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An Excerpt From: TARNISHED
Copyright © ELISE ADAMS, 2005.
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
“Cash only.” Wil slid the check back across the table
into the hands of the short, round man who’d tried to play him for a fool. Hadn’t
Rex learned by now that it was a mistake to mess with him? If not, he’d be
learning that hard lesson soon. One of these days Wil was going to lose his
patience with the man, and then Rex would be in a lot of trouble. “I
believe I made it quite clear over the phone. I don’t accept personal
checks, especially not for this amount. You’re a businessman. I’m sure you
understand it’s a risk that isn’t worth taking. And I also made it quite
clear I wanted all of the money. I don’t do payment plans. You agreed to my
terms, if I’m not mistaken.”
“You never told me the terms weren’t negotiable. In the
past we’ve never had trouble coming up with a decent compromise.”
“That was the past. Things are different now.”
Bass-heavy music pounded through the dark-paneled room,
the clink of glasses and endless chatter of the bar customers adding to the
din. The stale stench of beer and hard liquor permeated the smoke-filled
air. It overloaded his senses, made his stomach churn. It was enough to
make him want to rip his hair out. How the others could stand it was beyond
him.
His gaze scanned the room, an old habit that was hard to
break after spending quite a few years as a police detective. Another thing
he’d decided to leave in the past. The dim track lighting would make it
difficult for a human to see very far in front of them. Luckily Wil didn’t
have that problem.
He’d chosen a small booth near the back, a seat that
gave him a clear view of most of the room. It served two purposes that
night. The first, to make sure no one would be able to sneak up on him. He
wouldn’t put it past Rex to send one of his goons after him when the man
couldn’t come up with the money. And second, it put the bar in his direct
line of sight. He had a few reasons for wanting to keep his eyes on that
area.
His gaze fell on the nearly-naked woman dancing on the
bar a few dozen feet away. His mouth watered at the sight of her dark
thighs and the generous swell of her breasts, completely exposed to him—and
every other patron. But she wasn’t looking at anyone else. She was shooting
glances in his direction, giving him secretive smiles. He’d
love nothing more than to take her up on her unspoken offer. A night of
wild, rough sex. Exactly what he needed. No attachments, no emotions,
because he didn’t do either one. But first he had a fee to collect, and a
job to do that was so much more important than that.
Now if Rex would just hurry up and produce the cash he’d
promised, they could both move on with their lives. Wil had been too long
without a woman, and the thought of sinking his teeth into the cocoa skin
of the dancer was driving him to distraction. Fresh night air would do his
foggy mind wonders, but he didn’t dare leave. Not yet. Not without Ellie’s
little sister.
His gaze left the woman on the bar for a brief second to
spare a glance at the woman standing behind it. One of the five bartenders
Rex kept on his staff. With the exception of the bouncers, a staff
comprised entirely of women.
Rebecca Louise Holmes—Becca. Age twenty-one.
Five-foot-ten, a hundred and thirty pounds. He knew everything about her,
from her shoe size to her blood type—the latter of which he found
infinitely more interesting. Ellie had provided him with all the
information he’d needed to find her, and after an extensive search, he had.
In Pennsylvania, of all
places. In the mid-sized town of Ardon,
home to about ten thousand people and at least ten times more trees. Not a
place he’d want to stay in for any length of time. He preferred the
anonymity of a larger city, where people didn’t know their neighbors across
the hall, and they didn’t care.
Seeing
Becca had been what caught his attention when he’d first walked into the
bar a week ago. She’d been standing in a darkened corner of the room, her
body clad in black leather pants and a tight white tank top. She was
braless, her dusky areolas clearly visible through the thin material. She
looked much the same tonight, though the tank top was red, made of some
shiny, stretchy material he’d love to rip from her body. He had yet to see
her legs, to see if those fantasy-inspiring pants had made a second appearance.
She glanced over at him and his mouth went dry.
A mass
of wild, glossy black curls fell to just past her breasts. Skin so fair and
delicate every thin blue vein was visible just below the surface. Big blue
eyes bore right into him with a strange, cold interest and full lips tipped
up in a knowing smile as her gaze raked his body. He had to remind himself
to breathe. He’d met her kind before. Indulged in more than a few women
like her.
A
woman who knew what she wanted, and wasn’t afraid to take it. She could
take him any day. His cock hardened at the thought, pressed tight
against the zipper of his jeans. Becca Holmes was every vampire’s wet dream,
and it hit him like a punch in the gut. Ellie should have warned him that
her sister was so damned sexy. And dangerous. There was something about her
that warned him to stay away. Some intangible instinct that told him she’d
only bring him a world of trouble. Good thing he’d never been one to play
by the rules.
He
shook his head. He’d have to play it straight this one time. As far as he
was concerned, any other single woman in the bar was fair game. But not
Becca. Ellie was worried about her little sister being able to take care of
herself? She had no reason to be. Everything about this woman screamed independent.
To the extreme. But he’d promised Ellie he would check up on her sister,
make sure she was okay.
She
wasn’t. She was in over her head, whether she knew it yet or not. Around
this place, a woman’s independence only lasted so long. Working for Rex
ultimately led to any woman’s downfall. He wasn’t a typical employer. He
hired women only, and not just as waitresses and bartenders. A twisted
cult, his own personal harem of brainwashed women to dote on him. Wil had
suspected something was wrong in the past when he’d done business with Rex,
so this time he’d done his research. His contacts had explained the
situation to Wil in very plain terms. It made him sick.
And
Ellie’s sister was right in the middle of it. It wouldn’t be long before Rex
had his hooks in Becca like he had with most of his other employees. He
added them to his…collection, and once they were in he rarely let them go.
Wil had to get Becca out before it was too late. From the looks of things,
she wasn’t going to make it easy.
Rex cleared his throat, drawing Wil’s attention back to
the matter at hand. “I might have been able to get cash for you, if you
hadn’t demanded it a night early. You didn’t give me until the deadline
we’d agreed to.”
Wil’s smile widened, but he didn’t allow any
friendliness to seep into the expression. Rex didn’t deserve pleasantries,
and he didn’t deserve lenience. Once Becca was in a safe place, the whole
operation would be shut down. One way or another, Wil would see to it
personally.
“I value the element of surprise. Nice place you’ve got
here, Rex. It must bring in a load of money every night.”
Money that Wil intended to take a chunk of before he
left. He only worked free for friends—which was a policy he might have to
change soon. Working for a friend was what had brought him to Pennsylvania
to begin with. Most of the people who’d met him would swear he didn’t have
a conscience at all, but somewhere over the years he’d developed one. It
was an annoyance at best, one he couldn’t seem to rid himself of no matter
how hard he tried.
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