Deadly Desire

by Audrey Alexander

  “It was nice to meet you, Anna.” Jace gave the pretty receptionist a nod before following Carrie down the hushed hallway toward her office. Her spine was stick straight, her shoulders tense. She was back in her skirt suit again. It was long and barely showed her calves, though they were particularly well-toned calves, and the material shifted seductively against her ass.

  A part of him wondered how she’d react if he reached out and pressed his knuckles into her skin, rubbing her raw and prickly mood away. Carrie was so tense now, so uptight, she needed someone to take it all away from her. She would turn to putty in his hands, just like she’d done on a regular basis before their parents had decided to tie the knot, bringing everything between them to a grinding halt.

  When they reached the small but well-decorated office with a view that offered sights of Madison Avenue below, Carrie quietly closed the clear glass door with a click. His eyes raked over the wall, her achievements to date lined up in elegant oak frames.

  Carrie settled into the chair behind her desk and clasped her hands in front of her, as if he were just another client who had stopped in for a quick chat. “Why are you here, Jace? I thought you had a meeting with Rick today to go over your options if the police decide you’re a person of interest.”

  Jace unbuttoned his suit jacket and eased into the leather chair across from her. “Rick is not who I want representing me.”

  “Well, you’re not going to get what you want even if I wanted to give it to you.” Her cheeks flushed, and she cleared her throat. “It’s against company policy.”

  “Then, let’s talk about your exit last night.”

  “What about my exit?” Carrie’s face reddened even more, and Jace knew his gut instinct was right, just like it always was. She still had feelings for him, strong ones even. She might be trying to fight them away, but she wasn’t doing a very good job of it if her sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks were any indication.

  “You ran out on me,” he said in a low voice. “And it wasn’t because you had to get up early for work.”

  “Well, it certainly wasn’t because of anything else!” She raised her voice and fisted her hands on the towering stack of papers on her desk. “You tried…”

  Jace tapped his finger on his knee. “I didn’t try a thing, Carrie. If I had, it would have been a lot more interesting than my hand on your elbow.”

  Carrie’s face flamed.

  “You seem to be getting flustered,” he said, a small smile lighting his lips. “Just like last night.”

  “Jace Holt, I hope you’re not implying what I think you’re implying.” Carrie narrowed her eyes and flicked her gaze to the glass door. She lowered her voice and spoke the next words in a hiss. “We’re…you know.”

  He thought it was interesting how she couldn’t even say the word.

  “Only by marriage.” He crossed his arms. “Through parents neither of us are particularly close to. And we were already involved when they met. We should have just told them. I’m certain they would have understood.”

  “It’s still not right,” she said. “You know it just as much as I do. No one would understand. No one here at work, no one you do business with, and especially no one in the family.”

  Her words stung, even though it was an old argument and one he’d heard many times. He didn’t understand why things had to be this way, why fate had dealt out this particular hand of cards. It was as if the universe had to punish him somehow, and this was how it chose to ensure he’d remain forever miserable. No matter how much power he accumulated, no matter how many dollar signs were added to his bank account, he’d never have the one thing he wanted more than all of it combined.

  “Carrie.”

  “You can’t tell me I’m wrong.” She shook her head hard, and wavy strands of her hair fell into her wet eyes. “I’ve seen the tabloids, Jace. The slightest bit of scandal, and you show up all over the headlines.”

  “I don’t care about the headlines,” he almost growled. He wished she could understand that no matter the obstacles they might encounter, none of it would matter in the end.

  “Of course you don’t, Jace,” Carrie snapped, ears and nose and neck turning bright red. “Because no matter what the playboy of the year does, he still gets to rule over his kingdom. You think my bosses won’t care if one of their associates shows up all over the newspapers for doing something like that? You think clients will want to work with me then? Or is my job not as important as yours?”

  The room crackled with tension, and it took all of Jace’s control not to grab her right then and there and show her what he thought of the tabloid headlines and the rest of her familiar arguments. The world be damned. He wanted to push her up against the wall, shove her skirt up to her waist, and rip off her cute little pink thong—he remembered her favorite panties very well. He wanted his mouth on her wet lips, his cock between her thighs, and her heart and body all to himself.

  He wanted his girl back, and nothing stopped Jace Holt from getting exactly what he wanted.

  Jace had rattled Carrie’s nerves once again. She took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart and rid herself of the intimate memories running through her mind. Her eyes stayed firmly glued to her desk, but she knew without looking that Jace’s gaze held a heat she hadn’t seen in years.

  “Jace,” she said, shakily. “I think it’s best if you go see Rick now. He’ll be waiting for you in Conference Room B.”

  “I thought I made my wishes clear,” he said, his voice irritatingly calm and smooth. How could he stay so collected with the crackling tension in the air? Perhaps she was the only one who could feel it, but she found that hard to believe. “I don’t want some sub-standard lawyer when I could have you.”

  “It’s Rick Allen you’re meeting.” She finally looked up to meet his eyes. “One of the managing partners. He’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever met.”

  “Very well.” Jace swept up from his chair and buttoned his suit jacket. “You’ll accompany me though.”

  “You know what? Fine.” She felt her defenses chipping away. Jace was like that. If he saw a weakness, he kept knocking against it until the whole wall went crumbling down. “I’ll be right behind you. I just need a few minutes.”

  His lips quirked. “Agreed. You wouldn’t want to look flustered in front of your boss.”

  She glared up at him, but his smile never faltered. He looked smug and one hundred percent in control whereas she knew her face betrayed the opposite. Jace had won this round of whatever twisted game they were playing, and she hated him for it, even though a tiny part of her felt thrilled from the top of her head all the way down to her pinky toe.

  “Just go,” she said.

  Carrie watched Jace slide out of her office in one fluid motion, like a cat stalking its prey. And she knew exactly who his prey was. She pressed her hands flat on her desk and sucked in a breath of fresh air that didn’t include the tantalizing scent of his musky aftershave. Somehow, in just twenty-four hours, Jace Holt had gotten under her skin.

  A knock on her open office door made her glance up, heart in her throat, expecting to see that small smile on his handsome face. But instead, it was only Sarah, Carrie’s oldest friend from law school who had gotten a job at the firm when Carrie had. Carrie’s heart sunk that it wasn’t Jace again after all, but not before she scolded herself for the idiotic reaction.

  “Was that Jace Holt I just saw leaving your office?” Sarah asked, brushing a dark strand of her cascading locks out of her face as she shut Carrie’s office door. “What’s that hunk of a man doing here?”

  “It’s a long story.” Carrie sighed and met her friend’s curious gaze. Sarah knew the whole long and sordid history of Jace and Carrie. She’d been there when they’d first met, had endured their on and off status through the college years, and had toasted Carrie with champagne when she’d finally found herself in Jace’s arms again three years before. He’d stopped in at the firm’s Christmas party, and she’d ended u
p in his bed. For weeks, they couldn’t get enough of each other’s bodies. Sarah had been there to hear all the juicy details, along with the complaints that Jace would never be able to fully commit.

  And she’d been there to hand Carrie tissues when she’d found out that her mom had eloped with Jace’s dad, in Vegas of all places.

  “You okay?” Sarah’s eyebrows crinkled as she took in Carrie’s frazzled state. Because Jace had been right, she was very much flustered.

  “I’m fine.” Carrie smoothed the front of her blouse and gave Sarah a strained smile. “He’s just up to his old tricks, that’s all.”

  “His old tricks.” Sarah’s concern morphed into a smile, and she shook her head. “I thought he’d given up on trying to get you back into his bed.”

  “Apparently not.”

  Sarah leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Are you going to let him?”

  “Sarah!” Carrie gasped and glanced at the closed door. Even though she had her own private office, it wasn’t exactly secluded. The door was clear glass, so anyone who walked by could see inside, and it certainly wasn’t soundproof. “There’s a pretty major reason why I could never do that.”

  “But you want to.” Sarah said the words in a singsong voice, the one she used when she was joking around but meant every word.

  Carrie sighed and rolled her eyes, standing from her desk chair and snatching a notebook from the clutter. “I swear, you’re just as bad as he is. We’ll talk about this later. I’ve got to go.”

  “Where are you going? I thought you had a mountain of work to do today.”

  “I’m so swamped, I have moss growing on my shoes.” Carrie stared at the pile of work on her desk, but knew that if she didn’t go into the meeting with Jace, he’d come back in here and probably carry her inside the conference room to force the issue. “Unfortunately, my hands are tied.”

  “Carrie.” Rick Allen stood when she entered Conference Room B. Carrie’s palms felt a little damp as she took a seat at the dark oak conference table. Something about Rick always made her nervous. Even though he was the youngest, he was the wealthiest managing partner at the firm, and he had a commanding presence about him that none of the other partners had. He rarely ever lost a case, and when he did, someone usually got fired.

  He reminded Carrie a lot of Jace actually. They had the same dark hair, the same grizzled yet refined face, and they both oozed power wherever they went. The two of them would either get along or tear each other to shreds.

  Carrie swallowed and managed a smile. “Have you and Jace discussed his current situation?”

  “Briefly.” Rick gave Carrie his megawatt smile, the one that tricked his opponents into thinking he was on their side. “I won’t be taking on his case, however.”

  “What?” Her eyes widened. She couldn’t understand why this would happen. Her firm had represented Jace’s business interests for years now, and the partners had always been eager to have him as a client on their roster. He was worth billions after all. “I don’t understand.”

  “Jace has made it clear that he would prefer you to take the lead on this case.” Rick gave a nod to Jace, who gave him a nod back, in some sort of weird silent communication that only men tend to do. “So, I’ll be handing the reins over to you.”

  Carrie’s heart thumped hard in her chest. She couldn’t believe Jace had pushed this. If he’d been anyone else in the world, it could have lost Carrie her job. She did her best to keep her emotions at bay and respond with measured words. “I was under the impression that representing Jace would be against company policy. And I’m not even a criminal defense lawyer.”

  “For Jace Holt, I believe we can make an exception. Unless you have a personal objection to taking on such an important case?” Rick’s smile was easy-going enough, but his tone held the warning he didn’t voice. Jace wanted Carrie, so Jace was going to get Carrie, and she better damn well agree to it, because he was one of their biggest clients.

  Don’t make the client unhappy, Carrie. She could read the words in his eyes.

  She was going to kill Jace for putting her in this position.

  “Of course I don’t have any personal objections to it. I’d be happy to represent Jace in this instance.” At those words, she glanced at Jace and shot daggers with her eyes. He gave her an easy grin, which only made her blood boil even more.

  “Perfect.” Rick swept up from the desk and shook hands with Jace. “I expect nothing but the best from you, Carrie. Be sure to keep that in mind.”

  In other words, she better not botch this case.

  Jace had Carrie right where he wanted her. Next stop: his bed. He knew these next steps might be a little tricky. She still showed signs of resistance, but Jace liked a challenge. It was part of why most women had failed to keep his interest recently. They were all too easy, too quick to give into his needs. He wanted someone with some fire in her. Someone like Carrie.

  When Jace returned to his hotel, he found the police had cleared out of the penthouse and his assistants had done their best to remove any evidence of the mess. But things were out of place in his carefully constructed home. A slight sheen of white powder dusted the black kitchen tile, and the door to one of his kitchen drawers sat ajar.

  Frowning, he yanked open the drawer and peered inside. Wonderful. He should have known. Pushing aside the dark cloth, it was very clear that someone had made an even bigger move against him than he’d thought. His gun was gone. He couldn’t say when it had been stolen, but he could guess it had happened before the police had arrived, or they would have questioned him about it by now.

  Anger boiled in his veins. There’d been many attempts to discredit him, to scandalize him, to take his hotel business down. But this was the first time someone had gone this far. Unfortunately, the missing gun was something he couldn’t share with Carrie. She couldn’t know. It would only bring to light the secrets he had to keep hidden from her. And if she found out those, he might never have a chance with her again.

  The meeting at the law firm had taken up most of his day, and he still had his own business to attend to. He poured himself a gin and tonic and opened his laptop to take care of the important matters of the day before he made his next move to get Carrie back into his arms. He needed to make a move fast on the building for sale in Times Square, now up for grabs since Anders Holland was no longer in the picture. If he could get a hotel launched there, he would be able to triple his income. There were some smaller estates he needed to check, as well as make a promised donation to his candidate of choice in the upcoming elections. Jace checked his accounts, his numbers, and nodded as he took a sip of his drink. One day away from his work, and nothing had imploded, and it looked as if the Times Square building would be his.

  Whoever was trying to take him down would fail.

  With a smile, he closed his laptop and called the concierge to bring him the best bottle of Pinot Noir in the building. He ordered a couple of steaks for good measure, to be sent up in precisely one hour. Jace remembered everything about Carrie’s specific tastes, both in the bed and out. She liked nice things, just like him, though she often pretended otherwise when other people were around.

  Carrie. She’d looked so sexy in that suit. The skirt had hugged her curves even more than her jeans had the night before. The blouse she’d worn had been cut into a V, showing the slightest hint of her cleavage. Just enough to drive him mad. He felt himself harden at the thought of pulling that shirt over her head and grasping her nipples between his lips.

  He groaned. He wanted her, he needed her, more than he’d ever needed a woman in his life. Tonight, he would show Carrie Simmons that he was the perfect man for her, no matter what their parents had done. He would show her that it didn’t matter, not when compared to the heat and passion he knew they still had.

  Just before he made the call, he went into his bathroom and spread a small dab of aftershave across his face. He knew that scent drove Carrie wild, and wild was exactly
how he wanted her tonight.

  Jace opened the penthouse door when a soft knock sounded on the wood. Over the phone, Carrie’s tone had been a combination of annoyed and intrigued. He’d told her there were some details about the case he’d forgotten, and no, he couldn’t tell her over the phone. He’d expected her to protest more than she had, but she’d been quick to answer to his demands.

  She still wore that sexy skirt, and the suit jacket was gone, so the curves of her breasts were even more on display. It was all he could do to keep himself from ripping open her shirt right then and there, but he knew Carrie would need to take things slow.

  “So, what are these details you supposedly came up with?” Carrie pushed past him into his penthouse, the small slit in the back of her skirt showing off a hint of her toned thighs.

  Jace gestured at the bottle of wine and the two glasses sitting on his marble kitchen island, the dimmed lights overhead gleaming against the black surface. “I thought we could make a proper business dinner of this. I’ve ordered us some steaks cooked just how you like them. They should be arriving any moment.”

  Carrie propped her hands on her hips, opened her mouth, and then closed it again. He fought the urge to smirk at the flicker of warmth across her cheeks. “That’s really not appropriate, Jace.”

  “You need to relax.” He ignored her protestations and began to uncork the wine, gripping his hand tight around the bottle and thinking about how he’d rather be gripping her perfect ass. “I assumed you were well-acquainted with business dinners in your profession. The partners at Hanson, Allen, and Chase have wine and dined me many times before.”

  “You swear this is a meeting?” Carrie raised her eyebrows, and he could see another chunk of her wall toppling away. “There are actual things about the case you want to discuss?”