by Tia Siren
“Would you like to go clean up first?” he asked.
“No, no, no,” I breathed, “you go ahead. I’m still sort of recovering.”
“All right,” he whispered. He kissed the tip of my nose before he hopped off the bed, and when he shut the door and started the shower, I went to work. I rummaged around in his drawers while he was cleaning himself up. I dug through his underwear and pushed past his socks. I checked the pockets of all the coats he had hanging in various places, and I even got off the bed and checked underneath it.
“Claire!” Leo called out, “You want me to just keep the water running for you?”
“Sure! That sounds fine, handsome.”
I knew I didn’t have much more time, but when I pulled out his bedside drawer, I knew I’d hit the jackpot. I found a small brown journal sitting on top of a few books he probably hadn’t gotten around to reading, so I plucked it from the drawer and quickly stuck it into my purse that had been slung into the corner when he carried me into his room.
He really was a gentleman, but I needed to figure out what the hell happened to my brother.
“I’ll be out in just a sec,” he called.
“Take your time. I promise I’m okay.”
I shoved it deep to the bottom and covered it with all the things I had in my purse, and I shut the drawer just as the bathroom doorknob was turning. Leo walked out soaking wet with a towel wrapped around his waist, and the way those stray water droplets trailed down the dips of his chiseled muscles made me lick my lips.
“Like what you see?” he quipped.
And I answered him by sinking to my knees and peeling the bathroom towel off his body.
9
Leo
“What the hell happens if this implant killed this guy, Leo?” Obi asked.
“Well, for one, they’ll shut us down,” I said.
“But we’ve invested way too much money into this for them to just shut it down. We’ll never recoup that.”
“I’d say that’s probably the least of our worries, don’t you think?” I asked. “I mean, a man’s dead, and we still don’t know why.”
“People die every day.”
I stared at Obi a moment. Nope. That hadn’t been a joke like I’d hoped it was. “But not at my company, they don’t. Not while lying in a pool of their own blood with their implant chip dug out of their neck, they don’t.”
Every time Obi and I talked, my mind drifted back to Claire. It was infinitely preferable than the gravity of our business situation. My god, I had enjoyed my time with her. The conversation with her flowed easily, and she really was an interesting person. The fact that she knew what she wanted was something I’d never found in a woman before. Our time in bed together replayed on an auto loop in my mind. How fiery she was and how passionate she turned out to be. No other woman had ever been that animated in bed, and I ran my fingers through my hair while I tried to focus on what Obi was saying.
“Dude, are you even listening?” he asked.
“Sorry, can’t really get my mind off the dead dude,” I said.
“We have to brainstorm ways to recoup this money if we lose this project, Leo.”
“All right, so what do you think we could do?” I asked.
“We could reinvest a bit more vigorously. I know you’ve been working on a few designs, so maybe we could make a couple and test-drive them with the public. Those would both be slower solutions, but they would have the opportunity to bring us back that money eventually.”
“How much did we sink into this project?” I asked.
“$31 million.”
“Jesus,” I breathed.
“Yeah.”
I sat down into my chair and turned toward the window. I looked down at the street below, and it was startling how normal it all felt. People were driving their cars and walking their dogs and fielding their children and walking hand-in-hand with their spouses. They were running to grab coffee before they arrived late to work, and some were taking early lunches to get away from their cubicle neighbors. Some were walking with friends to school, and some were walking their dogs before going into their half day of work, and some were retired and simply walking around the city to take in the fresh air it had to offer.
Every single person’s life below me went on as if nothing monumental was happening, when only a couple dozen flights up from them was the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world. And he was dealing with the murder of one of his employees.
“Whatcha thinkin’?” Obi asked.
“About what the hell could’ve killed Patrick besides our implant chip.”
“Who?” Obi asked.
“Patrick Danes. Learn his name. It’ll keep you from being a suspect.”
“Suspect? The hell do you mean!?”
“We’ll all be suspects until they can whittle us down. Knowing his name will help when they come to interview you,” I said.
“Seriously!?”
“Yep.”
“Have they come to question you or something yet?” he asked me.
“Not yet. But they will eventually. And they will you, too. Tone down the attitude, tuck in the anger, and know the man’s name.”
“You don’t actually think I killed him, do you?” he asked me.
“Would I advise you to change your entire being for this case if I did?” I sighed. “Shit, I can’t believe you even asked me that question.”
“Do you think they think I did it?” Obi asked. His voice was a little lower, his tone a little lighter, and I could tell I had worried him with my unnecessary comment.
“Look, Obi. I didn’t mean to worry you. I just meant it’s a little heartless to not know the name of the dead dude participating in our company’s employee-based human testing.”
“I suppose so . . .”
“I wish there was something else we could do,” I sighed.
“We could donate money to Patrick’s family. We honestly should’ve already done it, but that could help, too,” Obi said.
“Help with what?” I asked.
“With us not looking like suspects.”
I thought about the idea for a second, and Obi was right. It was honestly something we should’ve done earlier. Each company has a different kind of protocol with this type of thing, but most companies don’t have much in place. They’d release the employee’s 401(k) to the inheritor of the dead person’s estate, and that was pretty much it. But me? I wanted to do more than that.
Much more.
“That sounds like a good idea,” I said, “but not because it doesn’t make us look like suspects. It sounds like a good idea because it’s the right thing to do.”
“Then I’ll get the paperwork to accounting and get it processed. How much do you think we should give them?”
“Tell accounting to research the average cost of a funeral, then add two years of Patrick’s salary alongside that cost.”
“On it,” Obi said.
I knew, deep down, that our implant wasn’t the cause of death. We’d checked on the employees religiously since Patrick’s death and no one was experiencing anything, and every single test was coming back normal. Hell, I even had my own in my neck, and I wasn’t experiencing anything. We’d done rigorous testing before we even decided to try it on humans, and none of the tests showed anything to worry about.
It was those statistics alone that drove me to human testing in the first place.
I rose and grabbed my briefcase after my conversation with Obi. Then, I reached for my coat. I needed to get out of this office and go for a walk, and if I was lucky, I’d get myself into something that required my attention immediately, so I didn’t have to walk back into this office for the rest of the day.
I used to love being at work, but now?
Now, it was just a torture chamber.
I took myself home and changed into some other clothes, putting on a pair of jeans and a red T-shirt before tossing my leather jacket onto my arms and mounting my motorcycl
e. A nice, refreshing spin around the city before lunch should do me some good, so I started it up and headed out of my garage. I mindlessly weaved my way in and out of traffic while I darted around the city, and before I knew it, I’d auto-piloted all the way across town to the one place that was seated deep in the eye of my memory.
I’d pulled into Claire’s.
I revved the motorcycle, waiting until she came to the window. I raised up, took off my helmet so she could see me, and waved her over when she stuck her head out the door. She came shuffling over in what seemed to be her pajamas, and I had a hard time keeping my eyes off her unharnessed breasts.
“What’re you doing?” Claire yelled.
“I could ask you the same thing!”
“I’m on vacation this week!” Her smile was broad and genuine and beautiful, a welcome relief from the dark, moody cloud hanging over my workplace.
“Nice pajamas!” I smirked.
“Hey, you’re the one who rolled up on me!” she said.
“Wanna go on a ride?” I asked. I could see the surprise cross her face before it slowly melted into intrigue. Her eyes took in the blue and black and chrome of my bike, and a spark of excitement began brewing behind her gaze.
“I’ll take you out to lunch!” I yelled.
“I already assumed you would!” She smoothed my hair down and laughed.
And then? She relented.
“Let me go get changed!”
She went inside, and I cut the bike off. Her neighbors were beginning to poke their heads out, and I didn’t want them to be upset with her, but I was incredibly excited about taking her on a ride. I wanted to feel her arms wrapped tightly around my waist while she took in the freedom of riding on a vehicle like this. I wanted to feel her cheek pressed against my shoulder while she hung on tight. I wanted to ride her down the highway to my favorite lunch joint thirty minutes outside of town just so she’d hang on tighter and bury herself tighter against me.
The slamming of her front door ripped me from my thoughts, and when I looked up, the most beautiful woman came toward me. Her hair flowed around her shoulders, and she was in a pair of high-waisted jeans. The red shirt tucked into her waistband accentuated every single curve of her body. She smiled broadly while she walked toward me, and when she got to my side, she braved a small kiss to my cheek.
“I figured we could match,” she said.
“I love it.”
I handed her a helmet, and I felt her swing her leg around the back of my bike. Her warm body pressed into my back before she wrapped her arms instinctively around my waist. The skin on my arms started to pucker with delight.
“Ever ridden before?”
“Nope.”
“Then I’ll go slow,” I said.
And in response, she placed her lips to my ear and murmured a phrase that sent shivers down my spine.
“Don’t you dare.”
10
Claire
I held tightly onto Leo while we cruised down the highway. My cheek was pressed into his shoulder, and the wind was whipping past our bodies, and the only thing I could think was how comfortable and safe it felt to be on something so vulnerable with the likes of Leo Wallace. For a split second, I forgot about everything, his company, that damn implant, Patrick, and all the unanswered questions.
He bobbed and weaved through traffic, and the only thing I could do was hold on tight. I gripped his coat so tightly, I thought I’d rip it from his body, but after a half an hour, he pulled off at an exit and pulled into a small town diner.
“Fancy some lunch?” he asked.
We went inside and gorged ourselves on the incredible food this place had to offer. Everything from the fruit juices to the sauces and pastas were homemade in the back, and I simply couldn’t stop eating it. Leo kept laughing at how quickly I was eating, and I kept telling him that if he couldn’t handle a woman with an appetite, to just take me on home.
And all he would do was grin and shake his head.
The lunch was pretty quiet, though it didn’t seem uncomfortable. I got the feeling he wanted to ask me something, and for a second, I thought he’d figured me out. I thought he’d probably found his journal missing and had figured out I was the one who’d taken it. Maybe he was taking me out so he could corner me or yell at me without people noticing, and I started to get nervous around the time we paid for the check.
“You all right?” he asked lightly.
“Yeah, just the reality of the past few days is setting in, I guess.”
Leo handed the waitress his card and pulled me in for a hug. His body felt so soft and warm against mine, and I had to fight the urge for tears. He stood there while the woman rang us up and held me as close as he could, and everything seemed to slowly slip into place. Here was the man who owned the company that was currently being investigated on suspicion of causing my brother’s death, and somehow, his arms felt safe. Out of all the people in the entire universe, I should feel wary about him. At a bare minimum, I should suspect him.
We got back onto his bike, and instead of going back into town, we simply traveled further out of it. We got back onto the highway and rode until I thought I was going to fall asleep. Then Leo pulled off at another exit and began navigating through an even smaller town than the one before. We passed broken-down schools and dilapidated and abandoned houses, but when we crested a bumpy hill and came across a park, he pulled in.
“Come with me,” Leo beckoned.
We got off his bike, and I pulled off my helmet. When I shook out my hair, I could feel his gaze on me. He took my hand and led me through the park, and when we came upon a bench underneath a massive weeping willow tree, we sat down and enjoyed the beautiful shade of the magnificent park he had brought me to.
“I can’t get Patrick out of my mind,” he began.
“Who’s Patrick?” I asked, trying to keep up my ruse.
I turned toward him, but he didn’t look at me. Or maybe couldn’t. Even in profile, he seemed despondent. I could’ve sworn I saw the sparkle of tears in his eyes. He dipped his face to his hands, and I reached out to grab them. I had no idea where this conversation was headed, but he was struggling.
And honestly? So was I.
“I know that what we’re doing is—”
He couldn’t even complete a sentence, and I felt tears rise to my own eyes. Watching him struggle the way he was touched something inside of me I hadn’t felt before, and all I wanted to do was pull him close.
But he beat me to the punch when he slid his hands from mine and wrapped his arm around my waist.
“I did everything I could to make sure this damn chip was safe for human testing. There weren’t any signs of trouble. None. No one’s had any problems with the chip, and it’s been weeks.”
“I believe you,” I said.
“I don’t know what happened, Claire, and I can’t sleep at night. I just—”
I doubted anyone got to see this in him. Who knows how long it had been since he’d confided this side of himself to someone? I scooted close and wrapped my arms around him, and when I pulled his body toward mine, he buried his face into the crook of my neck.
“Dear God, I wish that family knew how sorry I was,” he said with a whisper.
I cried into the top of his head in the middle of that beautiful shaded park, and the only thing I could think was that Patrick wouldn’t want someone who was innocent to take the fall for his death. I knew someone had killed him, and there had been a part of me that wondered whether Leo had done it himself for some reason. But, the more I was around him, the more I started to feel that it wasn’t Leo at all. Yes, he had been a cocky, arrogant individual when I first met him, but this was a side of him I never expected to see. He was remorseful, he was tearful, and he was hurting.
But most of all? He was completely blindsided. Something told me he felt responsible—even though I was beginning to believe he wasn’t—and that broke my heart.
“I know you didn’t mean for t
his to happen,” I said. “And I’m not too sure I’m sold on the idea that your chip killed that man. Either way, I trust the detectives and police officers to figure this out, and you should, too. No one should take the fall for this when they’re innocent.”
We sat there in the shade of that tree and held each other. I could only imagine the amount of stress Leo was carrying on his shoulders, and it was the first time I had fully accepted the fact that Patrick was gone. I was so wrapped up in figuring out who in this man’s fucking company had killed my brother that I hadn’t really stopped to process the fact that he was indeed gone.
And my soul cracked into two.
“I can’t imagine how much his family must miss him,” I said.
“I should track them down and tell them how sorry I am,” Leo said.
“I think that maybe they’re hurting enough. Maybe you could send them something?”
I needed to redirect him away from researching Patrick’s family because I needed a little more time. I needed him to keep off my trail until I could gather a little more information, and then, he could go gung-ho on whatever he felt was necessary to clear his conscience.
We cuddled closer than I thought humanly possible. His arm was wrapped tightly around my body, and my legs were slung over his lap until the sun finally started to dip below the trees.
“I should get you home,” he said.
We rode back in complete and utter silence, but it was the first time I felt that Leo and I had breached something that was more than just a dating relationship. I felt like I could trust him, and I felt that he could trust me in return. It felt good to have an ally throughout all of this.
Even if I had slept with him to steal his journal.
Shit.
I clung tightly to him as he pulled into my driveway, and when I slid off his bike and handed him his helmet, he drew me in for a long, deep kiss. I smiled into his lips before I pulled back and memorized his eyes, and he kissed my forehead before he stored away the extra helmet and pulled out of my driveway. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched him leave, and when I heard him turn the corner and drive off into the distance, I scrambled into my house.
