She and the twins had a nice lunch, and Maxie discovered she liked Kendall as much as she did her sister. The other woman was more subdued than Lexie, and Maxie couldn’t help but wonder if her medication kept her on such an even keel. Regardless, she was warm and friendly, and the three of them laughed about the men and their aversion to dressing up. Kendall didn’t mention Julian, and Maxie knew better than to bring him up herself.
From lunch, they headed to one of the many costume shops that popped up in Manhattan around Halloween time. The party had been planned for this coming Friday.
Maxie already had a tight pair of black leggings, thigh-high boots, and a tight black scoop-neck top. She’d rather wear her own comfortable clothes than the plastic items that came in one package. What she needed here were the mask and ears, which she easily found. Lucas had made it clear he’d wear his own black pants and top, so she found his accessories as well.
She turned around to find Kendall behind her. “Did you find what you were looking for?” she asked.
Maxie nodded and held up her items. “Did you?”
Kendall smiled. “Harley Quinn at your service.” She held up the package with her costume. The picture on the front had short shorts, cropped top, and stadium jacket. “I’m going to dye my hair,” she said, excitement in her voice.
“Oh, that’s perfect for you,” Lexie said, coming up beside them, her hands full.
“What do you have there?” Kendall asked.
“Spiderman and his superhero girlfriend, Black Cat, a.k.a. Felicia Hardy. I have to make my own costume, but I’ll wear a blonde wig.”
“We’ll look similar,” Maxie mused. “I haven’t gone out and had fun like this in ages. I can’t wait.”
“I could use a little fun myself,” Kendall said. “Except I’ll be the single, unattached woman, and I don’t think there’s anyone at Blink I’ll have much in common with.”
And that’s when Maxie realized Kendall’s somber mood might have more to do with Julian… or lack of being coupled up.
“Come on. You don’t know that. They’re inviting people they work with, so you never know,” Lexie said.
Kendall shrugged. “Whatever. Are we ready to head to the register?”
“I am,” Maxie said.
Lexie nodded and they headed up front to pay for their costumes.
A little while later, they walked out and stopped on the sidewalk. “So this has been fun, and we’re going to have an amazing night,” Maxie smiled. Because she was really looking forward to letting loose at a Halloween party with Lucas.
* * *
Halloween was in full force as Maxie and Lucas stepped off the elevator on the executive floor of Blink. Gothic candelabras greeted them. Black cobwebs hung in the corners and across the walls, fake spiders showed up in odd places, and portable strobe lights along with creepy music set the mood.
According to Lexie, Lucas, Kade, and Derek had been generous with the Halloween party plans, providing money and carte blanche for the arrangements. Since they agreed to invite key investors, Lexie had even hired a catering company and a professional to handle the décor.
“Money well spent,” Lucas said, nodding his head in approval.
“It does look great. Let’s check things out,” she said, grasping his hand.
“I feel like an ass,” he muttered, obviously hesitant about showing his face in front of his employees. Or his costume, as the case might’ve been. He’d been complaining while getting dressed.
“Well, you don’t look like one.” If he’d worn tights, she’d give more credence to his complaint. “You look hot,” she assured him.
In his black jeans, turtleneck top, a nice amount of facial scruff, and a mask over his eyes, he was her superhero. Even the bat ears were a fun touch. Though she couldn’t deny she’d have preferred to see him in black tights that outlined his delectably large package and spandex showcasing his impressive muscles. Still, she’d take what she could get, and the man made a sexy Batman.
“Actually you’re the one who looks hot,” he said in a gruff voice.
He turned her toward him and pulled her close. “Those skintight black leggings gave me a hard-on the second you walked out wearing them. This top?” He ran a hand around the outline of her scoop-neck sweater, his calloused touch causing goose bumps on her skin as her nipples hardened painfully. “And I want to fuck you with those thigh-high boots wrapped around my waist.”
She shivered with desire, her sex growing heavy and wet. “Lucas,” she murmured.
“Tell me you want that too.” His dark gaze, surrounded by the mask, bored into hers.
“Of course I want it.” Badly.
A grin formed at his lips. “Want what?” He stepped in closer, protecting her from prying eyes, and tweaked a nipple in one hand. “Say it, beautiful.”
She all but moaned as sensation struck, shooting from her breasts to her clit. “I want you to fuck me while I’m wearing these boots.” Her own words embarrassed her, but Lucas had her beyond reason.
“Later, I promise.”
She cleared her throat and took a step back, hoping to clear her mind. “We need to mingle.”
“Thank God it’s dark or this whole place would know how much I want you.”
She laughed but was equally aroused. Still, she pushed the feelings aside for later. “Come on, killjoy. I see Lexie and Spiderman, and if you think you have issues with your costume, go look at your friend.”
That instantly cheered Lucas up, because he stopped dragging his feet, and they headed across the room to where Kade was dressed in a red-and-blue one-piece costume with a full headed covering.
“Hi!” Lexie said, her gaze darting from Lucas to Maxie.
“Hi! You look great!” Maxie took in the other woman’s white-blonde wig, black mask, her black bustier, and spandex leggings.
“Isn’t this fun?” she asked.
“I’m out of here in ten minutes,” Kade said, clearly grumpy.
“Can’t say I blame you,” Lucas said, doing his best not to laugh at his friend.
“Screw it.” He pulled the head covering off. “I’m going without this damned thing.”
Lexie didn’t say a word. She obviously knew her husband had had enough.
“Where’s Derek?” Kade asked. “I don’t think we should have to suffer alone.”
“He left a message with Becky that he had a family crisis and he’d be late.”
“Lucky son of a bitch,” Lucas said. He scanned the room. “I see Etienne Roberts. Groucho Marx over there. He’s a major investor. I think Kade and I should go talk to him for a bit. Can you hold your own here?” he asked Maxie.
“I’m good,” she assured him.
He braced a hand on her shoulder, leaned down, and kissed her cheek. “Back in a few minutes.”
Kade planted a kiss on Lexie’s lips before joining Lucas and heading across the room. “I’d say things are going well,” Lexie commented.
“I… I think they are. He’s not pressuring me for things I can’t handle.”
“One day at a time,” Lexie said with a smile.
“That’s been my motto.”
The women stood in silence for a few minutes, then Lexie’s face lit up. “Oh! There’s Kendall. She didn’t want to come early with me to oversee setup. I should go get her. She doesn’t know anyone.”
“I’m going to take a quick trip to the ladies’ room. I can meet up with you later. Can you direct me?”
Lexie pointed across the room. “Over there. In the corner. It’s unisex,” she explained. “I’ll go grab Kendall and get us some punch. Alcohol-free because we wanted to keep things under control.”
“Smart,” Maxie said. “And punch sounds great. I’ll be right back.”
She headed for the back corner, smiling at people she didn’t know along the way. Just as she reached the bathroom, a large male body blocked her way.
“Excuse me,” she said, and tried to step around him, but he cont
inued to prevent her from passing.
“You’re Mrs. Monroe,” the man said in a vaguely familiar voice.
Nobody had referred to her by her married name since she’d left the firm and changed to her maiden name. And nobody here knew her except Lucas’ friends. “Who are you?” she asked.
“You mean you don’t recognize me?” He pulled off the mask, and she immediately identified the man. “Vincent Bernardi,” she said, a tremor rushing through her at the realization.
“Nice to see you too,” he said in a too-pleasant tone.
“What are you doing here?”
He slid the mask back over his eyes before answering. “Well, we both know your husband is a dead end,” he said, a combination of sarcasm and anger in his voice. “I sat in prison, chomping at the bit to get what’s mine. When I got out, I checked out your storage locker and your old apartment—”
She sucked in a startled breath. “You broke in there? Why?”
“Because your husband had something that belongs to me, and now that I’m out, I want it back.” He met her gaze, his eyes dark behind the mask.
Nausea rose in her throat. “I have no idea what you’re looking for.”
He studied her, assessing. “For your sake, I hope that’s true,” he said, the threat in his words and tone clear.
If she’d had any question of his guilt in the assault case—and she didn’t—it would have been erased now. The man would do anything he had to in order to get his way.
Panic filled her, and she glanced around, praying Lucas or one of the twins would come looking for her, but other than a man who walked past her and headed straight for the bathroom, ignoring them on his way, she was alone with a man she feared was unhinged.
“It is true,” she insisted. “I’m clueless about whatever you’re looking for.”
“Then let me enlighten you. I trusted your husband and gave him something for safekeeping. The information on the memory card I gave him belongs to me. I need it to start over, and you’re going to help me find it.”
She blew out a deep breath, her insides trembling. Damn, Keith. Would the surprises never end? “Keith’s gone. I have no idea where he might have left it.”
“Then I suggest you figure it out. Go through the storage unit until you find it. I was interrupted before I could finish the job. Or give me the key, and I’ll do a more thorough search—”
“No.” She didn’t want him going through her things. “I’ll look for it.” She wanted nothing more than for this man to go away and never return. “But I need time. I can’t just come up with this memory card overnight. I’ve already been through the safe deposit box in both our names, and it wasn’t in there.”
He studied her. Nodding once, he seemingly accepted her sincerity. She assumed that the reason his anger was under control was because she was cooperating. The thought calmed her, but she was still petrified he would hurt her if she couldn’t uncover the stupid memory card. After all, he had gone to jail for assault, and anger management went along with his sentence.
“I’ll find you to continue this conversation or hopefully retrieve my property.”
She blinked and he was gone, lost in a sea of masks and costumes.
Oh God. She leaned against the nearest wall and attempted to pull herself together. But how could she when Keith’s past had come back to bite her yet again? Not only did she have this dangerous man following her, he wanted something desperately. Something she had no idea how to find. And he was capable of extreme brutality when angered.
She choked back a sob.
“Maxie?”
“Lucas!” She threw herself into his arms, letting go with all the panic she’d been feeling.
“Maxie.” Lucas grasped her forearms and pulled her back. “What happened?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I was going to the ladies’ room, and this guy in a mask confronted me. I remember him. Keith used to represent him, and he recently got out of jail, where he served time for assault.”
Lucas ripped the mask off his face and dropped it to the floor. “How the hell did he find you here?”
“Apparently he’s been following me.” The words made her nauseous.
“What the fuck?” The words exploded from Lucas’ mouth.
She swallowed hard. “Keith had something that belongs to him, and he wants it back. He was the one who broke into the storage unit and my old apartment looking, but he didn’t find it. And trust me, this isn’t the kind of guy you want to cross.”
Lucas closed his eyes and visibly drew steadying breaths. “I cannot believe this. That dumb fucking son of a bitch,” he said of his brother.
“I know.” Maxie couldn’t help the wry smile that pulled at her lips. “Keith is the gift that keeps on giving,” she muttered.
Lucas choked back a laugh too.
She sobered quickly though. “Somehow I have to figure out where he would have hidden something small. It was a flash drive that has information that belongs to this Vincent Bernardi.”
“Wait. Vincent Bernardi.” He repeated the name and paused, obviously thinking hard.
“What is it? Do you know him?” she asked.
Lucas narrowed his gaze. “Last week I was at the gym, and a guy named Vinny Bernard cornered me. He tried to get friendly, asking questions about the area. He said he was new to town. But then he asked if I had a brother, and he started rambling about his. I got an uneasy vibe, and I left the gym. What does Bernardi look like?”
She swallowed hard. “He’s big. Unusually so. Black hair. But he was wearing a mask at first. After that it was dark. I can’t describe him well, but I’d recognize him again.”
“Well, big describes the guy I met too.” Lucas frowned. “The son of a bitch tried to get friendly with me. So he could get near my things so he could search? Or see if I gave up information about Keith?” He shook his head, unable to figure out the man’s end game.
Maxie only knew he wanted something he believed she had. “I have to tear the storage unit apart.” Her voice shook, and he pulled her against him.
“You aren’t alone. We’ll figure out what to do. One step at a time,” he reassured her.
And for the first time, she wasn’t in such a rush to go out and handle things all on her own.
* * *
While Maxie slept, Lucas held her close and stared up at the ceiling. His brother’s behavior defied description or logic. Every time Lucas thought he’d heard the worst, Keith sank lower. Anger swirled in his gut, but once again it was a useless feeling. There was nothing he could do to change the past, Keith’s behavior, or the fact that he was gone and Lucas couldn’t confront him. Nor could he maintain the level of anger and frustration boiling inside him while he was around Maxie.
Tomorrow he and Maxie would go through her storage locker with a fine-tooth comb. He’d also put security on Maxie and his parents. He didn’t trust that this Vincent Bernardi character wouldn’t go after his parents or break into their house looking for the media card. Lucas frowned as a thought crossed his mind.
Could Keith have somehow hidden the card in Lucas’ apartment? His brother hadn’t come up here often, but he had been here. And nobody had more flash drives lying around than Lucas.
He rolled over and quietly slipped out of bed, heading for the corner room, where he had his home office. He started going through his drawers, pulling out spare storage drives and slipping them into his laptop, running a quick check on the contents, one after another, coming up empty each time. He had old information of his own but nothing that didn’t belong to him.
He ran a hand through his hair and laughed at himself. What were the chances his brother would toss an important drive among Lucas’ things, where it could get thrown out? Slim to none, but he’d be negligent if he didn’t at least check. And Lucas had spare flash drives everywhere in his office.
Thirty minutes later, he had a pile of USB drives, and he hadn’t gotten anywhere in his search. But he still had to prote
ct his family.
Grabbing his cell phone, he walked into the darkened living room. The only lights were the windows from other buildings across the way and New York City.
He dialed Kade, who picked up on the first ring. “Hey, man. You left the party early. Everything okay?”
Lucas stared out the window into the night. “I’ll explain soon. In the meantime, your friend Ian Dare, the one who invested in Blink…” Ian and Kade had been friends in college, meeting after Lucas dropped out. “Didn’t you once say he had a brother with a top-notch security firm?”
“Yes. Tyler Dare. He co-owns Double Down Security with his brother, Scott. They’re based in Miami, but I’m sure they can either send you someone or hook you up with a reputable firm here. You sure you don’t want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Later. I need to make some arrangements first, but thanks.”
“Any time. I’ll text you the number as soon as we hang up.”
Lucas disconnected the call with Kade and put in a call to Double Down Security. With a little luck, he’d have security on the people he loved by morning.
He stopped short at his choice of words, then realized he shouldn’t be surprised. He’d loved Maxie for a long time. Granted, it hadn’t been the same kind of love he felt for her now. When he was younger, he’d had a crush, then as they got older, he’d idolized her. Considered her out of his league as any more than a friend. Then they’d grown apart, and though he’d held on to the adoration he’d felt for her, the truth was he hadn’t really known Maxie, the woman she’d become. And once his brother moved in, Lucas had taken an even bigger step back, both mentally and emotionally. He’d always been there for her, but they hadn’t connected.
Lucas truly believed that now they were living their time. And he didn’t want anything getting in the way. Which meant he also had to sit his parents down and make sure they understood exactly who their other son had been. And why they had to leave Lucas and Maxie alone.
* * *
The storage unit was still in upheaval from Bernardi’s search. Maxie hadn’t had time to clean up the mess the first time she visited, so she and Lucas worked for hours righting things and searching everything they could for a small flash drive.
Going Down Fast (Billionaire Bad Boys Book 2) Page 11