His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(40)
Author: Shayla Black

It was official. She’d gone crazy, lusting dangerously after a guy she’d known less than twenty-four hours, one who had ripped her entire world apart. On the other hand, he was the first person in her life to be truly honest about everything—her identity, the killers on the loose, the lengths they’d go to in order to capture her . . . the fact that he wanted her.

Pacing, Bailey swallowed and cast her nervous gaze to the door again. Would he come back to this bedroom tonight and want to finish what they’d started earlier? If so, what would she do? She’d never experienced anything like him. Their sparring sent her head buzzing, her blood humming. She wanted more.

Bailey glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Nearly eleven o’clock. Most likely, she’d be alone tonight. That should make her happy, and she was perversely pissed off that it didn’t.

Behind her, the latch clicked suddenly. The door opened. Bailey whirled around, her heart pounding. Instead of Joaquin in the opening, she was a bit let down to find Callie. The heiress wore a lovely red corset-looking top that had her breasts nearly spilling over and a skirt so short it bordered indecent. She had the sort of soft curves Bailey had always wished for. But a glance down at her own chest confirmed that the Boob Fairy had passed her by.

“Hi,” Callie said softly. “Want some company?”

It beat the hell out of wondering what to do next. “Sure. Come on in.”

“Sean and Thorpe caught me up on everything that’s happened in the last few hours.” Callie came closer, surprisingly graceful on stilettos. “I’ve been through it myself, so I really do understand. If you need an ear . . . I’m here.”

“Thank you. I—” Have no idea what to say. Besides murderous bad guys, Bailey had nothing on her mind except Joaquin. She really couldn’t expect the woman to help her sort out her confusion about how she felt. “It is what it is.”

Callie shrugged. “That’s one way of looking at it. But now that you know who’s after you and why, would you rather be anywhere but here?”

Zing. The brunette didn’t mess around or mince words. “No. It might chafe me to be away from home, dance, and my friends, but here is safe.”

“It is. I’m living proof of that. I’m sure you’re worried about the men chasing you.”

“I’d be an idiot not to be.”

“True, but you can’t do anything about them right now,” Callie pointed out. “Sean, Thorpe, and Axel have this place on lockdown. I don’t know Joaquin well, but he seems as paranoid—excuse me, cautious”—she rolled her eyes with a hint of humor— “as the rest of them.”

“Pretty much,” she admitted. “It’s not Joaquin’s fault that LOSS wants information they think I have. I don’t, but I doubt they’d ever believe that.”

“Nope. They’d torture you until they felt sure you’d coughed up whatever you knew, then they’d end you.”

Bailey shuddered. “I know. I saw the pictures.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you focus on that crap. You hungry?”

“No. Joaquin keeps bringing me meals that would be a lot for even him to eat, then frowning at me for not inhaling the whole feast.”

Callie laughed. “Sean and Thorpe probably had a hand in that. They’re convinced I don’t eat enough to keep a flea alive, too. The pair of them are always trying to tempt me with some savory or sweet dish. But I have my ways of distracting them.”

At her wink, Bailey wasn’t sure whether to gasp or giggle. “Neither looks like they’d be easily led around by their guy parts.”

“Not often,” Callie admitted. “Sean compromises a little. And under Thorpe’s hard-ass exterior, there’s a softie only I get to see.”

Her blue eyes, rimmed in charcoal, twinkled. A smile curled her rosy lips. But it wasn’t Callie’s makeup or anything she wore that made her beautiful; it was her joy. The woman glowed with it. Not only did Callie have a man who knew and loved her through and through, she was doubly lucky to have two. That sparkling rock on her finger was a symbol of Sean’s claim, and she seemed every bit as smitten with the FBI agent as she was with her former boss. Bailey didn’t know a lot about that relationship, but she’d bet the bling around Callie’s neck was Thorpe’s collar.

“How about . . .” Callie tilted her head to one side, studying her. “You’ve had a hell of a day. Want to get out of this room for a bit?”

That sounded like heaven. Being cooped up in this one space for twelve hours, she was getting a case of cabin fever. But . . . “Is it safe?”