Rogue Alliance (19 page)

             
“Speaking of Brennan
,” he asked, “that reminds me -
I have been meaning to ask you two about the other night.”

             
Her heart picked up its rhythm. The urge to laugh was gone.

             
“What
do you mean? The other night, when?”

             
“
Last weekend, when yo
u spent the evening at my place,
I could have sworn I heard you two speaking down the hall.
I couldn’t make out the content, but I did hear a brief interaction.
At least,
I assume that’
s who you were talking to…u
nless you were talking to yourself?”

             
His eyes were sharp and waiting for even the slightest hint of hesitation or fear. She would not give it to him.

             
“Oh, yes,” she smiled,
“
I had hoped not to disturb you.
I went looking for something to write on so I could leave you a note. Brennan must have seen me rummaging around and got spooked.”

             
She lau
ghed.

             
“He thought I was an
intruder. Can you believe that?”

             
Victor was quiet.

             
“Anyway,
” Shyla continued,
“
once he saw that it was just me he settled down
and gave me a pen and paper.
”

             
She closed the gap between them
.
Looking into his face she
ran a finger over his bottom lip
before leaning in and giving him a soft kiss
.

             
“
Last weekend was amazing. But I am
sorry I woke you.”

             
Victor’s
expression was bland and unreadable.
He ran his hand up her arm and settled just at her collarbone. His fingers lightly danced around her throat in a subtle threat.

             
“D
id he touch you?”

             
When she didn’t answer the loose touch at her throat quickly tightened, his fingers digging into her flesh.

             
“Did he touch you?” he asked again through clenched teeth.

             
Victor’s icy tone sent a shiver down Shyla’s spine. This was the not-so-charming side t
hat Shawn had warned her about.

             
“Touch me? No
,
of course not,
Victor,
you’re scaring me.
You’re hurting me.
I don’t understand what’s going on. Y
ou just finished
saying that you trusted him. He has your back
,
remember.”

             
The darkness in Victor’s eyes fled as fast as it had appeared.

             
“I’m sorry, kiddo. I don’t mean to frighten you.”

             
He released her and stepped back.
He snatched his glass of wine and took a sip.
             
“I’m glad you were able to write that note. Ot
herwise
,
I would have been upset if
you
had left
without a word.”

             
Victor’s rapid mood swings
had her off balance
. She needed to reel him back in
. None of this would ever work if he doubted her.

             
“I would have spent the night, but…”

             
“But what
?
”
h
i
s voice was still stern.

             
“
I…was nervous because I really like you. I just needed some time to think.”

             
Something in him softened. She saw it melt away the lingering anger in his features. She stepped closer, once again closing the gap. Linking her arms around his neck, she gave
a
flirtatious grin.

             
“
But I could make it up to you,
”
she said.

             
She started to trail kisses along his jaw line and down his neck. She felt him giving in as he wrapped his arms around her.

             
“Oh, you could, could you?” he murmured.

             
She took a few steps back, keeping her eyes locked with his.

             
The California
September
night had been
warm but on the water, the light breeze danced on the skin and was quickly
turning cool. Still Shyla reached around and untied the sash in the back of the sundress she’d chosen for the occasion. After slowly pulling the shoulders down
,
the dress easily slipped down her body and pooled at her feet.

Standing in only her panties
under the moonlight with the gentle rocking of the sea under her, she should have felt beautiful, as if in a fantasy. But she felt bare, cold, and much too vulnerable for her liking. She felt like she was offering herself over to Satan himself. All for what? For her job? For a ca
se? 

             
She bit her lip and held out her arms.

             
His ravenous eyes roamed her body. He reached out and caressed her from wrist to shoulder, down to cup her breast.

             
“You a
re mine,” he whispered, pinching
her nipple hard.

             
Shyla
gasped but
refused to make any other sound.

             
He released it and once again caressed her skin, so delicate, so gentle.

             
“You are mine,” he repeated.
“
No one else is to touch you.”

             
Clamping down
on revulsion, fear, and disgust,
Shyla wrapped
her arms around his neck and pulled him in.
In one swift move, he picked her up and carrie
d her down the stairs into the
bedroom
below deck
.

TWENTY

             
Brennan arrived at the docks at ten
till eleven on Sunday morning, his cravings strong.
He was sick to himself and thought of disappearing. Maybe he could run to the hills, away from civilization, where he would no longer be a menace, temptation far from his grasp.

             
But that proposition
felt so lonely, so
isolating. H
e would
rather commit suicide
than go without human contact. He had missed it
for so long
already
and
,
now that he was back amongst the living, he doubted he could ever go without it again.

             
Despite Victor’s shortcomings, he was the only friend he’d ever had, or could remember having. The fact that Victor depended on him as well was something so invaluable he knew he would not walk away.

             
Then there was Shyla. He didn’t know what to make of his response to her. He only knew that he was not yet ready to walk away from her either. The need to understand her further, to protect her from…whatever she so clearly was hiding from, was too strong.

             
He pulled the collar of his jacket up. The morning was cool. The sun had yet to make its appearance and warm the day as the fog had not lifted yet.
Walking down the dock the Shannon slowly came into view. Victor and Shyla were already on deck watching for him. Right away
,
he noticed Victor’s possessive body language as he stood with his arm around Shyla’s shoulder. Sh
yla’s behavior was clear, too
. She stood rigid under his wing, a plastic smile pasted to her face. Brennan
wondered if they’d had a spat that morning.

             
“Morning, Brennan,” called Victor.

             
“Morning.”

             
“Shyla’s eager to see
a few sights while we’re docked,” Victor said,
“
I thought it best you two be off right away, in case our client is early.”

             
Brennan didn’t board.

             
“Sure,
”
he called back.

             
“
Y
ou doing okay this morning? Did the meetings go well
yesterday
?”

             
“They went very well. No issues.”

             
“Hmm, well, you seem a bit off.”

             
“Yeah, well…
” Brenna
n
said, “
I didn’t sleep very well I guess. Maybe Shyla and I will
have to find an espresso stand.”

             
He managed to eke out a thin smile.

             
“I could use a cup of coffee,” Shyla answered.

             
When she stepped out from Victor’s hold, he reached up and grabbed the scarf he had wrapped around his neck.

             
“Here, wear this,” he said to her, “i
t’s still chilly out. I don’t want you to catch cold.”

             
Brennan watched as Victor lovingly undid the top button of Shyla’s coat
. As he pulled down the collar and wrapped the gray cashmere scarf around her neck, Brennan caught a brief glimpse of bruising on her neck.

             
Even from the short distance
,
he could tell she had been
grabbed violently, possibly choked. His jaw clenched and he saw red. His belly went hot with anger. How could Victor have hurt her like that? Why would he hav
e hurt her? Only two days previously,
he had commented on her beauty and vulnerability. Is t
hat what attracted him
,
the thought of taking advantage of those traits
?

             
He clenched his fists inside the pockets of his jacket and bit down on the desire to beat the living shit out of Victor. Hadn’t he just been thinking of
how he valued their friendship?

             
He scanned Shyla’s face. Her eyes were o
n him. A knowing glistened in them. She knew
he had seen the marks. She smiled and gave Victor a light kiss.

             
“Can we get you anything while we’re out?”
she asked.

             
“No. Thanks for asking. I’ll see you two around one or so?”

             
“Yep. See you then,
”
she nodded.

             
Brennan offered her a hand as she stepped off the boat. The
y
waved Victor off and walked in silence down the dock. Their footsteps sounded hollow on the wet wood of the pier.

             
“
Where would you like to go first?” he asked casually.

             
She
gave him a no-nonsense
glance.

             
“Victor ov
erheard us talking
last weekend and asked about it.”

             
Her demeanor was different no
w that she was away from Victor;
to the point, more what he was used to with her. He wondered why she played a different role when in his company. Was she someone else in front of Victor, or was she someone else with him. He couldn’t tell.

             
“Oh,
yeah,” Brennan said, “a
nd what exactly did he hear?”

             
“He says he didn’t hear what was said, just that he heard mumbling down the hall and knew we had an interaction. I played it cool and told him I was looking for pen and paper to write him a note. You saw movement and worried there was an intruder in your office and went to check it out. You ran into me. I got spooked. You apologized and found me a pen and paper. End of story. I’m telling you, so that our stories will match.”