“We need to talk,” Ian interrupted him. “Outside. Excuse us a minute, Piper.” Ian turned and went out the back door fully expecting his partner to follow him.
“Before you say a word,” Brody said as soon as they were out of earshot of the cabin, “I won’t even consider it.”
“Think with your big head for one minute instead of your little head,” Ian stated calmly. “This set up, at the casino, is going to be a slap in the face if Sandoval is alive and gets wind of it. If we manage to finagle an invite to that party, and I don’t think it’ll be that difficult considering our status as ex-employees of the man he’s trying to take out, that’ll just add insult onto insult, another irritant to goad Sandoval into facing his nemesis.”
“I get that. What’s your point?”
“Sandoval’s smart enough to know all that just as we do, which just might keep him in hiding until he finds another way out of the mess he’s got himself into. He’s still got two years before he risks being declared dead and losing the casino completely, and we both reme
mber what that place means to him. If he senses a trap, he won’t risk it. He has time, and until then the Empire is still his and you can bet your ass he has someone feeding him info from that place. If we show up with Piper, he’ll hear and her presence might be enough to draw him out.”
Everything Ian said was true, but Brody couldn’t bring himself to use her against Charles, and that’s what it would amount to. “I’m not using her to bring down the only person she’s considered family since losing her mother. Besides, if he is alive, letting her suffer thinking he was dead all these years isn’t the sign of a man who would care whether she was there or not.”
“He also went out of his way for fourteen years to see she had an excellent education and, just so she wouldn’t feel abandoned, he made that trip overseas monthly. I think the man cares more than even he knows.”
Ian could be right. Brody had seen a change in Charles’s attitude when he had discovered Pasquino was keeping tabs on him. He suspected that was when Charles realized just how deep he was in with the drug lord and the potential consequences of trying to get out.
“She still has blinders on where Sandoval is concerned,” Ian said when Brody didn’t reply right away. “She won’t believe he’s alive without seeing him for herself. Given her actions this past week, do you really think she’s going to stay here when we leave?”
“I’ll lock her ass up if I have to,” he growled irrationally.
Ian rolled his eyes dramatically but a grin split his lips. “You’ve gone and fallen for her, haven’t you? You’re letting your feelings get wrapped up with someone involved in a case, and I don’t mean the physical feeling of her tight, wet pussy wrapped around your cock. Save it,” he said, raising his palm to stop the denial he saw forming. “We don’t have any legal grounds to hold her and you know it.”
Brody did know that just as he knew Ian was right about his feelings letting him get tangled up with doing what he knew he should do. “I’m still going to try to reason with her. If she doesn’t give, I’ll have no choice but to keep her close, and you know what that’ll mean if we go to that party.”
Both Ian and Brody knew and that was their only misgiving about bringing Piper along. Carlos had passed along to them Pasquino’s penchant for prostitutes and kinky sex, he had been to several parties held at Pasquino’s private home and it had been something Pasquino and Sandoval had in common. If Piper went with them to Atlantic City, she’d have to attend the party with them and she’d be expected to play the part of a paid escort, one that would allow them liberties in public.
Chapter Thirteen
Brody didn’t trust the sunny smile Piper sent them when they entered the kitchen, but something smelled so good, he shoved his misgivings aside in favor of food. “What’re you fixing, darlin’?” he asked her as he poured another cup of coffee.
“Waffles, from scratch, and a warm strawberry glaze to pour over the fresh strawberries you can put on top.” Piper set a plate in front of each of them as they took a seat at the counter, each piled with three large waffles.
“No meat?” Ian complained even as he was reaching for the big bowl of sliced strawberries, the golden brown waffles looking and smelling too good to turn down.
“No, no meat, but tonight is chicken fried steak night at the diner, so you can always get your artery clogging fix later.”
Piper was trying not to show how anxious she was to hear what they decided about letting her accompany them to the Empire. What she had threatened earlier still held true, she could and would travel back to Atlantic City without them, but she remembered how difficult it had been to learn anything about Charles when she had gone there five years ago, how no one had believed their relationship or would, for whatever reason, direct her to him. It would be so much easier, and faster, if she went with them and their undercover roles paved the way for her. She refused to believe Charles had simply abandoned her all this time, but maybe she could finally discover what really happened to him and why. To that end, she thought she’d have better luck convincing them to take her by appearing amendable instead of demanding.
“She’s being too nice,” Ian said to Brody.
“I know. Scary, isn’t it?” Brody smiled at Piper across the counter as he took a large bite of his waffle.
Piper frowned at them, not liking how they saw through her so easily. “Fine. I won’t be nice. Am I going with you or on my own?” She really, really didn’t want to go there alone. She knew it would be a wasted trip unless she had their clout backing her to get information on Charles. She had convinced herself and come to terms with believing the man she loved so much was dead up until a week ago. Deep down, she was angry that their presence in her home after not hearing anything from Brody since she fled Atlantic City had not only disrupted her life, but had made her doubt herself, and Charles. Instinctively she knew she wouldn’t be able to put the matter to rest and resume her life like normal if she didn’t know for certain.
She had the most expressive eyes and Brody could read her like a book through them. Her stance and tone was all bravado, but those Irish green eyes were filled with self-doubt and anxiety. He’d much rather see them smiling, her mouth turned up in a sassy grin as she teased him. Brody knew if he could ever convince her to give a real relationship a try after this was all over, she’d have him wrapped around her little finger in no time, especially if he managed to end the threat those missing days still held over her.
“You have no idea what this man is capable of, Piper. He’s been neck deep in the drug trade since he was a teenager, working his way up the chain ruthlessly. He’s not a man you want to be anywhere near.” The thought of her in that casino at the same time as Pasquino sent chills up his spine. Just another damn reason to keep her close.
“But I’d be safe with you, wouldn’t I?” she asked reasonably, confident they would be overly zealous in watching out for her.
“Of course,” Ian answered. “And we’ll be in public for most of the time, but that’s not a guarantee he won’t try to pull something, especially if he knows of your connection to Charles.”
“We came here suspecting Pasquino was behind your disappearance, meaning he knows about you, and we haven’t ruled him out yet. Your safe return…” At her raised brow, Brody amended, “Your relatively safe return, unharmed doesn’t make sense. If he had you taken to lure Charles here, I would think he would’ve just ordered you killed when we showed up instead. We’re pretty sure Pasquino knows we were employed as Charles’s bodyguards and that our cover has stayed in tack, so why release you into our care, almost ensuring they couldn’t get to you again?”
“As you can see, Piper, when it comes to you and your connection to Charles, we simply don’t know what’s going on. Taking you with us should help draw Charles out of hiding, especially if he knows you’re in close proximity of the man who’s had a contract on him for five years, but you have to be aware of the risks Pasquino poses,” Ian added as he scooped up the last bite of his breakfast and rose to take his plate to the sink. Coming back to her, he dropped a kiss on her forehead before heading back outside. “I’ll check flights for tomorrow morning.”
Piper waited for the back door to shut before turning back to Brody. “You’ll just have to stick to me like glue, you know, like you’ve been doing all week.”