All the Way by Kimberley White Page A

Adriano, please.” Pulling away until the moisture drowning the mushroom tip of his penis dried from the sudden assault of the cool air swirling around them. Inhaling deep the fragrance: the mixed musk of their bodies with the sweet floral fragrance of roses. To the foot of the bed, his knees sinking into the carpet. The rough pads of his fingers grasping her ankles, pulling her silk-covered body across the smooth cotton of the sheets. Eyes closed, tasting. Tasting the surface and beyond. “Adriano, please. ” Different now, begging for more. “Adriano, please. ”
    Adriano envisioned it all as he stood over Payton while she sat on the bed, gazing up at him, pleading for a chance to tell her side of the story before he made any judgments.
    â€œHow much did your partner tell you?” she asked.
    â€œJake. All he knew.”
    Payton stared up at him for a long moment. She was deciding what to tell him. Crocodile tears filled the corners of her eyes, but she fought to hold them back. She turned her head and took two quick swipes at her face before looking at him again.
    â€œDon’t start with the Bobby-Tom stuff. Tell me the truth.” He dropped his arms, lost the angry stance, and released the tension in his voice. “If I wanted to hurt you, I could have when you first jumped in the SUV.”
    Payton didn’t answer.
    â€œIf I didn’t want to help you, I could’ve left you on the side of the road.”
    She parted her lips in contemplation, the words on the tip of her tongue.
    â€œStart by telling me why you don’t want me to know what’s going on,” he gently prodded.
    â€œI don’t want you to get hurt.”
    The truth. Finally.
    â€œI can take care of myself . . . and you too.”
    He watched her wet her lips with her tongue, immediately drawn back into his fantasy. He had left off with him on his knees at the foot of the bed. The parting of her lips prodded him to swiftly switch their positions. Payton on her knees, her hands delicately cupping him. Her head dipping low, lips parted.
    â€œDo you know Sherman Grazicky?”
    The words shattered his fantasy with the force of a rock hurled through a window. All hope that the Sherman he was investigating and this Sherman, who sent a crooked FBI agent to accost her, weren’t the same person was gone.
    â€œI know of the sonofabitch.”
    â€œHe’s my boss. I manage his Charlotte nightclub, Skye.” Payton stared down at her bare feet.
    â€œWhat does Sherman Grazicky have to do with what’s going on?”
    Jake had told Adriano what he knew, but not enough. Police officers were dead. Hotel guests reported hearing gunshots. One man described it as a Wild West gunfight. The informant was too scared to talk. He slipped out of the hotel in the mounting confusion. But before the man slipped away, he told Jake the same thing he’d told the police. There had been a murder, and Grazicky had placed a hit on the key witness against him—a beautiful woman.
    â€œWhat does Grazicky have to do with all of this?” he asked again.
    â€œI’ve seen things the FBI need me to testify to in order to prosecute him.” She wrapped her arms around herself.
    His investigative curiosity kicked in. “What things?”
    She hesitated, her eyes dropping to the floor. He sat next to her and took her hands in his, encouraging her.
    â€œIt all started when I flew to Miami.”
    â€œWhy’d you go there?”
    â€œSherman’s opening another Skye club. It’s under construction, but almost complete. I’ve been managing the club here, but the Miami location would be a huge promotion. It’s in a multimillion-dollar district. Since Sherman lives here, I’d be solely in charge. He sent me there on a scouting mission. Everything went well. I wrote an entire proposal. I was so excited, I thought I’d drop by the club when I returned to Charlotte to tell him