Kent laughed, a sound that contained no humor. “I’m going to tell it to you straight, Stark, as one businessman to another. I’m looking for a man, and I think you can help me find him. I brought along my Spanish-speaking compatriots because the last thing I want to do is fail at this. Right now, they think this is just a shakedown. I’ve been trying very hard to solve a problem for my bosses. I want to move up. They can be very generous when they’re pleased.”
“And when they’re not?” Seth asked.
“Oh, well, that doesn’t tend to go well for anyone. Like I said, I’m doing this on the down low because I would rather like to beat the man they actually hired for the job. He doesn’t have my brains. He’s still trying to figure out where Bishop is. Bishop is gone. We won’t find him on our own. But I have a suspicion that you know. So you’re going to be a very good boy and tell me that my hunch is correct, and I can prove to everyone that I’m the right man for the job.”
“I’m not feeling particularly chatty today.” Seth struggled a little against his bonds.
Kent shrugged as though he’d expected that. “There’s only one way this goes down. You’re going to die. I can’t leave behind a bunch of witnesses. This is a bit of a covert mission, and I don’t want it getting back to the big boss if I fail, so your death is absolutely going to happen. Now, it can happen quick and painless or my friends there will deeply enjoy dragging it out along with your intestines. They’re very good at it.”
At least he was honest. Georgia’s eyes struck on the bar and something that shouldn’t be there. Logan’s hat. Her heart rate tripled and it had been pounding hard before. Logan’s khaki Stetson was right there along with the keys to his county-issued vehicle. Logan was here somewhere. He’d come home after their encounter. Was he hidden? Had he gone for help?
She knew one thing. He wouldn’t leave them behind. If he was hiding, then he was waiting for the right time to pounce. He would come for her. He’d promised her that a long time ago when she’d been taken by another douchebag. I’ll always come for you, Georgia. She’d sobbed in his arms and felt safer than she’d ever felt before.
So she had to stay alive because Logan would be here. And she had to make sure Seth was alive, too. She had to do whatever it took and that meant getting the attention right back to her. If she didn’t, all the attention would be on Seth and it would be all violence. At least when it was on her, it was a slight bit softer. Gross, yes, but not all knifey and stuff.
“You don’t really have to kill me.” She said it in that oh-so-breathy way that let a guy know she was soft and pliable and so very dumb. Guys, idiot, nasty assholes like the one in front of her, tended to really like dumb.
Kent turned, his eyes a little startled. “Really? You weren’t so keen on me killing the other one.”
“He was my brother. I love my family.” He’d called the cartel a family business. It was a gamble. “A brother is different from a guy I’ve been banging and you know it. You let him live.” Hopefully.
Kent’s eyes flared, and she knew she had him. “Now that is a surprise, sweetheart. I thought you were going to be trouble. I’ll be honest, the whole way over here I was thinking what a shame it would be to have to kill someone so sexy. Isn’t this your little boyfriend?”
She shrugged. He was so much more than a boyfriend. He was half her soul. She’d figured out this afternoon that her soul wasn’t her own. It belonged to Seth and Logan. She belonged to them. “I was with him because he’s rich. You’re rich, aren’t you? I can see very plainly that you’re powerful. Power can be very attractive to a girl.” She’d seen him staring at her, his eyes going right to her breasts. When he’d handed her up into the car, his hands had lingered on her hips for just a moment too long.
Kent’s eyes narrowed. “You’re living with him. Do you think I haven’t done my homework? I checked you both out. She’s been living in your condo for months.”
“Wouldn’t you have invited her in? Look at her, man,” Seth said. “She’s not exactly the best assistant. She’s good for one thing. And I’ve had that for months and months.”
Yes, Seth was damn good, too. Georgia huffed and rolled her eyes. “I was his secretary. He’s handsome and rich. A girl’s got to eat, you know.”
Kent frowned her way. “You didn’t seem so happy with me before.”
She hated him and, at the time, she hadn’t known she would need to flirt with her horrific kidnapper and potential rapist. “But you were kind. You didn’t kill my brother when you so obviously could have.”
“I didn’t have to. I believe in a measure of mercy.” He stared down at her.
She giggled like a schoolgirl, looking at his erection. She really wanted to throw up, but that wouldn’t further her cause. “I do, too.”
Kent put a hand on Seth’s shoulder. “You got a good one there, buddy. You chose well. Don’t blame yourself. You’re young. You think with your dick, so it’s no wonder you picked a whore. That’s what happens when you trust a chick, especially one with great tits and a heart-shaped ass. She’ll throw you over for the first guy who comes along and chooses not to put a bullet through her brother’s heart.”
“Georgia, what are you doing?” Seth sold it. And she knew he was acting because she’d seen him do it before. Seth was a master. A deep peace settled in her despite the fact that they could still die. It was the peace that came from having a great partner.
She shrugged, hoping her eyes were properly blank. “Sorry, lover. I’m going to go with the best bet.”
A long laugh scattered through the room as Kent winked her way. “I thought I’d put a gun to her head and threaten to shoot the bitch if you didn’t give up Bishop, but I think that might be doing you a favor now. Maybe she can just blow me while I have you tortured. A blow job makes everything so much more pleasant, don’t you think?”
Georgia smiled because she would bite his dick off the first chance she got and then they would see who had the upper hand.
“I was in love with her,” Seth said, his voice bitter.
A little bit of worry ran through her. God, he was either really good or not lying at all. What was his game? Had he caught on to hers? She would rather suffer through seriously icky sexual stuff than have Seth’s inner parts get used as playthings. She could survive the ick. She couldn’t survive watching him die. Her stomach rolled at the thought of any of these men touching her, but she would do it with a big smile on her face if it bought Logan the time he needed.
Kent got closer to her. “I’m not kidding. I would really enjoy watching his torture while you service me. I don’t actually like to get my hands dirty. I’ve moved past that. It’s like asking an executive to pass out the mail. But I don’t mind getting my dick a little filthy. Not for a woman who looks like she’d be worthwhile.”
And then she would require some serious bath time in which both of her men took very special care of her. Because they wouldn’t leave just because she’d played a part and pretended to want the gross criminal guy. Oh, she was going to get her ass smacked hard. She might become deeply acquainted with floggers and whips and that spanking bench thing, but then they would kiss her and love her and make her forget because she’d just figured out that she could make it through anything now.
She walked up as boldly as she could and cocked a hip at Kent whose eyes went right to her chest. “I’m game. You said you would be honest, well, I will, too. I’m a practical girl. I’ll go with the guy who offers me the best deal.”
No lying there. The best deal was the one Seth and Logan offered her. Pure, no-holds-barred, stick-together-even-when-the-going-went-to-complete-shit love. They offered her nothing less than a life where things could go wrong and they could fight and make each other crazy and still know that they would get in bed at the end of the day and turn to each other because they were in it together. They were the end game. No one else.