“I heard you had some excitement last night.”
She choked on her coffee, causing both men to look at her in concern. When she got her fit under control, she looked at her father. “Excitement?” she squeaked.
“Yes, with Chase?”
Dear lord. Her eyes were practically bugging out as she looked at her bodyguard wondering if he’d filled dear old Dad in on their nocturnal activities. “Wh-what?”
Chase couldn’t help but chuckle at her and decided to step in to help her out. “I told him about what happened with Emma.”
“Oh! Oh, yeah, that was horrible! That poor woman! I know she was just humiliated that her husband showed up.” She cut her eyes at Chase knowing he’d enjoyed her discomfort for a bit as he smirked back at her. Jerk.
“Well, men do stupid things for love sometimes,” Allen offered. “Gotta go make some calls,” he said as he left the room heading to his office.
“Thanks for that.” She gave him a dirty look while rinsing her coffee cup then went to her room to brush her teeth before they left.
“Any time,” Chase said with a laugh as she left the kitchen.
When she came out of her bathroom, she was surprised to see him in her room, leaning a shoulder against the closed door, his arms crossed over his chest. She picked up her briefcase and walked toward him. “Ready?”
“Not until I do this.” He wrapped her in his arms, leaning down and kissing her so thoroughly and completely, he left her breathless as she stood there with her valise hanging limply from her fingers.
“Wow.”
“Wanted to do that all fucking morning, and know I won’t be able to all damned day long.” He looked down at her with a smile.
“Wow.”
“Let’s go, baby.”
Well, she could definitely get used to this.
****
"Well, lad, we gotta get two more this month?"
"Yeah, that's what the Boss said."
Toady Number One shook his head. "This next one's gonna be tough. Her ol' man's had a bodyguard on her for the past two years." He sat on the couch and stretched his legs out placing his feet on the coffee table.
"That broad last year had one, too. Didn't seem to be a problem." Toady Number Two tossed back his shot of whiskey as he leaned against the mantel of the fireplace.
"Yeah, but that guy was an idiot. This guy seems like he knows what he's doing."
"Yeah, so? It's not like we don't got the experience. One of us keeps him occupied, the other? BAM! Snatch the broad. That easy." Toady Number Two snapped his fingers to demonstrate. They hadn't been on this job for the past two and a half years for nothing. They were hardcore criminals, had the rap sheets to prove it, and no snot-nosed bodyguard was going to get in their way.
"Ya think? That easy, huh? As I recall, the last time took some serious plannin'. And I think I ended up doing the majority of the schemin'."
Number Two smacked Number One on the back of the head. "Fuck you. Like you really got the beans up there to think up this shit. As I recall, you stood around with your thumb up your arse and I was the one makin' all the plans. So stuff that in your fuckin' pipe and smoke it."
"Fuck you."
"Fuck you."
The boss strolled in smoking a cigarillo. "Fuck both of you. Where's the Kid? And get your feet off that table. I paid twenty grand for it, you Neanderthal."
"He said he'd be comin' in around six," Number One replied, taking his feet down and putting them on the floor.
"Just make sure he's got the right info or crack his skull. I didn't pay that half-a-mill for nothing."
"Oh, he knows, Boss. He said he can deliver," Toady Two stated.
"Little fuck better be able to deliver or he'll be dead before he wakes up tomorrow morning." The Boss sat at the desk and flipped ashes into an ashtray.
"We told him that already. He knows he's up to his eyeballs here. Knows if he screws up, he's toast. Don't worry, Boss. Liam and me got it covered."
"Bring him to me when he gets here. You can leave now."
Liam and his partner got up, nodding at the Boss and left the room. They knew they'd better be getting a call from the punk soon or the Boss would have their asses. They'd stumbled onto the little creep when he'd met with a colleague of theirs, Donovan, who was a tough-as-nails loan shark, and Donovan had pointed Kid in their direction. The only people who went to see Donovan were ones in dire straits, so they knew this kid would probably be willing to do anything they asked. And whaddya know. Lady Luck had graced them with her presence since Kid had some connections that would definitely come in handy to their upcoming job. He'd already helped them obtain their latest victim, his good looks making things run much more smoothly than their ugly mugs would have. Kid had been able to snatch the girl pretty much right out in the open. Too bad the girl’s folks hadn’t followed through and she’d had to pay the ultimate price. Oh, well. But if Kid kept doing things the right way, he might just be able to keep that pretty face so he could display it proudly in his casket.
****
As Chase drove, he kept an eye out as usual for vehicles following them. He didn't see anything out of the norm at first but then he noticed an older model black Cadillac following them. This happened all the time; he'd notice someone following them but the car would turn off or stop somewhere and Chase would breathe a sigh of relief. But this car stayed with them longer than any other had before.
Just to check, he took a different route than he normally did, watching as the Caddy followed them, always staying two cars back. He even went around an entire block, watching as the car still tailed them. Fuck.
"What are you doing?" Julia had looked up from her phone seeing that they were in a completely different part of the city from where her office building was.
"Hang on." Chase said, concentrating on the car following them. Finding an open parking spot, he pulled over to the side of the street. The Cadillac went by slowly but he couldn't see anything because the windows were tinted too dark. He wrote the tag number down.
"What's going on, Chase?" Julia asked.
"Nothing. I, uh, was going to pick up some clothes but remembered they won't be ready until tomorrow." He'd noticed a dry cleaning store down the block, using it as an excuse. No need to get her unnecessarily upset.
"You're lying. We're being followed, aren't we?" Julia's voice went up an octave. She'd read in the paper over the weekend about another businessman's daughter being held for ransom. And now she started panicking, something she never thought would happen to her. She couldn't get any air into her lungs so she jumped out of the car breathing in deeply, but her breaths only came in shallow rasps.
"Julia! What the fu—" Chase got out going after her.
She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, pacing back and forth trying to suck in air but she couldn't. Chase went to her, grabbing around her waist, quickly leading her into the coffee shop in front of them. He pulled out a chair sitting her in it then squatted down in front of her.
"Julia. Look at me. You need to look at me, baby." He took her face in his hands forcing her to meet his eyes. She was still gasping for air. "You need to calm down. Can you breathe with me? Take a deep breath just like this." He breathed in deeply. "Now, let it go. There you go. That's better." He smoothed her hair from her forehead that stuck to it from the light misting of perspiration on it. She definitely was having a panic attack.
"Do you want me to call 911?" a waitress asked.
"No, she's okay. I just need to get her calmed down. But thank you."
Chase kept talking softly to Julia, keeping his hands on her face, making her look at him as they breathed together. She finally started getting control, breathing normally again.
"There's my girl, that's right. Deep breaths, nice and easy. That’s the way."
The waitress brought her a glass of water. Chase thanked her and picked it up from the table.
"Do you think you could take a drink?"
&nbs
p; Julia nodded and took the glass with both hands from him. She closed her eyes and took another deep cleansing breath. Ugh. That had been scary. Thank God he’d been there to help her. She took a drink then brought the glass down to her lap.
"Thank you," she said to him.
"No problem. Feel better?" He brushed her hair back again.
"Much." She took another drink.
He stood. "You think you could make it back to the car? If not, no hurry. We can stay here as long as you need to."
"If I could sit for just a few more minutes," she said. He nodded at her then took his phone out.
"I'll be right over there, okay?" he said, pointing to a hallway from where he could see her clearly. He needed to call Allen to let him know what'd happened.
As he talked to Allen, Chase saw the waitress come over to Julia checking on her. What a sweetheart. After hanging up, he went back to the table.
"I'm ready," Julia told him.
"You sure?"
She nodded. Chase helped her stand and she paused for a second making sure she wasn't dizzy then turned to the waitress. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it," she looked at the waitress's name tag, "Sue."
"You're welcome dear. You sure you're okay? You're welcome to stay as long as you need."
"No, thank you, I think I'm fine now."
Chase put his arm around her guiding her to the car. He helped her inside it then crouched down on the sidewalk to talk to her, holding her hands. "You want me to take you home?"
Julia looked at him with a frown. She'd never missed a day of work, so she couldn't even imagine starting now. "No! I've got to go in. I'm working on an account that I've got to get completed before the fifteenth."
"Julia, I think the world of financial management could make it one day without you there." He looked at her, his eyes full of concern.
"I'm fine, Chase. I need to go in. At least for half the day. Please take me to my office."
“Baby…”
“Please, Chase.”
He took a deep breath, nodded, then got to his feet, closing her door.
Julia was finding it hard keeping this tough exterior up when what she wanted to do was break down and cry. Maybe it was from everything that’d been piling up lately. Or maybe it was that she was in love with Chase and knew if he didn’t feel the same about her she’d be devastated. Or it could be that someone was following her now and she was likely to be the next victim of these insane kidnappers. Or maybe she'd have all of the above, please, with a shot of hysteria on the side.
They drove in silence to her office, Chase checking the entire time looking for the ominous Cadillac that'd followed them earlier and watching her in the mirror making sure she was okay. Her nerves were frayed, but she had things to do and she wasn't about to let some idiots control her life. So, after arriving at her office building, Chase walked her in, riding up in the elevator with her, asking several times if she thought it was a good idea for her to be going to work and wouldn't it be better if she went home and rested.
When they got to her office floor, they stepped out and he walked her to her desk asking again if she thought this was a good idea. That did it.
“Chase?”
“Yes?” Good, she was going to let him take her back home.
“Shut up.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. God, she was so damned stubborn.
“Look, I know you’re just watching out for me. I get it. But I’ve got things to do. I’m not going to let some assholes scare me into hiding.” She looked up at him, her big, hazel eyes pleading with him.
“Think you’ve got me figured out already, don’t you?”
“I do?” She blinked up at him.
He ran a finger down the side of her face. “Yeah. You do.”
She was confused, but when he dipped his head and kissed her, she could live with confusion.
“Listen, I’ve got a final, but I’ll be back here right after to take you home, okay? Around two?”
“Okay.” She smiled when he kissed her again, giddy in the fact that he’d done it in public as if he couldn’t have cared less who saw.
“Bye, baby.”
“Bye.” She sighed in contentment as she watched him leave.
****
“Heard you had a little problem this morning,” Allen said when he arrived back at the apartment that afternoon.
"Yeah, Allen, it was great. Should've been there. Very entertaining stuff, that!" Julia shook her head, rolling her eyes at how bland he’d made her being followed appear. Allen could make Armageddon sound boring. She guessed he hadn’t become the businessman that he was by being easily rattled.
Chase had picked her up after his class and brought her home. He couldn’t have gotten there at a better time since her nerves were just about shot. She’d found herself jumping at the tiniest things around the office, the worst being every time the elevator dinged then opened and she’d visualized some villain coming in to nab her.
“I’ll need to go in tomorrow to make up what I missed today. I don’t want to get behind,” she told Chase.
"Oh, you're not going to work tomorrow." Allen barely bothered looking up from his phone.
"What? Yes, I am. I'm in the middle of an account that's due in a week." Julia looked at him like he’d lost his gourd.
"Taken care of."
"Taken care of? What'd you do, Allen?"
"I took care of it. With all that's going on right now, you don't need to be there. Now, go get packed."
"Packed? For what?" She was flabbergasted. What the hell was going on here?
"In the morning, we're heading to the Hamptons for a bit. Chase? Can you manage that?"
"Yes, sir. I had my last final this morning." The Hamptons? He hadn't been to the Hamptons since he and Tracy had stayed the weekend with her grandparents years ago. And hadn't that been a blast. Those people had been so damned stuck-up that he couldn't wait to get home to hang with Brock, listening to him belch and fart almost on command.
"Okay, I expect to be heading that way by eight in the morning. Julia, believe me. Everything's taken care of."
"How long is 'a bit,' Allen?" Julia asked.
"Not sure. We'll just play it by ear; how's that sound? And it’s ‘Dad,’ Julia."
Even though she was pissed that Allen had done this, Julia found that she was actually looking forward to spending some time at their beach house and getting away from all the shit here in the City. It'd been years since they'd gone. When her mother had been alive, they'd gone at least once a season. Gwen had loved getting out of the City and Allen had almost seemed like a regular dad when they were there, taking Julia and her mother for long walks on the beach. Julia's cousins, Nick and Paul, had a house close by and when they were all little, they'd spend the night with her, sneaking out of her bedroom window to lie on the roof watching for shooting stars. Her mom had even joined them sometimes.
Julia left the kitchen with a small smile on her face at the memory and went to her room to pack.
Chapter 15
Julia sat in the backseat texting Lily, Jacob and Claire, letting them know what was going on. She looked up, glancing at the rearview mirror watching Chase. Allen was talking to him about how at one point he'd thought of going into law. Chase looked in the mirror catching her watching him and winked. She smiled back with a blush. She still couldn’t believe that things between them were so good. She hoped it stayed that way.
When they arrived, Julia was excited to see the beach house, having not been there in over ten years. As they got out of the car, Allen gave her the keys telling her to go ahead and open the house up to let it air out a bit. A housekeeper still came at the first of each month, but the house had been shut up for a week now, so Julia opened every window letting the breeze from the ocean inside. She was checking out the kitchen pantry when Chase came in with her luggage. She thanked him and told him her room was down the hallway, second to the right and his was third to the left. He nodde
d at her all sexy as hell and she blushed. Was she going to get all flustered every time he looked at her now? Jeez.
Looking around the house, she hadn't realized how much she'd missed it. A part of her was sad because it reminded her of her mother, but another part felt as if she were seeing an old friend again. She went into the living room plopping down on the couch, watching Allen messing with the TV cable hook-up.
"We're having dinner here tonight. Collin and his crew are here for the weekend too, so they'll be coming over."
What? Did he expect her to cook for everyone? And, yuck. Was Hadley going to be there too?
"I've hired some caterers. They should be here soon."
Thank God. "Okay, sounds great. Need me to do anything?"
"You might get the dinner service out and give it all a fresh wash. I don't think the maid does that when she's here."
Julia went to the huge hutch in the kitchen and got out her mother's china and the Waterford drinkware, carrying them to the sink counter. The china was Royal Doulton's Old Country Roses, which to Julia had always seemed so gaudy, but looking at it now, she only thought it beautiful because her mom had picked it out. The glasses were always her favorites. She remembered pretending she was drinking fine wine out of them when she was a little girl. They were so beautiful and delicate. She recalled her mother only letting her use a glass if she promised to be very careful and she smiled once again at these memories that were so precious to her. Lastly, she found the silverware and took it to be washed, too.
She filled the sink with water and dish soap and began washing and rinsing everything. Chase came into the living room and Allen asked for help with the TV connection. Julia couldn't help but stare at that fine ass of his, and the way his back muscles flexed under his t-shirt left her instantly wet for him. Damn.
He and Allen finally figured the thing out, and Chase turned to see Julia staring at him. The dark, lustful look he gave her all but did her in. God, the man could almost make her come with just a glance. Just then the caterers showed up, interrupting their eye fucking, and now the house was alive with people everywhere. Chase smirked at her then sat on the couch flipping through channels.
Being Chased Page 17
