Unlawful Attraction: The Complete Box Set: Alpha Billionaire Romance (31 page)

“We don’t know that,” Dena said from off to my side.

I resisted the urge to look at her.

“We do.” Bethany gave her a cold look that made my hands curl into fists. “There is
no
evidence connecting the two events. No reason for anyone to ransack Ms. Mance's house. Unless, of course, she was trying for sympathy. Or maybe an insurance scam.”

“She has no reason to do that,” I said through gritted teeth. I wasn't sure which was pissing me off more, Bethany's treatment of Dena or her attitude toward Leayna.

“Money's always a motive. If her late husband had been planning on divorcing her...”

“She doesn't have any money issues,” Dena neatly interrupted as she pulled a file out of a box and put a report down on the desk in front of Bethany. “I had a source look into it.”

I saw a real flicker of surprise on Bethany’s face. “You were able to follow up on quite a bit this weekend.”

Maybe Dena really had been busy.

Dena started to say something else, but Bethany cut her off, dismissing her as she focused on me. “We have a solid case against Mrs. Mance, Arik. She’d be wise to just plead out.”

I took a second to make sure my voice was calm. “My client is innocent.”

There was a knock at the door.

Dena answered while Bethany glared at me. The cute college coed who bustled in, handing out coffee and depositing the box of bagels ended up hurrying out as quickly as possible. I hoped the twenty-dollar tip would make up for the tension in the air.

Dena seemed unaffected, but I knew better. She stood at the window, staring outside as she slowly stirred cream and sugar into her coffee.

Absently, I noted the cup on the desk. Skinny vanilla latte. Next time, I told myself.

Next time...
What in the hell? Why was I thinking about the next time? Or coffee? Or anything other than the fact that she’d hidden something pretty damn important from me?

And why was I thinking about any of this when I had a case to focus on? A client whose life was on the line.

“Mrs. Mance really should make a deal,” Bethany said, her voice even. “None of this is going away.”

With that, she stood up, selected a bagel and took a coffee. As she started to walk out, I focused on Dena.

No way in hell would I just let this go. If I walked out of this office, I had no way of knowing when I'd get to talk to her again.

“I’ll need your ADA for a little while this morning. I’m sure you’re...busy, Bethany, but my client needs to get a few things from her house, and I’m sure you’ll want somebody from the DA’s office there.” Rising, I looked back at her. “To make sure everything's done by the book, of course.”

Bethany paused, studying me. Then she shrugged. “Just make sure you don’t keep her long. She’s needed here.”

Shifting my gaze to Dena, I picked up my briefcase.

“Let’s go.”

I wasn’t waiting to have that talk.

And I sure as hell wasn't making that a request.

Chapter 3

Dena

What I wanted to do was tell Arik that I’d meet him at Leayna’s, but it didn't make sense for us to take separate cabs, especially since the first one had been so hard to get.

When we stopped a block short of the Mance address, I looked around. Not that parking was easy anywhere in the city, but I didn't think we were going to be walking from here.

The luxury high-rise in front of us hadn’t yet opened for general viewing, but real estate agents and businesses were making grabs for prime spots.

But that didn't explain why we'd parked here.

“What are we doing?” I asked as we rolled to a stop.

“Talking.”

I didn’t bother to play dumb and point out that he’d said we were going to his client’s house. I’d known it was bullshit from the second the words left his mouth. It was strange how well I seemed to know him already.

“This place isn’t open to the public. How are we...?”

The words stopped as a man came rushing up to the cab door, opening it with a wide smile. “Mr. Porter, it's great to see you, sir. Coming by to see how the construction's going? I hear the penthouse will be ready soon.”

“Before Thanksgiving,” Arik said easily as he shook hands with the other man. “My father said he ran into a few snags with some permits. He's still learning the differences between building codes in Chicago and New York.”

His father?

What the hell?

“If this one does well, do you think your family will continue expanding here?”

His family?

Arik nodded without looking at me. “That's the plan.”

“Well, sir, we really appreciate the jobs around here.” The man opened the front door. “You and your friend take your time. The building inspector's not due for another few hours.”

Arik thanked him and stepped inside, seemingly waiting for me to ask. I didn't because I’d already connected enough dots to construct a decent picture. Defense attorneys made damn good money – or they could.

But it sounded like Arik was already loaded. Family money, even if he hadn't gone into the family business.

Part of me wondered why that was, but I didn't ask. We had enough to deal with without adding family into the mix. Maybe, eventually...I shook my head. No use even attempting to think that far ahead.

Neither of us said a word as we rode up to the top floor, then walked down a dimly lit hall. It was clear that even though things looked completed, there was still a bit more that needed to be done.

It was all black, white and chrome, completely masculine. As Arik locked the door behind us, I looked at the modern fixtures and then over at him. “This place doesn’t suit you.”

“No.” He paced over toward me, crossing his arms over his chest, his emerald green eyes narrowed. “I’m not here to discuss my future accommodations, though. Why didn’t you tell me?”

I didn't have to ask what he was talking about. “I was going to,” I said. Averting my face, I blew out a breath. “As soon as I figured out how.”

“It would have been easy. All you had to do was answer one of my calls, or one of my texts, instead of blowing me off.” Biting anger underscored his voice, but I couldn't really blame him. “Look at me.”

When I didn’t, he shot a hand into my hair.

He. Did. Not.

I jerked against his hold, glaring at him. “Let go.”

“And not just blowing me off, but doing it to figure out how to put an innocent woman in jail.”

He still hadn’t let go of my hair and my scalp was starting to tingle from the pressure, but not in a good way.

“
I
spent the weekend getting caught up on a case that had been assigned to me by my direct superior.” Rising up on my toes, I shoved my face into his. “And if you don’t let go of my hair
right
now, this discussion is through and this so-called
relationship
is through.”

Something flickered through his eyes and slowly he let go. Tension radiated off of him, and for the first time since I'd met him, I was thoroughly aware of just how much larger he was than me. More than a foot taller, broad shoulders, muscled torso...

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice strangely gentle. “I just–”

“I found out on Thursday morning,” I cut him off. “Bethany has been fucking with me almost from the get-go, and then she throws Pierce under the bus, claiming he made some bullshit unofficial complaint about how I acted unprofessionally and made an advance on him. None of it happened, of course, and we all knew it. He stood there and let her say it, knowing it was all crap.” Now that I'd started, it all came pouring out. “I filed a formal complaint against him and told her I’d be happy to explain in detail everything that’s happened since I started. He ended up getting suspended while they investigate him. So that meant I became second chair.”

Arik was the one looking away now.

My lips trembled. I could feel the tears threatening, and it pissed me off. I didn’t want to cry. I never wanted to cry. I wanted to yell at him. I was angry and hurt. And too much had happened in the past couple months for me to be able to handle it.

Turning away, I sniffed and reached up to press my fingertips under my eyes as I tried to hold the tears at bay.

“Dena…” Arik’s voice was hoarse.

I heard him coming up behind me. I started to shake my head, tried to step away from him, but I was too slow.

He was already wrapping one arm around my hips, his palm pressing to my belly while the other came up and covered my throat. The gesture should've been threatening, oppressive, but for me, feeling the strength of him was comforting. Safe.

“Don’t do that,” he whispered against the top of my head. “I’m...fuck, baby, I’m sorry. This is messing with my head. I told you that I couldn’t think straight around you.”

“You’re an asshole,” I snapped. Then I sniffled, taking the sting out of my statement. “I told you getting involved was a bad idea.”

He pressed his lips to my hair, his thumb making circles over my pulse. I told myself I needed to pull away, end this.

That was what I needed to do.

So why was I letting him turn me around and tip my face up?

Why was I letting him kiss me?

Why was I letting him push his hands into my hair? He unerringly sought out the areas of my scalp that ached a bit and massaged, his touch tender rather than rough.

I moaned into his mouth. When his teeth gently scored my lower lip, I whimpered, and without letting myself think about the stupidity of what we were doing, I placed my hands on his chest and slowly slid them up, shoving his jacket back.

He shrugged out of it, and while I fumbled with his tie, he pulled up my skirt. My hips jerked as he ripped off my panties and I gasped into his mouth. I fumbled with his shirt, desperate to feel him. He tore at his belt, and then he boosted me up, his need fueling my own.

I gasped as he thrust inside me, holding me up in the middle of that cold, sterile room that didn’t suit him at all. I wrapped my legs around his waist as his cock stretched and burned. I wasn’t ready, and it hurt, but when he would have waited, I rocked against him, urging him on.

His eyes burned into mine, desperation in the depths. “We shouldn’t do this,” he said, his voice harsh. I could feel his body trembling. “I do the stupidest things with you, Dena.”

“Me, too.” I tugged his face closer, kissing him, exploring his mouth with mine.

We said nothing else. In the middle of that room, with him holding me, I rode him. It was slow, almost torturous, as I used my inner muscles to squeeze him. His hands gripped my ass and I wound my arm around his neck, the two of us moving together in a way that I could never be with anyone else.

He felt huge inside me, my weight driving me down on his cock until I was so full of him that I didn't know where he ended and I began. The sensations were almost too much and every muscle in my body trembled, but I held on.

The room began to whirl around us, then my vision focused and I realized it wasn’t the room moving, but us. Arik took two strides, putting my back to the wall before he caught my knees, and began to hammer into me. Each driving thrust pulled a moan from me, and before I knew it, he had pounded me straight into orgasm.

He came a moment later, his groan smothered against my throat even as he pulsed inside me, the feeling enough to trigger a second, smaller climax.

We stayed like that for a couple silent minutes. I could feel an internal clock ticking in my head as his weight continued to spread my thighs. Muscles strained and I started to feel all of the aches that came from being thoroughly fucked.

A deep sigh escaped him, then slowly, he eased me to the ground. I sucked in a breath as he pulled out, my pussy throbbing with the sudden loss.

As he tugged his trousers up, I stepped around him. A black silk scrap lay on the floor. Face flushed, I picked it up and moved over to the kitchen area. I hoped the water was on. I was wet, his semen leaking down my thighs. Thankfully, the water was indeed on, and I quickly wiped myself, using the destroyed remains of my panties.

When I turned, Arik was staring outside.

Good. I wasn’t ready to look at him. Or myself. I flushed with shame.

So much for respecting my office and not having sex on the job. I was such a hypocrite.

Throat tight, I smoothed my hands down my skirt and looked toward the door. I took one shaking step, then another. My purse and briefcase waited there, on the floor. I didn’t even remember putting them down.

“Dena. We need to talk,” Arik said. He sounded tired now.

He couldn’t be any more tired than me.

“No,” I said softly. “I’ve said everything I needed to say. I’m just trying to do my job, you know.” Now I glanced back at him, myriad emotions churning inside. “All I ever wanted to do was be a prosecutor. This was supposed to be my dream job and it’s become a nightmare. Everything went to shit with Bethany. So, yeah, I took a few days to come to grips with how things changed last week. I needed time, Arik. That’s who I am. You’re pissed off about it. Fine.”