A knock on the front door made her jump. Slowly, she eased over and peered through the peephole. It was a tall, thick man she’d never seen before. Her heart began to pound in her chest, and her breath got stuck as she tried to breathe.
“Miss Simmons?” the man called out. “Mr. Holt sent me here to pick you up. He apologizes for not sending Franklin, but he’s currently on vacation.”
Carrie’s shoulders relaxed, but she still felt on edge. What if the man was lying? And what if he was another guy just like Franklin? Some hitman on the run from the law. Even though Jace had told her Franklin wasn’t guilty of his apparent crimes, Carrie wasn’t so sure herself.
“He said to tell you that he’s sure you’d like to see Coco this evening. The cat apparently misses you.”
The words sounded so funny coming from this macho man’s mouth that Carrie couldn’t suppress her smile. She opened the door and peered out at him. “Why didn’t Jace come himself?”
“He thought you might not want to be seen together,” he said with a shrug.
“Alright,” Carrie said, stepping into the hall and shutting the door behind her. “What’s your name?”
“You can call me Jax.”
Ten minutes later, Carrie knocked on Jace’s penthouse door. Immediately, it swung open, and Jace smiled out at her. It was genuine and warm and it seemed so different than the way he normally looked at her. It was almost as if he was softening around the edges, letting down the emotional walls he normally kept up between them. Even though he’d always been the one to pursue her, he’d never fully opened up to Carrie. He liked to keep a cool distance between them, and it had been one of the reasons she’d been able to leave him back when her mother had married his father.
“Carrie, I’m glad you came.” He motioned to her cat who was curled up in the far corner on a plush black pillow. “Your cat has been behaving herself, though she’s been meowing at me a lot. I thought you should join her here.”
“You know I can’t stay, Jace.”
“You certainly can.” He frowned and moved over to the kitchen island where he had a bottle of wine and two glasses waiting, just like he usually did. “It isn’t safe for you to stay in your apartment alone right now. Not after what happened.”
“I know you’re right.” Carrie shivered when she thought back to walking into her apartment and finding it trashed. “But my mother and your father are in the city now. Surely they’d find out I’m staying here.”
“So what if they do.” Jace poured the wine and handed her a glass. “They know someone broke into your apartment. Surely they would understand why you’d want to stay somewhere else for awhile.”
“There’s staying somewhere else.” Carrie’s eyes drank in Jace’s biceps as she took a sip of the sharp wine. “And then there’s staying in your bed.”
Jace’s lips quirked. “All they would discover is that you’re staying in my hotel. That’s easily explained.”
Jace was knocking aside her objections in swift and easy moves. It was making it hard for her to remember exactly why she was against staying in the first place. She didn’t want to be in her apartment, that much was very true. Plus, her cat was here. And Jace was right. Even though her mother might figure out that Carrie was staying at the hotel, that certainly wouldn’t mean she’d draw the conclusion that she was sleeping in Jace’s penthouse. He could have provided her with her own suite. In fact…
“I’ll stay under one condition,” she said.
“Name it.” He spread his arms. “Anything you need, I can give it to you, Carrie.”
“Set up a suite downstairs that’s supposed to be mine. That way if they come sniffing around, it actually does look like I’m not staying in your penthouse.”
“Perfect.” Jace lifted his glass from the kitchen island and moved in close to her. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at him. He was as handsome as ever, and he’d let his facial hair grow over the past few days, making him look slightly rougher than he usually did. Her eyes traced along the edge of his jaw, and everything inside her wanted him to pick her up and carry her into his bedroom.
She reached up to touch him, but he pulled her hand back down to her side. “Not right now. There’s something important I need to tell you.”
Her heart thumped hard as she stared up at him. Was he finally going to tell her those three little words she’d been dying for him to say? Words he’d never once told her in all her life, unless the other day in the closet counted, and she didn’t think it did. Whatever he’d said in there had been spoken far too low for her to hear.
He took her hand and led her to the couch, sitting down and patting the spot next to him. She eased down beside him, took a deep breath, and met his eyes. He looked solemn and serious and not at all like a man who was about to tell the love of his life how he felt. In fact, his face was so grave that it was very clear she’d been wrong. Whatever he was about to say to her, she knew she didn’t want to hear. Her palms suddenly felt slick.
“What is it?” she asked, her heartbeat thrumming in her neck. “What’s wrong, Jace?”
“There’s been a slight…complication.” He dragged a hand down his face and sighed. “I didn’t tell you before now, because I was certain I would be able to take care of things. But it appears I may have been wrong.”
Panic gripped Carrie’s chest even though she had no idea what he was talking about. This couldn’t be good.
“The other day I received an envelope containing some photos of the two of us.” Jace grimaced. “They were taken the evening we visited Bonds. Nothing particularly intimate, but it’s enough that people could put two and two together and realize that you’re the woman I’ve been having an affair with.”
Carrie’s face went hot and cold at the same time. Photos of the two of them at that BDSM club. Her whole future flashed before her eyes. Making partner, getting her name on the law firm’s wall. None of that would ever happen now. Not if those photos got out.
Carrie blinked away the tears in her eyes and shook her head. “What does this mean?”
“It was Rick Allen, Carrie.” Jace’s hand gripped her tighter. “He blackmailed me, and I didn’t make the deadline to pay him.”
Jace watched Carrie’s face flip through a hundred emotions. He’d been back and forth all day about telling her about the photos, but in the end, he knew it was the only choice he had. He hadn’t had a chance to get Rick Allen alone at the law offices earlier. His father had whisked the partner into another private meeting, so the only thing he’d been able to do was watch the deadline to pay the blackmail fees pass right before his eyes.
The photos of the two of them could be leaked at any moment.
“Rick Allen?” Carrie stood from the couch and began pacing back and forth in front of his fireplace. “This must be some kind of misunderstanding. He’d never do such a thing. He wouldn’t want to ruin the firm’s reputation.”
“Apparently money is more important to him than the reputation of the firm.” This seemed to be more difficult for Carrie to grasp than it had been for him. He’d seen first-hand what money could do to people. Sometimes, they’d give up absolutely everything for more of it.
“But…” Carrie shook her head. “He came to me and told me that I’d be fired if another one of these photos showed up in the news. He was so concerned about the firm, not about anything else.”
“Thus ensuring that when he blackmailed me, you’d be so scared about losing your job that I’d send him the money.”
It all seemed to click in Carrie’s head then. Her eyes widened, and her hand flew to her throat. Everything inside of him wished he could shield her from this, but it was better she know now than later. The photos would eventually come out, and it would be much better for her to be prepared for when that happened.
“Why didn’t you stop it?” she asked, her eyes wide. “You’re Jace Holt. You don’t let people blackmail you.”
Jace stood, his heart heavy and ha
rd. He took her hands in his and squeezed tight. “I’m sorry, Carrie. I tried.”
She shook her head back and forth, her mouth moving wordlessly. He knew what must be going through her mind now, but there was nothing he could do or say to change the truth. Things were about to get messy.
“I mean, this is everything,” she whispered. “My job, my career, my life. Our parents are going to freak out, and my mother will probably never speak to me again.”
“Carrie,” Jace said in a low voice. “We can take this on together. I promise you that I’ll be by your side through it all. I know it will be tough, but I’ll do everything in my power to protect you from as much pain as I can.”
“No one will understand,” Carrie said. “The world will think there’s something wrong with me for sleeping with you.”
“Fuck them,” Jace said. “Fuck the world.”
She looked up at him with tears in the corners of her eyes, but before he could wipe them away, her mouth was on his. Her kiss was hungry and hard, and he met her need with his own. He wrapped his arms around her sexy body and pulled her close, his fingers tangling in her long and wavy hair.
Carrie moaned as he dropped his lips to her neck and began trailing his tongue across her hot skin. She pulled at his belt, and her eagerness for him made him hard. No matter what was happening with his case, with those photos, none of that mattered as much as this. Carrie mattered more than it all.
He lifted her from the floor and threw her over his shoulder. She gasped and clung onto his arm, her fingernails digging into his skin. When he reached the bedroom, he eased her onto the bed and climbed on top of her. There was no need for any toys or any playrooms now. All he wanted was to make love to Carrie like he never had before.
Straddling her body, he slowly unbuttoned her blouse, his eyes drinking in every inch of her skin. He slid the soft material away from her chest and reached underneath her to unhook her bra. When her breasts slid into view, he rubbed his fingers against her nipples. They hardened under his touch, and Carrie gasped, her eyelids fluttering shut.
Jace slowly leaned down and caressed her nipple with his tongue. He loved the taste of her skin under his mouth, and he groaned as his cock hardened even more. But he forced himself to take his time. This was all about Carrie now, and Jace wanted to show her exactly how much he needed her in his life.
Carrie reached up and slid her arms around his neck, and this time, he didn’t push her hands away. He let himself be pulled in close, his mouth pressing harder and harder against her nipple. Carrie began to shudder underneath him, and he stopped, moving his mouth down her belly to stop at the top of her pants.
“Jace,” Carrie groaned through her heavy breaths. “I can’t take anymore.”
“Oh?” He smiled as he pulled away to slide her pants to her toes. “You sound as if you’d like me to stop.”
“Please don’t stop.” Carrie opened her eyes and looked up at him. His heart almost jerked in his chest at the look in her eyes. He didn’t know how he could feel so full at that moment, as if his world was finally complete once again. He’d do anything to stop it from going back to the way it had been when Carrie was out of his life. She was here now, and this time she was staying for good.
Jace took off his clothes before climbing back on top of her. Her arms snaked around his back, her nails pressing into his skin. He sucked in a breath, but didn’t pull away.
“You don’t want to chain me up?” she asked after he’d kissed her for a long moment.
“No, Carrie,” Jace murmured into her ear. “Right now, all I want is you.”
Jace pushed inside Carrie’s wet pussy and groaned at how good she felt around his cock. She gasped, her hands tightening around his back and her legs opening wider. As he began to move against her, a heavy knock sounded on the front door of his penthouse. Jace ignored the sound. Nothing could be so important that it should interrupt them right now.
When the knock sounded again, Carrie pulled her arms away and shook her head. “Maybe you should get that.”
Jace growled but forced himself away from Carrie’s body. Whoever was at the door better have something important to say or he’d fire them on the spot. He pointed a finger at Carrie before he left the room, his eyes drinking in her curves one last time before he wrapped the sheet around his waist. “You stay there and be ready for me when I get back.”
He padded toward the door in his bare feet, the knock continuing to hammer away. When he swung open the door, it took everything inside him to keep his face completely blank. It was his father with Carrie’s mother on his arm.
Carrie heard the murmur of voices and the door slam shut. She smiled. Jace had gotten rid of whoever it was. He was being so sweet and so gentle now, she couldn’t wait for him to get back and resume what they had started. He’d never been like this with her before, and she wasn’t exactly sure where it had come from. And while she loved exploring exciting new sex with him, she had to admit that something about the way he was right now left her feeling even more breathless than the chains did.
It made her feel…loved.
The murmur of voices continued, and Carrie frowned just before Jace popped his head into the bedroom. His face looked like a pillar of stone, and whatever warmth she’d seen in his eyes earlier was gone.
“The parents are here,” Jace said in a low voice. “Get dressed and pretend like everything is normal.”
“What?” Carrie stood from the bed so fast, she almost made herself lightheaded. “Why are they here?”
“They want to talk about the damn case some more and go over what happened that night,” he said with a shake of his head. “I tried to get rid of them, but you know how my father is.”
Carrie crossed her arms across her breasts and shook her head. “I’ll just hide out in the bedroom. They’ll never know I was here.”
“They already know you’re here,” Jace said with a frown. “They saw your cat and the two wine glasses.”
“Shit.” Carrie glanced at her naked body, at the sheet draped around Jace’s waist, at the clothes scattered across the floor. “This isn’t going to look good.”
“I told them you were using the bathroom,” he said. “And that I was about to get in the shower.”
“And they bought that?” Carrie widened her eyes, her heart thumping hard in her chest. There was no way either of their parents were stupid enough to believe something like that. Jace was practically naked, Carrie was in his bedroom, and there were two half-drunk glasses of wine in the kitchen. It was incredibly obvious what had been going on here, and it’s not like their parents were idiots.
Jace shrugged. “I don’t think it would occur to either of them that something else might be happening. But Carrie, they’re going to find out when those photos are released. We could go ahead and tell them now. Get it over with.”
“No.” Carrie grabbed her shirt and pants from the floor. “I can’t believe that Rick would really release them. Maybe it was just a bluff.”
Once both Carrie and Jace were fully dressed, they joined their parents in the living room. Carrie’s mother gave her a piercing stare, and Carrie fought hard to keep her face blank. If she acted like nothing at all was unusual, no one would have to suspect any different. Jace swept past where they sat on the couch and topped up the wine glasses in smooth and fluid motions, as if nothing at all was out of the ordinary.
“I can order up two more wine glasses if you’d like to join us,” he said to his father. “I wasn’t expecting extra guests.”
“We’re not here for socializing, son,” Walter Holt said as he stood and crossed his arms across his barrel chest. “We need to talk about what happened that night, so we can sort out a good defense.”
“I’ve told both you and Rick Allen exactly what happened that night,” Jace said before moving to Carrie’s side and handing her a glass. “I’m not sure I see the point in going over it again.”
“Just take us through the steps,” his fath
er said. “Show me where you found the body and what you did next. We need to make sure there’s no more surprise evidence that’s going to come up against you. Like fingerprints if you catch my drift.”
Carrie’s heart fluttered as she caught the meaning of his words. It was almost as if Jace’s father actually believed he’d committed the murder, and he wanted Jace to show him how he did it. Carrie balled her hands into fists and braced herself for Jace’s reaction. Surely he wasn’t going to take this very well. But he surprised her with how calmly he took a sip of his wine, eyeing his father with a smile that could have melted glass.
“I found the body just there,” Jace said, pointing to the spot on the kitchen tile where Anders Holland had been that night. “And the next thing I did was call the cops, as per Carrie’s instructions. I did not touch or disturb anything.”
“Since when did you two become so chummy?”
Carrie stiffened and glanced at Jace. If his father was clocking onto the fact that they’d been spending a lot of time together, it was only a matter of time before he put two and two together, scandalous photos or not. How exactly were they supposed to answer a question like that?
“Carrie and I went to college together,” Jace said, taking another sip of his wine. “We became quite close then, and recently, we’ve gotten back in contact. We do both live in the same city.”
“I didn’t realize that,” Carrie’s mother said. “About college. Carrie, hon, why didn’t you ever tell me you knew Jace before?”
Even though Carrie and Jace had been in an on-again-off-again relationship through most of their college years, Carrie had never told her mother the details. She’d known Carrie saw someone at times, but Carrie hadn’t shared much more than that. In fact, Carrie hadn’t told her mother much of anything once she’d gone off to college. She valued her freedom and her individuality, and her mother often tried to squash that with her thumb.
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