No One to Trust (7 page)

Nervously, she cleared her throat and averted
her gaze. She stared at his chest instead of his face. He didn’t
think she was trying to hide anything but she looked uncomfortable.
As if she didn’t want to say what was on her mind. Finally she
broke the silence. “Orlando said…he’d take what my brother owed him
from me in a, uh…I’m pretty sure he meant a sexual manner.”

For a moment blood roared in Porter’s ears
like a raging angry river.

“He said if I was ‘his’ for six months he’d
let my brother’s debt go.” As she stumbled over her words, Porter
saw red.

“He said that?” The words came out as a growl
and he wished he’d toned it down when she flinched. He knew what
scum Orlando was but the fact that he’d propositioned someone like
Elizabeth stunned him. Her family was wealthy, respected and
Elizabeth was complete grace and class. The thought of the other
man anywhere near her had Porter clenching his hands into tight
fists. His short fingernails dug into his palms, the slight
discomfort a welcome distraction.

She nodded, her expression miserable.

“Why didn’t you tell
me
?” he pressed
insistently. They might not have dated long but he still expected
something more from her than this pseudo-stranger routine.

Her face flushed as she shrugged. “I didn’t
think it would really matter. His
offer
didn’t sound like he
wanted to kill me or anything. He was just being disgusting.”

He frowned. She was right. But Orlando
obviously wanted to scare her. Maybe to make her more acquiescent
to his ‘offer’. Still, opening fire on her in the middle of the day
was stupid and amateurish. The man definitely didn’t have the
business sense his father had.

Porter stared at her and tried to read her
expression. Her face was ghostly pale and she simply looked scared.
“You’re sure there’s nothing else you’re holding back? It doesn’t
matter how insignificant.”

“I wasn’t there very long before you showed
up. Everything happened so quickly. And you were at my house last
night so you know my brother left before I could talk to him.” It
happened again. Something like guilt flashed in her eyes. It was
lightning fast, but he knew what he’d seen.

He didn’t comment on it, but he planned to
question her later, when they were away from his brother. She might
know something she was too embarrassed to say in front of Harrison.
Porter sometimes forgot that Harrison was her boss and it was
obvious she was private about her family.

Harrison would probably be annoyed he was
cutting this so short, but Porter stood and faced him. “I’m going
to get her out of here for now. I’ll have one of the teams follow
us and get Grant to stop by my place when he gets a break so she
can look at those mug shots.”

He’d expected Harrison to argue, but his
brother simply nodded then motioned with his head toward the
hallway. “Let’s talk before you guys leave.”

“I’ll only be a sec,” he said to Lizzy.

Nodding, she wrapped her arms around herself
in a protective gesture. She might be keeping something from
him—and he planned to find out exactly what it was—but no matter
what, he planned to keep her under his protection at all costs.

Chapter 5

“Why aren’t we calling the police?” Lizzy
asked softly.

Porter glanced at her as he steered away from
Harrison’s house. That was one of the things his brother had wanted
to talk to him about before he left. “Harrison already has. The
security team is making a statement about what happened but they’re
leaving your and Mara’s names out of it.”

“Why?”

His brother hadn’t come out and said it but
Porter hadn’t needed to ask. “We don’t want either of you down at
the police station right now.”
Where they’d be open targets.
He trusted the cops, especially considering Grant was one, but the
idea of dragging both women down to the station when Red Stone
Security had more resources than the police department was simply a
waste of time. Sure they had a gang squad and theoretically could
start looking for suspects, but Elizabeth hadn’t actually seen
anyone she could identify. The security team was making the report
and that’s all the cops needed. It’s not like the cops could put
her in protective custody once she made a statement anyway. Even if
they did, Red Stone could still do a better job. They protected
dignitaries and government officials all over the world. Security
was their business. Not to mention, Porter didn’t trust anyone but
himself to keep Elizabeth safe.

“So that’s not a vague answer or anything.”
Slight sarcasm laced her words as she shifted against the passenger
seat.

“We’re going to take care of this situation
ourselves.” More specifically,
he
was.

She softly snorted. “Situation? Is that what
you call someone shooting at us in broad daylight?”

Against his better judgment he reached out
and squeezed her leg. Partially to convince himself she was
unharmed. When she gave him a startled look he pulled back and had
to force his eyes back on the road. Right now she appeared so lost
and scared and all he wanted to do was gather her in his arms.
“Harrison said you can work from my place if you want, but he wants
you to delegate most of your work if possible.”

When she let out a soft huff, he bit back a
smile. “It’s only temporary and you’ll still be getting paid.”

“I don’t like getting a paycheck for work I’m
not doing,” she muttered.

Another reason he respected her so much.
Before he could respond, she continued.

“I’d like to stop by my parent’s house on the
way to your place. With everything that’s happened in the past
twenty four hours I want to tell them in person what’s going on and
I really want to check up on them.”

More than anything Porter wanted to take her
straight to his place and keep her under lockdown but he understood
her need to see her family. “Okay.” After radioing the guys in the
SUV following them and letting them know the change of plans, they
headed to her parent’s house.

* * * * *

Lizzy fidgeted with her hands as she waited
for her parents’ gate to recede and let them up the driveway. She
wasn’t necessarily worried about her parents since they had top of
the line security and a giant wall surrounding their estate, but
she still needed to see them. Even if she dreaded telling them what
had happened with Benny. It would give them more ammunition against
her brother, but they had a right to know. And she’d never been
particularly good at lying to her mother anyway. So while she knew
she could keep it a secret for a little while, eventually she’d
slip up and it would create more drama from her parents later.
Something she’d rather deal with now than in the future.

As they pulled under the stone covered
entryway by the front of the palatial house, her chest tightened
even more. This was it. Part of her wished she’d let Porter take
her straight to his place but she couldn’t be a coward.

“Hey. You okay?” Porter reached out and
lightly brushed her cheek with his knuckles. The action took her
off guard, as did the concern in his eyes. Okay, the concern wasn’t
really surprising, but she couldn’t take how sweet he was being. It
only reminded her of how amazing he was. Sure he was dominating and
sometimes a little pushy, but when she needed him, he was there for
her.

Her throat tight, she nodded and turned away
because she didn’t trust her voice. No, she wasn’t okay, but
getting this over with as fast as possible was the best way to go.
Like ripping off a band aid. When it was done she’d be going back
to Porter’s place. The thought of being cooped up alone with him
was terrifying on too many levels. Part of her was looking forward
to it more than she should, especially considering the
circumstances. But the other part, the part that lived in the real
world, knew that her emotions were high right now and if anything
physical happened between them it would be a mistake they’d both
regret.

Moments after she rang the doorbell, the
oversized, ornate, custom-made door flew open. Abigail, the older
woman who kept order in her parents’ house, let out a yelp of
delight. “Lizzy! You don’t come by here enough.” She quickly pulled
Lizzy inside and into a tight embrace.

The petite, dark-haired woman Lizzy
considered a second mother finally stepped back and looked her up
and down with a critical eye. She frowned, like she always did when
she saw her. “You’re too skinny.”

Lizzy bit back a smile at Abigail’s standard
phrase—she also told her brothers they were too thin when they came
by. Turning to Porter, she said, “Porter, this is Abigail. She
takes care of everything around here.” And she did. When Lizzy and
her brothers had been young, Abigail had watched all of them when
her parents worked—which had been
very
often. When she
wasn’t watching them, she was keeping an eye on every other
employee in the house. Gardeners, housekeepers, it didn’t matter.
If they needed something, they went to Abigail first, not her
parents. Nothing ever got past her.

After introductions were made, Abigail took
Lizzy’s arm and led her toward the back of the house, to the lanai
no doubt. “It’s Wednesday so your parents are still at the country
club but they’ll be home soon and…”

Lizzy half-listened when she heard Porter’s
phone ring. He glanced at the caller ID then immediately answered.
From the conversation she guessed he was talking to Grant. Though
guilt jumped inside her, she realized this would be the perfect
time to figure out what her brother’s note had meant. Benny had
told her to check their secret childhood hiding place and until she
knew what he’d hidden there she didn’t want to tell anyone else.
Even Porter.

“Abigail, would you mind bringing us tea and
snacks out on the lanai?” she asked quietly.

“Of course not.” Abigail patted her hand and
hurried off in the direction of the kitchen.

Once Lizzy and Porter stepped outside, she
made a vague motion with her hand that she’d be right back. He
frowned at her but didn’t stop talking to his brother. After
walking the length of the pool, she then rounded the corner of the
pool house. Without turning her head she knew she was out of
Porter’s line of sight. Picking up her pace, she practically
sprinted across the yard to the corner where a giant oak tree
stood.

In the past decade it had grown larger but
the odd shaped knot near the base hadn’t changed much. When she and
Benny had been kids they’d often hidden notes there for each other.
Barely nineteen months apart in age, they’d been much closer with
each other than with their other two brothers who were five and six
years older.

Reaching through the small slit opening at
the center of the knot, she felt around until she grasped a small
metal box. Quickly she pulled it out and opened it, not sure what
to expect. Her brow furrowed at the gold key inside it but she took
it out and shoved the box back where she’d gotten it.

Opening her palm as she stood, she turned the
key over. It was gold and smaller than her house key and there was
an ‘M’ engraved on it, but she had no idea what it was for. Benny
had said she’d know what to do with whatever she found here, but as
she stared at it, she didn’t have a clue. Just great. Why did her
brother have to be so cryptic?

“Lizzy.” Porter’s deep voice caused her to
freeze for a moment before she spun around to face him.

His pale blue eyes glittered like flecks of
ice as he assessed her. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Shrugging, she shoved her hands in
her pockets. The skirt she wore was slim fitting and she knew once
she removed her hands he’d be able to see the outline of something
in her left pocket but there wasn’t time to hide it anywhere
else.

She thought about telling him what she’d
found but quickly brushed that idea aside. Porter had already made
it clear what he thought of Benny and she wanted to find out what
the key opened first. If it posed a danger to her or anyone in her
family, she didn’t want to be responsible for putting it in the
wrong hands.

He stalked toward with the grace of a jungle
animal. Her heart jumped in her throat. Not because she was afraid
he’d hurt her, but because of that unmistakable predatory look in
his eyes. He used to look at her like that right before kissing
her. The distance between them closed in seconds.

Before she could think about backing away,
his big hand closed around her waist and held firm. Instinctively
she started to tug against him, but he wouldn’t let her.

“You are a terrible liar,” he murmured before
leaning so close his mouth nearly touched her ear.

She tried to suck in a deep breath but found
it impossible. Her lungs refused to expand. The spicy scent of his
cologne and something that was pure Porter twined around her. It
made her think of sex. Hell, everything about him made her think of
that. Her breathing was shallow and all she could hear was the
sound of her own heartbeat. Like a bass drum it thumped in her ears
with no reprieve.

When his hands slid down her hips in a
sensuous stroke, she froze.
What was he doing?
Her mind told
her to pull back and out of his embrace before they did anything
stupid. But it was hard to care about reason when he was holding
her so tight, when she could practically feel the sensual energy
pulsing from him. She started to place her hands on his shoulders
until she realized what he intended. Then it was too late. He’d
reached into her pocket and plucked the key out.

His eyes glinted with frustration and a touch
of anger. “You want to tell me what this is?”

Rage and embarrassment burned inside her that
he’d used her attraction to him against her. She could feel her
cheeks flame. She’d been about to throw her arms around him when
he’d simply been feeling her up for that key. Despite her heated
face, she held his gaze. “Not particularly.”