by Raven Scott
“Yeah, sure. When was the last time you drove?” This was gonna be fun— the upstate countryside, alone, going somewhere without telling anyone, and Carlyle smiled as eagerness dribbled from my tongue. “I haven’t driven since moving here. Natasha and I saved up enough for the apartment and stuff before moving, but work and all that was within walking distance, so we put off getting a car.”
“Wise financial decision. I don’t drive nearly as often as getting driven around, but every few weeks, I get the urge.”
“Oh, wait . . . I should put on different pants if I’m gonna be out in public.” Shimmying out of my sweat pants and booty shorts, I fixed my panties against my ass cheeks, and Carlyle hummed softly in appreciation. “Yeah, I mean, I’ve been putting off getting a phone because I just put it off all the time.”
“When you work for me, you’ll get company-issued phones. Speaking of, what are those other two doing while they’re waiting for Natasha to finish her project?” Pulling open the door of my closet, I flipped through pairs of jeans as Carlyle posed his question. “Hopefully, they’re using their time constructively. Natasha had initially said it would take three weeks, but since she’s not on the job and can devote her time fully, I expect it sooner.”
“They’re doing all the planning and pre-work. Fred was a comic book storyboard guy before he went into IT. I’ll just be drawing and illustrating everything. Natasha’s doing all the scripting, and Marshal’s organizing everything.”
“You’ve got a cute little team going on, Valerie. I can’t give you an edge because we’re sleeping together, but I really do hope you succeed.” I snatched a really nice pair of plain, leather pants off its hangar, and my chest warmed at Carlyle’s sincerity. “To be honest, I’ve had a crap work week, and it’s only half over.”
“I am all ears if you wanna complain about it because I probably wouldn’t understand anyway.” Plopping on my bed, I glanced up as he scratched his jaw thoughtfully. Working my feet one by one into my pants, I carefully worked them up my legs, and I stood up before he opened his mouth.
“Basically, I’m about to initiate a hostile takeover, but getting everything ready for it is exasperating. I knew things wouldn’t exactly go precisely the way I planned, but there’s been a major kink in the operation.” Bouncing to pull the soft leather up over my ass, I nodded even though I had absolutely no context to understand any of that. “It’s a hassle, but someone’s got to do it.”
“That was a perfect time to say ‘gotta.’” Smirking at my own point, my smile widened at his deep, husky laugh, and I pulled the strings taut to tie them in a bow. “Anyway, I can’t imagine how much work goes into that. No wonder you need some downtime.”
“My father and both my brothers decided to commandeer my building for the past three weeks, too. I have a feeling they’re not leaving any time soon.” He sounded so grumpy at that, and I stuck my feet into a pair of sneakers before sauntering over to him. Winding my arms around his neck, heat slithered up my sides when he rested his hands on my hips, and I ran my fingers up the back of his scalp through his hair.
“Does anyone ever ask you what you want, or do they just shirk responsibility on you and expect you to deal with it?” Troubled quizzicality drew together his brows, and I ducked my face into his neck to lean into his embrace. Tentatively, strong arms crisscrossed my back, and Carlyle rested his cheek on my forehead to sigh heavily.
“No one ever asks me what I want. I never realized before recently how much I . . . I really hate my life. I grew up being told I was the oldest, and I was always going to have to mop up messes whether I liked it or not.” My heart ached for Carlyle, and I tightened my grip on him as he squeezed my shoulders. “I don’t think I can answer that on any level.”
Now, I had to show Carlyle a good time— we were gonna have fun, come Hell or high water.
22
Carlyle
Buffalo seemed particularly beautiful in the twilight, and I glanced over at Valerie waved her hand out the window. We were stuck in traffic, but the usual frustration of it was lost to me— maybe because I didn’t have a destination. Of course, we were going to the mall, but getting there wasn’t exactly on my top five things to do in this car. Adjusting my grip on the wheel, I waited, my blinker flashing on the dash, for the long line of cars in the turn lane.
“You’re older than your brothers, right? By how much?” Filling the silence, Valerie flopped her head to watch me through curious, bright eyes. “You already know Natasha and I are six minutes apart, and we’re an only child.”
“Oran is three years younger than me, and Mateo is eight. I had a sister, but she died when I was twenty-two. She was six years younger than me.” Raking my hand through my hair, I inhaled a deep breath. Illya reminded me a lot of my sister, but it’d been a long time since I actually conjured her name. “Her name was Sonja.”
“So, you were a big bad boss at the age of thirty. That’s not bad. I’m sorry you had to deal with that, Carlyle. My dad died when I was thirteen, and that’s when my mom went off the rails.” The honest to God truth was that Sonja’s death really put things into perspective— that she could be so bubbly and happy and nice, and still kill herself. Reaching over the center console, I held Valerie’s hand, and she tangled our fingers together with a forlorn sigh. “I used to think my mom loved my dad so much that she went crazy because he died, but then I realized she just couldn’t function without him. He was the money maker, and she was a stay-at-home mom. He went grocery shopping, and she didn’t know how to drive. All that stuff.”
“I take it something happened to make you both move here?” I didn’t want to probe too deep too quickly, but Valerie only shrugged nonchalantly, her nose scrunching up in disgust. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“Nah, it’s stereotypical. We’d been talking about it since our mom went to jail the third time, and my boyfriend cheated on me. When I found out about it, I just left. Didn’t tell him, didn’t leave a note, didn’t even get my stuff. I just disappeared on him. Natasha quit her job, and we took the trans-Amex from Dallas to Florida up to New York. On the way, we decided this was the place.”
“What the fuck?” The slur just burst from my mouth, loud and abrasive, and Valerie jumped a little with a small, surprised gasp. “How could you get cheated on?”
She just smiled even as fire raced through my veins, and I exhale a flaming breath through my nose. The line of cars in front of me starting to move, but I didn’t let go of her hand as I propped my knee under the wheel. Driving wasn’t so alien, but usually, I was by myself, and now, I was fucking pissed.
“I guess . . . ” Speaking up as I pulled into the turn just as the arrow turned yellow, Valerie’s voice dipped low. “I could’ve been a better girlfriend. I dated Trevor because he was boring, and the last thing I wanted to be involved in anything remotely exciting because exciting meant dangerous. We met in college, but we never lived together or anything. He was definitely one of those guys you get into a relationship to break up with, and I knew that from the start.”
“That’s not an excuse for cheating. Any guy who cheats instead of just breaking up is a loser and doesn’t deserve any woman, let alone a woman like you.” Venom dribbled from my tongue like acid, and Valerie raised my hand to rub her cheek against the back of my palm. The thick hairs on my arm stood up, and I tightened my grip on her fingers even as a scowl threatened to curl my lip.
“I know, Carlyle. It was like the straw that broke the camel’s back, is what I’m saying. It was a small thing that initiated catastrophic change for me. I realized that I couldn’t keep going like that. There was a lot of other stuff going on— like I said, my mom was on her way to jail again. I wasn’t with my sister, and that made me miserable. I’d graduated, but had absolutely no job prospects until Natasha found this job here. I mean, to her credit, she found it pretty quick, so I quit my job at a pizza place, and here we are, a little more than a year later.” Her cheek warme
d against my palm, and I clenched my jaw hard when she sighed down the cuff of my shirt. “So that’s my butterfly moment. Here’s a question— what’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever spent money on?”
“Uh-h. . . I hired some Mexican mercenaries to assassinate a guy, and not only did they not do that, but they got this woman involved who ended up my employee through events I’m still unsure of?” Valerie laughed, of course, but I was still pissed about that fucking bullshit even now, almost five years later. Licking my teeth, I shook my head and sat back a little to prop my head on the rest. “No, seriously, I think the stupidest thing I’ve ever spent money on was probably a golf trip. Did I mention yet that I absolutely hate golf?”
“Oh, no, you didn’t. Are you so rich that the law doesn’t apply to you?”
“Yes. I just own the whole world, and it sucks.” Throwing back her head to cackle at my sarcasm, Valerie held my hand against the soft leather straining against her thighs, and I smirked faintly. “If I was, would it matter? I didn’t take you to be the type to get caught up on something as superficial as money, Valerie.”
“Not really. I mean, I’m still not really understanding the whole scale of it, but it’s whatever. Even if I needed your help, I’d try to pay you back and keep it reasonable. It’s not like you’re a criminal or anything.” Trailing off, Valerie shot me a curiously arched brow, and I ground my teeth. “You don’t give off that slimy vibe, you know?”
“Isn’t that the beauty of it? Who’s going to suspect me? This is exactly why I don’t say ‘gotta.’” She chuffed a laugh, and a strange sense of guilt constricted my throat. I’d rarely felt guilty about anything before, but lying to her . . . Adjusting my grip on the wheel, I rubbed her palm with my thumb as I waded through downtown. “What would you think of that, Valerie?”
“I guess you have a point about being smart about it. To be honest, I’ve never thought about it before. At least you don’t sag your pants.” If Valerie was looking deep into my questions, she didn’t let it show, and I scoffed loudly before she let go of my hand to point across the dash. “Let’s stop there. There’s plenty of time before the mall closes, right?”
My gaze flickered over, and I almost thought I saw her frown under furrowed brows right beforehand. The Dairy Queen wasn’t too packed, and I pushed my blinker and rolled to a stop to wait for opposing traffic.
“I’ll have to check on the mall. It’s only seven-oh-four p.m., though.” Grumbling more to myself than her, I took my turn with a slight squeak of the tires. “Did you want to go in or go through the drive-thru?”
“Let’s go in.” Pulling into the first available spot, I jerked the gear into park and the emergency brake, and Valerie covered my hand with hers. Prickles rippled up my arm, and a cold sweat broke out under my shirt when she leaned over the center console. Her lips were soft, warm, and my heart thundered hard as my free hand flew to cup her even softer, warmer cheek. Our kiss was tentative, and her eyelids fluttered as my gaze darkened, my focus boiling down to what of her I could feel.
When she pulled back, Valerie’s eyes sparkled brightly, and she brushed her nose against mine with a small, wistful sigh.
“You didn’t kiss me at all Saturday night. I was wondering what it was like.” Her mumble hit me right in the chest, and my lips twitched in some weird way between an uncomfortable wince and an awkward smile.
“I’ll have to rectify that.” A genuine, small smile puffed out her cheeks, and Valerie’s palm left mine to cup my chin and wag my jaw like I was a kid. “I’m not going to say it.”
“It’s easy. Do it with me . . . ‘I can fix that.’” Drawling slowly, Valerie’s smile widened, her eyes sparkling a little bit brighter with amusement, and she caressed up my jaw. “You’re so difficult, Carlyle.”
“I refuse to be associated with that asshole Shia LaBeouf.” She ducked her head to laugh, and I downright grinned before unbuckling myself and turning the car off. “Let’s go before we end up not.”
“How many movies have you watched, huh?” Popping open the door, I turned back to Valerie as she unbuckled, casting me a heavy side-eye. For a second, I thought about that, but eventually, I couldn’t do anything but shrug.
“I’m not sure. I only know Disney because Mateo was obsessed with all that when he was younger. It’s not surprising he turned out the way he did with people like that for a role model.” When she opened her mouth again, I held up a hand, and the keys jingled loudly. “And, yes, I’ve met them— they’re all assholes.”
23
Valerie
I knew he was too perfect. Staring at Carlyle from under my lashes, I scooped some of my strawberry sundae into my mouth in an attempt to cool my brain. He wasn’t nearly as subtle as he thought, and I wasn’t so naive as to think those questions and comments were meaningless. I wonder what happened today to make him come try to confess in the first place.
“So, this business trip to Nevada. Is it involved with your anxiety over this hostile takeover thing?” I mean, who the Hell asks what a person thinks about him if he was a criminal? During the car ride, I couldn’t stop thinking about that whole cage match conversation. Carlyle wouldn’t lie, I didn’t think, but there was another reason he brought it up other than just the one he gave. His hazel eyes flickered to mine, and I clamped my lips around my spoon to suck off the strawberry sauce.
“I don’t know, to be honest. Things that happen far away have even farther-reaching consequences. Like with your mother, I’m trying to do damage control because of someone else’s mistakes.” Nodding firmly, I leaned on my forearms on the table even as he sat back a little to frown under furrowed brows. He’s lucky he’s so damn handsome and polite. Otherwise . . . “I had a business associate in Nevada that’d I paid to do some ongoing contractual business. The city they live in was in the midst of a boom, so I figured I’d get in on it. After a few fumbles on their part, mostly because of incompetence, I pulled out.”
“Why go back when they already proved they couldn’t do the job?” One thing I knew very little about was business, and Carlyle cocked his head as he hummed in acknowledgment. His lips pursed around his spoon, and I nibbled my own as they tingled from the residue of our kiss.
Truth be told, I hadn’t realized he didn’t kiss me until I was already doing it . . . and I knew why. Those lips told no lies, and they liked me.
“It’s coming to bite me in the ass. I thought the operation was sound, but it just fell apart so easily, and I lost a lot of money. I’m not stupid enough to think I can attempt to get it back, but if I could figure out what happened, I can stop it from happening again.” I scraped the bottom of the banana boat for syrup as Carlyle spoke, and he reached across the table to hold my wrist gingerly. “Also, I was looking for a reason to impress you.”
Giggling as flames licked my cheeks, I only shook my head, and he cracked a sexy smirk as he thumbed my skin. A shiver lodged between my shoulder blades, and I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth fully as I locked eyes with him. Carlyle had mastered the art of being genuine while hiding his true intentions and now was no different.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, yet.
“You just want to get me drunk, so we can get hitched, and you’d have an excuse. I know what you’re doing, Carlyle, and I’m not gonna fall for it.” He chuckled, and the sound caressed my ears even while they burned with all the heat radiating from my abdomen. “You’re lucky you’re sexy and don’t use slang. Otherwise, you’d have nothing going for you.”
“Come on, that’s not fair. I have nice hair, too.” Sniggering at that, I shook my head, and Carlyle smiled broadly, squeezing my wrist before retreating to hold up his boat. “I guess it doesn’t make up for being a terrible person, you’re right. I’m just wrong for wanting to spend time with you, Valerie.”
“I guess that makes us both wrong. Then again . . . ” Sliding my foot up his inner leg, I hummed softly as Carlyle’s eyes narrowed on me. “What’s that saying?”
“What’s wrong is wrong, and what’s right is left.” Barking a laugh at that, I slump back in my seat to cover my face with my free hand, and Carlyle grinned broadly. Merriment brightened his eyes, and he propped his cheek on his fist as I stifled my giggles. “Whatever you say or do is always right, and I’m always wrong. That’s the way it goes.”
“You got jokes, and they’re funny.” Carlyle chuffed softly, and I sat up over my empty banana boat to pull my hair over my shoulder absently. Sighing as a short silence stretched between us, I licked my lips heavily, and he didn’t break eye contact while he ate the last of his banana smothered in sauce. All the flirtiness was suddenly sucked from my chest, and I twisted my hair around and around as my foot fell from his thigh. “T-to be honest, Carlyle, I don’t want to get a new phone. I’ve been putting it off because if they have my mom, they know all about me— my birthday, my name— they’ll find my new number. It’s almost a guarantee.”
“Has Natasha gotten any phone calls?”
“Not that she’s mentioned.” I couldn’t help the irrational hope bubbling in my chest that if Carlyle really was a little shady, he could help me out. Clearing out the restaurant to talk about a voice demodulator program, having a bodyguard like Theo, and tonight, it all pointed to some less than squeaky clean shoes. “I shouldn’t have broken my phone. I was just . . . I didn’t want to get dragged in again.”
“Do you still have it? I could hand it to my cyber guy, Jerry.” Nodding, I inhaled deeply, steadily, and Carlyle sat back to rub his chin thoughtfully under furrowed brows. “If I found anything, would you want to know, or do you want it handled externally?”
“Um . . . I don’t really know how to answer that.” It’d been a few weeks at this point, and I shrugged as Carlyle set down his empty boat. “Yes?”