Jace understood. The arrest he’d easily avoided up until this point would surely come. He wanted to reach out and hold Carrie close before she disappeared back into her shell, but it only took seconds before she was gone.
Jace watched the footage several more times. Anders Holland and the man masquerading as Jace entered The Grand Rizzato at approximately ten forty-five. They went through the lobby, past guests and staff, before entering the elevator banks and taking an express ride up to the top hotel floor. The public guest elevators didn’t have access to his penthouse, so the two men had disappeared down the hallway, entered the staff only door, and that was the last time either of them were seen.
Whoever it was kept his full face hidden from view while still managing to keep up a conversation with Anders Holland the entire way there. Anders looked relaxed and calm. Surely the man he was with was someone he’d met before, else why would the two of them be going to Jace’s penthouse together?
The look on Carrie’s face flashed through Jace’s mind. He couldn’t believe she’d doubt him after all they’d been through. Surely she of all people knew he wasn’t a killer.
A knock sounded on the door and Jace glanced up, expecting to see the rumpled man returning from his extended lunch break. But instead, his assistant stood before him.
“Franklin.” Jace stood and narrowed his eyes. “Tell me where you’ve been. You were scheduled to meet me in the lobby this morning to go over your findings from last night, but you never showed.”
“Things escalated a bit last night,” Franklin said, glancing down the hallway behind him before stepping into the security room and shutting the door. “By the time I got to Madison’s apartment last night, she was dead.”
Jace let a sigh of relief go through him. “I have to admit, I had some concerns that you were involved.”
Franklin frowned. “I thought you didn’t judge me based on my past.”
A flicker of guilt hit Jace’s mind. He was right. Just because Franklin had been involved in certain unsavory things in the past didn’t mean he would still be involved in them now. He’d been so loyal until this point and so forgiving of Jace’s own past mistakes. It had been wrong of him to assume the worst just as it was wrong of Carrie to assume the worst in him.
“You’re right.” Jace gave his assistant a slight smile. “It’s just so unlike you to be even a minute late to a meeting.”
“Trust me.” Franklin sighed and settled into the metal chair beside Jace.” There was a good reason for it.”
“Tell me,” Jace said quietly.
Franklin filled Jace in on the details of the night before. With each passing moment, the knot of dread grew larger in Jace’s stomach. He’d been worried something like this had been going on, but he hadn’t known how to confirm his suspicions without getting sucked back into a world he’d thought he’d left behind. Carrie could never know the truth of the murders. If she did, she would never understand. Her reaction would be just as bad as when she’d seen the fake Jace on screen, taking Anders Holland into the penthouse to be shot in the head.
“Did anyone see you?” Jace asked in a low voice, his fists clenched in his lap.
“No, I was careful to stay out of sight,” Franklin said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in the seat. The weak metal creaked under his weight. “How do you want to proceed with this? I’m guessing you want to keep Miss Simmons in the dark about your past.”
“Carrie can’t know.” Jace’s jaw clenched. “We’ll have to take care of this ourselves. The footage, too.”
Franklin nodded and stood. “Anything else?”
Jace dragged a hand down his face, his palm scratching against the scruff that ran along his jaw. “Yes, get rid of the paparazzi. They can’t get a glimpse of Carrie again. And if they track us when we go take care of the Atlantic City situation, that could ruin everything.”
“How should I take care of them?”
Jace narrowed his eyes. “Do whatever it takes.”
Carrie didn’t know what to believe. After she left The Grand Rizzato, she wanted to turn right back around and erase all the doubt running through her mind. She hated feeling like the wall between her and Jace had gone right back up to where it’d been for three excruciating years. All she needed was his mouth on her skin, and she’d know he was telling her the truth.
There was nothing fake about Jace’s touch.
But that man in the video had looked just like Jace. He’d taken Anders Holland up to the penthouse where he’d been murdered in cold blood. And if Jace had been with Anders that night, Madison Holland would have been able to confirm that he hadn’t been in her apartment at the time of the murder. Lucky for him, she was dead now, too.
No, it was impossible. Jace couldn’t be a killer. He just couldn’t.
Carrie spun on her heels and headed back to the hotel. There was no way she could get on with her day if she wasn’t able to put a stop to these thoughts. How could she get any work done if she spent the whole time wondering whether or not Jace was more dangerous than she’d ever thought possible?
Yes, he liked things rough, and yes, he liked to take complete control in everything he did, especially when it came to sex…Carrie thought back to the way he liked to trap her hands over her head so she couldn’t move, and she couldn’t stop the shudder from going through her body.
Stepping inside The Grand Rizzato, Carrie’s heels sunk into the thick carpet as she headed right back the way she’d come. Just as she reached the doorway leading into the locked staff area, Jace’s assistant appeared by her side, blotting out the light behind him.
“I’m sorry, but these quarters are off-limits to the general public,” Franklin said, reminding Carrie of a younger version of Jace. Strong, silent, overly confident, and a little bit too smug for her liking. Even though it worked on Jace, it didn’t really work on this man.
“Right.” Carrie frowned. Didn’t he remember her from the other day in her office? “I’m Jace’s lawyer. I need to see him about something.”
“Jace is otherwise occupied,” Franklin said. “You’ll need to come back later. I’ll tell him you stopped by.”
“Look.” Carrie crossed her arms over her chest. “He’ll want to see me. Just tell him I’m here.”
Just then, the door swung open, revealing Jace. Even though she’d just seen him moments before, her eyes felt drawn to his muscular arms that strained against his well-fitted suit. Memories flashed through her mind from that morning. Carrie’s legs spread open as he pushed inside her, her back sliding across the slick surface of the table. He’d been so eager, so rough, so passionate that all she could do was take everything he could give.
It had felt like he’d given her everything, and now he’d taken it away again, hiding with his secrets and his lies.
“Carrie.” Jace frowned, and her heart hurt from his disappointed reaction to seeing her again. “I thought you left.”
His hand pressed against his suit jacket, and she noticed a bulge near the front pocket. What could that be? Her mind flicked back to the gun the cops had found in his kitchen drawer, but surely Jace wouldn’t be walking around with another weapon on his person. Unless…
Unless he really was the man in the video.
Carrie widened her eyes as she caught the glint of dark black, Jace’s jacket shifting as he shut the staff door behind him. She took a few steps back, her ears ringing and her heart roaring in her chest. She couldn’t believe it. Jace had a weapon in his suit pocket. Everything was starting to add up, and it painted a picture she couldn’t bear to understand.
“What’s in your pocket?” she gasped out in whispered words.
Jace’s jaw clenched, and Franklin gave Carrie a hard look. He was in on it, too. The both of them.
Jace patted his suit, but didn’t reveal what he had hidden underneath. “I think it’s best if I don’t show you.”
Carrie took a step back, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this. I th
ought there was no way you could be involved. I couldn’t bear to think you had anything to do with this, but–”
“Carrie, I promise this isn’t what it looks like,” Jace said in a low voice, glancing as a family edged by them on their way to check into their room. “You need to trust me.”
“How can I trust you if you won’t tell me what’s going on?”
Franklin cleared his throat and began to back away. “I think I’ll excuse myself.”
“No, Franklin.” Jace’s voice was sharp. “Stay.”
“Is he involved in this, too?” Carrie jerked her thumb at Jace’s obedient assistant. “Is that why you drag him along to our meetings?”
“Carrie.” Jace reached out to grasp her hands, but she shook her head and stepped back. She wouldn’t let him touch her and distract her from what was really going on here. “There’s an explanation for all of this, but I can’t really talk about it here. Come over tonight. We’ll have dinner, and I’ll explain everything.”
“Dinner again.” Carrie narrowed her eyes. “And wine, I’m betting. Maybe flowers? To seduce me into forgetting the fact you were with Anders the night of the murder and that Madison is now dead so she can’t tell the truth.”
Jace narrowed his eyes, and he looked at her in a way he never had before. With disappointment and anger and something else she couldn’t place. “If you have any belief in me at all, you’ll be in my penthouse at seven o’clock tonight. If not, then I guess that’s the end of us once and for all.”
Jace’s words echoed in Carrie’s ears as she stared down at her paper-littered desk. The end of us once and for all. Despite the video, despite the gun in his suit, those words were what scared her the most. She’d finally had him back in her arms, and she was so close to losing him all over again.
Could she bring herself to trust him enough to listen to his story? Would he even tell her the truth if she did?
With a sigh, she flicked through her notepad, barely reading the words on the page. She was even more behind than she had been this morning. The whole ordeal with Jace had taken up most of her day. She was dangerously close to getting so far behind, she’d never recover. And so close to getting the coveted spot as partner if she could only get her shit together. Jace had been distracting her far too much from work, and it was all starting to catch up to her now.
The sky outside turned dark as she made progress on her cases. The stack of papers began to grow smaller while the knots in her neck only increased. Just as she was starting to feel a little better about her progress, a knock sounded on her door. Probably Sarah, asking if she wanted to go out for drinks. Carrie wasn’t sure what she’d say. A part of her wanted to hear Jace’s answer, and a part of her wanted to forget he’d ever entered her life again.
She glanced up. Rick Allen poked his head in the door. Concern painted his chiseled features as he grasped a wrinkled newspaper in his hands. Carrie’s stomach sunk to her toes. There was no way this was going to be good news.
“Come in, Rick,” she said around the lump of coal in her throat. Her heartbeat began to pulse against her neck.
He slid into the office and dropped the paper on her desk. Carrie forced her eyes away from it. She didn’t want to see what was on the page.
“Jace Holt has been spotted canoodling with a mysterious brunette on Madison Avenue.” Rick Allen stabbed the paper with his finger. “They didn’t name her, and the photo doesn’t show her face, but Carrie, I’d recognize that head of hair anywhere.”
Carrie grimaced, and she pressed her sweaty palms onto her skirt. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“I don’t care what it actually is. I care what it looks like,” Rick said. “If I can recognize you, so can other people. Even our clients.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Tears sprung into her eyes as she stared at Rick’s face. This was it. The moment she’d been dreading, though it had come much sooner than she’d imagined. She was about to lose her job because she was utterly incapable of controlling herself when it came to the one man she needed to stay away from most.
Rick’s face softened when he saw her expression. “Listen, I don’t care what you do or don’t do with him. That’s your business, not mine. Just keep it off the streets.”
Carrie blinked against the tears, unable to believe what she’d just heard. “What?”
“Do what you want on your own time.” He leaned forward and stabbed the photo again. “But if I see another scandalous photo like this in the news, I’m afraid I won’t have any other choice but to let you go.”
Jace opened the back door of the hotel, bracing himself for what was to come. It had been a long day, and all he wanted was to burn off his excess energy and expel his anger. There was only one way he knew how to do that, and she was standing right before him. Carrie stepped in through the back door, the sweet vanilla scent of her filling the thin hallway. She’d gone home to change before coming over to his penthouse for dinner. She was back in those tight little jeans and a sweater that clung to her breasts. She probably thought it would prevent him from getting aroused just by looking at her, but she was dead wrong about that.
If only she didn’t think he was a murderer, he’d take her right then and there.
“Carrie,” he said more formally than he intended. “I’m glad you came.”
“I just hope this means you’re going to tell me what the hell is actually going on here,” she said, following him as he led the way to the private elevator leading up to his penthouse apartment.
Jace frowned as they slid inside the steel box. She was going to be a little miffed when she realized that he was definitely not going to share every detail of the situation with her. He would tell her what he could, of course, if that meant he could convince her that he wasn’t the man she was starting to believe he was.
He frowned even more as the elevator chugged upstairs. Her words had hurt him, he had to admit. Of all people to think such a thing about him, he couldn’t believe it would be Carrie Simmons, the one person he trusted more than them all. He had claimed her as his, and she still refused to give herself fully to him, body and soul. Maybe it was time to introduce some punishment into the equation…
His cock hardened.
Once the two of them had made their way into the penthouse, Carrie crossed her arms and leaned against the black countertop of his kitchen island. She looked weak and tired, and all Jace wanted to do was scoop her up in his arms and deposit her into his bed, but she needed to understand that if things between them were going to continue, she had to trust him.
“Well?” Carrie raised her eyebrows. “I need an explanation.”
“I’ll pour you a drink,” he said, reaching for the wine glasses he’d had the concierge deliver to his room.
“Jace—”
“I’ll pour you a drink,” he said firmly. Carrie fell silent as he tipped the bottle of wine against the delicate glasses, the deep red liquid sloshing against the sides. It reminded Jace of the blood he’d seen on his floor. The blood that had begun this entire mess.
Jace handed Carrie a glass, and he watched as she took a large gulp of the wine.
“Good,” he said with a nod. “It will help you relax.”
“I don’t need to relax.” Carrie narrowed her eyes but took another sip despite her protestations. “I need you to tell me what’s going on.”
“Carrie, you’re making me want to bend you over and spank that pretty little ass of yours,” Jace said in a low growl. “You’re being a naughty girl by not trusting me.”
Carrie’s mouth opened wide and she gasped. “Jace!”
“You have to trust me if this is going to work.” He’d meant to take things slow, but he was unable to help himself. “If you don’t trust me, then you get punished.”
Her face flamed as she took the last gulp of wine. “Stop joking around. This is serious.”
“Oh, I’m being very serious.”
Carrie fumbled as she set down her wine
glass and strode away from him into the living room. She dropped onto the couch, twisting her head so he couldn’t see the glow on her cheeks. But he’d caught the flustered expression before she turned away. Warmth spread through his body. She only looked like that when he was turning her on. He bet she was getting wet right now, and the very thought made him hard.
“Please just give me an explanation,” Carrie said, turning to look up at him with those big blue eyes. He groaned. Those eyes might be the death of him. He couldn’t look into them and not feel a little chunk of his carefully built control fall away.
“I’ll tell you what I can,” Jace finally said. He eased onto the couch beside her, unbuttoning his suit jacket and taking her delicate hand in his. “But you’re not going to like what I’m going to say.”
Carrie sucked in a breath. “Just tell me, Jace.”
“The situation has turned out to be more complex and dangerous than I originally thought,” he said, carefully choosing his words. He knew that he should let Carrie in on a few details—just enough to satisfy her curiosity—while keeping the bulk of the information to himself. “I did not kill Anders Holland, and I did not kill Madison either. I sent my assistant to talk to her that night after you told me her address, and by the time he got there, she was already dead.”
Carrie’s hand tightened on his. “Franklin?”
“Yes, Franklin.”
“Jace…” Carrie shook her head slowly as a frown pulled down her lips. She shifted closer to him, and his eyes trailed down her body. The way she clenched her thighs together was a sure sign she needed something more from him than an explanation. “Are you sure you can trust this guy? The second he found out about our relationship, a man threatened to blab about us if I didn’t stop nosing around. And then he just happened to go talk to Madison right when she got killed? Something isn’t right, Jace.”
“I agree that it doesn’t paint a very good picture, but I’ve spoken with Franklin, and I assure you he’s trustworthy.”
Touch of Doubt (Law vs. Love Book 2) Page 3
