I Broke Into His Office (Love at First Crime Book 4)

by Jessica Frances

  “Is that what they did with you? Adopt you?”

  “While Teagan came after me, she came as a package deal with me. We became fast friends, which is unheard of with me, and they accepted me because they accepted her.”

  I consider the fact that we have become fast … whatever it is we are. Does this spell good luck for us, or are we rushing things fast enough that we are going to crash?

  “Everyone seems to love you, Harvey. I don’t think they only accepted you because they had to.”

  “I wasn’t the easiest to get to know when I first started working with those guys. And after …” He trails off, tensing beside me. When he speaks again, his voice sounds almost void of emotion. “Shit happened, things changed. We all got closer, and I opened up a bit more. Not that anyone had a chance with Teagan constantly pushing me and the guys to hang out.”

  I bite my tongue to stop from asking him what happened. It’s clear he doesn’t want to talk about it, and nothing good can lead from pushing him. Still, I shelve this information for a later date.

  “Well, Declan seems to respect you a lot,” I tell him, not mentioning the fact that he also brought up not knowing Harvey very well.

  “I haven’t worked much with him. I spend most of my free time with Teagan, which means I also spend a lot of time with Joey. Declan always seems to be attached or near Sasha, so I tend to steer clear of him more often than not.”

  I laugh, thinking I would likely do the same. Sasha is one scary woman when she sets her sights on you. She spent half the night arguing with Zander, who is perhaps three times her size, and she didn’t even bat an eye when he was basically growling at her.

  “Still, are you sure it wouldn’t be weird if I went tomorrow?”

  He shakes his head, caressing down my spine and making me shiver. “They know I like you, or at least, they’re excited to finally meet someone I’m willing to introduce to them. My past is generally littered with one-night stands. Just give it some time, and soon enough, they’ll like you more than they tolerate me. I’ll be the one having no idea what plans are going on.”

  “I seriously doubt that.” Harvey is hard to get to know, but I have almost zero time for friends.

  If Harvey and I are going to give things a proper try, then there is no way I can do that and maintain friendships at the same time. Nope, not with the restaurant sucking up every day of my life.

  “Okay, how about this? I told Sasha to not use your phone number since you didn’t voluntarily give it to her, and I said I would be furious with her if she or the others messaged or called you. So, tell me, how often have you heard from the girls?”

  I snort a laugh.

  “My point exactly,” Harvey says, clearly not needing me to confirm anything.

  “So, we’re spending tomorrow together?”

  “If you’ll have me.”

  “Of course I will. But I feel like I still owe you a present.”

  “You don’t owe me …” He trails off when I shove the blanket over my head, eagerly moving down Harvey’s body.

  It ends up that my present to him works for both of us.

  Chapter 14

  I wake up alone, but only because Harvey got called away last night. Joey needed backup on some case, and since Joey has been helping him out so much with my issue, he couldn’t really deny him, even if I did keep him up until almost three in the morning.

  Harvey only gets a small handful of hours of sleep, yet I get a much-needed sleep in. It’s nice not having to worry about the restaurant, making me consider what it would be like if I closed the restaurant once a week. Mondays are our quietest day, and half the time, we don’t even get enough customers in to cover the shifts. I could have one day a week where I get a sleep in. One day where I can spend a decent amount of time with Harvey.

  I shake the thought away, already conceding it’s likely too good to be true. In this business, shutting for a day could easily backfire. Besides, things are good with Harvey now, but we are still new. I don’t want to jinx this or add more pressure to it.

  Not thinking any further into the future than what I should wear today, I go with jeans, two undershirts, and a striped button-up, which only wins since I have barely anything clean and suitable to wear. I seriously need to do some laundry.

  After stopping for a coffee on the corner, I head toward the restaurant, moving through the back streets. I wasn’t expecting an invite to a Christmas lunch, and I can’t turn up empty-handed. My personal fridge is scarily low, but I do have a huge fridge at work. At least, that’s the plan. A plan that goes to hell when I notice my back door has been kicked in.

  I glance at the alarm, finding it dismantled, instead of turned off. Wires are sticking out of it and a few have been cut, while another couple have been forcibly joined together.

  I stand at the entrance, wondering if whoever broke in has already left, or if I am interrupting something. After listening for a few minutes, the only sound I hear is the heavy thumping of my heartbeat.

  I call Harvey, but the call goes straight to voicemail. I don’t know what he is working on with Joey. For all I know, he may be a while.

  I then dial 911, but before I connect the call, I take a few tentative steps inside, taking stock of what could be damaged and/or missing.

  The kitchen is a mess, shit thrown everywhere, and everything nailed down looks like a sledgehammer has been slammed into it. I leave my mostly finished coffee on the counter and feel my heart beating faster. My hands grow sweaty as I walk out into the restaurant, wincing at the disarray I expect to see.

  Fortunately, it doesn’t look touched.

  My shoulders sag at this. While the kitchen is fucked, at least they didn’t do damage out here. Chairs, tables, and booze are expensive to replace, insurance money or not. And while needing to fix or replace all the damage in the kitchen is angering, trying to get décor redone can be brutal. Shit doesn’t hang around for long, and I love the way my restaurant looks. It took me a long time to decide on what I like.

  I turn on my heel, changing my mind and deciding to try Harvey one last time, and likely feel his wrath that I didn’t wait for him outside before I went exploring. That’s when I glance down the hallway to find a hand peeking out of my office doorway.

  Heart racing again, I take small steps toward my office, dread filling me until I feel ill. Something is definitely not right here.

  I’m shaking as I peek around my office door, my stomach clenching painfully as bile rises in my throat.

  Lola is staring ahead, lifeless, with a knife in her chest. Her skin is pale, her eyes glazed over with the shadow of death, and her mouth is agape with likely shock at her own demise.

  “Fuck!” I cry, turning around and barely making it a few steps before I hurl.

  Tears spring to my eyes as I try to calm my breathing. With eyes shut or open, all I see is Lola.

  With the coffee removed from my stomach, bile violently escapes me as I continue to hurl, unable to stop until my stomach cramps.

  I’m full body shaking by the time I am able to grip my phone again, and that is when I see a text message from an unknown number.

  As soon as I read the message, I know it isn’t unknown to me.

  Felt this was a convenient way to let you know this isn’t a game. Next time, it won’t be so painless, and it will be someone who you’re fucking. Don’t ignore me.

  I dry heave again, and by the time I call 911 and wait for the police to arrive, I am a shaking mess.

  I’m fairly certain I slip into shock. I have no idea how much time passes, if I even answer any questions, or if Harvey has been here long when I finally notice his presence.

  I’m in a daze when he drags me into a car, and even more confused when he doesn’t take me home. Then I question if he’s taking me to his place. If he is, then Harvey has been holding out on me.

  I feel like shit, but I can’t escape how nice and expensive this place is. Maybe being a private investigator pays decent m
oney.

  This is the unimportant thoughts that run through my mind as Harvey directs me into the building after finding a parking spot down the block. I hate that his touch on my back doesn’t feel right.

  Before, Harvey’s touch fired me up, sending desire shooting through my body. Now I feel sick.

  All I can see is Lola’s dead body and Donny’s threat that Harvey will be next.

  How the hell did I miss how fucked-up he is? Was he always this messed up? Or has hanging around Dad screwed with his morals that much?

  “… Nix?” I tune in to Harvey speaking, but miss what he said.

  “What?” I grunt, my throat sore. I don’t know why.

  “Shit, look, I just need to talk to the guys. We’ll leave soon, I promise,” he says. Even that doesn’t make sense.

  What is he talking about?

  Then Zander opens the door we are standing in front of and ushers us both inside.

  When we step in, I see everyone is here, two young kids and one teenager included.

  This is the Christmas lunch we were supposed to be at. Well, at least the tail end of it. I can’t believe Harvey brought me here.

  I take a step back, feeling every pair of eyes on me. It grates on my skin and makes my queasy stomach feel worse.

  I see blood all over them. Their deaths will be my fault, as well.

  How could Harvey bring me here? What if Donny is watching? What if he attacks again?

  There are freaking kids here!

  Harvey reaches out, grabbing my arm to keep me beside him and stopping my retreat.

  “Don’t touch me,” I snap, sounding far harsher than I intended and get more agitated when he doesn’t listen, keeping ahold of me.

  “Calm down,” he orders, as if I have any control over my emotions right now. In fact, I don’t feel in control of anything, and that pisses me off worse.

  Donny can get to me whenever he wants. He owns me because my father owns me. They can hold anyone over me, and I don’t get a damn choice about it. But I can choose who touches me and when.

  “Let me go!” I am yelling now, my hoarse voice scratchy as though my throat is raw. I try to yank my arm free.

  It isn’t until someone grabs Harvey that he releases me.

  “Let him go, man,” Declan says, not that Harvey seems interested in listening.

  “This has nothing to do with you,” he snaps at Declan, glancing over at me, reaching out again.

  I slam back into the wall to keep out of his reach.

  “You can see he needs space,” Declan says, pulling Harvey back, which gets him a shove in response.

  I don’t know how it happens, really. One second, it’s just Harvey and Declan getting in each other’s faces, and then the next, all hell breaks loose right in front of me.

  Zander and Joey are holding the guys back as they start throwing punches for real, Teagan is screaming at them to stop, and I’m certain, if there was any food or drink inside me left, I would be hurling it up.

  Has there not been enough violence today? Have I not caused enough heartache? Enough drama? Now I’m splitting up friends?

  I open my mouth to demand them to stop, but I can’t get any words to form. This is all such a clusterfuck, and I need to get out.

  “Come on.” Ava grabs my hand. Even this touch feels poisoned, but since she’s leading me out of the now toxic apartment, I allow it until we reach the elevator.

  She presses down, and when it arrives, she steps in with me. We go all the way to the underground parking. For a building this large, there are several levels.

  “Where are we going?” I ask as she leads me to a sweet ride.

  “Nowhere. Just get in,” she orders.

  For whatever reason, I do as she says.

  Even though she says we aren’t going anywhere, she starts the engine and reverses out of the parking spot. We move up two levels before she parks it in a new empty spot. She then pulls out her cell phone and quickly types out a message before she shuts it off. Then she turns in her seat and stares at me.

  “Why are we here?” I finally ask when she says nothing.

  “Because Zander knows I hate fighting. Because he could have stopped that from escalating but didn’t. Because it’s our thing for me to steal his car, but I don’t like driving in this weather. So as far as he can see, his car is gone.”

  “He has a LoJack on this, right?”

  “He does, but I sent a message to Jerry asking him to delay giving him coordinates for half an hour. I told him we weren’t in any danger and wouldn’t be leaving the parking lot,” she assures me, resting her head back on the seat.

  “You think that’ll work?”

  “I dunno,” she says truthfully. “Jerry hasn’t exactly shown he’s warmed up to me, but I hope so. You clearly need a break.”

  I run my hands through my hair, feeling a little better to be out of that apartment, but still not sure what I need.

  “I heard what happened. I’m sorry,” she says.

  I nod, not able to look at her or talk. I’m not sure what the hell I’m supposed to do. Lola is dead over this!

  What the hell was Donny thinking? Is this the first person he’s killed? Or is this no big deal to him? And what the fuck am I supposed to do to make sure that doesn’t happen to Harvey?

  “Did you ever hear the story of how Zander and I got together?” Ava finally asks, either getting sick of the silence or hoping to distract me.

  “You said you were a client or something, right?” I croak out, needing to clear my throat.

  “Yeah, something like that. You remember that case a few years back about those women going missing? It came up again last year, too.”

  I think back, my mind feeling too foggy to focus on anything, let alone a news story from a few years ago, or even last year.

  I shrug, feeling like a heel. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Women were being kidnapped so they could be tortured, raped, and murdered, all for the enjoyment of men who liked to watch that kind of thing.”

  I gasp as my mind struggles to even comprehend such a thing.

  “My boyfriend at the time was in on it. As in, he was the one who did those deeds. He was also an F.B.I. agent. It was messy as hell and not a time I like to remember. Even now, all these years later, those images still haunt me sometimes. Seeing those women in cages, seeing the state they were in, seeing how defeated they looked, knowing they were being treated like garbage …” She drifts off, lost in her own tragic memories.

  I wait for her to continue, but we just sit in silence.

  “If this is your idea of a pep talk, I’m not sure it’s working,” I finally tell her, hoping to lighten the mood between us, not that I say this with any lightness.

  “Sorry. I just … I could see how upset you were and knew you needed to get away from them. I can’t believe those jerks were fighting. After my ordeal, I needed Zander. I didn’t need a room full of people.” She’s growling by the end.

  I shake my head, not sure what I need, other than for this to not have happened, for Lola to be okay, and for my dad and Donny to go to hell and leave me the fuck alone.

  “It’s my fault they’re fighting,” I say to the windshield, staring out over the quiet area in front.

  Since the moment Mom walked into Harvey’s office, his life was doomed to this new, hectic, savage world. And, as it turns out, Lola’s fate was sealed as soon as I told her she had the job at The Daily.

  How many more people in my life will suffer purely because they know me? How many strangers will suffer just from being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

  “It really isn’t your fault. You saw something horrific today, and that is most definitely not your fault.” Ava sets her hand gently on my shoulder. Touch still feels tainted.

  I see her two children, I see Zander, and I wonder how long until she’s hurt by this.

  “Lola’s dead because she worked for me. And Harvey’s life is constantly in danger beca
use he’s with me,” I rasp, my throat tightening up again.

  “But that’s a choice he made,” she quickly argues.

  I’m not sure why she’s so invested in this.

  “No, it isn’t. He wasn’t asked if he’s okay with death threats and hitmen before he took Mom’s case, or before he came to my restaurant after the shooting.”

  “Okay, but that still isn’t your fault. After I found out what my ex was really like, I went on the run. I ended up living with Zander and his brother Van. He blew up Zander’s office and nearly Zander himself. He even went after me when I was with Van, who was only twelve years old at the time. I felt so guilty because I had brought this to their doorstep. I even thought about running and being on my own. I thought, if I left them, they wouldn’t be in danger any longer.”

  I am nodding, pondering if I shouldn’t be doing that, too. Harvey is too stubborn to let me walk away now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t end this with him.

  Maybe Donny will be less angry, less crazy, if I’m no longer with Harvey? Maybe it will calm him down when he thinks about Harvey? Maybe make him less homicidal?

  “But that wasn’t a fair choice for me to make,” Ava continues, looking a little concerned at my immediate agreement. “I didn’t have the right to make that decision, which very much included Zander and took him out of the equation. He obviously didn’t realize the full extent of what he was signing up for when he took my case on, but he did deserve to be the one to decide if he was going to need to step back. Don’t you think Harvey deserves that, too?”

  I consider her words, but I don’t think my situation matches her.

  “Donny called Harvey a dead man walking. Seeing Lola’s body today … that could so easily have been Harvey’s.” My voice cracks from just admitting it out loud.

  “I don’t know a lot about Harvey. Hell, I didn’t even know the man knew how to laugh out in public until last night.” She gives me a small smile and squeezes my shoulder. “You made that happen, by the way.”