Vinny: Alvarez Security Series (12 page)

Vinny glanced to the passenger side, seeing her pale face with slight bruises forming on her lips from the assailant’s hands. Dark circles were under her red-rimmed eyes, but she was still beautiful to him.
And her fuckin’ chin was lifted.
“She’s shaken, but okay,” he answered.

She jerked her head toward him, knowing he was referring to her, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

“She’s a lot tougher than she looks,” he added.

“You want me to see if I can get a private pilot to meet you at some airstrip and get you here quicker?”

“Nah. It’s already getting late today and I want to stop soon to get some food in her and we’ll rest for the night. We can get through to Kentucky in several more hours and will stop at Louisville. Find us a place to stay and rent a room. I’ll get there and rent one too, but we’ll stay in your room as added protection.”

“What about tomorrow?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, see what airstrip is close to Louisville and we’ll meet someone tomorrow.”

As they ended the strategy call, Vinny tossed his cell into the cup holder between the two front seats and took her hand again.

“You said I was tougher than I look,” she said, smiling at the compliment. Watching his handsome profile, she could not take her eyes off of his lips. Strong. Soft. And wanting them back on hers.

“Lots of women would be screaming hysterically. Hell, lots of men would have been pissing in their pants. But you, girl, you bit that man, screamed for help and stayed out of my way to let me do what I had to do.” Squeezing her hand, he said, “I couldn’t have asked for more.”

He looked over at her, seeing her eyes focused on his lips. As angry as he still was about the attack, he felt his blood rush from his head to his dick.
Oh hell no!
“Babe, you staring at my lips like that makes me want to pull over again and take those lips and hell, take anything else as well. But I’m not doing it. Letting my guard down last time got you attacked and almost kidnapped. Not happening again.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Vinny.” Seeing him about to answer, she continued, “No, it wasn’t. I know I’m your mission and you never fail. But even you said this goes beyond a mission.”

“Never done this, Annalissa. Never mixed work and pleasure.” He thought for a moment and amended, “Not just pleasure. But feelings.”

Her smile grew, but she turned to look out of the front window at the woods surrounding them. The sun was almost set and she leaned back, closing her eyes. Her mind churned.
Drugs, her crew, unknown assailants, her father, Todd, Gordon, Easnadh. And Vinny.
He had just admitted to having feelings for her.
And I have feelings for him too.
Sleep was not going to come, but to not distract him she continued to sit quietly as the highway lines passed by.

A
s they came
to Louisville in the dark, Vinny called Tony and received the name of the hotel they were staying in and the closest car rental facility. “Room’s gonna be 113, on the back side. Lily’s got you a rental reserved at the local car rental. It’s under the name you used last year.”

Pulling off the highway, Vinny acknowledged the information. He and several of the others had various identifications, including driver’s licenses.

They made a quick stop at the rental facility, the young man behind the desk more interested in the ball game on his TV than he was seeing who was renting the car. He looked over at Annalissa after they had transferred their belongings to the smaller car. They had not stopped for supper, but then there had been little opportunity. There was an all-night pancake house next to the little hotel.
Perfect.
Not about to leave her alone again, they both walked into the lobby as he got a room on the first floor.

Parking near the room they were registered for, they unlocked the door and moved in. Vinny quickly turned down the covers, messing the sheets up as though they had had a quick fuck as soon as they got in. He wished his thoughts had not gone down that road, the idea of a romp with Annalissa immediately making him hard.

Forcing his thoughts back to the mission, he noticed her standing still to the side, watching him carefully. He walked into the bathroom and ran some water into the bathtub, splashing it on the sides, before getting the towels slightly wet as though they had been used. He rolled some toilet paper off the new roll and flushed it.

Walking back over to her, he looked down into her curious expression. “If anyone comes in while we’re getting something to eat, it’ll look like we’ve settled in here. We won’t be staying, but they won’t know that.”

Cupping her cheek with his large hand, he leaned down hesitating a breath away from her luscious lips.
Your call, baby.

Rising on her tiptoes, she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Latching her lips onto his, she relished the feel of them once again. The electricity shocked her right down to her toes, before coming back to her core.

Delving his tongue in once again, he lapped, sucked, and tasted all of her delectable mouth. Her hair fell like silk over his fingers and he pulled her body tightly against his. Her breasts, natural and perfect, crushed against his chest. One hand slid down to her ass, its globes filling his hands. Thoughts of all other women fled from his mind. There was no one. No one for him, but the beautiful woman in his arms.

“We gotta stop,” he said, capturing her moan with his mouth. Pulling away regretfully, he smiled at her pout. “I’ve gotta get some food in you and then we’ll get to the other room.”

Heaving a sigh she nodded, her stomach growling loudly giving away her hunger. He entwined her fingers with his as they walked to the pancake house.

Sitting in the brightly lit restaurant, Annalissa felt naked. Her eyes darted all around, nervous about being seen. Or approached. Or attacked. She jumped when she felt his hand cross the table, grasping hers.

“Easy, babe. I got you covered.” He met her questioning look and leaned forward. “We’re in a booth where I not only can see the door to this place, but I can see the front of the hotel where I left the car. Nothing’s happening, but remember if I tell you to do something, then—”

“I do it immediately,” she laughed as she finished his sentence for him. “I know. I just can’t help but think this is all so surreal. Two days ago I was just concerned with making sure my performance was perfect. Now…” her voice trailed off as she searched for the right words. “Now, everything’s topsy-turvy.”

Vinny had to chuckle at her choice of words, the realization of her innocence slamming into him once again.
Innocent. I wonder if she is…

Their food arrived and they both ate heartedly. Even though he ate twice as much as she did, he was pleased to see her dig in. Finally sated, they headed back to the hotel. Opening up the door, he motioned for her to stay back. She waited by the door before he signaled for her to come in. Keeping quiet, she followed him through the room over to the window. He had her wait as he went back to their bags and inspected them carefully before zipping them back up.

Sliding the back window open, he slipped through and then turned to assist her over the window sill as well. Closing the window, they moved silently, making their way over four more rooms and with quick dispatch, he had opened the window of another room.

Once inside he saw her turn toward him for more instructions.
Good girl,
he thought. “We’re okay. This is the room that Tony reserved. From here I can see where I parked the rental. If anyone comes, they’ll go to the other room. With the all-night bar down the street, they may assume we’re there.”

She nodded, the tension leaving her body. Suddenly exhausted, she slumped onto the bed. Then her eyes looked around. Bed.
Bed? One bed again?
Her wide-eyed gaze jumped back to his, seeing the amused expression on his face.

“Don’t worry. As hard as it will be to keep my distance, we both need our sleep. And…” he said, stalking toward her, caging her in with his long arms on either side of her forcing her to fall back on the mattress. “When we make love…and I hope to God you feel about me the way I’m feeling about you. Then when we make love, it’ll not be rushed. Not when we’re fighting danger. And not when I can’t give you everything you need.”

Lying on her back with the most gorgeous man in the world almost on top of her caused her heart to pound. Licking her lips, she wished he would lean down a few more inches and take her mouth.
And then take everything else.

He did lean down, but just to give her a quick kiss knowing anything else with her lying under him would weaken his resolve to take things slow and at her pace. Standing up, he took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet.

“Take a shower or a long bath and I’ll be right out here. Gonna report into Tony while you’re in the bathroom.”

He heard water running and made his call. Once again on speaker, he knew that the men were pulling an all-nighter. Updating them on the events of the evening, he let them know they were in the alternate room.

“How you doing, bro?” Gabe asked, hearing the uncharacteristic tension in his twin’s voice.

“I want this whole fuckin’ mess to be over with,” he answered back. “She’s doing great, but she’s not used to this. Her adrenaline has spiked numerous times over the past two days, she’s running on little sleep and goddamn, if she isn’t holding up great.”

“Sounds like a winner, if you ask me,” Tony added.

The silence across the airwaves spoke volumes. Finally Vinny admitted, “Yeah, she is. But fuck, she should be sitting in some room playing her harp and not on the run from whoever the fuck is doing this.”

“We’re working on it, Vinny,” BJ promised. “So far, this is what we’ve got. The father is a tough cuss to deal with and is pissed that she put the harp on a separate plane. We haven’t told him that it will not be going through Dulles. But from everything we’ve seen, he’s clean. So are Todd and Gordon. Both assholes in their own ways, but they don’t seem to have any nefarious connections that we can see right now. They both have questionable deposits and withdrawals in their bank accounts but could be just from the entertainment business. We’re still looking at the others in her inner crew.”

Jobe spoke up, “I’m working on the security cameras that we’ve tapped into from the airports. Jack Bryant’s group is working on this with us.”

“What’s DEA found?” Vinny asked.

“So far, it looks like pure cocaine, the street value of almost half a million. But here’s the part that’s gonna upset your girl.”

Vinny’s heart lifted at hearing Annalissa referred to as his girl and then sank at knowing something was going to concern her. Before he could growl, Jobe continued.

“DEA says that it appears that the screws may have been tampered with at an earlier time, so she may have transported drugs when she was traveling before.”

The men continued to plan for a few more minutes until he heard the water stop running. After disconnecting he tossed his phone on the nightstand and pulled the covers down. Turning around as the door opened, his breath caught in his throat.

Long, dark, wet hair hung down her back. Her face, devoid of all makeup was fresh. Beautiful. And she was standing in that fuckin’ Little House on the Prairie nightgown with her bare toes peeking out from the bottom.
Fuckin’ adorable.

Finding his voice, he motioned toward the bed. “Go on, babe. You need to sleep. I’ll clean up and be along shortly.”

Ten minutes later he emerged, finding her already sound asleep. Standing over the bed, he watched her gentle breathing as her face was finally at peace for the first time all day. He knew he had never watched a woman sleep before. Always fucked for the physical pleasure, not wanting to stick around…
not for conversation, not for friendship, and sure as hell not for snuggling.

Shaking his head, he quickly packed their belongings into two backpacks that he always had folded into his larger duffle and checked his weapons. Just in case.

Crawling under the covers, staying to his side of the bed, he resolved to keep his distance.
Yeah, right.
He immediately rolled over to her, wrapping his body around hers and pulling her in tightly. Then he fell asleep. Soundly. The sleep of someone wrapped up with someone they care about.

*

The vibrations woke
Vinny, instantly alerting him to the presence of someone in their other hotel room. The clock showed that it was almost three a.m. He had set sensors at the door, with a wireless alarm that was connected to his cell phone, courtesy of BJ. A warm body moved closer to him, the scent of her flowery shampoo filling his nostrils as her head lay on his chest. All he wanted was to stay right where he was, with this woman all night. Kissing the top of her head he slipped out from underneath her, walking stealthily to the window by the door. Barely pulling the curtain back he saw movement by the room they had originally rented.
Fuck.
Turning, he hurried to the bed, gently shaking Annalissa.

“Babe, you gotta get up. Throw your clothes on quickly and only grab what you need. We’re going to head to the rental car and leave as quickly as possible as soon as I give the all clear.”