“I guess that will have to do. For now,” he said, sitting up in bed and then standing while I still clung to him. His hand was on my bare ass as he carried me into the bathroom to start the shower.
We helped the mirrors fog more than the hot water ever could.
****
He stood in his boxers in the closet debating what tuxedo he was going to wear. Apparently, in his world, he needed more than one.
I sorted through all of the stuff I’d acquired since arriving in New York. Clothes, makeup, and shoes. I’d gone from the clothes I’d been wearing, along with a small bag of Harlon’s idea of necessities, to more than I’d be able to carry.
“What’s wrong? Did you forget something while out shopping?” he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I leaned back into his hold. “I’m debating how many plastic bags I’m going to need to get it all back home.”
His lips twitched. “You are not traveling with plastic bags. You can borrow one of my suitcases.”
His hold disappeared, and he returned minutes later with a suitcase and bag with the guard dog company logo. “You can use that for the clothes, and I can ship the shoes.”
I turned in his arms. “Or you can bring them to me the next time you get the urge to flex your flannel.”
His sexy grin widened. “That’s even better.” He smacked my ass. “You better get a move on, or we’re going to be late.”
He walked back into his closet, and I hefted the bag onto the bed. “This bag is heavy; did you forget to unpack from your last trip?”
He peeked his head out of the closet. “Our marketing staff is always giving us promo items, which we give away to our clients. I’ve never used those before.”
“Maybe it’s the kind where they pile several pieces inside the others.” I unzipped the bag and tossed it open.
Bags of white powder filled the bottom of the suitcase. Stacks of wrapped hundred-dollar bills sat beneath. “You might want to rethink whoever produces your bags.”
“Why is that? Did the zipper break?”
“No, but a jailbreak might be in your future.”
His brows dipped as he picked up one of the stacks of money. “What the hell?”
“It looks like someone is trying to frame you, and they’ve been in your house.”
“Shit,” he growled, glancing around the room. “It has to be Riley or his family. They probably did it while I was away searching for you.”
“Harlon, if I had to guess, whoever put this here will eventually call the police.”
“I need to get rid of it,” he said, turning frantic.
“You can’t. Whoever did this could be watching and just waiting for you to leave. God forbid you get pulled over with it in your car.”
“Well, what the hell do you expect me to do?” he asked, running his hand over his head. “Even if I flush the drugs, there’s still the money and the residue.”
“I need your phone,” I said, holding out my hand.
“Ruby didn’t buy you one?” He asked.
“No, that must have been one of the five stores we didn’t get a chance to visit.”
“Who are you going to call? You can’t tell anyone that this stuff is here.”
I jerked my hand until he handed me the phone, and I dialed the only person I knew would be able to tell me what to do.
Chapter 21
Gwen answered on the first ring. “You were cutting it close. You have one more day.”
“Gwen, I need your help.”
The line went silent.
I’d never asked her for help. I never thought I would have to. She’d offered plenty of times during various times in my life, but I never took her up on it.
“What happened? Who do I need to kill?”
I dropped my head and rubbed the emerging headache forming behind my eyes. “I have a situation. I need to get rid of something, and I need it done quickly and quietly. If you can’t, then there’s a chance you might have to come bail me out of jail.”
“You killed the lumberjack and need to hide his body,” she said and sighed. “Okay, that’s not bad. I know a guy…”
“Gwen. No questions. I have a bag full of drugs and money that needs to disappear until we can figure out what’s going on.”
“The lumberjack does drugs?” she asked.
“Gwennie,” I whined, using the name I’d called her growing up. “This is serious. I think someone is trying to set Harlon and his family up. I need this gone but not destroyed in case it’s evidence.”
“Okay.” Gwen cleared her throat. “Give me your address.”
I glanced up to find Harlon pacing. “What’s your address?”
“Why?” Harlon asked.
“I’m helping you like you helped me in the woods. Just give me the address.”
“1513 Pinecrest Avenue,” he answered.
“Did you get that?” I asked and turned to walk out of the room.
“Yes. Now, did you touch the bag?” Gwen asked.
“Oh yeah. I unzipped it.”
“Okay, I’ll have a person there in ten minutes, but here’s what I need you to do.”
I listened and started searching the house for the things I needed. The rubber gloves were easier to find than the window spray and the rags. I returned to the room and began to work while Harlon watched.
“What are you doing?”
“My sister agrees that it was planted here. If someone is framing you, you can probably expect the cops to show up eventually.”
“Just perfect.” Harlon crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s the last thing we need.”
“Harlon, I need you to check the rest of the closet to see if there’s any we missed. Check the coat pockets, the pants pocket, all of the bags, and even in the shoes. This bag was obvious, but I’m betting there’s more.”
“Okay.” He stomped into the closet. Within the next ten minutes, he’d found twenty additional stashes and had torn the room apart, dumping drawers and pulling things off shelves. I gathered the rest of the drugs and stuffed them into the first suitcase just as the elevator dinged open.
“Uh, hello?” a woman’s voice called out from the living room.
Panic flared in Harlon’s eyes as he stormed out of the bedroom with me following.
“Aw, there you are,” she said with a smile on her face.
The woman had a cleaning cart in front of her and a dog at her feet. Behind her stood two women dressed in maid uniforms.
Harlon had his gun out and pointed at the ladies. “How did you bypass security?”
Their lips twitched as if Harlon was just a pesky bug, and they turned their attention on me.
“Gwen sent me,” the leader said with a smile.
“Right.” Those were the only words I needed to hear. I disappeared into the room and grabbed the bag. When I returned, I handed it to her.
She took it and set it atop the cart before stepping around me.
“This shouldn’t take long,” the woman exclaimed as the others headed down the hall. “If you two will take a seat at the dining table, it will take us about thirty minutes to thoroughly clean the place, and then we’ll be out of your hair.”
“Who the hell did you call?” Harlon whispered.
“My sister,” I answered back and took his hand, squeezing it. “She’s an operative with Fairy Damn Godmother.”
“That I most certainly did not know,” he said. “FDG Operatives don’t play around.”
“Yeah. I know.” I swallowed hard.
Thirty minutes turned into a smidge longer, but it had been worth it when they’d found three more stashes in the ventilation system and one in a fake potted plant.
“Someone was willing to spend a fortune to set you guys up,” the lady said as she and the rest of the team walked out, one pushing their cart.
She pulled out a card that had a phone number written on it from her pocket with the Fairy Damn Godmother emblem, only this suggested th
ey were a cleaning service. “Call me when you need everything back or if you’d like any other place cleaned. We’re really good at getting all kinds of stains out without questions.”
“Thank you.” I clasped the card tight in my hold.
“Don’t thank me, dear. Thank you. I’m now no longer in debt to your sister.”
The elevator dinged closed, and I rested my back against the wall. This was more than I’d signed up for.
“I don’t know what to say,” Harlon said, closing the distance between us. He took my hand. “I think you should go home, Nina. If someone were to have called the cops with you here and the drugs, they would have arrested you too. This is my mess. You shouldn’t be in the middle of it.”
“Harlon, even though you’re probably right, the Bennetts don’t run from a fight, nor do they turn their backs on their friends. I’m not leaving.” Yet.
“Friends?” he asked.
“For the time being…friends with benefits,” I corrected. “Now we have a ball to get to and your sister to find.”
He rested his palm on my cheek, pressing his lips to mine in a way that seared and branded my heart.
“I think we’re going to be late to the party,” he whispered against my lips as he started a heated trail down my neck.
I pushed at his chest. “Oh no, we’re not. Someone went to all of this trouble to take you down. Imagine what your sister is going through. We need to find her, and we aren’t going to do that in bed.”
“You’re right.” He took me by the hand and led me to the room. “But afterward…”
“If we find your sister and catch whoever is doing this, then yes... Afterward, I might even be able to spare another day.” I chuckled. “Maybe.”
Harlon kept his hands to himself while I got ready. I couldn’t help worrying what might have happened had I not needed a bag for my things. Would he have ended up like Riley’s dad? Was this some type of payback?
I stepped out into the living room to find Harlon on the phone barking orders to only God knew who. He turned, his gaze met mine, and the words died on his lips.
His gaze caressed me from head to toe. “You look stunning.”
Heat claimed my cheeks. “It’s the dress.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not.” He shook his head. “Not you, Milton. I was talking to Nina. We’ll meet you there.”
Harlon hung up as if he hadn’t even waited for the other person to say goodbye.
“Sorry, that was Milton. He was wanting to know if you’d drawn any more pictures or if we’d found Suzie,” he said, pocketing his phone.
“Not a problem,” I said. “It’s nice you have friends that care.”
I checked my clutch once more. “If you’d like, I can carry your ID, and you won’t need the purse.”
I opened it to show him I had my ID, money, lipstick, and I pulled out the bear spray I’d found on his dresser. “You’ve been holding out on me.”
He chuckled. “Yep, I’m a thief. I picked it up in the woods and packed it in my bag when I left.”
“You wanted a keepsake?” I asked.
“Memories to show our grandkids,” he answered.
“You’re assuming I’ll still like you years from now.”
“I’ll grow on you,” he said as he called the elevator.
We rode down, and I felt like that girl in every sappy movie, getting dressed up to go out on a date with Mr. Unattainable. My stomach twisted, sending the butterflies into flight. It felt ten degrees warmer standing next to him in the close quarters. Even I couldn’t explain how he made me feel.
The elevator dinged, and I stepped out into the coolness of the garage. Most garages I would assume smelt like gas and oil. Not Harlon’s. Even his garage smelled like it cost a fortune.
Dean was waiting by the limo.
“What, no Town Car?”
“Not tonight,” he whispered. “The limo is the perfect mode of transportation. You made promises for once this was over.”
Heat claimed my cheeks.
The ride to the mansion on the outskirts of town took an hour. Not that I minded. I got to know Harlon a bit better. He eventually asked my favorite color and about my sisters. He was trying to get to know me, but still, being in New York unsettled me, unlike being with him. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should leave.
I was comfortable in my hometown. I’d never needed a reason to leave.
Dean opened the door, and we both stepped out.
Stars twinkled in the night sky. Not a cloud in sight. Men and women dressed in ball gowns and tuxedos headed toward the front door as limos continued dropping people off behind us and then moving, making room for more of New York’s elite.
“Wow,” I whispered. The place was bigger than Manny’s. It was the size of a hotel, several stories high with acres and acres of land. “This is beautiful.”
“My mom helped pick out this venue for the first ball. We’ve been having it at the same place ever since,” he said and took my hand, wrapping it around his elbow as he led me up the ornate stairs.
Men in tuxedos greeted us at the door. The Italian tile was as impressive as the ornate stone fixtures and chandeliers.
A reservation desk stood across the lobby. Staircases led up to the next floor, even though there were elevators that did the same thing. A bar stood to the left, where several party attendees had already claimed tables and drinks.
Harlon led the way down the corridor into a ballroom. I paused inside the door. These decorations caught me off guard, not because of the expense or design but because of the dogs sitting on podiums around the room. Sitting at attention with trainers by their side.
“Dogs?”
“It’s kind of our business,” Harlon said. “We like to introduce them to clients while at the party. It helps if they get a first-hand look at how the dogs behave.”
“Unless someone knows German,” I whispered, more to myself than to him. He was showing off their talents, and all I could think of was the damage they could inflict.
Chapter 22
People milled around, dressed to impress. Harlon had stopped and talked shop with several clients and men dressed in military uniforms. Women flirted shamelessly with him as we made our way to the table where Ruby, Milton, and Quinton were seated near the podium.
Everything in the ballroom was glitz and glamour. Everything I wasn’t. Where I’d once felt beautiful in my black gown, I now understood just how underdressed I was. A group of women dripping in diamonds, rubies, and emeralds passed in front of me. One even had a tiara on her head and a sash over her shoulder as if she were some type of royalty.
The only other people less dressed than me were the uniformed dog trainers standing next to the canines.
“Why are you frowning?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled, and he kissed my cheek and led me over to the table with his hand on my back.
I could do this for one night. I could pretend I belonged.
Quinton and Milton rose as we neared the table.
“You two didn’t bring dates?” I asked.
“We never do, not to this. This is work, not socializing,” Quinton said.
“It wouldn’t be fair to the ladies to have our attention heading so many different directions,” Milton clarified as his gaze followed a blonde’s shapely ass as she strolled by.
“Don’t let them fool you, Nina. They like to score more than contracts at these events,” Ruby said before taking a sip of her champagne.
I took a seat next to Ruby. “Did you bring a date, or are you taking the Milton and Quinton approach to finding a woman.”
I realized my mistake the minute it left my mouth. Harlon wasn’t supposed to know that Ruby liked women. Heat claimed my cheeks.
Ruby chuckled and passed me the extra glass of champagne she’d been hoarding like a double-fisted drinker who wanted to be anywhere but here. “I try to keep my personal and professional life separate.”
Harlon leaned
in and kissed me before whispering in my ear, “We have to check in with the trainers and make at least one round through the guests. Do you want to stay here or go with me?”
“I’m good,” I said, waving him off. “Go do your thing.”
“He’s a workaholic,” Ruby said as all three men strolled around the room, shaking hands with a few people as they made their way to the trainers.
“He’s passionate about the dogs,” I said, lifting the champagne to my lips.
“He’s passionate about you too,” Ruby said. “He’s never brought a date to this event, and he’s never traveled out of town and kidnapped one.”
“I can’t blame him there. I’d do the same if it were my sisters in trouble.”
“Suzie’s an interesting woman.” Ruby sighed as if she were talking about a crush.
“What do you think happened to her?” I asked.
Ruby blushed like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar even though she just shrugged.
“You do know, don’t you?” I asked and leaned into her.
“She’d kill me if anyone knew.”
“Where is she, Ruby? Harlon’s been worried sick.”
“I don’t know where she is, but I know she’s okay. Well, she was two hours ago when she left my loft.” Ruby touched her lips as if remembering.
“You’re her lover?”
“What? No,” Ruby said, draining the remainder of her champagne.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I won’t tell anyone.”
She lowered her gaze and licked her lips. “You promise not to say anything to Harlon or the others?”
“I swear,” I answered.
“We’ve been dating for six months,” she said with a sheepish smile. “The others don’t know.”
My eyes widened. I didn’t even know why I was surprised. Ruby was a beautiful woman, and in the vision, I’d seen of Suzie, she rivaled her in looks. “Congrats,” I said, taking a sip of my drink. “So, you know her well, then,” I said. “Do you think she’s going to show up here?”
Hard to Hold (Bennett Dynasty Book 4) Page 9
