by Zoey Parker
But I can’t do it.
I’m stuck in my seat, with breathing proving to be difficult.
The thug is turning into a driveway of a gated, pricey-looking community—the condos stacked two over each other, the mahogany siding, large picture windows, eggshell-colored stucco, and glass balconies visually pleasing.
It’s not what I’m prepared for, but then I start thinking he means to torture me in his home. He doesn’t look like he could afford a place here, yes, but he didn’t look like much of a killer until he pulled his gun out.
Parking the car and silencing the engine, he pushes out of his seat, slamming the driver’s door before opening the back and waving for me to get out. He forces me ahead, probably to prevent my running. But the cold metal of a gun doesn’t kiss my back as it might have in a movie.
We climb stone steps to an intermediate landing where I pause and look back. He’s right there, in my face, eyes narrowing. “Keep moving.”
I scramble up the last steps, desperate to put as much distance between us without alarming him to pulling and using his gun.
He pushes us past the front door, leading me around a floating wraparound porch. It’s modern and funky, but I’m not appreciating the architecture. I’m calculating the distance of jumping down onto what I see is the garage below.
“Move,” he says, annoyance pushing into his tone. I scamper from the steel and glass railing, coming to the end of the porch and staring in through a glass sliding side door.
He knocks lightly on the glass, varying the knock. Morse code, maybe? And why would he be knocking or taking the side entrance to his own home?
A shadow breaks up the warm lighting behind the sheer curtains and I understand now. This isn’t his home at all.
The choking fear of being enclosed in a space with another thug has me backing away.
He catches my arm and squeezes, still not drawing his firearm. Apparently I’m not worth a bullet. At this rate, with his propensity towards grabbing, he’ll probably strangle me or snap my neck.
The curtain is pulled aside sharply, and I nearly cry from relief at the sight of Luke’s frowning face.
We’re at Luke’s house. Of course.
Snapping the lock, Luke slides the door open and looks from me to the thug and back to me.
The thug bows his head. “Sorry to bother you, boss.”
Boss?
I feel the blood draining from my head, the truth slapping me hard in the face.
This guy works for Luke Hanley.
Oh, God. My boss is going to kill me.
Chapter 3
Luke
“Sorry to bother you, boss.”
Russ should be sorry. If we’d been alone, I would offer a demonstration of just how sorry he should be feeling, but we have a guest and I like to think my father and late mother raised me right.
I pry my lips apart, my smile tight and fake as fuck.
“Company. Wonderful.” I push the sliding door further, stepping to the side and holding the curtain back. “Come in. It’s cold out there.” I don’t snap about how they’re letting out the warmth and annoying me at this late hour.
At least Russ brought a woman with him.
And a pretty one.
In the lighting, I get a better look at her, and I frown. It’s Lily Erickson, Hanley Auto’s office administrator. How could I miss that? She looks different with her sunny brown hair down, some tendrils caught up in the back with a clip.
Her pale face holds a pinched expression, eyes zipping between Russ and me. Usually new guests take in their surroundings.
My home is, like most everything I own, my pride and joy and I’ve made it my space, added my personal touches to the otherwise utilitarian interior design.
The only people who might not blink are the rich, prissy women I bring home and some of my wealthier male associates. Shitting money, those kind of people don’t care how I dress or where I live, so long as I have whatever they come crawling around for, be it sex or a new lucrative business deal. I’m good either way.
But Lily isn’t rich.
I know it by a glance.
That wool coat of hers is threadbare, and I bet it does nothing to keep the chill of the night off her tiny, curvy body. What the fuck am I paying this girl that she can’t even afford a new coat? I make a mental note to look into that.
Her little black heels are scuffed, her knock-off tote is wearing away along the lining, and she wears no jewelry of any kind, ostentatious or otherwise.
She’s a plain little mouse in a den of lions—that’s the image she’s exuding—cowering from Russ and me.
Afraid she’s going to run, and figuring she’s the reason Russ is on my doorstep and risking my ire, I nod at Lily, reserving an especially charming smile for her. Disarming her as I hope, I get a tiny smile back, but it’s cautious.
Cautious is smart around me.
My lips pull genuinely at that. It’s good to know that working for the Hanleys has taught Lily some life lessons for as long as she plans to keep her job and live a peaceful, unencumbered life in Potentia.
Crossing me is the first ticket out of this town.
The Hanleys have always been law, and respect is about as much greasing of palms as the citizens need to do here. And Lily is going to have to do some greasing tonight.
She has to learn her problems can’t cause the kind of panic that brought one of my men to ignore his order about my place being out of bounds after 9:00 p.m.
“Sit, please.” I lead Lily to the couch, heading into the kitchen to grab a bottle of sparkling water from the fridge. She looks ready to pass out and that’s something I can’t have.
At least not yet.
I don’t care what she does after I learn what Russ has come to tell me.
She doesn’t reach for the drink I hold out, so I settle it on the coffee table, within reach in case she changes her mind. I’m a generous host, even if her lack of response is irking me into grabbing her and shaking answers out.
No, I'll save that rough handling for Russ.
“We’ll be back. Enjoy the drink for now.” I jerk my clenched jaw at Russ.
He falls into step behind me. Once I get him alone, past the mudroom, to the garage, I spin around, grab him by the throat and slam him against the closed door. The beveled glass is too murky for anyone to make us out, but still, I’m careful. I don’t cave his skull in.
Releasing Russ, I smooth the cuffs of my button-down, reaching up to rest my hands on my hips. “Talk fast.”
Russ coughs, catching his breath, staring wildly at me. Drawing off his hood, he runs a hand through his messy black hair, olive complexion ruddier around his cheeks, his expression nervous.
“She might have seen us knock off Derrick.”
“Fuck. Is it Christmas already?” I laugh abruptly, holding out my hands. “Santa? You brought me a toy to play with just because she might have seen something she shouldn’t have?”
Russ tightens his mouth, his gaze leveling down to my shoes.
Dropping my hands, I snap a finger to get his attention. “Don’t mope. Give me solutions, Russ. I want fucking answers to my problems, not your excuses.”
“Keith was going to kill her.” Russ pauses, adding, with more trepidation, “I stopped him. I recognized her as an employee. I figured you’d want to handle it personally.”
I’m silent in wondering what might have happened if Russ hadn’t stopped his man. Keith is newer blood, and I haven’t gotten a tap on him yet. I can’t monitor all the men, though I like to think I’m more hands-on than my father when it comes to the family business.
I try to imagine Lily’s lifeless body in the parking lot, clips drowning in her pool of blood, the mess I’d have to clean up. I get to thinking what I know about her, and I draw a blank.
She’s pretty, plump, and short. She handles our dealers’ sales papers, signing off on deliveries, sorting junk mail, and seeing that the kitchen is stocked.
; She’s worked with us for two, maybe three, years, and her signature scent is a floral-y blend that drifts around her desk on my passing through to my office in the mornings and on my way out in the late afternoons.
I think I’ve spoken to her on a handful of occasions, always professional, never alone.
I haven’t flagged her performance reviews, so I must be satisfied with her work, and it’s hard to find an administrator who’s willing to work surrounded by men.
Regardless of the century we’ve progressed to, so few men have applied for the job and those that do hardly qualify, and Hanley Auto doesn’t settle. Not for their cars or their employees.
But with Russ’ report, and Lily’s obvious fear, I’m going to have to consider settling for what has to be the first time in my life.
Russ interprets my silence as an order.
“I’ll finish it off then—” he starts, halting at my raised hand.
“See yourself out.” I drop my hand, and make to exit the garage and get back to my other guest. Over my shoulder, I say, “Night’s not over though. Stick close. I’ll be in touch soon.”
Russ doesn’t follow me. He knows how to let himself out, and it’s through the garage. Frankly, I can’t stand to look at him, not with the crap he’s dumped on me. Unbuttoning my cuffs, I roll up my sleeves, trailing back to the den.
Lily is hardly crap though.
Before she notices I’m here, I get a good look at her from the side. She has a small forehead, pert nose, plump cheeks, and decent-sized tits. She looks like a curvy little fairy, only with dark hair and thin dark brows that furrow when she notices my return.
She addresses me with the same wide eyes and slightly parted mouth.
My smile doesn’t change anything, so I let it up. Lily is old enough, responsible and reasonable beyond her physical youthfulness, for me to not mince my words. I like saying how it is, laying it all out on the table for my business associates.
Why can’t I treat Lily the same?
Taking the seat across from her, I’m warmed by the sight of her shy reaction to dodge my stare. She can’t hide from me though now that I’ve set my attention on her.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Erickson,” I say.
Her head ducks lower, her chin practically kissing her chest. She mumbles, “It was no problem.”
“No? Are you sure it’s no inconvenience?” I lean back in the loveseat, my arms falling over the back cushions and my legs crossing over each other. I have plenty of time to hold her here, coax answers out of her. For what I have hastily planned, I foresee spending more time tonight with the beautiful Lily Erickson.
When she doesn’t answer, I try another tactic. “Are you afraid of me, Miss Erickson?”
“No,” she says, voice soft. I barely make out her answer.
“Not even a little?” I smile at her too vehement head shake. “Come now, don’t be scared. I have been told I can come off a little forcefully.”
She lifts her head a fraction, her eyes on level with the coffee table between us. Her bottle of sparkling water hasn’t been touched. And as far as I can tell, she hasn’t attempted running while I stepped out with Russ. That is surprising, and it gives me something new to chew on.
“I have to be honest, Miss Erickson—can I call you Lily?”
She nods once, sharply. This time her chin does look like it smacks the top of her chest. Continuing, I tell her, “I can’t remember one conversation of ours, and I pride myself on my memory and my people skills. So I apologize if I’ve been remiss as your employer. And I promise that changes tonight. I think fate brought us together for a reason.”
Fate...and my fucking stupid goons who can’t get simple orders through their thick skulls, but I can’t say that to her. I feel my teeth clenching tighter and my grin starting to crack with its fakeness.
It’s hard to think happy thoughts, to pretend everything’s dandy, when all I see when I look at Lily is the incompetence of Russ and his man. I swear to God if this blows up and heads south, I’m collecting the hides of those two asshats.
“Though you won’t admit it, I know you’re scared.”
That rewards me with a timid glance, her lashes immediately lowering and her chin warbling. I hope she doesn’t cry. I hate women crying, especially if it’s a direct result of an action I’ve taken. I have nothing pleasant to say to Lily, but I pray she doesn’t weep when she hears it.
“So I know you’re scared,” I repeat, smoothing my tone. She’s a startled deer caught in the headlights of my big, bad hired hands, and I’ve been forced to be the hunter, calming the deer, killing the deer—
No. No, she’s not going to die. At least not at my hands and without giving her a chance to choose her future. I’ll let her decide how this is going to go down.
“That man who brought you here, he’s telling me an interesting story.”
She sits up, her bottom scooting to the end of the seat. She’s riveted, finally, responding with some life. I notice how her fuller bottom lip drops a little lower with her interest.
“But instead of me re-hashing it,” I drawl, “I’d like for you to tell me what happened.”
Lily snaps her mouth close, lips tightening, her eyes darting from me to her hands in her lap. She’s closing off.
I don’t have time for that. I get the sense once she’s lost my confidence, I’m done. There’s no helping her. Standing, I stride to take the seat beside her. For one reason or another, money or power, usually women are throwing themselves at me. But this chick is something else.
Lily scoots from me, her gaze resolutely fixing ahead on the table.
I’m reminded of how a leper might have been treated. I can’t even get a visual cue of some sort.
Fine. I don’t need her looking at me to get her talking. So long as she’s talking.
“Lily, what happened tonight?”
She nudges her chin away, her head slightly turning from me. Her loose, wavy curls tumble to cover more of her face. She’s blocking me out. Seriously, this is a first.
“I want to hear your side of things, Lily. Get your version of the story. Will you let me do that?” I touch her shoulder, resorting to inundating her with charm. Anything to get her more compliant than this…
“Mr. Hanley,” she starts, her voice faltering, a soft sigh carrying to my ears and gaining the attention of my cock. She shifts, turning back to face me, and I resist the urge to tuck her hair behind her ear. She does it herself after holding my stare for a moment. “Mr. Hanley, it’s complicated…And you’re right, I am afraid.”
“Don’t be.” I try to sound genuine.
“I was heading home after, uh, a late night,” she stammers and pointedly avoids my eyes at the end of that sentence. Is she hiding something?
One problem at a time, I remind myself.
Nodding encouragingly, I get her through the introduction; take her back to the back lot of our dealership. And this is where I want her, but it’s the last place she wants to be.
Physically she wraps her hands over her elbows, her arms pressing against her belly. Fear has a powerful grip on her, but my voice gently leads her through the rest of the story to the point where Russ and his doofus, Keith, show up.
“They had their backs to me, standing in front of the trunk of one of the cars. Then there was gunfire—two shots and I screamed.” She hesitates, brow scrunching. “Or I think I screamed. I can’t remember, honestly. But they looked over at me. And the taller one, not the one who brought me here, held up his gun and he wanted to shoot me.
“The other one, the shorter one, he stopped him. He forced me to come to him. He had a gun too. He shoved me into the other car and told his friend to finish the job.” She sucks in a breath, dropping her voice, “‘Dump the body’ were his actual words.”
She’s shockingly calm through this all. Once she’s done, it’s another story. She turns her head from me, her hair doing nothing to hide her not-so-discreet tears. Her hands reach up a
nd wipe at her cheeks, jerky movements that require a couple visits to get all the tears.
My jaw tightens, my teeth grinding together. She doesn’t notice my mood changing, so she answers my hand on her wrist with a gasp. My other hand smothers any more noises of surprise. I’m gentle on both points of contact, keeping my touch light but commanding.