by Lena Hart
It was the only logical move and yet Judith’s heart squeezed at the thought of never seeing Carlos again. He was the only good thing that had come into her life in a long time. Second to Prince, she thought ruefully. But while she’d spent most of her time making sure Prince was happy and comfortable, Carlos went out of his way to put a smile on her face and make her laugh.
Then again, maybe it was for the best. Carlos deserved someone who could love him freely, unconditionally. Someone who wasn’t so…damaged.
And, unfortunately, she wasn’t fixed yet.
Maybe she would ever be.
Taking a shuddering breath, she did her best to ignore the pain encasing her heart and instead filled it with resolve.
“Okay, Mary,” Judith said into the phone. “What do you need me to do?”
Chapter Eight
Carlos could barely contain his rage. He wanted to break something, to drive his fist through the textured wall of David Carrone’s office.
Instead, he kept his arms crossed over his chest and stood by the door. He was ready to leave the suffocating office, to drive to Judith’s apartment and shake answers out of her.
He’d been an idiot, letting his feelings for her cloud his judgment and he’d failed in doing his job. And the woman sitting across David’s large desk was testament that he’d failed at his job twice.
“Is that her?” David asked the woman, holding up Judith’s employee photo.
Carlos studied the woman as she peered intently at it. Though the woman was dressed more sensibly today, he still recognized her from last night and from the video footage. Apparently, she and David had history and last night just been a misunderstanding.
Misunderstanding or not, Carlos was not prepared to trust the woman that he’d been suspicious of not too long ago. He would have much preferred to wait for the fingerprints to come in before he believed what she had claimed to see the other night.
Except Carlos didn’t need to hear the woman’s testimony or see the fingerprint results to finally accept what he’d been adamant against not too long ago.
Judith had done it.
She’d lied to him, betrayed him, and he’d let her.
The thought only heightened his rage and Carlos gritted his teeth, his jaw throbbing from the tight clenching. It had all finally clicked for him the moment David told him why Judith hadn’t come into work today—and why she wouldn’t be in for the rest of the week.
“Yeah, that’s her,” the woman said matter-of-factly. “She’s the one I saw sitting behind the desk when I walked in.”
David nodded at her then swung his gaze up to his. Carlos tried to reign in his temper, to keep his expression neutral, but it was impossible for him to do so. His stupidity was too glaring for him to ignore. Part of his anger was directed at himself, for letting his attraction to her cloud his judgment. But the biggest strike to his ego, his pride, was the way he’d made a fool of himself, for wanting her to want him, and talking himself into believing that he knew her when she was just a beautiful, manipulative liar.
“We’ll have to wait until Judith gets back in the office to question her,” David said to him. “Until we have something more concrete, let’s treat this with caution.”
Carlos gave him a curt nod, still too angry to speak. David Carrone didn’t know this yet, but Judith was playing one of them. Hell, maybe both of them. She still hadn’t answered any of his phone calls and hadn’t shown up to work. According to David, Judith had put in a request just that morning for some personal time off. Carlos had held out hope that he had been right about her, that it had all been a misunderstanding, until David had informed him that she was allegedly on her way to care for her sick grandmother.
A “grandmother” she had neglected to tell him about last night.
“I want the Lab to continue their sweep of her computer and have her access to the resort restricted,” David continued.
Carlos gave him another brisk nod. If he was going to fix this mess, he needed to push his anger aside and focus. Telling David what he knew about Judith was not a smart move. Everything she had told him last night could have been a lie. What he needed to do was sift through what was real and what had just been bullshit. And the quickest way to do that was to get it straight from the source.
“Shouldn’t we also verify that she is on her way to California to see her grandmother?” Carlos managed to ask without snarling. David sat back in his seat and looked thoughtful for a moment. “I can take the lead on that,” Carlos added.
“Okay,” David conceded, “but we need to start questioning all those that were here the other night and also start taking a closer look at the security systems so we don’t have another week like this again.”
Carlos clenched his jaw again. “We’ll get started first tomorrow morning,” he said tightly then turned to leave the office. But not before he heard the woman’s whispered comment.
“He’s pissed.”
No, Carlos was more than pissed. He’d been fooled by a pretty face and innocent smile and that was a harsh reality that he had to face. Like a fool, he’d fallen in love and she’d only been playing them—playing him.
Carlos made it into his office and carefully shut the door. He needed time alone, to think. Verifying whether she was on her way to California to care for her sick grandmother was not on his list of priorities because he already knew the answer to that. Nor was questioning those in the video footage. What he needed were answers.
Why had she done it? For money?
He paced his office like a caged animal before he fell into his seat. With a vicious curse, he slammed his fist on top of the desk as he replayed the security video over and over in his head. The image of that red skirt coming into the camera’s view then later again—minutes after the cleaning woman.
She knew Kristensen’s schedule, knew the best time to go into his office. She must have waited until the office had been completely quiet.
But she hadn’t anticipated running into him. Carlos remembered her large, anxiety-stricken eyes when he’d stopped her in the hall that night. At the time, he’d believed it had been the stress of the job, but now he realized she must have been going back for the flash drive.
Had she left it behind on purpose or had that been a mistake? Had she let him kiss her in the supply room in the hopes of distracting him? It had certainly worked.
And last night…
What had last night been? Had it just another way to get him to fall completely under her spell? He didn’t want to think it was. He couldn’t believe that last night hadn’t meant anything to her, that she was capable of faking that kind of response whenever their bodies came together.
Yet, he didn’t know her as much as he’d tried to convince himself he did.
And now she was gone.
The heaviness in his gut spread until he thought he would suffocate from it. She was not answering her phone and he had no way of getting in touch with her and he knew she was running—that after today, he would never see her again.
Carlos closed his eyes briefly, but it did nothing to soothe his burning rage. It coiled around him until he finally erupted.
“Fuck!”
He swiped at the phone on his desk, sending it crashing to the ground along with a flurry of papers.
He ran his hands over his face and through his hair and steeled his rage behind a hard, blank mask. The burst of anger gave him little relief, if only for a moment. What he needed to do now was clear his head so he could think and not screw this up more than he already had. This morning, she hadn’t acted like a woman who was planning to go on the run. Maybe something had spooked her—maybe it had been something he’d said.
Carlos pushed away from his desk and headed out of the office. It didn’t matter. He needed to find her, needed to make her pay for her betrayal.
But a silent, desperate part of him wasn’t ready to accept that she was out of his life for good.
****
Judi
th zipped up her last bag and dragged it to the front of her apartment. It was late afternoon when she had finally completed everything Mary had instructed, though with a few exceptions.
Mary had told her not to have any more contact with anyone outside the Agency, not even her job. She’d assured her that they would settle everything with her employers once they had her at a secure location, but Judith couldn’t do that to her boss. This week was a crucial week for them and David Carrone had always been good to her so she’d called in for her personal time and arranged for another assistant to cover for her.
That had been the easy part.
The hard part had been ignoring all of Carlos’ calls. He must have wondered why she hadn’t come in to work today. She had fought with herself to let them go unanswered, but she had wanted nothing more than to speak to him one last time, to assure him she was fine. She hated that she had to leave him like this, that she wouldn’t get to say goodbye, but he would only insist on coming over and possibly ask questions she wouldn’t be able to answer. Ending it this way was for the best.
After last night, it would be next to impossible to forget him and she didn’t want to leave knowing he would wonder about her abrupt departure, wonder if their night together had meant nothing to her because it had meant everything.
She was surprised by the tear that trailed down her cheek and quickly wiped it away.
“Okay, Judith, pull it together,” she muttered to herself. But her heart was still heavy and nothing she could do would ease her desolation. All she wanted at that moment was to be with Carlos.
She sighed, accepting that it was no longer a possibility. And it was for the best. Though, she would never be able to forget him, maybe this was a chance for him to find someone more deserving.
She paused for a moment and surveyed her once small, neat living room. It was now crowded with her things. Everything she had once owned was in bags and whatever large containers she had managed to find around her small apartment. Her things would come to her once she was settled in her new place. That had been another thing Mary had assured her.
For now, she would be leaving here with what clothes she’d managed to pack in the large suitcase. The Agency had arranged for her to stay in a motel just outside the city until they were ready to relocate her. Her only dilemma now was Prince.
With everything so uncertain, it was best that she brought him to a shelter where he could find a more stable home. Looking at the orange, long-haired Siberian lying stretched out on the small couch, however, she couldn’t bear to part with him too. He was the only constant she would probably ever have in her life.
She grabbed the large tote bag and his head lifted when he saw her approaching. Past experience, and the faded scratch marks on her arms, had taught her to feed him calming treats before she attempted to put him in any carrier. Since the traditional cat carriers sent him into a fit, the tote bag was the best alternative.
Evidently, her cat still disagreed. He jumped off of the couch and dashed into the bedroom.
Judith sighed and followed behind him. “Come on, Prince. It’s time to go.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, a hard knock came to her door. Judith froze for a moment, a million dark thoughts and possibilities swarming in her head. Did he find me?
But she quickly dismissed the thought. Mary had informed her that part of Ken’s parole required that he remain in California in a Halfway House. Besides, Ken had been released for about a week now and she hadn’t received anything from him. No phone calls, no letters. Maybe he was rehabilitated from his sick obsession with her.
She very much hoped so.
The knock came again, this time louder, and she took ginger steps toward the door.
“W-who is it?” She could have looked through the peephole but years of caution kept her feet planted a few steps away, keeping distance between her and the other person on the other side.
“Judith, open up.”
Carlos.
For a moment, a wave of relief and joy so great rolled through her it almost made her lightheaded. It was immediately followed by uneasiness and she bit her lower lip. Why is he here? She couldn’t face him now. She didn’t want to continue lying to him.
“Now, Judith.”
Her uneasiness transformed to fear at the hard edge in his voice and a tremor passed through her. She’d never heard it from him before, but she recognized the sharp bite of a man’s anger. Then the cold realization hit her.
He knows.
She thought against opening the door, but nothing good would come out of ignoring him. And he was clearly a man who didn’t take kindly to being ignored.
With hesitant fingers, Judith opened the door and sucked in her breath. The man who stood before her wasn’t the same man who had spent two months wooing her with humorously absurd pickup lines—or who had spent hours last night loving her with spine-tingling passion and tenderness.
His face was hard mask of fury and loathing. He stepped into her apartment and she moved back, giving him a wide berth. She shut the door and slowly turned to face him again. Whatever memories they had created, was now as vague and bleak as his cold, dark eyes.
Unable to take his harsh glare any longer, Judith glanced away. Perhaps if she tried to placate him, make him understand, then he would leave her be. She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone, least of all him. But he wasn’t hurt. He was furious. And she didn’t know how to handle him when he was this angry.
How was she possibly going to convince him of anything when he was staring down at her like…like he couldn’t stand the sight of her.
But no matter how angry he was, she needed to remember that he would never hurt her. Carlos Moreno was nothing like Kenneth Tate.
Yet with the hard set of his jaw and his deeply furrowed brows, the distinction was harder to make.
Judith took a deep, unsteady breath. She needed to apologize, needed to try and convince him to let her disappear then…
Then what?
****
Carlos held himself still as he stared down at her. Even now, after everything he knew about her, after all her lies, he still wanted her.
The way her jeans molded around her hips and thighs were distracting. Memories of those thighs cradling him sent a sharp need surging through him. But it was the look in her eyes that forced him back into the reality of their situation. Her hair was clipped back and her face was bare of any make-up, like it had been last night. She had an innocent, vulnerable look about her. One that made him want to fold her into his arms and keep her safe.
But he wouldn’t be swayed by her solemn, wide doe-eyes. Not anymore. Yet, he couldn’t stop the low, gruff words that burst out of him.
“Damn it, baby, why?”
She winced slightly but still refused to look at him and for a brief moment, he hated her. Hated this weakness he had for her.
Carlos took a step toward her and she backed away. That annoyed him to no end. Then he noticed the large suitcase by the door as well as the bags and packed containers around the small apartment. She was really going to just leave.
“That didn’t take long,” he said harshly. “Did you wait until you had the door locked behind me to start packing?”
He felt like a fool. He’d spent the last two months chasing after her like some lovesick puppy when she’d plainly had her own agenda. And the shit he’d said last night and this morning—asking her to meet his family, wanting to see her again tonight when she clearly had no intentions of sticking around.
Running his hand through his hair, he shook his head, frustration and anger making it hard for him to even look at her.
“Where are you going, Judith? And don’t tell me it’s to see your sick grandmother,” he snapped. “Unless you lied to me about that too.”
She stared at him with wide, haunted eyes, saying nothing. He wanted her to say something, to help him make sense of what the hell was going on—and what last night had been all about. While he�
�d been staggering from the intense pleasure of being with her, she had been planning to disappear on him?
“Why’d you spread your legs for me last night?” he asked gruffly. “If you wanted to steal from the company, you didn’t need to sleep with me to do it. You already had me wrapped around your damn finger.”
You still do.
That thought only amplified his anger. He clenched his teeth against the unfamiliar tightness in his chest. If this was what a broken heart felt like, he resented the feeling—resented letting himself get duped and allowing her to make him feel this way.
Still, she remained quiet and her silence grated at him. She simply stared at him and he could see her withdrawing from him. Not physically, but it was plain in the hollow distance of her eyes. She may be accustomed to hiding behind that shell he’d tried for months to break down, but he wouldn’t allow her to hide behind it now.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he barked, coming to stand in front of her. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to pull away and avoid this. You owe me answers. Now, God damn it, talk to me!”
She shook her head, the movement slow and jerky as her eyes eclipsed her face. She obviously didn’t trust him enough to tell him or she was too guilty to be honest with him. Either way, his anger reached its tipping point.
She tried to take another step away from him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. To his surprise, she yanked her arm from his grasp.
“Let go of me,” she shrieked then shoved at his chest with all her strength. The action forced her back, but she was trembling with anger. And fear? Her dark amber brown eyes were stark with it.
Carlos stared down at her, stunned.
“Judith, what…?” He reached out to her, but she jerked back, glancing down at his hands, her body tense and braced. For what? For him to hit her? He was almost too shaken for words. “Do you think I’m going to hit you?” he asked incredulously.
She flinched slightly at the harshness in his tone, but he couldn’t keep the furious hurt at bay. Did she think he was that big a bastard to deliberately hurt her like that? Based on her silence and the wariness in her eyes, she did. It was clear to him then that she didn’t trust him. For some reason, that upset him the most. Everything he’d done to win her over, the time they’d spent in each other’s arms last night, he knew now meant little to nothing to her. If she thought he was capable of that kind of violence toward her, she clearly thought less of him.