Choosing Rena (5 page)

Just before his father had
died, Louis had kicked her out with nothing more than the clothing
on her back. Thankfully she’d refused to have her checks deposited
into Louis’s account or she’d have been truly destitute. She’d been
lucky enough to have a small nest egg built up because after she’d
told him where he could go with his idea that she would share him
with another sub, Louis had pulled his business’s account from the
security company she’d worked for. She could’ve weathered that;
however, his constant bad-mouthing had convinced other clients to
pull their accounts and eventually forced Star Security into
Chapter Eleven bankruptcy.
But not before
it cost me my job.

“Nonsense, this deal with my son…well,
needless to say, he didn’t treat you very well and a lot of people
suffered in the end.” Elizebetta motioned to her assistant. “I, on
the other hand, recognize what a talented woman you are and will
treat you well. I’ve had Dieter prepare a very generous employment
package if you agree to my offer.” Dieter withdrew a manila folder
from his briefcase and handed it to Elizebetta. She glanced over it
before setting it on the table in front of Rena.

“I’m sure you’ll find this offer quite
beneficial for all concerned. Considering what you’re making here,
you’d be a fool not to take this job. Not only are we willing to
nearly triple what you’re currently being paid, this opportunity
could be your entry back into the high end security work you
enjoyed so much in New York.”

Rena forced herself to calmly pick up
the file. Opening it, she scanned the top page of the document. It
seemed straight-forward enough, but as with anything in life, if it
looked too good to be true…it probably was. “I need to have a
lawyer go over this before I decide anything, Elizebetta. I hope
you can understand. I need to make sure I can provide all aspects
of what you’re wanting before I can agree to anything.”

When the woman opened her mouth to
protest, Dieter placed his hand on Elizebetta’s, obviously
comforting the woman. “She’s not doubting you, but merely doing
what any person with her training would do, Lizzy. I’d have thought
it more suspicious if she’d just signed it outright without
consulting counsel.”

Rena’s eyes widened as she picked up
vibes she hadn’t before. Was Dieter actually in a relationship with
the formidable Elizebetta Vayarti? Even though Dieter was several
years younger than Elizebetta, it wouldn’t be the first time a
younger man had lost his heart to a more mature woman.

A trembling smile graced Elizebetta’s
lips. “Are you sure, Diet?”

The man smiled down at his employer.
“Yes, of course.” He turned back to Rena. “Please take all the time
you need. We’re not heading back to New York until at least the end
of the month and that will be to supervise the transfer of select
pieces from Lizzy’s New York gallery.”

Picking up the file, Rena shoved it
into her bag. “How do I get ahold of you?”

Dieter pulled a card out of his
briefcase and scribbled a number on the backside of the card.
“Here’s the hotel and room number where we’re staying until the
closing on our new home is finalized.”

Tapping her fingers on the table, she
cocked her head. “Your home? Then I’m not mistaken that you and
Mrs. Vayarti are…shall we say…romantically involved?”

Elizebetta blushed, licking her lips
before her eyes darted to Dieter. “It wasn’t planned, but yes and
it’s one of the main reasons I’ve decided to move out here. Louis
is definitely not happy about it.”

She arched an eyebrow at the couple.
“Fuck Louis! If you’re happy that’s what counts.” She could’ve
laughed as Elizebetta’s eyes widened, then she giggled.

“I couldn’t have said it better,
Rena.” Dieter took a sip of his water as the waiter approached with
their food. “Now, why don’t we enjoy our lunch before you have to
go back to work?”

* * * *

Sitting at his desk, Jude
scowled down at the report his head investigator had just turned
into him. The work wasn’t mediocre, but neither was it stellar.
Across from him, dressed in neatly pressed slacks and a white dress
shirt, Levi Rogers shifted in his seat. He glanced up from the
report. While Levi wasn’t a bad investigator, he wasn’t Rena
MacAllister. Now more than ever he wanted to kick his partner’s ass
for running off one of the best investigators they had ever
employed.
Damn
horn-toad
.

“Is there anything else, Mr. Larson?”
The voice was an unwelcome reminder of what the company had
lost.

“No, but if you let something like
this happen again, you can start looking for another job. It’s
unacceptable.”

“It won’t happen again,” the man said
nervously, fidgeting and pushing up the wire-framed glasses resting
on his nose.

Jude tossed the file down. “See that
it doesn’t. You’re dismissed, Levi.” He waited for the man to leave
before turning his chair to face the glass windows. Outside he
could see the heat rising off the pavement. It was another hot day
in Chicago but not as hot as his ass. Olivia was not happy about
the lack of results surrounding the break-in at their home. It had
been nearly a week since it had happened, and right now he knew
even less than he had the day it occurred. He was damn sick of
sleeping at the club, but until he felt it was safe to take his
Mistress home, he wasn’t going to allow her to step one foot inside
of their condo even if she was taking her displeasure out on his
backside. He didn’t even want to think about the torment Micah was
suffering because of him.

Turning back around, he picked up the
file one more time. Perhaps there was something he was missing.
Skimming over the bare bone facts and the non-descript police
report, he wanted to hit something. He’d taken Jackson’s advice to
let another investigator handle the case since he was too close to
be rational and this mess is what he’d gotten, a half assed report
with very vague details.

The ring of his cell startled him out
of his dark thoughts. He thought of ignoring it but answered it
just in case it was his contact at Comm. Edison.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jude, still looking for me?”
Rena’s sassy voice filled his ear as she reminded him of the cat
and mouse game they’d been playing since she’d quit.

“I’d have found you if I’d
been looking for you.” It had become a running joke between them
after he’d finally broken down and called her private cell. He
hadn’t wanted to betray her confidence…and Lord help him if his
partner ever found out he had Rena’s new personal cell number. But
when Jackson had taken a turn for the worse and ended up in the
hospital because of the RSV, then pneumonia had settled in his
lungs, he hadn’t had a choice. He’d known if something happened to
Jackson and he hadn’t called her, she’d have shot him with his own
gun. While he’d never seen Rena in all the time he’d been in the
hospital at his friend’s side, the nurses had assured him that
Jackson’s little black guardian angel had been checking in on
him.
And giving them hell if she thought
they weren’t delivering the care she thought he
deserved.

“Keep dreaming. If I don’t want to be
found, I won’t be.”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and
chuckled half-heartedly. “As pissed off as I am right now, I
wouldn’t tempt me, girl. This idiot you recommended isn’t working
out and I’m seriously thinking about tracking your ass down and
bringing you back here – Jackson be damned.”

A long sigh filled his ear. “Levi’s a
good investigator, Jude. I trained him myself…”

“But he’s not you. Do you
know I’m sitting here looking at a half-assed report about the
break-in at
my
condo that doesn’t even have a detailed police report?” He
picked up the file. “And I quote… ‘it’s believed that the suspect
may have come in via the balcony…’ Nowhere does it mention which
side of the condo the suspect came in on – what if there had been
two balconies at my place? If you’d handled the case – you wouldn’t
have let the Chicago P.D. do such a shitty job and then walk all
over you like Levi obviously did.” He tipped back in his chair,
staring up at the ceiling with his phone pressed against his ear.
“Fuck, what am I gonna tell Olivia, Rena? I promised her I’d know
something tonight.”

“Damn I don’t want to be in your
shoes. If there was something I could do…”

“Yeah there is. Come back to work for
me.”

“We’ve been over this, Jude. I
can’t.”

“What if I promise to keep ‘you know
who’ off your ass?”

Rena snorted. “Right. The minute he
sees my W-2s he’ll be all over me like stink on shit. The only way
I’d ever come back is if there was a way to make me
invisible.”

Her words sent the wheels turning in
his head. He sat up straight. “What if I pay you under the
table?”

She groaned. “I can’t believe you’d
even suggest such a thing, Boy Scout. That’s illegal as hell and
there’s no way you’d be able to pull it off without Jackson knowing
because for the amount I’d charge you, you’d have to get his
signature.”

Standing up, he paced over to the
filing cabinet. “What? No friendly discount for your old
boss?”

“Nope. A girl has to eat.”
He could hear clacking in the background as if she were typing
something on the computer. From his desk, he heard a ding. “But I
wouldn’t be against a good old fashioned trade.” He opened his
mouth to reply when the hair on the back of his neck stood up on
end as the familiar scent of Euphoria drifted past his nose.
Mistress.
In his pants,
his cock hardened even as his heart leapt. He fought the need to
turn, to cast his eyes on Olivia. He knew he’d be on his knees
without a worry in his head, despite the fact they were at his
place of business, if he saw her in one of her leather corsets,
dark leggings with her dark hair pulled back in a braid and her
ever present crop riding at her hip.

“So are you interested?” He heard
Rena’s voice as if from a distance

“In what?”

“A trade.” She sounded exasperated. “I
just sent you a file. I’ve been offered a job – freelance. You go
over the file. Tell me if you think it’s a feasible job for one
person. If it is, you’ll help me set it up and…”

“What will I get out of it?” he asked,
cutting to the chase as a slender hand touched his shoulder and a
slightly accented voice, a blend of her Croatian birth land and her
long imprisonment at the hands of the Russian Cartel, caressed his
every nerve.

“Ignoring me isn’t
acceptable,
pet.”

He swallowed…hard. “I…” The sharp tap
of her crop on his already tender backside had him ready for his
Mistress’s pleasure. Kneeling, he handed Olivia the phone without
another word.

Her hand left his shoulder as she
walked away to stand in front of the window. With her back to him,
he couldn’t make out the words as she spoke with Rena. A few
minutes later, she snapped the phone shut. “Come here,
Jude.”

His heart thumped frantically as he
scrambled to his feet. Very rarely did Olivia call him by his given
name unless he’d royally screwed up. When he approached her, she
gestured for him to sit at his desk. Sinking down into his
executive chair, he wondered what she would do next.

“I never would presume to
tell you what to do in your business,
pet.
But as your lover, I’d like to
request you consider taking Rena up on her offer.”

He swallowed, trying to pull his mind
out of submissive mode. “And what would that be?”

Her hand settled on his shoulder.
“She’s offered to look into our break-in. I’m assuming the report
Rogers prepared was lacking?”

He nodded. “I’m sorry, Mistress. I was
truly expecting him to…

“To be Rena. And he’s not.” She
slipped behind him to rub both shoulders. “I understand. She said
she sent you a file?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Well, open it up and see what it is.
If you think you can adhere to her terms, I’d say we take her up on
her offer.” She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I miss not
only our home, Jude, but sleeping between you and Micah. The bed at
the club is too damned small.”

“I know, Mistress.” It was a fact he
was immensely aware of. He and Micah had been taking turns for the
past week, holding their Mistress while the other slept on the
couch in Olivia’s office. Clicking open the email Rena had sent he
quickly skimmed over it. It seemed like a straight forward enough
job, one which would be perfect for Larson Securities, but could
easily be done with right amount of finagling by Rena.

“All she wants is your silence about
her involvement in our break-in and some advice on how to proceed
on this job.” Her hands slipped under his t-shirt. His breathing
grew ragged.

“In other words, she doesn’t want
Jackson to know she’s helping me, or that I’m helping her with this
freelance job.” He tried to focus as her nails scraped over his
nipples.

“Exactly.” When she stepped back, her
fingers slipping free, he groaned. He wanted them back. “But as I
said before, I won’t order you to accept her offer. After all, it’d
require lying to your partner. But I can tell you I think Rena will
have better luck producing results than the other guy you have on
it. That girl could teach stubbornness to a donkey.”