Free Reckless Assignation by Denyse Bridger Page A

days. Rick loved her but he wasn’t above lecturing her for
things he classified as ill-advised or foolish. The problem was she frequently
did things that fell into that category.
    Cinthya’s curiosity was one of her biggest character flaws,
and she was fully aware of it. She simply couldn’t quell it often enough. Her
smile flickered when she recalled how often Rick had told her that particular
trait was going to get her in serious trouble one day. Hopefully not today . But this probably was another example of that insatiable inquisitiveness
overriding good sense. The old Mayfair was a monument to another era, though
its grandeur had faded long ago. In spite of that, there was an undeniable
ambiance. She swallowed hard and went past the dusty front desk, all senses
strained and alert.
    Her heartbeat grew louder with each step she took toward the
staircase that would put her on the third floor, where the room she’d been told
to find was located.
    The old hotel was eerie in the approaching darkness and she
was finding it difficult to hold on to her resolve to do this without calling
Rick. There’d been a weird message on the machine when she got home—something
about discovering a secret she needed to know. The voice had sounded slightly
familiar, although she couldn’t quite pinpoint why. There’d also been just
enough mystery in the vague words to arouse her interest. The entire
situation—the call and her coming here to this deserted hotel—reminded her of
something she’d heard of once, but her efforts to pull it from memory hadn’t
been remotely successful.
    She should know better than this.
    She couldn’t escape the twinge of conscience that reminded her
how often she played out of her league. When her father had retired from the
Agency and started his own private investigation business, he’d thought his
daughter would be safe from the ghosts of his violent past. More than once
though, Cinthya had paid for the deeds and decisions of Joshua Bradley’s
previous career. Her relationship with Rick wasn’t a point of reassurance
either in the creaking darkness of the forsaken hotel. There were people who
knew him and his reputation, and often it was a point of protection, but here
that was irrelevant. It was with Joshua’s very reluctant blessing that
his twenty-year-old daughter had stepped into a loving relationship with his
former business partner, the shadowy, sophisticated and lethal Rick Leighton.
The more than fifteen-year age difference was only the first objection her
father had voiced when Cinthya had been forced by her own conscience to open up
to him—conscience and the undeniable need to share her happiness with the other
important person in her life.
    Rick’s recent decision to leave Bradley’s Private
Investigations and reenter the life of an active Company operative set up an
entirely new array of potential dangers for Cinthya. It was a risk she was more
than willing to take, but not something that lessened the worry from her father
and Rick.
    She leapt back in fright when something clingy and
featherlight brushed against her face. With a cry of disgust, she batted away
the filmy cobwebs and peered into the shadowy stairwell. She was on the second
floor—only one more flight to climb. Then she’d have to find room 313.
    Some people claimed the Mayfair Hotel was haunted, and those
who lived in the area could tell endless stories about “sightings” and other
mysterious events in the ancient edifice.
    Another shudder ran the length of her spine when she heard
skittering near her feet. Rats! The place had to be infested with rats.
She glanced around, her breath still as she searched the growing darkness for
the beady red eyes she was sure she’d find watching her. There was nothing
staring at her from the blackness of the corners and she sagged against the
wall as she gasped for air.
    God! Rick was right, I should never have stayed up all
night watching horror movies.
    He’d consented