Forever Yours, Sir (Doms of Decadence)

by Laylah Roberts

  “Damn, you’re really good at this guilt stuff.”

  “I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I have no doubt that Hunter said some stupid things. But don’t judge him until you know him better. If he offered you a job at Black-Gray Investigations then you have a job.”

  “But you didn’t know he was offering me a job, did you?”

  Gray grinned. “I’ve been hassling Hunter for at least a year to hire a woman, so I’m pleasantly surprised that he’s finally listened to me.”

  “Even though I have no experience?” That he knew of.

  “I’m sure you’d fit in fine.”

  She shook her head, looking down at the plate of food in front of her. She wasn’t so sure. They were a team and Cady didn’t do teamwork anymore.

  Gray pulled out his wallet. “Here is my card. If you change your mind about the job, call me. Sometimes you have to take a chance, even when you’re scared.”

  Cady opened her mouth to protest, but he was already on his feet and throwing some money on the table. He turned and walked out the door.

  She glanced at the card then the cash he’d left. He’d left more than enough for both their meals and a tip.

  Bastard.

  But she picked up the card anyway.

  Chapter Two

  “Enter,” Hunter called out. He sat back in his chair, his shoes up on the desk, hands behind his head. He glared up at the television screen.

  Gray stepped into his office, glanced up at the T.V. before sitting in a chair across from Hunter’s desk. Hunter reached for the remote and switched it off.

  “So what do you think?” Gray asked.

  “Never thought he’d kill himself,” Hunter replied. “His ego was too big. I’d have bet anything that he thought nothing could ever touch him, could ever push him off that pedestal he’d put himself on.”

  “Well, he was faced with some huge issues. With Jacey’s testimony he would have gone away from a long time. That might have made him decide to take his own life.”

  Hunter shook his head, it just didn’t feel right.

  Jacey had decided to go to the police before heading to Rarotonga. She hadn’t wanted to live in fear any longer. Sure, Jacey’s testimony would be pretty damning, but Stephan Worthington had an ego the size of Texas. He thought himself above the law.

  “So, it’s over now. Sanders and Worthington are dead.”

  Hunter glared at him. “It’s not over until I figure out exactly what happened to Angie.”

  “I had a feeling you were going to say that.” Gray ran his hand over his head.

  “And would you be willing to just give up if it was your sister that had been murdered?” Hunter asked.

  “No, I wouldn’t. You know I wouldn’t. You’re right. It’s not over.”

  Hunter nodded. He was slightly obsessed with his sister’s death, but he knew that Angie had been murdered by Stephan Worthington, he just didn’t have proof. Yet.

  “If her place hadn’t been set on fire I might have been able to find something there, something that would pin her murder on him.”

  The night she’d been murdered, her small apartment had been set on fire, destroying it and the other three apartments in the building. She’d just quit her job with Worthington and moved back to Dallas six weeks before.

  Guilt ate at Hunter. She’d called him the night she’d died and he’d ignored the call, letting it go to voicemail. He couldn’t forgive himself for that. If he’d just answered the phone maybe he could have saved her.

  “Jacey and Derrick are due back from Rarotonga soon, aren’t they?” Gray asked.

  “Yeah, they should have landed by now.”

  “It will be a relief for Jacey that he’s dead. Now she won’t have to testify against him.”

  “There is that.” Jacey deserved some peace in her life after everything she’d been through and Hunter knew that Derrick would ensure that she was well looked after.

  “You coming to the club tonight?” Gray asked.

  Hunter knew he should. He hadn’t been to the Twisted Thorn since he’d been back from Austin.

  “Nah, I think I’ll pass.”

  “Simon said you haven’t been in lately.”

  Hunter glanced over at Gray. “You checking up on me?”

  “Not at all, but our partner is starting to wonder if you’ve found somewhere else to play.”

  Hunter snorted. He and Gray had gone into partnership with Simon Jones to open the Twisted Thorn, a BDSM club. They’d grown sick of going to clubs that were filled with idiots who didn’t have a clue what they were doing. This way they got to screen the members and they knew that any subs who stepped through their doors would be looked after.

  “I’ve got a lot of things on my mind.”

  “Angie wouldn’t want you obsessing over this.”

  “Angie was my responsibility and I let her down. I won’t do that again.”

  “Is that why you offered Cady a job? Because you feel responsible for her?”

  Hunter lowered his feet down onto the floor, leaning forward as he stared at Gray intently. He hadn’t told his partner about offering her a job. “You’ve spoken to her?”

  “I met her in the hallway after the two of you had your little chat. I’m surprised you weren’t chasing after her.”

  “I was a little incapacitated.” It had taken fifteen minutes before the burning from the pepper spray had dissipated.

  “Hmm. Do you know that she thought the job offer was just a ploy to get her into bed?”

  “What?” he said, shocked.

  “Yep. She thought that the job was just a front for you getting to fuck her.”

  “How the hell could she think that?” Hunter growled, standing. That little twit, when he got his hands on her…

  Except she didn’t want anything to do with him. She’d rather live on the streets than let him help her.

  “She said she couldn’t understand why you would offer her the job unless you wanted something in return. I’m a little curious myself. You’ve always been against having a female on the team.”

  “She’s living on the streets, Gray. I knew she wouldn’t accept any help from me, offering her a job is the only thing I could think of. I would never force her to sleep with me for a job. Christ.” How the hell had he fucked this up so bad?

  “You’re attracted to her, though, aren’t you? There are a lot of homeless people out there; I don’t see you taking an interest in their lives.”

  Hunter glared at him. “She deserves better.”

  “She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.”

  Hunter placed his hands on his desk, leaning forward. “If she could take care of herself she wouldn’t be living on the streets.”

  “You’ve been against me hiring a woman and suddenly you just make a decision to take her on without even asking me, I think that’s pretty telling, don’t you?” Gray asked.

  “She can help with our female clients. You wanted a female bodyguard.”

  “I wanted someone with training. Who knows what they’re doing. She doesn’t even understand how to be part of a team. I thought we’d hire someone with a military or law enforcement background. Face it, you look at her and you see someone you can help, some way of making up for what happened to Angie. Helping Cady won’t bring Angie back.”

  “That’s not why I’m doing this.” It was just part of it. “She did well on that op. She can handle herself.”

  “You kept her completely out of danger. Are you really telling me that you’d be all right sending her into a dangerous situation? I know your antiquated views on women, my friend. God help any woman that you finally fall for, you’d have her wrapped up in bubble wrap so tight she wouldn’t be able to breathe.”

  “I’m not that bad.”

  “Oh no? You have a panic room in your house. Is that for you to hide in?”

  Hunter growled. Hide? He didn’t think so. He’d kill any bastard who dared to invade his territ

ory.

  Gray sat back with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. “Didn’t think so. You built a panic room for your future wife and family. Because you’re paranoid and overprotective. Face it, there is no way you could send someone who was untrained out onto the field.”

  “We’ll train her. Until then she can do the non-dangerous stuff.”

  Gray rolled his eyes.

  “So you’re fine with her living on the streets?”

  “Her friend is engaged to one of the richest men in the country. I don’t think she’ll be on the streets for long. This is about you wanting to play hero.”

  “She won’t take anything from Jacey and Derrick, she’ll see it as charity.”

  “Wasn’t that what you were offering? Just what were you planning on getting her to do around here if you weren’t going to send her on any jobs?”

  Christ, it really sucked having a partner who could read you so well. Of course he’d had no intention of sending her out on anything that could put her at risk.

  Hunter shrugged. “There are things to do. The phone is always ringing and no one can make coffee for shit.”

  Gray burst into laughter. “You were going to make her our secretary? I’d kill to see her face the first time you asked her to make coffee.”

  Hunter ground his teeth as he sat on his chair. Then with a weary sigh, he sat back. “All right, so I didn’t exactly think things through. But I was desperate. I can’t stand the idea of her being on the streets.”

  Worry for her kept him awake at night.

  Each time he closed his eyes, he saw her face, he imagined her cold and hungry. When he did sleep he dreamed about her, touching her, kissing her, taking her.

  He’d blown it. He’d come on too strong and she’d bolted.

  Gray sighed. “I know. I hate the idea of it too. But we can’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to. That would be the very worst thing we could do.”

  Yeah, he’d finally figured that out. Right after she’d pepper sprayed him and ran out the door. After he’d recovered he’d gone looking for her, he’d even asked Jacey to talk to her for him. But Cady hadn’t called.

  She clearly wanted nothing to do with him while he could think of nothing else but her.

  “Maybe this is for the best,” Gray said.

  Hunter glared at him and Gray held up his hands placating. “Not that she’s on the streets. I don’t want that any more than you do. But she’s got you tied up in knots, how much worse would it be if she was here every day?” Gray tapped his finger against his chin thoughtfully. “She’s not exactly your type, Hunter.”

  “I don’t have a type.”

  “Yes you do, my friend. You like them submissive. Very submissive. You need to be needed. You want to rescue her and that’s fine, but you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.”

  “All of this is pointless anyway. She refused the job, she refused my help.”

  “We still need a woman on the team,” Gray said. “And now that I know you’re willing to employ a woman I’m going to do some looking around.”

  “Fine,” Hunter said impatiently. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but he couldn’t fight Gray’s decision without looking like an idiot.

  Gray stood. “Come to the club tonight, you need to relax, my friend. It looks like you haven’t slept in weeks and you’re even grumpier than usual. Didn’t know that was possible.”

  Hunter growled as Gray grinned.

  “Don’t make me call Sasha,” Gray warned. “She’s already making noises about popping in to check on you, I wouldn’t want to let slip how depressed you’re acting.”

  “You bastard.”

  Simon’s wife had a heart of gold. She was also as nosy as they came. If she thought Hunter was depressed, she’d be on his case. He wouldn’t get any peace until he gave into her or Simon took her to task. And Simon was far too lenient on his sub to Hunter’s way of thinking.

  “Fine, fine,” Hunter said impatiently. “I can’t make it tonight, but I’ll be there this weekend.”

  ***

  A shiver ran down Cady’s spine as she walked down the pavement and she resisted the urge to spin around, knowing he was there, watching her. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She clenched her hands, trying to push back the fear that threatened to overwhelm her.

  She ducked down an alleyway and took off running, determined to lose him.

  Why the fuck was he doing this to her? Sean was a volunteer at one of the shelters. His attention had creeped her out, the staring, using any excuse to get close to her, touch her. The one time he’d actually managed to grab her ass, she’d made certain he wouldn’t be experiencing a hard-on for quite a while, at least not without some pain.

  She’d been banned from that shelter, but it had been worth it. Or so she’d thought. Now it seemed she’d ended up with her own stalker. Why the hell wouldn’t he get a clue? He’d gone from just a nuisance to bordering on insane. He hadn’t approached her again, but who the hell knew what was going on through his creepy brain? Cady could protect herself, but she was under no illusion about the ways he could get to her, render her helpless, hurt her.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  He gave her a bad feeling and Cady knew better than to ignore those feelings.

  Getting out of town might not be a bad idea, but there was only one way she could see that happening. Damn it. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t take Hunter’s offer. She couldn’t be part of a team again, couldn’t have other people relying on her.

  Yet, what other choices did she have? Stay here and wait for Sean to work up his nerve to attack her? Go to the cops? Would they even believe her?

  Christ, what a mess. Now she was running late for her meeting with Jacey. Cady sped up as she headed toward the small diner.

  She took one last look around, but she hadn’t sensed Sean in a while. He didn’t seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was large and scary, so she wasn’t about to take chances.

  Cady stepped into the diner and glanced around. Didn’t take her long to spot Jacey. She moved over to the other woman, waving at her to remain seated. It had been just over two weeks since she’d last seen Jacey and she was looking so much better. Her cheeks had color and happiness filled her eyes.

  “Don’t get up,” Cady said, eyeing her large stomach. “You need to keep off your feet.”

  Jacey rolled her eyes. “You sound like Derrick. I’m not going to break.”

  “I’m more concerned with you popping, how much longer have you got?” Cady eyed her stomach with suspicion.

  “I’m only five months pregnant; I’m not even that big yet.”

  Cady had no idea how big she was going to get, she didn’t know anything about kids.

  They chatted for a while about Jacey’s trip to Rarotonga and her ex-husband’s suicide. Cady was just glad that Jacey wouldn’t have to go through the ordeal of a trial. Eventually, Jacey cleared her throat and leaned forward. “I have a proposition for you.”

  “Yes?”

  “Derrick needs an assistant. I was going to take on the job, but I’ve realized I don’t want to work once the baby arrives. So there’s not much point in my working for him when he could be training someone now.”

  “Uh huh.” Cady didn’t quite see what any of this had to do with her.

  “Well, I wondered if you wanted the job.”

  “Me? You want me to work for Derrick?” Cady asked incredulously.

  Jacey nodded enthusiastically. Cady felt ill.

  “No way,” she said, feeling guilty at the flash of hurt on Jacey’s face. “I can’t do it, Jacey. I wasn’t made to sit at a desk all day and you know it. I know next to nothing about computers and shit. I’d be complete crap and then Derrick would have to fire me. Then you’d stop talking to him. It would be a clusterfuck.”

  Jacey grinned and shook her head. “I suppose it isn’t really a good fit.”

  “Jacey, honestly, I don’t need you to help me. I’m fine.” This wasn’t the first time that Jacey had tried to help Cady find a job.

  “You’re fine,” Jacey said sceptically. “Somehow I don’t think so. Luckily, I have a Plan B.”

  Oh shit, she didn’t like the sound of that.

  “I want you to be my nanny.”

  Cady gaped at her for a long moment. “Are you feeling all right? Have you seen your doctor lately?”

  Jacey rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. What is so crazy about asking you to be my nanny?”

  “Uhh, maybe because I have no idea how to look after a child?”

  “Neither do I.” Jacey rubbed her stomach lovingly. “But I’m going to take a crash course in parenthood.”

  “All the more reason for you to hire someone with experience. Someone who actually knows how to do shit, you know, like change diapers and how to bathe a baby without drowning them. I mean, what if I dropped them?”

  “You won’t drop them.”

  “I might. I’ve never held a child. Uh-uh, no way, no how.”

  Jacey crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, you’d better learn fast cause I’m going to expect you to play a part in this baby’s life.”

  “Yeah, well, can’t I just stand there and make silly faces at him or her?”

  Jacey just shook her head.

  “Cady, I’ve been hunted by my ex and his brother, kidnapped, terrorized and nearly lost my life, but do you know what keeps me awake at night? What gives me nightmares?”

  Crap, she didn’t like where this was going.

  Jacey leaned forward, her gaze earnest. “You. Most nights I have nightmares about you. I’m scared something is going to happen to you. It isn’t safe for you out here.”

  “Jacey, you were only on the streets for a short while, you didn’t know how to take care of yourself like I do. I’m fine.”

  Except there were times when she wished for her old life, her apartment, her friends. She pushed those thoughts back.

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