"I love you baby." The words were said into her mouth as she clenched around him and he spilled inside her.
For the rest of that day, he didn't let her out of his sight. He kept her close while the five of them tried to figure out what the fuck they were going to do. They'd let the guys in on some of what was going on but not all, they didn't need to know everything; because when this was over, he was planning to put her criminal past behind them. He knew she couldn't unlearn all that she knew, but hopefully he could steer her in a different direction.
She was back to being his little Jenna again, tinkering with that toy of hers, only now the shit made him nervous because he wasn't sure exactly what it was she was doing on the thing. Though every time he'd sneak a peak she'd be playing one of her games.
Gramps, for some fucked up reason found the whole thing hilarious and Andros was two steps away from braining the old man if he didn't stop his shit. He didn't find anything about this amusing, though the fear had eased a little, they were nowhere near being in the clear. He didn't think he'd breathe easy again until they were back home where he could keep her safe.
As night approached and they still had no sure answers, he grew restless; he knew it was going to be up to him, that he was the one who would have to find a way into the palace, but so far they'd come up with nothing. They had a quiet dinner prepared by the staff. Jenna didn't seem worried and he put that down to her natural innocence. He wasn't sure how her mind worked when it came to these things; she had so many different angles, it was almost hard for him to keep up.
"Angel bath." She made that announcement as they left the table.
"Okay I'll run you a bath." He didn't question the fact that they'd taken a shower not too long ago; maybe she just preferred baths. His mind was so preoccupied that he just ran the bath and got her set up before heading back downstairs with the guys.
"Okay no matter what, I have to find a way into this place, if I don't do it, she's going to try and I can't have that. We have just a few hours left to come up with a plan. Gramps you've been here before, do you know anything about the place? Is there anyway to gain an audience or some other bullshit?"
"Uh, ahem."
"What is it old man?" Gramps was looking rather suspicious all of a sudden, and Andros knew that always spelt trouble for him. "What did you do?"
"Nothing, but, there's a game there tonight."
"Game, what kind of game?"
"Well, while you were asleep I put out some feelers and found out that there's some kind of high stakes game going on there tonight. Lotta the big boys are gonna be there."
"How does this help me? I can't just walk in there can I? you usually have to buy into those things." When the old man didn't answer but just gave him a look, he still hadn't caught on. It was Garrett's ‘oh shit' that did it.
"JENNA." HE took the stairs two at a time with his heart already at the bottom of his feet. He heard water running in the tub and bent to hold his knees in relief. He was breathing like a runaway train. Walking over to the door he pushed it open and felt his blood run cold.
He searched the room but he knew she wasn't there. He turned off the water before running back downstairs. "She's gone, let's go." He wasn't sure what he should feel. Beyond the fear was anger, anger that she would do this even after he'd told her not to. Anger that she was in danger and there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't prepared to storm the fucking presidential palace of Cuba for fuck sake.
JENNA
The men scattered around the room were very appreciative of the beautiful blonde as she made her way around the room. She was almost the perfect woman; beautiful smile, amazing body, and she barely spoke. The other women here would talk your ear off, but this one knew her place.
When the private doors leading down to the wine cellar were opened and the nod was given, they knew it was time for the fun to begin. "Who do you have there Pierre?" The man in charge posed the question in his heavy accent, as the others wondered the same.
The women didn't usually play, they were just here for window dressing, but at one seat, it seemed the roles had been reversed. Though no one would ever mistake Pierre Gaston for window dressing. The man was an over enthusiastic blowhard with nose hair and a bulbous nose that took up half his face.
His gout-ridden body left much to be desired as well, and everyone came to the same conclusion; the young beauty had to be with the old fool for his money, of which he had plenty. Pierre wasn't interested in what they thought, he had a pretty good idea what was going through their heads but the joke was on them.
This particular young beauty had skinned him out of millions a few months ago. It wasn't the money that bothered him, he had more than enough for one lifetime, but his pride had taken a licking and he needed to get some of his own back. What better way, than to have some of the world's foremost billionaires suffer the same fate?
When she'd contacted him with the idea he hadn't bat a lash, though the location was a bit odd. He'd played here before, everyone knew the dictator loved to gamble, and those in the know knew all about the little secret games held in his dungeon. It had been no trouble at all getting an invite and paying the entrance fee, and so here he was getting some of his own back. Only tonight he wasn't planning on playing.
"This gentlemen, is my protégé." They'd come up with that little story together to make it more acceptable to the others.
The smiling coquette was gone, and in her place was a very serious woman who studied her hand like she meant business. The men didn't make a fuss about playing with a woman, they'd done it before, but she didn't look the type. The room started out with friendly ribaldry and good joshing as the hands were dealt and the money pile grew. It didn't take long for the atmosphere to change as they watched the very serious and very quiet young woman win hand after hand.
"Pierre, what's going on here? where did you find her?" the old man just smiled and shrugged his shoulders as the men tightened their belts and got down to serious playing. They weren't about to let this newcomer best them, and not a woman at that.
She let them win the next two hands, not giving away too much, just enough to make these men less suspicious. She handily trounced them the next two hands before she beckoned the older man down so she could whisper one word in his ear. "Restroom."
No one thought anything of it when the request was made, least of all the dictator who was getting hot under the collar at being bested at his own table. He knew most of them let him win, he didn't care about that; he only cared about winning, however that was achieved.
The kindly assistant showed her the way down the long hallway before returning back to the room downstairs, after ascertaining that she knew her way back. He hoped she'd take her time though; the way things were going he was in for a long night. He's the one who was in charge of setting up the games. His boss hadn't been too thrilled about this one to begin with since he had a delegation of very important men arriving soon, and the game had been set up last minute.
He'd had a time of it convincing the man that this would be a good way to relax and unwind, while they waited to handle the other matter concerning the man that was being held even now in another part of the palace. When he'd been contacted and offered a cool half a million to set up the game, he'd jumped at the chance. He had been in a bit of trouble lately and the money would go a long way to easing his burden.
Chapter 31
She knew she didn't have a lot of time as she threw the dress and the wig into her purse. She got hurriedly dressed in the skintight Kevlar body suit before putting her hair up and shoving it under the cap which she pulled down low over her eyes. Taking the pieces of the gun that Andros had forgotten to take from her backpack, she put it together in less time than it would've taken one of the army's elite.
Each move was precise and calculated. She listened carefully at the door before easing it open and making her way as carefully as she could down the winding hallway heading in the opposite direction from where she'd come. With her keen senses on high alert, she made her way to the other end of the palace where she had deduced that her father was being held captive.
It hadn't been easy since she'd never been there before, but after studying the blue prints on file, she'd chosen this one by process of elimination. There was no room for mistakes, she would only get one shot at this, and though she'd practiced she knew that this was the real deal and anything could go wrong.