Objection Overruled

by O'Hanlon, J. K.

  A buzzing on her building intercom woke her from a dreamless sleep. A dull light invaded her loft. She looked out the window at steam rising from the streets. The sky glowed greenish gray. Ninety-ninety. It must be at least ninety degrees out and at least ninety percent humidity.

  The intercom buzzed again. Jackie slogged over to the front hall and pressed the button. “Hullo?”

  “Ms. North, Agent Weaver here. I tried calling, but your phone did not pick up. As soon as you can be ready, the US Attorney would like to see you.”

  The US Attorney? It was never good when the Justice Department came knocking, but if the US Attorney here in Maryland was involved, that meant something serious and criminal was going down. Her practice focused on civil, not criminal, cases. For her, dealing with a criminal matter would be like asking a dermatologist to do a knee replacement. What was she going to say?

  She licked her lips and swallowed to get moisture back into her mouth. “Right. If you don’t mind, I’ll jump in the shower and get changed. I’ll be fast.”

  The voice squawked through the box. “I’ll be in the black Buick out front.”

  Black Buick! Guess he wasn’t undercover. That ubiquitous black midsize American sedan was about as undercover as red neon flashing OPEN at a strip club. She couldn’t contain her laughter, however inappropriate.

  After a speed shower, she combed her wet hair back into a ponytail and dressed in business clothes. She grabbed her purse and ran down the stairs.

  Agent Weaver leaned against the black sedan parked in a no-parking zone in front of her building. He was compact and only a few inches taller than she. Either he had an internal cooling unit in that gray suit or he was an alien. Not a bead of sweat pearled on his forehead.

  “Ms. North, I’m Jeff Weaver.” He adroitly whipped out his credentials from his suit-jacket pocket and showed them to Jackie. She caught a glimpse of his gun in the process. Those FBI guys were always showing their guns.

  Jeff was solo. He escorted her to the passenger side. She crossed off “under arrest for federal crime” from her list of worries. The drive wouldn’t be long, but the silence stretched forever. “So, the US Attorney wants to see me, eh?”

  Weaver nodded, his eyes focused on the road, mouth in a straight line.

  “What’s going down?” Jackie asked as innocently as possible, keeping her voice light.

  Weaver’s head and eyes darted quickly in her direction. He shrugged.

  “Right. So, in other words, you’re just playing fetch for the US Attorney.”

  The corners of Weaver’s mouth twitched up in a smile.

  “Come on, Jeff, surely you’re not the US Attorney’s gopher. And we both know this involves Robert Ashe and his buddies. Can you give me a break before I sweat through my shirt and pants and tell me if the Justice Department sees me as friend or foe?”

  Weaver turned the car into the gated access area of the Department of Justice’s building in downtown Baltimore. The guard raised the gate arm, and Weaver guided the sedan into a reserved parking space. He turned off the car and turned to her with no hint of the smile he’d cracked earlier; however, she caught a twinkle in his eyes. “Friend. Maybe even a BFF. Let’s go.”

  “Oh, Jeff, you do have a sense of humor.” Jackie exited the car, relief washing over her.

  The building was sterile and threatening. The agent led her to the elevators and up to the fifth floor. They entered through frosted glass doors, which were etched with the unit’s name: Fraud and Public Corruption Unit.

  Gazes flickered up from desks and around cubicle corners. Numerous figures were discernible behind the frosted glass and vertical blinds, but she could not see details.

  The agent opened the thick glass door. As soon as she walked into the conference room, her stomach fluttered like it did every time she stepped into a courtroom. It was full of suits, men and women, but Jackie’s gaze immediately flew to Brandon, who stood at the far end of the room. He wore a suit but didn’t wear a tie. His unruly hair, now tamed, gave him a professional and intimidating image.

  The butterflies in her stomach settled, but her heart beat so fast her breath caught.

  He was alive. Safe.

  Someone at her arm spoke to her, but the words were muffled to her ears. All she could focus on was him. He smiled warmly at her and lowered his chin just a hair to send his amber gaze directly at her. He winked.

  Warmth spread through her body. She smiled broadly back at him.

  The voice at her right rose in volume. Jackie turned to the familiar-looking middle-aged woman. “Ms. North, I’m Beverly Talley, the US Attorney for the District of Maryland.”

  Jackie shook the woman’s hand. Talley was a legend. She’d survived administration changes to maintain her post as the top federal prosecutor for the Maryland area. She’d turned down numerous offers of appointment for high-ranking jobs at Justice in DC, and her name had even been tossed around for a Supreme Court seat.

  Her hand felt remarkably smooth and comforting. “I’m honored to meet you, assuming you haven’t brought me here to arrest me.” Jackie laughed nervously.

  The US Attorney clasped Jackie’s hand in both of hers. “Not today. I’m sure you know we’re here to discuss the Ashe matter. I’m only here for the press conference. My Assistant US Attorney for Fraud handled this investigation, along with Agent Weaver, whom you’ve met, and they will conduct the briefing. Have a seat next to Mr. O’Malley. We wanted both of you here to coordinate your pending civil case with our criminal charges.”

  Jackie took her seat between the US Attorney and Simon. The players around the table introduced themselves. Most of them were attorneys at Justice or FBI agents. When it came to Brandon, he smiled and waved at her. “Brandon Marshfield, innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.”

  Jackie couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She waved back to him and mouthed a hi. She elbowed Simon, leaned in to him, and whispered. “That’s the expert who disappeared.”

  “I know,” Simon said, then leaned in closer. “If you’re game, we’ll file the motion tomorrow to put you back on the case.”

  “Deal.” Jackie’s cheeks burned. She turned her attention to the head of the table.

  Agent Weaver stood. “We’ve been closely watching Ashe Investments for some time, concerned with some suspect practices. Ms. North, when you filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Kovels and other investors, our investigation took a whole new level. We suspected that the claims brought in your civil suit were only the tip of an iceberg of fraud. When Mr. Marshfield came to us with the Boyers Report, we uncovered the largest Ponzi scheme in Maryland’s history.”

  Jackie struggled to put all of the facts together as the FBI and US Attorney’s office began explaining the investigation. A grand jury turned in a fifty-count indictment yesterday to be announced in a press conference before the end of the business day.

  The door opened, and a tall, statuesque blonde with bright lips and a tight red suit glided in like a model walking the catwalk in Milan. She sat in the empty seat next to Brandon. It was the same woman from the W.

  Jackie’s blood pressure skyrocketed. Veins were surely protruding in her neck. She clutched her hands together.

  Weaver introduced the woman as a special agent from the DEA. Jackie narrowed her eyes and craned her neck around the line of people down the table to get a better look at this special agent and Brandon. Brandon looked right back at Jackie, completely oblivious to the work of womanly art next to him.

  She leaned back in the chair and grinned. The briefing droned on for another half hour. They discussed how the civil and criminal cases would be litigated. It might take longer, but a victory seemed like a slam dunk at this point.

  When the meeting finally adjourned, Jackie rose and turned in Brandon’s direction. She harnessed her willpower not to run to him. With only a few long strides, he was at her side.

  He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine<
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  Brandon held Jackie’s face in his hands. He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her hard. Her mouth opened eagerly. He slid his tongue in and tasted her. Sweet and spicy, as always. Her tongue met his and pushed impatiently into his mouth. She stroked his tongue with hers and nipped at his lower lip with her teeth.

  He pulled away but continued to hold her face in his hands. He pressed his forehead to hers. Nose to nose, he stared into her eyes. “Ready to get out of here?”

  “Please.”

  “I need to tell you something,” he began, but her index finger to his lips silenced him. He jutted his tongue out just enough to lick the pad of her finger, then bit playfully at her fingertip.

  “No biting allowed,” she admonished him. She tickled his lower lip with light brushes of her fingertip. “Can we go?”

  He stood his ground against her tugs. “The blonde woman—”

  Jackie faced him and grasped his hands. “I know. There was nothing between you. I knew deep down when you showed up at Stone’s office. Then you saved me. He almost killed you. I was a fool. A pigheaded cowboy. I’m sorry.”

  He looked into her face, open and trusting. “If I’d been stronger, stood up to Ashe at the beginning, none of this would have happened.”

  She cupped his chin with her hand. “Brandon, I can out analyze you all day and all night. None of it matters now. We’re both alive and neither of us is in jail. And—”

  Her voice caught, and she turned away from him with closed eyes. He took her hand in his and kissed it.

  She opened her eyes and looked deep into his. “And we’re together.”

  Brandon took her hand and pulled her out of the conference room, through the building, and out the front door. A wall of misty rain enveloped them as they cleared the building’s overhang and started down the steps. Crews of media stalked the sidewalk in preparation for the press conference. Brandon pulled Jackie behind him as he pushed through the sea of umbrellas shielding microphones and cameras from the rain.

  The way parted easily. The press was oblivious to them. Thank God he remained an unknown commodity here in Baltimore. He could get used to that.

  Jackie pulled him back. “Where are we going? I am not setting foot on your boat in this weather.”

  His grip on her hand slipped in the rain, but he held tight. “No boat.” With his free hand, he brushed wet hair out of his eyes and blinked away the raindrops caught in his lashes.

  Jackie jerked his arm so hard that not only did he lose his grip on her, he lost his balance, nearly falling down in the crosswalk. After steadying himself, Brandon turned to face Jackie.

  She stood, soaking wet, with her feet planted shoulder-width apart and fists balled at her hips. She was so stubborn. And so sexy.

  “Where are we going?” Her mouth narrowed into a tight line.

  Brandon stood mesmerized in the street. Police whistles blared sharp through the beating rain. A cab zoomed past too close to the curb and splashed a wall of black water up to his knees. Wet wool stuck to his legs; his cotton boxers rode up where he wished they weren’t. Every part of him was wet, and so was every part of Jackie.

  Her hair, pulled back tight, shone in the rain. Makeup-free, her cheeks flushed crimson and her eyes pooled as deep and dark as the puddles on the street. He let his eyes drift south to her white blouse, which the rain had made transparent. The outline of a white bra was visible, but the wet fabric couldn’t hide her glorious, rosy nipples.

  Brandon took the step back up to the sidewalk. He cupped her breasts in his hands and rubbed his thumbs over her nipples to make them even harder. “I suggest you stop arguing with me about our destination and come quietly, or I’m likely to take you right here.” He finished off his warning with a tight pinch of her nipples between his thumbs and index fingers.

  Her solid stance melted beneath his hands. Jackie reached inside his jacket, around to the small of his back, and pulled him close. Her hips pressed into his.

  “Is that a promise?” She ground into him.

  His balls tightened. He slid his hand under her shirt and maneuvered around the underwire’s barrier to hold her breast in his hand. She filled his hand perfectly, naturally. With his other hand, he grabbed her ass. “Don’t tempt me.”

  He ran his tongue over her slick, wet skin from the top button on her blouse to her collarbone and up the side of her neck to her ear, where he whispered, “I need a hotel room. Now. Where to?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” She grinned widely, her eyes shining through the pouring rain. “The Hyatt is a few blocks down. Will that suffice?”

  Brandon rubbed his swollen cock against Jackie’s hip. The sooner he found them a hotel room, the better. “Does that answer your question?”

  She patted his ass lightly, untangled from him, and charged off down the street. Brandon happily followed.

  Jackie led him through the hotel’s revolving doors. The cool, dehumidified air tickled his neck. He couldn’t resist a glance at Jackie’s chest and noticed how rigid her nipples were in the suddenly chilly air. It would be luscious to take one into his mouth.

  He positioned himself behind her to camouflage his raging hard-on. With his right hand on the small of her back, he nudged her forward to the reception desk. Jackie’s blouse was plastered against her body, making the muscles of her back discernable as she walked. He loved her body, which was as strong as her determination.

  “Welcome to the Hyatt. How may I help you?” Although polite and professional, the desk clerk gave both Brandon and Jackie the once-over with her narrow-eyed stare.

  “I’d like a room, please. No, wait, a suite. Is the penthouse suite available?” Brandon reached into his pants to draw out a soggy slab of leather, his wallet.

  The clerk raised her eyebrows at Brandon before turning them back to her computer screen. After several rounds of clicking, she said, “Yes, the penthouse is available. How many nights would you be needing?”

  Brandon turned toward Jackie and stroked her cheek with the backs of his knuckles. “How long will we be needing a room, darling? A week?”

  She edged closer to him, the heat of her body literally steaming in the cool lobby. “I think we should be able to conduct our business in a week.”

  As the clerk’s glaring gaze ping-ponged back and forth between them, Brandon gave her something to gawk at. He bent down to Jackie and slid his tongue into her mouth to kiss her deeply.

  He turned back to the clerk, daring her with his intense eyes to say something, and smiling at the flush he raised on her cheeks. “A week, please.” He slid his credit card across the granite counter.

  “Very well, and your luggage?” She craned her neck.

  “We’ll have that sent over later tonight,” Brandon quickly replied.

  After signing, Brandon pocketed the key cards and pulled Jackie after him in a brisk jog to the elevator. His patience had worn thin.

  Once in the elevator, he slid the room’s key card into the special slot for the penthouse suite but didn’t wait for the doors to close to pin Jackie up against the mirrored wall of the elevator.

  “You know what I love most about the penthouse suite?” he whispered into her ear.

  “It’s big enough for both of our egos and your cock all at the same time?” Jackie rubbed her palm against his erection, setting him on fire.

  “Well, there is that, of course. But mostly I love the uninterrupted elevator ride,” he said.

  Brandon didn’t bother with buttons. Instead, he ripped open her shirt and slid it off her shoulders and down her arms. With a quick flick, he undid her bra from behind and pulled it off. He leaned back to admire her bare, moist skin, breasts full, heaving with her quick breaths. He wasted no time in taking one of her breasts into his mouth, where he rolled her nipple around with his tongue. The fullness of her other breast weighed heavy in his hand.

  He took in a lungful of air and caught her unique scent. It was an earthy, herbal smell mixed with the pungent scent
of the damp fibers of her wet clothes.

  Soft electronic beeps of passing floors alternated with her low moans. Her body stiffened under his hands. She laced her fingers through his hair and pulled his head back with a jerk.

  “We’re here,” she said, with a lick of her lips.

  He backed out of the elevator and into the penthouse, never removing his mouth from her breast. He stood up, squatted slightly and, with his hands on her ass, lifted her up in front of him. She wrapped her legs around his waist.

  Her body rippled against his as she giggled into his wet mop of hair. He strode over to the dining-room table. The misty city skyline was a mythical backdrop on the windows behind.

  He laid her down on the table, stretched her arms over her head, and pinned them there easily with one hand. With the other, he unzipped her pants.

  * * * *

  The rush of adrenaline from the briefing and now being carried off literally by the man Jackie wanted erased any semblance of weariness from her.

  She wanted him and would have him, but first she needed some answers. She wriggled free from his grip and pushed him lightly away. “Why didn’t you tell me everything that night on the boat? I understand you had a deal with the FBI. Didn’t you trust me to keep your secret?”

  He took a step back and stared at her. Frozen.

  “Brandon?”

  “Did I trust you?” He frowned and ran his fingers through his hair. “I wanted to protect you.”

  Jackie sat up. “What about trust? You asked me over and over to trust you. Did you trust me?”

  He paced to the window and back. He stopped and faced her. “I trusted you. I didn’t trust myself.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Everyone I’ve loved is gone. My mom, my dad, Brynn. I couldn’t lose you too. I thought if I pushed you away, you’d be safe.”

  Jackie hopped off the table and walked to him. She stood in front of him and took each of his hands in her own. She let out a short laugh. “Guess you didn’t anticipate me going ape-shit-commando-lone-wolf crazy.”