Unspoken: A Romantic Suspense (The Unspoken Series Book 1)

by Ellie Danes

  “Morning again, gorgeous!” Cain lifted his overly rested head from the pillow and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s been a long while since I’ve been this lazy.”

  “Same here, but it feels…” I searched for the right word to describe what I was really feeling. “Comfortable.” I smiled at Cain and ran my fingers across the ripples of his perfectly sculpted abs. I traced them up to the valley between his defined pecs and finally let my finger come to rest on his full lips. He kissed it.

  Cain grabbed my hand and rolled me over from my side to my back, pinning me beneath him. He held my one of his hands above my head as he kissed the crook of my neck with his gentle, smiling mouth. I giggled and turned my head away, trying to wriggle free of his grip. A morning wrestling match as the second start to our day. Earlier that morning was just a dream; I remembered reading the headline of The Times. Dylan Rogers, Cain’s former business partner and close confidant, had been found guilty of murder, amongst a whole host of other crimes—including abducting me.

  “Oh no you don’t!” I pushed my leg up, throwing Cain off me, and rolled on top of him to take the dominant position. He let me pin him as I sank my teeth into his bottom lip and then sucked on it. I pulled back and smiled. “We should get going. Only eight hours before we have a house full of guests.”

  “I know, but the caterers and staff will handle all the details, we just have to be there and look pretty, which won’t be difficult for you. Me, on the other hand…”

  “You, on the other hand, will be as dashing and charismatic as ever, without even trying.” I laughed and then grew quiet. “I’m excited for Reese. I’m going to miss him, but I’m happy he’s finally going to retire. I really appreciate you throwing this party for him.”

  “It’s the least I could do. He really saved my butt, as did you and your dad. I can say I’m a very lucky man to have such great company…and friends.”

  “…and a girlfriend.” I laughed as I jumped off Cain and headed to the shower.

  The plans for the party came together perfectly throughout the day, and as the sun set over the snowy hills next to the river, Cain and I enjoyed a glass of wine. The younger interns and junior partners were the first to show up. I had gotten to know some of them over the last few months, but I preferred to spend my time with Cain. When I wasn’t with him, I was with my friend Aimee, who had impeccable timing.

  “Mr. Parker, Ms. Dunning.” Aimee used her best posh accent as she entered the large marbled foyer of Cain’s mansion, her new man in tow. She was quick to introduce him. “Cain, Jennifer, this is Carter.”

  As Carter reached in to shake Cain’s hand, I shot Aimee the “He’s such a hunk” face and quickly greeted him as well. Guests began filing into the foyer. “We’ll catch up with you both in a few minutes. I’m on welcoming duty right now.” I smiled and gave them both a wink.

  Before long, Cain’s house was filled with over a hundred and fifty people, mostly associates from the firm and their significant others, and a few friends from Reese’s past on the police force.

  Dad joined the party, escorted by Cynthia, his long-time assistant; I couldn’t help but smile. Their secret relationship had been hot gossip in the office for a long time, and I know it took a lot of courage for them to show up at a firm event together.

  “Dad, Cynthia.” I gave them both a hug and kiss, and Cain joined us in the pleasantries.

  “Amazing house you have here, Cain. You’ve done very well for yourself.” Dad looked around, taking it all in. “If you don’t mind, I know this is your home, but I would very much like to lead a toast and say a few words—after your introduction, of course.”

  “No, by all means, sir, please go ahead.”

  Dad clinked his glass a few times and the sentiment was echoed throughout the party as the crowd fell silent. “Reese, will you join me in the center of the room for a moment?”

  “Oh, jeez. Really Jack? You have to make a spectacle of me?” Reese laughed as he made his way to the center of the room.

  “Jennifer, you and Cain too, please…” Dad ushered us closer to the center. “Thank you all for coming. As my partners are all too willing to admit, I’m the loudest and most opinionated in the firm, so John Durst and Donald Chandler nominated me to give this little speech.” Dad held up his glass and acknowledged both Durst and Chandler, standing with a small group of people.

  “You haven’t proven us wrong yet, Jack,” laughed Durst.

  Dad continued with his speech. “I’d first like to thank Cain Parker, for hosting this cozy little get together in his home. I apologize if you’re feeling a little cramped in here, everyone.” Dad laughed to himself and was joined by the rest of the group, standing comfortably in the enormous living room. “Reese has been a part of our family for over twenty-five years, and in my opinion he’s way too young to retire. It’s going to be impossible to fill his shoes and honestly, we’ve all agreed we aren’t even going to try. He keeps telling me he’s looking forward to spending his time fishing but I don’t believe that for a minute.”

  I wondered where Dad was heading with this speech. While his sense of humor was dry, he wasn’t one to put on long, pointless speeches.

  “John, Donald and myself realize that the investigative unit of DDC is special. We’ve noticed that even more in the last six months. It’s the reason we’ve decided that, upon Reese’s retirement in the next few weeks, we will be closing up the investigative unit.” Dad deliberately avoided making eye contact with me as muted whispers rushed through the crowd.

  I looked at Cain. I could feel my face turning redder and I wanted to run. I had trusted my father and taken a leap of faith when I decided to stay on at the firm, and I had been met with yet another disappointment from him. I had thought things had changed. Cain gently squeezed my hand and smiled at me.

  “The unit we have—had—was special, and I—we—felt that it may allow our firm to be exposed a bit more than we needed to be. It’s one of the many reasons why we will be closing the unit down.”

  I couldn’t help myself as I looked at my father, delivering his pompous speech about all the things he felt. “But Dad…”

  Our eyes met and he elevated his voice over mine. “And there are many reasons why we will be moving the firm ahead in so many different ways. I’m pleased to announce that, with John and Donald’s blessing, we will be opening a new firm, Dunning and Associates. A firm specializing in investigations, jury selection and profiling. I’m also very proud to announce two very big things. First, I’ve convinced Reese to only retire part-time.”

  “Ha... that was the shortest retirement in history!” chimed in Reese. The crowd laughed and clapped at the news.

  “Reese will be doing the exact same thing he had been, only in a more consultative role. We’ll call it part-time work. The second part to this story is that my daughter, Jennifer Dunning, will be taking the reins of Dunning and Associates.” Dad smiled proudly as he extended his arm to me to give me a hug.

  Tears filled my eyes and I tried to maintain my composure as much as possible. I looked up at him, matching tearing blue eyes to tearing blue eyes. “Thank you!”

  “So, ladies and gentleman, again congratulations to Reese on his retirement and his rehiring, and to Jennifer, and Dunning and Associates.” Dad raised his glass to the group. “Cheers!”

  “Cheers!” echoed throughout the room as glasses clinked together.

  “Why didn’t you say something to me about this?” I was a little mad that he hadn’t spoken to me about the changes, but more overwhelmed by the confidence in me he was showing.

  “I wanted it to be a surprise, and I needed to make sure everything was going to work out. With Reese, the firm, us.” Dad smiled and kissed me on the top of the head. “Now, go and enjoy the party. Monday will be here before you know it, and work is already piling up.”

  I gave Dad a quick hug and ducked off into the party to find Aimee and Carter. We had a lot of catching up to do.

>   Chapter Two

  “Wow, Ms. Bigwig now, aren’t you, running your own firm.” Aimee smiled as she held up her glass of champagne, her arms extended to give me a big hug. “I’m so proud of you. You deserve this after everything…” Aimee’s voice trailed off.

  “That had nothing to do with it.” I knew exactly what she was implying, but the kidnapping and case with Dylan had nothing to do with my new job, though I’m sure it had a lot to do with dad and his two partners unhitching their wagon from the Investigative Unit. Dunning, Durst and Chandler saw the potential in the unit, but couldn’t attract new clients outside of their own if the unit was an internal part of their own firm. “So, tell me about you two. You look so cute together.”

  “I know, don’t we?” Aimee shot me her perky smile and pulled Carter in close. She inched up and kissed his cheek. Carter gave an uncomfortable smile and then kissed her back.

  “Quick you two, let me get a picture, it’s not every day you’re all dressed up like this.” I reached into my clutch and pulled out my phone. It seemed I never had any pictures of Aimee and her man, or men. She never seemed to hold on to them long enough.

  “Oh, no thanks!” Carter pulled away and extended his hand to block the camera from his face. “I look terrible in pictures!”

  “Come on, Carter, just one!” Aimee begged.

  “Ok one! If you promise not to post it anywhere. I always look awful. The last thing I want is my face plastered all over the internet.”

  “Promise!” Carter begrudgingly leaned in as I snapped the picture. I don’t know if it were possible for him to look any unhappier.

  “That’s perfect! See?” I held out my phone so they could both see and then quickly attached the picture to a text and sent it to Aimee. “Oops, Sorry, I accidentally posted it on…”

  “Don’t even joke, Jennifer! That’s not funny!” Carter became agitated and gave Aimee a fierce look.

  “Relax, Carter. I’m only kidding.” I smiled at Aimee. “Is he always this serious, Aimee?” I laughed, but I could tell Carter wasn’t in a joking mood.

  “Why don’t you find out, Jennifer? I’m going to run to the ladies’ room. Will you keep Carter company?”

  Before I could answer Aimee ducked off, leaving Carter and I to share awkward glances. I didn’t want to come off like I was interrogating him, so I left the conversation as dry as possible. “So, do you and Aimee work together? Usually she fills me in on these things, but we’ve both been so busy.”

  “No, actually we met at a conference earlier this week. We sat next to each other and just hit it off and ended up getting lunch.” Carter seemed proud of himself, almost arrogant, about his pickup story. It was a contradiction to his uneasiness about having his picture taken.

  “Wow, you must have made a great impression in order for Aimee to invite you to a big personal party on your first date.”

  “Oh this isn’t our first date. We’ve seen each other a few times this week, but usually just during lunch. We’ve both been super busy and my work keeps me late most nights.”

  I continued to dig and ask a few questions, but I quickly found it was easier getting answers from a real criminal than Carter. Definitely not a conversationalist, I certainly hope he isn’t in sales.

  Carter rocked on his heels and his eyes lit up a bit as Aimee approached from the ladies room.

  “Getting to know each other? She isn’t drilling you, is she, Carter?” Aimee giggled, knowing how relentless I could be.

  “I went easy on him, Aimee. This time. I could barely get him to be quiet. Quite the talker.” I smiled at Carter and then shot Aimee a snarky glance.

  Reese’s old, husky voice echoed from behind me as I felt his hand gently touch my left arm. “Excuse me. Can I steal Jennifer for just a few minutes?”

  I spun to see the man of honor standing behind me. “I’ll catch up with you both in a few minutes.” I gave Aimee a quick peck on the cheek and nodded at Carter. “I hope this isn’t about business, Reese. You’re supposed to be enjoying the night.”

  “No, not all business. I was hoping to catch your Mr. Wonderful, but he’s off schmoozing with the other guests. I wanted to thank him, and you, for throwing this amazing party. Especially with the trial and all of that Dylan shit going on.” Reese had a way with words like no other.

  “After everything you’ve done for all of us over the last six months, and my dad for the last twenty-five years…”

  “Let’s just leave that twenty-five years part out.” Reese gave me a quick smile. It wasn’t too often that he was as laid back as he was tonight.

  “You know what I mean, Reese. It actually should be me thanking you. I’m sure you had your hand in this new company and us still working together.” As much as I initially hated the idea of working with Reese when I first took this job with my father, I quickly learned how caring and gentle he is.

  “Jennifer, don’t sell yourself short. You deserve every bit of the recognition. You’ve come a long way in a short period of time. I’m just going to be watching from a far. Which reminds me, have you moved from that apartment yet to somewhere safe?”

  I rolled my eyes at Reese. The many years of he and Dad working together had definitely rubbed off on him. “Yes, Reese. The lease is signed and I’ll be moving in a few weeks. Not that I’m going to have any time, with all of this new stuff that was sprung on me tonight.”

  “Good…and speaking of new stuff. Your first client will be in on Monday morning. Have fun with this one. The guy is a character.” Reese chuckled. “You’ll have to thank your father for this one, I guess he’s doing him a favor, not sure why.”

  “That bad? Who is it?”

  “Not saying. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.” Reese smiled and shook his head. “Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I’ll see you Monday morning, at the office. He should be there around nine.” With that, Reese chased after one of the wait staff carrying a try of deviled eggs covered with lobster meat.

  I eyed Cain, caught with his back to the wall, cornered by my father. He looked like he needed rescuing and a good stiff drink.

  “Dad, would you mind if I stole Cain for a few minutes?” I quickly grabbed Cain’s hand and pulled him away from my father.

  “Of course, I should probably get back to Cynthia as well.” Dad smiled as he glanced around the room for his date.

  “I really didn’t need rescuing. I enjoy talking with your father.” Cain’s sincerity was obvious but it wasn’t something I really wanted to focus on at the moment. I led Cain to the study and closed the doors behind us. “Is something wrong Jenni—”

  I quickly pushed Cain against the door, kissing him hard and cutting him off mid-sentence. My hands slid up his firm chest and I felt his arms wrap around my body, pulling me close. “Can we send everyone home now? I really just want to be alone with you. I’m tired of socializing.” I smiled and kissed Cain again and then rested my head on his chest. I resisted my urge to rip his clothes off while the houseful of guests gathered in the next room.

  “Sure.” Cain smiled. “Excuse me everyone, please get the hell out so Jennifer and I can have some alone time.” He chuckled and kissed me on the top of my head as I continued to rest against his chest. “We’ll have our time soon enough. Let’s enjoy the party. Besides, we’re celebrating your big promotion. You should be out there.”

  Cain always seemed to be the voice of reason. I pulled away and kissed him one last time before I allowed him to lead me back into the party.

  Chapter Three

  The cold air sent a shiver down my back as we walked outside together. A light dusting of snow covered the freshly shoveled sidewalk and Cain held my hand, keeping it warm as I fumbled for my keys in my coat pocket with the other hand. “I’ll see you in a few minutes, I’m just parked over there.” I nodded in the direction of my car and kissed Cain, leaving him behind.

  The street lamps reflected off of the flurries of snow drifting from the sky. The roads were wet and I was
thankful they weren’t slippery. My rear-wheel drive sports car was awful in the snow, and I was definitely not a great snow driver. The eerie silence of the night was broken by footsteps behind me. I quickly turned, expecting to see Cain and instead was met by an empty sidewalk and a few passing cars. The unmistakable feeling of my phone vibrating caught my attention as I hastened my pace. My car was only two hundred yards ahead. I reached for my phone and read the text message from an unknown number.

  :(

  The footsteps returned and I began to walk quicker, almost jogging, while looking back over my shoulder; still nothing and no one in sight. The echoed beep of the car alarm disarming was muffled by the snow on the ground and I reached for the car door. I turned to look back down the street in both directions. Nothing. I was suddenly met with the loud crash of breaking glass and spun to see a dark figure standing next to me.

  My blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the room as I bolted upright in bed, covered in sweat, barely able to catch my breath.

  “What’s wrong!? Are you ok, Jennifer?” Cain’s hand rested on my back, slowly rubbing it and comforting me. “Talk to me!”

  I struggled to figure out where I was and finally gained my composure. “It’s ok. Just a bad dream, it must have been all of the spicy tuna I ate last night.” I looked at the clock and realized I needed to be up in a few hours and lay back down, pulling Cain’s arm around me. “I’ll be alright.”

  “I’m right here.” Cain reassured me and pulled me close.

  I reached for my phone sitting on the nightstand and scrolled through the messages.

  I’m watching

  Take a hint…

  I see you.

  I looked at the last message with the attached picture of me leaving my apartment. Tears fell on the pillow and my sniffling caught Cain’s attention. He grabbed my phone and stared at the messages.

  “What are these? Why haven’t you me told about these?” Cain’s stern and protective voice cut through the otherwise silent room. “You’re in danger, you shouldn’t be handling this yourself, Jen.”