On The Rocks (32 page)

He muscled by her and she touched the chip
to the bottom of his coat.

One down.

Then she looked at Xander. Heat flared in
his eyes that matched the boil happening low in her belly. But she
couldn’t go to him. She was on an op. Still had to tag Sabine…

Without a word, she strutted away from the
party headed down the hallway to the main residence.

And Kizzie Baldwin had a shadow…

FINGERS DIGGING INTO his brother’s shoulder,
Abrahan steered the man down the staircase. There were too many
people at the party, the air up there thick and humid from the many
bodies packing the dance area.

Half the guests wore suits and dresses.
Those were the invitees. Sabine had wanted a classy affair, with
low music and ballroom dancing and he could handle that. What he
had a harder time dealing with were the guests dressed in street
attire, like jeans and tee shirts.

Those were the crashers.

And they were here because of Sanzio.

As ever, Abrahan had dealt with his
brother’s sophomoric outburst, standing embarrassed before Xander
as he tried to explain the odd array of people in the building.
Fortunately, the other man had taken it in stride, concerned only
with their business later this evening.

But Abrahan wouldn’t stand for it a moment
longer.

At his office, he couldn’t get the door open
fast enough. He motioned to his guards to stay back and shut the
heavy portal behind them.

“Why would you do this,
maninho
?” he
snapped. “This was to be an
anniversary
party, not some
house party or carnival in the streets.”

His brother stood before him in loose jeans
and a wrinkled tee shirt, not even having the decency to look
contrite over the situation. “I thought all
forasteiros
would be invited. After all, this is Italy.” He shrugged. “My
mistake.”

Mistake? No, a dig. Just like parading a…
porn star
before them in some lame attempt to get back at
Abrahan for some slight he was not privy to.

“If you spent half as much energy finding
the woman from Belém as you did in ruining this day, you might
actually have gotten somewhere.”

Sanzio rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“We’re not going back over that. It was an impossible task from the
start and you know it.” He motioned to his brother’s ear. “Not as
if you’ve never made a mistake.”

Abrahan stilled. The sound of his breathing
echoed in the space around them and he closed his eyes to find some
calm. “What is your problem lately,
maninho?
”

“You,” Sanzio spat. “This place. These
people. All of it is a lie.”

Abrahan jerked his head back and frowned.
“Everything here I have earned. Rewards of risk. Where is the lie
in that?”

“It’s not who you really are. It’s not what
we come from. You
hate
where we come from. Would trade it
for this uppity, stiff…” He looked around at the elegant
furnishings and sculptures in the office. Shook his head. “Boring.
There is no life around you. Not like when we were younger. If the
leaders of
Os Cães
could see you now—”

“The leaders of The Dogs were content to
keep everyone poor while they lived like kings in the belly. I’m
supposed to
want
to be poor? I’m supposed to
want
to
scrounge for food and shelter the whole of my life?” Abrahan
chuckled, the sound rife with revulsion.

He let out a deep breath. Sanzio wanted a
truth he was not prepared to handle, but he would protect the man
no more. “You know why you disgust me,
maninho
?”

Wide-eyed, Sanzio whipped his head around.
“I disgust you? Why? Because I don’t wear your fancy clothes?
Because I remember where I’m from?”

“No. Because the world could be your oyster.
You have women fall at your feet. You have the looks to open any
door, if only you’d care for yourself. But no. You are too
concerned with the next good time or the next drink to apply
yourself. To
take
what is yours.

“So you hate me for what it is you are too
afraid to do — succeed. And all the while you wait around for the
next handout from who? Me. The next bail out from who? Me. I never
expected you to find the woman. I expected you to
try
.”

Abrahan paced away, blood thundering in his
veins. How had they come to this when they’d once been so
close?

“You expected me to fail,
mano
. That
is why you gave me the task in the first place. So you could have
another means to embarrass me. To show how worthless I am to you.”
Sanzio’s lip curled up. “You don’t respect me. You don’t love me.
Your own brother.”

“No?” Abrahan smiled thinly. He filled his
lungs with air and let it seep out along with his anger. “Before
mama
died, I swore to her I would keep you safe. Swore no
harm would come to her little saint. And for years I have upheld
that vow, most times at great cost to myself.

“Since you are so
enamored
with the
truth lately,” he pointed to his crooked nose, “Broken. Twice. Once
for when you came up short on a package. I covered your debt and
took your beating. Another time for when you did not show for a
post. The leaders of
Os Cães,
the gang you hold in such high
regard, thought you had turned your back, and again I suffered for
your shortcomings.”

He tapped the cruel ridge where his ear had
once been. “And this. This was
not
my mistake, but
yours.”

Sanzio’s wide eyes blinked. “No.”

“Yes. For sleeping with the leader’s eldest
daughter when no one was to touch her. She was a virgin and in love
with you. You were young and just having a good time. There was a
hit on your head. They wanted
your
blood, Sanzio. Lucky for
you that we share it, ah?”

Sanzio swallowed hard. “I never—”

“Knew?” Abrahan chuckled. “No, you never
thought to look at the truth that was right beneath your nose, so
why would you?”

He turned to look out the glass walls.
Everything he’d ever done had been to keep his brother safe. To
ensure he and his brother never went hungry again. To make sure
they had an easier life as adults than as children. And not once
had his brother come through for him.

Not once.

But he needed him now.

“
Mano
, I’m so—”

“No. No words,
maninho
.” Abrahan held
up a hand and shook his head. “Your apology is not what I want to
hear. The transfer from Metis will take place soon.”

Sanzio’s brow lifted high. “Tonight? Why
didn’t you tell me?”

What was the use? His brother wouldn’t be
involved in any way. Abrahan had already decided he could no longer
carry him. After tonight, Sanzio would have to make his way on his
own.

“I wasn’t sure myself,” he lied. “But I need
you to do something for me.”

“Anything,” Sanzio said eagerly. “We’re
brothers, Abrahan. Partners.”

“Partners,” he echoed, and a bright smile
split his brother’s face.

“All I’ve ever wanted was for you to know
you could trust me. That you could depend on me.”

“Yes,” Abrahan nodded. “And I need you now.
Stay away from the Duquesnes for the evening.”

Sanzio blinked and his head jerked back like
he’d been slapped.

“That’s all.” Abrahan headed for the door.
“And I promise, partner, I will never ask a thing of you
again.”

19

ONE STORY BELOW the pounding rhythm of the
energetic party, Kizzie strolled down the hallway, heels clicking,
hips rocking hard with each step. To her right, an endless stretch
of glass outside of which the sun hung low and fat in a delicate
pink and orange sherbet sky.

The view was beautiful and all, but right
now, she needed a room.

A multitude of doors peppered the solid wall
to her left, and she poked her head into one near the middle.
Nothing but darkness inside, and that was good enough for her.

Heavy footfalls sounded behind her, Xander’s
gait slow and steady.

Shadowing.

A grin on her mouth, she entered the room
and felt around for a light switch. Night turned to day, revealing
a decked out game room.

A flatscreen was in the far left corner,
mounted high and angled so every seat of the leather couch set
around it had the perfect view. A wet bar was against the back
wall, and a huge pool table took center stage.

Not a bed in sight and she didn’t care. All
they needed was a flat surface, be it vertical, horizontal, or
diagonal.

Xander came through the door and she spun
around to face him.

“You didn’t call.” Clutch in her grip, she
pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest, trying her
hardest to tamp down the surge of relief flooding her system.

He reached behind him to shut the door, then
leaned back against it, staring.

Jesus, the man could make a suit look good.
His crisp black shirt was open at the throat, leaving just a hint
of the milky brown skin of his chest on display. Black slacks,
black jacket. Clean shave. Fresh haircut.

And that spicy cologne.

Just inhaling it had her wet and ready.

Holding this scowl while the Hallelujah
Chorus played in her head was going to be quite the challenge.

His dark gaze roamed her body from head to
foot, then came to rest on her eyes. He paced toward her, shoes
scuffing over the marble floor. “Did I say I would call?”

The deep voice sent a shiver through her,
but it didn’t stop the frown. “You could have—”

Xander dropped his mouth over hers and
things like words and sentences completely vanished. Her insides
went liquid and everything wrong in the world was suddenly made
right. He pulled back, and the world was a shitty place again.

“Did you sleep with the phone tucked under
your pillow?” He pecked her lips once. Twice. Then he waited, those
intense chocolate eyes she’d missed so much sparkling with
mischief.

“Would it have mattered?” she countered.

His hands skimmed down her sides and around
her hips. “I’m asking, Princess.”

“Why
give
me the phone if you weren’t
gonna call?” Forget that the device was currently at the bottom of
the Mediterranean. He had plenty of opportunity to ring her line
before then and hadn’t.

His smiled widened; tongue slicked over his
top teeth. “What were you hoping for… from my call?”

She cut her eyes at him. What an evil, evil
man. He knew
exactly
what she’d been hoping for. His command
on the tarmac that night had been clear as day, and not that ‘Don’t
mess with your hair!’ part either.

“Prin-cess,” he singsonged. “You know how
much I hate repeating myself. And the consequences that come when I
have to.”

She swallowed hard. And California thought
it
had a drought…

Admitting that she wanted, no,
needed
Xander’s permission to get off was the most embarrassing thing on
the planet.

“Don’t keep me waiting,” he said, voice deep
and thick.

Why did he have to hear it?

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
“Permission, Sir.”

Just saying that realigned the atoms and
molecules in her brain. Calmness descended, a peace she hadn’t felt
since their plane ride from Tokyo to DC. She was… lighter. Fluid.
Present. The problems of the world were still there, but this
moment was hers.

Theirs.

“Did you break my rule? Did you touch my
pussy?”

Technically…?

“No, Sir.” She shook her head hard enough to
dislodge her high chignon.

He eased the clutch from her grip and tossed
it somewhere behind her. It landed with a thunk. “Did you want
to?”

“Shit— uhhh— yeah.” The thought to cheat had
crossed her mind on more than one occasion, like when she was
showering. Or wearing jeans, because the seams in the seat fit
snuggly in
juuuust
the right spot.

Or when she was riding Lennox.

As that micro-thought cropped up, guilt came
with it. She huffed through her mouth, put on her big girl panties,
and fessed up.

“Okay, full disclosure, X. I almost… um. So.
Uhhh, my partner kissed me.”

Sorta fessed up.

Xander’s entire body froze. Then his brows
went so far north they passed the pole. “Your partnerrrr… who’s a
woman
?”

Cringing, Kizzie shook her head. Hurried
this confession along. “I didn’t want him to, but I didn’t
not
want him to, you know?”

“No.”

Great. This was going so well already and
she hadn’t gotten to the heart of the matter.

“And…” Deep breath in— “Yeah…” Hard breath
out— “We almost… We came really close to…” Deep, deep breath in—
“Yeah…” Popped balloon exhale.

There. That explained everything, didn’t it?
It might not have been a complete sentence, but judging by the
muscle sending Morse code in Xander’s jaw, the point got across all
too well.

“I stopped though. I…” Huge breath in and
then out, “I stopped.”

Xander was still in popsicle mode, his eyes
flat and staring through her like she wasn’t there. Was he going to
respond? And what the hell would that response be?

Wait, was he even breathing?

He scrubbed the flat of his fingers over his
jaw, the only sign of life, and went back to imitating a confused
wax statue.

This waiting was torture.

What if he punished her? She could deal with
the spankings —actually, she
loved
the spankings— but what
if he
really
punished her, like, oh, say, by not letting her
come? She’d read about that. Doms actually did that kind of cruel
shit to their subs.

Man, if he didn’t let her come…

Panic flared in her chest. She should have
kept her mouth shut. This open and honest stuff?
Fuh-da-boids
!