Bailey: Independence #1

by Karen Nichols

  “The woman is loony. Stay away from them both. Don’t make me go New Yorker on you,” Patsy warned with a scowl before heading off to her department.

  Bailey made a face at the departing figure and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. It was Thursday afternoon, she thought, trying to decide who to talk to, who to trust. She should be going straight to Gabriel’s office but she knew he had people from an outside company in this afternoon and for the next week. The last thing he needed was this on his plate.

  She wandered into the main area and pulled work orders from the board, letting her brain simmer while going from job to job until the small chime on her wrist went off on her wrist. Bailey was thinking of all the bad movies where the girl ignored the shouts that said don’t go with the crazy mad person or don’t go into the spooky looking house. She sighed, her pack slung over one shoulder and her jacket dangling from her fingers as she vaguely heard the door lock behind her.

  People rushed past, eager for Thursday to be over when the hand came out and gripped her wrist seconds before she bounced off the very solid male. Her head went back in time for the mouth that brushed over her lips.

  “Hi,” Bailey breathed and tried to step back, suddenly aware of the four men and one woman watching their interaction.

  “She gets distracted with her work,” Gabriel said smoothly, grinning down at her. “Bailey O’Conner, let me introduce you to the people working with one of our teams on the new game.”

  Bailey listened, applied a smile and tried to remember the names with the accents and faces. She knew they were from a studio in England that he was courting to join him for several future projects. It was when the words, we’ll meet you at the restaurant, came out of his mouth that her feet stumbled a little walking toward the exit.

  “Dinner?” Bailey whispered hoarsely.

  “Dinner. The evening meal to hold you over on the long cold nights in my bed,” he whispered as he pulled the SUV door wide and lifted her to the seat.

  “Nights in your bed are far from cold,” she tossed back, enjoying his laughter.

  “We do create a bit of a flame, pet,” he agreed. “The social and business culture between the two countries is different and I tend to favor theirs. But American workers are different.”

  “You’ve already come to an agreement?” She saw the excitement in his eyes and threw her arms around him with a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you! That’s just what you wanted. Congratulations!”

  “Yes, it’s just what I wanted,” he agreed softly, his hands moving behind her back and returning her hug. A simple hug. Nothing complex, nothing out of gold or silver. Just a hug and happy words and she had the most beautiful smile in her eyes that made him feel like a king. “It’ll be a good partnership for us both.”

  Bailey let her hands frame his face before she kissed him. “Then we better get going so we can celebrate with your new partners. You should have told me. I would have worn something…”

  “You are beautiful just like you are. Did you see those guys? Believe me, I’m the one definitely over dressed,” Gabriel turned her knees into the front seat and closed the door, striding around the front of the SUV and sliding into the seat.

  Bailey listened to him talking about the network they’d be setting up for direct transfers of files and the special computers just for these projects. He wanted her to talk to their IT person to discuss the technical points and security necessary.

  She found herself leaning into his arm while he chatted, the menu in her hands but going unseen as she tried following the conversation, which had nothing at all to do with work. She thought that would dominate but what was the center was the current best soccer teams and who would lead this year as well as the dupes running both countries!

  Four hours later, Bailey tossed clothing into the laundry bin and climbed into bed, the sights and sounds of the social room in the large restaurant they’d gone to still in her mind. Darts, pool tables, laughter and too many conversations and topics to keep track of. She would spend half the next day with their IT person to work out the requirements. Gabriel had already cleared it with her supervisor, a comment that made her look at him like he’d lost his mind.

  Gabriel loved the softness he pulled back against him when he climbed into bed behind her a few minutes later. He tucked her close, his cock nestled contentedly against her soft ass and his lips brushing her temple.

  “Thank you for indulging me tonight. I like having you with me, Bailey.”

  “Oh, Gabriel…” she sighed and closed her eyes, letting those few precious words echo in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

  He knew she was tired. He’d seen her fading after he tucked her into the SUV and it was shortly before midnight before he carried her into the house and laid her on the bed.

  She swore she was awake, her body popping up from the bed and stumbling into the bathroom, ignoring his laughter behind her. He’d pay, she thought. Come morning she’d just make him miserable. Then he cuddled against her and whispered to her and she felt it all melting away into the night.

  Bailey didn’t know where the morning went. She woke to pancakes and orange juice and a disgustingly handsome guy grinning down at her. He’d already showered and dressed, a crisp beige shirt and jeans that were really nicely fitted to him when she opened eyes less than focused to peer up at him.

  “Open,” Gabriel forked two small pancakes into her mouth and chuckled, carrying the plate back to the breakfast bar.

  “Hey! That’s just wrong!” She shouted after him, wrestling with the blankets and throwing them aside.

  “You want the rest, get dressed and get that sexy ass moving,” he called back through his laughter, settling before his laptop and going through email and checking his stock portfolio. He didn’t like the way some things had been moving and wanted to shift a few things around before the weekend.

  He heard the hopping footsteps down the hall less than fifteen minutes later, her hands working one boot on as she moved. Wild red curls were rampant, a comb sticking out of her back pocket of her jeans and a wide band around one wrist. He couldn’t even imagine trying to tame those curls but damned if he didn’t love how they looked on her and felt on him. Within five minutes, the pancakes were gone and the curls pulled into a tautly bound tail that appeared downright sedate compared to ten minutes earlier.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he just laughed. There was a dark, delightful side to his little sub that managed to make him remember what it meant to have an important person in your life. From soft chuckles to outright laughter, she brought it to him.

  He openly, genuinely lost himself listening to her mumble as they ran from the SUV to the building, stopping just inside the doors. He pulled her to the side, only the faintest flicker of concern on her face before he kissed her soundly and sent her off to the back of the building with a pat on her jean covered behind.

  Bailey bit her lip and exhaled at the sharp little pat. She had to find and hold the confidence in her own reputation to ignore the looks from people when they were seen together in the building. He belonged to her. That’s what she kept saying as she strode through the halls, smiling at the odd looks from people around her.

  Gabriel had never had a woman wear his collar when they weren’t at play. And he’d never asked her to wear it other than play, yet it felt right. It was something she did because she wanted to please him. He never asked her if people commented on it, or the initials that were clearly etched into the front.

  He leaned back, watching her dig in her pack and thought about the more ornate collar he’d bought for her. The nicely woven silver and gold knots would look lovely against her throat and as an inconspicuous ornament that would work with her more sedate outfits on training day.

  Gabriel was very pleased with his choice yet puzzled at the tiniest of fears she would turn him down. They hadn’t spoken of either her independence or the people who found her life interesting enough to follow and criti
cize. He didn’t know how to remove that concern for her and knew as much as he’d want to, it was something she’d have to overcome on her own.

  That had taken up a lot of time in his thoughts lately, admitting there was something that he, as her Dom, was outside his realm of duties. The other admission had been that he fully intended to take on more than just a sub. He wanted her as his friend and partner as well as his lover. He wanted her in all aspects of his life and he wanted the world to know about them.

  But he was not interested in twenty-four seven Dom/sub relationship. And that meant he was the one who had to do the adjusting.

  He’d spent so much time the last few weeks wondering why he wasn’t pushing her away that he never stopped to think if she would want all he was willing to offer her. He heard their laughter and teasing one another in and out of bed; he saw and felt the look of uncertainty and passion when they played and knew he wouldn’t be satisfied with another sub; with another partner.

  His admin had pointed out that his focus had not only been better, but when he rearranged his schedule, he kept things deliberately on task instead of allowing trivia to get in the way of his intentions.

  She also teased that he was actually allowing his managers to do their own jobs instead of believing he had to take on all the tasks on his own. She’d pointed out to him often that he gave a little too much of his time to jobs that they should be held accountable for.

  He’d let himself become too involved in issues he was paying others to deal with, he realized as he stood before the large plate glass window in his office.

  It was almost noon and he had a working lunch scheduled that had been set up with his new partners. Bailey had rearranged some things in the IT department and kept her counterpart busy most of the morning. Brian came into the lunch with a dazed look that told Gabriel his little sub was the perfect choice for the project.

  ****

  Bailey offered only a bright, happy smile when she received looks and not quite covert whispers when she was passing by or working on an issue for one of the people in the company.

  She had always been intensely focused on her job, the workings inside a computer as fascinating to her as the programs that were supposed to make one’s life easier. But now and then while waiting for something to happen, her fingers drifted to the slim piece of leather around her throat and the man who seemed to find pleasure in touching it while she wore it.

  The shiver that ran through her was a tribute to their early morning play. How and when he brought cuffs into the bedroom still boggled her mind. And how the heck they became attached to the thick, heavy headboard was another stunner! The man seemed to never run out of imaginative ways to arouse them both to the breaking point. Her fingers drifted to one thigh, remembering just how he’d attached the thick bindings that were then pulled to the side and wider than a cheerleader at the winning game!

  So he hadn’t kept her up past eleven, but had wakened her with his tongue on her clit at five-thirty! And all her body had done was respond and plead for more. She kept telling herself she was in the prime of her sexual life. And he was working at proving that to her.

  She finished the work order, straightened out the files and desktop of the young guy in the mailroom and warned him to stay away from blocked sites. Again. Bailey had her pack in her hand and her jacket on when she met Patsy in the lobby for their afternoon break. They were going to take a short walk to the bakery down the street that their friend Angel owned. They both had a craving for something thick with far too much icing.

  Patsy and Bailey came to a stop a few feet from the door when two uniformed officers came through the front doors.

  The men seemed to know exactly who they wanted and stepped in front of the two women, one of them holding up a page with her photo on it.

  “Bailey O’Conner?” The taller officer said politely.

  “Yes,” Bailey looked from one to the other, her breath suddenly gripped tightly in her chest. “Is something wrong?”

  “We’re supposed to escort you to the health center on Capital Way. You’re listed as next of kin for Gabriel Garrett and he’s asking for you. Evidently there’s been an accident.” The man stepped to the side when her eyes flew wide and she nodded immediately.

  “Go, girlfriend,” Patsy gave her a little shove. “Call me!” She called after the quickly departing woman and officers.

  She was never sure if it was a naturally suspicious nature or curiosity that had her stepping closer to the tinted glass. Patsy felt the cold of the stainless steel rail on the heavy glass door, her fingers tightening and eyes narrowing angrily as she watched. Spinning quickly and with only one destination in her mind, she ran through the lobby and slapped the elevator buttons.

  Prancing and pacing, she made it to the third floor, her palm up at the open mouth of the admin outside the hallowed office suite.

  “This is vital,” she said as she went past and tapped quickly on the door, opening it and steeling her usually unbreakable confidence at the half dozen males in suits that suddenly turned at her interruption. “I am really sorry to interrupt,” she began quickly, the dark look on Gabriel Garrett’s face making her swallow and continue. “But I really have to speak to you, Sir. Now.”

  Gabriel had been relaxed. Concentrating on the information he had ordered when Patsy interrupted the meeting. He knew immediately something was wrong and stood up. She wouldn’t be in his office unless something was wrong and it involved Bailey.

  “A moment, gentlemen,” he told them firmly, crossing the large room and stopping in front of her. “What’s wrong?”

  “That detective took Bailey,” she said in a low voice. “She sent two police officers into the lobby and got us as we were going out to walk on break. They told her you were hurt and they were supposed to deliver her to you. She went with them but then I looked outside and saw the one detective put cuffs on her and force her into the car. I don’t know where they took her!”

  Gabriel put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Go back to your department. I’ll deal with this, Patsy, thank you. I’ll find her.” He assured her, the dark feathery haircut barely moved when her bead bobbed and she left his office. “Gentlemen, I have a personal emergency to handle and I apologize. We’ll continue this on Monday. Janet, schedule them in somewhere.”

  He spoke as he passed her desk, his phone pulled from inside his jeans as long legs made it to the stairwell.

  “Lieutenant, Garrett. Have you ordered your detective to pick up Bailey in handcuffs?” He demanded tonelessly, working to keep the emotions churning and boiling inside him in check.

  “Hell no,” Natalie ground out instantly, rising from behind her desk and grabbing up her car keys. “Fields is on administrative leave pending an investigation. What the hell happened?”

  “Just what I said. Your detective sent two uniforms into my lobby and told her I was injured and they were to take her to me. Fortunately, a friend of Bailey’s was with her and saw the officers turn her over to your detective, who then put her in cuffs and forced her into a vehicle. I don’t know where the uniforms went.” Gabriel was finding it more and more difficult to maintain a level of polite calm, his tone getting harder and colder with each word.

  “I’ll get back to you.”

  “Yeah, you do that,” he muttered, tapping another number and waiting for the second ring. “Where are you?”

  “She’s in an unmarked with the detective,” Colin Whetstone answered without waiting for the question. “I think they’re headed to the club, Gabe.”

  “Stay on them, Colin,” Gabe ordered, tapping up the Lieutenant again. “It looks like she’s being taken to the club.”

  He broke off the call before a response could be given, the phone dropped into the pocket of his shirt and his hand digging keys from the front pocket of his jeans. He was barely aware of the white knuckles that gripped the steering wheel or the fire of fury in his eyes as he drove.

  Chapter Thirty-Three
>
  Bailey felt the hint of terror and fear take control when the uniformed officers told her Gabriel was in the hospital, hurt and asking for her! No, she thought fleetingly, not fear, an absolute mental shut down. He couldn’t possibly be hurt! He was too vital, too strong and alive. He was supposed to be in his office in meetings all morning! What was he doing out where he could be hurt?

  She barely remembered Patsy giving her a little shove and a slight hug of encouragement before disappearing out the double doors with the two officers. It wasn’t until they rounded the slight curve that she saw the detective and felt the strong hands on each of her arms, stopping her from turning and running back for the building.

  “Let me go! This is a mistake!” She twisted and kicked out, meeting with a stern shake that lifted her from the concrete. “Call the Lieutenant! She knows…”

  A cold glare came from Detective Casey Fields as she pulled metal cuffs from a jacket pocket and snapped them snuggly on Bailey’s wrists.

  “The mistake is how you thought you could get away with murder,” Casey told her flatly, nodding to the officers and opening the back door of her car. “Shove her in there. I’ll take her into the station. Thanks for your help.”

  “Anytime, Detective,” one of the officers said with a polite nod before striding away with his partner.

  Bailey leaned back on the seat, the cuffs chafing at her wrists but at least they were in front of her and not behind her back. She pulled her legs up and kicked at the seat, barely ducking when the strong arm swung toward her from the front seat.

  “Why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything to you.” She glared at the woman who turned away and started the car, quickly guiding them out of the parking lot and into the light afternoon traffic.

  “You should have died two weeks ago,” she finally told Bailey flatly. “You’ve fucked with the whole plan. But we’ll fix that today.”

  “We…” Bailey said the word slowly, her eyes busily darting around. She carefully angled her body to the side, her fingers easing the phone from her inner pocket just long enough to press record before sliding it safely back inside. “You know Janelle Harbridge, don’t you?”