Locked and Loaded (14 page)

“Yeah.” For the first time in a week, Kieran's tone grew serious. And for the first time in a week, Mason felt like he might be fucked. “We'll get settled in and meet you there.”

He didn't dare give Charlie any reassurance. She was supposed to be able to handle herself. Katarina snapped her fingers and one of her men headed for the door. It swung wide and he waited out in the hallway for Kieran and Charlie to walk out in front of him. If they all made it through the night alive, it would be a miracle.

The door closed behind them and the sound punched through Mason's chest. He turned to face Katarina, and a seductive smile spread across her crimson lips. “Now,” she purred in her smooth accent, “where were we?”

Chapter Fourteen

“I had my doubts about you, Charlie. But you proved yourself tonight,” Kieran said.

She'd done well. Too bad she was too damned worried about Mason to pat herself on the back for it. If anything happened to him, she'd be set adrift in a world—and with a man—she knew nothing about. Thoughts of her own safety took a backseat to her concern for Mason, though. What had Katarina wanted? Was he okay? What if Katarina decided to go back on their deal and killed Mason just to prove a point? The lack of control she had over the situation caused Charlie's stomach to churn. All she could do was play her part and wait. She climbed into the backseat of the car and settled in beside Kieran. She was antsy as hell and felt like throwing her guts up. And she had no choice but to play it cool like it was simply another day at the office.

There was definitely an ulcer in her future.

“Maybe now you'll stop trying to test me and let me in on whatever big deal you've got going on?”

“Just you?” A flirtatious smile tugged at Kieran's mouth. “What about your partner?”

He'd love it if Charlie turned on Mason, wouldn't he? “Both of us.” She pinned him with a chiding look. “I thought that went without saying.”

“What's the deal with you two?” The car pulled out onto the street and Charlie forced herself not to look back at the club. Mason was capable. He could take care of himself. “You're not fucking him, are you, Charlie?”

She'd learned enough about Kieran to know when he was trying to get a rise out of her. She met his gaze, the epitome of calm. “No,” she said. “I'm not fucking him.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners with amusement. “Good. I'd be jealous otherwise.”

Charlie's chest tightened. She couldn't tell if Kieran was actually coming on to her or not. Again, he might be trying to get a rise out of her. More likely, he was deflecting. Making sure the conversation veered away from his current business dealings. Namely, Faction Five. Charlie infused her tone with skepticism, playing along with whatever game he played. “I'm sure you would.”

Kieran reached out and smoothed her hair away from her face. “I'd be absolutely
green
.”

“What do you think Katarina wants with Mason?” If Kieran could deflect, so could she. She'd keep the conversation focused on business, no matter his efforts to steer her in the opposite direction.

Kieran's gaze darkened. Charlie wasn't sure it was concern she saw in his eyes, but perhaps a little of that jealousy he'd mentioned. It wasn't over a woman, either. Charlie suspected that Kieran's rivalry with Mason spanned years and ran deep. They might not share the same blood, but they were brothers just the same. Sibling rivalries were often the worst kind.

“If I had to guess?” he began. “She's either offering him a job, or taking him to bed.”

Embers of her own jealousy smoldered in the pit of Charlie's stomach. It had been obvious from Katarina's hungry gaze that her interest in Mason wasn't strictly professional, but Charlie'd hoped that the mafia princess would be smarter than to mix business with pleasure. “If it's a business relationship she's offering, Mason isn't interested.” If she was being honest, she hoped he wasn't interested in
any
relationship with Katarina Evgeny, business or otherwise. “He won't screw us over.”

Kieran leveled his gaze on Charlie. “Don't be so sure.”

He still didn't trust Mason. At this rate, they'd never infiltrate Faction Five. “What's it going to take for you to trust us?”

Kieran fixed her with a contemplative stare. “Why do you trust him?”

Good question. Why did she trust him? Aside from him being recommended by Carlos Carrera, Charlie didn't know much about him. His work performance had been exemplary. In fact, his supervisor with CBP had been sad to see him go. Being good at his job didn't make him trustworthy, though.

“He could have let me go to jail,” she said after a moment. Keeping to the details of her cover story wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. “And instead, he helped me out.”

“You're beautiful.” Kieran's hungry gaze roamed over her, making Charlie feel a little like a meal. “I don't know a man on the planet who wouldn't have helped you out.”

Heat collected in the pit of Charlie's stomach and fanned out into her limbs. Kieran's compliment shouldn't have pleased her. She'd never thought of herself as attractive. She was a little too curvy, her personality a little too severe. “I doubt he took the risk because he thought I was good-looking.” Did Mason think she was good-looking? Jesus, that was
so
not something she should be contemplating right now.

“I would have.” Kieran dropped his voice to a murmur. “In a heartbeat.”

Charlie wasn't going to let herself be affected by his words. “Liar.”

Kieran chuckled. “Maybe.” He shrugged. “Maybe not.”

He leaned forward in his seat and said something to the driver in Russian.

“What did you say to him?”

“I told him not to take us to the hotel.”

Charlie shifted in her seat. “Where did you tell him to take us?”

“Mélisse. I'm starving, aren't you?”

There was no way she'd make it through a casual meal as wound up and worried as she was. “What about Mason?”

“What about him?” It seemed Kieran couldn't turn off the playful vibe. “He can get his own dinner.”

Was there anything that worried him? Not even Mason's safety?

* * *

Charlie had never been more ready for a day to come to a close. She'd made a conscious effort to soldier through dinner. It's not like she had a choice. She couldn't help but wonder if Mason was stuck in the same situation right now. A captive audience without a choice.

“How's the wine?”

“It's great.” He knew it was, but Charlie suspected that Kieran wanted to hear her say it. To reinforce that he was suave and sophisticated. That his tastes were impeccable.

They'd already polished off the first bottle and were working on the second one. Charlie had thought that a couple glasses of overpriced chardonnay would calm her nerves, but she'd passed calm a mile or so back and was headed straight toward tipsyville.

“And dinner?”

He couldn't help but fish for compliments. You'd think he'd cooked her salmon himself. “Delicious,” Charlie said with a smile.

Kieran watched her. The intensity of his attention compressed the air from Charlie's lungs and left her feeling a little shaky. Or maybe it was the wine. Either way, she was pretty sure that the best thing for her at this point was to finish eating and get her butt to bed.

They'd kept the conversation light throughout most of the meal. Charlie had almost forgotten that she was dining with a man who was on the radar of every law enforcement agency in this country and a few others. Kieran liked to showcase his sophistication, and the topics of conversation ranged from theater and ballet to music and art. He had Charlie beat on the high society chart. Not for the first time, she considered how much her dad would have loved Kieran if not for the whole international criminal thing.

“How did you get into the jewelry business?” Kieran twirled his wineglass by the stem. “Were your parents jewelers?”

“No,” Charlie said with a laugh. “Why would you think that?”

“It's the sort of business that runs in families.”

“Sort of like diamond smuggling?”

Kieran laughed. “Sort of.”

“My dad's a lawyer.” Some small measure of truth couldn't hurt. Kieran didn't know her real last name after all. “About as far from a jeweler as you can get.”

Kieran regarded her. “What sort of law does he practice?”

Charlie sipped from her glass. “Corporate.”

“So he's in it for the money?”

Kieran didn't mince words and Charlie wasn't going to downplay the truth. “Yep.” She picked at her risotto, suddenly more interested in another glass of wine than getting food in her stomach. “That and the clout.”

“How good is he at his job?” Kieran reached across the table and refilled Charlie's glass as though on cue.

Charlie brought the glass to her lips. “Very good.”

“I doubt he was thrilled at his daughter's choice of profession, then.”

Jeweler . . . black-market diamond broker . . . prosecuting attorney . . . They were probably equally heinous in her father's opinion. She took a good, long swallow of the crisp white wine. “No.”

“But you think he'd respect you more if you brought home an impressive paycheck.”

Wow.
Charlie was beginning to think that Kieran might actually know her dad. “Probably.” She couldn't seem to muster more than one-word responses.
Change of subject, please!

“I can give that to you.” The way Kieran promised her the world was seductive and a little slimy all at once. “I can give you the respect you deserve.”

Charlie set her glass down on the table. Kieran was absolutely right. He just didn't realize how he was going to enable her to get it. She leveled her gaze to his and held it. “I'm counting on it.”

* * *

The elevator doors slid open on the tenth floor. Mason let out a gust of breath as he stepped into the hallway and pulled the plastic key card out of his pocket. He'd been trying to get ahold of Charlie on her burner phone for the past half hour to no fucking avail. Why wasn't she answering? Where was she? Mason had damned near worried himself into an ulcer over it. Plus, he was tired, hungry, and so wound up that his head felt like it was going to spring right off his shoulders.

Katarina had proved to be quite a handful. Spoiled. Demanding. Exhausting. Horny as fuck. Oblivious to anyone
not
wanting her. Getting out of that club without damaging her precious ego had been a feat in itself. She'd offered him a job first. Then, her body. And when he hadn't expressed interest in either, she'd threatened to withhold payment for the diamonds and deposit his body in the nearest Dumpster.

It had taken more coddling than Mason thought he was capable of to let her down easy. He'd reluctantly admitted to her that his feelings for Charlie ran deeper than mere business acquaintances. Katarina had made the leap to assume that Charlie was interested in Kieran. And why not? Kieran was dangerous, suave, cocky, rich. Charming. The total package. At her core, Katarina was a romantic. A brokenhearted one. She sympathized with Mason's supposed unrequited love. In the end, she vowed to pay Mason every dime they'd agreed to and let him leave with an offer in parting. Her door was always open to him, should he change his mind.

He wanted to lay his fist into Kieran's gut for putting him in that position tonight.

Mason forced one foot in front of the other as he trudged toward his room. He rounded a corner and came to a complete stop not fifty feet from where Kieran had Charlie pressed against a door. Their mouths hovered less than an inch apart and Kieran's fingers were wound in the length of Charlie's shining, silky hair. They both turned and faced him at the same moment and the three of them stood there, staring in stunned silence.

What—the actual—fuck.

Kieran had the nerve to let loose a superior smile. Mason was going to pull the fucker's perfect, straight white teeth right out of his head. Charlie's eyes went wide. She ducked under Kieran's arm and hustled down the hallway to the spot where Mason stood rooted to the floor, as if she hadn't just been caught with her pants down.

Or at least she would've been if he'd shown up a few minutes later.

Seriously.
What the fuck?

“What happened? What did she want?” Charlie searched Mason's face, her own pinched with worry. Her concern was a bitter gall considering what he'd just walked up on. He'd been worried out of his damned mind, wondering what had happened that she couldn't answer her phone. Of course she couldn't answer. Her hands had been too damn full of Kieran to handle anything else.

“Nothing happened.” Mason forced his jaw to unclench, but it didn't soften the bite of his words. “She wired the money, I gave her the diamonds. End of story.”

He wanted to tell Charlie something completely different than the truth. That he'd bent Katarina over a table and fucked her so hard that neither one of them could walk straight. He wanted her to feel exactly what he felt right now. Like someone had just gutted him with a dull knife. Like he couldn't take a deep enough breath to fill his lungs. But she'd actually have to feel something for him in order to be hurt, wouldn't she?

Charlie's jaw squared. “It's been two hours. You're telling me that's all that happened?”

Mason didn't owe her an explanation. He didn't owe her a damned thing. “Yup.”

Charlie glanced over her shoulder. Mason followed her line of sight to where Kieran leaned against the wall, watching them. The silence that stretched between them all grew more aggravating by the second. What a shitty-ass day. Mason was more than ready to put it behind him.

“I'm going to bed.”

Kieran laughed. Arrogant asshole.

Charlie turned to face Mason, her brow furrowed. She brought her voice down to a murmur. “Don't you think we should talk about a few things first?”

Mason looked over her head at Kieran. “Nope.” There were too many thoughts tangled up in his brain for Mason to hash any of this out tonight. His temper was hanging on by a thread as it was. He brushed past her, didn't dare look back.