Big Girls Don't Cry (22 page)

Lexie stammered, “Not on him. He’s a freak, Jake. The girls call him the Watcher. He…he…makes you…Okay, dammit. He gets off on girl on girl stuff.”’ She tossed her head. “So Bella and I gave him what he wanted.”

“You danced for him?” His voice was icy cold. His gaze held her as tightly as if he had clutched her arm.

Lexie felt her cheeks heat. This wasn’t fair. Damn Brady! But seeing Jake’s cold implacable anger she felt her own anger rise.

“No, Jake. I danced for Bella, and for myself. What did you want me to do? Blow the whole undercover operation because you have a stick up your ass? Just because you are playing the angry possessive boyfriend, you don’t have to act like one! What are you going to do? Track him down and beat him to death for messing with your woman?”

She saw Brady cock an eyebrow, then wink at Clint. Clint looked down, but not before she saw his lips curl.

She jumped to her feet. She pinned Brady with a scathing glare.

“I’m glad you think this is funny, Brady. It’s not. And this conversation was unnecessary. So much for treating me like a partner. I thought I could trust you. But, oh no, you have to run and tattle to daddy.” She turned to leave the room when Jake’s voice cut across the room. There was no mistaking the dark threat in his command.

“Come back here.” She whirled around, staring at him in surprise. He nodded. “Sit down, Lexie.”

When she stood in the doorway and raised her chin defiantly, he jerked his head toward the table. “Now.”

She hesitated. She was as angry as he was. Maybe more. This was unfair. But seeing his seething anger, she tossed her head and pressed her lips together in a hard line. She strode back to the table. Sinking noisily into her chair, she stared at the table, refusing to meet his eyes.

“You can trust all of us, Lexie, including Brady. In this instance, it was you who was unwilling to trust. To tell me what happened so that Brady didn’t have to. There are no secrets on this team. We are loyal to one another.”

“Really? So loyal that Mr. Smart Ass can’t keep his mouth shut? Don’t you mean, you are loyal to each other? And that, no matter what happens, no matter what I do, they’ll come running to you?” She snagged both Brady and Clint with her angry stare.

Jake’s voice was quiet, controlled. “I’m the commander, Lexie. I expect absolute loyalty from every member of my team.”

She turned on him, willing herself not to shriek. As angry she was, she forced herself to speak in a reasonably calm voice. “Then it’s a damn good thing I’m not on your team, Jake. I told you before. I’m not a team player. I run solo. I always have and I always will. What happened tonight confirms it.”

The crease between Jake’s eyes deepened.

“Those days are over, Lexie.”

When she started to mouth an angry protest, he held up his hand. His face looked lean, dangerous. “You are correct. What happened tonight does confirm it.” He drew a circle with his hand around the four of them. “You are sitting square in the middle of this team and that’s where you are going to stay.

“This is no small matter, Lexie. And yes, if I could, I would kill that man. I’m hoping I will have the opportunity to do so. In the event it hasn’t occurred to you, his description and MO are remarkably similar to the man who broke into your motel room.”

Dread ratcheted up her spine. Oh, God, he was right. Fear and anger warred inside of her. She felt the familiar caldron of anxiety churning in her gut. Unwilling to sit a minute longer, she jumped to her feet.

Jake must have seen something in her face, because he also stood. His expression was strained.

“We’ll finish this discussion in the morning.”

She narrowed her eyes and held his gaze. “No, actually we won’t. I’m done discussing anything with you.” She whirled on Brady and Clint, who also leapt to their feet. “Or with you! Or you!”

Brady nodded. “Since there’s nothing I like more that an ass kicking fight, I regret that I must agree with Clint. She looked pretty damned devastated when she came out of that room, Jake. It couldn’t have been easy for her.”

~~~

Lexie took a long shower, determined to wash every remnant of the hideous scene at the club off her body and out of her mind. She refused to let herself think that Jake might be right, that the awful man was the same one who was in her motel room playing with her underwear. She stood in the shower so long that that the skin on her hands and feet were wrinkled. Exhausted, she couldn’t do more than towel dry her hair. She didn’t bother putting on a nightgown, just crawled in bed, desperate to go to sleep.

The deep timbre of his voice sent a flurry of unwanted sensations raging through her body. She struggled to keep her voice flat, unrevealing.

“For the way I acted tonight. Hell, sugar, you had a hideous experience and all I could think about was how I was going to kill the fucker. Insensitive bastard that I am, I didn’t even acknowledge what you went through. I’m sorry, darlin’.”

“Lexie, right now I have six men guarding your house round the clock. No one can get to you.” An undercurrent of steel laced through his quiet voice. “And, darlin’, just so you know, I
will
kill any man who so much as touches you.”

He hesitated and his voice dropped. “But I can’t lie. I gotta tell you, just the thought of you dancing for a repulsive prick like that makes me crazy.”

“Jake?”

“Yes, Lexie.”

“I’ve never danced for
any
man --- until last night when I danced for
you.”

Lexie held the phone in her hand for several minutes. Not wanting to let go of the connection, she tucked it under her pillow and snuggled under the silky duvet. She wondered with a sigh as she drifted off to sleep which side of this bed Jake had slept on.

Chapter 22

Lexie stood in the bathroom stall listening to the girl’s voices from the adjoining dressing room. She recognized their voices as two of the waitresses, Dannie and Shelly.

Dannie’s nasal voice grated with irritation. “You know Bella is jealous. That’s why she doesn’t invite us to come along. Why should she be the only who gets to entertain them when they come in? Do you have any idea how much money she makes in one night?” She huffed. “What the rest of us make in six months!”

Shelly’s voice was tinged with worry. “But, Dannie, you know what they’re like. They’re insatiable. Just that couple of hours we spent with them when they came last month, I was sore for a week.”

“Hah. So what’s new about that? Yeah, they’re hungry bastards. What men aren’t? So? They have different ideas about women in their country. Damn, if I could make the kind of money Bella makes, I’d walk with a cane for two months. And, sister, they’re not exactly hard on the eyes!”

A soft giggle confirmed Shelly agreed. “Mmm, if you like tall, dark and handsome…and rough.”

“I’ll tell you one thing, if Bella invites that skaggy blond to meet them, I’m gonna go to Sergio. I know he’s not involved with those guys, but we all know how he feels about Bella. Maybe he can rein her in. You’d think she’s running the show. And I’m telling you, Shelly. I don’t like the looks of that blond. Something doesn’t check out. Nobody, even someone who looks like her, would let a piece of ass like the colonel slip away. I think she might play both sides. Have you seen the way she and Bella are holed up, chatting and laughing like they share some special secret?”

Shelly laughed. “I think you’re barking up the wrong tree on that one. Shit, since she arrived, I practically have to strip naked just to get a guy to notice me. They’re all panting after her, their tongues hanging out. But you’re right about one thing. If our ‘visitors’ get a glimpse of her, we don’t stand a chance.”

Lexie strained to hear the rest of their conversation. She opened the stall door a crack to see them leaving the dressing room. She heard Dannie.

“From what Bella said, the shipment tonight is like none other. Not only in quantity, but she said if last month’s was pure, this month’s is supposed to be the epitome of the world’s market.”

Shelly giggled. “Maybe if we can’t get the men away from Bella and the blond, at least we can snag some great blow.”

~~~

“You pitiful piece of shit. Walt, you are more pathetic than I thought. You actually believe that beautiful young woman loves you? That she doesn’t find you as repulsive as I do?”

Walt shuddered at the disgust in the other man’s voice. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. She danced for him. She…she was excited to see him. Always sat by him at the parties. Brought him presents. His special whiskey. No! He couldn’t do this.

He tried to keep from whining, snuffling. He couldn’t let the boss knew he was crying.

“Let me, let me do the other one. She is the danger. She...”

“Shut up, Walt. Do you think I don’t know who she is? What she is up to? No, Walt. I have special plans for her, very special plans. But your ‘friend’ needs to go. She knows too much. She is too damned smart. And she’s greedy, Walt. She doesn’t know when to stop.”

“Walt, it’s nearly over. Almost done. This is the last thing I will ask of you. Your last job, Walt. And then you can move on. Take off for that Caribbean nest you’ve been building.”

Fear coursed through his body. Walt could barely breathe. “How…how did you know…?”

Again, the derisive laughter.

“Walt, I know everything. I know what you are doing from your first shit in the morning to the last drink you have before you puke up your guts and stumble into bed. And Walt? So do my enforcers. Don’t even think about disobeying me. As I told you before, what you did to Beloi and what you will do to the woman will be child’s play compared to what they will do to you.”

Walt didn’t try to muffle his sob. He let the cell phone slide from his ear. It landed on the table with a smack. His head felt too heavy to hold up. He laid his head down on the table next to the phone.

From a distance, he heard the boss’s wicked chuckle.

“And Walt, just so you know, I’m not a total monster. Setting her on fire isn’t necessary. Dismemberment will be adequate.”

~~~

Bella sidled up to Lexie with a sexy grin.

“How are you doing, girlfriend? Did you survive our little floor show?”

Lexie smiled at her and tossed her head. Matching Bella’s careless tone, she said with a wink, “Except for that disgusting man, I thought it was fun.”