“The window,” he whispered. “I’d prefer to keep your incredible body to myself.”
I released my hold, and he fastened his fingers with mine, tugging me to my bedroom. My unzipped dress fell into a puddle at my feet.
He stood in front of me. “You’re so damn beautiful.”
I was down to a nude demi bra, panties, and high heels only; my confidence was supercharged beneath his heated gaze. I pushed my thick hair off my shoulders, and it settled at the small of my back.
He closed the gap between us, and I fisted his shirt with my hand and pulled him to me. The back of my thighs brushed up against my bed, and my lips locked with his for a long kiss.
He braced me with one hand, and his fingers dipped inside my panties. “You’re still wet,” he said before his lips traveled to my neck. His fingers torched my skin as he graced my sensitive area with slow movements. Gripping his shoulders, I clung to his body, fighting the pull of impending orgasm.
“Not yet.” A smile teased his lips, and he gently nudged me to have a seat on the bed. I lifted my foot, prepared to remove my heels, but he placed a hand over mine, stopping me. “Keep them on.”
His heavy-lidded eyes drew me in. My heart fluttered, beating like a bird’s wings against the cage. I wanted to rip my bra and panties from my body and bask beneath his stare. “Fuck me, Connor.”
He removed his T-shirt, then freed himself of the rest. There was something so raw and carnal about Connor standing naked before me, his cock hard in his hand. “Olivia.”
“Yeah?”
“I want to make you mine again.”
***
Connor
“Wh—”
I didn’t let her finish. I kissed away her words and held her hard against me, needing her more now than ever before.
The storm of emotions that had funneled inside me, circling round and damn round, making me Goddamn dizzy at times, had been unleashed tonight.
I. Needed. Her.
It was as simple as that.
There was no way I’d run this time. I wouldn’t get it wrong again.
How had I spent almost ten years hating the one person on earth who knew me better than anyone? I’d been an idiot to think of her as a youthful fling, as a mistake of lust. She was the only woman I’d ever loved.
My hands wandered over her body before shifting her back onto the bed. I wanted to touch her everywhere, to feel every part of her. The need clawed at me from the inside.
“Take off your panties and bra.” I stood over her, watching her perfect, tight body obey. Her eyes were focused on my chest, and they barreled down my body and drifted back up again.
Then, wearing only her heels, she was propped up on her elbows, waiting for me.
I touched her ankle and leaned in over her, tracing my fingers up her legs before grasping her hips. She gasped as I flipped her over and onto her stomach.
Her back arched and her firm, perfect ass called out to me. “Fuck.” I got into the bed next to her, running my hand down her back. Then my hands slipped under her and to her deliciously wet center.
I repositioned myself so that my mouth could find where my hand had been.
She was gripping the comforter; her face buried as she jerked and started to move in rhythm with my flickering tongue.
She rocked into her release, and I savored the moment before gently rolling her back over. Her pink nipples were erect; my body was hard and aching for her.
“My turn.” She started to sit up, but I shook my head and motioned for her to lie back down.
“I’m not nearly through yet. I plan on making you come until you’re begging for me to stop.” I knelt over her once again, teasing her nipple with one hand while sucking the other.
Her hand tore through my hair, and wild Olivia was back again, writhing beneath me.
An hour later, her sweet voice filled my ears as we both lay, breathless, on our backs. “You’ve gotten better with age.”
I glanced over at her out of the corner of my eye. “So I didn’t do it for you back then, huh?” I joked.
“You didn’t do number five on the menu, then,” she teased, and her eyes lit as her lips curved into a mischievous smile.
Italy. God love her. “Men get better with age. Women, on the other hand . . .”
She slapped my chest. “Don’t you dare finish.”
I smoothed a hand over my jaw and pinched my brows together. “Be careful.”
“What? Why?”
I reached for her hand and slid it beneath the covers. “Your bossiness turns me on.”
“Do your batteries ever run out?” Her fingers traveled up to my chest, and I pressed my palm over her hand.
“I hope not. I need the energy to keep up with you.”
“I learned from the best.”
My jaw tightened, and I couldn’t help but grimace. Ten years of absence meant other men had the chance to—stop! I left her. I was the idiot.
I’d hoped to wait until the Declan issue was resolved, but we were getting so close. We had to discuss why I left, because I knew—hoped—that I’d been wrong.
But if I was wrong, how could an apology ever make up for it?
“Olivia, I want to talk about the baby.” Silence greeted me. “Olivia?”
A light sound escaped from her nose. She was sleeping.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering how we would face the harsh light of the day. Would I be able to convince her that she was in way over her head with Declan and Konstantin?
Not when she’d spent nine years masterminding this plan to take down the Russian king of New York.
If my plan worked, though, it would all be over soon.
And if it didn’t work, well, we might all end up dead.
I tried sleeping, but the stress and worry ate at me, keeping my eyelids parted for the few hours until dawn. I brushed my lips over her shoulder and pulled her close to me.
“Mm. Connor.” Her eyes slowly opened, and she blinked a few times. “You’re still here.”
“Of course I’m still here.”
“So it wasn’t a dream?” Her eyes closed and she pulled tight against me, her cheek pressing against my chest.
“The sex?” I laughed.
“No.” She forced her eyes back open. “The part where you know the truth? You know who I am.”
I kissed the top of her head. “I know, Liv. And I’m going to help you. Don’t worry.”
Before she could respond, she jolted at what sounded like an animal dying from the other room.
“What the hell is that?”
She scowled. “It’s the sound I assigned to Declan on my phone for when he texts me. High-pitched and annoying.” She shifted away from me, pushed off the covers, and got up out of bed. “Wonder what he wants this early.”
I watched her walk naked, her long tan legs carrying her to the other room. Not a hint of modesty. What a woman.
“What is it?” I stood up when she came back into the room, her face long and concern pinching the corners of her eyes.
“He needs to see me.”
“No,” I snapped.
She set her phone on top of her dresser and opened a drawer. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she stepped into a pair of pink silk underwear.
I just wanted to take them back off, pull her into bed, and pretend we were the only people who existed.
“Connor.” She snapped on her matching pink bra and came at me. “I have to go. I can’t raise any red flags by not meeting him.”
“Let me handle this.”
Her head lowered, and she stared down at my hand, which was now holding hers. “You can help me Connor, but I’m involved.”
Of course. I knew I’d never change her mind. “Fine.” At least she was willing to let me help.
“There’s more we should talk about. Where will you be after I meet with Declan?” Stress and worry pulled at her smooth skin, and her mouth went tight.
I groaned, wishing I could lift her worries away.
“Chasing some leads. Call me when you’re done, and we can get together.” My knuckles grazed her cheek, and she leaned into my touch. “We’ll get through this.”
Her body shuddered against me. “When this is over, things might be rough for a while. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to—” She silenced herself.
I knew what she wanted to say, and I didn’t want to hear it. “One day at a time, Liv.” A lung full of air. Another deep breath. “One day at a time,” I repeated.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Connor
“A text would’ve been nice, man. I had to track your phone to make sure you weren’t in the bottom of the river.” Jake waved his hand in the air in front of me.
“You tracked my phone?” Shock popped through my words. “For real?”
“Of course.” A devious grin spread across his face. “While you were doing . . . whatever it was you were doing . . . I managed to get some results.”
I fought back a smile and joined him in my kitchen.
“You want to change your clothes first?” His brow arched as he put on his glasses.
I glanced down at my wrinkled clothes, which still smelled of flowers and vanilla. I probably should’ve changed, because if I continued to inhale Olivia’s sweet scent, I’d get distracted by thoughts of her.
“Dude.”
“What?” I poured a mug of coffee and crossed the room to the bar top, which doubled as my kitchen table. “What is this?”
Jake handed me his iPad. “Andrei and Oleg in the lobby of your father’s home on May sixteenth. An hour after your father left the bank.”
“Where was my dad?”
“He was there. I caught him and Tyson on the cameras just outside the building ten minutes before Andrei and Oleg showed up. They were arguing, and he handed Tyson something. Probably the envelopes.”
“Shit.” He probably knew he was about to die.
“How did Andrei and Oleg get up to my dad’s place?”
Jake grimaced. “That grandfather security guard.” Jake paused the video footage and expanded the image with his fingers, zooming in on the men as they talked to the security guard.
I rubbed a hand through my hair and set my black coffee down. “Shit.”
“We should have a word with him.”
I nodded. “So these guys killed my father, not Lauren. I’m assuming they didn’t switch his pills, then.”
“Most likely injected him with something to induce the heart attack.” Jake reached for the iPad and steadied his eyes on mine. “I’m sorry. Since no one found him until the next day, he didn’t have a chance.”
“But there was obviously no sign of struggle. The medics would have noticed if the place was wrecked.” I sank on a barstool and scratched my head, thinking.
“Which means he knew them. Maybe even opened the door and let them in.”
Wow. “I’m still not sure if Lauren’s off the hook. She’s hiding something.”
“I don’t know, Connor. I did some more digging on her.” He tapped at his iPad again and set it before me.
“After I saw that video footage, it made me curious about Lauren’s involvement. I tried something I didn’t try before.”
“Which was?”
“Google and social media.”
I almost laughed, but none of this was funny. “What’d you find out?” I glanced down at the screen. Images of Lauren on the arms of various men. A widowed Congressman, a rich oil tycoon, and a wall street millionaire. All with two things in common: they were old and rich.
“I tapped into her Instagram and Facebook accounts and discovered pictures with these guys. Looks like she has a thing for older men with deep pockets. She’s been dating powerful men since she was nineteen.”
“So my dad hired her for her looks, and they hooked up? I find that hard to believe.” I pressed my hands to my face and released what sounded like a growl. Frustration tore at me, making my skin itch.
“She’s not innocent by any means. I think she’s a career opportunist. She landed internships with all three men she dated before your father—well, I should say she worked as an intern before she dated those men. I’m sure she was more than eager for the deal with Reid Enterprises—it would make your father even richer and give her better job security, at the least.”
I pushed back to my feet as nervous energy spiraled around the cords of my muscles. “What about the accent?” I shook my head. “No, she has to be involved with Declan.”
“Hell, I’m sure she was sleeping with him, but there’s an explanation for that, too.”
I stopped wearing out the kitchen floor and leaned my back against the counter. “Enlighten me.”
“Lauren was adopted.”
My forehead scrunched as surprise billowed inside me.
“She was born in the Ukraine. She lost both of her parents when she was six. She lived in an orphanage for a year before she was adopted by a family in New York. I missed it before, because the records were sealed. I had to call in a favor.”
I leaned forward, angling my head. “Who?”
“Ava.”
Jesus. Ava was the girlfriend of my Irish-American friend, Aiden. She was brilliant, almost putting our intelligence genius friend, Michael Maddox to shame. “You had Ava hack into Lauren’s records? She didn’t mind?” My hands crossed over my chest.
Jake removed his glasses. “You didn’t want me dragging Michael into this, but you didn’t say anything about Aiden. And we both know Ava would do anything to help you. You were there for her not too long ago.”
I exhaled a breath out of my nose and shut my eyes. I needed to think. “Lauren’s embarrassed of her origins? So she hid her adoption and accent?” I could see that, I guess. “She’s still not off the hook, in my mind.” I opened my eyes and rubbed a hand over my jaw. “The deal’s happening with Declan tonight. I should be meeting Konstantin.”
“You’re just now telling me that?” He flashed me his white teeth. “Guess he took the bait.”
“And he wants me to bring the EMF gun, of course. I’m still waiting for him to let me know the location of the meet.”
“We have a lot to do, then. I also want to swing by the security guard’s home. And I’m still working on your father’s personal laptop and files.”
I’d brought my father’s laptop home from the office yesterday, although I hadn’t expected he’d find anything of help. It was worth a shot. “All right. Well, let me shower and we’ll get going. We need to stop at my office first, though.”
As I hopped into the shower, a slow pull of dread buried deep inside me. I needed to call Olivia. Was she okay? I couldn’t stand the idea that she was with Declan right now.
***
Olivia
“Is Sean back yet?” I was sitting in my Audi in the parking garage near the boxing gym.
“Still in D.C.,” Blake answered, a pinch of annoyance in his voice.
“The deal is going to happen tonight. You should alert Homeland.”
“Connor made the deal?” I could almost picture Blake’s lips curving into a grin with glee.
I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to tell him. I knew how he felt about me telling Connor the truth, but he needed to know that Connor was on our side. I didn’t want Connor winding up arrested in all of this.
My stomach turned at the thought. “He made the deal, but—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Liv.”
I leaned back against my seat. “We can talk later. Declan wants to see me right now.” I powered off my phone before he could respond. I was tempted to add Blake to my shit list, although he’d rank well below Konstantin and Declan. I wasn’t sure if he was being jealous, or was just out for blood.
I no longer cared if Blake disagreed with my decision, I didn’t want any lies wedged between Connor and I. I wanted to erase the pain of my past, rather than bury it. Something buried could be dug up again.
I massaged my neck, trying to rid myself of the sharp, stabbing
pain that greeted my spine. After allowing myself a few moments of silence coupled with delicious images of Connor naked, I exited the Audi.
I rubbed my arms as a chill rocked my body. I wasn’t cold. The sun was finally blasting its warm heat after several days of rain. The fat raindrops that had been splattering across the city on and off all week had served as a reminder to me that I was in the middle of a storm.
With the sun out today, and the sky a canvas of miles of blue—I wondered if it was a sign that the end was near.
I stopped outside the frosted glass doors of the gym and read the sign. “What the hell?” Since when was the gym closed on a Friday?
I blew out a breath and dialed up Declan. “I’m here,” I said when he answered. “But the gym’s closed.”
“Use the side entrance,” he brusquely responded before hanging up.
I stalked down the busy street with slow steps and rounded the corner into the alley. The passageway was narrow, and the smell of tuna and something rotten blasted my senses as I closed the gap between me and the door.
My hand touched the doorknob, but I had to force myself to turn it. My body grew tense as concern flickered through me. Don’t go in.
But I had nothing to worry about, right?
I swung open the door and moved inside the empty boxing gym.
“Glad you could make it.” I heard Declan before I saw him.
I stiffened as his tall, lithe body entered the room. The fluorescent lights above me turned on as he moved closer. I remained still, just inside the door.
It wasn’t too late. I could turn and run.
He was dressed in black sweats and nothing else, his naked chest and rippled flesh serving as a reminder that, no matter how tough I was, it would only take one strong punch from him to take me down.
“What’s up, Declan?” I crossed my arms over my yellow T-shirt, irritation and anxiety spearing me.
He kept walking until he was within arm’s reach. His dark eyes caged me in his gaze, and I took a shaky breath.
The back of his hand brushed against my cheek, and my knuckles whitened at my sides. My jaw clenched, but my eyes grew still under his spell. I couldn’t say anything as he touched the pad of his thumb to his own lips.
He whispered, “I called to collect my raincheck.”
Buried Lies Page 20