He wouldn’t dream of disappointing her.
“You remember what I told you on the plane earlier?” He’d been expecting her to keep her distance, not jump in with both feet. “Next time we get naked, there’s no holding back.”
He angled back to gauge her expression but couldn’t get a good read on her face. Intrigued? Scared? Possibly a little of both.
No matter. He’d never been the kind of guy to take a lover just for kicks. If they were going to keep being together, it had to mean something.
He knew what it meant to him.
“Sure I remember.” She backed away, a wicked glint in her eyes. “You were trying to take charge of whatever this is that’s happening between us, but I have the feeling this connection of ours won’t be strong-armed into submission just because you want it to be.”
His feet followed her automatically as she wound her way out of the kitchen and through the living area.
“Wait a minute.” He hurried to catch up, wondering how she knew right where to find the best shower in the house. He’d made a point of not pointing out his bedroom when they’d arrived. “If you think I’m going to forget about this just because you start distracting me with sex talk about submission—” holy hell “—you are very much mistaken.”
“Who says submission and sex have a damn thing to do with one another?” Still, she continued to smile as she strode right into his bedroom and whipped off her jacket. Her tank top.
Leaving her clad in a dark satin bra that perfectly molded itself to the natural shape of her breasts.
She paused just before the door to the master bathroom, pivoting on one barefoot heel to face him.
“Coming?”
He shouldn’t have been surprised at her choice of word given her mood. She looked even more dangerous now clad in her sleek, silky bra than she had in his rec center, staring down at him with a gymnasium full of would-be street thugs by her side.
“Hell yeah, I’m coming.” He wouldn’t let her off with just a few orgasms and a bunch of provocative words. He’d glimpsed what they could be like together, a deeper connection that would take them through years instead of days, and he didn’t plan on trading that in for a few short-term sex games. Tugging his shirt over his head, he double-checked the house security alarms on the remote by his bed. He could go for a few rounds of whatever Vanessa had in mind, but only if he could guarantee they’d stay safe long enough to enjoy it.
A low whistle from the bathroom hastened his pace. He brought the remote with him as he followed Vanessa inside, where she was already turning on the shower.
“Not in a million years would I have pegged you for something so hedonistic.” She stepped out of her jeans as her gaze lingered on the multiple showerheads positioned at varying heights along one wall of the open shower.
“It’s my one indulgence.”
“Right after the Cessna.” She held her hand under the spray from the nearest nozzle, her fingers drumming into the water.
“That’s business.” He shut the bathroom door behind him, enclosing them in the safety of the interior room with no windows. Not that he was worried about Vercelli showing up here. Yet.
It would take the guy a couple of hours to drive out from the city, and chances were he wouldn’t have heard about Alec resurfacing until an hour ago at the earliest.
“And this is pleasure.” She tipped her head back into the spray, not bothering to remove her bra or panties. “I like the way you think, Messina.”
He liked the way her undergarments molded to her skin the same way his hands would in another minute.
Stepping out of his clothes, he watched her reach for the soap and lather up.
“I visited Italy a few years back and stayed in this great hotel where the bathroom didn’t have a shower curtain, just a big tile basin and tile walls.”
“And you realized what a great view you could have if you left everything open.” She ran her hands over her wet curves, her fingers slick with suds.
Creating a hell of a view.
“At the time, I just liked the idea of never seeing mildew again.” Naked, he pulled a condom out of the bathroom cabinet and made his way toward her. “But now I see I was pretty damn shortsighted.”
Her fingers reached for him along with the shower spray, a stream of water pulsating against his chest.
“You can look your fill tonight.” She cupped his jaw, tipping his head down to hers for a kiss and an eyeful of wet and willing woman.
He tasted her with a thoroughness that left his thoughts scrambled.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.” He cupped a breast in his palm, lifting her toward his mouth as he bent closer.
“What’s that?” She arched into his kiss, her skin hot and sweet against his tongue.
He forced himself to straighten, to leave that dusky pink crest for a minute. Long enough to talk to her.
“You’re trying to make me forget everything I wanted to say to you this time.”
“But is it working?” Peeling off the straps of her bra from her shoulders, she leaned forward enough to allow the spray of the highest nozzle to fill the loosened cups to overflowing. She closed her eyes, as if transfixed by the wash of water over the breasts he’d rather bathe with his tongue.
“Damn right it’s working.” He unhooked the bra and flung it aside before imprisoning her wrists. “That’s why I have to hold you still long enough to keep my head together.”
His breath came fast and shallow, his fingers twitching to feel every soaking inch of her. She slid sinuous curves against him, the wet slide of her skin defying him to keep her still for long.
“There you go again with that submission idea.” She licked a kiss up the side of his jaw, her teeth nipping at his ear. “What makes you think you can keep me still unless I really want to be held down?”
Good intentions streaming down the drain faster than the sudsy water, Alec told himself the quicker he spoke his mind, the quicker he could have her. Backing her against the wall, he sheltered her from a hot stream of a jet at hip level.
“Just know this. We’re either in this together because we’re crazy about each other, or—at least to my way of thinking—we’ve got no business together.” He’d waited so long to be able to claim everything he wanted out in the open. He wouldn’t wait around to be with her, too.
“You’re putting an end to recreational sex?” Her utter stillness made him wary.
Yet, his purpose was noble. Honorable. And hell yes, it would be a lot of fun for them both.
“Only in favor of the better kind.” He kissed her, gentled his hold on her wrists in an attempt to show her exactly what he had in mind. “The committed kind.”
“A commitment?” Her legs wavered against his just a little. He hoped the idea turned her on as much as it lit his every freaking fire.
“We can barely keep our hands off each other.” Correction, he wouldn’t
ever
be able to keep his hands off her. Why not acknowledge that need and strengthen the heat between them all the more? Grazing a kiss along her shoulder, he savored the thought of something deeper. “I want you in my life, Vanessa.”
Ready to show her just how much he wanted her now that he’d spoken his piece, Alec moved to turn them both into the shower spray.
Only Vanessa wasn’t moving.
He glanced to her face, not sure how to read her expression, but fairly certain she didn’t look like a woman who’d been propositioned with forever.
“We just met.” Her words sent a trickle of cold down his spine despite the steamy blast of hot water.
“And I don’t want to rush you, but I also need for you to understand my intentions go beyond sex.”
“So do mine. But my other main intention is to throw your scumbag partner behind bars, and if your mobster uncle gets in my way, I plan to take him in, too.” She stood perfectly still, her body grazing his in places, but somehow she seemed a million miles away. “I can’t think about a commitment with someone I only just met, no matter how incredible our time together has been.”
“You know how many times we’ve gotten naked in two days?” Frustration stomped through him, not sure how to make her understand. “Don’t get me wrong. I can appreciate the appeal of a one-night stand. Possibly the lure of a next-day booty call. But continuing to hook up just for sex’s sake smacks of a casualness I don’t want any part of, and I don’t think you do, either.”
“I haven’t had sex with anyone but you in years.” She moved away from him, her steps rigid. Controlled. “Don’t try to tell me that a little wild sex after all this time makes me some kind of skank.”
“Hell no, Vanessa.” How could he have botched things up this badly? “I’m packing major feelings for you, lady, and I’m pretty freaking sure I’m falling in love with you. How the hell can you turn that into me saying you’re anything but phenomenal?”
She shook her head. Slowly. Awkwardly, at first. But then faster. “No. You don’t even know me.”
“That’s BS and you know it.” He pounded his fist into the tile, damning his rush to clarify their relationship. “I just wanted to be fair to you. To make sure you understood I’d gladly hand over ten more Mercedes for the chance to share something more with you. Something real. Jesus, I’ve been made out to be a mob guy for so long that the taint hovers over everything I do and I couldn’t stand the idea of anything tainting this. Distorting your idea of me.”
Shutting off the shower, he reached for a towel. He handed one to her without comment, figuring he’d damn well said enough for today.
“Alec—” She reached for him, but her hand never touched him as the peal of the remote alarm blistered through the steamy bathroom.
The house’s security had been breached.
“No. All this is more for show. I disconnected the link to the cop shop six months ago when I went into hiding since I didn’t want every hungry skunk in search of food bringing the police out here.” Dressed and .357 in hand, he moved toward the front window to look outside. “Christ. It’s just Sergio’s truck in the driveway.”
He reached for a remote from the nightstand and stabbed a couple of buttons in quick succession to disarm the system. Quiet reigned again.
Surprised he would turn off the alarm when his visitor was a known criminal, Vanessa edged near the window. “He could be here to carry out the threats he made last winter.”
“That’s why I’ll be armed, and I’ll reactivate the system, so that if anyone else tries a door or window on the house, the light display and alarms will kick back into high gear. It may not bring the cops automatically, but eventually one of the neighbors will place a call to the police to get the system shut off.” He unlocked the sash and opened the window to shout down toward a tall figure standing in a tulip bed. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you about that rat bastard partner of yours when Donata wasn’t around.” Sergio stepped out of the tulips and closer to the window. “Can I come in, or what?”
Vanessa would sooner invite a serpent inside. Her fingers flexed around her weapon, wondering how Alec had put up with this kind of uncertainty his whole life. How did anyone conduct a normal existence with a criminal in the family?
“I’ll come out instead.” Pulling shut the window, Alec latched it before drawing all the wooden blinds and turning off what few interior lights had been turned on. “I need to at least hear what he has to say.”
“Why not let the police find out?” She hated that she hadn’t brought him to her precinct when he’d agreed to go with her. “You could just call the local cops and let them—”
“Bring me in for questioning?” His brow lifted, his not-so-subtle reference to her own initial attempt to haul him into the precinct reminding her why that probably wouldn’t work. On paper, a guy with Alec’s connections looked pretty damn suspicious.
Hurrying through the darkened house, she appreciated the sparse furnishings that kept her pathway clear as they headed toward the stairs. The simple Cape Cod–style home—albeit built on a huge scale—seemed in keeping with a man who liked his toys but could also make himself at home in a converted rec center. Luxurious and pared down at the same time.
“You think Sergio can really give us something on your partner?” She followed him down the bare hardwood stairs toward the side entrance, her body humming with adrenaline and—yes—unfulfilled desire.
“Not us.
Me
.”
“You’ve got to be joking.” She needed to be there by his side to make sure Sergio didn’t decide to try anything funny. Mark Vercelli might be guilty of setting up the carjacking, but she hadn’t let Sergio off the hook for making threats to Alec last winter.
“No. I need you to keep an eye on him from the inside in case he tries to get the drop on me. I don’t expect any trouble. Hell, he’s my uncle and I’ve been dealing with him for years. I know how to handle him, okay? But if there’s trouble, you can call the cops while you pick him off from the kitchen window.” He gestured toward the bump-out glass surrounding the breakfast nook. “Find a spot over there and I’ll try to lead him around to the patio in back.”
It was a solid plan, giving her no choice but to nod agreement even though she wanted to twine her arms around his neck one more time before he went outside. A selfish urge when only a few minutes ago she’d been pushing him away—or at least, pushing away the emotions he wanted her to recognize.
And now he headed out to meet a threat that could very well be deadly.
“Alec?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll be watching every move he makes, but it you want me to act sooner, just give me the sign.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s more important that you keep an eye peeled for Mark in case he decides to put in an appearance tonight.” He leaned down to kiss her—hard—on the mouth. “Be careful.”
She blinked through her fears and the swell of feelings for Alec as he turned and went outside, leaving her alone in the kitchen to get her head together.
She hadn’t even given much thought to his partner showing up here. Especially not tonight. Somehow, she’d told herself all of Alec’s problems were in the city, hiding in scary corners of the South Bronx, but obviously his enemies could follow him wherever he went. Trouble wasn’t limited to 172nd Street, damn it.
Situating herself to one side of the large kitchen window looking out onto the patio, Vanessa settled in to watch Alec greet his uncle. With all the lights off downstairs, she figured she could allow herself a narrow sliver of glass to peer through without worrying Sergio would notice. She edged aside the wooden blinds slowly, cautiously, careful not to make a sudden movement.
Alec flicked on the exterior patio lights and then lit the same hurricane lamp on the patio table that she’d used earlier. The bright glow outdoors helped her pick out their movements more readily, the ring of light allowing her to see Sergio’s elbows on the table as well as his lap beneath. Granted, his clothes were dark, but she didn’t spy any glint of metal, no bulge that would suggest he had a gun nearby.
Seeing the men’s mouths move in rapid exchange, she reached for the crank on the casement to open the window an inch or two. Hopefully with the crash of ocean waves behind them, Sergio would never hear the small creak of the sash as she nudged it open.
“…can’t trust anybody.” Sergio made wild hand gestures, his whole form brimming with caged energy. Anger. “I’m not even sure Donata is on the up-and-up with me sometimes. You know I caught her going through my drawers the other night?”
Sergio had come over here at one o’clock in the morning to discuss his fears about Donata? Vanessa wondered if he hoped to trap Alec somehow into admitting they’d had some kind of relationship.
But then again, why would a mobster waste time hashing out his girl trouble with his nephew? He sounded like a Jerry Springer episode—
My bimbo girlfriend is cheating on me!
She swallowed a snort as she imagined tough guy Sergio whining about his problems on daytime TV. Drawing her attention back to the conversation on the patio, she heard Alec say something about Donata probably worrying that Sergio had cheated on her.
“Maybe she was looking for lipstick stains or something.”
“In my underwear drawer?” Sergio nearly busted a gut over that one before lowering his voice to confide more problems Vanessa couldn’t hear.
And as much as she wanted to listen, to keep her eyes on Alec and ensure his uncle didn’t make a move against him, she knew she ought to check out front to be certain Alec’s partner didn’t show up to catch Alec unaware.
Easing away from the window, she padded through the dark house in bare feet. Ears alert, she moved cautiously. Alec had said he’d reactivated the security system after Sergio’s loud arrival so that it would go off if someone tried to come inside. But she couldn’t be too careful. She wouldn’t let anyone take her unaware. He’d trusted her enough to watch his back.
Refusing to let herself get rattled over that realization and everything it meant, she tightened her grip around her gun as she peered out one of the front door’s sidelight windows. The yard remained quiet and still, with only Sergio’s car in the driveway.
Forcing herself to keep sentinel for two endless minutes as her gaze swept the grounds for any sign of movement, she crept back through the house toward where she really wanted to be—watching over Alec.
Nothing would happen to him on her watch, damn it. She’d made it through five years on the police force without letting Gena’s accident mess with her head, but now that she was protecting someone she cared about, she found it far more difficult to separate her cop instincts from her more personal fears for Alec.
Her gaze zeroed in on him as she settled into her position at the kitchen window again. He kept his attention focused on Sergio, his posture relaxed in his chair even though Vanessa could sense the tension in his shoulders, the way he bent his neck from side to side every now and again as if to relieve tension there. She admired that about him, the quiet way he took care of business.
Funny how in two days’ time she already knew so much about him, knew that he would never whine about his problems to anyone else the way Sergio was still doing even now. Alec relied on himself, employing his own means to deal with the accident of birth that made him related to a gangster. And instead of running scared from his uncle’s demands for kickbacks, he’d built a thriving business in spite of him—in spite of a partner who couldn’t wait to get his hands dirty out of pure greed.
Alec might look dark and dangerous—who was she kidding? He
was
dark and dangerous—but inside he hid an altruistic side that built projects like the rec center. And he was the kind of guy who wouldn’t leave her side even at great risk to his own neck. Vanessa knew cops who would have taken off the other night during the carjacking. Oh, they would have excused their exit with avowals of going to get help, but bottom line, she would have been left to her own devices to fend off doped-up hoodlums.
But Alec had stayed because he possessed an old-world nobility that wouldn’t let him leave another in danger. The same old-world nobility that made him honor-bound to declare feelings for a woman he was sleeping with.
Eyes stinging as she stared through the darkness at Alec’s face illuminated by the glow of the hurricane lamp, Vanessa realized she’d fallen in love with him. She loved that dark and dangerous streak as much as she loved the honorable man beneath, and she didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it sooner. She’d been too scared in the shower to connect with the feelings he’d roused from the moment he’d first touched her. But any man who could bring her back from her own private hell the way he had—that man was something special. Something she’d hang onto with both hands.
Wishing Sergio would leave so she could go outside and fling her arms around Alec to tell him how much he meant to her, Vanessa made a visual sweep of the backyard down to the beach. Her gaze drifted over a storage shed in back, the dark shadow of a lawn tractor covered with a tarp and a small stand of trees between Alec’s place and the next house over.
A glint in the trees halted her scan, calling her to peer into the area more carefully. The inky blackness of the rest of the yard seemed all the darker in comparison to the ring of light around Alec and Sergio.
Still, Vanessa squinted, body tensing for any possible threat. And as she stared, a shape began to take form. An arm. A leg. And the shiny glint at shoulder level that could only be—
A gun trained on Alec.