by Lexi Blake
She had wound her way around his heart like a weed, and she just might end up choking the life out of him if he didn’t do something about it. What could he do? Walk away? The thought churned his stomach. He’d made the decision last night that he couldn’t leave Grace to the wolves. Whatever she had done, he would take care of it. When she realized how much trouble she could be in, she would come to him. When this was over, he would offer her his protection and once she was legally bound to him, he wouldn’t allow her anywhere near this world again. He would get her the best lawyer money could buy, and they would put this behind them. He was quitting and going to culinary school, and Grace would be far from all of this.
He would never, ever, let her know how much power she had over him.
Ahead of him, Grace and her red umbrella turned down an alley. It was a shortcut to the coffee shop. Sean stopped. It would seem weird if someone followed her down the narrow alley. He ducked into the deli next to the alley and bought his own cup of coffee. She would be a couple of minutes. Sean stared out the window and thought about the latest fight he’d had with his brother. Sean had argued that they should bring Grace in and offer to cut a deal with her. Ian had pointed out that they weren’t really in a position to cut a deal with anyone at all. Ian wanted to wait and see what happened. Sean knew what that meant. Ian had a plan, and he wasn’t sharing it with anyone.
The coffee burned down his throat, but Sean welcomed the heat. It wasn’t more than two days ago that he was running after Grace’s afternoon coffee. He’d also spent the day cooking for her and preparing to take care of her when she got home from work. He was such an idiot.
Their relationship would be different this time around. Ian was right. He needed a twenty-four/seven sub. If Grace wanted his protection, she would accept him as her permanent Master. She would wear his collar and his ring.
No, she won’t. She’ll more than likely hit you upside the head with that cast iron skillet her mama bought her, Taggart. What makes you think she’ll come to you when she’s got the ménage boys?
Sean remembered the soft way she’d submitted to him. She might have lied when she said she loved him, but there was no faking her response to him sexually. She’d been so hot for him. She’d been willing to do anything he asked. For all their kinks, Jake and Adam weren’t Doms, and Sean didn’t see how they could ever truly please a submissive like Grace. Sex would be the key to handling Grace.
He would tie her up and let her sweat a little. He was incredibly good with a single-tail. He would crack the whip and tease her until she begged him to take her. He’d think about it. It wouldn’t do to give in too quickly, no matter how much his dick begged for it. He’d leave her on the St. Andrew’s Cross for awhile. He’d use a vibe on her pussy and clamps on those tits of hers. He wouldn’t let her come until he was ready. He would be in charge.
Sean stared out the window as people walked by. Women with umbrellas, kids splashing in the puddles as their moms tried to haul them along, a couple of men rushed by the window. A man in a baseball hat caught Sean’s eye. He wasn’t rushing. He was walking patiently as though the rain didn’t bother him. His face was turned away, but Sean had the vague impression he’d seen the man before. Someone from Grace’s office?
He glanced up at the clock, surprised to see ten minutes had passed. She should have been walking back by now. A little frisson of fear crackled along his skin making goose bumps flare along his arms. Where was Grace?
He chucked the coffee and went back out into the rain. It was coming down harder now. Maybe she was just being sensible. She should wait in the comfort of the shop and enjoy her afternoon fix out of the rain. It made sense. So why was his stomach in knots?
The wind picked up, and Sean watched in dawning horror as Grace’s red umbrella skittered across the pavement. The wind lifted it like a vibrant balloon escaping gravity. It rushed past him before hitting the street and rolling away. Sean ran. His feet seemed as though they were weighed down. It took forever to run the half-block to the little alley Grace had disappeared down. Time seemed ridiculously slow, and then it stopped all together.
Sean felt his stomach drop as he caught sight of the body in the alley. She was face first in the rain, her limbs at odd angles as though the body had tried to move, but discovered the task impossible.
“Grace.” His voice was little above a whisper. He couldn’t find the scream that should have come naturally.
Please answer. Please get up. Please, please fucking wake up. This is a dream, a really bad dream. I’m going to wake up and be sitting in the van outside Grace’s house. Just wake up.
His hands started to shake as he moved toward her. She was so still, and then he saw the strange, red water rush by his feet down toward the storm gutter. He stared at it dumbly for a moment before realizing what it was. Blood. Oh God, Grace’s blood was running down the street and into the gutter.
He ran, stumbling toward her, tears in his eyes mixing with the rain on his face. He hit his knees when he saw the knife in her back. The handle was simple and wicked at the same time. It was buried in her black raincoat. It would have cut through the gray blouse she was wearing today and made its way into her lungs.
She wasn’t breathing. Somewhere deep inside, he knew she was gone. All of his training told him that wound was fatal. Still, he prayed. He didn’t try to take the knife out. That would make things worse, if there was anything left to make worse. In the back of his mind, he realized he should be running after the man in the baseball cap. He’d been the one to kill Grace. He should be up and running to avenge the woman he loved. So why did he sit in the alley crying? Why did this wretched grief shove out all other thoughts? It froze him in place, and he wondered suddenly if he would ever be able to move again.
He couldn’t take it anymore. He turned Grace’s body over. They would find him here with her. They would find him crying in the freaking rain, and he didn’t care. He stared down into her face.
“Grace?”
It wasn’t Grace’s eyes that stared unseeingly up at him. It was her friend, the funny, flirty one who had threatened him with grave bodily injury if he broke her friend’s heart. Kayla. She’d pulled him aside that second day on the job and warned him. He’d been impressed by her ferocity. Kayla was dead, not Grace. Kayla, who was wearing Grace’s raincoat and carrying her umbrella. Kayla, who had pulled her hair back in a scarf to protect it from the rain. He’d mistaken Kayla for Grace. Grace made her way to the coffee bar every day by the same route at the same time.
The man in the baseball cap hadn’t been planning on killing Kayla. He’d thought he was killing Grace. When he realized his mistake, he would try again.
The first call Sean made was to 911. He then quickly made his way out of the alley. No one had seen him. He was sure of that. He made his way back to his car and called Jacob Dean.
Whether Ian liked it or not, Grace was coming in.
Chapter Fourteen
Adam hustled her into the elevator, Jacob Dean close behind him. He held her hand firmly in his. Adam had discarded his jacket and tie and looked casually elegant. She doubted he could look anything else. She’d never seen him in jeans. He squeezed her hand in a reassuring fashion. “Don’t worry about Kayla. We’ll stop by the coffee bar. It’s really coming down. She’ll be happy to not have to walk.”
Grace sighed and slipped her phone back into her bag. When Adam had shown up in Matt’s office to take her to an early dinner, she’d argued that she should wait for Kayla. She’d tried Kayla’s phone twice, but no one answered. She was almost an hour late. It would be easier to just go find her like Adam had offered. It was actually easy to take everything the handsome man was offering her. After the confusion of the afternoon, Adam seemed very solid and welcoming.
Jake stood beside them as the elevator descended, but didn’t look like a man about to have a nice evening out. Jake seemed more tense. His eyes moved like he was searching for something. He had said very little, and Grace w
as beginning to worry that he was angry about something. Maybe he was angry that he couldn’t get a night out with his boyfriend alone. Grace could understand that. Jake couldn’t want a third wheel hanging around.
“You know what, Adam, I think I’m just going to head home. I’ll stop by and find Kayla, and you two can go out.” She offered him an encouraging smile. Maybe he would take the hint. She would miss his easy company, but she didn’t want to come between him and Jake.
“We’d rather be with you, love.” Adam looked up, watching the numbers descend. Now that she looked at him, he seemed a bit tense, too. What was going on with them?
She went up on her toes and whispered in his ear. “I don’t think Jake wants a girl around tonight. You should go and have fun with your boyfriend.”
Adam seemed startled as he looked down at her, and a slow smile crossed his face. He didn’t bother to whisper. “Jake is perfectly fine with having a girl around, love.”
The elevator doors opened. Jake turned to her. “Believe me, Grace, if things were slightly different, I would be more than happy to show you just how comfortable I am with having a woman tonight.”
Whoa. Jake hadn’t sounded like he was joking. His face had been perfectly serious. Before she had a chance to respond, Adam was pulling her along into the parking garage. Suddenly Jake stopped and put up his right fist. Adam’s arm came around her waist, pulling her back into the hard plane of his chest.
“What?” Grace looked around trying to see what had caught his eye. She would protest, but it hadn’t been that long ago that some jerk on a motorcycle had almost plowed into her, and that was in the outside lot. The inside lot had always given her the creeps. There were too many places for people to hide. It was too quiet and gloomy. She almost never parked in here. Now she was very thankful for her escort.
The staccato sound of footsteps echoed through the garage. They were distant but coming closer.
“Cover her.” Jake’s order came out as a low bark. Adam responded immediately. In two quick moves, her back was against a pylon, and Adam was taking up all the available space.
“What’s going on?” She kept her voice low because it seemed like the right thing to do.
Adam’s eyes looked down at her. “It’s going to be all right, darling. Jake and I are going to take very good care of you.”
“I don’t understand.” A tendril of real fear was taking over. What did she really know about these men?
“I’ll explain everything when we can get the hell out of here. I promise, it’s going to be okay now. We don’t have to pretend anymore.” Adam’s body pressed against hers, and his mouth descended. Grace was too shocked to move. This wasn’t a friendly mouth coming her way. This mouth was sensual and had purpose. Adam’s lips closed over hers, pressing softly in. It was so different from Sean. It was sweet, but when Sean kissed her, she felt it in her womb.
“That’s no big surprise.” The cold words startled Grace out of her thoughts. She pushed against Adam because she knew that voice.
There he was standing in front of her, as though the universe had pulled him from her thoughts and made him reality. He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt that was plastered to his chest from the rain. It clung to him, molding his every muscle. His hair was swept back leaving his face stark, with nothing to soften the planes. He was gorgeously masculine, and everything in Grace responded to him.
“Sean?”
His blue eyes stared a hole straight through her. Adam’s arm came back around her waist, forcing her to stand with him.
“Where’s the car, Sarge? I want to get Grace out of here as soon as possible.” Adam sounded different. The teasing, playful tone of his voice had changed to something harder, more competent. “We’ll take her back to our place and hole up there.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Grace pulled away from Adam. Sean was back. He’d come back. And found her kissing another man. That wasn’t good. “Sean, he’s just a friend.”
Sean’s fists were clenched at his sides. Everything about him said “angry man.” It was up to her to soften him. Doms probably didn’t like finding their subs in someone else’s arms. Grace’s hand went to the necklace she was wearing. It might help to point out she was still wearing her collar. She hadn’t had the heart to take it off.
Sean’s eyes flashed down to the little gold heart at her neck and then back to Adam. “Oh, I bet he is, sweetheart. I bet he’s a good friend. You’re not going anywhere with him.”
Sean’s words were icy, but he held his hand out, and Grace took it immediately. She walked from Adam to Sean, placing herself as close to him as she could get. Her hand rested on his chest. She didn’t care that he was cold and wet. A light joy filled her heart. He’d come back. “Of course I’m not going anywhere now that you’re back. Though I should play harder to get than I am. That note was a terrible way to leave me, Sean.”
His eyes stared down, still flinty and cold, but his hand came up and wound its way into her hair. He pulled her head back and crushed her mouth against his. His other hand grabbed her ass and held her to his body, leaving no mistake about his desire. His erection poked her in the belly as his tongue plundered her mouth. Grace let herself go very soft against him. Something was riding her lover, and whether it was catching her with Adam or something that happened in Chicago, she knew he needed this show of dominance.
When he finally came up for air, she touched the line of his jaw. “He really is just a friend. He didn’t mean anything by it.”
“He meant it.” Sean ground the words out.
Adam’s face was flushed. “Of course I did, Grace. I care about you. I care about you a hell of a lot more than Sean does. He gave you to me. Do you understand? He chose to leave you and then told Jake that we had his blessing to sleep with you.”
“Now is not the time or the place to question my rights to my sub.” Sean took a step toward Adam, and Grace wondered if she was going to have to stop a fight. What was wrong with Adam?
Adam didn’t seem to have a sense of self-preservation. Grace could feel the pent-up violence in her Dom, but Adam just moved closer. “Oh, really? Your sub? Don’t you mean slave, Tag? Sean Taggart doesn’t have a girlfriend. He takes a slave. You should know he never keeps one for long, Grace.”
“Jake, if you don’t want your friend to end up in a shallow grave in East Texas, I suggest you get him to shut up.” Sean growled the order.
Jacob Dean’s head swung from one man to the other. “Are you seriously going to do this here? We need to go. Adam, hold your tongue before you make an idiot of yourself. He’s back. She’s made her choice. As for you, you fucking Neanderthal, can we get her to a safe place before you tattoo your ‘property of’ sign across her ass?”
There was too much going on. About three thousand questions slammed through Grace’s head as Sean’s hand tightened on hers. He started to drag her toward a row of vehicles. What were the men talking about? They were speaking in some shorthand she didn’t understand. It made no sense. They barely knew each other. They had only met when Grace had introduced them a few days before. And who the hell was Sean Taggart?
Grace dug her three-inch J Renee heels in and pulled back. It was time to get some answers. “Stop. Why are they calling you ‘Sarge’ and ‘Taggart’? And how do you know them? Why do I need to go to a safe place?”
Sean’s face was set in fierce lines when he turned to her. If he hadn’t had such a tight hold on her hand, she would have backed away from what she saw there. “Obey me. Get in the car.” He gestured toward a monstrous SUV and tossed his keys through the air. Jake’s hand came up and caught it. “You drive.”
Grace didn’t move. Sean’s eyes narrowed on her. “I’m not going anywhere until someone tells me what’s going on.”
“You are wearing my collar, Grace. You will obey me.”
She felt a stubborn look cross her face, her mouth firming, her eyes settling into a steely gaze. “You said that was just for the bedroom, S
ean. We’re not in the bedroom. I want some answers.”
Instead of being reasonable, Sean simply leaned over and grabbed her, tossing her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. Grace felt her world upend and dropped her briefcase as she was held firmly against Sean’s shoulder. “I changed my mind. You’ll obey me, or there will be hell to pay. I’m doing this to protect you, little one. The next several hours will go much more easily if you do everything I tell you. The first order of the day is complete obedience. You will look to me for guidance during the interrogation, and you will not lie. I discover one lie that crosses those sweet lips of yours and you’ll be over my knee. I won’t hold back. I swear you won’t want to sit down for a week after I’m done.”
“Interrogation? What kind of game are you playing, Sean? I don’t want any part of it.” Why was someone going to interrogate her? She was starting to get frightened. Her playful Dom was gone, and in his place was a cold, aggressive predator. The predator looked hungry, and Grace was afraid she was lunch.
“Very nice, Tag. The lady is scared as it is and you offer to beat her,” Adam said, his disdain apparent. He carried her briefcase with him.
Grace heard a car door open and then another. She was shoved into the backseat. The minute her body hit the leather seat, she scrambled, trying to get out the other side. She wasn’t sure where she was going. She just knew she needed to find out a few things before she went anywhere with Sean. It was plain to her that she didn’t understand what was going on. She managed to find the door. Her fingers curled around the handle. She heard a click as it locked, and then Sean was pulling her back. Frustration flooded her as Grace pushed against him. “Let me go or I’m going to call the cops.”
“With this?” Sean held up her cell phone. He must have taken it out of her case. He handed it to Jake, who was starting the car. Adam settled himself into the front seat beside him. “You don’t want to call the cops. Trust me. With the evidence we have on you, they’ll take you into custody immediately.”