by Virna DePaul
“Don’t feel bad, he was a terrible man. But his death was suspicious. His brake line supposedly broke. And yet he was driving a brand-new car. I checked and there were no reports of other such incidents with that vehicle since.”
Swallowing, she used the moment to think. Oh, God. “You think Davies killed him?”
“I think Davies might have had a hand in it, yes. After all, the man was killed before Davies was brought to trial.”
“So you’re worried about Davies coming after me? Why would he, after all these years?”
“I don’t know if he would or not, and if this is him, I doubt he’s after you. I think I’m the one he has the problem with.” His face closed off and his expression became inscrutable.
Was he hiding something behind that mask that had so easily slipped into place? But if so, what?
Branden leaned forward and clasped his hands between his knees, boring into her with an intense gaze. “Davies taught me a lot. He married my mother when I was in my late teens, and took me under his wing. Taught me about money—not how to earn it, but how to grow it. How to take capital and make more. He saw what he called ‘genius’ in me, and started to groom me to join him in his misadventures. Turned out I had an ethical streak he couldn’t break, though, and when he dumped my mom, I dumped him. I had no interest in getting involved with the shady side of the law where he seemed to operate.”
She scoffed. “What he did to my father was hardly on the shady side—it was full-on evil.”
He nodded. “Your father never should have been blamed for losing your town’s investments, Cara. That was all on Davies. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am for your family and what my stepfather put you all through.”
“My father died because of the scandal,” she said simply.
“I know,” was his quiet response.
She sucked in a shuddering breath. “And now you think Davies might be after you because…”
“I have no real answers for you right now, except that this feels personal. Unfortunately, you just happened into my life at the wrong time.”
Cara thought about that. “Am I in your life, Branden? I mean, other than at work…”
He reached out and touched her face. His fingers grazing her skin were like being touched by a live wire. She both loved and hated it at the same time.
“I’d like to think so,” he said.
He bent down toward her and she knew she should turn away. If she let this go on…
His lips touched hers just as his doorbell buzzed.
Branden closed his eyes. “The man has the worst timing.”
“Who is it?” she asked.
“It’s Alex. He’s working for me as an investigator. I asked him to come take a look at the pictures of us. You brought the envelope, right?”
She took it out of her bag and handed it to him.
The buzzer rang again. He stood and strode to the intercom, then pressed the button. “Yeah, Nolan, is it Alex?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Go ahead and send him up. Thanks, Nolan.”
A few minutes later, Alex, the guy with all the tattoos Cara had seen that morning, strode through the front door.
“Alex, thanks for coming,” Branden told him. “This is Cara Michal. Cara, Alex Samuels.”
“A pleasure,” Alex said, shaking her hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Cara responded. “Though I wish it was under different circumstances.”
“Me, too. I should have introduced myself this morning before you snuck out.”
Her face flamed. So she had been noticed.
“Knock it off.” Branden held the manila envelope, but there was a strip of clear plastic between it and his skin. “This was delivered to Cara’s door.”
Alex retrieved a pair of latex gloves from his pocket and slipped them on before dumping the envelope’s contents onto the table in front of them. He used an unsharpened pencil to shuffle through them. When he got to the last two photos of Branden and Cara he said, “This is last night and this morning?”
“Yes.”
Alex scrutinized them, then walked back over to the doorway and looked out into the hall. “Can you both come over here and stand exactly where you’re standing in the photo?”
Cara wasn’t sure what he was after, but stepped out into the hall as Branden positioned himself in the doorway. Alex had the photo in his hand as he stepped across the hall and backed up against the wall. He slid along the wall in one direction, and then back in the other until he seemed satisfied he was in the right spot. He looked up and down, and then to Cara’s surprise, he began tapping on the wall. He tapped up and then down slowly, finally pausing in one particular spot. He kept his hand on the wall and said, “What’s on the other side of this wall?”
“As far as I know, nothing,” Branden said.
“Can you get the super or someone up here for me?” Alex asked.
“Of course.”
Alex and Cara went back inside, where Cara made tea and Alex wandered through the entire penthouse with some strange device, sweeping for bugs, he explained when Branden got on the phone with Nolan. Once Alex finished his sweep—he assured her there were no additional surveillance devices—he looked over the other documents in the package. When he came to the photo of her and her college boyfriend, he asked, “Who is this?”
“His name is Trevor Halstead. I dated him in college.”
Alex nodded and pulled out the second photo.
“Where were you in these pictures?”
“One of them was a winter formal–type thing and the other an awards banquet.”
“What was the award for?”
Thinking that was a strange question, Cara said, “I was given an award for completing a year’s worth of financial data in a matter of weeks. It’s a special award that’s specific to PSU.”
Giving no indication of why he thought it was important to ask, Alex nodded.
Branden came back in and said, “The night manager is on his way up.”
“Good. I did a sweep, and there are no bugs or cameras in your penthouse.”
Branden gave a quick nod, then he and Alex made small talk while they waited and Cara fixed herself another cup of tea. The night manager, a middle-aged, balding man with a big, bright smile arrived within a few minutes and introduced himself as Bob Cartwright. Cara could tell that underneath his cool, calm facade he was nervous about being called to the penthouse at ten p.m. He had a fine layer of sweat sitting on his upper lip.
After the introductions were made, all four stepped into the hall under Alex’s direction.
“What’s behind this wall here?” Alex asked Cartwright.
“Um…as far as I know, nothing. I mean, it’s just a wall.”
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Alex said. “Come here, I’ll show you what I mean.” He tapped on the spot he had earlier. “Did you hear that?”
“I didn’t hear anything,” the man said.
Odd that he’d answered that way, Cara thought. The spot that concerned Alex sounded kind of hollow, while the other two spots sounded full.
“Okay, listen.” Alex knocked above the spot and then below it. “Now…” He knocked on the spot that concerned him. “Can you hear the difference?”
Cara certainly could. Why was Cartwright still claiming he couldn’t? She cast a quick glance at Branden, who firmed his lips and tipped his head slightly, as if informing her to keep silent.
Alex looked at Branden and said, “I’m gonna go get my saw. I’ll be back.”
“Wait! You can’t saw open one of our walls!” Cartwright said, sweat beading on his brow.
“Then I suggest you start talking,” Alex said.
Cara looked at Branden. He was still just watching as if he was an impartial witness to a drama unfolding in front of him.
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“I want you to tell me what is behind that wall. If you don’t, then I will get my saw a
nd I’ll bring an officer of the law with me to witness it, because you and I both know that there is a camera located behind this wall and trained on Mr. Duke’s door. So, I may get in a little trouble for sawing the wall, but you’re going to get into a whole lot more. Besides,” Alex said, jerking his head in Branden’s direction, “I have friends in high places.”
“Okay, okay. There is a camera back there,” Cartwright admitted. “But you don’t have to cut open the wall to get at it. There’s a crawl space you can enter from the roof.”
Branden suddenly stepped forward, right into Cartwright’s personal space. In a low and terrifyingly blunt voice he said, “Who put it there? Who controls it?”
“I don’t know,” Cartwright said. The sweat was rolling down the sides of his face now.
Branden stepped even closer. Cartwright’s bald head was almost touching the underside of Branden’s chin.
“Who?” he demanded again.
“I really don’t know. The day manager is the one who told me it was there. He paid me to not tell anyone. I’m sorry. I was going through a divorce and I needed the money.”
“Call him and tell him you need him down here, tonight.”
“He won’t answer the phone. I’ll call him, I’m not refusing, but he won’t answer. He comes in at five, though.”
“And that gives you six hours to warn him.”
“No, I won’t, I wouldn’t…I don’t even like the guy. I told him all of this wasn’t right.” The sweat stains under his arms were spreading.
“Hmm, what do you think, Alex?” Branden asked his friend.
“I think he’s full o’ shit,” Alex said in a suddenly thick Brooklyn accent.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. Take care of him, will you? I’ll talk to the other one in the morning when he comes in for his shift, unless you come up with something before then that means I won’t even have to talk to the bastard. Come on, Cara.”
Branden turned and walked back into the apartment.
Cara was watching Alex and Cartwright, her stomach churning, and wondering what “Take care of him” had meant. Branden had been domineering and controlling before—all alpha male, all the time—but this? This was different. There was something feral about him now. Something not quite civilized.
Something that both scared and comforted her.
“Cara, let’s go.”
Another one of his commands. Cara resisted momentarily, but knew he and Alex were trying to scare Cartwright, and she needed to play her part. She turned as if obedient and followed Branden into the apartment, leaving Alex and a quivering Cartwright alone in the hall.
Once inside, and with the door closed behind them, she turned to Branden and asked, “What’s Alex going to do?”
“Kill him,” Branden said deadpan.
Cara didn’t believe him…too much. “No. Really?”
“Don’t worry, no one will ever find the body.”
Cara wanted to believe he was kidding, but Branden didn’t kid…did he? After all, she really didn’t know him well. His face was totally serious, and even his posture hadn’t changed.
“Branden, please tell me you aren’t serious…”
He suddenly burst out laughing, shocking Cara. “You should see your face. It’s classic.”
Cara punched him in the arm and said, “It’s not funny, you big jerk!”
“It was kind of funny,” he said. “But my sisters would have my hide if they saw me teasing a woman I’m dating the way I tease them.”
Cara had never seen him drop the serious, professional demeanor. Even during sex he was all intense. Focused on the task at hand. His laughter softened all of his features, and as handsome as Cara thought he normally was, she found him absolutely beautiful at that very moment.
“What is Alex really going to do?”
“Alex and his brother will just talk to him, I swear. Cartwright will crack, though. They’ve got that Brooklyn born-and-bred tough-guy thing going on.” Branden shook his head. “I really wish you could have seen your face. What do you think I am? The Godfather?”
“I honestly didn’t think you were the type to joke around.”
Branden stepped up close to her. Too close. She could feel his breath on her face. Her insides were shaking but she didn’t step back. She stood her ground as he said, “I’m human, Cara.”
Oh, she knew that very well. She could smell his humanness. His manliness. Damn him! He was seducing her with his presence alone. His imposing and strong body. His dark, sexy eyes. His bulging biceps. His soft and loving way he spoke of his sisters. He was walking sex appeal, and how was she supposed to resist that?
She rose up on tiptoe. She wanted him to kiss her and he didn’t disappoint. First he just brushed his mouth against hers. Then he kissed her face, up one side and down the other. Finally, his lips crushed down on hers.
She parted her lips so that he could slide his tongue into her warm, wet, willing mouth. She’d come over here with no intention of having sex. Well, Iris would challenge her on that one, and she’d be right. One look from this man was all it took to break down her resolve. She wondered how strong it could have been in the first place.
Chapter 15
Oh, God, she wanted this. Wanted him. Needed him.
Cara kissed Branden back with intensity, moaning as his hands slid up her sides, and whimpering when he pulled his mouth and hands away.
In her ear, he breathed, “Cara,” then lifted her, as if she weighed nothing, and carried her inside his penthouse. After placing her down, he gently spun Cara around so she was facing away from him. Taking her hands, he placed them high against the wall and said, “Stay.”
She stayed.
He walked over to a remote-control panel and pressed a few buttons, and suddenly every drape in the condo moved into place, remotely ordered to do so by Branden. He was protecting her. Protecting them.
He came back to her, and his strong hands were warm as they slid inside her tank and underneath her sports bra. The palms of his hands rubbed firmly against her hard nipples as she leaned her body back into his big, hard chest. He rubbed his face against her hair and slid his lips down to lick and suck on her ear, and then down to her neck. He nibbled and licked along her most sensitive areas. She had goose bumps all over her body and her spine felt electric.
When she rubbed her ass against his erection she heard him moan, and she realized she had the same effect on him. And she loved it.
While he kissed her neck, he pulled and twisted on her nipples with one hand and slid the other between them, unzipping and unbuttoning his pants. She shivered when she realized he was stroking himself against her.
He broke their kiss and turned her again to face him. His erection was pressing against her pelvis now and she reached back and grabbed his butt in her hands, pulling his hips against hers, rubbing herself against him. She felt like she could orgasm right then and there. Branden groaned and put his hands on her shoulders. He only applied the slightest pressure, but she knew what he wanted and she wanted it, too.
He’d been so giving to her the night before. Had made sure she was satisfied, and in such an erotic and talented way. She wanted—no, needed—to reciprocate. To make him feel as enthralled as he’d made her feel.
She dropped to her knees in front of him and he guided his erection to her mouth. She tried to take it deep, but he wanted to tease her first. He held it in his hand and traced her lips with it, running it back and forth across the tongue she was reaching out with. When he was finally ready, he slipped the head of his cock between her lips. Greedily, she sucked it out of his hand and all the way into the back of her throat. She shivered with excitement and desire as she felt him wrap both of his hands in her hair and tug gently, guiding her head up and down. As his shaft slid in and out of her mouth, she ran her tongue along the underside of it, scraping very gently with her teeth, not enough to hurt, just enough to entice.
“Ah, yes, Cara…that’s it. Oh, baby, that feels
so good.” The sound of his deep, sexy voice spurred her on.
He moved his hips, thrusting them forward, pulling in and out of her mouth in a steady rhythm. Each time he pulled himself out, he would quiver and shake, then he’d plunge back in, deeper each time. As she sucked and licked with abandonment, she felt herself getting close to climax.
He moved his hips quicker, more frantically. His breaths got shorter and his fingers gripped her hair tighter. She shook…trembled…quaked at the intensity. At his strong and sensual scent. At the sensation of velvet and steel in her mouth.
She was still shaking when he released her hair and pulled himself out from between her lips. He was panting, and she knew he had been right on the verge of his own powerful climax when he stopped. His self-control was impressive.
He stood over her as she remained kneeling on the floor, looking up at him. He reached down and ran his fingers gently along the sides of her face and down to her neck and then her shoulders. It was a soft, loving touch—a true caress. She closed her eyes as he touched her, savoring the tender moment and then suddenly, she felt herself being lifted off the floor. Gasping, she draped her arms around his neck as he carried her to the bedroom. He kissed her as they walked, letting his tongue plunge in and out of her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss.
When they got into the bedroom, the sight of the plush white comforter brought back memories of their previous times together, making her shudder. As he laid her down on the big, soft bed, he broke their kiss and she slid her arms down off his neck. He began to undress her then, tossing each piece of clothing aside as he slipped it off of her. Then he stood at the side of the bed and stripped off all that he was wearing, as well.
He took a long look at her then, running his eyes like a fiery touch across the contours of her body. She smiled at him and he reached down and grasped one of her wrists, raising her arm up over her head, as if he were posing her. She wondered what he was doing before she suddenly felt silky material being wound around her wrist. Once. Twice.
