Nice and Naughty (4 page)

“Yo.” His brother’s characteristic, informal greeting came at the same moment Alexa reached her car.

“Son of a bitch!” On the screen, she tucked her slender frame into a hot little convertible.

“What’s up, Jay?” The voice picked up some uneasiness.

“Justin, I found your woman.”

Chapter Three

“What? Who is she?” Justin’s inflection became alert, the lazy cadence exchanged for rapt attention. “Where is she?”

“We have a problem.” His seriousness dissolved the initial thrill in his brother’s intonation. Even over the phone their communication extended beyond words. They understood each other in ways other people could never fathom.

“Fuck. Why does everything have to be complicated?”

Jason laughed despite the situation. For twins, identical in so many ways, they possessed polar opposite personalities. Where he required structure, Justin enjoyed being carefree and uninhibited. It was one of the reasons they made a perfect team. Together, they would sort this out.

“Can you meet me at 534 Lennox Road in thirty minutes?” Jason read off the address from Alexa’s file lying open on his desk. He multitasked, clicking through his calendar, clearing all his other appointments for the afternoon. This woman held the key for them both.

“I’ll make it in twenty.” Justin loved speed and, on top of that, he’d spent weeks obsessed with finding this woman.

Jason looked at the phone. The severed connection didn’t stop him from admonishing his brother. “Be careful.”

Alexa fumed as she maneuvered her car through heavy rush hour traffic.
Shit, why do I care if he wants to pretend it never happened?

Mr. Winston, she thought snidely, presented her with a golden opportunity to banish her indiscretion into oblivion and take on a professional challenge of a career-making magnitude. But how could she stand to work for a man capable of such complete deception? Her morals wouldn’t allow it. After all, that asshole had pursued her for business purposes and didn’t even have the decency to feign guilt for enjoying fucking her on the side of the road under false pretenses. She didn’t doubt that he’d enjoyed it, some things a man couldn’t fake, but apparently their interlude had been a necessary evil. She wondered if he’d given himself hazard pay for that duty.
You’re just pissed he wasn’t as affected as you.
Every day of the past two weeks she’d buried herself in work only to find that nothing could douse the yearning he’d ignited. His calculated seduction stung and confused her. What purpose could it serve? Logic suggested insurance, an imprudence to hold over her as blackmail in case she attempted to reveal his trade secret.
Damn, this
must be one important deal.

Not even for that would she risk her heart. As much as it frustrated her, she admitted the truth—that Justin had turned out to be a slimy dirtbag—hadn’t obliterated her physical attraction to him. She wouldn’t lose her head over another undeserving creep. She made a point of learning from her mistakes so she understood this insane attraction would have her tangled up in emotions before long if she didn’t escape while she still had the chance.

God, he looked good in that suit.

“Shit! I am so screwed.” Not only did she face getting fired for blowing the proposal, but also she hungered for something she could never have. The rough and wild man she met on that sunlit road never truly existed.

Alexa turned into the underground parking facility attached to her well-maintained condo, surprised to find herself home so soon. Her wandering thoughts had kept her driving on autopilot. A creature of habit, she pulled into her usual spot and dropped her forehead on the leather steering wheel while gathering energy to make the hike through the desolate cement garage in her power heels.

Fat lot of good those did you.
She climbed from the low seat, bitching to herself as she discovered her day hadn’t hit rock bottom yet. When she reached for her briefcase on the passenger seat, something hard and cold jabbed the ridge of her spine. One clammy hand covered her mouth as a steely arm encircled her chest, jerking out of the car.

“Keep still, be quiet and I won’t hurt you.”

Like she believed anything a man holding a gun on her promised. She kicked backward and her stiletto gouged his shin. The rasping voice turned shrill and mean as he cursed her.

“Nice try, bitch.” This time when he grabbed her, he didn’t pretend to be rational. His fingers latched onto her upper arm with bruising force. He slammed her face down on the trunk of her car causing agony to radiate from her ribs, driving the wind from her momentarily.

“I don’t have any cash on me.” She masked her fear by giving rage free rein.

“It’s not your fucking money I want.” The coarse sound he made couldn’t be called a laugh. “I need to know what he’s planning.”

“Who?” Genuine confusion colored her reflexive question.

“Don’t play dumb, whore. I can make you talk.” She fought the urge to retch when the man pinned her with his body, trapping her tight enough to show her how much hurting her excited him. “What is Winston up to?”

“I don’t know.” She answered honestly, understanding he’d never believe her. www.samhainpublishing.com

Her assailant shook her with rough jerks, twisting her arm up behind her back. She thrashed in his hold and heard her skirt rip as it caught on a metal edge that sliced her skin beneath it. Alexa couldn’t stifle the cry he wrung from her as he applied more pressure.

“Hello?” A deep voice rang out from several rows away, echoing in the cavernous space. “Is someone down here?”

Her captor tried to cover her mouth but, with the gun in one hand and the other holding her arm, he couldn’t move fast enough.

“Help!” She screamed so loud the raw sound that tore from her throat hurt her own ears. With her head forced to the side, mashed against the trunk, she glimpsed a mop of sandy hair bobbing as the newcomer ran closer. His sharp footfalls grew louder as the man behind her dragged her toward a beat up old van parked nearby.

“Hey, you!” Her would-be savior bore down on them as he sprinted between the cars. “Get your fucking hands off her.”

She struggled, kicking and fighting every inch of the way, but when the sharp corner of the vehicle’s sliding door banged against her elbow, she knew time had run out. By mere chance, her thrashing knee connected with something soft as the lunatic attempted to shove her through the opening. She half-fell, half-scurried away as his hold loosened for an instant. His moan of pain and frustration cut off abruptly, silenced by the peel of tires, as his driver carried them away a moment before the helpful stranger reached her. He skidded across the last few feet, rushing to her side.

“Jesus Christ! Are you okay?” He knelt next to her, his hands searching for injuries.

“Where are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” The thready croak didn’t inspire much confidence.

“We have to get out of here. If they didn’t know where you lived before, they do now.”

His familiar voice arrowed through her shock and thawed her stunned mind.

“Justin?”

“Yeah, honey, it’s me.” She hadn’t recognized him at first. The polished businessman had morphed into the rugged rebel of her dreams. Alexa flinched when her hand touched the short whiskers she remembered so well. “You’re safe. It’s okay now.”

He seemed to be trying to convince himself. While he cradled her in the crook of one arm, sheltering her, he extracted a sleek cell phone from the inside pocket of his leather jacket. Scrambled thoughts untangled themselves as she wrestled to contain the tremors beginning to shake her.

“You have a beard.” Unsteady fingers pressed against scruffy hairs and the tense jaw beneath them.

“Hate to shave.” He might have continued their surreal conversation but someone answered his call. “Jay, where the hell are you?”

J. Not Justin.

Oh, shit. J. must think she was insane. She feared she might be sick as her thoughts zigzagged between the attack and her colossal screw up in the boardroom. She barely registered Justin arguing in the background.

“I don’t give a fuck if it’s reserved for residents. Just get in the damn garage. Someone attacked her.” He snapped the phone closed.

“Can you stand up?” He searched the lot, his eyes never resting on one spot for long. His vigilance bolstered her survival instincts, giving her the strength to start moving again. As he helped her gain her feet, a luxurious sedan rolled up beside them. “Just a few more seconds, honey.”

He ushered her inside the door he yanked open. Her scraped knees burned as she crawled across the backseat. She met the driver’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

“Someone better tell me what’s going on here.” The shaking of her body affected her voice, making the words jitter. Both men exchanged looks, drawing her attention. They were so alike and, yet, so different. “You’re twins.”

“Yes.” Clean-shaven answered the rhetorical question. “Justin, make sure we’re not followed.”

“Where are you taking me?” Neither brother answered, their attention on the traffic streaming by.

She declined to object further since throbbing pain began to seep through her adrenaline rush. The first few minutes passed in a tense silence. Both J. and Justin concentrated on the cars surrounding them but Justin never let go of her hand. The warm reassurance his touch instilled bolstered her courage as she recovered from the surprise of the attack. She began to relax into the plush upholstery.

“Jay, we’re clear, pick up the pace.” Justin sat tense beside her, his foot in constant motion, tapping against the floorboard.

“I know it kills you to let me drive,” J. said. Truth be told, J. irked her, too. He drove like a ninety-year-old woman, exactly at the speed limit, a precise four-second gap between his suave-but-safe vehicle and the car in front of them, never violating a single rule. The steady calm J. harnessed clearly escaped his brother. “But anyone watching has to believe there’s nothing out of the ordinary if they’re looking for Alexa.”

“Alexa, nice.” Justin tested out her name, causing a shiver to run down her spine at the way he savored the word. Still, she couldn’t afford to be distracted.

“We’re not going to the police?” They headed in the opposite direction of the station on the freeway.

“No. It’s too dangerous. They’ll expect us to, and I’m afraid the stakes are too high now.” J. met her eyes with a brief stare in the rearview mirror. “I’m sorry for getting you mixed up in this.”

The dark-tinted windows sheltered them from unwanted attention, cocooning them in privacy. Convinced they’d reached safety, Justin turned his attention to her. His eyes darkened as he took her in.

She opened her mouth to continue questioning them when he interrupted.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. Did I get any on the seat?” Alexa glanced down at the gash in her leg she hadn’t noticed while checking for suspicious vehicles. She tugged on the ripped www.samhainpublishing.com

material of her suit skirt, tearing off a dangling section to compress against the cut. A red stain grew across the patch in a few seconds.

“Like I care about that.” J. muttered from the front. “Does she need a doctor?”

Justin reached over to add light pressure with one hand while he probed her side. “I saw that bastard slam you against your car. You’re going to be bruised, but I don’t think anything’s broken. Nothing we can’t handle ourselves, Jay.” Fury turned his words to acid. He lifted his head, meeting her gaze full on for the first time since he rescued her. The combination of his fingers on her thigh and his palm so near her breast had her gasping for air.

“Does that hurt?” Worry crossed his face, drawing his mouth into a thin line. She shook her head and scooted away from him. It was impossible to think when he touched her. “I want to know what’s going on. Right now.”

“You got me.” He shrugged. “But I’d sure as hell like to know, too.”

Chapter Four

J.’s audible exhalation reached Alexa. “I knew this was going to turn into a cluster fuck.”

“What are you into, Jay?” Justin asked the question she burned to know the answer to.

“First things first.” J. couldn’t ignore the social niceties. “I’m Jason Winston. Justin, I believe you’ve met Alexa Daniels before.”

She caught the knowing look the twins exchanged but her attention shifted when Justin made a sound somewhere between a moan and a sigh. “Yeah.” He turned to her with an honesty she couldn’t deny. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I had no idea you knew my brother.”

“I don’t.” Some of her indignation returned. “Are you saying all of this is coincidence?”

“Considering I don’t even know what ‘all of this’ is? Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

Frustration escalated in his words. Every one of his reactions seemed frank and uncensored.

“He didn’t know who you were. I swear it.” A promise from a man like Jason could be trusted implicitly.

“And you?” Her eyebrow arched.

“I’ve followed your career for several years,” he admitted.

“What!” Betrayal colored Justin’s outburst. “You knew I wanted her, I’ve been going crazy trying to track her down.”