by Lexi Blake
“I don’t know, damn it.” He forced himself to calm down. Cool. Calm. That was the only way he managed to get anything done. “Like I said, the situation is rather fluid at the moment. What I need to do is figure out exactly where Iris is and what she’s been doing for twenty years. My brothers and sister know our father was a victim. That might have to be enough.”
“And if she’s living it up somewhere? Are you going to ruin her life? You think that will solve your problem?”
“No. There’s only one thing I want to do to Iris.” He felt himself go infinitely cold. This was the real reason why he couldn’t bring his siblings in. He knew how this would end. “I’m going to make sure she can never hurt us again. One way or another.”
“All right. I’ll stand by you,” Hatch said, crossing the room and getting himself another drink. “How do you intend to keep an eye on Shelby?”
“I’m going to be her boyfriend.”
Hatch sputtered. It was good to know his mentor could still be shocked. “What?”
“Part of the contract is that her cover for this assignment is as my girlfriend. It won’t surprise anyone. Bran and Riley saw right through my reasonable annoyance to the illogical sexual reaction I have around that woman. And Mia and Carly tried to set me up with her. I’ll simply explain that the last time I was in Los Angeles, I asked her out to dinner and we began seeing each other.” It was a simple plan.
“I knew you were thinking with your dick.”
Luckily his dick was a strategic thinker. He sat down and sipped the Scotch. It was oaky, with a hint of caramel and smoke. Would Shelby like Scotch? He sat back as Hatch went over all the ways Drew’s penis would bring them down. Twenty more minutes and the game would begin.
One thing it definitely wouldn’t be was boring.
• • •
“Mr. Lawless will see you now.”
Shelby looked up from her phone at the stunning receptionist. The other woman wore one of those dresses that looked like a bandage wrapped around her perfect form. “Are you serious? Is he like standing in front of a bunch of windows and wearing a silver tie? Because that would be way too much.”
The woman stared at her for a moment. “Excuse me?”
So not big on pop culture references. Her humor was going to be wasted here. “You know, Fifty Shades of Grey. That was how it all started. It was a book. It was a movie.”
“I’m a Harvard-educated programmer. I do not know Fifty Shades of Grey.” The woman’s perfectly done brow curved up in disdain. “But if you’ll come this way, Mr. Lawless will conduct his interview with you and I’ll be able to get back to work.”
Shelby followed the woman past the beautifully decorated receptionist station. She glanced down the halls of 4L Software. It was dark to her left and right, the only ambient light coming from the cityscape around them.
What was she doing here? Why had she even said yes to this asshole? Oh, Carly swore he wasn’t as bad as he seemed, but Carly could be overly optimistic. She was also madly in love with Bran Lawless, and that was keeping her from seeing the family as the ravaging sharks they really were.
So why was she following Ms. Perfection down the hall? Why had she allowed Drew Lawless to send a plane for her? Why had she accepted his phone call at all?
Oh, she knew. She’d found something wrong with the police reports concerning the deaths of Benedict and Iris Lawless. Something that got her every instinct tingling.
Right up until she’d been told by a lawyer that if she kept digging, she would be served with an injunction and taken to court by the lord of the underworld.
Well, the master of 4L Software at least.
Ms. Perfection stepped through the open doorway. “She’s here, sir, and she’s got terrible taste in literature.”
Shelby frowned. “I’m here and she’s got a two-by-four stuck up her ass.”
Ms. Perfection turned, her lips curling up. “Oh, I like her, sir.”
And then Drew Lawless, who had indeed been standing in front of a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows brooding as he looked out over the city, turned. Nope, she’d said yes because her reproductive system had taken over. Shelby prided herself on being a smart, independent woman, but at the end of the day she was like all the rest. Completely helpless against a square jawline and broad shoulders and alpha-male charm.
That was one gorgeous man. Too bad he was also an ass.
“Jocelyn, I believe you’ve done your duty. Thank you,” Lawless said, his voice deep. “And Harry thanks you as well.”
“Harry owes me. She thought I was the receptionist. Also, she thinks you’ve set this up like some Fifty Shades reject. Good thing you took off the tie, or she would worry you’re about to tie her up.” Jocelyn winked Shelby’s way. “He won’t, you know. He’s quite staid. If you decide to go for something a little wilder, give me a call.”
She floated away.
What the hell had that been? Shelby watched her before turning back to Lawless. “Did she just hit on me?”
His lips curled up in the most decadent smile. “You’ll have to excuse Joss. She’s a brilliant programmer, but she’s got absolutely no filter. And yes, she was hitting on you.”
She’d definitely gone down the rabbit hole. She’d rather expected to be ushered into Lawless’s office to face a panel of lawyers who would convince her never to even mention his name professionally again or they would ruin her. She hadn’t expected to get hit on by a programmer and left alone with the big boss, who seemed amused by all of it.
“Why don’t you take a seat so we can talk?” He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. The light in the room was low, only half lit at this time of night. There was an oddly old-fashioned lamp on the high-tech desk, casting warm light around the space between the desk and two chairs that formed the heart of the office.
It made the space look warm and inviting, intimate. As though the light itself formed a nest to lock out the rest of the room.
“I won’t bite.” His face softened slightly, that cut-from-granite jaw of his relaxing. “Can I get you a drink?”
She could use one. “Sure. Scotch or vodka would be great.”
“A woman after my own heart. I think you’ll like this,” he murmured as he walked over to his bar.
He had a bar in his office and a massive TV, complete with a couch. Someone had dumped a geek’s paradise living room on one side of the office. She couldn’t help but be curious. “Are those video games?”
He was busy pouring amber liquid into bar glasses. “Of course. A guy has to relax. In my particular business, video games are the new golf. I do a lot of business over those games. I’ve also got some movies. It’s an entire entertainment system.”
“And the bobbleheads?” There was a row of them lined up on a bookshelf. Superhero bobbleheads.
“My brothers thought they classed up the place.”
Had he blushed a little? It made her smile. “Oh, my God. You’re a big old nerd under all that alpha-male scariness, aren’t you?”
“I was unaware I was scary at all.” His tone had gone a bit huffy. “As for being a nerd, I did make my money off of code. I still write it. If that makes me a nerd, then I suppose I am.”
“Writing code doesn’t make you a nerd. Owning the entire Avengers set of bobblehead dolls makes you a nerd.” And oddly more approachable.
“I accept that. I suppose you’re a romance fan since you mentioned Fifty Shades.”
“I like to read. I read a lot of different things, but when I want to unwind, I like a good romance. The hotter the better.” Did she have to say that? She should have made herself sound academic.
“My sister forced me to have that movie brought in for her and her girlfriends.” He offered her a glass.
“I’d heard Mia’s having a baby. Congratulations.”
“Thank
you.”
She stared down at the glass in her hand. What kind of Scotch did billionaires drink? She breathed in the scent. It always reminded her of her brother. After he’d gotten his first job, he’d splurged and bought a bottle of twelve-year-old single malt. They’d toasted that first job and all the others after. They’d toasted him in anticipation of getting the interview with Patricia Cain the night before he died.
They’d been so foolish.
She let the scent wash over her as she let go of the memory. Her brother had been wonderful, and she hated the fact that anger welled when she thought about him. She wanted to remember him in joy and love.
“What just went through your mind? You got sad.”
She thought about ignoring the question or lying. She could tell him any number of things. “I was thinking about my brother. He died a few years ago.”
“He didn’t simply die, Shelby,” Drew said quietly. “Patricia Cain had him murdered. I’m sorry about that. I’m more sorry that I can’t help you prove it. After Cain’s death, Carly snagged the laptop she used in Florida. We didn’t find anything that would connect her to your brother’s death, though I don’t doubt she did it.”
“I’m sorry, too. He told me he was onto a big story. I believe he discovered some of the crimes she committed. But it’s done now. There’s no bringing Patricia Cain to justice.” This was why she had to let it go. “So I’m trying to remember how much I loved him and not how angry I am that he died. One seems to honor him more fully than the other.”
“Do you think so? You don’t see the point of avenging victims?”
Her heart had felt so heavy right after he died, but she was beginning to remember how he lived. It was easier to think of Johnny and smile. “The dead have already found their peace. Revenge is nothing more than a selfish pursuit.”
“Why would you say that?” The question sounded perfectly academic, but she could hear an undercurrent of irritation flavoring his words.
How did she make a man like Drew Lawless understand? “Because the person we’re trying to avenge would want us to live. At least I know my brother would. He would want me to be happy, and I can’t do that if I’m pursuing some vengeance that won’t bring him back to me.”
“But you were pursuing it. You were going after Patricia Cain.”
“No, that was justice. You have to be able to see the difference. I was trying to reveal the truth about that woman so she couldn’t do it again. Truth is definitely a worthy pursuit. It’s what my brother worked all his life for.”
Lawless held up his glass. “Then we drink to your brother.”
She clinked glasses with him and then sipped the Scotch with a long, satisfied sigh. “That is miraculous. Do I even want to know how old that is?”
“Much older than you.” He gestured back to his desk. “Shall we?”
She didn’t want to go back there. The desk was so formal, but this space showed another side of the man. “I think I would be more comfortable here. Especially if you’re going to threaten me.”
He studied her for a moment. “Why would I threaten you?”
“Habit. It seems to be what you do.” Had he forgotten how he’d slammed her with lawyers a few months back?
He reached out, his big hand sliding over hers. “We got off on the wrong foot, you and I.”
She stared at him, hoping he felt her judgment. “You catfished me.”
One of the methods he’d used to keep track of her investigation was to befriend her on the Internet as another man. She’d come to enjoy her conversations with him. He quickly admitted what he’d done after he figured out they were on the same side, but it still bugged her.
He winced, proving he had at least half a conscience. “I’m so sorry about that. Would it make a difference if I told you I enjoyed those talks way more than I should have?”
“I suppose I know why you did it.” She liked the idea that he’d found something meaningful in those exchanges. “Should we sit?”
“Absolutely. We can sit wherever you like. Honestly, I’m more comfortable over here, too, but I thought I might impress you with the views from my desk.”
His hand was enveloping hers, warmth and strength wrapping her up. He led her over to the couch and gallantly helped her sit before taking the seat next to her.
Maybe this was a mistake. This was way more intimate than sitting at a desk across from one another. It was too easy to forget that she wasn’t here on a friendly outing when he was sitting beside her, relaxed and more open than she could remember seeing him. His face was softer without harsh light illuminating it.
She nodded toward his bobblehead shelf. “I’ll be honest. I’m not all that impressed with the wealth, but Iron Man is someone I admire.”
“That’s good to know.” His lips pulled up in the sweetest smile. “When I act like an outrageous douche bag, my brothers call me Tony Stark.”
“You? Never.” All she’d known up until now was the douche bag. The charming, sexy nerd was infinitely more dangerous.
“Oh, I’m good at it. I can be a bastard and I’m often socially awkward. I think it’s because of the years spent behind a keyboard. Zeros and ones don’t require me to understand all the rules of social engagement. There’s a reason Riley handles a lot of the client meetings. Now that we’re all out in the open, I’m going to let him or Bran be the face of the company.”
Why was he being so open with her? It was a little intoxicating. This was a man known to keep his mouth shut unless he had to. Was this the Drew that Carly liked?
“Some people say you’re agoraphobic.” She knew the truth but wondered if he would admit to it.
He stared at her for a moment as though trying to figure out how to handle her. “Are we on the record?”
She shook her head. That was the last thing she wanted him to think. He would go back into attack mode. “I’m not doing a story on you, Mr. Lawless. I’m merely here because who turns down a private jet and the presidential suite at the Hilton? I also appreciated the invitation to Riley and Ellie’s reception. I’m sure you throw a great party.” She sobered a bit. “I learned my lesson. Don’t mess with you or I’ll get burned.”
He winced. “I’m very sorry for all the legal crap I threw your way, but you have to understand that my family is everything to me.”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt your family.”
“You were attempting to gain access to my parents’ medical records.”
She took another sip. Now they were getting to the heart of the matter. She would explain herself. He would require an apology and the promise to keep her nose out of his family business, and she would be free to go.
Could she let this story go? There was a deeper truth to what happened to his parents. To Benedict, she feared. It was right there waiting for her to scratch the surface and find the real truth. It had always been like this with her. Ever since she was a child, when she caught hint of a story, she had to find the truth. This could be the biggest story of her life. She’d already decided to lie low for a month or two and then start asking a few questions quietly. He couldn’t watch her forever.
“I’m a crime reporter. It’s an interesting crime. I’m not attempting to harm your family in any way, but sometimes there’s a deeper truth that can help others.”
His hand tightened around his glass. “I suppose it is interesting. I’m not sure how it can help others. No one reads those murder tales to find clarity. They read them for the thrill.”
“Some do,” she allowed. “And some people learn from them. There’s also the fact that there are times the police get it wrong. Not often, but when a great injustice has been done, don’t you think we should seek the truth?”
“Is that what you were doing with my parents? Seeking the truth?”
“Yes.” Perhaps if he truly believed her, he would let up.
/>
“Might I ask why you chose to start investigating it now? You showed no interest in it before. You were following Patricia Cain.”
“You know why.” She wasn’t sure why he was prevaricating. Maybe she should simply say it out loud so they didn’t have to pretend they were talking about something else. “Because Patricia Cain had your father killed. She was in on it along with Phillip Stratton and Steven Castalano. Were you aware that a Russian assassin was in Dallas the weekend your father was killed?”
He stood abruptly, turning away from her. He walked back toward his desk. Shelby watched as he set his drink down and picked something up. He walked back over, handing her a stack of papers and a pen. “This is a nondisclosure agreement. If we’re going to talk further, I need you to sign it.”
“So I can’t ever publish an article on your parents?” She stood. This had been exactly what she thought it was, a power play to get her to shut up. “I’ll pass, Mr. Lawless. And that looks like one massive NDA.”
“It’s Drew. And the NDA is in case you don’t sign the rest of the contract.”
“What contract?”
“The one where I hire you to be my investigator into the deaths of my parents, their official biographer, and my girlfriend.”
She stared at him for a moment and wondered if this was one of those crazy-ass dreams she sometimes had. They would start out perfectly normal and then the aliens would land. “I’m going to need another drink.”
Chapter Two
Shelby stared down at the contract. Specifically at the part where it outlined all the rules regarding her “relationship” with Drew Lawless. She’d done plenty of undercover work before, but this was a new one.
Party B will be affectionate and respectful toward Party A in all public outings and private interactions with Party A’s family and friends.
Party B will accompany Party A to any and all social functions including agreed-upon public appearances for the purposes of establishing their relationship in the press.
