“Oh no. You aren’t getting any details from me till you tell me what else he did. He found your weapons and put them on the bed to let you know he could have done more. What else? I know he did something else because you were cursing up a storm in the bathroom this morning. Come on, give!”
Amber let out a sigh. She studied Lily, who was finishing up her mimosa. Champagne and orange juice in the morning. In her fake kimono dressing gown, jet-black hair still damp and uncombed, amusement lighting up those big eyes, she looked a bit like an imp out on some mischievous errand. Only Lily would see humor in such a moment.
She supposed she sort of deserved it. She had hurt the man’s pride. Part of her gave Hawk McMillan thumbs-up for his method of revenge. He had said in the instant message that the next time they met, he was going to make a point.
Well, point taken. He showed that he could be as devious as she.
“Okay,” Amber said. She stood up and lifted her skirt.
Lily put down her empty glass and walked over to the table, her eyes riveted on Amber’s thigh. “Ho-ly snakes!” she murmured. “He wrote you a…what is that? A dirty message?5MW/MTL/PF/18/69and signed,Hot Stuff.He called himself Hot Stuff?”
Amber shrugged nonchalantly as Lily laughed in rich amusement. She didn’t tell her that she was the one who had called him that. “He thinks he is, I guess,” she said instead.
“How appropriate. I wonder whether he knows that’s our code word for dangerous items?” Lily laughed again. “What does that line mean, do you know?”
5MW/MTL/PF/18/69. Oh yes, Amber knew what it was. She shook her head as she patted her skirt back into place. “Nope.”
Lily narrowed her eyes. “You aren’t telling.”
“It’s your turn to tell,” Amber countered. “You talked to him. What was he like? Oh, stop giving me that lovey-dovey look.”
“He was absolutely mouthwatering.” Lily gave her a thumbs-up. “All in black and looking like some predator as he walked by with you slung like a Barbie doll over his shoulder. And his back was just as nice as his front, too.”
Amber rolled her eyes. “I meant what you two talked about. I don’t need you to describe his physical charms.”
“Oh, I forget. You alreadyfelthis physical charms.”
Amber stuck her tongue out at her friend and walked to the refrigerator. Now she wanted a mimosa, too. She had suddenly recalled Hawk’s words to her just before she had passed out. Her legs were around his waist again, just like the other night.
I believe we’ve done this position before.
She poured champagne liberally into her orange juice. Damn that man!
“Isn’t it too early for that much champagne?” drawled Lily.
Amber ignored the dig and took a gulp from the glass. “What did he say?” she asked.
“Nothing, just that this was only a little revenge thing. I could tell he wasn’t going to really harm you.”
“How?”
“Believe me, sweetie. I have been around some really, really rough characters. When they want to harm someone, I know it. Ifeelit. Hawk McMillan wasn’t giving out those signals last night, although I must say he looked pretty capable of violence. He had a dangerous air about him.”
“Lily, you can’t possibly tell all that from just looking at a man.”
“Oh yes I can. When you look at Dilaver, what do you feel?”
Amber visibly shuddered. Dragan Dilaver gave her the chills. He was a thug with a lot of power, and she had seen what he had done to young girls. Some of those victims had been in her care, after all. Every time she met him, it took all her willpower to keep her fury at bay.
“See? You can feel certain things, Amber,” Lily continued. “Dilaver is a piece of shit. I don’t even have to see what he did to know this. I have only to peek at him from our little office mirror to see that the man was violent and ruthless. And…he wants you, Amber, if you aren’t aware of that.”
She was. It was in Dilaver’s eyes. Naked lust and oily intentions. “That’s why Brad’s presence is getting to be so useful,” she said.
“Brad’s presence can only protect you for so long,” Lily warned. “But he’ll do for now.”
Amber took the chance. “What do you feel when you look at Brad, then? Is he a violent man?” She took another sip of her drink, studying her friend slowly over the glass.
Lily stared back at her challengingly, then shrugged. She adjusted the belt to her dressing gown. “Bradford Sun is a bureaucrat,” she replied quietly. “He doesn’t know violence if it’s staring at him in the face.”
