Say I Do Read online

  “Where is our illustrious boss?” Charles asked.

  “Doing recon. Same as me.”

  “Um. I heard it was quite the commotion this morning. I’m surprised he agreed to let you out of his sight.”

  Her shoulders stiffened. “Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Then, before he could respond, she told him, “I don’t need a babysitter. This is hardly my first case.” Let me out of his sight, my ass.

  “But you’re not CIA.”

  Her gaze raked him. “And you are?” She’d originally thought he was an agent, but now she wasn’t so sure. He just didn’t have that edge about him.

  “No. I’m not.”

  Suspicion confirmed. “Then what are you?”

  “I’m someone Dex put in place to do a job. That’s what he does, you see. He moves pieces around on his board, and he gets everyone to do what he wants.” A pause. “What does he want you to do?”

  Draw out the perp.

  “It’s strange that he left you unattended,” Charles added.

  Now she was offended. “Unattended? What am I? A child? A pet?”

  “Dex’s pet.” He smiled. It was a tight, hard smile and she didn’t like it one bit.

  Lacey stepped toward him. “You need to watch the tone with me.” Her voice was low and mean because she had zero fucks to give at this point. “I’m not anyone’s pet. This isn’t my first case, and I don’t need some CIA wanna-be throwing shade at me. I didn’t see you jumping in to save Dex’s ass last night in the ballroom. I didn’t see you in on the action at the cabin today. All I see is you standing in my way, right now, and making snide comments that I don’t need.”

  He swallowed. A line of sweat appeared over his upper lip.

  “I’ll be sure to tell Dex how incredibly helpful you’ve been,” she added just to twist her knife. “I know he’ll be thrilled by the news.” She turned on her heel and marched away—

  I’m being watched. The awareness didn’t come as some prickle on the back of her neck. It hit her with the force of a sledgehammer and froze her steps. Her gaze jerked up to the next level. She caught movement near the side of the balcony. A figure slid back toward…

  Hell, the Whisper Floor.

  Charles curled his fingers around her shoulders. “There’s no need to tell Dex anything like that.” Tension had entered his voice. “I apologize if my words offended you.”

  She slanted a glance down at his hand.

  “I’m not used to this level of danger.” Gruff. Rougher. “I know who comes here. For the most part, it’s just bored celebs and annoying rich assholes. My job is to watch and report on their activities, but we have never had incidents like this before. Never kept a would-be killer locked up. Guests are fleeing, and I-I wonder just how safe it is here for us all.”

  Now she looked back at him. “You’re definitely not CIA.” The fear reeked from him.

  A quick, negative shake of his head.

  She mulled over his words and his obvious anger at Dex. “Let me guess, Dex didn’t so much as put you in place here…as he forced you to work with him. He’s got something on you, doesn’t he?”

  More sweat poured from Charles.

  Jeez. Did Dex blackmail everyone he met? She was starting to think he just might. Sighing, she pulled away. She needed to get up to that second level and find out who had been watching—

  “He saved my life, so I knew that I owed him. Hell, it wasn’t just me he saved. He saved my entire family. So, no, I wasn’t going to refuse him. I won’t refuse him, no matter how scared I get.”

  Lacey threw an assessing glance over at him. Charles had straightened his thin shoulders. He suddenly seemed all determined. Interesting. So to Charles, Dex was both savior and sinner.

  What is he to me?

  She didn’t know.

  What she did know was that someone was upstairs watching her, and she was about to find out exactly who that person was. “Excuse me. I have work to do.”

  “But—”

  She didn’t have time to lose. If she didn’t move, fast, her watcher might vanish. Lacey bounded up the stairs. She wore a long, flowing tan coat, one that was perfectly designed to hide her weapon. And considering her old jacket now sported a bullet hole, she’d been rather grateful to find the tan coat waiting on the bed after her bath.

  She’d made sure to grab her new knife before leaving the suite. Not strapped to her thigh this time, but her knife was still close and ready. When she reached the next level, the Whisper Floor, her gaze swept to the left, then the right. No one there. She edged closer to be sure. Her body was tight with tension. She began a slow search of the floor. There were plenty of places to hide on that level, especially if a person ducked back beneath the heavy architecture and the arches that jutted so far out—

  Movement.

  Slight. Furtive.

  Lacey surged forward.

  And almost slammed into Elizabeth Radcliff. The other woman’s eyes widened with surprise. “Lacey!” She sounded thrilled. Elizabeth pulled Lacey in for a tight hug. “After last night, I was hoping to see you!”

  Lacey discreetly hid the knife she’d palmed.

  “That scene in the ballroom was absolutely terrifying.” A shudder worked over Elizabeth’s body. “The lights went out and the gunshot boomed like fireworks.” She released Lacey but stared at her with wide eyes. “Last night, Jonathan and I just wanted to escape the ballroom as quickly as we could.”

  “I think a lot of people wanted to escape.” Wasn’t that a normal response to danger? To flee?

  “This morning, though, when I started thinking about the horrible scene again, I realized everything might not have been as it seemed. You’re involved.” Elizabeth bit her lower lip. “What I meant is…you…you’re here undercover, aren’t you?” Her gaze darted to Lacey’s hand. And the ring there. A tinge of sadness entered her voice as she said, “You’re not really engaged.”

  Keep up the cover. “My engagement is quite real, but, yes, I’m afraid I am involved.” Truth and lies. Crap. She was becoming just like Dex and not in a good way. “I think the shot was aimed at me or at my fiancé.”

  Elizabeth sucked in a breath as she studied Lacey’s expression. “OhmyGod. Do you have a suspect?”

  “Someone is in custody, but the investigation is ongoing.” That was all she felt comfortable sharing. “What are you doing up here, Liz?”

  “Jonathan asked me to meet him here. Said he had a surprise for me.” Her left hand waved vaguely around the alcove. “The staff kept assuring us everything was safe, but I’ve been nervous up here by myself. I keep looking down for Jonathan, but I can’t find him anywhere.” A despondent sigh. “He should have been here fifteen minutes ago. Wherever could he be?”

  Lacey frowned, wondering the same thing and then—

  A fire alarm started shrieking.

  ***

  They’d left her alone. Heather Madding twisted her hands in the cuffs and tried to figure out what the hell she should do next. The guard who’d been inside the room with her had been called away moments before. No doubt, he’d be back soon. Or maybe Dex would be striding into the room. Making more of his threats.

  Except she knew Dex didn’t just threaten. He promised. And if he said he’d toss her into some godforsaken government prison and the rest of the world would forget about her…

  I can’t let that happen.

  She might have to make a deal. As the minutes had ticked by and she’d considered her options, Heather had realized that there wasn’t going to be an easy way out of here. She’d been told that her boss would have her back. After all, he’d supplied help when she’d needed it with moving Roman the night before.

  Damn Dex! Leaving her alone this way was one of his manipulative tricks. He wanted her to think and worry and spin in her own mind.

  The door opened. She tensed. “Look, I want to—”

  Keys were thrown on the table. “Get the cuffs off. Put on this coat.” He lifted th
e puffy, black coat in his hand.

  She frowned at that coat. It was familiar to her. She was certain that…wait, Lacey Amari had been wearing that coat when Heather had shot at her. Fumbling, she unlocked the cuffs and then grabbed for the coat. Sure enough, there was a freaking bullet hole in the front of the thing. “I don’t get it.”

  “You wear her coat. You pull this hat down over your head as much as you can. Your hair is similar to hers, and you’ve got a similar build. Just keep your head down and you follow my orders.”

  There was a scarf inside the coat.

  “Pull that up over the lower part of your face. If we’re lucky, no one will even notice you, and if someone does…”

  She was already sliding on the coat. “They’ll think I’m Lacey.”

  A nod. He turned back to the door. Peeked outside.

  “Where are all the agents?” she asked.

  “Distracted. Don’t worry. They’re plenty busy. And the ones who aren’t—I’ve got them covered.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here.” She was more than ready to go. You won’t make me disappear, Dex. No one was going to shove her into some deep, dark hole of a prison.

  No one.

  ***

  Why the hell was the lodge’s alarm system going off? Dex received the alert on his phone just as he was rushing back toward the main building. Lacey. He’d finished his recon work at the cabin—turned up nothing—and now—

  “Sir!” One of the doormen stepped into his path. “Sir, we have a report of a fire, so I will need you to stay outside the building. All guests are being led to the—”

  Screw that shit. He had to find Lacey. Dex jerked away from the doorman.

  “No, no, you can’t go in—”

  “My fiancée is in there. I’m going in and no one is stopping me.” Dex didn’t slow down as he headed into the chaos of the lobby. And it was chaos. The guests were rushing for the doors. People were running. Panicking. He spun around as he searched the scene, and then his phone started ringing. Lacey? Was she calling him? But, no, dammit. It was his agent in charge. Larry was on the line. Dex shoved the phone to his ear. “What the fuck is happening?” Dex demanded. He looked up.

  And saw Lacey peering over the balcony on the Whisper Floor. The vise that had clenched around his heart immediately eased.

  She’s okay. She’s right there. I see her.

  “False alarm,” Larry snapped back. “Or, shit, I guess it’s not false. There’s some small fire in the kitchen. Everything is under control, so don’t worry. We’ve put out the flames and the—”

  “How many agents are with our suspect?” He didn’t take his eyes off Lacey. She’s okay. I see her. She’s okay.

  “Two are with Heather. I’m going back down now. Don’t worry, like I said, everything is under—”

  Fuck control. “I’m checking in on Heather myself.” Because he didn’t like this scene. Didn’t believe in chaos. Hell, he’d used chaos himself too many times. Create a distraction, and it was easy to slip in and out of a location. “I want our people at every exit.”

  “But—”

  Dex was already running for the elevator.

  One of the bellmen began, “Wait, sir, you’re not supposed to use those in the event of a fire—”

  Dex ignored him. He needed to make sure Heather was secure.

  ***

  “What’s happening?” Elizabeth asked as she raised her voice. “Should we—ohmygosh, do we need to flee, too?”

  The blaring alarm died away. The sudden silence was almost as jarring as the shrieks had been.

  Lacey peered over the balcony one more time. Dex had just rushed toward the special access elevator. Obviously, he was worried something was happening down below with Heather.

  So am I.

  This whole scene reeked of being a setup.

  “Oh, wait, I think I see Jonathan.” Elizabeth squeezed her arm. “I have to make sure he’s all right.” She scampered away.

  And I need to make sure someone is watching Dex’s back. But just as she started to hurry toward the stairs, Lacey caught another flash of movement in the corner. She stopped.

  Someone else is up here.

  Lacey palmed her knife once more. Kept her body relaxed and casual as she tiptoed toward the corner.

  ***

  The two agents in the narrow basement hallway were unconscious. Fuck. They were breathing, but out cold. After checking on them, Dex raced toward the holding room. He kicked open the door.

  Handcuffs were on the table. His perp? Gone.

  Dex yanked out his phone as he turned and double-timed it back for the elevator. Larry answered his call instantly. “Heather’s gone!” Dex snarled. “We’ve got two men down. How the hell did this happen?”

  But he already knew the answer to that question. Heather’s partner came to help her. Whoever had moved Roman last night had helped Heather or—

  Or maybe even Roman had helped. Who the fuck knew?

  Dex shot a glance toward the security camera in the elevator. Someone should have seen what happened. He had his team monitoring security for the special, lower area of the lodge. There was no way that Heather should have just waltzed out of there.

  And now she’s going to try to escape.

  Or…she’d go after Lacey again.

  “Get to Lacey,” Dex fired into his phone. “She’s on the Whisper Floor. Get her. Protect her at all costs.”

  ***

  The target was right there. Heather could see her. Her breath came in quick, excited little pants. Oh, wouldn’t it be perfect if she was able to finish this job? She’d teach Dex Ryan. She’d show Roman. They’d both pay.

  Lacey is right there.

  Smiling, Heather darted for her prey.

  ***

  The body fell. Just tumbled down right in front of him as Dex ran forward. He’d been trying to get Lacey on her phone, but she hadn’t answered him.

  Then the body hurtled down. He had a quick flash of dark hair. A woman’s body flew from the second floor. Then a terrible, bone-breaking thud.

  For an instant, he froze.

  She fell from the second level. The Whisper Floor. Dark hair. And…that was Lacey’s puffy coat. She’d worn it that morning when she’d been shot by Heather.

  Blood bloomed beneath the figure on the floor. There were screams and shouts from all around him. The woman—she’d been tossed right in front of him.

  Don’t be…Can’t be…

  Dark hair. Lacey’s coat. Lacey was on the Whisper Floor.

  He didn’t remember falling to his knees beside the woman. Didn’t remember roaring her name. Her right arm was twisted, broken. Dark hair and a loose cap covered her face. A scarf was getting soaked in her blood.

  “Baby?” Dex breathed the endearment as he reached out with fingers that shook. Everything in the world had slowed down. Almost stopped. He was focused entirely on the woman before him.

  She wasn’t moving. Didn’t appear to be breathing. Her neck…God, no. No.

  He brushed back the hair. Slid back the cap.

  And stared at Heather Madding’s still face.

  It took a long moment for her identity to register for him. The lodge’s doctor raced to Dex’s side as Dex crouched beside the fallen woman. Unfortunately, there wasn’t going to be anything that the doc could do. Not with the way she’d landed and…

  Why is there so much blood?

  His hand slid under the thick coat. Lacey’s coat. His fingers touched Heather’s back.

  Lacey’s coat, but not Lacey. Not Lacey.

  As he touched Heather’s back, he felt the wet warmth of blood. Shit. Dex yanked up the coat so he could see her body.

  “I need you to step back,” the doctor ordered.

  She’d been shot in the back. He hadn’t heard the shot, so he knew the shooter must have used a silencer on his weapon. For the first time, Dex looked up now. He should have looked up at that second floor sooner, but he’d been out of
control. Fixated and lost.

  Because he’d thought Lacey was before him. Because he’d thought it was Lacey’s blood. Because he’d thought she was dead.

  Now he looked up and caught sight of Roman staring down with wide, horrified eyes.

  Fucking Roman.

  “Dex?” Lacey’s voice. Lacey’s shaking, beautiful voice. He lurched to his feet. Saw her near the stairs. Dex ran to her, shoving people out of his way because he had to get to Lacey.

  Fear flashed on her face. “What’s happening? Dex—”

  He dragged her into his arms. Held her in a grip that he knew was too tight and too fierce. A grip that he knew might hurt because he was holding her too hard, but he couldn’t let go.

  I can never let her go.

  “Dex, I can’t breathe. Ease up!”

  He lifted his head. Eased his hold. And kissed her. Deep. Wild. Desperate.

  She’s alive. It wasn’t Lacey. She’s alive.

  In that moment, as the fear settled in his very bones, he understood a truth he hadn’t wanted to face. A truth that would change everything.

  Her hands pressed against his shoulders. She pulled her mouth from his. “Dex?” Her breath heaved out. “What happened? What’s going on?”

  He stared down at her. Her beautiful face. Her dark eyes. “You aren’t leaving my side,” he swore.

  Her eyelids flickered. “What is happening?” She stood on her toes and tried to look over his shoulder.

  He turned with her and saw that a crowd had gathered around the body.

  “Dex.” Now her voice was lower. “What happened here?”

  He curled his arm around her body. Can’t let her go. Won’t lose her. “Heather Madding is dead.”

  “What?”

  “Roman was on the second floor. Come on.” He took off, but he made sure he didn’t let her go. They raced together for the stairs. The hotel’s security was scrambling, and Dex saw Larry rushing toward him, too. Dex motioned with a curt jerk of his head for Larry to meet them on the second floor.

  When they reached that level, Roman was standing next to the railing. He had his hands up and a gun—equipped with a silencer—was on the floor near him.