by Brynne Asher
I hand my umbrella to Donny and climb in with Robert following me. When we get settled and pull out of the cemetery just north of Highland Park where Patrick has lived for over thirty years, Robert asks, “I haven’t heard any updates. Any leads on the shooter?”
I look over at my brother-in-law and tell him the truth. “No. I spoke with the homicide detective yesterday. Nothing new.”
He throws me a curious look. “Now that you’ve hooked up with that FBI agent, I thought he’d be your go-to.”
I tip my head and blank my features. “Not that it’s any of your business, but, no, he’s not investigating it.”
No one but my dad and Trig knows about Eli poking around for me.
He shakes his head and looks out the window. “Ellie’s been broken up since the shooting, barely keeping it together. At first, I was surprised because she wasn’t close to Patrick—not like you.” He turns back to me. “But now I think it’s because you were there and could’ve been caught in the crossfire.”
I frown because I didn’t know my sister had any anxieties after the shooting. “I had no idea. I’ll talk to her. You should’ve gone home with her if you knew she was this upset. Your tax meetings can wait.”
He throws me a frustrated glare. “I can’t hold her hand every time the wind blows the wrong way.”
The mask falls over my face like it does every time I have to deal with Robert. He’s good at his job but he also kicks ass at being an unavailable and emotionally-detached husband. Being his sister-in-law is a trying job most days of the week. But during moments like right now, as his wife’s protective big-sister, I want nothing more than to bloody his motherfucking nose with my cell case made from titanium. “Death is hard, Robert, but someone being gunned down within twenty feet of a person you love might require a bit of patience.”
“You know what I mean. Let’s be real. She’s twenty-eight. It’s time for her to act like an adult.”
My jaw tenses and so does everything else in the car. I see from the corner of my eye that Donny stiffens, but our new security detail—whose name escapes me but I do know that he’s former Secret Service—sits stone-like with his eyes trained out the side window. Who knows what’s graced his ears over the life of his career.
“Wow,” I throw back at Robert.
He lifts a brow, inviting me to continue.
I shift in my seat to face him head-on. I might as well throw my mask out the window because after my week—no, my fucking month—I’ve had it. “Ellie is who she is and she hasn’t changed a bit since the day you met her. She’s perfect just the way she is. If you try to do one thing to change my sister, I’ll rope your ass to the cold, hard ground on Jesus’s birthday right before singing hallelujah—and I’ll do it grinning ear-to-ear. You might be good at your job, Robert, and I respect you at work, but do not talk shit about my sister. If there’s anything in life I’m passionate about, it’s my family. You might’ve married a Montgomery, but do not confuse that with being one. And do not think just because we share the same table at holidays that I’d give one shit about telling you to man-up, take a fucking day off, and go home to spend a couple hours with your wife and son.”
His eyes narrow and he leans back in his seat like a motherfucking petulant child who got caught eating his boogers.
“Since we’re being real and all.” I offer him a tight smile before crossing my legs and turning forward.
Music floods my ears and, if I weren’t trying to be a badass, I’d lean up and kiss Donny on the back of the head. He turned on Sam Hunt. I know for a fact that Robert hates country music, particularly Sam, who his wife—my sister—finds hotter than a day in the desert.
But, today, I’m going to be a badass because, as fucked up as we may be at times, no one messes with my family.
*****
Shit. I’m so not a badass.
Me: What do I do?
Eli: Where is it?
Me: At the top of my blinds, far in the corner. I can’t see it unless I’m standing right under it, but I know for a fact it’s never been there before. I only saw it because the remote on my blinds wasn’t working when I tried to raise them and they were getting caught on something.
Eli: Don’t tell anyone. I want to check it out. Tell security to let me through.
Me: You’re coming here? Is that a good idea?
Eli: Baby. You just told me you think someone planted a camera in your office. I’m sure as hell not going to send Uber Eats to take care of it. I’m doing it myself.
I frown at the prepaid cell I’m still using to communicate with my lover.
Me: You know what I mean.
Eli: What? Are they going to open an internal affairs case on me? Oh, wait. That already happened.
Me: You’re mouthy over text.
Eli: Yeah? My mouth likes you. All of you.
I almost break a smile, but remember the device I just found that’s pointing directly at me and my face falls.
Me: Don’t talk to me like that when someone is spying on me.
Eli: After I sweep your office, maybe I’ll lay you across your desk.
Me: Stop it.
Eli: Or I’ll sit at your desk and you can crawl under it and give me that blowjob you promised before you passed out from exhaustion last night.
Hyperaware of the fact someone might be watching, I have to bite my lip and work at not squirming in my seat. We didn’t have sex last night because I was an emotional mess about Patrick. I always stay in control of my feelings when in public, but there’s something about Eli that makes my guard melt away. When I’m with him, he breaks me down to my deepest core. I’m raw.
He did it again last night and I fell apart, crying in his arms. He carried me to bed and, just before I fell asleep, wearing only my panties, I apologized for not giving him a blow job yet.
He actually laughed and I think it’s the first time I’ve heard him laugh, which is sad. Then he told me he wasn’t keeping score but he’d definitely hold me to it.
Me: If you’re going to come, would you please hurry?
Eli: When I come next, it’s going to be in your mouth.
Me: OMG. I hate to be a drama queen but this is freaking me out. Quit messing around or I’m going to call building security.
Eli: Baby, relax. I left the second you texted me. I’m halfway there.
I fall back in my chair, hating myself for not being stronger.
Me: Oh. Well, you shouldn’t text and drive.
Eli: What happened to my tough-as-nails woman?
Me: She freaks when someone’s broken into her office, that’s what.
Eli: Be there in five. Don’t tell anyone and act normal.
Easy for him to say. No one’s watching his every move.
I pick up my office phone, but hesitate. I can’t even make a phone call without someone possibly knowing. Instead, I grab both my phones and head out. My dirty little secret is out of the bag. I can meet him at the front door and parade him through every floor if I want to.
But first, I need my FBI agent to fumigate my office for bugs.
*****
Eli
How the hell did someone get into her office? And when?
“I can’t believe it,” she whispers.
I narrow my eyes. “Jen. I disabled it and swept your office and bathroom. You don’t have to whisper.”
She rolls her eyes and hugs her arms across her chest. “What happens now?”
“I’ll come back in the morning to sweep the area again and change the lock myself so no one has the key but you. Not that someone can’t break in, but they’d create a commotion doing it—it’ll still be a deterrent.” I look at my watch. It’s almost five and she usually works much later, but I know she’s had a day. “How much longer do you need to be here?”
She sighs and her shoulders melt a bit. “The camera freaked me out. That and with the funeral, I’m not sure how much more I have in me.”
I reach for her and pull her to m
e for a kiss. “Let’s grab dinner and go back to your place. I need to scan the security recordings.” He holds up the device that’s now taken apart. “If this was planted within the last few days, I should be able to narrow it down.”
I slide the tiny camera pieces into my pocket and open her door to wait for her while she packs up. She comes straight to me and I take her hand, just like she offered when she met me at the main entrance. She had no qualms waltzing me through her building to her top-floor office suite that’s situated across from her dad’s. The two of us together caused quite the stir. I don’t give a shit and I could tell she doesn’t either.
She pulls me to a stop at her assistant’s desk where the gal perks up the second she sees us.
“Hey, Callie. Would you mind calling Donny and telling him I won’t need a ride home, please? And did you get the information sorted for the refinery in Corpus?”
Jen’s assistant eyes me as she tries to bite back a smile before looking to her boss and lets loose a grin. “I sent it to your inbox. Your messages are there, too. Mr. Barrett called from Lehmans. Your breakfast meeting tomorrow has been rescheduled for next week and I’ll send out the agenda for the staff meeting first thing tomorrow morning.”
Jen pulls her bag up her shoulder and smiles. “You’re a lifesaver. Today’s been horrific. Thanks for helping me juggle everything.”
As if she can’t help herself another second, Callie stretches her arm out over her desk and offers me her hand. “I’m Callie, by the way.”
I take her hand but before I have a chance to say anything, Jen butts in.
“I’m sorry.” Jen sighs. “Callie, this is Eli Pettit. He can come and go as he pleases.”
“Good to meet you,” I offer.
“You, too.” Then she turns to Jen and grins. “Nice.”
Jen shakes her head and waves off her assistant. “Call me if you need anything and have a good evening.”
“You, too.”
I claim Jen’s hand and pull her away so I can get us food and her home. I’ve got a lot to do and a blowjob to cash in on.
Chapter 24
Emergency
Eli
She presses her bare feet under my thigh as she shifts and sighs. I don’t know if it’s all the stress in her life, but the woman can sleep, that’s for sure.
She shut her MacBook two hours ago and I told her to go to bed. She said she was just going to lay down on the sofa next to me while I worked and, the next thing I know, it’s like she was taken out by a prizefighter.
I threw a blanket over her and kept working.
I’ve got to be missing something. I’m not an IT guy, but I’ve always been able to work my way around a network. It’s like the longer I flip through files, the less I see. I’ve watched the security videos over and over. Whoever got into her office knew how to work the system.
I pull up the stream outside her office one more time and start the video. Cleaning crews came and went, but they didn’t go into her office. Time passes overnight and there’s no activity for hours. I fast-forward through the feed.
Wait.
I back it up and play it at a normal speed.
The frame—there’s a lapse. Like a blink. I can’t believe I even noticed it when it was on fast-forward.
It happens a little after four in the morning.
Someone turned off the cameras. I set it to slow motion and look down at the time counter on the bottom corner over the screen and, sure enough, time jumps almost four minutes.
I switch to the external cameras—those in the parking lot and doors. A camera on the side door to the building does the same thing.
I check the logins at the same time. No one can get into the building without a login code and sure enough, someone entered at four-oh-two.
Fuck.
I pull up the profile and it belongs to a Nicholas Sanders. He’s worked for the company for a year and is a junior level programmer in IT.
Of course, a computer guy. But why the hell does he have it out for Jen?
If this is really him. Besides his login being used, there’s no other physical proof. I can dust her office for prints tomorrow, but my guess is that if they knew enough to fuck with the camera feed, they knew to wear gloves and not leave breadcrumbs.
I look over where she’s lying on her side in an S and reach out for her, resting my hand on her ass.
We knew it was someone from within who was trying to frame her since they planted the documents in her electronic files, but this? This brings it to a whole other level and I’m worried Jen can’t hang in this playing field. Not by herself, that’s for sure. For now, I’m not so sure she’s safe at work. Her new detail needs to be with her all day. I’d do it myself but I’ve taken off enough time going back to Chicago to help Sarah.
I give her ass a squeeze. “Baby.”
She stretches and her eyes open. When she places a hand on mine, her eyes close again and she mumbles. “Is everything okay?”
Her hair looks like chocolate silk strewn over her white sofa and she pushes it out of her face. I give her another squeeze and a shake. “It’s late. Let’s go to bed. Looks like you’re still going to owe me.”
She turns her head and drags her eyes open. When her voice is husky and tired like this, it makes my dick swell because I know she sounds like that just for me. “My breakfast meeting cancelled.” Her lips lift on one side. “You’re just getting to know me, my badass special agent who likes to break the rules, but something you need to learn is that I’m always good on my word. There’s never been a promise I haven’t kept.”
This makes me smile and I decide to tell her what I found tomorrow, after she goes down on me—I don’t want to ruin the mood. “Can’t wait to see what it’s like for Jensen Montgomery to follow through.”
She slaps my hand but it comes with little energy and feeling behind it. “Why do you insist on calling me that?”
I shut my laptop, toss it aside, and grab her hand. When I pull her onto my lap, she falls into my chest. “Gotta say, baby. Besides the shoes in your closet, this isn’t what I thought life would be like for an executive on the Forty under Forty List. I think you’re simpler than me.”
She smiles against my neck. “I know. I’m really boring. Just wait until next month, though. I have a ton of commitments for the holidays. You think I’m tired now—just wait.”
I pull her back to look into her hazy eyes. “Shit better be normal by then.”
She leans in to kiss me. “That’s your department. Right now, I just want you and my bed.”
I pull her to me one more time, because I can’t think of a thing on earth I want more than that.
*****
Fuck.
She was right.
If this is what it’s like for Jensen Montgomery to follow through on a promise, I could get used to this. For a lifetime.
Or ten.
Right now, I’m thanking the blow job gods that her breakfast was cancelled and I don’t give a shit if I’m late to work. I look down my chest and abs and see nothing but wet chestnut hair glued to her head from the shower and my cock that’s disappeared into her mouth.
I left her bed this morning while she slept. But when I was about to flip off the shower and grab a towel, she appeared in front of the thick glass door in nothing but her panties. Her eyes weren’t tired when she gazed into mine with promises of lips, tongue, and—what I didn’t know at the time—zero gag reflex.
After joining me, she fit her body to mine and pressed her lips to my left pec before dropping to her knees, sending me to a place best described as euphoria that only exists in places like tropical islands or, maybe, the Bible.
With one hand on the shower wall, I dip the other into her hair and take over. “Dreamed of fucking your mouth, but it didn’t even touch the real thing.”
I groan and she digs her nails into my ass cheeks where she’s holding on. When I thrust into her mouth, she takes me as if I haven’t fed her in days
. My cock hits the back of her throat and it’s all I can do not to come. I’d kill just for a few more moments between her sweet, plump lips.
I can’t take my eyes off her. “Spread your legs and play with yourself.”
Her brown eyes shoot to mine and her mouth goes slack around me.
My hand in her hair squeezes and I nod. She exhales around me, but does as I say and shifts her legs. I know the moment her fingers hit her clit—her eyes fall shut and she sucks, as if going down on me while she plays with herself is better than her closet full of shoes.
The more she works herself, the more erratic her suction is. She’s losing control and this only spurs me on more.
I’m close. “You want me to come in your mouth or your pussy?”
Her only answer is her nails biting deeper into my skin so hard, she’s sure to leave a mark.
She wants it.
When I come, I come hard and she doesn’t hesitate. She takes it all and I feel her swallowing—milking every last drop I have to offer. Barely giving myself a chance to recover, I pull her to her feet and put her hands to the wall. With my semi-hard cock pressed into the small of her back, I reach around and feel how wet she is, and it has not one thing to do with the shower. She spreads her legs for me and I barely get a chance to play with her when she starts to buck—the most erotic sight I’ve witnessed on this earth.
As she falls apart in my arms, I move to the bench in her sweet shower that’s big enough to host a small Superbowl party and pull her onto my lap. She’s like dead weight and if she hadn’t slept all night and just come hard, I’d think she was still tired.
“Sorry about your ass,” she mumbles into my neck.
I lean back onto the stone and pull her in tight. “I’ll gladly wear your claw marks if you suck me off like that. I like the way you keep your promises.”
She smiles against my skin. “I need to get to work.”
I run my fingers up her back. “Can you work from home?”
She shakes her head. “I’ve been out so much lately, I’m behind.”
