Partners (Fire & Lies - One)

by Lilliana Anderson

  Aiden could understand that he was protective of his daughter – she was beautiful, and he was sure that even a father could see the way men reacted to her. And as a result both men and women alike were afraid to have anything to do with her. She’d go to the kitchen to get a coffee, and the staff would smile politely then quickly scurry away, as if talking to her could be the end of them.

  Chloe could see the muscle tick in Aiden’s jaw as he stood in front of her. It was as if he was searching her face for something, his mind ticking away as he gazed at her intensely. But slowly, his mouth curved into his charming smile and his posture relaxed. “Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps I should care. Perhaps I should ignore you just because you’re the boss’ daughter, and leave you in here alone, night after lonely night, with no one to talk to and no one to keep you safe.”

  “Safe from what?”

  His smile broadened, and his eyes glinted with a mischief she hadn’t seen before. “Well, men like me, of course.” Turning, he headed for her door. “One more hour, Miss Donovan. Then it’s time for you to go home.”

  With a smile of her own pulling at her lips, Chloe watched after him as he left then, as if the quiet of the room reminded her, her eyes drifted up to the camera and its little blinking eye as it watched her every move, her every action. Quickly, she dropped her gaze and once again threw herself into her work, deciding that she needed to be more careful.

  ***

  An hour later, Aiden appeared once again at Chloe’s door, seeing that she was still focused on her work and not at all prepared to leave. Without knocking, he strode toward her desk, causing her to jolt in surprise as he reached out and closed the file she was working on.

  “It’s time to go. There’s nothing you can do now that will make any difference before tomorrow.”

  She looked up, her heart beating wildly in her chest. For a man of such great size, Aiden certainly moved with a stealth afforded to very few people in this world. He had just succeeded in surprising her by his presence twice in one night.

  “Miss Donovan?” he asked, his tone soft but commanding as he leaned down to speak to her, stopping only inches from her face. She caught her breath as she realised that it was the closest they had ever been. She knew it was wrong and knew that the cameras were recording their every move. They couldn’t get involved, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from dropping to his mouth. She couldn’t stop herself from longing for the brush of his full lips against hers. If she just leaned forward, she could graze her mouth over the stubbled hair that had grown throughout the day along his square jaw.

  She dropped her eyes, unable to maintain the contact, and unable to take the risk of being seen. She wasn’t quite that brave yet. And he was so close. She couldn’t breathe and needed air.

  “Do I scare you, Miss Donovan?” he asked in a low voice near her ear, as he reached out and shut the lid on her laptop. He did it in one fluid movement, and it made Chloe wonder if he was standing exactly where he was because his body blocked her from view.

  Lifting her eyes to meet his, a blush crept across Chloe’s cheeks. “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Good,” he stated, as he stood up and moved around the desk, picking up her bag, and holding it out to her. “I’ve called you a car. We need to be downstairs in five minutes.”

  Reaching out, Chloe took her bag from his hand, their fingers brushing lightly during the exchange. Her eyes closed, that simple touch enough to make all of her nerve endings burst to life. She nodded her thanks and stepped away, increasing the distance between them.

  It was true. Aiden did scare her. He scared her because of how he made her feel. He scared her because he made her want something she couldn’t have. And he scared her because she wanted it anyway. She wanted him.

  Riding the lift down to the ground floor together in silence, Aiden kept his expression flat and his gaze forward. Once again, they were both acutely aware of the camera that recorded their every move and every interaction. To Chloe, the lift felt too small to contain whatever it was that happened when Aiden was in her proximity. She felt hot. She felt nervous. She felt the urge to touch him…

  Eyeing the camera in the corner of the lift, her heart began to beat loudly in her ears as she reached out and brushed her fingers across the back of Aiden’s hand.

  He inhaled deeply. “That’s quite a risk you’re taking, Miss Donovan.”

  “No worse than what you did in my office,” she whispered, doing it again.

  “Don’t you follow the rules?” he asked, turning his head toward her slightly but keeping his stoic stance.

  Her fingers moved and slid between his. “Not the stupid ones.”

  When the doors pinged open, she released his hand and let out a breath, not realising she’d been holding it the entire ride down. If Aiden noticed, he didn’t let on.

  The car and driver were already waiting in front of the building as they exited through the double sliding doors. Aiden lifted his arm signalling the driver to stay in the car as he placed his hand on the small of her back and reached out to open the back door. She almost flinched at his touch and her body reacted immediately, sending glorious shivers of delight over the surface of her skin.

  “Enjoy the rest of your night,” Aiden said, his voice warm, soft, and rumbly. When he spoke, it felt like his voice physically rolled through her. “Try not to break anymore rules.”

  “I promise nothing,” she smiled, sliding into the back seat, glad to be outside where she felt a tiny amount of freedom from electronic eyes. “Will you be here to walk me down every night?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it,” he assured her, as he moved to shut the door. “Good night, Miss Donovan.”

  “Aiden?” she called, reaching out to keep the door from closing. Turning her head, she glanced at the driver who was pretending he wasn’t listening. But he was paid with her father’s money so Chloe was mindful of what he’d hear.

  “What is it?” Aiden asked, his eyes questioning as he leant down to see her face.

  With another glance at the driver, she lowered her voice so that only Aiden would be able to hear. “I like the way you scare me.”

  Against his better judgement, a smile pulled at the edge of his lips. “Good night, sugar,” he murmured, pushing the door closed the rest of the way and tapping the roof to signal that the driver could leave. Then he stood there, telling himself he was under control, that it was all just a flirtation, that it wouldn’t go any further than it already had. He told himself that, over and over again, as he watched the girl who was likely to be the end of him, drive away until he couldn’t see her anymore, and even he didn’t believe it.

  “Shit, Price,” he said to himself as he headed to the basement car park that held his own car. “What the hell are you doing?”

  And even he couldn’t answer that question. Because he didn’t know.

  Chapter Five

  PRESENT, 14 days before the job

  Aiden

  I PUSH my way through the drunken crowd, hot and sweaty while they gyrate against each other. The rock music crashes all around us, ensuring that even a yell can’t be heard unless you’re against someone’s ear, so I don’t bother speaking. I simply push their bodies to the side as I make my way to the centre where I’m needed.

  Every fucking time I work here, I’m breaking up fights. We offer live music. We offer decently priced alcohol. And that mix in the cramped space that we have, often leads to a few hot and pissed off partygoers.

  Most clubs like ours would be shut down by now. But our security is fast and we aren’t shy about banning troublemakers from the premises. The wall in the office is full of pictures of them. It doesn’t stop patrons coming though. Between security and me, the fights are always over quickly and everyone can get back to having fun.

  “Move,” I command, yelling next to the ear of some guy who’s blocking my access to the fight. He doesn’t move, so I grip him by the back of his shirt and pull him backward and out of my way. In
the centre, there’s a big Islander looking guy, standing over someone he’s knocked to the floor. His arm pulls back, fist tight as his muscles coil, ready to unleash their fury on the person who’s on the receiving end of his wrath. I growl in anger. This is not going to happen. Not in my club.

  Before he can follow through, I grab a hold of his elbow, twisting his arm behind his back as one of my other security members grabs the other person to assess the damage.

  “She’s a fucking dirty whore!” the guy hollers over the music, wriggling in my grip as I escort him to the door through the parting sea of people. It’s then that I glance behind me to see that it was a girl he was attacking. Anger flares up, hot in my chest, and I twist his arm just that little bit more, causing him a hell of a lot of unnecessary pain in this situation. I don’t hear him grunt, but I feel it against the back of my hand where it rests on his back. Knowing that he’s hurting makes me feel a hell of a lot better–only cowards hit women.

  When we burst through the side door, I shove him ahead of me, watching as his foot catches the ground, and his feet scuff noisily along the gravel as he scrambles to keep his balance. In my ear, I hear security confirm that they have the girl and she’s in the office getting first aid. Giving a brief response, I return my attention to the scum in front of me, and step toward him menacingly.

  “You like hitting the ladies, do you?” I growl, as he turns around to face me. He’s a big guy. But I’m bigger, and I can guarantee I’m a hell of a lot stronger and faster too.

  “She’s no lady. That girl in there is a straight up dirty whore that I’ll be more than happy to hit again. She needs to know her place.”

  My fists clench. I want to pummel the fuck out of this guy’s face. But I hold back, glancing to the side, where I know there’s a CCTV camera trained down this alleyway, filming our every move. “Just get the fuck out of my face before I do something that puts you in the hospital, and don’t you ever come back to this club again.”

  He stands back from me, and I swear I can see the fear in his eyes as he straightens his shirt and takes another step away. “You don’t have to ask me twice, bro. Stupid name for a club anyway – Ark. What are you, fucking Noah?”

  “Nah man, Noah had to take all the animals. In my club, weasels like you aren’t welcome.”

  He lets out a light burst of laughter, then turns his head and spits on the ground before walking away from me, shaking his head like he’s the only one in on some sort of joke.

  “Dickhead,” I mumble to myself, before hitting the button on my radio to let the others know the guy is out, and I’m on my way back inside.

  Pulling out my key, I unlock the door and head back inside. The thump and crash of the band hits my ears full force the moment I open the door. I wince slightly, my head hurting from my anger towards the dick I just evicted. Breathing slowly, I clench my jaw and focus on making my way to the office where it’s quiet, pushing my way through the crowd with a little more difficulty this time. They move quickly when I’m escorting someone out because they all love to watch the spectacle. But when I’m on my own, they’re too busy partying to pay attention to what’s going on around them.

  Finally, I make it inside the office, taking a moment to enjoy the muted sound from within the room before I focus my attention on the two women inside. My sister, Marli, sits on the couch to the left of the injured girl, holding an ice pack to the side of her face while she tries to talk to her. The girl sits forward, hunched over so her dark bob is falling over her face as she sniffles quietly and shakes her head at something my sister asks.

  Acknowledging my presence, Marli stands and moves toward me, giving me a slight shrug of her shoulders as she twists her mouth downward. “She’s a stubborn one–doesn’t want an ambulance or a doctor. She’s got a nice cut on her cheek and her lip. I don’t know if she needs stitches…”

  Nodding at my sister, I make my way toward the girl and crouch down in front of her, lightly touching her knee to get her attention. “What’s your name, sweetheart?” I ask, tilting my head in an effort to catch her eye. But she won’t look at me; she just keeps her head down. “I’m not going to hurt you, I just need to see how bad it is. Will you take the ice pack down for me?”

  I reach up and lightly touch her face as I cover her hand with mine to urge her to look at me and remove the pack. The moment I turn her face, our eyes meet and suddenly I get what that guy found so funny.

  Clenching my jaw, I speak through my teeth. “Marli, can you leave us alone for a moment?” I ask, keeping my eyes locked with the girl.

  “Um… sure?” my sister says slowly, so it comes out as more of a question than a comment. But she doesn’t wait for an answer, instead, trusting me and slipping out of the room without further comment. A burst of noise blasts through the door as she opens and closes it, leaving the girl and me on our own.

  My eye narrows slightly as I reach up and wrap my fingers around a thick strand of her black hair. She stares at me without flinching, a steely look coming across her eyes as I pull, dislodging the dark wig and revealing the dark blonde hair beneath it. It tumbles from the top of her head and falls messily about her face, down to her shoulders as she sets her jaw. She’s unapologetic in her stance, which means she knew I’d see through her ruse the moment I got close to her.

  Although her tough façade falters when I brush my knuckles lightly along her jaw toward the cut on her cheek. Her breath hitches and her eyes flutter closed for just a second before she reins it in and that façade is back in place. If I didn’t know her, I wouldn’t have even spotted it. But I do know her. I know her too well.

  That’s why when I move my thumb over her cheek and hit a stickiness that blood doesn’t produce, I’m not surprised. She’s bold, and I wouldn’t put anything past her.

  “Corn syrup?” I ask, bringing my thumb to my mouth and tasting the sweetness that confirms my suspicion.

  “He wouldn’t hit me for real. I had to improvise,” she responds with little emotion.

  “Hmmm,” I say, poking my finger at the fake open wound on her cheek. “Nice makeup job.”

  “It’s one of my many talents…”

  “Well, you were always a talented lady,” I say, standing up. “You managed to pull one over on me, and I can count the number of people who have done that on two fingers. And they both share the same surname.”

  She has the decency to drop her eyes and look slightly guilty about the way she ended things between us. At least she still has some sort of feeling in that hard heart of hers, I think as I push through my thighs to standing. I walk over to the basin in the corner of the room, where our coffee urn is set up, so I can wash the sticky syrup off my hands.

  Grabbing some paper towels when I’m done, I turn around and lean against the bench, drying off my hands and shotting the paper into the bin. “This had better be really good Chloe, because after what happened between us, then the shit your father pulled, I really don’t have a lot of time for you. I thought I made that really clear this morning.”

  “You did, and I don’t blame you for not wanting to see me, or my dad. But you don’t know the whole story.”

  “I don’t want to know the whole story, Chloe, and I certainly don’t want to know you. And coming into my family’s business, playing some damsel in distress bullshit, isn’t going to do shit for your cause.”

  She stands up and moves toward me, which raises my guard. We don’t do well in close proximity to each other. “Please Aiden. Just hear me out - I need your help. You’re the only person I can trust.”

  “I’m the only person you can trust?” I laugh, shaking my head. “That’s funny, because you’re the last person I’d ever trust.”

  Stopping in front of me, the air begins to crackle with that fucking pull her presence has on me. She looks up at me with watery eyes, her voice a hoarse whisper as she pleads with me. Fuck she’s beautiful. “Please. You can hate me all you want, but please help me help my father. He didn’t do wh
at they say he did.”

  I swallow hard, trying to keep myself as calm as I can. “That’s just the problem, Chloe – I don’t hate you at all. I’m just not willing to let you fuck up my life again.”

  I step to the side to move past her. I need to get away from her before I do the very thing that got us into trouble in the first place. But she’s quick to step into my path, reaching out to grab at my black shirt, balling it up in her fists. “Please!” she begs. “Don’t punish my father for something I did to you. It was my choice to get involved with you and then leave.”

  “Why did you leave, Chloe? That’s the part I can never figure out.”

  Her jaw clenches and she shakes her head. I can tell she doesn’t want to answer but I’ve waited years to know this, and she’s the one who forced her way in here, so she’s going to talk dammit.

  She turns her body as if to leave, and I grip her upper arms, forcing her to stay.

  “Answer me,” I growl. “I think I deserve an explanation at the very least.”

  She twists her body and pushes against my chest, trying to loosen my grip but when she realises she isn’t getting away, she stills and a tear finally falls from her eyes. I lessen my grip slightly, but the moment of calm is over before it even started as she balls up her fist in my shirt, pulling at it aggressively.

  “I left because I loved you too damn much!” she hisses, pulling tightly at my shirt like she’s trying to shake me. When I don’t budge, anger flashes fresh in her eyes as she opens her hands then hits her palms in a slap against my chest. I grab her wrists and glare down at her.

  “You loved me? That’s bullshit, Chloe. You never loved anyone but yourself and your money. Go home. I don’t want any part of this.” I release her wrists, dramatically giving them back to her. But she’s got a fight in her now and she’s not backing down.

  “Fuck you, Aiden. You have no idea!” She hits at me again, her small fists pounding into my chest as tears stream down her face. “I did love you. But now… now, I fucking hate you!”