Sweet Seduction Sacrifice

by Nicola Claire

  "Pleased to officially meet you, Ms Cain," he replied, not offering for me to call him Dominic.

  I pulled my hand back and used every ounce of strength I had not to rub it against my trousers, but I did flex it. His eyes shot down to the movement then back up to me, then he leaned back on his chair and took a sip of one of the coffees, completely at ease and relaxed.

  "Not bad," he said with a cock of his head. "Delicious, in fact." For some reason I got the impression he wasn't talking about the coffee.

  I blinked and turned back to Finn, who was watching Anscombe with a strange look on his face, contemplative and if I wasn't mistaken, a little peeved. He turned to face me and the warm smile replaced the slight frown of before. Then he began introductions to the rest of the top of the hot-rush brigade.

  "This is Nick Anscombe of Anscombe Securities and Investigations," he pointed to a dark haired, military cut, buffed man, who had to be closely related to god-like Anscombe of the senior partner persuasion. He was maybe a couple of years younger and definitely a little more rugged than his doppelgänger, and dressed all in bad-boy black. Black jeans, black long-sleeved Tee, thick black belt with several devices attached, including, to my horror, what looked like a gun, and thick soled black biker boots on his feet.

  "Are you related to each other?" I blurted, runaway mouth engaging and it would seem brain disconnecting at the same time. "Aside from the name, of course, you look kind of alike. Except you're a little more relaxed looking than Mr Anscombe," I added, then cringed at Anscombe's harsh cough-which-could-have-been-a-laugh to the side. "Not that your suit's not nice," I felt compelled to add, turning to Anscombe. Jeez Louise, shut up! "It's just not very relaxed looking." Oh dear God, kill me now. I pursed my lips tightly together.

  "I don't always wear a suit," Anscombe replied, his eyes flicking over my not-sexy-at-all work uniform. Yeah, I deserved that obvious assessment. I nodded, accepting the reprimand as it was given and turned back to Nick Anscombe of Anscombe Securities and Investigations.

  He was smiling at me, it was stunning to say the least.

  "My brother is a little stuck up in the dress department," he offered and Anscombe made that coughing sound again to my side. I didn't turn my attention to him, but kept it locked on Anscombe junior. "Although he has been known to wear black at night," he added and this time the cough was definitely a laugh, but I couldn't see why.

  Finn interrupted the conversation, thankfully, introducing the man sitting next to Nick. He was well built, broad shouldered and had scruffy short brown hair and chocolate brown eyes and skin. He was hot, as in bad-ass hot, more so than Nick, if that was possible. His jeans were tattered and faded, his T-shirt, again faded, had an ACDC logo across the front. His belt had more gadgets, but all of the pouches and holsters holding them were well worn and looked well used. He had obvious dark stubble along his jawline, which just made the bad-boy image intensify and his grin jaw droppingly gorgeous.

  "This is Ben Tamati, who works at ASI." I guessed, ASI meant Anscombe Securities and Investigations. I nodded, noting that neither Nick or Ben had offered to shake my hand, I wondered if that was just the done thing in the circles they ran in, or whether they had been scared off by Anscombe senior's efforts and my embarrassingly bizarre reaction to them. I somehow knew I was an open book to these people, they seemed to be seeing right through me.

  "Nice to meet you all," I answered, trying to remember my manners and the fact they were drinking coffee in my establishment. "I hope you enjoy your coffees," I added, picking up the tray, belatedly realising I'd flashed them with my top again, and pulling myself upright and getting ready to run. I was so redesigning our uniforms this weekend.

  "We actually came in to see you, the coffee is a bonus," Finn was saying, forcing me to turn my body back to face them all. I had already taken the first step to freedom, but at his words felt trapped and the beginnings of panic to set in.

  "Why?" I asked rather bluntly, but couldn't find the wherewithal to temper my words or form full sentences at all.

  "Dominic has agreed for us to take on your case as discussed, so no time like the present than to get the ball rolling," Finn answered easily.

  Holy crap, Anscombe senior, Dominic sexy smile and name, had agreed to take on my case as pro bono. My eyes closed briefly, my hands gripping the tray tightly in front of my body as though it could protect me from their judgement. They all knew my story. My embarrassing, weak-willed story. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole, or maybe Rangitoto Island to erupt and cover all of Auckland in molten lava and spewing rocks. Anything was better than standing before these top of the hot-rush hotties and know they knew what Brett had done and I had forgiven him - four times.

  I swallowed and opened my eyes again. All of them were silently watching me, I couldn't read their facial expressions, one and all had them closed off.

  "Thank you," was all I managed to get out. Then after another deep breath I added, "Is there anything you need from me?"

  Nick was the one to reply. "I have my men already investigating Elliott, if there are any details we need your input on we'll be in touch. We do know he is a person of interest."

  "A person of interest?" I asked a little confused.

  "He's on radar," he added, just as confusing. He must have realised I didn't understand a word, so clarified again, "His name is known to the police and certain people in the underworld have had dealings with him."

  My legs did collapse at that. All four men stood abruptly and reached for me, but it was Dominic who made it to my side and helped me into a chair that he dragged over one handed and with the tip of his highly polished shoe. His hand holding my right arm didn't let go, even when my butt was firmly placed on the seat. The others slowly sat, various looks of concern on their faces, but Dominic loomed over me, hand firmly holding my arm.

  The tray was in my lap, one set of fingers white knuckled around the rim, my other hand covering my mouth.

  "What does that actually mean?" I whispered, and despite Bic still pounding out of the speakers and Lucas banging the portafilter to empty the grounds, they all seemed to hear every word.

  Again it was Nick who answered. "It means he's into more than just gambling and he's racked up some serious debt around town. We have knowledge of two groups interested in his whereabouts. These are two groups you do not want to piss off, but somehow your boyfriend..."

  "Ex-boyfriend," I interrupted and received an arm squeeze from Dominic still at my side.

  "Ex-boyfriend," Nick corrected, "has managed to do just that. Piss them off," he added, unnecessarily.

  I sat there quite numb, unable to wrap my head around any of this. I knew Brett gambled, I'd been slow to cotton on to that fact, it wasn't until one-hundred and fifty thousand dollars disappeared from our bank account that I woke up to a new and disturbing world. But, I hadn't once thought that Brett would have anything to do with an underworld or be on a persons of interest list with the police. To say I was shocked was an understatement. Just who the hell was the man I lived with for the past seven years?

  Nobody said anything for several seconds, they all somehow knew I wasn't up to carrying the conversation right now, they just sat there letting me attempt to get my head around the repercussions of what Nick had said. I wasn't sure if their patience and time would make a difference. The bottom line was I didn't know Brett at all.

  Just then Kelly appeared at my other side, the side not being held - for some inexplicable reason he was still holding the other side - by Dominic Anscombe. Her eyes flicked over the top of the hot-rush hotties and then settled with a huge dollop of concern on me.

  "Sweetie," she said, ducking down to crouch beside me. "We've got a slight problem."

  I blinked back at her and then followed the direction of her gaze back towards the counters. Standing on the floor, in a huge silver bucket with oversized silver bow tied to its side, was another six dozen red roses. I shot to my feet, the tray clattering to the f
loor loudly, Dominic not letting go of my arm and growled. Actually growled, it was quite impressive.

  "Oh, hell no," I said ominously and then wrenched out of Dominic's hold and rushed to the enormous bouquet on the floor. I stared at it for a split second and then bent down, flashing the roses with my bra this time, and scooped the entire lot up. It wasn't easy, it was well oversized for my two arms, but I was determined to get the blasted things out of my shop, to prevent them from tainting my dream. They had to go. Now.

  The double doors at the front of the shop proved a difficulty and I cursed under my breath about my choice of not going for flash automatic soulless ones, but finally after much grunting and banging of the silver bucket against the frame, I managed to get the damn things open. I stumbled out onto the paved footpath, almost bowling over a group of middle aged ladies out shopping and then stomped over to a park bench on the far side of the pavement. A rubbish bin sat next to the seating area, so I started to thrust rose stem after rose stem inside the bin intermittently exclaiming to all and sundry that I hated red roses and hated my ex-boyfriend and hated my life.

  By the time the bin was overflowing and I'd only managed to trash a third of the bouquet I felt a heat behind me and then firm hands wrapped around my upper arms and pulled me back against a hard chest.

  "Stop," Dominic instructed softly. I struggled for a moment with the rose in my hand, trying to get it into the bin before me, then Nick and Ben appeared and the roses were all gone. Vanished, just like that. There one minute, gone the next.

  I realised I was breathing heavily and tears were streaming down my cheeks, but Dominic had not let me go. We stood there for several seconds and then Nick appeared in front of my face.

  "Ben's going to be following you, he'll be your shadow from here on in." I had no idea why Nick would suggest that, then had reality crash in to me on his next words. "Elliott has just announced publicly that you are his. This won't have been missed by the groups interested in finding him. You have now become a target, so you'll have a bodyguard with you wherever you go, until this is sorted once and for all." His voice had been quiet, but firm. No argument, he'd decided and that was that.

  "I don't want a bodyguard," I declared, stupidly it would seem.

  The hands on my upper arms tightened and Nick flicked a glance up to Dominic at my back. Something passed between them, something unspoken that I didn't understand. Then he said softly, eyes back on me, "Too bad, you've got one." And then disappeared again.

  I stood shaking in the arms of sexy smile and name, Dominic Anscombe, senior partner at ADK and the world continued to turn. My life had come to a complete stop, but the world continued to turn. How was that at all possible?

  Chapter 4

  So Much Trouble

  Dominic led me back inside Sweet Seduction and straight out to the rear of the shop. Past the the couches and seating area, past extremely concerned Kelly and Lucas at the espresso and chocolate counters, past the music area and out to my office out back, as if he knew exactly where to take me. He sat me down in my swivel chair and softly closed the door at his back. Bic Runga's One More Cup of Coffee stopped mid beat and silence wrapped around me.

  I watched as he flicked his gaze around the room, taking in my tidy desk, the laptop, the potted plants and cabinets and then the multitude of snap shots pinned to a cork board off to the side. There were at least fifty, of all the staff, my friends, neighbours, me. Everyone who meant something was on that board, including my cat. But none of Brett, I'd ripped those to pieces when he stole my gran's money. Even when I let him come back, I didn't let him back on the cork board. The cork board was sacred, he'd lost his one chance to be there and wouldn't ever get another shot.

  Dominic's large manicured hand came out and snatched a photo from the board. I thought it was a bit invasive, but I didn't say a thing, words failed me right now. He studied it for several seconds and then incredibly placed it in his inside jacket pocket without saying a word. What the fuck?

  I glared at him as his eyes came to rest on mine, his lips twitched and an eyebrow shot up in challenge. I held his gaze and tried to find the energy to hit out, but again it failed me. I'd lost my mojo, I just didn't have it in me to complain. He could have the damn photo, it was probably of my cat and he's got a cat fetish or something.

  "Ben's a good man," he said out of nowhere. "You won't even know he is there."

  I didn't argue, I hadn't even known Brett was an underworld criminal until today, I could hardly be counted on to pick up on a super hot, bad-ass bodyguard if he didn't want to be seen.

  Dominic waited a beat and when it was obvious I wasn't going to comment, he continued.

  "Do you have flatmates?" he asked, I shook my head. "Anyone at home with you?"

  Another head shake, then, "I have a cat." Yeah, good come back, Gen.

  "I can see that," Dominic said glancing back at the cork board. Cat fetish, go figure.

  We both fell silent.

  "I'm taking you to dinner," Dominic announced out of abso-fucking-lutely nowhere.

  "Why?" I demanded, unsure if I could handle a candlelit dinner with god-like Dominic Anscombe in my current discombobulated state.

  "Because you shouldn't be alone," he replied succinctly. No candles then, I was guessing. He felt obliged to help out the keep Gen safe campaign. And then I had a thought.

  "I'll have Ben."

  "You won't see him, he doesn't like coming out of the shadows when he tails someone, and you shouldn't feel alone." Slight change of words there and for some reason they made a warm feeling seep right through my core. Even if Ben was keeping me safe, Dominic didn't want me to feel alone.

  And then I woke up from my mini-dreamlike state.

  "I can invite Kelly over, she'd spend the evening with me." I do have friends, you know.

  "I'm taking you to dinner," he repeated, this time with a definite edge.

  I glared at him, he stared back at me impassively. Then I sighed and slumped in my chair. Dinner it is then.

  "Good," he said at my obvious capitulation, he sounded satisfied, but not at all surprised. I was guessing not too many women said no to god-like Dominic Anscombe. I crossed my arms over my chest and decided I would try better this evening to live up to all feminists out there, determined to deny Dominic god-like Anscombe another yes.

  His lips twitched at the edges as he stared down at me.

  "What time does your shop close?" he asked, sounding amused as hell now.

  "Five-thirty, but it takes half an hour to clean up," I offered, thinking I'd head home and change into something more appropriate than my work uniform and bra flashing top then.

  "I'll swing by and pick you up from here," he said, turning to the door.

  "We're going to dinner straight after work?" I asked, my voice a little high with disappointment. Grabbing dinner on the way home from work just didn't seem romantic. Ah, what the hell was I thinking?

  He turned back from the door to look down at me again. I was beginning to dislike how it made me feel when he loomed above me like that. If he was god-like at every other opportunity, he was even more god-like right now. He took up more space in my tiny office than he had any right to and yet somehow he still made me feel safe. As though his impressive physique above me was protective not domineering. As though he'd lay his body down in front of that door if someone decided to attack. I'm not sure why I felt that way, I just did and it left me unsettled. Dominic Anscombe was a Queen Street lawyer, not a superhero or knight in shining armour from a fairytale - or dream.

  "I'll escort you home and then we'll decide from there where we will eat."

  Oh dear God, Dominic god-like, the sexiest smile and name, Anscombe in my apartment. This was so not happening.

  "Um," I said, but it was a waste of time, he'd slipped through the door and disappeared. Remarkably as nimble as his brother.

  I glanced at my watch and noted it was a quarter to five already. I looked at my desk and the still unfi
nished accounts and then looked back up at the cork board and the missing spot where a photo - I'm unsure which one - was gone. This morning had started out bad and just got worse. And now I had a not-date with one of the most gorgeous men I had ever laid eyes on in my life and he was going to enter my flat. He'd seen my dream, my shop, he'd seen me lose it when presented with red roses, he'd been in my office - a private space only my staff and I have ever entered - and now he would see my sanctuary. The place I had turfed Brett Elliott out of and then taken him back in four times over the past year.

  Embarrassment washed over me in an all consuming wave. I was such a screw-up and dork. Why hadn't I just sold the flat and moved somewhere new? I knew why, it was within walking distance to the shop and I had chosen it, purchased it with my own deposit, furnished it with my own furniture, made it my home. Brett had lived there, but it had never actually ever been his.

  Still, it felt a little dirty now, which reflected on me. It was my home, I'd bought it, fashioned it, made it what it was, and let Brett Elliott in it. His stink defiled it and washed off on me. I dropped my head in my hands, elbows to knees and groaned loudly. My life was screwed up and it looked like it was going to get worse. I just had to keep repeating to myself, that for Sweet Seduction I'd do anything, even survive an embarrassing day such as this.

  It was in that position, lamenting the state of my life and the choices I had made, that Kelly found me. The door opening softly, indeterminate music wafting in as she held it briefly open, and then silence as she sat her butt against the edge of my desk off to the side.

  "So, I guess my dibs no longer counts," she said as she flipped a pen end to end in her hand. My head shot up and I stared at her.

  "Dominic was the hottie you dibbed?"

  "Well, duh! He is the hottest of the hot-rush bunch," she declared, smiling down at me. "Well done, you, bagged a hottie."

  "I have not bagged a hottie!" I proclaimed with much gusto.