He wouldn’t be able to turn them against each other. So he would have to find another way in. He would have to give one of them something he wanted.
Luckily, he had something Leo Meyer wanted very badly.
“If this gets traced back to you, you better keep your fucking mouth shut.” Holder was well aware that his words dripped ice. Cross should be damn happy he wasn’t in the same room with Holder. Money meant something to Holder. The fact that Cross was a senator would make it more fun to murder his ass once he became a liability. And there was no doubt Cross was a damn liability. He was a drug addict, and he couldn’t control his dumb bitch wife.
Cross huffed. “It won’t get traced back to me. Damn it. I didn’t do this.”
How quickly he forgot. He’d called all happy and righteous, arguing that he’d managed something Holder couldn’t. “I doubt that. But if you think you can bring me into this, you’re wrong. I’ll get to you long before you can say my name to the cops.”
He had a lot of people on his payroll. He would make sure Cross never testified against him. He might make sure Cross never fucking breathed again. Just because he was pissed as shit. Politicians were useless.
“Damn it, don’t try to intimidate me.” Cross’s statement would have been more effective if his voice hadn’t broken in a sad little whine. He lowered his voice suddenly. “It’s my wife. It’s all her. You should take her out. Do me a favor. She’s going to screw us all.”
“Keep your wife in line, Cross. If we have to have this conversation again, it will be in person, and you won’t like the outcome.” Holder hung up the phone and turned it off. He wouldn’t answer the senator’s calls for a day or two. The politician was scheduled to go to The Club in a couple of days, and then Holder would be forced to deal with him, but until then, he wouldn’t give him the fucking time of day.
“Lieutenant?” Kyle said, his voice polite.
Holder took a long breath. At least Kyle had a damn brain in his head. “Yes? Who was with her? Leo or Wolf?”
“It was Wolf, sir. He apparently took both men out, easy peasy. Two bullets each. Two to the chest. I bet if he’d been alone, he would have put one more to the head, but she was with him. I know if I was on a date, I wouldn’t blow some guy’s head off. Girls don’t really like that. Well, some do, but I find those chicks really disturbing.”
Holder tossed the cell aside. He didn’t need to hear about Kyle’s dating requirements. “I need you to print out that file I gave you yesterday.”
Kyle’s eyes went wide. “The super-creepy dead chick file?”
Holder shrugged. It was a pretty accurate description. It was an old file, but Holder had learned that information was power. He never got rid of files. He couldn’t guess when he would need the information. It was precisely why he didn’t trust Shelley Hughes. If he was in her position, he would have kept that tape. “Yeah. Print it all out, complete with an address that makes it look like it came from someone other than me. And get me the plans for that club. I’m going to have to go in myself.”
If Leo Meyer wouldn’t come to him, then he could damn sure go to Leo. A little theatrical flair was all he needed to get Meyer’s mind off the fact that Holder was a possible suspect. Leo wouldn’t be able to resist trying to find out just who had killed his Afghan girl.
And Holder would explain that he was just here to help.
Meyer never needed to know that he was the one who had killed his lover. Or that he fully intended to kill his new lover.
Chapter Eleven
Wolf rolled over, well aware that his brother had left minutes before. Wolf had been awake for over an hour, the early days of ranch life and military life ingrained on his body’s rhythms. He’d lain in bed, listening to the sounds of Shelley’s breathing. He’d felt at peace. He stretched, feeling better than he had in months.
Everything was falling into place.
He didn’t think for a minute that Leo wouldn’t pull back and do his dumb-shit, this-is-only-for-sex routine, but Wolf knew better. Leo could fight it all he wanted, but six months from now, Wolf and Shelley would still be right here in this condo and Leo wouldn’t know exactly what had hit him. Sometime after that, he would find his ass standing in front of a group of their friends putting his own collar around Shelley’s neck and a ring on her finger. And sometime after that, he would wonder just where the hell those kids had come from.
Yeah, his brother would wake up and find himself settled down and happy. Wolf was going to make sure of it.
Shelley sighed against him. When Leo had left the bed, she’d turned, cuddling up to him.
His cock got hard in an instant. He felt a grin split his face. He’d fucked her twice the night before, but he was so ready for more. He couldn’t get enough of her. He’d dreamed about her as he slept, as though he hadn’t wanted to leave her side even in his own brain. He reached over and grabbed a condom, rolling it over his dick. He palmed some lube and greased up his cock, anticipation making him focus.
He loved morning fucking. He loved waking up in a warm, sleepy haze and rolling onto his sub’s soft body. He hadn’t had a steady girl in a long time and never one he cared about the way he did Shelley.
He had her legs spread and her pussy penetrated before she could open her eyes.
He stroked into her. Despite last night’s exercise, she was still so tight he had to be careful with her. But he believed in starting as he meant to go. She was his. He would protect her with his life, coddle her, indulge her whenever he could. He would be her champion and her worshipper, but she was his. She would be his to fuck and love any way he wanted. He would wake her up with his cock and put her to sleep the same way, with his dick deep inside her pussy.
She sighed, and her lips curved as she started to wake up.
“Good morning,” she said, those gorgeous kick-him-in-the-gut brown eyes fluttering open. God, Julian had been a smart man. He’d insisted on a month of contact between the two of them without any exchange of pictures or in-person meetings. If Wolf had seen her, he would have been all over her curvy ass without ever having said a word. She was even more beautiful because he really knew her. He’d spent a month getting to know her hopes and fears and fantasies.
He leaned down and kissed her, never letting up on the slow drag of his cock. He loved her lips. They were plump and soft. “Morning, sweetheart. I think Leo’s making coffee.”
Her eyes darkened, but she let her hands drift up around his shoulders, and her legs gripped his waist. “It’s okay. I know it was just a night.”
And she had such little faith. Wolf pumped into her, enjoying the penetration. Last night had been a whirlwind of lust, but this morning was a slow, languid dance. She didn’t need the lube now. Her pussy had slicked up nicely. She was so fucking responsive. He cuddled his chest to hers. He loved the feel of her nipples poking up at him.
“He’ll walk through those doors in a few minutes, and he’ll start bitching at me because we’re all going to be late to this breakfast thing. And then he’ll bitch about me being on top of you. Really, sweetheart, his bitching is the way he shows affection.” Wolf twisted his hips, satisfied with the way Shelley’s mouth came open and she gasped. Yeah. That was her sweet spot. That was the spot that got her motor running and fast. He felt her nails start to bite into his shoulders. He liked the fact that his little cat had some claws on her. He didn’t mind the marks.