‘Wow.’ The breaths finally became words. ‘You know…I stubbed my toe the other day. Do you think you can make that feel better next?’
She was too tired to smile. She closed her eyes and heard the click of the lamp. The light against her eyelids turned dark, and her body became heavy.
The tension of the day would return, but nothing was going to get to her here. She still didn’t know what drove him – fidelity and integrity or greed and vengeance – but he’d protect her.
When it came to lying down with danger, she preferred to have biggest baddie on her side.
Chapter Ten
‘So no calls have come in today?’
Rielle looked up at the intimidating man standing over her desk. His dark eyes were unrelenting, and his jaw was firm. Detective Morgan didn’t look happy at all with the latest turn of events. She’d thought he would be.
‘No,’ Nina said. ‘Isn’t that good news?’
They’d all been relieved when they’d first noticed. It was around noon when Nina had first mentioned that things were quiet. Rielle had been so busy putting together dossiers that she hadn’t been paying attention. It had been work as normal until then.
Once it was brought to their attention, though, it was the only thing any of them could think about. They had paid heed to every call after that, and the pressure had built and built. Sienna had even snatched a late-afternoon call right out of Rielle’s hand. Her friend had wanted to protect her. Ironically, it had been Security, asking the same question. They’d been watching the calls too.
The detective rubbed the back of his neck. ‘It could be a good sign.’
‘But you don’t think so,’ Nina said.
‘You’ve had too much activity around here. The mugging, someone following your employee, and the attempted break-in.’
‘I thought that was a faulty alarm.’
‘It could have been.’
His answer didn’t give Rielle the warm fuzzies.
The lobby door opened, and she tensed. It was late. They had no more appointments. The sight of Darien made her relax, and Nina’s arms dropped from around her waist.
The detective’s reaction was the exact opposite. He pulled up sharply when he saw their visitor, and he turned to face him. The subtle step put him directly between the new tough guy and Nina.
The Luxxor CEO cleared her throat.
Morgan stayed planted where he was. Suspicion was clear on his face. ‘You’re him. You’re the guy who took Rielle out under an assumed name. You’re the one we’ve been hunting for.’
Oh, no. Rielle shot a look at Nina. The detective’s eyes were sharp. He remembered Darien from that brief moment when he’d kissed her on the sidewalk. The air snapped, and Rielle’s breath shortened.
Nina caught the detective’s arm when he made an aggressive move forward. ‘That was all a mistake.’
‘A mistake?’ Morgan snapped.
‘Yes, in our database.’ Nina said the words smoothly, but her face puckered over the lie as if she’d just bitten a lemon.
Darien faced the lawman unwaveringly with his shoulders pulled back. There was a change in the air. Two alphas were crossing into each other’s territory. Rielle watched the dynamic in fascination as it played out before her. It was subtle, but it was clear.
‘This is Mr Scott,’ Nina said in greeting.
‘Good evening, Nina,’ Darien replied coolly.
Rielle felt his gaze light on her, and he rounded her desk with purpose. The detective bristled when he crossed the imaginary yellow line that visitors should not pass, but went still when Darien dropped a fast kiss on her lips.
Her pen dropped onto her desk.
‘Hi, Beautiful.’ The low intimacy was clear to any other male within fifty feet. ‘How was your day?’
‘Good.’ Suddenly, much better. She cleared her throat. ‘Detective Morgan, this is my –’
What was he to her? Her bodyguard? Her pretend boyfriend? There was a contract binding them together, but what should she call him? Her lover? Her…client?
‘– Darien.’
He offered his hand, but let the kiss say the rest.
Morgan eyed his hand with distaste, but the two finally shook. It was clear they were sizing each other up.
‘So you’re seeing him now, Rielle?’ The detective wasn’t buying what they were selling.
‘It’s new,’ Darien answered for her. ‘Love at first sight sort of thing.’
‘Is it?’
Rielle’s head snapped around so fast, she nearly got whiplash. Morgan’s implication was clear, and she impulsively reached out as if to stop him. ‘Oh, no. It’s not him making the calls.’
‘Although I like the way you think.’ Darien leaned his hips against the desk and settled in beside her. In her space, within reach. ‘But it’s really not my style to scare a woman into being with me.’
Nina sighed. ‘I can vouch for him. He was here when one of the calls came in.’
That made the detective ease up, but he still pulled his notepad out of his pocket. ‘What was your name again?’
‘Oh, my God,’ Nina said. ‘Do we really need the posturing?’
Darien shrugged. ‘I don’t mind if he’s thorough. Rielle needs to be safe. The name is Darien Scott. Look it up.’
Rielle bit her tongue. She’d spent weeks trying to get his name out of him, but now he was offering it up to the authorities, just like that? Knowing they’d dig into his background? It rankled, but also niggled her curiosity. Had he lied to her? Was it another alias?
Or did he know the detective wouldn’t find anything?
‘Are you two done?’ Nina asked crisply. ‘Because the detective was just going to explain to us why having the calls stop isn’t necessarily a good thing.’
‘You didn’t get any calls today?’ Darien said sharply.
Rielle shook her head. ‘No.’
She saw the shadows cloud his face too.
‘What’s that mean?’ she asked. What was it that she and Nina were missing?
‘It could be good, but it’s a significant change in his behaviour.’
The detective’s eyes narrowed. The tension shifted again, aligning differently. There was recognition, if not total acceptance. ‘What is it that you do, Mr Scott?’
‘Contract work. Consulting.’
‘In what area?’
‘Whatever’s needed,’ Darien said coolly. He folded his arms over his chest. ‘How many calls were there yesterday?’
‘Five.’ Morgan said, refusing to lose the stare-off.
Darien turned away first, but it was clear he wasn’t conceding anything. ‘It’s a big drop,’ he explained.
‘Why?’ Nina asked.
‘Precisely,’ Morgan said.
Damn. Rielle sagged. And she’d been waiting for the end of the day to arrive so she could celebrate.
‘No calls came in on the cellphone you gave me, either,’ Morgan added.
Darien’s gaze went to the detective. ‘Have you looked into the old boyfriend yet?’
The detective pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it on the desk. ‘Is this him?’
Rielle stiffened. It was a computer printout of a driver’s license photograph. The shot was decent. It showed a pleasantly attractive man with brown hair and glasses. He looked so…normal.
She pushed away the paper with one finger. ‘Yes.’
‘That’s the guy?’ Darien snatched up the piece of paper before it got away. ‘You dated him?’
She rolled her eyes. As far as types went, the two men couldn’t be further apart on the spectrum. Darien was a stud: confident, aggressive and gorgeous. On the surface, Eddie Hamilton was a beta: softer, approachable and quiet.
Pictures could be deceiving.
‘I can see why it didn’t work out,’ he muttered.
She retrieved the picture and returned it to the detective.
‘You didn’t tell me you had a restraining order against
him in Baltimore,’ Morgan said.
‘He’s never broken it.’ At least not to her knowledge – and she’d been looking over her shoulder pretty hard.
‘What does he do for a living?’
‘Computer guy,’ Darien said.
Rielle’s eyes rounded, but her pretend boyfriend just shrugged. He’d been digging around too.
‘He’s a contractor who works out of his home.’
The detective rubbed his chin. ‘So he’d know how to make calls appear as if they’re coming from you?’
Rielle’s head was starting to ache. ‘I suppose.’
It was a new trick, but totally within character.
The detective sighed and propped his hand on his hip as he looked over his notes.
There wasn’t much there, she knew. Luxxor had received a handful – OK, more than a handful – of calls from an unknown caller. There had been other random events. They were disturbing, but they couldn’t conclusively be linked. Crank calls didn’t typically receive police attention like this, especially not from a detective.
Morgan was going above and beyond, and she knew it wasn’t for her.
‘Is there anything else that might point to this guy?’ he asked.
‘Other than her gut?’ Nina said pointedly.
‘That’s why I’m here, Nina,’ he said quietly.
He put stock in that, and Rielle appreciated it. When her ex’s strange behaviour had started the first time, the police hadn’t given her much support. She just wished she could tell the detective more.
‘Maybe I’m overreacting,’ she said. ‘It’s just some random calls.’
‘They aren’t random,’ Darien said firmly. ‘And she’s not overreacting.’
‘Has he done something like this before?’ Morgan pressed. ‘What was the reason for the restraining order?’
The story was long, and some things just couldn’t be explained. Men didn’t understand what it felt like to get that prickle between their shoulder blades. ‘We didn’t really click, but, when I tried to break up with him, he wouldn’t let go. He’d show up where I worked. He joined my gym. I think he even went through my trash.’
Nina folded her hands in front of her. ‘Tell them about the rest.’
Rielle pushed back her hair. ‘I can’t prove anything, but I was suddenly shut out of my bank accounts. My credit cards were all frozen without my approval. Nothing was stolen, so I was told it was a glitch. Nina’s tech guys helped get it fixed.’
Darien’s hand fisted on the desk next to her stapler. ‘He was trying to control you.’
She knew, but she didn’t want to think about it any more, because that was all she’d been doing. People hadn’t believed her back then, or didn’t understand why she’d break up with such a ‘nice guy’ – especially his brother. The first thing she’d tried was talking to Liam’s parents. Her student was the one who had brought them all together.
Liam.
‘The rasp in his voice.’ She turned so swiftly, her knee banged against her desk. ‘The caller had a rasp in his voice. I noticed it during the last call when he spoke. Eddie has asthma, just like his nephew Liam. It runs in the family.’
Nina quickly picked up on her train of thought. ‘It’s pollen season. There are a lot of allergens in the air.’
‘It’s something,’ Morgan agreed. He made a note of it.
‘Can you at least talk to the guy?’ Darien asked.
‘I’ll track him down tomorrow. I especially want to establish his whereabouts during that mugging.’
Rielle felt terrible about that. Tracy deserved the most attention of all. She was their escort who had been hurt. But had Eddie really done that, too?
The last thing she wanted to do was poke a sleeping bear.
‘I’d like to hear your impressions,’ Darien told the detective. He didn’t care what Eddie might say or do. He wanted Morgan’s gut on this.
Rielle pressed her hand to her stomach. A third party’s take might be a good idea. Her head had been spinning so much over the past few weeks, she didn’t know if she trusted her own instincts any more.
Darien watched her closely. ‘Do you want to get out of here?’
She let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. ‘I’d love to.’
Not so long ago, this office had been a haven for her. She’d stay for hours, filing this or researching that – anything to stay out of her empty apartment. Now nothing sounded better than running away and crawling into his arms.
She glanced at the detective. ‘Unless there’s something else?’
‘No, go on. I’ll let you know tomorrow after I’ve had a word with Mr Hamilton.’
The weight on her shoulders lifted, and she pushed back from her desk. Darien stood so she could retrieve her purse from her desk drawer.
‘Thank you, Detective,’ she said. He might be imposing, but that was a good feeling when he was on her side.
‘Go home, have a nice meal and get some rest.’
‘I’ll make sure she does.’ Darien swung an arm around her waist, but then stopped.
‘Although we don’t have anything in the refrigerator.’ He cocked his head. ‘Would you two want to grab a bite with us?’
Rielle’s eyes rounded. Oh, dear Lord. She caught his hand and squeezed, but it was too late. She turned gingerly to face her boss.
Nina’s look of alarm just couldn’t be described. It was subtle but, to those who knew her, crystal clear. She stared unblinkingly at the man who’d offered the invitation. Her lips were parted, and her foot had rocked back onto a pointed stiletto heel.
The detective was more overt. His eyebrows rose, and his big body stiffened. His hold on the notebook squeezed until it bent in two.
‘I –’ For once, Nina appeared speechless. She looked at the detective warily. ‘That would be –’
‘We could –’ The detective was watching her hard, and the vibrations in the room started to jump.
He leaned her way an inch.
She pulled back sharply and smoothed her hair. ‘I have an event tonight.’
She did not, but Rielle knew enough to keep her mouth zipped.
‘Right.’ Morgan stuffed his notepad in his pocket, bending papers this way and that. ‘I have another case that needs my attention anyway.’
Darien shrugged. ‘OK, another time then.’
Nina glared at him until the air blistered.
Rielle grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door. He was so perceptive. How could he not have read that situation?
‘You’re right,’ he said when they hit the hallway. ‘They would feel better if they just did it.’
Her head snapped around. ‘You did that on purpose!’
‘Damn straight.’ There was a lively sparkle in his eyes. ‘The guy fingered me like I was in his line-up.’
She looked at him in astonishment. ‘You said you understood.’
He’d been so deadpan. Not even she had picked up on what he was doing.
‘I did.’ He grinned at her, and her thighs went to mush. ‘That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to get even.’
‘You devil.’
‘What? I’m just trying to help things along. He riles her. I like him.’
Rielle rolled her eyes and hustled him onto the elevator. ‘The detective doesn’t know you. You made me suspicious, too, the first time I saw you.’
‘Suspicious? Really?’ He backed her up in the corner. ‘I could have sworn I made you feel something else entirely.’
She settled a hand on his chest. ‘You’ve got that air about you that makes people’s radar go up.’
He ran his finger over the pulse pounding in her throat. ‘Think he’s got her down on the floor yet?’
‘Darien,’ she gasped.
‘What’s he waiting for?’ He leaned closer and carefully closed his teeth over the vein that was pounding so wildly. ‘I didn’t.’
No, he hadn’t. Not at all.
She moaned and had
just slid her hand to the back of his neck when his phone rang.
He growled low under his breath. He kissed her neck fast and answered the call. His responses were short. Throughout it, he was looking her up and down so thoroughly, Rielle began to get self-conscious. Why was he looking at her that way? Her tailored green dress was professional and appropriate.
He ended the call without even saying goodbye. ‘Think Nina has anything smuttier in that magic closet of hers?’
Rielle’s eyes widened. ‘Why?’
‘Apparently we’re going clubbing.’
They ended up at Madam’s Organ, a blues bar known for its live music and ‘colour’. The name was a play on the Adams Morgan neighbourhood it called home. Although the area could get gritty, a mile-long strip of shops, restaurants and bars brought the nightlife of DC to its doors every night.
Some doors were just more interesting than others.
Rielle held Darien’s hand as they approached the landmark institution. It was wilder than her usual scene, and the people already collecting outside its doors were characters, to be sure. ‘You take me to the most interesting places.’
He chuckled. ‘Kind of a stretch from a White House dinner, isn’t it?’
She couldn’t help but stare at the mural painted on the side of the building. ‘The Madam’ was infamous. A redheaded burlesque bombshell covered all three floors, with two of them adorned by her…chest area. The mural had been under fire from social conservatives for years, but so far the Madam’s breasts had been protected as a work of art. All ten feet or so of them. Each.
Darien paid the cover charge, and Rielle hugged closer as they stepped inside. The décor was eclectic. The walls were blood-red, and the furnishings were strange. She gaped at the taxidermic male goat hanging over the front door, with a gargantuan set of…
‘Are those real?’ she hissed.
‘The size of grapefruits, huh?’ Darien chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist. ‘Don’t worry, I think the owner just let his crazy uncle decorate the place. Let’s see if we can luck out and find a table.’
The bar was long and narrow. It had three floors and an outdoor deck on the roof. The lower level seemed to be standing room only, with a bar by the stage. They went up a level to the second floor where there were tables. The two good ones on the balcony were already taken, but they found one out in the middle of the room. Rielle was happy to take a seat. She felt like everyone was staring. They’d left their coats in the car to avoid having them stolen. Her outfit wasn’t exactly slutty, but it wasn’t her normal taste. Darien had finally approved Nina’s black leather skirt and a simple white tank. The skirt was shorter than she typically wore, hitting her more than a few inches above the knee.
Courting Danger Page 15