El Diablo Read online

  “Oh, no, I’m just saying. I mean, I’m not big on the whole eating dinner while floating on the ocean deal.”

  He stared at her, a little confused. The burger he was eating his way through tasted like grease. It was the best he could do, and he wasn’t about to stink up his car with takeout food.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked.

  “The thing tomorrow. The boat assassin thing.”

  “Okay, first off, don’t ever say that in a crowded room. This is top secret.”

  “Fine. Fine. Wow, I get it. Don’t say anything.” She rolled her eyes, and he found that to be the cutest thing.

  It was strange how he found things to be cute with Alesha but annoying as hell with other women. The fact she didn’t cringe away from him in fear intrigued him.

  “You do realize the kind of danger you’re in, right?”

  She sighed. “Let’s see, the kind of danger I’m in? Yeah, I know. I saw your array of … memorabilia. You know the kind that goes bang.” Her eyes were wide, and he saw she was trying to speak in code.

  Laughing, he shook his head, and picked up another fry.

  “Does this mean we’re not going to that guy’s boat tomorrow?”

  “It’s a yacht, and no, it does mean we’re going.”

  He saw her lips pout. “I hate boats.”

  “You know that can be kind of insulting.”

  “What?”

  “It’s not a damn boat.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Can we get off the boat thing? I don’t like it. I don’t want any part in this. I didn’t even want to be your date for this thing tonight, and you didn’t even feed me good food.”

  “I fed you.”

  “Yeah, and you’re going to feed me to the wolves,” she said.

  It was the last thing he wanted to do.

  If he’d not royally fucked up and Boss wasn’t breathing down his neck, he wouldn’t even opt for this as a suggestion.

  “The last thing I want to do is put you in danger.”

  “But you’re going to. It’s fine. I mean, I want to help. I do.” He watched as she released a sigh. “I’m just a cleaner. A housemaid. I don’t know what you want or need from me.”

  “First, you’re going to need to look the part.”

  “More clothes?”

  “You could sound excited about it. It’s clothes. Don’t all women love that kind of stuff?”

  “I’m not like all women.” She wrinkled her nose. “So, what’s the play?”

  “The play?”

  “You know. The mission. What do we do? How do we do it? Who are we playing?” she asked, looking excited.

  “This isn’t a game.”

  Another eyeroll. “I get that it’s not a game, but I’ve got to figure this out. I can’t be like other people and just let things roll and what not. I’m not designed that way.”

  “You don’t need to worry about a thing. The less you know, the better.”

  “This guy though, you want to use me as bait, and I don’t want to mess this up for you.”

  Xavier saw the real concern and care in her eyes. Why couldn’t she be different? Why did she have to make him feel like this? He didn’t want to take her on that damn boat—no, yacht. He wanted to keep her safe, and the only way to do that was to keep her far away from the monsters that surrounded them.

  He knew the real world, and no one in it, not even him, deserved someone like Alesha.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Xavier, I’m not a fool. I know how this works. You’re going to need me to distract him while you go and search all around his … place. I don’t mind. Whatever I can do to help. I’m involved now, so there’s no going back for me. I accept that, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She pressed her lips together.

  Taking her hand, he turned it over so that he could look at her palm. So pale. Running his thumb across her pulse, he felt it beating rapidly. “You’ll be a distraction, and for that reason I can’t give you any more details. We’re together. You’re my fiancée, and we’re hitting a hard patch.”

  She laughed. “Wow, our engagement isn’t going to last, is it?”

  “Everyone hits a few snags. You’ve just got to be your charming self. Seems Dixon already has a hard-on for you.”

  “And if he tries anything? What do you want me to do?”

  “What would you do? Tell me what Alesha would do. You weren’t acting tonight, which is why he was drawn to you. Don’t play a part. Be yourself and we’ll get this. We’ll make it work.”

  “You always sound so confident. I don’t have the first clue what I’m doing.”

  “You do.” He brought her hand to his lips, kissing her pulse.

  He heard her slight gasp, and he released her hand. This was a bad idea. He shouldn’t be kissing her, touching her.

  She was a virgin. Since she let that little detail spill just a few short hours ago, he couldn’t bring himself to concentrate. He wanted to be the one to bring her pleasure. To show her what it was like to take on a real man.

  His dick ached, and he didn’t want to think about Boss and the threat he posed.

  He wanted Alesha, no doubt about it.

  How could he have her all to himself without Boss interfering? He didn’t want to fuck up his place at Killer of Kings after working hard to prove himself the past year.

  Boss had eyes everywhere, so Xavier had to be careful. Especially, if he was still able to help find his sister. Boss was close to giving him more information on his sister, he could feel it.

  Running his fingers through his hair, he waited for her to finish her food. The moment she did, he pulled out a couple of notes, leaving a generous tip, and took her out of the diner.

  Helping her into the car, he waited for her to strap in before getting seated. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, no matter what he tried to think, he couldn’t think of a reason or an excuse to keep Alesha breathing and in his life. How had he gotten himself into this mess?

  “Apart from when you abandoned me to go and snoop and I was talking with a guy that scared me, I really enjoyed tonight.” She smoothed out her dress.

  He turned to look at her. “You did?”

  “It’s the first time I’ve dressed up in a long time. I liked it.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Xavier. Tonight, I actually felt like a princess.”

  All he was thinking about were the many ways that he could take her as his own. She was thanking him for a nice night, and he wanted more, so much more. For the first time he was thinking about the future, his own happiness, one woman.

  Gritting his teeth, he drove the rest of the way, pushing his foot to the gas. He had to get her home. He needed the safety of his house to be able to do what he wanted to do next.

  Without saying another word and with her head on his shoulder, he drove as safely as he could.

  She was really getting to him, and he couldn’t control this need that bubbled up inside him. Parking up in his secure garage, he placed all the necessary codes before exiting the vehicle. Helping Alesha out of her side of the car, he put a hand at the small of her back, and headed toward the main door.

  “Do you think we’re being watched even here?” she asked.

  He hoped not.

  “Stop worrying about everything.”

  Stepping over the threshold, he kept hold of her arm, closed the door, keyed in the code, and then pressed her up against the wall.

  “I don’t like this dress,” he said.

  “You were the one that picked it out. I thought we’d gone over all this dress talk.”

  He put his hands on her hips, sliding them up so she had no choice but to lift her hands above her head.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “What I started earlier.” He brought his lips down on hers, needing another kiss. Another taste wouldn’t hurt him. He could turn off his emotions whenever he chose.

  His cock h
ardened, and as he pressed himself against her soft body, he couldn’t help but become addicted. Locking his fingers with hers above their heads, he held her steady against the wall.

  There was no escape for either of them.

  Keeping both of her hands in place with one hand, he ran his other down her body, touching her tits, feeling the hard bud of her nipple against his palm. When he stroked a finger back and forth over that peak, she released a little moan, and he swallowed her cries. She was becoming his obsession.

  He couldn’t get enough.

  One kiss. One taste. It was never going to be enough, not for him.

  “I need to have you,” he said, breaking from the kiss

  “Please, Xavier.”

  “Tell me you don’t want this.”

  “I do. Touch me again.”

  Sliding a hand between her thighs, he cupped her pussy. He slipped beneath the fabric, teasing her slit through her panties, knowing he wouldn’t enter her cunt. When the time came to take her cherry, he wanted her to be on a bed, legs spread so that he could hold her down and enjoy it. He wasn’t certain, but confident Alesha was the only virgin he’d tangled with.

  She let out another gasp as he played with her clit, pinching the sensitive nub between his fingers, enjoying her cries. Her moans echoed around his hallway, and they were the best sounds a woman could make.

  With just a few more strokes against her clit, and she was coming, screaming his name, begging him not to stop. It wasn’t hard to comply. Even as she came and he watched the orgasm wash over her body, he didn’t want to stop.

  He let go of her hand and she attacked his pants, sliding open the belt, but then as she got to the zipper, his cell phone rang.

  They both groaned.

  “Ignore it,” she said.

  He pulled out his cell phone and saw who it was.

  Boss was calling. There was no way he could ignore this.

  “I can’t,” he said.

  “Please, Xavier.”

  This was business, and she was all pleasure. So long as he kept Boss happy, he’d be able to keep her alive.

  “Go and get a shower. I’ve got to take this. An early night will have you well rested for tomorrow.” He accepted the call. “What’s up?” he asked, staring into her eyes.

  If she spoke now, there was a risk to her life. He hoped she wasn’t fool enough to try this.

  There was only so much he could do to protect her, to save her.

  Boss was his own personal army.

  She shook her head and left the room, her disappointment palpable.

  The scent of her pussy still lingered on his fingers as he talked to Boss. He closed his eyes, leaning against the front door.

  This woman was messing with his head, and he had to do right by her. There was no way he could allow anything to happen, not to Alesha. Even when he tried to turn off his emotions, they were still there. She was the real deal.

  ****

  It was official.

  Alesha hated boats.

  They were all the same, be it yacht or cruise ship.

  It was a boat on the ocean. Glancing down at the water, she wondered if there were any killer sharks, or big giant sea creatures that were going to eat her. Keeping her sunglasses on, she tried not to think about the dangers that surrounded her everywhere. This was the ocean. Besides all the big bad monsters lurking beneath the ocean depths, there was also the added risk of drowning as well. That would suck.

  Drowning was one of the scariest ways to go, in her opinion.

  She didn’t want to drown. Why had she never learned how to swim?

  “I can’t believe your fiancé keeps leaving you unattended,” Dixon said, coming to join her. Her body tensed as he drew closer.

  “Yeah, well, considering he loves bo-yachts, his stomach doesn’t agree with him.” She pressed her lips together. Xavier had warned her plenty of times on the way over to the docks to not call it a boat. Yacht, yacht, yacht.

  Tomato, tomato, whichever way people said it.

  “His loss is certainly my gain.” Dixon held two drinks in his hands.

  She’d always been told to never take a drink from a stranger, and here she was, living on the edge. One day cleaner, the next seductress. What was next?

  He offered her a glass, and she took it without question. Keeping a hold of it, she looked over the railing into the water, dark and sloshing against the sides of the boat.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” he said.

  “I was actually wondering if there were any sharks in the water.” She forced a smile. Xavier had told her to be herself, and she didn’t have the capabilities to flirt even just a little bit. Not after last night. Not after he’d brought her to orgasm only to send her to her room like a little child.

  “There have been shark sightings around. I myself like to sit and watch them. I feed them as well.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous?” she asked.

  “Only if you’re sinking and you become the bait.”

  “Ha, wow, that is so funny.” She laughed, thinking about her own baiting predicament.

  She kept trying to think of things to say or do that wouldn’t show him just how nervous she was.

  “You act like you’ve never been on a yacht before.”

  “It’s true. I can’t deny it.”

  “But Xavier owns plenty of them.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course, he does. It’s all part of the image. I don’t like to, you know, do stuff like this. I prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground. I’m a simple woman that likes the simple things in life.”

  It was very true. She liked having a roof over her head, cooking, cleaning, washing, making sure Xavier didn’t vomit and choke on it. Of course, never in her wildest dreams did she think she would actually be babysitting a killer. That was just so far out of her comfort zone, but she also didn’t imagine getting fondled by him either, or being used as bait. Her life had changed so dramatically in the past forty-eight hours she was struggling to keep up. She checked around the deck to see if Xavier was anywhere in sight. He’d given her the excuse that he needed to use the bathroom.

  She didn’t have a clue what that actually meant in code, only that it had to mean something. He was an assassin.

  Try to remember that little tidbit of information when his mouth and hands are on you.

  “It’s what makes you a rare find, Alesha. You’re not dazzled by this life. I can see that.”

  I’m really kind of scared of you actually.

  Instead of speaking her mind, she just smiled and tried to listen to what he was saying. As he spoke, she couldn’t help but wonder what dark secrets he was hiding. If she didn’t know better she’d think he was sincere, but Xavier said he was a monster.

  “How about I take you on a tour?” he said.

  The last thing she wanted to do was be alone with him. Seeing no other reason to argue, she nodded. “I’d love to.”

  He placed a hand at her back, and she cringed. She had opted out of a bikini and instead settled for a bathing suit with a sarong around her waist. Xavier had told her there was no other option for her to wear, and of course, most of the women on board wore bikinis.

  “Do you know everyone here?” she asked.

  “I do. Most of them are gold-diggers. They’re always around anyone with money.”

  “You’re used to it?”

  “It comes with the territory. When you have money, people want it and are willing to do anything to get it. And I mean anything.”

  He led her toward the back of the yacht. There were two people making out.

  “Come on, there’s a lower deck. For some privacy.”

  Red alert.

  Red alert.

  Xavier, help!

  “Why can’t we stay on deck? It’s so lovely with all those views.”

  “You’ll get to see the views below deck. Don’t worry. There’s also an AC. You’ll be comfortable, trust me.”

  Every single pa
rt of her was screaming to get away, to run and hide. Instead, she followed him because that was what she was supposed to do. Xavier owed her big time. Not anywhere on her application did it say become bait for a possible kingpin and risk losing her life.

  Dixon led her below deck. The stairs were narrow, and the drink she held, she wondered if it was drugged.

  Wasn’t this what happened to naïve women? They were always drugged after being offered a drink from a stranger.

  “Is this your only yacht?” she asked, reminding herself not to call it a boat.

  He chuckled. “It would be like asking a billionaire if they only had one set of diamonds.”

  She laughed. “Of course. Silly of me.” Her skin crawled she was so uncomfortable, looking side to side and feeling twitchier by the second.

  “Your man has certainly kept you protected.”

  “It’s what he likes to do.” She pushed some hair out of her face.

  Stepping below deck, she felt the chill in the air.

  She felt too cold but didn’t say anything or dare complain.

  “Are you not going to take a sip of your drink?” he asked.

  “I’m not thirsty. This was a nice thought.”

  “You sure? One sip? For me?”

  She didn’t like being put on the spot. Her heart raced. Catching the sight of a fishing book, she gasped. “Ah, so you like to fish?”

  “Some, I’m not an expert.”

  Neither am I, buddy.

  “Do you bring other men’s fiancée’s down here often?” she asked, glancing at him over her shoulder.

  He was watching her, and she didn’t like how intense he was. Something felt off.

  “I have to say you’re a first, Alesha.”

  “I must be special then. I’m shocked. A handsome man like yourself being all alone.”

  “I’ve not found the right woman.” He kept looking at her, and licked his lips.

  Keep flirting. Keep doing whatever you have to do.

  “You’ll find her.”

  “What makes you think I’m not looking right at her?” he asked.

  This was bad. So very, very bad.

  “Dixon, you’re really sweet. Honestly, I’m flattered, but I’m engaged and I love him.” She didn’t like how easy it was to say she loved Xavier. He better be saving the entire freaking planet right now because she was trying not to panic.