Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) Read online

  Jade and Elena snorted out a laugh, and Max felt a pang of jealousy at what Cade and Brant both had. They knew their love with their wives was secure and would never be thrown back in their faces. They’d found women who complemented them in every way—women who would stand by them no matter what.

  “Maybe if we got back to work, it wouldn’t worry you so much,” Dec said. He pointed to the area of the map where Vassin had designated as the meeting spot. “There’s nothing out here but desert.” He looked over at Max, his brows drawn in thought. “We’re not going to do you much good if you need fast backup unless we came in by air.” Dec scratched at the scar along his jaw and gave him a steely look out of eerie gray eyes. “The closest cover is more than a mile away in this mountain area, but there aren’t any easy roads to get there.”

  “No,” Max said, shaking his head. “You’re better off continuing the search for the girl and waiting it out here. Vassin’s more than likely going to be pissed after our meeting. If your gut’s telling you she’s in northern California, then you and the team should head in that direction.”

  “Yes, because I always leave my agents high and dry without backup in the middle of a mission.”

  “That sounded surprisingly like sarcasm,” Jade said. “I think he’s starting to mellow.”

  “Ha, are you kidding me?” Cade asked. “I’ve never known anyone who needs to get laid so bad.”

  “Max met a very nice prostitute last night at the boxing match,” Jade said, tongue in cheek. “I’m sure he’d be glad to introduce you.”

  Dec growled and said, “If you guys could step off my balls for a minute I’d like to get this hashed out. I can read between the lines as to why you don’t want backup from us,” he said to Max. “But have you considered all the variables for what you have planned?” Dec turned his attention to Jade. “What do you think? The sun could be a problem, depending on where you have to set up.”

  “The sun will be directly overhead. It’ll be fine.”

  “You know, sometimes it’d be nice for you to actually say whatever the hell you’re thinking so the rest of us know what you’re talking about,” Cade said irritably. “That cryptic bullshit gets old.”

  “Amen to that,” Brant said, lounging back in the chair.

  “The plan is simple,” Dec said, his smile not at all comforting. “Max is going to meet with Martin Vassin. Alone.”

  ***

  Red sand kicked up from beneath the tires of the Jeep as Max navigated off the main road, following the coordinates that had been mapped out for him. The sun was directly overhead, a red ball of flame that reflected off the sand and made the eyes water with its intensity.

  Dec hadn’t been kidding when he’d said there was nothing for miles around. Desert stretched out in all directions, except for the range of mountains directly in front of him. It took him more than half an hour to reach the designated area, and he wasn’t at all surprised to see two black Jeeps similar to his own and another helicopter. Men lounged against the sides of the vehicles, their weapons visible and dark sunglasses covering their eyes.

  Max stopped the Jeep and watched as a man got out of the back seat of one of the vehicles. Martin Vassin wasn’t a big man, but he carried himself with an air that only a man who thought he was important could manage to pull off. Despite the hundred degree temperature, his suit was dark and crisp, and he adjusted his tie before his men gathered at his sides. His hair was dark and silvered at the temples and his complexion was pitted with scars. He was a gangster in a three-thousand dollar suit. Nothing more, no matter what title he tried to give himself to pretty it up.

  Max pulled on his baseball cap and opened the door of the Jeep, letting his feet sink into the sand. His eyes stung, even through the protection of his sunglasses, and already he could feel the grittiness in his teeth.

  Vassin’s guards took a protective stance as he came closer, and Max almost smiled at their confusion. They wanted him to be afraid, to know who was running the show, and Max wasn’t giving them the satisfaction.

  Impressions were important to a man like Martin Vassin, and he knew exactly what they saw when they looked at him. They saw a man carelessly dressed in old jeans and a T-shirt with a baseball cap pulled low over his shaggy hair. It didn’t matter that Max could’ve bought and sold Martin Vassin a hundred times. Appearance mattered to him and it was part of his power trip to look more sophisticated, more powerful than his enemy. Max knew exactly how to play him.

  “I don’t see a suitcase full of money,” Max called out as he stopped about fifteen feet away, drawing his line in the sand.

  Vassin’s smile was sharp and cruel. “I was under the impression a man such as yourself didn’t need my money.” His gaze raked Max from head to toe. “Perhaps I was mistaken. Perhaps the rumors are true and you are no longer the one to control the Devlin fortune.”

  “My fortune is fine. Much larger than yours the last time I checked. This is a business transaction. If you don’t have the money, then I don’t have the information. It’s simple enough.” Max turned his back to head back to the Jeep and he felt the movement behind him.

  “Just a minute, Mr. Devlin. You don’t expect to leave here so easily, do you? I want that information. And I plan to get it.”

  Hands grabbed the back of his shoulders, and he was spun around to face Vassin again. His men had spread out, and the two restraining him checked him over for weapons before taking a step back.

  “He’s clean,” one of the guards called out.

  Vassin’s brows rose in surprise. “You’re either very brave or very stupid, Mr. Devlin.”

  “I’ve been called worse,” he said, shrugging.

  Vassin chuckled, his eyes filled with curiosity. “This is what we’re going to do. You and I are going to get in the helicopter and go to my home. You’re going to give me the locations for the weapons convoy, and once you do and the information has been verified, you’ll be free to leave. Without my money.”

  “And if I choose not to go with you?”

  “Then I’m going to put a bullet in each of your knees and leave you lying here in the desert. You won’t die right away, but the buzzards will still feed off your flesh. I’ll come back again tomorrow and see if you’ve changed your mind about giving me the information.”

  “Huh,” Max said, taking off his cap and running his fingers through his hair. “That’s pretty creative of you. But I think I have a better idea.”

  Vassin’s smile grew bigger. “I can’t wait to be enlightened. You’re an entertaining man, Mr. Devlin.”

  Max held up the hat in his hand seconds before a shot rang out and a bullet flew right through the center of it. Vassin’s men had their weapons up, pointing at Max, but Vassin was smart enough to wave them back.

  “The next one is centered to go right through your forehead,” Max said. “Your toy soldiers might take me out, but not before you join me. Are we clear?”

  Vassin nodded and waved a hand for his men to put their weapons away, and they all did as he asked.

  “Now let me tell you what we’re going to do. I’m going to walk back to my Jeep and drive away. My price has just doubled again. I expect to see half of the money delivered to a place of my choosing within the next six hours. You’ll call me in exactly five hours and fifty minutes for the location. If it’s not in my hands in six hours, I’m going to get on a plane and fly to London, where I’m supposed to meet Jarron Sikes. He’s very interested in the information I have to offer. And he knows better than to try and fuck me over.”

  Vassin’s expression turned deadly at the mention of his closest competitor.

  “Once you show your good faith with the first half of the payment, you and I will meet again at a time and place of my choosing, where you’ll give the second payment to my associate and I’ll relay the information you’ve purchased.”

  Max wadded the ball cap in his hands and smiled at Vassin. “Six hours,” he repeated. And then he turned around and w
alked back to the Jeep just like he said he would. He didn’t let out the breath he’d been holding until he was back on the main road, speeding toward the city of sin.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  It took almost two hours to drive back into the city, and by then Max was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t liked the calculating look that had come into Vassin’s eyes just before he’d left, and he knew without a doubt Vassin would be thinking of a way he could double cross Max. Again.

  His phone vibrated against the passenger seat, and he picked it up, expecting to hear Jade’s voice on the other end of the line.

  “I’ve got a confirmation from Shane,” Dec said instead. “The girl has been spotted at Vassin’s California residence, but we’re going to wait to coordinate the rescue with your next meeting. We don’t want to take the chance of them killing her.”

  “He’s got less than four hours until the first delivery has to be made, but my gut isn’t feeling all that great about the transaction. He’s going to try to screw me over.”

  “Have him make the first drop in a public place. The casino should work nicely for what you have in mind, and the rest of us can spread out to watch for any tricks. We’ll already be in place long before he contacts you.”

  Max’s anxiety eased some after he hung up the phone. The ball was in his hands, and it was his show to run. He only wished that one small nagging piece of doubt wasn’t eating away at him.

  ***

  Jade took the mountain pass instead of the desert road that Max had to take, so she was back to the hotel long before he was. She changed out of her dusty clothes and got in the shower, scrubbing away the sweat and grime of the afternoon. That hadn’t been an easy shot to make, and the conditions up in the mountain where she’d set up had been less than ideal.

  She didn’t even feel his presence until the cool breeze wafted across her skin as the shower door opened. It had always amazed her how quiet he could be for a man of his size. He moved with lethal and predatory grace, and he knew how to get the job done efficiently. When his hands came around and cupped her breasts and his hard cock probed between the crease of her rear, she knew it to be truer than ever.

  “If my lover catches you in here, he’ll kill you,” she whispered.

  She felt him pause just before his hands tightened on her breasts. “He’ll never know I was here. I’ll be in and out before he gets back.”

  Jade’s hands pressed against the cold tile of the shower as he pushed his way inside of her. There was no foreplay, no preparation, and the fit was snug and uneasy, the penetration almost painful. The muscles of his thighs strained against her, and she went up on her toes and started to push back.

  “Mmm, that’s it, baby. I can feel you starting to cream for me.” He pinched her nipples, bringing them to a standing peak, and she could feel the tug and pull in her clit. “This is going to be fast and hard. You’d better hang on for the ride.”

  “All I’ve heard so far is a lot of dirty talk and no follow through—” She gasped as he thrust deep and hard, the snug tissues of her vagina grasping at him as she tried to adjust. He was right. All she could do was hold on for the ride.

  Her hands slid down the tile until she was grasping the small built-in bench, and Max’s grasp on her hips only grew tighter as he pounded harder and harder. She felt like a rag doll as he controlled her body, and she felt him grow impossibly large inside of her. Her hand slipped down between the wet folds of her pussy and she found the tight knot of nerves there, swollen and ready to explode. Every time he pushed inside her fingers glanced over where their bodies joined.

  “Come on, baby. Come for me. Play with that sweet pussy.”

  She flicked her fingers expertly and felt the spasms deep inside as she felt the first spurt of come shoot from his cock. It had been a hard and fast ride, just like he’d promised.

  “Wow,” she panted a few minutes later. “I’m lucky I didn’t drown. I don’t think my legs work anymore.”

  He laughed and pulled out of her and they both groaned at the sensation. “Tell your lover he’ll be hard pressed to beat that. Though I’m not sure my heart could take another round.”

  He helped her stand and then grabbed the washrag folded on the little shelf in the corner. “Why don’t we grab some dinner and have some fun before Vassin calls? We’ve still got a couple of hours to kill.”

  He lathered the rag and scrubbed her from head to toe before repeating the process with himself. Jade was still trying to catch her breath, whereas he seemed to be full of energy all of a sudden.

  “I could probably eat,” she said.

  They dried off quickly and she walked naked into the bedroom where her clothes and underwear were. She still wasn’t used to the clothes that had been selected for the trip, and she stood staring into the closet, wondering what the hell she should wear and why the dresses couldn’t leave any room for her weapons.

  “Wear the red one,” Max said, toweling his hair.

  Jade rolled her eyes and then pulled the red strapless dress from the hangar. It had enough elastic in it so she wouldn’t have to pull it up every five seconds, but there wasn’t a lot of room for error if she bent or sat the wrong way. And no way in hell would she be able to wear a bra.

  She grabbed a red lacy thong from the drawer and stepped into it, shimmying it up her legs with quick efficiency, and she was just about to pull the dress on in the same manner when she caught Max’s stare. Her eyes widened and she had to stifle a laugh at his quick recovery. His dick was already hard again.

  “Geez, Max. I thought you said your heart wouldn’t be able to stand another round.”

  “Apparently my body thinks it’d be worthwhile to die trying. Christ, you’re beautiful. You take my breath away.”

  She shook her head and went back to dressing, never comfortable with the compliments he seemed to be able to give so freely. “With that kind of talk I’m going to let you buy me a steak dinner.” Her hair was mostly dry and she combed it down with her fingers so it wasn’t sticking up every which way, and she slipped on a pair of flat gold sandals.

  It wasn’t often she just got to sit and watch Max, but she took advantage of the opportunity while he finished dressing. He’d changed so much since his injury. The suave and debonair playboy was still there somewhere. You could see it in the way he easily pulled on the expensive slacks and shirt, the way his demeanor became almost haughty with the change of his clothes. But there was a roughness to him now—a wildness that wasn’t easily contained—and she wondered if he’d have been the same kind of lover two years ago as he was now.

  “Max,” she said, waiting until he finished slipping on his shoes. “I want you to know that whatever happens I don’t regret anything.” She saw his lips tighten and knew she wasn’t getting the words out right. “I just mean that I’m glad it was you. And that you wanted me.”

  He came up to where she was sitting and held out his hand, waiting for her to take it, and he pulled her to her feet. “I want you like I want to breathe. Never doubt that for a second.”

  For as long as it lasted, she thought to herself.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  It always amazed her how easily she and Max fell into a rhythm outside of work. They knew each other better than most spouses did—quirks and likes and dislikes—because you had to know the person who was guarding your back, and you had to trust that they were doing it right.

  Dinner was a relaxed affair, and Max delivered on the steak—medium and juicy for both of them. They talked about books, because that was one of the biggest things they had in common. It was a love she hadn’t been able to share with Donovan because he’d pick a movie any day over a book.

  They also talked about their childhoods and how similar Max’s was to her own—the disinterest and lack of love his grandparents showed—even though he’d grown up in a house with everything at his fingertips. It just went to show that you could be neglected inside the home as much a
s outside, and from what she could tell, he had no desire to try and mend the rift between them. He’d told her some people just weren’t capable of love, and then he’d changed the subject.

  Jade could admit she was grateful he didn’t try to talk about their future again, or bring up their fight from the day before. He hadn’t questioned her again or tried to convince her that he loved her, and she wondered if maybe he regretted the words now, because he was acting like they’d never been said to begin with. She told herself that was a good thing. That the sooner he moved on, the better it would be for both of them, because it was getting harder and harder to convince herself they shouldn’t be together—that she shouldn’t come clean and take her chances.

  Max wasn’t a man who would go long without a woman. He was too—sexual. Even now, sitting in a public restaurant and obviously with his current lover, he drew the attention of other women like moths to a flame. They gave him long looks and flirtatious smiles, but he acted as if there was no other woman in the room but her. She still didn’t understand why he wanted her, but it was very easy for her to understand his appeal, because even now she wanted to lure him back to the room and have her way with him. He was turning her into a sex maniac. She smiled at the thought.

  “Do you think he’ll call?” she asked after the dessert dishes had been cleared. It was five minutes until the first delivery was supposed to be made.

  “He’ll call. He’s trying to gain the upper hand again by manipulating my instructions.”

  They stood and left the restaurant, passing by the expensive shops and the tunnel where an aquarium of sea life swam overhead. The hotel was loud and boisterous, richly gaudy with bright colors and hanging crystal chandeliers. Everyone moved at a frantic pace, as if they’d never get to experience all the delights one hotel could offer them.

  Max’s hand was a warm comfort on her back as they headed into the casino. The carpets and walls were rich and red, trimmed with gold and the flashing lights of the machines. The clanging of bells, the rush of voices, and the sound of coins hitting metal made her head throb with the need for quiet. She definitely wasn’t a Vegas kind of girl. She liked the quiet, the solitude of her life. Her circle of friends wasn’t large, mostly those that worked at the agency, because no one outside understood what it was like to take a life to save countless others. But she was okay with the path she’d chosen because she knew it was a job that had to be done for everyone’s sake. And she was good at it.