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CHAPTER 44
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Hotter Than Hell CHAPTER 45
When I head back to the dining room, Lupe and Gabriella are setting up the promised refreshments. They’ve included several bottles of wine along with cheese, crackers, and fruit. There’s also a carafe of water. They leave without a word. I fill a wineglass with water and walk to the head of the table where the ladies left me a seat. Cori is sitting next to me.“She served us food, which is a miracle, so I’ll give you props. Ladies,” she glances around the table, “the queen bitch isn’t here. Introduce yourselves and be nice at least until QB returns.”They laugh and the tension leaves the room.“I’m Angela,” the woman on Cori’s right says. She’s petite, Asian, and as beautiful as the other women. One by one they introduce themselves. A few give what I think must be their working names.“Please serve yourself if you’re hungry. I ask that you don’t have more than a glass or two of wine. We need to stay alert. If something goes down, you’ll follow me to a safe location.” I sweep my eyes t
Hotter Than Hell CHAPTER 46
My money, or more accurately, Moon’s, is gone two hours later. He hasn’t sent another text and I’m finding it impossible to sit still. The ladies are taking bathroom breaks and stretching their long, shapely legs. It’s a little after midnight and the women look the same as they did when they walked in the door—gorgeous, rested, and dressed to the nines. I’m grumpy, tired, and dressed to kick some ass that I seriously hope doesn’t need kicking. Moon’s ring tone startles me.Heading home. Keep your eyes open.His aunt is in the car with him, so I understand that he can’t talk. I think about his message for a minute and decide if he thought trouble was imminent, he would be a little more forthcoming. He’s being cautious and I’ll be the same. He gets another smiley face.The women wander back into the room in ones and twos. They decide it’s movie time, so we head to Moon’s mini theater that’s on the other side of the hallway. The teasing continues about me and Moon while I do my best to k
Hotter Than Hell CHAPTER 47
The movie ended about twenty minutes ago and we haven’t decided on another. I’m standing in the hallway stretching my arms when the front door opens. Moon sees me and his long legs stride in my direction without stopping.“Hi, baby,” he whispers in my ear as he hooks his arm around my shoulder and pulls me tightly against him. His eyes are dark and stormy. I’m thinking the meeting did not go as well as planned. I give him a tight squeeze and notice Danita’s glare of death over his shoulder.Too.Damn.Bad.Moon is disheveled. His scruff is scruffier, his tie and jacket are off, and his shirt wrinkled. It might be two-thirty in the morning, but Moon always looks like he just walked out of a GQ cover shoot. This is a different man than the one I’ve grown accustomed to. Moon doesn’t look or speak to anyone after he greets me. He keeps his arm wrapped tight and leads me upstairs and straight to his bedroom. I give a tiny wave goodbye to the ladies below who are watching us before we’re hi
Hotter Than Hell CHAPTER 48
There are so many things to discuss, but I’m too shaken to ask questions. I need time to absorb the revelation that I have fallen in love. I drift off to sleep with no solution to the equation ex-cop meets crime boss equals love. A slight noise beside my head wakes me. I open my eyes and see a blurry glass of orange juice. The side of the bed dips when Moon sits beside me. He’s dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of ragged shorts that look like sweats that have been cut off above the knees.His gentle voice is hard for my foggy brain to comprehend. “I’d like you to take a run with me.”A run? The man is crazy. “What time is it?” I ask groggily.“Six.”This means we’ve had two and a half hours of sleep. I have no idea why I smile. There’s just something normal about this. My new normal, I guess. “You’re fucking killing me, you know that, right?” His laughter slides over me. This is a normal I can live with.“I won’t be around today and we need to talk. I also need to work off some pent up
Hotter Than Hell CHAPTER 49
I take my personal phone from my pants pocket to check e-mail. I’m dressed in my normal BDUs with another loose T-shirt to cover my gun. The e-mails waiting are mostly junk with the exception of a possible client. The woman’s name is Shirley and she references one of my first clients. I shoot back an answer asking when and where we can meet.The car approaches the Sunnyslope area, and I give Philip Terry’s address. I also decide being driven around isn’t all bad. I’m in the middle of a hot game of Tower Defense on my cell when a message slides across the top of the screen that I have incoming e-mail. It’s my prospective client, and I reply that four o’clock works perfectly in my schedule today. We pull into Terry’s parking lot, and I open my door as soon as Philip parks the car. He takes his chauffeuring services seriously because he hustles around and gives me a glare after he lifts his dark shades.I shrug and walk to the door, which Philip beats me to and opens before I can. “You a
Hotter Than Hell CHAPTER 50
“That’s a joke, right?” Philip asks.“No. It’s not a fucking joke. I can’t think of any better way to get food poisoning and ruin a perfectly bad day than to have a mega-burrito from Manabertos.” I swear if Philip doesn’t pull in, I’m jumping out.He swings the car into the parking lot and I tell him to go around to the drive-thru.“I heard a rumor that all the cats go missing in this neighborhood.”“I heard the same rumor about dogs,” I deadpan back.He pulls up to the window. “And you’re still eating one of those things?”“You plan on stopping me?”He orders a mega-burrito and two large sodas. “Be sure to get lots of napkins,” I tell him because the burritos leak out a gallon of runny fat and God knows what else.Philip thrums his fingers on the steering wheel. “We’re not eating in the car. We can go to the park or something. I’ll never get the smell out if you open the bag in here.”“Do I need to remind you that it’s over one ten out there?”He turns, lifts his sunglasses, and give
Hotter Than Hell CHAPTER 51
Once more I’m jerked up by my hair, this time adding pressure beneath my elbow until I’m standing. My teeth chatter, which I’m guessing is because I’ve gone into shock. I’m brought out of it quickly when Kennedy cruelly twists one of my nipples.This isn’t happening. I think of Moon. His voice. His smile. His laugh. I ignore what Kennedy is doing as he twists the other one. He doesn’t take it any further than that. He thankfully wraps a towel around me and dries me off with quick proficiency. There’s a knock at the door and a set of yellow scrubs are thrust into Kennedy’s hand when he opens it.“I’ll cut the tape from your arms and legs. If you fight, you can go out there naked. Do you understand?”I lower my head and play the subdued little girl. “Yes,” I mumble as I seethe.He cuts the tape from my ankles first. It’s really hard not to kick him in the face while he’s down and pulling off the tape. I bide my time swearing to kill him if given the opportunity. He stands, turns me arou
Hotter Than Hell CHAPTER 52
I have no idea how much time goes by. I’m caught in a world of death. Estephon’s voice finally breaks into my thoughts.“Señor Moon. How do you like my film? Your lovely lady enjoyed it, no? She will die next. This will make a good addition to my collection, no?” His voice has been repulsively pleasant to this point. Now it hardens and he bites out commands. “You have two choices on how your puta dies. You will deliver the money within the hour to the address I sent earlier. You and your men will leave the state tonight. The next video will be of your lovely senorita. I will have her cleaned up so she looks nice for the party, no? You choose how she dies. That is all I will give you—a bullet or the knife. And because I am a generous man, you may say goodbye.”The phone is thrust against my ear. I take a breath and control myself. “Moon…” I’m trying not to hyperventilate.The sweet sound of his voice flows through me. “I love you, baby. I’m sorry.”He’s not coming for me. “I love you,”
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