“Me, too,” I say. “You. Just you.”
He strokes my hair and then opens the door for me. It would probably be silly to most people, but I missed little moments like this one in such a huge way. I mean, it’s just a door, but it’s so much more. Once Grayson has sealed me inside the Porsche and has joined me, we just sit there for a moment and stare at each other until we both start smiling. I’m going home. That’s what we’re both thinking. I know it. He knows it. “Come here,” he orders, his hand sliding under my hair to my neck as he leans over to kiss me and whispers, “Mia.”
“Grayson,” I murmur.
We both smile again and I swear I’m not sure I really smiled at all this past year, not a real smile as I have with him this weekend. Grayson settles back behind the wheel and cranks the engine, all kinds of masculine perfection as he does. “I really did miss your obsession with Porsche,” I declare.
He casts me a sideways look. “You love Porsche, too.”
“I love you behind the wheel of a Porsche,” I say. “You make the car look good.”
“You make the car look good, baby.” He winks, backs up, and soon we’re on the road with only a short drive ahead of us to be home. My hot man is a billionaire and doesn’t act like it in ways others with money do, but then, his father beat the word “humble” into his head.
I have the briefest flashback of the first time I met his father, an older version of Grayson, who’d stayed fit and handsome, which made the heart attack shocking. I’ve been sitting in a coffee shop and he’s shocked me by sitting down right in front of me.
“You’re dating my son.”
“Yes,” I say. “I am.”
“But you work for the company.”
“Do you want me to resign?”
“I hear you work very hard,” he says.
“From Grayson?”
“No. Everyone.”
“Harder than ever now. I don’t want to seem like I’m riding his coattails. I didn’t want to date him for that very reason but, well, I ran into him quite literally and it just—we happened.”
“Are you after his money?”
“I hate his money,” I say, as I had to Grayson. “I really hate his money.”
He arches a brow. “Why?”
“Because you have to ask me that question. Because he has to ask that question of everyone around him. I didn’t think we could be real for that reason. I didn’t think he could be real with anyone.”
His lips quirk. “His mother hated my money. She really hated my money. Did you know that?”
“Grayson told me. He’s told me a lot about his mother. He loved her very much.”
“And she loved him very much. Do you love Grayson?”
“Yes. Very much.”
“Then why are you hiding your relationship?”
“I can’t be the girl who slept her way to the top.”
“Then don’t be. Win and win big. No one can question you if you do that, but they will question you and create rumors about you and my son. I had to find out from Leslie. I’ll tell you what I’m going to tell Grayson. Own it. Deal with it. I won’t give you special treatment and neither will Grayson. I didn’t give him special treatment.”
“I don’t want special treatment.”
“Good.” He winks. “I suspect I’ll see you soon, Mia.”
He gets up and leaves.
“Mia?”
I blink and glance at Grayson who’s halted us at a stoplight. “Yes?”
“Where were you right now?” Grayson asks.
“I was remembering the day your father outed us.”
He laughs. “Ah, yes. You called me in a panic.”
“We’d only been seeing each other for six weeks and he had me confessing love before I even told you. And he showed up at the apartment that night and told you I said I loved you.”
“And then I told you that I loved you.” He winks like his father had that day in the coffee shop, so like him it’s scary.
“How did he have a heart attack?” I ask. “He was so fit.”
“He had a heart defect they said he probably had his entire life.”
“Did you get checked?”
“It’s not an inherited condition.”
“Still, can you please just get checked?”
He takes my hand and kisses it. “I’m fine.”
His cellphone rings, forcing me to bank this topic for now as Eric’s number flashes across his dash. Grayson releases me and punches the Bluetooth button. “We’re three minutes away,” Grayson answers.
“I’m in your lobby,” he says. “Just a heads up that Adam has two men with him, one of whom is Blake Walker, one of the three Walkers who owns Walker Security. He’s also considered one of the best hackers in the world, and I mean that quite literally. He’s already been digging around.”
“And?” I prod quickly.
“That’s all I know,” Eric says. “I was just given this information.”
“We’ll see you in a few,” Grayson says and disconnects as we approach the gorgeous glass high-rise that is our destination. “If this Blake Walker can’t prove I’m being set up, I don’t know who can,” he says, pulling us into the parking garage and it’s not long until we’re parked in his private space. “There has to be a trail he can follow.” He opens his door to get out and I forget about Blake. Right now, I’m about to be home for the first time in a year and some part of me just needs to know that’s what it still feels like—home. I want to know that we still feel like us when we walk in the door.
I don’t wait for Grayson to help me out of the car. I get out and he meets me on my side. “Have you changed anything at the apartment?”
“Everything is as you left it, waiting for you to return.” He strokes my hair out of my eyes, his touch sending a shiver down my spine. “Just like I was.”
“I really do wish that we were doing this alone.”
“We’ll be alone soon. We’ll be in our bed again soon.” And with that promise, he laces the fingers of one of his hands with mine, and folds our elbows, aligning our hips and setting us in motion. That silly question of this feeling like home fades. Home is Grayson, not the apartment, and if this is what being flawed feels like, flawed feels pretty damn perfect.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Mia
Eric, Davis, Adam, and two men he introduces as Blake and Asher, wait for us at the elevator on our floor. Blake and Asher are casual in jeans and Walker Security T-shirts, and they both have long hair tied at the nape, only Blake has dark hair and no obvious ink while Asher has blond hair and double tattooed sleeves.
“Let’s head inside,” Grayson says, motioning toward the apartment and my stomach flutters with the realization that this is it. The moment where Grayson and I come full circle.
He leads me forward and when we reach the door, he pulls me in front of him and surprises me by pressing a key into my hand. I look down to find my old pink keychain. It’s my key. Emotion and heat overwhelm me to such a degree that my hand trembles as I lift it. Grayson must notice, as he covers my hand with his and helps me open the door.
Together.
We open it together.
As it should be, I think.
I step into the foyer, which is a square room with dark wood floors and ivory walls and an ivory low-to-the-ground table in the center with a couple dozen teardrop lights dangling above it. Grayson steps to my side and his arm slides around my shoulders. He ignores the rest of the crowd and walks me forward under an archway and into the stunning living room, which is a wide open space that seems to sit on the ocean during the day and at night, as is the present case, a sea of stars and city lights.
To my right is a grand piano, which Grayson has played since he was a child, while the center of the room is set with distinction by a cream-colored rug. The two couches facing each other are a deep, gorgeous blue that we’d picked together only a few months
after I’d moved in. He’d wanted the house to be ours. He’d wanted me to feel this was my place, not just his. I’d just wanted him, but he’d been right. Making choices together had made me feel like this was our place and it still does.
Grayson steps behind me, his hands on my shoulders, his lips near my ear. “I have not fucked you on those couches in far too long.”
I smile and my cheeks are downright flushed, I am certain, as Eric and the masses join us. Eric and Grayson share a look and without words, they decide on the dining room table, directly to our right, for our meeting which accommodates twelve and offers plenty of room. We all sit down at the long ivory table, more teardrop lights above it and us. Grayson sits in the center of me and Eric on one side, with Davis by Eric. While Blake, Asher, and Adam sit across from us.
“I’m going to hand the update over to Blake,” Adam says. “Not only is he the boss, he and Asher are badass hackers, but first, Mia, is there anything our agents need to know? What is your morning routine?”
“I run at five. I leave my house at seven.” My eyes go wide. “I have no clothes for work tomorrow.”
“We can handle that,” Adam says. “What do you need? I’ll have it here in the morning.”
“Everything,” Grayson says. “Anyway you can make that happen, make it happen.”
“We can do that,” Adam says. “For the morning, though, let’s keep the items limited and discreet.” I give him a list that he writes down before he adds, “I’ll be here at six in the morning. And that’s all I need. I’ll turn this over to Blake and Asher, who as I said, are expert hackers.”
“Blake makes me look like an amateur,” Asher says. “And I’m not an amateur.”
“Asher’s damn good,” Blake says. “But hacking is like a second skin to me. Asher is heading up the dive into your electronics, looking for those betraying you. I’m dealing with Ri.”
“And?” Eric prods. “What do we know so far?”
“The electronic trail is too clean,” Blake says. “Someone is wiping it, someone good.”
“Which confirms that this is a well thought out, calculated hit,” Grayson assumes.
“Exactly,” Blake says. “But they’ve made mistakes and when I have more than two hours, as I just had, to find the problems, I’ll find them.”
“Mitch is a problem,” I say. “He’s one of Grayson’s employees.”
“We have eyes on him,” Adam says.
“Physically and electronically,” Asher adds.
“But you have nothing yet,” I say.
Blake’s piercing brown stare meets mine. “We will.”
“You can’t know that,” I say. “I need to know what I can get from Ri that ends this for Grayson.”
Grayson’s hand comes down on my knee and he squeezes. “Answer that knowing that she is all that matters to me.”
Blake’s eyes meet Grayson’s. “As is my wife, and she is an ex-FBI agent who works for Walker. I understand where you’re coming from.” He looks between us. “We’ll wire Mia. Adam filled me in on what happened. I doubt that you will get Ri to admit to setting up Grayson. A sudden change of attitude on your part, Mia, will be suspicious, but getting him to talk trash about Grayson is helpful.”
“That’s not going to do much of anything,” I argue. “I’m a criminal attorney, remember?”
“I’m going to give you a couple of bugs to plant in his office and around the offices in general,” Blake says, eyeing Grayson. “We’re going inside your offices and bugging them as well. We’re starting here locally and we’ll expand based on where our initial research takes us.” He refocuses on me. “Things you can get that help us: electronic devices and documents.”
“I don’t like this,” Grayson says. “Mia could be placed in danger.” He looks at me. “Just go. Convince Ri everything is fine. Let him talk you into staying and then just work, close the case you’re on because that’s the right move for your client. Leave the rest to the professionals.”
“I’ll be careful,” I promise. “But I can easily place a few bugs. I can do this, Grayson. Let me do this for you, for us. For your staff.”
“I’m going to be a stone’s throw away,” Asher says. “There won’t be a moment that we aren’t within her reach if she needs us.”
Grayson starts tapping the table and then he stands, leaving everyone at the table. I glance over my shoulder to find him crossing the living room, toward the wall of windows. He’s effectively told our audience he’s done with everyone but me. Blake fixes me in an unaffected stare. “We’ll leave you two to hash this out. Adam will be here in the morning. I’ll call personally if we find out anything new. I plan to work all night.”
“As do we all,” Asher chimes in.
“I have a few questions,” Eric says. “Can we continue this elsewhere?”
“Yes,” Davis says. “Agreed. I have questions as well.”
Blake nods and we all stand up. I walk them all to the door and Eric holds back to talk to me. “You okay?”
“Only when I know he’s free of this.”
“Agreed. Call me if you need me.” He leaves and I lock the door.
I don’t linger or contemplate what to say to Grayson. I’ll know when I’m with him. I exit the foyer and find him still at the window, radiating dark, hard emotions and I am determined to make the man I love feel something other than those things; I want him to feel me and us.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Mia
Right when I would join Grayson at the living room window, there’s a knock on the front door behind me. Obviously, it’s one of the men that just left, most likely Eric and most likely he left something behind. Eager to be alone with Grayson, I turn back to the door and hit the camera button beside it to find Blake Walker waiting on the other side, and my heart races with the idea that he might have received some sort of news about the plot against Grayson.
I quickly open the door and he hands me a card. “In case you need me. That has my cellphone on it.”
“Right.” I don’t feel relief. I feel disappointment. I want news. I want answers. “Thank you,” I add.
He must read my reaction. “We’ll make this go away,” he promises. “When you set someone up for a crime, as Ri is doing to Grayson, you commit a crime yourself. Ri will pay for his jealousy and competitiveness going too far.” He speaks with a confidence that I welcome. We need someone strong behind us right now and I do believe Blake Walker and his team are good additions to our efforts to shut down Ri. I hope Grayson feels the same and I urgently want to find out.
“Thank you,” I repeat but this time there’s force behind the words.
His eyes narrow on mine as if he’s looking for the same confidence in me that he’s showing in himself. “I’ll update you before bed.” With that, he turns away.
I quickly shut the door and lock up again, stuffing his card into my pocket before I rush toward the living room. The minute I pass through the archway, my gaze seeks out Grayson but he’s no longer by the window. The patio door is open, obviously his way of inviting me to join him. I close the space between me and that door, exiting the apartment, only to have Grayson grab me from the left. In a blink, I’m against the glass door and he’s pressed close.
“You will not put yourself in the middle of this,” he orders, his voice rough, his handsome face all hard lines and shadows, his fingers tangling in my hair and not gently. “I agreed to you going back for one reason: It buys me time to destroy him and that’s for me to do, not you. You go. You convince him you’re still there to stay and that’s all.”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts, Mia, That’s all you do. The end. Do not argue.”
“Grayson,” I plead, but his mouth comes down on mine and his tongue drives away my objections, each stroke a demand that I cannot turn down.
“Nothing else,” he says when his lips part from mine. “Do you understand me?”
Somehow
after that kiss and with his perfect body pressed close, I manage a coherent reply. “Everyone in that room believes you need me.”
“And they were right. I do need you. I’ve been quite clear on that point, which is why I’m protecting you. Anyone who will go as far as Ri is going over jealousy could be capable of more. You could get hurt and I’m not letting that happen.”
“So could you. We protect each other.”
“Mia—”
“Grayson—”
“You will not fight me on this,” he says. “You will not win, so don’t even try.”
His voice is pure steel, the heavy-handedness of his mood is out of character for him, and to such an extreme that he turns me to face the glass, forcing me to catch myself on my hands. His legs cage mine, his hands shackling my hips, his lips at my ear. “You will not win.” His hand slides upward and he cups my breast. “You will do as I say.”
I cup his hand where it’s covering my breast, and he squeezes while I manage to process the fact that he’s not himself. He’s lost his father. He’s lost me. He can’t lose me again. That’s where this is coming from and I know that I can fight with him later if need be, debate with him, and we can make decisions together, but what he needs right now is agreement. “I’m not going to do anything we don’t agree on, Grayson. I won’t.”
“You’re right.” He pulls my shirt over my head. “You won’t.” And before I even know it’s happened, my bra is unhooked too. He drags me to him, cradling my body to his harder one to rid me of my bra completely, his hands cupping my breast, fingers closing down on my nipple. “And I won’t change my mind.”
I moan with the sensations rocking my body, spikes of pleasure blossoming from my nipples straight to my sex. “I’m going to try, though,” I pant out. “You know that.”
He leans me forward again, pressing my hands to the wall by my head. “Don’t try, Mia. It takes away time we can just be here, home, together.” He slides to my side, his leg still at the back of my knees, caging me, the lean of my body forcing my hands to stay put.
Dirty Rich Betrayal Page 13
