by Marie James
He chuckles as his fingers fly over the keyboard. “There. I’m in, but I can only keep my shield up for a little while. Get your fill, and then I have to shut it down and cover my tracks. Deacon would lose his shit if he knew I was doing this.”
“This is her office?”
“According to her taxes, yes. She works as an accountant. This is the accounting floor.”
“There’s no one there.”
He shakes his head as he points to movement in an office doorway. “There.”
“I can’t see shit. Go to a different camera angle.”
“There aren’t anymore. They don’t deal with actual money like a bank would. This is the only camera on the floor.”
“Can you zoom in? Where is that?”
Another screen pulls up to the side. “According to the online blueprints I was able to find, that’s her boss’s office. Chance Harrison. Do you think she has a thing with her boss? Is that why you wanted me to do this?”
I hadn’t actually considered that until he opened his mouth. She told me she doesn’t have a boyfriend, but she may not consider an interoffice affair the same way she would a relationship that happens outside of work.
“Is that—fuck, Wren. Is there audio?”
“They don’t have audio.”
“That guy has a fucking gun. Is she in there?”
“I can only see what you see.” The camera shot widens. “There’s no one else in the office, but her phone is showing as being at work. Now, the parking garage is under the building, so I can’t be sure, but it’s possible she’s up there right now.”
“Being held at gunpoint,” I growl.
“I’m already sending a message to the St. Louis Police.”
The man disappears from sight, and my stomach sinks. I’m miles away, watching what could end up being the most horrific thing I’ll ever witness, and I can’t help her. I’m a fixer. It’s what I do. I see a situation, and I take steps to make it better.
I’m turning to leave, ready to gather the cavalry when the guy reappears in the camera shot, positioning himself in the open doorway. He’s not alone. Hayden is clutched to his side, and although I can’t see it with their backs to the camera, I know that fucking gun is pointed at her.
“What has she gotten herself into?” Wren snaps as his fingers work, the other two screens he uses, flashing information and windows moving too fast for me to keep up with.
“I’ve got to go.”
“Police are already on their way, Quinten. There’s nothing you can do.”
“Like hell,” I snap. “She needs me. I can—”
“The fuck?” Wren hisses as we watch the man holding Hayden at gunpoint fall to the ground. “Is that—”
“Blood,” I answer. “She fucking shot him.”
I disappear out the damn door, ignoring the yells from the guys in the breakroom.
Chapter 26
Hayden
“Oh shit.”
The mumbled words don’t register in my head even though I hear them.
“This is bad.”
I stare down at the bleeding man as I pull my hand from my purse. I didn’t know if it would work when I shoved my hand in there and pulled the trigger, but the growing red stain on his shirt is enough of an answer.
He’s not dead, he’s gasping for air, hands shaking as he tries to press a finger to his wound. My first thought is to make sure he can’t hurt me. I kick the gun he was holding further away, but telling from the look in his eyes, the man is no longer concerned about threatening either one of us.
His eyes plead with mine, but before I can drop to my knees and help him, there’s a rush of activity outside Chance’s office.
“Hands up!” an officer yells as he closes the distance between me and the elevator on the far side of the office.
For the second time today, I have a gun pointed at me, and before I can open my mouth to explain, I’m shoved to the ground and handcuffed.
I knew carrying a gun was a bad idea. I don’t know that I would change a single thing that just happened, because the guy lying on the floor bleeding was growing increasingly agitated, and I knew it was minutes if not seconds before he pulled the trigger to get my boss to comply.
I have no idea what Chance got himself tangled up in, but from the looks of the situation, it turned bad very quickly.
“For your safety,” a police officer says as he helps me to my feet, “I’m going to sit you over here until we can get to the bottom of what’s going on. Do you know who that man is?”
I shake my head as he points to the guy who has several officers and a paramedic kneeling down over him.
“Who shot him?”
“I d-did,” I stammer.
“Where’s the weapon?”
“In there,” I tell him, angling my head to the purse still on the floor in my boss’s office.
“Sit tight,” he says before crossing the room.
I watch as people shuffle around the office, too many people coming and going to keep track of everything.
Chance is handcuffed and sat in a coworker’s office chair on the far side of the area near the conference room, and he looks devastated. His head his hanging between his shoulders. As if he can feel my eyes on him, he lifts his gaze to mine.
I don’t see sympathy or remorse in his dark eyes. If anything, he’s pissed, his glare saying more than words. He blames me for what happened. If his hands weren’t handcuffed behind his back, his fingers would be pointing in my direction, and it makes me wonder how much trouble he’s going to be in, not only from the police, but from whoever this Mr. Pierce is that the bleeding guy mentioned earlier.
I have no idea what he’s done or why he would be in so much trouble that a guy with a gun showed up to the office today, but I can tell that if there’s any way for my boss to blame me for what happened, he’s going to do it. He may have confessed I had nothing to do with it when I first walked into the situation, but now that his neck is on the line, there’s no way he’s going to confess and let the police know that I’m just an accountant who was too chicken to see Quinten, so I came to work early and ended up in the middle of a shitshow.
Chance’s eyes are still boring holes into me when a man in a suit lifts him to standing and drags him away.
My skin crawls as scenario after scenario rushes through my head. I know this is a wrong place, wrong time situation, but I shot a man. Both of them could team up against me and say I was the one who went apeshit in the office. I brought a gun to work and lost my mind on my boss and his business associate while they were having an early morning meeting.
My mind is wild with conspiracy theories and how my life is going to be ruined when familiar eyes come level with mine.
Tears burn my eyes. Emotions clog my throat, and if I didn’t have steel cutting into my wrists from behind, I’d wrap them around Quinten’s neck and never let go.
“Hey,” he says, his hand cupping my jaw, thumb swiping away tears that have finally begun to fall. “You okay?”
“I’m going to go to prison,” I whimper.
“Are you a criminal?”
I shake my head.
“Then you aren’t going to prison.” He looks over his shoulder. “Franklin, get these fucking cuffs off my girl.”
I shake my head at the belligerence in his tone, not wanting him to cause any more trouble than I’m already in, but I watch in awe as one of the guys in a suit snaps his head in our direction.
“Fuck, Lake. Sorry, man. There’s a lot going on. I forgot she was over here.”
Franklin, a man wearing a black jacket with FBI emblazoned on the back, heads in our direction, helping me to my feet before unlocking my wrists from the cuffs.
My shoulders scream in pain as my arms fall forward, my fingers automatically touching the swollen areas around my wrists.
“He was,” I begin, my words coming out as sobs. “H-he—”
“Shh,” Quinten says as he pulls me against him.
My head rests between his pecs, and I try to focus on the sure pounding of his heart to calm down, but there’s so much going on I don’t know that I’ll ever feel normal again.
His fingers sweep through my hair, his voice low and unintelligible as he speaks to those around him.
His voice grows more growly, making me lift my head from his chest.
“Tomorrow,” he snaps.
“It’s best to get a statement right after an incident, Lake. You know that as well as I do.”
“Do you really think she’s going to forget being held at fucking gunpoint by a psycho?”
“Before noon,” the man says with irritation in his voice.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
I stumble a little as he turns me around, and I glare at him when he bends to lift me.
“I can walk,” I hiss.
The morning’s events have already left me feeling helpless. I’ll be damned if this man carries me out of the office like a damned baby. Instead, he takes my hand in his, fingers holding just a little too tight, but I don’t complain.
The elevator opens, and we step to the side as even more police and federal agents step into the area. Quinten nods before urging me into the car.
“They’re not going to take me to jail?” I whisper once the doors close us alone inside.
“No, Hayden. You’re not going to go to jail.” His words are gruff and distant, and I can’t help but feel like what I’ve done has somehow changed his opinion of me.
Chapter 27
Quinten
I’m thrumming with unspent energy as I guide Hayden to my truck.
“They have my purse, my ID, my car keys,” she mutters almost as if she’s speaking her thoughts out loud rather than having any real concern for her belongings.
“We’ll get them back,” I assure her as we step up to my truck.
I don’t hesitate lifting her to the seat, even though she made it clear back at her office that she would flay me open if I lifted her in front of everyone.
“I need my keys to get into my house,” she says absently when I climb behind the wheel.
“You can’t go home.”
All of the danger hasn’t passed, and fuck if I’m able to let her out of my sight just yet.
“He didn’t say it, but I’m pretty sure the man I sh-shot was the one who broke into my house.”
I squeeze her hand across the console, but she keeps her eyes focused out the passenger window.
“The guy you shot was a middleman for a crime family. He’s only a small piece of the puzzle. Chance Harrison was into some pretty shady shit, and until the guys on the upper tier of that family are arrested, I need you with me.”
She nods in agreement, but I know her lack of argument has more to do with the crash of adrenaline more than anything else. Or she’s more scared now than she’s ever been, and that makes me want to go back to her office and kick the shot man in the head. She’s had enough damn trauma, and I don’t know if it helps to know that what happened today and the break-in at her house are related, but it’s too much for any one person to handle. I don’t expect her to be able to process much of anything today.
She doesn’t budge when I pull up to my parking spot, and she’s still distracted when I open the passenger door.
“Hayden?” Her eyes find me, and she looks devastated and gorgeous. “Let me carry you?”
She gives me a slight nod, and I don’t give her a second to change her mind before she’s in my arms and cradled against my chest.
She tucks her face into my neck, and I find myself walking slower to the elevator than I normally would, if only to drag out the contact a little longer. The sound of her breathing fills my ears on the way up to my condo, and I manage to only shift her a little to unlock my door.
I don’t know if she realizes it or not, but she’s got blood on her clothes from the incident. I carry her directly to the bathroom in her room, standing silently until she pulls her head back.
“I figure you want a shower,” I whisper.
When her eyes fall to my mouth, my body instantly responds to the attention, and I’m helpless to think things through when she inches her mouth forward, pressing her lips to mine.
My eyes flutter closed as a harsh intake of air echoes around the room.
When she teases the slit between my lips, I open to her command, throbbing to the point of pain when her tongue swipes across mine. I hold her tighter, clinging to her like a lifeline as her fingers dig into the back of my neck.
The soft kiss turns feral in a flash, and I angle my head to taste her deeper, needing to live in this moment. The fear I felt, completely helpless, watching what was happening in her office was enough to make me crazy. Having her in my arms, especially if she wants it as much as I do, isn’t something I’m going to let go of any time soon.
Releasing my neck, her fingers pull at my shirt, and although I know she’s probably in shock and working through the last burst of adrenaline, I place her on the bathroom counter, stepping back only far enough to pull my shirt over my head.
With reverence, her hands trace over my shoulders and down my chest. My eyes flutter closed as her fingers trace the muscle definition on my chest.
“I wanted to do this the first time I saw you shirtless yesterday morning.”
“Hayden,” I whisper as her eyes leave my chest and float back up to mine.
I press my lips to hers again, my own hands working open the buttons on her blouse before searching blindly for the zipper on her slacks.
I want her, but going too far could lead to regret, could make her second guess what she feels for me if done during such a traumatic time in her life.
She doesn’t fight me when I strip her down, revealing every milky inch of her skin, and I nearly groan when her legs fall open a few more inches when I step back to kick off my boots and jeans. I discard my socks, leaving my boxers on, and my cock pulses with need when her eyes drop there.
“Shower,” I manage before turning around and turning the water on.
I lift a hand to help her off the counter, but she reaches for me once again, pulling me right back against her, our mouths finding each other.
I lift her from the counter, hands gripping her ass and keeping her a few inches shy of my dick. Kissing is one thing, but rutting against her while she’s upset and looking for an escape isn’t something I’ll be able to handle the consequences of.
She gasps when the water meets her bare skin as if she was so tangled up in the kiss, she didn’t even realize I was moving her.
“Let me wash you,” I say against her lips, and her head dips, giving me permission.
I make sure she’s steady on her feet before turning for the bodywash. Using the loofah doesn’t even cross my mind because I’ve wanted my fingers on her skin for weeks, and despite all of my chivalry, I’m clearly not as strong as I’d like to think.
She tilts her head, neck exposed when I spread soapy hands on her shoulder. I want to keep this shower as economical as possible, but washing her stomach tests my resolve. Her nipples, like tiny pink erasers, point to me, and I’ve never wanted something in my mouth as much as I do those hardened tips.
I have to look away, washing her body inch by inch, hands skating over her thighs and legs, barely brushing the gap between her thighs, and I try to ignore the moans and grunts of pleasure escaping her parted lips.
By the time I get her rinsed and wrapped in a towel, I feel like I’ve summited Mt. Everest without taking a single breath. My chest is constricted and begging for relief. My cock, still trapped in soaking wet boxer briefs, outlines my need for her, pulsing with my own raging heartbeat.
After leaving the bathroom, I manage to get one of her shirts over her head, groaning once again when I realize it doesn’t cover her but an inch past her belly button.
“These too,” I whisper, pulling a pair of sleep shorts from the unzipped suitcase in the closet.
Her tiny
hands rest on my shoulders as she lifts one leg and then the next and I watch with rapt attention as I pull them up her thighs, my mouth watering for a taste of her skin before it disappears behind the fabric.
“Bed,” I grunt, letting her step back. “I’ll be right back.”
I disappear out of the room, hauling ass back to my own so I can towel off and put some clothes on. I need about a dozen layers between us if I have any hope of surviving this situation.
I pull on a pair of sweats, finding her still standing in the same spot I left her in as I reenter the room.
“Come on,” I tell her as I grab her hand and guide her to the bed.
“Stay with me,” she whispers as she moves to the middle.
“It would take the National Guard to get me out of this room right now.” I climb in beside her, automatically reaching and pulling her to my chest the second I get settled.
Her fingers tease the hair on my chest as her breaths float over my skin.
My cock is hard, but she’s touching me so that’s not surprising. I ignore the damn thing and hold her closer.
Watching what happened today as it unfolded would stress me out no matter who was on the other end of the video stream, but knowing it was Hayden terrified me. I knew then that I could never lose this woman. This is the first time she’s ever been in my arms, and I can’t see another day of going without this.
As her breaths even out to mere puffs, I can’t help but feel like I’m going to lose her anyway.
Chapter 28
Hayden
I snuggle deeper into the warm arms holding me. I have enough wherewithal to know where I am and who is holding me, but that doesn’t stop the thrill from rushing over every inch of my body.
I was so frightened earlier when everything unfolded, but the relief I felt when Quinten showed up was indescribable. How can a man I’ve only known for a handful of weeks be able to calm me as much as he did?
Was it just the sense of familiarity in a chaotic situation?
I know the answer before my brain can really formulate the question.
I care about this man, and after he didn’t back away from my kiss earlier, I discovered that he cares about me on some level. The heat in that kiss was something I never felt before, and it wasn’t a placating kiss, one he felt obligated to return because of my current situation. The man wanted me, yet he still held back. He could’ve had me. I all but offered myself to him, and he kept his distance.