Another try, p.4
Another Try, page 4
Lance sat beside her, his face the epitome of calm, but she knew better. She could read him like a book. Had been able to since the first day they had met. Jasmine hid a chuckle as she recalled his expression when she’d dragged her far-too-long nails up his chest and propositioned him.
Despite the line she’d crossed when she’d been betrayed, there were some things that had been imbedded deep in her soul. And leaving this man to face a certain death if she ratted him out wasn’t something she could do. So for the moment she was officially the unofficial girlfriend of Lance, who worked for the Jankovic crime family.
She couldn’t stop playing in her head how he’d protected her body from Michel’s view. Like she actually meant something to him.
If only that were true, but I know my lot in life and it’s not the happily ever after. Even if I do want it.
He reached across the space between them and picked up her hand, lacing their fingers.
“You okay, baby?”
Aware of the eagle-eyed stare of Michel, who continually turned around to watch them as if he couldn’t help himself, she smiled and squeezed his hand.
“Of course. I’m with you. I mean, breakfast would have been nice, but I’m guessing you’re going to feed me after.”
Those kissable lips turned up and she realized, in that moment, that this could be a bad thing. There could be actual feelings forming for this man.
“I plan on feeding you many more times today, baby. My word on that.”
She dragged her fingernail along his skin and watched his eyes darken.
Yeah, this had the potential to fucking blow up in her face.
Michel gave a snort of disdain before turning up the music. She grinned at Lance but didn’t try to move closer to him and whisper. No doubt that’s what Michel wanted them to do.
The ride took about thirty minutes with the traffic and she shifted on the seat when the luxury SUV slowed to turn into the Jankovic home. Home? Mansion was more apt a description. At least fifteen thousand square feet, and that was an assumption from seeing what she could from the long driveway that widened out to a circle at the front entry that had a damn stone fountain there. The large, vibrant green lawn beside them on either side was perfectly manicured with flowers, shrubs and hedges.
She waited after they parked for Lance to reach toward her, offering his hand. Taking it, she slid over the leather and climbed out to stand beside him, resting her palm against his chest as he settled his arm around her, his lips to her head.
“We’ll be fine.”
Not bothering to answer him, she walked beside him, quiet, as they approached the front entrance. The driver opened the door and she let go of Lance’s hand so he could enter before her. Michel stepped up beside her and she bit back her growl of impatience and disgust.
“First time a woman of your color has walked through the front door. Usually they come in through the back to work.”
Turning toward him, she pushed him into the wall by the entrance, finger on the gun that pressed into his dick.
“Yet you still hunger for the pussy you’ll never get. Tell me, out of all those innocent girls you rape, how many look like me? We both know you want it but we’re smarter and refuse to go with you, so you’re relegated to rape, pedophilia, and porn to get your fix. I know this is your dad’s house, but you fucking disrespect me again and I won’t care what happens to me when I kill you.” She pushed harder on the gun in his crotch. “Do we understand each other? I’m not your bitch and I won’t be spoken to like shit on your shoe. Believe that.”
“Baby?” Lance’s deep voice flowed over her. “Should I be concerned that you’re so close to Michel?”
“Of course not. You know I like men with meat between their legs. From what I can tell, he’s struggling for two inches.” She didn’t look away from Michel as she spoke, instead holding his gaze and seeing the single bead of sweat that trickled down his face between his eye and nose.
“Let’s go.”
“Be right there.” Another jab. “Do we understand each other? I know words are hard so just blink twice if you understand exactly what I’m saying.”
Two slow but deliberate blinks came.
She knew her smile hovered far closer to a feral snarl crossed as she stepped back, hiding her gun as she turned her back on Michel and returned to Lance, who watched with a mixture of anger and… Was that jealousy in his gaze?
He snaked an arm around her, kissed her once and led her inside the opulent home.
“Damn.” The word slipped from her lips.
“Yeah, thought the same thing the first time I was here.” Another kiss to her temple. “Let’s go, and please stop antagonizing his son.”
She didn’t respond to that, just let him lead her over white marble floors. The décor in here was enough to make her wonder if this house ever had a child running through these halls, it looked coldly perfect and she doubted they did. If the art and paintings hanging weren’t originals, they were damn good replicas. The custom lighting and window treatments added to the opulence.
Dusan sat behind a large, dark-mahogany desk as they walked in his office, his expression serious as he looked them both over. The furniture filling the rest of the space matched—dark, heavy, upholstered wood.
“You look like you just got up.”
“Your son interrupted our morning. Trust me, being here in front of you wasn’t on our list.” Lance rubbed his hand up and down Jasmine’s back.
“You can leave, Lance. I wish to speak to your woman.”
“Fine.” He tipped her face up to his, eyes direct and honest. “I’ll be out there waiting, baby. You need me, you call.”
She smiled and rested her hand on his torso. Not because she wanted to touch him, of course. All for the ruse. Right?
Right.
Right.
Shrugging as if she didn’t have a care in the world, she pushed up on her toes for a quick kiss. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. Although not sure why he wouldn’t want you to hear who I have pegged as a cop. But…not my business.”
She went to a chair and sat down, slouching back, legs spread, one arm along the back as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Truth was, she was fucking freaked out. But hell, this wasn’t anything new for her.
The man before her watched her with the same intensity she gazed upon him. Many people had their assumptions about this man. In truth, they had them about heads of crime families and those who were involved in the shit this one was. Thing about it though, this man was fucking smart.
There had to be a reason, more than luck, that he’d not been caught or stopped. And she knew it and wasn’t foolish enough to think that she could talk to him like she had the previous night. She bet that he had a weapon on her or Lance right now to have the upper hand should her mouth get out of control.
He watched her, his blue eyes cold and shrewd. Dusan Jankovic wasn’t an overly large man, his body was not small but wiry with lean muscles. She didn’t flinch as he leveled what she realized he considered his ”I’m going to make you squirm” stare.
Hah.
Joke was on him because she’d faced down far scarier than this man. And she excelled at the waiting game.
Five minutes of silence stretched between them, after which he lifted one black eyebrow.
“You aren’t scared of me.” He tipped his head to the side. “Why aren’t you scared of me? I’ve never met a woman who wasn’t. Even my wife is scared of me.”
She blinked slowly, weighing her words. “I’ve been through enough shit in my life to only be scared of a few things. I’m also not foolish. I know you’re a dangerous man, Mr. Jankovic.”
His lips twitched and she knew that was what he had been wanting. He twirled a finger in her direction and she took it as a sign to continue.
“We both know you put up with my behavior last night because of Lance. I appreciate that. I don’t like people getting in my personal space but I should have been,” she paused, making a moue with her mouth, “a bit more careful.”
“Not going to say anything about my son?”
She flashed a grin that wasn’t the slightest bit nice. “The words I could say about him wouldn’t be the slightest bit flattering.”
“He is a bit of a twat.” A shrug. “He’s my son.”
Those words that weren’t uttered were—I have to love him.
Dusan leaned forward. “What about your parents? Do they know that you’re on this side of the law?”
As always when undercover, it was best to stick close to the truth. “My parents got rid of me when I was a baby. Grew up in the foster system.”
He nodded but didn’t speak.
“A lot of time in and out of juvie before I ran away from the final home.” Chills skittered down her spine and she willed them away, not wanting this man to see her weakness. Yet at the same time, she wanted to get it off her chest, and chances were that this man would not judge her any more than he already was doing. “The husband in the home and the eldest boy decided that I was there to be their plaything.”
“How did you meet Lance?”
If he expected to throw her by the change of subject, again, he underestimated her. Like most men did.
“It was a few years ago. Six or seven, I believe.” She flicked a smile. “I propositioned him. Man wasn’t amused at all.”
Dusan laughed. He continued to do so as he rose from his desk and walked to the door.
“Come in here.”
Lance stepped into the doorway and, damn it, her breath caught. How did this man make her feel such a way? By all rights she should toss his ass under the bus and get out of Dodge.
Last night sat vivid in her mind. His touches. Caresses. How fucking full he made her when he pushed home.
Lance’s blue-green eyes lasered directly to her. She gave him a small nod, letting him know she was okay. He walked behind Dusan and paused at her chair, dipping his head to brush a kiss along her mouth.
“Hey, baby.”
She didn’t speak, just smiled.
Dusan settled back behind his desk. His eyes still twinkled and she hated that she was figuring he wasn’t all that bad of a guy. He had charm. And given what he did to keep his family and his empire, she should despise the entire family with the heat of a hundred thousand suns.
And she did, but yet, she didn’t know if she’d met him with him being unknown that she wouldn’t have liked him. More reason to be disturbed.
“Your woman was telling me she propositioned you when you first met. When was that again?”
Lance shook his head. “She did. I was pissed. Thought she was a hooker.” He picked up her hand and stroked his thumb along the back of her hand. “It was seven years ago. Didn’t see her again for a few years, and that meeting was pretty much just the same as the first.”
“I did not proposition you that time.”
His lips twitched. “No, you surely didn’t. I wanted to proposition you.”
Dusan looked between them and she knew what he hunted for. Any stress or strain on their faces. She figured the man was pretty damn close to a human lie detector, which meant Lance was fucking awesome for still being there. And alive.
“The cops in my employ?”
Danger threaded along his question. Apparently the pretend we give a damn portion of the visit was over.
Chapter Four
If you’re going through hell, keep going.
~ Winston Churchill
Lance hated the entire fucking thing. Sure, they were both armed, but there wasn’t any way they would be able to overpower all Dusan’s men if it came to a shootout.
He cut his gaze to the woman beside him. After this—he was being fucking optimistic that they would get out—he had to meet with his handler and tell them she was also imperative to it all. While he didn’t expect that to go over well, he knew his handler and the agency wouldn’t want to ruin his two years under.
“Why don’t you tell me who you have on your payroll so I don’t accuse them.”
“You think I am going to tell you that?”
“And you think I’m just going to blurt out what I know without any sense of security? What do I get for this?”
“How about you get to stay alive?”
Jasmine’s eyes narrowed as she leaned forward. “Go ahead and kill me then. You’ll know you still have cops that are undercover without your knowledge and it will eat you alive. Especially when you’re brought down. You’ll just be like, if only I had listened to Jasmine and not tried to strongarm her.”
Beside her, Lance gripped the arm of his chair but didn’t move. Still, Dusan noticed and he pinned his sharp gaze on him—the man who’d infiltrated his crew.
“Nervous, Lance?”
“Of course I am,” he retorted, barely stopping the eye roll. “My girl is challenging you to kill her.”
“Make her stop.” Dusan’s eyebrow rose with that statement.
Jasmine and Lance both snorted at the same time and Lance shook his head. “You’ve met her. She took an ASP to me because she was pissed. I can’t tell her to do anything.”
The smile was fleeting but there. “True.” A deep breath. “How about this. You tell me and I let you two have your weekend without any bother from the family?”
Lance captured her hand and skimmed his thumb along the back of hers. “Come on, baby.”
“Fine.” She shrugged. “Give me a piece of paper and I’ll write it down.”
Dusan pushed a pen and pad toward her. “Not worried about me running your prints?”
“Nope.” She popped the p. “I already told you. I’m not in the system.” She picked up the pen and clicked it before putting the tip to paper. For a brief second, she lifted her head and looked Dusan directly in the eyes. “They will swear they aren’t cops, of course you know this. So before you ask me to prove the names, I’m putting down a time and date that you need to go to the bar they are in and watch who they talk to. The men listed here on different occasions, but same location, are both cops. Neither will be in uniform. You’ll see a napkin slide between them each time. Don’t go after the handlers, but do what you will with the traitors.” Jasmine focused back on the sheet and for a few charged moments the scratch of the pen on paper was the only sound.
She pushed the paper back to him. “I don’t want more cops to come swarming if you take out those two. But they are undercovers, they can’t come after them.”
Dusan lifted the sheet and swore. His gaze snapped back to Lance. “Your woman is impressive. And evil. I’m almost liking her more than you. Even before she’s been vetted all the way by my people. I’m taking her photo to my man in the police and you’d better hope it all comes back as you said.” The warning in Dusan’s words was crystal.
Lance stood and brought her with him. “I know. We’ll let you handle your business. Thank you for keeping your word.”
“I’m many things but a liar isn’t one of them. Have Sathal drive you back.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lance led her to the door, his large hand settling upon the small of her back. He wanted it there when she had no clothing on.
“Jasmine.”
She slowed at the sound of her name and glanced over her shoulder. “Yes?”
“I’ll be seeing you again. You and I could have a beautiful partnership.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “I’m more of a one-woman man.” A smile. “Now. Have a good day, Mr. Dusan.” Sliding her hand into Lance’s back pocket, she kissed his cheek. “Let’s go. You owe me some dick.”
“I’m nothing if not a man of my word.” Dipping his head, he nipped her earlobe before flicking his tongue along it.
Her sharp gasp soothed him for the moment. The ride back to his place was done with their hands roaming all over each other, kicking their arousal higher. They stumbled out of the SUV and into his place, where they stopped and held each other’s gaze.
He gestured around the room and she nodded.
“Come on, baby. I need you,” she panted as she walked away from him, checking that side of the room for any listening devices. Lance wasn’t sure where she’d had the bug detector on her person but she had one in her hand.
“Then fucking get naked.” He kicked off his shoes, making sure to direct them into the wall for added sound. “Or did you just want me to take you up right where you are?”
She angled her head to look at him and cocked an eyebrow. He winked even as he shrugged without repentance.
“Wall. Definitely the wall.” She released a cock-hardening moan.
He watched her as she looked in the lamp on the small table. This time when she met his gaze, he knew she’d located one. Lance doubted that was the only one they’d left. Typically they left three.
Her hand slapping the wall snapped his focus right back to her. This was not going to be easy.
If they were giving out Oscars for this, she would earn hers. Right now the groans sliding from her weren’t cutting him any slack. His dick ached so fucking intensely he didn’t know how much more he could take without undoing his pants just to get some relief. The air filled with her moans, each one more passionate than the last. And the kicker? They fucking sounded so real they were about to get him off.
His eyes drifted closed only to snap open a bit later when she cupped his hardness through his jeans. He glanced down at her.
“I found two,” she mouthed.
He couldn’t think, just blinked.
Her hand slipped inside his jeans and the low growl of want, this time from him as she curved her hand around him.
“Why pretend?” Jasmine whispered.
The growl that fell would have been her only warning, had he not already been on her. Mouths fused together, he backed her right into another wall, the sound loud. Clothing flew off and she knocked over that same fucking lamp she’d found a device in as she scrambled to brace herself when he shoved deep inside her pussy with a single stroke.
He didn’t care, she could break every single thing in there so long as this didn’t stop. And from the way her fingers dug into his back, he could say with fair certainty it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.
