On The Rocks (41 page)

Good. He had a plan.

They came to a set of stairs in the long
corridor and Xander slowed his steps. He couldn't let these guards
take them wherever this road ended. That would remove his slim
options. He had to steal a little time.

“Move,” one of the guards said, shoving a
gun into Xander’s back. He stumbled up a step and turned around,
glaring.

The glance gave him hope.

Sanzio had peeled off, continuing down the
hallway headed north. Which left just a guard apiece on he and Nai.
He reached out his hand to help steady her on the stairs as she
lifted the hem of her gown.

“You okay?” he whispered.

She said nothing, just kept putting one foot
before the other. As soon as they were on the third level Xander
checked out his surroundings. The hallway here was walled-in, which
put them deep inside the cliff as opposed to being closer to the
sea. There were doors here, possibly the guard's rooms?

Either way, he didn't want to see the inside
of one. They needed an out.

ASAP.

“Xander luv?” Naima said, her voice weak and
shaky. He zipped his gaze to her. Her breathing was labored and she
frantically fanned her face. “I think… I think I’m gonna…”

Naima’s knees buckled, and she hit the
ground hard. He stretched a hand out at the same time the guard
following behind her crouched to help. The gun at Xander’s back
eased up the barest fraction.

And he pounced.

Spinning, he jammed his foot into the
guard’s knee, shoving it backward. That huge torso hinged forward
fast. The man's heavy arm flew up. A shot got squeezed off, the
bullet so close to Xander's head he felt the breeze.

Naima screamed. Something thudded behind
him.

Just as Xander turned to check on her, his
guard charged, painting him against the wall and sending the wind
out of him in a rush.

Christ, this guy was huge. Like battling
Godzilla's hefty big brother.

Xander pounded his fist down onto the
enforcer's meaty head. A solid jab hit him in the gut, but he
clenched his abs to absorb some of the blow. He wrenched the
guard's head back, digging his fingers into the man’s neck. A heavy
forearm came up hard and solid into Xander's windpipe. He pressed
down harder, blocking the guard's carotid, but he was getting…
kiiiiinda light… head…

The guard's arm slipped and air rushed down
Xander's throat. But he didn't let up. He kept pushing in.

The enforcer slumped forward.

Pivoting fast to get behind him, Xander
twisted the guy's head hard until his neck snapped.

Rage fueling him, his head kicked up as he
sought out the second guard, the one who'd been on Naima. A couple
of paces away, the man laid face up, halo of blood around his head,
a bullet hole where his eye used to be.

Naima sat beside him, red spatter marring
her gown and shoulders. Shaking, she glared at Xander.

“I hate balls. And princes,” she said,
deadpan. “Don't ever bring me to another bloody ball or to meet
another bloody prince. Ever.”

“Are you okay?” He helped Naima to her feet,
rubbing his hands down her sides to check her for injuries. “Are
you hurt?”

“Fine. Just fell harder than I intended and
jammed my knee. All right, enough of that.” Scowling, she pushed
his hands away. “And you know how much I hate when you kill people
in front of me. That guy there is gonna stand up any minute now and
eat my brains.”

“Yeah, well, next time I’ll let him take you
out first so you don’t have to see it. Grab his weapon.” He ripped
the phone from his pocket and dialed Phil. “We got a situation. I
need you here.”

“Where?”

“Third level. First room off the staircase.
South end of the house.”

“On my way,” Phil said.

Xander was about to take off when he
remembered Kizzie’s knife. Dropping into a crouch, he pushed the
beefy guard over and scavenged the man’s pockets; slipped the blade
into his own.

Naima’s face twisted in confusion. “Is this
what it’s come to? Taking spoils of war?”

Gun in his grip, Xander yanked her by the
arm and pulled her behind him so close she hugged his back. Fused,
they walk/jogged the way they’d come, headed down the walled-in
hallway toward the steps that would eventually get her topside.

“Did that download start?”

“About ten seconds ago,” Phil said.

Which gave Xander less than ninety to get
Naima to Phil and get Kizzie out alive. He glanced at his watch to
mark the time.

The sound of air rushing by came across the
open line. Phil was moving. Fast. “ETA?”

“Forty seconds.”

“Job’s pear-shaped. Stay frosty.” Xander
ended the call and dropped the phone into his pocket. Picked up
speed. They reached the stairs and he cautiously glanced up the
spiral. The party was still in full swing on the other end of the
house, the music filtering down on this end in muted tones. As far
as he could tell the alarm hadn’t been sounded, but since he had no
idea where Sanzio had disappeared to, Xander kept his guard up.

He found the room he’d indicated to Phil and
they disappeared inside. In the inky blackness, he made a sweep of
the place. Empty.

“Why are we in here?” Naima whispered once
he was close enough. “The download started, right? Mission
accomplished. Now we get out.”

“
You
get out.” Xander triggered the
backlight on his watch. Twenty-three seconds max before he had to
get moving again. Damn, he was slicing it pretty thin here. And if
anything happened to Kizzie—

He snapped the thought off. “Stay put. Let
Phil come to you.”

“And where are you going?”

“Back.”

“For what?”

He muttered, “Come on Phil…” Checked the
watch face. Eighteen seconds left, but screw it. His gut wouldn’t
let him wait any longer.

He reached out and found Naima’s shoulder.
Patted down until he came to her hands and took the gun. He flicked
the lever to drop the clip out, and then mashed his thumb straight
down on the top bullet. Heavy resistance met him. She was full-up
on ammo. The cartridge slid home with a solid crunch.

“You’ve got a full clip. Anything comes
through that door that’s not Phil, you kill it dead, y’hear me?” He
fumbled in the dark for her dainty palm and pressed the butt of the
large gun into it. “Phil will be here shortly. Once you two link up
and get out, let me know. If he’s not here in five, assume he’s
dead. Get yourself out by any means and go to ground. Crystal?”

“Xander Aloysius Duquesne,” she hissed,
“what the bloody ‘ell aren’t you tellin’ me?”

He didn’t have the time to laugh or explain.
“Give me a yes, Nai’.”

She growled. “Yes.”

“Good. Be safe.”

He slipped back out the door and shut it
carefully. Gun up, Xander eased down the staircase, knowing Phil
would show up soon for Naima.

And praying like hell he wasn’t too late for
Kizzie.

25

ON THE SECOND level of the house, Phil
shoved one palm snug against the point of the guard’s chin, pushing
up while digging the heel of his other hand into the guy’s
windpipe, pushing in. His forearms were getting pounded like hell,
as that was the only place the guard could reach given his current
position.

A foot shot out, tagging Phil in the
shin.

He dug in harder, feeling the guy work
overtime to get air into his lungs.

The wheezing slowed… slowed… slowed…

Stopped.

His own breathing rushing out of his mouth,
Phil held the grip a little longer, until the guard crumpled to the
ground, unmoving. As he checked for a pulse that wasn’t there, his
watch beeped.

He was late.

The snafu with the guard had slowed him
down, so he needed to double-time it to Naima and Xander.

Gunning down the hallway from the north side
to the south end of the home, he planted hard and ducked into a
doorway just as Sanzio Galletti went rushing by.

Phil considered going after him. Better to
take him out than have to deal with the guy later. But his
objective now took precedence.

Alone again, he palmed his Glock and jogged
the remaining length of the hallway. Hit the stairs and dropped a
level, and then came to the door he’d been told.

Two quick raps and he pushed it open.

A pistol came up, fast and true. He clapped
his palm over the barrel and redirected it before it could
fire.

“Jesus, Phil,” Naima hissed, “I nearly took
your head off.”

Well, he was glad
that
didn’t happen.
After all this time he was kinda attached to the thing.

Phil glanced around the dark room like he
had night vision. Even without the green glare, he knew Naima was
alone. “Where’s Xander?”

“He went back to Abrahan’s office,” she
whispered urgently.

“Back?” The download was already going. In
the next few seconds, they’d have the NOC list and Galletti
wouldn’t be able to trace it. Plus he’d be out a load of money.
Chances were good Abrahan would be sorta pissed about that, so
Xander going back was a flat out dumb move. “Why?”

“I’ve no idea. He said to wait here for you.
If you didn’t show in five to get myself out.”

Phil cocked a brow. Definitely not like
Xander, but he’d been way off his game this evening. MIA for over
an hour, late for the drop. They were an exit away from mission
accomplished, but he’d left Naima to go running back into the
fray?

This didn’t add up, but getting out trumped
arithmetic at present.

They’d deal with it later. Right now, he had
a job to do.

“Tight to my six. Leave the shoes.”

“Hold this a sec.” She dragged her hand down
his arm and found his palm. Rested the gun in it and then gripped
his forearm.

The shift in her weight let him know she was
unstrapping the heels she’d been wearing. A soft clatter sounded
and the pressure on his arm shifted again.

“We’re just going to leave him?”

Much as Phil hated it, that was Xander’s
call. He just hoped in the next few minutes his brother would be
alive to explain his stupid-ass behavior.

“What if he needs help?” The other shoe
dropped. Her hands patted down his forearms again, coming to the
weapon. Phil returned it, ensuring the stock was firmly in her
grip.

“Keep a hand on me at all times. Move when I
move. Stop when I stop. I’m your wall. I fall, you keep going,
understand?”

She inhaled a shuddering breath. “Yes.”

Turning to the door, he pulled her flush
against his back. “Stay alert.”

He reached for the knob.

“But he’s only got the one gun he took off a
guard,” Naima argued, “and there are five armed men in that room
along with Metis.”

Phil paused, whipped his head around to face
her though his night vision still hadn’t kicked in. “Metis? He’s
here
?”

“
She,”
Naima corrected.

Now Phil was good an confused. Based on the
Intel they’d acquired over the years, there was no way in hell
Metis would show himself… or herself, as the case may be. Too big
of a risk to the Delegation, an organization that functioned so
flawlessly precisely because no one outside of it knew who any of
the players were.

This woman masquerading as Metis was a
fraud. Xander would know that. Meant something else had drawn him
back. But what?

What had happened in that office when Xander
went to hack Galletti’s computer? And did Phil leave the man, or
go?

“Gimme the short version.”

“I cocked it all up, didn’t I? S’why he had
to go in and do it manually in the first place. I took ill and left
the ring in the loo.”

Asking questions and getting answers was
supposed to clear things up, not make him more confused. The hack
was definitely coming from the program Xander had installed on the
ring.

Phil held off the obvious question and let
Naima continue.

“I’m on post in the party. Galletti comes
over and takes me to the office at gunpoint. Xander’s there with
the woman. Abrahan accused her of being a spy and lumped Xan in
with her. So Xan offers to off the woman to prove he ain’t—
actually put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger but it
wasn’t loaded. Just a test. Abrahan was set to kill us all to be on
the safe side, when the woman holds up my ring and says she’s
Metis.

“She knew things about Sanzio and Abrahan
both. Sorta pushed for Abrahan to let me an’ Xander leave. Xan
wasn’t havin’ it. He tried to stay, but two guards and Sanzio took
us out anyway. So I don’t know what happened in the office after
that. If the download went through, she somehow convinced Abrahan
to plug the ring in… But, wait, if she
is
Metis, then—”

“Describe her,” Phil said, already two steps
ahead.

“Taller’n me, maybe to your shoulders or a
bit more. Brown and light brown hair.”

“American, gorgeous face like a model?”

“The very same. Nice, too. Helped me when I
was pukin’ out my guts in the toilet.”

Phil muttered a curse. There was only one
person Xander would run back into the fray for.

And only one person other than the Gallettis
who could ID Naima as Xander’s wife.

That cleared everything right up. From
Xander’s earlier absence to his kamikaze mission now. No wonder he
was going back.

Kizzie Baldwin was in that room.

Alone.

Phil might not be in the Lifestyle, but he
knew one thing for certain: at all costs, a Dom protected his
sub.

Damn, Kizzie hadn’t just saved their
mission, she’d risked herself to save Xander and Naima’s lives.
Because once Abrahan learned he was being ripped off, Kizzie was as
good as dead.

“Shit, that woman…” he whispered. His
respect for her tripled.

“What?”

“Nothing. Stay on my six. Let’s roll.”