Vendetta (2 page)

“Do you know what happens down here, Thena?” He leaned closer, his hot breath fanning against her skin and for some reason, despite the heated argument that she was sure was to come, she was so turned on by this man right now that she wanted him to pull her pants down and take her right there. She tried to remind herself to put the dirty thoughts out of her mind, but good Lord, how could she? It had been a week since they kissed, let alone had sex. It had been a week since they saw each other and she missed him on every level. She missed talking with him, holding him, making love with him. She missed him because she loved him so much.

“Thomas—”

“A woman like you comes down here at night, alone, and she doesn’t leave here intact. Do you understand me, Thena? Getting murdered down here would be the least of your worries.” He ran his finger over her collarbone. “Three, maybe four guys spot you,” he studied her face as he leaned even closer. “And those three, maybe four, guys decide to take what they want from you—and I’m not talking about your purse, honey.”

“Look,” she placed her hands on his chest with the full intention of shoving him away from her, but her hands seemed to have other ideas because the only thing she was doing right now was feeling the muscular chest beneath her palms. “This guy is doing something good. He wants to build a homeless shelter. It’s not going to be in the best area of town, because homeless people aren’t allowed to just hang out in the best areas of town.” She knew she would have to work in some not so great areas, but she would be down there with a team of construction workers and they would all be fine. Of course the future possible build wasn’t in topic right now. Thomas was angry because she was down here at seven o’clock in the evening, alone, and it was dark…very dark. Yes, he was angry and he had every right to be angry with her. “I want to do this, Thomas. And yes, maybe I should have called you—”

“No maybe about it,” he snapped. “You should have called me, and you shouldn’t be down here by yourself.”

“Well I didn’t call you,” she said, exasperated by his relentless need to prove her wrong. “And it’s too late to worry about it now. I have a client to meet with and I’m going across that street,” she pointed to the building; “into that building and I’m going to meet with him.”

“The hell you are,” he barked.

“What makes you think you have the right to tell me what to do?” This time she did try to shove him away from her, but he didn’t budge—not even a centimeter.

“Maybe I’ve been working too many hours. Maybe I haven’t been home enough. So maybe you’ve forgotten just why I have every right to try to protect you, Thena. I’ll rectify that now.” He slipped his hand into her loosely hung hair and pulled her head closer to him before capturing her lips. He angrily used his tongue to part her lips before slipping it inside her mouth. As much as she wanted to fight him on this, she couldn’t because she wanted this kiss, longed for it for days and she wouldn’t deny him this. Instead of trying to pull away, knowing full well he would let her go if she made any attempt to free herself from his hold, she grabbed hold of his triceps and pulled herself closer to him, deepening the kiss and demanding more.

A faint whimper escaped her lips and he pushed his tongue deeper inside her mouth, exploring without mercy as the fingers on one hand tangled in her hair, while the other hand moved down to her behind and grabbed the soft flesh, kneading it as if kneading dough. She tore her mouth free from his and cried out. She was so hot for him right now she thought she might come with just one more touch of his lips. He, unhappy with the break in the kiss, reclaimed her mouth with a vengeance, kissing her, loving her so completely with his tongue as his hands roamed her body in a way no man should in public. She didn’t care. It had been too long and she wanted it now, she wanted him now.

Her body was coiled into a tight ball of sexual need, so much so that when one of his hands brushed against her center she came right there on the spot. She nearly melted to the ground, but he held her up, firmly pressed against his body. “God,” he moaned. “I missed that. I missed hearing you come, and missed that look of sheer ecstasy on your face after you do.”

“I miss you too,” she whispered. “But I’m not going home right now. I’m going into that building and meeting with my client. And if I get the contract I’ll be back in another area just like this one,” she assured him.

“I know,” he said regrettably. “But you’re not going in that building alone.”

“You have work to do, Thomas. You can’t play my bodyguard tonight.”

“Yes I can.” He picked up the portfolio she had dropped, took hold of her upper arm and escorted her out of their alcove and across the street. She knew he meant every word. He was not letting her go in that building alone. On some level she was thankful for that. She was a little uneasy with the circumstances herself, and she should have listened to her own feelings instead of thinking they were just some form of paranoia. Usually when she got that intense feeling that something was wrong she made sure to get herself out of the situation, but every once in a while she found herself so lost in explaining away the feeling that she refused to listen to it. Mr. Marlan might be the nicest guy in the world, but the truth was she didn’t know anything about him and she shouldn’t have come alone. She could have called Kyle and asked him to come with her, but she hadn’t even done that. When she got home she was going to have to do a mental check in with herself because being distracted did not justify being stupid. She couldn’t let something like this happen again because next time that man pulling her between two buildings might not be Thomas.

“Mr. Marlan,” she smiled as she extended her hand to his already outstretched hand. “I’m Thena Davis. This is Thomas McGregor.”

“Oh yes. McGregor investigations,” the silver haired, green eyed gentleman looked her over while speaking words directed at Thomas. “I was unaware that you worked in construction too.”

“I was unaware that meeting with women alone after hours was actually a smart business move,” Thomas said without any hint of jovialness. Thena cleared her throat.

“Shall we discuss the project, Mr. Marlan?”

“Only if you call me George.” He smiled at her; the wrinkles around his eyes deepening.

“George,” she said hesitantly.

“Yeah, you kind of remind me of my daughter. She’s just as smart. She would never go into a place like this unaccompanied.”

“Oh,” she hid her thoughts well because she had come into a place like this unaccompanied.

“Odd place for your office,” Thomas said as they sat down at the round table in George’s office.

“It’s been my goal to help bring this area back to what it used to be many years ago. I haven’t had as much success as I’d like to have, but I’m hoping this building will help.”

“Really?” Thomas’ tone told Thena he didn’t believe George. She kicked him beneath the table in an effort to tell him to stop. This was her client and the job she was trying to get and she didn’t want him screwing it up. He clearly didn’t even feel her kick because he didn’t flinch at all and he didn’t control his tongue either.

“Well I would build in a better neighborhood, but the better neighborhoods don’t want to become like this so they tend to keep homeless people out. And as I’m sure you’re aware some of these men and women have had problems with drugs too. I’m hoping to attach a rehab center, but I think that might have to be down the road a little. I want to get this project started first and expand second. Of course I hope, Mrs. Davis that you’ll be willing to do the additions as well.”

“Miss,” she corrected him, because she and Thomas weren’t married. They weren’t even technically engaged. “And yes, I would be willing to do it if you selected me for this contract. I brought my portfolio.”

He held up his hand and waved her portfolio away while shaking his head no. “I already know your work. I’ve seen your designs around Boston and I’ve seen some of the remodel jobs you have done. I also know of your work with Twist of Fate. Although I must admit that I was surprised to hear you were no longer working with that project.”

“Unforeseen circumstances,” she said and promptly tried to change the subject. “I thought you needed to meet with me to see my portfolio.”

“No,” he admitted.” I just wanted to tell you my vision for what I’d like done and see if you think it’s doable. However you design this project I respect and trust your artistic skills. I believe this building will be amazing with you doing all the work on it. The contract is yours, and was yours before you even stepped foot into this building.”

“Oh,” she was shocked. He could have told her his ideas over the phone. He could have come to her office. Yet he decided to have her, after dark, drive into one of the worst neighborhoods in Boston.

“I have a contract,” he pulled a file folder from his desk drawer and slid it over to her. “I’m sure you have one for me as well, but I’d really like for you to look over my terms. I want somebody building this that I can trust and I think you’re that person. If there is anything in my terms that conflict with your terms, we’ll have the lawyers take a look at it and see where there might be a middle ground.”

She opened the folder and looked through the thirty page document before flipping the cover closed. “This will take some time for me to get through and then I’ll have my lawyer look over it as well. “I’ll call you.” She stood and so did he.

“Well if it’s a big problem,” he took the folder from her. “I can do without it. This is just a first for me and I wasn’t sure how to handle this aspect of the situation. I’m sure your papers are fine.”

She wasn’t sure what to make of the change. She had worked commercially before, and residentially, but she had never had a client present their own contract of rules and conditions to her. She wondered why he thought he should.

“I’ll draw up an estimate, and plans and we’ll go from there. We can deal with contracts and papers at that time.”

“Oh I don’t need to see the designs first. I hired you.” He said with a big smile on his face as if it were just that simple.

“I insist that every client see my plans and approve them, in writing, before I start work. I think it keeps the client from ending up with a product they don’t want, but can’t stop because they made a blind commitment. I’m thankful for your faith in me, George, but I’d also like to help you keep your investment safe. Come to my office Friday morning and we’ll go over your vision and how it matches with my designs.” She had already started on some of the designs because she wanted to see what she could come up with for such an elaborate facility. Safety would be an issue because they were planning to house a select number of people while they got them ready to get back into the working world and living in their own places. It was kind of like Twist of Fate, only bigger—much bigger. She wanted to do this, and she had ideas on how they could make this facility the best facility in Boston.

“Thank you,” he smiled at her. “I’m getting soft in my old age,” he chuckled. “You’re right. I should have even had the lawyer here with me. I usually do for all my other business meetings. I don’t know what I was thinking of here. Perhaps I was thinking you seem too much like my daughter to be a bad person. I saw your picture in the newspaper a couple years ago when that mess blew up about your mother’s death.” Thena felt her heart nearly stop beating and the wound in the pit of her stomach rip open. This was still a tough topic for her. She didn’t want to talk about it, and most people didn’t bring it up. Her mother had been dead for years, but finding her body on one of her construction sites had reopened those childhood wounds. Then finding out how big the conspiracy was; knowing that cops had covered up her mother’s murder, had really broken her. She wished George hadn’t decided to bring up the topic, but he had.

“Oh there I go again; saying things I shouldn’t.”

Somehow she was sure he knew exactly what he was doing, and she liked him less for it. But this wasn’t about being his friend. This was business, and a million dollar project would keep her guys working through summer and beyond. This was big, and she wouldn’t turn it down simply because she suddenly thought the guy behind the money for the project was a jerk in disguise.

She smiled the best she could. “My office; Friday; ten o’clock. And you can bring your lawyer if you want as I will have mine on site as well.” She didn’t usually have to worry about that. She drew up the contracts and rarely needed Siena Miller to look them over, but she was going to make sure somebody from the firm, if not Siena herself, showed up for Friday’s meeting. This was a huge contract and she wanted to make sure all her legal ducks were in a row.

Thomas walked her back to her car. “Thanks for going in there with me,” she said as she pressed the button to unlock the door from across the street.

“Don’t do that again,” he shook his head. “You leave too much time for somebody to get into that car on the other side and wait for you. Wait until you’re at the car, checked out the back seat and then unlock the door.”

He had told her this a thousand times, she thought, but it was a habit. She always unlocked the door from the remote the minute the car was in sight and in range. Usually she wasn’t distracted long enough for anybody to actually get in the car without her noticing, at least she didn’t think so.

“Will you be home tonight?”

“No.”

He uttered yet another curt response without any explanation. “Thomas, do we need to talk about something? Are you trying to tell me something without actually saying it?”