No One to Trust (6 page)

Her friend started to say something but Lizzy
cut her off with a shake of her head. She couldn’t start talking or
thinking about Porter if she wanted to get anything done today.
They had no future and she didn’t need the distraction. Clearing
her throat, Lizzy brushed away thoughts of him. “Sorry, I don’t
know why I even brought it up. Let’s not talk about him anyway. Are
you excited about tonight?” It was Mara’s engagement dinner.

Mara’s eyes lit up. “I am, mainly for the
food though. Some famous caterer owed Harrison a favor so they
agreed to handle the engagement party
and
the wedding
reception. I don’t think he cares either way who we use.”

“Probably not. He’d be happy if you had a
barbecue in your backyard.” She’d worked for Harrison long enough
to know that about him. The only time she’d ever seen him agonize
over
anything
was when he’d been picking out an engagement
ring. He’d do anything to make Mara happy.

“Truthfully, I don’t care what we do either,
but so far everything is going off without a hitch.”

After the elevator doors whooshed open on the
bottom floor, Lizzy paused when she saw four guys in suits waiting
by the revolving glass doors. Fear snaked up her spine. She placed
a light hand on Mara’s arm and didn’t make a move to get out. “Do
you know those guys?”

“Yeah, that’s the team Harrison ordered to
watch out for us today.”

“
Four
extra guys?”

Mara shrugged as they exited the elevator.
“Yep.”

Lizzy tried to squash her nerves as she
followed her friend into the lobby. Maybe they should just eat in
the cafeteria. One of the men looked familiar, but she didn’t
recognize the other three. Harrison oversaw about forty men, and
while she interacted with them on a semi-regular basis, they had a
couple hundred guys working for the company, some of whom she’d
never met. She wasn’t worried that they wouldn’t be competent, but
the thought of actually needing a security detail for her own
protection freaked her out.

She couldn’t imagine some low-life gang
members targeting her in broad daylight in the middle of the
financial district. She hadn’t done anything anyway. Orlando hadn’t
seemed like he wanted to kill her. No, he’d had something else in
mind for her. And why would he want her dead? She’d always thought
he was a bit of a psychopath but killing her would be pointless.
Still…seeing these men in front of her put her on edge.

“You sure you’re all right?” Mara’s quiet
voice startled her out of her thoughts as they stepped outside.

Instead of voicing her worries, she pasted on
a bright smile and nodded. “Of course, I’m just starving.”

Two of the men went through the revolving
door before them and two flanked them from behind. These guys were
no joke. All of her work was at a computer and she’d never actually
seen any of the security teams in action before, but they seemed to
know what they were doing.

There was a white SUV with tinted windows
waiting directly outside for them. And if she knew her boss the
vehicle was bullet proof. “This is our ride?” she asked Mara.

“Yep. It’s one of Harrison’s newest armored
vehicles and—”

Her words were cut off when one of the men
grabbed her arm and started hustling them faster. “Ladies, you need
to get into the SUV,
now
.”

As they rushed toward the open door, Lizzy
spotted a shiny blue two-door muscle car screech to a halt across
the street from them. The door flew open and two men wearing blue
bandanas across their face and carrying what looked like machine
guns jumped out. Panic slammed into her chest. “Hey!” She pointed,
but one of the security guys practically picked her up and shoved
her through the open vehicle door.

Mara tumbled in behind her, pinning her on
the floor, and a second later, like hail on a tin roof, there was
an explosion of gunfire all around them. The staccato pings were
deafening and seemed to go on forever. Thank God the SUV was
armored.

Lizzy’s heart pounded loudly in her ears but
nothing could drown out the outside noise. Mara huddled half on top
of her and she was vaguely aware of the men shouting something.
What though, she had no clue.

When the vehicle jerked to life, the sounds
of shooting miraculously faded then stopped all together. Lizzy’s
eyes flew open with a start—she hadn’t realized they’d been
closed—to find Mara still on top of her. Her friend pushed up and
sat on the middle of the bench seat as she helped Lizzy slide up
next to her. Straightening, she stared at her friend, then glanced
around.

The driver and man in the passenger seat were
silent, but the man sitting next to them was quietly talking into
his phone. She didn’t know who was on the other end, but she could
guess as she listened to his half of the conversation.

“…already called the cops…the women are
secure…two guys from what we could see…Tony got cover inside and
stayed back to try and follow them…”

“Are you okay?” she whispered to Mara.

“I’m fine.” Mara nodded and Lizzy was
surprised by how stoic she appeared. Not a hair was out of place
and her sharp, Slavic features didn’t betray an ounce of emotion.
She looked perfectly at ease. No wonder she and Harrison fit
together so perfectly.

“That was insane! How can you be fine?” Lizzy
felt as if her insides were actually shaking. A slight tremor
rolled over her and she was helpless to stop it. She clasped her
hands tightly in her lap to calm them but it did no good.

Mara’s eyebrows rose in concern and she
immediately covered Lizzy’s hands in a reassuring grip. “I’m scared
too, but we’re alive, okay? They’re taking us somewhere safe, I
promise.”

Lizzy nodded and internally berated herself
for the tears she felt rising up. If Mara was okay, she supposed
she should suck it up too. But she obviously wasn’t wired like her
friend. Men with guns trying to shoot them in the middle of the
day? She quickly glanced out the window, but everything blurred
before her. Keeping her face turned away, she tried to blink away
the hot tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. She wasn’t
going to ask, mainly because she didn’t trust her voice, but she
really hoped that wherever they were going, Porter would be there
too.

Chapter 4

Porter slipped his sunglasses on as he exited
the Hotel Victor. A potential client had picked the place to meet
and all he’d thought about the entire time was that the Parisian
style hotel would be a nice place to take Elizabeth to dinner. It
seemed everywhere he went the gorgeous woman occupied his thoughts.
If he hadn’t known she was safe at the office he wouldn’t have even
gone to the meeting.

His cell buzzed in his pocket. As he answered
it, he handed his parking stub to one of the valet guys. When he
saw Harrison’s number, he smiled. “Hey man, the meeting went well.
I think we just landed the entire Mancini corporate account.”

“That’s not why I’m calling.”

His heart stuttered at his brother’s grim
tone. “Elizabeth.” Her name was all he could squeeze out. If
something had happened to her—

“She’s fine but there was an incident.”

He practically shoved the valet driver out of
the way after he’d put Porter’s vehicle in park. “Where is
she?”

“My house.”

If he took a couple shortcuts he could be at
Harrison’s in twenty minutes. “Tell me what happened.”

“A couple gangbangers opened fire on them
right outside of Red Stone.” Now there was an unmistakable edge to
his brother’s voice.

Someone had taken a shot at her? A low buzz
started in Porter’s ears as he felt himself slip into battle mode.
Even as he kept a lid on his emotions, his stomach twisted at the
thought of anything happening to Lizzy. Gripping the wheel tightly,
he took a sharp turn. “What was she even doing outside? She wasn’t
supposed to leave the building!”

“I know. She and Mara were going to lunch
with a
full
security team and—”

“You’re
sure
it was from a gang?”
Porter cut him off. He didn’t care why she’d left the building and
he wasn’t going to waste his breath arguing about how stupid it had
been. All he cared about was that she was safe.

“They fit the profile. One of my guys got the
license plate and I already had Grant run it—it doesn’t exist.”

Which meant someone had likely taken two
halves of different plates and welded them together. A common
practice among car thieves and gang members in Miami. Before Porter
could respond, Harrison continued.

“For now Lizzy’s at my place with Mara. We
need to talk to her because after this I think she might know more
than she’s telling. I don’t see why Salas would send a gang after
her in broad daylight, not over money her brother owes him. Doesn’t
make sense.”

It didn’t. Especially not considering who
Porter’s family was. Orlando Salas couldn’t be that stupid. “I’ll
see you in a few.” He disconnected and shoved the phone in his
pocket.

Time seemed to move backward as he maneuvered
through traffic, but the drive was relatively short. When he pulled
up to his brother’s spacious two story home in the quiet Coral
Gables neighborhood, he wasn’t surprised to see a team of guys
parked in the driveway and another parked across the street. He was
certain there would be more men inside. Everything about Harrison’s
life was low-key, right down to the ten-year-old Ford truck he
drove—though it did have bullet resistant glass windows. But if
there was a potential threat anywhere near Mara, he was anything
but laid back.

Porter completely understood. He wanted to
keep Elizabeth under lock and key so no one could hurt her. Before
he’d reached the front door, it flew open.

Harrison stood back and motioned for him to
enter. “She’s in the living room.”

He brushed past his brother until he reached
the archway that opened into the living room. Wearing the same
button down pink top and slim-fitting skirt she’d had on that
morning, she sat with her legs crossed and her hands clasped
tightly over her knees. The whites of her knuckles were a stark
contrast to her naturally tanned skin.

She glanced up and when those espresso
colored eyes of hers locked on his, it was like a punch to the gut.
Unlike his brother’s fiancé, who was as cool as ice under any
circumstance, Elizabeth was more innocent. Sweeter and softer. And
right now she looked so damn vulnerable. She spent her days behind
a computer and if he had to guess, she’d grown up fairly sheltered.
Her parents were two of the highest paid doctors on the East Coast,
or more likely the country. One was a cardiologist and the other an
oncologist. Combined with the events of yesterday, having a couple
thugs try to gun her down had probably shaken her up more than she
was letting on.

When he moved into the room, she stood and
skirted around the coffee table toward him. “I’m sorry, I should
have listened to you and stayed home today. I…”

Her voice broke and he covered the rest of
the distance in two strides. Surprising himself, he pulled her into
a tight hug. He didn’t care what his brother thought about his
display of affection for her. For a split second she was resistant
but then her slim arms wrapped around him and held tight. Her head
fit right under his chin. She was so close he could feel the rapid
beat of her heart and the soft swell of her breasts pressing
against his chest. The way she hitched in a breath made him ache
inside.

“If I’d listened to you, none of this would
have happened.” There was a slight note of anger in her words.
Anger at herself, he guessed.

He squeezed her tighter, needing to feel her
against him. “If I’d thought this was remotely possible, I wouldn’t
have let you go to work today. You couldn’t have seen this coming.
Neither of us could have,” he murmured against her hair. She was
fairly tall, but today she felt soft and fragile in his arms.
Without caring about the consequences, he brushed a hand down her
long hair and smoothed it down her spine. He was so grateful she
was unharmed and letting him hold her. Feeling her like this kept
him grounded and reminded him she was okay. It also let him breathe
normally.

The longer he held her, the more he savored
the way her soft curves pressed against him in all the right
places. The timing was inappropriate but his lower body came to
life with a roar. He became aware of it only seconds before she
did. She pulled her head back, away from his chest, but didn’t step
out of his embrace. Her dark eyes widened and she opened her mouth
to speak, but the sound of his brother clearing his throat brought
them back to reality. Instantly they broke apart and not a second
too soon. Porter needed to get his shit together around her.

“We need to talk,” Harrison said as he
stepped fully into the room, giving Porter a curious look.

Porter nodded and took Elizabeth’s hand as he
sat on the longer leather couch, pulling her with him. She looked
surprised by the gesture, but he had to touch her. He noticed Mara
wasn’t in the room, but he didn’t ask questions. If Harrison didn’t
think she needed to be there, then she didn’t.

“What do you guys want to know?” she asked as
she looked back and forth between them.

“Do you have any idea what kind of trouble
your brother could have gotten into?” Harrison spoke first.

For a moment, something flashed in her dark
gaze, but it was gone so quick he didn’t have time to analyze it.
She shook her head. “I know he owes Orlando money, but I don’t know
why Orlando would want to kill
me
because of that. The
attack today doesn’t make any sense.”

“Is there anything else you can think of that
happened while you were at his house? Something your brother said
to you, maybe. Or something Orlando said to you? Maybe you saw
something Orlando doesn’t want you to repeat to anyone?” Porter
asked.