Banged Up (18 page)

Colby had to sidestep to put a little more room between them. She shrugged. “I know what similar pieces like this have gone for. I’m not holding out hope to win this.”

“But you will bid?”

She thought a moment. “Yes, until it passes my budget.”

“Which is?”

She didn’t feel comfortable talking money with a complete stranger, so she skirted the question. “What things are you interested in?”

He gave a slight shrug. He buried his hands into the pockets of his slacks. But not before she saw the expensive watch on his wrist. Rolex. Could be a knock-off.

“I’m just here to observe.”

Observe? That was a bit weird. Most people who came to auctions came because they either wanted a good deal or a particular item, not just to observe. “Are you related to the estate?”

“No. I was just driving by when I saw the cars and the auction sign. I figured I’d check it out.”

Yes, there were a lot of cars parked haphazardly. On the street, on the lawn, blocking the neighbors’ driveways. Just a typical auction day. But this wasn’t a thoroughfare. This road wasn’t a cut-through or even a typical road used for commuting. “So you are from the area?”

Those dark eyes, suddenly cold, pinned her for a moment and Colby fought the urge to shiver. Why would a simple question like that bother him?

“No. I’m just visiting … friends.” He tilted his head and slowly ran his gaze over her as if she was one of the precious antiques up for bid in the auction.

Unable to fight it this time, a shiver ran up her spine. And it wasn’t from him showing an interest in her. A “something was off” feeling overcame her. Something was just not right. She just couldn’t put her finger on it. She feigned interest in the dresser’s mirror, running her fingers around the serpentine carving.

“Exquisite woodwork, yes?”

Without answering, Colby looked up into the mirror. The man was directly over her right shoulder, but over her left she spotted Martin and Mace. They were now only two aisles away, deep in conversation. In fact, it looked like they were debating over a clawfoot tub.

Would it be really obvious if she turned and started frantically waving them over?

But luckily she didn’t have to. Mace glanced up suddenly, as if he had felt her gaze and her silent plea. He spotted the man near her, straightened, and began walking quickly toward her, no indication of a limp in his determined stride.

If she wasn’t concerned before about this stranger, she was now. Mace’s expression looked a bit panicked and his body language showed a bit of urgency. He was struggling to hide both, but was failing miserably.

For him to be an undercover federal agent and to have his emotions shown so clearly…

Which just proved she needed to move and she needed to move now. Standing there like a dope wasn’t going to do her any good, if this man wanted to hurt her. But… what the hell? Why would this guy want to hurt her?

She turned to face the man. He was gone. Just like that, he was gone. She looked around and he wasn’t even in the nearby aisles.

Mace rushed up to her and grabbed her upper arm—more firmly than was necessary.

“Ow. What’s going on?”

Mace’s gaze searched the nearby aisles and crowds also, pulling her tightly against him. Martin was still making his way toward them, dodging other auction attendees who gathered near the podium in anticipation of the start of the auction.

“Who was that?” Mace asked her, finally giving her all of his attention.

“I have no idea. Just some auction attendee, I guess.” At least that was what she had thought. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“Did he tell you his name?”

“No. Should he have?” Mace didn’t answer. He went back to eyeballing the crowd.

“Mace, what the hell is going on?”

He visibly relaxed and gave her light brush of his lips on her forehead. Placating her.

Like something so simple would do it. “Nothing. A bit of jealousy.”

He was lying. He was good at it, but it was obvious he was lying. He was not the type of man who would ever admit he was jealous. Never.

“Martin and I had an interesting conversation,” he said suddenly.

He was trying to change the subject. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” He grabbed her elbow and steered her away from the crowd. He moved her toward a stretch of trees and a bit of privacy. Once there, he pinned her back against a tree, out of the view from the rest of the crowd. “He told me something that disturbed me,” Mace said, his face close to hers. He was just fractions of an inch away from her.

She was still trying to wrap her brain around the sudden change in subject.

Distracting her wasn’t going to work. “Okay, are you going to keep me in suspense? Or are you going to tell me?”

“He knew all about Craig.”

Crap.
Maybe distracting her
would
work. “Mace, he’s my friend, my co-worker. I confided in him.”

“But you couldn’t tell me about him. You couldn’t warn me.”

“I told you why.” Craig was not a topic she liked to talk about since he was an embarrassing part of her past. One she wanted to forget, especially now Mace ran him off.

“You didn’t feel comfortable enough with me to tell me.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

Okay, this was bothering him more than she ever would have thought. “Jesus, Mace. Are you really so bent out of shape about it?”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, just studied her face. He lowered his head until their lips met. At first it was a soft kiss, but it became more urgent. He buried his fingers into her braid, twisting his mouth over hers, dipping his tongue between her lips.

His knee worked its way between her thighs, until it was pressed against her mound. In an instant, he was pushing against her clit, grinding his thigh against her, making her moan into his mouth.

He pulled back a fraction, his breath mingling with hers. “Damn it, Colby, I want you to trust me.”

She didn’t answer. She wanted to trust him too.

“Come on. We have to see if we can get some stuff to fill up that big, empty house of yours.” Mace pushed away from her and walked back toward the crowd.

He was trying to cover up his fear about something. It was more than her just having a random conversation with a stranger. And not knowing what he was afraid of worried her.

Chapter Twelve

Mace reached out to beat on the annoying object. The vibrating cell phone once again danced over the smooth surface of the bed stand. He picked it up reluctantly and put it to his ear. “What?”

He was greeted by dead silence until he realized he held the phone upside down. He righted it and repeated his gruff greeting.

“Keep an eye out, Walker. We’ve been getting reports—reliable ones—Spinozi and his men are looking for you.”

If that wasn’t a wake-up call, Mace didn’t know what was. He sat up slightly, leaning back against the headboard. “Wait, wait.” He glanced over at the pillow next to him to make sure Colby was still asleep. Cupping his hand around his mouth and the cell, he whispered, “Okay, what the hell is going on?”

“There’s a price on your head.”

Well, wonder of all wonders. “A hit? What’s the prize?”

“You’ll never guess…”

“So just tell me.”

“Two and a half.”

“Thousand?”

The man on the other end chuckled.

“Hundred thousand?” Mace still didn’t get a response. He shook his head in disbelief. “
No
.”

“Yes. I’m almost tempted to kill you myself.”

Mace dragged a hand through his disheveled hair. “Two and a half … million? Holy shit, Spinozi must be really pissed.”

“Hmm. I’d say that’s an understatement. I hope you’re healing rapidly. I hate to tell you, but you’re on your own, buddy. I was going to send a couple men out to cover you, but I don’t have anyone to spare. And anyway, you’re twice as good as my second best man. I figured you’d be able to handle this little snag on your own.”

“
Little
snag?” A little snag was
not
being shot in cold blood by a Mafia kingpin’s goon.

“For your sake and hers, get rid of the girl and think about getting yourself to a safe house. The contract is fresh, so if they don’t know about her already, she’ll be okay. But don’t wait. It’s only a matter of time.”

Mace softly cursed when the phone went silent. He snapped it shut and turned to watch Colby sleep. Her breathing was deep and steady. He had no reason to think she had heard any of it.

Damn. How was he going to get her out of his life? These last few weeks had been the best weeks he’d ever had. She was great. She was sexy and smart. Hell, the sex was unbelievable. Biochemist by day, sex kitten by night. She was open to his suggestions, willing to try something new every night. Every morning too.

However, he paid the price of their daily romper room. During the day when she was at work, his physical therapist worked out the intense leg cramps he had due to the increased activity. Robin told him he ought to stop torturing himself; he told her to forget it. The cramps were worth it, even if Colby didn’t know what a strain it put on him.

Shit. What was he going to do? Break it off with her? He couldn’t do it. He had to think. How could he keep her safe but still in his life?

He couldn’t.

That little run-in with the stranger at the auction was proof enough he couldn’t protect her 24/7. He might have been some random stranger, but…

He didn’t want to think about the “buts.”

Damn, he was going to have to separate himself from her, and in a way she wouldn’t figure out the real reason either. He couldn’t tell her he had a contract on his head. The last thing he wanted was to panic her. If someone just pranking the house was stressing her out the way it had…

Well, maybe it was to be expected. She originally thought it had been Craig doing it.

He couldn’t blame her for being scared of the bastard after what he’d seen in those photos.

It would be better for her not to be frightened. For herself. For him. She needed to live her life safe and securely. She finally had Craig Jones out of her life. But now, with Spinozi putting contracts out on his head, her little safe world might come crashing down.

She deserved better.

If Spinozi had any idea what he felt for Colby, the fat bastard wouldn’t hesitate knocking her off. Or worse.

Okay, think, think, think. How could he suddenly distance himself from her?

What would be plausible after everything that had happened between the two of them? They had gotten into a routine: her working during the week while he went to PT, dinner together at night, down and dirty dessert later in the evening, weekends at her house fixing it up.

Mace groaned. He was going to have to be a cold-hearted bastard. He was going to have to get into character, play one of his parts. He would have to become something, someone she hated.

He would have to become Craig. Fuck! Why did he have to do this? If there was any other way…

Colby’s arm reached over him as she stretched. The sheet slipped away exposing a bare breast. Mace closed his eyes against the temptation. Maybe he could wait to… No, he had to do it now. She didn’t deserve to be tangled in his mess.

She rolled on her side and gave him a wide smile. “Good morning.”

Oh, God, he didn’t want to do this. He really didn’t. He took a deep breath, looking down into her glowing face. He reluctantly got into character.

“Is it?” He kept his voice clipped and cold.

A look of confusion crossed her face, her eyebrows knitting together. “Is something wrong?”

“What could be wrong? Everything’s just perfect. Everything is just going the way you’d like it.” He got out of bed, turning to point a finger at her. “Why don’t you just move your things in here? Why do you even need your own room? Hell, why are you even bothering to fix up that deathtrap of a house?”

Colby tugged the sheet up over her chest. “Mace, what’s wrong? Does your leg hurt? Did I do something?”

“I’ve got to shower. Aren’t you going to be late for work?”

Colby glanced over at the clock. “No.”

“Then why aren’t you downstairs making me breakfast?”

Mace stormed out of the bedroom, leaving Colby alone in his bed, her jaw hanging.

He slammed the bathroom door behind him and began to pace. He needed time to get a plan together. He had to make this believable. If he fucked this up it could be her death sentence. Or his.

After he’d got out of the shower and dressed, he stomped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Colby was pale, her hair uncommonly loose around her shoulders. She had missed a button on her blouse and it hung on her crookedly. He wanted so badly to straighten out her shirt and re-button it for her, but he just clenched his fists instead.

A second after he sat at the table, she placed a plate of food in front of him. He stared at the veggie omelet and the dry whole grain bagel, before violently pushed the plate away from him. It skidded down the table with a clatter, the bagel shooting onto the floor.

Colby spun around from pouring him coffee, crying out when she sloshed the burning liquid over her hand.

“Do you call this breakfast? Can’t I ever have normal white toast? And bacon? Why are you such a damn klutz? You spilled coffee all over the floor. Now clean it up before it stains the floor. I’m going out for breakfast. I won’t be home for dinner either.”

“Mace…” Her voice was shaky and breathless.

He left Colby cooling her burned fingers off under the faucet. He hadn’t missed the tears filling her eyes. He couldn’t let it affect him. He just couldn’t. It was for her own good. Even if she didn’t know it. It had to be this way.

It had to be.

———

The house was so quiet. Mace really hadn’t come home for dinner last night. Or tonight either. He hadn’t come home at all.

Colby needed to talk to him. She wanted to know what was bothering him. Why he had acted that way yesterday morning. Had she done something wrong? Was he mad about the episode with Craig? She needed to know.

Maybe he didn’t want a woman who came with baggage. Maybe after seeing the episode with Craig and, not to mention, the PFA and horrible pictures, he had realized she was more trouble than she was worth. Maybe his anger was finally catching up to him; he was pissed off about her keeping Craig a secret from him. He made it clear he wasn’t happy Martin knew about her past. She had shared personal matters with her assistant but not with Mace, her lover.