Lies (Phoenix Undercover #1)

by C. A. Harms

  “I know he is not me, sweetheart,” Leo cooed from behind her. “But just imagine his cock is mine.”

  I looked back to Audrey, and her throat bobbed with a hard swallow. Without opening her eyes, she lowered my zipper and reached beneath the waistband of my boxers. My legs tensed when she wrapped her hand around me and slowly pulled me free.

  “That’s it,” Leo instructed, and the sound of his voice was making it extremely hard to hold my shit together. “Just like that, sweetheart. Glide that perfect pink tongue of yours over his cock.”

  A single tear rolled over Audrey’s cheek, and my fucking heart seized. She slowly opened her mouth, and the wetness of her tongue shocked me as she slid it over the head of my cock.

  My tongue felt three sizes too big as I tried to swallow the bile that had begun to rise in my throat.

  “All the way now. Why are you hesitating?” Leo demanded.

  Anyone behind me who was witnessing this would see just how difficult this was on both Audrey and myself. So many emotions ran through me as I tried to fight down my disgust and anger. I knew this would be something that would forever haunt me.

  Her lower lip quivered, and it took all the strength I had not to grab her and run out of the warehouse. But that would only get us both killed, plus Mike and Greyson would be placed in danger as well.

  Audrey’s lips touched the head of my dick, and she took in a shuddering breath before lowering her head and taking me into her mouth. Leo didn’t seem pleased by how slow she was going. He stood from the couch, stepped toward us, and shoved her head down, forcing her to take me all in. She gagged, and he chuckled before stepping back.

  I was already starting to stand up from the couch when Audrey began to cough. She pulled off me and covered her mouth, but it was too late. Vomit spilled out from between her fingers and covered my lap.

  I had never in my life thought someone puking on me would be a good thing, yet I couldn’t have been happier for the timing.

  “You stupid bitch,” Leo spat as he yanked her back by her arm. To add to my act, I threw out a few what the fucks and nasty bitches as well.

  “Get her out of here,” Leo instructed Nicolay as he grabbed Audrey’s dress from the floor and threw it against her chest. She wouldn’t look at me as Nicolay dragged her toward the exit and out the door.

  “Well, so much for the greatest blowjob of your life.” Leo chuckled as he sat back on the couch and shook his head. “One you will never forget, but not for the reasons I had promised.” It was a little fucked up how Leo could go from such a state of rage to amusement in a matter a seconds. It just assured me I was right in thinking he was completely unstable. His laughter ate away at my last bit of resolve. I had to get some fucking distance before I strangled him until his body went limp in my hands.

  “I guess I better get cleaned up,” I growled as I stood and walked toward the office upstairs, feeling dirty and disgusted. Once I reached the bathroom tucked away in the back corner, I shut the door and locked it. Leaning over the toilet, I emptied the contents of my own stomach as I envisioned the hurt in Gabby’s eyes when she found out what had just happened.

  Knowing Audrey was tied up in Leo’s world didn’t sit well with me, either. I knew getting her out of this darkness should be my top priority, and my mind raced with possibilities. How would I ever look Gabby or her family in the eyes if something happened to Audrey, worse than what she had already gone through?

  Hell, how would I ever be able to look Gabby in the eyes and act as if everything was the same?

  I would have to keep what had happened between Audrey and me a secret, and it would haunt me forever.

  Chapter 26

  Gabriella

  Today was one of the most productive and successful days in a long time, which seemed strange, considering my heart just wasn’t fully in it. I couldn’t stop thinking of Audrey, because none of us had heard from her yet. I hadn’t heard from Josh, either, and I just wanted him near. I needed his reassurance that everything would be all right, because right now I wasn’t sure it would be.

  I exited the elevator on my floor and shifted my bags to my other arm as I dug in my purse for the apartment key. When my fingers brushed against my key ring in the bottom left corner of my bag, I felt a small sense of relief that I had remembered to grab them off the counter this morning, considering I had locked myself out at least three times in the last two weeks. My head was so scrambled with worry over Audrey and missing Josh that I could barely focus.

  I slid the key into the lock, and before I could twist it, the door flew open. Brook stood in the doorway, her eyes full of tears as she held her phone to her ear.

  My heart sank, and my legs grew weak. I stepped inside quickly, ushering her backward so I could close the door behind me.

  “Mom,” Brook whispered, and I began to shake. Chills covered my skin as the worst possible scenarios flooded my mind. “Okay,” her voice cracked with emotion. “Are you sure?”

  I closed my eyes tightly, allowing my head to sag as I tried to remain patient. “Call us if you change your mind.”

  I looked up just in time to see Brook end the call, and her eyes immediately met mine. “She’s back.”

  Chills broke out over my body again, and I fell to my knees in relief. Taking in a few deep breaths, I tried to stay in control, but it was hopeless. All the emotions that had built up over the last few weeks rushed through me at once, and I started sobbing uncontrollably.

  Brook knelt beside me and wrapped me in her arms as I cried. I don’t know how much time passed, but I finally stopped as I reached the point of exhaustion. As my lungs heaved, my heartache turned to anger as I remembered how frightened we’d been. How could she put us all through that? What the hell was she thinking?

  “Where was she?” I asked as I pulled away from Brook’s hold and stood.

  “She just showed up a couple hours ago. Mom said she looked good, rested even.”

  “Well isn’t that just great,” I snapped, growing angrier. “She disappears almost three weeks ago without a word. Then she shows back up like nothing happened. Meanwhile, the rest of us have gone through hell worrying about her.” My hands were shaking now as I dug through my purse for my phone.

  Brook stood back watching me as if I had lost my mind. And maybe I had, but nothing about what Audrey had just put us through was okay. As I angrily tapped the numbers on my phone, Brook stepped up to my side.

  “Gab, what are you doing?”

  I spun around, giving her my back. Right now, I couldn’t wrap my head around my own actions. I just knew I was beyond pissed. My rage had taken over my mind like a fucking disease, and I couldn’t stop myself from exploding.

  Audrey’s happy greeting as she answered her phone destroyed my last ounce of self-control. “We fucking thought you were dead, you selfish bitch,” I yelled.

  Brook gasped.

  “I’m sorry,” Audrey said, “I just needed—”

  “You just what, forgot about our parents? Forgot you have two sisters that were worried sick? We called the cops and reported you missing, and then we find out you haven’t even been to your apartment in months. What the hell is going on with you? Are you that self-centered that you don’t give a shit about any of us? That you didn’t think how we would take you disappearing without any trace?”

  My chest was heaving and my throat burned as the words flew from my mouth.

  “You run off to clear your head. To relax and get a break from reality while we all sit around jumping at the sound of every phone call, and you want to know why?” Deep breath. “Because every fucking time that phone rang, we feared it would be the one where they told us they found your body. Do you even fucking care?”

  “Gabby…”

  I heard the pain in her voice, but it was nothing compared to the hurt and anger that had taken me over. “I never once thought you could be this selfish. I always looked up to you, but now I’m so disgusted by what you put us through that I
…” My words got caught in my throat, and instead of continuing, I just hit End and dropped my phone to the counter.

  Brook just stood there staring at me in silence as I turned toward the hall and slowly walked to my room. Once inside, I lifted the covers and crawled beneath the sheets without bothering to undress. A strong sense of defeat washed over me as I once again began to cry into my pillow.

  ***

  I was awakened by a strong arm wrapping around my midsection. When I looked over my shoulder, my eyes met Josh’s in the light shining into the room from the hall. It was dark outside, and I wasn’t sure what time it was, but he was here. He was in my bed looking back at me, and suddenly the tears began to fall once again.

  I buried my head against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around me even tighter. “Shh, it’s okay,” he assured me, but all I could do was shake my head.

  It wasn’t okay. Nothing about my world was okay right now. I hated my sister for what she had done, I was in love with a man I barely got the chance to see, and I felt like I was losing my fucking mind. I was always on edge, depressed by the things I couldn’t change, and I hated feeling so helpless.

  “My sister,” my voice broke, and Josh rubbed my back soothingly.

  “I know, baby. Brook told me.” I was relieved she had, because I wasn’t sure I had it in me to go through the entire thing again. “I know right now you’re pissed, and that’s understandable. But maybe when things calm down, you’ll talk it out with Audrey.”

  I lifted my head and looked up into his eyes. They shifted away from mine as if he was having a hard time looking at me.

  “Things aren’t always what they seem, Gabby. And maybe one day you’ll step back and see it from her point of view,” he whispered, and his voice was laced with something I had never heard before from him. I just had no idea what it was.

  I arched my neck, bringing my lips close to his. I just wanted to feel his lips against mine, yet as I closed the distance, he turned and kissed the side of my mouth.

  “Go back to sleep, Gab,” he whispered. I nodded and turned away without arguing, stung by his rejection.

  Chapter 27

  Josh

  “He’s gone,” Trevor announced.

  “What?” I said as I leaned forward, placing my elbows on the table in front of me.

  “Off the grid. One minute we had him, and the next he’s gone. We found the transmitter we had on Leo’s car lying in the parking lot of the warehouse. It would appear our pal figured out you three aren’t what you seem.”

  Everything changed after my night with Audrey. For the next five days, Leo seemed tense, and I could always sense him watching me. Last Thursday, we woke up to the sound of trucks and Leo’s men loading the last shipment into them. They didn’t take all the merchandise, but they took a lot of it. Nicolay had played it off as if they had a big buyer, but I knew something was up. I returned back to the office on Friday afternoon, and for three days we sat back and watched the tracking devices monitoring Leo and his men. I hadn’t gone straight to Gabby during that time because I wasn’t sure what seeing her would do to me. I had a hard enough time looking at myself.

  And I was right. It was days after the events that unfolded between Audrey and me before I got up the nerve to visit Gabby. It took everything I had in me not to confess the entire situation the moment she looked up at me. She was heartbroken over her fallout with Audrey, and I did my best to comfort her. When she leaned in and kissed me, I could tell she wanted more, but I buried my face in her neck and held her firmly instead. When she whispered she loved me, I pretended to be asleep already. If I responded, I would not have been able to hide the heartbreak in my voice. She would have sensed something was really wrong, and I couldn’t chance it.

  I left before she woke the next morning, leaving a note on her nightstand about needing to check in at work. That was two days ago, and I had avoided her phone call and text messages ever since. I knew it was wrong, but my conscience was fucking with my mind.

  “We have followed Nicolay, and he was last seen entering his apartment on the Upper East Side,” Frank said. “We’ve seen the same men come and go over the last few days, but Nic has remained put. He may be communicating with Leo, but they haven’t been seen together since they left the warehouse on Thursday.”

  As the team sat around scanning over reports and watching surveillance videos, the only thing I could see was Audrey kneeling before me. Every fucking time I closed my eyes, the image of her taking me into her mouth haunted me. Bile rose in my throat as I thought about what she must be going through mentally after what Leo forced her to do, and I couldn’t stop wondering just how in the hell she got wrapped up in his world. And I couldn’t stop worrying about what all this would do to Gabby, what it would do to us.

  Soon, we all left the conference room and went back to our offices. We would reconvene this afternoon to come up with a way to locate Leo. Yes, our covers were blown, but the last thing Leo would do would be to run back to Roman when he’d fucked up so badly. We may not know much about Roman, but we do know he doesn’t give second chances. No, Leo would hide out, and it was up to us to find him.

  There was a knock on the door, and I looked up as it inched open to reveal Audrey. “Hey,” she said with a forced smile as I stared at her in shock. “Do you mind if I come in?”

  Momentarily speechless, all I offered was a gentle nod as I motioned to the chair opposite mine.

  When she stepped inside, I couldn’t help scanning over her. She was wearing jeans and a fitted shirt, much different than the clothing I’d last seen her in. Her hair was much lighter than Gabby’s, and she was taller and thinner. But Gabby had the curves I love on a woman and enjoyed feeling beneath my palms.

  “I need to explain,” she whispered as she took a seat. I nodded. “It’s not what you think.”

  “So you weren’t Leo’s whore that he forced to suck my dick in the middle of a crowd of people.” She winced, and I immediately felt horrible for saying that. “Sorry.”

  “I was undercover,” she said, and I felt like I’d been slapped.

  “An undercover architect. Didn’t realize that was a real thing.” Did she actually think I was dumb enough to buy this shit?”

  “I’m not an architect. That’s just what I tell my family. I’m DEA.”

  I shook away the fog that was now clouding my vision. What the fuck?

  “I know, huge difference from being an architect. But you know how hard it is to separate the job and real life. I thought it was easier they not know. For their safety. Yes, I have an apartment in Boston, but I also have a flat in New York.” She shrugged. “Boston is where I meet my family when they decide to visit. But New York is where I’ve been living for over five months. I’ve been inside Leo’s world almost daily.”

  I rubbed at my face roughly and let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “This is all so fucked up. You know that, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Tell me how the hell I’m supposed to look Gabby in the eyes after what happened between us?” I asked as pain shot through my stomach. “I’ve seen her once in the five days I’ve been back, and I had to pretend to be asleep just to keep from telling her. If she attempted to touch me, I found a way to avoid it.”

  “I know.” When I looked up, I saw pain in her eyes. The same haunted look she’d had that night. “I’m terrified to face her too. She loves you, and knowing we can’t erase what happened breaks my heart. Please know I never would have done it willingly.” Her eyes were full of tears, and she looked down at her hands. “I just wanted you to know the true reason why I was there. But I’m out now.”

  “What?”

  She looked up at me. “They pulled me out. After that night, things got a little crazy.”

  “How crazy?” I asked, fearing I already knew the answer.

  “Leo showed up at his place, where he insisted I stay. He got really aggressive, and my team decided it was better this way. They
started to really fear he would one day take things too far.” Anger boiled within me as she took a deep breath. I had yet another reason to want to kill the monster known as Leo.

  “I would have returned much sooner, but I had to take some time to calm down. I didn’t want to scare my family by coming back when my head wasn’t in the right place. Now they just hate me instead. I put them through some shit.” Another tear fell from her eye, and I wanted to comfort her but remained seated. “My father thinks I’m crazy. My mother won’t look at me. And Gabby…she let me have it. I’ve tried calling her, but she won’t answer. The only one that does talk to me is Brook, and that’s only so she can continue to lecture me on how selfish I acted.”

  “They’ll forgive you,” I assured her.

  “Yeah, maybe.” Her lower lip quivered, and once again I was reminded of that night at the warehouse. “But the question is, will I ever be able to forgive myself?”

  We both had that fear, but an even bigger fear was that Gabby would never forgive us.

  ***

  I had avoided her for days. I knew it was wrong, but facing her would be even harder.

  When she called for the fourth time in less than two hours, I decided this had to stop. If I wanted us to work, I had to face her. I had to let go of the guilt and I had to do it now. I took in a deep breath and picked up the phone.

  “Hey, beautiful.” A silence on the other end of the line sent a bolt of panic through me. “Are you there?”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  “Why are you avoiding me?”

  I was taken aback by her question. “Baby, I’m not. I’m working. I told you at times it would be hard to be in contact.”