by K. M. Scott
Three muscular men stared down at a singular box tipped over on the hardwood floor in the hallway. In front of them lay broken pieces of snow globes Alexis had collected from every place she visited since she began modeling at fifteen years old. Liquid ran along the wood planks and around the shards of glass from the collectables, including the blue water from the globe she’d bought in Fiji on her very first modeling job.
“All you had to do was carry the damn boxes and you couldn’t even do that!” she screamed, struggling to hold back tears as she stared down at the shattered remnants of her cherished memories.
Lauren came up behind her and wrapped her arms around Alexis’s shoulders as she sobbed, “He’s taking everything I love away from me. Even my snow globes.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this. You go relax,” her assistant said in her ear.
True to her word, she began ordering the men around. Pointing at all of them, she said, “Clean up this mess and pack up the remaining globes more carefully. Then make sure you’re careful, for God’s sake.”
As Alexis began to walk away, one of the bodyguards apologized for their mistake, but she just nodded, too upset to say anything in response. No matter how many times they said I’m sorry, it wouldn’t bring back those trinkets she loved.
She walked upstairs to her room and found Carla finishing up with packing up the bedroom. The maid stood by waiting to strip the bed, but Alexis waved them away and pointed toward the door.
“Leave me alone.”
They hurried out without saying a word as she collapsed onto her bed and began sobbing into her pillow. Forget the drink. All she wanted to do was fade away into unconsciousness.
The door to her New York penthouse apartment opened in front of her to reveal what resembled a cavernous, sunless space. Alexis walked in and looked around at the dark and heavy decorative moldings where the ceilings and walls met and immediately felt oppressed.
Lauren squeezed her arm. “It’s a beautiful home, isn’t it?”
She scanned the space filled with dark woods that made the place feel like it was closing in around her and missed her spacious home back in California. “No green trees and I feel like this place is going to smother me. For the amount I paid for this place, I should at least be able to feel like my home wasn’t swallowing me whole.”
“The designer will be here next Monday at eleven. You’ll see. She’ll make this place into a home you’ll love even more than LA,” Lauren said, trying to be supportive.
Alexis couldn’t help but smile. Hugging her assistant, she said, “You’re not going to let me wallow in my misery and hate for this place, are you?”
“I’ve known you since we were nine years old. You couldn’t hate if you tried. I know this is hard, but you can handle this. I know you can.”
A sense of shame washed over Alexis. They grew up two poor kids in rural Minnesota in families that often didn’t have enough money for new shoes more than once a year. That was hard. Getting used to a six million dollar penthouse wasn’t hard.
She took her assistant’s hand and walked with her toward the kitchen. “I guess I better check out my new kitchen because I’m starving.”
“I made sure everyone involved in the move put every fork and dish and pan just where it should be before you got here. It’s situated just like it was back in the old house.”
Alexis chuckled. “I never once cooked back in the LA house, so there’s no reason to believe I’m going to start here, Lauren.”
One foot into the kitchen and Alexis knew this room looked nothing like the one at the old house. Instead of having an open feeling, this one had walls on all sides that felt like they were closing in on her.
And cabinets. So many cabinets. How many dishes and glasses did the person who built this place have? As she stared up at the dark wood cabinets that seemed to go up forever, she thought to herself that they could house every glass she’d ever drank out of in her entire life and still have room for more.
“Let’s hope no one here ever needs to get something down from one of those cabinets on the top,” she said craning her neck to look at the highest cabinet next to the ceiling.
“It can all be changed. That’s what the designer is for. No worries,” Lauren said with far more assurance than Alexis felt.
Her assistant motioned for her to sit down at the table at the end of the room while she headed toward the refrigerator. “I think this calls for some champagne. We need to christen this new house, don’t you think?”
“Sounds good to me,” Alexis said as she sat down at the old wooden table that had come with the place and looked out the window at the darkness outside.
Definitely not like LA.
Lauren poured them both a glass champagne and raised her glass to make a toast. “To your wonderful new home.”
Clinking her glass against Lauren’s, Alexis took a sip of champagne and sighed. “To my new home.”
She knew her assistant wanted her to be happy, but so far, all that made her happy in this place was knowing she had her oldest and dearest friend by her side. Everything else about her new place felt foreign and just reminded her of all she’d been forced to leave behind.
Carla appeared in the doorway a moment later with a box in her hands. “The doorman brought this up. He said it was just delivered by courier.”
Alexis smiled and waved her over toward the table, eager to see what gift she’d been sent. “It’s probably a housewarming gift from Paul. How much do you want to bet?”
“Probably,” Lauren said before taking another sip of champagne. “He can be a pain, but he never forgets the little things.”
The three women stood around the table, and Alexis set the cardboard box down in the center of it. Ripping open the top, she looked inside and saw a snow globe with the Empire State Building inside it. Charmed by the gift, she lifted it out and handed it to Lauren as she reached in to grab the card sent with it. Paul always knew how to say just the right thing to make Alexis smile.
“This is gorgeous,” Lauren cooed as Carla nodded in agreement.
Opening the envelope, Alexis slid a folded piece of paper out and opened it up. Her eyes opened wide in horror as she saw cut out letters just like her stalker always used that said, “Welcome to New York! I’ll be seeing you.”
“It’s from him!” she screamed and then threw the card away onto the table. “He knows exactly where I am!”
“Who?” Lauren asked as she set the snow globe down to walk around table to comfort Alexis as she began to cry.
As she sobbed into her hands, she said the words that had taken over her life. “Him. My stalker. He knows just where I am. I left my home for nothing!”
Chapter Two
Hunter lifted his legs to rest his feet on the coffee table in front of him while Gideon and Xavier argued over which team would go all the way to the Super Bowl this year. He didn’t mind hanging out in the game room with them like others on the estate did, but their insistence on having this same damn fight over and over was beginning to get under his skin.
“Are you fucking kidding me with the Rams? No way, Xavier,” Gideon said as he threw a basketball he’d been holding straight at his best friend’s head.
It ricocheted off the foosball table and rolled over toward the dart board near where Hunter sat.
“They’ll get to the playoffs maybe, but forget about them going any further. Maybe in a few years, but this year? No way.”
As always, Xavier took that as his cue to stand up full of indignation, righteous or not, and respond with his usual attack he knew would bother Gideon, a lifelong Washington fan. “At least they’ll make it to the playoffs. Not like your Redskins, who can’t find their ass with both hands. You guys got the shaft when you got the wrong Gruden brother, dude.”
And on and on it would go until the game came on and they glued their eyes to the big screen TV on the wall in front of them. Thankfully, that wouldn’t be too long from now because th
e last thing Hunter wanted was to get pulled into their football argument. His team hadn’t seen the playoffs in so long he wondered why he still stayed true to them, and he didn’t need to defend them against Gideon and Xavier, who would definitely turn their attacks against him once they heard the name Chargers.
Nope. Better to just let them fight it out while he relaxed and pretended not to hear their argument.
His phone began to ring in his pocket, stopping the conversation occurring nearby. He pulled it out and saw Tess’s name on the screen. Persephone’s assistant, she probably wanted to talk to him about a case.
“Tess, let me guess. You couldn’t do without seeing me today, even though it’s Sunday,” he said with a smile, instinctively flirting with her as he had from the moment he met her.
Gorgeous and single, Tess Andrews had no business being around so many men and looking so incredibly hot all the time. She had a sexy librarian thing going on with the way she sometimes wore her hair in a bun and glasses that made her look studious. One look down her body, though, made anyone with an ounce of testosterone in his body think those long legs and perfect ass would look much better without those skirts she wore, even though they often barely came to the middle of her thighs and only highlighted how hot she was.
“You know we don’t work regular hours around here, Hunter,” she said sweetly with a lilt in her voice that told him she was flirting with him too.
“True. Then I’m guessing you just wanted to talk to me then?”
“Sorry, no. Persephone would like you to come to the office.”
Their banter over, he accepted that he’d likely have to work that day. Not until after the game, though. A man had to have some time to himself. After the last few weeks, he deserved at least a few hours of relaxation.
“Sure. Tell her I’ll be up right after the game.”
His answer was met with a few moments of silence and then Persephone’s voice came through loud and clear into his ear. “Now, please, Hunter. There’s a situation that requires our special brand of help.”
There went his day off. He knew they didn’t work like that in Project Artemis, but for Christ’s sake, he couldn’t be the only one of them who could take this case, whatever it was. Looking over at the two men in front of him who rarely seemed to be anywhere but right there in the game room, he resented having to go to work once more.
Resigned to how this day would go, he answered, “Sure. I’ll be right there.”
Standing from the leather recliner he’d planned to spend the afternoon in, he stuffed his phone into his pocket as Gideon and Xavier began to bust his ass. Smug fucks.
“Hunter is Persephone’s lapdog,” Xavier joked in a singsong tone.
Gideon, who always tended to be less juvenile, teased, “Yeah, man. What is it with you? Did you get on her bad side? You’ve gone on three assignments in the past few weeks. She’s working you like a dog. You need to bite back, bro. Show her you’re a man who doesn’t take shit from anyone.”
He knew if Nick was anywhere in earshot, these two wouldn’t be so mouthy about the woman who ran Project Artemis. Intensely protective of her, Nick would lay them both out for shit like that.
“Oh, yeah, Gideon? Why don’t you do that first and see how it goes when Nick fucks you up six ways to Sunday?” Hunter asked as he picked up the basketball and hurled it in their direction.
That got the both of them to back off, and Gideon put his hands up as if to surrender while Xavier caught the ball. “Okay, okay. I was just busting balls. I didn’t mean anything by that. It’s just that she does seem to always turn to you lately when there’s a case. Xavier and I haven’t been out on one in over a month.”
At that, Xavier piped up and said, “Not that we have any problem with that, so don’t go blowing our gig. Better you than us, man.”
“You have a real all-for-one-and-one-for-all thing going there, X,” Hunter said as he turned to leave. “I’ll make sure to mention it to the boss when I talk to her.”
As he walked out of the game room, he heard the two of them return to busting his ass about being Persephone’s lapdog. He wished he didn’t feel exactly like that lately. If she sent him out today, this would be the third assignment in a row given to him. Granted, he knew what he signed up for, but why did he have to be the one she looked to all the time lately?
He made his way down the hallway toward the other side of the house as he thought about the fact that Nick’s being gone for the past few weeks likely coincided with how much she’d relied on him to go out on cases. Nick had probably told her to stick with the tried and true, and since Marius and Dax were busy on their own cases and Roman had moved to the admin side of things since meeting Kate, that left him, the two frat boys, and Julian since they hadn’t gotten anyone to replace Roman yet.
No wonder she kept picking him.
Crossing through the living room, he caught sight of Tess waiting for him at the end of the hallway that led to her office and her boss’s. As he walked toward her, he regretted the part in his contract that stipulated there was to be no fraternizing between any employees of Project Artemis.
Not that Tess had ever given him any clear sign she wanted more than flirting, but a guy could always dream, right?
She wore her warm brown hair in a bun today, and as he let his gaze slide down her body, he saw the usual grey business suit of a skirt and blazer over a pink silk blouse. Miles of legs ended with stiletto heels that made him wish that stupid line in the contract never existed. He never tired of seeing Tess, even though it always meant he’d be leaving for work right afterward.
“No glasses? You’re ruining my whole sexy librarian fantasy, Tess,” he said and winked when he stopped in front of her.
“They’re back at my desk. You know, if Nick or Persephone hear you talking like that, they won’t be happy. I also think I can bring you up on sexual harassment charges for that crack, by the way.”
She smiled as she said that to let him know she didn’t mean it. Or if she did, she had no plans to get him in trouble. Hunter knew better than to cross the line, even if he pushed right up against it.
“But for now, Persephone wants to see you so we need to get to her office,” Tess said as she began walking down the dimly lit hallway.
For a moment, he watched her hips sway beautifully, appreciating just how gorgeous his boss’s assistant really was. He might never get to lay a hand on her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t notice the obvious beauty she possessed.
“Stop staring at my ass, Hunter, and let’s go,” Tess called back without turning around.
Gorgeous and sharp-tongued. Exactly how he loved his women.
He caught up to her just as she sat down at her desk. “Thanks, Tess. See you on the flip side.”
She put her hand up to stop him before he could go into Persephone’s office. “Not yet. She’s tied up right now. Give her a minute.”
“I guess that means I get to spend time with you then. There are worse ways to kill a few minutes,” he said with a smile as he let his eyes roam where he wished his hands could.
Giving him a knowing smile, she said, “You know the rules, Hunter. No fraternizing between you guys and us. It’s against Persephone’s rules.”
He sat down on the edge of her desk and leaned over toward her. “We weren’t supposed to be able to stay on here if we became involved, but Roman’s still here. Rules were made to be broken.”
Just then, Persephone appeared in his peripheral vision and cleared her throat. “Not this rule, Hunter.”
Tess quickly stood up and backed away. “I didn’t realize you’d finished your phone call.”
“Thank you, Tess. Hunter, please come in. Let’s see if we can get your mind back on why you’re part of Project Artemis.”
Caught in the act, he had little choice but to do as she said. Standing, he looked over at Tess and saw worry etched into her face. He gave her a wink to let her know he’d be sure to smooth things over with P
ersephone so she knew he’d been the instigator and not her assistant.
By the time he closed the office door behind him, Persephone had already sat down at her desk. As he walked toward the chair in front of it to take his seat, he had to admit his boss looked right at home behind that expensive old desk she’d supposedly had imported from Italy right after she dropped a couple million on the house. Persephone oozed money and power.
And like Tess, she had a look about her that made it hard to turn away. Long dark hair hung far past her shoulders in soft waves over her green turtleneck sweater, giving her a girl-next-door look. Her face only added to that almost sweet feel she gave off, especially when she smiled.
Nothing less than stunning, she only revealed herself to be anything other than a pretty face when she opened her mouth. Then you knew you were dealing with a far shrewder person than the outside gave any hint of.
Hunter appreciated that, though. While she tended to be more serious than he preferred women to be, she had a great mind and her passion for what they did there made her even more beautiful to anyone who didn’t find a committed woman intimidating. Since he didn’t, he admired her.
How she felt about him he couldn’t say. Since she employed his talents quite often recently, he thought she admired him. His behavior with Tess had probably put a dent in that impression, though, so he quickly worked to clean up any mess he may have created with his completely innocent flirting.
“I was only joking with Tess out there. She wasn’t doing anything to encourage me. Honest,” he said, hoping to save his flirting partner from a lecture from her boss.
Persephone leveled her gaze on him and gave him a tiny smile that barely lifted the corners of her mouth. “I’m sure. And I’m sure if I ask her about it, she’ll say the same thing, so I’m not worried. I know who’s who around here.”
That didn’t sound like anything he’d hoped she’d say. He was looking for her to give him a reprimand so Tess could be in the clear. But that last line—I know who’s who around here—made him think she might have pegged her assistant for something she hadn’t done.
