Tell Me No Spies (10 page)

“Trying to hide my
dinner roll,” I gritted. “I hate this top.”

“You don’t have a
dinner roll, girl. And you’re totally hot in that top. Come on.
Dante’s waiting.”

I smothered another
groan and followed her along the sidewalk, only half-listening to
her bright chatter.

“Hey, shithead, cut it
out!”

My brain re-engaged at
her sudden cry as she darted down an alley. Man, that girl was fast
on four-inch heels. I pivoted and followed her with a sinking
feeling.

Sure enough, she’d
found trouble. As she dashed up to him, a clean-cut frat-boy aimed
another kick at the huddled figure on the ground.

“Leave him alone!”
Nichele got up in Frat-boy’s face, still several inches shorter
even in her high heels. “You little shit, you leave him alone! He’s
not hurting anybody!”

Frat-boy’s buddy
stepped out of the shadows, and I picked up the pace so I could
pull Nichele away and place our backs to a wall. Frat-boy shot a
glance at his companion and they both smiled, just two nice
all-American boys. Not.

“Chill, lady, that bum
was mouthing off,” Frat-boy mumbled.

Nichele’s fists
clenched around her elegant French manicure. “So you little
pissants decided to tune him up. Oh, that’s really brave. Are you
compensating for your tiny dick, or are you just trying to impress
your boyfriend here?”

The homeless guy had
been edging away during the conversation, and now he clambered to
his feet and shuffled rapidly away down the alley. Great.
Frat-boy’s face twisted in rage, and he took a step toward us.

Adrenaline surged into
my veins. I had my gun, but I didn’t want to draw it in front of
Nichele. And the ankle holster was damn hard to reach
unobtrusively.

Nichele practically
spat contempt. “What are you going to do? Beat us up? You might get
away with roughing up some poor rubbie, but your ass is going to
jail for a long time if you assault us.”

“’Specially if ya do
it in front of a witness.” I jerked with shock as Hellhound’s solid
bulk interposed itself between us and the two kids.

They took a quick step
back from his ugly bearded face and bulging tattooed arms. Then
they exchanged a glance, and a metallic gleam appeared in
Frat-boy’s hand. Oh, shit.

“Two witnesses.” A
silver-haired man in a suit materialized beside Arnie. At first
glance, I almost mistook him for a typical middle-aged businessman,
but something about his face and his bulky, hard-looking body rang
warning bells in my brain.

Apparently the two
kids were hearing warning bells, too. Frat-boy spat derisively and
stuck the knife back up his sleeve as they turned and left.

Arnie turned slowly.
“Ya okay, darlin’?”

“Yeah, fine. Thanks
for the rescue.”

“And thank you, too!”
Nichele gazed up at the man in the suit, her eyes shining.

He smiled down at her
with interest as he took in her glossy dark hair and the curvy body
flattered by her clingy dress. “My pleasure, I assure you.”

“I’m Nichele Brown.”
She extended her hand.

“How delightful to
meet you. I’m James Helmand.” He took her hand and held it.

Oh, shit. I shot a
glance at Arnie’s unhappy face.

He blew out a breath.
“Aydan, this’s my brother Jim. Jim, Aydan.”

“A pleasure.” He held
my hand a few seconds too long, studying me with striking hazel
eyes, and I resisted the urge to pull away.

As soon as he released
me, I turned to Arnie. “I thought you were working tonight.”

He kicked a booted
foot gently at an empty beer can, watching it clatter against the
wall. “I am. I was followin’ somebody when I saw ya go in here, an’
I figured ya were in trouble. I gotta go. Come on, Jim.” He turned
back toward the sidewalk.

James smiled, eyeing
Nichele. “Where are you off to tonight, so elegantly dressed?”

“Right around the
corner. Why don’t you join us for a few drinks?” she invited.

I shot a wide-eyed
glare at Arnie. “Nah, we gotta go,” he said quickly. “Come on, Jim,
let’s get outta here.”

“On the contrary, I
have no particular place to be tonight,” his brother demurred. “I’d
be delighted to accompany you.” He tucked Nichele’s hand into the
crook of his elbow and they strolled toward the sidewalk, leaving
Arnie and me regarding each other sickly.

“What the hell?” I
hissed. “I thought you said he was in jail for the rest of his
life.”

Hellhound scowled.
“Thought he was. Bastard’s got too much goddamn pull, an’ he got
sprung. He showed up at my place an’ I told him to fuck off, but
he’s been followin’ me around for days.”

I groaned as I watched
Nichele lean into James, gazing up at him. “Shit! Come with me. See
if we can break it up before it’s too late.”

“Can’t, darlin’.
Sorry.” He didn’t quite meet my eyes. “I really gotta go.”

“Okay…” I reached for
his hand, but he turned away and headed for the sidewalk. “See
you,” I said to his receding back.

Inside the club, I
leaned close to Nichele to be heard over the thumping music. “Come
with me to freshen up.” I grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the
bathroom. Inside, I released her. “Nichele…”

“Oh… My… God… Aydan,
did you see how hot he is? Did you see that suit?”

“What is it with you
and guys in suits? Listen, Nichele…”

“That’s Armani!”

“You know I wouldn’t
know Armani if it jumped up and bit me on the ass. And I don’t give
a shit if he’s wearing a gold-leaf suit with a diamond-studded
codpiece -”

“What’s a
codpiece?”

“It was a piece that
covered a guy’s junk on…” I cut myself off at the sight of her
mischievous grin. “Don’t change the subject! You need to ditch him,
ASAP!”

“Are you kidding me?”
She shot me an incredulous look before rolling her eyes up in
anticipatory bliss. “Mmm-mmm! I’m soooo gonna hit that!”

“Nichele, you can’t.
Have a drink with him to be polite, and then blow him off.”

She turned a wicked
grin on me. “Oh, I’ll blow him off, all right. And that’s not all
I’ll do.”

I seized her by the
shoulders. “Nichele, he’s a criminal! He’s a dangerous, mean
sonuvabitch, he’s in deep with the gangs, and he just got out of
jail. Ditch him. I mean it.”

“Bullshit! Who told
you that?”

“Arnie. Trust me, he’s
not kidding.”

She eyed me
skeptically. “No way. James is smart and sophisticated, I can tell.
Arnie’s the mean dumb one, with all his tattoos and leathers. I can
see his ugly face in jail, no problem. He’s just making that up so
you’ll stay away from James.”

I couldn’t help taking
offense on Arnie’s behalf. I knew he intentionally cultivated his
dumb-biker image to hide his intelligence and provide a cover for
his activities as a private investigator, but seeing the stereotype
in action irritated me. And his face wasn’t his fault.

“You try getting the
shit kicked out of you for the first five years of your life, and
see how pretty your face looks afterward. Besides…”

Nichele blinked. “Oh,
that’s right, he’s your booty call, isn’t he? Sorry.”

“
Was
,
apparently. That’s not the point…”

“Oh, girl, he dumped
you? No wonder you’re so bitchy. But it’s okay.” She patted my
cheek. “Dante’s my super-hot booty call, and just for you, I’m
going to share. Come on, once you get laid, everything’ll be all
better.” She grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the bathroom.

“Nichele, I don’t care
how hot Dante is, I’m not going to jump a total stranger. And you
need to tell James to take a hike…”

She had dragged me
half-way across the bar and I was still trying to talk sense into
her ear when she perked up and waved. “There’s Dante! Come on!”

I gaped at the
shockingly handsome man across the room. My fingers dug into
Nichele’s shoulder. “Nichele! Christ, I’m not a cougar! I’m old
enough to be his mother! And you know I don’t trust any man who
looks prettier or smells better than I do. He’s gotta be-”

“He’s an underwear
model. And he’s thirty-seven. Ten years younger is juuuust right,
trust me.”

I did my best to close
my mouth when his face lit up and dazzlingly white teeth gleamed.
High cheekbones formed breathtaking planes and angles in his tanned
face. Longish, wavy black hair, sparkling black eyes, full lips,
and a chiselled chin topped the body of a god, tantalizingly
displayed in a clinging, silky shirt and extremely well-fitting
black slacks.

“…Holy… fuck!”

Nichele grinned up at
me. “Oh, you have no idea. Come on.”

Apparently I’d been
harbouring a few stereotypes of my own. To my surprise, Dante
wasn’t a self-centred featherbrain. Despite the fact that we had
very little in common, he proved to be an intelligent and
entertaining conversationalist. And Nichele must have bribed him to
be extra nice to me.

I made a few more
futile attempts to deter Nichele but it was clearly a waste of
breath, and after slamming down another couple of beers I
discovered I didn’t care anymore. I relaxed with a fresh beer in my
hand and let Dante’s attentiveness soothe my battered
equanimity.

Some time later, I
sighed when I glanced over to see James and Nichele in a passionate
lip lock. I’d tried. Really, I had.

Dante’s gorgeous face
blocked my view. “Is everything all right?” His accent was barely
noticeable, just pronounced enough to sound exotic. Combined with
his deep, mellow voice, the effect was like being stroked with
black velvet. In a lot of interesting places.

I took a deep breath
and held my voice steady. “Fine, thanks.”

He traced a line down
my jaw with one perfectly manicured fingertip. “I was afraid you
were feeling neglected.” His lips were very close.

A second later, his
lips were exactly close enough. Cold and smoky-tasting from his
single-malt scotch on the rocks. But, oh my Lord, they warmed up
fast. Dante’s Inferno indeed…

I yelped and jerked
away when Kane’s large hand dropped on my shoulder. “Aydan, I need
to talk to you.”

“Jesus Christ! What
the hell are you doing here?” I clutched at my chest in a futile
attempt to slow my hammering heart. His gaze followed the gesture
to my exposed cleavage, and I whacked his arm. “Hey, buddy, eyes up
here.”

His hand closed around
my wrist. “We need to talk. Privately.” He shot a scowl at Dante.
Dante’s smooth forehead puckered ever so slightly as he took in the
scar that cut across Kane’s eyebrow and the slight bump from his
long-ago broken nose. Dressed all in black with his massive
shoulders straining his shirt, Kane looked almost as dangerous as
he truly was.

“I’ll be back in a few
minutes,” I assured Dante, and slid out of the booth.

Kane steered me to a
corner where the music was slightly less deafening before leaning
close to growl in my ear. “What the hell are you doing?”

All my irritation
flooded back. “What the hell does it look like I’m doing? I
was
having a pleasant evening with friends. What do you
want?”

“I want to know why
you packed up and sneaked out of your house. I want to know where
you’re going.”

I planted my fists on
my hips. “I wasn’t sneaking! Jeez, you’re always telling me I’m
working too hard. I decided to take a little R & R, that’s
all.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, really.” I
glared at him. “So you can just butt out and… Goddammit!” I
exclaimed as comprehension dawned. “You got Arnie to tail me,
didn’t you? Why don’t you leave me the hell alone!”

Kane shrugged. “You
should have told me where you were going. I tried to call you, and
when I didn’t get an answer, I checked the surveillance footage.
When we saw you leaving with your backpack, Stemp was afraid you
might do something rash, so he sent me to pick you up and bring you
home.”

“Excuse me?” I
glowered at him. “Bring me home? Screw that. How did you even find
me?”

“I tracked your cell
phone and found out you were in Calgary. I drove out to your place
and your overnight things were gone…”

“You broke into my
house.” My temper flared and I held it back with difficulty.
Would’ve been a lot easier without the many beers circulating
enthusiastically in my bloodstream.

He shrugged again.
“That’s what happens when you don’t keep me informed. I set
Hellhound up for surveillance at Nichele’s until I could get here,
and told him to follow you if you went anywhere.”

He eyed me
humourlessly. “If you’re planning to stay under the radar, you
shouldn’t ride around in a red convertible with the top down.”

“Piss off. I’m not
trying to stay under the radar, I’m
trying
to have a
pleasant evening. It would improve a lot if you’d just leave me
alone.”

His lips tightened.
“Aydan, I’m sorry, I know you’re still upset with me, but don’t
make things worse. Stemp’s given me the order to bring you back
tonight. Let’s just go.”

Fury and fear shot
through me. If Stemp was willing to send Kane out to drag me back
tonight, I’d never get another chance to talk privately to my aunt.
I’d never know the truth…

The beer won the
battle.

I leaned forward for
emphasis and regained my balance by jabbing a finger into his
chest. “You can tell Stemp to go fuck himself! In fact, you can
drive all the way back up to Silverside tonight,
without me
,
and fuck Stemp yourself for all I care. I’m not going with you.
I’ve been working every goddamn weekend for the last three months,
and I’m due for a break. You see that guy over there?” I wiggled my
fingers at Dante, and his brilliant smile flashed through the dim
lights of the club. “I’m going to take that home and ride it all
night long. And you’re not going to stop me.”

Kane’s face twisted.
“Aydan, I know you’re not the type to pick up a stranger for a
one-night stand.”