Devoted to Wicked
Page 7

Every word Miguel said sounded like a preplanned speech, and Cage wanted to call bullshit. But Karis was waiting at the sliding double doors heading back into the lobby. As much as he’d like to have it out with the waiter until the guy understood that he needed to fuck off, he would ten times rather be with Karis, kissing her, peeling off her clothes, whispering in her ear, making her feel good. Convincing her that he cared about her more than he probably should after one night—and he didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
“Great,” he growled. “Stay away.”
Cage didn’t wait around for Miguel’s reaction. He also wouldn’t underestimate the guy. He’d be willing to bet Karis wasn’t the first guest to have her passport and other goodies stolen from her room. He’d also bet the majority of those guests had ended up warming Miguel’s bed for a few days.
Racing over to Karis, he hustled her inside the air-conditioned common area, away from the watchful waiter’s prying eyes, and took her hand in his. “Can you wait for me by that fountain for two minutes, cupcake?”
She turned to look behind her at the big stone water feature in the middle of the lobby. As evening descended, the place wasn’t bursting with people, but enough straggled in with suitcases or hung out with drinks that Cage didn’t worry Miguel or some other potential cohort of his could take their anger out on Karis.
“Sure.” She looked a little confused but hung back like he’d asked.
He couldn’t let her go that simply. Cage gave a gentle tug on her wrist and pulled her against him. After a little sway, her chest collided with his. Her head automatically fell back and she delved into his eyes. Jesus, what was it about her? She was a bit zany, not terribly practical. According to Cutter, she had a free spirit and a gypsy heart. She was his polar opposite.
Maybe that was the attraction. Maybe that was the reason every moment he’d spent with her over New Year’s, he’d felt more balanced and more certain that she belonged to him.
Cage didn’t dare kiss her now. They might not make it upstairs before his need to feel her again overwhelmed him. Instead, he nuzzled her cheek and pressed his mouth to her ear. “Want to know why I call you cupcake?”
“I’ve always wondered,” she breathed.
“Because from the moment we met, the first thing I thought was how adorable and sweet you were. And just like a cupcake, I could hardly wait to eat you.”
He smiled as he left her standing there, looking somewhere between stunned and excited, as he fished his phone from his back pocket and strode across the lobby. Glad he’d picked up an international calling plan before he’d left home, he made his way to the hotel’s offices and hit one of the names on his speed dial.
Forest, better known as Trees, was the quietest member of the operative team at EM Security Management, his brother’s employer. In fact, Trees was downright scary. All those guys who worked for Hunter and Logan Edgington and Joaquin Muñoz were. All former special operatives, they lived on the edge and craved adrenaline as their drug of choice.
The private security route was all well and good, he supposed. Cutter made good money, and Cage wouldn’t sneeze at it, but all he’d ever known was being a cop. It worked for him. These dudes, like Trees, possessed specialized skills that would come in really fucking handy about now.
“Cage?” He sounded surprised.
They didn’t talk much and they weren’t pals exactly. But they also weren’t enemies, so he was hoping the shaved-headed fucker would do him a favor.
“Yeah, look… My girlfriend is down in Mexico…” He filled the guy in on the crap Karis had gone through and whom he suspected was the culprit. “Would you do me a favor and hack into the hotel’s employment records, tell me if any of the previous female guests have filed complaints against this guy?”
“On it. Has this Miguel cat threatened her? Do you need backup? Mexico sounds nice. It’s really damn cold here, and I can’t stand the kind of sniveling asswipe who threatens a woman.”
He’d probably offered his assistance more for the vacation than anything, but it was nice all the same.
“I’ve got it so far, but I’ll holler if that changes.”
“Roger that.”
In the background, Cage heard the guy tapping on a computer at what sounded like lightning speed. He didn’t ask how Trees had learned his hacking skills, he just knew from hearing his brother talk that they were mad. He was also both surveillance and navigation on the team. Cutter was in charge of engineering and demolitions, which seemed like an oxymoron to him, so he teased his brother about building something only to blow it up. Josiah and Zyron he didn’t know much about. And One-Mile…whatever his current situation with Brea, the guy had still taken advantage of her. In Cage’s book, he always be a prick and a half.
But Cage had his own problems right now.
“Can you call me back when you’ve got something?”
“Yep. They’ve got some security on this system, and there’s the translation problem, but it should only be a couple of hours.”
“Thanks, Trees. I owe you big.”
“Maybe you can make your brother introduce me to some women in this godforsaken town. I just moved to Lafayette. All the good ones seem to be taken, and my dick is damn tired of my hand.”
Cage laughed. “I’ll twist my little brother’s arm, and we’ll work something out.”
They ended the call, then Cage strolled to the front desk and asked for the manager. After some backing and forthing, along with a good, old-fashioned bribe, the suit blabbed that Miguel’s shift ended in another three hours. Good to know when the pouty little bitch would have free time to make mayhem. He was coming for Karis, no doubt. Cage was determined to be waiting.
 
* * *
Still standing at the fountain, Karis watched Cage stroll back toward her. What the hell was he up to? It was something, given that swagger. He thought he had everything under control. He’d taken charge of the situation because he was the man and he intended to protect her.
It was actually kind of sweet.
“Hey,” she murmured as he approached.
He winked. “You ready to head upstairs?”
Though her heart was pounding, she raised a brow at him. “For a rousing game of Charades?”
“That what you want?”