Heart of the Woolf (Woolf Series) (12 page)

Adrienne hadn’t realized that some time had passed.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said, “and be prepared for
the consequences.”

Click
. Adrienne was dismayed to discover she was still
shaking terribly. Jake. She wanted to tell Jake. She wanted Jake to hug her
close and make her feel safe. She wanted Jake to think for her and tell her
what to do, what she should do to keep David safe.

She hurried out of her office and went to Jake’s. Marcy was
still nowhere in sight, but oh thank goodness, Jake was in the office. Through
the slightly open door, she could see him on the phone. She was about to
announce herself when she heard him saying, “Yes, she has a brother. She told
me so yesterday. I don’t know where he is right now; I didn’t get a chance to
ask. I don’t think she would’ve told me now, anyway.” He paused. She continued
to listen in mounting horror. “Don’t worry, I’m working on it. I’m sure that
once I’ve gained her trust, she’ll tell me everything. I’ll bring both of them
to you then. Yes, I’ve got everything under --”

Adrienne backed away, one hand fisted to her mouth. She
blinked, suddenly blinded by tears.

Jake. It was really Jake.

She shook her head. And to think she would have gone to
him --

The knife of betrayal sliced deep, piercing to her bone.
Foolish,
foolish Adrienne.

But how could it be Jake?

The cry came from her broken, shattered heart. A strong cry
of denial and disbelief.

Had their sweet lovemaking all been a ruse, to get her to
open up to him, to tell him her most intimate secrets? She remembered him
questioning her about David, in the car, before she had deliberately distracted
him.

What about the evil-voiced man who’d been calling her? Is
that who Jake was speaking to now? Were the two of them in cahoots? One to make
her so scared she’d break down and run to the one person whom she’d learned to
trust?

She shook with silent, hysterical laughter.

Only, they wouldn’t have counted on her overhearing their
incriminating conversation. Coincidence was a marvelous thing.

She shook again, while chills penetrated her entire body. Could
Jake have been behind the wheel of the Toyota? Could he make love to her and
then ... kill her? He didn’t seem like a cold-blooded man, and
yet ... he was a werewolf, wasn’t he? Didn’t wolves kill without
conscience or remorse?

She shuddered.

Jake’s voice caught her ear. “Now Marcy, tell me all that you
know about Adrienne.”

Adrienne was doubly shattered. So, her earlier suspicions
were right. Her heart cried out.
Marcy ... how could you do this to me!
You’re supposed to be my friend!
As Marcy’s voice filtered through the gap
in the door, only one question reverberated through her brain.
Why are they
doing this to me?

Adrienne stumbled back to her office in a daze. A band of
pain, like steel, constricted around her heart, squeezing tighter with every second.

Someone brushed past her, almost knocking her against the
wall. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Adrienne’s sharp ears caught a sob. She looked closely at the
girl who was about to dash away. “Tielan? What’s wrong?” She caught hold of the
girl’s arm. Adrienne chased away her own anguish and drew the other woman into
her office. She made Tielan sit on one of the chairs in front of the desk,
while Adrienne took the other, choosing to sit beside the young woman, rather
than put a desk between them.

Tielan was sobbing uncontrollably, her head buried in her
hands. Heart filled with pity, Adrienne reached out a hand and awkwardly
smoothed the girl’s hair. She was reminded of the times when she did the same
thing with David. “What’s up, Tielan? Can I help?”

Tielan shook her head. Her sobs became louder.

Adrienne pulled out a few pieces of tissue from the Kleenex
box on her desk. She pressed them into Tielan’s hands. “Here, wipe your face
and blow your nose. You’ll feel better.”

Tielan did as directed. Soon, her sobs subsided into hiccups.
She wiped away tears that still rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, boss. It’s
just that my mom’s in a coma for several weeks now, and dad’s out of job
and -- and --” She wrung her hands helplessly, her eyes downcast.

Adrienne could guess the problem. She asked gently, “Are you
having financial difficulties?”

Tielan glanced up and nodded. “The hospital is asking for the
next installment payment. We kept praying that Mom would wake by now, but she
hasn’t --” The word ended in a sob.

Adrienne gave her an impulsive hug. “There, there, Tielan.
Things can only get better. In the meantime ...” She stood to get her bag
and wrote a check. She tore it off from the checkbook and handed it to Tielan.
“Here, is this enough? Take it. That way, you can concentrate on taking care of
your mom.”

Tielan reached out, and then snatched her hand back and shook
her head. “I -- I can’t.”

Adrienne pried one of Tielan’s fisted hands open and placed
the check in her open palm. “Sure you can. It’s a loan; I’m not giving it to
you. You can pay for it slowly, in installments.”

Tears ran down Tielan’s cheeks again. Her fingers closed over
the check. “Thank you, boss, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. The important thing now is for your mom to
get well.” Adrienne fully expected Tielan to dash off, but she sat there,
worrying a length of her pale blue skirt. Adrienne ventured a guess. “If you
need to take the rest of the day off, you have my permission.”

Tielan glanced up with startled brown eyes. “No, it’s not
that, boss. It’s just that ... I’m so ashamed of myself.” The last words
came out in a rush. “I was the one who put the beautiful box in your office the
other day, the beautiful box that turned out to contain something so ugly.” She
hung her head and whispered. “I’m sorry.”

Adrienne was taken aback. Tielan had never come across as
cruel and sadistic. “You did that? You killed ...”

Tielan reared back in alarm. “No, no.” She shook her head
vehemently. “I only delivered the box. A man called and told me that if I were
to deliver a box to your office, I would be handsomely paid. I needed the
money, and I saw no harm in doing it.”

“You saw this man?”

“No. He would call me and tell me where to get the things.
Like, for the black rose, he told me to go to this eatery and the package would
be on the seventh table to the right from the entrance.”

Adrienne swayed. It was him, that evil, disembodied voice.
He’d gotten to her subordinates. Would it be a surprise if he got to Jake, too?
The sharp pain of betrayal returned full force.

Tielan touched her arm. “Are you okay, boss?”

Adrienne pasted a smile on her lips. “Come to think of it,
no. I think I’ll call it a day. See you tomorrow.” She slung her bag over her
arm and hurried out of the room.

“Wait!” Muffled footsteps came after her. “Ms. Lee, can you
get home okay? What happened to you?”

Adrienne stifled a sigh of impatience. She didn’t really want
to talk now. She wanted to go somewhere quiet so she could think. She turned.
“What do you mean?”

Tielan’s reached out to touch Adrienne’s cheek.

Adrienne winced. She’d forgotten the bandage. “I was in a
slight accident.” Tielan’s eyes grew round and worried. She kept glancing at
the bandage. Adrienne hastened to reassure her. “Nothing major. I wouldn’t be
standing here if it were, right?” She waited for Tielan to nod before
continuing. “But I’m still shaken from the experience. I think I’ll go home and
rest.”

* * * * *

Jake gripped the phone tightly, though he wanted to throw it
across the room. “And I still say you’ve got your information wrong, Jared. The
person you’re looking for isn’t Adrienne. It’s not possible!” He rushed on, not
giving Jared the opportunity to talk. “Just because Adrienne’s also from
Edinburgh doesn’t mean she’s the person your client is looking for! What?! You
want to come and talk to her? Absolutely not!” He slammed down the phone and
muttered, “Crazy!”

He looked up to find Marcy gazing at him with a quizzical
expression on her face. “What?!”

“Do you always talk to your brother like that?”

“Only when he’s being obnoxious and stupid.”

She laughed. “Or when the topic’s Adrienne, who is so
absolutely pure and innocent that no wrongdoing can be attributed to her.”

I wouldn’t exactly call her innocent,
he thought
wryly, as images of the previous night flashed through his mind.

Marcy sobered. “What’s this all about, Jake? Why did you ask
me to tell you all that I know about Adrienne? Why is your brother looking for
her anyway?”

“We’re not sure he’s looking for Adrienne. He’s looking for
someone who came from Edinburgh.” Jake rubbed a hand across his face. A
headache was starting to split his head. “I didn’t even know Adrienne
was
from Edinburgh.” He was sure his bewilderment and confusion were reflected in
his face and tone.

Marcy glanced away. “She didn’t want anyone to know. It
slipped out once, when we went drinking.”

“Really?” Jake stared at his secretary. A feeling of dread
bloomed in his chest.

How well did he know Adrienne? What if she was the one Jared
sought? Was she some petty thief after a pretty bauble, or had she stolen
something of more value? Like the man’s son, perhaps, and was holding him for
hostage? A son named ... David?

He shook his head, appalled at himself. He was jumping to
conclusions. He stood and strode abruptly out of the room, calling out over his
shoulder, “I’m going to Adrienne’s.” He had a burning need to see her, to find
out the truth, once and for all. He could use his psychic ability to sense if
she was lying or not.

Her office was eerily silent, although the lights were on. He
couldn’t see her black handbag, which usually rested on the table beside her
computer. He stood perplexed in the middle of the room.

“Mr. Woolf.”

He turned around and saw one of Adrienne’s subordinates in
the doorway, the one who’d been in the office with her during the black rose
incident. “Yes?”

“Ms. Lee’s gone home for the day.” She twisted her fingers
together. “I’m worried about her. She’s been in an accident.”

The blood drained from his face. “Accident? How badly was she
hurt?”

“She seemed okay, except for the bandage on her cheek. But
she didn’t look too good. I don’t know if there are internal injuries or
what --”

Jake didn’t stick around to hear more. He ran out of the
room, stopping by his office momentarily to get his keys. He flipped open his
mobile phone and dialed her house. Holding it to his ear, he took the lift down
to the parking lot. The phone kept on ringing. Damn! She wasn’t home yet. He
flipped through his address book. Shit! He didn’t have her mobile number. He
shut his phone and jumped into his car. He’d take the route she usually did on
her way home. God, he hoped she didn’t meet with another accident.

He made it to her apartment building in ten minutes, faster
than he’d ever traveled the same distance before. He pushed on the lift button
once, twice, three times, willing the lift to get to the ground faster. The
numbers on the panel lit up: twenty-five ... twenty-four ...
twenty-three ... twenty-two ...

Jake hit the button one more time. With an exclamation of
exasperation, he sped toward the stairs, and took them two at a time. He was
winded and breathing hard by the time he reached the seventh floor. He veered
toward the right and staggered to Adrienne’s unit.

Funny. Why was the door ajar?

A chilling thought came to him. Could a burglar have been in
the apartment and Adrienne, coming home so early, had interrupted the thief’s
nefarious activities? She could be lying inside, tied up and afraid! Worse,
maybe raped, murdered --

Stop!
All those morbid thoughts wouldn’t help her.

Jake pushed the images out of his mind and took a deep
breath, calming his racing heart. He quietly pushed the door wider and walked
in on swift, silent feet. Times like these, his werewolf nature came in handy.
Maybe he would be able to surprise her attacker, get the upper hand and rescue
Adrienne.

He heard a moan coming from the direction of her bedroom.
God, had he hurt her? Knocked her out maybe? Or was he raping her?

He quickened his pace, skirted around the dining table and
tiptoed down the hall.

The bedroom door was open. He peeked in.

And the bottom fell out from under him.

Chapter Ten

Lucien’s oiled hands moved sensuously over her body, kneading
and dissolving the knots of tension. He was very good at finding the tight
spots. His fingers hit a particularly nasty knot in her right shoulder.

Adrienne felt it unravel. It should have relaxed her, made
her lethargic and languorous. Instead, her shoulders wound up even tighter.
Tears threatened to seep out from under her closed lids.

How could Jake do this? While he made love to her, had he
been plotting her death? The trauma of her morning accident paled in comparison
to the pain of his betrayal. His treacherous, honeyed tongue ...

She couldn’t believe he would deceive her. Not like this.
She’d read him differently, and she was a pretty damn good judge of character.

The absolute worst was that she still liked him, all right,
loved
him, even. Which made the pain of his betrayal run that much deeper.

Lucien and Paul were waiting for her when she had arrived home.
For a moment, she’d frowned upon seeing them. She couldn’t remember if she had
called them or not. But since they were there on her doorsteps, she decided to
have a quick massage. Maybe it would help make her feel better.

It didn’t.

“What’s wrong, Adrienne?” Lucien asked from above her.
“You’re too tight.” His stiff cock brushed against her backside. “Maybe some
sex would relax you.”