My heart slips and my throat constricts on a sharp pain. “I’m not asking you to love me Alex. But you have to trust me.” I hold the contract back out to him, which he ignores it. His gaze on me as he shakes his head.
“You’re living on the riverboat. Shit, Mia, the casino draws in some very important people who expect us to respect their privacy. You’re a journalist. How do you think they would feel if they thought their identities were at risk?”
“The story I’m working on has nothing to do with the River Demons or Demon’s Lair.” Okay, I’ve hooked up with Cole to find out more about Delaney, It isn’t a complete lie, I tell myself.
“The choice is simple, Mia. Sign the damn NDA or remain locked in the cabin while you stay on Demon’s Lair.” Alex watches me and a flame flickers in the shadow, heating the glow in his eyes, turning them from ice to a blazing inferno. “I wouldn’t mind keeping you locked up” He steps closer, his finger a slither of a stroke against my cheek, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.
He’s done it again. After freezing me out, he is seducing me, and my knees are about to give way. “I can always go back to Poppy’s.”
Alex shakes his head. “There’s no need to put Poppy in any more danger than she’s already in.” His smile deepens as he steps closer. “Unless you want me to move in.”
I shake my head. My room has too many secrets hidden in it, and I cannot afford Alex to find them. I glance at the NDA. There are things at the house which Alex might misunderstand. “I prefer the riverboat. I don’t have a pen on me.”
Alex smiles and the door to the trap rings through my head as it closes, and the lock turns. “I have one.”
“I should read it properly before signing.”
Alex’s sigh is heavy. “There’s nothing hidden in the document, Mia. It just says you won’t repeat to anyone what you see or hear at Demon’s Lair, or about the River Demons and their business.”
“No. No hidden clause that I willingly allow you to murder me if I break the contract.”
Alex chuckles and my stomach aches. He has his hands cupped behind my back, trapping me as his lower body thrust against mine. He is too close. How the hell am I supposed to concentrate when he is seducing me. We are high up on the riverboat. Away from anyone and as I watch Alex, the beat of my heart echoes in my ears. Even the seabirds which constantly fly overhead are missing.
“Your body is too delectable to damage that way, Mia. All you lose if you talk, is everything you own.”
“I don’t own anything.”
“Just sign the damn thing. Then we can get down to the important issues.” I giggle as Alex thrusts his hips against mine. The hard evidence of his arousal sends an answering message to my clit. As I accepted the pen he waves at me. Alex’s cell rings and he groans as he pulls away from me. “Shit, that was TJ. I have to go.”
“Alex.”
Alex takes back his pen, and the signed NDA. “We’ll pick up when I return.”
After leaving the pilot house, Alex heads straight to his bike and I turn towards our cabin. As I watch him from the deck, Kit, Day and Bastian, join him, and I frown as the bikes leave in a hail of flying pebbles and the echo of roaring engines. It’s early afternoon, soon the casino will be a hive of activity as they prepare for tonight’s games. Usually with one of the officers overseeing the preparations. Instead of returning to the cabin, I turn towards the casino. Leon and TJ are missing. Behind the bar is Melody and Firebird is talking to Candy. Non-disclosure or not, my curiosity is awake, and I stroll over to the redhead.
“Hi.” I glance around the casino. “Anything I can do?”
Firebird smiles, “Alex send you.”
I return her smile, “no. I just watched everyone ride off and thought you might be short-handed.”
“Thanks for the offer, but everything’s under control.”
I nod, turn my gaze to the window, then back to Firebird. “Where’s Leon? I thought he was working this afternoon.”
Firebird shrugs, “He’s supposed to be. But an emergency came up.”
I chew my bottom lip, “the same emergency as Alex’s.”
Firebird’s smile heightens the twinkle in her gold eyes. “Probably as they all disappeared at the same time.”
“This emergency, does it have anything to do with TJ?”
Firebird shrugs, “you’ll have to ask Alex when he gets back.”
Chapter 23
Alex: Noir Valley
I pull the bike into the parking lot of Samuel Colt’s garage, then take a swift sweep of the main street of Noir Valley. It’s not a large town. We have a population of just under three thousand if you believe the signpost on the outskirts. But it is a busy town with tourist visiting most of the year. Some of the attraction is Demon’s Lair and the casino. Just on the outskirts as we drove in, there is the foundation of a new Mall being built and as I glance at the stores on the main street, I wonder how much damage the local community businesses will suffer. There is also a planning meeting coming up for a new housing development. Noir Valley is changing. New money is being invested with the intent of bringing new people to a once sleepy town. My gaze drifts further up the street and I notice a To Let sign next to the post office. Outside the store is a 2019 Spider. Joel Delaney’s favorite model of car. TJ’s phone call could not
