Kace (Allen Securities) (12 page)

Jessica grinned and snatched up the plate. “I’d believe that.” She winked.

She laughed when she heard him groan.

Kace sat across from her, stunned at how much she had been able to put away. Never had he seen a woman put away so much food. Apparently, they’d burned off more calories than even he realized the night before.

“I think I’m going to take a shower,” she said.

He nodded and stood to clear away the dishes.

“Use the master bath. It has the best system.”

Jessica nodded and gave him a smile. “Thanks for breakfast. I think it might be the best I’ve ever had.”

Kace puffed up. The way she said it made him feel like she was commenting on something else.

He watched her leave and head upstairs.

Kace pulled out his phone and called Liam for an update.

“Yeah,” Liam answered.

Kace chuckled.

“Did you find anything at the house?”

“Nothing,” Liam said. “But things are moving at a faster pace than Finn expected. We’re having a meeting here with Reed at about two to go over things. You should bring her.”

“What about Alyssa?”

Liam snorted. “Finn still doesn’t trust her, but he’s got her at a hotel. I’m here now guarding her.”

“Jesus, Liam, she can’t hear you can she?” Kace gripped the phone. They all really liked Liam, but he wasn’t one to mince words.

There was silence on the other end. “Better she know than not.”

“You know you’re a real dick right?”

“Kace?” Jessica called from upstairs.

He walked into the hall and took the stairs two at a time.

“Tell them we’ll be there at two,” he said and stopped at the door to the bedroom.

Kace pushed open the door. Inside, Jessica was wrapped in a towel.

“I need some help with something,” she said.

His mouth went dry when she dropped the towel and ran her hands over her body.

“You’re all out of washcloths, and I need something to wash with,” she said and walked back into the bathroom.

Kace put his mouth to the phone. “I need to go be a washcloth.”

“You what?”

“We’ll see you at two.” He clicked off the phone and tossed it onto the bed.

Kace stripped out of his clothes and climbed into the shower.

“You sure know how to get someone off the phone,” he said and wrapped his arms around her.

Jessica laughed. “Just doing what I have to.”

He sighed as her slippery body turned in his arms to look at him.

“Something going on today?” The water cascaded down her pale skin.

Kace reached around her and grabbed out some gel.

“A meeting at the club later,” he said.

The soap lathered easily in his hands, and he set to work soaping her up.

Jessica moaned as his hands moved over her body under the warm spray.

When he reached the knots at her back, she sighed into him. His powerful fingers kneaded and worked the flesh there until she could hardly stand.

Jessica took the gel off the shelf and lathered her own hands. She started with the hard muscles of his chest. Her fingers skimmed his nipples, and he groaned. She went over his shoulders and wound her hands around his neck. Her breasts rubbed against his slick skin, and she sighed at the sensation.

“Yes,” Kace groaned and gripped her ass.

She continued her washing. Her hands slipped down to his side and under his arms. The muscles at his side jumped and twitched as she slid them around. She moved them to his ass and skimmed the top.

Her body moved forward, and she bumped into his throbbing member. She slid her hands back around and gripped him in her hand.

“Looks like we missed a few spots,” she said. Her other hand slipped down to rub her throbbing clit.

“Fuck,” he said when he looked down. Kace lifted her leg up and held on to it. She was completely exposed to him. “Show me how you rub your pussy.” His deep rumble pushed her closer to the edge.

Jessica rubbed harder and moved her hand faster over him, gripping him as he watched. She throbbed with the need for release. Not bothering to wait, she pushed her fingers deep inside and came around them.

Kace groaned loudly and shot his cum onto her belly. They both panted to catch their breath.

He lowered her leg and leaned in to put his forehead against hers.

“I never really know what to expect from you,” he said.

Jessica grinned. “Me either.”

They rinsed off, and Jessica enjoyed the fact that she didn’t have to rush out before the water turned to ice. It was nice to have someone to spend time with. Aside from her sister and Mrs. Masing, thing were pretty solitary for her.

It had been years since she was last with a man and that didn’t last more than a day or two. It was sad to think that the longest relationship she had was the one that left her emotionally scarred.

They flipped off the water and toweled off. She sneaked peeks as he wiped off the water, the muscles shifting as he moved around to reach different parts. She just loved the way they bunched and stretched.

Kace looked over to her as he bent to towel off his legs.

“You’d better stop, or I’m going to have to take you to the bed and have my way with you again.”

Jessica blushed but kept her eyes fixed on him.

Kace dropped the towel on the floor and grinned as he stood up.

“Back to bed it is,” he said and moved forward.

Jessica shrieked and ran to the other side of the bed.

“I thought we had somewhere to be,” she laughed, ready to dodge any attacks from him.

Kace stood on the other side, his eyes glued to hers as she moved back and forth.

“We’ve got time,” he said and lunged across the bed.

Jessica laughed and leapt out of reach. She ran to the front of the bed but didn’t get far before large arms circled her and tossed her to the bed.

“Now let me show you what we do with girls who can’t behave.” He grinned.

Chapter Twelve

Jessica shifted on the couch in her office and stifled a groan. It was nice being sore for all the right reasons, but she having a hard time sitting still when every time she shifted she was reminded of them together. It didn’t help that he had placed his hand on her knee and would gently rub his thumb over her jeans from time to time.

She would have been irritated with him if she wasn’t certain he did it all subconsciously. It was hard to be upset when it was such a sweet move.

“Well,” Finn stepped in and shut the door behind him, “it looks like we’re all here finally.”

She looked over to Meg, glad to see another friendly face. Most everyone had given them a wide berth as they came in, and she was fairly certain Liam was the one Kace had been on the phone with that morning. If his occasional smirk meant anything, he had a good idea what they had been up to. Jessica blushed.

Finn sat on her desk. She cringed. He would mess up her system, and she’d have to re-file everything. She took a deep breath when Liam leaned on her filing cabinet near her desk. Reed and Ryder had moved her chairs off to the side, and Meg had positioned herself on the edge of the couch next to her.

“So first things first.” Finn turned to Kace. “We need to know where you stand. Things are starting to heat up, and if you can’t handle it, we need to know now. I can’t be watching over my shoulder for both you and the Russians.”

Jessica was surprised when Kace shook his head. “It’s personal,” he said and squeezed her knee. “I’m in.”

“What are you going to tell your boss?” Liam said skeptically.

Jessica stared at him. Making this sort of decision didn’t come lightly, and she was certain he would be put in the position where he’d have to choose the law or his conscience.

“I’ll tell him only what I have to,” he said calmly. “Sometimes we need people who do good on the other side of the law, right?”

Liam’s mouth twitched. He gave a curt nod.

“Good,” Finn continued. “So let’s get down to business. Meg.”

Meg shifted and Jessica looked over to her. “The UK boys are very close.” Liam snorted and she stopped to glare at him. “They have tracked it down to an account.”

“Oh that’s great,” Jessica said.

Meg shook her head. “Actually, now the really hard part kicks in,” she said. “Once they touch the account, they’ll know someone is onto them. Best bet now is to track spending on the account and hope it will lead us to the people behind all this. Whoever is doing this is good, and tracking them isn’t easy.”

“So we leave that to you then,” Finn said. “Keep me updated if anything comes up. Reed.”

“Almost positive that the break-ins are an inside job,” he said.

Finn looked over to her and raised a brow.

“What makes you say that?” Jessica asked.

“Well the pattern of it,” he said. “Most seem to happen when you’re not supposed to be around or have a change in routine.”

“Also, the way they are getting in,” Ryder said. “The window keeps finding its way open. It has to be an inside job.”

Jessica turned to Finn. “Is there a possibility it’s someone else?”

Finn scratched his face. “Yes,” he said. “But I still get a feeling about Alyssa.”

Kace squeezed her knee and piped in. “What about the chance that it’s more than just an inside job? I’ve heard some talk that your move to head of the family wasn’t seen as a good thing by all, and some have been less than happy with the recent changes.”

She watched as Finn stared hard at Kace. She wasn’t sure if he was pissed that it had been brought up or that he didn’t think of it sooner. Finn looked to Liam, who nodded. He sighed when he looked back to Kace.

“We had thought of that,” he said. “It all seems a little to planned, like they wanted us to fail over everything else.”

“Not really the way the Russians work,” Ryder said.

Finn nodded. “Exactly. We were hoping that Meg would find a trail to the person behind all this on our side of things.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Meg said.

“What will you do when you find them?” Kace asked. She watched as Kace eyed Finn.

Finn kept his eyes fixed on Kace. “It’s a family issue. We’ll deal with it internally.”

“Just remember, if I don’t see it, I can’t report it,” Kace said. The two stared hard at one another for a moment before Finn nodded.

“Noted,” he said.

“What about the rumor?” Kace asked. “Did it take?”

Finn nodded. “So word on the street is that we already know who it is. Even though the guy behind this might know the truth, the people buying the stolen liquor don’t and really don’t want to piss me off. So for now, it looks like we’ll be able to avoid any more break-ins.”

Finn stood and paced the office. “I’ve been hard at work with a few men on this. Viktor has a number of contacts in the area. If I can close them down, this will limit where he has to turn.”

Jessica turned to Kace when he shifted next to her. “And how are you closing those connections?”

Finn gave a wicked grin. “In whatever way I have to.”

She shivered and knew that some of those ways weren’t him going and asking nicely.

Reed groaned. “This is not going to go well.”

Kace jumped up and startled her. “So you’ve forced them into a war?”

Finn slammed his hands against the desk. “What do you want me to do? They have been kidnapping and smuggling people. We aren’t left with many options, but if we let them continue on, this town isn’t going to be worth saving.”

“Do you know something we don’t?” Reed asked calmly from the side.

As Finn and Kace continued to glare at one another, Jessica slipped her hand into his. Kace sat back down next to her, stiff with anger.

Finn continued to stare at Kace as he spoke.

“We intercepted a call,” he said darkly. “Viktor has sent for help back home. They are sending Boris Klokov.”

“Shit,” Kace said.

Jessica watched, confused, as nearly all the faces in the room turned grave.

“Who is Boris Klokov?” She turned to Kace.

“The brother of Stefano Klokov,” he said.

“Well that clears it all up,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Boris is ruthless,” Finn continued. “He’s known for his tattoos, and each of them tells the story of his kills. Marks he’s proud to hold.”

“He’s not just methodical,” Kace elaborated. “Boris takes pleasure in his torture and has been known to make it last, even going to the point of patching someone up just to torture them longer.”

Jessica felt the bile rise up in her stomach.

“When is he coming?” she whispered.

“From what we understand,” Finn said. “We’ve got some time, but it won’t be long. The good thing is that this is a black mark for Viktor, so he’ll be looking forward to getting this taken care of before Boris gets to town.”

“So this will all happen soon.” Kace frowned.

“What should I be doing?” Jessica looked around the room as all eyes fell on her. Kace stiffened next to her, and his hand tightened on her knee. She knew he wouldn’t like this, but he was just going to have to deal.

She hated feeling so useless and right now, and that’s what she was. There had to be something that she could do in order to help out.

“You need to watch the staff,” Finn said. “Make sure that people are doing what they are supposed to, and watch out for trouble. Last thing I want is for you to get hurt again.” He scanned the room. “Or anyone else for that matter.”

“What about my sister and the letter? What am I supposed to do about my house?”

Kace let out a sigh that sounded distinctly like frustration, and she knew he was really starting to get heated over what she was asking.

“Ryder has been on watch at the shop for anything suspicious. We really don’t expect that they will go after her, but it’s better to be safe,” Finn said and winked over at Ryder. “Besides, I don’t think we could force him from his position.”

Jessica looked over to Ryder, just in time to see him give the finger to Finn. He turned his scarred face away and grumbled at the wall.

“As for your house, it should be fine.” He leaned forward. “I’ll stop in and check on Mrs. Masing.”