Remorseless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 3) (20 page)

A rush of relief filled Julie. “Does this mean you’re not going to do anything stupid?”

“It means I have a round of interviews to go through over at Farrell Enterprises. I assume you had something to do with that.”

The interviews. Alex had sorted out the schedule.
“I was going to mention it to you when I got here but I got...distracted.” She tried to keep her cool as she said it, but she could feel heat rush into her cheeks.

Logan ran a hand over his face. “I’m going to take care of this, but we’re not done with this conversation.”

Julie didn’t know what to say to that so she moved past it. “You should change before we go. Did Alex send some clothes over to you yesterday? He said his assistant would help—”

“I got the suit. And we’re not going anywhere. I can handle this without you.”

She snorted. “This is my area. I’m going with you.”

“You set it up. If you’re there, then questions will be asked that I don’t want to deal with.”

“But—”

“I’ve been interviewed before. I’ll keep it short, light, and not give any of the family’s dirty secrets away.”

Damn it. If he thought he was going to—

“Do you love me?” he blurted out.

“What?”

“It could be prison messing with me, or it could be my own fucked-up brain, but I’m feeling something for you. Something I’ve never felt toward anyone else in my life. So I’m asking you now, point-blank. Do you love me?”

Julie’s mouth went dry as she blinked in shock. “I, um, I don’t.” The words felt like sandpaper coming out of her suddenly dry throat. They felt...
wrong
.

He ran a hand through his hair in a quick, jerky motion. “Julie, I can’t be around you right now.” He reached out and set a hand on her knee but removed it just as fast. “Think about what I said. About what you want. And if you decide you want to take what you want, you let me be the first to know.”

Logan opened the door and stepped out of the car. Julie watched him as he said something to the driver.

She climbed out of the car as he started for his building. “Wait!” she called.

He turned and that ice-blue gaze raked over her. “Did you change your mind?”

“I can’t—”

“Then I need to—” He clenched his jaw. “I need to get ready. The driver will take you home.” Before she could say anything, he disappeared into the building.

Everything in her wanted to run after him, but she didn’t move. Her job had limits she couldn’t cross, and she’d already crossed so many of them.
No.
She’d made her choice. It was a good choice. The smart choice.

So why did it hurt so damn much?

––––––––

T
he man brought the phone to his ear. After three rings, Bossman answered. “I thought you were taking care of things.”

“I only just caught onto their trail. They’re already in the city.”

There was a momentary pause. It was never good when Bossman was at a loss for words. “If they’re in the city, Logan is untouchable.”

“Then don’t touch him. Focus on the girl. Get her alone and get everything they have. Whatever Alecia Willis gave them, I want it destroyed.”

The man tightened his grip on the phone. “That might not be easy.”

“I don’t pay you for easy. I pay you to get shit done. Now get it done.”

The call disconnected and the man put the phone back in his pocket as the woman, Julie Anne, got back into the black shiny car and drove off. But he didn’t have to follow her. Now that they were in the city, bets were that she was going home.

And he already had her address.

––––––––

“A
re you sure he’s doing okay?” asked Julie into her cell phone as she climbed the stairs to her apartment.

“He’s doing great. Whatever you said to the reporters, they’re staying away from the sensitive topics. And I think it was a smart move to stay out of sight,” added Alex. “There would be too many people who might recognize you from the Denver photos. He’s already dodging questions left and right about that.”

Logan was probably hating that
, thought Julie.
Still, better than them asking about Brandon Willis.

“Are you going to meet us after all the interviews are over? I have to run back to the house and I don’t know if Logan should be alone.” Alex dropped the volume of his voice.

Julie sighed as she tried to think what a dinner with her and Logan alone would be like right now. “Uhh...I don’t know. I have to catch up on a few things.” She’d just spent the past few hours at the coffee house next to her apartment catching up on things, so her entire evening was free, but Alex didn’t need to know the real reason she was hesitating.

“Try to clear your schedule, Jules. Logan needs you after all this.”

Julie stopped next to her apartment and leaned back against the wall. She did not need this unintentional guilt trip from Alex. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said. “I just got home, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“I have to go too. Later, Jules.”

He disconnected and Julie put her phone in her bag, trading it for the keys to her apartment. She put the key into each of the three locks, and the door finally opened. She needed a pitcher of margaritas, a steaming hot bath, and a week’s worth of sleep. The entire argument with Logan just left her...drained. She didn’t want to be forced into anything. This whole thing had gotten too complicated.

She’d lied to him. Right to his face. He’d asked whether she loved him, and she said the first thing that popped into her mind. She said the answer she wanted to be true, but it wasn’t the truth.

She wasn’t supposed to love him. It was too soon. They’d only just met, and so much of that time had been based off mistrust and dubious motives.
Why would she feel this way? Did she even need a reason?

Yes. Yes, she did.
Julie set her purse down and reached around the cluttered table in the eating area—she didn’t call it a dining room table because the space was too small to be considered a dining room—and found a clear back of an envelope. On it, she wrote “Pros” and “Cons.”
There.
She could think about this logically.
Con: My reputation would be ruined
. People would assume she was sleeping with a Farrell to advance her career.
Pro: Being with a Farrell would advance my career
. She’d get access to the sort of social circles she’d only dreamed of.

Con: Logan has issues.
He’d admitted it to her multiple times. He’d called himself broken. Her heart broke at the memory of their conversation in the stairwell. Maybe he was broken, but it wasn’t as if he was beyond repair.
Pro: I don’t want him to be broken.

Pro: He has money.
Lots and lots and lots of money. Money she wouldn’t even know what to do with.
Con: I don’t need money
. Sure, a few luxury vacations would be nice, and she could really use some funds to invest back into her business. But none of that was a necessity. She had enough in savings after this Logan job to keep her going for a while.

Pro: I love him.
She sighed as she dropped the pen. It all came back to that, didn’t it? She loved him and he, at the very minimum, liked her. He’d made it clear almost from the beginning that he wanted more than just sex.

So, sure. What the hell.
They could try for something. It wouldn’t be all sunshine and roses, but he was a good guy. He was nice, to her at least, and he made her laugh, even when she really, really didn’t want to smile.

What better guy was there to take a chance on? She knew he was still in his long line of press meetings, but she reached for her phone. She didn’t want to hold this in any longer. If she had to leave a “yes I’d like to go out with you” voicemail, she was more than happy to do that.

Even before she grabbed her phone out of her bag, a stupid smile filled her face. A giddiness that only came from the rush of something new. Something exciting. She was more confident than ever in her choice as she brought her phone out and started to unlock it.

Something hard and cold touched her temple. Ice ran through her veins.

“Put the phone down,” said a voice behind her. It was barely more than a whisper, but every word was clear enough.
Put down her phone.
Her one way to call the police. Her one way to call Logan.

Her hand shook as she complied with the man’s request. Even though she couldn’t see him, the voice had been unmistakably male.
There was a strange man in her apartment.
Keeping her trapped inside her own apartment.
No. No, no, no, no, no.
But there was some sort of hope. She wasn’t shot yet. She pivoted in her seat, trying not to make any sudden movement as she finally faced the man who held the gun to her head.

Worse than she’d expected. It was the man from the gas station. The one who’d almost killed her once before. The one who was probably pissed that she’d gotten away in the first place.

He smiled in a way that told her exactly how much he was enjoying her discomfort. “Hey, babe. I didn’t think you’d ever want to say hello.”

A terrified shudder raced through her. She tried to talk, but she realized her jaw was clenched so tightly that it didn’t want to move. “Wha— What are you doing here?” Obviously this wasn’t going to have a happy ending, but she was very aware of the fact that she wasn’t dead.
Yet.

His smile widened. “I heard you made a stop at a bar in Denver. Talked to a girl.”

Alecia. What did he care about Alecia?
“I was there,” she said carefully.
Was there a chance she could talk her way out of this?

“I need you to give me everything she gave to you.”

Everything?
It was an email. An email she’d sent to multiple people. There was no handing it over. What was going to happen when she told him no? When she told him it wasn’t possible? She was willing to bet that he wasn’t just going to shrug this off and walk away. She tried another tactic. “I don’t have them here. I can take you to them, though.”
Taking him somewhere. That worked in the movies, right? Shit. She wasn’t in a movie.

The man laughed. Obviously he wasn’t into that suggestion either. “Oh, honey. I was really hoping we wouldn’t have to do this.”

Time. She needed time.
“No! I’m serious. Logan was the one who wanted the documents. Why would they be here?” He sighed and she knew he was starting to believe her. “I can get you them. He’s in interviews all day. I can get in and out of his apartment easily.” Getting there would be all well and good, but she’d need to find some way to signal someone she was in trouble. Between the cab ride there and the walk up to the apartment, there had to be some way she could get out of this.

“How do you plan to get into his apartment?” asked the gunman.

“I have a key card. The elevator goes right up.”

“Where’s the card?”

The guy wasn’t even going to let her rummage around in her bag. Not that there were any weapons she could’ve covertly grabbed anyway. In the slim chance she survived this, she was going to have to invest in pepper spray. Instead, she complied completely as she gave him instructions on how to access the pocket that held the key card that Logan had given her in confidence.
Was she betraying him?
He was in interviews all day. If he stayed away long enough, he’d be safe.
And she’d be—
She didn’t want to think about where she’d be.
Time.
As long as she had more time, she could figure a way out of this.

“How does this thing work?”

She told him the directions to the elevator and Logan’s floor. “All you do is insert the card before you hit the button and you’ll have all the clearance you need.”

The man nodded and reached into his back pocket even as he kept the gun firmly pointed at her, his hand not wavering in the slightest. She liked it better when he’d been strangling her with his bare hands. She hadn’t been much of a match for him, but she’d managed to scratch and claw him while she struggled. Now all she could do was sit in her petrified state.