Accounting for Lust (4 page)

With the emergency sprinklers on, the door unlocked automatically and it now creaked open
, screeching with debris being
cleared
out of the way
.

“Miss Adams?” A gruff voice enquired from the door.

“I’m all
right.” She crawled from under the desk and grabbed her briefcase from the floor.
The fireman popped a hardhat onto her head
and
draped a
yellow
waterproof cloak
over
her shoulders.

“We must go, ma’am.”

Cassie managed a nod.
Dropping the files from under her jacket in
the briefcase
, she rolled the combination
closed
and
retrieved her handbag from one of the drawers.
T
he office was all but decimated.

“We have to get you
out of here. This floor might
be
un
safe due to structural damage. Will you be able to walk, M
a’am
?”

“Yes,” she whispered.
With his hand
under her elbow, he
guided her
through
the debris
. Panic threatened to overwhelm her as they descended the dark stairs.
She had to get out of the building before she suffocated.

Cassie
inhaled deeply as
she stepped onto the pavement and fresh air washed over her.
Her knees threatened to give way and the fireman steered her towards an ambulance.
F
lashing blue and red lights of the emergency vehicles lit up the night, casting gigantic shadows of people running against the walls. After the emergency personnel were satisfied that she sustained no majo
r injuries, they let her out of the ambulance
with a stern warning to wait until the police finished questioning her
.

She walked towards the
building again, her legs shaking under her. Close to the entrance
,
Cassie sank onto the low wall of a water feature.
She dropped her head between her knees, grateful for the sirens drowning out the sobs raking her body.

Maybe Joshua was right. She might need someone to watch over her until this was over. Her mind rejected the notion. After the constant monitoring by her parents as a child, she vowed that she wouldn’t allow anyone to dictate her movements again. To do so willingly now, re-established all the fears and insecurities of her childhood. 

As if her mind conjured him from the air, Joshua lifted her chin with his index finger before grabbing her shoulders, lifting her to her feet and hugging her tight. They dealt with the questions from the police before Joshua herded her towards his car.

“I arranged for
a police officer to guard your apartment tonight. T
he security team
will
meet us
tomorrow.
In light of tonight’s events, I don’t want you to spend another moment without protection.”

Cassie sighed. She didn’t have to like the fact that he was right. If something happened to her now, all their hard work of the past months would be worthless. Joshua tried to keep up a steady banter of conversation, but Cassie’s mind drifted. Although she prided herself on not being needy, a warm, hard body to snuggle up to tonight would be welcome.

Her mind conjured up the man from the club in Mauritius. Yeah, she could use his silent strength now. Heat pooled between her legs and she shifted in the seat. What was wrong with her? Someone attacked her and all she could think about was sex.

“I was so worried about you when the alarm company notified me.” Joshua’s voice penetrated her consciousness. “Maybe now you’ll listen to me?”

Cassie nodded. “If this was meant to scare me, it’s working.”

Joshua frowned. “The blast could have killed you. I doubt it was meant as a warning.”

She shook her head. “It was a warning. If the person who detonated the device wanted me dead, he or she would have placed it in my office.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “It was meant to prove I’m easy to reach. Not to kill me.”

“Cassie …” H
e swallowed his reply as they pulled into the parking of the apartment. Once Joshua and the uniformed policeman confirmed nothing was amiss in the apartment, Joshua left and the guard perched
on a chair outside her door.

Reaction set in as
she closed the door behind Joshua.
Cassie slid to the floor. Hugging her knees, sobs racked her body. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for the corporate world. Maybe she should negate the running of the company to an impartial director like
her brother,
Dorian
,
had suggested when he abdicated the responsibility of running their father’s company to concentrate on his own career in interior design. She was after all just a boring accountant
,
content to go about her
business
without the shadow of her father’s wealth and prestige hanging over her.

Oh, why did he have to die and leave her with this mess? She couldn’t even sort out her own
problems
, how the hell did she think she was going to cope in the corporate world?

Hours later and all cried out, Cassie stumbled to the bedroom and fell face down on the huge bed. A huge empty bed
.
If only she could have that night of wild abandon again. She shook her head in the darkness. That type of connection happened only once in a lifetime and she had her chance. Her body reacted to the memory of her night in Mauritius and she puffed the pillow again. No use wanting what you couldn’t have. Or deserve for that matter. She had more pressing things to concentrate on . . .  like staying alive.

Her body refused to obey and the ache between her legs intensified. If only the few men she had met since that night could have inspired one ounce of the same electricity, she wouldn’t be frustrated now. She pressed the button on the stereo and waited for the sounds of Shakira to flow over her before the opened the drawer of the bedside table and took out a vibrator.

Jake Pierce read the request he received from Joshua Reed with growing frustration. Seems like lately all his company did was protect the rich and famous, mostly from their own ego’s. Although it more than paid the bills, nothing made up for the boredom his agents suffered being in the company of those spoilt brats. Agents who already had more than enough testosterone to spare without another bimbo adding fuel to the fire.

He closed the e-mail and forwarded it to his secretary with instructions to politely decline the request for protection. His partner would have a fit, but no amount of money was worth taking another one of these cases.

His rubbed his twitching shoulder and popped his feet on the desk, hating the weakness
it
represented. Two years ago, he had been trapping all over South America, rooting out drug dealers before
a
bullet
ended his career
. He forced his mind to the present.

Beyond the
panoramic windows
,
the
lights of the city
lit the night sky
while the tail lights of cars seven floors below trained across the highways. Some distance across town, fire-engines screamed beside a tall building, sloshing water through a window. A small plume of smoke still wafted through several windows, drifting in silent protest into the artificially illuminated sky. 

His thoughts turned inwards. Since that fatal night two years ago, he had lost not only his job as an ATF agent, but also his fiancé. Him being at home curtailed her activities, which included having affairs with numerous men at the same time. Jake winced. It probably didn’t help that he was morose, moody and a royal bastard to live with after
the shooting
.

Shrugging off those thoughts, he closed the computer, retrieved his jacket and headed towards the stairs. The elevator pinged as he walked past and Jake suppressed a smile as Matt Jenkins, his lifelong friend and business partner lugged his large frame through the doors. The mere fact that Matt braved the elevator confirmed his partner hurried to catch him at the office.

“What’s the rush?”

Matt swivelled on his heel, planted his beefy hand over his heart and swore.

“Son of a bitch. You scared the hell out of me.” He leaned his overweight frame against the wall next to the elevator. The flush on his face and the crumpled shirt bearing evidence of a man in too much of a hurry to dress properly.

“What is so urgent that you would leave Sandra’s bed to come into the office at this time of night?”

“A new request. One we can’t refuse,” Matt answered.

Jake knew which request Matt referred to even without asking. He started to shake his head.

Matt held up his hand. “The situation changed tonight. Someone tried to kill Cassandra Adams in her office and Joshua is beside himself with worry. I know you hate these cases involving the rich and famous, but this one is different. The
woman
refused protection, but clearly someone has quit playing and brought out the big guns.”

“How?”

Matt frowned at Jake. “How what?”

“How did they try to kill her?”

“Oh, with a bomb in the office next to hers.” Matt shoved his one hand in his pant’s pocket. With the other hand, he tapped his shirt to find the ever
-
present pack of cigarettes.  “We have to help her. I’ve known Joshua for more than twenty years and I’ve never seen him panic. But he’s spooked.”

Jake capitulated. With the new developments, he could hardly refuse the request without appearing callous. Besides, it would be nice to have some real work to do.

“Okay. What’s the plan? I presume since someone tried to scare her tonight, we start immediately.”

Matt appeared lost in thought for a moment before he answered. “You’re right. This was only a scare. If they wanted her dead, the bomb would be inside her office not next door.” He
straightened
from the wall. “We’re heading to Adams Towers now.
A policeman will protect t
he
client
for the night so we can go through the building once the police finished. From tomorrow, she’s ours.
”

“
Would be interesting to know why they only meant to scare her, though.” Jake kept his voice neutral, but the excitement of the chase already buzzed through his veins as they rode the elevator to the lobby.

Matt only nodded and fisted Jake playfully on the shoulder. “What happened to that girl you brought to the club last week? She looked nice.”

Jake grimaced. “She was.”

“And?”

Jake waved the question off. “And nothing. She wasn’t my type.”

“Nobody seems to be your type lately. It’s time you moved on, Jake. Not all women are like Sarah. I swear you haven’t been laid in almost two years.”

Without waiting for a reply, Matt got out of the elevator and hurried towards the red Lamborghini parked on the yellow line at the curb. Sighing, Jake ambled after him with his jacket thrown over his shoulder.

Oh, he’d been laid all right. So thoroughly other women paled when compared to her. He wanted, no needed, that instant electrifying chemistry of that one night. Until he found someone who rattled his bones like that again, he was more than happy on his own, even if it included regular cold showers when the memories surfaced.

His body reacted predictably and Jake put the blonde bombshell out of his mind. He had work to do and protection to plan. Smiling for the first time in months, Jake slammed the door of his Discovery behind him and pulled into late night traffic behind Matt.

Cassie stared at her reflection. She managed to disguise the black smears under her eyes with carefully applied cosmetics and by adding dramatic accentuation to her blue eyes, no one should notice them. The grey pencil skirt fitted snugly around her hips and ended just above her knee. With only the pale pink silk blouse breaking the monotony of the grey jacket and heels, she was satisfied she projected professionalism and nothing else.

She pulled into the underground garage and parked in her allocated spot. Around her, everyone went about their business like a normal day. Nothing had changed for them, but Cassie knew different. She glanced over her shoulder as she strode towards the elevator. Dimly lit, she couldn’t see anyone paying her any undue attention. Suddenly glad for her own private lift she activated it with her fingerprint, hurried inside and saw the doors close with relief. Leaning back against the wall she closed her eyes for a moment, but snapped them open when memories of the previous night threatened to intrude.

When the doors opened, she clenched her teeth to prevent her jaw from dropping. Nothing of the previous night’s mayhem remained. Everything appeared normal, except that Megan had a new desk, computer and furniture. The lady herself rose slowly from behind the desk.