by Ali Parker
When I’d first been asked to join the team prosecuting him, I just sat there. I had been completely dumbstruck over having been asked. It was a severe conflict of interest for me to be anywhere near the case, but my boss had stood right in front of me and told me I should join them.
I’d tried to question it, but he’d waved me off and led me to the closed room they had gathered in. In the months that followed, I had often tried to ask about it, but I still didn’t have an answer.
I still shouldn’t have been anywhere near these files. I shouldn’t have been allowed to file the appeal. Somehow though, it had just become accepted that I would deal with anything to do with my father’s case.
No one asked any questions. Unfortunately, no one had given me any explanations either. Eventually, I’d stopped asking. By being on the team, I was in a better position to protect my family. I had access to all the information I could have hoped for, and I wasn’t going to jeopardize that.
Technically, my being involved open up a whole slew of doors for the conviction to be challenged. Dad had never done anything about it, though. He had accepted his sentence quietly and went off to serve it out. My involvement had been mentioned in the petition, though.
The only way I was going to find something to keep my father from getting out was by going through it all again. I needed to supplement the appeal I’d filed with facts from the trial that had been overlooked or brushed aside in the petition for his release. There had to be something in these files that a court would be able to sink its teeth into.
I made notes as I worked my way through the files I’d brought with me. I had been planning on doing all this in my office, but my head was pounding, and I needed strong caffeine. A lot of it.
Nick had offered to run out and grab me some, but I told him I needed to get some air anyway. By the time I got back to the office, everyone else would be gone and I would be able to get some real work done there without having to worry about any interruptions.
Since it was a Monday night, I had been counting on the coffee shop being empty enough that I would be able to get some work done here. I had been right. For the most part, anyway.
“Lovett.” I heard a nasally voice behind me. Recognizing it immediately, I started gathering my papers and shoving them into files in no discernible order. All that mattered was getting them out from under Adam’s gaze.
“Adam.” I turned and tried to block his view of what was left on the table with my body. “What are you doing here?”
Adam Moon was a journalist for the Cypress Creek Herald and an excellent example for anyone looking for a definition of “bottom feeding scum.” He grinned, his yellow teeth glowing dimly as they caught the light in the shop.
“I’m just grabbing a cup of coffee.” He held out his callused hands. “It’s not a crime.”
“Unfortunately.” There was nothing I would have loved more than to put Adam away for something, even if it was just for a couple of days. I knew he did things that were against the law while chasing his stories sometimes, but we’d never been able to get the evidence necessary to convict him for it.
“So,” Adam said and slipped into the seat across from mine. “I heard your father is getting out next week. Is it true?”
“No.” He wouldn’t get anything more out of me than that. Adam knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t give him a scoop, but it didn’t stop him from trying.
“Really?” He reached for a notebook from the laptop bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out a pen. After flipping through the pages, he looked back at me. “It says right here that there was a technicality during the trial and that he’s getting out.”
I kept my mouth shut. Amusement glinted in Adam’s eyes. “Cat got your tongue?”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you about this, Adam.” I stacked my files on top of one another, pulled out my wallet and tossed a few bills onto the table. I was getting up when Adam started speaking again.
“Fine, don’t say anything to me,” he said and closed the notebook. “This is your opportunity to comment, but even if you don’t the story is running tomorrow. Don’t think you’ve fooled me, Tyson. I saw you poring over your dad’s files when I got here. It looks bad.”
My fists clenched. He was right, it did look bad, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about it.
Even if I wanted to speak to him, which I both didn’t and couldn’t do, there was no point. Moon was one of those reporters who would twist whatever words I said so badly even I wouldn’t recognize them.
“This could really hurt your next campaign, Tyson,” Moon said, trying to provoke me into saying something I would regret. “You should talk to me. I could help you.”
No, he couldn’t. This was going to be a problem. I couldn’t let Adam see how much it bothered me, though. Once he smelled blood in the water, he would never give up.
“Goodbye, Adam. You enjoy your coffee now.”
I picked up the files and left, and I didn’t stop walking until I was back at my office building. It was quiet, my footsteps echoing on the marble floors. As I had predicted, everyone had gone home for the day.
On TV, the offices of the district attorney were always busy no matter the time or day. I couldn’t know for sure, but I thought it might be like that for real in some jurisdictions. In ours, though, everyone cleared out the second the clock struck five.
The usually bustling building was a mausoleum by ten minutes past five. It was half-past now, meaning not even Nick would be here anymore. He was the only one who worked late sometimes, if he was waiting for me to get back from somewhere.
I’d told him before I left not to wait for me today. There was nothing he could do to help me with this, and I was expecting Eve later. I didn’t want to risk anyone, not even Nick, overhearing my father was getting his will in order.
The thought of why he was wanting to was too painful for me to even think about. I didn’t want to answer any questions about it. As I rounded the last corner to my office, I was surprised to find it wasn’t empty.
Eve was already there, sitting on a chair outside my door with one ankle hooked primly behind the other. She had changed since I saw her earlier. When I had been to see her at the bakery, she had been wearing a fitted white pantsuit, and her hair had been pulled up high on the top of her head, a pencil securing it into a bun.
Her fiery locks were loose now, hanging over her shoulders. The pantsuit was gone, a green sundress clinging to her curves in its place. Only the shoes were the same, a pair of nude heels so high I had a fleeting thought earlier about why she would choose to wear stilts. I’d be fucked if her legs didn’t look drop dead sexy in them, though.
Even sitting down, the heels showcased her strong, toned legs in a way that drew my attention to them despite how fucked-up the encounter was that I’d just endured or how heartbreaking the task was that lay ahead of us.
She smiled when she saw me approach, standing up and smoothing out her dress. “I have the first draft ready for you. I thought you could have a look at it, and if there’s anything you want to be amended you can just tell me, and I’ll get the final draft ready for you.”
“Sure,” I said flatly. I was still annoyed by the confrontation with Adam and about having agreed to be the middleman in a matter I wanted no part of, and now I was turned on simply by having seen this woman. My night couldn’t get much worse. But it could get better.
I tried ignoring the hopeful voice in the back of my mind, but as soon as Eve followed me into the office and closed the door behind her, the sweet smell of her made it hard to think about anything else. Taking a deep breath and then instantly regretting it when I realized it made it worse, I turned and held out my hand. “Can I have a look at it?”
Eve looked slightly taken aback by the harsh tone, but she handed over the folder she’d carried inside anyway. Pain stabbed my heart at seeing my father’s name under the words “Final Will and Testament.” Reluctantly, I let my eyes scan the cont
ents of the surprisingly simple will. “Why does it say he is giving his entire estate to the government?”
“Those were his last instructions to me. His attorney at the time reviewed it,” Eve said hesitantly. “I’m sorry, Tyson. I—”
“He changed his mind.” There was no way I was letting him leave whatever was left of what he had or stole or whatever to the government.
I remembered Beau saying he didn’t want any of Dad’s dirty money, but I didn’t give a shit. If he didn’t want it, he could donate it to charity. My brothers had gone through too much and had even lost their trust funds and inheritances from our mother to Dad’s antics. “He wants everything split between his sons.”
I didn’t give a fuck that this wasn’t what Dad wanted. My brothers deserved this. Picking up a pen from my desk, I set the draft will down and made the necessary revisions before handing it back to Eve. She eyed me dubiously. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I didn’t even feel bad for lying to her. This wasn’t really any of her business, and as for my father, it might have been his stuff, but he wasn’t in a position right now to be making these decisions. By delegating this to me, he’d handed over the reins.
Eve nodded, though doubt clouded her green eyes. She took the folder I handed her, setting it down on the chair before rounding the desk to me. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little, I don’t know, peaky?”
“Peaky?” I cocked an eyebrow, somehow managing to pull out a smirk even though it was the last thing I really felt like doing. “Did you really just say peaky?”
Eve nodded unabashedly. “You don’t like peaky? Fine. I’ll just give it to you straight then. You look worn out, strung out, tired, worried and annoyed.”
“You hit the nail right on the head.”
Reaching out, she laid a hand on my forearm. I’d rolled my shirtsleeves up earlier. The feel of her palm on my skin was like a hot brand, electricity sizzling through me in the wake of her touch. Her eyes darkened and her breath came in a soft huff when our eyes locked.
The atmosphere in the office changed instantly, going from strained and tense to charged with sexual energy.
“Fuck this,” I mumbled, reaching out to snake my arms around her waist and tugging her roughly toward me. My mouth crashed onto hers, not waiting for her to make the first move again. I really shouldn’t have done it, especially not here, but there was no stopping it.
All I could think about was getting close to her. I needed her as much as I needed air. I knew how slick and hot she would be, how snugly I fit inside of her and how her pussy would clench around me.
Losing it completely when Eve opened her mouth for me and swept her tongue into mine, my hands were tugging at the hem of her dress at the same time hers fumbled with my belt. Her dress hit the floor as I kicked my slacks free.
Our kisses were wet and messy, breaking apart briefly as we fumbled out of our clothes. Tugging my shirt off, I met her gaze. Eve looked me right in the eye as she removed her bra and walked to my door. Wearing only a pair of barely-there lacy panties and those fucking heels, she turned the key in the lock and strode back to my desk.
Placing her palms on the pocked wood, she looked back at me over her shoulder and wiggled her sweet ass. “Fuck me, Tyson. Hard. Right now.”
My mouth went dry, blood pounding in my ears as my heart raced. My cock was so hard from her brazen display in her panties, her assertiveness and the knowledge of how fucking good it felt to be inside her that it was painful. One or two strokes and I would be done for, guaranteed.
Somehow resisting the throbbing urge to give myself some relief, I managed to touch two fingers to my forehead in a salute and locate a condom before I thrust into her and gave her exactly what she asked for.
Chapter Fourteen
Eve
“Well, that was unexpected.” I expressed the same sentiment to Tyson that he had to me after our first time together. I smiled, adjusting my bra before stepping into my dress.
“Yeah,” he agreed. He looked so freaking hot and cute with his usually perfect hair standing up in all directions from having my hands in it just a minute ago.
My knees were still shaky from the two orgasms he had given me. Once while I was bent over the desk with his cock buried balls deep in me and his fingers strummed my clit, and then again when he turned me to face him and slammed into me with more force than I ever thought I would enjoy. I came hard enough to have blacked out for a few seconds.
Although to be fair, it was also the first time that I could see Tyson’s face properly when he came undone. The man was so damn gorgeous and sexy when he came that the look alone would have been able to send me flying over the edge. If the whole DA thing didn’t work out for him, he could become a porn star. He would never even have to show his cock, they could only film him coming and he would be a hit.
I could practically hear the roaring of a crowd of infatuated fans, and a strange feeling clawed at my gut. Is that jealousy?
It dawned on me that it was, which was absolutely ridiculous. I was going to have a very stern talking to myself very soon, but for right now I had to find something else to focus on.
My eyes fell to the folder lying on one of Tyson’s chairs. “Are you sure about the revision you made to the will?”
His blue eyes were filled with incredulity when he lifted them from where he was fastening his belt to mine. “You seriously want to talk about that right this minute?”
“That’s what I came here for.” I shrugged, picking the folder up with shaky hands. “Any and all assets are to be evenly divided up and distributed to the five of you?” I asked, strangely restless to force this conversation to be over.
“That’s almost verbatim what he said.” Tyson bent over and swept his shirt up from the floor, putting it back on. “I just added the rest of the legal jargon.”
“I can see that.” I wobbled on my legs. My knees were going to need a second or two to recover. Taking a seat on the chair the folder used to be on, I looked up at Tyson. “Is Roy really getting out? I’ve heard a few rumors about it since you told me.”
His shoulders tensed. “Where did you hear that?”
I averted my gaze, looking through his window at the blinking lights of downtown instead of at him. At least his windows were tinted from the outside, so no one would have been able to look in to see what we had just been doing.
“I heard it around town.” I motioned vaguely at the buildings beyond the window. “You know how the rumor mill works out there. You didn’t answer my question. Is it true?”
“We are going to do whatever we can to make sure it doesn’t happen,” he replied tersely. The tension from before was seeping back into him, his muscles tensing and his jaw set.
I studied him carefully as he turned away from me and started rummaging through the stack of files he’d been carrying when he arrived at his office. Some papers slipped out, and I noticed Roy’s name on one. Obviously, he was going through his father’s old case files, but why?
He had been on the team that prosecuted his father. Though it was his job, I couldn’t imagine how he had gone through with having a hand in getting his father locked up. Back during the trial eight years ago, it had apparently been all people could talk about around here.
I heard about it at the hair salon once. People called Tyson “ruthless” and “remarkably determined,” but no one questioned why he would do it. I questioned it, though. Roy wasn’t even my father or a relative of mine, and my heart hurt thinking about him being locked up like an animal.
The fact that Roy wanted to make sure his will was up to date spoke volumes about how dangerous it would be for him if he got out, but surely there had to be a way around that. Tyson was the DA and his brother was a detective. It was hard to believe they wouldn’t be able to get him set up in a safe house or somewhere else where he would be out of harm’s way.
Yet here Tyson was, working his butt off to keep his father locked up. It made no sense
to me and since we were on the topic, I decided to just come right out and ask him about it. I had never been shy, and my mouth wasn’t sewn shut or anything. I couldn’t just keep quiet, even if he might be pissed about my prying questions.
“Why would you want to keep him in prison?” I asked before I could convince myself not to. “I mean, I know what he did, but after all, he’s still your father.”
Surprisingly, Tyson didn’t look angry. He just looked sad. Lowering himself into his chair, he pulled out the charge sheet from one of the files and pushed it across the desk to me.
“I have a job to do,” he explained. “There’s no gray area in crime. All of those charges on there relate to crimes he committed. He deserves to be where he is.”
I gave him a long look, my lips pursing of their own accord. There was an edge to his voice I was unsure about. A few moments passed silently before I was able to get a handle on what it was. “Who are you trying to convince here? Me? Or yourself?”
Tyson’s blue eyes narrowed, then he sighed and turned away from me, staring contemplatively out over the quiet street of downtown Cypress Creek. “This is my father we’re talking about. I know he’s done some bad things, but I don’t want to throw him to the wolves.”
As he said the words, his shoulders dropped infinitesimally. The movement was slight, and I would have missed it if I wasn’t waiting for some kind of reaction from him. Having seen it, my heart immediately went out to him.
Though I wasn’t a softie, it was impossible to see such a big, confident, protective man be affected by something so close to him and not feel for him. I would never tell him, or show him because I didn’t think it would go over well, but I wanted to wrap my arms around him and let him feel taken care of for once.
He would never, never let me. Like, ever, but that didn’t change that I wanted to do it for him. Tyson was a protector. The perpetual ‘strong one.’ The guy everyone went to with their problems and counted on to help them fix it, and yet I doubted there were many people he ever turned to for help. If he ever even turned to anyone.
