Tag: romantic suspense

Shocked blue eyes looked up at him.

If there hadn’t been so much confusion in her expression Tony might have doubted her, wondered if she was somehow mixed up in her brother’s mess.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Brandon was kicked out when he was sixteen because he was getting into drugs and spending his days drinking rather than going to work. He was gone before my parents died, and he’s never worked at the family business. Even though he was supposed to be the heir he was skipped and I’m the one who’s going to take over when my grandfather retires. Brandon has never even worked there so he can’t be the one embezzling money.”

Natasha sounded so certain and he hated to be the one to burst her bubble.

“He can and he is, firecracker.”

“But … I don’t understand,” she said helplessly, rubbing at her temples as though fighting a headache. “You said Brandon is running some operation, something illegal since you’re an undercover cop. What’s he doing?”

Although she asked the question it sounded like she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

She didn’t.

But the wheels in his head were already turning. Having the sister on board would help his investigation tremendously, she might be able to get more out of Brandon than he could ever hope to.

“Your brother is running an underground prostitution ring,” he informed her. “Using underage girls and trafficked women.”

Natasha’s blue eyes grew as round as saucers, and her mouth dropped open in horrified shock. “My brother? This can’t be happening! Why?”

That was a question he couldn’t answer. But he had one of his own he had to pose to her. “If you help me shut down his ring then maybe you can get the answer to that question.”

She looked up and said, “You.”

Natasha had been pretty sure it was the new guy Tony who had kidnapped her but actually seeing him standing in the doorway, and knowing he was the one who had done this to her, and to her family, was too much.

To think she’d actually had a crush on the man. He was the very definition of tall, dark, and handsome, the kind of body women dreamed about, and the cutest pair of dimples she’d ever seen.

“Why are you doing this?” she demanded, well tried to but she was still a little woozy from the drugs she’d been given. Her body did not tolerate medication well, so she wasn’t surprised she felt so bad.

“Why don’t you tell me that?” Tony said, lounging against the doorframe like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“So it is you,” she said, surprised by the disappointment she felt. She’d been attracted to Tony, if she hadn’t been so busy trying to figure out who was stealing money she might even have seen if he wanted to go on a date. Obviously she had terrible judge of character. “You’re the one stealing money from my grandfather’s company.”

Surprise flittered through his eyes and he straightened. All pretences of being laidback and relaxed vanished and he stalked towards her. “You better not lie to me, Natasha. Trust me it won’t go well for you if you do. Are you involved in?”

“Involved in what? Trying to figure out who’s embezzling money from the company I’m going to inherit when my grandfather steps down at the end of the year? Of course I am. As soon as I realised money was going missing I started looking into it.”

“Don’t think she’s in on it, T,” the other man said, appearing in the doorway behind Tony.

Rubbing at her temples in a vain attempt to get rid of the headache, she glared at both men. “In on what? I don’t understand why I’m here. You haven’t been at the company long enough to be there when the money first started going missing, so how are you involved?”

“I’m not,” Tony replied. “At least not in the way you think. I’m not stealing money from the company, but I was sent there to find proof of who was.”

“Find proof?” The drugs were making her brain a little slow at following what was going on.

“I’m an undercover cop, Natasha. I’m here to find proof of what your brother is doing so I can shut down his little operation.”

Her brother?

His operation?

What did any of that mean?

“Your firecracker is awake.”

The words had Tony looking up from the laptop he was using. Natasha had been out for longer than he thought she would be. Almost long enough that he had considered having to do something about it, since he was concerned she was having an adverse reaction to the sedatives.

“What do you want to do with her?”

What indeed, he pondered.

“She’s pretty hysterical. Want me to just get rid of her?”

“No,” he said, pushing away from the table. That much he knew for certain. “We need to know if she’s involved and if she is what she knows. Even if she’s not she might have intel we can use.”

“Want me to drug her up again, then? Deal with her later?”

“No. If she’s awake I’ll question her now.” Not what he wanted to be doing in the early hours of the morning when he had to be back at work in just a few short hours, but you had to do what you had to do.

Standing, he stretched his back, then headed for the spare bedroom where they’d stashed their prisoner. Natasha’s huge blue eyes landed on him the moment he stepped through the door, and the raw terror in her expression hit him like a punch to the gut.

Tony wanted to ease her mind, but just how much could he reveal?

Some days working undercover was a breeze other days, like today, it was a nightmare. One wrong move, one wrong word and this entire case could crumple around him leaving a lot of dangerous people free to continue with their twisted plans.

Natasha groaned and pressed her hands to her temples, willing away the pain tearing through her head.

Why did she feel so awful?

Wasn’t just her head, her stomach was queasy, and every inch of her body felt incredibly heavy.

What was wrong with her?

Searching her memory she tried to figure out the last thing she could remember. Had she been in an accident? Was she home sick? Had she been to work?

Memories floated through her mind. A sound at the office after hours. Hurrying home. Blood in her house. Running. Being caught by …

Waking she asked, “Who are you?” Okay so it came out more like a weak croak and she wasn’t even sure if the figure lurking in the doorway could hear her.

She could just make out his features despite the fact it was dark in the room, and she knew she had never seen him before. She could have sworn that … Tony, the new guy from work, had been there right before she passed out.

But that made zero sense.

Unless …

He was the one responsible for the missing money. The one she’d been looking for all these months, trying to find proof to show her grandfather and bring the cops in.

If Tony was the one stealing the money, and the one who had had house destroyed, and he’d kidnapped her, then she was at the mercy of a very dangerous man.

She fought like a wildcat, Tony would give her that.

Wasn’t going to do her any good though. The outcome would be the same. Whatever had just spooked Natasha Jenkins he needed to know about it.

“Stop fighting, firecracker,” he ordered as he lifted her feet off the ground.

“Who are you?” Natasha demanded, continuing to struggle in his grip. “You’re … the new guy.”

That sealed the deal. She knew who he was, leaving her here was not an option. Not when he was this close to getting what he wanted.

There was no way he was letting this woman ruin a year of hard work.

“Stop fighting me,” he ordered, harder this time. He didn’t have time for this, and he was irritated that everything he had worked so hard for might wind up being ruined because this woman got in the way.

Not happening.

When she still didn’t listen Tony tightened his hold on her, reaching into his pocket for a vial he had intended to use on someone else tonight.

“Should have listened, firecracker,” he whispered before jamming the syringe into her arm, and Natasha’s body immediately went limp.

Already they had spent too long out here, especially given Natasha’s hysterics when she came running out of her house. So as much as he would have loved to go inside and see what had freaked her out he’d have to pass.

If he didn’t get out of here now it might be too late. Scooping the unconscious woman into his arms, he carried her to his car, she was going to be mad, his little firecracker, when she found herself waking up in the back seat.

Oh well, couldn’t be helped.

Nothing was going to stop him from completing his goals. Not even a drop dead gorgeous woman.