Hero - The Ambush: Special Forces Romance (9 page)

I also had to ditch my car. If Haze was looking for me, as I had no doubt he was, all he had to do was pull the GPS info. For all I knew, he'd already done it and was only minutes behind me.

I pulled into the Hilton and let the valets take away my car. As my car disappeared with my phone still in it, I felt free. No way to find me, no one to stop me.

The valet hailed a cab as I pulled money from the Hilton's lobby ATM. No car, no phone, no credit cards. Haze would have a hard time tracking me. And he'd never think to look for me where I was going.

“Seventh Circle,” I said as I climbed into the cab.

He drove away from the curb, but I felt his eyes checking and rechecking me as we wove through traffic. “Are you sure, miss? It's called Seventh Circle for a reason. As in the Seventh Circle of Hell.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but it was clear from his expression that he felt the need to clarify even further. “It's one of those dungeon clubs where people dress up like vampires and all that shi-stuff.”

I laughed, but the sound made me cringe. “That's the place,” I said. I gave him a smile in the mirror. “Let's just say I have a date with the devil.”

He pursed his lips and drove in silence until we pulled up next to the alley opening. A red neon arrow pointed down the alley where another smaller sign blinked down a stone staircase.

He spoke again as I pulled out the cash I needed. “I'm telling you, miss, that's no place for a nice girl like you.”

I tossed a couple bills at him. “Too bad you don't know me.” I didn't give him a chance to respond as I climbed out of the cab and slammed the door behind me.

I paused on the sidewalk as I dug in my purse and pulled out a black satin ribbon. I'd torn it off a dress a few days ago and shoved it into my purse. Now it would serve a different function.

I tied it around my neck with a pert bow, making a choker necklace that was a perfect contrast to my white dress. I would glow in the club's backlights and attract the maximum attention. My heart pounded at the thought. This was just what I needed.

I took out my gold barrettes and fluffed my now-dried curls. The stone steps were steep and I descended slowly, enjoying the sensation of disappearing from my normal life. Thick black doors padded with red vinyl swallowed me whole and I stood in the heavy darkness, holding my breath until my eyes adjusted.

Seventh Circle was more crowded than I'd hoped at this early hour. Knots of young people in various shades of black and heavy eyeliner lined the bar and the dance floor. I'd heard about the club from Paris when she'd had a brief fling with a Goth poet, but I'd never been there. I didn't want to think about her, but I remembered that she'd said the drinks were cheap, and the drugs easy to find. I sauntered to the bar, my dress glowing purple under the black lights.

“Shot of tequila, top shelf,” I said. “Glad to see there's a top shelf in Hell.”

The bartender swung her black braid as she turned toward me. “Shots are free for human sacrifices.”

I laughed and studied her heavy black make-up. The thick cat eyes framed impossibly light green eyes, a color so pale that they were nearly white. Her cheekbones were high and dramatically blushed, her lipstick a solid blood red. She was stunning and staring at me as openly as I looked at her. I wondered if she made a habit of seducing newbies.

I gestured for another tequila shot.

“I'd watch out, Zoey. That's not a human sacrifice. That's the Devil herself,” a black-haired man a few feet down the bar spoke up.

I raised an eyebrow. “You know me?” I nearly laughed at the question. Of course, he didn't know me. No one knew
me
.

“I do,” he said as he pushed himself off the bar and walked toward me. “I've seen your picture in the tabloids.”

Right.

I slammed the next shot Zoey handed me and felt the alcohol start to take hold. “Then you know I'm here to party.”

I didn't even ask his name as I dragged him onto the dance floor. Time blurred around me, swirling in time with the music. We swayed and ground against each other. Then the dance floor got crowded so I moved to a tabletop. Then up to the V.I.P. balcony where the black-haired man handed me a joint. It wasn't until I was doing a body shot of tequila off Zoey's bare stomach that I realized the flashes around me weren't from the club's lighting.

The dark-haired man was a photographer. I straightened, swaying on my high heels. I wasn't sure if I wanted to hit him or kiss him and give him something to really write home about.

Before I could decide, however, someone knocked the camera from his hands. I blinked blearily, and then sighed.

“Haze? How did you find me?”

Chapter 10

Haze

I
knew Leighton was in trouble when I found the alley with the red neon arrow. I may have grown up in Kansas, but I wasn't some small-town hick from the middle of nowhere. This was bad.

Black-haired, leather-clad people stood around in clumps smoking cigarettes and, based on the smell, more. One fanged girl actually snarled at me as I passed. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes. A bunch of kids toying with darkness because it was their only escape from the sun-drenched reality of Los Angeles.

Leighton obviously didn't want to be found, evidenced by the fact that she'd gone out of her way to find this hole in the wall to disappear into. Finding her car at the Hilton had been easy since Devlin had every car on the property low-jacked. Once there, however, things had gotten a bit trickier.

Management had known better than to reveal Leighton's location, even to her bodyguard, because she regularly spent money there with her jet-setting friends. When I'd finally found the valet who'd parked her car, it had taken a brief, but intense conversation to jog his memory. Before I finished, he even remembered the medallion number of the cab that had picked her up.

It'd been easy enough to find the right cab, and when I did, the driver seemed relieved that someone was asking after his fare. That had been my first clue that Leighton had done something even more stupid than I'd originally thought. He'd said she had that look in her eye, like someone who'd wanted trouble. He'd given me the address of the club then. The Seventh Circle. Not exactly the most welcoming of names.

I walked down the stairs without sparing a look for anyone else. The club was pumping out dance music into a hazy dungeon atmosphere. The decor tried too hard to be dark, resulting in a lot of black paint and very little of anything else.

Leighton was easy to spot. She glowed, her white dress lit up by the black lights. I watched as a tall dark-haired man untied a black satin ribbon from her throat and replaced it with a studded leather collar. My hands curled into fists and I took a step forward.

The bartender took a twenty-dollar bill from the black-haired man and boosted herself onto the bar. I really didn't like where this was going. Leighton leaned over the bar tender's bare stomach to do a body shot of tequila, and even as I went down the last couple steps to the floor level, I realized what the dark-haired man was after. A camera came out and I pushed the shadowy party-goers out of the way, reaching the photographer in time to knock the camera out of his hand.

“Haze? How did you find me?” Leighton slurred up at me.

“He's taking pictures of you to sell to the tabloids.” I shoved the black-haired man back before he could pick up his camera. He glared at me, but didn't try to do anything about it.

“So what?” Leighton asked.

She swayed on her heels, but managed to retrieve the camera and hand it back to the photographer. She gave the dark-haired man a grin and then grabbed a nearby man who wore red horns and kissed him long and hard. The camera flashed half a dozen times before the photographer saw my look and ran, clutching his camera to his chest. I longed to go after him and wipe that smug look from his face...with my fist.

“Where'd he go?” Leighton asked with a pout. “Always a buzzkill, Haze. Oh well, I'm sure plenty of people here have camera phones.” She shrugged and started to turn back to the bartender.

“Come on, Leighton. You don't know what you're doing,” I said, grabbing her arm.

She yanked away from me, eyes flashing. “I know exactly what I'm doing.” She frowned. “It's my button and I can push it if I want to.”

“What button? What are you talking about?” I tried to grab her arm again, but she danced away.

“Self-destruct in five, four, three–”

She laughed as I swung her up and over my shoulder. No one even blinked as I carried her away. We were halfway up the stairs before she started kicking.

“Put me down!” she insisted. “I'm not leaving until I've hit it.”

“Hit what? The self-destruct button?” I asked. She needed to get sober.

“No, silly.” She wiggled harder as we pushed through the thick black doors. “Rock bottom. Take me back down! You could use a little fun in your life too.”

“I'm taking you home, Leighton,” I said.

As annoyed as I was by her behavior, I couldn't help but wonder what happened since I'd last seen her. Why did she want to hit rock bottom?

Sure, I left her this morning, but I'd intended to come back. I needed to clear my head, and figure out what to say to her. Devlin had made it clear that he didn't want Leighton to know about the threats, but I wasn't sure I could be with her and protect her. And I didn't know how I could explain any of that to her without telling her too much.

“Leighton, I'm sorry. I screwed everything up this morning,” I said.

“Yeah, I got your note. 'Please forgive me.'” She snickered. “I'm not some innocent little girl, Haze.”

Leighton kicked hard and I put her down, leaning her back against my car as I looked down at her.

“I needed to clear my head,” I said honestly. I forced myself to say the rest. “My job is to protect you and last night...complicated things.”

Leighton snorted and rolled her eyes. “I've moved on. I don't want you or anyone anymore. I don't need your protection. I can take care of myself.”

She tried to push away and head back down the alley, but I caught her and tucked her into the car. I easily made it back to the driver's seat before she could fumble the door open. When I hit the locks, I engaged the child-lock, taking a brief moment to wonder if Devlin had ordered them installed with instances like this in mind.

“Did something else happen this morning?” My eyes narrowed as I looked at her. “Are you okay?”

“Paris is back in town,” Leighton said as she poked at the door. She wasn't really trying to get out, so I started the car. “So I went to see her. Wanted to let her tear you apart.”

My heart twisted. This wasn't going any place good, and it was my fault.

“Ricky was in her. I mean with her.” She gave a bitter laugh. “I shouldn't have found them. Then I didn't want to be found.” She looked at me and scowled. “Wait, how did you find me?”

“The cab driver remembered you.”

“I didn't want to be found, Haze. I don't need anyone.”

When I pulled up to the stoplight, I glanced to my left. I didn't realize what she was doing until I saw she’d rolled down her window and tried to climb out. Tried being the operative word. She stumbled getting out of the car and fell hard on the asphalt.

“Shit.” I scrambled out of the car, ignoring the car horns honking as I hurried to the other side.

When I picked her up, her dress was ripped, her leg scraped and bleeding. I quickly shoved her back into the car and belted her in this time. I could only hope she'd be too wasted to be able to figure out how to work it.

As I slid back into my seat, Leighton looked at her scuffed hands and the blood on her dress and smiled.

“Rock bottom?”

Before I'd driven more than a few feet, she was out cold. I should've relaxed, knowing there was no way she'd get out again. But I couldn't relax, couldn't stop thinking about what had happened and why.

I didn't understand exactly what she'd said about Paris and Ricky, but it was clear whatever happened had tipped her over the edge. She wanted to ruin her life, hit rock bottom. I knew I couldn't let them take all the blame though. Most of it, I knew, was my fault. I'd encouraged Ian to re-enlist and leave his sister. Then I'd swooped in and comforted her, which turned into sex. I'd taken advantage of her, and I didn't have enough courage to tell her how I really felt.

It was a long drive back home as I beat myself up. Instead of protecting her, I'd fucked it all up. My job was to protect her, but who would protect her from me?

Leighton's words kept coming back to me – self-destruct and rock bottom. She felt like everything was falling apart anyway, so she decided to smash everything she had left. As the wrought-iron gates opened, I realized I'd accidentally helped her succeed on her mission.

I told Devlin she'd run. He was across the country on business, but he hadn't been surprised to hear from me.

“Having a tantrum about her brother's decision?” Devlin had asked. “I should have known she'd react like a spoiled child instead of an adult.”

“I think there's more to it than that,” I'd tried to say, but her grandfather had cut me off.

“I'll put out the word with my network that she's on the town. I swear that girl doesn't have a thought in her head for anyone other than herself,” Devlin said before he'd hung up.