Page 86 of Wicked Intentions (Wicked Games 3)
I resist the hot, crackling urge to come to Mariana’s defense only because I already know Connor and Tabby are on our side, and I know this is a conversation that has to be had. But fuck, seeing Mariana upset touches nerves I didn’t even know I had.
Maybe my feelings for her are making me grow new ones.
“I understand that,” Tabby says. “I know something about psychopaths myself.”
“Then you know that they can’t be reasoned with, or easily fooled.”
“Yes.”
“So when Ryan tells me he’s going to return the Hope Diamond and set Capo up with a sting, you’ll understand my opinion that not only is that a particularly stupid plan, it’s also destined to fail.”
To my horror, Tabby replies, “Yes. I happen to agree with you completely.”
“Tabby! What the fuck?” I shout.
“Save your outrage for the end, brother,” Connor says wearily. “It gets worse.”
Before I can protest further, Tabby continues. “There’s no way a man like Vincent Moreno is going to accept a meet with a stranger, especially when all he has to do to find out who you are, Ryan, is dig a little. Then he discovers your identity, easily guesses what you’re up to, and puts out a hit. You’re dead before dawn. So is Mariana.”
“He wouldn’t kill me right away,” Mariana says, looking at her hands. “There are things he wants from me much more than my death.”
That sucks the air right out of the room. We all stare at her in silence, until Tabby finally breaks it.
“Submission?”
Mariana shakes her head, closing her eyes. “More than that. More like surrender. I’ve been defying him for years. But mostly he just wants my pain.”
She opens her eyes and looks at each of us in turn, me last. “He wants to wring every drop of anguish from me the way you’d wring water from a towel. He’s come close a few times, but always manages to hold himself back. And if I’m being honest, I think the reason he can resist has less to do with self-control or honoring the blood oath I took than it does with heightening his anticipation. All these years, all these jobs, this noose he holds over Reynard’s head… I’ve finally realized it’s not really about repayment of a debt.”
“What’s it about?” I ask, in a raw voice, like I’ve been screaming.
She swallows then says faintly, “Foreplay.”
“That motherfucker!” I growl, hackles bristling, but before I can continue what threatens to be an epic rant, Connor thunders, “Can it, soldier!”
I whip my head around and glare at him.
“You going ballistic isn’t gonna help anything!” he snaps, meeting my blistering glare with a steely one of his own. “Now fucking can it. Your woman needs you steady, not bleeding rage outta your eyes.”
He’s right. He’s right and I know it, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.
I jerk out of my chair and start to pace the floor, dragging my hands through my hair and muttering. I want to kill Moreno, I want to tear him limb from limb, but if I can’t control myself, I’ve got zero chance of doing either.
So I pace and breathe and force myself not to think of the word foreplay and how it’s now ruined for me forever.
Eyeing me with surprise at my forceful reaction, Tabby turns to Mariana. “I’m sure Ryan’s already told you he’s spoken with the FBI about getting all the charges dropped against you in exchange for Moreno.”
Mariana glances at me, hesitates, then nods.
“And he’s told us that you have approximately forty-eight hours to get the diamond to Moreno before the clock runs out on your friend Reynard.”
Mariana nods again.
“Well then, I think we need to give you the diamond and get you on a plane.”
I stop dead in my tracks and stare at Tabby in complete disbelief, my rage erupting all over again. “We’re not sending her back to him! Under no circumstances is she even gonna be in his general vicinity again!”
“The rest of the plan we talked about stays the same, Ryan,” Connor interjects, his voice tight. “The FBI will have whatever meeting place we designate surrounded. Snipers on rooftops, agents ready to swarm in, you know the drill. All she’ll have to do is wear the wire like you were going to, get him to admit a few damning things on tape—”
