RISK (13 page)

Ellie

"You have to speed up, Rick." I tap him on the shoulder. "We're going to lose them."

The car jolts as he gives it some gas. "We can't get too close, Ellie, or they'll make us."

Make us?
Rick's giving his all for this adventure I coaxed him into.

Truthfully, it didn't take much more than a plea to get him to follow the Mercedes. He hesitated briefly before telling me that old friends have to stick together. Since I never once considered Rick a friend when we were in school together, I took it as a compliment, and I thanked him for ignoring his car's GPS and throwing caution to the wind.

"Who is he to you?"

How the hell do I even answer that after tonight? Is Nolan just a one night stand? I can't say there's potential for anything more at this point because I don't know. I go with the only logical answer I can think of. It's the truth. "He's my boss."

He keeps his eyes trained on the road. "You work for that guy? I thought you'd be a detective working for the NYPD by now."

So did I. "So did I. How did you know I wanted to work for the NYPD?"

"Your senior class career day speech." He flicks on the left turn signal as soon as the driver of the Mercedes does. "Is that what this is? Are you on some kind of undercover mission right now?"

I'm on some kind of fucked up, post orgasm, curiosity fueled mission right now. Nolan made it clear that his night was going to be swallowed up by whatever emergency kept his phone busy. No more than fifteen minutes after telling me that, his driver is at his place, whisking him off to who the hell knows where.

"You know that he's headed straight for your place right, Ellie?"

I know that he's headed in the direction of my apartment, but Manhattan is vast. We're also moving toward many bars and restaurants. For all I know, Nolan rescheduled his fancy dinner to include another woman and she's going to be his second course.

"He's not going to my place." I stare out the window. He didn't have the decency to maintain eye contact with me for more than ten seconds after we fucked. I doubt like hell he's chasing me down. He has my number. If he wanted to finish our conversation, he would have called me by now.

"How long have you been working this job?" Rick takes a hard left and I skid across the vinyl seat. "I get it if you can't give me any details. I know there's a strict code of silence when you're tailing a suspect."

What's the code when you're following a really great fuck? I shake off his assumption. "Not long."

"When we get close do you want me to hang back?" He flashes me a quick grin over his shoulder. "I can let you out down the block from him so you can follow on foot."

Rick is a man with a plan. I don't want to confront Nolan tonight. I can't. Adley has texted me twice since we pulled away from Nolan's apartment, asking where I am. It's friends first in my world, so this ends wherever the Mercedes stops. I just want to see where Nolan is going. I know it's not his office. We didn't turn right onto Fifth Avenue.

The taxi in front of us slows, so Rick goes around it to keep the Mercedes in our sight. "We're getting close to your place, Ellie. You're sure that's not where he's headed."

I watch as we pass Cremza, the doors shut, the lights dim. It closed hours ago, the large sign in the window a reminder that tomorrow is
'two scoops for the price of one'
day.

I send another text to Adley telling her I'm only three blocks from the coffee shop now. "Adley wants me to say hi."

"Adley York?" He eyes me in the rear view mirror. "You two are still tight, hey?"

"Best friends forever." I smile at his reflection. "We live together now."

"I can't say I'm surprised." He turns on the right signal blinker. "He's pulling over. I'll hang back."

I want to tell him to pass the Mercedes and take me home. I thought I wanted to know where Nolan was rushing to after he sent me out the door, but now, my stomach is tied in thick knots and my palms are clammy. He didn't promise my anything. We had sex and the night ended. I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't let Tad's asshole ways turn me into something I'm not.

I don't stalk men. It's not who I am.

Still, I don't protest when Rick maneuvers his car to the curb and stops. I look out through the windshield as Nolan's driver opens the rear passenger door and Nolan steps out. The doorman from the building he's in front of approaches him. Nolan shakes his hand and pats him on the back and then they disappear together through the glass front doors.

His driver gets back in the Mercedes and merges seamlessly into the traffic. I sit in the backseat of Rick's car staring at the luxury residential high-rise, wondering what, or more likely who, inside that building is worth ditching me for.

***

"He's not in this morning," Nolan's assistant says briskly, her firm tone cutting, but patient. "As I told you when you called thirty minutes ago, Ms. Madden, I don't know when he will be in his office. He's unavailable at the moment."

That's probably a good thing. I'm running on spite and a couple of hours of sleep at this point. When Adley and I finally got back to the apartment last night after Rick dropped me off, I thought she'd be ready for bed, but the four cups of Italian roast coffee she had, while she waited for me, kept her bouncing off the walls.

I got in my bed after I showered, washing away the last of Nolan's touch from my skin. I bunched my dress into a ball and threw it in a basket destined for the washing machine at the laundromat. My intention was to rid myself of every physical reminder of the night, but the ache in my body wouldn't go away.

Adley came into my room as I was replaying my conversation with Nolan in my head. She didn't ask me how my date was and I was grateful. Instead, she launched into an animated speech about her thirty-year plan. I was all ears as she talked about the veterinary clinic she wants to open and I heard, in fine detail, what her future husband looks like.

It's
Crew Benton. Adley described Crew Benton to a tee, even if she didn't realize it.

She finally ran out of steam shortly after four this morning, when she collapsed onto my queen size bed and fell asleep with her head on my shoulder. I slept too, but it was marred by the image of Nolan walking into that building just a few blocks from here.

"Miss Madden?"

I shake my head when I realize I'm still on the phone. "Can you tell him that I'd like to see him once he's in? It's important."

"Certainly," Eda says briskly. "There's another call coming in."

With that, she hangs up. I tuck my phone back into the front pocket of my red pants. Nothing screams stealth Matiz security guard like red pants and a white and red striped shirt. It's bold, but it was the first pieces of clothing my fingers touched in my closet, so I tugged the outfit on, pulled my hair into a tight bun and came to work.

"Excuse me."

That voice is too sweet for it to belong to anyone who works here.  It's melodic, like an angel. A sweet little angel who isn't old enough to understand that boys, and eventually men, have the ability to make you feel like a rare jewel and the gum on the bottom of their shoe, all in the space of an hour.

I turn and look down. She's as precious as her voice. Perfect almond shaped green eyes and hair as red as mine. She's dressed in a pink T-shirt and matching skirt. Her lilac painted toenails on display in her little leather sandals.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

Her face brightens with a broad smile. "You called me Miss."

"Little girls are Miss." I crouch so I'm looking directly at her face.

"What are little boys?" She brings her hands together in front of her.

"Trouble. Little boys are nothing but trouble." A deep voice interjects from the left.

I turn toward it. It's Nolan Black with the slightest hint of a smile on his face and an attractive brunette at his side.

Nolan

"Don't lead her astray, Nolan. Boys aren't trouble. It's just certain men that are."

Gretel Gallant is only saying that because I've turned her down, twice. The most recent time was six months ago when I went to her apartment to meet with her husband. She answered the door wearing only a diamond necklace after she sent her husband to pick up their daughter from after school care. She's as hot for my dick now as she was back then. She made that obvious when she approached me the second I walked into the store.

"Cat got your tongue, Nolan, or are you silent because you know I'm right?"
              Jesus. You'd think she'd keep the snarky attitude at bay in front of her child.

"What brings you and Leila into the store today?" I tap her daughter on the head. "You're too beautiful to wear makeup, Leila."

"So is my Mommy."

Ah, the innocent eye of a child.

"Is there something I can help you find?" Ellie directs her attention to Gretel.

"I'm a regular," Gretel says it like it matters. It grants her no special privileges. She's in the store at least a few times a week, often asking the staff if she can see me. She can't. I keep a fair distance between my cock and Gretel at all times. "We were just leaving."

Ellie eyes Leila. "Is there anything I can help you with, Leila?"

She shrugs, her hands disappearing into the pockets of the skirt she's wearing. "I just wanted to tell you that I like your hair."

Ellie smiles softly, her fingers leaping to her bun. "Thank you. Your hair is really pretty."

"Mommy says I can change it if I want when I'm older."

Of course, Gretel would say that to a six-year-old. She's had more work done than most of the women in Manhattan combined.

"I think you're perfect exactly the way you are," Ellie says the words that are dangling from the tip of my tongue. "There's one thing I think we need to talk about, though."

"What?" Gretel barks, her hands leaping to Leila's shoulders. "Don't tell her that you like her nose."

"I like it better than your nose, Gretel." I turn toward her, raising a brow. "I like the last nose you had better than this one too. The one before that not so much."

She shoots me a look that says
shut the fuck up,
or it might be
fuck me
. Either way, it's not happening.

"Did your Mommy pay for anything for you today, Leila?"

Ellie's voice is soothing and calm. Gretel stands in silence as Leila shakes her head from side-to-side. "Not for me. She bought all those things in the bag for herself."

"Did you bring any of your own money with you today?"

Leila giggles, her hand darting to cover her mouth. "I don't have money. I have to earn it, and I don't like chores."

Like mother, like daughter.

"I can see that you have something in your pocket." Ellie points to the left pocket of Leila's skirt. "It looks like a tube of mascara. Is that what it is?"

Leila looks back at Gretel before her eyes settle on Ellie. "Yes. It's mascara. I want it."

"If you want to take something home from the store, you need to pay for it." Ellie's gaze slides over Gretel's face before she looks at Leila again. "Sometimes it's hard to resist taking whatever we want, but we have to earn money to pay for those things."

"Mommy says she earns every dime she spends listening to Daddy talk."

Ellie sighs, her hand darting out in front of her. "Can I have the mascara back?"

"I guess," Leila whispers as she tugs it out of her pocket. "Daddy says I can't wear makeup until I'm twenty."

"Your father can say what he wants, but I set that rule." Gretel snatches the mascara from Ellie's palm. "Mommy will buy you this, princess, and anything else you want."

Ellie's jaw drops as Gretel grabs Leila's hand and they walk away.

"That woman makes me crazy," she whispers as she watches Leila's face light up at the lipstick counter. "What lesson is she teaching her daughter?"

"One she'll hopefully regret one day." I exhale roughly. "I'm sorry I missed your call earlier. I was in the middle of something."

"No problem." She looks toward the entrance of the store, her eyes tracking a customer who just walked in. "I get it. You're a busy man."

"We need to talk, Ellie." I take a deep breath, trying to steady my voice." I have a meeting soon. Can you come up to my office at two?"

Her eyes drop to the plain white watch on her left wrist. "Is it business or personal?"

"You work for Crew," I point out. "It's about last night."

She looks at my hands, her teeth scraping at her bottom lip. "I'd like to talk about that too."

"I'll see you at two o'clock sharp." That's only four hours from now. Four fucking hours for me to figure out how to tell this gorgeous woman that I'm not the man she thinks I am.

"I might be a little late." Her gaze drifts to where a group of customers has gathered around a perfume display. "I'm having lunch with Liam at one fifteen, but I'll be sure to come up to your office as soon as I'm done. I need to get back to work now."

She tosses me a look, but unlike Gretel's there is no ambiguity in Ellie's hidden message. It clearly says
your loss, jerk. Your fucking loss is Wolf's gain. 

Well, shit. 

***

"Ellie Madden wants to talk to you," Eda announces as she blocks my path when I step off the elevator and approach my office door.

"I just spoke to her."

"In the last ten minutes?" She eyes me carefully. "She's called twice since I've been in, Mr. Black. It's obvious that she has an issue she wants to discuss with you."

The issue is why I was such a raging asshole to her after we fucked. I got a business call last night when I was with her, then a personal call and before I could stop the runaway train of fate, Ellie was on her way out the door.

I didn't need to hear from Eda that Ellie was trying to hunt me down this morning. The one missed call to my cell from her less than an hour ago and her body language downstairs inside the store said it all. Eyes in every direction but at my face, her hands fisted at her side, her stance wide. She looked like a kickboxer ready to hit the ring.

I was tempted to shield my balls with my hand to keep them intact if she decided to unleash a roundhouse kick. The woman can drop me to my knees in an instant. No violence needed. A taste of her lips and a second inside her tight body is all it will take. The body I want again, and again. The body that belongs to the woman I wish I could spend all day talking to. The same woman who is having lunch with Liam Wolf and probably dinner with River Whatever-The-Fuck-His-Surname-Is.

"What are you thinking about?" Eda nudges her glasses back up her nose.

"Clowns."

"Cute clowns or scary clowns?" She furrows her brow.

I enter my office with Eda right on my heel. "Neither."

"Clowns are one or the other, sir."

Is she seriously schooling me on clowns right now? "These two clowns don't fall into either category."

"Are they circus clowns or the kind of clowns that you can outsource to attend a party or whatnot?"

I had no fucking idea that Eda knew so much useless information about clowns. "I'd like to outsource them both to a raft in the middle of the ocean."

"I know a guy." She finally pulls the pencil from behind her ear and taps it against her chin. "I know a guy who could take care of that for you."

"Take care of that for me?" I unbutton my suit jacket as I take a seat behind my desk. "Are you suggesting what I think you are, Eda?"

"If the clowns you've met don't fit the bill, I know someone with floppy shoes and a red nose. He's great with kids and adults. His rates are reasonable too."

"I'll keep that in mind." My gaze moves to the corner of my desk and a small ceramic elephant.  A gift I'd purchased more than a month ago, but always forget here in my office. I scoop it into my palm. "I'm not in need of a clown right now, but thank you."

"Anytime." She takes a step closer to my desk. "She likes you. You know that, right?"

"Who?"

"Ellie Madden."

My head pops up at the mention of Ellie's name. "Why would you say that?"

Her lips curve up into a smile. "I have four daughters, Mr. Black. I know when a young woman is sweet on a man. I heard it in her voice when she called."

"You think she's sweet on me?" I cock a brow.

"Almost as sweet as you are on her, sir. Almost."

It's something. I want more, everything, all of Ellie, but for now, I'll settle for it.