Emma sipped her wine, mind whirling. Nicole’s words didn’t ring entirely true, as if she had other reasons for letting Lan make a huge mistake. Reasons she couldn’t or wouldn’t share. One thing that did ring true was her love for Lan. The strong emotion fairly radiated from the woman.
“I can’t tell Bl — John much, either, but I’ll try. He’s hardheaded to a fault.” Jesus, she’d nearly blown it! For all that Nicole seemed nice and Emma liked her, this woman could be her enemy. The thought that they might find out about her and Blaze had her breaking into a cold sweat.
“A regular alpha male, huh?”
“Down to his DNA. But he’s got a mushy heart, too. It’s in the little things he does, like his concern for others, how he helps everyone he can. How he always shows me how much he loves me, not just telling me.”
“You’ve got it bad, like me.” Nicole grinned. “A toast to good men who happen to be hot.”
They toasted, and Emma started to giggle, completely unaware that they had company until fingers grazed the back of her neck and she started, ready to defend herself against some fool who wanted to get frisky. Instead, she saw with relief that Blaze and Lan were standing behind their stools, looking amused.
“You two are getting pretty chummy over here,” Lan teased. “Is this a hen party, or can the roosters play, too?”
“Hmm. Depends on how the
The men laughed, and Blaze elbowed Lan. “I think our ladies have had too much time on their hands, sitting over here drinking and getting full of themselves. What do you think?”
“I believe you’re right, my new friend. I think it’s time to remind our beauties who their masters are, employ a bit of discipline. What do you think?”
“The best idea I’ve heard all day,” Blaze said, leering at Emma like a hungry wolf. “Do you want to get rooms in the back?”
Emma’s nipples perked under his attention, knowing she was in for it tonight.
“I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you both come with us to my house, join us for a nightcap?” Lan suggested. “Then we can go from there.”
“We’d love to, thank you,” Blaze said, accepting for them both. He appeared excited by the prospect, and not simply because it was a good idea to get inside one of the investors’ homes and look for clues.
No, she had a feeling his reasons were far more carnal in nature and would involve getting naked as soon as possible. She had to admit the prospect of playing with the gorgeous couple revved her libido into overdrive.
“Follow us, then. It’s not too far from here.” With a wink, Lan helped Nicole from her stool and laid an arm protectively about her shoulders, leading her toward the exit.
Blaze took Emma’s hand and tugged her along, outside and to the car. Once safely buckled in and on the road, Emma turned to him.
“Kosta! What a chauvinist pig, sending us off with a pat on our heads while the ‘big men’ discussed business. Boy, that tweaks my titties!”
He snorted. “I’ll be the judge of that.” At her murderous glare, he relented. “Sorry, baby. He’s an arrogant prick, I agree. But remember, we’re in his camp, so we play by his rules. For now.”
“I know. Give me the rundown. Your impressions?” The recap was as much for Ozzie and Willis, who were listening as always.
“He and Meyer were talking up their plan to start an arena football team, which is going to require millions. Strangely enough, I’m leaning toward that one being on the level.” He entered the freeway behind Lan as he continued. “The other is investing in coffee and soybeans. After the glamorous lure of being a team owner, I think the boring product investment is a clever scam.”
“That would make sense. When the coffee beans and soybeans don’t pan out and the football team does, their mark will be so dazzled he won’t care. Hell, if he has that much money, he won’t miss it and might even make some off the team eventually.”
“In which case they hit him up to invest in something else. After all, they’ve gained his confidence, and he’ll be willing to shell out more. They get to keep the symbiotic relationship going without the mark getting suspicious for years, if ever.”
“And meanwhile, they’re funneling the mark’s ‘bad investment’ into the Liberation terrorists’ fund. Damn, they’re good.”
“Yes, they are.”
“I think Lan is innocent, Blaze,” she said earnestly. “Every instinct is screaming that this man is a mark, not their partner, and has no idea about the Liberation group.”
“I agree.” He fell silent for a moment. “What about Nicole? Where do you believe she fits in?”
“I’m not sure, but unless she’s a really good actress, she loathes Kosta and Meyer by her own admission and doesn’t want Lan having anything to do with them. But she claims she can’t stop him from doing what he wants.”
“Well, she can’t really, if his mind is made up.”
“Yes, but there’s more — I feel it. There’s more to her than meets the eye, but I don’t get the sense that she’s dirty. She loves Lan to distraction… the way I love you.”
He shot her a smile and squeezed her hand. “You hear that, boys? Weep into your beer. She’s mine.”
Good grief, she couldn’t get used to having an audience and looked forward to the day they could ditch the minicams. On that day, she planned to run naked through the house and drive Blaze wild.
Moments later, they left the freeway and took the same exit as the one they used to return to the house they’d moved into temporarily.
“Hey, their neighborhood is close to ours,” he observed.
The words gave her a tiny thrill. Would there ever be a real neighborhood that was theirs, together? When this was over, would he ask her to move in with him, or vice versa?
God, she longed to share her life with him completely. Without barriers.
But that was another issue for another day.
At the moment, they had inroads to forge.
And pleasures to explore.
Fourteen
“We have a new
Dietz’s fingers gripped the phone as he imagined it was Kosta’s throat. “You’re getting careless, Augustine, speaking too freely of details over the phone.”
“I’m careful,” the man replied coolly. “I’ve never failed you before.”
“As evidenced by the fact that you’re still alive. No one fails me a second time.” A pause ensued on the other end, and Dietz snapped, “What is it?”
“This man, Chase…”
“Yes? What of him, dammit?”
“He checks out, but his appearance is almost too neat. Still, I approached him, not the other way around,” he added thoughtfully.
“Then dig further.” God, he was surrounded by imbeciles today. “Do I have to come there and wipe your ass as well?”
Kosta’s answer was low and pissed. “Of course not. I’ll look into it more, and if I come up with anything you’ll be the first to know.”
“Good. Now, go do your job.”
He hung up on Kosta, wondering if the man had almost outlived his usefulness. He was ruthless but also a bit
