Total D*ck (Bad Bitch #3) Read online

  “Here goes nothing.” He hit the button for the second floor and we began to rise.

  Once we passed the ceiling of the first level, the second level appeared an inch at a time. It was wide open, modern, and well lit. The ceiling was high, pipes and ventilation glinting silver in the tasteful lights strewn about the space. A kitchen with a long narrow island sat to the left, and straight ahead was a seating area with a wall of monitors.

  The elevator came to an abrupt stop. Kennedy gingerly opened the gate and stepped out, but put a hand out to his side, cautioning me to stay put. I ignored it and crept along behind him.

  “Guys.” Carey’s disembodied voice. “If you could put the gun down, I’d come out. But I pretty much almost pissed myself and dived behind the island.”

  “Are you safe? Has anyone been here?”

  “This place is off the grid, all power from generators, nothing registered in my name. I have a state-of-the-art security system. No one’s getting in here unless they’re invited. Trust me.” A hand with familiar silver rings on the middle fingers shot up from behind the island and waved.

  Kennedy dropped his pistol hand to his side and clicked the safety on. “Okay, I’m not going to accidentally pop you. You can come out.”

  Carey pulled himself up and leaned over on the island. “What’s happened? Why did you call? And what’s with the gun?”

  Safe. My knees wobbled and the room blurred in my vision.

  “Whoa.” Kennedy wrapped his arm around my waist.

  “Is she okay?” Carey perked up.

  “Get her some water.” Kennedy walked me over to a sofa and sat me down.

  The room still wavered in my vision as if I were viewing everything through heat rising from pavement.

  Carey brought me a cold bottle of water and sat on my other side. Kennedy twisted the top off for me, and I took a drink. Closing my eyes, I let the cold shock my senses.

  “What the fuck happened?” Carey grabbed a throw blanket and laid it across my back.

  I kept sipping my water as Kennedy retold the entire affair, but left out the parts that hurt like ice shards lodging in my heart. What happened to Faye and Clinton and his men?

  “This is more fucked up than I thought.” Carey rested his elbows on his knees and hung his head. “And not just because of what happened to you. I dug through the rest of the data on Fluffy’s drive. Nothing major, just details of how he broke in. But”—he canted his head so I could see his eyes—“I found out more from my contacts.”

  “What?” Kennedy put his arm around my shoulders and took the water from my frigid hands.

  “I know who ordered the break-in.”

  “Who?” Kennedy and I said in unison.

  “Rhone.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kennedy

  “What?” Scarlett shook her head slowly. “That can’t be right.”

  Carey leaned back into the couch and lolled his head back on the cushion. “I didn’t believe it at first, either. But I tracked down some other former associates—ones who weren’t as stand-up as Fluffy—and they confirmed it. Rhone paid Discord to hack its own system. Eric set up the server and the access so the breach could take place.”

  “Why? Why would they do that?” Scarlett cradled her face in her hands.

  I was just as dumbfounded, but I had to keep it together for her.

  “Word is that Rhone wanted to sink Greenwood. They thought staging a data breach would be the way to do it.”

  “But none of this makes sense,” Scarlett said. “None of it. Why would Rhone hire me to investigate and sue Greenwood? Why would they try to have us killed for doing exactly what they asked for?”

  “That’s the worst part.” Carey sighed. Dark circles made half moons under his eyes, and he was wearing the same clothes I’d seen him in last. “I think everything was going according to plan until you hired me and I mentioned to you, in front of Eric and Frank Rhone, that I knew Fluffy.”

  “That’s right.” Scarlett pulled the throw blanket around herself more tightly. “We were at their office when you recognized Fluffy’s calling card.”

  “So, are you saying Rhone had Fluffy killed and then set out to do the same to us so we couldn’t figure out the link?” The more Carey talked, the more the pieces fell into place. Frank and Eric had every motive—Rhone’s insistence that Greenwood was responsible, Rhone’s desire to take over the number one spot in defense contracting, and the bad blood between the CEOs.

  “Eric is in on it?” Scarlett asked.

  “I’m afraid so. He’s the one that invited Fluffy into the Rhone systems.”

  “Guy? Does Guy know?” Scarlett’s voice strengthened, anger coloring the words.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. I get the feeling Rhone came to Guy with the case because he assumed—and don’t take offense—that a stuffy old defense firm would just take the case and run with it as best they could.”

  It all clicked. “But then you hired Carey and me. When Eric and Frank heard that Carey knew Fluffy—”

  Scarlett put her hand to her mouth. “They killed him.”

  “And then they tried to cover their tracks by getting rid of us. I’m sure that would have been pinned on Greenwood, too. Fuck.” I’d walked right into a hornet’s nest when I took the case, and Scarlett had no idea she’d been set up. We’d been played.

  “We have to go to the feds. At this point, there’s nothing else to do. We’re walking targets. Rhone has already proved he’ll stop at nothing to keep the blame on Greenwood and hide the truth. I’ll get in touch with the agent who worked my case, see if he can offer an assist.”

  Scarlett stood and began to pace along the dark wood floor. “If we go to the feds, will they have a case against Rhone? Can they use the information from your contacts to prosecute them for Fluffy’s murder and our attempted murders?”

  “Not a chance. My contacts are shadow operators. They don’t make good witnesses. The best-case scenario here is that we get out of this alive and we keep our distance from Rhone. They’ll know we know and that the feds are watching.”

  “So they’ll get away with it.” The thought made me want to kick Carey’s coffee table until it was nothing but splinters.

  “Yeah, they will.”

  “No, they won’t.” Scarlett tossed the throw blanket onto the couch. “I have an idea.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that.” I watched as she got that look in her eye, the one I’d learned signaled trouble.

  “Carey, how would Discord feel if they found out Rhone had one of their hackers killed?”

  Carey whistled. “I hadn’t even thought about that. Discord protects their own. They would retaliate, swiftly and viciously.”

  She turned to me. “And your brother Lincoln is at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, so we can trust him with this?”

  “Yes, but what are you planning on doing?” My discomfort grew as she spoke. “What’s going on in that brain of yours?”

  “We need to get evidence, the undeniable sort, that Rhone was in on it.” She nibbled her thumbnail and kept pacing from the kitchen to the living room and back again.

  “Sure, but it’s not like Frank Rhone is just going to spill it and incriminate himself.”

  “True.” Scarlett whirled on her heel and pinned me with her gaze. “But Eric would.”

  I began to follow where she was leading, and I didn’t like it one bit. “How do you plan on getting Eric to tell?”

  She threw her hair over her shoulder. “He’s always had a thing for me.”

  “Except he’s tried to have you killed twice.” I stood and moved into her path, forcing her to stop her pacing. “No, Scarlett. It’s too dangerous.”

  “It’s dangerous. But it’s also our only play. If I can get him to talk, then we’ll have them. Undeniable proof. Rhone will go down, and we’ll be safe.”

  “But you won’t be safe when you’re carrying out this suicide mission.” I crossed my arms o
ver my chest. “You can’t do it.”

  She tilted her chin up. “I can and I will. It’s the only way. I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life because of this. Nailing Rhone is the right thing to do, and you know it.”

  “I won’t sacrifice you for this.” I put my hands on her shoulders, trying to will sense into her.

  “It’s not up to you! This is my choice. Those bastards have to pay for what they did to Fluffy and for what they’re trying to do to us.” She backed away and I let my hands drop.

  “I have recording equipment, tiny mics and a ridiculously small camera.” Carey walked to a side room.

  I glared at his retreating back. “She’s not doing this.”

  “Yes. I am.” Scarlett followed Carey. I wanted to grab her, throw her over my shoulder, and lock her in a room. My stomach churned, and I couldn’t think of a way to win. I had to keep her safe, keep her away from Eric. But the set of her shoulders and the tone of her voice told me I’d be fighting a losing battle. She’d made up her mind.

  Carey and Scarlett began talking about equipment as I walked over. The room they were in was lined with even more monitors, and server towers sat along the back wall, humming quietly.

  “I’m going with you.” I leaned against the doorframe.

  “That would be stupid. Eric wants me, not you.” She bent over as Carey explained how the little camera worked.

  “We could hide it on your purse, attached to the outside. Or we could pin it to your clothes.”

  “The clothes won’t do.”

  Carey scratched his chin. “Why not?”

  “I don’t plan to be wearing much for this plan to work.”

  I tensed, every muscle in my body preparing to fight. “What?”

  “The easiest way to get what I want is pillow talk.” Color rose in her cheeks as she said it, but she straightened and stared me down.

  “You are not getting anywhere near Eric or a bed or a bed with Eric in it.” My jaw clenched so tightly that the words barely made it through my teeth.

  “I’m doing this, Kennedy. Accept it.” She turned and began picking through the wires Carey had laid out on top of a black desk along the wall.

  “May I have a word?” I tried to keep my tone even.

  She stopped fiddling with the microphones. “Carey, can you get it all set up for tomorrow night? My phone is in my bag. I’ll be right back.”

  “Sure. I’ll message Eric and reserve the hotel. Bedroom’s to your right. Good luck, man.” Carey shook his head at me, a tired smile on his face as he went back to sorting out the equipment.

  Scarlett strode out ahead of me and turned into the bedroom. I followed and closed the door. Rope hung from some bamboo rods on the ceiling and a wide variety of differently hued twine decorated the walls. The bed looked comfortable with a crimson duvet, but the headboard was a specialty piece—an intricate latticework of industrial pipe. Some green rope was tied to it in a few spots.

  “He’s taking that tie-her-up porn thing to the next level.” I surveyed the bondage-topia before turning back to Scarlett. “Look, I know you think this is the right thing to do—”

  “Because it is.” She sighed and sat on Carey’s bed. “I’ve never been afraid like I have in the past two days. I can’t go my whole life feeling like this. If Rhone gets away with it, I’ll always be worrying, afraid. I can’t do that. And I can’t do that to you or Carey when I know the way to bring it all to an end.”

  I sank to my knees in front of her and took her hands. “But what you’re proposing is suicide. You’ll be walking right into their clutches.”

  “I know, and it’s not suicide. I’ll text Eric, tell him I’m scared and that I want to meet him at a hotel where I’m hiding out. I’ll book a room with suite so you and Carey will be in the next room monitoring. I’ll get him to talking by dressing a certain way and acting a certain way—” She halted and dropped her gaze to her knees.

  Anger seethed inside me, jealousy, too, but most of all, fear. I couldn’t let her get hurt. “There has to be something else we can do.”

  She shook her head. “There isn’t. Frank would never talk. Guy doesn’t know. Eric is the weakest link and I know exactly how to get to him.” She reached out and ran her palm down my cheek. “I’ll only go as far as I have to,” she whispered.

  “It’s not that. I mean, it is, but I just can’t stand the thought of not being able to protect you.” I implored her blue eyes, trying to get her to agree.

  “But you’ll be there. It’ll be fine. And when it’s done, we’ll be free and safe. All of us. Even . . .” Her eyes clouded.

  “Faye and Clinton and Clarence and Shorty—they’re okay. Those men weren’t after them. Not really. Clinton knows what to do. They’re hunkered down somewhere safe like we are, just waiting for the dust to settle.”

  She leaned down and wrapped her arms around my neck.

  “I don’t like this,” I said into her hair.

  “I don’t, either.”

  I held her, taking comfort in her warmth and trying to give some back. She’d used my shampoo at the house, but somehow, it smelled better in her hair than mine. I stood and laid her down on the bed, cradling her in my arms as she rested her head in the crook of my neck.

  We lay together for a while, the house silent except for occasional noises from Carey in the room next door.

  “Do you know that your nickname in certain circles is Total Dick?” Her voice was quiet, but I could hear the smile in her words.

  “Yes. I think you know that reputation is well deserved, now that you’ve seen the goods.” I moved my leg between hers for emphasis, letting her feel the hardening length in my pants. I couldn’t get enough of her, even now when our future was uncertain and worries flitted around my mind like vampire bats.

  Her lips hit my throat, and I closed my eyes.

  “Scarlett, if you keep doing that, I’m going to act in a very ungentlemanly manner. Something in accordance with my nickname.”

  “Mmhmmm.” She ran her teeth along my neck and bit down lightly.

  I groaned and slid a hand to her ass, squeezing and pressing her against me. She licked up to my jawline and dropped kisses there as my cock swelled. I rolled her onto her back and settled between her thighs.

  She smiled up at me. “This is very ungentlemanly. You were right.”

  I glanced up at the hanging green rope. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  She squirmed as I leaned in and licked her ear, biting on the lobe before nibbling lower. She dug her nails into my back through my shirt. Sitting back on my knees, I gripped the hem of her sweater.

  “Raise your arms.”

  She complied and I stripped it off.

  “Take off your bra.” I worked at her jeans, unbuttoning, unzipping, and pulling them down her smooth legs.

  She tossed her bra to the side, her full teardrop breasts on perfect display. She wore plain white panties, and I wanted to take them off with my teeth.

  She reached up to unbutton my shirt, but I grabbed her wrists and pinned them next to her head.

  “You may be in charge of this little Rhone operation, but I’m in charge right now.”

  She arched a brow. “We’ll see.”

  Fuck if her challenge didn’t make my dick even harder. I smirked. “We sure will.” Reaching up, I snagged the leftmost rope with one hand and pulled her wrist out to meet it with the other. I made quick work tying her, but not tight enough to cut off circulation. Then I bound her other wrist. She was stretched out and tried to pull on the ropes. The knots held, and she was snared. Her long dark hair fanned out on the pillow next to her. I gathered up the strands in my palm and gripped the back of her head.

  “You’re mine now, Scarlett.” I kissed her hard, holding nothing back. Had I ever needed a woman the way I needed her? I couldn’t remember a time, or even a woman, who captivated me the way she did.

  She opened her mouth, inviting me inside. I plundered h
er tongue, sucking and stroking it as she lay helpless beneath me. She’d ceded me her power by allowing me to tie her up, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to rule her. I wanted all of her, and I wanted to mark her as mine. I kissed her more deeply, as if I could somehow ingrain myself into her cells by pouring all my passion into this one kiss.

  When I finally came up for air, her eyes were half-lidded and her lips were dark pink and swollen. I slid down her body, taking first one rosy nipple into my mouth and then the other. Using my hands to press her breasts together, I alternately bit and sucked at her hard tips until she was writhing beneath me and her breaths were coming out in low moans.

  I kissed her stomach, enjoying each tremble I elicited as I worked lower until I got to the fabric of her panties. “These must be the primmest panties I’ve ever seen in my life.” I kissed along the edge of the cotton, teasing her with my tongue.

  “You’re a panty connoisseur?” She was breathless.

  “Just yours.” I snagged the edge with my teeth and pulled one side down her thigh, the dark and neat hair at the top of her pussy coming into view. Her slit was wet, the edges glistening. “Fuck the teasing.” I gripped both sides of her panties and pulled them down and off before bending down, licking her pussy.

  She bucked as I savored her taste, the sweet rush of her arousal perfect on my tongue. But it wasn’t enough. I needed to feel her clamped around my cock. I needed to please her, put her at ease, give her some oblivion to erase the fear I’d seen in her earlier.

  I kissed up her body and settled between her thighs, my cock aching to be inside her. I put my weight on her, her breasts soft and round beneath me. Teasing at her lips, I hovered there and grazed across her mouth. When she leaned up to kiss me, I backed away.

  She squeaked in frustration and bit her lip.

  “That’s my job.” I dived in and claimed her mouth with mine, nipping at her lip. She melted beneath me, her body warm and soft and her scent intoxicating.