The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (112 page)

Andreas poured himself another drink. Aliya, her long brown hair, and hazel eyes. She had been such an innocent. He hadn’t thought about her in a while. Not since he found about his nephew, Johnny. When he was first informed he was an uncle to a nine year old, he remembered his last conversation with Aliya. When she called him she was drunk, feeling guilty and told him that when she got to Vegas, she found out she was pregnant. She ended the pregnancy without letting him know first. She begged his forgiveness.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat thinking about it. He had just buried his parents two weeks earlier. He supposed she had heard, and felt guilty for leaving him, but he lied and said he understood, and to forget about him, and live her life, happy and safe. But knowing that he could have had a child was his second biggest regret in his life. His first had been not catching Romeo. Until he did, he would never be able to have a normal life.

Andreas sighed. No, he didn’t blame Aliya for leaving, or Cat for pushing him away. Reflecting back, he remembered it had been shortly after Aliya’s phone call that he made the decision to move to Florida. Get out of that line of work. He wanted more for his brothers than that. He didn’t want them to experience what he had—a relationship destroyed by the job. He never told them about Aliya and the baby. That he kept to himself. His own private grief. His alone.

He threw back his drink and finished it. His family was in jeopardy again; so was Cat’s life, and the lives of other innocents. All victims of this killer. Being drawn to Cat could cloud his judgment, and even though he had never experienced such a powerful attraction to a woman before, he vowed to himself to keep it professional. The look in her eyes had reminded him of Aliya. She had that same look when she had given him back his ring. He had let her go. He would let Cat go too.

He stripped down to his boxers and climbed onto the sofa. It was late and he had much to do the next day. He needed to find out why Romeo was after Cat. He needed to catch this man. But despite the determination to put Cat out of his mind, sleep would not come. Her grey eyes called to him and he couldn’t get the thought of her upstairs lying alone in his bed out of his mind.

*     *     *

When she came
into the room, all his thoughts, promises, and vows of last night dissipated. She took his breath away, as she greeted him and Nikko. Her look of panic was gone, and she wished him good morning with a warm smile on her face.

“Would you like some coffee?” he asked, getting up to pour her a cup from the sideboard if she wished.

“No thank you, Andreas. I am fine. I have had enough for today. I had a cup earlier with Bella before she left for work. She is charming.”

He nodded his agreement. “Bella is an angel. Perfect for my brother, Blaze.”

“All of your brothers’ wives are well-suited for their mates,” she whispered, gazing at him under dark lashes.

Seeing her sitting there, making polite conversation, the need to be near her overpowered him. He was drawn like a moth to the flame. Completely forgetting his brother’s presence, he walked towards her, and was happy when she did not flinch or back away. Her fears of last night had dissipated. He sat next to her. “The police will be here soon.”

Nikko just watched the entire exchange. His brother had forgotten he was there the minute this woman walked into the room. It was like he was a different person. He had never seen Andreas smile at a woman. And it shocked him. Floored him actually. He was shocked to say the least. This, whatever it was going on between these two, was completely unexpected. Andreas had dates, usually long leggy blonds. He took them out, took them to bed, and then never saw them again, but Nikko instinctively knew something was different this time around. Clearing his throat, he reminded everyone he was in the room. Both eyes locked in on each other, but not saying a word swung up to meet his. “I’ll wait for the police in the hall. Give you a moment. I’ll let you know when they arrive.”

“Thank you,” Andreas replied to Cat’s. “Very good.”

Neither of them looked his way. Nikko shook his head as he walked out of the room wondering if Andreas was going somewhere he shouldn’t. Wondering if Cat was a woman he could pursue. Or should pursue? He thought about broaching the subject with his brothers. But sensing they needed some time to talk before the police arrived, he acted the good brother and just slipped out. Andreas was a big boy, and he could handle whatever was going on for now. He had always been their leader, the one who kept them focused, and Nikko still had confidence that Andreas would handle this too.

When Nikko shut the double doors, Cat broke eye contact and looked away, but just for a moment.

“I must apologize,” she muttered while meeting his eyes once more. The blue of his eyes reminded her of the summer sky. So crystalline, and so soothing. She could feel herself getting lost in them. Their depths were endless.

“For what?” he asked, turning his head to the side to gaze directly at her.

Sighing once more, she explained. “For my reaction last night.” He saw the turn of her mouth. It was slight, but he sensed it was a sad smile, one of disappointment.

He cleared his throat, then wet his lips. “Cat, can I ask you something personal?” Andreas could not hold back. Her reaction had kept him awake half the night. That and other less innocent thoughts of her. Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded after a brief pause. “Why did you pull away last night so abruptly? When we were upstairs?”

Again there was that soft sigh, and he knew then that this was how she expressed her sadness. Knowing he shouldn’t, but his body had a mind of its own when she was near, he softly took her chin in his hand and steered her face back to his. “I would never hurt you,” he whispered.

Her eyes widened at his choice of words.
What did he mean?

“I would not use you either. I think we both feel there is something between us.”

“Yes,” she agreed pulling her chin out of his hands but not looking away. She was having a difficult time fighting her attraction to this man. But having never felt these emotions, confused her. She examined him, his face, his earnestness, and then she took him in. All of him. He was a strong man, handsome, protective. So unlike any man she had known. One moment his eyes were fierce, and then the next he was gazing at her like that, seeking something, exploring her, and trying to see inside. It frightened her like nothing ever had. His kiss last night startled her. She had not been intimate in quite some time. After her years as a slave, and because sex had been something used by men to debase her, she had chosen her clients very carefully. She was making her way in the world the only way she knew how. She had no formal education other than what she had learned from her great grandmother and in primary schools. She had read vociferously, and studied people until her brief placement into foster care had entitled her to an education.

She had taken advantage of that while waiting tables at a campus restaurant, and had pursued a business degree. Her degree helped her to start her escort service. She combined the two things she knew how to do together. It had taken her a year to get her business off the ground, and then she met Sandy. Her first girl. She had introduced her to another girl who needed help. Then she expanded her business. But relationships with men had never been something she pursued unless it was in the line of work. Men, she did not trust. That was why she screened her clients so carefully. In that first year, her and her two girls had sex on occasion with their clients, but once her business began to grow, she learned to take on a better class of clients. And she did well; they all did.

But most men in her experience, never thought of the woman’s enjoyment. It had meant nothing to them. In fact, she had learned to block it out after a while. She allowed her mind to float away, and to think of beaches, sunsets, clouds, and the sky. Things she remembered fondly from childhood. But when Andreas held her, when he touched her face, she could not think of anything but the man before her, the beat of her heart accelerating, the way her nipples puckered and heat flooded through her. This was something she was not used to when embracing a man. And she was afraid.
What if he was like all the others?
She feared giving in to her feelings because she didn’t want to be disappointed.

He was still waiting for an answer, gazing down at her with kind eyes, and passion. Both were there. She studied him.
How to explain that to him when he looked at her this way?
She did not know. But he was still there, looking at her like that, and she felt he deserved some kind of explanation. “I am . . . feeling things when you touch me Andreas, and it confuses me.” She saw the relieved expression cross his face.

“I thought I had scared you away,” he confessed, eyes still searching hers, hand reaching out to hold hers.

“I do not scare very easily. I have been through a lot. Just confused. My mind tells me we need to step back from this attraction we feel. It may cloud our judgement. But my body tells me other things. I did very much want you to kiss me last night. But I panicked.” She stopped short, cleared her throat and then continued. There was a tremor in her voice. “I don’t want it to be like before . . .”

This woman puzzled him beyond measure. Her frankness and genuineness all appealed to him; her reactions were so different from the women he had been involved with before, but he could not argue against her logic. He had been having the same thoughts himself. “It makes sense to do that,” he agreed. “To step back. If it makes you feel any better, I have thought the same things, and felt the same way.” He didn’t know how to respond to her other statement yet.
Like before?

“You have?” she asked, searching his eyes for clarity.

“Yes, I want to focus on the job, and I will. But when I am near you, I . . .,” he searched for the right words not to scare her, not to push her away. Knowing her experiences before him he suddenly knew what she had meant, and he picked his words carefully. He wanted to say the right thing. “I have this overwhelming feeling of wanting to take care of you. Make you happy. I can promise you this, it would be incredible between you and I, and I would make sure to take care of you in all ways.” Her eyes lit up, a spark of life in their depths, but she said nothing. A weight lifted from his chest because he just knew he had said the right thing.

He wanted to try again, and kiss her, and show her how a real man kissed. He began to lean forward, and he gazed at her lips. She was leaning in towards him, her small tongue darting out to lick them. He was almost there, a breath away, forehead to forehead, his lips slanted over hers, and he pressed his mouth to hers. He groaned and felt her tremble as his hands cupped her face. He pulled back to see her eyes, and they were half-closed and smoky grey. “Again,” she breathed and he pulled her closer, and did it again. For her. But this time he licked across the seam of her mouth. He took his time, and she opened for him, just a bit. Her hands fluttered to his chest, and he felt a surge of pride and power. She was letting him do this. Letting him claim her lips. When her tongue tentatively met his, he felt the heat, and she must have too, as a tiny moan of pleasure escaped her throat.

He was about to scoop her up into his arms and teach her all about kissing, but his brief moment of bliss was cut short. A slash of bright light filled the room from the double doors opening and Nikko entering followed by three other men. The investigators had arrived.

Exposed

T
he police had
not stayed long. Their questions bothered Andreas. He instinctively felt something was wrong and when the evening news came on, it became apparent what that was.

Gio had come into his study to tell him.

“You got to watch the news, bro,” he thundered past him and clicked on the television that was embedded in the far wall unit of Andreas’ home office. He clicked the start over feature for the eight o’clock news.

The Tampa Madame and the Tampa Serial Killer were displayed across a screen behind the anchor’s desk. “Police have no leads on the serial killer who has already victimized three woman in the Bay Area. But today, they once again questioned the woman who came forward revealing the relationship between the victims.” Now Cat’s picture was displayed across the screen. He stood abruptly. They had revealed her name to the press. “Police chief Reynold’s released this statement an hour ago. So far we have only one person who has come forward with information. The press has been calling her the Tampa Madame. One of her names is Catarina Stone, but her birth records show her name at one time was Kat Stenen. The three murders and all the information the police gathered keep leading back to Miss Stone. We have been conducting a wide investigation, and so far we have no other clues in the case. We want to warn the public at large, that anyone connected to Miss Stone may be at risk. Our investigation keeps bringing us back to her. A detailed investigation reveals that Miss Stone came to the country a known prostitute and resumed this same career here. Originally from Amsterdam, her known addresses have been Iraq, Lebanon, New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida. We also know that similar murders have occurred in some of these locations, but we are fairly certain this crime spree is related to the murders a decade ago that happened in the New York metropolitan area.”