Breaking Her Rules

chapter 11



He traced the serrated edge of the knife down Mario Vélaz’s ribs and side, careful not to break the skin. Sometimes the threat of pain was worse than the pain itself. So many people didn’t understand that. Especially the thuggish mobsters he owed money to. Torture definitely had a purpose but if done wrong, the information gained was often unreliable. Beneath the blade, his victim shuddered and tried to pull away, but had nowhere to go.

Tied down on the concrete floor of an abandoned warehouse that had gone into foreclosure as so many other buildings in Miami, Mario was trapped and at his mercy.

“You’ve had weeks to give me something of value and because of your incompetence I lost the company I want.” He would also lose a lot more than that if he didn’t come up with the money he owed his financial backers. And he’d been counting on that deal too. If it hadn’t been for Christiansen that hack-proof software would be his and he’d be able to give that instead of money to those f*cking mobsters. God, what had he been thinking, borrowing money from them? But he’d been desperate and the banks had refused him.

“What the hell did you expect of me!” Mario shouted, sweat rolling off his face.

He’d expected results. He hadn’t just hired Sato to kill Christiansen. He’d managed to blackmail one of the groundskeepers from the home Christiansen had bought in Miami. Mario had come with the house and wasn’t part of Christiansen’s long term staff. Those people were untouchable and he didn’t have much money to bribe anyone with anyway. Not after he’d paid Sato. All he’d had to do was threaten the safety of Mario’s wife and young daughter and the guy had crumbled, agreeing to spy for him.

“I don’t know nothing, man! I never even see the guy. Their security is tight. I’m searched every time I arrive at work and so is my car.” The dark-haired Cuban tugged against the bindings, but the fishing line cut into his wrists.

“Tell me what you know, and I let you live.” He wouldn’t, but Mario might not realize that yet.

“Liar,” he spat.

Yes, he was. Sighing, he pressed the blade into Mario’s side until he nicked the skin. A small rivulet of blood trailed down his ribs, splashing softly against the concrete. “One more chance to be honest.”

The man turned his head away in defiance. He gritted his teeth, hating how tedious this business was. With the flick of his wrist, he sliced through Mario’s Chino’s, completely exposing him.

“What the f*ck are you doing?” Mario’s dark eyes widened when he pressed the back of the knife to his ball sac.

“I don’t have time to play games. People talk, even security personnel. You must have heard something.”

Mario’s eyes widened in terror but his body was completely still as he tried to control his breathing. “I don’t…the woman, the security woman!” The words poured from him in desperation.

He pressed the back of the weapon harder against Mario’s skin, causing him to violently jerk. “What about her?”

“What are you doing? I’m telling you!”

“Get to the point faster.”

“She’s the rich man’s wife.”

He blinked at the statement, not sure if Mario was relaying the correct information.

“The tall, dark-haired woman is Wyatt Christiansen’s wife? The woman on his security team?” The bitch who’d seen Sato poisoning him.

“Yes! I heard two of the guards patrolling the grounds talking about how they couldn’t believe she’d married the rich man. How they couldn’t believe she’d married anybody.” Mario’s breathing was erratic now, his eyes wild as he looked down at the knife.

“When did you hear this?”

“Yesterday.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes! Now move that f*cking knife away from my nuts. Please!” Mario struggled violently against the restraints. “I swear on my mother’s life, I don’t know any more than that! I didn’t remember ’til just now!”

He stilled his hand and nodded once. “This is good.” Then he cut one of the wires from around Mario’s ankles, freeing his left leg.

“You’re letting me go?” Mario’s words were high pitched and uneven.

“I told you I would. Next time I come to ask you questions, don’t run.” There wouldn’t be a next time, but Mario didn’t know that.

“I won’t. I swear it!” The relief rolling off Mario was so palpable it made him smile inside.

He cut through the next foot restraint, but instead of freeing Mario’s wrists, he slammed his knife into the middle of the man’s chest. He never gave him the chance to struggle or fight. The surprise and horror on Mario’s face made something dark inside of him smile. He didn’t like the messiness of killing, but sometimes he took a little pleasure in ending a man’s life. He liked to make someone feel secure, relieved—then to snatch it from them in one final blow. Watching the awareness fade from Mario’s eyes, he could barely contain his joy at learning Wyatt Christiansen was f*cking married.

Married.

It seemed too good to be true, but now he had the perfect way to get his revenge.



* * * * *



Iris stared at Wyatt’s walk-in closet and realized that if she was going to commit, she needed to do this full on. He’d left half the giant closet empty.

For her stuff.

She hadn’t even realized what he’d done until she’d brought her few belongings from the guest room into his room—their room. That was another thing she’d have to get used to. The truth was, she’d probably never get used to living in such lavish surroundings and there was no way she’d actually ever fill up this closet that was the size of her master bathroom at home. But, she could bring over some of her things. To put in the effort to actually move in with Wyatt.

It might be weird considering her coworkers were guarding him, but she wouldn’t let it get that way. In a week or so she’d go back to work and things would be normal. She wouldn’t be here during the day. Until then, she was moving in and helping Red Stone’s team research Keibler and Thorton Enterprises. She might not be guarding Wyatt directly anymore, but after what Harrison had told her about Red Stone tearing apart Thorton’s financials, she planned to read and research every scrap of information they came up with.

She’d been worried that Harrison wouldn’t let her, but he’d been surprisingly acquiescent when she’d broached the subject. Probably because he knew she’d go insane if she wasn’t being proactive. Even the thought of sitting around and doing nothing was enough to stress her out. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Iris’s heart jumped to see a text from Lizzy Caldwell, a computer genius who worked for Red Stone.

Just sent you two emails full of data. Should take all day to read. Call if you find anything relevant. I’ll do the same.

Lizzy had texted Iris earlier to let her know that she was portioning out pieces of information to five other individuals within the company so Lizzy and Iris made a total of seven researchers. Hopefully with this many people they’d be able to find a lead. If anything, they’d be knocking out a week’s worth of research in a day or two with this many people on it. It was a start.

Though she wanted to whip out her laptop right then, she had one thing to do first. Wyatt had moved to freaking Miami for her. Yeah, he had the money, but she also knew it wasn’t just for show. If she asked him to, he’d move here permanently, but she wasn’t sure she wanted that. She knew how much he enjoyed living out west and she didn’t want to take that away from him. That was a decision for another day, but right now she could at least show him she was serious too. He’d been right earlier; actions spoke louder than words.

Iris shot off a quick text to Lizzy telling her that she’d start reading everything within an hour, then she headed out of the room. Her boots were silent along the marble stairs. The house was tomblike quiet today, probably because Wyatt was taking meetings in the back west side of the house. He’d been on conference calls all morning. As she reached the bottom, she turned ready to go in search of Jay when she found him in the nook where the staircase looped around. The Baby Grand piano gleamed beautifully under the sparkling chandelier.

Iris blinked at the sight of Jay pressing Ellie up against the wall in a very sexual manner. Both his arms caged the petite blonde woman in against the wall, his tattoos flexing as his muscles tensed. Ellie had her hand pressed against his chest and was murmuring something Iris couldn’t hear. Didn’t want to hear. They were almost perfectly hidden and clearly wanted privacy. Feeling bad about almost disturbing them, she started to back up but her shoe made a soft squeaking sound. The second it did, Jay turned and immediately blocked Ellie’s body.

When he saw Iris, however, he relaxed. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah…I just, never mind.” Iris decided to grab someone else to come with her.

“I’m on break right now.” Ellie slid out from Jay’s embrace and put some distance between them as she hurried toward Iris, her four-inch Dior’s clicking loudly. “This isn’t what it looks like. We were just talking and it’s Jay’s day off anyway.” Pink-faced, the woman spoke in a hurried rush.

Iris frowned. “O…kay.” She didn’t give a crap what they did in their spare time. She already knew Jay was off. It was why she’d been searching him out.

“Iris doesn’t give a shit what we’re doing, Ellie,” Jay muttered as he came up to stand behind her.

He reached out to touch her shoulder but Ellie just danced away from him and skirted past Iris, heading toward one of the west wing hallways. “My lunch break’s about over so I’ll speak to you later about that…issue, Mr. Wentworth.” Then she was gone, her heels making a huge racket as she practically sprinted down the closest hallway. Four-inch heels or not, the woman could move.

Iris couldn’t contain her laughter. “Mr. Wentworth?”

Jay rubbed a hand over his face. “You’re Wyatt’s wife so I think she’s worried you’d think she was slacking off on the job or something…f*ck, I don’t know what’s going on in Ellie’s head. I never do. She’s driving me insane, Iris. I don’t know what to do with her.” He said the last part as if he thought Iris had some magical answer.

She snorted softly. “If you’re looking for relationship advice, I’m definitely the wrong person to come to.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Hey!” It might be true but she hadn’t expected him to agree.

Jay smiled then, his grin so boyish that it transformed his face. “I’m just messing with you. What’s up? Were you looking for me?”

“Actually, yes. I knew it was your day off so I thought I’d maybe beg for a little moving help.”

His eyebrows raised a fraction. “Moving?”

“Well, just bringing my clothes over here. As in my whole closet. And a few other necessities.” She could do it all by herself but it would be a hassle and she wasn’t above asking for help if she could get it all done in one trip. “I need to do a lot of research this afternoon so I wanted to get everything in one trip if possible. We could load up two SUVs and—”

He held up a hand. “If it gets you living permanently under the same roof as Wyatt, I’ll do any damn thing you want.”

Surprised by his statement, she just said, “Thanks. I’m ready now if you are.” She tilted her head toward the front door and he nodded. There should be two guards standing directly outside. If they weren’t stationed there, there would be hell to pay. She breathed a sigh of relief as they stepped outside to find two men she’d worked with on multiple occasions standing guard. They nodded at her, but neither moved from their post.

Jay handed her a set of keys as he palmed another key ring in his hand. “It’s about damn time you moved in here. Wyatt’s been a bear to work for this past month.”

Ah, that’s why he was willing to help. “You didn’t even want me marrying him.” Well, she didn’t know it for certain, but he’d definitely been wary after they’d gotten married so quickly.

He shrugged, completely unapologetic as they strode toward the line of six SUVs currently being guarded by another Red Stone employee. No one was going to plant bombs on their watch. “I knew how tight you two were but I wasn’t sure what your end game was. After what happened a year ago when he couldn’t get in touch with you I knew things were serious for him, but—”

“Wait, what? What happened a year ago?” She had no clue what he was talking about.

Jay looked at her then, his green eyes suddenly going blank. He pressed the keyfob, unlocking the closest vehicle. “I’ll follow you, but I know where you live so if we get separated I’ll just meet you there.”

She pressed the keyfob he’d given her. “Are you serious? You’re just going to ignore my question?”

He shrugged and headed toward his SUV. By the set line of his jaw she knew he wouldn’t be talking right now, but she planned to get it out of him later. Nothing had happened between her and Wyatt a year ago. Sure, they’d been friends and their communication had turned more frequent right around then, but she’d never been out of contact. Maybe he was mistaken? No…he was referring to something very specific and she would find out what it was.

As she started to slide into the driver’s seat, the sound of screeching tires had her jumping back out of the vehicle and drawing her weapon from her ankle holster.

Jay was out and by her side in seconds, his own custom-made SIG drawn. “Shit,” he muttered.

“What?” A dark blue extended cab truck was pulling down the drive.

“That’s Keibler. Wyatt said to let him in the gates. I just heard it on the radio.” He tapped his earpiece.

Clearly Jay was still staying on top of things even if it was his day off. “Wyatt is letting him on the premises?” she asked dumbly, knowing Jay wasn’t mistaken. “What the f*ck is he thinking?” It wasn’t a question so much as an accusation. What was he thinking? “Did the guys at the gate at least check him for weapons? Check his vehicle?” All the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She knew she couldn’t stay objective on the protective team, but she hated having to stand back and be completely out of the loop. As soon as possible she was getting her earpiece back and at least staying informed.

“Yes to all of the above.” Jay looked just as pissed as her, which made her feel better. This was a stupid move on Wyatt’s part. He didn’t need to be anywhere near Keibler until they figured things out.

“Where’s Wyatt?” She asked.

“Still on a phone conference call. He wants Keibler to wait out here.” Jay’s voice was tight.

She kept her weapon out as Keibler parked a few feet away from them. The guards from the front door were moving toward the vehicle, spreading out as they walked. One of the guards from the front gate was headed their way too, flanking the vehicle. Everyone had weapons drawn too. She had to rein in her anger as she spoke to Jay because it wasn’t directed at him. “Will you keep him here while I go have a word with Wyatt?” Okay, she was barely checking her annoyance through her gritted teeth. She wasn’t part of the team anymore so she hoped he didn’t take her question the wrong way.

He nodded. “Yeah. Keep his ass inside.”

Relief punched through her that Jay was as angry as her. What the hell could Wyatt possibly be thinking? Sheathing her gun once she reached the front door, she barely refrained from slamming it as she hurried across the marble entryway. They hadn’t done enough research on him yet to know how far Keibler’s reach was. Or what his end game was other than to kill Wyatt. Keibler might not be guilty as far as the law was concerned, but he had to be involved in the attempts on Wyatt’s life. The man’s date had tried to poison Wyatt.

As Iris turned at the end of the first hall, a new rush of annoyance popped inside her when she saw Wyatt striding toward her. “Why are letting that man on your property?” she practically shouted, her voice echoing.

Still wearing the same pants and shirt from earlier, he looked darkly handsome as he approached. The man would look good in anything. He looked tense as he stopped in front of her, but his expression was soft. “Iris, he’s here because—”

They both froze as something that sounded like glass shattering and a sonic boom or… “Oh my God.” Heart pounding out of control, she sprinted back the way she’d come with Wyatt right next to her. She’d heard her fair share of gunfire and bombs before, but there was no way that was what she’d just heard.

Or she really prayed it wasn’t.

It felt as if an eternity passed by the time they reached the front door, but in reality only seconds had passed. Before she opened the front door she withdrew her SIG and she was thankful to see Wyatt had his own weapon in hand.

Bypassing her then blocking her, he opened the door and peeked out, weapon held tight. She wanted to go first, but knew now wasn’t the time for that kind of bullshit. If he wanted to take lead, she had to let him. The sound of multiple car alarms wailing outside already told her she wasn’t going to like what she saw, but Wyatt’s sucked in breath confirmed it. “Jay’s down,” he growled before racing outside.

Shit. She wanted to stop him, to tackle him to the ground in case there were more threats waiting outside, but she knew it wouldn’t help. Following after him, her stomach dropped as she saw the carnage. Blood and body parts were strewn across the driveway, the glass in Keibler’s truck and two of the SUVs were blown out and there was a black crater where she’d last seen Keibler standing. Two men were on the ground either unconscious or dead and one guard was racing up from the guardhouse on his radio, shouting something. Behind her she could hear more security spilling out of the house as she sprinted toward Jay.

He was lying near the grass behind an open door of one of the SUVs. The glass hadn’t blown out of that one though, so that was a good sign. Still, she had no clue how big the bomb that had gone off was so she didn’t know if he’d been in the blast zone or not. He had a bloody gash on his right temple. A dozen questions raced through her mind, but they’d figure out what the hell had happened after they got everyone to the hospital. Wyatt was crouched down next to Jay, checking his pulse, but Iris could see the rise and fall of his chest. He was breathing. She just prayed he didn’t have brain damage.

Iris pulled out her cell and dialed the police. As the call connected she heard Ellie screaming as she ran toward them. “Don’t let her see Jay like this,” Iris ordered. She had no clue if Wyatt knew about their relationship and it didn’t matter. No way could they let Ellie see him unconscious with God only knew what kind of injuries.

As he hurried to stop Ellie, Iris cringed as the blonde woman clawed and fought him. Wyatt managed to haul her back inside as the operator came on the line. “911, what is the nature of your emergency?”

“I’m reporting a bombing,” Iris said grimly. And whoever the hell had done this would pay.