Masked Read online

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  “Ohhhh sister, I’ve got one wheel down and the axle’s dragging.”

  She chuckled at the latest line of creative imagery to pop out of Devyn while walking across her living room to slide a glass of iced tea in front of the little blonde.

  Just like her brother, Devyn couldn’t simply declare she was pooped from an afternoon of hitting every store in Crystals and The Fashion Show. And just like she’d done a thousand times over the last ten days, Tess wouldn’t let the observation go any deeper than that.

  Ten days. Ten years. What was the difference?

  She hadn’t seen Dan since their intense embrace back at the safe house—and then the parting stare he’d given her, too intense and too brief, before leaving the place with Franzen. After that, she’d only spoken to him once. Two days into their imprisonment—errr, protective custody—he’d called to relay they’d identified the henchmen Newport had assigned to Vegas and were moving in on the assholes. The call had lasted all of three minutes, dominated by his all-business Jack Bauer gruff, ordering her and Devyn to stay inside in case the agents were looking at live satellite images.

  For two more days, she and Devyn had lounged, read, eaten, and Hulu-binged while awaiting word about the manhunt. Devyn, thinking the if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em coping mechanism might be worth a try, suddenly decided she was in paradise.

  Tess had damn near climbed the walls.

  After two more torturous days, Caspar Menken had finally shown up again, disguised as the pool boy—not a bad choice, if Devyn’s lusty looks at his tank and board shorts were an accurate gauge. But he’d come bearing more than just tanned biceps and formidable thighs. There were updates on Operation Sink Newport.

  They’d learned the bastard’s set-up: four different teams of two, hired independently of each other, to cover the kill order in each city. The pair in LA, likely wannabe action stars who’d lied to Newport about their credentials, were the easiest to catch and arrest. The hitmen assigned to Seattle were more elusive but finally taken down during a car chase ended by their Maserati flying into the Sound. The men were fished out and then booked. The car was fished out and then towed for scrap metal. Ouch.

  In Honolulu, things had gotten stickier. A lot stickier. Newport had managed to bribe two guards at the Barking Sands base, who apparently possessed large cojones. Not only did they risk court martial for accepting Newport’s bribe, but also their assignment wasn’t just an easy kill. As Franz and Dan had suspected, they tried to snatch Zoe Bommer—and the baby in her belly—alive. She disappeared from the beach in front of their cottage when Shay ducked inside to pee, thrown into an SUV that only made it as far as the base’s gate, where Shay somehow caught up to them. Caspar didn’t communicate any details beyond how the scene ended, dropping Tess’s and Devyn’s jaws in the process. Both henchmen had needed an ambulance. The car needed two new doors.

  While Tess had cringed at that story, nothing compared to her blood pressure spike when hearing of Dan and Franzen’s bad-guy pursuit. After spotting the assassins on the South Strip, they’d given chase through the Trop, the MGM, and then across to the Monte Carlo, where things had ended in a shootout that was, in Caspar’s words, “a goddamn bulletfest.”

  Her blood went icy all over again just from recalling the moment Caspar had relayed both men’s damage. Franz had taken a nick across his upper right cheek, and the word was still out about the fate of his sight in that eye. And Dan? Holy shit. Though Caspar maintained it could’ve been much worse, a bullet to the back of the thigh was still a bullet to the back of the thigh. She’d crumpled to her knees for the second time in as many weeks…

  Thank God for Devyn, who’d become an expert at spotting her descent into that misery. Her sharp whistle sliced in, jerking Tess’s head up.

  “Yo, sweetie. Front and center. Buh-bye, safe house. Hello, real life. Let’s play in center court, okay?”

  Tess managed another laugh. “I’m here, I’m here. Ready to play, coach.”

  Devyn tilted her head, openly scrutinizing. “You sure?”

  “I’m sure.” She rolled her eyes and sipped her own tea.

  “You know he’s going to be okay, don’t you?” The woman pulled over one of her shopping bags, emblazoned with a logo that made them both sigh. As she turned the entwined L and V on their sides and reached in, Devyn groused, “Big shit even pulled the bullet out himself before they got to the hospital. Sure, now he doesn’t mind a scar. But who’s going to look at his sorry ass?” She jabbed a finger at Tess. “Don’t answer that.”

  Tess didn’t need to be told twice. It was a welcome change, considering Devyn had all but declared herself president of the Dan and Tess Reunion campaign lately. Because that made sense. A reunion of what? Would they be lovers again? Friends?

  The answers didn’t matter. Dan was resigned to living his life in the dark. To letting his scars stand for shame and anger, not courage and uniqueness. It went deeper than ducking his face against walls and doing his grocery shopping at five in the morning. It gave him an excuse to hide, to lie.

  To lie to her.

  She had to give up the illusion it would ever be any other way. That her love would somehow dissolve the mortar of his wall.

  Yes, damn it…she’d fallen in love with him. She’d figured it out sometime between reading her eighth and ninth Misadventures novels—before reaching the conclusion that it didn’t make a difference to anything anyway. Unlike the awesome endings for the daring fictional couples, she and Daniel weren’t meant for a kiss, a sunset, and a breathtaking trip to the bedroom.

  Or the dungeon.

  The silence was broken by Devyn’s blissful moan. Tess looked up to watch her friend stroking a pair of Pucci ankle boots. “Welcome home, girls,” Devyn crooned into the russet suede. “We won’t see each other for a while after I’m back at work, but you’ll always be in my heart.”

  Tess joined her friend in a giggle. She let her smile linger for a few seconds, disguising a secret message brought on by Devyn’s declaration.

  You’ll always be in my heart.

  Did Dan know how often she sent the message to him too? How she still needed to keep him close, even if it was only in her most hidden thoughts and most secret desires? How she drew on his strength to get her through each day, even if it was only through memories? Could his heart hear anything hers said, or had his wall developed into a fortress? Could he hear her vow anywhere inside, perhaps in that deep place their souls had always connected?

  “Helllooo, Miss Lesange? Main court? Remember?”

  Tess tried to laugh. “Sorry.”

  Devyn sank back, cradling her boots like a kid with stuffed animals. “No, you’re not.”

  Tess arched her brows. “Like the universe is listening to the girl who just talked dirty to her shoes?”

  “Like the universe believes anything from the girl who wants to talk dirty to my brother?”

  She tipped her glass of tea up to hide the heat invading her face—and, in true overachiever style, sloshed out more than she could take in. As the drink spilled over onto her white tee, Devyn snickered.

  “It’s okay, girlfriend,” Devyn crooned. “Not as if it’s a state secret. And for what it’s worth”—she stabbed the heels of the boots in the air—“little sis gives you two boots up.”

  Tess stood. Glared down at her shirt. It was probably ruined, but a trip to the kitchen felt instinctive, to try the cold water and detergent dab thing. Along the way, she rejoined as lightly as she could, “Dan and I aren’t going to happen, missy.”

  “Pssshh.” The woman rammed her shoes back into the box, betraying that her stake in this conversation went beyond a casual chat. “You throwing the baby out with the bathwater, Miss Lesange?”

  Tess paused after retrieving the spot remover from under the sink. “He’s no baby. As for the state of his bathwater—”

  “Ew.”

  “Now you going to drop it?”

  Devyn r
ose, too. Set her hands on her hips. The motion seemed to flip a switch, turning off snarky little sister and turning on no-nonsense Secret Service woman. The transformation was sudden—and startling. Though Dev still stood there in a flowered sundress and heeled espadrilles, Tess expected her to spin around any moment and Wonder Woman it into her black suit and work flats.

  “Tess,” she said, just as serious, “I’ve really never seen or heard him like this. It’s because of you. I know it.”

  She averted her gaze again. Shook her head, fighting all of the longing and need and hope—again. “And he’s…special…to me too.” She pulled out a hand towel but instantly tossed it to the countertop. “No. Special isn’t even in the same league as him.”

  Devyn paced closer. Leaned on the counter with both elbows. “You love him.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “I love him.”

  “I think he loves you too.” The woman’s voice was almost reverent with it. “The way he asks about you…”

  Well, that was worth a stunned stare. “He— He asks about me?”

  “Oh, yeah.” The snark sneaked back in on a little snort. “Only he doesn’t ask, right? Sneaks it in so I’m not onto him.” Devyn curled her upper lip. “Like he’s freaking Swiper and I’m a clueless Dora. Does he think I don’t see past the lame mask?”

  Tess was suddenly glad her shirt was stained. Nothing like dabbing between one’s boobs to disguise an even more awkward moment. Well, I sure as hell didn’t.

  “Men are such boneheads,” Devyn grumbled on.

  “Which explains why you want me to try again with your brother…why?”

  Devyn rolled her eyes. “To debone him, of course.” She let Tess spurt a laugh at that before resetting her tone to serious. “Listen, I don’t know what happened between you guys—”

  “And you don’t want to.”

  “No duh. But that doesn’t mean—”

  “It does mean, Devyn.” She stepped over to link their hands. “Look, things are…complicated…with your brother and me. Let’s leave it at that and move on.”

  She should have known better. Instead of ending the handclasp, Devyn screwed her grip tighter. “Maybe I can help in some way.”

  Tess made no secret of her squirm. “I really don’t think so.” Unless you want to hear about some sides of your brother that no ear or eye bleach will wash away.

  “Tess—”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Aggghh.” She siphoned off some frustration with a string of laughter. “What is it with you Coltons and the word no?”

  Devyn smirked. “Besides being allergic to it?”

  “You don’t say.”

  “So is that a yes?”

  She huffed. “Okay…bathwater?” she finally blurted. “And your brother? And the ew factor? Remember?”

  “Well, damn it.”

  She laughed again. It felt better this time, prompted by real mirth. “Let’s not dwell on this. You’re leaving in two days. How about forgetting your silly brother with some Chinese and an Outlander binge?”

  Devyn shook her head and laughed. “Because that goes together.”

  “That’s the whole point.” She laughed too, glad the air had eased again between them. “Go cue up episode one. I’ll call Yen Chu and—”

  She’d just turned and reached into the takeout menus drawer when a loud crash came from the living room. Devyn spiked her alarm higher with a yell worthy of a sailor. “Motherfucker!”

  “What the—” Tess dropped the menus and raced back into the other room, expecting to find Devyn sprawled on the floor, bleeding from the eyes, or both. But the little blonde was upright and the scene gore-free, unless one counted the remains of the remote now lying in a few pieces on the coffee table between her and the TV—

  Which was filled with her brother’s face.

  “Oh, my God,” Tess stammered.

  Revision. Her brother’s stunning, heart-stopping, completely gorgeous face.

  Okay, so Dan could drop Tess’s jaw even in baggy shorts and a tattered T-shirt—and he had before—but hell, did the man slide into a tailored suit with shocking perfection. The pinstriped Tom Ford was like nothing Dan had worn to the office on the few occasions he’d been forced to report for what he liked calling “himbo duty.”

  He wasn’t a himbo now. He was a straight-up, sexier-than-hell hunk in designer wear. The proud lines of his sculpted shoulders were enhanced to perfection by the tailored jacket, open to reveal a matching vest beneath. His luxurious white dress shirt was the ideal offset for a silk tie in Caribbean blue, which made his eyes all but sear her through the screen itself. Or was the real power of his gaze due to his haircut?

  Haircut?

  Technically the term fit, though the stuff on his head was more dark-gold fuzz than hair, leaving people little to look at on his face except the swath of his scars.

  And the throng of reporters in front of him sure as hell looked.

  And gawked.

  And whispered.

  And took a lot of pictures.

  And he stood there…and let them.

  In the full light of day. With a lot of flashing bulbs. Without a shadow to be seen.

  Somehow, Tess stumbled into place next to Devyn. She had no idea how she’d moved from Point A to Point B. Her stare—and her heart and her gut and her soul—were tied into the man on the screen, standing at a podium that displayed the Colton Steel corporate logo. The same symbol was depicted in a massive steel-and-glass sculpture behind him, clearly an important showpiece in the building where he stood.

  The building he didn’t just belong in.

  The building he commanded. The scene he controlled, despite the deep tension at the corners of his lips…and the way he still moved as stiff as a damn GI Joe doll…

  And the somber veneer he’d kept in place across his gaze.

  Dan. What the hell are you doing?

  The news channel began scrolling information along the bottom of the screen, but it was wrong. It had to be.

  Surprise announcement from Colton Steel…Daniel Colton, CEO, speaks to reporters…

  “Motherfucker,” Devyn repeated. A smile spread on her lips, but Tess couldn’t tell if it meant she wanted to hug or murder her brother. “He’s really going to do it.”

  “Do what?” She tugged at Devyn’s arm. The other woman just kept grinning. Not the answer she needed, which was reassurance that her brother wasn’t about to change his life in one of the most massive ways she could fathom. “Devyn, what the—”

  “Good evening.”

  Dan’s voice boomed out from the TV, silencing her—and the crowd on the screen with him. As he straightened his stance, lifted his head, and smiled, all her nerve endings melted. All the goo from them collected in her stomach, making her suddenly yearn to cry or throw up—or both. She’d never had time for teen-idol crushes when she was a kid. Now she understood why teen girls transformed into unthinking idiots when their favorite rock bands came to town.

  Unthinking.

  Idiot.

  Yep. That about said it all.

  “Thank you, everybody, for coming down at such short notice, to join me here at Colton Steel’s corporate headquarters. I know there are a lot of other things you’d rather be doing tonight in Atlanta.” Dan flashed a fast grin. “Since it looks ready to rain again outside, I wouldn’t mind a Scotch, a fire, and my favorite fuzzy socks right about now.”

  The crowd warmed with a round of soft chuckles. Tess smiled, unable to resist his golden charm herself, until noticing a blond, long-legged reporter who started eyeing Daniel as if imagining him in those fuzzy socks and nothing else. Don’t go any further with that, darling…

  “I’ve called this gathering to make an official announcement to you all,” he went on, attempting formality now. “In a few short hours, it will be December first, the official beginning of Colton Steel’s next fiscal year. At that time, I am proud to say that I’ll be taking over the
reins of the company from my father, Aaron Colton.”

  As the room exploded with shouts and questions, he held up both hands, commanding them all back to silence. More of Tess’s body turned the texture of gruel.

  “I’ll address the obvious first. Dad is in fine health. He’s simply been at this since he was a kid and wants a break. I promise you and all of Colton Steel’s employees that he’ll be around plenty to drive us all up the walls—and probably across the ceilings too.” He brought his hands down, still spread, to hold the outside edges of the podium. The movement alone made Tess’s heartbeat speed and then stop. She held her breath, already sensing the importance of what he was about to say. Though she had no damn idea what he was about to say…

  “On to the next elephant in the room,” Dan stated. “Many of you know me well—or at least think you do. You’ve followed the company since I was a goofy kid and then when I grew up into a goofier kid. Since you followed my pranks and antics through high school and college, you simply assumed I’d run off afterward to expand my Steel Gone Wild video collection, tearing up a few ski slopes and nightclubs along the way. You probably think this impressive scenery is the product of a car stunt gone wrong or a bikini girl jumping out of my birthday cake too soon.”

  As he traced a finger along his scars, the room went abuzz again—though the reaction was more subdued this time. And uncomfortable. Tess could sense the uneasiness in the room even from where she stood.

  “Well, I’m here to tell you now, you did a great job,” Dan announced. He grinned wide as the press corps leaned in, subconsciously scenting the explosive scoop they were about to get. “You wrote exactly what I needed you to—and I’d like to thank you all for that.”

  A ballsy guy in the middle of the crowd shouted the conclusion he’d led them to. “So you weren’t wrecking nightclubs?”

  Dan’s answering smirk was a mix of enigmatic and charismatic. Tess was sorely tempted to pause her TV and fixate on the image for another minute—or ninety. “Not in the way that you think,” he replied.