Brutally Beautiful (20 page)

“Or an electronic one,” Jim said. He turned to his computer—big, shiny, impressive—and typed in a few lines on the browser. He had smaller laptops on each side of him and an extra screen behind. All that in a hotel he wasn’t even staying at.

Nick gave him space. He got out his own laptop in case Jim needed it, and brought Lawrence up to date, even though the bastard sniggered when he told him what he was doing. “On the understanding you don’t hunt me down. Ever. I’m still toxic, and it doesn’t look as if I’m getting out of it any time soon.”

“We were never toxic, Mick. The people around us were.” Lawrence regarded him, his light blue eyes grave. “You always gave people a second chance, you were never unnecessarily violent, and you gave your employees a fair shake.”

“A happy staff is a loyal staff,” he said, and couldn’t remember the last time he’d reminded anyone of that. “I might do that next. Small business stuff. There are no end of shysters in that game. An honest dealer stands to make a killing.” Although the thought of leaving the life he’d dreamed of for so long hurt him badly, he had to consider every possibility. He’d never leave the poetry behind, anyway.

Lawrence laughed, and the sound took Nick to the tiny room in Liverpool where his brother could always see the funny side of things.

“Memory Lane’s all well and good,” said Jim, “but come and look at this.”

After exchanging a glance, the brothers went to look over his shoulders.

“Shit,” Nick murmured. “Do you know how long I’ve been trying to break into his personal files?”

“Days,” Jim said. He leaned back. “He’s good. But not that good. I’m downloading everything. You said he was away today, right?”

“Yes.”

“When was he last in the office?”

“Yesterday. He’s spent most of this week in court, but he’s dropped by the office to keep an eye on things.”

Jim humphed. “Anything to do with you?”

“No.”

“I’ll backdate the access to yesterday, then,” Jim said. “Any of this any use?”

“Fuck, yes. Stop. Stop now.”

Jim glanced up at him. “Stop the download?”

“No. Backtrack about three forms. Yes, that’s it.” That was really it. He read the name, which meant nothing to him, but the photograph? “That’s the man the papers called Anderson, the man who tried to poison Gen’s drink.” His latest victim, and the one he had least sympathy for. “He got the stuff from the laboratory where he worked. But his name isn’t Anderson there, is it?”

“Nope.” Jim enlarged the image. “Raoul Rubinero.”

“That’ll be his real name.”

Jim turned to the laptop on his left and tapped a few keys. “This is the official system. He’s not there.”

A mixture of elation and depression filled Nick in a weird combination. Elation won. “We’ve got it. Anderson is dead, but there’ll be others. He’s taking the vulnerable ones and selling them the papers they need. And I bet he was looking at me for that too. Getting Mick O’Donnell on a string would really help him, but even when he only knew me as Nick Taylor, I was a good bet. I don’t have relatives, or at least Nick Taylor doesn’t, nobody close enough to miss him. He must have realized I bought my way into the country. He could sell me legitimate documents, or papers that come from the right place. That’s how he used Anderson and the man who tried to run Gen down.”

They looked through the other documents in silence until Lawrence said, “Why does he want to get rid of Gen?”

“Because she knows too much,” Nick said. “He won’t do it while he thinks she’s bringing me in. She’s told him I’m out of town for a few days, and I’ve rung into the university sick. Someone as ambitious and paranoid as Bennick, it wouldn’t take much to turn him to the dark side.” He paused. “I’ve met men like him before. Fuck, I was a man like him once.”

Lawrence turned a look of astonishment on him. “You were never like that. You didn’t use civilians, innocents—you used people who were up for it.”

He curled his lip. “I used whoever I needed to get what I wanted.”

Lawrence scoffed but said nothing.

Nick realized this was it. He had the evidence he needed to show the authorities. But what authorities? With Jim’s help, he could send the documents privately to any number of people, including the media. “Who gets this?” he said. “Media are last, because they’ll link Anderson, or Rubinero, to the club and to Gen. I don’t want that. He could be linked to someone else. Personally I doubt it, but you never know. USCIS is part of Homeland Security.”

“That’s your best bet, then,” Jim said. “An internal leak. Want me to arrange it for you?”

Nick sighed. “Yes. But don’t do anything without my say-so.” He straightened and met Lawrence’s perceptive gaze. “Give my best to Yolanda.”

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

“This’ll blow me wide open. I can’t hide. I’m involved up to my neck, and someone will say so.”

Lawrence threw his hands in the air in a gesture of despair. “Look at you! And you think you’re like that bastard? No way, Mick. Face it. Wait and see what happens. No doubt this man needs to go down, but you don’t have to go with him.”

Nick knew better. They’d look at his records and find all the holes in them, just like Bennick had. “My DNA, my fingerprints, they’re all on record. How long do you think it’ll take before they realize they got the wrong man back in London?”

Jim spoke without his attention leaving the screen. “You could confuse them a bit.”

Nick shook his head.

Out of the blue, Lawrence said, “It’s the woman, isn’t it?”

Nick met his gaze, his eyes glazing over. “What are you talking about?”

“I want to meet her. Come to dinner tonight.”

“Where?” No, he couldn’t.

“Do it. Yolanda’s only not here because the pregnancy is taking it out of her and she’s lying down. She rests every afternoon, but she’s fine, and she’d be mad if she didn’t get to see you.” He grinned. “And I want to meet this woman, the one who’s got you by the short and curlies.”

“We can’t.”

“We can. Another hotel, another suite. My treat this time. Not the Normal, somewhere else. Do it, Mick. I’ll even call you Nick.”

He could never resist that pleading expression in his brother’s eyes. Right from when they were kids and Larry wanted to stay up another half hour, he always got him. He sighed, giving in. “Okay.”

“You told her about me?”

“I told her I had a brother.” He paused. “Thanks.”

When she got home from work, Gen threw down her briefcase, kicked off her shoes, and headed for the shower. She knew as soon as the elevator doors opened that Nick wasn’t home. His presence didn’t vibrate here; she didn’t sense him. Either she was so attuned to his presence that she could just tell, or he had such a vital personality that everyone around him knew.

She was coming out of the shower, towel bundled around her hair, when she heard the elevator doors open and his, “Honey, I’m home!”

It sounded great in that English accent. Hardly cheesy at all. He came straight to her and took her in his arms, claiming his kiss that was anything but chaste. By the time he’d finished, the towel that had been wrapped around her was on the floor, and both were panting heavily. He touched her breasts, his eyelids sliding half shut in a sensuous invitation. One she wanted to take. He let her unbutton his crisp white shirt and slide her hands inside to caress him before he blinked. He kissed her as if he couldn’t stop himself. “I’m taking you out to dinner.”

“Really?” They hadn’t been out since the problem turned into a crisis. “Is it over, then?”

“Just about. I met with Jim today, my computer friend. He made it look easy.”

She tweaked his nipple, and he sucked in a breath. “Careful, or we won’t make it until dessert. He broke into the system, and the part that Bennick has ring-fenced, and found what we needed. Anderson’s real name and the fact that he doesn’t feature on the official list. We’ve got him.”

Staring up into his face, she saw only truth there. “What happens now?” She fought with the confusion threatening to overwhelm her, together with a sense of relief so profound it took away her faculty for reason.

“We’ll send the information to the department above you and, just to make sure, to a few other people. The bosses. With Jim’s help, we’re hitting every mailbox at the same time. They’re ready to go. When does Bennick get back?”

“He called this afternoon. The case is over. He’s coming back in full-time next week.”

Why did an expression of relief cross his grim features? And why was he looking grim at all? This was the end, the time for them to celebrate.

Suddenly she knew. “No.” She gripped the edges of his shirt as if he would walk away from her now. “No, you can’t. Stay with me.”

He cupped her cheek. “I’m too used to running. Maybe I won’t run this time.” He bent his head to her again, and she didn’t want to think about it anymore, even though she didn’t believe him for a minute. He was just saying that to placate her. She had the weekend to convince him. She’d better make good use of it.

Her meeting his brother would help her, she was sure. The first time in nearly five years, surely he wouldn’t walk away from that again? If his brother loved him, he wouldn’t want to let Nick walk away either. She needed to meet Larry, and Jim as well. She’d need all the help she could get. Because her badass boyfriend was a secret knight in disguise. Under all those dragon scales lay a suit of armor. Tarnished, but there.

His passion was carrying her away, and fuck, it was working. She could only try to persuade him, and right now she’d do anything. Giving herself to his kiss, she sank into passion, something he could effortlessly invoke in her. This wasn’t just skill; it was a true enthusiasm for sex, and the drive to make it as good as possible, the passion that had pushed him to succeed. He could have stopped, earned money working for another gang boss, kept under the radar, but he had to become the most successful. That was why the university wanted him. He set out to be the best at whatever he did, and she’d bet his gig as poetry professor would be no different.

She could only be deeply thankful that went for her too. He seemed intent on making her his, and she was only too glad to comply. She breathed in, savored his unique scent, the one she’d woken up to every morning for a week and wanted to wake up to forever. That was worth fighting for.

He needed her to take control here. She could feel it in every masterful brush of his hand over her willing body. He touched her almost languidly, but everywhere he touched, he left trails of fire. “I’m addicted to you,” she said, when he drew his lips away from hers.

“No more than I want you. I’ve avoided heroin, crack, crystal meth, booze, but not you. You got me.”

His voice sent a rumble of awareness through her, and she knew what she wanted to do. She broke away and entered the large room at a clip. She didn’t pause until she got to the glass room. A couple of sliding kicks sent the rug skidding over the floor outside the viewing area until there she was, naked, the panorama of New York behind her, above and below her, only a padded bench to keep her company.

That didn’t last long. He strode across the floor to her, dragging the bench out of the way but not entering the open space. “Look down.”

Without pause, she did. Her initial dizziness dissipated quickly, as she’d braced herself for the sight this time. Now she could see right down to the ground ten stories below, people moving, none of them aware of her soaring above them. She had a disturbing thought. “Is it privacy glass all the time? Or is it the kind you switch off and on?”

He folded his arms and chuckled. “You tell me.”

Well, she’d done it now, so what did it matter? After exposing herself to twenty complete strangers, what was this but a further step into a more adventurous life? That was what she’d always wanted, after all. It took a little courage. She could do it, and Nick had empowered her, shown her the way.

She stood in the center of the glass space, feet apart, and beckoned to him, crooking one finger, smiling. “Come and get it.”

He stripped where he stood, pausing only to locate the condom in his wallet. His clothes dropped to the floor, piled in an untidy heap that demonstrated his eagerness to get inside her. He watched her the whole time, sheathed his cock with one hand, dropped the wrapper on top of his discarded garments, and took the two strides that brought him to her with a determination that made her shudder with desire. He stopped within touching distance and scanned her body, stopping at the top of her thighs. “Your legs are wet. That means your pussy is working its magic. For me.”

She gave him a shrug and spread her hands. “I don’t see anybody else here.”

He came to her laughing, pulled her into his arms. “You saw the state of my dick. If I don’t get inside you soon, I’ll burst.”

Those words shouldn’t have sounded romantic, but they did. Maybe it was the way he looked at her and not the view, or maybe the strength that lifted her off the floor. He forced his thigh between hers and slid her down, her juice soaking him, his muscles providing much-needed relief to her sensitized, swollen pussy. The caress didn’t last long. Their mouths meshed; he ate voraciously at hers before separating them with a determination she felt in every pore of her skin. Then he lifted her again as if she were a doll weighing nothing at all. Holding her with one hand and his cock with the other, he brought them together.

Turning, he pushed her against the nearest wall. She got a flash of scenery, the sky darkening toward twilight, the river swirling below, and then she turned all her attention back to his face. She held on, gripped his butt, and lifted her legs to cling to his hips as he began to pump in and out of her. The sound of their coupling, soft and wet, pushed her arousal up further, her body flushing hot when she imagined…

“Would you like everybody to watch us?” He snatched a kiss as if he couldn’t stop himself, before continuing. “I’m too selfish to want that. While you’re with me, you’re mine and I’m yours. I want to fuck you rigid, until you can’t walk. Look down, look out. All those people out there, millions of them. If they could see us, I’ll tell you what they’d think. They’d be jealous, because I have you and they don’t.” He crooned to her while he fucked her as savagely as any man had ever taken her before. “You have the most beautiful body. Skin like living silk. A mouth made for kissing, and a cunt created just for me.”