Deadly Desire (23 page)

He reminded Carrie a lot of Jace actually. They had the same dark hair, the same grizzled yet refined face, and they both oozed power wherever they went. The two of them would either get along or tear each other to shreds.

Carrie swallowed and managed a smile. “Have you and Jace discussed his current situation?”

“Briefly.” Rick gave Carrie his megawatt smile, the one that tricked his opponents into thinking he was on their side. “I won’t be taking on his case, however.”

“What?” Her eyes widened. She couldn’t understand why this would happen. Her firm had represented Jace’s business interests for years now, and the partners had always been eager to have him as a client on their roster. He was worth billions after all. “I don’t understand.”

“Jace has made it clear that he would prefer
you
to take the lead on this case.” Rick gave a nod to Jace, who gave him a nod back, in some sort of weird silent communication that only men tend to do. “So, I’ll be handing the reins over to you.”

Carrie’s heart thumped hard in her chest. She couldn’t believe Jace had pushed this. If he’d been anyone else in the world, it could have lost Carrie her job. She did her best to keep her emotions at bay and respond with measured words. “I was under the impression that representing Jace would be against company policy. And I’m not even a criminal defense lawyer.”

“For Jace Holt, I believe we can make an exception. Unless you have a personal objection to taking on such an
important case
?” Rick’s smile was easy-going enough, but his tone held the warning he didn’t voice. Jace wanted Carrie, so Jace was going to get Carrie, and she better damn well agree to it, because he was one of their biggest clients.

Don’t make the client unhappy
, Carrie. She could read the words in his eyes.

She was going to kill Jace for putting her in this position.

“Of course I don’t have any personal objections to it. I’d be happy to represent Jace in this instance.” At those words, she glanced at Jace and shot daggers with her eyes. He gave her an easy grin, which only made her blood boil even more.

“Perfect.” Rick swept up from the desk and shook hands with Jace. “I expect nothing but the best from you, Carrie. Be sure to keep that in mind.”

In other words, she better not botch this case.

Jace had Carrie right where he wanted her. Next stop: his bed. He knew these next steps might be a little tricky. She still showed signs of resistance, but Jace liked a challenge. It was part of why most women had failed to keep his interest recently. They were all too easy, too quick to give into his needs. He wanted someone with some fire in her. Someone like Carrie.

When Jace returned to his hotel, he found the police had cleared out of the penthouse and his assistants had done their best to remove any evidence of the mess. But things were out of place in his carefully constructed home. A slight sheen of white powder dusted the black kitchen tile, and the door to one of his kitchen drawers sat ajar.

Frowning, he yanked open the drawer and peered inside. Wonderful. He should have known. Pushing aside the dark cloth, it was very clear that someone had made an even bigger move against him than he’d thought. His gun was gone. He couldn’t say when it had been stolen, but he could guess it had happened before the police had arrived, or they would have questioned him about it by now.

Anger boiled in his veins. There’d been many attempts to discredit him, to scandalize him, to take his hotel business down. But this was the first time someone had gone this far. Unfortunately, the missing gun was something he couldn’t share with Carrie. She couldn’t know. It would only bring to light the secrets he had to keep hidden from her. And if she found out those, he might never have a chance with her again.

The meeting at the law firm had taken up most of his day, and he still had his own business to attend to. He poured himself a gin and tonic and opened his laptop to take care of the important matters of the day before he made his next move to get Carrie back into his arms. He needed to make a move fast on the building for sale in Times Square, now up for grabs since Anders Holland was no longer in the picture. If he could get a hotel launched there, he would be able to triple his income. There were some smaller estates he needed to check, as well as make a promised donation to his candidate of choice in the upcoming elections. Jace checked his accounts, his numbers, and nodded as he took a sip of his drink. One day away from his work, and nothing had imploded, and it looked as if the Times Square building would be his.

Whoever was trying to take him down would fail.

With a smile, he closed his laptop and called the concierge to bring him the best bottle of Pinot Noir in the building. He ordered a couple of steaks for good measure, to be sent up in precisely one hour. Jace remembered everything about Carrie’s specific tastes, both in the bed and out. She liked nice things, just like him, though she often pretended otherwise when other people were around.

Carrie. She’d looked so sexy in that suit. The skirt had hugged her curves even more than her jeans had the night before. The blouse she’d worn had been cut into a V, showing the slightest hint of her cleavage. Just enough to drive him mad. He felt himself harden at the thought of pulling that shirt over her head and grasping her nipples between his lips.

He groaned. He wanted her, he needed her, more than he’d ever needed a woman in his life. Tonight, he would show Carrie Simmons that he was the perfect man for her, no matter what their parents had done. He would show her that it didn’t matter, not when compared to the heat and passion he knew they still had.

Just before he made the call, he went into his bathroom and spread a small dab of aftershave across his face. He knew that scent drove Carrie wild, and wild was exactly how he wanted her tonight.

Jace opened the penthouse door when a soft knock sounded on the wood. Over the phone, Carrie’s tone had been a combination of annoyed and intrigued. He’d told her there were some details about the case he’d forgotten, and no, he couldn’t tell her over the phone. He’d expected her to protest more than she had, but she’d been quick to answer to his demands.

She still wore that sexy skirt, and the suit jacket was gone, so the curves of her breasts were even more on display. It was all he could do to keep himself from ripping open her shirt right then and there, but he knew Carrie would need to take things slow.

“So, what are these details you supposedly came up with?” Carrie pushed past him into his penthouse, the small slit in the back of her skirt showing off a hint of her toned thighs.

Jace gestured at the bottle of wine and the two glasses sitting on his marble kitchen island, the dimmed lights overhead gleaming against the black surface. “I thought we could make a proper business dinner of this. I’ve ordered us some steaks cooked just how you like them. They should be arriving any moment.”

Carrie propped her hands on her hips, opened her mouth, and then closed it again. He fought the urge to smirk at the flicker of warmth across her cheeks. “That’s really not appropriate, Jace.”

“You need to relax.” He ignored her protestations and began to uncork the wine, gripping his hand tight around the bottle and thinking about how he’d rather be gripping her perfect ass. “I assumed you were well-acquainted with business dinners in your profession. The partners at Hanson, Allen, and Chase have wine and dined me many times before.”

“You swear this is a meeting?” Carrie raised her eyebrows, and he could see another chunk of her wall toppling away. “There are actual things about the case you want to discuss?”

“I thought I would give you some more details about my alibi,” he said with a smile. “But first, let’s have a glass of wine and enjoy our dinner.”

“Dinner, wine.” Carrie shook her head with a laugh. “What, no flowers?”

“You know I’m not a flowers kind of guy.”

Just on time, a knock sounded at the door and Jace ushered in the cart of food. Two plates sat under glistening silver globes, and as the concierge discreetly disappeared, Jace revealed the plate of food to Carrie. And just as he’d predicted, a small gasp escaped from her parted lips. He’d remembered the way she liked her potatoes cooked, the cut of steak she preferred, and the fact her favorite dessert just happened to be chocolate cheesecake.

“That looks amazing, Jace.” For the first time since she’d arrived, a genuine smile lit up her face. Jace’s chest swelled as he took great satisfaction in pleasing her this way. “I mean, this is all my favorite food. How did you…?”

“Carrie.” His voice dropped low. “I remember everything you love. It may have been a few years since we’ve been together, but time hasn’t made the memories fade. Not even a little bit.”

Carrie stared right into his eyes, and the heat he’d seen in them earlier returned. “I don’t know what to say, Jace.”

“Just relax and enjoy this dinner with me. You don’t have to say a thing.”

Carrie couldn’t believe Jace had gone to so much effort just to get her to stay for dinner. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew there was more to this whole thing than he let on, but she couldn’t stop herself from dropping into the sleek black chair at his dinner table and taking a delicious bite of the perfectly-cooked steak. Almost raw, barely cooked, fresh and thick and warm. It melted in her mouth.

She glanced up and caught Jace’s gaze. His smile was seductive, delicious, and dangerous. She shifted in her seat and reminded herself of why she’d come here tonight and why he was so off-limits. Not only was he part of the family, he was also now her client. He couldn’t be any more off-limits if he tried. That knowledge didn’t really seem to help though. If anything, it made the pounding of her heart pick up speed.

“So, what did you want to tell me about the case?” she asked, turning her focus toward the professional side of things. This was a business dinner after all, even though it felt more like a date. She was almost surprised he hadn’t thrown candles and mood-setting music into the mix. “You remember something about your alibi?”

“That’s right.” Jace pulled his smart phone from his front pocket and tapped at the screen before sliding it across to Carrie. The phone displayed a contact record for someone named Madison, a phone number, and a picture of a gorgeous blonde to go along with it. The girl in the photo looked fresh out of college, if even that, though it was hard to tell her true age through the thick layer of makeup that painted her features. Definitely the kind of girl Carrie had seen Jace with in photos from the tabloids. Pretty much girls who were the opposite of her.

“This is your alibi?” She raised her eyebrows and pointed at the screen. “I thought you met her out at that bar?”

“I did.” Jace shrugged and slid his phone back over to his side of the table. “I asked for her number, and she gave me this.”

“And you just happened to forget to mention this until now?” Frowning, she sliced into the steak and shoved another piece into her mouth. He’d kept this information from her until now, and she hated that he’d wanted to keep it secret, like there’d been more to it than he’d let on.

Jace leaned forward and refilled Carrie’s wine glass, his gaze steady and self-assured. “I’ll admit, my first instinct was to hide it from you. You and I have a past, and I didn’t want to dangle images of another woman in front of your face.”