by Unknown
“Okay, okay. As soon as Troy gets back from the airport, I’ll go. I just don’t want to leave Abbey alone.”
“Awesome! Thanks, bro. I owe you one.”
“One? Are you serious? This is more like one hundred.” He winked at Abbey and she grinned. His heart flopped over like a happy puppy wanting its tummy rubbed. After a little more ribbing of his brother, Blake disconnected the call.
“Family calls, huh?” Abbey asked, pushing her hair behind her ear.
“Yeah. Sorry about this.” He checked his watch. “Troy should be here in a little while. After he dropped off Julie, he was stopping at the office to get some paperwork. As soon as he comes back, I’ll take off. It’ll give me a chance to bring some fresh clothes from the apartment while I’m there.”
Abbey leaned forward and brushed her soft lips against his. “I’m going to miss you.”
He released a puff of air and leaned his forehead against hers. “I have been waiting forever to hear you say those words.” He slanted his lips over hers in a deeper, wetter, hotter kiss and she moaned into his mouth. Blake stroked a hand through her hair. “If I don’t get up and shower real quick, Troy’s going to walk in on us doing it on his gym mat.”
“Surprise!” she whispered.
Blake pulled back. “You’re like a comedy store these days. I love it.”
Her smile slayed him. She was so fucking gorgeous. “I want you to think about something while you’re out,” she said and her tone turned very serious. “Think about me. Under the sheets. With no clothes on. And think about you in the same place with me. Also with no clothes on. Then think about what might happen once you get that picture in your head.”
Blake’s eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head and his dick got harder. He jumped up from the mat and ran to the shower. “The faster I get back, the faster I can make that happen.”
Troy returned a little later and Blake left for his apartment. As he searched Bren’s desk for the all-important envelope, Bren called to say he’d found it in the ripped lining of his suitcase. Crisis averted. Blake grabbed a bag of fresh clothes and headed out.
Taking the stairs at a fast clip toward the garage, he pounded through the doorway on a mission to get back to Abbey. He caught sight of a black sedan outside the iron gate of his apartment’s secure garage and slowed his step. The hair on the back of his neck prickled at a presence behind him. Blake ducked and spun at the same time as a massive weight hit him full on and knocked him back. Air whooshed out of his lungs as he struggled to get to his feet and reach the blade in his back pocket. A fist plowed into his face and pain exploded in his head, but Blake came back with a hard punch of his own and knocked the guy off him. He got to his feet only to be slammed from behind by someone else.
Two against one, just like the last time. Anger and fear pounded through his gut as he fought, throwing punch after punch, but it didn’t seem to matter. They came at him from every direction. He hit the pavement and someone yanked him up while the other one whaled on him with a series of blows to his face and his stomach. He barely got a look at the guy nailing him. Every fresh hit sent a new round of pain blossoming through his body until he was numb with it.
“Just end it,” a voice behind him said. He knew that voice.
With one final massive blow, the last punch sent a rocket through his head then knocked all the lights out.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kim sat forward in the big leather chair and tapped her thumb on the desk while she scrolled through a file on Leo’s computer. She’d been scanning the screen for five minutes and the longer she stared, the more her eyes narrowed. With her glasses on and her hair back, she looked every inch the businesswoman. Leo wanted to take her in his arms, slip the glasses off and find the seductive blond knockout who’d dropped into his life like a mushroom bomb a week ago. He knew exactly how soft her hair would be if he took it down and ran his fingers through it. His dick sparked at the memory.
Sitting on the other side of her with his feet propped on the desk, Leo finally broke the silence. “Something wrong?”
“Oh, sorry.” She glanced at the papers next to her. “I can’t find how these numbers relate to you at all and there are some crazy big numbers here. Do you own property in Palm Springs?”
“Nope.”
“I didn’t think so. The other flash drive had all your information, so is it possible Nathan’s secretary gave you this one by mistake?”
“Anything’s possible.”
“We should get this back to her. She might be looking for it.” Kim picked up a pencil and rolled it between her fingers. “I wonder if she knew what her boss was doing? I know Tom plans to speak with her, but I’d really like to talk to her before I leave tomorrow.”
Like he needed the reminder she was going. “Do you think she’d tell you anything even if she did know?”
“Probably not, but now that Nathan’s dead, it’s worth a shot.” She slid her glasses on top of her head and pegged him with her gorgeous green eyes. “I mean, what if she knows where your money is? Right? Maybe we can avoid the worst case scenario if we get some information.” She lifted a blond eyebrow. “I think we should find her. I’ll bet my PI can get her address.”
“I can do better than that. She told me she’s still at the office…giving Nathan’s clients time to come by and pick up files while she closes up shop. I’ll call and check, but she might still be there.”
Kim’s smile was luminous. “Wanna take Stella out for a spin?”
He grinned. “Baby, that’s always one of my favorite things.” He stood and gestured toward the door. “After you.”
“Give me one minute to grab my purse. Meet you in the garage.” Her smile did weird things to his chest and watching her ass as she clicked out of the room in her high heels did something else to his dick. Never in a million years did he see himself lusting after an accountant. And yet…
A quick call confirmed Bonnie was at the office so the plan was a go.
In the garage, Leo opened Stella’s door and admired the way Kim slid into the low seat with her short skirt and stilettos. She was made for luxury, for the finer things in life. He wanted her to stay longer just to show her what this town had to offer. He closed her door and the sound snapped reality back into his brain. Didn’t matter what he wanted to do because he couldn’t afford it. Technically, he couldn’t afford the gas to fill Stella. That made this trip to see Bonnie that much more important. Because if Kim was right and Bonnie had information maybe he could avoid this whole bankruptcy thing. God, what a colossal clusterfuck. A clusterfuck he was about to face on his own without the help of the pretty blond kick-ass female who’d worked her butt off most of the week helping him figure out his life. No easy feat. He owed her so much.
A few minutes later on the road, Kim cleared her throat. “Um… May I ask you a personal question?”
Leo nearly laughed. “You’re seeing just about everything there is to see while you’re going through my books. I didn’t think there was anything too personal left to know.” A big lie considering Megan was still under wraps, but just barely. When Kim had asked about the monthly charge for The Marion, Leo had told her it was an estate in the Hamptons. She’d told him he’d have to sell it just as he’d have to sell his other property and Leo hadn’t uttered a word.
“I’m really curious about something.”
A wave of heat spread from Leo’s center and worked its way through his veins. What if she found something about Megan after all? He didn’t think she’d tell anyone, but then he never thought Nathan would take his money. “Curious about what?”
“That lawsuit with the cheerleader. For weeks it was headline news, then one day it disappeared. What happened?”
Relief swept through him like a cool breeze. Although this was his second least favorite topic. Still, better than Megan. “Roxanne wanted to keep her money. That meant she kept her mouth shut.”
Kim faced him, her long legs crossed a
t the ankle in the leg well. “I don’t buy it. Not after the time I’ve spent with you.”
Leo kept his eyes on the road as he passed a chrome Fisker Karma. He’d take Stella any day of the week over that thing. “What’s not to get? She dropped the charges because of the settlement.”
“I don’t get why you were with her in the first place. I just don’t see you with teenyboppers.”
Cringing at the word, Leo glanced at Kim. “Trust me, I don’t either.”
“You’re really going to make me piece this together aren’t you?”
Leo exhaled hard and caved. “I was on location and met Roxanne at a club. She was dressed to kill in fuck-me pumps and enough makeup for three women. We danced. We drank. She told me she was twenty-five. I took her back to my hotel room. We fucked. The next thing I know, my people are getting calls from her lawyer and I’m in hot water for statutory rape. She seduced me. She played me all night long and I let her. Hell, she insisted on buying the first two rounds.” Thinking about that night still made his gut roll. “She knew exactly what she was doing from minute one. I coughed up five million to make her go away because there was no way to win that case in court. No one would be believe that Sweet Girl did something so premeditated.” He shook his head and accelerated when the silver Lexus in front of him slid out of the lane. “I was the Hollywood Bad Boy taking advantage of young girls. When my lawyer showed me her deposition, I didn’t even recognize her. No makeup, conservative clothes. She looked like a teenager. If that had been the girl I’d met that night, you can bet I wouldn’t have touched her with a twenty-foot pole.”
“You think she was out specifically to hurt you like that?”
“Me specifically? I don’t know. Maybe she was out for any man who she thought she could scam and I happened to be the one that ended up in her trap. There were a lot of men with deep pockets at the club that night…directors, producers, managers. With her clothes and makeup, she easily passed for twenty-five and she knew it. She had an agenda.”
“That’s one hell of an expensive lesson.” Kim tapped her chin. “Where is she now?”
Leo slowed down as he realized his foot had gotten heavier on the gas with the story. “Don’t know. Don’t care. But you better believe I check for ID now.”
“You didn’t check mine,” she mused with a lifted eyebrow. “What if I’m seventeen?”
Leo glanced at her. “I’ve never met one single teenager with your kind of style.” He slowed for a red light.
She cocked her head. “Leo. You dodge bullets better than anyone I’ve ever met. Instead of reminding me that seventeen was over a decade ago, you turned it around and gave me a compliment.”
“A decade ago?” Leo glanced at her again. “Now you’ve surprised me. I thought you were going to say five years ago.”
“And bam, he does it again.” Her smile turned serious. “I still don’t see why you never came forward to clear your name. Why let her get away with that?”
“No proof. Who’s the public going to believe? The actor with the bad rep or the high school cheerleader without a blemish on her record? I had no way to win. Trying to defend myself was only going to make me come out looking worse. It was easier to give her the money to shut up. And she does have to keep quiet or she has to give the money back.”
Kim growled, soft and low. “Nothing makes me angrier than conniving little bitches. I wouldn’t mind meeting her one day in a dark alley.” She’d had the same thought when Jennifer Baumgarten had slipped ex-lax in Kim’s smoothie on the day of cheerleader tryouts in high school. Kim had been stuck in the bathroom and never made the audition—much less the squad— and Jennifer had slipped into the open spot without any competition.
The light changed and Leo hit the gas. “I don’t think I’ve been championed before.” He liked the feeling.
“Well someone should’ve stood up for you when she came crawling out of the woodwork. Where’s your family? You must have a support system that can come forward when stuff like this happens.”
Dicey territory. “My parents died a long time ago.” He shrugged and hoped that worked as an answer. “Now, it’s my team. Agent, manager, publicist, assistant. They keep me moving. What about you? Still have your folks?” He edged into the left lane to pass a slow-moving bus.
“No.” She paused for a few seconds before continuing. “I lost them in a car accident not long after I moved to Indiana.”
“Wow. Sorry about that,” he said, glancing at her. “That must have been rough.”
She nodded. “It was. Especially since they were coming to visit me. I moved there from Chicago and they thought it would be fun to take a road trip and visit.”
“What happened?” he asked.
“My dad fell asleep at the wheel and went off the side of the road. Wrapped the car around a telephone pole.”
Ouch. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” She adjusted the watch on her wrist and pressed her lips together. “It threw me off for a while. Really got me thinking about my life and what I want…and don’t want.”
“Tragedy will do that.” So would a crooked accountant. “So what do you want?”
“For starters, I wouldn’t mind a bigger city.” She smiled wistfully. “I loved Chicago, so moving to Indiana was an adjustment. Trust me, I’m not averse to someplace different.”
“Why couldn’t you sell your part of the business and move?” he asked.
“Honestly, I can’t imagine leaving my partner high and dry. Doesn’t seem fair.”
“I thought she was ‘living the dream.’ Would she really care?” Nathan’s building loomed ahead to the right. “Seems like if she’s really a friend, she’d understand your need to move on.
“Here we are,” Leo said, turning into the parking lot. “Whoa!”
A black GTO slammed on its brakes as it tried to exit at the same driveway and nearly plowed into Stella. The driver, an African American with a harsh look on his face, took the turn anyway and hopped the curb to avoid Leo. The GTO burned rubber as he departed.
“Asshole,” Leo muttered as he parked. Something about him seemed familiar.
“Did you notice his car didn’t have license plates?”
“I didn’t, but I’m not surprised if he drives like that on a normal basis,” Leo said, parking and cutting the engine in the almost empty lot. The same beat up Honda sat in the corner spot, assuring Bonnie’s presence.
Together they walked toward the building and Kim sniffed the air. “Do you smell something?” Leo took a whiff of the air as he opened the door. Black smoke trailed out and hit them simultaneously. “Oh my God,” she said, squinting into the dark haze. “Fire!”
Not again. Kim’s pulse doubled as she bolted into the building. “Bonnie!” she called, staying low.
“Kim! Goddammit!” Leo’s voice sounded right behind her.
Fire crackled in the back office on the right, but hadn’t engulfed the whole place. Black smoke filled the air and burned her throat.
Leo grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back. “Get out of here! Call 911!” He covered his mouth and nose with the bottom of his white T-shirt. “Bonnie!” he yelled as he ducked farther into the building.
Kim ran outside, sucked in clean air and made the call. The dispatcher kept her on the phone, asking questions and after a couple of very long minutes and no sign of Leo, she had enough. Tossing her bag and phone on the sidewalk she ran into the smoking entrance.
Hot air and black smoke hit her like a wall. “Leo!” she yelled and coughed up a lungful of smoke. Staying low, she squinted and tried to see through the dark haze. The fire had already moved out of the office and trailed along the sides of the walls almost as if it had a path to follow.
“Get out!” he yelled from the back office. “It’s moving too fast! Get out!”
Kim followed his voice, dodging burning desks and open file cabinets along the way. A piece of the roof fell next to her and she scrambled faster. She found him tryin
g to heave a filing cabinet and almost asked What the hell are you doing? until she saw legs sticking out from underneath it.
Bonnie!
“Goddammit, Kim!” Leo said when she landed at his side.
She ignored him, grabbed the edge next to him and heaved. Smoke filled her lungs when she inhaled, but together they lifted and rolled the heavy cabinet. Bonnie lay unconscious, blood pooled beneath her torso. Kim choked out smoke as Leo scooped Bonnie in his arms.
“Go!” he yelled and Kim went.
Gasoline. That was the odor she smelled. No wonder the fire moved so fast. A minute ago it was only the back office and now the whole place crackled with flames. The faint sound of sirens combined with the crackling fire.
Kim made it outside and turned to help Leo. They set Bonnie on the cement and coughed up more smoke. Covered in soot, Leo had blood all over his shirt.
“Are you hurt?” Kim asked him.
He shook his head. “It’s Bonnie’s blood.” Even as he said it, a fresh stream of blood pooled next to her.
Kim pressed her hand over the wound but it didn’t seem to do any good. Bonnie’s eyes fluttered open and she spotted Leo. “You. The…ashdri—”
“Shh, Bonnie, help’s coming,” Leo said. He stroked her wild hair out of her face.
She shook her head. “Flashdri…” she choked out. “Wyncott’s. He wanted…wanted—” Her voice trailed off and her eyes glazed over before they became fixed and dilated.
Kim’s skin prickled and her chest got tight. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God.”
Leo started CPR.
Sirens blared loud as a fire truck and police cars pulled into the parking lot. First responders moved them out of the way as they took control of the scene. Though they attempted CPR, they never revived Bonnie before loading her into the ambulance.
Looking down at the soot covering her from head to toe, Kim’s stomach rolled in a nauseous somersault. Leo’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and Kim turned into his chest, into his arms.
