Branded (13 page)

He could keep a perfectly level head, see this
quite rationally when Nicole wasn’t around.  Why did the sight of her, the
sound of her sweet voice cause him to lose it?

He needed some serious help.

Tomorrow, he’d call Ryan and ask his tough,
ex-military friend for advice on how to combat his current foe.  He needed some
smart, tactical ideas on how to regain and maintain his edge.

Xander walked into Caora Dubh late Thursday
evening.  Since Sam hadn’t been able to get away and Ryan was in town, he’d
agreed to get a copy of the video from Sam and meet at Christian’s bar. 
Discussing his problems with Nicole and reviewing strategies over a couple of
drinks sounded like a better idea anyway.

The old-fashioned Irish pub boasted a large crowd
by the time Xander arrived.  Mahogany woods, golden walls and plenty of mirrors
gave the place a warm, inviting feel.  Most of the seats were taken, but
Christian had promised to save them a couple of stools at the end of the bar.

Xander found Ryan gazing out over the crowd, his
eye on two hotties, and a glass of whiskey in his hand.  Jameson Irish Whiskey
to be specific.  It was the bar’s best-seller, and the only thing Ryan ever
ordered at their friend’s pub.

“Hey,” Xander said in a semi-loud voice, competing
with the raucous Irish jig the live band currently played.

“Hey.”  Ryan lifted his chin in acknowledgement. 
Even though his friend had been out of the service for more than four years, he
still kept his dark hair military short and stayed in excellent shape.

Xander claimed his stool.  “Where’s Christian?”

His friend tilted his head toward the other end of
the bar, his gaze back on the pair of blondes, one of which had realized she’d
gained Ryan’s attention.  She leaned toward her friend and whispered before
both of them turned their gazes to him and Ryan.  His friend lifted his glass
in a friendly salutation which made both women smile and sent them back to
whispering.

Xander turned and faced the bar, looking down the
polished wood to see Christian building a Guinness.  When he finished, he set
the creamy-headed beer on the waitress’s tray, spoke to the female employee
working next to him, and then walked toward Xander and Ryan.

“Hey, man.  What’s up?”  Christian shook his long,
dark bangs out of his eyes.  “I haven’t seen you in this joint for a while.” 
He worked the tap in front of him, filling a glass.

Xander gave his friend a warm smile.  “Sorry.  By
the time I leave work, I’m pretty much done for the day.”

“You’re going to dig yourself an early grave if
you keep that up,” Christian replied.  “You need balance.  You need to
socialize.”  He placed the glass of red ale in front of Xander.  “Man, you need
to get laid.”

Xander rolled his eyes.  Therein lay the problem. 
“Yeah?  You think?”  He took a sip of ale, letting the smooth richness slide
down his throat.

“Hell, yeah,” Ryan commented as he semi-turned in
his seat, still keeping an eye on the ladies.  “I see a couple right now that
might be agreeable to the idea.  Being the good friend I am, I’d be willing to
share and let you have one.”

“Shit.”  He shook his head and laughed.  Getting
laid with no strings attached had always been a priority for his buddy.  “My
problem isn’t how to get laid.  It’s how
not
to get laid.”

Christian narrowed his eyes in a what-the-fuck
look.  “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Laugh all you want, but I’m in a seriously bad
spot.”

“How do you mean?” Christian asked.  “Unless she’s
some dog with a sexually transmitted disease, why wouldn’t you go for it?”
Christian added.

“Because she’s my target.”  He rubbed the short
whiskers on his chin, still not certain how he’d ended up in this predicament. 
“She’s my goddamn target.”

Christian’s expression turned serious.  “How the
hell did that happen?”

“She’s hot,” Ryan explained.  “You weren’t there
the day he got the assignment.  She’s a real looker.”

“How come I never get the cute ones?”  Christian
frowned.  “Last dude I took down was a drug dealer who cheated on his wife and
then tried to pin a murder on her.”

Ryan snorted.  “Yeah, well—”

“Guys.”  Xander cut off Ryan’s reply.  “Do you
think we could stay on topic?  I’m taking her to Seaside for the weekend to see
if I can get her to break loose with some information.  But I’m worried she’ll
think it’s a couple’s weekend.  How do I get out of screwing her without it
being suspicious?”

“Why would you want to?”  Ryan looked at him as
though he were seriously off-balance.  “Same rules apply here.  She’s not ugly,
and unless she’s got some kind of disease, why not sleep with her?  It’s not
like she’s an innocent.”

“Yeah.”  Christian took Ryan’s shot glass and
refilled it.  “I don’t see a problem unless you really don’t like her.”  He
narrowed his focus on Xander.  “She got bad breath or something?”

“No,” Xander growled.  “But it seems unethical.”

“Fuck.”  Ryan barked out a laugh.  “Everything we
do is unethical if you really look at it.  We play dirty.  We play to win.  If
you can’t handle that, maybe this isn’t the right case for you.”

Ryan’s barbs hit home.  Xander had no doubt his
friend knew exactly what his passive-aggressive challenge would do.  It implied
he was weak, that he couldn’t manage his assignment, and it pissed him off like
no other.  “So, I should do whatever the hell I need to do to extract information,
even if it means sleeping with her?”

“This is war, man.”  Ryan shrugged.  “Protecting
the innocent always requires a sacrifice.”

Christian nodded.  “You gotta do what ya gotta do. 
Just make sure you use a condom.”

That was the problem.  Sleeping with Nicole wouldn’t
be a sacrifice.  Holding her in his arms, kissing her lips, discovering what
made her scream in ecstasy, that’s what he wanted to do.  Every minute he spent
with her made it harder and harder to want to see her behind bars.

But that was his problem.  He’d let her under his
skin, but he still had a job to do regardless of his personal cost.  He owed it
to his father.  Owed it to society.

There was no question that he had to man up.  That’s
all there was to it.  He wouldn’t seduce Nicole to extract information.  They
both deserved better than that.  Even if she was guilty of theft, there was
still a part of her that was a good person.  He could sense it. 

That didn’t mean she shouldn’t have to pay.  But
he’d find a more honorable way to get what he needed.

“I need a favor, Chris.”

“What’s that, man?”

“Can you give her a job?  She’s looking, and I
know you need some help.  I figured if she was here, then we’d be able to keep
tabs on her more often.  She’s good with numbers.”

Ryan snorted.  “Yeah, like 10 mill good.”

Christian frowned.  “Are you crazy?  You want me
to give her access to my accounts?”

“No.”  Sometimes the two of them were fucking
dense.  “You can put her in charge of ordering, and she can waitress.  Hell,
make her scrub the floors.  She’s acting desperate, so I’m playing along,
trying to use it to our advantage.”

His friend sighed.  “Fine.  I still owe you for
taking that punch for me last summer.”

“Damn straight.”  Xander grinned.  “I’ll have her
stop by after we’re back in town.”

*        *        *

Nicole turned on the main light in her bedroom,
followed by the one on her nightstand, trying to cast a bright enough glow to
chase away the cloudy evening.  Janie came in behind her and sat on a corner of
her bed while Nicole pulled a suitcase from the closet and placed it on the
opposite side.

“What’s he like?” Janie asked.  “Is he a good guy?”

“I think so.”  Nicole tried to keep the smile on
her face from growing too big.  “He’s into finance, has a nice house, and he’s super
sweet to me.  Oh, did I mention gorgeous?  And he just bought a puppy.”

“He sounds too good to be true.”  Her friend
patted the bed, and Stormy jumped up next to her.  “Wait until you’re with him
for a couple of months, then you’ll see the real guy.”

Nicole dropped a couple pairs of jeans into her
suitcase before eyeing her friend.  “Not everyone is like Paul, Janie.  There
are good guys out there.”

Her friend bit her lip, giving her an apologetic
look.  “I’m sorry.”

“Why do you stay?”

Her friend’s expression turned to bleak despair.  “I’m
going to leave him.”

“You keep saying that.”  She only wanted the best
for her friend.

“I know, but it’s not as easy as you think.”

Nicole was sure it wouldn’t be, but to her, it
didn’t take a whole lot of consideration.  If a man hit her, she’d pack and be
gone.  That was that.

Stormy rolled near Janie’s curled knees, exposing
her belly.  “I know what you want.”  She ruffled the dog’s white belly fur.

“She’s so spoiled,” Nicole said, folding a hoodie. 
Bruises on Janie’s wrist caught her attention, and she haphazardly dropped the
jacket into her suitcase and walked toward her friend.

She grabbed her hand, holding it between them.  “God,
Janie.  You can’t let him do this to you.”

Janie pulled away.  “I know.”

Up close, Nicole spotted another concealed bruise
on her jaw and touched it.

Her friend met her gaze with defiant eyes.  “Don’t
start pitying me.  I’m not one of those battered women.”

She gave her a kind smile.  “You look like it to
me,” she whispered, pain welling inside her for her friend.

“Well, I’m not.”  She went back to petting Stormy’s
belly.  “Yes, I’ve stayed longer than I should have, but I have a plan.  I just
need some time.”  She met her gaze again, this time a touch of fear lurking in
her expression.  “Paul’s not an easy person to walk away from.”

The fright on her friend’s face blossomed inside Nicole. 
“What do you mean?”

“He’s not a nice person.”  She paused, returning
her gaze to Nicole.  “His friends aren’t either.”

“What are you saying?”  How much danger was she actually
in?

She shrugged.  “He’s not who I thought he was when
I first met him.”

“You have to get out, Janie.”

“I told you.  I have a plan, but it’s going to
take a little time.”

“You should come stay here.”

She shook her head.  “When I go, it’s going to
have to be somewhere he’ll never find me.”

“God, Janie.  How am I supposed to leave now,
knowing what kind of danger you’re in?”

“You have to.  There’s nothing you can do here
anyway.  Right now, I need things to appear as normal as possible.  It won’t be
for long.”

She sagged on the bed next to her friend and put
an arm across her shoulder.  “I’m here for you.  Anything you need.”

Janie wrapped her arms around her, leaning into
her as her fear turned to sobs.  “Oh, Nicole.  How did my life ever get this
messed up?”

*        *        *

Xander left work early Friday afternoon to rent a vehicle
large enough for the four of them to fit.  He stopped by his house to change, grab
his weekend bag and Apollo.  Nerves and excitement twisted inside him, and he
could no longer discern which were from the prospect of spending the weekend
with Nicole and which were from the possibility he might finally break her. 
Keeping a façade going every minute of every day was a difficult feat, and he
intended to seriously push her this weekend.

It was the only way to extricate him from the
sweet torturous hell he currently existed in.  Busting her would be difficult,
but it would be more difficult to continue to allow their relationship to
develop, knowing damn well that despite her guilt, he was falling for her.

Apollo alternated between whining and barking as
Xander approached Nicole’s building.  He’d phone ahead to let her know he was
on his way.  When he pulled up to the curb, she stepped out of the door, Stormy’s
leash in one hand, her suitcase in the other.

He jumped out of the Rogue to help her with her load. 
“Hey,” he said, taking her bag from her.

Her return smile kicked him in the gut.  She
wrapped her free arm around his neck and pulled him to her for a kiss.  “I know
it’s only been a couple of days, but I missed that.  I missed you.”

He pulled her to him, pressed his lips against
hers, savoring the taste of her, suddenly considering the number of times he’d
be able to do that before she was taken away.  “Yeah.  It will be good to get
out of town, won’t it?  No job for me, and you can leave your worries here.  We’ll
escape for a while.”

“It’s exactly what I need.”

Apollo barked from inside. 

“Whose car?”

“Rental.”  He opened the back and put her suitcase
inside.  “I figured you might not appreciate riding with two dogs on your lap.”

“Honestly?  I wouldn’t care.  Whatever it takes to
get out of town and spend the weekend with three of my favorite people.”

“People?”

“What?  You don’t think Apollo and Stormy think
they’re people, too?” she teased.

He snorted, heat rushing through him.  He should
be focusing on work and not flirting with her, but he couldn’t help how good
she made him feel.  “Fine.  Let’s get the rest of you
people
inside and
hit the road.”

*        *        *

The ninety minute drive across the top of Oregon
to the coast was filled with laughter and dogs trampling over the backseat of
the vehicle to see which side provided the better view.  The sun dipped farther
in the sky as they drew closer to the ocean, and everything felt right with the
world.

 “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you,” she said
as Xander passed a sign stating they were five miles out of Seaside.  “I
received a call from my attorney.”  She’d been so happy to see Xander that all
thoughts of real life had evaporated.  “I’ve asked him to keep pressuring the
police about my computer, and it worked.  I can pick it up on Monday…
and
he doesn’t believe they have enough to charge me.  I’ll probably remain on
their suspect list, but at least now they might start looking at other people.”