Without Regret (Devil's Playground #1) (6 page)

13

Isaiah was close. So fucking close. And it wasn’t easy to hold back while watching Cassidy ride him, her sweet pussy gripping him, her beautiful breasts swaying as she fucked him.

But there was something else, something more than her sexy body that mesmerized him. The way she watched him, as though he were the only man in the entire world… It did something to him … something he wasn’t ready to come to terms with just yet.

“That’s it, Cass. Fuck me, baby. Come for me.”

Holding her hips, Isaiah regained control, bucking his hips upward, fucking her deep and hard. Her damp hair fell over them like a silk curtain when she leaned forward, her beautiful green eyes still locked with his.

He continued with the torturous pace until her eyes slid shut, her lips parted slightly.

That was when he recanted his original thought. Right then, as her orgasm erupted, Cassidy was by far the sexiest, most desirable woman in the entire world.

Holding her hips, he focused on fucking her, wanting to send her over once more. He drove in deep, holding her still while he lifted his hips, then jerking her onto him when he was buried to the hilt. Over and over, faster, harder, deeper. He didn’t stop until his body ignited, a sizzling tingle starting in the base of his spine.

“Fuck,” he growled as his release detonated, his hips stilling as he held her, burying himself as deep as he could get, only wishing he could go even deeper.

Minutes later, after he’d cleaned up and they’d both managed to catch their breath, Isaiah curled up behind Cassidy in his bed, holding her tight to his body.

“We should sleep,” he mumbled, his eyes already heavy from exhaustion.

“I agree,” Cassidy whispered.

And that was the last he remembered before sleep overtook him.

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Isaiah woke to the sound of his cell phone ringing. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the room was dark, and it wasn’t because the heavy, room-darkening curtains were closed. A quick glance at the clock told him it was after eight, which meant they’d slept for a while.

Releasing his hold on Cassidy, he managed to roll over and grab his phone before it went to voice mail.

“Hello?” he greeted, his voice rough from sleep.

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.”

“What do you want?” he asked his brother, not bothering to hide his irritation at being woken.

“Well, I figured you’d want to know that I found her brother.”

Isaiah abruptly sat up in the bed, peering over at Cassidy. Her eyes opened as though she’d heard what Micah had said.

“What is it?” she asked, pulling the sheet up to cover her naked breasts.

“Is she … in your bed?” Micah asked, disbelief ringing in his words.

Isaiah chose to ignore the question. “Where is he?” Isaiah asked Micah while keeping his eyes on Cassidy.

“He’s holed up at the Golden Nugget.”

“Fucking seriously?” Isaiah figured the guy at least had the brains to get out of town.

“What?” Cassidy asked, her eyes wide as she sat up. Clearly she knew they were talking about her.

“Micah found your brother. He’s still here in Vegas.”

“Is he…?”

“Yeah, he’s alive,” Isaiah told her, hating the fear he saw in her eyes. Turning his attention back to Micah, he added, “Give us half an hour. We’ll meet you in my office.”

“Already a
we
? What the hell are you thinking, Isaiah?”

Once again, Isaiah ignored his brother.

Micah huffed, then said, “Whatever. You want me to go pick him up?”

“No. We’ll take Cassidy to him. Maybe keep him from running.”

“Good plan. See you in thirty.”

Isaiah disconnected the call and reached for Cassidy. She was shaking, and that bothered him more than it should. Cupping the back of her head, he forced her to look at him. “He’s fine. We won’t let anything happen to him. But we need to get dressed and get down there before someone else finds him.”

Cassidy nodded. “I need something to wear.”

Shit.
Isaiah thought back to their trip to her condo. It hadn’t ended the way he’d anticipated. They hadn’t gotten any of her things, and on top of that, he’d killed someone.

Surprisingly, he didn’t care about the latter. If it meant protecting Cassidy, he’d do it a million times over without an ounce of regret.

“I’ll make a call. Get someone to grab something from the boutique downstairs.”

Another nod from Cassidy.

Isaiah watched her for a moment. Finding her brother was the first step to ending this for her, the first milestone they needed to surpass in order to get her back to her normal life, to keeping her safe.

That didn’t explain why he was suddenly reluctant to let her go.

14

Cassidy tugged at the sundress she was wearing. It wasn’t that it didn’t fit, because it did, but that didn’t mean it was comfortable. Maybe it was because she wasn’t really a sundress kind of girl. Or perhaps she was just irritable because she wanted to see her brother and they’d yet to leave the hotel.

After Isaiah had called someone to get her something to wear, he had hopped into the shower once again and then dressed quickly. After the outfit had arrived—a white number with yellow flowers—Cassidy had changed and then they’d taken the private elevator back down to Isaiah’s office at the club, where they’d met Micah.

At that point, she’d thought they were heading out, but Isaiah had opted to call Max, who he was currently on the phone with. She couldn’t hear what they were saying because Isaiah had taken the phone and retreated to the other room. Clearly he wanted to have a private conversation, and that bothered her. This was about her brother. Didn’t she deserve to hear what was going on?

“You ready?”

At the sound of Isaiah’s voice, Cassidy launched to her feet, meeting his stern gaze from across the room.

Without another word, the three of them headed out through the club’s main entrance. Once they were at the hotel’s VIP exit, they were met by two additional men.

“Cassidy, this is Jake Andrews and Hayden Wellington. They work for Max.”

The men spared her a quick glance and a polite nod, but no one said anything, which was fine by her. She was ready to get the show on the road.

As the five of them stepped outside, Cassidy realized why the other men were there. They were added protection, evident when she found herself flanked on all sides by four oversized men. All four of them armed.

They didn’t separate until she was safely inside a shiny black Cadillac Escalade. At that point, they joined her quickly, then they headed out.

Micah was obviously familiar with Vegas, because the trip downtown didn’t take long, mainly because he avoided all of the heavily traveled roads. He opted for valet parking, which surprised her considering she’d have opted for a quick getaway. Unless they knew something she didn’t, that wasn’t going to happen.

But she didn’t question them.

They continued in silence into the casino entrance.

The Golden Nugget was just as she remembered from the last time she’d visited, which had been nearly a decade ago. It reminded her of classic movies with its old movie style, golden lights shining down from low ceilings, brass fixtures on the walls.

The trek through the hotel was long, but they managed it without incident. Another elevator ride and they were finally on one of the hotel floors. Once again, all four men flanked her, keeping her tightly tucked between their large bodies until they reached what was obviously their destination.

“Knock on the door,” Isaiah instructed Cassidy.

He gave her just enough room to knock as well as be seen through the security hole in the door. A second later, the door flew open and there was…

“Fuck,” Micah growled as Isaiah pulled Cassidy behind him, effectively shielding her from the two oversized goons and the skinny old man who were guarding Jordan.

Through some strange phenomenon, Cassidy managed to remain calm rather than to fly into a fit of rage when she saw the damage that had been done to her brother. He was tied to a chair, one of his eyes swollen completely shut, his lip busted and bleeding.

“Before you do something you’ll regret,” the older, gray-haired man sitting in a chair beside Jordan, holding a gun to his head began, “I’d highly suggest we handle this in a civilized manner.”

“Civilized?” Isaiah asked with a chuckle that didn’t hold an ounce of humor.

The eerie tone of his voice made her stomach churn. There was something distinctly different about him, but she didn’t know him well enough to know what that was.

“A little late for that, huh?” Micah asked as both men stepped into the room, leaving Cassidy with Jake and Hayden behind them.

“We’re just working through our issues,” the man replied casually.

“Well, good. Because we’re here to settle this,” Isaiah informed the man.

“I see Max has come to his senses.”

Isaiah laughed, a dark, threatening sound that made the hair on the back of Cassidy’s neck stand on end.

“No, actually. His instructions were simple.”

One of the other guys in the room aimed his gun at Jordan’s head.

“And that would be?” the gray-haired man inquired.

“Kill you all.”

“Well, from where I sit, that doesn’t seem beneficial to any of us.”

“Maybe not,” Isaiah said, his gun at his side. “In the meantime, I brought the money he owes you.”

“Good to see Max decided to pay up. Or was it the sister?” the man questioned angrily.

“Oh, she doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Well, I won’t accept payment from Max.”

“Who said Max would be willing to pay?” Isaiah asked.

Cassidy was hanging by a thread, hating this game they were playing. Was Isaiah bluffing? Or did he really have the money? He’d never mentioned it if he did.

And if he was telling the truth, the next questions she had were: Where was the money, and how were they planning to get Jordan out of there alive?

15

Howard Turner was a wannabe gangster with a bad temper and an even worse toupee. He was nothing more than a bottom-feeding loan shark who preyed on people like Jordan Owens, a man with a gambling problem living in the wrong city and succumbing to the draw of Sin City.

That didn’t mean Isaiah would discount the fact that Howard had a gun and looked ready to blow Cassidy’s brother’s head right off.

But Isaiah knew the man wouldn’t do as much because without Jordan Owens alive, there was no reason for anyone to settle his debt. And Isaiah hadn’t been kidding when he’d shared Max’s orders to kill them all. That was the plan.

Maybe not today, but it would happen.

Max Adorite didn’t play games, and when he asked nicely for someone to reach out to him, this wasn’t how he meant. And for that, Howard Turner would die.

However, Isaiah’s goal was to get Jordan out of there in one piece, reunite him with his sister, and get the Owens siblings back to life as normal.

“I take it you received Max’s request,” Isaiah questioned, his gaze scanning the room, taking it all in.

“I did. I figured this was a good way to let him know I wasn’t playing his little game.”

“Oh, Max doesn’t play games,” Isaiah assured Howard. “Then again, you already knew that.”

There was true fear in Howard Turner’s light brown eyes. He knew he’d crossed a line. Granted, he likely had a plan of his own, and Isaiah hoped he would get to hear about it.

He smiled when Howard spoke.

“I don’t have a beef with Max Adorite,” Howard said, his eyes locked with Isaiah’s.

“You mean, you didn’t. Until today,” Isaiah added. “The bottom line is, Mr. Turner, I’m here to take Jordan Owens. Alive.”

“He’s not going anywhere until I get my money.”

“I don’t have your money,” Jordan grumbled.

“So you’ve said,” Howard retorted with a disgusting grin. “Doesn’t mean you won’t come up with it. I’ve already told you, we’ll take that pretty sister of yours as collateral.”

Isaiah growled. The thought of Howard putting his filthy hands on what belonged to him didn’t sit well.

Wait.

Belonged to him?

Since when had he claimed Cassidy as his own?

Before he had a chance to ponder that question, Howard spoke again.

“So what’ll it be?”

Isaiah lifted his eyebrow, encouraging Howard to tell him the options.

“I’ll take the thirty-five thousand that Mr. Owens owes me right now, and you can have him back. Or …”

“Or?” Isaiah asked, trying to keep his cool.

“Or we can make a trade until Mr. Owens can come up with the money.”

“Not gonna happen,” Isaiah assured him. “I’ve got thirty. You take it, hand over Jordan, and you can be on your merry way. Otherwise, you don’t have shit, and in about thirty seconds, I’ll have the cash and the kid.”

That got Harold’s attention. He got to his feet and righted his suit jacket, never taking his eyes off Isaiah.

“Thirty isn’t the deal. I said thirty-five.”

“That’s not what he owes you.”

“Sure it is. I charge for my time, and I’ve wasted the last half hour on him. That’s an extra five.”

Isaiah shook his head. “Thirty or no deal. Your choice. But keep in mind, the more you barter, the deeper of a hole you dig yourself. You claim you don’t have a beef with Mr. Adorite, but you seem to forget who you’re dealing with. Continue on this path, and he’ll have a beef with
you
. He asked nicely for you to reach out to him, to talk this through. You opted to ignore his generosity.”

“What’s keeping me from getting the rest of my money from the sister?” Harold questioned, his tone hard, his gaze backlit with fury.

“Because you touch one hair on her head and I’ll rip your throat out with my bare hands,” Isaiah said, his tone lethal. “Understood?”

Harold glanced over at Jordan, seemingly weighing his options.

Isaiah knew better.

People underestimated him, figured him to be a street-stupid businessman. What most people didn’t realize was that Isaiah had never had it easy. He could brawl with the best of them, even at thirty-eight.

And the last thing he would tolerate was anyone threatening to hurt a woman. Especially
his
woman.

Shrugging off the thought once again, Isaiah said, “Like I said. Your choice. I’ve got a club to run, and I’m wasting my time with you. So either choose the money so we can all be on our way or don’t. I don’t really give a fuck.”

Howard’s cheeks puffed up, his anger apparent. “Fuck you, Fontenot. Give me the goddamn money, but I hope you realize this ain’t over.”

Isaiah reached for the brown bag that Jake had brought with him. He then tossed it over to Harold.

When everyone’s eyes were on the bag in the air, Hayden slipped into the room, his movements not noticed until it was too late. With Hayden’s gun now pointed at Harold’s head, Isaiah instructed Harold’s men to untie Jordan.

“It’s all over, kids. Toss your guns on the floor or Mr. Wellington won’t hesitate to off your boss.”

Isaiah spared Harold a glance.

“Do it,” Harold ordered.

“Smart move,” he told Harold, then turned his attention back to the man closest to Jordan. “Let him go and you can have your boss back. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

Harold snarled at Isaiah but instructed his men to release Jordan.

Minutes later, Harold and his guys were on their way out of the room, their guns still on the floor, while Cassidy and Jordan reunited.

It was then that Isaiah breathed a sigh of relief.

Right before he began pondering the questions he’d had earlier.

Not that he knew how to answer them, but he figured he was running out of time, so he had to do something quick, before Cassidy Owens simply waltzed right out of his life as fast as she’d waltzed i
n.