“Perfect!” she cried, even as their skinny arms began to tremble. “Hold it right there! Don’t move a muscle! Ivy!”
Ivy stood from where she’d been lounging back in the chair behind the reception desk with a roll of her eyes, lifting the electric drill she’d been cradling in her lap and carefully screwing in the nails that would hold the sign in place against the wall. Her co-workers exhaled in relief the moment the sign was secure, their bodies hinging forward as if they were on the verge of collapsing like Jenga towers.
“Oh, stop being so dramatic.” Stella beamed, waving them away as they trudged out of the lobby in their skintight black leggings and snug black tank-tops with the ‘Stella Wolfe’ brand emblazoned across the chests—both of which were as ample as Playboy centerfolds.
“Any day now you’re gonna open up the mailbox and find a notice for a class action lawsuit…” Ivy dropped the drill onto the counter. “And mine will be the first name on the list. I could’ve gone my whole life without ever knowing how to operate a Black and Decker power drill, and now you’ve corrupted me forever.”
“Never met a more dramatic bunch of crybabies in all my life…” Stella approached the counter with a grin, adjusting the blazer of her black skirt-suit, which had been tailored to perfection. “You all should be thanking me for opening your eyes to new experiences and adventures. This is the price I pay for hiring pretty.”
“Well, you ‘hiring pretty’ is the reason this place’s profits have tripled, seemingly overnight. So who should be thanking who again?”
“Don’t you have some paperwork you should be doing? Clients to attend to? Is that some shed hair I see on the floor? Where’s the broom?”
“You’re lucky I love you,” Ivy mumbled, cutting a look at her.
Stella had half a mind to tell Ivy that the real reason the spa had turned a profit so quickly was because working at an illegal one had given her a pretty good idea of what sells—and fast. It also hadn’t hurt that Stella had an amazing man in her life who’d co-signed on a loan that she would’ve never been approved for on her own, giving her just the push she needed to take the spa to the next level.
Right on cue, the doors of the spa opened behind her, causing Stella to swung on her heels. The air from outside blew her bone-straight hair into her eyes as a smile lit up her face at the sight of Rocco, stepping in with Blue cradled on his hip, hugging Mr. Wiggles tight to her chest.
“Oh my goodness!” Stella raced over to a smiling Rocco and Blue, taking Blue from his arms and kissing her cheeks over and over, causing her to giggle incessantly.
“Mama!” Blue begged, squirming when Stella dug her nails into her sides to gently tickle her, all while blowing air kisses into her neck. Blue screamed when the tickles became unbearable, and Stella relented, setting her on her hip.
“What a nice surprise, baby,” Stella said, smiling down at Blue.
“Sure,” Rocco said. “A surprise. Or an obligatory response to the dozens of texts, phone calls, and voicemails you left demanding we come down here immediately.”
Stella cut a playful look at up him.
He gave her the same look right back, biting his bottom lip to hide his smile.
Ivy appeared, her eyes darting knowingly back and forth between them.
“How about I take Blue to the baby spa?” Ivy asked. Her voice hitched accusingly as she took Blue from Stella’s arms. “Blue, do you remember the baby spa from your first birthday? You wanna get your fingers and toes painted again? Do you want a new color?”
“Yeah!” Blue’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah?” Ivy asked. “What about a nice massage too?”
“Yeah!” Blue bounced in her arms, then pointed to Rocco. “Papa Wak!”
“Oh, no, Papa Rock is…” Ivy gave Stella and Rocco another side eye. “Occupied. But I’m sure he’ll meet us later, huh? Say bye-bye!”
“Bye-bye!” Blue mimicked Ivy as she waved a Stella and Rocco, her blue eyes much less accusatory than Ivy’s as they made their way to the kid’s section in the back.
As soon as Ivy and Blue were gone, Rocco looked back at Stella. “You sure you haven’t told Ivy about us?”
“Not one word. She could charge good money for that sixth sense of hers. Almost completely convinced that she’s a witch. Either that, or we’re just that embarrassingly obvious.”
He bit his lip as his eyes traveled Stella’s body, reaching out and running his knuckle under the flap of her jacket.
“Stop it.” She slapped his hand away and stepped out of his reach. “Not here. Any one of my busy-bodied employees could turn the corner and see. Half of them are cocktail waitresses I lifted from DJ’s club. Word would get back to her in about two seconds. And you haven’t even fixed the pipes yet.”
Rocco rolled his eyes and lifted the toolbox he’d been holding at his side. “Am I getting paid this time?”
“Paid? I pay you in kisses.”
“I’m trying to get paid in everything else.”
“I thought you said you were gonna be patient?”
“I’ve been getting paid in kisses for months, Armstrong, if that ain’t patience, I don’t know what…” His voice trailed off as his eyes moved over her head. “Is…”
Stella followed his eyes and saw he was looking at the sign her girls had just hung.
“Looks good, right?” she asked. “Perfect match for the one outside.”
“Yeah, it’s nice. Has a nice ring to it.”
Her heart skipped a beat at the change in his eyes when he looked back down at her. “Just two business partners, sharing a name. That’s all.”
“Two business partners who were tonguing each other down last night—”
She slapped his arm before taking his white t-shirt into a fist, hearing him chuckle behind her as she dragged him behind her towards the mechanic’s closet. “Just pipe down and get these pipes in order, already.”
“You know I’m not a handyman, right?”
“You only warn me every day, and yet there’s still not a single problem that’s popped up around here that you weren’t able to fix on your own, thus saving your partner, Stella, lots of stress, money, and aggravation.”
“I wonder how many other business partners out there deal with this kind of abuse?”
“Why does everyone keep using that word around me?”
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” His voice lowered behind her. “Damn, you look amazing in that suit.”
“Stop.”
“All tight and sexy. You look good as hell.”
She nearly jumped out of her skin when he caressed her ass from behind, swiveling on her heel to get her butt out of his reach when they made it to the door of the electric room.
“I almost feel like you want to get caught,” she said.
“Maybe I do.”
“Are you really ready to deal with the consequences of that? Because I’m not.”
“We’re gonna have to deal with them eventually, why not now?”
“Because I’m not ready, Rocco.”
“When will you be ready?”
“You’re pushing me.”
“You’re the one who said you were tired of running from a ghost. But from where I’m sitting, you’re the only one still running.” He searched her eyes. “I want you. Completely. I want to be able to walk into this spa and hug you and kiss you without worrying about who sees. I want to hold your hand on the street and take you out to nice dinners and go dancing at any club we see fit—even DJ’s…”
Her breathing hitched.
“I want you, and only you,” he said. “I’ll never leave you. I’ll never leave Blue. I’ll never hurt you. I’m here. What do I have to do to prove it to you?”
“You don’t have to prove anything to me, Rocco. I believe you.”
“No, you don’t. Or you’d kiss me, right here, right now.”
She took a big step away from him instead, the moment she heard voices coming down the other end
of the hall.
His jaw tightened at her retreat, face wounded, and he snatched open the door of the control room without another word.
“Rocco—”
She reached for his arm to stop him from going any further, but the moment Rocco stilled and cut a sharp, expectant look back at her over his shoulder, she wished she hadn’t. She wished she’d let him disappear into that closet.
Not because she enjoyed seeing him upset.
But because the voice that floated in from behind her mere seconds after she’d taken Rocco’s arm had sent a cold chill down her spine.
“Stella Armstrong.”
Stella watched Rocco look over her head at the voice behind her and squint. She dug her nails into his bicep before turning on her heel, forcing a smile onto her face at the sight of Mr. Devereux approaching from the lobby, holding the jacket of his steel-gray Armani business suit closed. He was polished from head to toe, as usual, but seemed even shinier that day. As if he’d just come off a negotiation where he’d saved millions.
Perhaps even some of the millions he’d been offering to give to her.
“Mr. Devereux…” Stella swallowed thickly, placing a hand on Rocco’s arm to try and push him back into the closet. “I was just showing the contractor the way to the electric closet.”
But Rocco had planted his feet and didn’t move a muscle behind her, even as she pushed, his eyes locked to Mr. Devereux.
Mr. Devereux seemed just as fascinated with Rocco, and Stella nearly screamed.
He held out his hand to Rocco. “Shawn Devereux.”
Stella jumped in. “Like I said, this is just the contractor, and he’s got a lot of work to do—”
“Rocco Wolfe.” Rocco reached over Stella’s shoulder and shook his hand. “Stella’s partner.”
And her heart hit her feet. Now not only did Mr. Devereux know her full name, but Rocco’s as well. The guilt that blew through her body was mind-blowing. Enough to make a wave of dizziness wash over her that nearly took her to her feet.
“Stella’s partner?” Mr. Devereux raised his eyebrows.
“Business partner.” Stella corrected, cutting a look at Rocco over her shoulder.
He gave her a pained look that shredded her heart in two.
With a knowing smirk on his lips, Mr. Devereux’s eyes moved back Stella. “I was hoping you could squeeze me in for a quick massage today.”
“Thought you weren’t doing massages anymore.” Rocco’s clipped voice petered in.
“Oh, she isn’t,” Mr. Devereux said before she could answer. “But she still makes time for me when she can.”
Rocco’s eyes ran Mr. Devereux’s body. “Is that so?”
“Rocco,” Stella breathed, reaching for him.
But he moved his arm out of her reach, lifting the toolbox still in his hand. “I’d better get to work… partner.”
She watched him go with her mouth hanging open, jolting when he slammed the door shut behind him. Closing her eyes tight, she took a moment to collect herself and tried to ignore the fact that her heart was seconds from flying up her throat before swiveling on her heels.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Devereux, but I just won’t have time to take you today. New business owner and all, I’m sure you understand.”
“Absolutely. Duty calls. Just figured I’d try my luck…” He watched her for a long moment before his eyes crept up to the door that Rocco had just disappeared into. “So… you two know each other?”
“Barely. Like I said, he’s just a contractor.”
“Seemed like he didn’t get that memo.”
“He’s just like that. Always on edge. Angry. Honestly, we can barely stand each other.”
“He looks quite familiar.”
“I guess he just has one of those faces. People confuse me with that actress, Meagan Goode? Yeah, all the time.”
“I hope you wouldn’t lie to me, Stella. I thought our relationship was more evolved than that.”
“I’m not…” She swallowed heavily. “I’m not lying.”
“That’s good because there’s little in the world I despise more than a liar.” He smiled softly. “When I feel lied to, especially by someone I’ve come to admire as much as you, I can become rather…” He took a moment to think. “Vengeful.”
She held her breath.
“Not one of my finest qualities.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Are you sleeping with him?”
“That’s none of your business,” she spat.
“Because that would certainly explain why he let you go the night of the raid.”
She slammed her eyes shut when tears instantly stung her eyes, her stomach clenching to the point of pain.
“And even more so why he let me go. I could never quite put my finger on it. Why he had such mercy toward me. Why he’d bestowed such a kindness, with no hope of repayment. For a while, I started to believe he’d done it out of the kindness of his heart. But no. He couldn’t let anyone witness him freeing the apple of his eye, could he?” He laughed breathily. “The way his hand went around my neck, siphoning every inch of air from my lungs, just for looking at you, it’s a wonder I didn’t figure it out sooner. He only saved me to save you. Didn’t he?”
She kept her eyes closed, gasping when his fingers caressed the bottom of her chin. Her eyes flew open with a gasp, and she snatched her head away.
He gave her a dismayed frown, running the backs of his knuckles down her cheeks with a new darkness in his eyes that dared her to evade his touch again.
She clenched her teeth; feeling like her skin might melt from the bone of every inch of her face her touched.
“I think…” Her chest swelled. “I think it would be best, Mr. Devereux, if you found another spa. Another masseuse.”
“Noooo.” He squinted, cooing as if she were a small child. “No, I don’t think I will.”
She clenched her fists at her side.
“I think I’ll stay right here since you and your… contractor… have made it such a lovely place to wind down.” He let his fingers sink into her hair. If he noticed the disgusted look that instantly crossed her face the moment he did, he didn’t show it. “I also think I’ll be at the Four Seasons, at the end of the month.”
She blinked her eyes open, lashes now soaked with furious tears, and scowled up at him.
“And I think you should be there right alongside me…” He let his fingers move through her flat-ironed black strands slowly. “Or I might just get a little more curious about your contractor, Rocco Wolfe’s, superiors… and how they feel about the fact that he let you go.”
“He let you go too, you know. So don’t you dare. Don’t you dare threaten me. You were there that night just like I was.”
“I didn’t become Shawn Devereux by accident, Stella Armstrong. I always win.” His fingers made it past the tips of her hair, letting it cascade back down around her heaving breasts like a waterfall. “Always.”
He went to walk away but doubled back, the vicious look in his eyes one that Stella had never seen before. “Breathe a word of this to him, and I go straight to his superior, Lieutenant Grimes.” He smiled, his voice going syrupy sweet. “Did you know that Grimes’ wife is running for city council? Yeah, her biggest dream since childhood. They have their whole life’s savings wrapped up in her campaign. I’ll give you two guesses who her top donor is.”
With another soft, easy smile—one that was a direct contradiction to the cringe curling Stella’s face—Mr. Devereux turned away once more, moving towards the doors with a calm stride that gave no indication that he’d just gotten done threatening not just one life—but two.
With one last look at her over his shoulder, as well as a friendly wave goodbye to Ivy at the front desk—Mr. Devereux disappeared through the doors, strolling out of sight.
And Stella’s trembling knees finally gave in from under her, making her collapse against the door of the electrician’s room where the man who’d been foolish
enough to save her life was still working hard on the other side.
——
Stella stayed pressed against that door for nearly an hour, much to the concern of every employee that passed her. They’d all asked if she was okay the first few times, with genuine concern in their eyes, but they’d given up on that after the tenth time she’d lied and said she was fine. Opting instead to pretend she wasn’t even there, crumbled against the door, staring into space like a madwoman.
The only sign of life came in the form of a yelp parting her lips when the door opened unexpectedly behind her, causing her to trip over her own feet and stumble into the closet.
Rocco caught her around the arms before she could hit the floor, flexing to bear her weight until she found her footing.
Saving her life, yet again.
If only he knew what a mistake it was. Being so quick to save her. So keen. So utterly selfless.
She felt like a monster gazing up at his pinched face, taking his t-shirt in two fists.
“Rocco!” she beamed. “We have to talk, right now.”
“How long have you been standing here?”
“Right now!” She pulled him down the back hallway toward her office, her employees sealing themselves against the wall to get out of her blazing path. She threw her office door open and shoved Rocco in, following behind him a moment later and slamming it closed.
Rocco set his toolbox on the thick glass desk she’d set up against the right wall, moving toward the large window that looked out into the mall’s parking lot. He kept his back turned for a long moment, breathing deeply, before swiveling on his heel.
“Rocco, I’m so sorry—”
“No, I’m sorry.”
She froze in the midst of wringing her hands together across the room, eyes stunned. “No, let me finish—”
“No, let me finish.” He moved across the office toward her, and she stumbled backward, eventually hitting the closed door. He continued forward, coming close enough for her to feel the tip of his nose caressing hers. His fingers on her cheek. Sinking into her hair…
Forbidden (War Book 1) Page 22