Dangerous Allies (The Ruby Danger Series Book 1) (8 page)

R
uby’s plan was simple
. Wait a few hours until Antony had passed out, tell the steward she had forgotten her key card and didn’t want to wake her husband, and ask if he could please let her in. Meanwhile, she would wait in the piano bar. Simple and efficient.

But as she turned to step into the lounge, a hand tapped her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you,” Ethan said, his freckled face flushed. Emily stood beside him.

Ruby patted her chest, struggling to get her breath back.

“Where are you two headed?”

“We thought we’d try the piano bar,” Ethan said. “We wanted something quiet. Didn’t we, Emily?” His wife nodded, smiling at Ruby.

Ethan continued, “and not too expensive, because we went to the casino last night and … we lost quite a bit of money.”

Beside him, Emily stopped smiling. Her lower lip wobbled.

Ethan looked down at his feet.

“It wouldn’t matter, I guess, except it wasn’t our money. Our parents …” his voice trailed off. He swallowed hard and looked up with a forced smile. “Listen to me, bothering you with our problems. Why don’t you join us for a drink and we’ll talk about something else?”

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck while she looked around the promenade. An evening with the Bobbsey twins would be the final straw.

“I’m so sorry,” she said quickly, with a pained shrug and a wince. “I promised to meet someone. Rain check?”

Ethan nodded. “Sure.”

Turning, Ruby hurried away. So much for simple and efficient. She kept going until she reached the casino, where she slid onto a low-backed stool at the blackjack table. She glanced at the boisterous party around the craps table and then nodded at the blackjack dealer.

On the stool beside her, a woman in a low-cut green dress and garish blonde hair stared at her.

Ruby extended her hand. “Hello. I’m Ruby Delaney.”

“Pleased to meetcha.” The woman mumbled her name and leaned in, grinning. “My husband will be along in a bit. He’s a huge fan.”

Ruby smiled weakly and said to a hovering waitress, “G and T, please.” She turned to the dealer and checked her cards. A jack and a four.

“Hit me.”

It was after midnight by the time she pushed her few remaining chips to the dealer and stretched her arms over her head.

“I think I’ve lost enough for one night,” she said with a chuckle. Surely Antony was dead to the world by now. She left the casino, turned to the elevator and stopped.

Dimitri leaned against a pillar across the promenade, a linen jacket slung over his shoulder by a thumb and his blond hair gleaming in the light of an overhead spot. His black shirt and jeans emphasized his lean muscular frame. He straightened up and ambled over.

“Hello,” he said, looking at her intently with those icy blue eyes.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and for a second or two she forgot to breathe.

“I have to get back. My husband will wonder where I am.”

Dimitri nodded and extended his hand.

“I take you. I know a shortcut.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think—”

He raised his eyebrows and inclined his head to the left.

Ruby turned. Ethan and Emily were walking up the promenade, but they hadn’t seen her yet. She turned back to Dimitri.

“Let’s go.”

She followed as Dimitri hurried to the next corner and then along a corridor. He turned once and then again and she hustled to keep up. They walked down two flights of stairs, into another corridor and down another flight. Then a new corridor, this one lined with stateroom doors. When he stopped, Ruby looked behind. How was this a shortcut?

Dimitri slid a card key into a stateroom lock and held the door for her. “Come in,” he said, gesturing to the darkened interior.

Her face flushed hot and she shook her head.

“I’m not going in there,” she said, smiling despite herself. Cheeky bastard. She checked the corridor in both directions. At least no one had seen her yet.

Across the hall, music spilled out as a door opened.

“Oh, come on, girl,” a woman said. “The damn casino will be closed by the time we get there.”

Dimitri raised his eyebrows.

Dammit. Ruby ducked under his arm and into the stateroom. He closed the door and they faced each other in the entrance hall, so close together that his bay rum aftershave wafted over her. From the hall outside came laughter and more voices. It sounded like a party.

With a smile, Dimitri ran his hand along her shoulder and down her upper arm, pulled her to him, and bent his head.

Ruby reached around him with her free arm and flipped on the light switch. Pulling her other arm away, she took a step back and gave him a stern look.

“I’m leaving the minute those people are gone.”

Dimitri walked into the stateroom and threw his jacket across a chair. Pulling a champagne bottle from an ice bucket on the bureau, he popped the cork with a practiced gesture and filled two glasses. Holding a glass out to her, he nodded at the twin beds.

“Sit. Take a load off.”

“Take a load off?”

“Is American expression, no?”

Ruby giggled and shook her head, accepting the champagne. She tried to remember how many drinks she’d ordered at the blackjack table. This was a bad idea. With a slight shrug, she sat on the nearest bed, crossed her legs, and eyed the open jar of caviar beside the ice bucket. Talk about advance planning.

“Do you do this every night?” she asked, sipping champagne and glancing around for a place to rest the glass.

Dimitri took the glass from her hand, placed it on the nightstand, and sat on the other bed, facing her. He leaned closer.

“I never do this,” he said in a low voice, his eyes locked with hers.

Clearing her throat, she looked away.

“I meant the caviar.” She pointed at the jar. “It’s expensive.”

His eyes flashed.

“You think I have no money?”

“No, no, I’m sure you have money—”

“Okay,” he broke in, grinning. “Truthfully, I have friend in the kitchen.” He spooned caviar on a toast triangle and held it out to her. “Is good. Russian.”

Ruby took the toast and nibbled at it, glancing at the door.

“Do you have a lot of friends here, Dimitri? I mean, how did you come to work on a cruise ship?”

“I was working in a bar in Moscow when my friend told me about the cruise ship.”

“How did you become a gymnast?”

“When I was seven, my parents took me to a special training camp. Good opportunity.”

“Seven? Did you see them often after that?”

He shrugged.

“Were you happy?”

“Yes.” He looked away. “Until my accident.”

Reaching out, she placed a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“Long time ago. It is forgotten.”

He turned to her, his intense blue eyes burning into her own, and crooked a finger under her chin to lift her face. His lips were on hers, hot and insistent, before she could back away. Circling her waist with his other arm, he pulled her closer.

Warmth flooded through her. Probably the champagne.

Dimitri caressed her neck, his thumbs pressing softly into the base of her throat, and then slipped the silk straps off her shoulders.

Ruby closed her eyes, trembling as he stroked her back. Nope, not the champagne.

His hands explored her torso, kneading and caressing. She moaned and let her head fall back as he nuzzled her throat. She thought about giving in. The passport photo of an anonymous blonde flashed across her vision.

Then she opened her eyes and pushed him away.

“I can’t.”

Dimitri sat back and held up his hands to show he wouldn’t stop her. But the room swirled as she tried to stand and she fell back, flat on the bed, her knees bent and her feet on the floor.

Sighing heavily, she closed her eyes. She’d better stay a bit longer. Just until the room stopped moving.

Dimitri sank to his knees on the floor and slid his hands up her thighs, peeling up her dress. Grinning, he slipped a finger under her thong and yanked.

“Hey, stop that.” She tried to sit up and push her dress down at the same time.

But Dimitri wasn’t listening. He was staring at her crotch with a puzzled look.

“Who is … Dan?”

“Dan?”

Ruby bent to look at the sparkly crystals that read, by Dan.

“Oh, that.” She made a face. “That was supposed to say something else, but I was so tired of the waxing and hair pulling and gluing and—” She looked up at the sound of laughter.

Dimitri leaned back on his ankles and wiped tears from his eyes, still chuckling.

“Is very nice. Let me take closer look.”

“I don’t think so.” She pulled down her dress, tried to stand again, wobbled, and slumped back onto the bed. Then she burst into tears.

Dimitri retrieved a tissue box from the nightstand and crouched on the floor beside her, holding out the box.

“You have problem. Tell me what it is.”

Sniffling, she took a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “You won’t be able to help.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“All right.” She pointed at the other side of the room. “But you stay over there.”

Dimitri walked to the bureau, leaned against it, and smiled. “Far enough?”

She nodded, blowing her nose.

“Now, tell me.”

Ruby didn’t tell him about the money or the fake passports or the bonds. She didn’t tell him much, really, other than the one fact that seemed indisputable. Her husband planned to leave her.

“He is a fool,” Dimitri said, shaking his head and stepping closer.

“Maybe. But he’s my fool, at least for now.” Ducking past him to the door, she pressed her ear against it and listened. Nothing. “Looks as if the coast is clear,” she whispered, turning the handle.

She hustled along the corridor on her way to the steward’s office. A quick glance behind revealed Dimitri leaning against the doorframe, watching her. He winked before disappearing back into the stateroom.

R
uby emerged
from the elevator with her replacement key card and walked to the Emperor Suite. At the far of the corridor, Mila disappeared through an open door. Ruby paused, her eyebrows gathered, watching the door close. Mila hadn’t been kidding about those fourteen-hour shifts.

Swiping her new card through the Emperor Suite’s lock, Ruby quietly opened the door. She slipped off her shoes and started down the darkened hall to the master bedroom. The hall filled with light and she froze.

“Honey, you’re home. Why didn’t you call? The meatloaf is ruined.”

She turned, her shoes dangling from one hand.

Antony stood by the light switch in the foyer. He lifted his glass in a mock toast, but his eyes were cold.

“I hear you’ve been busy.”

R
uby shaded
her eyes against the bright light.

“I’m tired. We can talk in the morning.”

She turned to walk away. Antony grabbed her arm with one hand, swinging her around. Liquid sloshed from his glass and the astringent odor of Scotch stung her nostrils.

“You think I’ll forget about it, don’t you?”

“Let me go.” She yanked her arm free. “There’s nothing to forget about.”

“Where have you been?”

“You locked me out of our suite, remember? What did you expect me to do?”

“That was hours ago.”

“I was at the casino.”

“Try again.”

“You’re upset. I’m sorry. We’ll discuss it in the morning. Please, Antony.”

His eyebrows lowered and pinched together as he stared at her.

“You stupid woman. You have no idea how much trouble you’re in.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me then? And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me where you went on those business trips?” She stomped into the bedroom and dropped her shoes on the floor. Tugging open a bureau drawer, she pulled out a silk nightgown and mumbled under her breath, “and why you’ve got three fake passports.”

“What did you say?”

She turned, clutching the pink silk against her chest. Antony stood in the doorway.

“Nothing,” she said.

“No, I want to know. What did you say?”

“It was nothing, Antony. Please, I’m tired.” She backed into the ensuite bathroom with a twist of unease, locked the door and drew a deep breath. Then she unhooked her sapphire earrings with trembling fingers and dropped them on the counter by the sink. After listening for noises from the other room—no sound of Antony, thank goodness—she stepped out of the blue silk dress and hung it on a hook by the door. Tugging the nightgown on over her head, she turned on the tap and soaked a washcloth with cold water. Ruby sat on the rim of the tub, pressing the cool washcloth to her eyes, and listened to the drip, drip, drip of the tap. She tried to relax.

A crash jarred the bathroom wall and sent her earrings across the room.

With a loud crack, Antony burst open the door. Ruby screamed and dropped the washcloth, then clapped a hand over her mouth and froze, staring at him.

He stood, swaying slightly, in the doorway. A jagged piece of splintered wood jutted out from the frame.

“Antony, what are you doing?” she said with a quaver in her voice.

“We didn’t finish our talk. I have a few things to add.”

She felt trapped in the bathroom, pinned down. Her hands shook.

“We’ll talk, okay? But let’s do it in the other room.” She held her breath as she slid past him into the bedroom. Her heart pounded as she walked down the hall with Antony following. When they reached the living room, she turned to face him.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked, keeping her voice as calm as she could.

“Where were you tonight?”

“At the casino. And later, I had a drink with a friend.”

“A very good friend, I heard.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

He smirked and took a step closer. “Did he like your dress?”

She shook her head. “Antony—”

“I bet he did.” He scowled, clenching his teeth. “I paid for that dress. I paid for those earrings, too. I paid for everything.” His voice rose. “So you can do who knows what in them.”

“Antony, please—”

“All you ever wanted was my money.”

“That’s not true.”

“You were nobody before I married you.” He spit out the words. “Nobody.”

Heat surged through her body as she glared at him.

“I was an actor. I still am.”

“You were nothing.”

She stared at him, feeling surprisingly calm.

“You son of a bitch,” she said. “I’m going to bed.” She turned to walk away.

In two rapid steps he caught up to her and grabbed her arm, pinning it behind her back.

“You’re not walking away from me.” He spun her around and shoved her into an armchair. “You think I don’t know what you’ve been doing?”

Her jaw dropped.

“What I’ve been doing?” She thought of the passports, and the bonds, and the blonde, and her rage finally bubbled over.

“I’ll tell you what I’m not doing.” Her voice rose. “I’m not pumping shareholders’ money into offshore accounts to create a house of cards that will flame up and burn me in the ass. You’re a fraud, Antony, and soon everyone will know it.”

Thrusting out her chin, she glared up at him.

He stared at her, his eyes cold.

“You know nothing,” he said, bending over her. He reeked of alcohol and stale cologne. “Your name is on those companies and your name is on the offshore transfers. You’re the one who’s going to get burned. You and your dumb-ass brother-in-law.” Antony straightened up, crossing his arms, and glared at her.

Ruby’s stomach dropped. “What are you talking about? Are you saying you’ve implicated Quentin in some scheme?”

“Not just him. You, too.”

She stared at him. Dear God. So it was true.

“Antony, what have you done?”

He shrugged. “The real question is what have you and your brother-in-law done? Apparently my money wasn’t enough for you two. You went after the company’s funds, too.”

“No,” she whispered. “Antony, answer me. What have you done?”

He shrugged and looked away.

Ruby placed a hand over her mouth and glanced around the room. She felt sick. How could this be happening? Her gaze returned to Antony. His eyes were clouded and he was swaying. It can’t be true. He must be making it up.

“You’re drunk,” she said. “We’ll straighten this out tomorrow.”

He glared at her as she stood and turned to walk to the hall.

“I’m not finished,” he said.

She flicked a hand without turning around.

“I don’t care.”

Without warning, he tackled her and they crashed to the floor. Ruby’s palms and forearms burned as she skidded along the carpet before slamming to a halt, air whooshing from her lungs. Gulping for breath, she tried to scrabble to her feet. Antony grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back down. He flipped her onto her back and straddled her, pinning both arms above her head with one hand. With his other hand, he grabbed her throat.

She struggled to breathe as he tightened his grip. Wrenching one arm free, she flailed it against his head with no effect. Then she poked a finger, hard, into his eye.

“
Shit
,” he bellowed, rolling off her and clamping a hand to his face.

Choking, Ruby pushed up from the floor with a hand clasped to her throat. She staggered into the master bedroom on trembling legs and turned to close the door.

Antony raced after her and slammed his weight against it.

Pinpoints of light exploded before her eyes as the door smashed into her, knocking her onto the floor. She lay there motionless for a few seconds, stunned, then groaned and opened her eyes. A blurry figure stood in the doorway.

Sitting up on her elbows, Ruby swiped a hand across her face, held out her fingers and stared at the dripping blood. She pressed her hand against her nose to staunch the flow and looked up at Antony through splayed fingers. Her head throbbed in painful stabs.

Antony stared at her, his mouth falling open. He scraped a hand through his hair, mumbled something inaudible, and then turned and walked away. A few seconds later, footsteps echoed on the foyer’s marble floor and the door to the Emperor suite opened and closed.

Ruby slumped back against the floor.