Trusting The Boss

by Mallory Crowe

  “Wait, wait! I have first names,” spat out the bouncer before Jace could do any more damage.

  A victorious smirk curled Jace’s lips. “I’d be really interested in hearing those names.”

  “She’d hang out in the VIP room with some guy named Brian. He looked like a big shot. Huge tips. Nice clothes. That’s all I know, okay?”

  “Are there cameras in the club?”

  “No. Nothing. I swear.”

  Jace stood still for a moment as though debating how honest the answer was before he abruptly released his grip. The bouncer fell limply to the ground and cradled his wrist against his chest. Emma stood wordlessly as she watched this man who was so much bigger than Jace crawl away in fear. Was this what she’d signed up for?

  In her daze, she didn’t realize Jace had moved closer until his hand was on her arm. She flinched at the contact and stepped back instinctively. Jace tightened his lips, but didn’t call her out on it. “We should go,” he said softly.

  Still speechless, all she could do was nod as she headed out of the alley on unsteady legs. She let Jace hail a cab and open the door for her. As she slid into the back, she realized she was shivering. Was that from the cold or from the violence she’d just witnessed?

  Jace gave the cab driver the address to her cousin’s apartment building before he looked over. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realize you’d be so affected.”

  She let out a small laugh. She didn’t realize she’d be so affected either. “Was that really necessary? All that for what? A first name? I’d ask why you didn’t push him harder, but I’m terrified to know what harder would be to you.”

  “If he didn’t have anything to hide, he would’ve told us when we originally asked,” said Jace. “And I can do more than you think with a first name only. Besides, it was all he knew.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Considering how hesitant the man had been to talk, Emma had a hard time believing he’d suddenly decided to spill anything and everything he knew within thirty seconds.

  “I’ve interviewed enough people to know. Give me a day, and I’ll see what I can dig up on a Brian who frequents the place. Until then, we can go over what your friend Russell finds. Did he call you today?”

  Emma glared at Jace and wished the backseat was bigger so she could scooch farther away. She really didn’t want to drop the subject, but she didn’t want to debate the ethics of what he’d done in front of a cab driver either. “He called me, but apparently he needs more time. This isn’t exactly his specialty.”

  “I’m sure he’ll have something soon,” said Jace.

  It seemed like a strangely optimistic thought, but Emma didn’t comment. Instead, she leaned her head against the cool glass of the window and closed her eyes. So what had they really learned? That Joslyn went into some mysterious VIP room with someone named Brian. There were probably a million different “Brians” in the city and thousands who were rich enough to make it into the VIP room.

  But Jace didn’t seem concerned about the lack of information. If anything, he seemed happy with what they’d gotten. After the cab came to a stop, Jace paid the driver before she had a chance to pull out her credit card and then got out to walk around to her door. Normally, she wouldn’t wait for him to open the door for her, but she wanted to catch him outside the cab to ask some very pointed questions.

  She started in as soon as she stepped out. “What do you know that I don’t?”

  His brow creased as he shut the cab door behind her. “I know a lot of things you don’t,” he deadpanned. “Care to be more specific?”

  She grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the cab and closer to the side of the building so they’d be out of the way. “If you have a plan to find out more about this Brian guy, let me know. We’re partners, right?”

  Jace glanced down at where her hand was on his skin, but didn’t pull away. “We’re not partners. You hired me to do a job and I am going to get that job done one way or another. And even though there aren’t supposed to be any cameras at the club, I can promise you there are some in that VIP room, even if no one knows about them. So tomorrow I’m going to track down the owner of Drax and politely ask him to give me the information I need. Unless you want me to only use Emma-approved interrogation techniques.”

  Emma’s chest rose and fell as she took deep breaths. How important was it for her to clear her conscience and understand what drove Joslyn off the deep end?

  “No matter what happens, your sister is still going to prison for a crime she committed. Nothing is going to change based off what we learn about her extracurricular activities. So if you want to call me off, now is the time.”

  “Find out who Brian is,” she said with a shaky voice. “She already had a rich boyfriend and she hadn’t been in town long. I don’t know why she’d be out clubbing with anyone besides her fiancé.” Well, former fiancé now.

  Jace nodded. “Consider it done.”

  Before Emma could relax, a familiar voice reached her ears from over the normal sounds of the street. “Thanks, Dalton. Have a great night if I don’t see you!”

  Emma’s eyes went wide in terror. “Oh my God, that’s Luke.”

  Jace didn’t seem half as worried about it as Emma. He stepped in closer and shielded her from view with his body. “He doesn’t know what you were wearing when you left,” he assured her. “Let him just get a cab and you can head up without any problems.”

  Emma nodded and tried to think of plausible lies to tell if Luke discovered her. Jace was an old friend from school she met up with? A friendly stranger blocking her from the wind? Working with a charity she was thinking of donating to?

  Jace shuffled closer until Emma’s forehead rested against the top of his chest. “He’s hailing a cab and walking closer, okay? He’ll be gone in a second.”

  What if he wasn’t? Would he cause a scene if he realized that Emma had been looking into Joslyn’s life with some…some…whatever the hell Jace was? And what if he caught her cowering behind Jace like the complete coward that she was? He’d totally know something was up.

  Acting out of pure impulse, Emma reached up, wrapped her hands around Jace’s neck and pulled him down to her, kissing him fully on the lips. There. Now if Luke saw them, she was just partying a bit too hard in the city with some random guy. Maybe not the most respectable cover story, but it would cause her much less trouble in the long run.

  But she never planned on how Jace would react to her ruse. Instead of simply standing there while their lips touched, his hands gripped her hips and pushed her back until she was wedged tightly between the hard wall and Jace’s burning hot body. She gasped at his unexpected enthusiasm, and his tongue slipped inside her mouth, just teasing the seam of her lips.

  This wasn’t the plan. She’d kissed him for cover. He wasn’t supposed to kiss her back. She should push him away and damn the consequences of Luke seeing them.

  But then Jace’s hands pulled up the hem of her shirt until he could slip both palms under to press against her bare back, causing her to arch against him. Jace groaned as her stomach pressed against his hard cock, and Emma was lost. She curled her fingers in the collar of his shirt and kissed him deeply, fully.

  One palm was still against her lower back while the other one came out from her shirt and slipped under her jacket to cup a breast, thumb teasing the now hard nipple through the fabric of her shirt. A bolt of electricity shot through her and she shuddered at his touch and her eyes drifted closed.

  When she opened them again, he’d pulled away slightly and looked behind him. “I think Luke is gone.” His voice was calm, steady.

  Emma just stared up at him, not even certain she was capable of forming words. “I, um—”

  Jace stepped away and the cold air swooped in around her. “I can walk you to your door. First thing tomorrow I’ll see what I can find out about this Brian and hopefully Russell will be able to get into your sister’s computer by then.”

  Emma pu
shed herself away from the wall and forced herself to stop acting like a love-struck teen. “Sounds like a plan. Thanks for your help tonight, Jace. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  He fell in step with her as she made her way to the entrance and a bit of Emma’s calm façade cracked. “I don’t need you to walk me to the door,” she snapped. “I’m fine.” He didn’t reply and she didn’t bother to look back to see his reaction. She’d made enough of a fool of herself for one day.

  And she couldn’t even blame him. She’d kissed him and he’d put on a good show. If he had pushed her away in disgust, Luke would’ve seen them. She weakly nodded at the doorman as he held the door open and made her way to the elevator. What if he didn’t want to kiss her but only had because she was his boss? Was that sexual harassment? Had she put him in an uncomfortable position and he’d been too afraid to say no?

  Well, he’d sure as hell seemed into it. And he’d seemed just as out of it as soon as the kiss was over.

  But that’s good! She didn’t want to date Jace. They had nothing in common. He was a dangerous, violent man who considered himself always right. She was supposed to be attracted to doctors or lawyers—established professionals who wanted to settle down and start a family and didn’t only want her for her money.

  No. Her pride might be the slightest bit bruised at Jace’s quick recovery from their kiss, but her brain knew better. He was no good and she would be better off if she got over the kiss just as quickly as he did.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Jace couldn’t stop thinking about the damn kiss. It had been over twelve hours ago, and certain parts of his anatomy had not gotten the message that he should be focusing on work.

  Hansen had sent him over Joslyn’s bank records and gave him access to her email accounts. He also had Hansen get him the name and address of the owner of Drax and he was hard at work digging up dirt on the guy—for a fee, of course. Jobs were so much easier when Jace had unlimited funds to throw around.

  Though he couldn’t guarantee Emma wouldn’t be pissed when she got his bill, at least he was getting results fast. And at this point, he was thinking speed was going to be an important factor in this job. He’d only been on it for one day and already he’d managed to scare the hell out of Emma and basically assault her on the street where anyone could’ve seen him completely lose it.

  But what the hell did she expect him to do? It had been hard enough not to stare at her sexy body wrapped in that halter that clung to her every curve, and then he was supposed to contain himself when she kissed him?

  Even now, he could feel the weight of her breast against his palm. He could almost feel her moans vibrate against his lips. Because as crazy as it seemed, she’d wanted him right back. Jace wasn’t an idiot. He knew she didn’t kiss him for any reason other than hiding from her cousin. But he’d been with enough women to know when they fell over the ledge between clear thoughts and the animalistic urge to find some secluded dark corner to get back to their primitive side.

  Whatever the hell it was that happened between them, it was over now. He’d finish up this job and then find some hot twenty-year-old with loose morals who wouldn’t mind a night (or two) of no-strings attached fun. Emma wasn’t the one-night stand kind of woman. She was the kind of woman a guy left the Army for and started pounding in the white picket fence.

  And good for her, but that sure as hell wasn’t what he was looking for. The very thought of spending more than a week with the same woman practically sent chills up his spine. And if she was smart, the thought of spending more than one week with him should have the same effect on her.

  Jace shook his head to clear away all thoughts of the heiress to go away and willed his ever present erection to die down. Even after he took two separate shower breaks, his cock seemed to make fun of him for trying to fake it out.

  With his teeth clenched, Jace pulled up the bank records. He would take a look at what Joslyn was doing and then doctor a fake copy that would remove the evidence of Emma’s cousins paying Joslyn off.

  Once he had finished, he’d send them back to Hansen to make sure they looked legit and then Hansen would send them to Emma from Russell’s email account. Jace started with the monthly statement from right before Joslyn’s parents died. He knew that Joslyn had been suspected of tampering with the vehicle, leading to their deaths, but there was never any evidence to press charges. Because of that, the entire estate had gone to Emma while Joslyn only had her trust fund that was meant to get her through a high-class education but no further.

  Most people would’ve been happy with a five hundred thousand dollar inheritance, but Joslyn had lost billions. And, judging by the activity on her bank account, she burned through tens of thousands of dollars a month. It was easy enough to see when the payments from the cousins started. Five months after her parents died, a fifteen thousand dollar deposit went into Joslyn’s account monthly. Jace got to work taking out the deposits and adjusting the other charges and totals so it appeared Joslyn lived a bit more modestly. He did add some dummy deposits that would appear to be investment income so her exorbitant spending wouldn’t completely vanish.

  A few hours into the tedious labor, he’d almost managed to get Emma out of his mind. Page by page, item by item, he snipped and cut and pasted over the PDF documents, making sure they looked pristine. Hansen probably could’ve gotten the same job done much faster, but Jace wanted to do it himself because he knew more about Joslyn than his IT friend across the pond.

  When Jace hit January of the current year, the bank statements took a dramatic change. Instead of the one large deposit that he’d been clearing off, there were two. The fifteen thousand dollar one and another for a hundred grand.

  He sat up straighter as he flipped through the next few statements. Same large-ass deposits once a month up until when she got arrested and all her assets were frozen. Was there something deeper that Michael and Luke Devereaux were trying to hide? Why would they suddenly up the amounts she was getting?

  There had to be more to the story, but it was his job to make sure Emma never realized there was more to question. Jace grabbed his phone and sent a call to Hansen.

  The Brit picked up within two rings. “Are those statements taken care of?”

  “I’m almost done, but I’m seeing something off on here. Can you remote into my screen and take a look?”

  “Be there in thirty seconds.” True to his word, less than a minute later, the cursor on the screen moved on its own, signaling that Hansen had taken over. “What am I looking at?”

  “The deposits for the month. I was told that her family was paying her off to stay out of their hair, but she started getting a lot more income in the past few months. Can you look into those deposits? I want to know if they’re from the same person.”

  “Or if someone else was paying her off,” said Hansen.

  Jace clenched his jaw at the possibility he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. If she was getting a payday from someone for that much, that meant that she had inside knowledge on powerful people. Powerful people who wouldn’t want Emma to poke around their business. “Just let me know what you find out. Now, what do you have on the owner of Drax?”

  “The guy is clean. No arrest record. No back taxes. He’s a square family man who happens to own a nightclub. So no luck there yet but it’s still early in the search.”

  “Damn it,” muttered Jace. Blackmail was an old tactic, but it was sure as hell dependable when it came to getting easy information. Usually the mark was so happy that you weren’t going to drain their bank accounts that they started to talk immediately.

  “But I got something else for you.”

  “I hope it’s good.” Jace didn’t need another curveball today.

  “Oh yeah. I got into Drax’s accounting system and was able to access all credit card transactions for the year. You should have a list of all the Brians who purchased anything there and weed out the big spenders.”

  Jace smiled. He should’ve known H
ansen would come through. “You never fail to impress.”

  “Don’t I know it? I’ll get on tracking where the money came from after I send this list over to you.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll be in touch.” Jace hung up. The sooner Emma was able to look over the statements, the better. And then she’d call him so they could look over the bank activity together and he’d have to pretend that he wasn’t thinking about fucking her the entire time he was with her.

  Jace rubbed the bridge of his nose. She was just a girl. This was just a job. Yet somehow he couldn’t help feeling he was in over his head with this one.

  ###

  Another love song came on Emma’s mp3 player and she tried not to roll her eyes. Come on. She needed a power song. Or an angry breakup song. Nothing about love. Particularly love and sex. Her afternoon jog was supposed to clear her head, not clutter it up even more.

  But as much as she tried to turn off her mind, she just couldn’t reach her happy running place. She skipped five different songs until she settled on some rap/rock thing she didn’t even remember adding to her collection. But the angry words coming out of her earbuds were exactly what she needed to get her the rest of the way back to Luke’s apartment. She pointedly did not look at the spot where Jace had held her up against him, and slipped through the door as quick as possible with a smile at the doorman.

  As soon as she was in the elevator, she slid the headphones out and let her head fall back against the elevator wall. What a waste of a day. No word from Russell yet. No word from Jace. Luke had been at work before she’d worked up the courage to crawl out of bed, too afraid to know whether he’d realized she was the woman making out ferociously with some guy against the side of his building.

  She was only supposed to be in town for four more days. What if she was still as in the dark about Joslyn’s life then as she was now? What if she learned that there was no deep secret explaining all her behavior? Then she’d have to actually face the fact that she’d caused this whole mess by cutting Joslyn off in the first place.