9781631054631ChoiceAffairsSalisbury (10 page)

“Yes, of course. Why?”
He cocked an eyebrow, a corner of his mouth curving up.
“Naughty girl.
As much as I’d love nothing better than
to christen this place, I fear right now is not the time.”

“Why
not?
No one can come in.”

“I need to be ready.
Jacob could call, either to give the all clear or to give me an update.”

“So?”

“Caitlyn,”
he growled. “Don’t make this any harder for me than you
are.”

“What am I doing?” I
asked, innocently.

“You know exactly what
you’re doing, sweet.”

“What is that? Yes, I
want you to fuck me.
Now, here, on
this bed.
Please?”

“You’re making this
very difficu
lt for me.”

“Good.”

“You know, I’ve
thought about perhaps having our own private play room.”

“So, what’s stopping
you? And good try at changing the subject.”

“I’m a senator now,
Caiti.
Do you know what would
happen if word ever got out that I, we, had some
thing
like that in our home?”

“Where there’s a will,
there’s a way, they say.”

“Point taken, and if
you don’t stop rubbing my thigh, I’m going to have to spank you later.”

“Promises,
promises.
Come on, Apolo. Where’s my man who fucks anywhere, anytime?”

“Preoccupied right now
with the fact that someone has broken into the building right after our
arriving.
Coincidence?
I don’t think so.”

I sighed and slowly
removed my hand. He was right—this was no laughing matter. “You’re right, of
course. I suppose I ne
ed to get used to the boring,
Senator Choice.”

He grabbed my hand and
placed it over his cock, which was hard.
“Never, ever boring, my love.
Remember that. Things will calm down
once we’ve moved and I’ve settled into my new position.”

“A time of transition
, we shall call this phase.”

The phone rang, and
Apolo jumped up and bolted across the small room. I thought for a second he was
going to yank the receiver completely away from its anchor.

It was hard to
understand exactly what was going on. He was good at the short answers.
Grunting too.
Then, he turned around and faced me.
The expression on his face was rather odd. He hung up and stood there, staring.
“Your brother.
He didn’t come to the w
edding. Do you know why?”

I shook my head. “No,
something about a business deal out of the country. That’s not unusual with
Tom. You know we’re not close. Why?”

“Curious, that’s all.”
He had his arms crossed now. Something wasn’t feeling right about this.

“What? I know you
better than that. What’s Tom and his whereabouts have to do with right now?”

“Because Jacob’s got
him, my brother, and—you’re going to love this—Don Turner on tape.
The three of them, sneaking into this
building.
Or should I say breaking
in? When I catch them,
they’re going to be accountable for more than they bargained for.”

“What the hell? How
does Tom know Anthony?
Or Don
Turner?
More importantly—has Jacob’s team found them?”

“No, no trace of them
yet.”

“What does that mean?
We have to
stay put?”

“I’m afraid so,
darling. Jacob’s got a friend on the Atlanta PD. He’s going to check with him,
see if it might warrant sending a team to help comb the building.”

“What would make this
situation worth their time and effort?
Besides the fact that
you’re
Apolo Choice?”

He grinned. “Yes,
there is that. Seriously though, it’s the way they came into the building.
Through an entrance only used by
maintenance.”

“So, something’s
fishy, then. Do you think our arriving was coincidental, or planned on their
part?”

“I guess we’ll have to
wait until we chat with them.”

“Apolo, something
awful just occurred to me.”

“What’s that?”

“If they came in
through a maintenance entrance, that means they probably have blueprints to the
inner workings of the building. Would
they know about
this room?”

“No,” he replied
sternly. “It doesn’t show up on any blueprint maintenance has. We have nothing
to worry about, so calm
yourself
, Caiti, please.”

“I’m trying.
But Tom?
What the hell are they up to, Apolo?”

* * * *

Apolo

I wa
s more than happy to see Jacob’s face when I opened the
door to my office, bringing Caitlyn with me out of the safe room.

“Well, good to see our
little, secret room works,” Jacob joked as he stood off to one side.

Caitlyn stood close to
me, afraid, I’m sur
e, of what might happen next.

“I assume you didn’t
have to inform Atlanta PD of my whereabouts?” I asked.

“No,
not this time.
But either the threesome got themselves somewhere to hide we know nothing
about, or they have another exit of escape. We found no trace of them, other
than what is on video.”

“What
now, then?”

“First off, we get the
two of you home. I’ll send Bo to follow
you. Then,
I’ll place a couple of guys at the house, and don’t worry, that paparazzi will
be none the wiser of what’s going on. Outside of that, I’ve got four guys still
going through the basement. Also, I’m changing the locks on that door.”

“Sounds
good.
I want to see those tape
s
.
Why don’t you bring them to the house when you finish here?”

“No problem. What
about Don Turner? How do you want to handle him come Monday?”

“Let him come back, if
he dares. Keep an eye on him. Monitor him. Something is going
on, and it involves my company. I want to be updated
daily.”

“Yes,
sir.
Now, why don’t we get the two of you safely home? I think the missus has had
enough excitement for one day.”

“Thank you, Jacob, I
have. I just don’t understand the connection between t
he
three,” Caitlyn put in.

“Don’t worry, ma’am.
We’ll find out what they’re up to.”

“I think, since we’re
here in Atlanta, I’ll do the brotherly thing and give Anthony a call.”

“Not a bad idea.”

We were escorted to
the garage. I got Caitlyn into the car. S
he had been
unusually quiet since coming out of the safe room. I’m sure the news about her
brother disturbed her. It disturbed me, as well. Both of our siblings up to
obvious no good with one of my own employees.

On the drive to the
house, she continued he
r silence. I let her, not
wanting to intrude.

Suddenly, she asked
the oddest thing, “Apolo? What does Don have access to?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, on the
computer. Where can he go? What can he access?”

“Why?”

“Because
if Jacob doesn’t know this, I’l
l tell you now.
Tom is a computer whiz.”

“How’s
that?
What does he know how to do?”

“I know he can hack
into systems. One of his old jobs, though I’m not one hundred percent sure who
his employer was.”

“Damn! And you didn’t
see fit to tell me until now?” I
know I had raised my
voice by the look on her face.

“Why would I tell you
anything about Tom? Either “A,” I figured Jacob already knew it, or “B,” I
don’t talk with him. I mean, he didn’t have the decency to come to the wedding,
or anything else he’s been
invited to.”

“I apologize. You’re
right. Let me call Jacob to see if he’s aware.”

“Better
yet, Choice, wait until we get home.
We’re almost there.”

I nodded at her. She
was right. This would put a whole new spin on things. Yet, somehow, I was quite
sure J
acob already knew everything on Tom White.

Speaking of Pickett
-White
’s, there was that other one—Susan. I
was confident that she was either staying with friends or paying cash for her
little adventure. Jacob had caught a rather large withdrawal she’d made
earlier that day. I felt quite sure that Susan was simply
waiting for us to leave for Washington before she showed her face.

I turned into the
driveway leading up to the house. The gate opened, and I noted Bo stopped
behind me, getting out of his car. I wa
tched in my
rear view while he walked across the street to have words with the resident
paparazzi. I couldn’t help but smile. Caitlyn caught it, of course.

“What are you smiling
about?”

“Oh,
nothing.
Only that our favorite paparazzi may decide parking across the street is not
such a good idea, after all.”

“Good,” she replied.
“Scum has no business parked there. I’m surprised one of the neighbors hasn’t
called to complain.”

“Oh, I think someone
has, sw
eetheart.”

Jacob arrived not too
long after. Caitlyn had gone off to call Izzie about dinner. We were in my
study when she reappeared, looking over the surveillance footage. “Come. Sit at
my desk. I was telling Jacob what you said about your brother’s work
experience.”

She stared at the
laptop screen, not uttering a word. After several moments, she finally said,
“What the hell are you up to, Tom?” She glanced up at me with those gorgeous,
green eyes. “I told you Don Turner was going to be trouble.”

“Yes, yo
u did. I remember.”

“I don’t know what you
two have going on regarding these three, but let me throw something out, in
case you haven’t already thought of it.”

“What’s that, love?”

“Get a forensic
accountant.” Her words lingered in the air. “Do it now.”

Chapter
Seven

Our first week in
Washington I could almost bet I could count the number of hours I actually saw
Apolo on both hands. That’s how busy he was. I might be over exaggerating, but
I don’t think so.
Committee
meetings with votes, on the house
floor, with more
votes.
If he did come home at a decent hour, he almost always
fell asleep on the couch, or other comfortable chair, the moment he sat down.

Luckily, I’d figured
this might happen, and had begun setting up my own office in our new home. I w
anted to get involved in various organizations and causes.
To help me get invites and meetings, Renee worked her magic. It was amazing
what dropping Apolo’s name could accomplish.

She scored me meetings
with high profile, nationally known organizations. Th
e
first was with a performing arts organization Apolo had followed for quite some
time.
Another with a disabled
veteran’s organization, which assisted with basic needs, such as house
renovations for when the soldiers came home.
The best of all was an invit
ation to accompany the vice president’s wife to Walter
Reed.

By the end of my first
seven days, I had a very full calendar for the following.
Which was exactly what I wanted—to keep myself busy.

I was excited. The
performing arts organization included the
Washington
area ballet troupe. Dance, especially classical ballet, had always been a
passion of mine. I had wanted to pursue it as a child, take dance classes. But
my mother made sure that had never happened. I lacked the discipline it took,
she’d tell me.
In the end, though, I grew too tall to
ever be a serious dancer.

Friday was a gorgeous,
autumn day, so I decided to surprise Apolo by showing up around lunchtime. I
let Renee know I was coming, just in case my husband had any unforeseen changes
in his sch
edule. Rather than go out, I prepared a
simple meal to take. I knew his time would be limited, and based on how little
I’d seen of him this week, I thought simpler was better.

His office was all
abuzz when I arrived. This was the first time I’d been here s
ince he had officially started his new position. It took
far more people to run a senator’s office than a corporate tycoon’s. Or, at
least with the latter, they were hidden behind the scenes.

Renee, seeing me
walk
in, bolted across the outer office in
my d
irection. I knew why. She was attempting to avoid
any awkward scenes with one of the underlings who did not know who I was, yet.
“Wonderful to see you, Mrs. Choice.
If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to
the senator’s office.” She immediately took the small
basket I’d been holding.

“Hello, Renee. This
certainly is nothing like Atlanta, is it?” I inquired, following her lead.

She opened the door to
a small, but adequate room. It was filled with books and paperwork.
Not at all what I’d been expecting for a
sen
ator.

Seeing the look on my
face, Renee instantly knew what I was thinking. “Senator Choice is a freshman
senator. They, um, don’t get the best offices. That comes later.”

“Ah, so he had to give
up the late senator’s space to someone with more tenure. I be
t that chafed him. Apolo isn’t used to not being top dog.”

“Exactly what chafed
me?” A familiar voice boomed behind us in the doorway.

I turned to see him,
suit jacket unbuttoned and tie askew, a briefcase in hand. His hair was mussed,
probably from
running his hand through it. He looked
like anything but a United States Senator. He looked more like my husband, who
had a lusty, hungry look in his eyes upon seeing me.

“Renee was telling me
how, being as you’re a freshman senator, you had to give up you
r late predecessor’s space for this
more quaint
one.” I wanted to continue, but he was
already next to me, and I could feel his intensity.

“Yes, but I’m not in
here much, anyway.”

Renee, who’d been
standing there through all this, spoke up, “Is there anyth
ing else you’ll
be
needing
?”

Apolo glanced down at
me.
“No, thank you, Renee.
I have everything we need right here,”
I replied, gesturing to the basket. “If you have a few minutes before I leave,
though, I have a couple of things I thought perhaps you coul
d answer for me.”

“Certainly.
If you don’t see me, just ask one of
the staff members. Speaking of which, why don’t I introduce you to them after
the senator leaves?”

“Excellent idea,
Renee,” Apolo responded. “I don’t intend for my wife to be one of those w
ho never comes down here.”

She nodded her head
and walked out the door, leaving us alone. I’d leaned up to kiss Apolo before
getting our lunch out when he grabbed me and drew me into an embrace. His lush
lips covered mine, catching me off guard. He seemed
greedy,
pushing his way inside my mouth. I wrapped my hands around his neck, burying
them in the long tendrils of his dark hair.

I felt his hand under
my skirt, moving up my thigh and right to where he wanted to be. I was already
a bundle of sexual tension
. Our coupling had been off
this past week, as he adjusted to his new schedule.

“Ah…Fuck, Apolo,” I
moaned, as he moved his mouth to my throat. His fingers began stroking back and
forth.

“Look at me, Caitlyn.”

I opened my eyes,
catching his with mine. He
buried two fingers inside
me as he seized my mouth and plunged his tongue into its depths. He seemed to
have the two in sync, his tongue matching the pace of his stroking fingers. I
rode his hand shamelessly as he brought me to a much-needed orgasm.

“My go
d, you’re so beautiful when you come.”

I wished we had time
for more than just this brief interlude. I felt the heat of his fingers as he
slowly pulled them out. I gasped, trying to rub myself against them. I wanted
more.

He stood upright,
sporting that na
ughty, impish grin of his. His hand
gently caressed my cheek. “My turn,” he said, as he made his way to the door in
two strides. He made sure it was locked. But Renee had done so on her way out.
Then, he sat down in one of the leather chairs and motioned m
e over.

I sighed in utter
contentment as I dropped to my knees. Reaching forward, I unzipped his
trousers, unearthing his hardened cock. Apolo groaned, thrusting himself into
my hand. Then, I enveloped him with my mouth.

“Fuck, yeah,” he
growled.

I took hi
m in long, deep pulls, sucking and running my tongue up and
down his shaft. I could tell this was not going to last long, as he was already
plunging at a quick pace.

Suddenly, I felt him
pull away. “Take off your thong.
Now.
I’m going to finish this inside
that tight cunt of yours.”

Quickly, I obeyed,
ditching the red lace thong on the floor. His trousers were now down around his
ankles as he guided me onto his waiting cock. I heard him hiss as he impaled
himself deep inside me. His hands were on my bottom,
guiding me as he thrust in and out, each time quicker and more demanding. The
pad of his thumb stroked my clit.

It didn’t take but
mere seconds and both of us were coming. Apolo pushed himself deep one last
time, as he came inside me, his hands tightly ho
lding
me in place. I was spent, watching. I only wished we had more time. More time
in our own bed. But Apolo liked it whenever and wherever, as he had proved
right now. I didn’t care. I’d take him anywhere I could get him.

“It appears we’ve
christened you
r office, senator.” I lifted myself off
him before standing and retrieving my thong. But Apolo’s hand snatched it from
me.

He lifted it to his
nose then buried it in his trouser pocket. “I can promise a lot more of that.”
He gestured to the basket sitting
in the middle of
his desk. “I’m starving.”

“Do you still have
time?” I blushed. “For lunch, that is.”

“I always have time
for you, Caitlyn. Never forget that. And we break for two hours for lunch.” He
grinned as he swatted me on the bottom, pinching a chee
k before he let go.

“I’ll have to remember
that next time,” I replied, as I began to remove items.

“Yes, please do. In
fact, what would you say if we picked one day for you to come and have lunch
every week?
Whether in here or
out.”

“You sure you can do
th
at?”

“Yes, I’m sure. If
anything comes up, I’ll text or call you and let you know ahead of time.”

“Then, let’s do it.
Friday is a good day, if it works for you.”

In a matter of
minutes, we were sitting, enjoying the lunch I had brought, and chatting. This
was an entirely new lifestyle for both of us.

Finally, I noticed him
look up at the clock on the wall. I knew it was time for him to be heading
back. I was trying to commit his new schedule to memory.

“You’ve got to go?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,
darling. Since
it’s
Friday, I really don’t see anything
keeping me late.”

“Good, I’ve missed my
husband this week.”

“I know, and I’ve
missed you, as well. I haven’t been very good company, but once I get into the
swing of things, that will change.”

I nodded and stood. “
Let me know when you’re leaving, and I’ll start dinner. I
didn’t see anything on your schedule for tonight, so I take it we don’t have to
be anywhere?”

“No, the weekend seems
to be ours, and I promise to call when I’m leaving.” He gave me that devilish,
su
ltry grin, the one that meant trouble. “I may have
a few requests by then.”

“Such
as?”

“You’ll see, my pet.
You’ll see.” He leaned down and covered my mouth with his, plunging his tongue
deep inside.
A taste of things to
come.

After he left, I
gathered up
the basket and found Renee. She quickly
assembled the staff and introduced me. Afterward, she and I returned to Apolo’s
office, where I pulled out my notebook filled with the questions I had for her.
The woman was a whiz. She knew who to direct me to, and
if she didn’t, she wrote down what I needed, stating she’d find out for
me.

I bid everyone goodbye
and left. Slowly, I walked through the hallways, thinking of all the important
men who had walked these floors before Apolo. Now, my husband would be remembe
red here, as well.

* * * *

Leaving my husband and
his new office in a much better, more satisfied mood, I made some
stops along the way. I picked up a couple of steaks for
dinner later, along with some fresh salad makings.
Flowers, too.
I loved fresh flo
wers.

As I finished putting
everything up, I began to arrange the flowers in a vase. The phone rang. I
checked the caller ID, but there was no number. Cautiously, I answered it.
“Hello?” I kept my finger on the “end” button, just in case it was a prank cal
l or some moron who’d gotten my number somehow.

“Caitlyn!”
The voice of my mother reverberated
through the receiver. “I was so afraid I was going to have to leave a message.
I know how you are about not returning your calls.”