The Reunited (18 page)

Joss could completely understand that. “Booze helps.”

“Jose Cuervo and I are practically best friends right now.” Still holding his eyes, she leaned forward. “You’re down here because you’re after a slaver. I’m down here because I’m feeling those girls . . . those women he takes. I can help you. I’m
supposed
to help you.”

Joss continued to stare at her, and then he sighed, skimmed a hand back over his hair. “He may like your face, your body, but I think your hair is going to piss him off. Can we fix it?”

She shrugged. “Dreads aren’t like pigtails. They don’t come out the way a braid does. Save me for the last. It’s not like he gave you a lot of time. Save me for the last, and then put me in there. The only other option with my hair will be cutting the majority of it off . . . and he wanted
long
hair, right?” Nalini paused and shrugged. “My hair’s the least of the problems in the long run. Even if you get me in there and he decides I don’t suit, then I’ve been there and I can still help.”

“Not if he decides to shoot you between the eyes for not being what he needs,” Joss snapped.

“Not going to happen.” She shook her head. “And I think you know it. I wouldn’t be down here if I wasn’t supposed to help somehow. I’m here. Use me.”

Use me.

Joss rubbed his forehead.
Use me
, she says.

The big problem, that was exactly what he needed to do.

And she’d already managed to take care of what he’d thought was going to be his biggest problem . . . informing Jones about how he planned to go forward with this bitch of a job.

He slanted a look at Jones. “I assume you know what I’m planning to do.”

Jones stared at him. “I figured that out after I hauled the bastard out of the trunk last night and saw the very vague resemblance. Are you certain you can pull this off?”

“No.” Joss shrugged. “But the idea has been in my head almost from the get-go. The kid you pushed on me planted the idea in my skull, so I’m assuming that’s how
she
foresaw it. Hopefully she didn’t foresee me dying, but if she did, I don’t want to know that.”

I’m not going to die,
he told himself.
I’ve got too many reasons to be here
.

“I still need two more girls. Biracial, and a Latina.” He paused and then added slowly, “We need to use agents on this. Preferably from within our own unit . . . the quieter we keep this, the less chance there is of fucking it up.”

“I’ve got an agent who would be perfect for the biracial woman you need. Her name is Vaughnne MacMeans.” Jones sighed and smoothed down his tie. He caught Joss smirking at him and he dropped his hand. “And she’s a telepath . . . her reach is pretty much limitless. I think you’ve worked with her a time or two.”

Joss grunted.

Jones could work out the logistics. He needed to get back into position for now.

*   *   *

“W
HERE
have you been?”

At the sound of his voice, Dru had to lock her knees to keep from collapsing.

She laid her keycard on the table and looked up, smiled. “Patrick! What a wonderful surprise.”

He continued to sit in the armchair, watching her. He’d been out of sight, hidden by the wall. Lying in wait, she thought. Like an alligator.

“Where have you been?” he asked again.

“I went running.” She gestured to her clothing and smiled, shrugged. “I needed to burn off some energy.”

“And our facilities here aren’t adequate?”

Careful . . . careful . . .
Dru smiled at him even as she desperately, selfishly prayed,
Please God . . . let him leave, business, he doesn’t want to touch me right now, I don’t care!
“Oh, it’s not that. I just needed a good hard run and I can’t always focus as well on the treadmill. I wanted to be outside.”

She took off her trainers and then went to him, kneeling down on the floor at his feet, even though her tired legs practically screamed when she did so. A light touch told her this was a good move to make . . . he liked the subservience of it. She wondered what he’d do if she shot a hand up between his legs and ripped off his bloody balls.

Giving him a simpering smile, she said, “It’s so lovely here, Patrick. The sky is so blue. I watched the sunrise as I ran. I can’t wait, though, to be away from all the people and the buildings. Someplace where there’s a bit more privacy.” She pressed her lips to his knee. “Just us.”

Some of the anger dimmed and she caught a random, fleeting flash. It wasn’t a thought so much as an image. He wanted that privacy, too. So he could have her play his little whore whenever he chose. It was a sheer struggle of will to keep her smile in place.

“The wedding is just a few weeks away,” he said. He touched the tip of her nose. “I’d thought perhaps we could go to lunch, but you need to bathe. Perhaps you should do that.”

She had another flash. He hadn’t come up here to take her to lunch. He’d come up here to fuck her. He didn’t like seeing her all hot and sweaty, though. Now he was turned off. Excellent.

A way to smack down his libido without really making him too angry.

“I’ll do that. Lunch out would be wonderful.” She rose and gave him another smile. “After that run, I’m positively famished.”

“You’ll have to order it in, Ella. I’m running behind now.” He eyed her critically. “Make sure you eat enough. You have to put the weight back on, and running like that isn’t going to help.”

SEVENTEEN

J
OSS
waited for her the next day.

She didn’t come.

He wasn’t surprised, but he sure as hell was disappointed.

Still, it wasn’t his only reason for being at the Waffle House that day.

Jones had come through with the first “victim” . . . the telepath. They were meeting to discuss how things were going to happen. Of course, they were meeting after Joss had parked his stolen car at a gym, gone for a walk, climbed into a bus, and then made his way over here.

Sometime during the previous night, the SUV had been bugged.

He’d discovered that almost right away.

Jones had indeed given him some more useful toys, but Joss could have found the bug on the car in the dark with his hands tied. Not to mention that it had all but vibrated and called his name, it was so toxic.

Would have been nice to see Dru that morning. Cleared his head. His mind. Even as it clouded it. But he had to remember what he was here for. Because if he didn’t keep his focus on the job, he was fucked and so were a lot of other people. He’d been waiting for her for too long. He’d live through this—he’d
get
through this. He hadn’t waited this long to find her only to screw himself over by getting lazy or crazy.

Still, as he headed across the road, he strengthened that mental connection, found himself lodged quite firmly in her mind.

Hello, duchess.

She was mostly still asleep and she welcomed him with a startled sigh, then a smile.
Joss . . .

You didn’t meet me.

He wished he could actually
be
wherever she was. Wondered if he could picture himself there . . . and then he remembered. He’d seen the place. In that figment of a dream.

Building it in his mind, he kept a sliver of his focus on his surroundings and tried to imagine himself right there, mentally, with her. Tried to slide right into her dreams.

She was slowly climbing into wakefulness and he couldn’t join her in her dreams, but her shields were lower now and he found himself with a deeper connection than he’d had before. In her mind, able to feel her surprise. Her pleasure. And that deep, innate fear. He tried to look deeper for that, but already Dru was scrambling to jerk up her shields there, and he didn’t want to cause the pain that he knew he’d cause with his inept fumbling if he pried.

She’d tell him. Sooner or later.

*   *   *

S
HE’D
dreamed of him.

And she came awake biting her lip to keep from calling out his name.

Even in her dreams she couldn’t fully let her guard down, and it was that self-preservation alone that kept her from fucking herself over as he settled himself rather determinedly into her thoughts. Like he’d opened the door to her room, it seemed, and just walked right in, brash as you please.

What are you doing?
she thought, rolling onto her stomach and pressing her face into the pillow.

Saying good morning. Do you sleep naked?

Dru groaned.
No
.

Damn. Why not? I’d like to think of you naked in bed.
Then his thoughts darkened.
Is your limpdick fiancé with you?

No
, she thought, all but ready to cry. If only Patrick had a limp dick, her life would be easier.

Baby girl, what’s wrong?
Joss’s voice inside her mind was like black velvet, stroking against the ache of her heart and soul.
Why are you so sad? If it’s him, just leave him. Hell, just leave him anyway. You should be with me . . . and I think you already know that
.

Hysterically, she laughed.
If only life were so simple, Joss.

He sighed. And it startled her that she could
feel
it. She could feel
him
, feel that he was outside somewhere. If she concentrated, she could feel the cool, damp air against his skin, almost as clearly as she felt his frustration, his want, his need . . . and something more.

Something that warmed her to her very core, even as it broke her heart.

Love.

This man who didn’t even truly know her loved her.

I do know you
, he murmured into her mind, and she shivered. She’d have to be careful. He picked up on way too much, even when she thought she had shielded herself good and tight.
I know what I need to know and everything I don’t know . . . I want to spend the rest of my life learning it. Are you okay with that?

Tears squeezed out from under her lashes. Yes. If she lived through this, yes, she’d be just fine with that.

Joss, I’m in a mess right now
, she hedged. She suspected she couldn’t give him an opening, though. He’d barrel through any perceived weakness and stay until she was safe . . .

Yeah.
He sighed.
So am I. I’ve got a . . . complicated job. We’ll have a lot to talk about, but you and I, we’re going to be together. Do me a favor . . . imagine me kissing you good morning . . .

*   *   *

J
OSS
blew out a breath before he headed into the Waffle House.

His throat ached.

It hadn’t been quite the kiss he’d been thinking it would be. It was bittersweet, heartrending.

And he was tempted to say screw everything, just so he could go to her. Rescue her.

But the last time he’d barreled in, he’d ended up dead.

Plus, he had people depending on him, and she was in some kind of mess herself. He needed to know more about it before he did a damn thing, because he’d learned a few things this time around.

Barreling in led to bad, bad shit.

He was going to know what was going on before he did a damn thing.

And he’d wrap up
this
mess first. He had to think with his head right now . . . not with his heart. Not with his dick.

As he slid into the booth next to the woman, Taylor barely glanced up from the menu. “I think you want to see me keel over dead from a heart attack. Look at this menu.”

“Fuck off,” Joss snapped.

Taylor lifted his head, cocked a brow.

He just stared back.

Next to him, the woman shifted and lifted her hands to her head. “This is going to be a lot of fun. Jones . . . he’s not stable enough to be doing this.”

Slanting her a look, Joss curled his lip. “No. I’m not. But unfortunately, I’m the only monkey in this circus who knows this particular act.” He studied her face . . . Vaughnne. Yeah, they’d met a few times.

Critically, he looked her over, tried to see her the way Whitmore would see her. Cute. Heart-shaped face with creamy, light brown skin. A smattering of freckles across her nose . . . kind of unusual, he decided. Her hair was shoulder-length and crazy with curls. She looked like the girl next door. She’d be a striking contract next to Nalini. “Hi, Vaughnne. Long time, no see.”

“Not long enough,” she muttered. “Jones, who did you pair him with, the local psycho?”

“Shut up,” Joss snapped.

“Touchy, touchy.” She smirked at him.

“Vaughnne,” Jones said, his voice flat. “Back off.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. “Whatever. I’m just here for the ride, right?”

“So I take it Taylor’s filled you in.”

“I didn’t need to.” Jones said when Vaughnne fell silent.

Joss slid him a narrow look.

Taylor lifted a cup of coffee to his lips and took a hefty drink. “She requested time off two months ago. Personal reasons. And she’s been down here ever since. Yesterday, she showed up at my hotel and told me she wanted in on the operation.”

“And how do you know about it?” Joss asked, studying Vaughnne’s profile as she stared at the table.

Her answer was a sly little whisper in the back of his mind, and as she looked at him, a smug little grin tugged at the corners of her mouth.

I’m psychic, genius . . . how do you think?

The problem was . . . she was lying. About something.

She slanted a look up at him and her golden eyes narrowed. He felt a none-too-subtle shove and then her voice, loud as a cannon, echoing in his mind.
Stay out of my head, Crawford . . . or I’ll turn your brain into a sieve
.

He snorted. “Like you could.”

“You won’t always have that talent inside you, hotshot,” she murmured.

“Thank God for that.” Then he shut up, because the waitress was heading their way, and damn it, he needed some caffeine.

*   *   *

S
HE
had a smile on her lips as she stepped out of the shower.

Granted, it had been weird to wake up with dreams of him in her mind, but really . . . was it that bad?

“You look happy, darling.”

At the sound of Patrick’s voice, Dru jerked up the shields in her mind.

At the same time, she fought to keep the smile on her face. “Patrick! Oh, you startled me!”

He sat on the edge of her bed, and nausea churned in her belly as she saw that he’d taken off his suit jacket. It was draped over the chair in the sitting area. And his shoes and socks.

Swallowing, she clutched the towel around her tighter. She couldn’t keep doing this.

“Come here, Ella.”

*   *   *

“B
E
ready at four.”

Numb, Dru just lay there.

Once he was gone, she was going to crawl back into the shower. If she thought it might help, she’d soak herself in a vat of bleach.

She wouldn’t be clean, though. She didn’t know if she’d ever feel clean again.

“Ella, did you hear me?”

Swallowing, she made herself answer, “Of course, Patrick. Where are we dining tonight?”

He frowned at her. “You’re rather tiresome today.”

I already realized that
, she thought dully. She ached inside. She’d tried to find . . . something . . . to take control so he wasn’t using her the way he had that first time, but she . . . hell. She couldn’t. All she had been able to do was think about Joss. The way he’d felt as he whispered inside her mind. The way she knew he loved her, even though he didn’t really know her.

How can he love me?

And she’d worked on keeping up her shields, solid and thick, so Joss wouldn’t realize what was happening, so he wouldn’t pick up on anything. Not on the pain, not on the shame. None of it.

“I don’t know what is wrong with you, but you need to snap out of it. There’s a party tonight, at my house, for some business acquaintances. You’ll be there, and you’ll be there
not
looking like death,” Patrick said. He came to stand at her side, and when she didn’t sit up, he bent over her and pushed his hand into her hair, fisting it and pulling until she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out. And still he pulled.

Her eyes watered from the pain but she refused to make a sound. He could rip her hair out by the roots before she’d give him that pleasure.

A cold chill raced down her spine and a face flashed through her mind.

Are you such a silly girl that you don’t realize what I could do to you? I could kill you. As easy as that and not a soul would say a word . . .

Cold, cruel eyes. A face not like Patrick’s, but the eyes . . . they were his.

Don’t let him take you away from me . . .

She shoved the memories away and continued to stare at the man before her.

“I’ll be ready at four,” she said coolly. She’d get through this. Get through this. Get it done. See the damn job through and hope she just had a chance at what life seemed to be offering her.

His house. They were going to his house. She’d never found anything there before, but maybe . . . just maybe there would be something, or somebody—the final connection.

All she needed was the right connection.

*   *   *

A
LL
day, something had felt off.

Joss had tried a couple of times to reach out to Dru, but never once had he been able to. Not once. Distant and cool, she’d rebuffed him every time.

The one time she actually acknowledged him, she was . . . quiet. Sad and quiet.
I’m having a bit of a rough day. I need some time alone, Joss.

Time alone. Okay. He could understand that. Even if he hated it. Even if it drove him crazy.

Wasn’t like he didn’t have something he needed to be focused on. Some
body
 . . .

Two somebodies, actually. That fucker, Whitmore, and Vaughnne. Currently, he was texting Whitmore, and Vaughnne was sitting across from him, gorging on Thai food like she hadn’t a care in the world.

I think I got lucky on the first shipment. Perfect piece.

As Joss sent the text, Vaughnne snagged a spring roll from the plate between them.

Until they knew how Whitmore wanted to go from here, they were playing it cool.

Joss was ready to wait a few hours, or even a day or two.

His own food sat in front of him, barely touched. Distracted, wishing he could talk to Dru, but knowing he needed to give her time, he pushed the rice on his plate around.

“You look thrilled to be here,” Vaughnne said. “Hell, I’d almost think
you
were the one getting ready to play little slave girl.”

Joss just grunted.

What was up with Dru?

“You know, you used to be a little more chatty than this.”

Shooting Vaughnne a dark look, he said, “I’ll get chatty when there’s something to chat about.”

“Fine. Grouchy.” She lapsed into silence, focusing on her food.

By the time she’d finished clearing her plate and the rest of the spring rolls, Joss had a text from Whitmore.

You’re fast. Is it secured?

No. Still in the process of taking possession, but it’s prime. Do you have the facilities ready?

Yes. If you can take possession, we can put the piece into place today. I’ll have my team meet you.

Good deal.

Joss looked up and met her gaze. “This could be a rough few weeks for you.”

Vaughnne gave him a sharp-edged smile. “No problem. I’ve been spinning my wheels, waiting for this for a long time, Crawford.”

There was something in her eyes, he thought. Yeah. Rage. A particular kind of rage.