Dangerous

by Audrey Alexander

  “Come for me again, Carrie,” he panted out as stars dotted his eyes. “Come for me now.”

  Carrie cried out and arched her back, and Jace finally let his arousal overtake his body. They shuddered and bucked together, their pleasure coming to an agonizing and satisfying conclusion.

  When his pulses slowed, Jace wrapped his arms around Carrie and held her close. “I love you, Carrie.”

  “I love you, too,” Carrie said.

  Jace had never felt more complete than he did in that moment, but there was a stormcloud hanging over his perfect life. He wished he could lock the door and hole up in his bedroom with Carrie forever, but there was only so long they could hide from reality. At any moment, it could all come crashing down.

  When Sarah arrived at the penthouse just after lunch, Carrie and Jace had just gotten out of the shower. They’d spent the past hour in the steaming room, exploring every part of each other’s bodies. Carrie still felt like her face was flushed, her hair curling wet and wild around her shoulders. When she let Sarah in, her friend gave Carrie a look and raised her eyebrows.

  “Is this a bad time?” she asked, hefting a heavy messenger bag higher onto her shoulder.

  “Of course not.” Carrie shut the door behind Sarah and gestured at the platter of lunch food on the kitchen island. “We were just finishing up with lunch. Have you found something?”

  Sarah pressed her lips together, a smile threatening to spread across her lips. Carrie gasped, her heart lifting. She’d barely dared to hope that Sarah would be able to find some dirt on Walter Holt, and if she’d already discovered something in only twenty-four hours, it had to be good.

  They moved over to the kitchen island where Jace waited, his stoic expression firmly back in place. Carrie understood his need to place a wall up around himself now that someone else was here, but she wished he didn’t feel he had to react this way. He didn’t need to be the cool and suave billionaire, not in front of them. Though a part of Carrie couldn’t help but love that she was the only person in the world Jace would let see through the mask he wore for everyone else.

  Sarah dropped her bag onto the island and extracted a folder. “I’ve been able to take a look at his financials. It was a little difficult since I don’t have the firm’s familiar name behind me anymore, but some of my contacts came through again. And you’re going to like what turned up.”

  “Just tell me,” Jace said.

  “Well, first off,” Sarah said, tapping the folder. “Walter Holt, you might be surprised to find out, has been having some serious money problems over the past six months. A couple of his own acquisitions have gone south, and he’s had to call bankruptcy on them.”

  Jace leaned forward and placed his hands flat on the table. His body was almost buzzing, some unseen energy pouring through him as he stared hard at Sarah.

  “You’re telling me that me that my father, Walter Holt, has lost his fortune.” Jace gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “All of that money. That’s almost impossible.”

  “That house he owns in Long Island? It’s on the market now. He wants to sell it, and I’m guessing it’s because he’s running seriously low on cash.”

  Sarah slid a document out of her folder and passed it across the table. “That’s a copy of his bank statement. Now, that’s a hell of a lot of money to someone like me, but it’s a massive drop from what he had even a year ago. He’s running dangerously low, and he certainly won’t be able to keep up his current lifestyle on that.”

  Carrie glanced down at the statement and blinked hard. “Two hundred thousand dollars? That can’t be right.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Sarah said with a nod. “Which is why it stood out to me.”

  “Two hundred thousand dollars?” Jace stood hastily from the stool and snatched the bank account document from the counter. His eyes scanned the page, his face hardening more with each passing beat. “How the hell did he manage to lose this much money? He has a lot of his fortune tied up in stocks and assets, but my father is one of the wealthiest billionaires in the state. Two hundred thousand dollars?”

  “Exactly.” Sarah passed over the full folder and gave Jace a winning smile. She’d found some seriously strong support for why Walter Holt would want to do whatever he could to get his meaty little hands on Jace’s own fortune. He was broke. “He’s also sold quite a lot of his stocks, but not all of them. Don’t get me wrong. There’s still some money there. But Walter Holt isn’t the multi-billionaire he used to be.”

  Jace gave a heavy nod, clenching his fists. “So, his solution was to get his non-biological son out of the picture. That way, he’d be able to run my business into the ground.”

  “It looks that way,” Sarah said.

  “He’s gone to a hell of a lot of trouble for this,” Carrie said. “I’m guessing he forged that contract to add in the clause about taking over if Jace was in jail. Plus, if he framed Jace, then doesn’t that mean he actually had a man killed?”

  “That’s true.” Jace’s frown grew deeper. “The man has such obvious contempt for me, wouldn’t it have been easier to kill me off instead of Anders Holland? Why the elaborate scheme?”

  “Well, I have a theory on that,” Sarah said. “With Anders Holland out of the picture, you were able to make that acquisition on the building in Times Square, remember? So, by framing you for his murder, he managed to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

  “That bastard.” Jace slammed his fist onto the kitchen island and began to shake, his face turning red.

  Carrie gasped, but did the only thing she knew to do. She stood and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her body close to his. She knew how he must feel. Utterly, utterly betrayed. And she was beginning to see the reasons behind his need for control, the reasons he’d turned to BDSM, the reasons he’d wanted Carrie to sign that contract.

  Walter Holt must have been an even worse father than she’d thought. Jace had told her very little about his childhood, but the few things he’d shared had painted a startling picture of a domineering and terrifying man, an impossibly controlling figure who never approved of anything Jace did. Even his successes were played down, as if they could never make up for anything he’d done wrong in the past. Carrie tried to hold back her tears as her mind began to imagine a young Jace, striving so hard to live up to the demands of a distant and cold father.

  No wonder Jace had closed himself off to the world. No wonder it had been so difficult to break down his walls. He had formed them so early in his life. It had been the only way he’d known how to survive. But it just made Carrie love him even more because instead of becoming his father, he’d become his own man. The best man she’d ever known.

  “So, what are we going to do?” Sarah asked, glancing away from the hugging pair. She clearly felt as if she were intruding on a private moment, but Carrie didn’t let go. “This proves that Walter Holt had a motive. It shows exactly why he’s done what he’s done. Unfortunately, it doesn’t prove a damn thing. None of this can be used as evidence against him.”

  “But surely the cops will at least have to look at him as a suspect if we present this to them,” Carrie argued. Sure it wasn’t evidence, but it was proof as motive. The cops had fingered Jace as their suspect, but they still had the obligation to look at anyone else who might have been involved.

  “No, she’s right.” Jace said, pulling away to look at the documents again. “This proves nothing except that my father has made some terrible business decisions. We need proof. Hard evidence. Otherwise, the cops will probably brush this aside. They’ve already charged me. There’s no reason for them to look into him.”

  “I have an idea,” Carrie said. “But you’re probably not going to like it.”

  Seven words you never want to hear the woman you love say: You’re probably not going to like it. Jace frowned as Carrie filled him in on her plan. He had to admit, it was probably the best chance they had of trapping Walter Holt in his own web of de
ceit and murder, but it meant taking a risk Jace wasn’t certain they should.

  “He’s not going to react very well to this,” Jace said as Carrie began to pace back and forth on the carpet, the way she liked to do when she was puzzling through a problem. Normally he’d find it cute, but right now, he just wanted to sweep her up in his arms and take her away from all this. Unfortunately, the damn ankle tracker made that impossible.

  “Isn’t that the point?” Carrie asked. “We want to freak him out. Putting pressure on him is the perfect way to make him drop the act. All we have to do is get him to say the smallest thing to incriminate himself.”

  “He’s a dangerous man,” Jace said, stepping in front of her and gently dropping his hands on her shoulders. Her pacing was making him nervous, mostly because he knew she was right. They needed to do this. He just wished there was some other way. “He had a man killed, Carrie. And I don’t have my gun anymore to protect us if something goes wrong.”

  “I might be able to help with that,” Sarah said. “I’ve just about called in all the favors I can, but I have a friend who used to be on the force who might be willing to swing by if I tell him what’s going on. Plus, it’d probably be good to have another witness if Walter Holt does confess.”

  “Okay,” Jace said with a heavy sigh. “Let’s do this.”

  Several hours later, a knock sounded on the door. Carrie quickly jumped off her stool and let her mother into the penthouse. Her face was stark white, and her hands shook, but there was a defiant set to her shoulders that made it clear whose side she was on. In one hand, she held the photo Jace had heard so much about, and in the other she held a designer suitcase, so full it bulged at the seams.

  “Here.” She shoved the framed photo into Carrie’s hands. “I managed to get out of the house without him knowing.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Carrie said before giving her a tight hug. “I knew you’d come through.”

  “I can’t believe I married that man,” her mother said with a sharp shake of her head. “But I’m glad you made me realize just what he’s done.”

  “I couldn’t let you stay in that apartment with him a second longer.”

  “I hope this photo makes you get him good,” her mother said, concern creeping into her eyes. “But you be careful, Carrie.” Her eyes swept behind Carrie to land on Jace. “You hear that, Jace? Make sure you all are careful. Don’t do anything to put my daughter in harm’s way.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jace said, and he saw Carrie bite back a smile. She’d never heard Jace be submissive to anyone and now this tiny little woman could command that of him. But he only felt it was appropriate. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  Everything was in place. Jace had left his father a message. He told him that he had his photo and another piece of secret evidence, and he had plans to expose him for what he was. Carrie had her cell phone ready to record the conversation, and Sarah’s ex-police friend was downstairs with his eyes and ears ready. Jace had been assured the man was packing heat, which gave him some comfort against his worries. There was no telling what his father was capable of. For all they knew, he could come barreling through the door with his guns blazing, ready to take them all out in one fluid sweep.

  He stood over his computer screen, pacing back and forth. Carrie entered his office and wrapped her arms around his waist before peering over his shoulder. “Anything?”

  Jace had his staff route the security footage to his penthouse office so that he could see the moment his father entered the hotel. But so far, he’d been a no-show. That was one element of the plan they couldn’t control. They couldn’t force Walter Holt into action any more than they could force the Earth to cease movement around the Sun.

  “Nothing yet,” Jace said, unease swirling through his stomach. Despite all their precautions, something didn’t feel quite right.

  “Carrie,” Sarah’s voice squawked out behind them, high-pitched and strained.

  The two of them whirled toward Sarah, and the sight that met Jace’s eyes almost sucked the breath out of his lungs. His father stood before them, one beefy arm snaked around Sarah’s neck. With the other, he held a gun to her temple, and the overhead light glinted off the black steel.

  “Surprised to see me?” His father’s smile was fierce and cold, and it sent shivers along Jace’s skin. This wasn’t in the plan. This was all wrong. Where the hell was the ex-cop Sarah had called?

  “How the hell did you get in my home?” Jace said, gripping his hands into fists by his sides. He was shaking, and he needed to cool down. Letting his father see his nerves would be the thing that could kill them all.

  “I used my keycard.” Walter’s smile grew. “Or did you forget that I owned this shitty hotel of yours for a couple of days? I made sure to have some insurance just in case you weasled your way out of the system.”

  “You had no right.” Jace clenched his jaws. “This is my home.”

  “For now.” Walter tightened his grip on Sarah’s neck and jerked his head toward the hallway. “Both of you. Get out into the living room now. We need to have a chat. Try anything stupid and your lawyer friend here will take a bullet in her head.”

  The four of them made slow and uneasy steps out of the office and into the living room. Jace’s mind swirled as he kept his eye on the barrel of the gun. If his father had used the back entrance, there was no way for Sarah’s cop friend to know they were in danger. Carrie’s phone was ready to record, but it sat still and silent on the kitchen island. They’d never be able to record any of this unless they could somehow get a phone into their hands.

  And Jace was fairly certain his father wouldn’t let them anywhere near one.

  “Now, I’m sure you know why I’m here,” Walter began when they’d reached the living room. He stood at one end of the couch with Sarah in his grasp while Jace and Carrie stood frozen at the other. Jace risked a glance at the woman he loved. She looked terrified, and it only caused the rage inside his chest to grow.

  “Let me guess,” Jace said with a wry smile. “You’ve dropped by for a glass of wine. I’ll go ring my staff to get a bottle brought up.”

  Jace began to move toward the landline, but his father clicked back the safety of the gun. “I don’t think so. Stay right there. I will shoot her if you don’t cooperate.”

  Carrie’s heart raced. Her mouth felt like it was made of sandpaper, and her knees wobbled with every small movement she made. The gun in Walter Holt’s hands was the only thing she could see, pressed up against her best friend’s skull. There had to be something she could do. Anything in the world to stop this from happening. Her phone was on the kitchen island, and it would only take three steps for her to get there.

  Somehow, she needed to cause a distraction that wouldn’t get her friend killed.

  “Give me the photo and whatever else you have,” Walter Holt said, his chin wobbling as he spoke. “Now.”

  Carrie took a deep breath in through her nostrils, forcing her nerves to steady. “Let Sarah go, and I’ll get it for you.”

  “Carrie.” Jace’s voice went sharp.

  “Don’t argue with me, Jace,” Carrie said, holding up her hands so that Walter could see she wasn’t trying anything on him, even though she was. “Those are the terms. Okay, Walter? Let Sarah go, and I’ll hand everything over to you.”

  Walter stared at Carrie, his eyes narrowing. He didn’t argue, and she could tell he was thinking over her words. Clearly, he thought they had much more on him than they actually did, and his top priority was doing whatever it took to get it away from them. Despite the gun in his hand, they were the ones who were really in control, though she knew she needed to tread carefully.

  “Fine.” Walter said, pushing Sarah away from him. She stumbled forward, and he raised his gun, pointing it at Carrie. “If anyone does anything at all, I won’t hesitate to shoot Carrie. Now, get me that photo.”

  Carrie kept her hands raised, moving slowly toward the kitchen island where both S
arah’s bag full of evidence and Carrie’s phone sat waiting for her. Walter didn’t seem to notice the cell yet, and she moved slightly to the side as she stepped closer to block his view.

  When she reached the island, she leaned across to grab the bag, swiping the phone with one hand. She slipped it quickly down into the waistband of her jeans, praying Walter hadn’t noticed. With a flick of her finger, she pressed record. Sucking in a deep breath, she turned back to face him, Sarah’s bag dangling from her hand.

  “Here it is,” she said with a strained smile. “This is everything we have on you.”

  With a grunt, Walter reached out and ripped the bag from her hands. She’d expected him to go through the documents inside, but instead, he lurched forward and grabbed her arm with his rough and beefy hands. In an instant, he had her in a chokehold, and his gun pressed into the hot skin on her neck.

  Her heart hammered hard, and her eyes began to tear. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was going to shoot her. She could feel it in the core of her bones. They’d completely miscalculated everything, and it was going to cost Carrie her life.

  “Get the hell away from her,” Jace roared, rushing toward them, his veins throbbing in his forehead.

  The barrel of the gun dug into Carrie’s neck. “Stay there, Jace, or I’ll shoot her right now.”

  Jace froze in his steps, but his entire body continued to shake. Their eyes met across the room, and she tried to convey her thoughts through her eyes. She loved him so much. She hoped he knew that. If these were her last moments on Earth, she hoped it would be enough for him to know exactly what she felt for him, what she always had.

  “Good,” Walter said. “Now, you see, I’m in a bit of a predicament here. You clearly have a little more smarts than I gave you credit for, though I suspect Carrie here came up with the truth herself. You really never could figure things out very well.”