Girl Most Likely To

by Barbara Elsborg

  “He has no reason to link Wren with the chief.”

  “I’m working on bringing him down fast, Tomas. I’m not sure we can afford to wait much longer. Apart from the worry you’ve been compromised, I can’t do anything to risk the safety of the DCS’s daughter.”

  That was a change of tune from last night.

  “What the hell were you thinking, by the way?” she snapped.

  “How was I supposed to know who she was?”

  “Well you do now. Be careful. The sooner this is done the better.”

  Tomas felt a little easier.

  “What about Cirque? Going to take her? It would look better if you did, though I should be telling you not to. I can give you cover.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  No way.

  * * * * *

  Adam stuck to Wren like glue, like a limpet, like a guy who loved her. Do I? Was it possible after such a short period of time? He felt like thumping Tomas for trawling her into this mess and yet he knew without Wren following up on those extra names, they’d have no idea Tomas was a cop. Tomas might not have wanted them to know, but Adam was glad they did. He couldn’t handle thinking about what he’d have done if Tomas had turned out to be a criminal who abused women.

  After Tomas texted that he’d spoken to Marco, was off on a job and would be back at the apartment by late afternoon, he felt a little less worried. But when he’d passed on the message for Wren to phone her father and held out his mobile, she’d looked at it as if he held a snake. He couldn’t help but overhear the conversation, though Wren had phoned her mother not her father. He wasn’t sure Wren’s jolly tone could fool anyone.

  Her mother must have mentioned the money stolen from Wren because he heard the words eighteen thousand and the shriek at the other end of the phone.

  “Yep, he was a bastard, Mum… You were right… I was wrong.” Wren sent Adam a little smile. “Yes, I’m being careful… Yes, I love you too.”

  Adam worked on his laptop at the back of the classroom while Wren taught. He’d taken her for lunch and now she was chattering with her English language students in her last lesson of the day, about favorite films, songs and books. She listened, helped and kept everyone engaged in the discussion.

  Human resources? Adam could do with someone like Wren working for him. Despite most of his employees being geeky guys, Wren would get on well with them. He shifted uncomfortably. Maybe too well. He’d have to make it clear she was taken. Adam wanted them both in London with him. The sooner Marco was behind bars, the better.

  When the last student left the classroom, Adam packed up his laptop and joined Wren at the front.

  “Heard from Tomas?” she asked.

  “He’s back at Dock Street. Shall we join him?”

  “I just need to go to the loo.”

  Adam followed her down the corridor to the ladies’.

  “Coming in with me?” she asked.

  He knew she was joking but he was tempted, and not to check for armed men. The one with a dangerous weapon was him. Wren must have registered the look on his face because her cheeks pinked.

  “I won’t be long. Hold that thought.” She pushed open the door.

  Last night had been the best of his life. A perfect three. Nothing had felt awkward. Adam was as happy to watch Tomas fucking Wren as he was to fuck her himself. There was no pang of disquiet when he watched, just a sense of deep satisfaction and pure pleasure.

  But life wouldn’t be easy for a three. Holding hands in a dark street was okay. Swapping kisses in public was not. Not that Adam gave a rat’s arse what people thought, but he worried about Wren. He smiled when she emerged. He’d decided to bring some of his muscle guys up from London to keep an eye on the three of them for the next couple of weeks. They’d be here tomorrow. One thing was certain, this couldn’t go on. Adam wanted both Tomas and Wren safe. Permanently.

  As they walked past the office, Olive stepped out. “Wren. A word.”

  When Adam made to follow, the stocky woman stood in his way. She looked like a moldy raspberry in her dark splotchy dress.

  “This is private.” Olive glared.

  “I’ll stay right here.” He planted his backside against the wall.

  She’d clearly been waiting for Wren to walk past. What had made Olive get involved with Marco? It had to be money. A way for her to make more and a way for Marco to wash some of his, though he couldn’t launder vast sums through Ezispeke. Most of his money was probably going overseas.

  Wren emerged five minutes later, looking shaken.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve been sacked.”

  Thank God for that. “Oh damn.” He put his arm over her shoulder and gave her a hug.

  He spotted the French woman approaching from the class Wren had just taught and guided Wren away as they walked out of the building.

  “Why?” he asked when they were clear.

  “You want the whole list of crimes? Obtaining the keys to the office without permission, using the photocopier without permission, copying information to which I had no right of access, being late too often, not following procedures properly and calling Olive a rancid, dehydrated beetroot.”

  Adam choked. “Wh-what?”

  “I wasn’t going to walk out without a parting shot, though I’m not sure you can be rancid and dehydrated. Given longer, I could have come up with something much better.” She snuggled against him. “The worst thing was Belinda was with her, ready to console me after Olive dropped her bombshell.”

  “Who’s Belinda?”

  “My cousin. She’s a counselor, except I don’t find her caring and sympathetic. A while ago, I discovered her and my boyfriend entwined naked on my couch. Then she came to work at Ezispeke, and last Saturday the pair married and I had to go to the damn wedding and look happy. I didn’t bother with the looking happy.”

  “You don’t seem very upset.”

  “What? About Belinda and Leo, or getting sacked?”

  “All of it.”

  She shrugged. “They’re welcome to each other. I suppose I don’t really care about losing my job, though I wish I could have resigned. I’m not going to have a reference I dare use. And I feel guilty because there’ll be no jobs for anyone soon.”

  “That’s not your fault.” Adam checked for traffic and they crossed the road. As he turned his head, he thought he caught sight of the Frenchwoman again, her red coat in his field of vision, but another glance showed nothing. He was getting paranoid.

  “Well, it kind of is my fault.” Wren sighed. “I was the one who stuck the stick in the hornet’s nest and poked around.”

  “It’s only a matter of time before everything comes tumbling down. The sooner the better.”

  “My friends won’t think that. This is the largest language school in Yorkshire. Where are they going to get jobs?”

  Adam knew nothing about running language schools, but he knew a man who did. He’d call him later.

  “Can I offer you a job?” he asked.

  Wren smiled. “Do I need an interview?”

  “Did it last night. You were very impressive. Adaptable, flexible…insatiable. A definite 24/7 employee.”

  She laughed.

  “I used to be a terrible boss but I’m wonderful now. I only lose my temper five times a week instead of fifty.”

  “I can’t imagine you angry.”

  “It’s not pretty.”

  Wren squeezed his hand. “Are you serious?”

  “About the job? About you? Absolutely.”

  “And Tomas.”

  “Yes, but we need to work on him.”

  * * * * *

  Tomas opened the door to Wren and Adam and swallowed his sigh of relief.

  “We bought dinner,” Wren said and held up shopping bags.

  When they were safe inside, Tomas grabbed their hands and kissed them on the lips, Wren first.

  Adam stroked his head. “It’s okay,” he whispered.

&
nbsp; Tomas nodded. It wasn’t. Not yet.

  Finally, he relaxed enough to let them go. “Found your phone, by the way. It must have slipped out of your purse in the hall.”

  “Right, thanks.” She shot him a smile but it faded fast.

  “What’s happened?” he asked.

  “I’ve been sacked.” Wren walked into the kitchen area.

  “I bought champagne.” Adam held up a bottle.

  “Sacked?” Tomas perched on a stool and leaned against the counter, watching Wren prepare the food.

  By the time she’d told him, he was seething. “You could have her for unfair dismissal.”

  Wren shrugged. “What’s the point? The place is going to shut down any minute. Adam offered me a job. I’ve decided to take it under one proviso.”

  “You have to have sex twice a day?” Tomas grinned.

  She laughed. “Darn it, I forgot that. Two provisos. The other is that you come and work for him too.”

  Tomas’ heart stuttered along with his mouth. “I-I have a job. I have to finish this.”

  “After?” Wren reached for his hand. “You won’t mind cleaning the office bathrooms? Adam said I can be managing director, so that’s already taken.”

  Tomas chuckled.

  “Is that a yes?” Adam asked.

  “Yes,” he said and felt as though the sun had come out inside his chest.

  “Yippee,” Wren yelled and the reason for the earlier tension became clear. She’d worried he’d say no.

  Even if the three of them didn’t work out, he needed to do something different with his life. Why not take the chance?

  “What happened with Marco this morning?” Wren asked.

  “Jovana was there, but she said nothing about the note or you asking her and the others about those names. Even after Dragen hit her.”

  Wren gulped. “Oh God.”

  “I have to work tonight at one of Marco’s clubs.” He didn’t dare look at Adam.

  “You’re not going on your own,” Adam snapped.

  “My boss will provide backup.” He glanced at Wren. “Marco wants you to go.”

  Adam stiffened and Wren’s eyes widened. “Why?”

  “To see if I trust him.”

  She drained the pasta and gave the sauce a stir. “What does that mean?”

  “Wren stays here.” Adam ladled the pasta into three bowls.

  She poured the sauce on top. “I’ll go. It’s a club. What can happen?”

  There was some truth in that. Marco wouldn’t shit on his own doorstep. Outside the club was another matter. Tomas shoveled food in his mouth. Still wasn’t a good idea for Wren to go. Nor Adam.

  “This is delicious,” Adam said.

  It probably was, but Tomas couldn’t taste it.

  “I’m coming with you,” Wren said. “I won’t go off on my own or with Marco. I’ll dance with Adam, and you on your break. We need to show Marco I’ve no reason to hide, that I’m not afraid nor a threat, and you trust him.”

  Tomas frowned. “He knows I don’t trust him.”

  “No way are you going.” Adam winced under the force of her glare. “Please don’t go.”

  “Tomas?” Wren pinned him with her gaze.

  “Your father will kill me.”

  “He’s going to anyway. Right, it’s settled. I’ll have to go home and get a dress.”

  “It’s not that sort of club,” Tomas said. “The puddle of mercury Adam bought yesterday? The pants he bought for himself. That’s what you need to wear. And that’s why you’re not going.”

  Wren grinned. “Which is why I am going.”

  Adam pushed his half-eaten food away. “Oh crap.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Wren stood in Adam’s bedroom, staring at the silky silver dress. Adam had gone to change in the other bedroom and Tomas was in his apartment putting on his bartending gear.

  “Christ Almighty.”

  She heard Adam’s exclamation through the wall and smiled. Before she could change her mind, Wren removed her underwear and pulled the dress over her head. It slithered down her body and stopped mid-thigh. Without pants, mid-thigh felt very short.

  “Fuck a duck,” Adam moaned.

  Wren laughed and then winced when she saw herself in the mirror. The dress was no more than two strips of narrow material held together by thin chains. It just covered her breasts and butt, and only the tightness across her breasts kept the dress up. She tugged down on the bottom, exposed her nipples and yanked the material up again.

  “Shit and fuck.”

  She glanced at the wall. Adam sounded as though he was having trouble and she looked like trouble. In high heels, with a smear of crimson lipstick and lashes darkened by mascara, she was a different person. Of course, inside lurked a quivering jelly and she couldn’t walk in the heels let alone dance, so she needed to stand in the same spot all night, which would make Tomas and Adam happy. If she didn’t go, it would make them even happier. But she worried what might happen to Tomas if she didn’t show and Adam would have a fit if they went without him.

  “I’m in the hall,” Tomas called. “You two ready?”

  She opened the bedroom door and stepped out. Whoa. Heat pooled low in her belly and the muscles of her sex tightened. Tomas stared, smiled broadly and then scowled.

  “What?” she asked, his changing expression distracting her for a moment from the sexy gladiator-style harness, skintight pants and the growing bulge at his crotch.

  “You’re not going anywhere dressed like that.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” She pouted.

  He frowned and then sniggered, pulled her into his arms and ran his hands down the silver chains at her sides and then onto her bum. “You look fantastic, but I want to rip that dress straight off and so will everyone else.”

  She danced her fingers over his butt and played with the zipper running down the crease of his backside. “What’s this…oh.” A grin split her face and she brought one hand round to tug on the ring hanging over his sternum. “You look like you’re about to step into the Coliseum. Where’s the bit that attaches to here?”

  “In my room and staying there. Talking of the rest of it—Adam!” he called.

  “What?” Adam snapped from the other side of the door.

  “Get out here.”

  “I’m thinking jeans and T-shirt,” Adam called.

  “They won’t let you in.” Tomas grinned at Wren.

  The door opened and he stepped out, his mouth a tight line.

  “Oh wow.” She blew out a breath. No hiding place for Adam’s cock, it was clearly outlined in the pouch.

  “Wow back at you,” Adam said. “Except er…maybe we shouldn’t go.”

  “But you look great.” Wren glanced from one to the other. “Really great.”

  “Turn around,” Tomas said.

  Adam shifted from foot to foot. “This was only supposed to be some fun between the three of us. It was never intended to be worn outside.”

  Tomas’ lips twitched. “Turn around.”

  Adam sighed, swiveled round and Wren’s mouth fell open. His butt cheeks were bare.

  “I look a prat,” Adam mumbled and faced them. “I can’t believe I bought these. I’m going to find a wall and stand with my back to it all night while I hold Wren in front of me.”

  “No you’re not,” she said. “You’re going to dance and show everyone your gorgeous backside. Then no one’s going to notice I’m not wearing pants.”

  They stared at her.

  She rolled her eyes. “You can see I’m not wearing any.”

  “This is not a good idea.” Tomas sagged. “You both look fantastic, but it’s like throwing chum in the water going into Cirque like that. You’re bloody irresistible. Christ, you should see what turns up. You’re too attractive. You’ll stand out a mile.”

  “Maybe that’s a good thing,” she said. “People will remember us. Marco won’t be able to do anything.”

  “Thank God I work in London.
” Adam sighed. “If anyone sees me and I have to sack employees…”

  “Stop worrying about yourself. Don’t let Wren out of your sight,” Tomas said.

  Adam drove them to Cirque and parked a couple of streets away. As they walked to the door, the butterflies in Wren’s stomach fluttered out of control. Funnily enough, being nervous stopped her worrying about the high heels and she managed to walk without falling over. Tomas tightened his grip on her fingers as though he sensed her wobbling mentally.

  “Don’t go anywhere on your own,” he said.

  “You already said that.”

  “Don’t go in the backroom.”

  She huffed. “You already said that too.”

  “And I’m going to keep saying it. If Marco wants to chat to you, make him do it out in the open. Tell him Adam’s an old boyfriend come to visit.”

  Tomas gained them free entry as his guests and with a lingering, worried glance he disappeared through the staff entrance while they headed for the cloakroom.

  “I think I’ll keep my coat on,” Adam said.

  Wren laughed. “You know you can’t.”

  He groaned and slowly worked on the buttons. “God, if any of my clients—”

  “Then you’ll have seen them too. They aren’t going to say anything and you look really hot.”

  Once their coats were gone, they stared at each other.

  “Not moving until you smile,” Wren said.

  She spun round at the sound of a loud wolf whistle and then snorted. “That was aimed at you.”

  Adam spotted a guy in pink leather pants and matching harness flutter his tongue at him.

  She wrapped her arms around Adam and leaned to whisper, “Aren’t you tempted?”

  “Only to throw up.”

  “I haven’t been to a club in years,” she said. “But I think I can remember how to foxtrot.”

  “And I can waltz, so we’re fine.”

  A couple in head-to-toe black nylon walked past them looking like matching shadows and Wren gawped. “Whaaaa…”

  “Zentai suits,” Adam said.

  “Should I be worried you know that?”

  He blinked. “Doesn’t everyone?”