Touching The Boss (Billionaires In The City Book 5)

by Mallory Crowe

  Before he could say anything, she slung her backpack over her shoulder, set it on the floor and knelt next to it. She unzipped the bag and pulled out a manila folder. “Take a look at this.” She stood and pressed the folder into his chest.

  He did as she said and let out a whistle. “Well. That’s a lot of money.”

  “That’s not an offer for honest employment. That’s an offer that will end up with me behind bars.”

  “You don’t think you’re good enough to not get caught?”

  “I think that when you take up an offer like that, greed eventually takes over. And greed is what gets good criminals caught.”

  “Good criminals?”

  She grabbed the file back. “You know what I mean.” Tucking it back into her bag, she tightened her lips. “Makes me wonder what you’re doing with people like that. It’s not like you’re wanting for money.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck and considered her. She talked a good game, but it would be hard for most people to turn that much money down. “How much do you know about my family?” He moved past her and led her through the entryway and into the living room. He took a seat on the leather recliner, but Lori remained standing.

  “Not much. The orientation talked about your father starting the company and the transition when you and Luke took over after his death.”

  “That’s my immediate family. But I have cousins. Emma and Joslyn. Have you heard of them?”

  She took a nervous gulp. “Well, everyone’s heard of Joslyn.”

  His lip curled. After Joslyn tried to murder Victoria Green, every tabloid in the country became ravenous for details on his family. “Luke and I knew she was a plague on the family. For the sake of Emma, we tried to play nice. But once she was arrested, other details came out. Other people she’d been involved with.”

  “Like our friends Ken and Hunter?”

  “Them and more. She blackmailed their organization, claiming she had damning information on their group. They threatened Emma if they didn’t get it back. Except it was all a lie. Joslyn had nothing they wanted and there was only one way to convince them we could be trusted.”

  “By going into business with them.”

  “Today was a test of our loyalty, which we passed.”

  Lori pushed a tendril of dark hair behind her ear as she eyed him. “You’d risk millions of dollars to protect your cousin.”

  Michael pushed himself out of his chair and moved to stand in front of Lori. “You have no idea what I’d do to protect my family.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Lori forced herself to hold her ground as she stared up at Michael’s intense gaze. It was a good story. The poor, innocent protector. Left with no choice but to get involved with the devil. Assuming anything he was saying was true.

  “So tell me,” he said. “Are you still going to wage war with me?”

  She frowned. “I never wanted a war.”

  He raised a brow. “Really? You call me on my private number. You threaten me. What exactly is it that you wanted?”

  For the briefest moment, she thought his gaze dropped to her lips, but in a flash, it was right back to her eyes. “I want…” She broke off as she realized she had no idea what she expected to gain by coming here. By confronting him. “I want to be left out of this. I don’t like being a pawn in your little game and I don’t like being used.” And she wanted him to look like a normal freakin’ person and not some model who stepped out of an overly sexy perfume ad.

  She’d thought he looked good when she’d first seen him at the office, but that was nothing compared to seeing him in his home. On his territory.

  Michael still wore his dress slacks and white buttoned-down shirt, but the tie and suit jacket were gone. Instead, his sleeves were now rolled up and exposed the bottom of his forearms, strong wrists and hands that made Lori’s mind trail off in a much dirtier direction….

  “I didn’t know what they were going to do. They said they’d need someone with a technical background right before they showed up and didn’t tell me anything else.”

  “It’s a tech company. There are literally hundreds of people who you know much better than me who you could’ve called up to that room.” She held her breath as she waited for some plausible reasoning.

  He clenched his jaw tightly before he finally answered. “I picked you because you’re so isolated.”

  She took a step back. “Isolated?”

  “I don’t mean—”

  “I know what you meant.” No one to run to. No one to confide in. He knew they wouldn’t call someone in at the last minute unless it was to do something questionable. And, hell, he was right. She was all alone… “But how did you know? As far as I knew, before today you didn’t realize I existed.”

  “I realized—”

  “Please stop lying to me. You promised the truth.”

  “One of Luke’s people told me to ask for you.”

  “Which one?”

  “I didn’t ask. It was a busy morning.”

  He was lying. She didn’t know much about Michael, but she could tell he was the questioning sort. Especially when it came to something as important to him as family. Unless he was lying about that too. “I think we’re done here.” She turned on her heel and reached down to grab her bag.

  “Wait,” he called from behind her. Or ordered.

  It didn’t matter. She was done listening to him. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door, but before she made it, his hand was on her arm and he twisted her around to look at him.

  “Lori, I need to know what you’re going to do.”

  She stared intently at the ground, unable to meet his gaze. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He tilted her head up to face him and she practically jumped at the unexpected touch of his fingers on the bottom of her chin.

  “You can’t go to the police, Lori. These people, whoever they are, can’t be given any reason to doubt me. If they do, I’ll be given more tests and more innocents just like you will be pulled into my mess.”

  She finally forced herself to meet his gaze. “They showed up at my apartment, Michael. What am I supposed to do?”

  “Go home. Forget it happened. Don’t accept their offer. They’ll leave you alone and you can forget all this.”

  It all sounded so reasonable and logical, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it wouldn’t be that easy. “And if they don’t leave me alone?”

  “Then come to me. If you keep quiet, I’ll consider that a favor, and I always repay favors.”

  A favor owed to her by Michael Devereaux? That was no small thing. If she played her cards right, that would be worth much more than any big payday offered by whoever the hell Hunter worked for. They made a mistake by offering her piles of cash and expecting her to compromise her morals. She knew enough about hacking that she could get much more money on her own than she could working with someone who would probably end up getting her arrested.

  But Michael had connections to places no Internet port could ever get her to. In reality, there wasn’t a choice. She couldn’t go to the police because she had nothing to offer. There was no physical evidence to prove she was forced to do anything illegal, and it would be her word against some very powerful people. “Fine. My silence in exchange for a favor.”

  He smiled down at her and she had to force herself to look away from those hypnotizing golden brown eyes. “You don’t have to look so happy about it,” she muttered as she took a step back.

  “I always look this happy when I get what I want.”

  “And I’m guessing you always get what you want?”

  He moved ahead to open the door for her. “Not always. But most of the time,” he admitted.

  She stopped in front of the door. “Then I suppose you’re a good one to have on my side.”

  “Consider yourself family. And you know how I feel about family.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Lori frowned at the dark green dress laid out on her bed. She
knew she could be flighty, but she definitely hadn’t left that there before she went grocery shopping that morning. “Quinn? What are you up to?” she called from her room.

  Quinn appeared in the doorway, mischievous grin on her face. “I was digging through my closet and saw that. I thought it would look fantastic on you.”

  Lori picked up the tiny, tiny dress and held it up to herself. “This made you think of me?”

  “Don’t give me that look. You have to try it on before you judge. Besides, your blue eyes with that green will look amazing.”

  “The color is nice,” conceded Lori. “But I know you didn’t just randomly decide to take pity on me and give me clothes. What’s going on?”

  “Well, I do have a favor to ask. But the dress is a gift and is in no way, shape, or form a bribe, okay?”

  Oh great, More favors. “What did you have in mind?”

  “My date for the cocktail party tonight at the magazine canceled. I was hoping you’d come with me.”

  “You’re one of the most confident women I’ve ever met,” said Lori honestly. “Why do you feel like you need a date?”

  Quinn looked as though she was about to argue, but at the last second she smiled. “You’re right. I thought this might be a good chance for you to get out there and meet a few people, but I will be fine on my own. But do keep the dress. I really think it will look amazing on you.”

  Michael’s words came back to her in a rush. Isolated. No friends. No family. Just her and a roommate who she had nothing in common with. And that wouldn’t change if she kept on doing the same thing. The closest thing she’d had to a date was her short conversation with Michael Devereaux the night before, and if that was all it took to fuel a restless night of X-rated dreams about a man who she really should be hating, it was a definite indicator that she needed to get out more.

  “Is this, like, a big party?” She ran the material of the dress through her hands.

  A spark of victory lit in Quinn’s eyes, but she still played coy. “No. Not big at all. It’s a day thing, will be over by seven or eight, no loud music, no crowds. It’s perfect for you. All you have to do is be my arm candy.”

  Lori shot her a skeptical look. “You know ‘arm candy’ isn’t exactly my specialty, right?”

  “Don’t worry about me! This is about you, okay? Getting out there. Dressing up. Having fun. You can talk to as many or as few people as you want, get some free drinks.”

  Well, when she put it like that, it was hard to refuse. “What is this really about?”

  Quinn was a master manipulator and even she couldn’t hide the momentary guilt that flitted across her face. “I saw your resume. On your computer. I snooped.”

  Damn it. “Quinn, I swear I’m good for my half of the rent. I’m just sending a few feelers out there.”

  Quinn shook her head. “No, no, no. I’m not mad or anything. It just sucks that we live together, but I know hardly anything about you. If you’re having trouble at work, you should be able to talk to me about it. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be closer. We’re both young. Both hot. Both single. We should own this city by now, not just be sharing space. Girl power, you know?”

  Lori snorted. “You think I’m hot?” Sure, she was pretty enough, but Quinn’s killer body combined with amazing fashion sense and the willingness to suffer unimaginable pain for beauty put her leagues ahead of Lori.

  “You have the basic foundation of a hot girl, okay?” Quinn giggled. “Come on. Party with meeeeee.” She put on a pout. “You’ll have fun. If you don’t, I promise I’ll do something you want to do next weekend.”

  That was all well and good if there was anything Lori liked to do besides binge watch TV on the computer. And with that depressing thought, it was decided. “How long do I have to get ready?”

  “Yay!” Quinn squealed. “I’m so excited! I have a cab coming to pick us up in two hours, so that should be enough time.”

  “Plenty. It will only take fifteen minutes or so.”

  “Normally it would only take you fifteen minutes. Today it’s going to take you two hours.”

  As though Quinn had timed it down to the minute, Lori was only just finishing looking at herself in the mirror when the cab called to say they were waiting.

  All in all, the makeover wasn’t quite as terrifying as Lori expected it to be. Namely, she was ecstatic that Quinn didn’t try to get her into the five-inch heels the petite blonde always seemed to wear. Instead, she dug out some ankle boots from the back of Lori’s closet. They weren’t super fancy, but they did give her an extra inch or two and made her legs look longer.

  Though it was really the super short skirt that made her legs look twice their normal length. Lori seemed to recall that the dress code in high school required shorts and skirts to go below the middle finger when hands were held straight down at the sides. Well, this dress didn’t even make it past her pinky. The only saving grace for her modesty was that it wasn’t a tight fit. A belt cinched the fabric around her waist and the skirt flowed out over her hips. When Lori voiced her concern that a strong wind would show everything to everyone, Quinn recommended she wear boyshort-style underwear.

  It didn’t make Lori feel better.

  She tugged the hemline down farther and took a moment to appreciate the manicure Quinn had given her. The color was the same dark green as the dress. Really, it wasn’t the most feminine color palette, but the short skirt and painted nails were unmistakably womanly.

  “Shouldn’t we be going?” called Lori to the noticeably missing Quinn.

  “Hold on! I’m just looking for…” She trailed off even as her footsteps came closer. “Here. Put this on and then we can go.”

  Lori took the shining gold necklace from her and slipped it over her head. “A fake claw?”

  “It’s a horn,” said Quinn.

  Lori twirled the curving pendant in her fingers. “So a fake horn then?”

  Quinn rolled her eyes, but smiled. “It’s edgy! You’re doing edgy today. That’s your look. Own it.”

  “I feel like I’m playing dress-up.”

  Quinn let out a laugh. “You are. This is what I do every day. I pick a personality—edgy, eccentric, romantic, classic—and then I dress up for the part. Every day, I’m whoever I want to be.”

  Lori grinned. “That almost makes it sound worth all the effort you go through.”

  Quinn took one second to fluff Lori’s straight hair around her face. Lori had been worried Quinn was going to try some sort of curling experiment, and those always ended in failure. Lori’s stock-straight hair only curled if a metric ton of hair spray was poured on, and then she felt as if her head had been transformed into a lethal weapon. But all Quinn did was blow dry while she brushed it out to give extra volume and spray it with something that gave the black locks an extra amount of shine. To be honest, it probably looked better than any salon style she’d ever gotten done.

  But she supposed there was a reason Quinn was getting job offers thrown at her left and right.

  “You look amazing,” she gushed.

  Lori wasn’t sure whether it was a compliment toward her or Quinn taking pride in her hard work, but she still smiled. “You did good.”

  “Hell yeah I did. Now come on. The cabbie is going to kill us if we wait another second.”

  Lori grabbed her bag and followed Quinn downstairs. It was a completely different experience walking down the streets like this. Instead of fading into the background, heads actually turned for their short walk from the building to where the cab waited.

  Sure, those looks were probably for Quinn, whose skintight neon pink dress and bright green heels were designed to get attention, but it was still different than Lori walking the streets in ill-fitting jeans and a hoodie.

  The cab came to a halt in front of an older-looking building. Even though the brick was aged and there were a few cracks in the detail work along the sculptures along the ledges, once Quinn and Lori were inside, it was obvious the place
was well maintained and that preserving historical accuracy was a priority. Lori bet that most of the fixtures and details she was passing as Quinn led her to the elevator were originals.

  “Where are we going?” asked Lori as Quinn hit the button for the top level.

  “It’s a rooftop thing. The magazine is throwing a networking party. It’s how we rope in new advertisers. Our current clients are invited to enjoy free drinks and enjoy the company of a few models, and if they bring guests who might do business with us, they get a deal on their next promo they run with us.”

  “So why are you here? Last I heard, you weren’t in marketing.”

  Quinn gave her a sympathetic look. “Everyone is in marketing these days. Believe me. But it’s a requirement that interns go to at least three of these corporate events. It ups the pretty girl quota, but really they’d have to pay me to keep away. The networking opportunity is too important to pass up.”

  The elevator doors opened and Lori couldn’t help but feel a stab of jealousy for her roommate. Quinn seemed excited and eager to go put herself out there, whereas even thinking the word “networking” made Lori feel sick to her stomach. “I’m assuming you’ll put this whole friendship thing on hold if I end up throwing up on the guests, right?” she whispered as they followed the short hallway that led to the rooftop.

  Of course, the wind immediately whipped around Lori’s bare legs, but the material of her skirt miraculously stayed in place.

  “Told you so,” whispered Quinn with a smirk.

  Lori scanned the room and took in the guests. The models stood out fairly obviously, mainly because they towered over the rest of their guests. But most of the rooftop was dominated by middle-aged men. “Why are all the men completely covered while the women are half-naked?” Even she had almost all her leg exposed while the guys wore suit jackets over casual shirts and slacks.

  “Because you have nicer legs than them.” Quinn winked.

  Lori let out a laugh. Okay. She could do this. “So you want to start making the rounds and I can follow you around like a lost puppy?”