Pressure: A Diamond Doms Novel

by Ivy Nelson

  “She liked that you were a boy and you weren’t facing prison time unlike my previous two partners.”

  “Ah yes. I do remember your mom telling me she was convinced you were a lesbian when you were in high school.”

  Marissa’s mouth fell open. “She told you that? She’s finally learning to not be a fucking bigot but yeah, it used to cause her to lose sleep at night because for some reason the way I dressed and combed my hair made her think I liked girls.”

  “Well I’m glad she’s learning to be more open minded. I believe the word lesbian was whispered when she talked to me about it.”

  Marissa groaned. “I regret introducing you to her.”

  Lance picked up her hand. “I don’t regret it. I regret a lot of things where you’re concerned but meeting your family isn’t one of them.”

  She pulled her hand away and busied herself with her phone. She wasn’t ready to talk about the past yet and judging by his tone, he wanted to get serious.

  “Sorry,” he muttered. “I guess it’s still a little too early for heavy conversations.”

  She nodded and gave him a small smile. “I’ll come around. Just let me enjoy being playful with you for now.”

  He nodded. “Done. You’ll let me know when you’re ready.”

  Marissa just hoped she would be ready someday.

  13

  Lance watched Marissa as the jet touched down on the runway in southern California. They had talked quietly for part of the trip, but she’d spent most of it dozing and he was OK with that. The conversations they were going to have to have about their past were intense and the work they had ahead of them at Solitaire was heavy enough without adding emotional baggage to the mix.

  She glanced over at him and touched his thigh, as if she knew he was thinking about her. On the way to the prison, she slipped her hand into his and he was grateful for the physical connection. He’d chosen to use a driver so he could work in the backseat. Instead, he just held her hand and they whispered about the plan once they arrived. Sebastian didn’t know exactly who was coming to see them. Lance still wanted to throttle Marissa for hacking in instead of letting him make a phone call. Although, she was right, her way was more fun.

  There was a time when he probably would have done the same thing.

  When they arrived, Lance slid out of the car while their driver opened Marissa’s door.

  “I might need you to calm me down in there,” she said when he rounded the car and took her hand again.

  “What do you mean?”

  “This is the first time I’ve come face to face with the man who stole from you and consequently ruined my life. Needless to say, I’m a little pissed.”

  Lance stopped mid stride and turned to face her. “Keep your anger focused on me, Riss. I’m the one who fucked up where you’re concerned.”

  He bent to kiss her, but she turned her head to the side, so he pecked her cheek instead.

  In the prison, they went through the security checkpoint and signed the necessary waivers before being escorted to a visitor’s room.

  “Today isn’t one of our normal visiting days so you’ve got the room to yourself,” the guard said as he showed them to a table.

  Lance glared at Marissa who just gave him a smile and batted her lashes. “You want to punish me so bad right now. I see it in your eyes,” she murmured when the guard was gone.

  He draped an arm around her shoulders and whispered in her ear. “Oh darlin, you have no idea.”

  When her breath caught and she refused to look at him, he knew he’d had the right effect on her, so he kissed her temple and pulled his arm away.

  “Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” a voice said from the other side of the room.

  Lance looked up to see the guard escorting Sebastian through a door. He tried to keep his expression neutral while the guard walked with him to the table.

  Marissa gave the man a little wave which seemed to confuse him.

  “What the hell are we doing here, Moss?” he said as he sat down.

  “We’re here to talk to you about your hack into one of my security systems,” Lance said when the guard had retreated to the other side of the room.

  Sebastian looked at Marissa and then back to Lance. “Are you serious right now? I’m in prison for computer crimes. You really think they’re going to let me near an internet connection for more than two minutes at a time?”

  So, he did have some internet access, Lance thought.

  He stood and the guard started in their direction.

  “You don’t understand, I found your signature in the code. Three lines of text that don’t really make sense to most people, but it was a message. Right?”

  Lance stared at Marissa. Why hadn’t she told him that?

  Sebastian waved the guard away and sat back down with a slow grin on his face. “How’d you know that?”

  Marissa shrugged. “Talk to us and maybe I’ll tell you.”

  “Decipher the message and I’ll talk to you.”

  Lance hadn’t paid enough attention to the random lines of text. He was relying completely on Marissa now to get them the conversation they were after.

  “I believe the exact message was revenge is a dish best served cold and lucky for you I don’t mind cold food.”

  Lance was again overcome with the urge to throttle her. She’d had this information the entire time and not shared it with him.

  At the same time, he was in awe of her skills and intelligence. Even if he couldn’t keep her in his bed, he wanted her back at his company.

  Sebastian lifted an eyebrow at Lance. “She’s a smart one. So, what brings you here?”

  “Why come after me now?”

  The man shrugged. “You know me. I’m an opportunist. An opportunity presented itself, so I took it.”

  Lance leaned forward. “I need to know how that opportunity came to be.”

  “Why? So you can send someone else to prison?”

  “Frankly? Yes.” Marissa stepped on his foot, stopping him from going further.

  “We can’t stop this without your help. If you help us, we won’t bring your little escapades to the guards or district attorney’s attention.”

  Lance clenched his fists beneath the table. She had no right to make that kind of offer and she knew it.

  “I can’t tell if you’re threatening me or stroking my ego,” Sebastian said.

  “Maybe a little of both. You’re kind of a legend. The guy who almost brought Lance Moss down and ruined his relationship with his fiancée? Not a simple thing to do.”

  Lance might as well have stayed in the car, he thought as he watched the exchange.

  “I wasn’t exactly trying to take Lance Moss down. Again, opportunist. I saw a chance at some quick cash, and I took it. Obviously, I didn’t succeed, or I wouldn’t be here.”

  Marissa smiled. “So, an opportunity came along to get a little revenge. I get that. I’ve thought about revenge against Lance for a few years now.”

  That eyebrow quirked up again and he looked at Lance. “This the ex-fiancée?”

  Lance didn’t respond. Sebastian leaned back with his arms folded. “This is highly entertaining. Even if you wasted your time coming here. I’m grateful for the change of pace.”

  “Come on, Forcythe. Just give us a clue. Who sent you after Lance, and why?”

  “And why do you care, hot stuff? I thought you wanted revenge?”

  Marissa grinned. “They’re paying me a lot of money to solve this little problem. You might say I'm an opportunist just like you.”

  “That’s gotta sting,” he said to Lance.

  Again, he didn’t respond. It was hard to tell if Marissa was playing a part or if she meant the things she was saying, and he didn’t like it.

  “I’m not naming names. But let’s just say an immensely powerful man with powerful friends was my cellmate for a few months. He may or may not have helped me out with some things in exchange for my help digging into r
ecords at Solitaire. I can’t tell you any more than that though or I might not get the things I need from him.”

  Immensely powerful man with powerful friends definitely sounded like Nicholas Sutton.

  “Are you done with your job for this powerful man?” Lance asked.

  Sebastian nodded. “Sure am. Can’t say he’s done with his job, but I’m done with my part in it.”

  Lance had no idea what that meant but at least he knew his systems were safe, especially since they were being rebuilt from the ground up.

  Marissa pulled out a piece of paper they had allowed her to bring in with her and set it in front of Sebastian. Lance didn’t know what it was.

  He watched as Sebastian read the page.

  “Did I miss anything?” Marissa asked.

  “Not a thing,” he whispered.

  Lance leaned forward then. What had she shown him?

  Marissa pulled the piece of paper back and slid it to Lance. At first glance, it looked like a list of random words, but Lance recognized it as a code for a variety of hacking techniques.

  “You’re a fool for letting this one get away,” Sebastian said.

  Lance nodded. “Believe me, I know.”

  Marissa stood and tucked the paper back into her pocket. “We should be going. Thanks for your time.”

  “Come back and see me sometime. Leave sourpuss over here at home.”

  Marissa didn’t respond, just waited for Lance to stand with her.

  When they were in the parking lot, she put her hand in his. “Sorry if I pissed you off in there,” she murmured.

  “Only a few times,” he admitted, his voice tight with repressed emotion.

  "We can talk about it on the plane. Do you want to get lunch while we're here or are you ready to get back?"

  She gave his hand a squeeze. "Lunch sounds good."

  "OK." He pulled out his phone and dialed his assistant.

  "Hello, Kimberly. Find us reservations somewhere near where I’m at."

  Marissa shook her head. "I'm fine with a drive-through, Lance."

  He pressed a finger to her lips.

  "Thank you, Kimberly. Just send the address to my driver."

  They had reached the car by the time he ended his call, so he backed her against it and kissed her.

  "Seriously, I'm not dressed for any place fancy."

  "Shut up and get in the car, Marissa. If I had to sit there and listen to you tell him things I should have already known, you can damn well sit through lunch at some place decent."

  Her demeanor shifted and he nearly grinned when she whispered, "Yes, Sir," and opened the car door to slide inside.

  ♦♦♦♦

  The place Lance's assistant chose was not remotely fancy, much to Marissa's relief, but it was definitely a step up from a drive-through.

  In the restaurant, he pulled her chair out for her and ordered them a bottle of wine and an appetizer to share.

  He said nothing else as he looked over the menu, so she cleared her throat. "About the riddle."

  "I said we would talk on the plane, Riss. Figure out what you want," he said, looking at her over the menu.

  Yep, he was definitely upset with her. Not that she blamed him. It had been wrong to not share everything she'd figured out with him but at the time she'd thought of it as job security on her part. Not to mention the fact that Lance had access to the exact same code she did and could have figured it out just like she did, had he looked.

  The server came and she ordered a tropical chicken salad to go with the wine he'd picked, and Lance ordered pasta.

  "What are your plans once Eli pays you?" Lance asked when they were alone again.

  "I want to open my own tech firm focused on women in tech. We'll work on apps and software made for and by women."

  It was something she'd wanted to do since high school. Computer tech and software programming was such a male dominated sector and she wanted to even the playing field a little.

  Lance smiled. "So same dream. That's good to know. What if I said I wanted you back at Moss Tech?"

  Marissa shook her head. "Is it such a good idea for us to be working together?"

  He held up his hand. "We wouldn't exactly be working together. I want to help you open your own place. I just want you to do it under the umbrella of Moss Tech. I've got some outstanding women in mind who would really benefit from working under someone like you."

  Marissa lifted an eyebrow. "So, you don't just want me to work for you. You want to go into business with me? What does that do for our relationship?"

  Lance leaned forward and sipped his wine. "We worked so well together before, Riss. Let's do it again. Just better this time. We'll both be cautious because of our past and that's to be expected, but I think that will ultimately strengthen us as a team."

  She noticed he didn't exactly answer her question about their relationship. Was he not intending to pursue her romantically after this?

  She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

  "I think it's important to talk about our relationship first," she said.

  Lance sighed. "On the plane, Riss. I don't want to fight with you in public."

  "You know we're going to fight on the plane but you're sitting here offering me a job?"

  Lance cleared his throat. "Riss, please. I want both, OK. I want you in my bed and I want you back at my company. But if I can't have both I at least want you working with me again."

  At least he didn't say for me.

  The fact that he would choose working with her over fucking her should have been offensive, but she found it oddly encouraging.

  "OK. We'll talk on the plane then. I do have my heart set on owning my own company, though."

  He smiled. "I know. And you will. I have complete faith in you."

  “So, are you doing anything cool at Moss Tech lately? I admit I have a habit of skipping articles that mention you on the tech blogs I read.

  “I should be hurt,” he said with a wink. “Actually, I’m working on a quantum data storage solution using the imperfections in lab produced diamonds.”

  She rubbed her palms together. “I’ve heard about this. It sounds so fascinating. Are you specifically using lab produced diamonds because you have a source for them through Patrick and Elijah?”

  He nodded. “That and I believe in their goal to greatly reduce the number of mined diamonds in the market.”

  For the next few minutes, Marissa listened intently as he regaled her with tales of his experiments with the diamonds. It was all so fascinating.

  When their food arrived, they switched gears and talked about new encryption methods for Solitaire's data.

  By the time they finished their meal, they had talked in depth about every form of encryption they could potentially use to make Solitaire even safer. It was such an enjoyable conversation, that she'd nearly forgotten about his promise to discuss less pleasant things on the plane. When they were walking up the stairs to the private jet, however, he leaned in behind her and murmured in her ear.

  "When we reach cruising altitude and the pilot says it's safe to get up, I want you to go to the bedroom and wait for me. I think we have a few things to discuss."

  She bit her lip to keep herself from responding submissively. It amazed and slightly irritated her that she could so quickly slip into that role with him. They did have things to discuss, but she wasn't going to do it on her knees. Not yet, anyway.

  "If you think you're going to dominate me into having this conversation with you, you're wrong."

  Lance slid a hand into her hair and gave a sharp tug as they approached their seats.

  "I think that's exactly what you want me to do, Riss. But no, that's not my intention. I'm moving it to the bedroom because I know how you are about serious conversations in front of strangers, and our flight attendant sits rather close to us. The bedroom will give us privacy."

  Her shoulders sagged as he let go of her hair. "Sorry," she murmured.

  He sat in
his seat and picked up her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "It's fine. I can see where you would think I intended to use our past dynamic against you. We're not in a place to trust each other yet."

  "God. Do you always have to say the perfect things?"

  He chuckled. "I would say I have a track record of saying exactly the wrong things, wouldn't you?"

  The flight attendant offered them drinks but Marissa just took water. She'd drank more than half of the bottle of wine at lunch and was still feeling the effects.

  When it was safe to move around, Lance pulled out his phone.

  "I need to make a quick phone call. Go wait for me," he said, pecking her on the cheek.

  She stood with her bottle of water in hand and made her way down the aisle.

  In the bedroom, she sat on the edge of the bed. There was also a bench along one wall that could be used for sitting, and it looked like the top of the bench raised for additional storage. The room was pure luxury despite its compact size.

  Less than ten minutes later, the door opened, and Lance stepped in.

  "Go sit on the bench," he said.

  "Bossy, aren't you?"

  "That is kind of my thing, Marissa," he said, sounding exasperated. "Just do it please. If you're on my bed I'm not going to want to talk. As it is, I'm ready to say forget talking, I'll just fuck you instead."

  Her mouth fell open, but she stood and moved to the bench. Lance took the spot she'd just vacated.

  It was a compact room, so they could still reach out and touch each other if they wanted.

  "Where do we start?" he asked as she tucked one leg underneath her on the bench and took a long sip from her water.

  "You're the one who said we would talk on the plane. How about you start with telling me what exactly pissed you off at the prison?"

  "You want a list?"

  "That seems like a good place to start," she said, ignoring his sarcasm.

  He laughed. "First of all, what made you think you had the authority to offer not turning him in for his actions?"

  "First of all," she said, mirroring his tone. "I only implied that we wouldn't turn him in. I never actually made any promises. Second, it got us pointed in the right direction, didn't it?"