Anna Leigh Keaton & Madison Layle - Incognito 08 - Conquering Connie Read online

  Alex’s heart gave a little jump of excitement, but he squelched his desire. If Ty couldn’t even make the first move with Connie, he sure as hell couldn’t. She didn’t even know him.

  Tyrone glanced at the monitor again. “If she’s with two men and something happens to one of them, she’s not left laid open and vulnerable.”

  “And you got all that from a two-minute conversation with her?” Alex asked, a bit skeptical about his cousin’s intuitive powers. It all made sense, but it still sounded to him like wishful thinking, as if Ty was making things up as he went along.

  “She’s here. She’s returned to the club because that part of her life is missing. But she’s turning down every single guy who offers her a scene.” Ty shook his head and folded his beefy arms over his chest. “She’s done doubles before, though not for some time. Not since the Masters of Sin married Rachel, I think.”

  Alex raised his brows in silent question, to which Ty said, “Connie was once half in love with them, and I think she thought they might be the ones...once upon a time.”

  Ty shrugged, and in that one motion Alex saw that Ty had hurt for her because she’d been hurt. His big, tough cousin had a heart of pure marshmallow.

  Glancing back at the monitor, Ty said, “She wasn’t quite mature enough then. She’s grown a lot in the last few years since the Sinclair brothers got married. She’s ready for something steady and...safe.”

  “Okay,” Alex said, turning back to the monitors and giving them a once-over. “Who do you plan to set her up with?”

  After a slight pause, Ty said, “Us.”

  A thrill skittered down his spine, but he squashed it. “You’ve been lusting after her for years, and you’re suddenly willing to share?”

  Voice softer than normal, Ty said, “You’re the only man I trust.”

  He glanced up at Tyrone. “And what if I’m not interested?”

  His cousin held his gaze a long moment. “If you weren’t interested, you wouldn’t have the camera focused on her. You wouldn’t be watching her every move.” A grin spread over Ty’s face, flashing his white teeth against his dark skin. “Incognito patrons aren’t the only people I can read like a damn book. Admit it. You’ve been drooling over her as much as I have, but your sense of right and wrong has kept you from even expressing those thoughts to me.”

  Tyrone’s words humbled Alex as nothing ever had. “I didn’t want to take what you’d deemed yours.”

  Ty glanced back at the screen. “I appreciate that, but I’m not a jealous man, Cuz. You should know that by now. Not where you’re concerned.” He looked back at Alex. “Besides, she needs us. And I want her, but not just for one scene. If we do this, I’m willing to take that leap. Are you?”

  Alex watched Connie chew on her straw and stare at the table, shoulders slumped, head bowed. If everything Ty said was true, then she did need them. Still, he tried not to get his hopes up too soon.

  “She’s been a stray for a helluva long time, Ty. Didn’t you tell me yourself she has a fear of commitment?”

  “I did, but I think she’s ready.”

  “What makes you think she wants anything but a scene to get over her current problems?”

  Ty grinned again. “You’re just going to have to trust me on that one.”

  He trusted Ty as much as he’d ever trusted his Marine buddies. With his life, his heart, and his soul. He nodded. “I’m in. For the long haul if that’s what she wants.”

  Ty slapped him on the shoulder and turned back to the monitors. “What the fuck? Look!”

  Alex turned toward the monitor to which Ty pointed. There was an unfamiliar woman exiting Carl’s office.

  He clicked a few keys on the board and brought her into view on the big screen. The woman had brown hair pulled back into a bun. Her clothes were stylish; slacks and a very modest blouse—definitely not normal club attire. She appeared more ready to attend a garden party than a fetish club. But the disturbing part was her suspicious moves as she slipped from the club accountant’s office and pulled the door shut behind her.

  “Who the hell is she, and where’d she come from?” Alex asked.

  “A friend of Carl’s?”

  “I don’t think so. He’s tied to Carmen’s hip lately. Can’t see him dallying with another woman.”

  “True. I’ve never seen her before. Have you?”

  Alex shook his head. “Too bad I don’t have cameras in the private offices.”

  “Doesn’t look like anyone else is coming out with her, and Carl stepped in to relieve me at the bar so I could come up here.”

  On another screen, Alex pulled up a camera in the main hall to confirm Carl was still where Ty had left him. He was, so they watched as the stranger slowly made her way down the back hallway of the club. She kept looking behind herself, as if expecting someone to jump out at her. She obviously didn’t belong there.

  “She’s up to no good.” Alex switched the view to the next monitor as the woman moved down the hall of voyeur rooms toward the main part of the club, and he picked up the walkie-talkie from the console. “This is Eagle Eye. We’ve got a female intruder in the back hallway. Closest security personnel move in and detain. Brown hair in a bun, approximately five-six, and wearing dark slacks and a floral, long-sleeved blouse.”

  “Did you say floral?” came one radio response.

  Ty smirked. Alex rolled his eyes and said, “Yes. You can’t miss her.”

  The woman pressed herself against the wall as a couple passed her, although they didn’t seem to even notice as wrapped up in each other as they were. The intruder stared a long time in their direction before she seemed to shake herself and move farther down the hall.

  He switched to yet another camera view when she rounded the corner into the club’s main hall. She froze and raised her hand to her mouth. Her eyes went wide. She looked as though she might pass out from shock.

  “This is Bill,” came over the walkie-talkie. “I see the intruder.” Bill, wearing black denims and a black T-shirt—the attire of the security personnel—approached the woman. He said a few words to her, but she never took her gaze—one that could only be called horrified—from the heart of the club.

  He spoke again, and the woman shook her head, backed away from Bill, and held up her hands as if to warn him off. Bill approached with the cautious, practiced moves Alex had taught all of the security guards. But the moment he touched her, the woman came alive. Alex was forced to switch back to the hall camera to continue watching the scuffle. Despite her efforts, Bill had her restrained in a matter of seconds. With her hands cuffed and his hand over her mouth, he escorted her away from the main hall and back the way she’d come.

  “I’ll get Kat and Dalton and meet you in Carl’s office,” Tyrone said as he headed for the door.

  “Bill to Eagle Eye. The intruder’s in custody. Awaiting further instructions.”

  “Eagle Eye to Bill. Hold her in Carl’s office. We’re on our way. Good job.”

  * * * * *

  At a small commotion near the bar, Connie glanced up to see Penelope Schwartz, prim and proper in her upper-class clothes. Although the woman’s expression was far from joyous, Connie recognized Randolph’s wife from the picture that appeared in the newspaper following his death.

  His wife.

  She hadn’t known he was married until she saw that photo, but the woman struggling with security was young, beautiful, and real.

  One of the security guards put handcuffs on the poor woman and led her away, his hand over her mouth to muffle her shrieks of protest. Why had she come to the club? What did she want here?

  Connie tried to sip the ice water Tyrone had brought her and noticed her hands trembled. She tightened her grip.

  Every day, she dealt with the spouses left behind when a husband or wife died in some sudden, tragic way. She knew the anguish, experienced it along with those hurting people. Part of her wanted to go to Mrs. Schwartz and apologize for not having been able to do more for he
r husband. Another part of her wanted to run and hide for having failed to save him. It was her fault the man was dead.

  Connie didn’t even know if Mrs. Schwartz knew why her husband came here, but she wished he’d been more forthright about his marital status, even if he wasn’t a member of Incognito to find sexual partners. She’d paired off with him dozens of times in the last five years because he loved to spank, and she enjoyed pure dominance with no sexual overtones on occasion. With Master Randy, all physical stimulation came from the act of bondage and the careful administration of pain.

  He’d been very good at what he did. She’d truly cared for Master Randy. He was one of the few men she’d trusted to see to her more masochistic needs. But she should’ve known better than to pair with someone too often. It made for a closeness that hurt all the more when something went wrong.

  Tyrone headed across the main hall toward the foyer and returned moments later, walking behind Master Dalton and Mistress Katriona as the three of them hurried toward the back of the club. The trio paused only once for Kat to whisper something to Carl who nodded and continued to man the bar.

  Whatever the widow had been doing there, Mrs. Schwartz had caused quite an uproar. Unable to rid herself of curiosity, Connie got up from her seat and headed down the hallway. The door to an office stood open, and she heard raised voices.

  “This is a den of iniquity! All those women out there with hardly any clothes on. People having sex in front of...in front of everyone!”

  “Calm down, Mrs. Schwartz,” Kat said. “I assure you that what you think you saw is not—”

  “Someone should call the police and report you for running a brothel. This can’t be legal.”

  As Connie inched toward the door and peered in, Kat said, “Alex, please call Detective Paul Baxter.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Alex replied, picking up the phone on the desk.

  “Wait. You’re calling the police?” Mrs. Schwartz seemed to wilt a little, though her posture, even with her hands cuffed behind her back, was impeccable.

  “Yes,” Dalton answered calmly. “Incognito is not a brothel. It is a private club...private property in which you are trespassing.”

  “I just wanted to see why he’d paid so much money to something called Incognito, to see where my husband was killed.”

  Killed? Connie gasped, and six pairs of eyes turned her way.

  “Hey, I’ve seen you. Were you with him?” the widow asked, her expression changing from confused to fury. “You were, weren’t you? I saw you at the funeral.”

  Tears rushed to Connie’s eyes, and she shook her head in denial as she backed across the hallway. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed, but no sound came out.

  “Connie,” Tyrone said, his voice low and gentle. “He died of a heart attack. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” The big, tenderhearted bartender headed toward her.

  When he reached for her, though, she fled down the hall and out the back door into the cool evening air. Tears ran hot down her cheeks as she fumbled to get her car keys out of her pocket.

  “Connie, wait,” Tyrone called out, and she heard his footsteps pounding after her.

  A sob ripped from her throat as she fell against her car.

  Big, dark, warm arms encircled her, turned her, and pulled her snug against a hard chest. “Shh, sweetheart.”

  She desperately wanted to stay in those arms, against Tyrone’s sheltering body, but she couldn’t. She shoved away, and he released her. Without a word, she turned back to her car and jabbed the key into the lock.

  “This isn’t your fault,” he said.

  “My head knows that,” she whispered as she opened her door. “But I should have been able to do something. I save lives for a living.” It was her job, her responsibility.

  She sat in the driver’s seat, but Tyrone caught the door before she could close it. He squatted down in the opening, eye level with her. “He had a heart attack, sweetheart. The man was almost sixty and overweight. As a nurse, you know that if it’s someone’s time, there’s nothing you can do.”

  The tears scalded her cheeks, and she swiped them away with her sleeve. “If I hadn’t wanted to be tied up—”

  “It would’ve changed nothing.”

  “You don’t know that. I could’ve started CPR sooner. I could’ve saved him.”

  “You don’t know that,” he said, using her own words to make his point. He lifted her hand from her lap, brought it to his lips, and kissed her fingers. “It was just his time to go. Don’t lose yourself because of this.”

  Another rush of tears coursed down her cheeks. “I’m afraid I already have.” She sniffled and tugged her hand from his. He was so sweet, so handsome, and she shouldn’t want to share a scene with him, to let him take away the worry and heartache. She knew he was a Dom because he and his cousin, Alex, had spent a few hours with her friend, Tara, once. She’d been so jealous of her friend.

  But that was then. Before...

  She shouldn’t have come back to the club, shouldn’t want what she could never have. Hadn’t she learned her lesson in the ER and at the club? Losing control could cost lives.

  “I have to go,” she said through her tight throat. “Please, move.”

  Seeming reluctant, Tyrone stood up and stepped back. She looked up into his beautiful, dark eyes and wished again to feel his arms around her. Without another word, she shut her door and started her car. As she pulled away, she looked in the rearview mirror to see him standing in the middle of the parking lot like a gorgeous Nubian god.

  Chapter Three

  “I don’t know about this.”

  Tyrone ignored Alex’s comment and pulled to a stop in the parking lot of the condominiums where Connie lived. “She hasn’t come back, Cuz. How else can we do this?”

  “I’m just saying this is a bad idea. What if someone sees us loitering around where we don’t belong?”

  “That’s why we waited until nighttime.”

  Alex gave him his best you’re-full-of-bullshit look. “If we get arrested, you’re posting my bail—”

  “Don’t sweat it.”

  “—my court costs, legal fees...and not for some public damn defender either. I want the best defense attorney in Miami. And you get to explain to your Aunt Hattie why you turned her precious son, a decorated veteran, into a criminal.”

  Ty glared at his cousin. “Would you shut the hell up?” He studied the condos and found hers easily. It was the corner unit and the only one that didn’t sport any Christmas lights outside or holiday decorations on the door and windows. He frowned. Just another sign of how depressed she must be as a result of Randolph’s untimely death.

  Kat had told him she’d sent out invitations to the Christmas party already and had received responses from everyone except Connie. Since it was also announced as a wedding reception for the owners of the Incognito Club, virtually the entire membership was expected to attend. Even the regular staff was being replaced by temps hired from other clubs so Incognito employees could enjoy the party without having to work during the festivities.

  “There. We can wait by those bushes next to the garage door.” He glanced at his watch. She should’ve gotten off her shift already and would be arriving within the next fifteen minutes or so.

  With a sigh, Alex flipped the overhead light switch to off so it wouldn’t come on when he opened his door. They were both dressed in all black. “I still don’t know why we can’t just knock on the damn door.”

  “She’s not home, yet.” And she might not open the door if she’d become adamant about avoiding all things Incognito. He wasn’t willing to risk that possibility.

  Don’t lose yourself over this, he’d told her.

  I’m afraid I already have.

  Those words had haunted him in the days and weeks that had passed since her last visit to the club. He feared he’d missed his chance at claiming her for himself, showing her that she deserved more than a constant merry-go-round of one-night stands. She’d been so
carefree and independent that he’d chosen a cautious approach. Befriend her first and bide time until she was ready, until she showed the signs of wanting to settle down...to commit.

  Had he waited too long?

  They didn’t sneak across the parking lot. As late as it was, he doubted anyone was at their windows watching, but if so, to sneak around might look suspicious in the dim lighting of the parking lot. Instead, they strolled across the lot, around the corner, and into the shadows, before doubling back and kneeling behind the bushes.

  Alex patted Ty on the shoulder. A silent reassurance that, despite his bickering, they were in this together. He peered through the shrubbery.

  The wait began. Ty prayed it would soon be over for good.

  * * * * *

  Connie stopped at the bank of mailboxes, unlocked hers, and pulled out a small stack of envelopes, not that she felt like reading bills, letters, or junk mail. She stuffed them in her oversized purse and headed for home, driving her car slowly into the parking lot. Pausing for the garage door to rise, she waited then lifted her foot from the break. Her car rolled inside. Again, she braked, let out a tired sigh, and punched the button to shut the garage door.

  Her shift at the hospital had been tougher than usual. She’d lost a hit-and-run victim who never regained consciousness, and had to forcibly restrain a belligerent drunk who didn’t understand that she needed him to lie still so the doctor could stitch up a six-inch cut to his forehead—the result of a bar fight.

  She killed the engine, shoved her car door open, got out, and—

  “Hey there, bad girl.”

  Startled by the sudden comment, she screamed and spun toward the voice. Her purse fell to the floor, its contents strewn.

  Tyrone...Alex.

  She recognized who the men were, but her heart raced with adrenaline at their surprise appearance. Fear battled with relief. Questions bombarded her mind.