by HELEN HARDT
“Oh, for God’s sake,” I said. “This is an unofficial meeting. I’m not a fucking cop. I have no interest in harming Ms. Romero or you. My interest is in exonerating my family, myself included.”
“It’s okay,” Leta said. “I can talk about it. Though maybe you should be talking to Nieves.”
“We would be, if we’d known she’s the source of your information,” I said. “But you’re here now. Please go on.”
“Nieves didn’t think anything of it at the time. It was a voicemail, so she didn’t get it until the next morning, and by then it was on the news. It wasn’t until later that she realized the phone call had come before the actual murder. Like I said, after the police had determined the timing.”
“Did the voicemail say anything else?”
“Just that Derek Wolfe wasn’t who he appeared to be, like I said.”
“Did she save that voicemail?”
“I don’t know. But if I had to guess, I’d say she did.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it involved Derek Wolfe, which meant it involved Rock. And if Derek was dead, that meant Rock inherited a lot of cash, and Nieves would want in on that.”
“Sounds like you don’t think too highly of your sister,” I said.
“Actually, we’re close, but I know who she is. I doubt she’d deny it.”
Charlie cleared her throat, nodding to me.
“Yeah?”
“May I ask Ms. Romero a question?”
“Of course.”
“Ms. Romero, are you aware that your sister came to Manhattan the week after Derek Wolfe’s murder to see Rock?”
“No, but it doesn’t surprise me.”
“Has she returned to Montana?”
“I don’t honestly know. I haven’t seen her, and we use our cells to communicate, so I guess she could be anywhere.”
“Why don’t you give her a call right now?” I said. “See if she can meet us here.”
“I’m not sure I should do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because then she’d know I’ve been blabbing stuff she told me. She wouldn’t take kindly to that.”
“We’re going to call her in anyway,” I said. “And if she doesn’t cooperate, we’ll have the police question her. Would you rather she be arrested?”
“You can’t arrest her for getting a voicemail.”
She was right. I’d misspoken in my haste. I glanced at the notes from Lacey. I really should stick to them.
“I’m sorry. I meant questioned by the police.”
“I was wondering about that anyway,” Leta said. “Why am I here? Why didn’t you just have the police question me?”
“Because right now, the police consider my siblings and me suspects in the case. None of us had anything to do with it, of course.”
“How well do you know your siblings?” she asked.
Bam.
Brick to my gut.
I knew Reid well enough. Riley sort of. Rock? Not really at all. But did I think any of them were killers? Not in a million years.
“Very well,” I lied. “My siblings and I had nothing to do with our father’s murder. Besides, I believe you’re here to answer our questions, and you’re being very well compensated.”
But there were people who would want my father dead…and I wasn’t thinking of the myriad associates in the business world he’d pissed off. No, they might want him dead, but they wouldn’t kill him.
But people existed who would.
The people in those blurred images I couldn’t bring to the front of my mind.
Would the fact that I knew make me more of a suspect?
He was dead now, though. He couldn’t point fingers.
Except that was exactly what he was doing.
Didn’t matter. I couldn’t bring the blurs to reality. I couldn’t if I wanted to stay sane. If I wanted to keep my life as I knew it.
I couldn’t.
I cleared my throat. “Is there anything you can add, Ms. Romero?”
“That’s pretty much it,” she said. “May I go now?”
“Not quite yet,” Charlie said.
I regarded her, the silver sparkle in her eyes laced with seriousness. “Do you have more questions?”
“Just one,” Charlie said. “And it’s a big one.”
21
Charlie
Something about the Romero sisters didn’t add up. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but just being near Leta Romero made chills erupt on the back of my neck. I wasn’t one to trust my intuition, but I did so now, without knowing exactly why.
“You’ve been honest about your sister. She values money.”
“She does.”
“Would you say she values it more than you do?”
“Why is that relevant?”
“Well, I’m assuming the Wolfes are paying you to be here. Am I correct?”
She reddened. “That doesn’t mean—”
“Of course it does. It means you’re willing to do something if it means you’ll be paid. Does that also mean you’re willing to throw your sister under a bus?”
“Charlie—” Roy began.
“This isn’t a courtroom,” I said. “She’s here to answer our questions, and she’s being paid to do so, right?”
He nodded. “Go ahead.”
“I mean no disrespect, Ms. Romero. I’m just trying to get a handle on your reasoning. Why in the world is this something you’d share with your gynecologist?”
“I don’t know. You try thinking of something to say while your feet are in stirrups and a dude is looking between your legs.”
“I’ve been there,” I said. “Every woman has. And I don’t think I’d be talking about a phone call my sister got about a billionaire’s murder while I was being probed. Maybe it’s just me.”
Roy arched his brows and nodded slightly at me. I held back a smile. He liked where I was going, and Leta Romero was clearly uncomfortable.
“Here’s the thing,” I said. “Either you’re making all of this up, and we can easily find that out by looking at your sister’s cell phone records, or you’re telling the truth, in which case there’s got to be a reason you brought all of this up during a pelvic exam.”
She reddened further.
Good. I’d struck a nerve.
“Can we speak to the doctor?” I asked Hoss.
“Manny? You can, I suppose. I can’t guarantee he’ll talk.”
“He’ll talk,” Roy said.
Money. Roy would offer money, and Manny would talk.
“He’s a friend of my brother’s, and he doesn’t want to see any of us implicated in this mess,” Roy continued. “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse. He gave us her name, didn’t he?” He nodded toward Leta Romero.
“Yeah, and I could have his medical license for that,” Leta stated.
“You could, but I’ve paid you enough, and your attorney here”—he nodded to Hoss—“had you sign an agreement stating that you would not go after Manny’s license in consideration of our payment to you.”
She reddened again. Roy was telling the truth.
She was threatening her doctor’s license? Granted, he’d given us her name, but only after talking to her first.
I had the feeling this apple didn’t fall too far from the sister apple. Nieves might like money, and I was pretty sure Leta liked it just as much.
What I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around, though, was the fact that she’d relayed all this information to Manny during a pelvic exam—an exam that clearly happened within days of the murder, between the time Rock left Montana and flew back a little over a week later with Lacey.
It all seemed too convenient.
“Ms. Romero consented to giving you an hour,” Hoss said, standing. “The hour is now over.”
Roy stood as well. “We appreciate your time. Both of you.” He held out his hand first to Leta and then to Hoss.
I stood as well. “Yes, than
k you both. We’ll be in touch.”
Should I have said that last part? That was Roy’s place, not mine. Then again, I worked for the company. He didn’t. Something that surprised me, after seeing him question Leta. He’d done a good job. Of course, Lacey had given him a written guide.
Lacey had often told me I had a good legal mind and that I should consider law school. Law school, though, meant college first. Seven years of my life. I was twenty-five now. I’d be thirty-two by the time I was done. Just didn’t seem like a wise time investment. Not when my first love was art.
I could talk to Roy, but he’d hate the idea. He’d tell me to concentrate on my art. He’d also be talking from a trust fund perspective.
A girl had to make a living.
He smiled at me after Hoss and Leta had left the conference room. “I owe you a little something.”
I recognized the look in his dark eyes.
He wanted me naked.
“Not here…” I said.
“Oh, yes. Here.”
“But what if—”
“Who’s going to walk in? I’ve paid for the use of this room for today. No one would dare.”
“They might, if they saw our guests leave.”
“Maybe someone will. If they do, I’ll make sure they get a huge visual feast.”
“Roy…”
“Come on, silver. All I could think about this last hour was having you on this table, sinking my tongue deep into your pussy and making your squirm and scream my name.”
How could I argue with that? I was wet just listening to those words in that deep sexy timbre of his.
“Roy…” I said again.
“Charlie…” he echoed.
“Please…”
“Please what?”
Please stop. Please don’t make me do this. Please, let’s leave this room.
“Please,” I said. “Please take me. Please.”
22
Roy
This time I didn’t worry about ruining her clothes. I’d buy her a new suit. I’d buy her a hundred suits. Better yet, I’d buy her clothes that fit her free spirit, her sparkling beauty, her artistic nature.
I yanked the blazer off her shoulders, letting it drop to the ground in a sticky tweed puddle.
Tweed had no place on Charlie Waters. If I had my way, she’d never wear it again.
Then the tweed skirt. Tweed? Covering up those treasures between her legs?
Never again.
Her blouse was better, a peach silk, and her hard nipples poked through. I brushed my fingers against one.
She groaned. “Yes, please.”
“You like that? You like when I play with those sexy little nipples?”
Her answer was another groan.
They were delectable, and I lowered my head, taking one between my teeth right through her blouse and bra.
She bit her lip and inhaled sharply.
“It’s okay,” I said against the fabric of her blouse. “Scream if you want. Let it out. I dare anyone to open that door.”
“Roy… Please…”
“I don’t care. I don’t care if the entire hotel management team comes in here, silver. I’m taking you. Right here. Right now.” I bit the hard berry.
That got me the scream I’d been waiting for.
So I did it again.
I smiled against the swell of her breasts, the fabric of her blouse now wet from my mouth. God, she turned me on. Her body was still covered, and I was harder than I’d ever been.
Needed her. Needed her naked. Needed that naked nipple between my lips. Needed all of her.
I grabbed both sides of her blouse and ripped it open, the pearl buttons flying.
She gasped. “My blouse! I love this blouse!”
“I’ll buy you five more.” Then I attacked her bra. It was a front clasp, and I opened it with one maneuver, surprising myself. Her rosy breasts fell against her chest. Pure beauty.
Everything about her was pure beauty.
She was naked now, except for her businesslike black pumps and her white lacy panties. They were boy panties, pure white lace, and oh my God, they were hot.
I wished for a moment that I were an animal with sharp teeth and I could rip them off her and then attack what lay underneath.
I settled for yanking them off her beautiful ass, down her legs, and carefully easing them off her feet, leaving her pumps on.
Naked. Naked in black office girl pumps.
What a fucking feast.
I owed her an orgasm, and she was going to get it right on this mahogany table. The surface would be slick and shiny with something other than varnish when I was done with Charlie.
“Get on the table, silver. Sit down and spread those luscious legs for me.”
She obeyed, wincing. “It’s cold.”
“Not for long. In a few minutes, you’re going to be so hot you won’t be able to contain yourself.”
“I’m not doing a very good job of containing myself right now,” she said. “I want to scream!”
“Then scream, honey. Scream your pretty little head off.”
“I can’t. I just can’t.”
“We’ll see about that.” I bent down, spreading her legs even farther apart. Man, she was bendy. And man, did that turn me on.
Her pussy was already ripe with nectar. Nectar sweeter than the juiciest peach. I inhaled for a moment, took in the spicy, musky scent of her. Of the woman who’d squirmed into my heart in less than three days.
Crazy.
Had any other woman smelled quite so enticing?
Granted, I hadn’t been with many. Six, to be exact, and only one of them had lasted more than a couple days.
I hadn’t thought about any of them in a long time. No one had responded to me the way my little silver did.
I wasn’t sure anyone ever would again.
She squirmed beneath me. “Please. Please, Roy.”
“I’m enjoying the view,” I said naughtily.
“Can you enjoy it with your tongue in my pussy? Please?”
My cock strained against my jeans. Her voice had deepened a touch, and her words… God, her words…
“If you could see the sight before me, you’d understand. You’re perfectly pink and swollen, and your clit is straining upward. And your scent. Like peaches and spice and musk. I can’t get enough of it. Of looking at you and smelling you.”
“If it smells that good, imagine how it must taste,” she said breathlessly.
That did it. I clamped my mouth around her clit and sucked.
The orgasm came quickly, before I could tongue her or finger her. She’d been more ready than I even imagined, and God, it was fucking hot.
I nursed her through the orgasm, easing up on her clit as she wriggled beneath me. Her pussy lips pulsed against my chin as her climax continued.
“Keep going,” I said against her flesh. “Give me more, silver.”
Then I thrust two fingers inside her and sucked hard on her clit.
“Shit!” She pounded both fists on the wooden table, shrieking.
Yeah, that was what I was after. I wanted her to scream. I wanted everyone who walked by this room to hear her. To hear the shouts and pleasure of this amazing woman.
I nursed her through that orgasm and then another.
And another.
Until my cock couldn’t take it any longer.
I stood and unzipped my jeans, sliding them over my hips. “I’m going to fuck you, silver. I’m going to sink my cock into you and make your scream even louder.”
Her breasts were rosy and swollen, her nipples tight and hard.
I hadn’t paid any attention to them since I’d freed them from her clothes, so before I shoved my cock into her, I gave them each a hard pinch.
She nearly jerked off the table.
“Good?” I said.
She bit her lip. “Do that again, and I’m going to scream so loud!”
“Good.” I pinched those hard nipples once more.
She didn’t disappoint. Her shrill shriek bounced off the walls of the conference room.
And I sank my cock deep into her wet pussy.
“Ahhhh,” I groaned.
How perfectly she sheathed me. Paradise. Being inside Charlie Waters was true paradise.
“Play with my nipples while you fuck me, Roy. Please.”
I clamped my hands onto her breasts as I pulled out and thrust back in. With my thumbs, I teased her, her vocal responses spurring me on and making me even harder, if that were possible.
I pumped.
I pumped.
Then I stayed deep inside her, moving my hips in a circular motion that touched every angle inside her cunt. She squirmed, her eyes closed, sexy moans easing out of her throat.
When I could no longer wait, I pulled out and plunged back in balls deep, releasing inside her warmth.
Every contraction of my cock emanated through me, from my very core to the tips of my fingers and toes. My fingers sizzled as I continued torturing her nipples.
“I’m coming, Roy. I’m coming again!”
A low groan left my throat. God, for her to come. For me to make her come.
That was almost better than my own release.
Something about bringing her to orgasm titillated me like nothing else.
I stayed embedded in her body for several timeless moments, letting my climax taper off slowly and completely.
When I finally came to, I was panting, breaths leaving my body in rapid puffs.
“Fuck,” was all I could manage.
Charlie lay silently on the table, her body covered in a beautiful sheen of rosiness. Her nipples were still hard.
God, she was beautiful.
So fucking beautiful.
Finally I withdrew, and I smiled.
I’d promised this table would be shiny with her juices, and it was. Sheer, shiny beauty.
She dazzled. Everything about her fucking dazzled.
I tucked my cock back into my boxer briefs and put my jeans back over my hips.
Then I simply gazed at her beauty. Her nakedness. Her rosiness. And still wearing those businesslike pumps.
These weren’t fuck me pumps.
They were simple black leather with a medium-high heel.
How great would she look in fuck me stiletto pumps?
