The next morning, I found a note on the fridge from Pierce. He’d left a cup of yogurt and a pot of coffee for me to have for breakfast before I went into work. And, apparently, his driver was waiting outside the apartment door to drive me to the office, wait outside the building for me to get done, and drive me back to the apartment at the end of the day. I wasn’t to go anywhere alone. I wasn’t to do anything off my schedule.
Frowning, I poured myself a cup of coffee before getting ready for work. This seemed a little extreme, but I found I wasn’t particularly surprised. Pierce had definitely gone into overprotective mode, and I had to admit, it was kind of flattering for him to be that worried about me. Despite all his talk about no strings attached, one thing was clear: something inside him cared.
Or maybe I was just telling myself that because I wanted him to care.
***
When we got to my office, the driver parked the car and followed me up the stairs to stand in the hallway outside the door. I frowned, wondering exactly what I could do to make this situation a little more normal. If my boss saw this, he would definitely wonder what was going on…and I seriously didn’t want to have that conversation with him.
“You really don’t have to stand here,” I said to Pierce’s driver. “I’ll be fine here.”
“Mr. Donovan said not to leave you alone,” he said. “Just doing my job.”
“Right,” I said with a sigh. I knew there was no point in arguing. Pierce was definitely the kind of guy to command complete obedience and loyalty from his employees, and this guy would probably get fired on the spot if he didn’t act as a 24/7 bodyguard like he’d been told.
I pushed inside the office and slid behind my desk, glancing at Max’s door as I fired up my computer. He still wasn’t in yet, which was good. While the job was an easy one, Max was insistent that I should get there before he did in the morning. He wanted the office to be open and ready, so that all he had to do was walk in and get to work.
The phone rang, and I picked up the receiver, grabbing a pen to jot down whatever the caller needed. “Good morning. Max Weathers’s offices. This is Emma. How can I help you?”
“Hi, this is the woman you called yesterday,” a vaguely familiar voice came over the line. “Rachel Donovan. I’m assuming Pierce set you up to this, and I want to know why.”
My mouth went dry as I realized who was on the other end of the line. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“I think you should be careful who you work for,” the woman continued as if I hadn’t said a word. “Pierce Donovan is not a good man, and whatever he’s hired you to do, I can assure you, he’s got something bigger in mind. Something I’m sure a nice girl like you won’t want be involved in…Emma, right?”
“Yes, Emma,” I said slowly.
“He’s got a history of this kind of thing, you should know,” Rachel said. “You need to stay way from him.”
“A history of what kind of thing?” I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t even want to know. The right thing would be to hang up the phone and tell Pierce exactly what had happened. But the curiosity inside me couldn’t help itself. I wanted to know what Rachel meant by her words.
“Stalking. Abuse.” Rachel dropped her voice to a whisper. “And some say, even worse.”
“What are you talking about?” My hand squeezed the phone, rivulets of sweat slipping down my back. “Pierce would never abuse someone.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Rachel Donovan said. “You’re a private investigator, are you not? You can easily look into this kind of thing to confirm what I’m telling you.”
“Well…no. And I never said I was,” I said, narrowing my eyes. Something wasn’t quite right about this, but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was off. All I knew was that this woman was trying to warn me about Pierce, and I wasn’t sure if I should listen to her or not. He’d hired me to take photos of her, but he wouldn’t tell me why. And now the man she was with in my pictures had turned up dead.
A little warning bell clanged in my mind. I just couldn’t figure out what it meant. Was it warning me about this woman? Or was it warning me about Pierce?
Despite the fact I didn’t want to believe a word this woman said to me, there was one thought I couldn’t shake. Pierce did like to whip and spank and who knew what else. We hadn’t quite gone far enough in his playroom for me to find out all the punishments he enjoyed inflicting on his flings. But all of that was just in the bedroom, right? He’d never actually hurt someone…
“No wonder.” The woman huffed. “I’d like to speak to the actual private investigator there at your office. Whoever is responsible for cases. Not some receptionist, which is what I’m guessing you are.”
I bristled, though I had no reason to feel that way. There was just something about this woman that rubbed me the wrong way. “Mr. Weathers isn’t in yet this morning. What do you mean about Pierce abusing people? Tell me what it is you think you know, and I’ll be sure to pass it along to my boss.”
Though I meant to do no such thing.
A light tinkling laugh filtered through the phone, and it set the hair on my arms on end. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and tried to steady my nerves. If this woman didn’t tell me what the hell was going on, I was going to hang up the phone and go right back to Pierce and demand some answers. I was being kept in the dark about something. And it was time I found out exactly what that something was all about.
“Just tell me already,” I said in a sharp tone. Finally, the woman’s laughter stopped. I guessed she could tell I was getting a little pissed off.
“Pierce has a tendency to get a little rough with his famous one night stands.” The woman clucked her tongue. “Look up Alison Meadows if you want to know more. And I’d watch out if I were you, since rumor has it, you’ve been in his bed, too. Has he said the line to you yet? ‘Now you know what happens when you’re a bad girl.’ Be sure and watch out if he tries that one on you.”
My heart thumped hard, but before I could ask any more questions, the dial tone blared in my ear. That woman had hung up on me. Frowning, I slammed down the phone, trying hard to erase the words from my mind. But I couldn’t. And the blinking cursor on my computer begged for my attention. All it would take was a few key strokes, and I could find out exactly what had happened to Alison Meadows.
And if I was going to stay in the man’s apartment, shouldn’t I know everything I possibly could about him?
Within a few moments, I had the police file for Alison Meadows pulled up on the screen before me. My whole body was so hot from my nerves that my long hair stuck to the back of my neck. Taking a few deep breaths, I scanned the details, a part of me hoping that there was no way Rachel Donovan could be right. She was only pissed off that Pierce had been nosing into her business. She’d put two and two together and must have realized he’d been looking into her extramarital activities, and this was her way of getting back at him.
Still, I had to know what she meant.
My eyes scanned the record, and with each word, the weight in my gut grew heavier and heavier until it felt like an anchor would rip me through the floorboards and drag me into the dark blue depths of the Hudson River. Rachel hadn’t been making anything up at all, and a tiny part of me wasn’t even surprised. I should have known.
Alison Meadows had been a girl a lot like me. Fresh out of college and new to the city. She’d gotten caught up in the BDSM scene within a few months of living in Manhattan, and it hadn’t taken long for Pierce Donovan to zero in on her. She’d said no to his advances. Apparently she didn’t like rich guys. But he’d been insistent. He thought it was some kind of game, a challenge.
But Alison hadn’t felt that way at all.
Pierce had followed her back to her tiny studio apartment in the LES and bruised her wrists when he’d tried to take her hard against a brick wall in an alley. I blinked at the words, tears burning my eyes. He’d forced himself on her, and he’d admitted to his cri
me when she’d brought charges against him.
Fear skittered along my skin, and my mouth went dry. It was hard for me to believe that Pierce was this kind of man, but the evidence was sitting right there in front of me, blinking on the bright monitor screen.
He was a stalker and an abuser, and I’d not only been sleeping with him but I had stayed the night at his place, totally unaware of what kind of man he truly was. And now he had a beefed up bodyguard stationed outside my office so I couldn’t get away from him even if I wanted to. He might end up doing the very same thing to me.
I stood up from my desk so fast, the chair toppled over and crashed to the floor.
“Shit,” I hissed just as the door cracked open to reveal the beefy man in the hallway. He peered inside, a frown pulling down his lips and a hand resting on his belt. My palms went slick. I bet he had a gun.
“Everything okay in here, Emma?” His eyes scanned the room with a frown. “I heard something crash.”
“Yeah, just my chair,” I said through a shaky laugh. I hoped he wouldn’t notice how white my face was and how my hands trembled as I pressed them against the oak desk. “I’m clumsy sometimes. Silly me.”
“Well, alright then.” He gave me a nod. Before he closed the door behind him, he gave me a long, lingering look that shook me to my very core. “If you need anything, all you have to do is say the word. I’ll hear you.”
Those last words chilled me to my bones. I wondered if he’d been able to hear my conversation with Rachel Donovan. Had I said anything that would have given it away? I tried to think back, but my mind was racing so fast, it couldn’t latch onto the memory.
I needed to get out of there. But how? There was no way I would be able to trick the bodyguard guy away from the door. He was too much of a loyal soldier, and he’d made it clear he’d follow orders no matter what. I doubted even the fire alarm would drive him away.
No, I had to figure out another way out of the office. One that didn’t involve the front door. I whirled and stared at the window behind my desk. We were on the fourth floor, but the front of the building overlooked the sidewalks below, and a fire escape ladder led straight down to the pavement. It seemed like a totally stupid idea. I’d heard of people falling to their deaths from those things. But I needed to get away. If what I’d just read about Pierce Donovan was true, I didn’t want to be anywhere near him ever again.
Heart hammering inside my chest, I eased open the window and winced at the rattling sound. But this time, the bodyguard didn’t open the door to check out what was up. Maybe he thought I’d knocked the chair over again.
I swung my legs over the window frame and peered down at the rickety fire escape landing and the rusted metal rungs that led to safety. Time to get the hell out of there.
Work was the last thing I cared about at the moment. Emma Berry’s sweet and innocent face kept flashing in my mind as I tried to mull over the latest contract that had hit my desk that morning. She’d been insistent about going into work today, despite my hesitations. I knew she was well protected and that Rachel was unlikely to try and get to her in broad daylight, but it didn’t stop my concern.
What the hell was wrong with me? There was something about Emma Berry that I couldn’t shake. She’d gotten under my skin somehow, and I wasn’t sure that was such a good thing. I needed to keep my distance, but her innocent eyes and the way they stared at me made me feel like I needed to do everything in my power to keep her safe.
She was a nice girl. She didn’t deserve to be in this mess because of me.
It might be time for me to give Rachel Donovan a visit. If she’d been the one to kill Michael Astor, I had to do something to stop her from going after Emma, though I wasn’t sure what my options were. If the cops got wind of it, the situation would only shed too much of a spotlight on my little brother. And I wouldn’t let Rachel’s actions do that to him.
Not to mention, if she was willing to outright kill a man she was sleeping with, who knew when she might decide my brother was as expendable as her extramarital affair?
As I went to swipe my phone from my desk, it rang harsh and shrill in the silence of my office. The display revealed my driver’s cell number, and I frowned. He wouldn’t call me like this unless something was wrong.
“Yes?” I barked into the phone, glancing out my windows at the streets below. Emma’s office was only a few blocks away, but I couldn’t see the building from there. I wished that I could.
“There’s been an incident,” Anton said in a low voice, almost a whisper. The sound of honking taxi horns blasted in the background, and they sent uneasy chills down my spine. Why was he outside? “Emma is no longer at the private investigator’s office.”
Panic and rage built up in my gut as his words sunk in. This could only mean one thing. Rachel had gotten to her already. Somehow. I knew I should have never let Emma go into work. It had been stupid of me. I should have just locked her up in my apartment until all of this had blown over. I’d given in because she made me feel weak, and now look at what that had done.
“How did you let this happen?” I demanded, gripping my hands into tight fists. “I gave you strict instructions not to let her out of your sight.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Anton said. “I stationed myself outside her office door. There were no other exits. It looks like she climbed out the window and went down the fire escape.”
“You mean someone grabbed her through the window.” I gripped the phone tighter in my hand. “There’s no reason she would try to run off like that.”
“That’s what I thought until I saw what she had on her computer screen.” Anton’s voice held an edge to it. “You’re probably not going to like this.”
“Just tell me.” Whatever it was, it couldn’t be as bad as the nightmare images running through my mind. Rachel Donovan sneaking in through the window and putting a chokehold around Emma’s sweet neck. The life going out of those big innocent eyes.
“There was a criminal case file up on her screen. Alison Meadows.”
My stomach dropped at the name I hadn’t heard in months. “Shit.”
Back home, I paced back and forth by the raggedy couch. I’d escaped down the fire escape ladder and gotten away from Pierce’s bodyguard, but I’d realized two serious flaws in my plan by the time I’d ridden the subway all the way back to my eerily quiet apartment. First, Max was going to be seriously pissed when he found out I wasn’t in work. I hadn’t left him a note or a message, and I wasn’t sure I should call him now. I didn’t have any idea what kind of excuse I could give him to explain why I’d vanished into thin air. He’d probably just tell me to come right back in, and I couldn’t. Not unless I wanted to come face to face with Pierce all over again.
Second, Pierce knew where I lived. And knowing him, he might show up at any moment. I could ignore any knocks on the door, but somehow, I didn’t think that would stop him.
Pierce knew how to get what he wanted. And right now, I knew what he wanted was me. Locked up. In his apartment. With no way out.
I swallowed hard and headed toward the kitchen in search of a bottle of some kind of poison. I didn’t care what it was. Vodka, whiskey, a bitter half-drunk bottle of cheap wine. Anything to warm my chilled body and calm my frazzled nerves. Pierce had stalked and forced himself on a girl just like me. And all I could think was, he would do the exact same thing when he realized I’d run away.
With shaking hands, I found an almost-empty bottle of Cynthia’s favorite rum. I wrinkled my nose at the sharp stench, but it would have to do. I didn’t even bother with a glass. I just tipped back my head and gulped down the liquid. Coughing, I swiped my hand across my lips as the fiery booze burned my throat. I’d never been much of a drinker, especially not with the hard stuff, but the situation definitely called for a way to numb my brain.
Maybe Pierce had even made up the danger he said I was in, just to trap me inside his apartment. Shivers coursed along my skin at the thought. I couldn’t believe I
’d bought into his lies. I couldn’t believe I’d felt safe in his arms when I had actually been anything but.
Heavy pounding sounded on the front door, and I froze, bottle dangling from my trembling fingers. My heart thumped a painful beat in my chest, and I swivelled my eyes toward the door. I couldn’t see anything but a shadow under the crack, but something about that shadow looked familiar. I knew it was Pierce. There was no way it could be anyone else.
“Open up, Emma.” His voice rang out loud and commanding in the silence. “I know you’re in there. We need to talk.”
“Go away,” I said in a weak voice. “I have nothing to say to you right now.”
“I know you looked up Alison Meadows,” he said.
Shocked, I took a step back and slammed my ass against the kitchen counter. How the hell could he know that? Had he put some sort of spy tracker on my office phone? After everything I’d learned about him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had.
“How?” I asked, voice wavering. “Have you been spying on me?”
“Emma.” His heavy sigh seeped through the door, and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret for how I was treating him. Which was stupid. The guy was bad news. It was just…that sigh sounded so defeated, so unlike a man who would stalk and abuse an innocent girl. It sounded much more like the guy who had wrapped his arms around me and kissed me to sleep. “There’s all a reasonable explanation for this. If you’d just open up the door and let me in, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Is that what you told Alison Meadows before you followed her into that alley?”
“I didn’t do it, Emma,” he said. “I swear on my life. That file may have said I did, but it’s wrong.”
I stared hard at the door, heart still hammering. Despite the logical part of my brain that told me I shouldn’t believe a word Pierce Donovan said, I couldn’t help the bulb of doubt that began to grow. Maybe he was telling me the truth. Alison Meadows could have made it all up. I’d worked for Max Weathers long enough to know that just because someone claimed something happened, that didn’t mean it had.
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