by Tina Saxon
Mom.
I drop the rest of the papers and hug the envelope against my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing tears to escape down my cheek. Hearing Amy stand up, I open my eyes.
“I’ll give you some privacy to open your letter,” she says, wiping away tears that have stained her cheek. I exhale loudly.
“Please stay,” I say, grabbing the hand she placed on my shoulder. “I want to open it later. Stay with me while I look at the rest of this?” I ask, peering up to her.
She smiles and sits back down. I gingerly place the letter back on the table, running my finger over my name. Warmness spreads through my body knowing her hand touched the pen that wrote that. I swipe my tears away, ready to see what else was in the envelope.
Glancing through the papers, I have to read through the legal jargon to get to the important stuff. When I find what it is I’m supposed to see, my eyes almost pop out of my head. My head snaps to Amy. “Eight hundred thousand dollars?” I say in disbelief. She gives me a lopsided grin.
“Keep reading.”
I look back down, scanning the document. It seems my mom had a million-dollar trust set up for me if she ever died. It explains the amount I received on my eighteenth birthday and how the rest would be given to me at either my college graduation or my twenty-fifth birthday, whichever occurred first. I keep reading, wondering what my aunt was referring to. I flip the pages until I’m done reading the trust. There’s one paper left that wasn’t attached to the rest.
It’s a statement. My eyes roam the page until it spots a number.
“HOLY SHIT!” I scream, jumping out of my chair almost knocking it over. My hands are shaking as I look to my aunt. She’s beaming. “Is this right?” She nods. “What the hell am I going to do with this much money?” I say, shaking the statement in the air. She laughs.
“Well, New York is kinda expensive.”
“Not that expensive.” I keep reading the total, thinking I misread it. But it hasn’t changed. “Why is it so much?”
“Well, it’s been in a financial investment account for thirteen years, untouched.” She shrugs.
“I don’t even know what to say.” A flush of adrenaline tingles through my body just thinking that I’m a millionaire.
“Now you can do whatever you want.” Amy stands up and walks over to me, pulling me in for a hug.
“Huh. I am doing what I want. I love forensics and can’t imagine doing anything different,” I say. “This money isn’t going to change my mind. But… maybe now I can buy a really cool apartment in the city.” Excitement races through me just thinking about it.
Syd and I looked at so many places online for me to live. I found an apartment, not too far from work, but it’s a room. Literally. Like one whole room and each wall has a different part of a whole house. Kitchen on one wall, bed on another, and couch on the other. Thank God I’m not claustrophobic. We laughed at how our tree house growing up was bigger than my apartment. I sigh. Thank God I only signed a three-month lease. I wanted to make sure I like the area before committing to a year lease.
“You can do whatever you want. You deserve it,” Amy says, leaning over and kissing me on the cheek.
* * *
“Oh, my God!” Sydney screeches. “My best friend is a millionaire.” She wiggles in her seat. We’re on our way to New York, and I just got done telling her everything that happened yesterday.
“Whatever,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“What are you going to do with all the money?”
“Well, first thing I’m going to do is pay off Ted and Amy’s mortgage. For all she has done for me it’s the least I can do.” My face beams knowing I can do that.
“You know what she’ll say about that, right?”
“That’s why I’m going to do it without her knowing. I’ll talk with my financial advisor and have him get all their information; he’ll write a check directly to the bank.” I smile mischievously.
“Sneaky.” She narrows her eyes and laughs. “Okay, then what?”
“Hmm. I’m going to keep my job. Of course, you probably already know that.” She nods her head, staring ahead, driving. She knows how much I love what I’m doing. “I’m thinking I want a better apartment where I can actually walk into different rooms. Oh, and not be able to see my kitchen when I pee.” We both giggle. “So I’m hoping you’ll come back in a couple months and help me move again,” I say in a questioning tone. Her lips twist, and I can tell she’s calculating when that will be. Being a teacher, things have to be planned around holidays. I already know this, so I add, “It’ll be Thanksgiving. I’ll fly you and Amy out together. We’ll have so much fun.”
“I don’t even know why you ask. You know I’ll be there.”
Chapter Twenty-five
A year later
“HI, ADDISON. WHAT can I help you with?” asks Cheryl as I walk up to her desk.
“Hi, Cheryl. I need to drop off these case files to Damon. He’s expecting them on the Reeves’s case,” I reply.
Cheryl, the executive assistant of the New York FBI office, is the first person everyone sees when walking into the office. She’s beautiful and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. We have become friends over the past year and have gone to happy hour a few times.
“How about I let you pass them off to him…” I wink at her “…it’ll give you a reason to go talk to him,” I say in a whisper. She blushes with just the mention of Damon. I keep trying to get her to make a move, but she’s too shy.
I look past Cheryl’s desk to admire the group of agents talking. I don’t know what it is about the male agents in this office, but I think the job requirements state that you have to be tall and gorgeous. Dave, the tallest of them, had asked me to go on a date when I first started. My heart, unfortunately, hadn’t healed yet. I think I bruised his ego. He didn’t talk to me for a couple months. Typical male. An unfamiliar agent standing next to Dave catches my attention. He’s not looking in my direction. I can only see his back side. His stance exudes confidence. The wide span of his back to his thin waist, muscular arms, and his perfect ass, that man has the perfect body. He lets out a boisterous laugh, clapping Dave on the back and then he turns around. I gasp, slapping my hand to my mouth.
What. The. Hell.
Jett?
There is no way that could be Jett. I saw him on TV, getting arrested with Travis Stein, my father, a month ago. Oh, shit! He’s looking over here. I duck down in front of Cheryl’s desk.
“Addison… um, is everything alright?” Cheryl leans over her desk, looking down at me.
“Yes. I thought I dropped something out of my purse. Hey, I just remembered I have an appointment so I have to get out of here. Can you make sure Damon gets those files?”
She nods. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I’m sure I look like a total idiot, not wanting to stand. Good thing there’s a partition right behind Cheryl’s desk. Hopefully he didn’t see me.
“Yes, I’m good. Thanks for your help, Cheryl. Lets do girls’ night soon,” I quickly reply as I rush out the door. I hold my hand to my heart; it’s beating too fast. It hasn’t been this alive in a year.
Since our office works really close with the FBI office, I know every agent there. Well, I know all but one, but he’s always been out in the field. Oh. Shit. Agent Aiden Roberts. I never met him because he was on assignment when I started at the forensics office. It can’t be. Can it? Is Jett Agent Aiden Roberts? I practically run out of the FBI building and just start walking.
Oh, Fuck!
I shot an FBI agent.
On purpose.
This cannot be happening. I never thought I’d ever see him again. I slept with the guy then shot him. Okay, so I grazed him with a bullet, but still… I’m sure he didn’t appreciate it. And now I know he is an FBI agent.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Addison, pull yourself together. Obviously, I’m not going to quit my job so we’ll eventually run into each other. This
means only one thing: I need to go see him. Get this whole thing under control before it spirals into a huge mess.
Our night together has been one night I have never forgotten. He was perfect in every way, except he worked for the wrong man. My father. He probably wouldn’t even remember me, but I’m sure he has that nice scar to remind him everyday. Not exactly the way I want to be remembered. What will he do when he sees me? He has to know why I did what I did.
When I get back to my office, I fall back into my chair. Harper comes walking over to me. “Addison, you’re back already.” The surprise is evident in her voice. I usually take my time catching up with the guys whenever I get the chance to get over there.
“Yeah, the guys were in a meeting so I dropped the files off with Cheryl,” I lie. “Hey, you want to get a drink after work today?” I desperately need a drink. Maybe it will help calm my nerves.
“Definitely!” Harper replies. “Hey, did you see Agent Roberts? I hear he’s back. He is one of the hottest men alive. A huge playboy though.”
“Nope, I didn’t see anyone I haven’t seen before.” It’s the truth, but I secretly agree, he is gorgeous. Hmm… a playboy, huh?
“That’s too bad. Don’t worry, you will. You can’t miss him. He is beautiful. It’s a little unfair to the rest of the men in the world. Every woman takes notice when he walks into a room. Maybe your picky self will approve.” She laughs. She seems to think I am too selective. No, not picky, just hung up on the wrong guy. Wait… well, actually it’s the guy she’s talking about. What the hell am I going to do?
A few hours pass quickly, not that I get much work done. That’s it. I’m going to his office tomorrow. Get this out in the open and out of the way. That way there will be no surprise encounters. It’ll be better for both of us. I really hope Travis never said anything to him about me being his daughter. That might cause some problems. I lean my head back against my chair, rubbing my temples. The department knows about my mom and my aunt, but they have no idea about Travis. I let out a deep breath. There’s nothing I can do about it right now. I’ll just have to see how this plays out.
Harper interrupts my thoughts. “Addison, let’s go get our drink on. Find you a man.” Harper thinks it’s her life mission to find a guy for me. Finding a man is the last thing I want to do tonight. I already found one today that I’m not sure what to do with.
I grab my purse. “Let’s go. O’Malley’s?”
Chapter Twenty-six
Aiden
“DAMON, ADDISON DROPPED these files off for you. Said you were expecting them.” Cheryl hands over a few files to Damon while he’s sitting in my office.
“When was Addison here?”
“She dropped them by about fifteen minutes ago, but she had to go suddenly. Acted really weird. I told her I would make sure you got the files,” Cheryl replies.
“Thanks, Cheryl.”
“What’s up with you and Cheryl?” I ask Damon when she leaves. She had that look in her eyes when talking to him.
“Nothing. Not sure I want to go there with someone I work with at the office. She is hot, though, if you like shy girls.” He shrugs. “It’s too bad Addison left. You need to meet this girl. She is gorgeous. Legs that go on forever, beautiful blue eyes, blonde hair, curves in all the right places but a rock solid body. She can kick my ass, so I’m a little scared of her.” Damon laughs. “She would be perfect for you. She works over in the forensics crime lab for NYPD. She’s been working there for almost a year.”
I narrow my eyes. Since I’ve been back, he’s taken on the role of matchmaker. I’m just not interested. Well, except for one. I sigh. I wonder if she thinks about me as much as I do her. It sucks that I didn’t find out her real name.
I still can’t believe she fucked me and then shot me. Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever had that hot of sex before and then was even more turned on when she shot me. The way she handled that gun was impressive. And her body was amazing. The girl that Damon is talking about has nothing on Emily. Shit… whatever her name is. I just need to forget about her.
“If she’s so hot, why haven’t any of you guys tried to pick her up?” If she’s seriously as hot as he says, I’m surprised the guys haven’t eaten her up.
“We’ve tried. Well, I haven’t… Like I said, she scares me a bit. I like my girls not so independent. When she first started, the guys drew straws to see who was going to get to ask her out. I swear the first time she walked into the office, the entire group yelled dibs. You’d think we were all fucking horny teenagers. Dave drew the long straw, lucky bastard, but when he finally asked her out, she said no. I don’t think I’ve ever known a woman to turn down Dave. After that, everyone was afraid to ask her out.”
“I like my women willing. Not sure she sounds like my type.” No one seems to be my type lately. Someone seems to have broken me.
“Willing to what? Shoot you?” He smirks. “Aiden, you need to forget her. Move the fuck on. There are millions of women out there. Beautiful women.”
Could you tell my dick that, because he seems to be on a hiatus? And the messed-up part is I’m not too upset about it. But, I definitely need to forget about her.
Damon knows what happened between Emily and me. He knows she shot me, too, which he had a nice long laugh about. Fucking asshole.
I still want to know why she was there. Travis kept that secret to himself. I had to stop bringing her up to him; I was going to get fired before I had all my shit together to take his ass down. He’d get pissed whenever I mentioned her. I told myself that I’d find her after I was back home, but I’ve been hitting a brick wall every time I find a lead. I need to move on. It was one night. One. Fucking. Night.
Shit. Move on, Roberts. You’re never going to see her again.
I am ready to get back to my normal life. “Let’s go get a drink after work”.
“Definitely. Let’s go find you one of those beautiful women,” Damon replies, “I’m glad I have my wingman back.”
“What the fuck ever. I’ll let you believe that tonight though,” I say, laughing. “I haven’t been to O’Malley’s in forever. Let’s start there.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
HARPER AND I head to my apartment for a quick change. Since I live right in the city, we always use my place to get ready. I slip on my black skinny jeans and a cute, sleeveless white shirt, letting my hair hang down with some loose curls. The brown color in my hair has finally faded. Now it’s my natural dark blonde with highlights. I freshen up my makeup with a little mascara and lip gloss and I am ready to go.
“I’m so jealous of you and your body,” sighs Harper. “Seriously, I need to work out with you.”
“Harper, you’re gorgeous. You get attention like no other girl I know, so I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” I reply.
“You’re a badass. I want to be like you when I grow up.” She laughs. “You’re beautiful and can kick ass.”
“Whatever, gorgeous, let’s go,” I say as I put on my three-inch black heels. At work we’re always in our white lab coats or wearing vests and tennis shoes when we’re out in the field. When we go out at night, I like to wear my high heels. Feel a little sexy.
The bar is two blocks from my apartment so it’s a quick walk. It’s a beautiful night out. I love the city at night with all the lights. I never feel in danger walking around Manhattan, but then again, I usually carry my gun. Tonight I plan on drinking so my gun stays home. O’Malley’s is used to its patrons carrying guns since most are NYPD police officers and FBI agents.
My feet stop moving on their own. What if Jett… Aiden is there? I didn’t think about that.
“Addison, what’s wrong?” Harper says as she stops walking and looks back at me.
“Um… nothing,” I say, catching up to her. “Sorry. I was making a mental note about something I need to do later.” He probably won’t be here. I mean, he’s been back for a month and I haven’t seen him out yet. Let’s hope he doesn’t decide that t
onight’s the night he goes to O’Malley’s.
* * *
“Harper… Addison!” Vinnie yells as we walk into O’Malley’s. Vinnie is the bartender as well as the owner’s son. I have been coming to this bar with Harper for about six months so we have gotten to know him really well. “Get over here, my gorgeous women.”
We walk over to the bar, and he leans over giving us each a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “What’s it going to be tonight?” he asks.
“Let’s start with a lemon drop,” I reply before Harper can answer.
“Whoa, girl… really?” she questions.
I shrug. “Yeah, why not.”
“Hmm…. what is up with you today? You have been acting weird ever since you got back from dropping those files off to Damon.” She narrows her eyes at me. “You’ve been in dreamland all day and now you want to start off with shots. That is not like you… at all. Spill it.”
“Really, it’s nothing. I saw someone today who reminded me of someone from my past. It got me thinking. That’s all,” I say casually.
“Is the someone a him?” she questions. “Come on, I want juicy details. You get to hear about me all the time. It’s time I hear an Addison story.” She pouts.
She makes me think of Sydney. Syd is always telling me I’m a closed-off person, that I need to share more. I just don’t like to kiss and tell.
“Yes, it’s a him and you know I don’t like to give juicy details.” She pushes out her bottom lip. “Okay… here’s a little. He’s probably the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen. We had a short fling and some amazing sex but that was it.”
“What! Did the asshole leave you? Because if he did, he is the dumbest idiot I’ve ever heard of. When someone finally gets your attention, they better do everything in their power to keep you,” she says as her eyes widen and she puts her hand on her hip.