8
~ Liam ~
The shock on Addison’s face was delectable.
“Move in? Are you fucking nuts?”
I leaned back in the chair, trying my hardest to keep a smug smile off my face.
I failed.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I said. “It will keep us on top of things and able to be in constant contact. If I hear from the blackmailers again in any form, you’ll be right there to do whatever you have to do to track them down.”
“And what will everyone think? I know you wanted to pretend that we’re dating, but who the hell moves in together when first dating? That’ll be way too suspicious.”
I waved her concern away. “Simple. We tell people we were dating in secret until ready to reveal our relationship to the world. Your moving in is a sensible time to announce that. Secretive dating isn’t that uncommon. I’ve done it many times.”
“Not uncommon for you, maybe, being so famous.” Addison slumped back into her perch on the sofa. “But… I’d be living here! With you.”
“Is that a problem? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but my apartment is substantial. You can have your own bedroom and your own bathroom. I will be a perfect gentleman.”
“But…” She nibbled her lip, eyes falling to the table. “But… there has to be some reason this won’t work!”
I waited, watching as she came to terms with the suggestion.
A gusty sigh announced her resignation. “I guess it makes sense. But we are not sleeping together again.”
“I’m glad you’re on board. As for sleeping together… that’s your rule, not mine. I won’t take advantage of you, but don’t blame me for wanting you. The first time was spectacular, and something tells me the sex will only get better with more practice.”
Addison’s hand tightened on her knee. “You’re the worst. Don’t get me thinking about it. I can still feel last night.”
I smiled but took mercy on her. “Shall we get to business, then? I can show you what I’ve gotten from the blackmailer so far.”
She nodded. “That’s a good idea. I want to see everything. How have they contacted you so far—through email?”
My home laptop sat on a side table. I fetched it and came back to sit next to Addison on the sofa.
“So far, yes. Only three emails. They used my personal email—only a handful of people in the world know it, so whoever they are, it’s either someone I know and trust, or else they stole it.”
Addison tapped into the first one.
“Liam Windsor, I have information that could make you an outcast and rejected by your family and friends, and transform you into a loathed public figure. I have demands that will follow.” She looked at me. “That’s short and to the point.”
“I received that message a month ago. I paid little attention, even though it was sent to my personal email. My time is too precious to pay mind to random threats.”
She frowned. “Sent with ProtonMail. That’s trouble. They provide anonymous, encrypted email services, and I have no active exploits that work against them anymore.”
“That’s not good.” I had little idea how hackers accomplished their goals, but I figured the best ones could do whatever they pleased. News stories about hacks were all over the place—it felt like no data was safe.
“Let me look at the other emails. Maybe there’s something I can use.”
“The second email came a few days after I got the first one. This one made me pay attention, and that’s when I asked James to give my business card to the best hacker he knew.”
She shot me a glance. “So you could seduce her.”
If she wanted to catch me off guard, she’d have to do better than that.
“Just a happy coincidence. I called James this morning to tell him that his hacker didn’t show up last night. That’s when he revealed that I should have been looking for a woman—he let me believe you were a man because he thought it would be funny once I found out the truth.”
Addison pursed her lips, but it turned into a small, tight smile. “That sounds like James. All he told me about you was I’d like you and would get the experience of a lifetime.”
I chuckled. James had been a good friend since our unlikely meeting years ago. “And how’s it meeting your expectations so far?”
She cocked her head, looking me up and down. “I’m cautiously optimistic. Off to a promising start, at least.”
“It can get even better if you let it.”
“I don’t know if you could handle all of me.” She winked when I raised an eyebrow. “Let’s get back to work, here. You said this second email forced you to action?”
“That’s right. In this one, they gave a huge list of dates and locations.”
Addison scrolled through the email. “I don’t get it. These are ten to twenty-five years ago.”
I nodded. “That’s the scary part. It’s like they’ve been tracking my life. I was in all those locations at all those times. Every family vacation, every business trip. I’ve grown up in the public eye, but no one should have been able to gather all that information. Hell, I didn’t even recognize some of these until I noticed the pattern and remembered as hard as I could.”
She frowned. “But twenty-five years ago… there wouldn’t be any GPS records or location services they could hack that would deliver this information.”
“Exactly.” I stared at the screen. It felt like yesterday that I’d made the realization. The hairs on the back of my neck rose from the memory, like someone watched me from a hidden nook behind a painting. “Someone has either been planning this for a long time, or they have methods of getting information they shouldn’t be able to.”
Addison caught my eyes and nodded. “Either way, it increases the possibility they aren’t just bluffing when they say they have information that could harm you.”
“And that’s why I called James. He’s the most honorable person with a complete disregard for the law that I know.”
She laughed. “That describes him to a T. Did you respond to the blackmailers?”
I nodded. “I did. I sent them a response asking what they were threatening me with and asking what they wanted. That’s when they sent the third email. It wasn’t anything major, just instructions to wait until they give their list of demands.”
We sat in silence as Addison digested the information I’d given her. It didn’t take long. She was a quick thinker, and it showed.
“Okay, I can’t promise anything right away. Like I said, just these emails alone don’t give me much to go on. I have no viable exploits for their servers at the moment, but I also haven’t been actively working on any. I’ll have to poke around and see what vulnerabilities I can find. In the meantime, we must wait for more information. Luckily, they won’t be able to conduct this entire operation through encrypted email. There will have to be a money transfer at some point, and they may make other slips. We’ll figure it out.”
I let go of a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “That’s not as immediate as I hoped, but it sounds like you know what you’re doing and this is the best way going forward. I hope this bastard makes a big mistake and we can take him down.”
In my business life, success had come early and often and in overwhelming amounts. Having an obstacle in my path I couldn’t actively work to resolve was a new experience, and not a comfortable one.
I can’t wait to look this asshole in the face when I bring his world crashing down around him.
“I will do everything I can to help,” Addison said. “I have lots of experience delivering justice to the slimy greaseballs of the world. Someone who would stoop to blackmail like this deserves whatever we do to them.”
Her voice shone as she spoke, her passion and morals clear. It was admirable, and not something I often saw in the women I dated.
The deep red hair that had caught my attention the night before spilled over her shoulder like a fall of fire.
“They really do,” I said, a
nd put my hand on her knee. “I’m glad you’re here to help.”
Addison’s lower lip trembled just the slightest amount as she looked at my hand. I lifted it higher, resting it on her lower thigh.
When my thumb brushed the inside of her leg, she sat up and set the laptop on the table.
“Right. I should be going. If I’ll be staying here, then I need to grab my things from the hotel room.”
I let my hand drop to the sofa as she stood. “That’s unnecessary. I can ask Gerald to pick up your luggage. That’s why he’s there.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to intrude. I don’t have much. I could use the fresh air.” She spoke in a fast clip, like she wished she was already outside. “It will help me clear my head.”
I smiled inwardly.
This little game will be fun.
“If you insist. I’ll notify Frederick at the desk downstairs that you are to be let up whenever you wish. He’ll make sure you have access and a set of keys.”
I stood and moved around the couch to stand next to Addison. She looked up at me as I put a hand on her elbow.
She gulped and walked toward the door.
“I’ll be back in a little while. You don’t have to wait for me—I’m sure you have business to take care of.”
I did, but I would much rather spend the time with her.
“I can work from here. I want to be here when you get back.”
We locked eyes for a moment before Addison fled the apartment.
Yes, this game will be very fun.
9
~ Addison ~
The hotel was only a ten-minute walk from Liam’s place, but I took as long a route as I could without getting lost. The proximity between us in his apartment was overwhelming, and I had to regain control.
Not to mention come to terms with everything I’d learned that day.
So Liam is a royal cousin. Not a big deal. It’s not like he’s next in line for the throne or anything.
It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but it still felt like it. The royal family wasn’t a concern in America, but they were still a part of the world that every kid grows up learning about. Modern day kings and queens.
And then that he’s a goddamn billionaire. And not even because of the royalty thing.
I knew little about banking, either, but a billion dollars was intimidating for a host of other reasons. In America, billionaires may as well be the modern nobility.
And Liam is the man James had sent me to help.
That was the crux of the matter. This dashing Brit with the ridiculously handsome face and charming manner was my client. I’d already destroyed any shot of a professional working relationship before I knew who my contact was.
Somehow, I’d let him corner me into moving in with him and pretending to date—the complete, polar opposite of what I wanted.
Don’t lie to yourself, Addison. You want this. You want him. You just know it’s a terrible idea.
The last time I’d mixed work and pleasure, I hadn’t fully recovered from it. And once James fell for his childhood sweetheart, I’d sabotaged him in a bitter moment of jealousy I’d regretted as soon as I did it. If I could sink to such a despicable level, then I couldn’t trust myself or anyone else in case it happened again.
“Fuck. James is totally getting revenge.”
I spoke the thought out loud, and a passing businessman gave me an odd look at the sudden, random sentence.
He even said he knew I’d like him. I didn’t think he meant in this way.
James was too smart for his own good. He knew exactly what would happen if he got Liam and me in a room together.
I couldn’t put off the trip to the hotel any longer. At least the act of packing and checking out of the hotel gave me something to think about other than Liam. Once I hit the streets towing the rolling bags of luggage, my mind was right back at it.
I can do this. Liam needs help. I should concentrate on that.
It worked to a degree. I brainstormed the different methods I could use to crack the encryption protecting the identity of the blackmailer, but every time I paused for a moment, I caught myself wondering what Liam’s favorite food was or how he took his coffee.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, there would be two parts to the job—helping Liam catch the blackmailer and turn the tables, and pretending to be his girlfriend. The logistics of the deception swirled through my thoughts, carrying me outside Liam’s apartment.
“It’s you.”
The voice barely registered, background noise behind the loud thoughts that romped through my mind.
“Hey, you!”
The yell caught my attention.
A woman in a tight black and white dress stood only a couple of feet away. I’d almost walked past her before her shout stopped me. Her hair was a fake platinum blonde color that must have come out of a bottle—it didn’t match her eyebrows.
“It is you!”
I wavered, legs wanting to finish the journey now that the end was so near, but politeness demanding that I at least see what the overly done-up woman wanted.
“Excuse me?”
She pointed at my face, like that would answer my question. “You’re the woman from the red tops this morning, aren’t you? The one who was with Liam Windsor last night?”
I hesitated. This sort of attention was new, and my instinct was to deny it.
If I have to pretend to be dating Liam, I can’t deny it. That’s not what I would do if it were real.
Besides, the woman didn’t look like a psycho. Maybe she just wanted to congratulate me.
“Yes, I am.” I gave a brief smile, unsure what else to say.
Is this what celebrities have to deal with? People just pointing out who they are all day long?
She stepped closer, which closed the distance between us to only a foot. The intrusion into my personal bubble made me tighten my grip on the luggage.
“You stay away from him.”
“Pardon me?”
“Stay away from Liam. He’s bad news.”
Her voice had grown softer.
Torn between fascination and being unwilling to engage more than necessary, I couldn’t help but continue the conversation.
“Why’s that?”
The woman looked around. “Just trust me. You don’t want to get tangled up with him. It won’t end well for you. It never does.”
She struck off in the direction I’d just come from.
“Hey, wait!” I shouted after her, but she didn’t turn back around.
Wow, that was random.
Thirty seconds before, I’d been strolling up to Liam’s apartment building, wondering how I’d be able to keep myself from falling back into bed with him. Now, I stood on the sidewalk, staring after a strange woman, unsure whether I should even return to him.
I could just go back to the hotel.
The longer I stood there, the harder it was to walk the final few steps to the front door of the apartment building.
“Oh, this is ridiculous,” I muttered.
One random woman had said something on the street, but I’d already met Liam and spent a night with him. He was a good guy.
I think.
I finally persuaded my legs to move. After the first few steps, momentum kept me rolling until I got to the door.
“Ah, hello, ma’am.” Frederick leapt out from behind his desk. He snapped his fingers and from nowhere, a young boy appeared. “Let Harry take your bags.”
The difference in attitude from that morning was palpable. I gave the concierge a smile.
“I don’t think that’s necessary. I can handle it. I brought them all the way here. I can get them into the elevator.”
“Nonsense. Harry will take them.”
I stopped, bemused as the boy practically stole the handles from my hands. “Follow me, ma’am.”
The whole charade was enough to make me giggle. It lightened my mood after the encounter on the street,
and by the time Harry left me in the foyer of Liam’s apartment with the pile of bags, the woman’s warning seemed silly.
“Ah, you’re back.”
The man himself appeared around the corner. A couple of hours' absence had been enough for me to forget exactly how handsome he was. Every time I saw him, my breath was taken away. People weren’t supposed to look that perfect in real life—only Photoshop could give that level of perfection.
It made resisting him that much harder.
“Where do you want me to put my things?”
He showed me a large bedroom just across the hall from the master where I’d spent the night.
“This is… nice,” I said. “It’s close to your room.”
Liam raised an eyebrow. “Is that a problem? I can put you in the bedroom in the east wing, but it’s much smaller and not as nice.”
I shook my head. I was being silly. “No, of course not. I was just pointing it out.”
“Right.” He smiled. He knew I was tripping over myself, and he liked it.
Fuck, this is hard. Is this awkward? I’m being so awkward. Why does he have to stand there looking like that?
“Um, I guess I’ll unpack, unless you were planning to stand there and watch me.”
He nodded. “I’ll be in the living room. Join me when you’re done. Just give a shout if you need anything.”
Being alone gave me the space to take a few deep breaths without looking like a complete moron. It settled my beating heart, but it did nothing for the scrambled mess inside my head.
I stretched out the unpacking process for as long as I could, but it still only took half an hour. There were so many hours in a day, and I’d be spending most of them with Liam. I didn’t know how I would handle it without going crazy.
Or without caving and fucking him again.
After my clothes were in dressers and the closet, I grabbed my equipment bag and brought it to the living room.
“Settled in okay?” Liam asked without looking up from his laptop.
“Yes, thank you.” There was a desk in the corner of the room, and I set my bag next to it. “Do you have anything to eat around here? It’s been a while since I’ve eaten.”
Bad Boy Boxed Set Page 19