All That I Desire (24 page)

“I’ll do what has to be done.” The elevator doors opened on the forty-ninth floor.
Rio stepped off first and went down the plush carpeted hallway. Blade and Shane followed.

Up until he’d tried to smear Blade’s name and reputation nine months ago, Tennyson
had almost the entire forty-ninth floor, Rio remembered. Since that time his business
had steadily declined. He’d had to let employees and office space go. Presently, he
had only ten employees. He’d kept his lavish office suite, but the rest of his employees,
other than his executive secretary, were in a smaller office suite down the hall.

“For a braggart like Tennyson, this has to hurt his pride,” Shane sneered. “Couldn’t
happen to a more well-deserving man.”

“He tried to put the word out that he’s looking for office space on the Magnificent
Mile or even thinking of building and intentionally downsized,” Blade said. “No one
believed the lie.”

They stopped in front of a polished wood door with
TENNYSON CORPORATION—SHERMAN TENNYSON PRESIDENT
on a plaque. Rio looked at Blade and Shane. “I handle this my way. No one touches
Tennyson except me.”

“Rio—” Blade began.

Rio ignored him and opened the office door. His gaze took in the office at a glance.
A woman sat behind a U-shaped desk on the phone. To her left, a large man slowly rose
from a seat on a plush sofa. The rise hadn’t been easy for the bulky man, who had
a sixteen-inch neck and bulging muscles that stretched his jacket and revealed the
weapon beneath.

“Gotta go,” the woman whispered and turned to them, her smile slipping. “May I help
you?”

“I got it. Thanks.” Rio kept walking.

The muscle-bound man moved to block the door to Tennyson’s office. “Mr. Tennyson is
not seeing anyone today.”

“I say he is.” Rio stepped to one side as if going around the man.

The man jabbed an elbow toward Rio’s face. Rio went low and punched the man in the
gut. He staggered back an inch, then lunged. A hard kick to the chest sent him crashing
against the door. He shook his head, his face enraged, and reached for his gun.

“Unless you want a broken wrist, which will put you out of work for a long time, move
your hand. Now,” Rio ordered.

The man hesitated, his gaze going beyond Rio to Shane and Blade, who hadn’t moved.

“Last chance and the clock is ticking,” Rio said.

With a sneer, the man plunged his hand deeper into his jacket. Rio moved, grabbing
the man’s right wrist and twisting it backward. Bones snapped. With a cry of pain,
the man crumpled.

“My wrist! You broke my wrist,” he moaned. “I’ll kill you!”

Bending, Rio removed the gun, put the safety on, and tossed it several feet away on
the carpeted floor. He rose to his feet and opened the door of Tennyson’s office.
He found another man, this one thirty pounds leaner and, from the squinted eyes, meaner,
waiting for him.

“Better and better.”

The man ran at Rio, then high-kicked. Rio dropped and sent his booted foot straight
into the man’s knee. He went down, moaning and holding his leg.

Tennyson shot up from his desk, his face enraged. He had added the second bodyguard
two days ago. He was running scared.

Rio had given Jason the code to place a bug on Hampton’s phone. He hadn’t contacted
Tennyson and, as Skylar had suggested, Hampton had taken his wife to St. Croix.

Rio straightened and went to Tennyson’s desk. The middle-aged man’s thin lips tightened
beneath his mustache. Behind the guise of a businessman was a poisonous snake. His
eyes were filled with hate. He picked up the phone. “I’ll have you arrested for breaking
and entering, and for assault.”

Shane held up his iPhone. “That might be difficult to prove when the authorities see
he was attacked first, see the weapon your first guy had, and hear Rio warning him
to not reach for said weapon.”

Tennyson slammed the phone down. He looked beyond Rio and Shane to Blade, who stood
in the doorway near the first bodyguard, sitting on the floor rocking with his hand
in his lap.

“Your secretary promised to hold all calls.” Blade leaned against the doorjamb.

“You bas—”

Blade slowly straightened. “Say it and give me the pleasure of stuffing your teeth
down your throat.”

“He’s mine,” Rio reminded Blade.

“Remember, Rio,” Shane said.

Tennyson’s gaze snapped back to Rio. “I’ve heard that name before.”

“You’ll hear it again, and you won’t like it unless you call your dogs off,” Rio told
him.

Tennyson straightened the jacket of the five-thousand-dollar fine wool suit and took
a seat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re lying.” Rio leaned across the desk. If he were closer, no power on earth would
keep him from beating the living hell out of Tennyson. “If you send someone else,
once I finish with them I’m coming for you.”

“I’m a respected businessman.” Tennyson idly picked up a gold pen on his desk. “You
know the way out.”

Rio straightened. “You’ve been warned.”

Tennyson’s hand tightened on the pen. “I’d heard that you were some kind of Rambo.
Guess you aren’t so much if you have to threaten an innocent man.”

“You’re going down, Tennyson,” Rio threatened. “I’m going to see to it.”

Slowly, Tennyson came to his feet. “You know nothing of what I’m capable of. In every
war, there are innocent causalities.” He smirked. “Retribution is a son-of-a-bitch,
isn’t it?”

Rio jerked Tennyson by his silk tie and hauled the man halfway across his desk. Blade
and Shane rushed to grab Rio’s arms. “Harm her and I’ll unleash hell on you and there’ll
be no place to hide.”

“That’s enough,” Blade said. “Remember the promise.”

“His eyes are rolling back, Rio,” Shane said.

Rio shoved Tennyson away as if he were distasteful.

“What’s going on here?” a male voice asked. “Mr. Tennyson, your secretary called.”

Blade turned to see a wide-eyed security guard. Extending his hand, Blade went to
greet the gray-haired man. “Blade Navarone. We were engaging in a security practice
drill with two of Mr. Tennyson’s bodyguards to test their abilities.” He bowed his
head briefly. “I’m afraid they forgot we were doing a practice drill and…” Blade looked
down at the two injured men. “Suffered the consequences. Perhaps you should call an
ambulance.”

The guard pulled out his radio, then paused when he saw Tennyson sitting behind his
desk, his breathing labored, his tie loose, and his shaky hand at his throat. “Mr.
Tennyson, are you all right?”

He leaned forward in his chair. “You fool! Do I look all right?”

The security guard flinched as if he’d been struck. “I’m sorry, sir. I—”

“Dammit, man, call us an ambulance,” the second bodyguard cried. “I think the bastard
shattered my knee.”

The guard looked overwhelmed.

Blade took out his cell phone and dialed 911. “Perhaps you should go downstairs and
wait for them.”

“I’ll do that.” The man left in a hurry.

Blade saw that the secretary was gone and came back into Tennyson’s office. “We probably
have ten minutes max before an ambulance arrives. Probably the police as well. I say
we make good use of the time so we won’t have to come back and have another…” He paused
meaningfully. “… practice drill.”

Tennyson glared at Rio, but he kept his mouth shut.

*   *   *

Blade was right about the police arriving with the ambulance. So did the head of building
security. It helped that the man knew Shane and obviously didn’t like Tennyson. Once
the police officer realized Blade’s identity, he called his sergeant who called his
captain who called the chief of police who called the mayor.

Tennyson and his two bodyguards corroborated the story Blade made up. The mayor and
chief of police barely glanced at Tennyson. Their focus was on Blade and the two men
with him.

“I’ve always heard you had top security,” the mayor said. “Seems I heard right.”

“Thank you,” Blade said, trying to keep an eye on Rio.

“Since you’re in town, why don’t we all go out to lunch? A good friend of mine has
a small yacht and an excellent chef,” the mayor urged. “Maybe this time I’ll be able
to convince you to build here.”

“Chicago is a great city,” the chief of police said.

Blade smiled. “Never hurts to talk.” Or to show Tennyson who held the trump card.
“We accept the invitation to lunch.”

“Mayor.” Tennyson got to his feet behind his desk, but after a glance at Rio the man
didn’t move toward the city official. “I’d like to take you to lunch or dinner anytime
your schedule is free.”

The mayor never lost his jovial smile. “I’ll have my secretary check my schedule.”
He turned to Blade. “Let’s go. Nothing like eating on the water.”

Blade wanted to laugh. The mayor had just blown Tennyson off—and from the man’s angry
expression, he knew it. “Sounds good. Our car is downstairs. After you, Mayor.”

Shane, having kept himself between Rio and Tennyson, followed Rio and the other two
men out the door.

Blade looked over his shoulder to Tennyson. Pure hatred stared back at Blade. “Come
after me or mine again, and you won’t know what hit you.” He left the door open and
joined the chattering group of men.

Except Rio. He stared straight ahead, his eyes cold. Blade, Shane, and Rio knew that
Tennyson might be their man, but they had no way of proving it.

*   *   *

As soon as they were seated in the back of the limo, Rio pulled out his phone. Blade
and Shane did the same.

Skylar answered before the second ringtone. “Please tell me you’re all right.”

“I’m all right,” he told her, still trying to control the urge to stop the car and
go teach Tennyson a lesson he wouldn’t forget.

“You don’t sound all right. Was there trouble?”

“Nothing to worry about,” he told her, unsure if Blade would tell Sierra everything
or not. They didn’t keep secrets from each other.

“Well, I am, and I won’t stop until you’re back here holding me.”

Warmth replaced some of the anger. “We’re having lunch with the mayor and, if I know
the mayor, it will be a long one.”

“As long as you’re with the mayor, I feel better. Thanks for calling. I was worried.”

“You shouldn’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

“I know that, and I still worry. Hurry home. I have something to show you. Bye.”

Rio’s mind went into overdrive as he thought of what Skylar might be talking about.
Probably something to tempt— He slowly turned to see Blade and Shane studying him.
“What?”

“You had this look on your face I’ve never seen before,” Shane said

“Your voice changed,” Blade added.

“So?” Rio looked at them sideways.

“So, we’re happy for you,” Blade said as he and Shane both caught Rio around the neck
and laughed.

*   *   *

If was after nine that night when Rio pulled up in front of the castle. Blade was
in the passenger seat. Rio had been right about the long lunch, which included a cruise
and late cocktails.

“That bastard Tennyson is going to keep coming,” Rio gritted out. “He’s probably going
after her because he sees her as the reason his plan to sneak in didn’t work.”

Blade laid a hand on Rio’s tense shoulder. “And we’ll stop him. He won’t get by us.
He’s not going to get anywhere near Skylar. She’s a strong woman.”

Rio nodded. “And stubborn.”

“And you wouldn’t want her to be any other way,” Blade said. “Sierra is the same.”

“You have more patience than I do,” Rio told him.

“You’ll find out that when you really care about a woman, you’re capable of doing
a lot of things you once thought impossible.”

“We’re having dinner with her parents tomorrow night,” Rio said slowly, trepidation
in his voice.

“You never cared what other people thought about you, unless it was important to me.
Now it’s important to you. I’ve seen you with Skylar. You’re different, happier, and
so is she.” Blade laughed. “A woman can sure change a man’s outlook on life.”

“You can say that again,” Rio said, his brows bunched.

Blade opened his door. “Let’s not keep them waiting any longer.”

Rio got out of the Jeep and pocketed the keys. Once he saw Skylar and the surprise,
he’d come back and put the Jeep in the garage.

Blade punched in the code and opened the door. Rio entered behind him. He saw Sierra
in a large terry-cloth bathrobe and flat sandals. He frowned when he didn’t see Skylar.

“Hi and bye, Rio.” Sierra caught Blade’s hand. “I missed you. We’re going to the grotto.”

“Good night, Rio.” His arm around his wife’s waist, Blade kissed her on the cheek.

Sierra stopped at the top of the stairs heading down to the heated underground pool
and snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot. Skylar went to get something in her room.
She said if she wasn’t back down when you arrived, you should go up and knock.”

She clearly hadn’t forgotten, but Rio was already hurrying for the stairs. He took
them two at a time. Conner was standing guard at her door. “I’ll take over from here.”

Conner nodded. “’Night, Rio. I’m turning in. See you in the morning.”

“’Night and thanks.” He waited until he could tell by the sound of Conner’s boots
that he was off the stairs. He knocked on Skylar’s door.

“Come in.”

He opened the door, saw Skylar standing at the foot of the bed with her left arm propped
against the bedpost, and knew his Jeep wasn’t going to get moved for a long, long
time. Shutting the door without taking his eyes from her, he reached for the button
of his shirt.

Chapter 16

Skylar was nervous and, although she tried not to show it, she knew Rio could tell.
They were meeting her parents and maternal grandparents for dinner tonight at Casa
de Serenidad, where they were staying. Since reservations were difficult to obtain,
she’d booked their rooms when the charity event was just an idea.

She’d issued the invitation because she wanted them to see how happy she was so they’d
finally stop trying to get her to quit and move back to Boston. At the time she thought
she’d be staying at the same hotel. Thanks to Sierra and Blade’s graciousness, that
had changed—and so had her life.