BARTO TRIED TO quell the rage that immediately spurted when he received the news. “How could you miss? You’re supposed to be the best. Someone overinflated their talents, I see.”
“She moved slightly to the left. I would’ve hit the target if she hadn’t shifted.”
“Not really interested in excuses, only results.”
“Look, what do you want to kill her for?”
Barto folded his hands in his lap, smothering his urge to kill the incompetent man questioning him, but seeing as his funds were running low and he had no choice but to continue to use the man’s services, he chose to smile instead. “Reasons,” he answered. “Tell me how you’re going to rectify your mistake and I’ll forgive your serious lack of accomplishment.”
The man, known only by his handle, Trigger, shifted on the balls of his feet, glowering. “Look, I had to split the scene. I took a risk during the day and it didn’t pan out. It happens. I went back to the chick’s place and she wasn’t there. I don’t know who she’s with but he seems to have some skills. Her old man must’ve hired him to protect her.”
“Good. I want him to know that everything he holds dear is at risk.”
“Yeah, sure, but to go after his kid? Seems harsh. She seems like your average rich bitch from LA.”
“She’s the heir to his legacy and his only child. I want him to feel the agony of loss.”
“Yeah, but she’s, you know, innocent.”
He cast an icy stare Trigger’s way. “She has Enzo’s blood in her veins. She was born tainted.”
Trigger shook his head as if Barto was the one who was messed up and said, “Whatever, man. So what do you want me to do? They’ve split town. I don’t have the resources to go follow this chick wherever she decides to go. Besides, you never said I’d have to deal with a bodyguard. This is going to double my fee.”
Barto’s blood pressure swelled. The man was going to nickel and dime him into the poor house. “You were adequately paid for the job that hasn’t been completed. You will find a solution to this problem of your own making and you won’t receive another dime. Am I clear?”
“And what if I tell you to screw yourself?”
Then I will drop your body into a lake and never think of you again. “I have resources. Pray I don’t need to use them to dispose of you.”
“Bullshit. If you had so many resources, you wouldn’t have hired me to do your dirty work,” Trigger scoffed and Barto knew that Trigger was no longer useful to him, that he was quickly becoming a liability. He pulled a gun with a silencer screwed to the end and without hesitation shot Trigger in the head. He didn’t have time to waste on people who were of no use. His time was precious. Enzo Abelli took everything from his family and he would see to it that he paid, one way or another. He owed it to his papa, Vincent. “For you, Papa, I will see that Abelli scum wiped from the earth for what he did to you. I promise.”
He rose and stepped over Trigger’s body, careful to avoid the blood seeping into the dingy carpet. It would be days before his body was found, which would give Barto more than a good head start. He stopped and sneered at Trigger’s face, frozen in shock. “Your name is stupid. Trigger.” He shook his head in disgust and closed the door carefully behind him.
* * *
COCO AWOKE THE following morning, groggy and disoriented as she blinked at the delicate floral wallpaper climbing the walls and the bright white eyelet duvet she was tucked under. The shabby-chic decor was charming and comforting at the same time but for a brief moment she had no freaking clue where she was, until the recollection of being shot at less than twenty-four hours ago jogged her memory.
“Oh, that’s right,” she grumbled to herself and pushed the blanket off to rise from the soft bed. She yawned and stretched, going to the window, and immediately spied Rian, wearing a tight white tee and jeans, looking incredibly sexy in the early-morning light, striding across the yard with that fossil of a dog, Dundee, loping at his side. Oh, damn. That man was sin incarnate. Just looking at him made her want to throw him down and have her wicked way with him, but she didn’t see that happening, since he was still sore at her for inadvertently getting him drugged, as evidenced by the fact that he’d chosen a separate room from hers.
Okay, so she felt a twinge of guilt about the drugging incident but she couldn’t control the actions of her friends any more than she could control the tide.
She moved away from the window and wandered the room, taking in the sweet country flavor of the decor, and wondered what’d it be like to live in a place like this, removed from the world, tucked away in a tiny town where everyone knew everyone else’s business. She smothered a small laugh. Actually, it kinda sounded like Hollywood.
She showered and went downstairs to see if coffee was on the menu and smiled with relief when she saw a small pot ready for her. There was also a plate of scones. “I love this place,” she murmured as she selected a raspberry scone along with her coffee and wandered outside to have a seat in one of the dual rocking chairs on the porch. She imagined this was where Kane and Laci spent their mornings, two lovebirds, enjoying their country bliss. A pang of envy followed as she bit into her scone. Oh, man, that’s good.
Rian walked into view and he climbed up the steps to join her, sliding into the other rocking chair with a grunt.
“I see you found the scones. Courtesy of Adeline. She’s a baker, like Cora was. Prepare to be force-fed at any given moment.”
“I don’t mind,” she said around a bite. “Where’ve you been? You’re all sweaty and it’s only eight in the morning.”
“The Bradford Ranch is a working ranch, which means there’s always work to be done. I was helping Warren this morning with the cattle and then there was a section of fence that needed repairing so I was doing that.”
“You know how to mend a fence?” she asked, impressed. “So handy.”
“I know how to do a lot of things. Warren taught us as teenagers. We were eager to learn whatever he could teach us because we knew in order to get out of our dad’s house, we needed skills that went above and beyond ducking a blow.”
She swallowed, hating that Rian had such a terrible childhood. “Can I do anything? I feel bad just sitting around, eating scones.”
“Do you know how to ride a horse?”
She nodded. “Of course. I’ve owned several.”
“Excellent. Then you can come along with me when I go to check the southern gate. Warren has a hard time getting to it because the terrain is a little too rough for him. I told him I’d check it out.”
“Sure. When?”
“Probably around eleven. If you ask nice, Adeline will pack us a lunch.”
“Like a picnic?”
“Well, I guess. You want to eat, right?”
So much for that wild hope of a romantic gesture. “Yeah, of course.”
“Great. I’ll let you handle the food detail, then.” He pushed himself out of the rocking chair with a slight wince. “Good God, anytime I think I’m in pretty good shape all it takes is one day on the ranch to remind myself that I’m such a city boy now.”
CoCo smiled and watched him leave, enjoying the view of that luscious backside very much. She didn’t know what he was talking about. He was the hottest country boy she’d ever seen. And even if he didn’t think of a picnic as romantic in any way, she was about to change his mind.
Was it bad that she wanted a second chance with her bodyguard?
Maybe. But she was too selfish to care and she didn’t mind admitting that, either.
Some opportunities were just too good to pass up.
* * *
RIAN WAS GRATEFUL to have the Bradford Ranch to hole up at but he was a mess of unanswered questions and raging guilt. While CoCo went to introduce herself to Adeline and in the process help pack a picnic for the afternoon, he made a call to Kane and hoped his brother was within cell range.
He was in luck because Kane picked up, though the line was scratchy. “Sorry, we’re up in God’s country and apparently God has no need for good cell service,” Kane said. “I got your message, though. What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know how they found us. I used that old hotel on Juniper Street, off Exit 204. It’s hardly ever used, no traffic, and it was dead when we checked in. But whoever took a shot at CoCo had been waiting for us. The only thing I can figure, and it makes me sick to admit this but...they might’ve followed us back from the club.”
“The club? I’m not familiar with that protocol,” Kane said, being deliberately obtuse. “Because I know you didn’t just admit to going out clubbing with a client, right?”
“Okay, you can bust my balls later. Right now, I need advice.”
“I think busting your balls now is appropriate. What were you thinking? This isn’t like you to be so unprofessional.”
Rian gritted his teeth, hating getting dressed down by his older brother, but he knew he deserved it and Kane didn’t even know all the details. He wavered on keeping the full details to himself but figured, seeing as Kane was his partner, as well as his brother, he’d better come clean. “There’s more,” he admitted with a heavy sigh. “I got drugged at the club and...things got heated between me and the client.”
“What does heated mean?”
“We... Aw, hell, you gonna make me spell it out for you?”
“No, I get the message loud and clear. Man, what’s gotten into you? Are you okay? Not still impaired, right?”
“I’m fine. Been working since 5:00 a.m. with Warren. Nothing like good old-fashioned backbreaking work to make you sweat out the toxins, you know?”
“Yeah, true enough. All right, so this isn’t so bad that it can’t be fixed. The client understands that it was just because of the drug, right? That you’re not really into her like that.”
“Yeah, sure,” he lied. “It was the drug.”
“Great. So, as long as you stay away from any narcotics for the rest of the gig, you should be fine.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. I doubt Warren has any club drugs lying around.”
“Yeah, Warren in a dance club, can you imagine?” Kane barked with amusement. “He’d have all those whippersnappers pulled out by their ears and put to work.”
“Maybe that’s what the world needs. More people like Warren,” Rian grumbled, thinking of all the rich, useless young adults frittering away their youth with drugs and meaningless sex. Speaking of sex...a sudden memory of that intense connection between him and CoCo flashed in his mind and he tried to shy away from it. It’d been the drug. Logically, he understood that a chemical had been manipulating the pleasure centers of his brain but he was left with the residual yearning to touch CoCo again. That’s why he’d deliberately put her in a separate room. He simply didn’t trust himself to keep his hands off her body.
“All right, so you’re safe for now. Did you call the FBI agents handling the investigation? They’re going to want to know what happened.”
“I will as soon as I’m done with you.”
“Good. No one is going to find you at the Bradford Ranch so just hunker down and let the feds do the dirty work. In the meantime, enjoy some home cooking, help Warren around the ranch and, for God’s sake, keep your damn hands off the client. There’s more at stake than your libido.”
“You don’t have to lecture me on that,” he told Kane. “I was on a drug, not trolling for chicks.”
“I know, but I know a little bit about those so-called ‘love drugs.’” When Kane didn’t elaborate, Rian was left to wonder. “The thing is, they can’t make you want someone you don’t already have a passing interest in. If there’d been nothing there to catch fire, it wouldn’t have happened, so be careful. You’re attracted to a client and that’s just bad news for our business. We don’t mess with clients. Plain and simple.”
“I know. I’m not going to touch her again. Lay off and stop lecturing me.”
“Hey, don’t get pissy. I’m just saying...time...sorry...casual...no good—” And then the line went dead. Perfect timing. Rian might’ve missed most of what Kane was trying to say but he could glean the gist of it and it was nothing he didn’t already know.
He immediately called the agent in charge of the Abelli case. “This is Rian Dalton. There’s been a situation. Someone took a shot at CoCo yesterday and in order to guarantee her safety, I’ve had to move her. We are at a secure location.”
“You should’ve gained authorization before moving Miss Abelli. What’s your location now?”
“Pardon me, agent, but I’m not working for you. I work for Mr. Abelli. If he wants to know where his daughter is, he can call me and I’ll let him know. Other than him, no one else is going to know.”
“Did you get a description of the shooter?”
“No. I heard tires squealing from the parking lot but I didn’t catch the make and model. I was too busy making sure CoCo was all right.”
“No injuries?”
“None.”
“Is this a good number for contact later?”
“Yes. I’ll keep my cell with me at all times.”
“Good. We’re getting close to finding the person responsible. We just need a few more days. We’ll be in touch.”
“Great.”
He clicked off and tucked his phone in his pocket. A few days shouldn’t be too hard. Beautiful country, plenty of work to keep him busy and the best food in the South.
Everything sounded perfect...except for the part where he had to keep his hands off CoCo. That part made him break out in a sweat.
He could do this. No problem, right?