“Are you aware that a couple of guys broke into Ms. Michaels’ office at the same time this young lady broke in here?”
“We heard something about it. Security at the office building called the police. From what I understand, they’re still there talking to one of the partners. Ashley Simon?”
I nodded, wondering if Tierney’s father was even concerned for her welfare.
“I sent my partner over there, but I expect we’ll get the same story from those fine, upstanding citizens.”
I assumed the same thing.
“Do you know what cases Ms. Michaels is working right now? Anyone who might be responsible for this?”
“Ms. Michaels hired us because she was getting death threats. She thought they were coming from the parents of that missing Peterman girl.”
“Why?” the cop demanded, suddenly interested in what I had to say.
“Because she’s representing the prime suspect in her disappearance.”
The cop’s water eyes focused hard on me. He was thin, almost sickly looking. But there was something sharp about the way he was looking at me.
“Brendan Hanson? She’s representing that little prick?”
“She is.”
The cop shook his head. “Deserves what she gets then.”
I might have agreed with him a week ago. But I wanted to lay him flat right now.
I crossed my arms over my chest and studied him the same way he was studying me.
“That little girl is six years old,” he said quietly. “She’s never done anything to hurt anyone. Yet that asshole stole her from her bed in the middle of the night and did God knows what to her. It’s been two weeks. That kid is probably dead by now. And Brendan Hanson is the only one who knows where she is.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do know that.”
I shook my head, my eyes moving around the room. “Are you taking Ms. Rowe in?”
“We are.”
“And the boys at the office? Are they being arrested?”
“Yes.”
“Great.”
I turned and headed for the door, aware of the cop watching me. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I agreed with him. Brendan Hanson was bad news—and he probably had kidnapped that little girl. And I was pretty sure he was behind the death threats and these break-ins today. He wasn’t happy with Tierney after his arraignment this morning. I would bet a year’s salary he called up his drug buddies the moment he was back in county jail and told them exactly what he wanted them to do. He wanted them to scare Tierney in punishment for failing him.
The problem was proving it.
I drove to Tierney’s office building and waded through the chaos on the eighth floor. Jeri came over when she saw me and tugged at my sleeve to get me to follow her down the hall.
“Someone broke into her office almost immediately after you left.”
“I know.”
“They ripped up the furniture and destroyed her computer monitor.”
I inclined my head. “What about her laptop? Doesn’t she have a laptop?”
“She keeps it at home.”
I cursed under my breath, but just nodded.
“Mr. Simon’s in there yelling at the cops. He’s pretty pissed that something like this would happen in his offices.”
“I’m sure he is.” I slipped her my card. “Call me when they’re all gone. Don’t touch anything in there, okay?”
“Okay.”
I left and went back to the apartment. I waited until the cops left, then went upstairs to get my things and to pack a bag for Tierney. The superintendent was there, repairing the damage to the door as best as he could.
“You should remove any valuables you want to protect,” he called to me. “I can’t guarantee they’ll be safe until I can get this fixed a little more securely.”
“Okay.”
There were still security cameras all over the place. I wasn’t terribly worried about some fool breaking in and taking Tierney’s television.
I packed the bags and drove back to the safe house. Everything seemed calm on the outside, but there was a lump in the middle of my stomach as I approached the front door. I knew it was my own fault, that I was feeling all this anxiety because I had feelings for Tierney and that that might be clouding my judgement. But I couldn’t stop caring about Tierney, especially after last night.
Knox was alone in the living room when I walked in.
“Where is she?”
She gestured down the hall. “In the bedroom. Locked herself in there the moment you left and hasn’t come out since.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “How should I know?”
I set out bags down. “Are there groceries and everything?”
“Everything you need to be comfortable for a few days.”
“Good. Thanks, Knox.”
She stood up, but she seemed a little reluctant to leave.
“You’re not…” She stopped, then studied my face for a second. “Be careful, Alex. Don’t get dead.”
I kissed her cheek lightly. “I won’t.”
She left. I waited a minute, watching her car pull out of the driveway from the front window. Only then did I let myself do what I’d wanted to do since I walked into the house. I marched down the hallway and burst through the master bedroom door.
She was pacing along the bottom edge of the bed, between the bed and the oversized dresser where an old analog television sat. Her face was streaked with tears, though she tried to hide them from me by rubbing them away with the back of her hands.
“You okay?” I asked, crossing to her.
She turned away from me, her voice low and filled with emotion when she said, “Fine.”
“I went by your place. They’ve arrested the people who did this.”
“Good.”
She still wouldn’t look at me. Did she blame me for what’d happened?
“Tierney?”
“Did you sleep with her?”
Shame burned along my collar and up my cheeks. She glanced at me then and obviously saw what she’d expected to see. A little sob escaped her lips.
“That’s was months ago. Long before I met you.”
“I don’t even know if I have a right to be jealous. It just…it caught me by surprise.”
“Did you think I was a monk before I met you?”
“No. But I didn’t think you’d bring me to your lover the moment trouble came knocking.”
“She’s not my lover. We had one night.”
Tierney nodded. “I see.”
I groaned as I went to her. She was standing near the wall so there was nowhere for her to go to escape me. I grabbed her upper arms and pulled her roughly against me.
“I love that you’re jealous,” I said, as I pressed my forehead to hers. “It means that you actually give a shit about me.”
“Did you doubt it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a little.”
She groaned now, a sound that was a mixture of deep emotion and laughter. “How could you? I gave you my virginity.”
“I was going to ask you about that. I mean, you are twenty-five…”
She hit my arm, but then she smiled up at me. I ran my finger slowly along her jaw.
“You don’t have to worry about Knox. She’s not the kind of woman who settles down with one guy.”
“But you find her attractive.”
“I find lots of women attractive. But you’re like the cream that rises to the top.”
“Is that good?”
“That’s awesome.”
She smiled again, her red-rimmed eyes staring into mine. “Are you sure? You won’t change your mind in a week or two, or when this whole thing is over?”
“I won’t change my mind.”
To prove it, I kissed her. She melted against me, her body molding perfectly to mine. I pushed her back against the wall, my hands moving slowly over the length of her bod
y. She was still wearing the skirted suit she’d worn to court this morning, minus the jacket. Her blouse came free of her skirt easily, allowing me to slip my fingers over her ribs, to find those perfect breasts packed tightly into the cups of her lacy bra. Her nipples were already standing on end when my palms found them.
I reached around her and undid the back of her bra, slipping my hands under the now loosened cups. She groaned, as I dragged my thumb over her nipple. The sounds that came from between her lips had the power to push me further and further along the cliff of desire. It was like a dozen hands doing intensely erotic things to my body, to my cock. I’ve never been so turned on just by a sound.
The stress of the day, the ache of not being able to touch her when I so badly wanted to, also added to the need building up inside of me. I just wanted to hold her close to me, to fill her as quickly as possible. I knew I should be patient, that she needed me to be patient. But I couldn’t.
I tugged at her skirt, pulling it roughly up over her hips. Her panties were so tiny, so inconsequential, that I didn’t even have to pull them off of her. I just pushed them to one side as I lifted her against the wall. She knew what I was doing; she knew what I needed. Her hands were at my waist, tugging at my belt. She reached inside and…there was nothing better than the touch of a woman’s hands. She guided me toward her. I filled her quickly, thrusting hard against her as her body opened to mine. She cried out as she wrapped her arms and legs around me, dragging me closer. She held me so tight I almost didn’t have room to move. And I so desperately needed to move.
I pulled at her hips, forcing her down a little, even tighter against me. Her legs loosened slightly around my waist, and I began to thrust inside of her, pumping hard and deep. She pressed her mouth to my throat, her moans vibrating against my flesh. It was more intense than anything I’d experienced before. My knees were weak from the pleasure rushing through me. I needed to move, but I couldn’t and I…damn, it felt so good!
I came quicker than I wanted to, filling her there against the wall as she held on to me, her moans still driving me crazy. I leaned into her, letting the wall hold us up. She peppered my throat, my jaw, with kisses, her lips scraping over me, leaving a heated trail behind.
We stood there for a long time, both of us working on calming our breath. She tugged at my jacket and tie, pushing them from my body and onto the floor. My shirt was next. She unbuttoned it carefully, her fingers shaking a little as she did. I straightened a little and gave her the space she needed to unfasten the shirt without having to untangle myself from her. My shirt was on the floor a moment later, her fingers already moving over my tattoos. She was fascinated with them, always touching them whenever my chest was bare.
“What does it mean?” she asked softly, touching the tree.
“Eternal spring. It’s a symbol that life is always renewing itself.” I kissed the tip of her nose lightly. “With everything that has happened the last three years or so, it gives me hope.”
Her eyes were wide, full of emotion as she raised them up to me. “You’re stronger than I could ever be.”
I shook my head. “You are stronger than you think.”
Her fingers continued over my chest, brushing against the words written across my ribs.
Não somos estranhos para nós mesmos. Nós só tentar ser.
“What does it say?”
“’We are not strangers to ourselves. We only try to be.’”
“Very profound.”
“Not really. But it’s true if you think about it.”
“It is.” She ran her fingers over the words again, just dragging her fingers over them. “Very heavy for a tattoo.”
“It’s something my mom used to say. I think it was her way of telling me how sorry she was that she couldn’t be stronger, that she couldn’t overcome her depression.”
Her eyes came up to mine again. I could see the sadness in them, her grief for the child I used to be. I didn’t read it as pity though. I didn’t think that Tierney would ever feel pity for me.
“Tell me something,” I said softly against her cheek. “How could someone as beautiful as you live so long without some guy coming along and stealing your heart?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. She kissed my jaw. “I think maybe it had something to do with the untrustworthy man in my life.”
“Your father.”
“He came and went whenever he felt like it. And that was hard.”
“You have trouble trusting.”
“I have trouble with a lot of things. I never felt safe with a man. Not until you.”
She wouldn’t look at me as she said those words. Her eyes remained on my chest, on my tattoos. But when I lifted her face, she met my eye with something like shame in her own.
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“It feels like it should be.”
“You want to know something? I like the idea that I’m the only man who has ever been inside of you.”
“Yeah?”
“The thought of someone else touching you makes me crazy.”
She smiled. “Good.”
I laughed. She laughed, too, pressing her face to my shoulder as she did. I pulled her close to me, holding her for a moment before carrying her over to the bed. We lay together, tangled in each other, loving the feel of each other. I wanted to lie there like that for the rest of my life. It was the first time such a thought had ever entered my mind. I’d always seen myself as something of a loner, the kind of guy who was everyone’s favorite bachelor uncle, the nice guy down the street who was always willing to do little chores around your house for a hot meal. I always kind of thought I would have a family sort of vicariously through Vanessa. But now? I wanted this. I wanted to come home at night and find Tierney waiting for me.
Was it crazy that I would have that thought so soon after meeting her? A little, I supposed. But it was kind of nice, too.
We started to kiss again, our lips lingering. And then we began to explore each other, touching everywhere all at once. I wanted to memorize every inch of her body, to know every inch of her body. And then I was inside of her again, and it was slow and gentle and exciting and fevered all at once.
It was everything I could have ever wanted. Everything I did want. I just hadn’t known it until now.
Chapter 12
Tierney
Alexander wouldn’t let me go to work. Even though the three people who broke into my apartment and my office had been arrested, he wouldn’t let me leave the safe house until he was certain there wasn’t any more danger out there waiting for me.
“There could be someone waiting just outside your building or somewhere in your apartment complex. Until we know for sure who’s behind these threats, I can’t let you return to your normal routine.”
So I was stuck in the house for three days. Three long, boring days. Except, of course, the nights when Alexander came into my bed and taught me things about my body—and his—that I’d never known. Who could have imagined that the body was capable of that much pleasure?
He was gone now. Someone called Tony was in the kitchen playing games on his phone. He thought I was working, but I was actually just surfing the internet, reading gossip that I didn’t really care about. There was a limit to the things I could do from this house as far as work went. I could answer emails. I could write a few depositions. But my access to my case files was limited by the information that was available digitally. The legal system would be the last thing to go completely digital—in part because it would have to be on the public’s dime and partly because of issues arising from security—ironically enough.
Criminals were always the first to scream invasion of privacy.
My cell phone rang as I was reading about Beyoncé’s decision to have plastic surgery. I didn’t even look to see who it was. I was just grateful to have someone to talk to.
“When will you be back in the office?” my father barked the moment I uttered my greeting.
“I don’t know. The security firm said they need to take a few days to try to identify the person behind the break-ins.”
“But you’re safe?”
I sat up a little straighter, surprised by the concern in his voice. “I am.”
“Good. Just keep me informed.”
He hung up before I could respond. It was a little overwhelming, hearing concern—for me, no less—in my father’s voice. Presumably he was concerned because I was a representative of his law firm. But it was possible there was a little fatherly concern there, right?
I sat there, staring at the phone, for a long little while. I was about to set it aside and go back to studying my laptop when the phone rang again. This time I did look at the caller ID.
“Momma?”
“Are you okay, Tierney? I just heard that your apartment was vandalized?”
“I’m sorry, Momma. I left you a message. Don’t you ever check your voicemail?”
“I guess not often enough. Are you okay?’
“I’m fine.”
“I’m coming over. I want to see for myself.”
“You can’t come over. I’m not at the apartment.”
“Where are you?”
“Alexander brought me to a safe house.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s just a precaution. He wants to try to identify the person behind all this.”
“Does he have an idea?”
“I don’t know. He won’t talk to me about it. I think he’s afraid of scaring me.”
“That’s thoughtful. But I think you’d feel better if you were in your own environment, around your own people.”
“It was my own environment that was vandalized.”
My mom was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, “I need to see you, to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m not supposed to tell anyone where the safe house is.”
“Who am I going to tell?”
“Momma…”
“Please, darling. I just want to know you’re okay.”
I sighed, but I gave in. I knew she wouldn’t back off until I did, so it was easier to get it over with. But I had to sneak out the bedroom window and meet her along the side of the house where there were no windows.
DEFENDING TIERNY (Gray Wolf Security, Texas Book 1) Page 10