Risky Temptation (12 page)

              I waited another five minutes to see if anyone else would emerge from the room but no one else did.

              Okay, so I had no idea if this mysterious man was going to be coming back and if so, when.

              But I did know that this was my shot.

              Breathing a slow breath out, I quickly shot out of my room, gently shut the door and then opened the door into the room next door.

              It was almost identical to the first office I had entered, except there was a lingering smell of cigar smoke and brandy. Knowing I was pressed for time, I immediately rushed towards the desk.

              The computer was on!
And
there was no window for a password!

              I nearly cried in excited joy. Immediately, I moved the mouse towards the little internet icon. But as soon as I clicked it, the same password window opened up.

              I instinctively gave a small cry of frustrated disappointment then clapped my mouth shut, remembering where I was.

              I tried again. They same demand for a password. I clicked another icon. Password. Another icon. Password.

              Every application required a password.

              Clearly the Black Saints were not lax in their privacy. I felt tears already stinging my eyes in frustration. How could I be so close and yet so far? I had the means of communication literally in my hands and yet I was being thwarted by one word, one password!

              I was about to give into my tears when I caught the sight of a minimized screen.

              More out of just random desperation than actual hope, I clicked on the screen.

              But what popped up was no random application. My eyes widened as I read the words that filled the screen. My jaw dropped.

“Holy shit,” I said. I didn’t understand everything I was reading but I got the clear and distinct impression that this was unbelievably important. In the bigger picture, this was probably better than the internet or an email to Marco. This might be our saving grace.

              I looked through the desk, hoping against hope that I could possibly find what I was looking for. It seemed unlikely but—

              “Ha!” I said more loudly than I should have.

              I picked up the tiny silver thumb drive from the corner of one desk drawer and quickly saved what I hoped would be our saving grace.

Chapter
Fourteen
Marco

              “Shouldn’t you be doing more planning?” Jamie asked confused. “More research or preparations or something?”

              I leaned back in my seat. We sat in the dining room. I sat next to Zeke’s mess of computers while Jamie sat across from me. Zeke was upstairs sleeping. It was two in the afternoon. The man kept the oddest hours.

              The computer screen had a permanent bar that was loading slowly. It was the key. Already at 68%. Soon, we’d have the whole thing in our possession.

              I shook my head calmly. “We did all of that. We have Copper’s schedule. He’ll be home having a night in in two days. It’ll be the perfect night. His home location will give me the most space with the least amount of guards or security interference. I’ve recon-ed the whole place along with the best spot for the killshot. All I need to do now is wait till then.”

              Jamie furrowed his brows in worry then sighed and shrugged. “I guess when it comes to this, you’re the expert,” he said.

              My lips twitched humorlessly. If he only knew. “I guess so,” I said.

              We sat in comfortable silence together. Any time I had a moment of quiet, my thoughts always ran towards Halle. I knew Tobias wouldn’t kill her. He wouldn’t. And yet, there was no comfort in such knowledge. The Black Saints were notorious. Could anyone
really
know what they would do? Especially the Enforcer?

              And of course, there was the inescapable level of guilt I felt at knowing I had a hand in having Halle captured. The only reason why she had been dragged into this disaster was because of me.

              More than finding peace in life, more than escaping Roy and my past, more than having a future, I just wanted Halle by my side. With her, I felt completely whole within the moment. I needed nothing or want anything when I’m with her.

              And it drove a dagger into me to think that I had repaid the peace she had bestowed upon me with danger and kidnapping.

              “She wouldn’t blame you.”

              I looked up in surprise, shaken out of my thoughts.

              Jamie was watching me carefully, his cornflower blue eyes studying me. He gave me a faint little smile.

              “She doesn’t blame you for what’s happened,” he said.

              I gave a small smile in response, impressed by his sharpness. “And how do you know that?” I asked.

              His eyes, steady and blue, turned a shade lighter as they softened in gentle compassion. “Because I don’t blame you,” he said, leaning back in his wheelchair. “I never have.”

              My chest tightened at his words. I looked at his slender shoulders and thin body resting comfortably in his wheelchair. He had always been a slight boy but who knows how he could’ve changed or transformed had he not been stunted by a stray bullet at eighteen.

              I had blamed Roy, of course. After all, it was Roy that had sent an untrained kid out into a dangerous situation. Roy fucking Desmond, who thought any son of his would have to
earn
his name and keep.

              But I had also blamed myself. I should’ve been there. I should’ve been there to stop it. If I had been present, Jamie would still be walking. He would have a different chance at life. He would—

              “I’ve never blamed you,” Jamie said, interrupting my self-punishing tirade of thoughts. He shook his head, as if he was only saying the obvious. “How could I blame you? It wasn’t your fault.”

              “It wasn’t my fault?” I said incredulously. “I should’ve been there to protect you! If I had been there—”

              “If you had been there, then what?” Jamie countered. “You could’ve stopped that one moment. But then what about the next? You think Roy would’ve just stopped there? There was no way you could’ve been by my side 24/7.” Jamie shook his head again. “No, I think Roy was determined to watch me fail.”

              “You didn’t fail,” I argued vehemently. “You were too good for that Family. You should take pride in the fact that you didn’t fit in. Who wants to fit in with a mob of crooks and fucking criminals? You’re better than them.” I paused, studying him. “You’ve always been the better one.”

              Jamie smiled warmly at me. “Because you kept me safe. You were always looking out for me, big brother. And I was always so glad to know you were in my corner.” He pressed his hand lightly against his chest.

              “That’s how I know Halle doesn’t blame you,” he said. “If she loves you as much as I love you, which I think she definitely does, then she knows that this is not your fault.”

              I shook my head. “Maybe you can make that argument for yourself. You were born into one fucked up Family without much choice. But Halle…Halle has a choice. She could lead a much safer, happier life.”

              “Safer, maybe. But not happier,” Jamie said. “Give her some credit, big brother. She knows where she wants to be. You can’t take the blame for everything bad that happens in our lives forever.”

              I looked at Jamie, so light, so kind. How did any part of Roy Desmond make something as good as this? But I knew Jamie’s delicate frame only belied a strong inner core.

              You had to be strong to survive the Desmond Family but you had to be even stronger to survive it with a smile. Jamie had gotten nothing but bruises and beatings and a bullet wound out of Roy and the Desmond Mafia and yet, he lived now with a constant smile on his face and continually brought laughter into any place he entered.

             
That
was strength.

              “When did you get so wise, little brother?” I asked, unable to keep the corner of my lips from turning up.

              Jamie grinned. “Learned it from the best, I guess,” he said, throwing me a wink.

              I gave a little laugh then shook my head.

              “Let’s just hope I can get this over and behind us soon. I can worry later what to do about the future and the like then. For now, I just want to finish this hit and get Halle back.”

              “That might be a little harder than we planned,” a voice interrupted us from behind.

              Jamie and I turned our attentions to the dining room entry where Zeke stood, disheveled, with a tablet. His clothes were wrinkled and messy, looking as if he had slept in them. I realized, he probably had.

              “What are you talking about?” I asked.

              Zeke slid the tablet towards me.

              A news page was pulled up on the screen with a blaring huge headline:

              “Millionaire Security Tycoon Almost Killed By Mysterious Shooter”

              “What the heck?” Jamie cried, reading the screen. “What does this mean? We haven’t done anything yet!”

              I sat back in my seat, my shoulders as tense as a violin string. I eyed the screen darkly, plans and back up plans flying by in my brain as I tried to quickly think of the best response.

              “Fuck!” I barked so loudly and sharply both Zeke and Jamie jumped.

              “But what does this mean?” Jamie asked, grabbing the tablet. “Who else would shoot Copper?”

              I shook my head. “It means that other black market groups and probably some European Families have caught wind of what Marshall Copper has. And they’re trying to move in on him.”

              I looked up at Zeke. “We don’t have much time now,” I said. “With Copper put in such obvious danger, he’ll be on the move soon. I have to get him before he disappears or is too hard to reach.”

              Those fucking amateurs. If you were going to carry out a hit, at least be fucking accurate. Now all they did was make the whole thing harder.

              Zeke cocked his head, his lips pursed as he tapped his fingers on the side of his leg. “That’ll be hard. His schedule today will probably have shifted a lot and wherever he ends up staying, it’ll probably be well guarded.”

              I stood up, knowing I’d be heading out soon to do more recon work. “It doesn’t matter. If we wait till our original date, Copper will be gone. He knows he’s in deep shit now. We need to get him while we still can.”

              Zeke sucked in a breath.

              “I hope you still have some of that American luck,” he said, sitting down to the task.

Chapter
Fifteen
Marco

              And like we had predicted, Copper was now much harder to get.

              He had booked himself into the Four Seasons in London. Copper had purposely picked a well known location that would be in a crowded, public space. It would be hard to plan a hit in such a location. And all the buildings surrounding the hotel were not suitable places to set the killshot from.

              I had spent most of the day casing the entire area. Walking down Park Lane and passing by the crowds of tourists, I mentally cursed myself and the mysterious shooters for fucking up my plans.

              “I don’t think it’s going to work,” Zeke had said over the phone as I ducked into an alley off the busy street.

              “He’s in the penthouse suite. There’s no suitable buildings around the hotel that’ll give you the right angle for the shot,” Zeke said, only confirming everything I had seen today.

              “Godfuckingdammit,” I muttered.

              “I think we’ll have to come up with some other kind of plan,” Zeke said.

              “There is no other kind of plan. The man is a flight risk,” I said. “I guarantee he’ll be out of the country before tomorrow night.”

              Zeke sighed. “Well then we’ll have to try and think of something before tomorrow night.”

              I sighed as I hung up, frustrated and angry and dying for a tree to punch. Or Lestrade’s face. That would be even better.              

              Too wired and frustrated to head back home, I instead walked towards the Thames.

              Having spent the better part of the day around the Four Seasons, the sun quickly fell as I headed towards the river, making the city lights sparkle across the water.

              I walked until I found a quiet bit of space devoid of any bustling tourists. Leaning against the stone railing, I tried to gather my thoughts as I ran through the schematics of Park Lane for the thousandth time.

              I had to get Copper tonight. If I failed Copper, I failed the mission.

              And that meant god knows what for Halle.

              But of course this kind of situation would happen with someone like Copper! I slammed my fist on the stone. With someone so high profile and so greedy as Marshall Copper, this kind of interference was only natural!

              Lestrade should just let the smaller crime Families try to wipe him out and call it a day for me. After all, eventually someone would surely get him.

              But I knew Lestrade wouldn’t let me slide that easily. He would want to know that a mark was taken care of completely. And that meant I had to personally ensure that Copper was dead.

              “That fucker,” I muttered under my breath as the moon began to rise above me.

              “I hope you weren’t thinking of me just then,” a voice said dryly behind me.

              I turned around and saw Lestrade leaning against a tree, his black coat blending into the shadows of the night.

              Without a word, I swiftly strode up to him and grabbed him a handful of his coat, fisting it and dragging him up. Blood pulsed in my ears as I debated whether to rip his tongue out or to simply break his neck.

              Lestrade clicked his tongue at me, completely unperturbed by my actions. “Now you wouldn’t want my disappearance on your hands, would you?” he said. “What would happen to your dear sweet Halle then?”

              I flexed my free hand, imagining it wrapped around Lestrade’s lean neck. But he was right. I had given in to impulse too quickly. With considerable amount of effort, I released him and stepped back.

              “Where’s Halle?” I asked.

              “Where she’s been this whole time,” he replied. “She’s been very well looked after, trust me.”

              I snorted. Sure, I would.

              “What are you doing here?” I asked. He knew I didn’t have the key yet. It had been at 92% download last time I had checked.

              “It’s bad luck about what happened to Copper today, isn’t it?” Lestrade said, not answering my question.

              I raised a brow at him. “I’m sure it’s something you anticipated,” I said.

              Lestrade pursed his lips in agreement. “Of course,” he said. “But as you can see, these petty criminals are not very accurate or very diligent. All they accomplished was spooking Copper.” He grinned. “And of course, derailing whatever plans you had made.”

              I glared at him. “Why the fuck would you be smiling about this?
You’re
the one who wants Copper dead.”

              Lestrade shrugged, still smiling. “True. But there’s something about seeing you in a hard spot that just tickles me. I honestly didn’t even think you’d get this far.” Lestrade looked down before flicking his gaze back up at me. “But your Miss Margot certainly did. She seems to have unwavering faith in your abilities.”

              I wanted to punch his teeth in every time I heard him utter Halle’s name. He was too dirty to even speak her name and I hated hearing it.

              Lestrade threw back his head and breathed out deeply. The night air was cool and crisp and the closeness of the Thames gave off a salty marine air.

              When he looked back at me, I could see the glittering green eyes studying me with an odd look. It was almost like a calculated look of…jealousy.

              “She’s quite different from what I had expected, your Halle,” he said after awhile.

              “What did you expect, some Family floozy?” I retorted.

              Lestrade shrugged. “Yes,” he said bluntly. “Or you know, one of those women who scream and pitch a fit over even a hint of rough treatment.” He paused a moment. “But she’s not like that.”             

              I stared at him. “No, she’s not,” I replied slowly. “She’s brave, braver than most.”

              Lestrade gave a short laugh. “That’s the truth if I ever heard it,” he said with such feeling that I realized he really
did
know how brave Halle was.

              After a beat, he raised those cool green eyes towards me. “And she’s too good for you.”

              I paused before replying, watching the man carefully. Something had changed within him, that much I could tell.

              “I never denied that,” I said slowly. “She’s reason enough for any man to do his best but she’s
all
the reason I have to live my best.”

              Lestrade shook his head slowly. “You shouldn’t keep her tied down to you just so you could have your moment of redemption,” he said. “I never pegged you as such a selfish man.”

              “What is this?” I asked finally, narrowing my eyes at him. “You think this is one sided? You think I’m forcing her?”

              Lestrade didn’t respond. He only averted those green eyes of his.

              I stepped closer, not breaking my gaze. “You got it bad,” I said slowly. That made Lestrade jerk up, his eyes cold with annoyance. “But whatever the fuck it is you think you have with Halle, it’s clearly not translating well to her. Because she obviously is still waiting for me.”

              “What makes you think that?” he countered with mock confidence, intended to make me doubt.

              But I didn’t doubt. I never doubted when it came to Halle.

              I snorted. “You wouldn’t be here wasting your time by telling me how selfish I was or how she was too good for me if you had her heart,” I said with complete confidence. “You’re here sniffing at something you don’t understand.”

              Suddenly Lestrade lurched forward at me, his face twisted with suppressed anger. “I don’t understand?” he demanded in anger. “You think I don’t understand what happens between a man and a woman?”

              He gave me a humorless smile. “I understand that sometimes sacrifice is the greater valor of love. You are being a selfish fuck by keeping her with you. You’re endangering her life while you spew bullshit about loving her.”

              I watched the anger flit across Lestrade’s face, wondering for the first time if those six years of disappearance had been something more than just exhaustion from the criminal world.

              “There is love,” I said slowly. “And then there is what I have with Halle. She and I breathe and live as one. It’s no more possible for me to give her up than for her to give up her lungs. There is no selfishness between us. It is necessity. It is essential. It is lifeblood. And you don’t get a fucking say in it.”

              A tense silence fell between the two of us.

              What the fuck had been going on the past few days with Tobias and Halle? To be honest, I wasn’t totally surprised to find Tobias taken with Halle. She had that guileless charm about her that drew people in. But what I was surprised about was how deep his feelings clearly were.

              He was actually trying to break us up.

              But this wasn’t high school and this certainly wasn’t some lunch period showdown between two hormonal teenage boys fighting over the prom queen.

              This was real life and if he wanted to play Enforcer, then he better learn the consequences of fucking with real love.

              “What are you doing here?” I finally asked again.

              Lestrade gave a faint smile. “Just taking in an evening walk.”

              “Trying to scare me off?” I asked with mock humor.

              Lestrade matched my tone. “Did it work?”

              I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists. “What do you think?”

              Lestrade smiled again, taking in a breath as he headed off towards the southern end of the river.

              “Guess I’ll have to try harder next time,” he said, his back to me as he walked away.

             
There won’t be a next time, fucker.

              Then it hit me all at once. A stroke of brilliance that nearly made me jerk in surprise.

Making sure Lestrade had left, I quickly left the riverside and called Zeke.

              “I’ve got an idea,” I said.