Treasured (The Salvation Society) - Victoria Pinder Page 0,4
can run a background check on her, if you need.”
“Stop. When Wanda walks in, I’ll be ready to remind her that she can’t keep me from my company.”
The farther away from work people, the better. Mary and I needed to be alone. I met her halfway between the dance floor and where she’d gone, and I immediately said, “There you are.”
She turned to me, but she shook her head and asked, “You’re still here?”
I cocked my eyebrow and met her sarcasm with my lips turned up. “Are you upset?”
“Surprised.” She spun toward the room. “Look around. There are tons of beautiful women here tonight that are more in your league.”
She was selling herself short. Her curves were deadly and would fill my dreams tonight. So no one else would hear us, I whispered into her ear, “None as interesting as you.”
She turned back toward me and heaved that perfect chest that was neither too big nor too small as she asked, “What’s your name?”
The lights flashed near the stage, and I smelled the sweet air around her as I said, “Dwayne Jensen, ma’am, and yours?”
With her thumb, she pointed toward the stage and said, “Mary Steel.” She took a step back. “And it looks like I’m needed onstage.”
I followed her, asking, “Running away from me again?”
She shook her head and said, “I’m here to do my job.”
I winked at her and said, “Funny. Me too. Go and finish yours so we can get a drink.”
Her hips swayed as she rushed onto the dance floor and up the side of the stage.
Mark’s voice came through my earpiece: “The other target of yours is here, Thunder Thighs.”
Guess he’d found my call sign funny. Didn’t matter, though. I glanced at the doors and saw Wanda again. I hadn’t seen her since I was still in college. “I see her.”
Charlie reminded me of the report I’d been shown earlier that listed her as an international arms dealer who worked with some shadowy characters using Mary’s ex as the contact. She followed that with, “Wanda Frost has quite a reputation.”
No way my brother had known that about her. If he had, he’d been more lost than I remembered. I didn’t even blink as I approached her. “I remember why my brother named me his backup if something happened to him. I hadn’t realized she used my time in the SEALs and found herself a loophole.”
Charlie repeated, “Then you’re warned.”
“I got this,” I said and then approached as she grabbed her name tag. Wanda wasn’t nearly as vibrant as Mary, but I was still all smiles when I said, “Hey, you.”
She pivoted around me. “Get lost.”
“Wanda, my brother thought you were perfect once.”
She turned around.
Mary’s voice was on the speaker, and I turned toward the stage. She had a microphone in her hand. “Tonight, we raised over one hundred thousand dollars for women’s shelters.”
“Dwayne.” Wanda hugged me and kissed my cheek. “I almost didn’t recognize you. You look healthy.” Her phone rang and she stepped back as she said, “Look, you and I should talk in person soon.”
“Sure, but if you want to save yourself the headache of lawyers, you’ll sign off on my control without fighting me,” I said, hoping she would buy this reminiscing thing.
“Yet I made us both a lot of money,” Wanda said with a nod. “And the board likes me.”
Honestly, facing my past wasn’t my style. If I was caught in my memories, then I was avoiding the present, and that could get me killed. But the board didn’t know Wanda had the company under federal investigation. Everyone would soon.
Mary continued to brighten the room with her voice. “Thank you, everyone, for being here. This money means a lot to my family.”
Steel. Her last name had been on the program. And her brightness on the stage made her almost like an angel in the distance.
Wanda stepped back, waving her ringing phone. “Now is not the time for this.”
“I came here to give you fair warning,” I said then handed her my business card. “So you’ll call me when you see you have no way to stop me.”
“Cocky.” She took the card and hugged me again. “That’s probably what got your brother killed too. Later, Dwayne.”
At least she’d remembered me.
Mission accomplished for the evening. My team would be happy.
Next, I turned my attention toward Mary. She was off the stage and sitting in her seat.
I pressed my thumb to my lips and imagined what kissing her might be like. I made my