Page 49 of Fatal Attraction

“Our masks are in the backseat.”

I twisted around to grab them, leaving Spike’s in my lap as I slipped mine on. Spike activated the blinker and then carefully merged into the correct lane. The sanctum was a quarter mile ahead on the right.

“Charlotte’s already there.”

“Good. Hopefully so is the rest of the team.”

Felix warned us business had been shitty thanks to Amber Strickland’s husband, but I frankly couldn’t believe my eyes when we pulled inside the parking lot and found over half of it empty. After doing a quick estimate in my head, there was right at three-dozen cars here. At least seven of them had to belong to the employees and that didn’t include mine, Charlotte, Carter, and Felix’s vehicles too. Nor the rest of our team, assuming they were here.

Fuck.

This was not a good sign.

“It’s still early,” Spike said as he parked beside Charlotte’s Altima, cutting the engine. “Business usually doesn’t pick up for another hour.” He fetched his mask from my lap and slid it on his face. “Come on. Let’s see what the hell we’re working with.”

Spike got out first, immediately pointing out Carter posted outside the front door in a borrowed SPD jacket, hands behind his back and face pinched in total concentration as he scrutinized our approach.

“It’s us,” I told him, watching as he expelled a hard breath, his large shoulders sagging in relief.

“Chief and Burgess got here less than five minutes ago, along with four of your coworkers. Charlotte is at the bar and Felix is giving the others a tour of the sanctum.”

“What about club members?”

“Ten. Some are couples, and the rest came in separately. I checked their IDs and membership cards. Aside from that, I haven’t picked up anything suspicious. It’s been deafly quiet out here.”

Spike nodded to that, as did I. “Alright, Carter. Thanks.”

“Yeah, man, no problem. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

I walked in first, briefly holding the door for Spike, and trudged straight for the combined bar and lounge, cracking a smile at Charlotte scrolling through her phone with one hand while nursing a full shot glass in the other. As if sensing us, she abruptly straightened her spine, and goddamnit if my heart didn’t flutter with anticipation when her mouth spread into that beautiful smile I loved so fucking much. After guiding the shot glass to her lips and gulping the liquor down, her luscious curls bouncing as she strenuously shook her head, she hopped to her feet and then ambled up to me first, pressing a tender kiss to my mouth. Spike scooped her up in his arms and as he kissed her deeply, the exceptional view of the black lace covering her gorgeous ass had my teeth reactively dragging against my bottom lip and my cock growing stiffer than a boulder.

My fucking God she was dangerously breathtaking.

And goddamn I couldn’t wait to remove those panties with my teeth and feast upon her like she was my last supper.

“How are you doing, baby?” I asked when they parted.

“I’m nervous,” she admitted, worrying her bottom lip. “I don’t know why, but I have this horrible feeling in my gut thathe knowsthis is a trap.”

“It doesn’t matter if he does,” Spike whispered as he reached up and tucked a pretty dark curl behind her left ear, caressing what he could of her cheek in his hand. She fell into his touch and breathed in deep, closing her eyes. “Even if he sneaks his way inside and spots the UC’s, he won’t get to you, Charlotte.”

“Maybe not tonight,” she uncomfortably grumbled, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “But what if he—”

“Listen to me.” I cupped her chin and guided her eyes to mine, tracing my thumb along her bottom lip. “The only way to get to you is through us. Carter, Chief, Cap, and the others are here to be our extra eyes while we do our thing in the Red Room. If he shows up tonight, then great, we’ll get the bastard. If not, then we’ll figure it out. Together.”

“I don’t want to lose you.” Tears filled her eyes as she glanced between us. “Either of you.”

“You won’t, baby,” Spike promised her. “Everything will be okay.”

She didn’t look convinced, but instead of retorting, she just bobbed her head and then gestured toward the bar. “Drink with me?”

“You two go ahead,” Spike said as he glanced around the lounge, undoubtedly hunting for Felix and our colleagues. “I’m gonna find the others and then work on getting shit set up in the Red Room.”

Twenty One

Unknown

Isat down on my couch with a beer in my hand, finally getting to relax after yet another brutal day at the office. My workload had doubled after Blaire’s funeral, rendering me incapable of peeking in at Charlotte, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I knew what I was getting myself into when I killed Blaire, so I couldn’t get cocky and gamble getting caught. I had to lie low. But now, since I was officially off work and had a little time to kill, I decided now would be a fine time to pull up Charlotte’s security feed and see what my little minx had been up today.

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