101 Nights Box Set: Volume Two Read online

  “Sorry,” I say again and push away, gaze on my hands.

  “That was a proper kiss.” His low voice is husky.

  I can feel his heartbeat beneath the hand I have pressed to his chest. The sensation is a little too intimate. Rattled by the powerful kiss, I’m too intrigued and drawn to his scent for this to be natural. I know what attraction is and how it feels.

  It’s never been quite this … consuming.

  George lifts my chin, and I gaze at him, aware of how red my face is. He releases me, grey eyes holding mine.

  I think he wants to say something, but he seems to change his mind and simply watches me watch him. The hollows and shadows of his face are deeper in the low lighting, rendering his chiseled features sharper, more like stone. His black hair is neat, his body relaxed once more. He doesn’t seem at all concerned about having his greatest hacking nemesis inches from the computers he worked hard to keep me from accessing.

  The air between us sizzles with sexual awareness. I’m in his lap, and yet I feel like I’m too far away. I need to revel in his heat and have his body covering mine and even then, it won’t be enough. We’d still be too far a part, even if his dick were deep inside me.

  I want to kiss him again. The urge is almost crippling, and my eyes flicker to his lips. So full, hot and soft … and the body beneath his t-shirt … amazing! I want to run my hands over his shapely muscles and down the washboard abs …

  The tension between us is unlike anything I’ve experienced. It’s at the edge of my control, waiting for a reason to snap and send us hurtling into bed together.

  If not for my fear and the bruises … I skim a palm over the part of my forearm that’s still tender from Tony tonight. The pain reminds me of one of the many lessons I learned the hard way.

  “That can’t happen again,” I whisper to him, struggling to ignore how my senses are flooded with him and my body afire with need.

  “Offer’s always on the table,” George says softly. “It doesn’t take a hacking genius to know where those bruises came from. Fortunately for you, I’m not Tony.”

  Humiliated and too flustered to respond, I snatch Tony’s laptop and shove it in my bag then stand, in a hurry to leave. I need fresh air and distance from George to clear my head. I’m not sure where to get either of those and flee the computer room, unaware of where I’m headed until I find myself before the balcony doors.

  I never should’ve crossed that line with him. Yes, he’s sexy as sin and smart, but sometimes, it’s better to look and fantasize than dive into the ocean and hope there are no sharks in its depths. Because with my luck, there’s a school of half-starved sharks waiting for me. Something about George makes me want to be a little more careful, maybe the sense that I’ll be completely lost, out of control, vulnerable like I am to Tony, if I let myself fall under his spell.

  I’m not sure how I can talk to him without thinking about that kiss. I’m not good at filtering what I say and even worse at controlling the emotions that make me speak out. George isn’t capable of a real relationship, if his nighttime activities I’ve hacked are any indication. I’m the opposite, the kind of person who wears her emotions on her sleeve, who can’t sever who I am from what I feel, who falls for someone too easily and never quite recovers when it’s over. I’m the kind of girl a man like him crushes.

  It’s always been a disadvantage, but it’s never felt like a disability before tonight.

  I step onto the balcony and release a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. The city is breathtaking from this height, and I slump against the railing, the bag at my feet. Soon, the sun will start to rise, and the city will be waking up.

  I didn’t know I was so tired until now. I spent the entire night awake and emotionally charged. Both are wearing on me. If not for the need humming in my body, I’d be curled up on the balcony to sleep.

  One battle down. I’ve outsmarted Tony. For now. With a sigh of relief, I rest my forehead against the stone railing and close my eyes. I can’t begin to think about how I’m gonna survive if he keeps sending assassins after me. Eventually, George is going to get what he wants and set me free.

  And then I’ll be dead. Or running for my life with Natalie.

  At some point soon, I need to ask George why I’m here, but I don’t feel up to it now. I can’t quite get my emotions under some semblance of control.

  “My turn,” he says quietly from behind me.

  Shit.

  “Tony is your Russian mafia issue?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What does he have on you?”

  I clamp my mouth closed.

  “More specifically, does he have anything on you to tie you to me or Elijah?” he asks.

  “No.”

  “To Natalie?”

  “She’s not your business.”

  “She’s engaged to my boss, who happens to be the heir to a kingdom. Any privacy she may have enjoyed as a private citizen is gone now that she’s a public figure,” he responds. George joins me at the railing and rests his forearms on the stone.

  I can’t help but look at him. His features are strong and … fascinating. Imperfect yet symmetrical. I have a thing for symmetry, probably because the rest of my life is somewhat chaotic. His gaze is on the city, as if he’s not thinking at all about the kiss that’s still baffling my senses and making my mouth water.

  “Did you save me any dinner?” I ask without thinking.

  “No.”

  “Roast beef and what?”

  “Bread pudding.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  He glances at me, amused, and I look away quickly. I’m more agitated. Hungry and turned on.

  “Does Tony have anything on Natalie?” he asks again with casual calm.

  “I wouldn’t rule it out,” I reply.

  “Meaning …”

  “She’s my best friend. He’s dug into my life the way you have.”

  “Any dirt?”

  A different kind of fire blooms within me, this one anger. “If you’re implying there’s any dirt to be had about Natalie, then you’re barking up the wrong tree, George! First, she’s the best person I know, and deserves someone so much better than that psycho prince of a boss of yours, and second, if she did have dirt on her, do you really think I’d tell you?” I face him, crossing my arms.

  “It’s not personal, Alisha,” he replies, turning to gaze down at me. “I’m not the media. I’m not going to blast her secrets to the world. Natalie’s business is mine, because it’s my job to keep her safe.”

  “That’s my job!” I grate.

  “Which you can’t do, if you’re dead.”

  I glare up at him. “My life is one thing. Hers is another.”

  “I need to know if Tony has anything that might make him go after her.”

  “Aside from the fact she’s my friend? No,” I snap.

  “That’s still something. You and your activities are a liability.”

  Ouch. I flinch. I’ve been trying to avoid the same thought since walking out of Tony’s with his laptop. “I’m also the only one who can help her,” I manage finally.

  “Assuming you stay alive.”

  “They won’t find me again!”

  “If they do, I’ll be there, assuming you cooperate with me.” George studies me, the intensity of his look making my face grow warm once more.

  “I appreciate your help tonight,” I respond, calming some at the reminder of what he’s already done for me. “But I am not about to let anyone else pretend like they own me. I’m done with that!”

  “Alisha.”

  For the first time, I hear his frustration.

  George grips the railing with both hands hard enough that his roped forearms flex. I can see every perfect muscle outlined, and there are a ton of them.

  “You’re at Elijah’s and haven’t asked to see Natalie.”

  His words put me on alert. I glance up instinctively to the penthouse above this one. It’s where
Natalie moved a couple of days ago with Elijah.

  “It’s … late,” I say, hoping it doesn’t sound as lame as it does to me.

  “You know she’s not here. You know she’s not coming back.”

  He does know. George isn’t the kind to beat around the bush. I’m not sure why he didn’t bring this up earlier, why I had the impression he sought me out for a different reason.

  “I need to know two things,” he continues, still gripping the railing. “You can tell me how she contacted you when she disappeared for three months a few years ago, or you can tell me how you intended to contact her, once she got to where she was going.”

  “Fuck you, George,” I reply.

  “What you think is not the case.”

  “You have no clue what I think.”

  “You think this is about Ohio.” He breathes a deep breath and releases the stone.

  I’m not about to confirm or deny that’s where she went. Instead, I pick up my messenger bag and drape it across my chest.

  “You think Elijah sent me after you to find out where you’re meeting her.”

  I march towards the balcony door and push it open, intent on leaving or at least, getting as far away as I can before he inevitably stops me.

  “Alisha, Natalie’s missing.”

  “No shit,” I mutter under my breath. After all, I’m the one who told her to go to Ohio immediately if she wanted to uncover what secret Elijah was hiding.

  “Alisha, listen to me.”

  I pull open the door to his bedroom. He plants a hand on it, over my head, and pushes it closed. I hunch my shoulders, waiting for him to grab me or hit me the way Tony would in this situation.

  “She’s gone. I don’t mean to Ohio. I mean, someone grabbed her,” George continues. “This is difficult for me to say, but I’m not concerned right now about whatever nonsense you planned with her. What I need to know is if, and how, you might be able to find her. She may have intended to go to Ohio, but someone else grabbed her. She’s completely disappeared.”

  I listen silently until he’s finished. “I don’t believe you.”

  “We have it on surveillance. She called and talked to you, then went to the car you planted for her under the Tenley building. Three men grabbed her and took her somewhere, and there is nothing, nothing I can do to track her.”

  Fear and dread make my stomach tighten. I’m not about to believe George’s story blindly, not when I know how smart he is. He’s not above lying, same as me, to get what he – or his boss – wants.

  “Let me show you the video,” he finishes. “If you want to walk out after that, I won’t stop you.” His hand drops, and I feel his body heat move away.

  I gaze at the door, hesitating once more. Earlier, I didn’t bolt because I knew he’d chase me down. My instincts are telling me not to run for the first time tonight, that something is really wrong.

  Which makes me wonder how much of his story is true. I could wait it out until mid morning, when I’m expecting Natalie to contact me from Ohio.

  But I have no patience and worse, nowhere else to go, not until the money transfers where I can reach it. I can always call in favors, but with Tony looking for me …

  The safest place to be is right here.

  Alisha, you have the instincts of a blind lamb wandering into a lion’s den.

  Even knowing I shouldn’t, I let George draw me in once again. He’s in his computer room, seated at the desk, when I enter. I leave the door open in case I decide to make a quick escape. He’s got footage of a garage playing across every screen. I don’t venture near him, not this time, but stand in front of one of the screens on a wall, watching the security feed from the basement garage of Tenley.

  Natalie gets off the phone, and then walks to the trashcan to throw it away, per my instructions. She stops and talks to someone. Three men – two in masks and another without one – melt from the shadows, two from the direction of the trashcan and one from the direction of the car.

  The camera angle is horrible. The man with no mask moves off camera, except for his feet, and Natalie’s back is to me. I can’t see her expression. There’s a pause, and I assume they’re talking to one another. Suddenly, one of the big, masked guys grabs her. She struggles for a moment, before her body goes limp.

  They all go off screen.

  It certainly looks real. The time stamp is right. I’ll have to see the metadata to confirm the time and date, to be sure it hasn’t been manipulated.

  The footage starts again.

  My heart is pounding hard. I’ve just seen my best friend get kidnapped. Mentally, I calculate how long it’s been since I spoke to her.

  Ten hours. She could literally be anywhere in the world, if they flew her out of the country, or halfway across the US, if they drove. They could be well into Canada or close to the Mexico border …

  Ten hours. She could be long dead, along with her baby.

  My vision blurs, and I hear myself close to hyperventilating.

  “Deep breath,” George’s quiet voice is accompanied by the feel of his large hands on my arms.

  “I should’ve checked up on her. I should’ve met her there,” I whisper hoarsely, imagining all the different scenarios where I could’ve prevented this. I’m shaking again. Tonight was already a lot for me to handle, but it suddenly feels like an anchor is dragging me under.

  “Easy,” George says, moving closer. He wraps one arm around my shoulders and draws me into him. His hard frame at my back helps me balance. “I need your brain, Alisha.”

  Did Tony do this? Am I the reason my best friend and her child are dead? What if someone else tracked me down? It’s always a possibility, and with Natalie’s high profile, it wouldn’t be hard for someone to find my perfect leverage.

  Wiping my eyes, I watch again in horror as my best friend in the world is kidnapped before my eyes. I can’t … think. Can only watch. “Oh, god. This is all my fault!”

  “Not the way you think.” George raises a remote and kills the feed. “I need you calm for this, Alisha. Are you calm enough to talk me through a few scenarios?”

  “What the fuck do you think?” I exclaim.

  Chapter Four: George

  I think I was right about how she’d react. She’s outwardly emotional, a trait I’ve never shared. She’s crying and trembling, and I steady her. It’s been a while since I’ve dealt with someone like this.

  “Time is a precious commodity right now, Alisha,” I warn her softly. “I need your help to find her.”

  Alisha takes a couple more heaving breaths, struggling for control. I wait, knowing how much she cares for Natalie. She’s nowhere near calm enough, and I’m not certain how else to help her focus other than to talk her through this.

  “This is what we know,” I start. “The man there is Hassan, an agent in the Nijalan Security Bureau. He may or may not be operating on orders from Elijah’s father. We’re assuming he is. If they make it back to Nijala with Natalie, we’re going to have a problem getting her back. Assuming that’s where he’s taking her. Elijah’s father has estates all over the world where he can stash her.”

  Alisha is listening. She grips the hand I have resting on her shoulder. She’s not pulling it free, simply holding it. I take her free hand with mine and squeeze.

  “The two guys are hired thugs,” I continue. “Most likely disposable, once Hassan has what he wants. I expect the bodies to turn up in about another fourteen hours.”

  She sucks in a breath and holds it at my words. I’d almost forgotten that, while she may not be new to petty crime, she is to outright murder.

  “Deep breath. Concentrate on the issue, not how you feel,” I whisper.

  She obeys.

  “I want you to watch this one more time and tell me what you see that I don’t,” I say and flick a button on the remote.

  I’ve been watching the scene over and over and over. My instincts are clamoring. I’m missing something. I have to be. Hassan and Natalie can’t dis
appear off the grid completely. This is the only footage we have, the only possible clue we can to what Hassan was planning. My gut tells me something that I can’t verify through the video or searching through the staff activity logs for the past month.

  “There’s a possibility they’re in the city, or were up until a few hours ago,” I add.

  “How would you know that?” she asks finally.

  “They snatched someone else from Dayton, Ohio, around ten in the morning yesterday. The car was picked up on the New Jersey turnpike, headed this way,” I explain.

  “Kallista King,” she murmurs.

  I shift, reminded that Alisha managed to compromise years of painstaking attempts to cover the tracks of the girl who was known as Kallista King. Hidden for five years, Kallista was the code name given to Elijah’s sister, Layla, who we were hiding from their abusive father.

  “Yes,” I reply shortly.

  “Who is she?”

  “Not your concern.”

  Alisha turns in my grip. Tears glow in her eyes, and she’s glaring at me. “You can’t ask me for help and keep secrets at the same time!”

  “You are going to teach me this lesson?” I challenge. Automatically, I wipe tears from her face with one hand, and my fingers hover over those warm, plush lips. I resist the urge to touch them, despite the memory of her kiss earlier.

  “My secrets have nothing to do with Natalie going missing!”

  “Kallista’s identity is not your concern,” I reply firmly. “You put her in danger when you hacked me.”

  “Then learn to protect your secrets better,” Alisha retorts.

  “Of the two of us, I’m not the one with the Russian mafia after me,” I say and then add, “You being stubborn will get your friend killed.”

  “You’re the one who couldn’t stop this from happening!” Alisha gasps then yanks away from me. “I don’t need you to find her!”

  “Wrong,” I say, striving to recover my patience. “You need me to keep you safe so you can track her down. And then, you need me to take out whoever has her so we can bring her back.”

  She pauses at the door.

  I stay where I am, disturbed for more than one reason. I’ve been fighting a sense of failure since we found out Natalie had gone missing. I’m too hardened to feel an emotion like guilt, but I do acknowledge my role in failing to keep Natalie safe. It’s my sworn duty, the one thing I do better than anything else.