Page 13

“D ammit, hold still.” Ashley tightened the bowtie beneath the collar of his crisp white shirt. Her brown eyes focused intently on the movement of her long fingernails. He breathed through tight lips and cracked his knuckles at his sides.

“I look like a fucking idiot,” he mumbled. He didn’t mind dressing up, but wearing a tuxedo complete with a bowtie crossed the boundaries of his comfort zone. “It’s too tight.” He stretched his neck to the side, but Ashley tightened it.

“Enough. You’re being a baby.” She finished tying it, and then clapped him on the chest. “You look hot.” She winked and stepped to the side, revealing his reflection in the full-length mirror against the wall.

He groaned. “I look like a penguin.”

Dylan snorted and covered his face with his hand. “Sorry, boss. It’s not that bad, honest.” His shoulders shook and he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Eat a dick.” He strode to the table, picked up his whiskey on the rocks, and downed it. His patience had been thin since he’d had to sit and watch Carlos fondle Maddie earlier.

Dylan’s hands clenched into fists and a red tint crept up his neck. “You—”

“Easy boys.” Ashley stepped between them. “Look, I know you’re sour, Nate. I think you should consider letting Dylan step in. You could use some time away.”

Time away from Maddie, she meant. Anger simmered beneath his skin.

He ground his molars together.

As if watching Maddie being cozy with Carlos wasn’t enough, he’d dug into Maddie’s friend’s sister Leila Ramez’s death. He couldn’t shake the image of the young woman and her deep olive skin and vibrant green eyes.

The picture that haunted him most however was the one taken of her leaned up against a dumpster, her face ashen and her body rail thin, with dirty, unwashed hair limp around her oval face.

A hypodermic needle was still settled in her lifeless hand at her side.

The autopsy report had found heroine laced with fentanyl in her system.

Rage bubbled to the surface of his consciousness, threatening to send him over the edge. No wonder she was dead. And no wonder Maddie was so fixated on Carlos. Ashley was probably right, but he’d be damned if he was going to take a step back.

“I’m fine.” He dug his fingertips into the collar of his shirt and tugged. “Why is it so damn hot in here?”

“She’s right, bro. I can keep an eye on them at dinner while you plant the audio bugs in their suite.”

“I said no, dammit.”

Dylan stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Don’t trust anyone to watch over her?”

Blood roared through his ears. Dylan had the innate knack to push his buttons at the worst time. He bit back the words that itched his tongue, and met Dylan’s steely blue eyes.

“Maddie is expecting to see me there. If I’m not, it will throw her off.” He held his hands out at his sides.

“They’re at dinner for God’s sake. What do you think is going to happen?”

Nate extended his finger at Dylan’s chest. “That’s exactly the reason you’re on surveillance duty.”

“Okay, cocktails start in fifteen. We should head down.” Ashley’s fingers curled around his elbow, but he kept his feet rooted to the spot as Dylan’s temper flared.

“If you had slept with her before the damn investigation started, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Your blue balls are cutting the circulation off to your brain.” He tapped his index finger against the thick, short brown hair at his temple.

Nate yanked his arm out of Ashley’s hold and advanced on him. Ashley sandwiched herself between them, and pressed her hands firmly against his chest.

“Nate, cool it. You guys are friends—good ones. We’re all a team, and what you do or don’t do affects everyone.”

Nate’s jaw loosened and he dropped his gaze to Ashley’s furrowed brow. Her dark curls hung over the navy-blue straps of her dress on her slight shoulders. His hands opened and closed at his sides.

“The last thing I want to do is agree with dickhead,” she said, jerking her head toward Dylan. “But he’s right. The tension between you and Maddie is like a damn solar flare.”

He snorted and stepped away from them. He pinched his temples together with his thumb and forefinger. Were they right? Had he only made things worse by avoiding her?

“Should have gotten it out of your system, dude. That’s all I’m saying. You’re torturing yourself.” Dylan shrugged, lifted the whiskey, and filled the bottom of a small glass.

Nate blew air through his nose and paced away from his friends. Sweat collected at the back of his neck and he wiped it off with the palm of his hand. A soft thwack told him Ashley had slapped Dylan.

“If he didn’t care about her, he would have tried.”

He stopped and turned to face them. Ashley’s shoulder lifted and a smile danced innocently on her face. Dylan crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes squinted in interest.

“You both are dopes. She’s my best friend’s sister.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “She’s off-limits.”

Ashley’s mouth opened and closed and she stepped forward, her hands on her hips. “You can’t be serious. You’re wasting your time resisting something that’s inevitable.”

A muscle at the corner of his eye twitched. He froze. “What do you mean, it’s inevitable?”

“Oh, c’mon.” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling and then brought them back to his face. “You can barely keep your eyes off her.”

Dylan snickered behind her and sank down into a chair. “Fuck man, do I feel sorry for you.”

Ashley reeled around to face him. “Would you be quiet? You aren’t helping.”

“I’m trying to before he gets us all killed. And for the record,” he said, as he pointed two fingers loosely at Ashley, the glass hovering close to his lips, “I don’t even like my sister, and if he fucked her, I would kill him.”

“You’re such an ass,” she breathed. “Nate—”

He held out his hand. “Enough. Ashley, I appreciate your concern, but I’m drawing the line here. My personal life is no longer open for discussion. Got it?” He jabbed his index finger in the air at Dylan and he raised his hands in surrender.

“Ashley, let’s head down.” He extended his elbow to her and she circled her arm through his. “Dylan, get in and out of their suite as quick as possible. Got your earpiece?”

“Yeah, dude.” He stretched his arm out, picked the earpiece off the table, and pressed it into his ear. “Let me know when you see them at dinner, and I’ll let myself into their suite. Shouldn’t take more than five minutes.”

“Good.” He turned and led Ashley to the door and they stepped into the hall.

Silence fell between them as they moved down the hall to the elevator.

Most guests would already be enjoying cocktails in the formal dining room, which left the hall deserted.

Ashley pressed the button and the elevator hummed.

The doors parted and they stepped inside, and he jabbed the main floor button.

“I know you said not to talk about it, but—”

He closed his eyes against the throb at his temples. “Please, Ashley. Do you honestly think I haven’t spent enough time thinking about this? Aside from my friendship with Ethan, Maddie is trouble. She’s hard-headed, infuriating, reckless…”

“And you’re crazy about her.”

He snapped his teeth together and the force jarred his cheekbones.

Goddammit. It didn’t matter that he was crazy about her, didn’t matter that one part of him wanted to tame her wild ass and the another wanted to ride it.

He had no control where Maddie was concerned.

Not over himself or the repercussions of her careless behavior.

But for the love of God, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

“Drop it,” he ground out. Her lips pressed together in a thin, sad smile and the elevator dinged.

They stepped into the hall and wound their way over the slickly-polished floors.

They followed the sound of laughter. The soft melody from a piano carried through the halls.

Large, walnut-stained double wooden doors stood open.

A huge floral wreath stood near the entrance with the name “Avalon of the Sea” scrawled on a smooth canvas.

Large white flowers took precedence at the center of every table, and on tall pillars throughout the room.

Ashley sucked in her breath beside him. “Wow, they really went all out.”

Nate grunted. Women in full-length gowns moved gracefully around the floor, tall flutes of champagne in their hands. Men in stupid, penguin-looking tuxedos like his loitered comfortably. The corner of his lip curled. This wasn’t his scene.

Ashley’s hand dropped from his arm and she stepped over to a large chart near the wreath.

“We’re at the table closest to the stage.” She smiled and threaded her arm back through his. “Perks of the presidential suites.”

“Let’s find our seats.”

Ashley nodded and led him through the tight clusters of people.

“We’ll find out where we’re sitting, but we need to mingle.

” Her voice was low, but carried over the soft tinkling of the piano.

The tie at his throat tightened with every step.

Mingle? His cheek jumped with the effort it took not to groan.

He scanned the room. Maddie was here somewhere.

He moved his attention to the back of Ashley’s head. She held her spine straight, her shoulders back, completely at ease in the soft flowing sapphire dress. She was pretty and funny, but didn’t pique his interest the slightest.

And why? Because, for god’s sake, she wasn’t Maddie.

Dylan on the other hand… Nate had caught some of his lingering stares and light flirting. After Dylan’s finger pointing upstairs, he would be sure to confront him about his attraction to Ashley.