Dangerous Proposition (32 page)

She shook her head, looking into his confident gaze with one of unmistakable terror. “I heard Griffin and his men talking. They said something about a surprise. For
you
.”

Colin breathed visibly. “If it’s what I think it is, then we’re in even more danger than you could imagine. But I promise you. Whoever it is we’re dealing with, I’m not going let them hurt you or Tucker.”

“There’s nothing you can do to stop them,” she insisted. “We’re unarmed, and there’s no way out of this room. They’ve got us, weakened and trapped, and they’re going to kill us if we don’t find a way to get out of here.”

Getting to her feet, Julia looked around. She saw nothing they could use to help themselves, and she eyed the bathroom door. It was a long shot, but maybe there was something in there that they could use to saw their way through the wall. Nail clippers might work, though she doubted the three poster children for the North American Mafia kept them in there.

Colin stood beside her. Turning her to face him, he narrowed his eyes. It was as though he knew she was planning something, and there was no way in hell he was letting her go through with whatever it was.

“Let me go,” she insisted. “Let me go, Colin. We’ve got to get out of here. We’ve got to—”

“Honey, it’s no use. Unless you’ve got a bulldozer in your pocket, there’s no way we’re getting out of this room. At least not tonight. That door is made of steel. It was put there to hold prisoners inside. The walls are thin, but they’re just as sound. We’ve got to wait until they come for us in the morning. Then maybe I can fight them. Though it’s certainly not going to be easy, with three of them and only one of me.”

“Two of
us
,” Julia corrected, catching sight of the bruise above his lip. The cut looked painful, which caused her to consider what he must have gone through to try and rescue her. God, when he was dragged into the room he’d barely been able to lift his head.

But despite the fact that he’d been beaten senseless on her behalf, he was still the mastermind behind Project Gemstone. Not the founder, but still the reigning king. That made him no better than Griffin Strycker, or any of the other men who were holding them against their will.

Had Colin been the peon, and Griffin the mastermind,
Colin
might be the one holding them prisoner, Julia thought with a horrifying shiver.

But Colin would never do that. Because despite what she’d recently learned about him, she’d gotten to know him in the last few months. He’d shown her on several occasions that he was willing to risk his life for her, and for others. Attending that party, he’d done everything in his power to keep her from tagging along. And he’d rescued her from Dylan Rossler, knowing that eight men could have been hiding in the shadows, ready to gun him down.

He wasn’t a monster, but he wasn’t a saint either. She needed to know what it all meant. And she’d be damned if she ended her life before she knew who the real Colin Westwood was.

“Tell me something,” she said, looking square into his baby blues.

“What?” he asked.

“Why you would run a diamond smuggling operation.”

Colin sighed, releasing his hold on her. He walked in the direction of the door, speaking with his back turned toward her. “It’s complicated.”

“I’m a fast learner,” she said, taking a seat on the bed.

After a long moment, he came beside her. He opened his mouth, taking a long, visible breath. “Believe it or not, there are some things you don’t need to know about me. Things that are better left unsaid.”

“Unlike the stuff I told you about my Mom? ’Cause that wasn’t at all personal.”

“For as long as I can remember”—Colin shook his head in the direction of the ceiling—“my father made it clear to me that one day I was going to run his company. Alec would be there, too, sharpening pencils in an office, perhaps, but as firstborn I was destined to rule. That’s something that’s considered a rite of passage in the Westwood family. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized just what that entitlement meant.”

“Running a multibillion dollar company doesn’t sound like a bad roll of destiny’s dice,” Julia said.

“It is when the only reason the company owner does the things he does is for his own personal gain. That may not sound like a huge deal to you, but I would watch my father hire a man simply because he knew the move was good for the bottom line. Then, after the poor bastard had served his purpose, he’d give him the axe when he least expected it. He wanted to groom me to be just like him, to thrive at the fall of others and make decisions based on nothing but monetary gain. And I suppose he did.” Colin looked at his feet. “When I was young, just six months into my position as CFO, Robert Jenkins, a man who was a friend to me from the time I came on board at Westwood Industries, was up for a serious promotion. Jenkins was smart and intuitive, and those factors made him a threat to the people around him, my father most especially. That’s why I was told to let Jenkins go—at least, that’s the real reason I was told to let him go. Seven weeks later, Jenkins put a gun to his head.” Colin looked up, and Julia could swear there were tears in his eyes. “I decided to forge my own destiny, a life free of Leighton Westwood.”

“By smuggling stolen gems?”

“By running a business that protects the interests of its workers. As long as they were loyal to the cause, they would never be terminated, at least not without a damn good reason for my doing so. That’s a promise I’ve kept, no matter what else has come my way.”

Julia considered what he’d said. It seemed like a good cause, employing for the sake of the less fortunate. But she couldn’t help thinking that there was more to the story.

“Even if that’s true, there are so many ways you can help people without breaking the law. You’re a doctor. That may not necessarily be an opportunity for you to be employing people, but it’s a profession where you can help others every day and give them a new chance at life.”

“It absolutely is. Though, to be honest, the doctor thing began as a cover. It was something to keep society from looking over my shoulder. Still, it’s my life now, and I know deep down that it’s a profession where I’ve done a lot of good. But it isn’t the end, either. Because at the end of the day, if someone can’t work, they don’t have a leg to stand on. At twenty-three, I knew that the best way I could help people was by giving them a fair shot at employment. And there aren’t too many ways for a disinherited young heir to do that—at least, none that I could see. What I needed was power. And I saw an opportunity to take it. Who better to take on Lucas Ramone than a guy from the same background, who understood his eccentric way of thinking? I’ve incurred a few bruises along the way, but until now, I’ve been no worse for the wear.”

“And you think that the ends justify the means?” Julia said. “That so long as the money goes to a good cause, it’s okay to steal it from hardworking people?”

“If it means I’m helping the less fortunate, then yes. Absolutely I do.”

It sounded noble. But the bottom line was that Colin knew what he was doing was wrong, yet he continued to do it every day.

“I could never be that way,” Julia replied firmly.

And she couldn’t, not knowing she was hurting others by doing what she was. Colin cared about the people he loved. But in other ways he was immeasurably thick.

She loved him. She’d loved him since the first time she saw him. She knew she always would.

But he could never love you, Julia, she thought, wondering where that little blip of insight had come from. Still, she knew it was the truth. Colin was just like her Mom. No matter what good he proclaimed to believe, his priority would always be himself.

He laid a hand on her shoulder. Looking into her eyes, he said, “No. You have high moral standards, Julia, which is one of the things I admire most about you. You don’t try to bend the rules or justify doing bad things to suit your own purpose. I’ve gotten to know your father well in the time he’s worked for me. And I see a great deal of Tucker in you.”

“He raised me to be strong-minded and independent,” she said.

He smiled. “As opposed to being a weak-minded, pompous ass like me?”

She laughed.

“Come on,” Colin said, prodding her with a sly grin. “I’m not really so bad. Am I?”

“No, you’re…” Realizing that he was leaning into her, that their faces were almost touching, Julia became warm. Seeing that he was sucking her back in, knowing she hardly cared, she said, “You’re not
so
bad.”

She swallowed, looking up at Colin with a question in her eyes she prayed he couldn’t read. It was all she’d wanted to know since he had come into her life. And though her trust in him had been pushed to the very brink, her heart still fluttered whenever he was close to her. It leapt as his lips inched above hers.

Colin must have sensed her desires, because he moved his mouth, covering hers in a swift, possessive gesture. His lips and tongue working to claim her, and his strong arms wrapped themselves around her body. Laying her back on the bed, he broke the kiss just long enough to offer her a smile that should have been reserved for the most intimate of lovers.

And in that moment, Julia realized that he had her heart. She didn’t know when she’d given it to him, the night she’d snuck into his mansion perhaps, when she’d seen him again after so many years. Or maybe it had been that afternoon at the hotel when she was sixteen. All she knew was that when she’d seen him that day, she had been admiring the strongest man she’d ever known.

But she could never let Colin know how she felt. She loved him, and it was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced. But it was for that very reason that she couldn’t risk learning he didn’t feel the same. Her heart wasn’t whole. If Colin Westwood broke it a second time, there’d be nothing left to give to him or to anyone. As he’d said himself, there were certain things that were better left unsaid.

But that didn’t mean she had to keep from showing him how much she needed him. Julia breathed in and out as his eyes grazed her body. A smile escaped her lips.

Colin brushed his mouth over hers. His tongue slipped inside, and its warm sweetness penetrated her.

She groaned, becoming lost to the sensation. She wrapped her arms around the back of Colin’s neck and drew him close, not wanting to let him go, needing him so very, very desperately.

Colin grasped her hips. He slid his palms upward, slipping his hands beneath her shirt.

Julia gasped. Arching, she offered a better angle as he brought his fingertips against her breasts.

As he massaged the swollen peaks, her nipples grew hard. Colin tugged her shirt upward, and she raised her arms, allowing him to bring it over her head. She didn’t know where it went, and she didn’t care. All she could think about was the last time they’d been together, the way his skin had felt against hers. God, how she wanted to feel that again, wanted to feel it more than anything.

As Colin unfastened her bra and exposed her torso to his smoky gaze, Julia realized just how much she wanted to do the same to him. She gave him a little shove, sending him onto his back. He sent an “ouch!” her way.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, feeling absolutely horrible at what she’d just done. She’d forgotten about his bruises, and she prayed she hadn’t hurt him too badly. “Are you all right?”

His lips formed a slow, devilish smile. Then he began to laugh.

She resisted the urge to laugh herself. He was a real smart-ass sometimes, but she found she was almost appreciating his twisted sense of humor.

“You think you’re really funny, don’t you?” Placing her hands on his knees, she crawled on top of him and wrapped her legs around his waist. Finding his hardened length, she grinded herself against him.

A pleasured groan escaped Colin’s smug lips. When he caught his breath, he clasped her by the shoulders, drawing more snugly against him. Julia complied, smoothing her center against his hardness, driving herself as crazy as him for sure.

“Damn,” Colin groaned, opening his eyes a moment later to meet her gaze. “What are you trying to do, woman? Kill me?”

Julia laughed, doing her best to hide the way he was making her tremble. Managing a coy smile, she said, “You’ll know it when I’m trying to kill you, Westwood.”

“Yeah?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Keep this up and you just might get your wish.”

His hungry mouth sought hers, and before she realized what was happening, he was slipping her bra from her shoulders. She shivered as he tossed it to the ground, and watched him as he took off his shirt. He scooped her into his arms as though she weighed no more than a feather. He brought her bare chest against his.

“God, Colin.” She breathed in and out, the feel of his hot skin overwhelming. Catching a glimpse of the cut above his eye, she asked, “Are you sure that—I mean, are you sure that you can—”

“You’re kidding me. Right?”

“But you’re hurt.”

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “That isn’t going to stop me from being with you, Julia. Trust me. Nothing could do that now.”

She couldn’t argue, because the feel of him, the immeasurable thrill he gave her when he was holding her like this, smiling the way he was, it was simply too wonderful.

Colin kissed her deeply. Straying from her lips, he formed a trail of soft, wet kisses along her skin. Mouth on her breast, he suckled, bringing her nipple to hardness. He caressed her hot flesh with his tongue until she was literally aching with need. Julia arched, unable to keep from shaking beneath him.

She wanted nothing more than to feel this, Colin’s mouth on her skin, his hands and kisses on her body. He slipped his fingers inside her jeans, bringing them between her folds. He stroked her wet center.

“God, yes,” she whispered, desperate for him to keep touching her, to bring her to that ultimate climax.

Colin shot her a wicked grin. He went on stroking her, bringing her closer and closer to the edge. The waves consumed her as he slipped a finger inside of her. She came helplessly around his fingertip, shouting his name. “Colin, Colin,
Colin
!”