by Jenny Devall
This day had gone better than expected. He’d never expected to end up in bed with Riley. He’d wanted to be a shoulder. A friend. He’d never expected to go this far.
He took care of the condom. When he returned, Riley was dressing. His heart sank. What was this? Her jaw was set. She wasn’t happy about something.
“You need to leave,” she said.
“You’re kicking me out? Didn’t we just have some amazing sex? Can’t we figure out where this is going?”
She tugged her pants on. “It’s not going anywhere. I needed something. I’m sorry to have used you.”
Used him? No one used Dirk. Well some had, but he was complicit in it, gaining something also. Today, he might be losing something. So this was how it felt? He was being tossed aside. He’d been stud service and that was it.
“I have someone coming over. You need to leave.”
“Justin?”
She stopped. “Of course you know his name. You probably know everything about him.”
He did, but Dirk chose to remain silent. Riley could think what she wanted. She stopped to look at him, her shirt going on without a bra. Was she going to greet Justin like that?
He felt a surge of jealousy. Was she sleeping with him also? Too bad for her, he’d marked her today. She had a red mark on her neck that she’d have to explain. He wanted to chuckle, but Riley would not be amused.
“I’m not giving up, Riley. I’ll leave, but I’ll be back.”
Riley was his. That he was sure of. He wasn’t just going to let her go. No matter the consequences.
“Don’t, Dirk. I’ve moved on.”
He did laugh now. “You’ve moved on?”
He glanced at the bed. She’d been just as involved in that lovemaking as he had. She’d been present. He hadn’t forced her. In fact, she’d asked for it. She’d seduced him.
“I’ve moved on. I have a new man in my life, and I’d like you to respect that.”
“Would that new man be around for long if he knew what we’d just done?”
“He won’t know.” She’d finished dressing then looked at him expectantly. “You need to go, Dirk.”
“What are you going to do for a car?”
“That’s my concern.”
“I could lend you one of mine.”
She put up a hand. “No. I can do this. On my own.”
He wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh again or be angry. He wasn’t giving up on her. They were meant to be together. Maybe she needed more romancing. Maybe she needed a light touch.
He put on his clothes, pondering. She left him alone. He found her on her couch. The same piece of furniture he’d held her on as she cried. Where she’d asked him to take her to bed.
He felt a certain bitterness at being used. He’d never been in that position to not gain anything back. “I’ll go, Riley, but this isn’t the end.”
“It is, Dirk. It has to be. We have nothing in common.”
“We can find things in common.”
He sounded desperate to his own ears. Her doorbell rang. A panicked look crossed her face. “Shit.”
“Guess that’s him. How are you going to explain my presence?”
Her gaze darted around. “You stay here. I’ll go somewhere with him. Then you can leave.”
He smiled at her. He wasn’t going to make this that easy. “No.”
She squared her shoulders. “Fine. You want to meet him?”
She strode to the door, and he admired her balls in this situation. She pulled open the door, a smile on her face. Justin handed her flowers. Then he saw the bruises on her face.
“What happened?”
She let him in. “I was in a car accident.”
“Oh, baby. So sorry.”
Then he saw Dirk. The smile dimmed a little.
“Justin, this is Dirk. He gave me a ride home. He was my last client,” Riley said.
Her gaze told him to be good. He had no desire to do that, but she’d be more pissed if he didn’t.
He shook Justin’s hand. The man met his gaze, and he saw the distrust in him. Good.
“I was just leaving.”
Dirk walked out, but he knew that Riley would have some explaining to do. He laughed all the way to his car.
But he needed a plan. He had to win Riley back. His heart needed her in his life. He probably should have told her how he felt. How he really felt. He loved her, and the thought of Justin having his hands on her made him mad.
He wanted Riley all to himself. All for himself. Justin would be an obstacle. Not a huge one, but one he had to consider. Would Justin fight for Riley? Did he care that much?
Dirk didn’t know. That was an unknown. Still. Dirk had beaten worse odds. And this was more important than anything had been to him in a long time.
He drove out of the parking lot of Riley’s complex, unsure, but undeterred in his mission.
Chapter Six
Riley knew when Justin left that night that he might not be back. She’d had a hard time explaining Dirk, but she didn’t really owe Justin anything. She wanted to, but they hadn’t reached that point.
Somehow she and Dirk hadn’t either.
So she sat in front of her computer, staring at the latest notification. She should delete it. She should forward it to the FBI agents. She certainly shouldn’t do anything about it. This wasn’t her case, but she stared at the e-mail anyway. The case was a loose end.
Dirk was even worse. Justin was being sweet. Dirk was being aggressive. He texted her once a day. He’d sent flowers to her at work. Justin hadn’t asked for an explanation. Thankfully.
Dirk wasn’t to the level of stalking but close. Riley knew she’d screwed up when she slept with him. She also hadn’t told him to stop contacting her. She should, but part of her liked the idea that two men were after her.
The two were so different. One sweet and normal. The other rich and a man who got what he wanted. And he clearly wanted Riley.
She sighed. Then she clicked on the e-mail. Her breath almost left her. This was the worst evidence she’d seen. And it pointed to Zeke. It was from his e-mail and had details of another client of Dirk’s.
She had to tell him, but she didn’t want to see him.
Her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number. So she didn’t answer it. She looked back at her laptop screen, puzzling over what she’d seen. “I have to tell him.”
She couldn’t keep this to herself. She didn’t like that Zeke was the problem. Dirk wouldn’t like that Zeke was the problem. He’d agreed to give her information to throw her off of his trail.
Why? Why was Zeke doing this? Was he jealous of Dirk? They’d been friends for years according to Dirk. Did he harbor a grudge? None of this made sense.
Riley wanted a clear motive for Zeke’s behavior before she went to Dirk. She called Joan and invited her over.
Joan arrived minutes later. “I can’t stay long. I have another date with Kent.”
“You guys are really serious?” Riley said as she sat on her couch.
She remembered Dirk holding her and lettering her cry here. He’d been so sweet, and then she’d stomped on his heart. Didn’t seem to slow him down at all. He was still in pursuit of her. Despite Justin being in the picture.
“We are. I love him, Riley. He has so many of the things I want in a man,” Joan said.
Riley didn’t think she could list those things. “Maybe I need to figure out what I want. I’d never thought about it.”
“Then figure out which of those men has more of those items. Then you’d have to make a decision. I think you like being the center of two men’s attentions.”
Riley smiled. “I guess I do. I guess I shouldn’t string them along too long.”
“Has either asked for exclusivity?”
“No. Dirk never did.”
“What about Justin?”
“No, he’s been sweet and slow-moving. I wish I knew more about him.”
“Have you slept with Just
in?” Joan said.
“No. We don’t seem to be rushing that way at all. I’m getting a little unnerved by it,” Riley said.
“Hm. Well, show me what you have so we can figure out what you should do about this problem.”
“Right.”
She showed Joan the notification e-mail. “You traced this back. There’s no way this is an account masquerading as Zeke’s account.”
“No, it isn’t. I’ve checked everything I could. This e-mail is pretty damning. I don’t know how anyone could be this stupid. Especially since Zeke knew I was investigating it.”
“Maybe he assumed that since he hadn’t been caught he wasn’t going to get caught.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. So you think I should tell Dirk? He’s going to be pissed that I was still working on it.”
“You weren’t. You just forgot to remove this bit of code. Not completely your fault.”
“How does Zeke know how to get around the firewall and send this e-mail?”
“How much do you know about Zeke?”
“He’s a lawyer that works for Dirk. They’ve been friends for years.”
“Maybe he had a background in coding. You can take almost anything undergrad before law school,” Joan pointed out.
“Let’s do a search.”
She did and found that Zeke had studied computer science undergrad. It was right on his Linked-In profile.
“I wonder why Dirk had never mentioned it. He must have known,” Riley said.
“There are way too many people as suspects in this case. My head would be spinning.”
Riley frowned. “Mine is, and it bothers me that I can’t pin one down. I turn a corner and I have evidence of someone else.”
“Maybe there is more than one person.”
“I can’t hop on the conspiracy bandwagon. I just can’t see how Dirk could have pissed off this many people.”
“Isn’t he pretty ruthless?”
She wasn’t sure she’d call Dirk ruthless. “Determined for sure. He sees something and goes for it. I don’t know if he’s stepped on anyone in the process.”
“One doesn’t always get to be successful without hurting a few people,” Joan said.
Riley shrugged. “I don’t know, but I guess I have to talk to him. He’s going to be glad to see me, but not glad why. Both because of the news and who it is about.”
“Guess you have to suck it up and go.”
Yes. To his office. Could that wait until Monday? She didn’t want to see him in his penthouse. He’d get the wrong idea. “That’s for Monday. I have a date tonight, and so do you.”
Joan smiled. “We need to double date sometime.”
Riley nodded, but she had no idea which man she’d bring to that date.
***
Dirk was surprised to see Riley in his office. She was clearly dressed for work, but he thought the skirt didn’t do her legs justice. The color of her blouse was all wrong for her also. He chose not to point that out.
She might never come back to see him. The flowers and texts must be working, though she didn’t look happy to see him.
“I’ve got news.”
He sat in his chair despite wishing he could take her in his arms. They could do it on the desk. The news could wait. He’d missed her.
Unless she was telling him she was marrying Justin or something stupid like that. He’d talk her out of it. Then they could do it on his desk. His dick twitched. Taking her here would be amazing.
She sat on the edge of her seat. Was she uncomfortable with what she had to say to him? His Spidey sense was tingling. He wasn’t going to be happy by the end of this conversation. He could already tell.
Bracing himself for bad news, he shifted in his chair. “Okay.”
“About the investigation.”
What was she still doing that for? “Didn’t we agree that you were done with this? We were going to let the cops deal with it?”
“We did, but I never removed my code to get notifications. I still knew when someone breached the firewall.”
He wasn’t sure what to be mad at first. He rubbed a hand down his face. She squirmed under his gaze and silence. “Why didn’t you remove the code? We agreed that this was too dangerous.”
“I know. I forgot about it. I’ve been a little busy lately. You know, living my life. I have a full time job.”
He didn’t like her snarky response. He knew all too well that she had another man in her life and that she hadn’t responded to Dirk’s advances.
“Then remove it as soon as possible.”
“Don’t you want to know what I’ve discovered?”
She held a folder in her hand. He held out his hand. “Give it to me.”
He dropped it on his desk.
“You aren’t going to look at it?” she said.
No, he wasn’t. He was mad at her. “Just leave the investigation alone. You’ve done all you can, and I want you safe. Not in danger.”
“That’s really not for you to worry about, and as I said, this was accidental.”
“I’ll look at it later,” he said.
“But it implicates Zeke.”
Zeke? “I thought you’d proved he wasn’t involved.”
“This evidence proves he is. I can’t doubt it anymore. I know he’s your friend, but, well, you’ll have to read what I found.”
“Zeke?” He dropped his hands onto his desk. “Zeke and I have been friends for about a decade. What motive would Zeke have for doing this?”
“I can’t figure out one, but he does have a background in computer science.”
“Which he probably hasn’t used in years.”
She was pissing him off. No matter what he felt about her, she couldn’t just accuse Zeke of something like this. Not without a ton of evidence.
“He could have brushed up on his skills,” she said.
He studied her. What was her game? Was she getting Zeke back for something?
“What do you have against Zeke? Personally I mean.”
If he hadn’t been watching her, he wouldn’t have seen the subtle shift of her eyes. She was hiding something. He leaned forward more.
“I have nothing against Zeke, but this shows he was involved. He may not be the only one. He may have an accomplice, but I’m pretty sure Zeke is involved in this.”
“Pretty sure? I’m supposed to go to my best friend when you’re pretty sure.”
She stood. “You can believe me or not, but it’s all in black and white.”
“This is all too much, Riley. Too much even for me to overlook. You can’t accuse Zeke unless you are very sure. Unless you know it.”
She shrugged. “Think what you want. Just read it.”
“Get out, Riley.”
“I’m happily leaving. You can have your company. You can have whatever you want. Just not me. I won’t stand here and have my integrity questioned.”
She left, and his heart went with her, but he was too angry to care. She’d insisted that Zeke couldn’t be involved. And now she thought he was. He was glad she was gone. Glad he didn’t have to see her.
Glad she hadn't responded to his romancing.
She was hiding something, and he couldn’t abide by this. Her accusing Zeke might just be a ploy to get him off of her back. Well, it worked. He wouldn’t be contacting her again. He wouldn’t send her flowers or anything.
This crossed the line. There was no way that Zeke was the leak. He couldn’t be. Dirk trusted Zeke with his life. Besides, what did Zeke have to gain? He’d lose his job if the company went under.
The whole situation puzzled Dirk. Zeke had no motive. Riley had more of a motive to piss him off. So he’d leave her alone. Well, she got her wish. He was done.
He wouldn’t bother her again. She wasn’t the woman he thought she was. Back to starlets and models. He rifled through his contacts on his phone. Who would be available on short notice?
Someone who might go for a roll in the hay and nothing more.
/>
Ivana. She’d be up for it. He called her. The number was disconnected. How odd. He found another number to call. She didn’t answer, so he left a message. Then he tried a third number.
Sara answered. “Hello.”
“It’s Dirk.”
She hung up. Batting one thousand this morning. Damn. He’d need a good fuck after this day, and it had only just begun. What had Riley been thinking? Walking in here accusing Zeke? She must be desperate to get rid of Dirk. Well, she succeeded.
A half an hour later, he was even more frustrated. No one would answer his calls.
Chapter Seven
Riley rode the elevator down to her rental car. She wasn’t going to cry. This hurt more than leaving Dirk. He’d questioned her integrity. He’s questioned her abilities.
She needed to see Justin. That would help. He’d build her up instead of tearing her down.
The doors opened, and she took a deep breath before striding out of the elevator. She would not be cowed by this. She drove to work, her throat sore from trying not to cry. Not many things made her tear up.
She hated that Dirk had done this to her. She hated that she’d let him do this to her. Damn.
He’d gotten under her skin. She didn’t want that. She didn’t like that. She pulled into the lot at work and paused. She had to pull herself together. Going into work upset was never a good idea. Losing it in front of a man you were just beginning to date wasn’t classy either.
She contemplated calling in sick, but she wasn’t. Besides, she loved her job. She loved what she did. No reason to let Dirk take that away. She was good at what she did. People asked for her.
Finally having her emotions under control, she climbed out of her car. Justin was standing there. She’d never been so glad to see anyone.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, tough morning already.”
“You want to talk about it before we go in?”
How much could she say? She didn’t want to tell him that the man who had been in her apartment made her cry. Men only made women cry one way. That this was not the case now, she couldn’t explain. He wouldn’t be convinced. He’d think she had some emotion attached to Dirk.
She did, but Justin didn’t need to know that.
“The specifics aren’t important. I’m just upset because someone has questioned my abilities.”