A flush stole across Grace’s skin. It was a damn good thing she hadn’t run around the office proclaiming her conquest. Only Adam, Jake, and Kayla knew she’d been seeing him away from work. At least she thought that was all. God, she couldn’t handle it if everyone knew she’d played around with a younger man and got dumped after only a few nights. It was a good thing he wasn’t coming back. She didn’t think she could handle seeing him back in the office, potentially hitting on someone new.
“Yeah. It was just casual.”
He pinned her with a glare that made her wonder how much he knew. “I’m glad. Maybe now you can concentrate on work. Let me know how the party planning comes. I want this to be perfect, Grace.”
Grace nodded and was relieved to find herself dismissed. She slunk out of Matt’s office. It wasn’t surprising that he would call her out. He’d been against her relationship with Sean from the beginning. He’d been the one to tell her she should be cautious. Cautious? He’d told her flat out Sean wouldn’t stay, and he hadn’t.
The rest of the afternoon centered around calls to caterers and plans for the big party. At three, Evan Parnell strode into Matt’s office after giving Grace a smirk. He’d never actually looked her straight in the eyes before. The contact unsettled her. It also made her remember that slip of paper he’d dropped the day before. Following her instincts, Grace looked up the address on the Internet. It was to a mail facility that offered safety deposit boxes as well as mail collection services. She thought about that long list of numbers. Some of them she recognized now. She’d checked them against bank accounts that Wright Temps used and matched three of the numbers. One of them, though, was too short to be an account number. Grace wondered if it was a box number or a locker code.
When Evan Parnell left Matt’s office, Grace was a minute behind him.
It was stupid. She knew it as she followed him out to his truck. She had zero business playing the private eye, but the longer this thing with Parnell went on, the more she suspected he was blackmailing her boss. Matt was getting markedly worse, and he almost always went on a bender after meeting with Parnell. Logic told her Matt should have dumped him as an employee long before. So why was Parnell still around?
Grace tried to follow at a distance. She lost him twice, but caught sight of the black truck at the bank. Parnell parked in the parking lot and went in. He was in the bank for ten minutes. He came out holding an envelope and immediately crossed the street.
Grace checked the name of the street. Mount Dale Avenue.
Grace put the car in park and slipped out to follow Parnell into the Addison Mail and Storage Center. The storefront was new, and the center appeared to take up most of the small strip it was located on. From the street she could see that Parnell was talking to the clerk. They spoke for a moment and then Parnell was allowed behind the desk and led to the back of the store.
What did Evan Parnell need with a storage locker? He had a large storage facility for his janitorial supplies. She doubted he was keeping mops and brooms here. Now that she knew the name of this place, she remembered the check she had written out. Matt had told her to pay it. It was for a small locker here. She’d paid for the full security package for a year. She’d assumed it was for Matt. Why was Matt paying for Parnell’s storage with Wright Temp funds?
Grace glanced down at her watch. She would have to hurry to meet Adam and Jake. She briefly considered canceling on them, but decided not to. The thought of going home to her lonely little house and thinking about Sean all night was too much.
Besides, she had a mystery to solve. That alone could take her mind off her almost-lover. Whether Matt wanted it or not, she was going to save him from the clutches of one Evan Parnell. She was going to figure out just what kind of hold the man had over him.
* * * *
It was late when Adam and Jake dropped her off at home. Adam parked her little hybrid in the driveway. Despite her protestations that she was more than capable of getting herself home, the boys had insisted. Adam had stolen her keys at some point and refused to give them back. Jake had followed her. He pulled his Jeep in next to her. Adam shut off the car and was out and opening her door before she could get her seatbelt off.
“Thanks.” She put her hand in Adam’s and let him help her out of the car.
The evening had been pleasant. She’d genuinely enjoyed the time she’d spent with them, but her heart still ached at the thought of Sean. Was he back in Chicago now? Did he already have a date? He probably had two or three. And she bet they weren’t gay.
“Keys?” Jake held out his hand. Adam passed them to his boyfriend and led her up the little walkway to her door. Jake had the door open. He frowned. “Don’t you have an alarm?”
Yes. It was obnoxious and emitted the nastiest sound when she couldn’t get to it in time. She set her briefcase down. “It’s a nice neighborhood. My sons insisted on having it installed when they went away to college. I try to remember to set it when they’re home, but otherwise, I’d just as soon not deal with it. Would you like some coffee?”
Sean had made her set the alarm. He’d been upset to discover she didn’t use it on a regular basis. She had agreed to be more thoughtful about it. Of course, he had his mouth over her pussy at the time. She would have agreed to just about anything.
“You should set the alarm, Grace. I don’t care how nice the neighborhood is, bad things still happen. If your sons love you enough to want to protect you, you should let them.” Jake stood over her. He was bigger than Adam and quieter. Adam was all light and fun. Jake was a broody hunk of man. He was the authoritative one in the relationship. His voice was dark and deep. Grace almost found herself nodding and agreeing with him simply because of his voice.
Nope. Not going there again. She managed to shrug. “I have a baseball bat, and I know how to use it. Don’t worry about me.” She strode into the kitchen. She was done with domineering men, even if they were just doling out good advice. She started the coffee pot. She had taken care of herself for a really long time. A couple of days as Sean Johansson’s sub didn’t change that. Besides, he had only wanted her for sex, so she had been on her own anyway. “Maybe I’ll get a dog. Or a gun.”
“Dear god, no.” Adam looked perfectly horrified. “To the gun, love, not the dog. We’ll find you a nice big Rottweiler.”
“Adam is right,” Jake agreed. “A gun would more than likely be turned against you, or you would shoot someone you didn’t want to shoot.”
She chose to ignore the big man. Jake towered over her. His dark eyes always seemed to be assessing his surroundings. It was easier to concentrate on Adam, who had a much sunnier nature. She passed him a mug. “I might take you up on the dog. I don’t want a Rottweiler, though. I’d greatly prefer a Lab.”
Adam snorted as he took his coffee. “Yes, a nice Lab would lick your intruders to death.”
Grace laughed it off and left the room to hang up her sweater. The rest of the evening was nice, but all too soon the boys were leaving. Grace walked them out, Adam lingering for a moment.
“Turn on the alarm, Grace.” Jake’s words were thrown over his shoulder as he walked toward his Jeep.
Adam winked at her, his light happiness buoying her spirits. “You should do what he says. He likes to be in charge.”
Adam leaned over to kiss her cheek but lightly brushed her lips instead. He pulled back almost shyly. He was probably embarrassed he’d missed her cheek.
“Good night, Adam.”
“Adam!” Jake barked at his lover, his tall form rigid in the moonlight.
“Now I’m in trouble. Goodnight, love.” He didn’t seem worried as he joined the larger man.
Grace sighed and closed the door. She turned the locks and walked back into the living room. Loneliness weighed on her. Despite her early attempts at forgetting, Sean’s presence had clung to her all evening. Adam and Jake had carefully avoided the subject of her love life. They had talked about Jake’s brothers and his artist parents. They h
ad talked about the office and movies they liked. And everything brought her back to Sean.
Pete’s picture on the mantle caught her eye. It was a picture they had taken on their trip to Hawaii shortly before the car accident that had taken his life. Grace pulled the picture down and tears clouded her eyes. She didn’t even have a picture of Sean. Grace put the picture back and silently went to bed.
Chapter Twelve
“Tell me he didn’t kiss her.” Even from a distance there was no mistaking that motion. That fucking bastard Adam was at it again. Sean felt a need to race across the street and beat the living shit out of one of his oldest friends.
“Calm down.” Liam shook his head. The van that served as a surveillance station was already cramped, but he pointed to the video feed from outside the van. Jake was stalking down the street toward them. “It’s like Grand Central Station in here. Why am I here?”
“Because it’s your shift,” Sean said absently.
She had kissed Adam. Grace had stood there, not a day after he’d left, and kissed Adam.
Liam sat back in his chair and regarded Sean with a frown. “None of us needs to take a bloody shift. You won’t leave. You need to go home and take a shower. Your stink alone should alert the world we’re here.”
Sean growled and opened the door to the van. Jake climbed inside. His hands were already out in a conciliatory fashion. “Just hear me out, Sarge.”
He’d like nothing more than to get his hands wrapped around Adam’s throat. He could feel them there even now. It would make him feel infinitely better to choke the life out of someone. He’d spent the entire day following Grace around, skulking in the shadows while that fucker held her hand. While Sean had spent the last twenty-four hours with a hollow place in his stomach, Grace had sure moved on fast. She hadn’t even spent one single night mourning him. She’d gone to work and hadn’t skipped a beat. She’d been at happy hour like he’d never existed. She’d smiled and laughed, flirting with Adam.
“Where’s Adam?” Sean was surprised at how evenly the question came out of his mouth. A coldness was settling around him.
“I left him in the car. I thought I should keep the two of you apart for awhile.”
Bitterness filled Sean’s brain. She’d let another man kiss her the day after he put a collar on her. He’d been wrong, and Ian had been right. Sean sat back in the small chair that barely contained his bulk. His knees were practically up to his chin. First she’d followed Evan Parnell this afternoon. That was suspicious in and of itself. He’d called that in and had Eve working on the Parnell connection. Now she was romancing yet another agent. And he was beating up his team over her.
“It’s fine, Jake.” Sean forced himself to nod. He had been played like a fool. It was time to get a little bit of his pride back. “Someone needs to stay close to her. Might as well be Adam. Tell him she likes a little bite of pain.”
Jake’s eyes widened. “I certainly will not encourage him. Look, I know you’re pissed off, but he’s having some trouble. His dad is dying and none of his asshole brothers will let Adam in to see him. Adam’s got it in his head that he’s lost his family, and he wants to make a new one. I swear he has a fucking biological clock. We’ve always talked about finding a woman for the two of us, but now he’s obsessed with it.”
Sean shrugged. In his head all he could see was Grace standing there as Adam kissed her. She hadn’t shoved him away. She hadn’t protested that she didn’t want him. She’d accepted his kiss. How much more had she accepted from him? “Dude, seriously, I don’t care. I told you like I tried to tell Ian, it was an act. She’s hot, I’ll give you that. And she’s very submissive. She’s exactly my type, but she’s too old for me. If Adam doesn’t mind the age difference, good for him.”
Jake shook his head. “Bullshit.”
It was a word he was getting used to. There was nothing to do except push through. “Believe what you want, man. I’m heading home. I need to get some sleep. I have to follow her around tomorrow. Hey, do me a favor and have Adam move this little relationship of theirs along. If he’s sleeping with her, I won’t have to pull so many hours.” The thought of Adam in her bed made him see red, but he plastered what he hoped was an easy smile on his face.
“Hey, Sean, maybe you should ease up.” Liam had a halfway serious look on his face. He had one ear bud in his ear and offered the other one to Sean. “Why don’t you listen in? She talks to herself a lot. You could learn a thing or two about her. I’ll be honest, I’ve started to come around on her.”
Sean shook his head. He’d made enough of a fool of himself. He was a professional. He’d trained and fought and bled to get where he was today, and he’d almost tossed it all away for some chick he’d been banging. That was all it was. It was sex. Ian had been right about that, too. He should have been going to the club and regularly taking a sub. If he’d taken care of his business, he wouldn’t be in this situation. He would have been able to see Grace Hawthorne for what she was. “It’s your shift. Don’t pawn your work off on me, Liam.”
Jake reached out to him. “Sean, don’t do this. Whatever Ian said, she’s not involved.”
“You aren’t the one who watched her tail a guy today.” His hand was on the door. He didn’t need to sit around and listen to another man who had fallen into Grace’s web.
Jake’s eyebrows climbed his forehead. “Really? Who?”
Sean spit out the information. Just an hour earlier, he’d wanted to keep it all to himself. It had seemed like more crap that made Grace look bad. He couldn’t ignore it any more. “She followed the guy who runs the janitorial services to that address we found in her briefcase. It’s some sort of storage and mail place. She tried to be careful that he didn’t see her. It was very obvious what she was doing. And she’s got some weird shit on her computer. I talked to Eve earlier. She says there’s a surveillance video of the Bryson Building. It’s very detailed. It covers entrances and exits and everything in between. If she’s not involved, then why would she have something like that on her system?”
“That proves nothing except that she backs up her boss’s computer,” Jake argued.
“Why the hell would you think that? What does Wright need with a surveillance video?”
Jake leaned back against the side of the van. “Adam told me the name of the file is ‘thumb drive my boss is going to lose.’ As far as Adam can tell, she hadn’t accessed that file. It was just sitting there on her drive. She definitely didn’t watch the video on her media player.”
None of which mattered if she’d made that tape. “Maybe you and Adam are the ones we should pull. The two of you seem awfully ready to believe anything that woman says.”
Jake took a long breath. “That woman? Wow, you are going to regret this, Sean. There are some things in life that are way more important than a job. You have given me some good advice over the years. Let me give you some now. Tell Ian to go to hell. Whatever he threatened you with, you can handle it. Walk out of this van and go get your girl. If you knock on her door tonight and come clean, she’ll forgive you. If you wait too long, there won’t be any going back. Sean, if she’s the one, you have to go get her.”
Everything in Sean wanted to do just that. He could walk up to her door, force his way in, and take her. The caveman inside demanded that he do just that. He could fuck her so long and so hard she wouldn’t remember anything but him. Whatever she’d done before, he would handle. He would make damn sure she towed the line from here on out. She would be his sweet, obedient wife or there would be hell to pay. She wouldn’t flirt with every man alive. She wouldn’t get involved with people like her boss or this Parnell person. Sean was shocked to realize that if he had his way, he would keep her barefoot and pregnant and locked away from the world. What had that woman done to him? He’d never felt so savagely possessive in his life.
Liam looked up from his surveillance. “This goes against everything I stand for, but I gotta agree with Jake. Maybe you should go talk to th
e girl.”
“You are under the assumption that I give a shit about the girl.” He did. God, he loved her. It was stupid, and he wouldn’t give in to it. He was ping-ponging between loving her and hating her. It had to stop, and the only way he could stop was to power through. He turned his attention back to Jake. “It was a job, that’s all. I lost my head because she is hotter than hell in the bedroom. Give her a try, man.” If she got in between the ménage boys, then hate would rule. He could handle that. “Tell Adam he has my blessing.”
Something infinitely cold crossed Jake’s face, and Sean wondered if he hadn’t just lost a friend. “She’s our responsibility. Got it.” He turned to Liam. “If you see anything weird, give us a call. Adam and I can be here in a couple of minutes. Liam, I want her protected. She’s our op now, and I call the shots.”
It rankled. He wasn’t in charge of Grace. The idea bit into Sean like a rattler leaving noxious venom in his veins. “Good luck with that.”
Sean left the van, slamming the door behind him. He didn’t give a shit if someone heard. He jogged down the street. It was a nice, suburban street, just the kind he’d always dreamed of living on when he and Ian were growing up in their trailer park. He loved Grace’s house. It was a far cry from the starkness of his apartment. His place had a big screen TV and a sofa, a bed, a whole lot of cooking equipment, and nothing else. That wasn’t true. It also had things like hooks in the ceiling and spreaders that would lay Grace out for his delectation. He could tie her up at his place in a way he couldn’t at hers. Of course, if he got her to Ian’s, he might never leave the dungeon. Ian’s dungeon was something he aspired to.
Stop. He wasn’t going there. He wasn’t going to get a white picket fence and two point five kids with Grace, and he wouldn’t have her counting it out on a St. Andrew’s Cross, either. He was done. He wasn’t playing Grace’s lap dog anymore.
He made it to his Scout. He’d happily given Eve back her Benz. He’d been too confined in the little luxury car. He greatly preferred his big-ass SUV. He slid into the car and took off immediately. He didn’t turn toward his apartment. He wasn’t going home to sleep. He was heading out to the small building Grace had tracked Parnell to.
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