Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (12 page)

Jake stopped them at the door as Claire was getting ready to leave. “
Damn
,
Claire, wish I could be there when Butch sees you dressed
in that get
u
p.
” Emma hit Jake on the arm. “Just, make sure you wear your watch and answer your phone if Emma calls
.
I don’t want to have to come
out
after you tonight.
”

“Jake, I can take care of myself
,
but if
it makes you feel better
,
I’ll wear
my watch
. B
esides I
’ll
have Butch with me to keep me safe.”

Jake
gazed from Claire’s hair to her toes and back up again.
“I have a feeling Butch isn’t going to be paying much attention tonight. If he isn’t watching you like a hawk, he’ll be fighting to keep guys away from you. Just follow his lead. If he says there’s trouble, don’t ask any questions, just run. Got me?”

“I will.” Claire leaned over
,
pulling Emma into a hug
and
squeezing
her tight.
“I’ll text you when I get home. That way you’ll know I’m okay
,
and I won’
t wake up Lily
.”

Emma whispered in her ear
,
“Please be careful and call me if you need help convincing Butch.”

Claire
let
her lips tilt up in a smile as she turned
to
walk to her car. Once inside the car, she called Butch to let him know she was on her way back.

****

Across town, Andrew
Pearson
turned
off his home computer,
and grinned. He’d gotten the dirt he wanted on Butch Edwards that would help to keep him out of his hair. It was just as he’d expected, Edwards had cobwebs in his closet and Andrew had hit the jackpot. All it had taken was a few calls and he had the little dancer
agreeing
to help him. It had taken a shit load of cash but in the end, it was worth it.
He’d needled his way in to gaining their trust to discover their
weaknesses
.
Accomplishing his plans would be
much easier
with
Edwards
out of the picture.

Andrew
pulled out his cell
,
and
dialed his old friend
’
s number.
He never realized that Sal Santiago
would be
so reckless and careless, or he would’ve never let him in
on
his business.
“What the hell did you do? I told you not to cash the damn check until I was ready.”
His voice
reverberated off
the
empty
walls as he hollered
into his phone
at his childhood friend.
He could feel his face
flushing
as he painfully clutched the phone.

The man on the other end of the line stuttered. “Uh
…
how
…
did you know I tried to cash it?”

Planting the bugs and cameras had been a stroke of genius
on his part
and not very hard considering how many fundraisers Claire had. He’d paid good money and had several people plant the stuff all at once
,
even infiltrating the catering staff hadn’t been difficult
and no one had been the wiser
. He’d never have known about the check and what the damn
Bennett’s
w
ere
up to otherwise. “It doesn’t matter how I know
;
I just do.
That
one little action could
have
blow
n
twenty years of planning
, you imbecil
e
.”

“I’m sorry
,
boss, I didn’t know. I thought it was like last time. That
Mr. Winters
needed to wash his money.”

“No
,
you nitwit. He only does that with cash. This is personal. This doesn’t have anything to do with
Winters
,
and y
ou’d be smart to remember that.
If you screw
ed
this up for me, you won’t have to worry about Joel killing you
.
I’ll do it my damn self.” Andrew flipped his phone closed and clenched it in his palms.
I should have known better th
a
n to
trust
Sa
l
with something so important
. The stupid drunk
is
bound to screw this up
unless
I take him out of the equation.
Andrew hadn’t gotten his hands dirty in a long time. He’d been a respectable banking man. Well
,
at least that’s what his clients thought.

He’d been laundering money through every bank he’d ever worked at
for Winters
,
and the feds had never caught on
.
Hell
,
h
e’d made a mint laundering for
just about all of the
mobs
on
the east coast
and kept a sizeable share
.
Andrew had enough dirt on all of them to take them down
if he ever needed leverage from getting busted.
No,
Southall would only know him as
good citizen
Andrew Pearson
,
even if the mob knew
better. N
o one would be the wiser as long as he kept Sal from
screwing up.

Hell, the feds would never put two and two together if he had anything to say about it.
As far as they knew, Joel
W
inters was
elusive, but Andrew knew
not only
who the bastard was
, but where he
’d been hiding
too
. He’d been the reason he
’d grown
up without a dad, and it was time for them all to pay. The
Bennett’s
and Joe
l
.
He’d kept a low profile up until now, and even that was in jeopardy by placing in trust his childhood friend
. He’d been like a ghost up until now.
No, he was going to have to take care of Sal and his stupidity if he was going to keep his reputation clean.
Sal had told him a few weeks back that he was being followed
, and he should have taken him out then.
It was just a matter of time before they connected Andrew and Sal’s business relationship
if they ever busted Sal
.

It
had been
a big mistake trusting the drunk from the beginning, but he’d made a promise as a kid, and he’d always kept his promises.
It was similar to the
promise he’d made to himself about
extinguishing
the
same
Bennett line that
had
killed his father
and the man that
had
pulled the trigger
.
Sal was a mistake that he could
and would
correct tonight. Andrew rubbed his hands to
gether, relishing the anticipation.
He hadn’t had to kill anyone in a long time
,
and it was well overdue
. Andrew felt his lips tilt up in a smile. 

Chapter 6

Butterflies assaulted Claire’s stomach as she drove back to her house
,
and
an unease settled in her gut
.
She had a bad feeling about tonight.
She chewed her lower lip
and
started to second
-
guess her plan as she glanced down at her clothes and then into the review mirror. This was so out of character for her. She felt pretty, but did she really need to be showing so much skin?
An even more terrifying realization washed over her. If she didn’t go through with this, she’d never know
if it was just someone ste
a
ling from her or
a
deliberate
setup
,
and she couldn’t live with the uncertainty. No, she wouldn’t be changing her mind or her clothes. She was committed one hundred percent.

Claire pulled into her drive and was thankful that Jenny wasn’t still there. The people she’d see tonight at the bar would probably never see her again, but she’d have to work with Jenny every day. Butch’s
truck was still parked in front of her house. He hadn’t left yet, which meant he probably hadn’t gotten very far with her surveillance tapes.

She got out of the car and walked through her front door in search of Butch. She walked into her office and stood in the doorway. Just for show, she placed one hand on the frame
over her head
and the other on her hip. Butch didn’t eve
n take his eyes off the monitor, didn’t even acknowledge her presence.

Claire cleared her
throat
. His eyes
traveled down the length of her and back up to her cleavage and stopped,
and
his
lips parted.
He didn’t
say a word,
but she
noticed his
unconscious swallow
.
His eyes caressed every inch of her body. Her heart jolted
,
and her pulse pounded as a tingling in the pit of her stomach assaulted her. The silence lingered until she couldn’t take anymore.
She pushed off the doorframe and fluffed her hair.

“What, you don’t like?” Claire asked as
s
he pushed out her
red painted
bottom lip in a pout
and did a twirl to give Butch the full view
. “I did it especially for you
,
big guy.”

Claire walked around her desk where Butch was sitting and parked her butt on the edge, making the red dress rise
even f
a
rther
up her thigh. Butch
’s
eyes were trained on her exposed thigh, watching every inc
h
of her skin
the
red material
exposed.

Butch pushed from the chair to stand. “What are you doing? And why the hell are you dressed like that?”

Claire stood from her perch and walked up to Butch, pressing her palms against his chest. “Oh
,
baby, I thought you’d like my new look
…
But since you don’t, I guess I’ll just go
find someone that does
.”

Claire spun on her heels
, but Butch caught her around the waist and turned her
,
pulling her tight against his large frame, smashing her breast
s
against his chest. He tilted his hips against her
core
,
and she
felt
the bulge in his pants.
The smoldering flames she saw in his eyes startled her.

“Claire, does this feel like I don’t appreciate you in
that
dress? I’ll be the only man
getting close enough to touch this body, right
,
fiancé
e
?
”

Claire
felt
the heat rising up to her cheeks. Maybe she’d played him too far.
Before she could explain,
he leaned down and
pressed
his
firm
lips
against hers
,
claiming her for his own as he pulled
her body tighter into his
steel
embrace. The kiss wasn’t light like the ones she
’d
had before. His was possessive
and demanding
.
Her calm was shattered by the hunger of his actions.
Butch slanted his mouth and delved deeper
,
making her moan into his mouth.
His moist firm mouth demanded a response that Claire was so willing to give.
His tongue danced with hers in a duel as he ran his hands down her back and cupped her ass, almost lifting her off her feet.

She wanted nothing more than to lift her legs and wrap them around his waist, but that would defeat her purpose o
f
getting all dressed up. She needed to focus
,
and the way he was kissing her was doing anything but helping her cause. Still
,
she lingered while his hands
caressed and
squeezed. She could feel her panties getting damp at the thought of him taking her, a
dream
she
desperately
wanted to become reality.
I
nstead
,
she broke her mouth
away
from his, pulling in a much needed breath.

“Oh my”
w
ere the only words that left Clair
e
’s lips as she fanned her face in an attempt to cool her heated skin and stepped out of his embrace.

“Angel, it’s only going to get better. I was just giving you a taste of what you can expect.”

Claire wasn’t naïve,
and
the meaning of his bold statement wasn’t lost on her
.
S
he was looking forward to what he had to offer.
Now came the hard part, convincing him that she would be tagging along. “I’m looking forward to it.” Claire batted her eye
lashe
s. “But in all honesty, I didn’t dress like this for
you;
I dressed like this for the bar.”

****

Butch
narrowed his eyes
.
H
e didn’t know what she had up her sleeve, but by the looks of it,
she was up to no good.
He balled his fist in an attempt to resist pulling her curvaceous body back to him.
He’d love to hear the excuse
as to
why she
thought she’d be going anywhere dressed like that, and what had Jake and Emma been thinking by letting her leave their house in that getup
?
She looked sexy as hell
.
H
e would do anything to te
ar that little red number off
her and take her right here
and now
hard and fast on top of her desk
.
Had
he hear
d
her right
? S
he
’d
dressed like that for the bar? Uh uh, no way was she going with him to the
damn
bar, and especially not wearing that. “I’m not sure I heard you right,
angel
. D
id you say you were wearing that to the bar?”

Butch crossed his arms over his chest and raised his brow as he studied
his little
sex kitten. He kept his fist clenched tight when all he wanted to do w
as drag her in for another kiss.
It look
ed
like he ha
d
his job cut out
for him
convincing her why her going wasn’t such a good idea.

Claire put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes right back at h
im. He hadn’t been expecting such a fight about this. She had to see his reasoning
;
she was a smart lady
. He’d seen her sisters st
and
up to their men, but not little sweet innocent Claire. She wa
sn’t wired like the rest of her sisters.
“Butch Edwards, I
will
be
going
to that bar.
”

Claire spun on the spikes strapped to her feet and stomped out of the office, leaving him there to wonder what she thought she was doing. She didn’t get far before Butch caught her by the arm and spun her back around. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea
,
angel
. That bar isn’t made for women like you.”

Claire crossed her arms on her chest and tilted her head. “Exactly what type of woman do you think I am?” She started tapping her foot.

Butch gazed from her tapping foot to the top of her big
hair and back down to her lips before he spoke.
“Claire
,
you’re sweet and innocent and
throw
fundraisers for charities for god’s sake. They would eat you alive in a place like that, and I’d spend more time worrying about you th
a
n doing what I need to do, like question
ing
that scumbag.”

Claire shook her head
.
“Oh I get it…
Y
ou don’t know the real me
at all
,
do you
, Butch
?
You have this made
-
up fantasy in your head that I’m
a princess that sits on a pedestal blushing when sex is brought up in conversation
. Well…let me just bu
r
st that little bubble for you
,
” Claire whispered as she stepped up to him
and
planted her hands on his chest.