Deadly Desire (11 page)

Work was the last thing I cared about at the moment. Emma Berry’s sweet and innocent face kept flashing in my mind as I tried to mull over the latest contract that had hit my desk that morning. She’d been insistent about going into work today, despite my hesitations. I knew she was well protected and that Rachel was unlikely to try and get to her in broad daylight, but it didn’t stop my concern.

What the hell was wrong with me? There was something about Emma Berry that I couldn’t shake. She’d gotten under my skin somehow, and I wasn’t sure that was such a good thing. I needed to keep my distance, but her innocent eyes and the way they stared at me made me feel like I needed to do everything in my power to keep her safe.

She was a nice girl. She didn’t deserve to be in this mess because of me.

It might be time for me to give Rachel Donovan a visit. If she’d been the one to kill Michael Astor, I had to do something to stop her from going after Emma, though I wasn’t sure what my options were. If the cops got wind of it, the situation would only shed too much of a spotlight on my little brother. And I wouldn’t let Rachel’s actions do that to him.

Not to mention, if she was willing to outright kill a man she was sleeping with, who knew when she might decide my brother was as expendable as her extramarital affair?

As I went to swipe my phone from my desk, it rang harsh and shrill in the silence of my office. The display revealed my driver’s cell number, and I frowned. He wouldn’t call me like this unless something was wrong.

“Yes?” I barked into the phone, glancing out my windows at the streets below. Emma’s office was only a few blocks away, but I couldn’t see the building from there. I wished that I could.

“There’s been an incident,” Anton said in a low voice, almost a whisper. The sound of honking taxi horns blasted in the background, and they sent uneasy chills down my spine. Why was he outside? “Emma is no longer at the private investigator’s office.”

Panic and rage built up in my gut as his words sunk in. This could only mean one thing. Rachel had gotten to her already. Somehow. I knew I should have never let Emma go into work. It had been stupid of me. I should have just locked her up in my apartment until all of this had blown over. I’d given in because she made me feel weak, and now look at what that had done.

“How did you let this happen?” I demanded, gripping my hands into tight fists. “I gave you strict instructions not to let her out of your sight.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” Anton said. “I stationed myself outside her office door. There were no other exits. It looks like she climbed out the window and went down the fire escape.”

“You mean someone grabbed her through the window.” I gripped the phone tighter in my hand. “There’s no reason she would try to run off like that.”

“That’s what I thought until I saw what she had on her computer screen.” Anton’s voice held an edge to it. “You’re probably not going to like this.”

“Just tell me.” Whatever it was, it couldn’t be as bad as the nightmare images running through my mind. Rachel Donovan sneaking in through the window and putting a chokehold around Emma’s sweet neck. The life going out of those big innocent eyes.

“There was a criminal case file up on her screen. Alison Meadows.”

My stomach dropped at the name I hadn’t heard in months. “Shit.”

Back home, I paced back and forth by the raggedy couch. I’d escaped down the fire escape ladder and gotten away from Pierce’s bodyguard, but I’d realized two serious flaws in my plan by the time I’d ridden the subway all the way back to my eerily quiet apartment. First, Max was going to be seriously pissed when he found out I wasn’t in work. I hadn’t left him a note or a message, and I wasn’t sure I should call him now. I didn’t have any idea what kind of excuse I could give him to explain why I’d vanished into thin air. He’d probably just tell me to come right back in, and I couldn’t. Not unless I wanted to come face to face with Pierce all over again.

Second, Pierce knew where I lived. And knowing him, he might show up at any moment. I could ignore any knocks on the door, but somehow, I didn’t think that would stop him.

Pierce knew how to get what he wanted. And right now, I knew what he wanted was me. Locked up. In his apartment. With no way out.

I swallowed hard and headed toward the kitchen in search of a bottle of some kind of poison. I didn’t care what it was. Vodka, whiskey, a bitter half-drunk bottle of cheap wine. Anything to warm my chilled body and calm my frazzled nerves. Pierce had stalked and forced himself on a girl just like me. And all I could think was, he would do the exact same thing when he realized I’d run away.

With shaking hands, I found an almost-empty bottle of Cynthia’s favorite rum. I wrinkled my nose at the sharp stench, but it would have to do. I didn’t even bother with a glass. I just tipped back my head and gulped down the liquid. Coughing, I swiped my hand across my lips as the fiery booze burned my throat. I’d never been much of a drinker, especially not with the hard stuff, but the situation definitely called for a way to numb my brain.

Maybe Pierce had even made up the danger he said I was in, just to trap me inside his apartment. Shivers coursed along my skin at the thought. I couldn’t believe I’d bought into his lies. I couldn’t believe I’d felt safe in his arms when I had actually been anything but.

Heavy pounding sounded on the front door, and I froze, bottle dangling from my trembling fingers. My heart thumped a painful beat in my chest, and I swivelled my eyes toward the door. I couldn’t see anything but a shadow under the crack, but something about that shadow looked familiar. I knew it was Pierce. There was no way it could be anyone else.

“Open up, Emma.” His voice rang out loud and commanding in the silence. “I know you’re in there. We need to talk.”

“Go away,” I said in a weak voice. “I have nothing to say to you right now.”

“I know you looked up Alison Meadows,” he said.

Shocked, I took a step back and slammed my ass against the kitchen counter. How the hell could he know that? Had he put some sort of spy tracker on my office phone? After everything I’d learned about him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had.

“How?” I asked, voice wavering. “Have you been spying on me?”

“Emma.” His heavy sigh seeped through the door, and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret for how I was treating him. Which was stupid. The guy was bad news. It was just…that sigh sounded so defeated, so unlike a man who would stalk and abuse an innocent girl. It sounded much more like the guy who had wrapped his arms around me and kissed me to sleep. “There’s all a reasonable explanation for this. If you’d just open up the door and let me in, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Is that what you told Alison Meadows before you followed her into that alley?”

“I didn’t do it, Emma,” he said. “I swear on my life. That file may have said I did, but it’s wrong.”

I stared hard at the door, heart still hammering. Despite the logical part of my brain that told me I shouldn’t believe a word Pierce Donovan said, I couldn’t help the bulb of doubt that began to grow. Maybe he was telling me the truth. Alison Meadows could have made it all up. I’d worked for Max Weathers long enough to know that just because someone claimed something happened, that didn’t mean it had.

Pierce might be a lot of things, but he’d never struck me as the kind of man who wouldn’t own up to what he did. In fact, he seemed the opposite. The kind of man to relish in his indiscretions, no matter what the cost.

As I stood there in my tiny apartment, my mind warred against itself. I knew I shouldn’t let him in, but a huge part of me wanted to let him explain himself. Listening to him didn’t mean I had to believe him. It was only fair to give him a chance to explain his side of the situation.

With a deep breath, I crossed the room and unlocked the door. A moment later, Pierce pushed it open, and I backed up instinctively, still not one hundred percent sure this was a particularly great idea. My eyes drank him in, and I stiffened. Heat flooded my cheeks. He looked good. Really good.

His dark suit fit his muscular frame so well that I could see the outline of his biceps through the sleek material. He’d styled his hair so that it swept back from his face, highlighting his ruggedly handsome features. His eyes caught mine, and his lips quirked, as if he could read my thoughts. I took another step back, barely daring to breathe.

“You shouldn’t be doing shots of cheap rum by yourself.” He snatched the bottle from my hands and deposited it on the table by the door. “You’ll only end up with a terrible hangover in the morning.”

“You’re seriously going to lecture me on drinking right now?” I shook my head and took another step back, though my body wanted to do the opposite.

“Don’t argue with me, Emma.” He shut the door behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. “I came over here to explain the file you found, and you should know that I’m not one to explain myself to anyone.”

“And I’m supposed to feel special about that?” I asked, mimicking him and crossing my arms.

“Yes, you should.” He sighed. “I don’t owe you an explanation. I could turn around right now and walk away from this. But I want you to be safe, and I don’t think you’ll let me protect you unless you understand the truth.”

“I don’t need your protection.” I took another step back and pressed my sweaty palms against my skirt. “Just like Alison Meadows didn’t need your protection either.”

He sighed and clenched his jaw, making his chiseled chin ripple like a wave. “Emma. I’ve never met Alison Meadows in my life. I had nothing to do with what happened to her in the alley that night. Whoever told you otherwise was lying to you.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” I shook my head and continued my slow walk away from him. “It was in the police database. It said you confessed and paid her a settlement fee.”

“I paid a settlement fee because it was the only way to make the problem go away.” Pierce reached out and took my hand in his. I almost ripped my fingers from his grasp, but I found I was too enthralled by his words to pull away. “The police file didn’t include the full story. Because I made it go away. Someone had to take the fall, and I made sure it was me instead of who it really was. When you have money, you can do that kind of thing. Tell me you understand what I’m saying.”

I blinked, my mouth dropping open. “You’re saying you bribed the cops to delete the real file from the database. And you want me to trust you? After hearing that?”

“I was protecting someone, Emma.” He squeezed my hands, his eyes pleading with mine to understand. “Someone very important to me. I took the fall in order to save his life.”

I stared at Pierce. Every word that came out of his mouth made me more and more confused. He’d paid the police to delete the real record from their database. And he’d done it in order to save someone, or so he said. Pierce didn’t seem like the kind of man to care about anyone. He was number one. The man on top. No friends, no family, no life.

“Who?” I asked, my voice rising along with my frustration. “Who would you go to that kind of lengths for?”

His face clouded over, and he glanced away. “I can’t tell you that.”

“You can’t tell me that.” I shook my head and spat out a laugh. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Emma,” Pierce said in a growl. “I don’t like that you don’t trust me.”

Something skittered along my skin at his words. Fear, excitement, and a little bit of lust. I shook my head at myself. I needed to get a grip. Nothing Pierce said to me made any sense. He’d said he wanted to give me an explanation for what I’d found out today, but this was as far from an explanation as he could get. It only brought up more questions and nothing close to an answer.

“And I don’t like that you’re not telling me the entire story,” I said. “How am I supposed to trust you when you won’t?”

“Because I said so.” He took slow, methodical steps toward me. A part of my brain told me to back up and get out of his way, but I couldn’t. My body betrayed my mind. It stood frozen there, chest heaving and cheeks warm. The way his eyes raked across every inch of me made me realize I was doomed. Even though I knew I shouldn’t trust him, it wouldn’t help me stay strong. I would give into his needs, the moment he told me what he wanted from me.