Gripped by a sudden excitement she couldn’t deny, she smiled and walked over to him. “Hi!”
He sucked the air between his teeth and studied the bruise on her forehead. “Looks like you’ve gone a few rounds in the ring, counsellor.”
Then he winked and one corner of his mouth curved up. “Hi yourself.”
His hands skimmed down her arms, and she shivered, tilting her face to look up at him. His eyes sparkled, just as they had the night on the terrace, and a heady jolt of awareness ripped through her central nervous system at his close proximity. She put her hands on his chest, steadying herself, bunches of well defined muscles moving beneath her fingertips.
And then he coaxed her closer to his warmth, and she was there, savouring every sensation as her cheek pressed into the hollow of his shoulder and warm lips skimmed her temple. Allegra closed her eyes for a beat or two, a seductive whiff of fresh, clean male scrambling her sensory receptors.
Then stubble grazed her cheek as he dipped his head and warm, firm lips pressed against hers.
Oh God!
Shockwaves of heat dispersed throughout her body, melting her insides, and this time she didn’t pull away, just surrendered to the heady warmth of his lingering kiss.
It’s an act. It’s all an act.
A charade for the benefit of your tormentor.
An irrational jealousy targeted at the faceless women he willingly kissed, clawed at her as he lifted his head and relinquished possession of her lips. As they turned towards the revolving door, she kept her eyes trained on him, tempted though she was to scan the face of every passing stranger.
Outside, they merged with the moving river of jaded office workers, purpose written on their faces in their determined rush to exit the city.
As they headed towards the car, she felt his arm come around her waist, his warm lips against her ear sending aftershocks of pleasure radiating through her body.
“What do you know? Finally managed to snag that kiss after all.”
***
Minutes later, Luke slid behind the wheel of his Mercedes AMG and glanced at Allegra as he fired the engine. “Good job.”
He waited until she’d engaged the seatbelt, checked both mirrors and shifted the car into gear. Once in the line of traffic, he passed Hyde Park and the Domain, made two unnecessary turns while he checked for a tail.
Satisfied, he gunned the engine and headed for her Bondi apartment.
He needed to say something, anything to take his mind off the feel of her in his arms. “Did you ask the receptionist about the courier?”
She nodded, wincing as the movement caused her pain. “A temp was manning the desk over lunch. She didn’t take notice.”
“No matter, the clerk today was observant.”
Gripped with a desire to make it all go away for her, the bruise, the fear of exposure, the threats to safety, he stepped on the gas. The big V8 left everything in its wake as he powered through the cross city tunnel and bypassed the Red Light District of Kings Cross. Popular for rave parties, drugs and all kinds of excess, his ballistics team had investigated many a shooting there, and the whole place left him cold.
Taking the back way, he cut through the leafy eastern suburbs, the light atop Sydney’s Centrepoint Tower winking in his rear vision mirror. He glanced across and saw the tension in Allegra’s shoulders, the anxious clasp of her hands in her lap as she stared out the passenger window. Reaching forward, he flicked through his iPod playlist and within seconds a mellow flurry of notes from John Coltrane’s tenor saxophone filled the cabin. Hopefully, the music would work its magic and relax her, or at the very least, distract her.
He stared at the broken line in the centre of the road, his thoughts drawn to the second photograph. Allegra was reading on a canopied bed, a gold quilt spread out beneath her, smiling face cupped in her hands. The only part of her private anatomy on display was her peachy little booty clad in a lace G-String.
Although privileged to see another photograph, the second even more beguiling than the first, his R-rated thoughts were inappropriate. She wasn’t some lingerie model, but a top shelf lawyer as he’d witnessed today.
The scrawled words on the bottom of the photograph worried him. PAY ATTENTION…or kiss your career goodbye. They were a demanding threat. To Allegra, so defined by her work, it meant ‘kiss your life goodbye’.
Luke glanced at her long slender legs. Living under the same roof would be an exquisite form of torture, equally as difficult as dealing with the person threatening her. But what choice did he have? She didn’t have a husband or a live-in lover to protect her. Hell, she didn’t even have any family she could stay with.
He eased his foot off the brake and accelerated out of a hairpin bend. She might be a tireless advocate when it came to defending her clients, but right now she was sitting beside him, bruised and sick with worry. And trying to hide it from him.
Chapter Six
“Room service!”
Allegra jumped and turned to stare at the bedroom door.
Luke!
“Come in,” she called, scrambling up straighter in the bed and pointing the remote control at the nine pm news broadcast.
“Leave it on.” He strolled into the bedroom like he did it every day of the week, plate and mug in one big hand, Astro at his feet like some strange wingman.
“I just woke up.” Allegra put the remote down beside her legs. She hadn’t figured he’d knock on her door. But Luke Neilson had a disconcerting habit of catching her off balance.
“I know. I heard the TV come on.” He inspected her forehead in the same impersonal way he’d studied the first photograph. “How’s the head?”
Heat flooded her body and she moved her legs restlessly between the sheets. “Better, the painkillers worked.”
“You just needed a couple of hours to sleep off that bump.”
She nodded, wondering how on earth she would cope with him in her one bedroom apartment every night. “I heard you working. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
His eyebrows shot up. “It’s your place. Just pretend I’m not here.”
It was such an absurd thing to say that it released some kind of pressure valve inside her and she burst out laughing, the mere thought of ignoring him totally ludicrous.
“Don’t encourage my lame jokes.” But he looked pleased, eventually joining in, his laugh a musical rumble in his throat. “Here, I made you something to eat.”
“What is it?” she spluttered, taking the plate from him.
“My signature dish. Vegemite on toast with tea. Sorry, that’s about as far as my culinary skills stretch.”
“You and me both.” She balanced the dinner plate on her lap. “Thanks.”
It didn’t sound enough. She glanced at him from beneath her lashes. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know.” He looked around the room, spotted a chair in the corner and strode towards it. “I didn’t save you to have you expire from starvation.”
Oh God! He’s going to sit down.
Allegra cleared her throat, a hundred butterflies in her stomach, glad of her leggings and tank top. “How’s the investigation going?”
“Nat’s trawling through your fan site. As you can imagine, it’s going off after this morning.”
“Oh don’t tell me.” Allegra covered her ears. “I never read my own publicity.”
He raised an amused eyebrow. “Frightened you’ll start believing it?”
Short of a quick comeback, she screwed up her nose, went hot again as he snatched up the slinky satin nightdress she’d left on the chair and tossed it onto the end of the bed. He was so darn natural, totally at home wandering around her bedroom.
She watched him fold his long, lean body into the chair and tune into the news. He’d changed the black knit for a white tee-shirt, and he smelled fresh and clean, like he’d taken a shower while she’d been asleep.
Imagine that. Luke Neilson naked in your bathroom.
A nervous excitement built inside her, and she bit into a finger of toast, her eyes straying to his tanned, muscular forearms. Covered in a fine smatter of golden hair, they looked more appetising than the toast, and she had a sudden urge to lick and taste, even sink her teeth into them like one of those fashionable vampires on TV.
Holy shit! That bump has screwed with your head. Or you’re high on painkillers.
“My people are monitoring the lurkers on that site, collating IP addresses and seeing to the lab work,” he was saying.
“And you’re babysitting me.”
A barely discernible wink. “A perk of being the boss.”
He made it sound like a privilege, and she cursed the fact she was sitting up in bed with a black bump on her skull while he looked hotter than he had this morning.
Well suck it up princess, ten months ago you ran away from him.
“We’ve established Noble flew in six weeks ago, and died three weeks later in New Guinea, around Anzac Day.”
Allegra set aside the finger of toast, unable to stomach another bite… “I still can’t believe he came from such a privileged background, that he fooled us all.”
“Everyone’s entitled to their secrets.”
Their eyes locked, and she knew he was referring to the oath he’d taken.
“Especially when they’re convenient, Commander.”
Was it only this morning she’d left him in the apartment after his refusal to talk about Martin, only to discover her desecrated face in the newspaper?
It seemed more like a week.
He ignored her pointed remark, fingers brushing her leg as he picked up the remote and turned off the TV. “The bikies have gone to ground. From that news report, it appears no one saw the shooter.”
“You saw the flash.” She still couldn’t believe she’d come so close to a bullet. “Even better, you knew what that meant.”
He stood up, hands lightly resting on his hips, eyes on her face. “I was a sniper, Ally. You never forget the signs.”
The intimate shortening of her name gave her a charge of surprised pleasure. He hadn’t asked permission to do so, or to sit in her bedroom. But when did Luke Neilson ask permission to do anything?
“No one ever calls me Ally,” she said softly.
A flash of uncertainty crossed his to-die-for face. “Martin did.”
Allegra stilled, a sudden lump in her throat at his mention of her brother.
“He talked about you a lot,” he said simply. “I guess that’s where I picked it up. Does it bother you?”
She slid the plate and mug onto the bedside table as she thought about it. Though he’d taken the liberty of shortening her name, she liked it. She’d missed hearing it.
“No,” she admitted, wondering just how well he’d known her brother. “What bothers me is not knowing what happened to him.”
“Allegra.” His eyes turned guarded. “You know I can’t say anything about that.”
“Can’t, or won’t?”
He turned away and strode towards the door. “That’s a moot point, counsellor. Come on. I need your help.”
Damping down her frustration, Allegra threw off the covers and hopped out of bed. The subject might be closed for now, but as far as she was concerned the issue was far from over.
In the living room, he shifted a pile of folders off the table and dumped them onto a chair, giving her a glimpse of an iron cross tattoo decorating one well-developed bicep.
“Looking at the timeline, I’m betting Noble brought the storage device with him from England. You’re sure he didn’t try and contact you?”
“I wasn’t in Sydney on Anzac Day.” Just to be sure, she took her phone from where she’d left it on the drinks cabinet and scrolled through her calendar. “I had a case in Brisbane all week. And there were no messages from him.”
He looked up and caught her eye. “Well he must have made contact with someone.”
“You’re thinking the Altar Boys, aren’t you?”
“If he had a drug problem, he could have.”
“He wasn’t into drugs when I knew him.”
Uncomfortable at discussing her past relationship, Allegra looked around the room, spotting the black sports bag sitting on the floor and the three ironed business shirts hanging on the bookcase. Gees, she hadn’t even shown Luke where to put anything.
“I’ll hang these in the hall closet,” she said, reaching for the shirts and carrying them into the hallway. She fingered the expensive cotton fabric, reading the labels and noting his shirt size as she opened the cupboard door.
He likes blue, she thought, pushing aside some of her longer evening dresses so she could hook the hangers over the rail. Then without thinking, she pressed her nose against the soft material of one of the shirts and inhaled deeply, satiating her olfactory senses with the aroma of freshly laundered shirt and an underlying hint of whatever enticing cologne he wore. Then she took down two clean towels from the shelf and closed the door.
You really are losing it.
She felt his eyes on her as she came back into the living room and put the towels on top of the black sports bag.
“Bikies distribute amphetamines across Sydney,” he said. “And Noble had something to sell, something of use to them.”
Allegra searched her mind for another explanation, unwilling to believe Chris had sunk to such a low point he’d resorted to selling her photographs to a gang who wanted her removed from a case. Or removed permanently.
“What if he simply lost the storage device and it fell into the wrong hands?”
“It’s possible. But why bring it if he wasn’t going to sell it?”
Allegra felt the blood drain from her face. She hoped with all her heart he hadn’t—for both their sakes. “Someone could have discovered it in his backpack after he died.”
“Smart girl.” Luke’s approval sent a buzz of pleasure racing through her body. “But I already thought of that. His brother’s touching base with the tour company in New Guinea.”
His eyes darkened, drinking her in until a smooth warmth spread through every cell in her body. “Can you call your old friends in Melbourne, find out if he made contact with any of them?”
She nodded. “Sure, I’ll get right on it.”
She watched as he turned his attention to his laptop, eyes flicking over the screen, so overtly male that Allegra’s mouth went dry, body on high alert. Ten months ago he’d taken her by surprise, scared her even with the force of his unleashed passion. But tonight, he’d kissed her with a lingering tenderness she couldn’t erase from her mind, and though she knew it to be a pretend kiss, she’d learned the gentleness he was capable of.
She turned away and went to fetch her old address book from years ago. If she were honest with herself, she wanted Luke Neilson to make her feel like that again, for real.
Two hours later, the task having proved more time consuming than anticipated, Allegra got up from the table, stiff and sore. With the exception of two people, for whom she’d left messages, she’d spoken to everybody she could think of.
“No luck?” Luke asked, looking up from the computer, thick lashes casting shadows across his cheekbones.
She shook her head. “It’s only natural people were keen to catch up and curious about what happened. What about you?”
“Nothing to report. The guy with the ute checked out, the gardener saw nothing, but is coming around to prune the tree, and I’m presently working my way through the list of people who’ve been here. I’ll also need a list of your upcoming cases.”
Allegra sighed and picked up Astro, playing with her pet’s soft ears. “Anything more I can do?”
Luke stood up and came around the table, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s eleven thirty. I’ll check the cameras before you turn in. Make sure everything’s kosher.”
He reached out and scratched Astro under the chin, stroking him with long, brown fingers. “Feel like another walk killer?”
Allegra laug
hed as Astro lunged towards him, tongue hanging out.
Lucky Astro.
“Don’t open the door until you put him on the lead.” She passed over the little dog, had to extricate her hand when it became trapped under Luke’s larger one. “He’s a real Houdini.”
“I’ll remember that.” He grinned and pocketed the spare set of keys she’d given him when they’d arrived home. And then he disappeared into the hallway and a minute later the door closed behind him.
Too keyed up to go back to sleep, Allegra went into the kitchen and set the kettle to boil. How could she ever relax with Luke sleeping on her couch? She’d be listening for his every movement, and if she wanted something from the kitchen, she’d have to pass right by him.
She took the milk from the fridge and set it on the counter, the mere thought of Luke’s half naked body sprawled along her couch enough to make her mouth water and her core temperature spike.
No, better that she make a plunger of coffee and keep working, than lie in bed tossing and turning all night.
She was washing up the plate and mug from her bedroom when her mobile rang. Drying her hands, she hurried to retrieve it. Hopefully, it was one of the guys she’d left a message for, returning her call.
“Allegra Greenwood.”
“Allegra?” The voice was quiet, muffled.
“Yes, speaking.”
“Allegra?”
“I can hear you.” Allegra moved closer to the window, hoping for a better reception. “Thanks for calling back. Who is it?”
“Allegra!” The voice was louder.
Her spine turned to ice and she shivered, like someone walked over her grave as her mother used to say. The voice was deliberately distorted, not breaking up as she’d originally thought. And in that instant she knew it was him.
“What do you want?” she whispered, straining to hear over her thunderous heartbeat.
“Allegra.” A whisper, like some kind of sick caress.
Her entire scalp tingled and the bump on her forehead pounded in time with her heartbeat. She checked the caller ID, phone shaking in her hand.
Hot Lawyers: The Lee Christine Collection Page 7
