On The Rocks (37 page)

“In? Or out?”

“I’ll finish the job I’m here to do.”

Kizzie nodded. “You have twenty to get back
to the car. I’ll call when I’m in position.”

She opened the door a sliver. The music
muscled through the space, filling the relative silence. And then
she was gone.

Lennox closed the door behind her and
checked his watch.

Five minutes later, he was still inside the
room.

At ten, he slipped out and blended in with
the crowd.

By fifteen, he was in the SUV, laptop open,
the lines of code she might need up on the screen.

At twenty, Lennox Tate was gone.

SHE’D MADE UP her mind.

Sabine rushed by a group of party-goers in
short shorts and tank tops. This was not the turn out she had
expected, nor had Abrahan, and though her husband dealt with his
brother’s missteps as he always had —with quiet loathing and
disapproval— this time, he was visibly upset over it. But that
didn’t matter now. She had to find Sanzio. Had to let him know
she’d come to a decision.

Where was he?

Rounding a corner, she spotted a man coming
out of a side room that had once been a staff office. He was moving
fast, slipping through the crowd with an easy grace. Tall and lean,
he moved on light feet, prowling.

Sabine eyed him until he disappeared through
the main doors and returned to her task. She had to get to Sanzio.
Time was short.

Metis would make the transfer soon and
Sanzio had to go get the diamonds.

Where could he—

“There you are.”

He was tucked in a corner, far away from the
dancers and partygoers. Her shoulders relaxed as she approached
him, but tightened again as soon as she drew near enough to see his
face.

Sanzio was in bad shape. His hair was a
mess, his clothes more disheveled than usual. But the immense
sadness radiating from him seemed to make him appear even worse
off.

He tipped a bottle of water to his mouth and
tossed her a look of sheer disinterest.

“What happened?”

Grunting, he paced away from her. “Your
husband. He says it was my fault. His ear…” He set his hands on his
hips, his face contorted like he was in deep thought.

“Do you still want to go? To leave?”

She barely got a nod for her efforts. Sanzio
wanted to earn his brother’s approval so badly. But Abrahan
wouldn’t give it to him. She knew that. As she’d told him, she was
in the same boat.

But she needed him. The only way she could
leave was with Sanzio’s help.

“We have to get the diamonds now.” Her gaze
shifted to the watch on his arm. “We have to be ready to go once
Metis sends the list.”

His head turned to hers and he frowned. “How
did you know Metis was sending the list?”

Sabine blinked. “He said.
Abrahan
said.”

“He told you and not me?” He snorted. “Of
course he did. You serve a purpose. I’m useless to him.”

“When will the transfer come through?”

“Soon,” he said.

“Okay. Okay, we have to go get the diamonds.
You stay and keep an eye on Abrahan. And as soon as he has the
list, come to my bedroom.”

Sanzio shook his head. “I don’t know,
fava
. Thinking back on it now, he’s done so much for me. How
can I betray him?”

Oh, god. He was having second thoughts.

“The Philippines,” she reminded. “Thailand.
Anywhere in the world we want so long as we’re together, right,
Sanzio?”

Another weak nod and she sighed.

“Come for me, Sanzio. Please,” she
whispered. An empty stare met her and she risked a peck to his
mouth. “I love you.”

His eyes flared and he smiled a tiny
bit.

Sabine spun away. Moving quickly, she went
to her bedroom and grabbed her cell phone. Then it was down the
four flights of stairs to Abrahan’s office. It was quiet here, with
all the guards up on the top level watching the party, but she
still took a moment to check her surroundings.

Alone, she flipped through the gallery on
the phone and found the picture of Abrahan. Held the enlarged image
of his retina up to the scanner. Keyed in the digits for the
keypad.

In moments the metal door was sliding back
on its track and she slipped inside.

The lights were dimmed as they were each
night, creating a soft glow that could be seen a couple of miles
out to sea. She turned her head to the view out the glass walls and
stared at the endless black beyond. It truly was a humbling sight,
but thank god this would be her last time seeing it.

She moved to Abrahan’s desk, seeing the
angel sculpture she’d given him when they’d first met. He’d been so
wary of taking it, but eventually he had. And inside she celebrated
that little victory.

She stared at the angel, the wings spread
wide and eyes lifted toward the heavens. Hitching at the waist, she
smiled and gave it a wink.

At the vault, she started in on the
combination lock. Beyond the heavy door were a variety of weapons—
Glocks, Rugers, the occasional sniper rifle or two. But more
important than the guns were the velvet boxes, each filled with
cash and jewels. Abrahan’s liquid assets.

This was her ticket out of Italy.

Finally.

A grin on her mouth, Sabine pulled back on
the huge gold handle. The door swung open and she stepped
inside.

22

BULLSHIT, LENNOX WOULD stick around.

If he thought
she thought
she could
depend on him right now, he had another think coming.

Slipping out the door, Kizzie stayed on the
hallway she was in, heading away from the dance floor. She pulled
her phone out of her bag, unlocked the screen, and dialed. Pressed
the phone to her ear.

“
Thank you for calling Dornwell
Holdings,
” an automated dulcet intoned.

Having done it automatically over the years,
Kizzie nearly keyed in the code for Fletcher, then remembered the
digits for Rachel and put those in instead. That terrible hold
music —the jazz meets neo-soul meets indie rock meets
polka-reggaeton— started playing, and the mashup was way better
than the words stuck on repeat in her head.

He doesn’t love you, Kizzie. Couldn’t
possibly love you…

There it was, plain as white bread.

That’s what that clawing in her chest was
about; what she’d been hiding from all along. And it took Lennox
Tate to dig that dark nugget out and hold it up to the light.

Xander didn’t love her. Couldn’t possibly
love her.

Being his sub was one thing. And, yeah, the
sex was amazing. He officially held the title as best fuck of her
life, and this time it was for all the right reasons. But she
couldn’t have what she was beginning to fear she really wanted from
him.

Stupid to admit she belonged to him. Because
he didn’t belong to her. Couldn’t. He already belonged to someone
else.

The music stopped in her ear and a voicemail
kicked on. No words, just the open line. “Got a situation. Need you
to call me back ASAP.”

Kizzie hung up and checked the time. Less
than an hour until Metis delivered the NOC list. Lennox would be
making his way to the car soon. She’d give him a call once she was
in position, but at least she had this backup in place if he
bailed.

Now she needed to find Mrs. Duquesne.

Or Xander.

The ring was burning a hole in her clutch
and her conscience. She’d already stolen a piece of someone else’s
husband. She didn’t need the shimmery reminder of their forever
bond, no matter what kind of odd electronics were hiding inside of
it.

Marching back toward the party, Kizzie
rounded a corner and damn near plowed right into the man she was
searching for. Xander looked just as eager to see her, and her body
ignored her brain.

Without a word, he gripped her wrist and
dragged her along behind him like this was yank-on-Kizzie-day. They
slipped into a small room and he shut the door. Flipped on the
light.

That intense chocolate gaze scrutinized her,
just like when they’d first met. She loved when he looked at her
like that. Made her all shivery and wet.

Reservations about their relationship
grabbed her guilt over it by the hand and took that SOB out for ice
cream.

“Should I strip, Sir?” She wasn’t supposed
to say that. But the man was too damn sexy for his own good.

“Who is he?”

Kizzie blinked. Oh, hell. She was wrong. So
very wrong. That wasn’t his happy-to-see-ya’ face. Xander was in
angry Dom mode. Like the Hulk on downers— still lethal but
contained for a moment. How much of that with Lennox had he
seen?

“He?” Playing stupid wasn’t going to get her
any points, and judging by the look, Xander didn’t appreciate
it.

“The ‘he’ who was just kissing you.” His
voice was even and all the more menacing for it.

Kizzie sighed. First Lennox had busted her
chops over the guy she was seeing, and now Xander was doing the
same over the guy he’d seen.

Sheesh! Why were the men in her life so
damned concerned about the men in her life?

“He’s nobody, X.” Kizzie rolled her eyes and
shrugged. “Just a partner I didn’t need on a job I didn’t
want.”

“What’s his name?”

A frown dug into her forehead. Blowing her
partner’s cover wasn’t an option. Not now, not ever. Regardless of
Tate having blown hers before. Like Hayford had said, anonymity was
all an agent could depend on when in the thick of things. Hell,
protecting that anonymity was the reason she’d come to Italy in the
first place. No way she’d give that up. Not even for her Dom.

“Don’t ask me to do that. Bad enough you
know he’s my partner.”

Xander’s mouth was a grim line, and he
leveled a stare on her that made her shift from one foot to the
other. “Somehow I think Lennox Tate is more than just your
partner.”

Kizzie dropped her clutch to the floor. It
was either that or beat him to death with it and blood was really
hard to get out of zippers. That wall she’d worked so hard to knock
down for him started going up, brick by brick.

So, Xander and Lennox knew each other. Or
was it a one-way thing?

“No, he’s not,” she said, proud she’d kept
her tone even.

Xander tipped his head. “Really?”

“You said you believed me. I told you, we
kissed, I almost slept with him— I
wanted
to sleep with him—
but that was it, X.”

Xander padded away, fists balled like he
would punch the door. But he wasn’t the only one who was
pissed.

He could have come at her straight. Told her
he knew Lennox. Trying to catch her in a lie rubbed her raw. She’d
been honest with him about everything. A huge deal considering she
made her money by both lying and keeping secrets.

“How do you know Lennox?”

“We’re not on me right now, Kizzie. Start
talking.”

Kizzie leaned back on her heels and crossed
her arms over her chest. A wave of snark
begged
to be
unleashed, but she fought it back. “I recently saw an interesting
PBS special about the plight of the blue whale. Did you know—”

His hard gaze zipped to hers and she gave
him an over-bright smile back. Fighting the snark did
not
mean winning the battle.

“Who is he to you?”

Wasn’t he listening? She’d already answered
that!

“Fine. Lennox and I used to fuck. A lot. And
I do mean
a lot
. Beds, floors, showers… Planes. One train. A
van. Sand— which is trickier than you’d think.” She snapped her
fingers. “There was one time up against a mango tree. Seriously,
you haven’t
lived
until you’ve got bark burn on your bare
ass. Are you satisfied?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Xander smiled
thinly.

“I can’t believe you! You’re pissed over a
guy I banged nearly a decade ago?”

“Banged
a lot
, by your own admission.
Almost banged not too long ago, again, by your own admission. And
then he just so happens to show up here tonight and kiss you. Sure
you’re not still bangin’ him?”

Kizzie bit into her lower lip hard, tipped
her head back on her neck so she stared at the ceiling. She counted
to ten, repeating the mantra
I will
not
lose my shit
over and over in her head. Threw in an
Om
and
Amen
for good measure. And when that didn’t work she counted to
twenty.

Somewhere around fifty-eight, spittin’ mad
and seeing red, she lost her shit.

“You still fuck your wife, X? When you two
leave here tonight, you gonna take her over a pool table? Push her
to her knees and have her suck you clean the way I did? Or is all
that a no go since she’s pregnant?”

The blood drained from Xander’s face and his
open mouth snapped shut.

Kizzie’s brow slammed down as her anger
rose. “What, you thought I wouldn’t notice? Maybe that’s why you
were so horny earlier. Maybe it wasn’t about me at all.”

“Naima’s not your business.”

“And Lennox isn’t yours,” she fired
back.

“Oh, but he is. He very much is.”

Kizzie dragged a hand down her face. “You
said we’re strictly personal. Why do the rules change when you want
them to?”

“Does he mean something to you?”

“No.”

He shook his head. “You’re not being
honest.”

Ha! That’s all she’d been this entire night!
“Whatever. You fucked me once and I’m supposed to flip on my
partner?”

His head jerked back. “Who am I,
Kizzie?”

“You’re the asshole who’s confusing the shit
out of me, and I don’t like it, slick.” She cocked a brow.
“Crystal?”

Xander inhaled a slow breath that inflated
his chest. Rubbed his fingers over his mouth in that thoughtful way
of his. “Maybe… Maybe you’re not ready for this.”

“What? Submission? Who the hell are you to
tell me—”