by Alexa Wilder
"What are they looking at?" I asked after I'd put the food and coffee in front of Axel. Jacob shrugged one shoulder and said, "I'm not exactly sure. I deal with real estate finance. Forensic accounting isn't my area of expertise, but I think your boss kept the second set of books for the work he did with Tsepov, including detailed notes on the jobs, dates, and locations." Jacob’s distinctive silver eyes narrowed in disdain. “Your boss sounds like a complete idiot."
“Former boss,” I corrected, “and he kind of was.”
Axel looked up and caught my eyes, a gravity in his dark ones that made my stomach hitch in apprehension. "What?" I asked.
Axel made a face and said, "William Harper is dead. It looks like Tsepov had him executed."
I let out a breath and sank into a chair at the table, wrapping my hands around my hot coffee mug, stunned. I shouldn't have been so shocked. We’d said more than once that Tsepov was not known for his forgiveness. Harper had messed up big time. When you worked for the mob, it was never as simple as just getting fired. I didn't want to know, but I had to ask. "What happened? How did he die?"
“Single gunshot to the head," Axel said. "It was quick, Emma. He didn't suffer."
Maybe not physically, but I'd bet he’d been terrified. Part of me was horrified that someone I'd known had died so badly. But the part of me that remembered, vividly, Harper punching me while I was tied to the chair and his threats to rape me before he sold me—that part of me didn't feel bad at all. I didn't know many people who deserved a single gunshot to the head, but William Harper was on the list. Right along with Sergey Tsepov.
“Are we sure Agent Tierney was the leak? That he's working for Tsepov?"
Evers and Axel both looked grim. "We're as sure as we can be without catching him red-handed," Axel said.
"I have an idea," Evers said, looking at his brother and raising one eyebrow. Axel narrowed his eyebrows, reading his brother's face. They were doing that brother-speak thing again, having entire conversations without ever opening their mouths. It was both cute and annoying.
“What are they doing?" Summer whispered to me, loud enough that everyone heard her.
In the same tone, I said back, "I think it’s some sort of Sinclair telepathy. They do this all the time."
She crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at Evers. He glared back. I shouldn't enjoy seeing my best friend so thrown by a guy, but I couldn't deny that it was funny, especially since she seemed to be enjoying her irritation with him, though she’d never admit it.
"So what's the idea?” I asked. Axel answered.
"We have a contact, an SAC—Special Agent in Charge—in the Atlanta FBI office who we've worked with a lot. We've known him for years, and I would bet my life that he's completely clean. I think we need to call him in, showing what we have, and explain the situation. If he agrees to have our backs, the best thing we can do at this point is to set a trap for Tierney and see if he takes the bait.”
I was intrigued. “Trap?" I asked. Axel shook his head.
“First things first. Evers, can you call Agent Holley?"
Evers pulled out his phone and hit a few buttons. One short, cryptic conversation later, he hung up and said, “Holley's on his way.” Things moved quickly after that.
Agent Holley, a tall, lanky man wearing a suit on a Saturday, arrived at Jacob's place twenty minutes later. After less than a half-hour of going through the files, he interviewed me about the case, then Axel, and disappeared into Jacob's office to make some phone calls.
Waiting for him to come back made me nervous, but Axel seemed completely relaxed, confident that things were finally moving in the right direction, and I trusted him. I tried to relax. I wanted so badly for all of this to be over, to go back to our normal lives without having to be afraid.
Special Agent in Charge Matthew Holley came back into the room almost an hour later and gave Axel and Evers a brisk, affirmative nod. “Everything is in order. An agent will accompany Evers back to Las Vegas. Axel, you and Emma will stay in Atlanta until the arrests have been made. It shouldn't take long to bring them in, if all goes to plan.”
If all goes to plan. Famous last words, but delivered with Agent Holley’s authority, they comforted me nonetheless.
39
Emma
The day had passed in a flash. I’d been so worried about what was going to happen that I hadn’t realized how long Axel and I had spent with Agent Holley until he'd left, Evers in tow.
Summer had also gone, giving me a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, telling me she was coming out to Vegas for a long weekend soon so she could check out Axel’s lake house and get to know him a little bit better. I thought that sounded like a great idea. I was only sorry that she had to go so soon.
I thought that Jacob would stay with us, but he left shortly after Summer, saying, "I'd love to be your third wheel, but I have a socialite dying to be my arm candy and a god-awful, boring art opening to attend."
“Can you skip it?" Axel asked. Despite his humor, Jacob didn't look all that excited about his plans for his date.
"No, I promised I'd go.”
Axel studied Jacob for a moment, then he said, “Someone there you want to see?”
I thought it was an uncharacteristically nosy question, but Axel knew his friend well. Jacob’s face closed down and he said, “Of course not. Just an art opening I said I'd go to. Then I have something tomorrow. I won't be back for the rest of the weekend."
He was gone a few minutes later. Surprised by Jacob’s abrupt change of mood, I said to Axel, "I think you made him mad. Why did you ask him that?"
"I don't know,” Axel said. “He had a look in his eye when he mentioned the art opening that I thought was interesting. I was curious."
Thinking about the pearl and diamond earring I'd found in his desk, I said, “He doesn't have a girlfriend?"
Axel burst out laughing. "There are about a hundred women who would kill each other for the chance to be his girlfriend, but he never dates any of them for very long. I don't think he's built that way. Jacob doesn't do love."
I told Axel about the earring I’d discovered in Jacob's desk, and Axel looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. "I wouldn't spin any romantic dreams about Jacob Meyers falling in love with some woman. I'd be happy as hell for him if he found someone he cared about enough to settle down, but I don't see it happening. He’s just not that kind of guy."
"You never know," I said. "People can change."
Axel turned and drew me into his arms. I was suddenly acutely aware that we were alone in the penthouse and likely to remain that way for at least twenty-four hours. I lost all interest in dinner.
"No they don't. Not really," Axel said, interrupting my thoughts.
“What?” I asked. Distracted at the thought of being alone with Axel, I’d lost track of the conversation.
"People don't really change," Axel said. "Things about them might change, surface things, or goals, dreams. People themselves don't really change. I was never a one-woman man until I met you," he said. "But I always hoped that one day I would be. I just wasn't willing to settle down until I met the right woman."
I reveled in the thrill his words sent through me. I loved that Axel didn't feel the need to hide that he was in love with me. “Are you are saying you don't think Jacob is capable of falling in love?" I asked.
"I could be wrong,” Axel said. “If anyone I know has hidden depths, it's Jacob Meyers. But he's never struck me as a guy waiting for the right woman. He makes me look completely laid-back. And I've heard rumors that he’s into some kinky stuff in the bedroom. My best guess would be that if Jacob were looking for a committed relationship, it would have nothing to do with love and everything to do with sex, but who knows? Maybe someday he'll surprise me."
I liked Jacob. He’d proven that he was a good friend, and he'd been more than welcoming to me during a time of extreme stress and uncertainty. I liked that he’d come to Axel’s aid without questio
n. I’d also liked him even more when he’d flirted with Summer the night before just to irritate Evers. The idea that he might never find the right woman and fall in love was a little sad, but to each his own. I was too happy, and too in love with Axel, too thrilled to know that Axel was in love with me, to get depressed about Jacob. Pushing him from my mind, I leaned into Axel and rested my head on his chest.
“Now that we're alone, what do you want to do?" I asked, teasing him. In answer, he picked me up, swinging me into his arms, and carried me off to bed.
We didn’t come up for air until late that night, emerging from the bedroom to scrounge for food in the kitchen, me in a robe and Axel in a pair of boxer briefs that made my mouth water. Someone had made a huge grocery run, because the fridge was packed with tasty treats. We settled on reheated mushroom ravioli and key lime pie.
While we ate, perched on stools at the kitchen counter, I asked Axel, “So what was the plan? Who went back to Vegas with Evers, and what are they doing?”
“Evers, an agent who looks a lot like you, and Agent Holley went to Vegas, though Holley only went to hook Evers and the other agent up with the FBI contact who would help arrest Tierney. Holley should be on his way back here by now.”
“Why did they need an agent who looks like me?” I asked.
Axel popped a bite of tart, sweet pie between my lips and said, “Because we want to see what he’ll do if he has the opportunity to get to you. You’re a loose end. If he’s really working for Tsepov, then he’ll want you taken out of the picture. You’ve seen the evidence Harper collected. You know too much.”
“So the agent who looks like me is going to set up a meeting with Tierney?” I asked, dismayed at the thought that he would harm me. I knew Agent Tierney was the bad guy, but it still bugged me.
“Nothing that overt. She’s going to send a text from your phone saying that you got away from me and you have back-up evidence that you want to deliver. We think he’ll try to kill you—or really, her—when he realizes you still have the files. Either way, we’ll know if he’s truly dirty or not.”
That made sense. It might have been wrong, but part of me hoped the plan didn’t work and that Agent Tierney showed up to collect the evidence like he should. I didn’t like him, but if he was working for Tsepov, it made me doubt my own judgment even more. I told Axel as much, and he said,
“Emma, that’s not fair. You’re not a trained operative, and you had every reason to expect that an FBI agent was trust-worthy. When you’re predisposed to assume someone is honest—someone in a position of authority like an FBI agent—it’s very hard to know that they’re up to something unless you catch them in a direct lie.”
“I still feel stupid.”
“Well, don’t. You’re not stupid. You managed to get all those files and collect what the FBI needs to arrest Tsepov with no training and very little guidance from Jensen or Tierney. I’d say that you’re not only smart, but you’re resourceful.”
I loved Axel’s compliments. He could have said something empty and clichéd to soothe my worries, but instead he gave me logic, logic that gave my flagging confidence a boost. I thought about saying thank you, but that didn’t seem good enough. So I jumped him.
It was a good thing Jacob wasn’t coming home that night. I ended up on my knees between Axel’s legs with the can of whipped cream we’d grabbed for the pie in my hand. Axel’s cock tasted great on its own, but everything was better with whipped cream on top. By the time we were done, the can was empty and Axel was coming in my mouth, his hands buried in my hair, calling out my name as he gasped for breath.
He paid me back with the fudge sauce we found in the pantry, laying me out over Jacob’s huge dining room table and drizzling the thick, sweet chocolate over my body and licking it off. He took his time, painting my nipples and licking them clean more than once before making swirls of chocolate over my pussy and sucking it off. I came twice, then begged him to fuck me. Jacob’s table was the perfect height. After my third orgasm, I made a mental note to try out the table in Axel’s penthouse. I liked table sex with Axel.
We passed out in bed, our bodies wrung dry and exhausted. I woke deep in the night to hear Axel on the phone, his voice too low to decipher his words. He hung up and I asked, “Who was that? What time is it?”
“It’s just after 2 A.M. It was Evers. Tierney took the bait. He set a meeting with the agent he thought was you and tried to kill her.”
I sat up in bed, sleep forgotten. “What? How?”
Axel pulled me down and tucked me under the covers, pressing my head to his chest and stroking strong fingers down my spine.
“He set the meeting for a dark parking lot, then he tried to shoot her. She’s fine. She was wearing a vest. He was taken into custody, and everything is okay.”
“What if he’d aimed for her head? She could have been killed,” I protested, freaked out that this woman I didn’t even know had risked her life pretending to be me. And—to be honest—a little more freaked that Agent Tierney had tried to murder me.
“It’s her job,” Axel reassured me. “There’s always a risk, but she had plenty of cover. Evers said that they’re picking up Tsepov tonight. He’s headed back here on an early flight, and we’re going to take the plane back to Vegas in the morning, after we get some sleep.”
I tried, but I couldn’t relax after Evers’s phone call. Axel eventually gave up on the back rub and cradled me in his arms, pulling my leg over his hip and sliding inside me. We took each other slowly, whispering insensible words of love as we moved together. My orgasm, cresting in a wave that built bit by bit and fell away just as gradually, seemed to last forever. I didn’t remember falling asleep.
I woke to the sound of birds singing and Axel’s smile, as bright and magnetic as the morning sun. Our troubles were finally over. It was time to go home.
40
Emma
I napped through most of the flight home. I still didn't have a phone or tablet. We’d flown out of a private airstrip, so I hadn't been able to grab so much as a magazine. And I was tired. We’d gone to bed late, then woken in the middle of the night—not that I was complaining about all the orgasms.
I was really not complaining.
The plane was the same one that Griffen and I had taken a few days before, with the same plush, spacious seats. This time, Axel sat beside me and raised the armrest between us. He pulled me against him, tucked my head into his shoulder, and draped a blanket over us both. Of course, the first place my head went was all the trouble we could get up to underneath a blanket, but a few minutes later, I was out cold.
We didn't eat on the flight and were met at the airport by one of Axel's guys in another of Sinclair Security’s ubiquitous black SUVs. I don't think I'd seen any of them drive anything else. On the way back to Axel's penthouse, we stopped and went grocery shopping, the most normal thing Axel and I had done together since the night he’d taken me in handcuffs to William Harper.
I knew as time went on that something as mundane as grocery shopping would be a chore, but just then, grocery shopping with Axel was the most fun I thought I'd ever had. We bickered good-naturedly over how ripe the fruit was and tried to decide what we wanted to cook for dinner that night, or if we wanted to cook at all. We ended up choosing something in between: eggs, potatoes, asparagus, and brownies—ready-made. We'd be cooking, but it wouldn't take much effort. After everything that had happened, I just wanted to relax with my man.
I had to find a new job, and eventually, I supposed I had to go back to my apartment. There would be time to face all of that later.
We went back to Axel's place, where I found a brand-new cellphone, tablet, and laptop waiting for me. Axel just shrugged and said, “You needed upgrades, and I'm the one who took your laptop, so I should replace it.”
He’d replaced all of my things at a much higher quality, but at this point, I knew better than to complain. The money wasn't a big deal to him, and I appreciated that he thought to spend
some of it on me. I played with my new toys for a while, downloading some books to read, setting up my phone, and generally chilling out. I was tempted look at the want ads or work on my resume, but I didn't bother. Job hunting would stress me out, and I'd had enough stress to last me for a lifetime.
Axel was in his office, catching up on business he’d missed while he was dealing with my situation. There was something homey and comforting about lying on the couch in his modern living room, listening to him on his computer on the other side of the penthouse. Looking around, I wondered if he'd let me redecorate a little. I liked aspects of his penthouse—it was modern, expensive, sleek, and a little dangerous. And cold. I didn’t like that part. Axel was tough, and sometimes he was even scary. He was never cold.
I'd ask him later. So much had changed in the last week, and I knew men could be funny about women coming in and changing their stuff around. Maybe I'd wait for him to offer. Later that afternoon, after we'd eaten lunch, I wandered into Axel's office.
"You think we could run by my place?" I asked. "All the stuff that Lola got me is great, but I would love to have my own makeup, hair stuff, and everything . . .” I trailed off, suddenly not sure if I should assume I was supposed to stay. “Or if you want, I could just stay there and—”
Axel was out from behind his desk in a flash, his face hard. “You want to go back to your place? You need some time?”
“No,” I said uncertainly. This was a first for me. I had no desire to have any time away from Axel, but I didn't want to crowd him. All of a sudden, I wasn’t at all sure where we stood.
“If you don't care either way," Axel said evenly, "I'd rather have you here. We can go get your things. I was gonna give you a couple of days before I brought this up, but if you feel like it's not too soon, I'd like you to move in with me."
