Cali bit back her retort. She wasn’t feeling too cheery at the moment. She felt like a pawn in a game she couldn’t hope to win. As if she’d just been sent back to Go and told not to collect her two million dollars.
They reached the auto shop in what seemed like record time. She didn’t know whether that made her happy or sad. As much as she wanted to be away from Rourke, it hurt her to think she’d never see him again. There was something so...magnetic about him. It was intoxicating, even if it wasn’t good for her in any way. Mainly mentally and economically.
Physically, being close to Rourke was fantastic for her. But she tried not to think about that.
“Thanks for the ride.” She added a bit of bite to the polite good-bye.
“Cali, I’m sorry,” he said as her hand was on the door.
A rush of emotion filled her. She wasn’t sure what emotion exactly, just a hell of a lot of it. Sadness. Anger. Bitterness.
She couldn’t turn to face him. She didn’t want to start crying and knew that if she had to see that frustratingly handsome face one more time, she’d completely break down. “If you were really sorry, you’d be coming back with me. But your anger at things that happened years ago is getting in the way of you ever feeling sorry for anyone but yourself. So why don’t you let me know when you decide to get out of your own way.”
“Last night wasn’t a game for me,” he said softly. “That was real.”
“I know.” And as much as she tried to convince herself that he was an evil mastermind conniving to get her naked, she was unable to think of their time in his renovation house like that. He’d just been too...selfless. Making sure she enjoyed herself. Making sure that she didn’t have to lie on the hard floor.
But even if he hadn’t crossed a line by moving her out of the inn without asking her, knowing that Easson was nearby made the idea of staying in town impossible.
“Good-bye, Rourke,” was all she could manage as she hopped out of the car and grabbed her bag. It was time to go back to New York and tell Luke about her failure.
Rourke stayed in the parking lot until Cali had her car and drove away. Even then, he had to clench his fists on the steering wheel to keep from going after her. He’d known she’d be upset about the sleeping arrangements, but he never expected this.
He thought she would hound him until she got him to go back with him, even if it took years. But she’d seemed so...defeated when she left. He wanted to pull her aside and tell her that last night had been mind-blowing and she could stay with him as long as she wanted.
Except she’d been right. He wasn’t sorry for what he’d done. For the same reason he wanted her to stay with him, he wanted her safe. If that meant taking away some of her free choices, he’d do it.
First step was to find out who the hell Easson Harper was. Had Rourke managed to piss him off somehow without realizing it? Or maybe he was after Cali and she didn’t know she was in danger.
He thought about it on his entire drive back and went to his favorite source of information: the Internet. He started out with a basic search for Easson’s name. It was unique enough that he was hoping he’d get some reasonable hits.
But the second he put Easson Harper’s name into the computer, the recent news articles just kept coming. Every single one had to do with Luke.
“What do you mean you were already monitoring my calls?” Cali didn’t know why she was surprised. Evelyn had already proved she was willing to go behind her back. Apparently after her sincere sounding apology, she was still willing to sneak around Cali.
“This wasn’t my decision. The agency knew that you had a personal relationship with Harper and wanted to make sure he wasn’t in contact with you.”
“You mean make sure I wasn’t in contact with him?” Evelyn tightened her lips and Cali knew she’d hit the nail on the head.
“I’d be lying if I said that didn’t come up a time or two. But Luke and I were both adamant that you would never do anything on purpose. Though I know you don’t want to hear this, us monitoring your phone really cleared your name of any wrongdoing.”
“You’re right. I don’t want to hear that.” She took a sip of her unsweetened pomegranate iced tea and glanced around at the bustling coffee shop. When she’d first moved to the city, Cali had been seduced by the beautiful and rich lattes and fancy drinks, but after gaining fifteen pounds at a record pace, she’d immediately cut all sugary drinks out of her diet.
It had seemed like a tragedy at the time, but now her go-to iced tea was one of her favorite treats. It almost made her meeting with Evelyn bearable. “So you know he was in West Bath only a few days ago. What’s the plan now?” Evelyn glanced down at the table and Cali sighed. “Come on. You at least owe it to me to keep me updated on the hunt for Easson. I have as much invested in this as you.” Sure, Easson hadn’t physically broken her ribs like he’d done to Evelyn. But he’d used her body in other, much more personal ways.
“We sent an agent out there, but we’re not too optimistic about it. The calls that we traced all came from different areas in the country. One in California, one in New York, one in Florida.”
“But his fingerprints were found in Maine. That has to hold precedence over a call. Those can be bounced, or something, right?”
“He’s too smart to be leaving his prints on shells. The attack on you was planned. Calculated. It wasn’t a crime of passion where he’d make mistakes. Either he left town the moment after he took out your tires or he was never there in the first place.”
“You think he had someone else shoot at me?” A cold chill went through her at the idea of some stranger staring at her through the scope of a rifle. All because her ex-boyfriend told them to. “So you have no idea where he is?”
“We think he’s still in New York. He’s not being paid by Longineu anymore, so he might be looking for a new job or he might have personal connections in the city.”
“Personal connections?”
“Family.”
“Oh God,” moaned Cali as realization dawned on her. “You don’t think he’s...” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word married.
“It’s really only a possible theory. Try not to think about it.”
“Easy for you to say. Where’s Luke?” she asked, changing the subject. She didn’t think she could take any more talk of Easson right now. The more she heard, the more freaked out she got.
“I didn’t want him to come. He gets very...upset when I bring up Easson.”
Cali let out a snort. She could only imagine. She’d never known Luke in a serious relationship, but he was protective over her and she was only his assistant. Lord only knew how he was dealing with the fact that someone had assaulted his girlfriend.
And if he was anything like Rourke, Easson better hope he never ended up in a room alone with Luke.
“So things are going well between you?” It was strange to be so out of the loop with Luke’s life. She was used to knowing everything, and now that his personal life was really getting interesting, she was nowhere around.
Evelyn blushed and that kind of answered Cali’s question for her. “It’s going...really good. Kind of strange, but a good strange.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. I suppose it was just so unexpected. And a little inconvenient. I don’t think either of us planned for something long-term in the near future.”
Cali raised a brow. She hadn’t realized she and Luke were already thinking long-term. “So whose plans are going to change?”
“Well, that’s not the issue. I was always planning to go back to Texas when I was done here, but, if I’m being honest, even if I could go back, there’s nothing for me there. Luke has so many friends and family. I’m kind of looking forward to putting down roots.”
Cali’s eyes widened. “You’re pregnant?”
“No!” said Evelyn in record time. “No, not at all. By roots I mean...people like you. You were such a good friend to Luke, and I reall
y didn’t have anyone like that in Texas.”
Did Luke really think of her as a friend? It was a nice thought, and she’d suspected it at times, but the employer/employee barrier between them had always been there. Add to that the social and economic barriers. Cali worked like mad to pretend to fit in, but Luke was born into that life. That was a huge difference.
And it was one of the reasons Rourke confused her so much. She knew exactly the life he was raised in, but he insisted on living like an average Joe. She wasn’t sure whether he was just trying to fool everyone in town or whether he was only trying to fool himself.
Cali took another sip of her drink before she stood. “I should really be heading back.” Not true. It wasn’t as if she had a pressing amount of work to get done. Unless spending the rest of the day updating her resume and wallowing in self-pity counted.
“I’ll keep you updated, I promise,” said Evelyn.
Cali nodded, but she didn’t know whether she really believed the FBI agent. Even if she was completely sincere with her offer, Cali was sure the government wouldn’t want all their secrets shared with Cali, who was basically a nobody.
“Tell Luke I said hi.”
“He’s going to want to see you, you know.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“He’s going to want to know what happened with Rourke. What you’re going to be doing now. I’m sure he’s probably working on a good severance package for you too. He takes care of his own.”
Yes, Luke did take care of his own. She felt her resolve about leaving DevX waver. Luke’s strong personality had kept her there for the past decade. He was so smart, and loyal when it counted. It was why she’d never been able to walk away before.
But now was different. Even if the Easson incident hadn’t happened, she’d slept with his brother. That had crossed myriad professional boundaries. Even though she couldn’t say she regretted it, she had to face facts that what she’d done had changed things.
“I’ll call him later.” Cali collected her purse and her now half-empty drink. “Thanks for meeting with me.” She supposed the fact that Evelyn met her in person instead of a quick, informal phone call was another sign of just how guilty she felt.
But time had an annoying habit of toning down any anger Cali felt, and it was hard to see Evelyn as anything but a dutiful FBI agent trying to keep people safe. It helped that Cali had made it out of the whole ordeal physically safe, while Evelyn was the one who took the blows. And when Evelyn gingerly stood up, wrapping a hand around her side to hold her still healing ribs, it was especially hard to be angry at the woman.
“Have a nice day,” said Cali quickly before she turned to leave. She’d picked the Brooklyn coffee shop because it was only three blocks from her apartment, so she didn’t need to call a cab or take the subway home. She moved onto the busy sidewalk and took a deep breath of city air. It was nowhere as bad as some people liked to portray the air quality of the big city, but it definitely had a different taste from the crisp, fresh Maine fall.
And it was warmer. Too many moving engines and tall buildings around. It kept the wind out from this section of the street. But if she turned the wrong way, the buildings would have the opposite effect, and she’d feel as if she was fighting her way down a wind tunnel.
She’d been home for almost twenty-four hours and she couldn’t stop thinking about her time in Maine. About Rourke. That had to pass soon, though. She’d only known him a few days. He hadn’t had enough time to make that big of an impact on her.
She pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Even though it wasn’t that windy, her ponytail had still become messy. How different from her every lock in place persona at DevX. She’d need to get back in the zone if she wanted to go back to office life.
Her apartment building came into view and she reached into her purse for the key to the front door. The apartment might not be anything special, but it was one of the things she was most proud of in her life. She had one advantage over a lot of people who moved to the city.
Growing up, she’d never had a lot of space, so the small apartments of New York had been perfect for her. When she’d moved into this place, after many, many raises, she’d finally moved on up. The two-bedroom second-story apartment was a bit of a splurge, but nothing made her happier than to come home to her own little space.
As she made her way up the stairs, she fumbled with the keys, flipping through the overcrowded key ring until she found the one for her unit. She had it firmly in hand as she reached the top of the stairs and glanced down the hall.
She froze in her tracks and the keys clattered to the ground.
“What are— When— Why— What the hell are you doing here?” finally managed to get out.
Rourke pushed away from her door. “I’m here about Easson.”
She took a deep breath as she tried to reconcile Rourke being in her happy place. This was wrong on so many levels. “The FBI is taking care of Easson,” she managed to get out without stuttering, though it didn’t sound convincing at all, even to her ears.
“Why was he shooting at you?”
She rolled her eyes. “He wasn’t shooting at me. He was shooting at my tires and it was all a distraction. He’s trying to convince the FBI he’s in Maine but he was never there. Probably gave those bullets to a friend of his up there. All that with my tires was smoke and mirrors.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, and she could tell he wasn’t convinced by anything she said.
He wore a brown leather jacket that looked as if he’d owned it since he was fifteen. The color made the natural highlights in his hair stand out even more and brought out the gold flecks in his dark eyes.
“You need to leave.” She finally bent to get her keys and cautiously approached her apartment door.
“I’m not leaving until all this is sorted out.”
“What happened to you only caring about me while I was in your town?”
“Apparently your safety matters to me no matter what town you’re in.”
Had he really come out here because he cared about her? Didn’t matter. She was still pissed. “I appreciate your concern,” she said formally, “but the FBI is looking for Easson, and I wasn’t anything but a pawn to him. I don’t need any protection.”
She moved past him to unlock her door but could feel him behind her. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Didn’t he know how hard it had been for her to leave him in the first place?
As soon as the door was open, Rourke pushed past her before she could stop him. She bit back a curse as she pulled the door shut. She’d always loved this part of her life, but everything seemed so much smaller when Rourke was there.
“Does Luke know you’re here?” she asked as he glanced around her living room. Well, who was she kidding? Her living room, kitchen, and dining room were all pretty much one space. There was a decent-sized cutout in the wall between the galley kitchen and the living room to make the space seem larger.
Where every room in his beautiful oceanfront home seemed to have a theme and purpose, her apartment was neat and that was all she could manage. The walls were a boring beige, along with a beige sofa and mismatched end tables. But she’d never entertained in here, so her perfect image never needed to stretch this far. But the sofa was comfortable as hell, and painting the walls was pointless when, according to her lease, she’d have to paint them back to beige when she moved out.
But Rourke didn’t seem to mind the drab decorating. “Were you here with him?”
Cali set her purse down on the edge of her kitchen counter a bit more forcefully than necessary. “We’re not talking about that.”
“Is that why you slept with me? Wiping the palate clean?”
Hot anger burned within her as she glared at Rourke. “That’s it. Get out of my apartment.”
“Don’t you want to take me to Luke yourself? Collect your finder’s fee on the spot?”
She stared at him. Was he really going to mee
t with Luke and let her get the two million? For a second, she considered whether it was worth putting up with him being this much of an ass, but then she shook her head. She’d put up with a hell of a lot more than his domineering presence for that kind of money.
“You’re going to meet with Luke?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“That could mean fifty thousand things and, judging from what I’ve experienced so far, the option I want is the least likely one.”
“Do you think I was being selfish two nights ago?”
She felt the blood rush from her face. “We are not talking about that.”
“I’m here. I’m giving you what you want. Why not have a replay?”
He looked her up and down as if she were his favorite meal and he hadn’t eaten in forever, and she had to hold in a sigh. “Because you’re a controlling asshole and I’ve had my share of assholes recently.”
A harsh anger fell over his features. “Don’t compare me to that guy, okay? I’m nothing like that.”
Cali didn’t argue with him. He really wasn’t like Easson, even if a few parallels could be made. And there was no use taking her frustrations about herself and Easson out on Rourke.
Especially when she had plenty of unique frustrations she could take out on Rourke. “I’ll call Luke. You...” She glanced around the room, trying to think of something for him to do while she made the call. “Don’t touch anything,” she finished weakly.
He held his hands up in a gesture to show just how harmless he was, and Cali shook her head at him before practically running to her room and shutting the door with a tad too much force.
Damn it. How long had it been since she’d gone running to her room like a coward? Even though she was on the verge of getting everything she ever wanted, it still felt like this entire pristine world she’d so carefully cultivated for herself crumbled around her.
She took three deep breaths before she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone. She flipped through screens until she landed on Luke’s page. She’d dialed this number thousands of time before, but never for anything this significant. And she was really tempted to send a text message to cut out all the awkwardness, but she forced herself to hit the Call button. She was an adult, damn it, and she was going to act like one. An adult about to come into two million dollars.
Devereaux Billionaires Complete Series: Books 1-4 Page 60
