by Ivy Nelson
“How do you know that?” Patrick asked, a hint of doubt in his voice.
“They’re at my apartment. My building security just called and left a voicemail.”
Patrick swore into the dark.
“Now, will you let me represent you? Just for tonight. You can get a lawyer you’re more comfortable with later.”
Patrick picked up her hand. This time she didn’t brush him away. “Yes,” he said, his tone soft. “I’m sorry for being stubborn.”
Austin smiled. “It’s OK, but the script is reversed. You don’t say a fucking word unless I tell you to, clear?”
Patrick gave her a wry grin. “I get the feeling you’re going to get way too much enjoyment out of this.”
Austin flashed him her dazzling smile and said, “Maybe just a little, but I promise that all of my advice is for your own good, so please don’t let your hard head or your dominant pride get in the way of listening to me.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss there. “I hear you. I’ll be good, I promise.”
“Do you want us to come with you to talk to the police?” Holly asked.
Austin shook her head. “No. But drop us off first. The police can see that we were indeed at Hunter’s club opening. If you want to get out of the car, give us hugs, that sort of thing, it will look good. How much did you drink tonight, Patrick?”
“I’ve had four or five ounces of scotch over the past few hours.”
“Perfect. This is not a job an inebriated person could have pulled off. Slur if you want.”
Patrick huffed. “I can hold my liquor. I’m not slurring.”
Austin patted him on the leg. “There’s that dominant pride I was talking about. I never said you couldn’t hold your liquor.”
Patrick laughed. “Fair enough, but I’m still not slurring.”
“Fine. How far from my apartment are we? I haven’t been paying attention to where we are.”
“About fifteen minutes, Miss Austin,” Hunter said, glancing at his phone.
“Thanks, Hunter.”
“I believe that’s Master Hunter to you,” he said with a teasing wink.
“Fuck off, we’re not at Solitaire.”
Patrick fisted his hand into her hair, taking her by surprise. “Try that again. You’re still mine, and you will be respectful.”
Austin winced and pulled away, but Patrick kept his grip tight.
With a heavy sigh, she gave Hunter an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Hunter.” She purposely left off the Master part because damn it, they weren’t at Solitaire.
Patrick let go of her hair when Hunter’s lips quirked upward. “It’s fine, I was only teasing you. Though I do have to say I was hoping for a spanking show.”
“Pervs. All of you,” Austin said with a huff.
“Guilty,” Hunter and Elijah said in unison.
Austin spent the rest of the short ride to her apartment drilling the importance of not volunteering information to the police.
“I worked for the DA for the first few years of my career. They mean it when they say they’ll use anything you say against you so just keep your mouth shut.”
She ignored the scowl Patrick gave her. She had a feeling she was going to pay for her bossy demeanor later, and it sent a little thrill through her system. That made her feel a little guilty considering the seriousness of the current situation.
When they pulled up in front of Austin’s building, the group piled out and made a ruckus about saying goodbye, much to Austin’s amusement.
When the police stepped out of her building, Austin transformed from Patrick’s date to his attorney, though really, that transformation had begun a half hour ago.
“Are you Patrick Sutton?” one of the officers asked, holding up his shield.
When Patrick nodded, the detectives introduced themselves.
“We’re investigating the disappearance of valuable property. Can you tell us where you were tonight between five o’clock and two in the morning?”
“That’s an awfully big window, officer,” Austin said. “Care to narrow that down at all?”
“Unfortunately, that’s the window of opportunity we have at this time.”
“And why is Mr. Sutton a suspect?”
“You a lawyer or something, lady?”
Austin gave him a tight smile and pulled a card from her purse. “Thorley and Associates, Austin Yates. Consider Mr. Sutton my client.”
“We just need to know where he was so we can verify his alibi, lady.”
“It’s Miss Yates, and Mr. Sutton has been out with his sister and a group of friends since two-thirty this afternoon. We can provide receipts and photo evidence if needed.”
“I’m sure that’d be real helpful… Miss Yates.” The officer looked at her with disdain, and she felt Patrick stiffen next to her. She placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from potentially decking the man.
“If you have no other reason to question my client, I really should get inside.”
“Just a few more questions. Did you put in a formal request with the museum to borrow a diamond from a collection donated by your father?”
“I’m sure you can get that information from the museum,” Austin said before Patrick could open his mouth.
“You always let a broad speak for you?”
“Do you always disrespect women in positions of power? I’m betting you don’t like your female fellow officers,” Patrick retorted.
Austin gave him a terse shake of her head. “Any other questions, gentlemen?”
“That’s all for now, Miss Yates,” the officer said with a sneer. “Just make sure your client doesn’t leave town any time soon.”
“I kind of live and work in California.”
“Not my problem, I didn’t steal a diamond.”
“And neither did my client, have a good night, officers. If you have more questions for Mr. Sutton, you’ll need to go through me,” Austin said, again cutting Patrick off.
When the officers were gone, Austin turned to him. “How awful was that?”
“Not terrible. I do have a bad feeling about all of this, though.”
“You and me both. But you did well tonight. Thank you for listening to me.”
He reached for her hand and together they walked into the elevator.
When the doors closed, Austin turned and faced him. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how much trouble am I in?”
Patrick leaned in and gave her a kiss. “I don’t know. We’ll talk about it after I spank you and fuck you just because I can. If you’d asked me in the limo, I would have said a ten. But I see where you were coming from, so you’re probably not in trouble. You ever tell another Solitaire Dom to fuck off in front of me again, though, and that won’t be the case.”
Austin gave him a solemn nod. “Yes, Sir. Thank you for listening to me tonight.”
In the apartment, Patrick brought Austin to her knees with a tug of her hair. By the time the night was over, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms, she had no doubt about who was in charge.
Chapter Twelve
A loud banging sound brought Austin out of a deep sleep. Noises like that weren’t unusual in New York, so she snuggled deeper under the covers and tried to go back to sleep. Her ass still smarted from Patrick’s hairbrush and her pussy was sore from their rough lovemaking, but she couldn’t help but smile at the sleeping man beside her. Being his submissive certainly had its benefits. The banging sounded again. Shit, someone was at the door.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she muttered as she grabbed the long silk bathrobe she kept on the back of her door.
Patrick stirred. “What is it?” he mumbled.
“The door. I’m getting it. Go back to sleep.”
But he was already sitting up as she left the bedroom.
Peeking through the peephole, she saw two police officers.
“Good morning, officers,” she said as she pulled the door open.
; “Is Patrick Sutton here?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“We’re bringing him in for formal questioning after which we’ll decide whether or not to file charges and arrest him.”
“On what possible grounds? We gave you an alibi last night.”
“Alibis aren’t full proof, Miss Yates. You should know that. Where is he?”
“I’m right here.”
Austin turned to see Patrick standing in her living room in jeans and a t-shirt.
“Come with us please, Mr. Sutton.”
“Can we not drive ourselves?”
“You’re free to follow, Miss Yates, but Mr. Sutton is coming with us.”
“Austin, it’s fine. Get in a car and follow us. I already know the drill, I promise to keep my mouth shut.”
“Gee, Mr. Sutton. Why keep your mouth shut if you don’t have anything to hide?”
Patrick gave him a grin that didn’t reach his eyes and would have terrified a submissive at the club. “I’ll listen to my attorney and not the guy trying to lock me up if it’s all the same to you.”
Suit yourself. Come with us please.”
Austin felt sick as she watched him follow the officers out the door. She wasted little time grabbing her phone to call herself a car.
She threw on the first suit she could find. As she pulled the piece from the closet, it dawned on her that all of her clothes were clean and put away. Damn him, she thought, as she buttoned the freshly dry-cleaned blazer. Slipping into low pumps that were easy to move in, she picked up her briefcase and headed down the stairs. She told the driver which precinct she was headed to before texting Holly, Elijah, and Hunter to let them know what was going on. That might irritate Patrick, but he would have to deal with it.
In the precinct, they made her wait almost thirty minutes before they showed her to the interrogation room Patrick was sitting in. It was a common tactic.
“You OK?” she asked when she walked in.
“Have I mentioned how hot you look in your suits?”
Austin glared at him and pointed to the camera in the corner. “Now is not the time. Have they been trying to question you without me?”
“Of course they have. But I promise I’ve been a very good boy and didn’t say a word.”
Austin wanted to smack him on the back of the head but had a feeling that wouldn’t end well for her, so she gave him another scowl instead. “Let’s focus. What did they say? They clearly have reason to believe you had something to do with this, so we need to figure out why.”
“They keep referencing my team casing the property, but I’m not sure what they mean by that. I don’t have a team and I certainly wasn’t casing anything.”
Austin sighed. “You told me Grant Sterling and an employee of yours were on hand to verify the authenticity of the diamonds, correct? Could that be the team they were referring to?”
“Oh great. Now I’m in cahoots with Grant Sterling of all people?”
Austin shrugged. “I’m just spit-balling. What else did they say?”
“They wouldn’t show me anything, but they made it sound like they have security footage of me on the property last night.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Hire me.”
“Hire. Me,” she said, enunciating each word.
“I have an attorney, Austin.”
“Does he have a New York license?”
Patrick paused. “Now that you mention it, I’m not sure.”
“So, hire me. You’re going to be charged in the state of New York if you get charged.”
The door burst open and two detectives walked in. Austin whirled from her spot perched on the corner of the table to face them.
“Mr. Sutton, I see your attorney made it. Maybe now we can get started.”
“I’ve been here for forty-five minutes. You’re the one holding things up,” Austin said.
“You’re not the only people in the world with a schedule to keep. We’re here now, so let’s get right to the point.”
The detective slapped a picture down on the desk in front of him. “Is this you, coming out the back of the museum?”
Patrick and Austin studied the photo. It looked like him, and the timestamp said five-thirty last night.
“It certainly looks like me, but if it is, that timestamp is wrong. The last time I walked out the door was on Sunday.”
“The picture says otherwise, Mr. Sutton. Where are the diamonds?”
“I didn’t take any diamonds.”
“The evidence disputes that. According to your alibi, you were at dinner around this time last night, but this picture proves that to be false. Pictures don’t lie, Mr. Sutton.”
Patrick sighed. “Unless someone is trying to set me up.”
Austin put a hand on his shoulder. He needed to stop answering questions so freely. “My client was at a restaurant and there are multiple witnesses. This photo is grainy and circumstantial evidence at best. There’s no way you charge my client based on a low-resolution surveillance camera image.”
The detective leaned back in his chair. “No. We won’t be charging him based on that. We’ll be charging him when his fingerprints come back as a match to the ones we found in the vault.”
“But you don’t have a match, so we’re leaving.”
“Not to mention…”
“Not to mention anything, Patrick,” Austin chided.
Patrick sat back with a scowl. The police went round and round asking Patrick the same questions over and over again for the next two hours. Finally, Austin demanded that they charge him or let him leave. Since the fingerprints still hadn’t been processed, they had no choice but to let him walk. Once again, they urged him not to leave town.
When they left the precinct and climbed into the back of a car, Patrick said. “I was in the vault yesterday.”
Austin groaned. “Of course you were. And what did you touch?”
“I’m sure I put my hand on one of the cases that held the diamonds. My fingerprints will definitely match.”
“Let me take you on as a client.”
“We’re sleeping together, Austin. I wouldn’t want to jeopardize your license.”
Austin shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. I’m allowed to represent friends and family so long as it doesn’t cause a conflict of interest. There’s none of that here. My boss might not care for the fact that I’m banging you, but he doesn’t have to know about that.”
“God, Austin. This is fucked up. I didn’t do this. I didn’t have a damn thing to do with this.”
The worry in his voice melted her and she snuggled close to him. “I know that. Everyone knows that. But someone wants the police to believe you were part of it. I wasn’t ready to go as far as a set up, but now I’m thinking you might be right. Do you have any ideas who it could be?”
Patrick shrugged. “Honestly, the only one that comes to mind is my father. I don’t know how he would have pulled this off, though. Maybe Grant Sterling, but he wouldn’t have had time to do this either. He was with us most of the night.”
“Why Grant?” Austin asked.
“I basically kicked him out last night for harassing Holly.”
“Is that why Elijah disappeared with her for a while?”
Patrick nodded.
“So, you think he was pissed about being kicked out, so he set you up to take the fall for a diamond heist?”
Patrick laughed. “I’m not saying it’s logical. Just someplace my head went. My father makes more sense.”
“It would be hard to do from jail, but not impossible. We’ll start looking into it.” She cleared her throat.
“You won’t like this next part,” she said. “I’m not going to like this next part, to be honest.
Patrick scowled. “Just spit it out.”
“You need to get a hotel or rent an apartment. The press will go nuts if they find out you’re staying at my apartment.”
Patrick blew out a breath. “OK. You’re r
ight. I hate it but it makes sense. I’ll have Lydia book me something.”
“The good news is you get to bang your attorney now,” she teased. “Let’s just try to avoid doing it in a prison visitor’s center, please.”
“Not even a little bit funny,” Patrick bit out.
She held a finger and thumb close together and said, “A little bit funny.”
Patrick’s eyes narrowed. “Apparently I get to spank my attorney too.”
By the time they got back to Austin’s apartment, Patrick had a penthouse suite at the Four Seasons booked.
“I’m going to head to the hotel now because I’m sure you’re supposed to be at work. Are you sure it’s not going to be a problem for you to take me on?” Patrick asked.
Austin put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll smooth the way. Come by my office at three this afternoon and I’ll have paperwork for you.”
In her apartment, Austin gathered some files she needed while Patrick gathered his things. Back downstairs, they got in separate cars.
“I’ll see you at three,” she promised when he kissed her goodbye.
Austin couldn’t help but feel like they were going to drift apart, and she didn’t like it. Maybe she shouldn’t have insisted he get a hotel. Despite the fact that it was perfectly ethical for Austin to represent someone she was sleeping with, it was going to be a high-profile case that would attract the press. If they were seen to be dating in public, that would turn the press into rabid dogs. They were a sucker for salacious stories, and they would definitely turn Austin and Patrick dating into a salacious story.
Patrick staying at his attorney’s apartment would draw too much attention. An attorney visiting her billionaire client’s penthouse hotel suite on the other hand was perfectly fine.
Chapter Thirteen
Patrick paced the floor of the penthouse suite, feeling like a caged animal. He could have gone to work, but Angela Canmore had called and warned him the press was camped out. He wouldn’t be able to keep his location secret for long, but he was safe here for now.
This trip to New York was not going as planned. It was supposed to be a simple unveiling of some fucking diamonds and a few days of debauchery with his sexy new submissive.
Much of that had gone out the window despite the fact that he had fucked and spanked Austin last night.