28

Clinton
Goddamn it, I wanted her. Not just for a quick passionate tryst or even for the duration of her time spent in my resort, but because I’d been unable to sleep during the few hours I’d had to myself.
Visions of her face and her imagined naked body had continued to plague my mind until I’d finally given up, going to the gym for two hours straight.
My good mood would ordinarily be driven into the toilet at this point except that the perpetrator of the egregious afront was one of my two best friends. However, seeing Weston with Maria had driven a shot of jealousy into my system, which was a feeling I hadn’t experienced in years.
Hmmm… since seeing Theodore with his filthy hands on Ava . While the few women I’d dated had been beautiful by any man’s standards, none of them had provoked the green-eyed monster into rearing from his lair.
This was entirely unexpected.
Maria tilted her head, using her hand to keep the glare from the sun out of her eyes. She studied me as if uncertain she wanted to give me the time of day after our exchange the night before. Fortunately, the dazzling light couldn’t hide the dark craving or the look of desire she had. Unless I was wrong, she felt that way about all three of us.
“My,” she said in a strong voice. “The three of you look as if you’re ready to take down a heavyweight champion.”
Weston grinned, and I was certain Christian had plans on ravaging her body at some point soon. I certainly couldn’t blame him.
“We’ve been known to handle certain issues together.” I was curious as to what her response would be.
“I’ve heard you’re a dangerous man, Mr. Cross. In fact, I was warned about you.”
“I’m certain you were. They were right to do so.” I heard the hint of amusement in my voice.
She shifted her gaze slowly to Christian. “And you? Should I be leery if I run into you in a darkened hallway?”
Christian crouched down next to her, taking her hand into his. When he rubbed her knuckles across his lips, she took an audible breath. “Yes, you should be very afraid. I regularly hunt beautiful women, taking them back to my castle where I perform filthy, sinful acts.”
“You should know very little either bothers or terrifies me, especially after the things I’ve seen while touring the world.”
Her answer brought a smile to Christian’s face, which was rare. “A woman after my own heart.”
“Be careful, brother. She sees right through entitled bullshit,” Weston said, half laughing.
Maria turned her full attention to Weston, the spark in her eyes what I wanted to see. “I already know you have sharp teeth.”
I was tossed back in time to our plans with Ava , the desire to keep her stronger than any of us had wanted to admit. While a percentage of women might enjoy the thought of having a foursome for only one night, there were very few women who would likely enjoy more than a couple of days.
Especially if they weren’t in charge, which she would never be.
How long had it been since I’d allowed my mind to go off the deep end? It was impractical to think she could be mine for anything other than a single taste.
Or was it?
“Yes, I do. We’ll be right back,” Weston told her, the smug look on his face forcing a smile. He’d sensed the level of irritation seeing the two of them together had created. He knew my mood swings better than Christian, something I doubted he’d ever let me forget. I’d been a very bad boy during my time at the City of Hope.
“There’s a good chance I won’t be here,” Maria retorted, giving the three of us a playful but heated glare.
He bent over, placing his hands on either side of the armrests of her chair. “Then I guess I’ll need to live up to my name, but I wouldn’t just use my sharp teeth in order to catch you.”
While it was only brief, the flash of mischief in her eyes shifted to an unrecognizable emotion that I couldn’t read. After blinking twice, she obviously shook off whatever had troubled her, pushing his chest gently. “You boys obviously don’t know what I’m made of. Perhaps it’s time for you to find out.”
Christian issued a low, husky growl, which further amused her. Her laugh was spectacular, just throaty enough to make a man weak in his knees.
And in my case, my cock hard as a rock.
Weston added his own growl as he returned to his full height, lifting his eyebrows as he tossed me a look. When one side of his mouth quirked, I knew exactly what he was thinking.
That she could be another conquest. It had been his way of making a suggestion back in our arrogant-as-fuck days.
We headed towards the bar located on the second floor. I’d been curious as to why a special request had been made to block off the most prestigious area for outside dining. Now, I knew why. Weston had paid a pretty penny to ensure his request was filled.
“I’m sorry to hear about your father, Cris,” Weston said first.
Christian laughed. “Don’t be, my friend. I killed him with my bare hands. It was time for him to die.”
I watched as Weston’s face became clouded, which meant the man had changed significantly. He’d once enjoyed the chase and the kill as much as I did. Or maybe he simply didn’t have it in him to commit patricide.
“We all have our crosses to bear.” Weston’s answer amused the hell out of me, but Christian seemed to reflect on the words.
We’d all changed significantly over the years, no longer the eager kids who were certain they could conquer anything tossed in front of them. While I was no shrink, I’d venture a guess that loneliness had taken a toll. When on top of any industry, trusting anyone enough to allow them into our world was dangerous.
A quiet tension settled between us, the three of us occupying the moment of silence by staring at our lovely companion.
“God. The woman is a tease. It’s obvious why she sells millions of CDs, sold out concerts everywhere.” Christian shook his head.
“She certainly doesn’t mince words,” I told them. My cock was still aching, the desire for her keeping a wave of electricity coursing through me.
“You were right about Maria, Clinton. Her performance last night was spectacular,” Weston said as he started the conversation.
“Do you mean before or after you took her to bed?” Perhaps I was more irritated than I thought.
“Here we go. Why is it that every time we get together, you two fight like fucking brothers?” Christian asked.
“Because we are brothers,” I snapped. “She is beautiful, and she’s a challenging woman.”
“She is, but well worth getting to know.”
Christian sighed. “Those days are over. Besides, we have business to discuss.”
“He’s right, but I didn’t mean to jump on you, Weston. She doesn’t belong to me. This crap with the rise of The Iceman from the dead and good ole Theodore’s father igniting his lynch mob again has obviously gotten under my skin. We need to figure out what the hell is going on. If The Iceman has returned to active status, then he’s just getting started.”
“You were almost killed?” Christian asked as he nodded toward Weston.
“Yeah. I don’t have any doubts it was The Iceman.”
“By my calculations, that would make him somewhere around seventy-five years old,” Christian offered as he glanced back and forth between us.
“How do you know this?”
“The stories about him go back at least fifty years. Hell, my father swears he met him a long time ago. And I’m not kidding.” He leaned against the bar, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t see a seventy-year-old scaling walls and jumping from building to building.”
“Have a little ageism, why don’t you?” Weston teased.
“Be real. You know the business we’re all in is brutal on the body as well as the soul. Besides, if the assassin had wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
I took a deep breath. Christian’s claim was fairly accurate. If what Weston told me about the circumstances was true, then by all rights he should be nothing but ashes in a box, the assassin’s bullet hitting its mark. “How do you account for the fact that Weston’s assassin had the same scar on his hand?” Maybe I was trying to make sense of what had occurred.
“You just think it’s the same one. You were twelve, for fuck’s sake,” Weston said. “Not to berate you, but there was a violent storm going on, and it was dark?”
“There are some things people can’t forget, even at twelve.” I turned my head towards him, almost wanting to be furious, but I understood why he wasn’t convinced. Meanwhile, I’d built my adult life around the certainty that The Iceman had been responsible. What if there was someone else pretending to be the man?
No, I had enough crosses to bear to worry about that.
“Look, I’m not suggesting anything, and I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m just reminding all three of us that what went on in college stays there. Plus, if you are right that Ava ‘s father was The Iceman, after her death, he went into a freefall for a few years, finally falling off the radar. Last he and his wife were seen, they were living in Fiji. Plus, not a single other soul made the connection that Xavier Summers was The Iceman. Not one.”
“You know I’m right!” I realized my voice had carried, Maria turning her head in our direction.
“Keep your damn voice down,” Weston hissed.
“All I’m saying, Clinton, is that I find it hard to believe, because it’s been ten years if he’s reenergized his earlier career.” Christian wasn’t easily shaken, but I could sense he was being more tentative than usual.
“I understand what you’re saying. We’ll need to be cautious. Keep the security tight around you. However, you know I don’t buy it when things look too easy or if they appear to be a coincidence. That being said. We could have another problem,” I said as I shoved my hands into my pockets, purposely watching the beautiful woman enjoying the bright sun.
“Spill it,” Weston demanded.
“I had to deal with an unruly employee last night. In his quest for salvation, he tossed out that people knew about what happened years ago. When pressed, he said several employees received a cryptic email less than a week ago.” I hated to admit it and had spent part of the night working with the computer technicians and the two hackers I’d recently hired to try and locate the source.
“Is that the truth?” Now, Christian seemed interested.
“Yeah, twenty-two emails were sent, five going into spam, two going to employees who no longer work at the resort. It appears the emails were sent from a bogus Gmail, the IP address somewhere in Brazil, China, the Soviet Union. You get the drill.”
“A hack job for certain,” Christian agreed. “Why? To make you look bad? I doubt your employees give a shit. They know what you really do for a living.”
Chuckling, I scratched my jaw. “They do. I have a feeling whoever sent it knew at least one of them would mention it to me.”
“Interesting scare tactic.”