Unbridled and Unbroken (11 page)

Just exactly what Justin had been waiting to happen.

Finally, his long wait for the payoff on the recent scam he’d expertly engineered was over. It had been a long six months, but worth every moment. The money, held secretly in a dummy account, would be safely wired within the week to his offshore accounts and he could finally retire to a more tropical locale where issues with extradition weren’t a worry.

He made a mental note to contact his coconspirator. With this news, Veronica’s life would also change dramatically. He smiled in memory of her beauty. Wouldn’t she be surprised to finally get out of the dismal low class life she lived and on to a different one all together?

He logged off the computer, wiped it down to ensure his prints weren’t ever found, not that anyone was looking for him anyway, and whistled a tune as he gathered his things. He locked the private office, strolled over to the cleaning cart he’d left in the hallway and pushed it to the nearest janitor’s closet.

After he’d changed out of the maintenance uniform and exited the building, he ticked off the errands he’d run tomorrow. First he’d head to his travel agent and cement the final plans for travel to the preselected island paradise and then he’d contact his partner to set things in motion and finish this very financially lucrative project.

Justin could almost taste the fruit and rum drinks served with festive paper umbrellas that he’d be sipping in only one short week from now. The flavor of victory was very sweet indeed and second only to early retirement and a future spent beachcombing with a beautiful woman at his side.

* * * *

Veronica carefully put her dress back on and gathered her fuck-me shoes in one hand. Adam was still facedown in bed and fast asleep. Minutes ago, Johnny had woken her when he exited the bed. Before heading into the bathroom, he whispered, “Go back to sleep.”

She contemplated what she might say when he returned. Glancing at Adam’s tousled hair, the more difficult problem might be what she’d say to him if he woke suddenly.

The awkward morning after a night of wild uninhibited sex conversation was something she decided quickly she could do without. She didn’t want to ruin her memories with stilted words and vague promises.

While she was very intrigued by this lifestyle and certainly wasn’t opposed to continuing it, she didn’t know the rules or Johnny and Adam’s intentions. What if it was similar to any other one night stand? What if they were finished? If so, she didn’t want to ruin her amazing evening memories with “how can we get rid of her” expressions first thing in the morning. Better to leave with her fabulous memories intact and soon.

Once the shower started, Veronica carefully slipped from under the satin sheets and searched the room for her clothing. Spying her dress across the room, flung over the arm of a chair by the door during last night’s zeal for double penetration sex, she walked quietly to the chair, grabbed her dress, and slipped the hopelessly wrinkled garment over her head.

Keeping a close watch on Adam and listening for Johnny’s shower to finish, Veronica picked up her evening bag and wondered where her panties were.

Probably tangled in the sheets or bunched under the wayward pillows in the oversized bed. With the pillows strategically piled in the center of the bed, it looked like someone was still sleeping alongside Adam. She took a step in that direction, but then the water in the shower stopped and she decided it was worth it to lose them in favor of not having to face either of them this morning.

Having little experience with the kind of sex-capades from the night before, facing two men rather than only one seem an insurmountable obstacle to her mood.

Just get out.

Veronica turned and quietly opened the door, scooting outside in a flash. The door closed on its own and she was sprinting down the hallway barefoot seconds later.

The elevator stood open as if to help her escape and whisked her to the first floor in no time.

She stepped outside the doors into the plush hallway and slipped her shoes back on. Handbag clutched under one arm, Veronica strolled carefully to the room where last’s night exhilarating performance had taken place. A glance at the stage and the brass pole made heat sear her face in memory.

“Can I help you with something?” A deep voice came out of nowhere on her right and almost made her trip.

Veronica stared as the attractive security guard from the night before appeared seemingly from the walls. She inhaled deeply and put a hand to her chest to still her heart beating like speeding helicopter blades in her chest.

“I need a taxi,” she managed to say.

His response was a single nod and a curt, “I’ll call one for you.”

“Will it take long? I’m in a bit of a rush.”

He cocked his head slightly to one side. “Ten minutes tops.”

“Great. Thank you. I’ll wait outside.”

“No need to be uncomfortable. You can wait in the vestibule.” He pointed to a different doorway than the one she’d come through last night.

“Okay. Thanks.” Her morning after a one night stand “walk of shame” was now complete with a witness to her escape. Although she wasn’t actually ashamed of anything that happened last night. Her only regret was that she might never see them again. That would be a crying shame. Veronica sighed and headed to the small room next door.

After a few minutes a man walked inside. Thinking it was her cab driver, Veronica approached him.

“Hi, are you here for me?”

His eyes narrowed and he scanned her body from what was likely her mascara streaked eyes to the wrinkled dress she wore and the semi-scuffed fuck-me shoes. Hopefully he couldn't tell that she was sans underwear.

“I don’t think so.” His puzzled expression shifted to the inner door she’d just come through. “Do we know each other?”

Before she could answer, the man from earlier, Clay, she thought his name was, stepped into the doorway. “Hey, Zachary.” He nodded once at the stranger she’d hoped was her ride.

“Have a seat, ma’am, your cab will be here any minute.”

Zachary’s face suddenly split with a grin and he nodded once as if in understanding. As many of the men in this club were, he was also very attractive. He now understood she’d thought him a cab driver. And that fact apparently amused him.

Scanning his clothing more closely, she realized her mistake. His suit was worth more than she made last quarter and once the scent of his expensive cologne reached her, Veronica sighed in the wake of her error.

“Sorry,” she mumbled and turned away from them.

His chuckle as he walked away made Veronica feel even more foolish.

The two men stepped into the other room out of sight, but she could still hear them talking.

Zachary said clearly, “Perhaps I need to fire my tailor if I look like a cab driver.”

Clay murmured something she didn’t hear and both men laughed.

Veronica shook her head, embarrassed to be here. Maybe she should wait outside. She stood up from her seat.

Clay’s voice came clearly through the doorway. “What are you doing here so early, Zachary? Your room won’t be ready until noon.”

“It’s not ready now?”

“When you called and canceled, I gave it to someone else for the night.”

“You gave my room away?” Zachary’s incredulous tone didn’t sound too serious. “Don’t you know who I am?”

Clay laughed. “Yes. Yes. I know who you are. Zachary Barrett, hard ass criminal lawyer for our club and someone who shouldn’t expect his room to remain empty for the annual DRMC event when he doesn’t bother to show up for it.”

The air in Veronica’s lungs froze the moment she heard his full name. Her hands came immediately to cover her mouth and smother the scream about to escape.
Fuck
.

Zachary Barrett.

He was the lawyer who wanted to put her ass in jail.

Veronica didn’t waste a moment. She scrambled for the door, barely able to stay in her wobbly shoes. Once outside the door, she pulled them off and ran in her bare feet down the street.

A cab coming from the opposite direction slowed as she waved her arms wildly and ran into the street to flag him down. Thank heavens, the cab was free.

Tears welled up and poured over her cheeks the moment she got settled in the backseat.

She babbled the address quickly and sat back before sobbing quietly to herself.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

What were the odds of Johnny and Adam being associated with the lawyer she was hiding from?

She barely held it together until she got back to the safety of her horrible little apartment.

* * * *

Adam woke up halfway, rolled over on one side and reached out expecting to encounter to Veronica. Instead he found her pillow resting in the center of the bed where she’d been earlier. Opening his eyes fully, he realized he was alone in bed. Too bad. He’d wanted to snuggle up and demonstrate his morning prowess. He vaguely remembered hearing the shower earlier. Perhaps they had moved the sexual antics into the bathroom. Perhaps he should wake his ass up and join them. Then again, he didn't hear the shower running anymore. As a matter of fact, he didn't hear anything in the room.

He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as delicious memories of the night before filtered into his mind. He took a deep breath, realizing that the bed still smelled like sex. He leaned down to nuzzle Veronica’s pillow and inhaled deeply. Her perfume lingered on the linens. The subtle scent of her unique female fragrance put a smile in his heart.

He glanced at the bathroom door which stood ajar and calculated his chances of another round of sex for breakfast. The mere thought of food made his stomach growl. However, finding Veronica so he could have sex again would be better than any morning meal.

Although, given that he hadn’t slept much the night before, perhaps he should try and get more rest. Now he definitely needed to find her, because curling up with Veronica would surely help him sleep better, right? He smiled inside at the ludicrousness of his mood. He wasn’t usually so goofy over women he’d just met.

Veronica was different. She hadn’t once balked at any position they asked her to try. Her sultry uninhibited view on their sexual lifestyle and practices made him desire her all the more.

The door across the room opened suddenly and Johnny stepped inside carrying two Styrofoam cups. Adam hoped it was coffee and that one of them was his.

“You’re awake.” Johnny scanned the room. “Where’s Veronica?”

“She isn’t with you?” He looked over at the bathroom door again. The door was still partly open, but no sounds were coming from that direction.

Johnny walked over and looked inside. “She’s not in here.” The tone of his voice held a certain desperate note. “Where did she go?”

“Do you see me sitting here naked in bed?” Adam groused. “I don’t know where she is.”

Johnny sighed and held up one of the cups. “Want some coffee, grouchy?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

Johnny handed him a cup and sat down in the small side chair located next to the kitchen area to drink the other cup he’d brought.

Adam’s very first sip warmed his belly and woke up his foggy brain. “Maybe she had to go home for some reason. It’s not like we made plans.”
But we should have.

“Could be.” Johnny stood suddenly and stalked around the room, searching nooks and behind furniture as if she’d be found behind the sofa or hiding in a remote corner. “We should have made plans,” Johnny murmured his exact thoughts out loud.