Blindfold: The Complete Series Box Set

by M. S. Parker

Shit.

  She had me twisted in knots, and all she’d done was walk out of the bathroom. In a fucking towel. For some reason, that pissed me off.

  “You know, I have a robe in there,” I pointed out, following her out into the hall.

  She shot me a wide, innocent look. “I wouldn’t want to be presumptuous, Mr. Lang. Borrowing something so personal seems rather rude.”

  I scowled at her. “But you’re fine walking around my house wearing my towel.”

  She looked down at the towel, and then up at me. “Good point.”

  I knew what she was going to do before she did it and I took a step forward. “Dammit, Toni!”

  Too late. She tossed the towel at me and it hit me in the face. Instantly, my head flooded with the lush, warm scent of her, and the pulse of lust turned into a roaring inferno. I dragged the towel off my face and threw it in the vicinity of my bedroom.

  She was already several feet ahead of me, naked as a jaybird, walking toward the stairs.

  “Toni, you are not walking around my house naked!”

  “Don’t worry. I know where the bag is, Mr. Lang. I’m trying to be quick, though. I want to get out of your hair so you can forget all about that mistake.” Her voice was cheerful.

  The look she fired at me as she started down the stairs was anything but.

  I caught up with her just as she entered the small sitting room and I froze in the doorway. My heart thudded to a stop, though, because she suddenly bent over. My cock went on red alert at the sight. Her firm ass flexing. Her naked cunt was open. Two steps and I could be inside her...

  She straightened and glanced back at me. “Don't worry, Mr. Lang. Two minutes and I’ll be gone.”

  “Sir, may I…oh, dear.”

  Doug stood in the doorway, his eyes wide. Wide and glazing over. I covered them with my hand as new flash of anger went through me. Anger that someone else was seeing her...

  “Toni, get your ass dressed.”

  “I am, Mr. Lang. I’m sorry, Doug.” She smiled again, still so cheerful. But the smile had an edge of violence to it. “Mr. Lang and I had an encounter last night, but he realizes now it was a mistake. I think he wanted to keep things professional after he had me arrested, but didn't quite manage it.”

  “Yes...” Doug’s voice had a dazed tone to it.

  I shot him a look. He leaned slightly to the side.

  “Doug!” I snapped at him.

  “Sir!” He turned his back, clearing his throat. Every inch of his visible skin was flushed. “Miss Toni, is there anything...shall I fetch anything else for you?”

  “Nope!” She shimmied into her pants, sans underwear. The top went on over her braless breasts just as I recalled her bra and panties were up in my room.

  “I can get your–”

  “I promised minutes,” she said, cutting me off as she turned towards me. “I’m down to one.”

  I sucked in a breath. Her nipples stabbed into the thin material of her sapphire blue top. Shit. There was no way I was going to let her go out like that.

  “Doug. Please have a car brought around–”

  “There.” She shoved her feet into her shoes. “Okay. I’m done. Later!”

  Later?

  Dumbfounded, I watched as she sailed toward the front door. Surprised by the nonchalant farewell, I almost didn’t move in time. Lurching after her, I caught her arm. “You’re not leaving yet. We need to talk.”

  She lowered her gaze to my arm, studying it for a moment before looking up at me with those cool eyes. Her voice lost its cheerful quality and went straight to flat. “No. I don’t think we do. You established we’d made a mistake. Now if I’ve made a false presumption and you don’t want to pretend it never happened, that us having sex last night wasn’t the mistake you were talking about...?”

  Her words trailed off and she stared at me expectantly.

  I opened my mouth. I could talk my way through this. It was what I did.

  But nothing came out.

  “Okay, then. We talked. It’s settled.” She patted my hand, then tugged it off. “I should go.” She took a couple steps and then paused, throwing her final comments over her shoulder. “And, by the way, you should probably start calling me Ms. Gallagher. We want to keep things professional, right?”

  She was gone before I had a chance to say another thing.

  It took me nearly a full minute to get the taste of my size twelves out of my mouth. Just how had I managed to mess this up so badly? I hadn’t just shoved my foot in my mouth. I’d shoved both feet in, past my ankles and all the way to my knees.

  Shit.

  Chapter 10

  Toni

  There were days when there was only one way to handle all of the craziness inside, and I knew that was where I was going very soon. At the moment, however, I sat on the subway with my arms wrapped around myself, staring out the window as if mesmerized by the sight of the tunnel speeding by my window.

  When a guy took the seat next to mine and slouched down low, spreading his legs wide the way guys did when trying to direct attention to a certain part of their anatomy, I ignored him. He tried to talk to me and I deliberately put my earbuds in, even though I didn’t turn them on. He called me a bitch, got up and wandered off to try his tactics somewhere else. Mentally counting down the stops, I prayed nobody else would settle in the now vacant seat. I'd never been in less of a mood to socialize.

  Ashford Lang was a bastard. A stupid, self-centered bastard.

  I should have just punched him again. Maybe a knee in the crotch.

  Why in the hell had I gone to Olympus with him?

  And why had I…immediately…

  I closed my eyes and tried to pretend I wasn’t remembering every detail of the past night. No, the past day. Even him showing up at the station house. The stilted apology, us sparring down in the gym. Those hot, torrid moments at Olympus...and then even hotter moments that had followed at his house last night. And again this morning.

  I hadn’t been expecting any diehard declaration of love, but for him to go and turn all asshole on me again just seconds after he'd woken me up by sliding inside me...

  The car lurched to a stop. At the last moment, I realized it was my stop and I darted through the doors just in time. Moving through the ever-jostling crowd, I emerged out into the brilliance of another hot New York day. It was Sunday, I realized. Since my usual Friday evening family dinner had been interrupted by my stint in jail, I was supposed to go today. But if I wanted to deal with the family's response to what had happened, I'd need to work out some of my issues first.

  I hurried home and immediately changed into my own workout gear.

  It took me less than ten minutes from the time I hit my lobby to be back outside again, earbuds in place. The music was loud, blasting the hardest, fastest rock I could find. I settled into a quick pace and tried to outrun the anger. I couldn't, but between the lingering exhaustion from yesterday, and my worry about Isadora, I knew I could at least run myself to empty.

  After five miles on the city streets, I was back at my house and in the shower. As the hot water beat down on me, I willed my brain to empty. When I was done showering, I planned to lay down and grab a nap. Then I’d go to my parents' house, hang out with my family and recharge. Maybe tonight, I’d go somewhere and get a drink. Or just come home and read, have a glass of wine. Anything to unwind and try to forget about the past few days.

  About Ash.

  That was the plan.

  After I talked to my brother about a slightly uncomfortable subject.

  ***

  Vic leaned against the railing of the small deck my parents had built onto the back of their house this past spring, studying my phone. After a minute, he frowned at it. “That’s the best picture you got? You couldn’t have had them email you a decent one?”

  “I'm not even supposed to have this copy, Vic. I need to keep it quiet that I have it, but...”

  Vic cocked a brow, studying me with his dark eyes
.

  I forced myself to ask the question I knew he didn't want to answer. “Can you show it around?”

  Vic looked away, the set of his jaw grim. “Show it where, Sis? It’s not like I...”

  “Vic, you still have connections. I know you do.” My voice was soft but I wasn't going to let it go.

  He pushed my phone back into my hand and shoved away from the fence. He paced across the planks, putting as much distance between us as the small deck allowed. Long moments passed before he said anything else. “I’ll do what I can. But you stay out of it, Toni, okay? Kidnapping...hell, this isn't some prank. This is serious. Let me talk to some people, but you keep out of it. That’s the deal.”

  I folded my arms and scowled. “I’m not an idiot, Vic.”

  “Nah. That’s my job,” he said wryly.

  Joining him at the railing, I shoulder-bumped him. “You’re not an idiot.”

  “Eh, I suppose I've wised up some.” He hooked an arm around my neck. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m...okay.” Resting my head against his shoulder, I sighed. It was the truth. Sort of. I was mostly okay. I was tired and sore, and not just from the sparring or the running. Of course, I wasn’t going to tell Vic that.

  I loved my brother, but that would be a total overshare.

  Chapter 11

  Toni

  If I was smart, I would've stayed home.

  Or I’d have called my dad and talked to him about coming to work at the company for a while. I wasn't any good with electricity like my dad or Deacon or Franky, but I could file invoices, take and make calls, and it wasn’t like I couldn’t learn fast.

  That had been one of Deacon's points when suggesting the personal assistant gig to begin with. My intelligence should've been an asset with pretty much anything I wanted to do, but I was beginning to suspect I was lacking in the common sense area.

  Case in point, was I taking my own advice about work?

  Nope.

  I was on my way over to the Lang house, and I had no doubt I’d see Ash. He hadn’t gone into work since Isadora disappeared. I couldn't say I blamed him. If something happened to one of my brothers, I wouldn't want to go to work either. No, actually, I would work, because I'd never be able to just sit and do nothing.

  Then again, I didn't think Ash was doing nothing. I was pretty sure he was spending quite a bit of his free time drinking. The man was a mess, and not just because of the way he was acting around me. In his shoes, controlling an empire worth millions or billions, it probably didn't sit well not being able to control things.

  She wasn’t my family and I hated not being in control.

  I tugged at the trim black pants I’d pulled on, paired with a simple white tunic shirt. The clothes were plainer than what I normally wore, and they hid my body well. So well that I'd almost turned around twice so I could change, prove to myself that I didn't need the armor.

  Then again, Ash was being an ass, and if I needed some sort of armor to protect myself around him, then fine. He was the one freaking out about the other night, not me. I’d...loved what we'd done. I could come to crave it.

  With somebody else, of course. No way, no how, was I going to subject myself to that kind of shit with him again. I was done with making stupid decisions. I was so...done.

  Tired already, I started up the subway steps. Even though I still had a good block or so to walk before I reached the house, it was already so much quieter here. This part of New York was like a world away from what I knew. The only thing that seemed the same were the taxis and even at this time of morning, at the tail end of rush hour, the yellow cars that swarmed around the streets of the city like hornets seemed to be a little less...swarmy here. Except I knew that just because the place was wealthy didn't mean it was any better than the place I'd grown up.

  Isadora had been targeted, in part, because of her money. These walls and that money didn’t promise any more peace or security because of it. Or despite it.

  The steps up to the Lang house seemed more daunting than normal, and when I went to knock, my palms were damp. I resisted the urge to swipe them down my pants. Relief flooded me as Doug was the one to open the door instead of Ash. Not really a surprise, but still a relief.

  I eased inside as he nodded at me.

  The quiet of the house wrapped around me like a tomb. “Has there been anything new?” I asked, my voice a bare whisper.

  “No.” He gave a somber shake of his head. “If there is, rest assured I'll call you. You have my word.”

  Impulsively, I kissed his cheek.

  He blushed red. “Thank you.”

  And then I realized he was staring at me. And probably what he was remembering. Now I was the one blushing as I realized one very unintentional consequence of my previous impulsiveness.

  This could quickly become very embarrassing.

  But all he did was give me a soft smile. “You know you don't need to keep coming out here,” he said quietly. “It's kind of you. You're a good friend to Isadora. But this isn't your responsibility.”

  “This isn't about responsibility.” I shrugged. “I'm not sleeping very well at night. I'm worried for her.”

  I might have said something else, but the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I realize Doug and I were no longer alone. He was here. I had no desire to give Ash any more of my attention. He had already taken too much of it. I reached out and caught Doug's hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

  “I heard back from some of the contacts Isadora wanted me to reach out to, so I'm going to try to see if I can get a little bit more work done on that project she put me on.”

  “Of course.” He nodded at me. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  The look he gave me as he turned to walk away looked strangely sympathetic. As if he knew Ash wouldn’t let me simply ignore him.

  “Why are you here?” Ash asked as Doug left the room. The question was surly.

  “What do you think?” I shot him a sour look as I pulled the strap of my purse over my head and put it down on the nearest table. Without bothering to look at him, I moved over to the desk where Isadora kept the laptop we worked on.

  As I moved, I was acutely aware of Ash’s gaze locked on my back. I almost called out for Doug, thinking that having him around would be useful. I could lie, say I was hungry and ask him to fix me something to eat. But I wasn’t a coward. I never had been. I wasn't going to let Ashford Lang turn me into one.

  Dropping down into the chair behind the desk, I glanced over at Ash. He stood in the doorway, wearing casual clothes that looked entirely not casual on him. That long, sexy frame could wear just about anything. It didn't seem fair. His hair was rumpled, reminding me of how it felt to fist my hands in it the first night we were together.

  “Yes?” I forced myself to look directly at him. I just hoped I could keep my voice cool enough to get through this conversation.

  “Why are you here?” he asked again. “You spent most of last week fussing around and not doing much of anything.”

  “I spent most of last week finishing up what I could do with the information I had,” I replied in as bland a voice as I could manage. “Since then, however, I received information back on the queries I’d sent out for Isadora, so now I can get a little more work done. She did hire me to do a job. The job is still there and I'd like to have some progress to report when she gets back.”

  Ash reached up and rubbed at his jaw. It was rough with stubble. His eyes were heavy-lidded, and the overall look was of a man who had just rolled out of bed. I doubted that was the case. I didn't think he had been sleeping all that much since Isadora disappeared. Although he had slept the other night...

  Don't think about that, I told myself.

  Thinking about our time together was the absolute worst thing I could do. Under his gaze, I could feel the tension growing inside me and I had to resist the urge to squirm on the chair. Heat gathered inside my belly, a burgeoning inferno, and I knew I needed to ge
t it under control. The man was too observant about certain things. I didn't want him knowing anything about what I was thinking.

  Of course, he knew anyway. An answering flare of heat lit his eyes and he came closer. He stopped in front of the desk and leaned forward, bracing his hands on the edge. He gave me a wicked smirk. “You rushed out of here so fast yesterday morning. Now here you are, already back. You looking for more, Toni?”

  It wasn't easy for me to be stunned into silence, but he'd managed it.

  I wasn't shy, and I wasn't particularly naïve. Plus I had four brothers who'd made it their business to try to embarrass me, especially around cute guys. I'd learned early on how to brush things off. But Ashford Lang had just managed a near impossible feat. For a span of maybe fifteen seconds, I couldn't utter a single word.

  Then anger burned away the shock. Shoving up right, I glared at him across the desk. “You are a monumental asshole. You know that, Ashford? An asshole. You're also an arrogant son of a bitch!” He opened his mouth to say something, and I held up a hand. “No! You don't get to talk to me that way!”

  The look on his face was almost laughable. I doubted he'd had a lot of people in his life who'd raised their voices to him.

  But I was too mad to be amused just then.

  I kept going. “You don't get to talk right now. You had a chance when I walked in the door and you decided to be a dick about it. It's my turn to talk. I'm not your employee or subordinate. And I'm sure as hell not here for a booty call. You want to be freaked out about what happened? That's your problem. But you're not gonna talk to me like I'm one your little subs from the club. I'm not gonna put up with it, do you hear me?”

  He stared at me, eyes glittering. Then, as I was bracing myself for what was bound to be one ugly argument, he turned on his heel and walked out. I sat in my chair and blew out a breath.

  Yeah. No doubt about it. I might've had an IQ that was up there in the stratosphere, but sometimes I really wasn't all that smart.

  Chapter 12

  Ash

  I took a shower. I lingered a little longer than normal because seeing Toni did what it always did and I wasn't about to walk down there with a hard-on. And I couldn't leave because I'd planned to stay home in case there was another phone call. Not that it was necessary since I had already arranged for any calls to be directed to my cell phone. But I felt more in control if I was actually here.