Remorseless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 3)

by Mallory Crowe

  So why did the whole thing feel wrong? Like the more integrated he got with his actual life, the farther he was getting from her. This was good. She’d told him that nothing was going to continue to happen between them. Why would anything be different now? She was glad, damn it.

  She finally mustered up the courage to hit the intercom button. The elevator would only go up to his room if she had a key card or if he gave his approval. Much more secure than her apartment, which had a broken lock on the front door to the building and no doorman.

  “Hello?” Logan’s voice came over the intercom. Even the intercom was top-of-the-line. At her place, if someone called up, she could barely hear them over the static. Now it sounded as if Logan could be right next to her because of the clarity of the speakers.

  “It’s me, um, Julie,” she said.

  “Great. Come on up.” The elevator doors opened, and she stepped inside. Once they closed, the reflective doors gave her another chance to look over her outfit. Logically, she should’ve worn the same clothes she’d worn during the week: leggings, relaxed shirts, and tank tops. But that morning she’d been drawn to her nicer selection of clothes. The kind of items that wouldn’t survive an indeterminate amount of time in a suitcase. She’d chosen a black and white floral pattern skirt that stopped four or five inches above the knee and a pair of ankle boots that had a heel high enough to elongate her legs and short enough to allow her to walk the distances in the city she needed to.

  On top, she wore a white sweater with a high neck to make up for the amount of leg she was showing. Altogether, the ensemble was perfectly reasonable for a working New York City woman. But considering Logan was going to see her in it, his first time ever seeing her in her normal city clothes, she couldn’t help but feel as if it was something more.

  Was she dressing to impress him? Hell, maybe she just missed wearing skirts. She put in gym time so her legs would look good enough to wear short skirts. This was her reward, damn it. It didn’t have to be to impress some man.

  Then the doors opened to Logan’s apartment and he was there. Her breath caught in her throat. Without a doubt, she had done this to impress some man.

  Logan motioned her inside. “Come on. I’ll give you the tour.” He was wearing the clothes he’d bought while they were out on the road: unnaturally faded jeans and a black pullover. The department store clothes almost didn’t go with the modern decor of the apartment.

  “It was furnished and everything?” Julie stepped inside. The front of the apartment had an entryway with a closet, and connected the two long halls that branched out in different directions. You knew an apartment was large when it devoted space to an entryway.

  “Alex mentioned something about it being a model. The furniture gets the job done.”

  Julie snorted. “Getting the job done” was all high-end pieces individually selected by a realtor.

  He reached into his pocket and handed her something shaped like a credit card. “Figured that if you’re really going to be my babysitter, you should have a key.”

  Before she could again remind him that she wasn’t a babysitter, he had already handed her the card and was turning down the hall, which was decorated with various abstract pieces of art that flowed with the white, gray, and blue color scheme of the apartment.

  “Two spare rooms, an office, and the master.” Logan kept walking until he reached the last door and went inside. Julie did the math in her head. Four bedrooms. What did one person need with four bedrooms? Her apartment had one bedroom, and the thing was so small it hardly qualified.

  She walked into the room he’d led her to, and he gently shut the door behind them. Julie took in the large bed with a gray comforter and the modern black furniture. “Did you just trick me into going into your bedroom?”

  She was answered when his hands slid around her waist and pulled her back against him. Her doubts about his intent flew out the window when she felt the evidence of his arousal pressed firmly against her.

  “I thought we were here to talk about your reintroduction into society,” she said breathlessly as one of his hands slid over her hip and down until he reached the hem of her skirt and slipped under to touch bare thigh.

  “We can talk,” he said into her ear. “Later.” His hand moved up her inner thigh until he cupped her fully, pulling her back against his cock even as his palm pressed against her clit.

  She tried to focus on all the reasons this shouldn’t be happening, even as her mind was clouded with the need to just give in. “I, um, weren’t we doing a tour of the apartment?”

  He adjusted his hand so he could slip his fingers into her panties and into her already wet heat. She reached down and grabbed his wrist, meaning to pull him away, but she ended up just holding him there, steadying herself as her knees became weak.

  “There’s a kitchen. And a big room with a TV. Tour’s over.” He then bit her earlobe to prove his point. Julie’s eyes drifted closed as she fell back against him, letting him hold her up as he continued to play her body.

  He kissed down her neck as his fingers continued their torture. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and she twisted in his arms, dislodging his hands even as she caught his shoulders with her own.

  “Wait,” she said.

  “You don’t want to wait,” he said between kisses as he made his way down her neck, reaching back under her skirt to run a hand up the bare skin of her thigh.

  “Your brother—”

  “Let’s not talk about him right now.” His hand reached her ass and pulled her tight against his erection.

  Words. She needed to remember her words. “He told me something. About Brandon Willis.”

  That gave Logan pause and he pulled his head away from her neck. “He found something out?”

  “The PI he hired got Brandon Willis’s bank statements. He did get a wire into his account the day before he died.”

  “The day before he was supposed to kill me.”

  “The PI didn’t notice anything suspicious about the company that transferred the money, but he told Alex about it. It sounded familiar and he did some digging. Looks like it’s owned by an offshore company that traces back to Tate Gallagher. One of your suspects.”

  Logan removed his hand from her skirt and fully stepped back. “Why am I the last to know this?”

  Julie’s shaking hands ran over her skirt, straightening the fabric as she tried to wipe what had just happened between them out of her mind. “Alex was the one with the relationship with the PI, so he got the report.”

  “And then he chose to call you instead of me.” Logan nodded as he seemed to figure it out. “Alex is worried about what I’m going to do.”

  “Logan—”

  “No. I’m the hothead brother, aren’t I? I do stupid shit that gets me in prison and embarrasses the entire family. So let’s go and punch out one of the richest guys in the city. That’s what he’s afraid of. That’s why he sent you here to tell me. You’re his leash.”

  “He’s not—”

  “I know exactly what he thinks of me, Julie,” snapped Logan.

  Julie pursed her lips together as she stepped forward and put a gentle hand on his arm. “He doesn’t know you, Logan. He’s still your family and he’s still on your side. But he can’t trust someone he doesn’t know.”

  “I need a car.”

  “We can call a cab—”

  “No. I have a service now. Let me get a driver over.” Logan turned and strode out of his bedroom, leaving a confused Julie behind.

  She blinked. Right. He could do things for himself now. “What do you need the car for?” She followed him out of the room and down the hallway to the living area, where he must’ve left his phone. The room had a plush black leather sofa and two recliners on each side, which boxed in the dark wood entertainment center that housed a seventy-inch television and some empty shelves on each side.

  Logan was already calling for a car, so he didn’t answer her questions. She couldn’t let
him confront Tate Gallagher. She glared at him as he spoke, trying to let her disapproval of whatever it was he was doing be known even through the silence.

  “I’ll meet you downstairs,” said Logan into the phone. The joy of living in a company-owned building was that company drivers were always around.

  “Logan, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you need to stop. Please.”

  “I’m not doing anything stupid.” He put his phone into the back pocket of his jeans and picked up the keys on the coffee table, which she assumed were for the apartment. Maybe the electronic key was already in his wallet.

  “Then do you care to tell me where we’re going?”

  He got into the elevator and hit the button for the ground level. “To Declarian Systems building.”

  Julie drew a blank. “Why are we going there?

  “Because that’s where Tate Gallagher works.”

  Julie let out an exasperated sigh. “I feel like we’re talking in circles here.”

  “We’re not talking in circles. You don’t want me to get myself or anyone in the family in trouble. I’m going to be careful. Just a simple walk in and say hello.”

  “Walk in and say hello with no appointment?”

  “An abrupt hello. Come on, Julie.”

  “I just took a major risk to my career to keep this Brandon Willis thing out of the press. Please don’t turn around and punch a billionaire in his own office, Logan.”

  “I’m not going to punch.”

  “Then tell me one good thing that could come out of this trip.”

  The elevator opened, but Logan didn’t move. After a quiet moment, he finally spoke. “I’ve waited for years to figure out who did this to me, to everyone who got hurt in this. Now I have a probable name. I’m not waiting one more second before I—”

  “If you tip him off about our investigation, we might never be able to get him arrested,” she pointed out.

  The corner of Logan’s mouth hooked up in a sardonic smile. “Arrested? There’s never going to be any justice for Brandon Willis.”

  “If we can link him—”

  “This cover-up started years ago, Julie. There’s never going to be enough evidence for Tate Gallagher to get arrested for conspiracy to commit murder. Definitely not enough for him to be taken to trial.”

  Julie opened her mouth to contradict him, but nothing came out. She’d assumed that with Logan’s money and stubborn personality, he could get anything done. But they weren’t going up against a normal person. This was a billionaire too. One who could play much dirtier than, she hoped, Logan would. “Then what are we going to do?”

  He smiled. “We?”

  “Well, you’ve sucked me into this with you. I don’t know if you remember the strangulation thing, but I’m pretty invested in this Tate Gallagher having a very bad time in the near future. I’m on your side. Sometimes I think I’m on your side more than you.”

  Logan glanced at her neck, and his jaw clenched. She regretted she ever brought up the neck thing, considering it was obviously still a sore spot, literally and figuratively, for both of them.

  “Come on.” He hit the button to re-open the now closed elevator doors.

  She followed him even as she racked her mind to figure out a way to convince him to turn around. He said he knew what he was doing, and she’d always assumed he was smart, but she didn’t see how this would have a good outcome. If he confronted Tate Gallagher with no evidence, all he would do was anger him and— It hit her. As Logan reached for the door that led to the city streets, Julie grabbed his arm. “You’re using yourself as bait,” she snapped.

  He pulled free of her grasp and opened the door, where the driver he’d called was already waiting for him. Logan motioned for her to crawl into the backseat first, where he joined her, and the driver shut the door.

  “I need to do this, Julie.”

  “No, you don’t. Let’s go back upstairs. We can talk, have sex, anything you want. I don’t want this to put you in any more danger.”

  He laughed bitterly. “Now you’re offering sex?”

  The driver got in the car before she could answer, but she could feel the blush creep up her cheeks. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t almost banged him upstairs anyways. “No. I wasn’t offering—I mean— This got messed up.”

  “Maybe it’s best if you don’t come.”

  “What? You’re going to be a moron. I need to be there.”

  “This doesn’t concern you.”

  “Of course it concerns me.”

  “Unless you and me are more than a client and consultant, you don’t have a say in it.”

  “But we’re—”

  “We’re what, Julie?”

  Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes darted to the driver, who sat silently up front. Logan sighed and leaned forward, asking the driver to give them a few moments alone. Once he was gone, Logan leaned back and considered Julie. “Listen. I think I’ve been pretty clear about how I feel about you. And I think you’ve been pretty clear that you’re not interested in anything...more. So I don’t think you have any say in how much I risk myself. And, no, I don’t care about your paycheck from my brothers.”

  “Of course it concerns me! I care—”

  “Fuck, Julie, if you say you care about me one more time, I’m going to break the window.”

  Her heart caught in her throat as she started to realize what he wanted from her. What she couldn’t give him. “I can’t— We can’t—”

  “Then I think you should go.”

  “So now you’re going to do something stupid because I won’t go out with you? I’m not going to have you put this on me.”

  “If I don’t go to Gallagher today, would that change anything?”

  “Yeah. I’d be able to sleep at night.”

  Logan started to say something, but his cell phone rang, cutting through the tension of the car. “What is it, Alex?” he said as an abrupt answer. There was a pause; Logan shut his eyes and leaned back against the seat of the car. “Fine. I’ll see you soon.”

  A rush of relief filled Julie. “Does this mean you’re not going to do anything stupid?”

  “It means I have a round of interviews to go through over at Farrell Enterprises. I assume you had something to do with that.”

  The interviews. Alex had sorted out the schedule. “I was going to mention it to you when I got here but I got...distracted.” She tried to keep her cool as she said it, but she could feel heat rush into her cheeks.

  Logan ran a hand over his face. “I’m going to take care of this, but we’re not done with this conversation.”

  Julie didn’t know what to say to that so she moved past it. “You should change before we go. Did Alex send some clothes over to you yesterday? He said his assistant would help—”

  “I got the suit. And we’re not going anywhere. I can handle this without you.”

  She snorted. “This is my area. I’m going with you.”

  “You set it up. If you’re there, then questions will be asked that I don’t want to deal with.”

  “But—”

  “I’ve been interviewed before. I’ll keep it short, light, and not give any of the family’s dirty secrets away.”

  Damn it. If he thought he was going to—

  “Do you love me?” he blurted out.

  “What?”

  “It could be prison messing with me, or it could be my own fucked-up brain, but I’m feeling something for you. Something I’ve never felt toward anyone else in my life. So I’m asking you now, point-blank. Do you love me?”

  Julie’s mouth went dry as she blinked in shock. “I, um, I don’t.” The words felt like sandpaper coming out of her suddenly dry throat. They felt...wrong.

  He ran a hand through his hair in a quick, jerky motion. “Julie, I can’t be around you right now.” He reached out and set a hand on her knee but removed it just as fast. “Think about what I said. About what you want. And if you decide you want to take wh
at you want, you let me be the first to know.”

  Logan opened the door and stepped out of the car. Julie watched him as he said something to the driver.

  She climbed out of the car as he started for his building. “Wait!” she called.

  He turned and that ice-blue gaze raked over her. “Did you change your mind?”

  “I can’t—”

  “Then I need to—” He clenched his jaw. “I need to get ready. The driver will take you home.” Before she could say anything, he disappeared into the building.

  Everything in her wanted to run after him, but she didn’t move. Her job had limits she couldn’t cross, and she’d already crossed so many of them. No. She’d made her choice. It was a good choice. The smart choice.

  So why did it hurt so damn much?

  The man brought the phone to his ear. After three rings, Bossman answered. “I thought you were taking care of things.”

  “I only just caught onto their trail. They’re already in the city.”

  There was a momentary pause. It was never good when Bossman was at a loss for words. “If they’re in the city, Logan is untouchable.”

  “Then don’t touch him. Focus on the girl. Get her alone and get everything they have. Whatever Alecia Willis gave them, I want it destroyed.”

  The man tightened his grip on the phone. “That might not be easy.”

  “I don’t pay you for easy. I pay you to get shit done. Now get it done.”

  The call disconnected and the man put the phone back in his pocket as the woman, Julie Anne, got back into the black shiny car and drove off. But he didn’t have to follow her. Now that they were in the city, bets were that she was going home.

  And he already had her address.

  “Are you sure he’s doing okay?” asked Julie into her cell phone as she climbed the stairs to her apartment.

  “He’s doing great. Whatever you said to the reporters, they’re staying away from the sensitive topics. And I think it was a smart move to stay out of sight,” added Alex. “There would be too many people who might recognize you from the Denver photos. He’s already dodging questions left and right about that.”