Dangerous Surrender Read online

  “Yeah, Hugh would have,” Escobar murmured from the front. He cleared his throat, almost nervously as he glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Are you going to stay with the company now that he’s gone?” he asked, the blunt question not exactly a surprise. He’d dropped hints the past couple days, clearly curious what her plan was.

  It was subtle, but she felt Roman tense next to her. She wished she had an answer. “I don’t know.” Her voice sounded raspy and tired. The thought of going back to work for Powers Group without Hugh there was beyond depressing. “You?”

  To her surprise, he shook his head. “I don’t know either. The new CEO…” He shrugged, his face twisting into a momentary state of disgust before returning to its normal impassiveness.

  The new guy was okay but the truth was, he wasn’t Hugh. No one could replace him, not in the sense that mattered for Taylor. Because she’d been more loyal to the man than the company.

  They drove in silence back to the condo, but the whole time stress built inside her. She hated being in this weird suspended state where she couldn’t return to her apartment and needed guards in case Neal made a move against her.

  It was like the man had basically disappeared off the grid. Even Vadim, who’d since returned to Vegas, was implementing all of his magic and running Neal’s face through all his facial recognition software programs and he was coming up empty too.

  When Escobar’s phone rang, the soft chime seemed overly loud in the interior of the SUV, and she nearly jumped.

  “Yeah,” he answered, his tone clipped. “Hold on. I’m putting you on speaker.” Without seeming to wait for a response, he connected to the vehicle’s blue tooth system. “We can all hear you.”

  Taylor and Roman both straightened when Detective Durnin’s brusque voice came over the line. “Got good news for you guys. Taylor, you sitting down?”

  “Yes.” The only good news she could imagine right now was Neal being caught and prosecuted for his crimes. Her heart beat an out of control thump in her chest as she waited for him to speak again.

  “Found Lynch’s body late last night. Would have called sooner but I knew you’d be at the funeral.” His voice softened the slightest bit.

  “Body?” Roman asked, voicing what Taylor was thinking.

  “Yeah and it’s not pretty. From our investigation we know he owed some serious debts to the Russian mob. Off the record, I think he couldn’t pay so they killed him.”

  Taylor shot Roman a glance but didn’t say anything. They’d never told the police about their involvement in making sure the Russians got the money they were owed.

  “Why do you think it’s the Russians?” Roman asked.

  There was a long pause, probably because the man was debating whether he should tell them or not. It was an ongoing investigation and while Taylor knew they couldn’t be suspects because they’d been on virtual lockdown the last three days—and could all prove their whereabouts for pretty much every second of the last few days—he probably shouldn’t tell them. When he spoke again, however, she guessed he felt bad about how everything had gone down.

  “Hands, feet and another…important body part were missing. Even the face was too fuc—uh, messed up to positively identify. The only way we know it’s him is because of his dental records. He had multiple fake IDs on him too, like he might have been planning to leave the country.”

  Taylor’s stomach twisted at the thought of the torture he must have endured. And a dark part of her she hadn’t realized existed inside her, was glad he’d suffered.

  Roman’s expression was grim. “You’re sure it’s him?”

  “We’re still going to check his DNA because of the high profile nature of the case, but…yeah. Barring anything unforeseen, I think we’ve got him.”

  Escobar, Roman and the detective talked for a couple more minutes but Taylor basically tuned it out. Relief and sadness warred inside her, both winning. Neal Lynch was dead and no longer a problem. And from the sound of it, he’d gotten what he deserved. But Hugh was still gone too and that just killed her.

  “You can finally go home,” Roman murmured as Escobar ended the call. He kissed the top of her head as she turned into him, cuddling against his strong body.

  “I thought I’d feel more relief. Which I do. I’m glad this nightmare is finally over, it’s just…”

  “Your friend’s still gone. I get it,” he said quietly.

  Yes, he did. Because he got her. Sighing, she closed her eyes. It was time for her to go home and move on from this madness.

  * * *

  Taylor was quiet as they headed up the elevator to her place, leaning back against the wall, biting on her bottom lip. She still wore the simple black dress from the funeral this morning. They’d gone back to Wyatt’s condo after the call from Durnin, but Escobar and Roman’s brother, who was still in town, had offered to bring most of Taylor’s stuff over.

  For that, Roman was grateful. Taylor’s life had been basically put on hold and right now she needed to be somewhere familiar.

  “They won’t be too far behind us,” he said quietly, referring to Escobar and Logan, mainly just to talk. He, who never made small talk. But he wanted to hear her voice, to convince himself she was okay. Today had been understandably hard on her and he just hated seeing her with puffy, red-rimmed eyes and knowing there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop her pain.

  Ease it a little, yeah, but not stop it. He’d lost enough friends overseas so he knew how hard it was to lose someone to violence. Hell, to lose someone period was difficult. And he had a feeling that things were finally starting to hit her, the reality of everything settling in.

  “Yeah,” she murmured, her arms crossed over her chest.

  As they reached her floor, he stepped out with her, then pulled her close, turning her so that she was facing him. No one was in the hallway so he wasn’t worried about lack of privacy. “I know you’ve got a lot to deal with right now but I’d like it if you came to Vegas for a week or two. You don’t have to stay with me—but I want you to—and I think it’d be good for you to get some distance. Escobar says you’re still technically not supposed to be working and I understand you want to stay busy, but it might not hurt to have some real downtime. To decompress. You witnessed violence against someone you loved. It’s going to take time to heal.” There was a hell of a lot more he wanted to say, but now wasn’t the time. He didn’t want to freaking preach at her and it was taking all his control to rein in his need to make decisions for her—because he knew that would never work with a woman like Taylor.

  She blinked up at him, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips even though her eyes were so damn sad it killed him. “Thank you. I think I’m going to take you up on that offer.”

  “Really?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised. Unless you didn’t, um, I mean, I don’t have to stay with you. I can get a hotel room or stay with Vadim and Angel.” She started to pull back but he held tight to her hips.

  “I just thought I’d have to convince you more.”

  She shook her head and swiped at her wet eyes. “No. I need to get away from here for a bit. After today I feel so damn lost. It’s hard to explain, I just… I can’t face the thought of going back to Powers Group ever again. Maybe that’s the grief talking and in a couple weeks I’ll feel differently but I don’t think so.”

  Yeah, he didn’t think so either. The most selfish part of him hoped she’d take Wyatt up on his job offer. The man hadn’t actually made it yet, but it was coming. He’d asked Roman if he thought Taylor would be receptive to working for him and Roman had been honest; he had no idea. But when Wyatt wanted something, he tended to go for it full throttle. Which was good because Roman wasn’t letting Taylor go and if they worked in the same city, he’d get to see her a hell of a lot more than doing the long distance thing.

  As they walked down the hall, Taylor linked her arm through his. “Something’s been bothering me. Why would the Russians kill Neal after they�
�d gotten what they wanted?”

  Roman had thought the same thing but they had those damn dental records. “It’s possible they didn’t want any ties to him if he got arrested. Maybe he had information on them. But…they would have just killed him sooner if that was the case. Hell, maybe he had more enemies than just the Russians.” Still… He frowned as she pulled her key from her purse. “Can I use your phone?” Alexei had originally called Taylor from an unknown number but had later given her one so she could reach him when she was working on transferring the boat title.

  “Of course.” She fished out her phone and handed it to him.

  He scrolled to Alexie’s number. The man answered on the first ring. “Ms. Arenas, I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”

  Roman’s jaw tightened. He didn’t like the other man for a myriad of reasons, but the smooth tone he was trying to use with Taylor raked against his senses. “It’s Roman. We just got a call from the local PD that a mutual acquaintance is dead.”

  “Is there a question in there?” The man’s voice was slightly mocking.

  “Is Taylor safe?” Because if there was even a chance Lynch was still out there, Roman was packing her up and they were heading back to Vegas now.

  A short pause. “I have no knowledge of anyone’s death so if your guy is dead, it wasn’t us.”

  “Thanks,” he said before quickly hanging up. He didn’t care about social niceties at the moment.

  Roman placed a hand on Taylor’s arm as she slid her key into the lock and twisted it. They’d called off the security watching her place after the news of Lynch’s death. But Roman didn’t like the tingling in his gut that told him something was off.

  “What is it?” Her brow furrowed as she looked at him.

  “I don’t know. Maybe nothing.” Out of habit he glanced down the hall again, scanning for any potential danger, and pulled out his weapon. He handed the cell phone to her. “Move back,” he whispered, wanting her away from the door.

  When she took two steps away he took her arm and guided her out of the way a few doors down. He returned to her door and twisted the key in the lock to open it. Pressing his back against the wall, he reached over and twisted the handle and pushed the door open.

  Gunfire immediately erupted, a hail of bullets slamming into the wall across from the door.

  “Run!” he shouted, moving backward in Taylor’s direction, but not turning around. He kept his weapon up, ready if the shooter exited the apartment.

  His hand was steady as he moved, his actions precise. He could hear Taylor on the phone as she ran for the stairwell, calling the police, her voice shaky but her words coming through clearly.

  The shooting had stopped, silence descending. “Move to the stairs,” he ordered quietly. He hadn’t turned enough to see her but he sensed her close behind him. She wasn’t moving fast enough, damn it. He wanted her to fucking run.

  “I’m right behind you, the police are on their way.” He could hear her moving but he wasn’t taking his eyes or weapon off her door even as they hurried down the hall. He didn’t relish the thought of opening fire in a residential building but if the shooter revealed himself—Shit!

  Lynch peeked his head out the door, his weapon raised in one hand.

  Roman fired two shots in quick succession, two hits to the head. Taylor gasped behind him and he was vaguely aware of a neighbor’s door opening then quickly slamming shut. He held up a hand for her to stay behind him. “Get down to the lobby using the stairs. I need to clear your place. Wait for the police.” He didn’t wait to see if she listened, needing to eliminate any other potential threat.

  Ignoring the blood splatter and mess of Lynch’s head as he passed the fallen body, Roman kicked the man’s weapon away and silently swept into Taylor’s place. The place was eerily quiet and thankfully it was also empty.

  And he didn’t feel an ounce of regret for killing Lynch. The man was a murderous bastard who, if he’d been smart, would have fled the country. But he’d thought he could come after Taylor and get away with it. Roman wasn’t sure how the man had faked his dental records and he didn’t much care.

  The only thing that mattered was getting to Taylor and making sure she was truly safe. And he didn’t plan on letting her go.

  Chapter 17

  Three months later

  Taylor grinned at the feel of Roman’s big hand sliding up her bare hip and over her stomach before grasping one of her breasts. “Just stay in bed,” he murmured sleepily.

  “Mm, I wish I could.” Man, did she ever. “I’ve got to get showered and dressed though.”

  “You should move in with me.” The statement made her freeze, then turn completely over to face him. It was early morning and streams of golden sunlight peeked through the wooden blinds of his bedroom window, bathing Roman’s handsome face. And he looked wide awake, not sleepy as she’d thought. He watched her carefully, his beautiful mismatched eyes steady and intent.

  Her heart caught in her throat. “Are you serious?”

  “Yep.” No hesitation. “Or I’ll move to California. I love you, Taylor, and I can do long distance, but I don’t want to. I want to share a home with you, to wake up to your face every damn morning.”

  A grin pulled at her lips as she slid her arm around him and pulled him close. “You travel for work so you wouldn’t see me every morning.”

  He tweaked her nose, his expression lightening. “You know what I mean.”

  She was silent for a moment, digesting what he’d asked because it was exactly what she’d been hoping to hear from him. The last few months had been a whirlwind. She’d taken off a couple weeks after Neal had been killed and spent them with Roman in Vegas. Hugh had left her a sizeable monetary gift and some pricey real estate in his will so if she didn’t want to work for a long while, she wouldn’t have to. Not that she’d ever stop working. It would feel too weird to not have a purpose.

  It was still hard to believe the lengths Neal had gone to in order to fake his own death. The man could have just disappeared but no, he’d needed to come after her. And he’d killed another innocent man in the process. When he’d appeared at her place, trying to kill her and Roman, she’d later wondered if he’d somehow made a cast of his teeth or something for investigators to find. She just hadn’t been able to figure out how he’d faked his dental records.

  It turned out he’d done something much easier than her imagination concocted. He’d switched his records with another man of similar build and age who was his dentist’s patient. So when that man ended up tortured and dead, the records matched Neal’s information. Since all that stuff was computerized now too he’d had to hire someone to help him hack into the dentist’s system. The hacker was now in jail for that and a bunch of other fraud crimes that had nothing to do with Neal. Taylor was just glad her nightmare was truly over.

  Looking at Roman, she knew the love she felt for him was visible in her eyes as she held him tight. “Well, I wasn’t going to tell you until it was a done deal but it turns out I’m not heading to the airport this morning.”

  His eyes narrowed a fraction but he didn’t respond.

  “I have a meeting with Mr. Christiansen to iron out some details but he’s offered me a job and barring any weird requests, I’m going to take it.”

  “I knew it,” he muttered before leaning forward and brushing his lips over hers. He pulled back and shook his head. “The man has been acting strange lately, asking how our relationship is going.”

  She laughed lightly. “I wanted to surprise you after the final interview but I’ll be moving here soon. I’ve already found someone to take over my lease and finished training my new replacement.” She’d put in her notice a month ago, something Roman already knew. No matter what job path she took, she’d known she wasn’t going back to Powers Group.

  “Now you don’t have to search for a place to live,” he murmured, kissing her again, this time deeper and hungrier. He rolled on top of her, pinning her to the mattress.
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  She arched against his big, muscular body, wrapping her legs around him. It would be so easy to let him sink inside her, but… She tore her head back from his. “I can’t be late to the interview.”

  Sighing, he laid his forehead against hers. “Fine. I’ll drive you and we can have breakfast at the hotel afterward.”

  “Sounds good to me.” She raked her fingers down his back and dug her fingers into his butt when he rolled his hips against hers, his erection a hot, solid length against her abdomen. “Maybe we have time for a quickie in the shower,” she whispered. Before she’d finished the sentence, he’d shoved the covers off and was hauling her out of bed, striding for his bathroom.

  Oh yeah, they’d make good use of their shower time. “I love you, Roman,” she managed to get out before he pushed her up against the tiled wall of the shower.

  Moaning into his mouth, she was vaguely aware of him reaching out and starting the shower before a rush of water cascaded over them. She couldn’t count how many mornings they’d started out like this and she couldn’t wait for countless more. Because she was in this for the long haul and she knew Roman was too—even before his brother accidentally mentioned something about an engagement ring a week ago.

  The last few months had shown her that what she and Roman had was real. They’d started out under intense circumstances and yes, the attraction between them was red-hot, but more than that she liked and respected him. He’d been there for her while she dealt with her grief and everything else, had stood beside her and killed Neal to protect her.

  Roman was it for her and she couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life peeling back all the layers of this amazing man. With her life back and no more threats she had the brightest sense of freedom and couldn’t wait to experience everything with Roman.

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