Cowboy Boots and Unadulterated Pleasures [Cowboy Boots 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

Colt started punching in numbers on his cell phone and Gabe did the same. “Come on, Kelly. Answer, baby. Answer.”

  They rushed to the elevator, each man desperately trying to reach Kelly while sending out numerous text messages as well. “There’s more to this, Colt. We don’t know which side of the fence Daniel’s on. I would hate to think he’d use Kelly for his own financial gain, but we both know what he’s been capable of doing in the past.”

  Colt stilled. “That’s it.”

  “What?”

  “Daniel’s off the wagon. He’s gambling again.” Colt stood there motionless, unable to process all the information coming at him at one time. To an outsider, he may have been making assumptions, but they didn’t know Daniel like he did. They didn’t possess his knowledge about Daniel’s private struggles.

  “Daniel has a gambling problem?”

  “Yes,” Colt replied. “That’s confidential, but I have a feeling this is all about to come out anyway.”

  “Why in the hell did the Donovans place him in a casino then?”

  “Sam Kane set up the deal for him after Daniel lost over ten million dollars to an offshore sportsbook. He believed Daniel was indispensable and somehow convinced Mark Donovan to transfer him out here. His theory was if he worked around the atmosphere long enough, it would kill his desire for gambling. Plus, with the day-to-day operations of the casino and managing the Underground Unit, he wouldn’t have time to gamble on his own.”

  “Last I checked, it only takes a minute to pick up the phone and call a bookie if you want to place a bet,” Gabe said.

  “Yeah, well, that’s exactly what happened. Daniel relapsed about two years ago. He owed a bookmaker about seventy-five thousand dollars. He had to take it out of the casino and Riley Donovan caught the paper trail. He called Kelly and she became aware of her father’s problem. That’s why she’s handling operations now. Her father isn’t allowed in the count room and he can’t sign the checks. For appearances, Riley allowed Daniel to keep his CEO position, but outside of the title, he doesn’t have much. Kelly is in charge of day-to-day operations. This place is a success because she’s the woman behind the empire.”

  “So Daniel doesn’t realize you know about his problem?”

  “He doesn’t have a clue,” Colt said, entering concierge. “And Kelly doesn’t know I’m aware of her father’s problem.”

  After requesting a limousine, they hurried outside to meet their driver. Once they gave him directions, they hopped in the back and continued texting. While typing out a message, Gabe asked, “Why are you telling me this if Donovan wanted you to keep Daniel’s secret?”

  “I trust you’ll never say another word about it,” Colt said quietly. “And I happen to believe we’re walking into a trap out at Daniel’s. This is intelligence you may need.”

  Gabe tossed his phone aside. He slung his arm over the seat and pushed a button beside him. “Can’t you drive any faster?”

  The limo driver looked in his rearview mirror. “I’m doing the best I can. It’s Friday night in Las Vegas and you’re in a hurry?”

  Gabe pushed the button and the privacy glass locked in place. Gabe looked at Colt. “You know how Lorenzo fits in all this. Don’t you?”

  Colt nodded. “Oh yeah. All the pieces of the puzzle are now on the table.”

  “Care to enlighten me?”

  Colt dialed Crue’s number. The phone rang and rang. “Why the hell aren’t they answering?” Colt’s anxiety rose and he slammed the cell phone against the leather seat. “You’re the one who can enlighten me. Why don’t you tell me how Lorenzo and Kelly met?”

  “They were already together when we started shadowing them. I don’t know anything for sure, but I can speculate.”

  “Here’s what I think happened. We know Lorenzo has offshore connections in gambling, trafficking women, and drugs. I think Daniel owed Lorenzo money and he came to collect. Kelly was the reason he didn’t. I believe he fell in love with her. Daniel’s gambling habits soured that love. Money has a strange way of coming between friends, family, and lovers. I think Daniel was in deep with him, but after Lorenzo came to the States, Daniel became further indebted to him. He couldn’t get out of the mess he’d created for himself.”

  “If that’s true, then why did Daniel take Lorenzo into his confidences? He’s in the casino business. He knows what happens to folks with large debts. Why would he let him know about the Underground Unit’s base?”

  “I haven’t figured that out yet. And that’s one mystery we won’t be able to solve if Lorenzo gets to Daniel before we do.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Kelly pushed open the terrace door and stood quietly underneath the deck. Her father wasn’t a man who’d turn on his team, but he wasn’t without his flaws. She knew all about his unscrupulous business dealings and his gambling transgressions. What she didn’t understand was why he’d exposed the Underground Unit to another security breach.

  Colt had reason to worry. Lorenzo and his associates were aware of the tunnels at the ranch, and she now believed they were privy to information about the entire Underground Unit, too.

  Inching outside, she kept her hands tucked behind her back and scooted along the brick wall. A few sideways steps and she stood right underneath her father and his three new employees.

  “He’s here,” someone said.

  “This isn’t looking good for you, Daniel,” another voice said.

  “I’m not afraid of Lorenzo,” her father told them.

  “He’s not afraid, Bob. Did you hear that?” the first voice taunted him.

  “I’m standing right here, moron.”

  Her father said, “Lorenzo and I have an understanding.”

  “Ah yes, Daniel, those pocket aces,” Lorenzo said, walking out to the deck. “Let’s talk about those. Shall we?”

  A chair scooted across the wooden planks.

  “Don’t get up,” Lorenzo said, an air of cruelness in his voice.

  “I can explain.”

  “Can you? I don’t think you can, Daniel. See, from what your driver has shared with me, there’s no way you can explain young love, two people who have been drawn to one another since the girl was barely legal!”

  “That girl is my daughter, and she’s your fiancée. Don’t forget that. She promised to marry you. She’ll hold up her end of the bargain.”

  “And why would I want a whore?” Lorenzo roared. A few chairs slammed against the decking.

  Kelly closed her eyes. Tears streamed down her face. He knew the truth about Colt, Crue, Gabe, Brand, and Kemper. There wasn’t any other explanation for his rage.

  “My daughter isn’t a whore.”

  “What would you call her, Daniel?”

  Kelly regained her composure. She stretched her neck and looked through the cracks. Her father was still seated in the same chair he’d occupied earlier.

  Kelly reached behind her back. Damn! She was unarmed. Since becoming an Underground Unit operative, she almost always carried her weapon tucked at her waist. Today, she’d placed her pistol in her bedside table. There was little reason to carry a gun at home—or so she’d thought.

  “Daniel, do you even know where your daughter is now?”

  “She’s out riding,” the taller man said.

  Lorenzo laughed. “Riding what, may I ask?”

  The other men chuckled and he held up his hand. They hushed when he gave the signal.

  “Daniel, do you know?” Lorenzo leaned over her father. It was then when Kelly spotted a gun hanging at his side.

  “Find her and kill her.” Lorenzo handed down his order.

  “No!” her father screamed, pushing away from his seat.

  Lorenzo pointed the gun at his head. “Sit down, old man.”

  Several of Lorenzo’s men left the deck area. Thankfully, they chose to walk through the house rather than rush down the stairs where they would’ve certainly seen her hiding.

  “Daniel, I’ve been patient,” Lorenzo said. “I
want my money.”

  “I’ll get you your damn money,” Daniel said. “But if you kill Kelly, you won’t see a dime. She’s the only one who can sign the checks.”

  Lorenzo snarled. “Do I look like a fool to you?”

  “It’s true. The casino is a front for the US-West division of the Underground Unit. There are only three people who can sign checks from the casino—my daughter and Brock and Riley Donovan, operatives with another Underground Unit.”

  “Oh, Dad, what have you done?” Kelly whispered. She knew, in her heart of hearts, he’d just signed his own death certificate.

  “How much is in the count rooms at the casino?”

  “I don’t know. It varies from one night to the next,” Daniel replied.

  “How much?” Lorenzo screamed.

  “I have no way of knowing. I haven’t been to the count rooms in nearly two years, not since Kelly took over operations.”

  Lorenzo faced him. He lifted the gun to his head and asked, “Now how much, Daniel?”

  Her father remained stoic. He didn’t beg for his life, but he surely knew his life was over. “I told you I don’t know.”

  Lorenzo cocked his weapon.

  “Daniel, you have one last chance to save yourself.”

  “The only thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is—”

  “How much, damn you!” Lorenzo looked evil as he grabbed her father by his thinning gray hair and yanked him backward. After leaning over him and whispering more threats, Lorenzo returned him to an upright position.

  “There isn’t fifty million there, if that’s what you want to know.”

  Kelly saw her father’s face. He smirked as he told Lorenzo more than enough to help him make the final call.

  Her father then looked down. His eyes met hers and he mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

  Everything else happened quickly and simultaneously.

  Lorenzo swung his arm low and fired several shots into the boards. “She’s there! Under us!”

  Someone grabbed her from behind. A firm hand clamped over her mouth. “It’s me,” Crue rasped at her ear. “We gotta get out of here.”

  “I can’t leave Dad,” she said once he released his grip and led her through the basement. “They’ll kill him, Crue.”

  Three shots were fired into the air. “Kelly! Kelly, honey! It’s your fiancé calling for you!” Lorenzo sounded like a lunatic. “Come on upstairs and say good-bye to your daddy, lover!”

  “Crue, please!” She dragged her feet in an effort to slow him down as he rushed her to the other side of the house.

  She knew where they were headed. “It won’t do any good to hide, Crue. They know about the tunnels.”

  “Trust me, sugar. I ain’t looking forward to the underground bit. These caves collapse and it takes hours to dig someone out.”

  “Then don’t,” she pleaded, pulling at his arm. “They’ll kill him if I don’t go back for him.”

  “They’ll kill him if you do,” Crue said, reaching above a few bricks in the wall located next to the garage.

  Kemper rushed inside the room with two weapons drawn. “You gotta go now!”

  “I won’t,” she told them, standing taller.

  “Damn it, you always were a stubborn woman,” Crue said, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder.

  “Stop it! No! Let me down!”

  Kemper’s eyes heated as he watched them. “You two have a safe drop.”

  “Better me than you, huh?” Crue asked, stalking the mouth of the tunnel.

  “You know it,” Kemper said, his gaze never settling on one spot as he clearly watched for their enemies.

  “Let me go!” she screamed, kicking and punching him. “Crue! Stop! I have to help him. He’s all I have!”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Crue said, holding her legs steady. He turned to Kemper. “So help me, if you guys don’t have us out of here in two days, I’ll come looking for you after I dig myself out by hand and it won’t be pretty.”

  “Go!” Kemper screamed, firing a detrimental shot as soon as one of Lorenzo’s men entered the room.

  “They know about the tunnels!” she screamed, desperate to save her father.

  Above them, Lorenzo had started counting to ten, claiming he’d end her father’s life if she didn’t show her face. “Kelly, I know you’re out there! I have a gun to your pathetic father’s head! Do you hear me? This bastard owes me over fifty million dollars. Do you understand?”

  Crue looked down on her. He was torn and she saw the apprehension in his eyes.

  “Please, Crue. I can’t lose him,” she begged quietly. “They know about everything—the Unit, and the tunnels!”

  “I can’t help that. My concern is saving you.” Crue swung his leg over the brick wall, closing his arms around her. He clutched her body against his and took that final leap.

  They shot through a funnel-like enclosure. At one point, he looped one heavy arm around her waist and raised his free hand high above them, screaming as the skin ripped from his knuckles but grabbing hold of some sort of rope as they traveled beneath the compound.

  As they slid down a long manmade slide, the earth seemed to collapse around them, the entrance behind them closing off as quickly as they descended into the earth. When they reached the end of their journey, they landed on the floor, a cloud of smoke and dust behind them.

  “Besides, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Tunnels? What tunnels?” Crue asked, coughing as he stood. Waving his hand in front of his face, he added, “Lorenzo and his fellows can search all they want. We vanished without a trace.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “We’re here,” Colt said, speaking into his wristwatch, an oldie but goodie for transmitting messages. At the same time, he stuffed a listening device in his ear. “Where’s Lorenzo?”

  “Upper deck, outside of the family room,” Brand replied.

  “Where’s Kelly?” Colt snapped.

  “Down under,” Kemper said. “With Crue.”

  Colt breathed a heavy sigh of relief and felt his lips twitch. Damn Kemper. He thought he’d ruffle Colt’s feathers by letting him know she made it out with his brother. Fact was, he felt a lot better knowing she wasn’t underground alone. Plus, Crue knew how to collapse the tunnels. If they were underground, they were well hidden and safe. And they’d remain there until they dug them out.

  “How about Daniel?” he asked, lifting his wrist to his lips again.

  “He’s still alive,” Kemper replied. “Lorenzo has counted to ten a few times and still has a gun on him, but I don’t think he’ll use it.”

  “He’s probably right,” Gabe piped in. “If Daniel confided in him, Lorenzo knows about the tunnels. He’s probably aware of the tedious procedure involved in freeing those who drop out of sight.”

  “You ain’t lying there,” Kemper said. “For some reason Daniel told Lorenzo all.”

  “When it comes right down to it, we may be glad he did,” Brand said. “Daniel is alive right now because he is the only bargaining chip Lorenzo has. If Lorenzo kills Daniel, he has nothing he can hold over Kelly’s head.”

  “Let’s hope,” Colt said. “This is about the money for Lorenzo.”

  “Based on what I’ve heard, I second that opinion,” Brand said.

  Static filled the line. Colt devised a plan while the others talked amongst themselves.

  “Gabe, I want you to come around the front, up the side stairs. Kemper, enter through the kitchen. Brand, you’re my shooter. Take Kelly’s room and aim low. Everybody move!” Colt gave the orders and then hurried up the first flight of stairs. Entering the family room with his automatic rifle positioned on his shoulder, he walked softly, treading across the large room with light feet, one leg crossing over the other as he approached the patio.

  “Stop right there, Mr. Candy,” Lorenzo said, taking his time before facing him. Aiming the gun at Daniel’s head, he said, “I take it you were disappointed about our poker gam
e?”

  “Terribly,” Colt drawled, still in pursuit.

  “What didn’t you understand about my request?” Lorenzo’s eyes were wide. His voice was harsh. “Stay where you are!”

  Colt took another step and then another.

  “He’s a slow learner,” Daniel said, shrugging.

  “Shut up,” Lorenzo demanded, propelling his pistol high above Daniel’s body before slamming the butt of his gun against the side of his head.

  Colt dove for Lorenzo’s gut and took him down to the ground. The men rolled across the wooden deck area extending beyond the small concrete patio. Punches were thrown, left swings and right hooks.

  Lorenzo never stood a chance. Colt towered over Lorenzo, gaining and keeping the upper hand. A few shots were fired and an exchange of curse words filled the air. Another shot and then a loud thump left one man down.

  With each punch thrown, all Colt could see was the man who had struck the woman he loved. He showed no mercy. He struck Lorenzo multiple times, thinking of how frightened Kelly must’ve been when she’d realized what kind of criminal had been sleeping next to her.

  Lorenzo’s head snapped one way and then the other. Colt slammed his knuckles underneath Lorenzo’s chin, ignoring the grunts and groans resounding around them.

  Only anger drove him as he considered what Daniel had cost his own daughter, the one woman who would’ve done anything in this world to save him—and she’d proven that. She’d gone to bed with a monster, and by all accounts, she’d planned to go through with her engagement and marry him.

  Rage made an undeniable racket in his body. His anger shook him and he couldn’t stop himself from issuing a true beating.

  He hit Lorenzo as hard as he could. His fists crashed against Lorenzo’s face as he tried to think of all the suffering Kelly had endured all for the sake of the job she thought she’d earned, the title of an Underground Unit operative, a position Daniel must’ve convinced her she owned.

  “I’m gonna let you live,” Colt said, grabbing Lorenzo by the throat. He stared into the face of an assassin and realized what kind of person he held in his clasped hand. He’d looked into the eyes of many killers and always recognized a murderer when he saw one. They were all the same regardless of their names, birthrights, or backgrounds.