Chapter
12
Chloe
“The red dress or the blue one?” Chloe stood in front of her closet, trying to decide what to wear on her undercover mission tonight.
It turned out that Anthony Romano worked on a casino gambling boat off shore. Could life get any sweeter than that? Men and gambling were her fortes, so this job was like a match made in heaven. She was already clad in her pair of lucky panties. Now she just had to pick out the perfect dress to make a statement.
She considered the blue dress for a moment since blue was a calming color that could represent honesty and trustworthiness. That might aid her in getting the man to let down his defenses and talk to her.
Or, she could wear her red dress. It was her favorite, and red was the color of power and passion, which meant Chloe never failed to turn heads when she wore it. The question was: was Anthony Romano faithful to Andrew Holden’s widow? If he was, then the red dress could very well be lost on him.
She was still standing there in her underwear when her cell phone rang. Walking over and picking it up, she took one look at the screen and cocked an eyebrow in interest. Kent. What in the world did he want now?
“Hello?”
“We need to talk, Amazon.”
“Sorry, I’m a little busy right now, getting ready to go out tonight. Laters!” Chloe hung up on the demon while he was saying something, not feeling one ounce of remorse.
She was still disappointed that he had fallen in line with the many other men who saw her as a trophy instead of a person. The thought made her reconsider the blue dress.
Maybe she didn’t want to turn every man’s head tonight after that phone call and reminder that all men saw her as was a sex symbol. Maybe, for once, she was just going to plain ol’ Veronica Mars this mystery and ferret the information out of her mark with her wiles alone. Of which she had plenty if people would actually stop and look closer at the real her and not the façade she put on, like her brother-in-law had.
She was just about to pull the blue dress out of her closet when her phone rang again. The man couldn’t possibly be that annoying, could he? A look at the call screen answered her question.
At that point, Chloe knew exactly what she had to do. There was only one thing a man like Kent was afraid of, and that was the mere thought of commitment.
“Yes, schnookums?” she answered in a sugary sweet voice.
It caused her caller to pause for a second before he finally asked, “Who are you going out with tonight?”
Was that a growl? She didn’t know demons could growl like shifters. Interesting.
“Not who, darling; it’s where I’m going. And even if there was a who, what would it matter to you? You only want me for a night. Perhaps I’m looking for a man who wants me longer than that. Maybe I’m ready to settle down, sweetie pie.”
It’s amazing how I can lie like that, she thought to herself as the demon once again went quiet.
Chloe was looking to settle down about as much as she was looking to buy clothes off the rack at her local superstore, which was never. Not unless she could find a man who saw Chloe for who she was, inside and out. However, the demon didn’t know that, and that was what she was counting on to get rid of him and his crazy notions that she would spend a night with him.
“I don’t know what you’re up to here, Amazon, but I know it’s something,” he finally said.
She could hear the confusion in his voice and had to stop herself from laughing.
Looking at her clock, Chloe realized she was running out of time to get ready if she was going to make it to the gambling boat before it set sail. She needed to lay it on thick with the demon if she was going to get him to leave her alone.
“I’m sorry. What was that you just said? You’re infatuated with me and want to make me your demonic queen for eternity? Well, it’s awfully soon in our relationship, love muffin, but okay … if you insist.”
Another growl came over the line, and honestly, Chloe was surprised it wasn’t a dial tone instead. Usually by now, when she laid the love stuff down, men were running in the opposite direction as fast as their legs could take them.
“I don’t know what you’re up to, Chloe, but make no mistake, I will figure it out. Don’t toy with me too much, Amazon. You might not like the repercussions.”
Click.
This time, it was the demon who had hung up on her, and damn did she want to throw her phone at his head for it!
She just didn’t understand why the man got to her the way he did. It wasn’t quite like when someone just got on her nerves; that was simple to walk away from. The demon was different. He didn’t just get on her nerves; he got under her skin.
Some foreign part of her wanted the man to see her for who she really was, and she had no idea why. It was utterly maddening!
If she had to be honest with herself, fine. Did she want the demon? Yes, she sort of did. He was very pretty to look at. There was more to it than that, though.
Despite the fact that he was an obvious manwhore, there was something in his eyes when he looked at her. A smoldering lust that she wanted a taste of.
Reality bitch-slapped her in the face as the truth dropped on her like an atomic bomb.
She wanted the demon.
Regardless, she would be damned if she just gave in to the man’s charms and let him have her. Her pride wouldn’t let her give in that easily, no matter how badly she wanted him. All he saw her as was a walking sex symbol.
As Chloe’s eyes refocused on her open closet in front of her, that was when her dress decision was made. As her momma used to say: if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
Fuck it. One walking sex bomb coming right up!
~~~
Kent
It was official. Kent had reached new lows when it came to chasing a woman. Currently, he was parked down the street from Chloe’s aunts’ house, watching it as if he were on duty doing surveillance.
Or, you’re a stalker, his conscience piped in.
Well, his conscience could just shut the fuck up.
Kent was slowly being driven mad with thoughts of having the Amazon, and he needed to understand why. In his mind, there was only one way to understand it, and it was him needing to have the woman … carnally, in every position he could think of until he quite literally fucked himself to death, if that was what it took to get her out of his system.
Even as he thought the conclusion, he knew it was crass. Something he usually was not.
The woman was driving him to distraction, and in the position he was in now with the Ninth Circle Council, he couldn’t afford to be distracted. There were factions on that council that would love to see him not only removed, but dead. Demon politics was a dangerous arena to play in, yet now he was, thanks to the very woman he was waiting to see.
Kent had called her from the very spot he sat in now. At first, he had hoped to cajole her into coming out with him. Now he wanted to know where, and with whom, she was going tonight.
For an hour, he sat there, trying to be inconspicuous, until she finally surfaced from the house. And when she did, his heart stopped dead in his chest.
Like Venus emerging from her shell, Chloe floated out of her aunts’ house like a dream. A fucking wet dream, that was. Dressed in a red strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline that cupped her generous breasts, she sashayed that gorgeous ass of hers toward a taxi cab that had suddenly flown past his car and pulled up to park right in front of her. Then, as she got into the cab, her curvy legs flashed and Kent could feel all the blood draining away from his brain down to his cock. Which was probably what led to the thought that ran through his head next.
MINE.
Unwilling to examine the irrational notion, because the only things he truly considered his were his balls and his beloved BMW Z4, he opted to follow the cab.
Keeping a good amount of space between his vehicle and the cab, they drove through Wilmington’s ridiculous traffic down to the docks.
At first, Kent thought that perhaps she was going to Adam McPhee’s dance club, Pier Six. It was a shifter-only club, so he was ready to watch the brunette bombshell get thrown out on her curvy ass, but that wasn’t where her cab stopped. Instead, he watched as it stopped next to the docks where a casino boat lay waiting for passengers to board.
What was that devious Amazon up to now?
Kent tracked Chloe’s movements until she went on the boat, and then he found a place to park. Once he bought a ticket onto the boat, he walked into the main room and started scanning the area for her, finding her sitting at a table in front of a black jack dealer who was staring at her as if she were a piece of meat and he was absolutely starving. The sight made all those possessive instincts he was still struggling to understand roar to life as Kent found himself stomping in their direction.
Goddammit! The woman had only been in there five minutes or less and she already had men eating out of the palm of her hand!
He had not a fucking clue what he was going to do when he crossed the room to get to them, but throwing Chloe over his shoulder and carrying her out of there was a strong possibility.
As he drew closer to the pair, though, something about the man made him slow his pace. A sort of familiarity, crossed with a strong sense of unease. It wasn’t until he was about five feet away, watching the black jack dealer give Chloe a toothy grin full of canines before letting his eyes temporarily flash to yellow cat eyes, that Kent figured it all out.
This guy was Andrew Holden’s wife’s lover, Anthony Romano, and Chloe was knee deep in some sort of bullshit. What was even worse was the little minx was here all by herself, instead of having one of her sisters or aunts at her back while she waded into whatever bullshit she was up to. For that alone, Kent was going to spank her ass … as soon as he got it in a bed.
Taking a deep breath, he blew it out and calmed down. Now wasn’t the time to carry Chloe out of here and jeopardize her safety or whatever mission she was on. No, for a little while, Kent would play it cool to see what she was up to. After she got what she came for, then he could drag her out of there and back to his place.
Well, that was his plan, until he stood directly behind Chloe’s chair and heard what the dealer said next.
“Look, lady, you’re a pretty piece, but looks alone aren’t going to get you a play on my table. Either put down the five hundred minimum buy-in or move the hell on.”
Not liking the way the man had spoken to Chloe, Kent reached into his back pocket, pulled out five one hundred dollar bills, and slapped them down on the table in front of Chloe. “There’s her bet. Now let her play.”
Chloe had jumped at the money slapping down in front of her, and now she was looking at Kent, her head tipped back to get a good view of him, with a face full of some emotion Kent couldn’t place.
“What are you doing here?” she squeaked in surprise.
Pulling his hand back from the table, Kent ran it in a caressing manner up her arm and over her shoulder while he continued to glare at the man in front of him. “Came to watch you play, sweetheart. Now make me a happy man and show him how it’s done.”
Kent hoped she understood what he was really trying to say to her—get your information so we can leave.
Perhaps she did understand, because the surprise melted from Chloe’s face and she gave him a cocky smile in return. “Oh, sugar, you have no idea just how happy you’ve made me.”
Bending down to whisper in her ear, he said, “Leave with me tonight and I’ll make you happier than you’ve ever been.”
Chloe pulled her head back, and one dainty eyebrow slid up in question. “Are we betting again, Kent?”
He shook his head. “Learned that lesson already. Don’t think I’ll ever bet against you again, love. But you can bet your ass I’d bet on you any day of the week.” Waving his hand at the dealer, Kent said, “Now show this guy how it’s done.”
The dealer snorted at him, but Kent didn’t care. He had a feeling Chloe Demos could handle almost any card game with the same sort of cunning that she had handled the bet with him. That meant this guy was going to lose, and he had no idea just how much.
He watched as Chloe turned her attention back to the table just as the dealer turned the five hundred dollar buy-in to chips.
Placing her chips in the circle in front of her, Chloe watched as the man in front of her dealt their hands. When the cards were flipped over, Chloe had a ten of diamonds and an eight of hearts, and the dealer had one unknown card and a nine of diamonds. With eighteen being so close to twenty-one, she decided to hold. After indicating that to the dealer, he flipped over his second card, revealing an Ace of diamonds, which gave him an eleven, making his total twenty.
Kent watched as Chloe pouted at the man as he took her chips with a mocking stare.
What she did next was enough to make Kent’s head explode.
Chloe leaned forward, pushing her breasts up against the tall table, and crooned to the dealer, “I guess I’m all out of luck, sugar. Want to give me some of yours?”
When the dealer’s features swept over Chloe with appreciation, Kent tightened his hands on the back of her chair, giving it a little jiggle to remind her he was standing right there.
Looking back at him from over her shoulder, she blinked her eyes innocently at him. “Oh, hi, honey, you’re still here? Why don’t you be a good boy and run off now. We can talk about repayment later.”
Repayment his ass.
Reeling in his anger, Kent bent over so they were practically nose to nose. “What the fuck are you up to, Chloe?”
As Chloe glared at him with no response, Kent watched from the corner of his eye as another man walked up to the black jack dealer and whispered in his ear. When their dealer hissed under his breath, Kent turned his attention to the man who was now giving him a look to kill.
The familiar black jack dealer curled his lip in disgust, then motioned for the other man to go away. Then he leaned over the table to close the space between himself and Chloe and Kent.
“Don’t know why the fuck you’re here, demon, but you can get the fuck out. I’ll tell you just like I told that other demon who came in to question me. I didn’t have nothing to do with Andrew Holden’s death.”
Intrigued, Kent leaned against the table and crossed his arms over his chest. “And how would you know who I am?”
The black jack dealer’s eyes cut over to the man who had spoken to him, who was now hiding in a shadowed corner of the boat, and then looked back at Kent. “You’re not the only one who knows how to get information.” Hissing under his breath, he said, “I know you’re on that fucking council, so you can take your woman and get the fuck out of here.”
Chloe raised a finger in the air. “Hold up now, sugar; I am not his woman.”
“Yes, you are,” said Kent and the black jack dealer at the same time.
The frustrated Amazon shook her head. “Nope, nope, nope! I’m a free agent.” She leaned over the table to whisper to the angry dealer, “I’m just a girl looking for some good action. Do you have some you want to give me?”
Yanking himself backward, the dealer growled at Kent, “Take your woman and get the fuck out of here before I—”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Chloe cut him off before he could say another word, waving her finger back and forth like the man was a naughty boy. “You might know he’s a demon, but did you know he’s also a police officer? I wouldn’t go threatening him if I were you.”
At that point, Kent had had enough. Grabbing Chloe’s arm in a firm grip, he pulled her out of the chair, and then he shoved his shoulder into her midsection to pick her up in a fireman’s carry. She squealed in protest, but he really didn’t give a fuck.
Ignoring her protests, Kent pointed a finger at the black jack dealer and delivered one final warning.
“I’ll be watching you from here on out, asshole.”
With his threat delivered, Kent stalked out and off the boat with an angry Amazon over his shoulder, screeching like a banshee, “My ass is showing, you moron!”