“I’m going to grab you, shake you,” he said. “Try to push me away as hard as you can. I’ll let you go and you head in his direction, but not directly for him. Understand?”

“Yeah.”

“You ready?” he asked, looking slightly skeptical.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Just do it already.”

Kade’s hands closed on my upper arms and he shook me. “Start fighting me,” he hissed. His face hard with anger. I tried to push him away, squirming, but he just held me tighter. “Try harder. He’s watching.” I put all I had into it, twisting to get away from where Kade had me pressed against the fence.

“Let me go!” I demanded, pushing at his chest. His arm was within reach, and I clamped my teeth around it and bit.

“Ow! You bitch!”

Kade released me and I wasted no time pushing past him toward the man, but was careful not to look at him. I hurried, glancing over my shoulder to see Kade was jogging after me. He reached out and I cringed away with a cry.

I was suddenly snagged around the waist and yanked toward someone. It was the guy. He’d grabbed me and had moved me behind him while he faced off with Kade.

“Get out of the way,” Kade ordered.

“I don’t think she wants to go with you,” the man said.

“I don’t give a shit what she wants,” Kade snarled. He pushed roughly past the man and grabbed my arm.

The guy threw a punch at Kade, which I knew he could have blocked, but he chose not to. The crunch of bone on bone made me flinch. When Kade looked back at me, his mouth was bloody.

I decided I didn’t like this job very much.

“Fine,” Kade said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “I was through with her anyway.”

He turned and stalked away, disappearing into the crowd.

“Are you all right?”

I swung my attention back to the guy.

“Yeah. I’m okay,” I said. “Thanks for helping me.”

He gave me a small smile and held out his hand. “I’m David, and you’re welcome.”

I shook his hand. “Kathleen.”

“Can I buy you a drink, Kathleen?”

I forced a smile. “Sure. I’d like that.”

David motioned to a nearby cocktail waitress and soon I was sipping a vodka tonic. Sipping because I certainly didn’t need more alcohol, not when I felt responsible for keeping Kade out of trouble.

David asked me what I did and I told him I was a bartender. He didn’t bat an eye at that. He didn’t wear a wedding ring, so I assumed that though he had a daughter he must be divorced. Now that he was talking more, I could hear the trace of a British accent.

When I asked him what he did for a living, his answer was vague.

“I run security for a firm in Switzerland,” he said.

“That sounds interesting,” I said. “What kind of firm?”

His smile was enigmatic. “The kind of firm for which people pay a lot of money to retain their anonymity.”

I took a drink to hide my dismay. I’d heard about the big, prestigious banks in Switzerland in movies and such. That was what Kade was trying to hack into? I broke out in a cold sweat.

“It’s been lovely meeting you, Kathleen,” David said. “But I have an early meeting tomorrow. Do take care and perhaps choose your company more wisely in the future.” He turned to go.

I panicked. It hadn’t been thirty minutes yet.

“Wait!” I said, latching on to his arm. He looked back questioningly. “I mean, we were just getting to know each other.” I smiled and threw in a come-hither look for good measure. “Surely you can stay a little while longer?”

David paused, a slight frown crossing his face. “You seem awfully self-destructive, Kathleen. First you’re with a man who mistreats you in a quite brutal fashion, and now you’re flirting with a complete stranger.”

Okay, well that was brutal honesty for you. And he didn’t know the half of it.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “I’m just… alone. And I don’t know what to do now.” I shrugged. That sentence was actually true.

David studied me. “Come with me, Kathleen,” he said.

I followed him. Maybe I should tell him I was hungry, so he could get me something to eat? That should stall him long enough for Kade to finish up and get out of his room.

Two big men followed at a distance, then rode down in the elevator with us. I could tell they were some type of security detail for David. They had telltale bulges under their jackets and their eyes never stopped scanning in all directions.

A limousine was waiting downstairs and David motioned me inside. It was just the two of us then, the bodyguards riding in another car.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“My hotel.”

Shit. “I’m really hungry,” I said, hoping he’d catch the hint.

“I’ll order you something there.”

Great. Kade had given me one job and I couldn’t even manage it. We were going right where he’d asked me not to go. He was so going to fire me.

The bodyguards left us at the door to his suite when David dismissed them, which made me nervous. Why had he brought me back here? Hotel rooms with strange men hadn’t worked out so well for me in the past.

“Where are you from, Kathleen?” David asked, gesturing for me to precede him into the suite, which was even nicer than the one Kade and I were staying in. I headed for the windows to take in the view. I figured if Kade was in here, the farther I could get David away from the door, the better the odds for Kade to get out. And moving across the room also put me out of David’s immediate reach.

“The Midwest,” I said vaguely.

“Runaway?”

“Orphan.”

He poured two glasses of wine from the bar and handed me one. I took a sip.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

I shrugged and asked to use the bathroom. Maybe Kade was hiding. But when I went through the bedroom, it was dark and empty. I gave a sigh of relief. Perhaps Kade had made it out early. Going into the bathroom, I shut the door and flipped on the light, then immediately had to stifle a scream.

“Did you forget how to tell time?”

I spun around. “Jesus, Kade! You scared me to death!” I hissed. “What are you still doing here?”

“I said I needed thirty minutes,” he reminded me. “Has it been thirty minutes?”

I immediately felt guilty. “I’m sorry. He wanted to come back here and I couldn’t stop him.”

“So you came along,” Kade said. “Why?” His irritation was obvious. He reached behind me to turn on the water.

“I don’t know. I thought maybe if you were still here, I could distract him or something, so you could get out.”

“And how did you plan on getting out?”

I didn’t have an answer. I hadn’t thought that far.

Kade snorted. “That’s what I thought.”

I bristled. “Listen, I’m just a girl he brought back from the club. I’m not suspicious. But a strange man walking out of his bathroom is.”

Kade’s lips pressed into a thin line and I had a brief moment of satisfaction that he knew I was right.

“Did you get what you needed?” I asked.

“Do you even have to ask?”

How Kade could make arrogant sarcasm sexy was beyond me.

“Okay then. So, there are two bedrooms here. I’ll get him into the other one and you get out. I’ll meet you back in our room.”

“I don’t like that plan,” he said.

“I’ll be fine.” And I really hoped that was the truth. I reached over and turned off the water. “See you soon.”

I switched off the light as I left the bathroom, taking a deep breath before stepping back into the living room. David was still sipping his wine by the windows.

I picked up my wineglass and headed back over to him, walking slowly and putting enough sway in my hips to get his attention. “So, David,” I said after taking a healthy swallow, “I didn’t get a chance to thank you properly for your help tonight.” Yeah, I was the same age as his daughter—oh well. Men were great at rationalizing inconvenient facts like that. And I noticed his eyes had dropped to my cleavage.

David cleared his throat. “Thanks aren’t necessary,” he said.

My palms were sweaty and my heart was jackknifing in my chest, but I tried to ignore all that. I needed to distract him enough for Kade to get out. The more time that passed, the greater the chance of discovery. I remembered the amount Kade had whispered in my ear. A cut of that would be very nice.

I set my glass down, my hands shaking. Making myself put one foot in front of the other when I desperately wanted to run in the other direction, I got close enough to David for him to get a whiff of my perfume.

“But,” I said quietly, taking the wineglass from his hand, “I like to pay my debts.” My voice was steady and calm, thank God.

It seemed any thoughts of maybe saving the lost and abused orphan were long gone, because he swallowed heavily. Turning, I headed for the bedroom and he followed closely behind. “I mean, this is what you intended, bringing me back here, right?”

“Perhaps,” he admitted.

That I was right didn’t surprise me in the slightest. Gathering my courage, I gave him a little push and he sat down on the bed. Being in a bedroom with a complete stranger who obviously expected sex was unnerving. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

David seemed willing to let me take charge, which was unexpected given his earlier behavior but gave me an idea. Opening his closet, I spied what I needed. Dragging a tie from the rack, I turned to face David.

“I like to play games. Do you like to play games?” I gave him what I hoped was a wicked smile.

“I… could be persuaded,” he said, his gaze raking down my body.

Although I strained my ears, I didn’t hear the door to the suite open or close. But then again, Kade was always as silent as a ghost.