Eight
Garrett held Bonnie until he was sure she was asleep. Either he hadn’t had sex for too long or that was spectacular. Reluctantly he admitted, yes, spectacular. They could enjoy each other for a while yet.
Slowly he slid out of her arms, and tenderly tucked her in and left her to sleep. He had to get away, otherwise he might have scared her. He wanted to punch something so badly he barely paused to shower and climb into sweatpants and a T-shirt before he strode right out of the apartment, taking the elevator down to the club gym. Nobody was there, which was just as well.
After half an hour at the punching bag, he felt safe enough to take a turn at the weights, then the treadmill. Then his thoughts calmed, and he could think properly again.
Garrett never lost it, never. But when he wanted to kill the man who’d attacked her. He’d caused her lasting damage, driven her into her shell for years. He had no doubt Bonnie’s sensible clothes and reticent attitude was a direct result of that one attempt. Today she’d blossomed and he refused to let her retreat again. He’d discover who did it. Garrett had a long reach, and he’d make sure that bastard suffered for what he did.
By the sound of it, her date had slipped her some kind of tranquillizer rather than a date rape drug. Maybe he’d just slipped her extra alcohol and relied on that to do the job. Whatever he’d done, it was way out of acceptable. Date rape drugs typically blanked the memory, so when the victim woke the next day she couldn’t remember what had happened. But Bonnie had remembered.
The only way he could react was to draw his control together, put everything away, pack it into a neat box and then take care of her. He didn’t trust himself not to fly over to the UK and kill the guy. Against all the training he’d ever had. Of course he would feel that way about any woman who’d had that done to her. But to this extent?
Yes, he decided, adding another five pounds to the bench press he was about to use. Then he froze. What the hell was he doing? He was using equipment that wasn’t safe for one person to operate alone. He hadn’t even noticed.
Backing off, he spun around and dug his fingers into his hair. This woman would be the death of him. He was beginning to wonder what he’d gotten himself into. He’d dropped one dangerous woman for another.
“Want me to spot you, boss?”
Murray had come in. Garrett smoothed over the worst of his emotions and turned to face his security chief. “No, I think I’ll run instead.”
Murray was no fool. He pounded the machine at Garrett’s side. After ten miles, he spoke. “Anything I can do?”
Not about what Bonnie had told him, but maybe something else. With relief Garrett realized rationality had returned. “Thanks for getting that dossier on Bonnie’s father. It meant a lot to him to see his face. All she had about him before was his name.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t have more news. The guy moved around a lot, but once I had his social security number, it was fairly straightforward.”
Garrett paced out another mile. “People like that don’t always use the right credentials.”
Murray snorted. “Sure. But he wasn’t hard to track.”
“Anything in particular?”
Murray stayed quiet for a while. “Maybe he had the same gift his daughter has. If it’s real, that is.” Murray had a healthy skepticism where psychic gifts were concerned. Unlike Garrett, he’d worked in the regular services, as a Marine. He hadn’t seen the shit Garrett had witnessed, the stuff that had convinced him these gifts were real.
“In a way, it doesn’t matter.” Garrett wasn’t even out of breath. Neither was Murray, for that matter. But he felt more in control. “If somebody believes she can do it, they might want to do away with her.”
“Yeah. So I need to find out who her dad might have told, or shared with.”
“Or who watched her on the tables. Where did she play before we caught her?”
“The Glitz and the Cuba Libre.”
Two of the bigger casinos on the Strip, both halfway down, close to the shabby hotel she’d been staying at. Fuck. Still, Murray had connections with all the big casinos. It was normal practice to share information about cheats and grifters, so Murray wouldn’t find it too hard to get more information.
“I’ll get the video footage.” Murray sighed. “I’ll put Paul Orford on to it. He’s good at scanning video, and reliable.”
Garrett trusted Murray to know his staff. “That sounds good. Tell Orford there’s a bonus in it for him.”
“Will do.” Another pause before Murray said, “What about Georgia G?”
“Yeah. When she found out I wasn’t going through with the deal, she behaved out of character. She claimed she was pregnant, but it wasn’t me.” He went through her behavior that day, when she’d behaved differently to the Georgia he knew, the calculating businesswoman he thought he knew. When he’d turned her down, she’d wept and screamed. After Bonnie had left, she hadn’t calmed down for an hour.
Of course she’d been afraid. If he’d accepted her invitation to sleep with her, he’d be stuck being the father of her child. She might even have sweet-talked him out of a paternity test, and left him believing he was the baby daddy. If she’d been honest with him, she might have stood a better chance. Garrett hated lies.
Garrett refused to get in between her and whoever had fathered the child, if there was a baby at all. He still doubted that, because why would she be so careless? Surely the media-savvy Georgia was too clever to get caught that way. The clinginess and the declarations of love he’d dismissed as a ploy. Georgia hadn’t tempted him for a minute. And as far as he knew, that went both ways. “If she’s really pregnant, she needs to deal with it. But would she have bought a hitman?”
He didn’t need Murray to confirm his opinion. Of course she would. Georgia was a go-getter. If she couldn’t find a way to get what she wanted, she’d find another way in. He’d have to leave her on the suspect list.
“So we’re guarding Bonnie?”
“Yep. She’s not to leave the apartment without somebody with her. If she get stir-crazy, let her out, but make sure she doesn’t go anywhere alone.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
Bonnie? She was an entirely different prospect. She needed him, but pretended not to. She’d accepted his cold-blooded proposal, but he sensed an air of vulnerability deep inside her.
Instinctively he knew if he introduced her to the rest of his family, his siblings would take her to their hearts. That wasn’t going to happen if he could help it.
Since he’d spent the last ten years on his own, only meeting his family when he couldn’t avoid it, it shouldn’t be too difficult to keep her away from them. The event that had riven the family apart ten years ago was forgotten, at least that was what they said. Garrett didn’t believe it for a minute.
There was no reason for Bonnie to meet his family. The actual marriage wouldn’t last long. They’d have a short marriage and a pleasant affair, then Bonnie could go back to England after a few months. It shouldn’t take too long for them to work off the lust they felt for one another.
Memories flooded him. All he was thinking about now was his wedding night.