“I think you will. But I’d rather you do it on your own terms. What time works for you?”
Without any hesitation, Cali hung up the phone. From now on, the only pain in her ass would be Rourke, and she’d rather spend the rest of the afternoon dealing with him than with the endless pile of shit Easson seemed to be piling on her.
Rourke stood over the empty desk area and looked for any sign of the woman he’d spent the night with. “This is where Cali worked for ten years?”
She’d been gone for long enough that someone had apparently cleared out her space. Not a single scrap of paper was left in the barren area.
“Well, not the entire ten years.” Michael came to a stop beside Rourke. “We moved offices seven years ago, so she’s been here since then.”
“Can’t believe you never gave her an office,” said Rourke as annoyance prickled at him.
“We offered, but she was never into the idea. I think she knew she’d be leaving eventually and thought that as soon as she accepted an office, that wouldn’t happen. But it’s been a pain in the ass since she left.”
Rourke smiled at the thought. Yeah, he could imagine that Cali would’ve had all the balls perfectly balanced in the air and as soon as she was gone, they’d tumble to the ground.
“I trust you’re making it through.”
Michael shrugged. “We always do in this family. Come on and I’ll give you a rundown of the numbers.”
“A quick rundown, right? Numbers always give me a headache.” Renovations were easy. Potential sale price, purchase price, goal profit and reno budget: the only four numbers that mattered.
“Really quick,” promised Michael. “Are you sure that we can’t book a hotel room for you or anything? I heard that you have a decent spot of land out in Maine. Probably jarring to go from that to a New York City apartment.”
Rourke shrugged. “Cali’s place is plenty big enough for me.”
Michael paused before he stopped to look at Rourke. “So I take it you’re not in the spare bedroom then?”
“There is no spare bedroom,” shot back Rourke without acknowledging the true question that was asked. Except he had no idea whether Cali wanted their relationship public. Or whether she even acknowledged they had a relationship. Back in Maine, he’d thought this was a one-time thing. Now he wasn’t so naive as to think he could let Cali get away. “There’s a couch though,” he added, trying to belatedly save her modesty in case she cared.
Michael nodded, but Rourke could see the damage was done. “You know Cali has always been important to us. Are you sure you know what you’re doing there?”
Rourke wanted to bite back that he was a grown ass man and didn’t need to be reprimanded by his brother about the woman he chose to be with. But then he thought back to what Cali said about his brothers. How they had accepted her, no matter her past. How they’d grown close. Who was he to get upset about Michael being overprotective? If anything, he appreciated it.
As long as that overprotectiveness wasn’t turned on him.
“Cali is a grown woman. She can take care of herself.” At least where he was concerned. When it came to certain ex-boyfriends, Rourke was happy to be a bit overprotective. “Why don’t we leave Cali out of this and you let me know exactly what you’ve done with the family business?”
Michael got down to business and pulled out a few financials. He gave a quick, easy enough to understand snapshot of how DevX Tech was run. How they’d been expanding into encryption and protection software. Once the government became a client, everyone wanted in on the software good enough for the military.
But the most enlightening part of the conversation was how often Cali was mentioned. Her name came up as often as Luke’s did. So maybe they weren’t just paying her lip service when they said she was important.
Once Michael finished his informal presentation, Rourke sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “So how much of a part do you want me to play in all this?”
Michael raised a brow. “In this?” He pointed to the financials in front of him. “Honestly, Luke and I have things down here. That’s not why we want you back.”
“So what’s your endgame then?” Rourke waited to hear the real reason the family put two million on the line to track him down.
“I brought you back because I want you to be one of my groomsmen.”
A wall of speechlessness hit him like a brick. “Ummm...”
“You’d actually be best man. Co-best man with Luke.”
“I haven’t even met Lori.” Wouldn’t he have to meet the bride before he could agree to this?
“You’ll like Lori. Everyone likes Lori. You’ll see. But I want my family, my entire family, to be a part of this.”
Rourke took that to mean that Joslyn was no longer considered a part of the family, which was fine with him. “But you haven’t seen me in years. Why go through all this trouble?”
“Because you’re family. And we’ll do anything to keep family safe.”
Rourke stared across the conference room table at his brother. Even though he was in a fancy building and even fancier suit, all he could see was the teenager he’d once looked up to. Who taught him how to play football. Who gave him advice when he asked out his first girlfriend.
“Hell yeah, I’d like to be in your wedding then.”
The side of Michael’s mouth twisted up as though he was trying to hide his happiness but couldn’t. “She’d love to meet you,” he said as they both stood. “Oh, one more thing, though, Rourke. I wasn’t kidding about doing everything possible to keep family safe. And Cali is considered family to us.”
Seeing Rourke walk out of the elevator in the lobby of the DevX Tech building was somehow so right and so wrong at the same time. Cali tilted her head and studied him walking toward her. He had the trademark Devereaux confidence and charm, but had traded the suit for a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Even so, he fit in perfectly among the crowd of high-powered New Yorkers who piled out of the building for their lunch break.
She waved a hand so he would see her standing at the entrance to the lobby. She hadn’t asked whether her access card had been deactivated but wasn’t about to test to see whether it worked. The day had been so nice so far; it would be a shame to ruin it by being escorted out of her old workplace by security.
Rourke nodded at her when he noticed her waving and headed over. He didn’t appear to be in a huge rush, so she had to assume things went well with Michael. At least she hoped.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” He reached her and stood a few inches away.
It wasn’t as if she expected him to swoop in and kiss her, but she’d been hoping he’d be at least the slightest bit happy to see her. “Well, once I finished with Luke, he mentioned you were meeting with Michael. I thought I’d stop in. When I called Michael to see if you were still here, he said you were just finishing up.” And because she didn’t want to ask about the security card thing. But Rourke didn’t need to know about that.
“So you just came to see me then?”
Something in his voice set her on edge. As though there was something else he was asking. “Of course I came to see you. Is that so strange?” Sure, they’d had their arguments, but she didn’t think he was still mad at her.
“It’s strange because you’ve been running hot and cold with me ever since I came back. Now that you and Luke have...settled your debts, I want to know where we stand.”
Cali blinked at the ultimatum. There went the relaxing lunch she’d been expecting to have. She glanced around her, looking to see whether any of the people walking in or out of the building were her former coworkers. Taking a deep breath, she took his hand in hers and pulled him out of the building. She half expected him to put up a fight, but he laced his fingers with hers and followed her out.
But that cooperation stopped as soon as they hit the street, when he tightened his grip and pulled her out of the flow of people until they were in the shadow of the DevX Tech
building. “So now that you have your money, are you going to run away from me again?”
“I never ran away,” she bit out. “You told me to leave. Repeatedly.”
“That was before. I don’t want you to leave now.”
Cali frowned. “Is that your way of telling me that you want to go back to Maine alone?”
“What?” His brow furrowed and he shook his head. “No. That’s my way of saying I don’t want you to leave me.”
Her head jerked back as comprehension dawned. “You’re serious?”
“I spent half the day lying to Michael about what we’re doing. Before I tell anyone anything, I want to make sure that we’re on the same page.”
“Umm... What would a relationship between us even be?”
Rourke’s hand tightened and tugged her closer where his mouth swooped in for a deep, possessive kiss. Except he pulled away right as Cali started to lean in for more. “I’d imagine it would be something like that,” he breathed against her.
Cali closed her eyes and replayed the kiss in her mind. Unexpected. Wild. Completely and utterly erotic. She lifted her lids and stared into Rourke’s dark eyes. “I was going to recommend we go out for lunch, but I’m thinking that I might have stuff to make sandwiches at home.”
Rourke’s hand went around her waist, pulling her tight against his body, his erection pressing firmly against her stomach. “I think that I’d love that.”
She let out a little giggle and he smiled down at her, the dark eyes lightening as the sun peeked out, highlighting the gold flecks in the irises.
“So what do I call you now?” she asked. “Boyfriend?” The word seemed too tame. Too...normal for Rourke.
“Is that what you want to call me?”
“Well, what would you call me?” she countered.
“I’d call you mine.”
By the time Cali finally got to her apartment, she couldn’t get the door to the building unlocked fast enough. Even after the cab ride back, she hadn’t cooled down in the slightest. Rourke took every opportunity possible to touch her in the cab, taking full advantage of their new, more official, relationship status.
Even though he didn’t say a word, his hand constantly found its way to her bare knee—rubbing his finger along the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, slowly traveling higher and higher—so that by the time the cab stopped in front of her apartment, he was only an inch away from her panties.
And making it into her building was made much harder by Rourke coming up from behind, pressing delicious kisses along the curve of her neck. The key shook in her trembling hand as she tried to get it in the damn hole. Then the satisfying click of the lock turning came and she pushed the door open. Rourke and she practically tumbled inside, and she burst out in laughter at the thought of what they must look like. Like randy teenagers who couldn’t keep their hormones in check.
When Cali looked up to Rourke, she saw that he wasn’t laughing. Instead, the heat from his gaze threw a damper over her giggles as she practically ran up the stairs to her hallway, making a beeline for her door.
Only to stop in her tracks when she saw it hung open on its hinges.
In a heartbeat, Rourke was between her and the door. “What are the chances you left that open when we left?”
“Considering I’ve never once done that, I’d say slim,” she said softly. She didn’t know why she was whispering. It wasn’t as if she were the one breaking and entering.
Rourke cursed under his breath. “Stay here,” he warned as he moved away from her and into the apartment.
Her eyes widened as he disappeared from her line of sight. What the hell did he think he was doing? They needed to be calling the cops or the FBI, not going into a potentially dangerous situation with no clue about what they were facing.
“Get back here!” she whisper-yelled as she crossed the hallway to stand in the open doorway. “I’m calling the police,” she said a bit louder when she didn’t see Rourke in the living area or kitchen visible from where she was standing. The good news was that she didn’t hear fighting. No matter what was in there, Cali knew Rourke wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Even though she didn’t think he was in real danger, she still let out a deep sigh of relief when he came back into the entryway. Even though he was safe, the anger on his face was evident. “How do you know Colin Carter?” he bit out at her as he approached.
Cali frowned at the accusatory tone. “Colin Carter? I don’t know him. He called me earlier today and asked if I could meet to talk about something that had to do with Easson.”
“And what did you tell him?”
She tilted her head, trying to figure out what was getting at him. “I hung up on him. I’m not dealing with anything that has to do with Easson any longer.” Which should’ve been a good thing, but Rourke sure as hell didn’t look any happier. “What’s wrong? What does Colin Carter have to do with anything?” She had a feeling Rourke thought this guy had been the one to break into the apartment but had no idea where he was getting the information.
But it was hard to argue with his logic when Rourke strode over and held out a business card. Cali tentatively took it from his hand and looked it over. The front was very simple white with black lettering. All it said was “Colin Carter” and a phone number. No job title or address of any kind. She flipped it over and read the handwriting on the back. “We have a mutual problem. Meet me at the Farrell Tower today at 4 p.m.”
Cali shook her head. “No. If that son of a bitch thinks he can break into my home and hold my sense of security over my head, he’s wrong.”
“Oh no,” said Rourke. “You’re going to that meeting.”
Cali looked at him as if he’d just grown a second head. “Excuse me? What on earth makes you think that’s a good idea?”
A wicked smile covered Rourke’s face. “Because I think it’s time Carter learns you’re under my protection now.”
Rourke had never been to Farrell Tower. The place was like any other office he’d been in. The outside of the building was impressive and grand while the inside was all grays and beiges with only the views of Central Park to cut the monotony of the decorating scheme.
At least until the receptionist led them up to the fifty-fourth floor to a conference room built to impress outsiders. The table was stainless steel and surrounded by high-backed leather chairs. The black and gray scheme went through the entire room, accented by a few abstract-ish art pieces on the walls.
Cali wrapped her arms around herself as she looked around the room. He could see the second thoughts forming in her mind, but Rourke wasn’t going to let her back out of this. He needed to know what Carter wanted and let him know that Cali was off-limits when it came to intimidation.
It wasn’t long before Carter walked into the room. He wore a suit like so many of the other men in the building, but even so, he managed to stand out. Maybe it was because of his short hair, only slightly longer than a buzz cut. Or maybe it was because he wore a black shirt under his black suit. Not exactly normal corporate attire.
“Hello again.” Carter pushed the conference room door shut, sealing the three of them in alone.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” snapped Rourke as soon as the door was shut. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought Cali. He didn’t need her seeing what he really wanted to do to this son of a bitch.
“I think I’m doing my job,” said Carter, his voice not showing any hint of intimidation.
“Then tell us what your job is then.”
Carter looked between the two of them, but Rourke moved between him and Cali, making sure he was the one Carter knew he had to get through in order to talk to her.
But Cali wasn’t one to stand behind a man. She set a hand on Rourke’s shoulder and stepped out from behind him. “We’re here. What did you want to talk about?” Cali shot Rourke a look, silently telling him to simmer down.
Carter smiled at Rourke, and Rourke had to clench his fists to hold himself ba
ck.
“I want to know where Easson Harper is.”
She let out a snort. “You and everyone else. I don’t know where he is. “
“He has something that belongs to my employer. He stole it last Friday when he was here with you. I need to find it.”
“Not sure if you’re deaf or just stupid. She. Doesn’t. Know. Where. He. Is.”
“But you spent more time with him than anyone else. So spill. Where did he take you on dates? Where was his apartment? Where did he spend free time? Where was his favorite place to fuck? Tell me everything.”
Cali’s gaze went to Rourke and he stepped forward again. “That’s enough. She doesn’t have to put up with this.”
“If it makes you uncomfortable, feel free to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he growled, staring Carter right in the eye. There was no way in hell he’d leave Cali alone with this guy.
“If you want me to take you to his apartment, fine. The FBI has known where it is for weeks, so I doubt he’s been there lately.”
He smiled as though he’d gotten exactly what he wanted. “I’ll take it. There’s a car downstairs. We leave now.”
“Where are we going?” asked a man from the doorway.
Carter stayed still, but Cali and Rourke both turned to see Walter Farrell in the doorway. Cali took a step back at the unexpected sight. Apparently she hadn’t had much time with the enigmatic billionaire in her time with Luke and Michael. Rourke had only seen the man in the newspaper and TV, but he was too pissed to be that impressed by anyone at the moment. Not that Walter was all that impressive in person. He had a commanding presence, the kind that came from having more money than he knew what to do with. But in person, the white hair appeared thinner, the wrinkles a bit more prominent.
“I’m going to take a visit to Mr. Harper’s old apartment. He’s long gone now, but it’s worth investigating.”
“We already knew where his apartment was. Why get her involved?”
Devereaux Billionaires Complete Series: Books 1-4 Page 63