Dare

by Kacey Hammell

  Her mind drifted to the weekend and Dare. She sighed.

  He’d called her briefly late yesterday, apologized that he wouldn’t be able to return that night. The investigation about the tape of Chelsea’s alleged alibi delayed him.

  He wasn’t far from her thoughts at any given moment.

  His muscular body, rock-hard abs, deep chocolate eyes ran through her mind like a movie and held her on edge. Just thinking about him helped the hectic day seem tolerable, and she hoped she might see him later this evening.

  If she survived the day.

  Memories of the past few days filled her thoughts. Memories of their passion and laughter excited her for whatever was to come. Having only ever seen him at the office, she hadn’t known much about him, but she’d been curious. Now, she knew more than she ever thought she would, and she liked it.

  A lot.

  Many layers created the whole Dare. A man’s man who loved life, his job, and adventure. He made her feel special and beautiful. As if she were the only woman in the world.

  The printer no longer churning out paper disrupted her thoughts. She sat up, grabbed the papers from the shelf and laid them on her desk. Her snack gone, she threw the empty wrapper in the garbage beneath her desk. She collected and stacked the three copies of the motion she’d put together, stapled them, and placed it in the Lombardy folder.

  Her cell phone vibrated and lit up. She pushed the view button and discreetly checked the text. Malone Senior didn’t mind cell phones in the office if he couldn’t see the staff using them, and she tried not to abuse the privilege.

  Hello, beautiful.

  She frowned. Uncertain of the caller’s identity, she scrolled to the top of the message.

  D. Shalvis.

  She smiled and texted him back. Where are u?

  She sat back, eager to talk to him, even if it was by text.

  Just admiring ur gorgeous beauty.

  A wave of heat rolled through her. He thought her beautiful. She looked around the office. She caught sight of Dare in the conference room behind Malone Senior, who was on his cell phone. She smiled, cheeks heating.

  He definitely knew how to fill out his black jeans, red t-shirt and jacket. He leaned casually against the window, and she watched his fingers work his phone keypad.

  Hers vibrated in her hand. She read it and wanted to groan.

  I’d love 2 get closer, pull u in my arms & remind myself how much I love kissing u.

  Her pulse raced as she peered up at him. She saw the truth of his desire in his gaze even from fifty feet away, and hit reply on her phone.

  I’d love that 2. Hardly appropriate 4 the office tho.

  She maneuvered her chair closer to her desk, and kept her back to him. She loved to drown in the depths of his irises. But in doing so, the urge was strong to say to hell with her job, Malone Senior and manners all together. She wanted to cross the room and have her wicked way with him in the conference room.

  It was probably best not to have Dare in her line of sight for the moment.

  She dropped her gaze again.

  U r a temptation that could get me into a lot of trouble. I’d love to tell our boss 2 go to hell and tug u in here with me.

  Electricity crackled along her skin, her body tight with renewed energy. His thoughts, so similar to hers, created a shiver down her spine.

  She felt the heat of his gaze on her back, and texted him back. Maybe we should make some time l8r?

  She usually wasn’t so bold and sure as hell didn’t ask men out on dates. But with him, it seemed she had no choice. She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

  She scanned the phone screen, smiled.

  Definitely yes. Name time & place, I’ll be there.

  The intercom on her desk buzzed. “Olivia, please let me know when the DA calls, please,” Malone Senior demanded.

  She pressed the speaker button. “Yes, sir, I will.”

  She groaned and got back to work. She hoped he texted her back with better details for a time and place to meet later.

  The phone on her desk rang. She picked it up. “Presley and Malone, this is Olivia, how may I direct your call?” she greeted.

  “Malone Senior, please. It’s Thomas Rourke, I need to speak with him immediately,” the caller demanded.

  “Yes, sir, one moment please. I’ll put you right through,” Olivia confirmed.

  She put the DA on hold, then pushed her boss’s office button. “Mr. Malone, DA Rourke on line three for you.”

  “Thank you, Olivia.”

  She replaced the phone as soon as she saw the red light go solid on both line three and Malone Senior’s extension. She picked up her cell phone and frowned. Dare hadn’t texted her back yet. She turned, only to find the conference room empty.

  Disappointment filled her. He’d left without saying goodbye. Not that she’d seen him come in, but a verbal response or text would have been nice. She placed her phone in the top left drawer, then swung the other way to gawk toward Senior’s office at the sound of raised voices.

  Dare and Senior stood on each side of the boss’s desk, engaged in a heated debate. Though she could hear the rumble of their voices, she couldn’t make out what either was saying.

  She’d never seen Dare angry before. His face was red, fists tight at his sides and mouth moving fast.

  Senior’s voice rose as he pointed a crooked finger at Dare. He shook his head, anger rolling off him in waves, even across the room.

  Though curious as to what they were arguing about, Olivia’s gaze was drawn to Dare. He’d ditched his jacket at some point, and in his red t-shirt and tight black jeans, he was a sight to behold. Energy flowed off him.

  She was drawn to him, even across the distance. She wanted nothing more than to storm in and wrap her arms around him. To help soothe away his anger and trouble was something she wanted to help with.

  “Olivia, come in here, now.” Senior’s voice bellowed through the intercom. She jumped in her seat.

  She grabbed a notepad and stood quickly, not willing to piss off Malone Senior more than he was already. An impending sense of doom niggled in the back of her mind. She suspected the day was far from over…and about to go from bad to worse.

  Easing the door of Senior’s office open, she moved to stand at the corner of his desk. She made certain to keep her gaze away from Dare’s, fearing Malone Senior would see their connection.

  “Sir?” She poised her pen over the notepad.

  “Did any calls come into this office today about any evidence in Mrs. Lombardy’s case that I didn’t receive?”

  Olivia frowned. “None that I answered. Nor did I see anything come across my desk.”

  “Did you make any calls about any facts we have? Any of our evidence, something brand new?”

  She blinked at him, his face red and the vein in his forehead pulsing. She’d never seen him so upset. “I haven’t been told anything about the evidence, sir. I’m not sure what you mean. I’ve only worked on the motions.”

  She finally gave in and gazed at Dare. The only video she knew of was the one she’d read about on his phone the day before. Neither of them should discuss an active case and she wasn’t about to divulge that they had been, especially to their boss. She didn’t want Dare in trouble because of her.

  “Goddamn it.” Malone Senior’s growl yanked her gaze back toward him. Eyes wide, she put the notepad on the corner of his desk and fidgeted with her pen.

  “She said she didn’t know anything about it. She couldn’t have told anyone.”

  Olivia looked at Dare, their gazes locked. His belief in her was magnificent. To know he would protect her as she would him filled her with great fulfillment.

  She pushed thoughts of what she’d like to do to him aside and focused on the matter-at-hand.

  “Would either of you explain what is going on here? If the two most trusted people I have on staff don’t know, then how does the prosecution know about the evidence we have? The ev
idence we’re still looking into, about what really happened the night Chantal Lombardy died?”

  Olivia swallowed. Oh no. The prosecution investigating the tape not yet divulged by the defense could mean disaster for their case. To surprise the DA with it after they’d already done a thorough search and crossed all t’s and dotted all i’s was the best route to take. That way the other side wouldn’t have much time to punch holes into their theories or come up with ways to say Chelsea was lying about her whereabouts.

  If the video was ironclad with an alibi, it would be very difficult for the state to discredit a rock-solid piece of evidence. It would give the jury the tree branch of reasonable doubt. There would be no way to convict Chelsea of murdering Chantal if her alibi was airtight.

  “Look, sir.” Olivia leaned on the corner of his desk. “I don’t know how the prosecution could have learned about the video, but it wasn’t through this office.”

  Malone Senior’s eyes lit up with anger. She straightened, realizing she had just admitted she knew about the video after saying she didn’t. Dammit, she didn’t want Dare in trouble because of her.

  “I thought you didn’t know about a video, Olivia? Tell me what you do know.”

  “But, Mr. Malone—” Dare interrupted.

  He held up his hand. “I want to hear from her, Darren.”

  She swallowed, her jaw clenched. “Yes, okay, I did know about the video with Chelsea’s apparent alibi. But I did not tell anyone about it.”

  His gaze held hers for what seemed like forever until he moved to Dare. “You’re the only person I told about it. At that time, I was the only one that knew about it.” His gaze shifted from one to the other. “I take it the two of you share…things.”

  “Our personal business is just that, Malone. I don’t know how the video got leaked but it has. Let’s just keep going,” Dare demanded.

  Olivia swung her gaze to Dare. His knuckles white from clenching the back of the chair in front of him, she could see he was trying to contain his anger. His passion for what he believed was just another thing she loved about him.

  His eyes didn’t connect with hers and she shivered with anxiety. She prayed he believed she wouldn’t betray his trust. She’d been on the lookout for any information about the video to come into the office today, knew it was a key piece that they needed. Having seen nothing, she chalked it up to the fact Dare was still busy confirming Chelsea’s alibi.

  “Olivia, did you know about the video before coming to the office today?”

  She met Malone Senior’s tempered gaze. “Yes.”

  Sighing, he sat behind his desk. “Did you talk to anyone at all about it? Other than Darren, obviously?”

  “No, sir, I did not.”

  The ringing of the phone on his desk filled the room and caused her to jump a little. She moved to answer it, but he waved her away.

  “Presley and Malone.”

  “Dare,” she whispered, anxious to get an idea what he was thinking while their boss was occupied.

  Dare’s solemn gaze lifted to hers and he gave a quick shake of his head.

  Disappointed he wouldn’t talk to her, Olivia sucked in a deep breath and pushed the hurt away. She prayed he knew she’d never do such a thing.

  “Yes, Ed, I understand,” Malone Senior said. “Do you know how they learned of the tape?”

  Olivia knew Ed was an inside source who ran packages and information from the prosecutor’s office to the police department, and P.I.s. He was the one that had underground informants who could have found out about the video. While Dare did a lot of the leg work himself, he’d worked with Ed many times on various cases.

  Malone Senior’s gaze met hers, his anger clear.

  There was no way…

  “Thank you, Ed. Yes, I’ll have Darren contact you directly.” He hung up the phone, head down as his fingers rubbed his forehead. With a huge exhale, he glared at Dare. “See Olivia out, please. Make sure she takes nothing but her personal bag or whatever she brought with her this morning.” He turned to her. “You’re suspended until this case is over and I can talk to Presley about this.”

  “But, sir! I didn’t do anything.” Panic clawed its way up her chest. She was certain she felt her heart breaking. She loved her job and worked hard at it. She’d never betray either partner of the law firm. Something else had to be going on here. “What did Ed say? Please, Mr. Malone—Dare, I didn’t do anything!”

  Olivia’s shrills of protest could probably be heard from the front area, but she didn’t care. It wasn’t right she was being blamed for something that she hadn’t done—would never, ever do.

  She stared at Dare, eyes pleading. His gaze swung her way, doubt lingered in his gaze but she could see he hadn’t completely decided. Good God, did he know nothing about her?

  “What did Ed tell you, Malone?” Dare folded his arms over his broad chest. The chest she’d spent hours kissing and nibbling just about seventy-two hours ago.

  Anger churned inside her. How could either of them think such disgusting thoughts about her? After years of working with the Malones, and everything she and Dare had shared…

  Heat rose to her face, fury made the nerves around her eyes tight and pound in tandem. Damn them for doubting her.

  “The call to the prosecutor’s office was placed from this office, or at least from Olivia’s cell phone. It lasted about four minutes.”

  She gasped. That wasn’t possible. “That’s incorrect. I don’t know what’s going on, but I never use my cell at work.” Her gaze collided with Dare’s. Aside from texting him today, she usually only made calls on her lunch hour.

  “There’s nothing left to discuss, Olivia. Please follow Dare out.”

  “Wait a minute. Let’s see her cell phone first.” Dare looked her way. “Where is it?”

  “In the top left drawer of my desk,” she whispered. Thank God he was here. His quick thinking would clear her. There would be no evidence that she’d called the DA’s office.

  Dare returned with her phone in hand, cheeks red and eyes dark as his gaze met hers. What…

  “Ten-forty-seven this morning, a call was placed to DA’s office.” He held up the phone, the screen showing the phone number and time-stamp clearly. It couldn’t be.

  “Wait a minute. I’m telling you I did not make that call. I don’t know what is going on.” How the hell could this be happening? Her hands shook as rage swept through her. “Mr. Malone, you know me. I would never do such a thing. Please, try to understand, something else is going on here.”

  “I’m sorry, Olivia. You know we deal in facts in our line of work. By the looks of things, the evidence is speaking for itself. I need you to leave this office, now. You will be notified when we’re ready to discuss this matter again. Until then, do not enter these offices under any circumstances. Do you understand?” Malone ordered.

  “Come on, Malone, this doesn’t seem possible. Olivia has never given us a reason not to trust her before. Perhaps—”

  “Save it, Darren. Your opinion is somewhat biased, wouldn’t you say?”

  Tears pinched behind her eyes as the two squared off. She took a deep breath to keep the tears at bay. She wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her break down. She focused at Dare.

  His gaze met hers. Though he had tried to stand behind her—albeit weakly—doubt, anger and disappointment lingered in his eyes. How he could believe she’d betray them?

  “My phone please.” Her voice wavered, but she held strong. Their fingers brushed as he handed it over. Her arm tingled, but her heart broke, knowing their time together was over.

  “Actually, your phone will remain here. We’ll need it for evidence as we investigate this matter further. My partners will also want to see the proof of your actions.”

  She gaped at Malone Senior, lightheaded. She now knew how criminals felt from the glares of their accusers, judge and jury. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a trial to prove her case. Innocent until proven guilty didn’
t enter into things today.

  She set her phone on the desk, walked across the room and exited the office. She grabbed her lunch bag and purse and moved to the elevator, then pressed the button.

  “Olivia,” Dare said softly behind her.

  “Save it, Darren.” She hadn’t used his full name since Sunday. That intimacy was no longer hers.

  “I’ll figure this out. I promise you that.”

  The elevator doors opened and stepped inside. She turned, pushed for the ground floor and gazed at him. She was grateful for the wall at her back. The solemn look in his eyes, pleading with her to understand, filled her with deep and irrevocable sadness.

  He was a man of principle, honor and morals. She knew he’d stop at nothing to get to the bottom of things.

  But it was too late. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure she was innocent. If he really knew her—truly cared—he’d already know the truth.

  Only when the elevator doors closed did Olivia allow herself to cry.

  Chapter Six

  “Who needs men?” Holly squealed from her spot on Olivia’s living room floor.

  She’d called Holly the moment she got home. Upon hearing the mess Olivia was in, Holly called Candy, who was currently spread out on her sofa. Both showed up on her doorstep—minus Jessica since she had to babysit her niece—bottles of vodka and OJ in hand, as well as two large tubs of Olivia’s favorite mint chocolate ice cream.

  Four glasses of vodka and OJ each later, none of them felt any pain. Olivia couldn’t believe she’d drunk them all within the last three hours, but it had numbed the pain enough to keep the tears away.

  “Men are pricks. Why they ever open their mouth before, after or during sex is beyond me. There should be a law that men are to only be seen and not heard,” Candy slurred.

  “I thought that only applied…” Holly hiccupped. “…to children?”

  “Who gives a shit? It’s a new law. Let’s call the President or whomever and get it on the books,” Candy ordered.

  Olivia giggled.

  “I heard that!” Holly pointed at her. “You need to laugh. Suck this bullshit about being heartbroken and let’s go to Countess. We’ll dare you into another round of great sex.”