Playing Dirty Read online

  Ryker was right behind us on his cell, barking orders in cop jargon of codes and numbers that I couldn’t follow.

  We were moving fast, my hand locked firmly inside Parker’s, and we stopped at the stairwell door. Parker and Ryker glanced at each other and had some kind of unspoken communication. Parker nodded and Ryker moved in front of us, gun raised as he eased open the stairwell door.

  Parker tucked me into him, turning us slightly away from the door, his body tense against mine. Knowing they were both expecting something bad made my stomach tighten with dread and I cringed closer to Parker.

  But nothing happened. No one burst out of the stairwell and no gunfire erupted.

  Then we were moving again, down the flights of stairs, where they repeated the process at the door to exit the building.

  Sirens screamed in the distance, coming closer. Ryker and Parker finally spoke.

  “Who gave you the warning?” Ryker asked.

  “Viktor Rowan,” Parker replied.

  Ryker’s gaze sharpened. “Tell me.”

  “He was taking credit for pushing Sage into traffic,” Parker said grimly. “It wasn’t just a random act.”

  Ryker cursed. “That’s what I was coming to tell you,” he said to me. “He was on the security footage.”

  “I thought Viktor was killed or arrested,” I said in confusion. The last I’d seen him had been when the car he’d kidnapped me in had crashed.

  Parker looked at me. “He escaped, Sage,” he said. “That night when he had you prisoner in the car, they got the two men with him, but he disappeared. His security people were almost on us when we pulled you out and our guys would’ve been outnumbered. We had to leave and that’s when he got away. Back to Russia, they think.”

  “And no one thought to tell me this?” I looked from Parker to Ryker. Neither looked the least bit repentant.

  “I thought it was over,” Parker said. “There’s no earthly reason he should’ve come back to Chicago. Except, apparently, revenge.”

  “Revenge? For what?” I asked. “Because you helped the CIA bring him down? And aren’t they the ones that screwed up by letting him escape?”

  “Yeah, but I’m an easier target than the CIA, and he’s not dumb,” Parker said. “He’s used you once before to get to me, and he’s doing it again.” He glanced meaningfully at Ryker, who muttered a curse.

  “What?” I asked, swiveling my gaze between them. “What does that mean? That he’s going to keep trying to kill me?”

  I saw my answer written on their faces as police cars, fire trucks, and an ambulance piled into the parking lot.

  “Here,” Parker said, swinging his tuxedo jacket over my shoulders. “It’s cold out here.” I tugged the fabric closer around me to ward off the tremors wracking me, which I didn’t think were entirely from the chill in the air.

  Ryker’s palm curved around the back of my neck and he kissed me, a firm press of his lips and a gentle touch of his tongue against mine, then he was stepping back. He seemed reluctant to leave me, but went to meet one of the officers as they exited their vehicles.

  The adrenaline was gone, leaving exhaustion in its wake, which made it nearly impossible to remain standing. I kept shifting my weight from foot to foot to stay awake as the police took our statements. I watched Ryker talking with them and pointing across the street. I figured that was maybe where they’d deduced the shooter had been.

  Parker came back to where I was waiting once he’d finished his round of questioning.

  “You look like you’re about to drop,” he said.

  I was so tired and wanted to lie down so bad, it made me want to cry. And my pretty dress was ruined. And a truck had nearly run me over only two days ago. And everything I owned had just been obliterated by a man whose new mission in life was to kill me.

  As far as weeks went, I’d had better.

  Parker read the misery on my face because he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. His brand-new tuxedo shirt was torn and dirty from crawling through the debris on the floor. His body was warm against mine and I sniffed back tears, catching the faint scent of his cologne that remained.

  “Sage.”

  I heard Ryker’s voice and took a step back out of Parker’s embrace.

  “Come on,” Ryker said, taking my hand. “You can stay with me.”

  “Can I get any clothes or anything?” I asked, trying to get my tired brain to think through the logistics. “I need pajamas, and work clothes, and my makeup, and shoes—”

  “Go on and take her home,” Parker interrupted me. “She’s exhausted. I’ll bring by a suitcase of her things.”

  I was about to protest—the thought of Parker picking out my clothes felt weird—but Ryker was already talking.

  “Sounds good. Thanks.” Then he was moving me away toward his truck, which thankfully wasn’t far away.

  I didn’t say much on the ride to his place. I think I was in too much shock to really absorb what had happened. I’d nearly been killed today—again—and was heading deep into denial mode, which was the only way I thought I could cope.

  Ryker reached across the expanse of seat between us and took my hand. I unlatched my seatbelt and slid across the seat, needing to be close to him. He didn’t say anything, just laid his arm across my shoulders and let me rest my head on his chest.

  McClane, the policy dog academy dropout, was super excited to see me, jumping up to rest his paws on my chest as his tail thump thumped against the wooden floor.

  “Hi, McClane,” I said, with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm, trying to avoid the tongue bent on licking my face. Eww.

  “Off,” Ryker commanded, having to say it twice more before the dog obeyed. He had a mind of his own, hence the “dropout” rather than “graduate.”

  I followed Ryker into the kitchen, not really thinking about anything at all, if I could help it. I sat in one of the four wooden chairs at his table and watched as he poured a shot of Jack into a glass, then handed it to me.

  McClane planted himself at my feet, his dark eyes gazing up at me. His tail wasn’t thumping anymore, and if I didn’t think it would sound crazy, I’d say he looked worried. He was definitely subdued, maybe sensing my mood. He whined a little and rested his head in my lap. Tentatively, I laid my hand on top of his head.

  “Aren’t you going to have any?” I asked Ryker, taking a sip of the liquor as he sat in the chair next to me, but he shook his head.

  “I need to get back over there, see if they found anything,” he said. “They were canvassing the area for where the shooter may have been.”

  I tensed up at the thought of being alone, and Ryker seemed to read my mind.

  “I won’t leave until Parker gets here,” he said. “And you have McClane, too. He won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “I don’t need Parker to stay with me,” I said. After some of the things he’d said and done the past few days, I didn’t think being alone together was a good idea, not that I really wanted to mention that to Ryker.

  “It’ll be fine,” Ryker said gently, reaching for my hand. “Look on the bright side. You’ve survived, twice. You must have nine lives.”

  “That means I’ve used up two of them,” I said glumly. Actually, probably more than that, considering. And my arm hurt. Somehow my stitches had pulled and now I was regretting not having any ibuprofen on me.

  “Next time, we’ll get him.”

  “There’s going to be a next time?”

  Maybe he would’ve answered, I don’t know, but there was a sharp rap at the door and McClane about knocked over my chair getting to it. Ryker and I followed at a more normal pace.

  It was Parker and he was carrying my suitcase.

  Ryker let him in and McClane hurried to say hello. I watched, one eyebrow raised, to see how well Parker would take to the behemoth jumping on him and resting his dirty paws on Parker’s shirt.

  Parker shot the dog a look and McClane stopped in his tracks, his paw
s skidding on the wood floor, then he settled back on his haunches, his ears perked forward and his tail thumping the floor. I frowned in disappointment. Apparently, Parker was also the dog whisperer.

  It seemed an uneasy truce had been declared between the two men, as Ryker didn’t have anything smartass to say as Parker set my suitcase down and scratched McClane behind the ears.

  “I need to get back to the crime scene,” Ryker said to him. “I may be a while. I don’t really want to leave Sage by herself.”

  “I’ll stay,” Parker said.

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” I protested, embarrassed that my boss was being asked to watch over me. “I’ll be fine with McClane.” I gestured to the supposed guard dog, who’d now given up all pretense at dignity and had flopped onto his back, legs in the air, waiting to see if Parker would scratch his belly.

  Hmm.

  “You have your weapon on you?” Ryker asked, ignoring me.

  Parker reached behind his back and produced the same gun he’d had at the office. I guessed he hadn’t been bluffing when he’d searched my apartment earlier. Ryker nodded and Parker replaced it.

  “What are you doing?” I asked Ryker in an undertone. “I thought you couldn’t stand Parker, remember?” Maybe if I reminded him of this, he’d tell Parker to leave.

  Ryker glanced at Parker, then back to me. “Personal issues aside, I know he’ll keep you safe. That’s more important right now.”

  Oh, now he decided to play the adult. I wanted to gnash my teeth in frustration.

  Ryker took a step forward until he was in Parker’s space and they stood eye to eye. “But no more painting toenails.” The threat in his voice was greeted with a slight twitch of Parker’s lips, but other than that, he said nothing.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said to me.

  “No, wait, I don’t want—” I was cut off by him kissing me again, and this time it wasn’t a sweet kiss. It was the second time in as many days that he’d kissed me in front of Parker and I was starting to feel like an exhibitionist.

  “Stay here. Stay safe,” he rasped, his lips grazing my cheek. Then he was out the door and gone.

  I avoided looking at Parker, instead glancing at the clock. It was late, and I was exhausted.

  “You don’t have to stay,” I said. “Ryker’s overreacting. The dog will be fine for a few hours until he gets back.”

  “I’d feel better if I stayed,” he said. “Inside is preferable, but I can sit in my car if you’d rather.”

  I looked at him. “Of course not.” Like I’d make him do that.

  I felt awkward, not least because here was Parker in Ryker’s house. Deciding I wanted to go to bed, I went to grab my suitcase, but Parker got there first.

  “Here, I’ll help you,” he said, picking up the suitcase. “Where am I taking it?”

  I hesitated. It felt really strange for me to say I’d be sleeping in Ryker’s bed, though it shouldn’t. Surely Parker had to know Ryker and I had sex, right?

  “Um, his bedroom is back here,” I said, leading the way. I was uncomfortably aware of his eyes on my back and I couldn’t wait to get out of the ruined dress.

  “I take it things are going well,” Parker said as I flipped on the light. “I thought he might’ve had a problem once he found out who your father was.”

  “He did, a bit,” I admitted. “Apparently, he doesn’t like the fact that my father has money. Says we’re from ‘opposite ends of the socio-economic status.’ Or something like that.”

  Parker snorted in disgust, picking up the suitcase and laying it flat on a chair before unzipping it. “Ryker’s always been hyperaware of money. That he reacted so badly when he saw who your father was doesn’t surprise me a bit.” He started unloading my clothes, hanging a bunch of them in the closet next to Ryker’s.

  “I can do that,” I said, reaching for my makeup bag and hairbrush.

  “I wasn’t sure what to get, so I brought some of everything,” he said.

  That was obvious. I’d be looking slightly … eclectic for the next few days, I decided, taking out a pair of red heels. By the time I’d set them in the closet and turned around, Parker’s arms were full of satin and lace.

  My jaw dropped in dismay. “I’ll take those,” I squeaked, blushing to the roots of my hair. Yes, he’d indeed thought of everything, and I didn’t want to imagine him going through my drawers.

  The corner of Parker’s mouth lifted slightly as I snatched the assorted bras, panties, and pajamas from him. The hook of a bra caught on his shirt and yanked me back.

  “Hold on,” he said, pulling me closer as he fiddled with the hook. It seemed to take a long time to fix and I was much too close to him.

  “We could’ve died tonight,” he said after a moment, finally freeing the bra.

  I looked up from the lace to find him gazing down at me. I swallowed.

  “Yeah.” Wow, what a thoughtful response. I wanted to kick myself for sounding idiotic. “But we didn’t,” I hastened to add. “You saved us.”

  “That flash of time when you think you’re going to die,” he said. “That’s when everything you’ve ever regretted doing or not doing flashes through your mind.”

  Obviously, Parker’s brain worked differently than mine because all that had been going through my head had been Oh shit oh shit oh shit!

  “And?” I prompted when he didn’t continue. “If you regret not giving me a raise, we can fix that first thing tomorrow.”

  He didn’t crack a smile at my feeble attempt at a joke.

  “All I could think about was you,” he said. “And how much I regretted turning you down.”

  I stared at Parker, wondering if the pain in my shoulder and the events of tonight had coalesced to make me hallucinate. But he still stared intently at me, as though waiting for my response.

  My response was … I got royally pissed.

  “I’ve had it,” I retorted. “You’ve got to stop saying these things, doing these things.” I poked him hard in the chest. “You had your chance and you. Said. No. You don’t get to just change your mind now. It doesn’t work like that.”

  “Then you tell me how it works,” he said.

  “I don’t know, but not like that.” I spun away, opening a drawer in the lone nightstand and shoving all the stuff in my arms inside. My cotton pajama pants were peeking out of the suitcase and I yanked them out along with the matching shirt.

  “Besides,” I continued, “how do I know you’re not doing exactly what you’re accusing Ryker of? How do I know that I’m not some pawn between the two of you, a prize going to the ‘winner’?” I used quote-y fingers for winner.

  “You know I’d never use you like that,” he said.

  “Do I? Because it seems to me that you never looked at me twice until I started dating Ryker, and now you’ve decided we should be something more. Well, forget it, Parker. I don’t need that. Ryker and I may not work out, but for now I’m with him. I care about him. A lot.” I ended my tirade.

  God, it hurt to say no to him. I’d wanted him so badly for so long, but I couldn’t get the suspicion out of my mind that he was like a child with a toy—a toy that was only desirable if someone else wanted it. And in case the analogy wasn’t obvious, I was the toy.

  Parker walked to where I stood, getting so close I could feel the heat from his body. Looking up at him, my mouth was suddenly dry.

  “You care about me, too,” he said, his voice a low thrum of sound that went straight through me. “And you forgot these. My favorite.”

  He dangled a scrap of lace in front of me and I wanted to drop through the floor in sheer embarrassment. A black lace thong that was meant to be worn for a very short period of time.

  Snatching it from him, I scooted past him into the bathroom, where I took a shower. I took my time and finally emerged with wet hair and clad in my pajama pants and T-shirt. I’d hoped Parker would have gone and Ryker returned, but when I tiptoed into the living room, it was to see P
arker sitting on the sofa. His arm was dangling and he was absently scratching McClane’s belly, who looked like he’d died and gone to doggy heaven.

  Though I thought I’d been silent, Parker turned around, spotting me before I could tiptoe away again.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, getting to his feet.

  I was self-conscious. My wet hair and scrubbed-clean face left me feeling as though I’d forgotten to put on my armor.

  “Fine,” I said. “Just, uh, going to bed. It’s been a long day.” A massive understatement. “And I’m really tired.”

  “Do you need anything?”

  I shook my head. “No. You don’t have to stay, you know,” I reiterated. “I’ll be fine with McClane.”

  Parker ignored me. Putting his arm around my waist, he turned me around and guided me into the bedroom. I was taken aback to see he’d straightened the sheets and turned down the bed.

  “I didn’t know you provided turndown service,” I joked as I crawled underneath the covers.

  “I’m full of hidden talents,” he quipped, tucking the blankets around me.

  Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to my forehead that was achingly sweet. I took a deep breath, inhaling the faint aroma of his cologne that still lingered on his skin. Then he was stepping away and shutting off the light.

  “Parker,” I called just as he was about to close the door.

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks for the self-defense lessons … and the dance.” It had been the best part of what had ended up being a truly memorable day, though not for reasons I wanted to dwell on. Both because I didn’t want to think about what a close call we’d all had … or at how my susceptibility to Parker had guilt eating at me.

  “It was my pleasure,” he said. Then he was gone.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  My phone’s alarm woke me in the morning and it took me a minute to remember where I was. I glanced to the side and saw Ryker, asleep.

  I’d been quick enough with my alarm that he still slept. Lying on his stomach, the covers barely covered his ass, which I knew was bare because Ryker slept naked. His back drew my eye and I saw old scars from two bullet wounds. With his face turned toward me, I could see dark shadows under his eyes.