His Wicked Pleasure (Wicked #1) Page 6

  “Oh my god. Something is on me! Oh god, oh god, oh god! Get it off! It’s moving. It’s got claws,” she screamed and began running towards the exit.

  “Miss, Miss,” yelled one of the workers nervously. “Stand still, stop jumping around! I’ll get it off of you.”

  Declan raced after her and captured her in his arms. She struggled against him as he said, “Breathe. Calm down.”

  “You promised to protect me in there,” she cried. “Please. Is it off of me? I feel teeth digging into my skin. Oh god. I’m gonna faint!” She cringed and felt the creature move towards her hair. “Get it! Hurry! Oh come on now, not my hair!”

  “I got it,” said the worker in a soft voice as she felt hands lifting something out of her hair. “It’s one of our baby bats. He must like the way you smell.”

  “Well imagine my delight,” said Kristie panting. “Does that thing carry rabies? Do I need one of those horrible shots now?” Tears stung her eyes but she wasn’t going to cry, no matter how terrifying it had been.

  Glancing at Declan, the guy gulped nervously as he shook his head. “Our animals are healthy here, I think you should be fine.”

  Declan smiled at the nervous guy and said, “Thank you. I’ll take it from here.”

  “Will you be filing a complaint?” he croaked.

  Turning around, Kristie glanced at the pale face of the worker. He looked like he was no older than seventeen and he looked ready to faint. Giving him a reassuring smile, Kristie said, “Absolutely not. In my eyes, you’re a hero. I should be hugging you. Thank you for rescuing me.”

  She watched as the young man’s smile filled his face as quickly as the blush did his cheeks and laughed as she watched the incredulous expression that filled Declan’s face.

  Chapter Seven

  “Seriously Lor, you should have seen this thing,” Kristie shuddered as she held out her hands so there was about a foot between them. They were sitting outside eating lunch with their dates and Kristie was quickly filling them in about her morning. “It was huge, hairy and had fangs.”

  Declan choked on his food. Swallowing back his laughter, he looked at both Lorie and Paul as he shook his head in disbelief. “It was a baby bat about this big,” he said holding up his index finger and pointing to the halfway mark.

  “A high school boy saved my life,” Kristie ignored him as she batted her eyes and pretended to swoon. “I think I’m going to get his name and give him a proper thank you.”

  “You mean you didn’t help her?” asked Paul, looking at his friend while he shook his head. “She told you she was terrified and then she still went inside. When she needed help, you just stood there like a boob.”

  “Yup. That’s sounds about right,” laughed Kristie. “Strike two. One more strike and you’re out.”

  “Too funny,” said Lorie laughing. “I wish I was there. That must have been hysterical. I’ve seen her flip out over an ant crawling on her. Trust me, I feel Declan’s pain right now.”

  Declan pulled Kristie into his arms. Kissing her on the cheek, he took her hand in his and said, “That was not strike two. You took off running and screaming through the Mouse House so quickly that you left small children on the ground as you ran through them. I swear, the kids were flying left and right. I was picking them up and apologizing on your behalf.”

  “No! She didn’t,” Lorie laughed and it was clear that she was having a great time listening to the story.

  “She did,” said Declan shaking his head, “One poor baby face planted into the cold ground and started screaming.”

  “Kristie,” Lorie gasped with disgust. “What’s wrong with you.”

  “Lorie, Don’t believe one word Lurch has to say. He promised to protect me and failed. All bets were off at the moment I had to protect myself.”

  Declan tossed his half-eaten french fry onto his plate and sat there with his mouth open as he stared at Kristie. The fun of the afternoon lost as he tried to process what she called him. No way possible. Seriously, did she? No way, I’m hearing things. “Lurch?” he asked with his mouth agape.

  “That’s right. You heard me correctly,” snapped Kristie as she tossed her hair out of her eyes. She gave him a defiant stare but he couldn’t help but notice her sliding her chair a little further away from him.

  Reaching over, Declan pulled her back with ease. “Lurch? Of all the names in the world...Lurch?”

  “Um, maybe we should get going now,” Lorie glanced at Paul and she looked like she was trying to control her laughter.

  “No way, this is getting good,” Paul replied as he leaned forward acting like he was watching a first rate movie. “I want to see how she squeezes out of this.”

  “I’m waiting,” barked Declan staring at Kristie.

  She glanced around looking for a means of escape but couldn’t find one. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders, “Well, um. Do you remember the day when you knocked me down and just stood there leering at me?”

  Declan groaned inwardly. “Unfortunately, I do. How could I forget? It was only two days ago,” groaned Declan as he wondered where she was going with this.

  “Well,” she paused and bit her lip, “That’s the day you earned that nickname.”

  “Why?”

  “Well for starters, you’re extremely tall,” she pointed out matter-of-factly, “and you stood there with a dumb look on your face after knocking me to the ground. You just left me there as I aimlessly struggled to collect my belongings and stand back up. So yeah, I nicknamed you Lurch.”

  He thought about their first meeting and had to admit that he had seemed like a Lurch. “Fair enough,” he replied. “But haven’t I redeemed myself yet?”

  “No.”

  Looking at Kristie intently, Declan rubbed the tension in the back of his neck and adjusted his position. “I don’t like that nickname.”

  “Hmm, you’re clearly not a Ken doll,” said Kristie looking around at the other tables. “See that guy over there,” she said softly while pointing to another row of tables. “He’s what I would call a Ken doll.”

  Lorie scanned the room before she focused on where Kristie was pointing. “Wow, he’s kind of cute in a plastic sort of way.”

  “I hope you’re not sitting here looking at other men,” Declan growled as he slipped his fingers under Kristie’s jaw and pulled her face towards his.

  “No. Just showing you a Ken doll. You’re safe.”

  Searing his lips against hers, he whispered, “Find a better nickname for me. Please.”

  “Yes sir,” said Kristie in a teasing voice.

  ~*~*~*~

  The moment Kristie pulled up to the fancy restaurant, camera lights began flashing and media hounds flocked to her like moths to flame. “Miss Rossi, is it true that Rossi Co. is having problems?”

  Kristie startled as she thought of the report she’d sent to her uncle but she recovered quickly and smiled as she walked to the center of the crowd. She wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, probably just desperate media hounds grasping at straws, but she knew she needed to look unfazed by their questions or they would eat her alive. Looking directly into the camera, she gave them her famous smile and stated, “Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see.”

  With that, she turned away from the reporter and made her way into the restaurant. She was led to a nice quiet table discretely to the side of the restaurant. “Kristie,” said Paolo standing up immediately with his arms open. “So nice to see you.”

  Once she sat down, the two of them perused the menu, placed their orders, and made small talk while they waited for their food.

  “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I know you have a very busy schedule,” Kristie said, getting right to business. Paolo nodded and pulled out a stack of photos that he had for her. After they settled on six different photos, Kristie handed him the article written about her and her accomplishments. “So what do you think?” she asked nervously while she tapped her fingers on the
tabletop.

  “I’m impressed. Your family will be so proud,” said Paolo offering a smile. “I have to go, we have a doctors appointment and we just might have our new addition real soon.”

  “Give you gorgeous wife my love and please keep me posted on the baby,” Kristie gave him a warm hug and then walked with him out of the restaurant.

  The moment she walked near her car, she could hear her phone ringing away. Opening the driver side door, she reached into her console, checked the caller I.D. and answered, ‘Hello Uncle Frank. Hang on while I put you on my blue tooth. Okay, you’re on.’

  ‘Kristie. I went over the reports you sent me and agree. You have a thief working for you. Not sure if it’s just isolated to one employee or a few.’

  ‘Okay. That explains the media circus.’ She sighed and began to drive.

  ‘I made a call to the networks and scheduled a news conference. Just keep it short and sweet like you always do.’

  ‘Uncle Frank,” Kristie stared out at the street before her as she asked in a concerned tone, “How did this leak?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he sighed, ‘Maybe the person who stole the money is trying to sabotage the company in more ways than one.’

  Kristie tightened her grip on the steering wheel as her insides turned. She had come to the same conclusion as her uncle and felt angered by the sabotage and dishonesty. Still, she didn’t relish what she would need to do next, ‘I think I may have to clean house now.’

  ‘I agree.’ Her uncle’s voice was filled with concern before he added, ‘I’m over at your office waiting for you. Don’t worry sweetheart, you will prevail.’

  ~*~*~*~

  The drive to the Navy base was non eventful but the closer Declan got to it, the more he felt a shift in the air. By the time he parked, he knew that something was off its axis. Taking a deep breath, he smelled something metallic in the air and it instantly caused his gut to turn as a chill ran down his spine. Paul walked up behind him, noticed his friend’s demeanor and let out a loud groan.

  “I know that look,” he said handing Declan the coffee he’d picked up for him. “I’ve seen it so many times on your face...we’re about to be deployed.” He groaned, “That just sucks right now.”

  Declan nodded as his gaze took in two commanding officers and an admiral headed their way. Immediately, he and Paul stood at attention and saluted.

  “At ease men,” said the admiral with a nod. “We’ll be joining you during your meeting today.”

  Declan nodded but he didn’t relax. Instead, he stood at perfect attention as tension filled every part of his body. The last thing he wanted was to leave Kristie without letting her know how much she meant to him. He needed to tell her how badly he wanted a relationship.

  He shook his head. Now was not the time to focus on what he wanted, he had a mission to do. Forcing himself out of his own pity party, he replied, “Please, follow us. We were just heading towards our meeting room.”

  The officers followed Declan as they walked towards the large building and through the halls to the meeting room. Declan waited as the officers took their seats before he took his own and then he waited, lost in his own thoughts, as his squad came in one by one.

  “I guess the gangs all here,” said Declan looking over at Paul with a frown as his commander walked through the door.

  The next hour was spent with the commander giving them their orders and Declan listened as each man was briefed on his role on this mission. . For himself, he was head of operations...a role that he was very familiar with.

  The commander led them to a room filled with computers, wall monitors, and hi-tech equipment and let the team go to work. Rubbing the back of his neck, Declan stood in the center of the room, looked at the screen on the wall and frowned.

  “This is not going to be an easy assignment,” he sighed. It shouldn’t surprise him, none of his assignments were easy.

  Paul looked at the building on the wall, walked over and enlarged it. “Interesting.”

  “Very,” said Declan rubbing his chin while staring at the display before him. Then they got to work setting up everything that they needed to. Finally, after the sky outside started getting dark, the broke away from the computers for a few minutes.

  “We’ve been in here for hours,” said Paul with concern. “Let’s send someone out to get us food. I think we’re all hungry and can use something in our stomachs.”

  ~*~*~*~

  Walking into her office, Kristie found her uncle busily typing on his laptop at her desk. She smiled and warmly hugged him.

  “I’m not going to sugar coat this, Kristie.” He grimaced, “Your email had me take your concerns very seriously. It seems you’re right. Someone, or several people, are stealing from you.”

  “Oh no,” said Kristie sadly.

  “Yes and someone from your company leaked information about that theft, although they twisted the truth to implicate our family, which is why the media is having a field day.”

  ~*~*~*~

  Taking a bite out of his sandwich, Declan stood up and switched things around on the wall. He stood there chewing while he was lost in thought. After a few moments, the plan hit him like a ton of bricks.

  Declan turned around and watched his team working while they ate. Walking back to his chair, he sat down and thought for a moment.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Paul with concern.

  “I was looking forward to seeing my little Barbie Doll later on.”

  “I’d told Lorie that I’d meet up with her tonight,” said Paul running his hands through his hair. “We may not have them when we get home. It’s not like we can call them now and try to explain things.”

  “Damn,” Declan slammed his fist onto the desk in front of him, which caused everyone in the room to look over at him. “What was I thinking? I should have been honest and up front with her right from the start.”

  “They don’t remind me of the type of girls to sit at home and wait for us either. Once they don’t hear from us, I’m sure they will move on,” Paul said as he shoved his food away from him in anger.

  Chapter Eight

  Kristie stood up and leaned against the back of her chair as she practiced her media speech.

  “No, do it again,” said her uncle when she was finished. Tossing a file at her, he said, “Take a look at this. I had George do an entire investigation of your company. Look over everything he highlighted.”

  Kristie sat down, opened the file, and began reading everything in it. Each time she read a sentence, her mind somehow pictured Declan standing in front of her with his jet black, wavy hair blowing in the wind. His delicious masculine scent wrapped around her and made her feel safe and excited all at once. Swearing she could still smell him, she squeezed her eyes shut and refocused on the report in front of her. She read everything over and once she had a clear picture painted in her mind, she stood up and stretched. She was ready to face the world.

  ~*~*~*~

  Declan pulled out his cell phone and sat there staring at it as his men worked around him.

  “Call her,” Paul broke into his thoughts after he watched his best friend battle invisible demons.

  “I want to so badly but don’t know what to say,” said Declan groaning as if in agonizing pain. “I can’t lose her. I know this sounds crazy but she is the one for me.”

  “Pull yourself together,” growled Paul between clenched teeth. “This is not the time nor the place for you to fall apart. Send her a text and let her know you care but will be out of town on assignment.”

  Declan sat there debating on what he should say. He typed out a message, erased it, typed it out again and then erased it. Tossing the phone across the desk as if it burned his skin, Declan growled, “It’s pointless. I have no idea how long I’ll be gone and don’t want her upset.”

  “So you’re not sending her a message?” asked Paul looking at his phone for a moment. “I’m going to call Lorie and explain things.”

  Decla
n watched Paul’s look of disappointment as he put the phone down. Sighing, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “Her phone must be off, it went straight to voicemail. Try to call Kristie,” Paul aid anxiously.

  Declan called Kristie and let out a low growl when her phone also went to voicemail. “It’s hopeless.”

  “We’ll try again later.” Paul gathered up his garbage and tossed it into the trashcan. He nodded towards Declan’s food, “Finish eating and let’s hear your plan for this mission.”