Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,25

his own momentum against him and hit where it hurt. I went in low, keeping the “knife” back until I got close. At the last moment, I dodged, and…the asshole upended me. My breath rushed out in a whoosh, I heard material tear, and quick as a flash, he was on top of me. A Russian bear, but he moved like a cheetah.

Alex’s weight pressed into me, and I couldn’t kick him away because he’d forced his body between my legs. Then his hands wrapped around my neck.

“Cross your arms over mine,” he instructed. “Grip my wrists and pump down with your elbows to break the hold. Do it, Sky. Do it.”

But…but I couldn’t. My thoughts darkened, and his words faded along with the bright lights of the gym as my mind took me back to another time. A living hell. And the next words I heard weren’t Alex’s.

“Fight harder, Sky. I like that.”

I felt his hand over my mouth. Smelled the sickly aroma of alcopops as he exhaled, alcopops that I’d served him earlier. Hair tickled between my legs.

“Get off me!”

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

Was that Alex’s voice? Or Brock’s? I wasn’t sure anymore. My cheeks cooled as someone breathed over my tears. It was happening again, wasn’t it? Dammit, I’d worked so hard for so long to forget this.

Then the weight was gone, and I opened my eyes in time to see Alex flying through the air. And I mean flying. He hit the wall and sort of slid down it into a heap.

“Chto za khuynya?”

I didn’t speak Russian, but I could take a good guess: what the fuck?

“She said to get off.”

The voice came from behind me, a low rumble, calm but definitely threatening. Was that a hint of a Spanish accent? I tilted my head back and saw the shadow looming over me. Black had come back? No, wait. This man-mountain was younger.

“We were training,” Alex mumbled, then coughed a bit.

“When a woman tells you to get off, you get the fuck off.”

“I’m okay,” I got out. “Is he okay?”

“He’ll be fine.”

The newcomer scooped me up and carried me right out of the gym before I could protest, leaving Alex struggling to his knees.

“Who are you?” I mumbled. “Why are you here?”

“I’m Rafael.” He stared down at me with faint incredulity. “Apparently, I’m here to mentor you.”

CHAPTER 10 - BETHANY

“YOU BROUGHT YOUR dog?” Black asked. “Or does it belong to Alaric?”

I’d only met Emmy’s husband briefly, a thirty-second introduction at Riverley, and he was the kind of man who made you clench your thighs and break out in a cold sweat all at the same time. I glanced around for help, but it was just me and the dog in the kitchen. She didn’t have a name. Or any confidence, it seemed, because she yapped a couple of times, then slunk behind my legs when Black’s shadow fell over her. I wasn’t even sure how he’d got in. Had someone hidden a key outside for him?

“Uh, Emmy didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

I gulped, my throat suddenly dry. “The dog…she…well, I guess she belongs to Emmy. Or Dan. Maybe both of them?”

“Fuck.” He raised his gaze heavenwards. “Where is Emmy?”

“Still asleep, I think.” It was six thirty a.m. and I’d only got up to let the dog out. “Her bedroom’s the last door on the left upstairs.”

It had been a late night for everyone yesterday. By the time the others got back, I’d already seen the news. One of the networks had carried the debate live, and I’d almost choked on a biscuit when the screen behind the candidates filled with unmentionables.

And apparently, the porn movie was an even bigger deal than I’d first thought. Not only was the Democratic candidate toast, but Senator Carnes’s daughter had endorsed him right before the debate, so now she looked like a fool too.

There’d been one small glimmer of hope—the others had found Red After Dark. I could see they were trying to take that as a positive, and of course I was too, but the whole case had turned into one big mess.

“Is that coffee I sm— Oh. You’re here early, Chuck.”

Emmy had come dressed for action in black running tights and a tight purple T-shirt, but now she stopped in the doorway.

“What? Were you planning to rehome the dog before I arrived?”

“Not rehome, exactly. More like hide it.”

“Diamond, we already have a dog.”

“Yeah, but Lucy’s getting on in years, and she can’t do the