Burned Deep (40 page)

His entire visage softened instantly. “Ari…”

I waved a hand at him. “Don't worry about it. I'll survive. Let's go to our meeting.”

“Right. Like you can concentrate on work when you have no idea what Dark Knight there just set out to do.”

It'd be hell to focus on business, but what choice did I have? “We have a ton of things to tackle. I'm not letting anything fall through the cracks because of me.”

I collected my files and notebook and preceded Kyle out the door and down the corridor to the main conference room, where I did everything in my power to get through the rest of my day, keeping my shaky hands in my lap and forcing a bit of calm into my voice.

On the inside, however, I was nothing short of a nervous wreck.

 

chapter 22

My mother called my cell the next morning. My tension hadn't eased the slightest bit from the day before. Especially when Dane had told me he'd learned the identity of snake-tat guy and that he'd apparently skipped town after paying off a few debts. Dane suspected he hadn't acted solely on his own—that someone had likely offered him substantial cash to torture me. The very cryptic, “Don't worry, I'll find him,” from Dane only made me more apprehensive.

“I don't have anything new to say to you,” I told my mother.

“It was all a bluff,” she unexpectedly blurted, her voice cracking. “There is no synopsis, chapters, proposal. I made it all up.”

I sank onto the armrest of a sofa in the great room and asked, “You what?”

“I had no choice but to blackmail you, Aria Lynne. I needed the money.”

“Needed?” As in past tense.

“Everything's fine now,” she rushed on, as though she wanted off the phone ASAP. “I won't bother you again. Ever. I understand you don't want me in your life and that's fine. Consider me gone.”

My stomach knotted. “Just like that?”

“I don't know what sort of people you associate with—I'm not even really sure who you are. But you won't hear from me again.” The line went dead.

I sat for a few minutes, trying to process what had just happened. Then I slowly got to my feet and sought out Dane in his office.

“You couldn't be in two places at once yesterday,” I said without preamble. “So while Amano tracked down tat guy, you were … what? Buying off my mother?”

“She won't cause trouble for you in the future. I made sure of it.” He didn't even look up from his laptop, just kept typing.

I stared at him, momentarily at a loss for words as anger roiled through me. I tried to tamp it down, but there were some seriously conflicting feelings clawing at me and I couldn't get a grip on them. My mother thought I'd become some sort of monster. Had I?

Because I was perfectly happy that I wouldn't have to deal with her ever again. That she wouldn't hurt my dad any more than she already had. It was a monumental relief, really. A huge weight off my shoulders.

Conversely …

“You had no right to take care of this. I was handling it.”

Finally, he glanced up. “Were you? Or were you just feeding into her scheme? Because she kept calling you, didn't she? And five grand here or five grand there would have only snowballed into more and more—until all you were doing was signing over your paycheck to her. And, baby, you work too damn hard to make that sort of sacrifice.”

I wanted to cry. He was right, of course. At the same time, I honestly feared how he'd reconciled the issue. My mother had not sounded normal on the phone. In fact, she'd sounded terrified.

“You threatened her?”

“I got her name from Molly, since she's called twice at the office. I had someone who works for me locate her. She happened to be at home, which made it easy to write her a check and tell her to stay the hell out of your life.”

“You just said money wouldn't solve the problem.”

“I said five grand here or there wouldn't solve the problem. Trust me, she understands that my offer was a one-shot deal.”

“Because you threatened her,” I repeated.

“I did what I had to in order to get my point across.”

That flash of danger in his eyes—the darkness that rimmed his emerald irises—told me very specifically why my mother had been so nervous on the phone.

And the dark side of me that I'd not known existed until now made me pleased that she'd finally gotten a taste of her own medicine. She'd tormented my dad. She'd broken both of our hearts. And she hadn't cared that she'd done it.

“Ari,” Dane said as he stood and came around to take me in his arms. “None of this is new to me. My entire life has centered around protecting what's mine. Sometimes there are simple solutions, sometimes not. I'm willing to do whatever I have to do.
Anything.
”

I gnawed my lower lip. Then asked, “You know when to draw the line, though, right?”

“I currently don't have any lines. Too much is at stake. You. 10,000 Lux. Hell, even your dad's reputation. You really think I'd let her publicly rip a hole in him again? He's your father. You love him. And I respect him. So I stood up for him—and you.”

I realized that all of the shadowy parts of our life together were not strictly Dane's doing or a result of his personal and professional dealings. I'd brought baggage along to darken our doorstep, too. I wanted an end to it all as much as Dane did.

What kind of a person did that make me?

Regardless of good intentions or the need to protect the people and things we loved, the bottom line seemed to be that we'd both do whatever we had to do.

The question was, could I live with that?

*   *   *

In the afternoon, Kyle joined me on the terrace outside my office.

“You okay?” he asked as he rested an arm against the railing.

“Sure. You?”

He gave a sardonic laugh. “I've lost a little sleep over you.”

“Don't,” I was quick to say. “It's not worth it, Kyle.”

He stared at me for several suspended seconds, then said, “I happen to think it is.”

With a sigh, I told him, “I care about you, too.”

“Which is why you didn't want to see my devastatingly handsome face rearranged? Though, for the record, I'd put money on the quarterback.”

“I'd prefer it if we didn't find out whether you could last a few rounds with Dane.” I still had no doubt who the victor would be. Kyle could hold his own for a while but I knew Dane would channel all that territorial intensity into a standoff. And it wouldn't be pretty.

A tremor ran down my spine. I didn't even want to think of the two of them taking swings at each other. I'd had enough drama, enough danger, to last a lifetime.

“So where is Surly, anyway?” he asked.

“Off doing whatever it is that he and Amano do when they're not here.”

“Then I'm on bodyguard alert, eh? Cool.”

“Try not to enjoy it so much. You could get hurt as easily as I could. In fact, it would be best if—”

“Huh-uh,” he cut me off. “You don't bother dipping your toe in hot water; you dive right in. So I'm hanging out with you this afternoon. I'll go get my laptop and set up shop at your conference table.”

As he headed back inside, I said, “Kyle, you really should think twice about this.”

He turned to me and smiled. The pearly white, vibrant one. “And miss out on the chance to twist the knife because your boyfriend knows I'm spending all this time with you? Not a fucking chance.”

While he was gone to retrieve his computer, Molly popped in with a beautiful floral arrangement in her hands.

“These just arrived,” she said as she set the red and white roses in a square crystal vase on the corner of my desk.

I causally asked, “Has Mr. Bax returned yet?”

“No. I'll phone when he's back, if you'd like.”

“Thank you.”

She left and I quickly snatched the small card from the florist's stationery. The flowers were from Dane, and he'd obviously ordered them online, because he couldn't write out the card himself. Instead, it was a computer-printed one that read:

Ari,

Again, I'm so sorry about what's happened. I'm fixing it, I promise. Meet me out front at five. Dane

I was more than happy to slip off with him at the end of the day. And I hoped he was in a better frame of mind, with whatever current plan of attack he had underway. Which I wanted to know about, yet … I didn't.

I went back to my collage of decoration images, prepping it so I could display it for Dane this evening. Kyle joined me and we both immersed ourselves in our respective projects. Close to five, I packed everything up. Kyle went downstairs with me, since he was done for the day as well.

The tall doors were opened by the valet taking over Brandon's shift. I hadn't met him yet.

“Ari DeMille, Events Director,” I said. “This is Kyle Jenns.”

“Wayne Horton,” he introduced himself as we all shook. “I'll bring your cars around.”

“Actually, I've got a meeting with Mr. Bax.” Dane's Venom F5 sat in the circular drive. I turned to Kyle. “Thanks for babysitting me.”

“Not a problem. Be careful.”

“Of course.”

Wayne escorted me over to the flashy sports car.

Staring up at him, I asked, “Are you new?”

“No, I've been working with various departments the past few months—IT, Facilities, Distribution Services, Grounds crew—whatever they need me to do. I'm sort of a jack-of-all-trades.”

“That sounds handy for the hotel.”

“Seems to be working out.” His smile held a hint of mischief that perplexed me. He pulled open the door and I slipped inside, setting my bag on the floorboard between my legs. I glanced back at him, trying to read his expression. He added, “Have a nice evening, Miss DeMille.”

“Ari is fine.”

“Very good.” He closed the door and engaged Kyle in conversation. I reached for the seat belt, an uneasy feeling seeping through me. The car peeled away, rounded the center fountain, and raced down the winding road.

I turned toward the driver's seat while saying, “No need to show off for—oh, my God!”

My heart leapt into my throat. It took several seconds for my brain to overcome shock and catch up.

“You're not Dane!”

 

chapter 23

The dark-haired man flashed me a sinister grin and said, “No, I am not.”

He had an accent with which I wasn't familiar and he wore sunglasses. With just a quick glimpse he could have passed for Dane.

“Who are you?” I demanded as I reached for the latch on my belt and unhooked it.

“Vale Hilliard. And don't think you're going anywhere, Miss DeMille.”

“I'm not going anywhere with
you
!” I searched the door panel, mumbling in a panicked voice, “Where the hell is the lock?” Prepared to throw myself out of the speeding vehicle and onto the stone drive, I was that desperate to escape.

“Sit still and buckle up—it is the law, after all.”

I shot him what I'd hoped was a menacing glare, though I knew it turned into one of terror when I saw he had a gun in his lap. And it was pointed at me.

“Shit.” My pulse beat erratically. My eyes flashed to the dashboard, noting a different stereo and other options. “This isn't even Dane's car.”

“It's a loaner. I told the owner in Las Vegas who has it up for sale that I was interested in a test drive.”

“To Arizona?”

“I told him I'd need it overnight—and paid him handsomely.”

Fuck!
He'd found a car that, on the outside, looked identical to Dane's. The guards at the entrance of the property wouldn't have batted an eye as it came barreling toward the gates—as we did now on our way out. I wanted to scream at the injustice. This man drove a vehicle that was so rare, only twenty-nine people other than Dane had one.

We blew right through the opening without slowing down. Then he punched it, driving so fast that even if I could have found the lock on the door and had the nerve to attempt to get out just hitting the pavement might have killed me.

As though he sensed I contemplated an escape, Vale Hilliard said, “If you cooperate, you won't get hurt.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Kidnapping you is a start.”

With an aggravated shake of my head, I said, “You sent the flowers, didn't you?”
Damn it!
I'd fallen right into his trap.

He grinned again. “Dane will panic when he realizes you're missing. I'll call him and tell him he can have you back, unharmed—for a price.”

I swallowed hard. “You want part of the Lux.”

“No. My father does.”

My gaze narrowed. “Your father?”

“Well, I get something out of it as well.” He slowed—barely—and I screamed as we took a hairpin turn onto a red-dirt road, the tires squealing as we left the asphalt behind. The car splashed through a puddle, coating the car crimson. The rugged terrain jarred me and we slipped a bit in the mud.

My heart now pounded fiercely.

“Where are we going?”

“We'll stay in the canyon, since there's no cell reception here. No reason for you to try to call Dane yourself. Or 9-1-1. I'll have to leave you in order to phone him. But don't worry, I'll tie you up nice and tight. And since there's no one within miles, you can scream as loud as you'd like—not a soul will hear you.”

It took a bit for me to recover. Eventually, I said, “You're not seriously going to leave me in the middle of nowhere?”

“One of us will come back for you.” His tone turned dark as he added, “For your sake, hope it's Dane.”

“Oh, my God,” I whispered. My stomach roiled. This couldn't be happening. And there was no way out of it. The man had a gun. I couldn't outrun
bullets
. Or him. Even if I had two seconds to reach for my phone and hit Dane's speed dial number, it would do no good. I knew there was no service this deep in a box canyon. I even had trouble sometimes at the Lux.