up the pants from the floor, walked to the audio system and thumbed the stop button. The women’s protests filled the loft when the music stopped. She turned to glower at them, just stopping herself from saying something scathing.

“That’s the end of the opening act, ladies,” she said.

While the women complained and whined, Jade pushed her way past them, closed her hand around Vince’s arm. “Come with me.”

“Opening act?” he asked, his breath brushing her ear.

“Oh, yes.” Having his sweaty, naked body this close to hers hurtled her over-stimulated nerves into an overdrive. Pushing open the bathroom door, she pressed his clothes in his chest. “Change. The strippers are here.”

His brow shot up. “Strippers?”

“Yes. I’ll get your shoe—”
 

He swept her into the bathroom and closed the door. Air froze in her lungs, her mouth going dry.

“You let me go through that when you knew real strippers were coming?” His voice was too calm for someone pissed. But the way he planted his hands on his hips and pinned her against the door with his smoldering eyes told a different story.

For a brief moment, the image distracted Jade. Glistening broad shoulders and heaving chest, stomach muscles contracting with each breath, he looked magnificent. Why was he mad at her anyway? No one held a gun to his head and ordered him to strip.

“Didn’t Faith explain? They were late. I didn’t think they’d make it.”

The fire ebbed from his eyes. “Really?”

She avoided his disbelieving expression and her gaze shifted to the thin itsy-bitsy of material covering his most private parts. Her mouth went dry, and at the same time, her entire body grew hot. He would be splendid nude. Her tongue sneaked out to lick her lips. He pulled a dollar bill from his waistband and made her realize what she was doing. Blushing, her gaze shifted to his. His lips were tuned up in a smug smirk.

“I needed a dancer and you offered.” She shrugged with feigned indifference. “You did great. The women liked it. Can you put on your shirt, or something?”

He paused in the process of pulling out more bills and leveled his gaze on her. “But drunks aren’t very perceptive, are they? What did
you
think?”

Bantering with a half-naked man wasn’t something she did everyday. It was unnerving. She thrust his pants at him. “I think you were amazing. I mean, you didn’t have to dance, but you did it anyway. For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” She sighed with relief when he put the bills by the sink and accepted his pants.

“Then come with me.”

Jade blinked. “What?”

“I need your help with something.” He pulled his pants on, zipped up, and reached for his shirt. “It’s why I came back in the first place.”

She liked that he didn’t try to sugarcoat why he came back. “Does this have anything to do with your investigation?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t try to explain or use the fact that he’d just done her favor to sway her. She watched him button up his shirt, one slow button at a time. After watching him strip out there, this was more intimate.
 
Her own private show. She couldn’t help grinning.

“Okay, I’ll come with you.” She grinned when he cocked an eyebrow.

 

CHAPTER 7

“So what’s going on?” Jade asked once they drove away from her cousin’s place.

“I stopped by to see the cleaners from the hotel. Valerie Redding refused to talk to me.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel as he recalled the stark fear in the woman’s voice. “Rosario Cortez, on the other hand was more than willing. Said she didn’t see anything out of norm near my room, but she recalled Valerie was jumpy and looked like she’d been crying. I don’t know what those bastards did to her, but she sounded very scared when we spoke. She couldn’t even open her door, just begged me to leave her alone.”

Jade touched his hand. “Oh, poor thing. I hope she’s okay.”

Her gesture took him by surprise. Without thinking, he turned his hand and gripped hers. “I felt so useless. I couldn’t reassure her no matter what I said. I tried to get help from her neighbors, to see if they could convince her to come out, but no one wanted to get involved. I thought that a female voice might make her feel secure enough to open the door and talk.” Jade tugged at her hand and he let it go. He’d enjoyed the brief physical connection.

“I promise to do whatever I can to help,” she said in a low, husky voice. “Where does she live?”

“Government housing. It’s in a really bad part of L.A., so if you have a problem with that I’d understand.”

“No, that’s okay,” Jade said.

He heard the uncertainty in her voice, but she didn’t freak out. His admiration for her went up a notch. He bet she’d never had a reason to visit such low-income areas.

In no time, Vince pulled outside decrepit-looking apartments of Pueblo Del Rio housing project in South Central. Men in trendy jackets and shoes, and gleaming rows of gold teeth watched his car with predatory interest. Vince was sure some had seen him earlier and grilled the boys he’d spoken with. Vigilant, he met their gazes head on, understanding swift in their eyes. Just because they knew he wasn’t a drug dealer impinging on their territory, or a user looking for a hit didn’t mean they were cool with them being there.

He turned to look at Jade who was staring with round eyes. Her beautiful face was in the shadows, but he still felt unease pour out of her. He wished he didn’t have to bring her to such a place, but he needed her help.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She gave him a weak smile and tugged the lapels of her jacket together. “Yes. Where’s her apartment?”

He pointed to a building to their right. Six young men lounged near a doorway, talking and smoking. “Second floor. Are you sure you’re up to this?”

“If you’re asking if I’m scared, then the answer is yes. Only a fool would act invincible around here. But I also know you can take care of me.” She looked at the young men by the building. “Or anyone.”

He hoped nothing went wrong. Covering her hand, he gave it a brief squeeze. “Good.”

Then he stepped out of the car and walked around to open her door. As they started for the building, she slipped her hand in his. He squeezed it as they approached the young men, who were now watching their progress with varied expressions.

“P.K.,” Vince said.

A dark-brown muscular young man with short-cropped hair and a thin moustache nodded. “Sup, Knight. You’ve a death wish or s’mthing?”

“Just doing my thing, man.”

P.K. smiled up at me. “And you brought your lady this time?
 
Damn, you’ve got
cojones,
man.”

“Do you think you could keep an eye on my ride, again?”

P.K. just shrugged.

Vince slipped him several folded twenty-dollar bills. Without glancing at it, P.K. pocketed the money, then shot a look at two of his friends and jerked his head toward Vince’s car. The boys got up.

Vince said, “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Take your time.” P.K. turned to his friend, who was seated in the middle of the steps. “Jay, let the man and his lady pass?”

Jay, who was chewing a beef jerky, scooted sideways. Jade and Vince walked past them, through the door and headed up the stairs. Her nails dug into the back of his hand. He reached down with his other hand and gently uncurled her fingers.

“Sorry,” Jade murmured.

“Don’t worry about it.” He held on to her hand and led her toward the stairs. The sound of her spiked sandals on the cemented floor drew his attention. “Are you okay climbing the stairs in those?”

Jade paused to glance at her foot. “Yep. If there were more flights of stairs, I’d be cursing you to hell and back or removing them to go barefoot.” A delicate shudder shook her body at the filthy stairs. “Scratch that. You’d have to carry me.”

He smiled at her matter-of-fact tone. “Why wear high-heels if they limit you?”

She laughed, continuing up the stairs with him trailing behind. “Only you, Vince, can ask such a question.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means you’ve been gallivanting abroad in war-torn countries for too long. High-heels are designed for one purpose and one purpose only, to make a woman feel fabulous.”

And sexy. He ran an admiring gaze down her legs. “I think you’d look fine without them.”

She threw him a glance. “You say the nicest things. Thank you. Sometimes fine is not enough.” When he opened his mouth to argue, she dismissed him with a flick of her hand. “Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. At times a woman’s got to pack a lot more than fine.”

Vince frowned. Some bastard had done a number on her. Even in her black Capri pants and plain red tank top, Jade looked stunning. She didn’t need outer trappings to look sexy.

There were no people in the hallway, but the low drone of late night talk shows emanated from behind closed doors. They stopped outside Valerie’s door and Vince knocked. Silence greeted them. He looked at Jade. “You want to give it a try?”

She nodded and moved closer to the door. Her knock was gentle and non-intrusive. “Valerie? Are you home?”

No sound came from behind the closed door.

“Valerie, we just want to talk with you. Can you open the door, please?” Once again, nothing. Jade looked at her watch, then Vince. “It’s after eleven. Maybe she’s asleep.”

Vince let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t think so. Tell her we know why she’s afraid and are here to help.”

Jade knocked louder this time. “Valerie, my name is Jade Fitzgerald. I’m Mr. Knight’s friend. Listen, we know about Hudson. We know he said something that scared you, but we want to help. Will you open the door, please?”

A door opened down the hallway, making them turn toward it. An older woman peeked at them. “Watchu want with that girl?” she asked.

Lying and half-truths opened doors for him a lot faster when he was a journalist, but that didn’t mean he liked doing it. But at times, like now, it was a necessary evil.

“Ma’am, we’re from Valerie’s workplace—”

“Ain’t you the one who was here before?” the woman interrupted him.

“Yes, ma’am. Is it okay if I pull out an I.D. from my back pocket and show you who I am?” He’d hate for her to think he was reaching for a gun or something. In this neighborhood, she could be packing one for protection, which was why he made sure he was blocking Jade from the woman’s line of vision. Vince waited for the woman’s nod before he fished out his wallet and removed his I.D.

“I just need to talk to her, ma’am.” He walked toward her with an easy gait so as not to startle her and held out his driver’s license at an arm’s length.

The woman studied the laminated card, then Vince before her gaze shifted to Jade. “What’s your name, child?”

“Jade Fitzgerald, ma’am.” She moved to stand beside him and smiled at the woman. “I’m sorry I don’t have an I.D. to show you, though.”

“That’s okay.” Interest sparkled in the depth of the woman’s red-rimmed eyes. “But I know a policeman with that name.”

 
“Keith Fitzgerald?” When the woman nodded, Jade said, “Keith is my cousin. I know he works this area.” Eddie and Uncle Lou were in West Hollywood.

“He’s a good man. Tough on them no-good gang-bangers, pimps and dealers.” The woman pursed her lips in thought as she continued to study them. Then, as if coming to a decision, she said, “Valerie is gone. Packed up her things and left.”

Vince smothered a curse at her words. “Did anyone else come to see her before or after I was here?”

The woman shifted her body when a child’s head appeared beside her. “Baby, go on an’ play with your sister,” she told her before turning to Vince and Jade. “I saw nobody. But she was in a mighty hurry to leave right after you left, Mr. Knight.” The woman pursed her lips, then added, “Wait here.” She disappeared inside her apartment, bolting the door behind her.

“Now, what do you make of that?” Jade whispered.

His gaze stayed on the woman’s door. “I don’t know, but having you here sure thawed her. She cursed me out and called me a pimp earlier when I tried to talk to her.” A giggle from Jade drew his attention. Her eyes twinkled. “What?”

“Nothing.” She dropped her hand and tried to appear somber, but her eyes twinkled and the corners of her mouth kept twitching. “At least we know Valerie is okay.”

That wasn’t why her eyes shone with amusement. “You’re laughing at me?”

“No. I would never dare.” She was still struggling to contain her mirth. “It’s just…when you said pimp, the image of you in a purple suit, big hat and cane popped into my head and—”
 

Despite himself, Vince fought hard not to join her laughter. He was thinking up a response when the old woman reappeared with a folded note. She offered it to him. “I was to post that for her tomorrow. Don’t know what’s in it, but she said it is for her boss. Since you say you from the hotel, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it to you.”

He accepted the letter, noted the hotel’s address on it. “Thank you, ma’am.”

The woman started to close her door. “Valerie’s a good girl,” she paused to add. “Whatever trouble she’s in, it ain’t of her doing.”

“We know that, ma’am. Again, thank you for this.” Vince pocketed the letter. The woman disappeared inside and bolted her door. Vince started for the stairs, his hand reaching for Jade’s.
 

“I wonder what’s in the note.” Jade couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Let’s wait until we’re out of here.”

They were a few doors from the stairs when one of P.K.’s men, the one he’d called Jay, rushed into the hallway. “There are two mean-looking dudes heading this way. They were asking for Valerie’s place. P.K. thought you’d want to know.”

Male voices came from the stairs. Jade turned panicked eyes toward Vince.
 
“Hudson. I recognized his voice.”

This wasn’t the kind of trouble he’d anticipated.

“This way.” Vince grabbed Jade’s arm and led her back along the hallway. There was nowhere to hide. Running was out of question. They would only attract the men’s attention. There was only one solution—give them something else to focus on. A couple making-out in a doorway wouldn’t draw much suspicion.

Vince backed Jade into the nearest doorway. Tremors flowed through her and her fingers dug into his arms like claws. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his hard body.

“Kiss me, Jade, like your life depends on it.” When she opened her mouth, he didn’t give her the chance to protest. His mouth closed over hers.

He was surprised when she opened her lips and welcomed the invasion. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and their bodies meshed, almost making him forgot why he was kissing her. The two men walked past them, making lewd comments and laughing. Vince angled his head and took from Jade, molding her to his will and hoping she wouldn’t come up screaming.

When the men were farther down the hallway, he eased off. His chest heaved and he had a boner. He gripped Jade’s arms and whispered, “Let’s go.”

She burrowed deeper into his chest.

“Jade. Move.” He stopped short of shaking her and started to lead her toward the stairs. She stumbled, the scraping of her spiked heels against the floor sounding like a cannon in the stillness of the hallway. Any moment he expected Hudson and his partner to recognize them. There was only one solution. He swept Jade in his arms, slung her over his shoulder and headed for the stairs.

“Hey? Put me down!” Jade protested through her teeth, her arms flailing and her legs thrashing.

“Zip it.” He continued down the stairs.

“Don’t tell me to zip it, you Neanderthal,” she whispered harshly. “Put me down this instant.”

“Those heels of yours could wake up the dead.” He turned his head sideways to listen. There were no sounds of running footsteps behind them. Still…
 
“Unless you want Hudson onto us, keep still and enjoy the ride.”

“The ride?” She wiggled her legs and pushed at his back. “There’s nothing enjoyable about this. Your caveman act is more likely to attract their attention than—”

“Not after the way you kissed me. Any man would understand why I’d want to haul you to the nearest bed.”

“Kissed you?” she hissed. “You pawed me, you jerk. Now stop jarring my stomach with your bony shoulder and put me down.”

Bony shoulders? He shifted her and deposited her on the floor.

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