Breaking Her Rules

chapter 8



Wyatt was conscious of everyone and everything as they entered the grand foyer to Forest’s home. Iris held onto his arm, as if she were his date for the evening. Other than her security team and his most trusted people, no one actually knew they were married. Looking back he wondered if he should have courted her longer, given her a huge wedding that she deserved. Of course she’d no doubt hate something like that. Truth was, he would too. He didn’t need something overdone and garish to show the world how much he loved her. He’d just needed to lock her down.

Not that it mattered. She’d run from him. At least she was with him now, even if it was on a temporary basis. Wearing a formfitting black dress covered with small silver bursts that reminded him of fireworks, she moved with a liquid grace that had him wanting to shove her dress up and take her against the nearest flat surface.

But she wasn’t remotely thinking about sex. Though her expression was casual, he could feel the tension humming through her as she spotted Keibler and the rest of his crew standing at the foot of one of the curving staircases that descended into the foyer. Two men wearing dark suits watched them carefully from the high balcony above where the stairs joined. They were no doubt armed. Forest’s security. Wyatt had seen them on multiple occasions with the man when he’d actually ventured out in public.

Wyatt murmured that to Iris who only nodded. “They’re in my files.” Her lips barely moved as she spoke.

Yeah, Wyatt didn’t doubt that Red Stone Security had extensive files on anyone and everyone he might come in contact with over the next week. He’d given them all the information he could think of, but they had a lot of resources. Which was one of the reasons he’d hired them.

Keibler’s expression narrowed on Wyatt when he finally spotted him. He flicked a glance at Iris, then paused and practically undressed her with his eyes as he scanned her from head to heeled feet. Wyatt wanted to pummel the guy for even looking at her that way, even though he couldn’t blame him. She looked beautiful.

“Breathe,” Iris murmured and he realized his jaw was clenched tight, his body completely tense. When he met her gaze, she gave him a half-smile. “He’s just looking at me to piss you off. Don’t let him get under your skin.”

Nothing ever got to him. Until Iris. He’d never cared if anyone looked at his dates. Iris was different. And she was wrong about why Keibler was looking at her, but she was right that he needed to breathe. While Wyatt had more to offer Forest in this deal, Forest was also eccentric as hell. He could decide to sell the company to Thorton Enterprises because he liked the color of Thorton’s tie. Wyatt forced himself to relax.

Iris leaned close until her mouth was close to his ear, her warm breath making everything around them funnel out for a second. He could drown in her scent, in the pure essence that was all her. “I think the woman is part of his security. Females in this business are rare so I’m surprised I don’t know who she is, but she moves like a pro. Maybe she’s new. Either way, steer clear of her.”

“You know you’re the only woman for me.” His words were as low as hers.

She quickly averted her gaze and swallowed hard. “Stay close to us, we’re using the opposite staircase,” she said quietly to her team.

He belatedly remembered about her earpiece and that everyone had just heard what he said. While her team might know they were married, this was still her job. It rankled him that she had to keep that cool façade up at all times, but he understood it. He’d pulled himself up from nothing so on that level, he got why she was always professional. Didn’t mean he had to like that he couldn’t pull his wife into his arms the way he wanted.

As they headed for the west side staircase, Wyatt gave a brisk nod to the other group. He knew Keibler would take offense and imagine it was somehow a slight, but Wyatt was used to the other man’s paranoia.

At the top of the stairs they were immediately stopped by the two guards he’d spotted when they arrived. And two more men in suits appeared from the shadows, heading toward the east staircase to stop the other group.

After they were patted down and turned over their weapons—which could be retrieved when they left—Iris, Wyatt and the others were led down a long hallway with intricately carved crowned molding gilded with gold. There were also priceless paintings hanging every few feet. Wyatt recognized more than a handful of them, two as original Picasso’s—an artist he’d never learned to appreciate. In his opinion, art should be appealing, not a visual nightmare. Their group was silent, but farther down the hall behind them he could hear Keibler’s obnoxious voice and follow up laughter from the female. God, he hated these in-person meetings when this bullshit could all be taken care of over a conference call. Or a more neutral location.

He might have hired Iris but now that they were actually out in public and the threat was looming over him, he couldn’t shake the feeling that anything could happen to her. And he knew deep down he wouldn’t let her protect him from a bullet or anything else. He’d die trying to protect her.

There were two more men in suits waiting at the last door on the right. The dark-haired one on the left looked over the security team in an assessing manner, barely looked at Iris, then he focused on Wyatt. “You can bring in one person.”

“The deal was two.”

Iris tensed beside him, but he gently squeezed her arm.

The guard shrugged. “It’s one now.”

Wyatt gave him a shrug of his own. “Fine.” He turned to leave, Iris and the others following, but the guard stopped him.

“Wait.”

Wyatt turned back to find the guy murmuring to someone clearly not the other guard. He probably had a similar earpiece to the one Iris was currently using. He tilted his chin at the closed door. “You can bring two.”

Iris still didn’t like it. Her posture and expression were tense, her back bowstring tight.

“Maybe you should stay out here and I’ll bring in another of the team with me and Jay.” He couldn’t stand the thought of her coming in there with him. Considering how paranoid Forest was and from the security he’d seen tonight, Wyatt knew it was unlikely that anything would happen, but he still didn’t want to bring Iris into possible harm’s way. At his house he’d broached the subject of her not coming and they’d fought. Even though it wasn’t in him to ever back down, he had.

For her.

It was his own damn fault for insisting on hiring her. He wanted to kick his own ass for his shortsightedness. Yeah, she was with him 24/7, but she was also putting herself in harm’s way.

As if she read his mind, Iris’s dark eyes spit fire at him, her jaw clenching tight before she pasted on a bright smile that didn’t fool him. Her fingers dug into his arm for a fraction of a moment before she looked at Jay. “Let’s go.”

Vincent, Kell and the others in the Red Stone group stayed behind as he, Iris and Jay entered. In each corner of the room stood men wearing dark suits; silent and armed like the rest of the security. A long conference table sat in the middle with Forest at one end, sitting there like he was a king. There was a buffet of food and drinks behind him, which told Wyatt he expected negotiations to go on for a while.

Forest stood and greeted Wyatt with a real smile. With salt and pepper hair, wire-rimmed glasses and a lean frame, the seventy-four year old was in good shape for his age.

“Who is this lovely woman?” he asked, his voice permanently raspy from the attack he’d suffered a year ago. Forest strode toward them, his movements steady.

Wyatt nodded between them. “Henry Forest, this is Iris Tarango.” He didn’t offer up anything else because it wasn’t the man’s business. As they stood and made small talk, Wyatt felt Iris tense as she subtly shifted and eyed Thorton’s group enter the room. He watched them out of the corner of his eye, careful of their movements. They might have been frisked before entering, but he was pretty sure Iris had managed to smuggle a knife in so it was highly possible any of that group was carrying a weapon.

Even though he was focused on the upcoming negotiations, it was difficult to ignore the feel of Iris’s lush body pressed up against his. Her light scent that always reminded him of springtime wrapped around him, driving him crazy. It wasn’t perfume either, it was something that was pure Iris.

Right now clothing separated them, but soon enough, he’d have her under him, begging for a release he’d gladly give. As he felt himself start to harden, he shoved those thoughts away and scanned the group of Forest’s men, then Thorton’s group again.

He needed to stay focused because once this job was over, it would be a hell of a lot easier to pinpoint any threats. Though he hated to think Keibler would stoop so low as to hire an assassin, he had to assume the other man was behind the attempt on his life. Wyatt didn’t have any other big deals in the works at the moment. This was the only one that would draw the kind of attention of a hit.

Internally sighing, he nodded and politely smiled at something Forest said to him and Iris. Yeah, long and boring night ahead.



* * * * *



For two hours Wyatt, Forest, Thorton and Keibler talked, shouted, and went back and forth over numbers and some other stuff Iris didn’t completely understand. The one thing she did realize, however, was that Thorton reeked of desperation. Both he and Keibler did. They needed the company and the hack proof software in a way Wyatt didn’t seem to. Or maybe Wyatt was just cooler under pressure. Despite their relationship, he was hard to read sometimes—okay, all the time.

That didn’t concern her right now. The woman Keibler had brought to the meeting did. She’d been introduced as Fae and had been perfectly polite and polished. She was sitting next to Keibler, her expression blank, as if she was bored, but something about her was off. First, why would they have brought this woman into the meeting unless she was security? Maybe she was, but she hadn’t interacted with any of the other security Thorton had arrived with and it would have been easy to tell. Even when Iris and her team weren’t vocally communicating, they all worked as one cohesive group. It was subtle, but they were all teammates and acted as such.

The woman with the dark hair sitting across the table from Iris didn’t know any of the security team who worked for Thorton and Keibler. Or she hadn’t before tonight. Iris was almost sure of it. Iris didn’t watch her directly, but she was always aware of the woman. Something else about her set Iris on edge and she hated that she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

As the men were talking Fae stood, causing the conversation to taper off. She grimaced self-consciously and pointed to her champagne glass. “I’m just getting a refill, I hope that’s all right. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Her voice was soft, understated in the room that had just been booming with frustrated male voices.

Forest smiled and stood. “Of course, I think we should all take a break. And don’t trouble yourself,” he said to the woman before looking at one of his guards.

Without a word, the guard cleared the table while another started pouring drinks for everyone. He had a good memory, because with the exception of Fae and Iris, everyone at the table had something different. Iris hadn’t touched her champagne, but she’d originally asked for something to be polite.

Iris stood and stretched her legs as Fae did the same. Wyatt turned to Forest and as the two began talking in low tones, Thorton and Keibler stood and talked in even quieter voices as they moved toward the other end of the table. If Keibler looked angry, Thorton’s expression was positively nuclear.

“What are you thinking?” Jay asked. He’d been extremely quiet tonight, standing a few feet behind her and Wyatt the whole time. Normally Iris didn’t like anyone at her back, but she trusted Jay. He viewed Wyatt as not only a boss, but a friend. Loyalty was rare, but she’d heard enough stories from Wyatt to know the man was.

“Just observing.” Iris scanned the room, watching for any sudden moves. As she casually scrutinized everyone, her breath caught as she watched the dark-haired woman take her champagne glass from the man in the suit. She’d done more than just take her glass.

The movement was so damn smooth Iris would have missed it if the woman hadn’t already been on her radar. Somehow Iris forced herself to remain lax, to keep her gaze off the woman who was carelessly sipping champagne. Instead Iris pretended like she was curious about the quietly heated conversation between Thorton and Keibler.

But as the second guard set Wyatt’s coffee mug in front of him—the man and his damn coffee—she snagged it and handed it to Jay. Keeping her gaze laser-focused on Fae, or whatever her name really was, she murmured, “I don’t care how you do it, secure his drink. There’s poison in it.” And they would need it as evidence.

Fae’s gaze narrowed on her as she pushed her chair back a few inches. The movement was slight, but she was ready to bolt. Iris could see it in every taut line of the woman’s body.

Jay took it and she heard him moving around behind her, but she didn’t avert her gaze. At Iris’s words, the rest of the room went deathly silent. Next to her Wyatt stood and actually tried to stand in front of her, but she refused to let him. “Call the police, Wyatt.”

He paused for a moment, but didn’t question her as he slid his cell phone out and dialed.

“What the hell is going on?” Keibler boomed as he and Thorton returned to the table.

Next to her Wyatt was talking quietly on the phone, but Iris could make out the gist of the conversation. Fae hadn’t made any further moves and Iris hadn’t taken her eyes off her. The woman was almost preternaturally still. That was when Iris realized what had been bugging her about the female. She hadn’t fidgeted the entire meeting. Hadn’t acted bored or uninterested. She’d just been waiting for the moment to strike. Like a pro.

“Your date or employee just poisoned my client.” Iris put her left foot slightly in front of the other as she turned her body, ready for a fight she could feel coming.

At her words, the woman jumped up, her expression dark. “I don’t have to put up with that kind of accusation.” She turned, glaring at Keibler, as if expecting him to defend her.

“But you do have to wait for the police to arrive,” Iris said quietly.

She swiveled back around. “You can’t keep me prisoner.”

“I can and I will.” Without drawing attention to herself, Iris slowly slipped off her heels. If she had to move fast, she was going to take every advantage. Luckily she knew her team had heard everything through their earpieces.

“What the f*ck is going on, Christiansen? I’m not going to let one of your whores talk to my date like that.” Keibler’s angry voice sliced through the sudden silence.

Before she could blink, Wyatt stopped talking to the police mid-conversation and launched himself at Keibler.

It all happened so fast Iris had barely computed he’d moved when Fae jumped over the table. Lightning fast, she used the table as a springboard and launched herself toward the door.

She might be fast, but Iris was faster. “Don’t let the woman leave the premises!” she shouted into her earpiece, knowing that even if she couldn’t stop her, her team outside would.

Using the tension that had been building inside her from the moment they’d arrived, Iris threw herself at the woman. In her peripheral she could see Wyatt and Keibler fighting and Jay restraining Thorton, but she kept herself focused on the immediate threat.

The woman had dared to try to hurt Wyatt. Iris wasn’t sure what Fae had slipped into his drink, but she doubted it was a date-rape drug.

A punch of adrenaline surged through Iris as she tackled the woman to the ground. The force of the landing almost knocked the breath out of her, but she was so pumped up now, not much could slow her down.

Faster than she’d anticipated, Fae turned underneath her, swiveling with her elbow as she tried to strike Iris in the temple. Jerking back out of pure instinct, Iris barely missed the blow. Iris used the opening to head-butt the woman in the nose. The crunching sound of bone breaking rent the air.

The move was dirty and almost always unexpected. Especially from a female. As the woman cried out in pain, blood gushed from her nose and down her face. Iris had no clue how well trained the woman was and wasn’t going to give her another opening. She slammed her fist across the woman’s jaw before twisting her onto her stomach. She leveled her knee into her back, digging in hard as she held her wrists tight together. Before she even had to ask, Jay was crouched next to her with flex-cuffs in his hands. He bound the woman’s feet as Iris secured her hands behind her back.

Iris looked up to find Forest’s guards all with their weapons drawn, but cautiously giving them a wide berth and thankfully, none of them were pointing their weapons at anyone.

Wyatt was rumpled with a bruise forming on his cheek while Keibler looked ten times worse. They stood on opposite sides of the table, but Wyatt looked ready to murder Keibler at any second.

“What the hell is going on?” Forest finally sputtered.

She ignored him and focused on Wyatt. “The cops on their way?”

“Yeah. You okay?” He looked as if he wanted to say more and he even made a move toward her, but then he looked at Keibler and remained still, watching the other man as if he’d kill him if Keibler made one wrong move.

Before she could say anything, the door opened and her guys along with the rest of Forest’s men spilled into the room. Of course Forest’s security had their weapons drawn. This was one giant clusterf*ck and while she hated involving the cops, it was definitely necessary. Everyone started talking at once, but she tuned everyone out and turned to Jay, who hadn’t moved either. “Did you secure that drink?”

“Yep.” His expression grim, he shot the woman on the ground an angry glare.

Fae wasn’t knocked out, but she also wasn’t struggling. Probably because she was in a shitload of pain and realized she’d never escape now.

Still, Iris didn’t move from her position on top of the murderous bitch. The police could sort everything out but until then, Iris was staying put.