Page 44 of Sinful Negotiations
“In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never once went against direct orders.”
“And that’s why you should let me back in.”
Lucas crossed his arms and leaned against the wall beneath the television set. “He’s disappeared again. All we can do is wait for him to reappear and hope to insert an agent in the window. You know it won’t stay open long.”
“I know where she is.”
Lucas braced both hands against the end of his bed. “How?”
“Only if you let me back in, or I go it alone.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Aidan.”
“You’ve been after Dentzi your entire career. I’m handing it to you.”
“With strings attached. I don’t like it. He knows you now. He knows your brother. He almost killed you both.”
“I’ll change my appearance. He won’t even recognize me. You know I can do it. Hell, I’ve done it a million times before.”
Lucas squeezed the end of his bed and shook his head. “How?”
“I placed tracker on her within a necklace. I had this gut feeling, a feeling that proved right.”
A smile spread as Lucas lifted his face. “Dentzi more than likely removed it.”
“You don’t know Tessa.”
Lucas sat in the chair beside his bed. “Love?”
Aidan dropped his head. There’s no way he’d admit how much he loved her to his boss.
“I will tell you this, and it’s only a rumor at this point. There are rumblings Marco Dentzi intends to marry soon.”
Aidan grinned from ear to ear. “Then he will need a priest since we know his family is Catholic.”
Chapter 38
Another five weeks passed and still no Aidan. Agitated and restless, Tessa paced in her bedroom. This is where he kept her most of the time, and only allowed her out for meals and the occasional supervised walk.
Several women were assigned to clean her room, do her hair, help her dress, even bathe her, but she sent them away. Their youthfulness caught her off guard, and the fading bruises marking their flesh alarmed her. Did Marco use them for sex? Beat them?
So far, he’d been polite even though he demanded a kiss each evening. Kisses that were becoming more aggressive with each day. His hands were roaming where they shouldn’t, and the growls revealed his frustration. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep him at arm’s length.
Intelligent and charming, he seemed to be trying to break her defenses one at a time. His ability to seep beneath her walls had her on guard. Lonely, isolated, and unsure of the future, she had revealed more to him than she should, and accepted comfort when overwhelmed.
It was a dangerous line she treaded, and Marco seemed to always be there watching and waiting with open arms. He wanted her to rely on him. He wanted her to seek comfort in his arms. He wanted too damn much.
The raw attraction between them was unsettling to say the least. Dark hair and green eyes with olive skin lent him an exotic handsomeness. Confidence emanated from his every movement. Marco was a big man like Aidan, and his touch could be demanding or gentle. He’d traveled extensively, something she’d planned to do and the knowledge he offered was a temptation in itself. There was much to admire about Marco, but much to fear as well.
Armed guards were posted around the property. She could see them from her windows. They walked the grounds day and night. Wherever they were, it was isolated and far from any road. If she did escape, she had no clue in which direction to run. Seagulls circling overhead signaled they were close to an ocean, and tropical plants confirmed that notion.
Blindfolds and drugs were used when she was taken. Several times a needle poked into her upper arm. Bound and gagged, there was no way to fight. After the white room, she moved to this room. Her clothing was removed, her body washed, and she’d been given a soft, blue nightgown that hit mid-thigh. Marco obviously had expensive taste in clothing.
A black, four poster bed dominated the bedroom with intricate carvings in the bedposts and expensive linens in various shades of cream. A bathroom with ceiling to floor ceramic tiles set on one end, and double veranda doors dominated the wall on the other side of the room but remained locked at all times. Numerous chairs were positioned in the space, but no television. She had no knowledge of the outside world except for what Marco allowed her to know.
Tessa toyed with the shamrock suspended from her neck, rolling it over between her fingers. She needed to find an opportunity to reach Aidan, but when her bedroom door opened and Marco entered with a bright, white smile, her hope slipped a bit further away.
“I’d like for you to join me in my office today.”