Get Lucky (18 page)

By the time they reached Arizona, London had become familiar with the GPS, and even found Marc’s atlas stuffed between the seats. She was glad to see that even though he used modern technology, he hadn’t turned his back on the classic reliability of a good atlas. London compared notes, made sure the GPS understood where they were going, and was proud of herself when she pulled into the motel late that night where Marc had told her he and his brother were staying.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” she whispered, nudging Marc after she’d parked and turned off his car.

“What?” He jerked awake, looking around and appearing confused for a moment.

“We’re here.”

“We’re here?” he repeated. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I didn’t need you to be awake.” She’d never understood why every man believed no woman could navigate from town to town without his assistance. “I just figured I’d wake you up before I went to get a room.” She ran her hand over his soft hair that was flat on one side of his head from sleeping. “I wouldn’t want you waking up in the dark all alone and getting scared,” she teased.

Marc cleared his throat as he straightened and opened the passenger door, letting the cold night air flood the nicely warmed car. “You’re not getting a room. Jake can get a room.”

“I thought he got shot.”

Marc wagged his finger at her over the hood when she stood on the driver’s side. “Don’t you dare baby him. He’ll milk it until you’re exhausted.”

London didn’t say anything else, deciding she would have to meet this brother and draw her own conclusions. Marc pulled her luggage out and carried it, walking ahead of her after they locked up the car. She stared at their surroundings as they hurried across the practically empty parking lot. Everything was so dark and so quiet, but she couldn’t shake an unnerving sensation that someone was watching them. It wasn’t a feeling most people probably understood. But, growing up, quite often the local police were watching them. London grew to understand the difference between knowing when she was safe and when she wasn’t.

“The key is in my front pocket,” Marc told her when he stopped in front of a motel room door and faced her with her luggage in his hands. “You have to get it out.”

“I do?” She didn’t miss his satisfied grin when she slid her hand into his pocket and felt a plastic card. She also felt his cock jump to life and snapped her attention to his face. His smile had changed into an incredibly innocent expression. London almost laughed out loud and possibly would have if the prickles weren’t going down her neck. “I swear someone is watching us,” she whispered, easing the card out of Marc’s pocket and sliding it into the lock by the doorknob. “I know it sounds weird, but it’s a sensation I get from time to time and usually I’m right.”

“I believe you.” Marc didn’t say anything else as he looked over her head into their dark surroundings. “We’ll be inside in a moment.”

London followed Marc into his room but stopped just inside the door and let her eyes focus in the dark room. A large man, a very large man, lay on one of the beds damn near naked, wearing just boxers. He had a mop of curls fanned around his head and dark hair across a very muscular chest. His long bare legs were slightly spread and his feet were bare. She would have gawked at what were probably size 14s if it weren’t for the hard-on that created a tent in his boxers.

Marc put her luggage down and flipped on one of the lamps. “Good God, man,” he snapped, slapping the man’s foot hard enough to make him leap to a sitting position. “Put some fucking clothes on. You knew I was bringing London here.”

She noticed then that Jake’s shoulder was bandaged and part of the gauze wrapped around under his arm was stained with something dark. She guessed blood.

“Jake!” Marc barked, raising his hand to strike his brother’s foot again when Jake simply sat in the middle of the bed, tousled hair that almost fell to his shoulders giving him a very bad-boy appearance. “Wake up,” Marc ordered.

“Hey,” Jake said, giving her a crooked grin and an appraising once-over. “I’m Jake, Marc’s better half.”

Marc grunted and walked to the other side of the second bed to turn on the rest of the lamps. “Get dressed,” he ordered again.

“He’s always this grumpy. I’m the nice one.” Jake slid his long bare legs off the side of the bed and reached for jeans with one hand. “Welcome to our home away from home.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, diverting her eyes when he stood.

Jake gave her another crooked grin when he carried his crumpled clothes and moved past her to the bathroom. London didn’t turn to watch him leave.

“There’s blood on his bandage,” she said after the bathroom door closed.

“I’ll take a look at it here in a few,” Marc said, walking up to her. “Are you okay? Jake is a terrible flirt, but he’s harmless. I promise. If he gets too annoying just clobber him, or tell me and I’ll do it for you.”

London didn’t doubt for a moment that he would. She remembered the picture she’d been sent of the two of them and knew Marc would defend his brother to the death as well. In spite of how he talked about Jake, Marc cared for his brother and it showed.

“How was your trip?” Jake asked when he came back out of the bathroom. He wore faded jeans but no shirt and was still barefoot. He’d dampened his hair and straightened it, although loose curls fell around his face. The day-old growth on his jaw and thick, muscular torso were enough to make any woman drool. It was quite clear Jake knew this about himself, which somehow diminished his sex appeal. “You two hungry? I’m starved. Let’s order pizza and get acquainted.”

Marc took London’s hand and pulled her to him when he sat, encouraging her onto his lap. He was staking his claim. London wondered if they’d spent a lifetime competing for ladies. She could only imagine how lucky any woman would be having these two hot on her trail.

“Are you hungry?” Marc asked, his warm breath tickling the side of her face.

“Order food if you want.” She wasn’t convinced letting anyone come to the room was a good idea but forced herself to trust these two. “I’m not that hungry.”

“You’ve hardly eaten anything today.”

“Maybe she’ll change her mind when it gets here. I’m ordering pizza.”

London listened as they decided on their order and Jake placed the call. After he relaxed again on the bed where he’d been sleeping, London excused herself to go to the bathroom. When she came out they were discussing the pictures London had shown Marc.

“Let me see them,” Jake said. “They sound identical to the ones that came to the house. Did you get action figures in the mail, too?” he asked her.

“Action figures?” London sat on the edge of the bed closest to Marc.

“Marc got the wedding couple with her head chopped off and we got Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and she was beheaded, too,” Jake explained.

London gawked at him. “You got a woman without her head in the mail, too?”

Jake looked serious for the first time since she’d met him, which helped her see a strong family resemblance. “When Marc told Dad about the figurines he was sent, Dad knew you were in trouble.”

“Jake,” Marc began.

“It wasn’t until you told Marc about getting the pictures that it sunk into his thick head and he raced up to get you. Now we just need to figure out why you’re involved in this mess, too.”

“Slow down,” Marc ordered. “You’re scaring her.”

“I never thought this was about me. It’s about my parents, and apparently yours, too.” She’d show Marc she could handle this, and more if it was sent her way. They didn’t know each other really well yet, but Marc would see she knew how to take care of herself and had for quite a while now, as in most of her life. “It’s our parents that brought us together.”

He gave her a knowing look and she simply smiled, unwilling to let him sway the conversation into something more personal. Exhaustion would kick in soon enough after all the driving she’d done, but until it did she would discuss this with both of them.

“Do you have the pictures that your family received?” she asked.

“Get yours out, too,” Marc said, standing both of them up, then moving around her to their luggage.

A few minutes later London stood in between both men, feeling incredibly short, and stared at all of the pictures they’d spread out on the bed.

“Good Lord, they really are all identical,” she said under her breath, and tried studying them as a detective would.

“Tell us again what that private dick said to you,” Marc said.

“Huh?” She looked up at him, tearing herself away from the pictures and glimpses into Marc’s happy home life.

Marc ran his hand down her arm. “That James Huxtable guy.”

“Who?” Jake asked.

“A private investigator came to my work,” she began.

They were both so tall. London moved to the chair at the desk, sat and put a bit of distance between her and the two of them. She could see how anyone would feel safe with both of them nearby. They were damn near giants, and both of them incredibly sexy at that. As much as they looked alike, there was something incredibly different about the two of them, too. Marc moved with a silent confidence, his expression hard and commanding when he was focused on something.

Jake, on the other hand, had a slow, almost lazy drawl about him in his speech and his mannerisms. His longer hair and crooked smile made him appear the bad boy out of the two. At the moment, though, his expression was as serious as Marc’s. Both of them were taking in all information, processing it, and working to solve a mystery.

“What was his name?” Jake asked.

“James Huxtable. He gave me his card, but it didn’t say anything on it other than his name and a phone number.”

“Did you ever call it?” Jake asked.

When she told him no, he simply nodded. Both of them sat, each of them taking a separate bed, and watched her, waiting for her to continue.

“The first time he showed up he gave me his card. I was at work at the lodge. I work at the front desk,” she added for Jake’s benefit. “He asked if Jonnie and Ruby Brooke were my parents.”

“Jonnie and Ruby,” Marc repeated. “I don’t think I knew their names.”

“They’re my parents and I told him that.” London glanced down at her hands, knowing the time had arrived. Marc would find out sooner or later, and it might as well be from her. She shot him a furtive look. “Have you heard of them?”

He shook his head. “Should I have?” he asked. “What do they do?”

London sucked in a breath. “My parents are fairly well known in their own circles,” she said, then decided not to beat around the bush. “I guess you could say they are a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde.”

Chapter Ten

It was the last thing Marc expected her to say. He realized he must have appeared stunned when London lowered her gaze, fiddling with her fingers in her lap. Jake let out a hoot, shaking his head as he leaned forward.

“Your parents are bank robbers?” he asked, just as stunned and started laughing.

“They don’t limit it to banks,” she said, her soft tone hard to hear as her hair sifted over her shoulder and covered part of her face.

Her shame was obvious and suddenly Marc felt sorry for her. “Go on,” he told her, shooting Jake a hard look and shaking his head once as he mouthed to him to shut up. “Tell us the rest of what the PI said.”

London cleared her throat and sucked in a breath, shoving her long, silky black hair behind her shoulder as she looked from Jake to him. “He told me they were on the most wanted list, which didn’t surprise me, and he wanted to know if I knew where they were.”

“What did you tell him?” Marc wanted to slide off the bed and pull her into his arms but worried she didn’t want that at the moment.

London sat with her back straight and her expression pinched when she continued. “I haven’t seen or heard from my parents in at least a few years, maybe more, which isn’t unusual,” she continued. “He acted like he didn’t believe me, though. When he showed up this morning I confronted him before he could me. I asked if he knew where they were and he didn’t. But then he speculated that probably one of the game players had them, and that he just didn’t know which one.”

“One of the game players?” Jake looked at Marc and it was clear he was thinking the same thing as Marc.

“Does that mean something to the two of you?” London asked.

“It might.” Marc leaned forward and slid his legs off the edge of the bed. “London, I—”

A firm knock on the door saved him from fumbling for reassuring words. He hated seeing her so distraught. He turned to the motel room door as Jake stood behind him. Marc was aware of how stiffly his brother moved.

After paying for the pizza, Marc and Jake convinced London to have a slice. The conversation shifted as the three of them ate and chatted about anything not related to why they were here.

Jake was relaxed around London and flirted with her shamelessly. Marc would have been irritated if London didn’t so skillfully dodge every one of his brother’s advances. He imagined her avoiding many men coming on to her as she worked at the lodge, just as he had. The fact that she’d succumbed to his advances made him want to protect her even more, and do whatever it took to keep the smile on her face that was there right now. “Jake, you should see about getting another room before it gets much later,” Marc said as he placed the empty pizza box by the trash can.

“You’re kicking me out?” Jake looked mortally wounded.

“I told London I’d protect her. You think I’m going to let her sleep in the same room with you?” Marc glared at Jake, wanting a moment alone with London before they laid much more on her. He already guessed she needed reassurance that his learning her parents ran on the wrong side of the law didn’t change his feelings toward her. It was obvious just from knowing London for a couple weeks how law-abiding she was.

“Damn, kicked out of my own bed,” Jake mumbled, reaching for his shirt and taking his time easing into it.

“Seriously, guys,” London said, standing and looking concerned as she watched Jake struggle with his shirt. “I can get my own room.”

“No!” Marc and Jake said at the same time.

Marc stood as well and helped his brother finish dressing. “I know how to dress myself,” Jake muttered, his speech somewhat slurred.

“I know you can,” Marc said quietly, seeing how little fight his brother had in him. “Can I trust you to keep your paws off my girl while I go get a room for you?”

Jake met Marc’s gaze with a look of relief, although he managed one of his ridiculous-looking, crooked smiles. “I don’t know, man. She’s really hot.”

Marc pushed Jake’s uninjured shoulder and his brother fell helplessly onto the bed behind him, and sat without moving. He studied Jake for a moment.

“You got into the meds Mom stashed in the first-aid kit,” he accused, taking in his brother’s glazed-over expression.

“Getting shot hurts,” Jake said, scooting back on the bed and lying down. “Sorry, London darling, my big brother told me to keep my hands to myself. You’re going to have to make the first move.”

Marc rolled his eyes and turned to find London watching the two of them, her head tilted and a curious expression on her face.

“He probably won’t move,” Marc told her, then, because he couldn’t stop himself, moved over to kiss her. “I’ll be right back.”

After Marc helped Jake into his room, content his brother would sleep off the pain meds which were left over from when his father had been shot, he returned to London. He caught her standing in the middle of their motel room, scowling at the floor. In spite of her tormented expression, London was breathtakingly beautiful. Marc moved across the room, captivated by how her sweater hugged and showed off her full round breasts, and pulled her into his arms.

“It wasn’t easy to tell us about your parents,” he began.

“Would it have been for you?” She stiffened, pursing her lips when she looked up at him and searched his face.

“Were they crooks when you were growing up?” he asked, trying to keep his tone gentle.

“Yes. They have been all my life. And I don’t need sympathy over it.”

He imagined how hard it must have been for her. The more he ached to pull her into his arms, the more she seemed to resist.

“I’ve never told anyone about my parents.
No one,
” she stressed when a moment of silence had passed between them. “I’m sure I never would have told you if I didn’t have to. But as you can see from when you asked me earlier, our parents have nothing in common.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“What?” she gasped, her tone disbelieving.

“There’s got to be a common link,” he murmured, giving it some thought.

London looked up at him, studying his face with haunted dark eyes. Every move she made dripped with sensuality, yet he saw now how disparaged she looked. He fought the urge to pull her into his arms and whisper anything it took to relax her and assure her he didn’t think any less of her. Then he’d make love to her, taking his time to learn every detail of her hot sexy body.

“Why do you think our parents have something in common?” she asked. “Is it because your parents are so wonderful and mine were never around?” She sounded bitter.

Marc wouldn’t press about her childhood but ached to know more about her. He would soon with time. Patience would work in his favor more than pressing her to open up to him all at once.

“Have your parents ever been arrested?”

“Not that I know of, although apparently they’re on the most wanted list now.”

“I’m not so sure about that either, but we can check if you like.” He ran his hand down the sides of her hair, aching to take her to bed right now and make love to her until she cried out his name as she came harder than she ever had before. “But if they’ve been breaking the law all of your life and have never been caught, they are quite possibly the best in their field, just like my parents.”

London’s entire expression transformed as she looked up at him wide-eyed and broke out in laughter. She shook her head, holding her gut, and walked away from him. He had her trapped on that side of the bed so she walked the length of it, continuing to laugh and shake her head. When she faced him, her face was flushed.

“You’re really stretching it, aren’t you?” she asked, and again noticeably jumped when a clicking sound came from the door.

Jake opened the door with his key and walked in. “I left the first-aid kit in here,” he said, letting the door close on its own and headed to the bathroom. “Don’t mind me. Continue with your foreplay.”

Marc ignored him, giving London all of his attention when he walked into her and gave her a hug. “You’re beautiful when you laugh,” he whispered into her hair.

Jake came out of the bathroom fidgeting with the contents of the first-aid kit. Marc glanced Jake’s way, wishing his brother would go away. Jake looked like a giant five-year-old, pathetic, and not wanting to be alone.

“Marc thinks your parents and mine have something in common,” London said, leaving Marc’s arms and sitting on the end of the bed. “Can you guess what it is?”

“I’d say maybe they are both the best in their fields.” Jake was focused, his expression tight as he spoke. His eyes still looked doped, but he was obviously feeling the pain.

“Oh my God, you’re kidding me.” She started laughing again, and Marc caught Jake looking at her with appreciation.

Jake could drool over London all he wanted as long as that was all he did. When Marc told Jake as much with a look, Jake simply cocked an eyebrow at him. Marc would wipe that cocky stare right off Jake’s face if necessary, regardless of how much pain he was in.

“We’re serious,” Marc told her, sitting next to her and stroking her hair until she gave him her attention. “When we were down in Mexico last year chasing the son of a bitch who killed Mom’s boss, we ran into one of these game players.”

“What are you talking about?” London scowled at Marc, looked over at Jake, then heaved a sigh and stared in the mirror at both of them, possibly believing it was a way to appease both of them. “I don’t know if my parents were in Mexico, or not.”

She had no clue how damn sexy she looked.

“We don’t know if they were either. Mom’s boss disappeared, which started the hunt,” Marc explained, focusing on London’s finger when she tapped it against her lips. “We tracked him into Mexico.”

“Isn’t bounty hunting against the law in Mexico?”

“It’s illegal in every country in the world except here and the Philippines,” Jake offered.

London looked across the motel room at him, nodding.

“We were very careful,” Marc said, shooting Jake a hard look before London returned her attention to him. There wasn’t any reason to let her know they’d ended up in jail while down there because they were bounty hunters. The charges were dropped and they were behind bars less than twenty-four hours. He wasn’t going to let what he did for a living scare her away. “Some other people disappeared and while we were down there Dad was taken, too.”

“Taken?” She looked at Marc wide-eyed. “What do you mean, ‘taken’?”

“We were in this small village south of Tijuana in a dump of a motel room.” Jake jumped in to tell the story, his expression sobering as his tone dropped to a whispered drawl. “Marc and I were there first, scoping out the place. We were pretty sure we knew where our guy was, a well-known assassin named Marty Byrd.”

“Assassin?” London gasped, then began shaking her head. “You hunt down people like assassins?”

“One sadistic son of a bitch,” Jake said, nodding. “He was gathering up men that he felt were the best in their field to join him in a game of murder,” he continued. “We all knew he wanted Dad. When they came to our room, armed and dangerous, Dad let them capture him so he could get on the inside. We had to take the entire place down to get Dad back out of there. Marty Byrd was killed and so were almost all of his men.”

London let out a loud breath, giving herself a fierce shake that caused her long black hair to tumble over her shoulders and past her breasts. She arched her back while sitting cross-legged on the bed, grabbed her hair, and held it in a ponytail with her hands for a moment as she closed her eyes, letting it all sink in. Her breasts pressed against the pale pink knit sweater she had on. Marc watched her nipples harden enough to see them perfectly through the material. He shot a quick glance at Jake, knowing he was enjoying the view, too. Marc was more than ready for his brother to go call it a night in his own room. If London needed assurance that being a bounty hunter wasn’t a bad thing, Marc could handle it without help.

“So if this guy was killed, what does any of it have to do with what is going on now?” London turned to Marc, her confusion apparent when she frowned.

“Before he died he told our father he was gathering people to serve as players in a game he was playing.”

“I don’t understand. What kind of game? And you said he’s dead.”

“Dad compared it to a game of Risk,” Marc told her, watching her expression as he gave her a peek into his life. “He said Byrd, or The Bird, spelled B-I-R-D, as he was known in his circles, wanted Dad to become part of his team. He was building his players and preparing for an attack against other players in the game. We never found out more than that because he was killed.”

“Okay, let me see if I understand all of this.” London shifted on the bed, and her leg brushed against his. When he put his hand on her thigh, keeping her close, London shot him a look that for a moment didn’t look confused. Her eyes were bright with unleashed passion. “Some really bad guy decides he wants to play a board game, but instead of using game pieces, he decided to use people.”

“Exactly. As with any board game, there is more than one player. We suspected this all along, but everything got quiet after The Bird was killed. So now we think the rest of the players are organizing their game pieces once again.”