Dangerous

by Audrey Alexander

Carrie was still flustered when they reached the lobby of The Grand Rizzato. Jace had insisted she come back to the hotel with him to watch the security footage from the night of the murder. He wanted to know what was on the tapes before the police got the warrant and went through the footage themselves. Or at least that’s what he’d said. She knew his games. He probably wanted to lure her up to his penthouse for more sexy time between the sheets.

  Carrie didn’t really understand the big deal about the security footage in the first place. So, some hotshots didn’t want the cops to see them on camera at Jace’s hotel. Who were they? Just another secret Jace was hiding from her, though she supposed she might find out soon enough if they ended up being on those tapes.

  Jace led her through the lobby of the hotel, guests glancing up as they strode past. Jace Holt was well-known, even to tourists who dropped by for a short break to experience the vibrant sights and sounds of the city that never sleeps. Recognition lit their eyes, and Carrie wished she could hide her face from view. No matter what Jace liked to say, she didn’t want to end up as the next scandal on the news.

  The two of them made their way down a quiet hallway, through a door accessed only by a keycard, and into the security room where an elderly man sat with his feet propped up on a plastic table. He was surrounded by monitor screens and empty coffee cups.

  “Ahem,” Jace said when they stepped into the tiny room. It stunk of day-old pizza and stale cigarettes. It was obvious to Carrie that Jace barely interacted with this part of his hotel or it never would have smelled or looked like such a dump. Jace liked everything clean and pristine and sparkling. Except for sex, of course. He seemed to be into more interesting displays of passion these days. Ones that Carrie might have balked at three years ago, but now she was finding incredibly arousing. He made her feel like she could finally let go and do whatever she wanted, whenever and wherever.

  “Sir,” the man said, scrambling to stand when he saw who was hovering in the doorway. “Mr. Holt. I’m sorry for the mess, sir.”

  “We’ll need this taken care of,” Jace said in a clipped tone. “This is not acceptable for The Grand Rizzato, even if guests never see this particular room.”

  “Yes, sir,” the man said, picking up a trash can and dumping the coffee cups inside. “Of course, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”

  “Calm down.” Jace waved his hands at the monitors. “Go on your lunch break. Miss Simmons and I need to view some of the security footage.”

  The man gave a nod before glancing at the screens. “Do you know how to use it?”

  Jace gave the man such a stare that he had to clear his throat and rush into the hallway without another word. Rolling his eyes, Jace settled into the chair and punched a few keys on the computer. The monitor feed paused, and Carrie watched as Jace got to work. She had no idea he knew how to operate this kind of thing. Jace was a manager, an organizer. He didn’t do the dirty work himself.

  “You seem right at home with this stuff,” she said, dropping into the seat beside him. The monitor footage clicked off before a new set of paused images flickered onto the screens.

  “This isn’t the first time I’ve looked at my security tapes, Carrie,” Jace said.

  His tone sounded ominous. Or maybe she was just imagining it. But why would Jace need to look at his security footage? It didn’t seem like the kind of thing a real estate owner would need to get involved with, and she hadn’t been aware of any incidents ever happening inside his hotels before.

  “Why? To check up on these secretive people and what they’re up to in your hotel?” she asked, half-joking.

  Jace gave her a cool look before turning back to the computer. Her heart thumped. She hadn’t really been serious, but the look on his face was clear. Don’t ask questions. What was he hiding from her?

  He tapped a few more keys while Carrie watched silently and tried to decide what to ask. And even if she should ask anything at all. If he was hiding something serious, she needed to know, least of all because it could come up in the investigation.

  “This is the footage from the night of the murder.” Jace tapped the nearest screen. “I’m going to start playing the tapes from ten-thirty, which was around the time I left to go to the bar.”

  To find some willing stranger to hook up with, Carrie couldn’t help but thinking.

  But before her thoughts went too far in that direction, Jace began to play the videos. All of the monitor screens lit up with footage from that night, all synced to play just as it had happened. Two cameras were focused on the lobby, one inside each elevator, and one on each floor’s main hallway.

  Carrie settled back into the chair and fought back a yawn. This was going to take awhile if they were going to watch the entire night from beginning until end—when the cops arrived on the scene several hours later.

  But just as she relaxed, something strange caught her eye in the video that zeroed in on the lobby doors. She leaned forward in her seat, her breath caught in her throat. There’s no way what she was seeing was right. There was Anders Holland, walking right through the front revolving doors of The Grand Rizzato, completely and one hundred percent alive. Someone strode into the hotel beside him. Black suit, dark hair, face obstructed from view. That man looked familiar.

  He looked just like Jace.

  “Jace Holt,” Carrie’s voice was high-pitched and sharp. Angry. Her eyes flashed as she turned on him, stabbing her finger on the video screen that showed footage from the hotel lobby. “You told me you went to a goddamn bar. You’re right there with Anders Holland. You better tell me the truth right now. What happened that night?”

  Frowning, Jace glanced at the screen. Sure enough, there was Anders Holland, striding through the glittering lobby with a man who very clearly looked like himself. He leaned forward and squinted, shaking his head. The man was careful to keep his face hidden from view, so only his dark hair and muscular back were visible to the cameras.

  “That’s not me, Carrie. You can’t see the man’s face, and I would never wear a suit with sleeves that long.” Jace crossed his arms and stood. “I have a feeling I know what you’re implying, and I can’t believe you don’t trust me.”

  Carrie’s face was red as she stood to meet his hardened gaze. “What am I supposed to think, huh? Your argument is that the man’s sleeves are too long?”

  “That is exactly my argument.” Jace felt his veins pulse in his neck as he took in her expression. Doubt lit her eyes, and confusion rippled across her features. She really did think that was him on the screen. “I thought you were on my side.”

  “I am.” Carrie threw up her hands. “I was.”

  “Carrie.” Jace moved closer to her and reached for her hands, but she took a hasty step back.

  “I need to go back to work.” She glanced at the screen. “I’ll try to stall this warrant. The police cannot get ahold of this footage. If they do…”

  Jace understood. The arrest he’d easily avoided up until this point would surely come. He wanted to reach out and hold Carrie close before she disappeared back into her shell, but it only took seconds before she was gone.

  Jace watched the footage several more times. Anders Holland and the man masquerading as Jace entered The Grand Rizzato at approximately ten forty-five. They went through the lobby, past guests and staff, before entering the elevator banks and taking an express ride up to the top hotel floor. The public guest elevators didn’t have access to his penthouse, so the two men had disappeared down the hallway, entered the staff only door, and that was the last time either of them were seen.

  Whoever it was kept his full face hidden from view while still managing to keep up a conversation with Anders Holland the entire way there. Anders looked relaxed and calm. Surely the man he was with was someone he’d met before, else why would the two of them be going to Jace’s penthouse together?

  The look on Carrie’s face flashed through Jace’s mind. He couldn’t believe she’d doubt him after all they’d been through. Surely sh
e of all people knew he wasn’t a killer.

  A knock sounded on the door and Jace glanced up, expecting to see the rumpled man returning from his extended lunch break. But instead, his assistant stood before him.

  “Franklin.” Jace stood and narrowed his eyes. “Tell me where you’ve been. You were scheduled to meet me in the lobby this morning to go over your findings from last night, but you never showed.”

  “Things escalated a bit last night,” Franklin said, glancing down the hallway behind him before stepping into the security room and shutting the door. “By the time I got to Madison’s apartment last night, she was dead.”

  Jace let a sigh of relief go through him. “I have to admit, I had some concerns that you were involved.”

  Franklin frowned. “I thought you didn’t judge me based on my past.”

  A flicker of guilt hit Jace’s mind. He was right. Just because Franklin had been involved in certain unsavory things in the past didn’t mean he would still be involved in them now. He’d been so loyal until this point and so forgiving of Jace’s own past mistakes. It had been wrong of him to assume the worst just as it was wrong of Carrie to assume the worst in him.

  “You’re right.” Jace gave his assistant a slight smile. “It’s just so unlike you to be even a minute late to a meeting.”

  “Trust me.” Franklin sighed and settled into the metal chair beside Jace.” There was a good reason for it.”

  “Tell me,” Jace said quietly.

  Franklin filled Jace in on the details of the night before. With each passing moment, the knot of dread grew larger in Jace’s stomach. He’d been worried something like this had been going on, but he hadn’t known how to confirm his suspicions without getting sucked back into a world he’d thought he’d left behind. Carrie could never know the truth of the murders. If she did, she would never understand. Her reaction would be just as bad as when she’d seen the fake Jace on screen, taking Anders Holland into the penthouse to be shot in the head.

  “Did anyone see you?” Jace asked in a low voice, his fists clenched in his lap.

  “No, I was careful to stay out of sight,” Franklin said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in the seat. The weak metal creaked under his weight. “How do you want to proceed with this? I’m guessing you want to keep Miss Simmons in the dark about your past.”

  “Carrie can’t know.” Jace’s jaw clenched. “We’ll have to take care of this ourselves. The footage, too.”

  Franklin nodded and stood. “Anything else?”

  Jace dragged a hand down his face, his palm scratching against the scruff that ran along his jaw. “Yes, get rid of the paparazzi. They can’t get a glimpse of Carrie again. And if they track us when we go take care of the Atlantic City situation, that could ruin everything.”

  “How should I take care of them?”

  Jace narrowed his eyes. “Do whatever it takes.”

  Carrie didn’t know what to believe. After she left The Grand Rizzato, she wanted to turn right back around and erase all the doubt running through her mind. She hated feeling like the wall between her and Jace had gone right back up to where it’d been for three excruciating years. All she needed was his mouth on her skin, and she’d know he was telling her the truth.

  There was nothing fake about Jace’s touch.

  But that man in the video had looked just like Jace. He’d taken Anders Holland up to the penthouse where he’d been murdered in cold blood. And if Jace had been with Anders that night, Madison Holland would have been able to confirm that he hadn’t been in her apartment at the time of the murder. Lucky for him, she was dead now, too.

  No, it was impossible. Jace couldn’t be a killer. He just couldn’t.

  Carrie spun on her heels and headed back to the hotel. There was no way she could get on with her day if she wasn’t able to put a stop to these thoughts. How could she get any work done if she spent the whole time wondering whether or not Jace was more dangerous than she’d ever thought possible?

  Yes, he liked things rough, and yes, he liked to take complete control in everything he did, especially when it came to sex…Carrie thought back to the way he liked to trap her hands over her head so she couldn’t move, and she couldn’t stop the shudder from going through her body.

  Stepping inside The Grand Rizzato, Carrie’s heels sunk into the thick carpet as she headed right back the way she’d come. Just as she reached the doorway leading into the locked staff area, Jace’s assistant appeared by her side, blotting out the light behind him.

  “I’m sorry, but these quarters are off-limits to the general public,” Franklin said, reminding Carrie of a younger version of Jace. Strong, silent, overly confident, and a little bit too smug for her liking. Even though it worked on Jace, it didn’t really work on this man.

  “Right.” Carrie frowned. Didn’t he remember her from the other day in her office? “I’m Jace’s lawyer. I need to see him about something.”

  “Jace is otherwise occupied,” Franklin said. “You’ll need to come back later. I’ll tell him you stopped by.”

  “Look.” Carrie crossed her arms over her chest. “He’ll want to see me. Just tell him I’m here.”

  Just then, the door swung open, revealing Jace. Even though she’d just seen him moments before, her eyes felt drawn to his muscular arms that strained against his well-fitted suit. Memories flashed through her mind from that morning. Carrie’s legs spread open as he pushed inside her, her back sliding across the slick surface of the table. He’d been so eager, so rough, so passionate that all she could do was take everything he could give.

  It had felt like he’d given her everything, and now he’d taken it away again, hiding with his secrets and his lies.

  “Carrie.” Jace frowned, and her heart hurt from his disappointed reaction to seeing her again. “I thought you left.”

  His hand pressed against his suit jacket, and she noticed a bulge near the front pocket. What could that be? Her mind flicked back to the gun the cops had found in his kitchen drawer, but surely Jace wouldn’t be walking around with another weapon on his person. Unless…

  Unless he really was the man in the video.

  Carrie widened her eyes as she caught the glint of dark black, Jace’s jacket shifting as he shut the staff door behind him. She took a few steps back, her ears ringing and her heart roaring in her chest. She couldn’t believe it. Jace had a weapon in his suit pocket. Everything was starting to add up, and it painted a picture she couldn’t bear to understand.

  “What’s in your pocket?” she gasped out in whispered words.

  Jace’s jaw clenched, and Franklin gave Carrie a hard look. He was in on it, too. The both of them.

  Jace patted his suit, but didn’t reveal what he had hidden underneath. “I think it’s best if I don’t show you.”

  Carrie took a step back, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this. I thought there was no way you could be involved. I couldn’t bear to think you had anything to do with this, but–”

  “Carrie, I promise this isn’t what it looks like,” Jace said in a low voice, glancing as a family edged by them on their way to check into their room. “You need to trust me.”

  “How can I trust you if you won’t tell me what’s going on?”

  Franklin cleared his throat and began to back away. “I think I’ll excuse myself.”

  “No, Franklin.” Jace’s voice was sharp. “Stay.”

  “Is he involved in this, too?” Carrie jerked her thumb at Jace’s obedient assistant. “Is that why you drag him along to our meetings?”

  “Carrie.” Jace reached out to grasp her hands, but she shook her head and stepped back. She wouldn’t let him touch her and distract her from what was really going on here. “There’s an explanation for all of this, but I can’t really talk about it here. Come over tonight. We’ll have dinner, and I’ll explain everything.”

  “Dinner again.” Carrie narrowed her eyes. “And wine, I’m betting. Maybe flowers? To seduce me
into forgetting the fact you were with Anders the night of the murder and that Madison is now dead so she can’t tell the truth.”

  Jace narrowed his eyes, and he looked at her in a way he never had before. With disappointment and anger and something else she couldn’t place. “If you have any belief in me at all, you’ll be in my penthouse at seven o’clock tonight. If not, then I guess that’s the end of us once and for all.”

  Jace’s words echoed in Carrie’s ears as she stared down at her paper-littered desk. The end of us once and for all. Despite the video, despite the gun in his suit, those words were what scared her the most. She’d finally had him back in her arms, and she was so close to losing him all over again.

  Could she bring herself to trust him enough to listen to his story? Would he even tell her the truth if she did?

  With a sigh, she flicked through her notepad, barely reading the words on the page. She was even more behind than she had been this morning. The whole ordeal with Jace had taken up most of her day. She was dangerously close to getting so far behind, she’d never recover. And so close to getting the coveted spot as partner if she could only get her shit together. Jace had been distracting her far too much from work, and it was all starting to catch up to her now.

  The sky outside turned dark as she made progress on her cases. The stack of papers began to grow smaller while the knots in her neck only increased. Just as she was starting to feel a little better about her progress, a knock sounded on her door. Probably Sarah, asking if she wanted to go out for drinks. Carrie wasn’t sure what she’d say. A part of her wanted to hear Jace’s answer, and a part of her wanted to forget he’d ever entered her life again.

  She glanced up. Rick Allen poked his head in the door. Concern painted his chiseled features as he grasped a wrinkled newspaper in his hands. Carrie’s stomach sunk to her toes. There was no way this was going to be good news.

  “Come in, Rick,” she said around the lump of coal in her throat. Her heartbeat began to pulse against her neck.