Riley (The Kendall Family #3) (6 page)

“You have a tell. Cut the shit and give me a fucking name.”

She sighed. “Thomas, okay? His name is Thomas.” A first name wouldn’t tell him much anyway. “Now what did you talk about?”

He appraised her eyes, seeming satisfied. “He wanted you to wait on killing me.”

That surprised her. “Why?”

Shaking his head, Riley said, “Tit for tat.” The word made him look at her tits and then away after a moment. Jordan arched her back, but not too obviously. He asked, “His last name?”

“Not giving you that.”

“Then something else.”

She shrugged. “He’s in France.”

“I know
that
.”

“No, you know I flew in from France, not that
he
was there.”

“Fair enough.”

Jordan asked again, “Why was I to wait on killing you?”

“There’s a second target.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Who?” The obvious thing came to mind and she asked skeptically, and a little bothered by the possibility, “Your family?”

“Refused to say.” Riley leaned over her, eyes hardening to the point that, for the first time, Jordan felt afraid of him. “I will not allow someone to come here and threaten my family, so I’m going to find out who hired you one way or another, and then kill him.”

Staring up into his eyes, she believed him. “Killing Thomas won’t change anything. Someone hired him. He hired me.”

“Why doesn’t Thomas just do it himself?”

“That’s not what he does.”

“What
does
he do?”

She shrugged. “Facilitator.”

Still leaning close to her, he stated, “You’re going to help me find him so I can learn who wants me dead.”

“If I help you with that, are you going to let me go?”

His eyes softened as he thought about it. “I haven’t decided.”

“Unless you do, there isn’t much in it for me to help you. I assume you’ll be handing me over to someone where prison is in my future.”

“Probably.”

“It’s either that or kill me, and I know you’re not going to kill me.”

“Why’s that?”

“If you won’t enjoy a captive woman against her will, you won’t kill one either.”

“An obvious deduction.”

“So where does that leave us? Me not telling you anything unless you let me go.”

He sighed and stood up, starting to pace. “Your last name is Hunt. I got it from your passport.”

For once she wasn’t surprised.
Neither confirm nor deny
, she thought.

Riley continued, “I can leave you trussed up here with my family and head to Paris. Find out more about where you live and ultimately find this guy.”

“I doubt you have the skills.” Even as she said it, she remembered that he got into her hotel room and suitcase, so maybe she was wrong about that. “If he learns you’re snooping around, he’ll have you killed. You’ll never get to him without my help.”

“I don’t want your help, just information.”

“Tit for tat. You have to give me something I want, and all I want is my freedom. And to pee,” she added. “You have two minutes before I ruin your bed. While you’re at it, some clothes would be nice.”

He gazed at her in resignation and Jordan felt a small victory. No death. No rape. Probably prison. Which meant no sex. Ever. Maybe she’d seduce him before he called the Marines or whoever he eventually handed her over to, but that raised a question. Riley had already tampered with evidence. He couldn’t now turn her over to authorities without getting himself in trouble, so he either had to kill her or let her go, neither of which seemed terribly likely. He could always keep her prisoner indefinitely. So what was he planning to do without getting
himself
in trouble? That’s when she realized he was serious about going after Thomas. Maybe she should just let him. It’s not like she really owed the prick anything.

As she thought on this, Riley was rifling through her suitcase, from where he pulled jeans and a T-shirt. Then he stood up and without warning, brandished her vibrator with a big grin. Heat soared across Jordan’s body and in her cheeks. She had completely forgotten about that and felt like dying inside.

“Is that really necessary?” she asked through gritted teeth.

He leered. “Me holding it up or you using one? Honey, a woman like you should never need something like this when you can easily have the real thing.”

“I’d be flattered were it not for…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. “Just let up, will you? I think you’ve had enough fun.”

With a dubious look at the dildo, he tossed it back in the suitcase. “Seems like I’m missing out on the best parts.”

The Marine put all available weapons in a drawer except for his handgun, which went into his waistband. The dog stood beside him, not looking terribly menacing, but she knew that could change. Riley lifted the handcuff keys from the dresser and unlocked both of her feet. She promptly closed her legs. Then he unlocked one of her hands, which allowed her to sit up and swing both legs over the side of the bed.

He said, “Do us both a favor and don’t try anything stupid.”

Jordan nodded, more interested in peeing. She could try something stupid after. When Riley slowly undid the remaining handcuff from the bedpost, she remained still until he backed up. Then she snatched the jeans he’d tossed on the bed and put them on, rising to pull them all the way up. Next went the t-shirt.

“There were bras in there, you know,” she rebuked him.

“I know.” He smirked, eyes on her nipples as they poked at the green fabric. Stepping forward, he handcuffed her wrists to each other. “Bathroom’s next door over.”

Jordan went in, flipped the light switch now that it was almost fully dark outside, and started to close the door until he gave a wry look and prevented that with one hand. It wouldn’t be the first time a guy had watched her pee but this still annoyed her, especially when she realized that she wanted to make a good impression on him and this didn’t exactly help, but the desire to impress is what ticked her off. She dropped her pants, sat, and began the deed.

“You’re lovely when you’re embarrassed,” he remarked as the hiss of her urine striking the bowl’s water echoed out.

“This is your idea of a romantic date, isn’t it?” Jordan asked.

“It kind of is, yeah.”

She rolled her eyes and looked away, suppressing a smile. She’d get him back for the amusement she felt. And the humiliation. She wasn’t supposed to be enjoying any of this, not that she really was, but he
did
have a charming way about him. Incorrigible. Yes, that was it. He was incorrigible. And it alternately made her want to smack him and crush her lips to his.

When she finished, she washed her hands and then returned to the guest bedroom with him following once more, the dog scampering around. She didn’t wait for Riley’s permission before sitting on the bed cross-legged. From that vantage point, she could see herself in the dresser mirror, and that’s the only reason she saw a red dot strike her torso and quickly move up toward her head. Her eyes widened in shock, but before she could react, Riley dove straight at her, sending both of them flying off the bed’s far side as bullets began spraying the headboard across from the window.

Chapter 6 – Intruder

Having used enough laser scopes on rifles, Riley had instantly recognized the red dot on Jordan’s beautiful bosom and been surprised it was on her instead of him. A mistake, he assumed. But then the dot moved steadily toward her head, and disbelief transformed into action. He’d never let a woman get hurt in his presence and wasn’t making an exception just because this particular woman had tried to kill him. That his source of information on Thomas might die hadn’t occurred to him before he dove across the bed and bore her to the hardwood floor, her soft but taut flesh pinned beneath his.

Nose to nose, the pair exchanged a wide-eyed look, Jordan’s eyes darting to his parted lips, her lungs heaving and pressing her chest against his. Riley hadn’t seen her quite this close and felt overcome by the spark of life in her eyes. Saving her had been worth the risk to himself.

“Do people always shoot into your house?” she asked, breaking the tension. The dog was barking furiously.

“Just today. The shot was meant for you,” he added. “Coby, quiet.”

“I know,” she whispered as the dog quieted.

“I guess we know who the second target was.”

Jordan’s eyes widened. Another shot sounded outside before a bullet splintered a bed post above their heads. “He’s trying to keep us pinned here.”

“I almost don’t mind.” He smirked, and to his surprise, a big smile spread across her face, lighting up her eyes.

“We really need to talk about what you and Thomas were texting about.”

“There wasn’t much more. Can I trust you to help with whoever is shooting at you? Us?”

“Absolutely. I just changed sides. His last name is Beckett, by the way. Thomas Beckett, at 45 Rue de Spirit, Paris. Get me out of here and I’ll take you right to him so we can both kill him. Someone in Paris wants you dead for killing the man funding his group. You killed the guy in Pakistan.”

Riley gave her a long look, knowing she’d just given away all her leverage. He’d killed a bunch of guys in Pakistan and didn’t know which she meant, but he’d find out later from Thomas, or the guy who hired Thomas. “You trust me?”

“Completely. You just saved my life. Now I want you to trust me so we can get out of this.” Her eyes briefly fell to his lips. “We have the same objective after that, too.”

As Jordan said it, another shot rang out, the bullet breaking another windowpane before knocking over a lamp that wasn’t turned on. The base of the lamp hit her suitcase, which fell forward. Since Riley hadn’t latched it shut, contents spilled out. The purple vibrator rolled toward them across the hardwood floor until it stopped inches from her head. Jordan looked sideways at it, suppressing a rueful smile, which broadened on seeing Riley grinning at her.

“Something tells me you won’t be needing that anymore,” he said, and she pressed up into him.

“Cocky bastard.”

Riley noticed her air of approval. He leaned down, mouth closing over hers. He felt no surprise that she kissed back. Hardly a moment passed before her eager tongue darted into his mouth and he greeted it in kind. His heart pounded with more adrenaline than at any time in the last few minutes, another bullet striking the wall above them and adding to his excitement. As first kisses go, it was the most romantic he’d ever shared, though only a Marine would likely think so. His cock strained painfully at his waistband. Reluctantly, he pulled back.

“Now don’t go getting yourself killed,” he murmured.

“And miss out on the rest of that? Not a chance.”

Riley rolled off of her to regain some composure. He needed to think and full body contact wasn’t helping. He unlocked the handcuffs and thought a muffled voice could be heard nearby. Riley said, “We can’t reach the dresser so we’ll need guns from my safe. Master bedroom. Keep low, on your belly.”

“Give me your gun.”

“Why?” He wasn’t
that
sure he could trust her.

“I can shoot out the light and that will blind him a second. Then we’ll go.”

Riley nodded. He couldn’t aim for it at this angle, but she could. With a last look to gauge her trustworthiness, he handed it over so that the barrel was pointed away from him. Jordan took it and scooted to the foot of the bed.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Hold on. Coby, to the master bedroom.” The dog trotted out and down the hall, nails clicking on the bare floor. “Do it.”

Jordan fired and shattered the lamp, plunging the room into sudden darkness. As she shoved herself across the floor, her bare feet easily gripping, bullets flew into the room above their heads. Riley followed her around the front of the bed on their way to the hall, where they sat up. No bullets would make it through all the walls in between. He extended his hand and she gave back the gun. Only now did he recognize the muffled voice he was hearing—Quinn was talking on the radio Riley had dumped into the dresser drawer with everything else, the volume down.

“That way,” he said, indicating the master bedroom and rising to his feet. Passing the guest bathroom, they entered a large room with a sloping ceiling and a bay window in the opposite wall. Black furniture lined the red-painted, white-trimmed walls. Two hockey sticks were crossed on one wall beside a Washington Capitals jersey. Other walls showed a Baltimore Orioles baseball jersey and Baltimore Ravens football one. The few items atop tables were signed footballs and the like. Off to one side, in a small nook, stood a black gun safe beneath several photos of Riley from the Marines, and medals he’d been awarded. The room couldn’t have been more masculine.

They strode to the gun safe, which he opened to reveal a half dozen handguns, several rifles, and assorted Tasers, stun guns, police batons, and pepper spray. Knowing they didn’t have much time, he grabbed two knives, efficiently loaded several more guns, and donned a pair of night vision goggles. Then he picked up a radio and switched it on, hearing Quinn say something about coming to investigate.

“Quinn, stay put,” Riley commanded.

“You got trouble?” Quinn’s voice asked.

“Yeah. You and Kris get out of here. Take anyone else with you.”

“But—”

“Do it, Quinn. I don’t have time to argue. Take the radio. I’m out.”

Riley switched it off. “Whoever’s shooting, they’re probably on the way to the house now.”

“Probably.”

“Do you know who it might be?”

“Not sure. A hunch.”

“Which says?”

“That it’s Jake. He was never a great shot and used the laser when he could. No one else would use one at such a short range.”

Riley nodded, noticing her eyes tighten at mention of the name. Maybe they’d had a thing. If so, it was apparently over. “Why would Jake try to kill you?”

“I intend to find out. What’s the plan?”

“You wait at the top of the stairs. I’m headed out the window.” He moved to the one overlooking the front porch and opened it. “Be careful. The floor board before the stairs creaks. Don’t step on it.”