Now, he was missing from their scheduled meeting to discuss his findings. And Madison Holland was dead.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?” the desk clerk asked Jace. He’d forgotten she was standing there by his side.
“Yes, if you see my assistant, call me immediately.” Jace gave a nod and strode through the revolving doors. Outside, the sky was overcast, gray clouds blotting out the sun. The wind whistled through the towering buildings, an addition to the usual symphony of taxi horns and rumbling trucks. His pristine shoes crunched through melting slush as he made his way to the limo idling on the curb. Despite the recent turn of events, Jace had work to do. Now that he had added to his real estate portfolio, it was time to begin renovations on his newest purchase. It would be the classiest hotel in Times Square, and his billions would only grow if he moved forward with his plans fast.
As soon as he slid onto the crinkling leather seat, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Maybe it’s Franklin, he thought before he glanced at the display. He’d been too quick to judge his assistant’s absence, and he’d have a perfectly good explanation.
But when he glanced at the screen, he saw it was his office instead of his missing assistant.
“Jace Holt,” he said.
“Sir, there’s someone here to see you,” Lana, his receptionist, said in a shaky tone. “It’s the police.
When Jace reached his office, he was in a terrible mood. The policeman who had questioned him before stood just inside his gleaming glass doors, his hands tucked in his pockets and a knowing smile on his face.
“Detective Foster,” Jace said with a curt nod as he swept into the lobby of his prime office space on Fifth Avenue. “If there’s something you need to question me about, it will have to wait until I call my lawyer, Miss Simmons.”
Jace had to stop the smirk that threatened to touch his lips, just from hearing the sound of Carrie’s name. His mind flashed with an image of her writhing body on the sheets, moaning as her hands pulled at the bonds he’d attached to her wrists. The thought almost made him forget about the detective standing before him.
“I’m not here to ask you any questions,” the detective said with a smile that was glaringly fake and overly sweet. “But I’ll be needing the security tapes from your hotel. From the night of the murder, of course.”
Jace narrowed his eyes. Even though it was a perfectly reasonable request, he didn’t like how the detective was looking at him. As if he were trying to spin a web and trap him inside. Nobody got the better of Jace Holt, especially not this man.
“I assume you have a warrant,” Jace said, flexing his hands by his sides.
The detective rose his eyebrows. “Innocent men don’t tend to ask for warrants.”
“I’m not asking,” Jace dropped his voice low. “I’m demanding.”
“You look like you’re either insanely happy or in absolute agony,” Sarah said as she poked her head into Carrie’s office. “Rick wanted me to check in and see how the briefs for the Silverhouse case are coming along.”
Carrie glanced up from her mound of work to see her best friend hovering in the doorway and holding a steaming cup of coffee from the corner cart down on Madison Avenue. Sarah looked chipper and alert as usual, her long dark hair cascading around her shoulders, while Carrie felt the absolute opposite. Even though Jace had set every one of her nerve endings on fire that morning, she’d quickly crashed from the lack of sleep and food once reaching the office.
“Why is Rick asking you to run errands for him? It’s not like you’re a paralegal,” Carrie said, furrowing her brows. Her best friend had seemed to be spending a lot of time following her boss around recently. Sarah was a senior associate, just like Carrie, and she had much better things to do than be at his every beck and call.
“Oh, that’s not important.” Sarah waved a hand. “Are you okay though, seriously? You look exhausted.”
“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Carrie said around a smile that she couldn’t stop from blooming on her face.
“I knew it,” Sarah said, easing into the office and closing the clear glass door behind her. She passed Carrie the coffee before dropping into the leather chair on the other side of the paper-littered desk. “You went to Jace’s last night. No wonder you sped out of the bar like hell on wheels.”
“Well, that wasn’t exactly why.” Carrie frowned as she took a sip of the steaming coffee. No milk, two sugars. Just how she liked it. “Did you hear about that girl, Madison Holland?”
Sarah nodded and leaned forward. “Yeah, the girl who got shot on Fifty-Seventh, right?”
“Yeah.” Carrie swallowed back another gulp of the hot liquid. “She was the one who led Jace away from his hotel the night of the murder. I saw her at the bar and followed her back to her place.”
“Holy shit.” Sarah’s eyes widened. “Did you see anything? Tell me you caught the bastard who killed her red-handed.”
“No, I didn’t go inside,” Carrie said with a shudder. “Scary to know that if I had, maybe I’d be in the same shape as she is in now.”
“I bet whoever killed Anders killed Madison, too,” Sarah said, dropping back in the chair and crossing her legs. “What does Jace have to say about it?”
Carrie’s back stiffened from the question, her mind turning toward Jace’s strange non-reaction to the news of Madison’s death. “He’s being really cagey about it. When I tried to talk to him, he started distracting me with…”
A knock sounded on the door, and Carrie glanced up to see Jace Holt standing outside of her office. Speak of the devil. Her breath caught in her throat. He wore a sleek black suit, fitted perfectly to his muscular frame. His rugged face hid under a short layer of scruff, and his dark eyes lit flames inside her stomach, heating her entire body all the way up to her face. Even though she’d been in his bed only hours before, seeing him here left her weak in the knees.
Smiling, he opened the door and poked his head inside Carrie’s office before sending a charming smile toward Sarah. “Well, Sarah Evans. Nice to see you after all this time.”
“Jace.” Sarah cleared her throat and stood, sending Carrie a wink. “I assume you’re here to see Carrie. I’ll just be on my way.”
Carrie could see Sarah bite back a smile before disappearing out into the hallway, leaving Jace and Carrie staring at each other in silence. Smoothing her skirt, she stood and motioned to the chair in front of her. It struck her as strangely surreal how formal the whole thing was, like Jace was just another client whose cock hadn’t been inside her several times over the last twenty-four hours.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she finally said as Jace settled into the leather chair. “I hope nothing is wrong?”
“Something is wrong. You aren’t in my bed at the moment.” His eyes flicked across her V-cut blouse. “In addition to that, you’re wearing far too many clothes for my liking.”
“Jace,” she hissed, glancing at the door. Anyone who walked by would surely hear his words. If not, they’d definitely be able to spot the blush on her cheeks. “You can’t say things like that here. I’m at work.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be at work,” he said with a wicked smile. “I’m sure you could take an extended lunch break. I know there’s something special I’d like to eat.”
His gaze trailed down her chest before stopping at the edge of her desk, which hid the bottom half of her body from view. Heat tickled the top of her thighs, and she crossed her legs to keep herself from squirming in her seat. She knew exactly what Jace meant, and even as inappropriate as it was, it didn’t stop her from feeling very much aroused by his words.
“Jace,” she whispered. “I know you think you can get away with anything you want, but you can’t just come into my office and hit on me like this. You’re my client, thanks to you. Not to mention everything else.”
“I can get away with anything I want.”
Carrie’s heart thumped. She knew he was talking about his seductive
come-on tactics, but she couldn’t help but latch onto his words. Jace Holt could get away with anything he wanted. Even murder.
She sucked in a sharp breath. She couldn’t believe she’d let the words even enter her mind for a moment. Jace couldn’t be involved in Madison’s death. He wasn’t that kind of man. And even if he were, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get there and back in time. She had to stop letting her mind go there.
She repeated the words to herself several times, but they still didn’t explain the gut feeling that Jace was keeping something very important from her. He’d had that gun in his kitchen drawer. Why? And why hadn’t he seem surprised about Madison?
“Something’s wrong,” Jace said, leaning forward and shooting the scent of musky aftershave across her desk. “You have that look on your face. Has someone upset you?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said with a weak smile. Despite all the questions in her mind, Carrie had to believe in Jace’s innocence. If he were involved in either of the recent murders, everything she thought was true would come crashing down around her. And she didn’t think she could handle that. “I’m just really swamped with work. Why did you need to see me?”
“There’s been an unfortunate development that I’ve managed to stall for the moment.” A frown creased Jace’s face, and he twisted in his seat as a group of clients strode by the door, chattering about the wintry Manhattan weather and the latest developments in the presidential primary race. “There seems to be a lot of traffic outside of your office today.”
“Yes, exactly.” Carrie couldn’t stop the red from spreading across her neck. “Anyone who walks by could see us in here.”
Jace’s voice dropped low as he turned back to face Carrie. “There must be somewhere more private that we can talk.”
Jace watched Carrie smooth down the front of her sexy blouse, the silk clinging to the lacy bra he could see through the thin material. She was acting distant and a little bit closed off, and he was determined to massage away whatever had caused this change in her.
“The law library is rarely used these days,” Carrie said after clearing her throat. “Would that work for you?”
“That’s perfect.” He flashed a smile, standing and buttoning his suit jacket. Carrie stood from her chair before grabbing a notepad from her cluttered desk and leading the way into the hallway. Around them, the law office buzzed with activity, and a few paralegals glanced their way as they moved toward the elevators.
“It seems busy around here,” Jace said as they slid into the elevator.
Carrie pressed the button for the tenth floor and gave him a nod. “Business has picked up lately. That’s why I’m so swamped. Someone keeps trying to distract me though.”
Jace suppressed a smile and let his eyes roam across Carrie’s body. Today’s skirt was shorter than her usual ensemble, accentuating her well-curved ass. He shifted closer to her side, leaned down, and brushed his nose against her ear before sweeping her luscious locks from her shoulders. Carrie shivered under his touch, but she didn’t pull away.
“Jace, you can’t. Not here.” Her voice came out strained and breathy.
He dragged his hand down her body, past the curves of her breasts, and to the edges of her black skirt. As he licked her delicate ear, his fingers slid under the material and brushed against her thong. It was lace, just like her bra. He hardened as he felt a dampness between her thighs. “God, you drive me crazy. You’re so ready for me, aren’t you?”
She shuddered against him, eyelids fluttering as his fingers pushed aside her thong and slid into her pussy. Her lips parted with a moan, and Jace felt his erection throb against his pants. God, he wanted her. She felt so wet and so ready around his fingers that it was all he could do not to yank down her skirt and thrust his cock inside her right then and there.
“There are cameras,” Carrie gasped as she pulled away and pushed down her skirt. Her face was pink and her pupils dilated with lust. “Someone will see us.”
“Does the library have cameras?” Jace murmured just as the elevator doors whirred open.
Without glancing his way, Carrie strode forward onto the tenth floor, her back straight and tense, and her ass wriggling with each step she took in her sexy heels. Jace smoothed down the front of his suit and smiled, the scent of Carrie tickling his nose. He followed her down a quiet hallway and past rows of shut office doors until they reached a locked room at the end.
Carrie swiped her card against a security panel before opening the door and ushering Jace inside a room full of oak bookshelves crammed with sleek volumes of the law. She’d fallen silent as soon as they’d stepped out of the elevator, and Jace had a good hunch as to why. She wanted him right now just as much as he wanted her, and her desires were close to overwhelming any hesitation she might have.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Carrie whirled on him. “What did you want to talk to me about that couldn’t be said in my office?”
“The police stopped by today,” he murmured, moving close to Carrie. Her ass hit the back of an oak table as she tried to take a step away from him. “They want to see the security footage from the night of the murder. I demanded a warrant.”
Carrie sucked in a breath as he took another step closer. “Why? I thought there was nothing to see.”
Jace touched Carrie’s neck, drawing a sensual line to the top of her breasts. She shivered under his touch. “There are a few regular clientele of mine that might not be pleased to be caught on camera.”
Frowning, Carrie looked up at him. “What do you mean? Who?”
“That’s not important.” Jace leaned forward and dragged his tongue across her ear, breathing in the scent of her vanilla shampoo. “They’re just very private individuals.”
“Jace,” Carrie moaned, dropping her head back so that her neck was fully exposed to him. Eagerly, he dropped his mouth to her skin and spread hot kisses down her chest. He pushed her harder against the table as his hands gripped her waist, his cock almost bursting through his pants.
He needed her. Right here and now. Taking her like this in her place of work would be the ultimate display that she was his.
He pulled her shirt over her head, and she gasped, her eyes flicking to the locked library door. Before she had time to object, Jace pushed aside her bra to expose her exquisite breasts. Her nipples were hard and swollen, and he leaned her back onto the table to take her breast into his mouth. God, she tasted so good. He licked and sucked until she was a gasping, trembling mess under his mouth.
Shoving her skirt up to her waist, he ripped her thong off her thighs. He groaned at the sight of her wetness, and when she opened her legs wider, he unzipped his pants and climbed on top of her, his palms flat against the sleek table.
As he settled over her, Carrie reached for his cock and pulled it from his pants. Her fingers sent thrills of pleasure through him. He was going to take her hard, thrusting so deep inside her, it would make her scream.
Jace dug his fingers into her waist and pressed himself inside her. Carrie moaned and arched her back, her full breasts bouncing as she rocked against his length. Dear god, she’s gorgeous, he thought as desire overwhelmed him. The need for silence flew from his mind as he groaned and thrusted harder into her sex.
She was his, he was hers, and no one and nothing would stop them from being together.
He pounded into her. She reached up to grab his tie, yanking him closer. But Jace pulled back and trapped her arms on the table above her head. He was the one in control here. Rocking against her, he picked up his pace and felt Carrie tighten around him. Desire tore through him, but he held back his release until a loud moan slipped through Carrie’s mouth, signalling her climax.
Jace relaxed and followed in her wake, emptying his seed into her gorgeous body. Panting, he released his tight grip on her arms, leaning down to drop a kiss on her nipple. She tasted so good. His tongue began to tease her breast, and she began to shake underneath his mouth once more. Groaning, his
cock began to harden again.
A knock sounded on the library door.
Carrie scrambled off the oak table and snatched her shirt from the floor as her heart hammered out a hectic beat inside her chest. Her hands trembled as she pulled the silky material over her head and smoothed her hair. It was no matter. Anyone who saw them now would know in an instant what had just happened between them inside this room. Jace’s face was flushed, his tie askew, and a scratch mark had reddened along his neck.
A moment later, the door clicked open and Sarah’s head popped into the room.
“Oh, thank god,” Carrie said, sighing against the table. “It’s only you.”
Sarah’s knowing smile was almost blinding. “Yep. It’s only me, but Rick said something about coming up here. I saw you guys disappear upstairs, so I thought it might be a good idea to come warn you…Seems I was right.”
Sarah’s eyes darted toward Carrie’s torn thong on the floor. “You might want to make sure you don’t leave your panties up here. And I’d hurry if I were you.”
With a laugh, Sarah shut the door, leaving Carrie and Jace alone once again.
Sighing, Carrie snatched her thong from the floor and straightened her wrinkled skirt. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. Sure, it had been hot as hell, but it was one of the worst ideas she’d ever had. Anyone could have come in at any moment. Of course, that had been part of the thrill of it all…
“Jace, we can’t do stuff like this,” she hissed as she tucked her destroyed thong into the back of her skirt.
“That’s funny,” he said, trailing a hot finger down her back. “Because we just did.”
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