DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 1 Read online

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 1

  DEADLY GAMES

  By

  Jaycee Clark

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 2

  © copyright November 2004, Jaycee Clark

  Cover Art by Eliza Black, © copyright November 2004

  ISBN 1-58608-580-8

  New Concepts Publishing

  Lake Park, GA 31636

  www.newconceptspublishing.com

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be

  confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 3

  Acknowledgement and Dedication

  This book would not have been possible without the unwavering support of

  friends and the wonderful readers. Thank you all. Ian might still be in the murky part, his

  story only half done if the call for him had not been what it was.

  To Gail and Shalon, thanks for reading through another Kinncaid story. A big

  thanks to Val who took the Texas out of Rori and made her more British and to A.--who

  pointed out things I never would have caught.

  I have to give a special thanks to Mandy. Thanks for all the phone conversations

  for saying, “Oh my God, you can’t do that,” or “Just write the damn thing.” Thanks for all

  the help, all the links, all the ideas bounced back and forth. But mostly, thanks for the

  friendship. Hugs.

  Oh and I have to give one more special thanks to Kenneth--the strange one--who

  told me which guns my characters simply could not use and set me straight.

  As always, thanks to my family who still loves me even after writing this book.

  Hugs and thanks to you all,

  Jaycee

  --E, I love you with all that I am, and I always will.

  I dedicate this book to the outcasts, the different, the weird, and to those that love

  them--Life would be boring if all were the same.

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 4

  Prologue

  “What the hell do you mean you’re not going to marry her?”

  “Exactly what I said. I won’t marry Brice Carlisle.”

  Ian Kinncaid sprawled in the chair in front of his father’s desk. The dark wood

  gleamed as it always did and what was normally a relaxed atmosphere, was thick with

  tension.

  His father rose and walked to look out the tall windows. When he was a child this

  room had held the balance of fun and apprehension. He and his brothers were either in

  here playing or they were being called to account for some trouble And Jock Kinncaid

  had never been one to let things slide. Not in business, not in life, and sure as hell not in

  family. You screwed up, you paid the price. Period.

  Which was why they were both sitting in here now, though Ian couldn’t figure out

  what the damn deal was, but the itchy feeling that he wasn’t going to like it crawled over

  his skin.“Why?” his father asked quietly. The calm before the storm. His father’s face was

  flushed, never a good sign.

  Ian studied him. It had been a while since he’d seen his father this mad. And when

  had Dad started to get old? Still tall, strong and fit, but now there was more gray in his

  black hair and the wrinkles seemed deeper.

  “Why? Why what?” Ian sat still. His father had raged and he’d always waited. He

  was used to this game. They’d argue, yell a bit, not talk for a while and then things would

  get back to normal. Same old, same old.

  Jock Kinncaid turned from the window and speared Ian with a look that had him

  shifting in the chair. “I want to know why my son refuses to marry his fiancée.”

  Ian bit down on his own temper. “For the tenth time, she’s not my damn fiancée.”

  “You should have thought about that before you got her pregnant.”

  What? What? So that was the game she chose this time. Ian took a deep breath.

  “First off, Brice Carlisle is not, nor has she ever been, nor will she ever be my fiancé.

  Second, if and I’m betting that’s a damn big if, she’s pregnant, it sure as hell isn’t mine.”

  His father stared at him a while longer then huffed out a breath, walked to the

  desk, and sank down in the chair. “Look, this may not be the way you planned things, but

  you have to do the right thing. My God. I refuse to have my first grandchild born out of

  wedlock.” He leveled another look, those blue eyes sharp as spears. “You’ll marry her.”

  Ian stared his father down. “Are you listening to me at all?”

  “You might not want to get married yet, but things change.”

  Ian stood. “I’ll be damned if I’m getting married now and I won’t get married

  tomorrow.”

  “I didn’t say that damn soon.”

  Ian took a deep breath. “Look. I know this must seem like a perfect opportunity to

  you….”

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 5

  That sound his father made in the back of his throat, somewhere between a scoff

  and a growl, had him stopping.

  “Perfect opportunity?” His father stood with his hands flat on the desk.

  Great.

  “Perfect opportunity.” Jock waggled a finger at him. “Let me tell you something,

  boyo. Neither I, Edward Carlisle, nor your mother--who, by the mercy of God doesn’t

  know yet--sees this as the perfect opportunity.”

  Ian rolled his eyes and stalked to the fireplace. “Please. You’ve been trying to get

  one of us with Eddie’s oldest daughter for years. The problem is that she’s known it,

  expects to become a Kinncaid. And none of us can stand her cold, selfish ass.”

  When his father opened his mouth, he plowed on. “Oh, she’s pretty to look at.

  Brice has a great body, perfect posture and schooling to be a mate to a wealthy Kinncaid

  heir.” He walked back and planted his hands on his father’s desk. “But I’ll bet my

  inheritance she’s not pregnant.”

  “Then you’d lose.” His father opened the desk drawer and took out a folded

  document, tossing it on the desk.

  “What the hell is this?” Ian snatched it up and opened it. The check marks on the

  neat form. Blood work, pelvic exam, hCG levels. He flipped to the next page and the

  bottom dropped out of his stomach.

  Pregnancy confirmed. He sat back in the chair.

  Holy shit. His mind scrambled. Valentine’s day he’d been in and they’d met at the

  hotel. The round of sweaty sex ended in a fight that broke them up. Or rather, the fight

  ended the bout of sex short of his orgasm. Thanks to Brice calling out a name which sure

  as hell hadn’t been his.

  Ian took a deep breath, huffed it out and scanned down the sheet. Flipped it back

  to the doctor’s form to read the handwriting at the bottom.

  Patient eight weeks gestation.

  It was currently the end of May … that would mean she was pregnant the end of

  March.

  Thank you, God.

  “It’s not mine,” he strangled out.

  “What? Brice told Eddie the baby was yours”

  His heart slammed in his chest but he bit down. “She’s lying. The last time we

  were together was at Valen
tines and the job was somewhat.…” Ian looked up at his father

  before continuing, “unfulfilled, if you get my drift, Dad.”

  Jock rubbed his forehead. “She said you would deny it. Said you didn’t want to

  marry her. But I didn’t believe it. Never believed it,” he muttered.

  “Well, believe it. I’m not marrying her.” Ian threw the papers back on the desk

  and leaned back, wanting to get up and pace.

  Jock, his brow crinkled, his brows low over his eyes, said, “You were in for spring

  break. Down from Harvard. You and Brice went out then.”

  So they had. He’d had too much to drink, but had already spilled his guts to his

  brother that afternoon that he was going to have to talk to Brice again because she wasn’t

  getting the point that they were over. Aiden had agreed. Apparently the woman had told

  all and sundry they were still together.

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 6

  “Nothing happened.” Ian stood and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I drank a

  bit, but when she tried to kiss me I told her to forget it. It was over.”

  They’d been down at the lake. He still remembered how pissed she’d gotten, the

  way she’d tried to tackle him down, all joking, but there had been a determined glint in

  her eye. The way she crooned she could make it good for him. Now he understood it.

  She’d known then and she’d needed them to have sex. Lucky as hell for him, his brother,

  Aiden, had walked up.

  Ian started to tell his father that, but no. This was his mess, he wasn’t about to

  drag Aiden in on it.

  Instead he turned and looked at his father.

  “I’m sorry. The baby isn’t mine. There is simply no way.”

  “There’s all kinds of ways. You said yourself you’d been drinking.” Those eyes

  already told Ian what his father thought.

  “You think I’m lying.”

  Jock opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. He pointed his finger at Ian. “You’re

  going to do the right thing. I didn’t raise you any other way.”

  Ian could only stare at his father. “I’m not marrying her. Period.”

  “Yes you are.”

  Rage quickly roiled through him, but he’d learned long ago he and his father were

  way too damn much alike. Calm. Calm. Calm. He took another deep breath.

  “Tell her to set up a paternity test.”

  The incredulous look on his father’s face might have been humorous at any other

  time.

  Knowing Brice could weasel around that, Ian added, “And let Mom set it up with

  a doctor she knows and trusts.”

  The red crept up his father’s face. “You’re going to marry her.”

  “No.” He walked back to the desk and leaned across it, looking his father in the

  eye. Why didn’t the old man trust him?

  “No son of mine will turn his back on his baby and the woman carrying it.”

  Ian straightened. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Repeat it.”

  Jock swallowed, his face twisted and furious. “Your mother and I raised you

  better. You will do the right thing.”

  Ian waited a beat and bit down. “And if I don’t do what you think is the right

  thing?”

  “Then you can leave.” He threw up a hand. “Kinncaids don’t.…”

  “Shirk their responsibilities,” Ian finished with him.

  Their eyes locked and clashed, their breaths both heavy, fueled with anger.

  “I won’t marry her. Not now, not tomorrow. And if I did find out she carried my

  child, I’d petition the courts for it. But that woman will never be Mrs. Ian Kinncaid.”

  “Get out,” his father whispered.

  Ian’s heart thrummed in his chest, faster and faster. “You’re going to regret this.

  I’m your son and you sided with that whoring bitch.”

  He never saw his father’s fist coming. The force to his jaw knocked him back

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 7

  several steps. Ian reached up and touched his jaw, moved it out and in. He didn’t even

  bother to make a fist, didn’t bother with anything. If the old man wanted to believe the

  worst of him, fine.

  Jock stood on the other side of the desk looking as shocked and angry as Ian felt.

  Ian nodded to him, turned on his heel and strode to the door. He reached out and

  grabbed the handle, then looked over his shoulder at his father.

  “One day you’ll wake up and see the woman as she really is, but it’ll never be as

  my wife. And I hope for my brothers’ sakes, she won’t be one of theirs. Good bye, Jock.”

  He slammed the door behind him and hurried upstairs. He shoved clothes in his

  bag, glanced around his room and grabbed the photo of him and Aiden, another family

  photo and the one of his mother. Ignoring the fact his hands were shaking, he snatched up

  his jacket, took a look around his bedroom and walked out and right into Becky, the

  house keeper.

  “Here now, what’s going on, then?” Her rotund figure was as familiar to him as

  the rest of the house. “Everyone gone but you and your father and you’re yelling loud

  enough to wake the dead, ye are.”

  Instead of answering, he hugged her hard and said, “I have to go. Tell everyone

  bye for me.”

  She sputtered questions as he hurried down the hall and down the wide curving

  staircase. His father stood pacing in the foyer. Ian paused on the stairs for just an instant

  before continuing.

  His father stepped in front of him, those blue eyes, so like his own, still blazing. In

  a low voice he said, “If you leave this house, don’t come back. Don’t call asking for

  money either.”

  So that’s the way of it. Fine.

  A muscle bunched in his jaw. He could only shake his head. At the door he

  stopped again and said, “I’ll leave the car with Aiden. I’d hate to get pulled over because

  you reported it stolen.”

  Childish? Probably. But damn it. He whirled, the short leash he’d kept on his

  anger snapped.

  “You know, I was never the perfect kid. Aiden and I got in plenty of trouble.

  Gavin and Bray too. You want to throw me out, fine. Disown me?” Ian paused, noting his

  father didn’t deny it. He bit down and nodded. “Fine. Disown me. Flesh and blood and

  the Kinncaid line of bullshit you always fed us, is just that, isn’t it? Bullshit. Because

  when it comes right down to it, Jock Kinncaid doesn’t stand with his own. Instead he

  believes the worst and disowns them. You’re a goddamn hypocrite.”

  Ian slammed the door shut, threw his bag into the passenger seat of his convertible

  and roared out of the driveway, gravel spitting in the air even as his Porsche left black

  marks.

  All he could hear over the thundering of his own heart was his father’s words…

  Don’t come back...

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 8

  CHAPTER ONE

  Thirteen Years Later

  Czech Republic; October 28; 10:00 p.m.

  The Prague club roared with the sounds of vices better left unknown, but too

  tempting for most. This Czech city was Janus-faced. Two faces of the same coin, its

  beauty and old world for the discerning tourists, but flipped, the red light districts rivaled

  those in Amsterdam or the worst hells on earth. Evil, black and thick rolled through the

  Prague underground, plumping its greedy fis
t from those who sought pleasure in

  unconventional ways.

  So much for a quiet evening at home. Though quiet might not be found for a

  couple more days. Most residents were out celebrating--this was, after all, Czech

  Independence day. The pop of fireworks burst through the air, laughter rang out and

  motorists zoomed by. Tonight was full of revelry. Fireworks still shot from Prazsky hrad,

  the Prague Castle and people still gathered in Stare Mesto.

  Dimitri Petrolov, also referred to as The Reaper, strode to the front of Nero’s

  Nightclub. Ivan, the bouncer only nodded to him and let him pass. But then Dimitri really

  hadn’t expected anyone to try and stop him. There was, after all, a good reason for his

  nickname. He was Viktor Hellinski’s enforcer. And everyone who was anyone knew that

  Hellinski was not a man to cross.

  The club pulsed. Rammstein beat against the smoked tinged air from hidden

  speakers. Strobe lights flashed through the darkness, and dancers, revelers, drug users

  alike took on a macabre glow. The club was painted black, with burning murals on the

  walls that seemed to glow and flicker in the black lights as the only relief.

  “Hey, Dimitri, baby,” a sultry voice called.

  He looked to his right where one of the night waitresses weaved between bodies

  with an empty platter. Debromil Or was it her twin, Elsa? They were both blonde and

  stacked like Viking goddesses. Hopefully, they would simply remain waitresses and not

  wind up in Hellinski’s other jobs. He merely smiled at her. Her silicone breasts, all but

  bursting from the corset she wore, didn’t move as she gyrated to the music, her platter of

  drinks never wavering

  Dimitri wove his way to the staircase at the back of the club. Women, men,

  college kids moved out of his way. He ignored the drugs, probably ecstasy, being passed

  between two girls. Another couple kissed open mouthed. He heard the sounds of an

  argument between a man and a woman, but ignored them on his way up the stairs. At the

  top landing he looked below at the spandex and leather clad figures, dark in the shadows

  of flickering bright lights. The smell of cigarette smoke, the tinge of stronger chemicals

  mixed and melded with too many perfumes on too many bodies and glossing it all was

  the permanent smell of alcohol. It was the fragrance of greed and vice. Well, one he