Taming The Boss (Billionaires In The City Book 7) (15 page)

Rourke had never been to Farrell Tower. The place was like any other office he’d been in. The outside of the building was impressive and grand while the inside was all grays and beiges with only the views of Central Park to cut the monotony of the decorating scheme.

At least until the receptionist led them up to the fifty-fourth floor to a conference room built to impress outsiders. The table was stainless steel and surrounded by high-backed leather chairs. The black and gray scheme went through the entire room, accented by a few abstract-ish art pieces on the walls.

Cali wrapped her arms around herself as she looked around the room. He could see the second thoughts forming in her mind, but Rourke wasn’t going to let her back out of this. He needed to know what Carter wanted and let him know that Cali was off-limits when it came to intimidation.

It wasn’t long before Carter walked into the room. He wore a suit like so many of the other men in the building, but even so, he managed to stand out. Maybe it was because of his short hair, only slightly longer than a buzz cut. Or maybe it was because he wore a black shirt under his black suit. Not exactly normal corporate attire.

“Hello again.” Carter pushed the conference room door shut, sealing the three of them in alone.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” snapped Rourke as soon as the door was shut. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought Cali. He didn’t need her seeing what he really wanted to do to this son of a bitch.

“I think I’m doing my job,” said Carter, his voice not showing any hint of intimidation.

“Then tell us what your job is then.”

Carter looked between the two of them, but Rourke moved between him and Cali, making sure he was the one Carter knew he had to get through in order to talk to her.

But Cali wasn’t one to stand behind a man. She set a hand on Rourke’s shoulder and stepped out from behind him. “We’re here. What did you want to talk about?” Cali shot Rourke a look, silently telling him to simmer down.

Carter smiled at Rourke, and Rourke had to clench his fists to hold himself back.

“I want to know where Easson Harper is.”

She let out a snort. “You and everyone else. I don’t know where he is. “

“He has something that belongs to my employer. He stole it last Friday when he was here with you. I need to find it.”

“Not sure if you’re deaf or just stupid. She. Doesn’t. Know. Where. He. Is.”

“But you spent more time with him than anyone else. So spill. Where did he take you on dates? Where was his apartment? Where did he spend free time? Where was his favorite place to fuck? Tell me everything.”

Cali’s gaze went to Rourke and he stepped forward again. “That’s enough. She doesn’t have to put up with this.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable, feel free to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he growled, staring Carter right in the eye. There was no way in hell he’d leave Cali alone with this guy.

“If you want me to take you to his apartment, fine. The FBI has known where it is for weeks, so I doubt he’s been there lately.”

He smiled as though he’d gotten exactly what he wanted. “I’ll take it. There’s a car downstairs. We leave now.”

“Where are we going?” asked a man from the doorway.

Carter stayed still, but Cali and Rourke both turned to see Walter Farrell in the doorway. Cali took a step back at the unexpected sight. Apparently she hadn’t had much time with the enigmatic billionaire in her time with Luke and Michael. Rourke had only seen the man in the newspaper and TV, but he was too pissed to be that impressed by anyone at the moment. Not that Walter was all that impressive in person. He had a commanding presence, the kind that came from having more money than he knew what to do with. But in person, the white hair appeared thinner, the wrinkles a bit more prominent.

“I’m going to take a visit to Mr. Harper’s old apartment. He’s long gone now, but it’s worth investigating.”

“We already knew where his apartment was. Why get her involved?”

“Because I have a hunch and she can help me. You’re welcome to come with us if you want,” said Carter, as though daring the old man to take him up on the offer.

Rourke studied Walter Farrell’s face, looking for some sort of reaction. The tone from Carter was challenging. Not what he expected to hear from a subordinate, but Farrell didn’t seem to mind. It made him wonder what exactly their relationship was. Obviously they were more than employer and employee, and there was a lot of communication going on between the words they spoke.

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Farrell backed down. “I trust that you know what you’re doing. You know how important this is to me.”

“I’m aware,” Carter said simply before Farrell smiled slightly.

“Thank you for your help, Ms. Carson.” He turned away to leave without saying good-bye to Rourke, and he had the idea that Farrell didn’t know who he was. It would make sense considering they’d never been formally introduced.

The joy of flying under the radar. “So are we going to do this or not?” asked Rourke, ready to be done with the whole mess.

Cali inched closer to Rourke in the back of the limo. Of course they wouldn’t be in anything as normal as a cab. Especially not when they were on some sort of important mission for Walter Farrell. One of the few people more powerful than Luke and Michael, she’d never spent much time around the man. He’d met with Luke a few times for informal lunches, but the real estate business didn’t intersect with software all that often. The only reason she’d been at the Farrell party that week was because Easson had invited her.

And she had the unrelenting feeling this entire trip would be a huge waste of time, but if it would get whoever this Colin Carter guy was out of her hair, she’d do it.

She studied him as the car stopped at a light. He had more in common with Rourke than any of the other people in the city probably. A hint of wild that was covered with the pretense of fitting in.

He didn’t say anything on the drive across Manhattan to Easson’s apartment, and Cali didn’t bother trying to spark conversation. Judging by the way Rourke had been eyeing Colin before, all it would take was the tiniest spark to ignite an explosion.

The heat of Rourke’s body gave her comfort through the awkward situation, and she reached over to hold his hand. Soon enough, they pulled in front of the elegant apartment complex Easson had lived in.

She remembered when he’d first taken her here. She’d been so impressed at the place he’d been able to afford. Sure, it might make her shallow, but she’d appreciated that he was a self-sufficient man. She just never thought he was self-sufficient through dirty means.

And now that she’d never need a man to support her ever again, she was in love with Rourke Devereaux.

Her eyes widened as the stray thought popped into her head. In love? Where the hell had that come from? Almost subconsciously, her hand tugged free from his. She knew she felt...something for him. Something stronger than she’d ever felt for anyone before.

Thinking back over their time together, there had always been some strange pull between them. Even that first night when she’d kissed him for everything she was worth. She’d never met a man like Rourke Devereaux before and probably never would again. Even though he drove her crazy and half the time she was fairly certain they would strangle each other, she couldn’t imagine them going their separate ways and never seeing each other again.

She never felt that way about Easson. Even when he was perfect and saying all the right things, there’d always been some level of detachment between the two. And now that she’d been with Rourke, even the sex with Easson paled in comparison. Even before she knew what a disgusting slime ball he was and realized exactly how much he’d been deceiving her, there hadn’t really been a spark.

She just hadn’t realized it until Rourke had set her on fire.

Carter opened the door to the limo and Cali pulled herself out of her thoughts. In love or not, this was no time to have her head in the clouds. Rourke, closest to the door, pushed it open before the driver could hop around. He held a hand out to her and she took it, not sure whether he was being more chivalrous or possessive. Either way, she could use the support.

“He’s on the fourth-floor apartment.” She looked up. “Or at least he was. I’m sure he hasn’t been back since.”

Colin nodded and moved past her to the door to the building. The place had a high-tech electronic keypad to get in and he stood next to it. He held up a black box and pressed a button before he pulled the door open without a problem.

“We’re breaking in?” squeaked out Cali. It wasn’t as though she’d thought Colin was a saint, but she’d assumed he was going to leave her out of the more illegal side of his job.

“I want you to take me to his place,” said Colin. “Walk me through the motions. Would he stop to pick up his mail? Say hello to anyone? Everything.”

Cali eyed the man, trying to figure out what he was getting at. “Umm...he took me to the elevator and we went upstairs.” There wasn’t anything special about it.

Even so, Colin held out a hand to signal her to lead the way. In the lobby, he stopped her at the mailboxes. “Did he check the mail?”

She thought back to the times she’d been to his place during their short relationship. “He got the mail once for his place.”

“Which box?”

Cali glanced over her shoulder and met Rourke’s eyes, trying to see whether he thought this whole thing was as strange as she did.

He nodded reassuringly. “The sooner we’re done with this the better.”

“Fine.” Pointing to the box that corresponded to the apartment number, Cali gave Colin an annoyed look.

He nodded, not seeming to notice the monotony of his questions. Leaning in close, he studied the keyhole to the box before he pulled out his phone and took a picture. “Okay. Now what?”

“Now the elevator.” She led the way. If he wanted a step-by-step recreation, she supposed she’d humor him. Pressing the button to call the elevator, she glanced at Colin. “You said you were only doing your job, but what were you hoping to gain by breaking into my apartment?”

Colin didn’t look the slightest bit ashamed of what he’d done. “I was seeing if you were hiding Harper at your place.”

“Seriously?” She managed to hold in her laughter. “I’m the last person who’d be protecting him.”

“I believe you now.” He aimed a pointed glare at Rourke. “But before I knew about him, I couldn’t be sure. People tend to be...unpredictable when relationships are involved.” The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. “Now, think carefully here—did Harper ever press a button besides four when you stepped on here?”

“Why the hell would...” Cali trailed off as the tiniest snippet of a memory came to her. “He did hit five one night. Why is this important?”

A muscle in Rourke’s jaw ticked. “You think he’s still here, don’t you? Just in another apartment.”

Colin gave a small nod of acknowledgment. “We received a call from him yesterday and were able to confirm that it came from this building.”

“So now you need to know where.” The elevator doors opened on level five and Cali was hit with the sudden fear that Easson would be there, right in front of her, just waiting to mess up her life once more.

Except there was nothing but empty hallway.

“Stay here,” ordered Colin as he moved past and started to study the doors on the ten apartments, five doors on each side.

“What are you doing?” she whispered at him. If anyone chose now to wander out, the cops would probably be here in record time, and she really didn’t want to combine the day she got two million dollars with the day she was arrested for the first time.

“I’m looking for...” He trailed off as he stopped in front of another door. “This.” Colin dropped to his knees and started to work on the locks.

“We don’t need to be here for this.” Rourke took Cali’s hand in his.

“I’d think you two would want to see this more than most.” Letting out a satisfied grunt, Colin managed to get the door unlocked and pushed it was open.

“The inside of some poor person’s broken into home?” asked Cali. “I’m good out here.”

“Not some random person.” Colin walked in, leaving Cali and Rourke alone in the hall. “This is Easson Harper’s other apartment. His real one.”

Cali stared, speechless, for a moment at the now empty doorway. “Wh...What?” she managed to croak out as she followed Colin to stand in the entryway, not ready to step any farther into the strange place.

“Walter Farrell was contacted by Easson Harper after the whole debacle last week. He said he’d give over some...sensitive materials in exchange for a meeting with Walter. I’m looking for that information.”

“And why would you think he’d be storing it at the building under FBI surveillance?”

“Because the phone call came from a landline in here. If he really was using you like you say, then he wouldn’t take you to his true home. Too risky that you’d discover something you shouldn’t and, if he was found out, lead the wrong people there. So I’ve scouted out the building for three days and looked through the records of all the renters, but nothing stood out. But I noticed the scratch pattern around the lock to his mailbox and matched it to this place.”

“What makes you think this is Harper’s place?” asked Rourke. He’d passed Cali and entered into the living area. The entire place wasn’t much to look at. The floors and walls were all the same high-quality wood in the apartment that Easson had taken her to. But the furnishings were sparse and nothing really went together.

“I’d say this is a good clue,” said Colin from around the corner.

Cali glanced at the elevator and back to the inside of the apartment. Damn it. She shook her head and entered the apartment, shutting the door softly behind her. When she rounded the corner, she cursed a very different word. “This can’t be real.”

In front of her was a closet full of firearms: handguns, shotguns, and a whole mess of other weapons she couldn’t name. She made it a point to avoid guns as much as possible. Apparently Easson didn’t share in her distaste.

“I think it’s safe to say we’re in the right place,” said Colin.

Rourke bit out a curse. “Son of a bitch.”

“Why bring me here then?” asked Cali. “You could’ve compared mailboxes and lock scratches, or whatever, without me.”

“I brought you here because I wanted to see your face when we found this place.”

Realization dawned on her. “I’m not working with Easson! Would everyone please stop doubting me! I’ve been with Rourke for the past week. He’s the closest thing to a boss or coworker or anything for the moment.”

Colin shrugged. “Well, I believe you now.”

Cali shot him a look that told him exactly how she felt about his belated affirmation.

“I think it’s time to go.” Rourke stepped between the two of them.

Finally, someone was saying something that made sense.

“Where are you going to go?” asked Colin.

Cali narrowed her eyes at him. “Back to my apartment, where you’re no longer invited.”

“As long as Easson’s not there.”

Not again. “I thought we just went over this. Easson. And. I. Aren’t. A. Thing.” Hopefully she said it slow enough that he’d listen to her now.

Colin shrugged. “Not according to the pictures we have of him leaving your place last night.”