Hidden Threat (28 page)

It was one thing to keep their relationship a secret; denying it existed when the evidence was staring someone in the face was something else entirely.

Lisa meant them no harm; he knew that. He also knew she’d suspected something for a while now. Jason had hinted as much. Trying to dismiss what she’d witnessed probably wouldn’t work anyway.

In the end, he turned his attention back to Cali. She watched him, waiting for his reaction, his direction. His heart swelled with love as he realized she really did trust him. Waiting for his decision was so small, but the meaning of it was beyond measure.

Bringing their hands up to rest on the table between them, he gave another gentle squeeze before turning back to Lisa.

Cali’s personal assistant still wore that knowing smirk. The only difference was that she also looked expectant. She wanted answers, a confirmation of what she’d suspected, what she’d known had been going on under her nose.

For some reason, that bothered Matthew.

Raising his chin and squaring his shoulders, he met her gaze head on. Instead of answering the unspoken question, he asked one of his own. “Was there something you needed, Lisa?”

Her brow furrowed, making it clear this wasn’t what she’d expected him to say.

But to her credit, it only took her a second to recover. “Um…yes.” Turning her attention to Cali only, she said, “Your father is on line one asking to speak with you. If you’re available,” she added in a slightly suggestive tone.

***

Cali seemed to have regained her bearings by this time and returned her assistant’s gaze. “Sure.”

She stood up and walked to her desk. Matthew followed.

She paused before picking up the phone. Cali could feel him behind her. Although she knew they should still keep public displays to a minimum, she felt a desperate need for his touch just then. Hundreds of scenarios flew through her head, and she secretly hoped it was the same for him.

Turning, she was surprised to find Matthew standing only inches away. Her eyes came up, meeting his a split second before his lips found hers.

It didn’t last long, and it wasn’t a soft kiss goodbye either. His lips were firm against hers, and even though it was their only point of contact, Cali felt her entire body floating, lost in feeling.

As he took a step back, she opened her eyes to find his full of heat. Her pulse kicked up, and if not for her phone beeping behind her as a reminder of her father’s call, she might have jumped him right there.

Instead, she took a deep breath to calm her erratic heart. Cali almost laughed when she noticed Matthew do the same. “I’ll see you at five,” he said. She nodded and watched him walk out the door.

Cali saw Lisa hovering to the side with a huge grin on her face. She knew she’d have to face her friend sooner or later, but thankfully it would have to be later. She had a call waiting.

Taking another deep breath and smoothing her hands down the sides of her business suit, she sat down and picked up the phone. “Hi, Dad.” 

***

Cali’s prediction had been right. Once she hung up with her father, Lisa marched into her office, demanding an explanation.

There’d been no point in denying it. She’d seen too much to be persuaded nothing was going on between them. So, Cali smiled and tried to answer Lisa’s barrage of questions.

Lisa wanted to know all the details. When Cali told her things came to a head the day after the gala, she looked a little hurt. 

“Two weeks?” she asked. “You’ve been together two weeks, and you didn’t tell me? Why?” 

Cali explained, but the reasons didn’t sit well with Lisa. In the end, she just grumbled, “You should have told me.”

It was quite evident her friend felt betrayed no matter what Cali said. Then Lisa asked if Rachael knew. After explaining that no one knew, not even her father, the furrow of Lisa’s brow eased.

“Wow. I can’t believe we’re dating brothers.” Her laughter was free now, and Cali was glad the gap separating them was closing. Lisa’s expression became serious again as she looked Cali over with increased curiosity. “So does that mean you’re staying?”

Cali didn’t answer right away. It was something she’d been thinking about more and more. She couldn’t imagine her life without Matthew, but was that what he wanted? They’d never talked about the boundaries of their relationship beyond her time as acting CEO. Everything was so new, and there’d been so much going on outside of just them.

But even as those thoughts scrambled through her mind, she knew the truth. It didn’t matter. Over the last month, Chicago had become home. Her father was here, and her friends were here.

It’d been so long since she’d had girlfriends. Rachael was a friend, yes, but with her, it was different. Cali never felt she could really open up and share with her.

She was so different. Lisa, Jen, and Becky were ladies she could just hang out with and have fun.

Plus, if her father’s little mid-life crisis and resulting injuries were any indication, he needed her, too. It was very good to be needed for something other than her medical abilities as a doctor—to be needed for her.

She realized she still hadn’t answered her friend. Meeting her expectant stare, she answered with honesty. “I’ll probably stay.” And then she hurried to add, “But not because of Matthew.” 

Lisa’s eyebrow went up skeptically. Cali ignored it. “I’ve missed Chicago. And my dad. I still don’t want to run the business no matter how much fun this last month has been.” This last comment actually got a smile out of her friend.

Then Cali shrugged and leaned back in her seat. “I don’t know. I’m sure I could get a job at one of the local hospitals. I have plenty of trauma experience so an ER is definitely an option.”

Lisa was silent for a while, just watching. Then she asked, “Does he know that?” 

Cali knew which ‘he’ Lisa referred. Cali shook her head. “No. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything.” Lisa looked like she was about to argue. “I mean it. Not to Matthew and not to Jason. He’s got enough to worry about right now without that, too. We’ll deal with it later. If there is a later,” she added.

“Cali—”

But Cali interrupted her. “Please, Lisa. Just let me handle this my way.” 

Reluctantly she nodded. And as timing seemed to be everything today, there was a knock on the door. Lisa got up and walked over to open it.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Rachael said with a smile. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can come back later. There just wasn’t anyone out here so I thought…Well it doesn’t matter.”

Cali stood and walked over to greet her friend. “No, Rachael, it’s fine. Lisa and I were just finishing up. Come on in.”

Rachael walked into the office and took the seat in front of Cali’s desk while Lisa slipped from the room, leaving the door open behind her. “I never did tell you how impressed I am with this room. This is some pretty nice stuff, you know? A lot better than what passed for your office in Eldoret.” 

Cali laughed and took her seat. “Yeah, my dad has good taste.” She paused. “Or at least the interior designer he uses does.”

They both laughed together before Rachael got to the reason for her visit. “So Cali, I was thinking… You. Me. Dinner. Tonight.”

Her smile was so bright. It was clear she really wanted Cali to accept. Hating to disappoint her friend but also knowing Matthew would require more information, she asked, “Where were you thinking?”

Rachael’s eyes lit up with excitement. “There’s this little place I’ve been hearing about called Ruby’s. They’re supposed to have the best steak in town.” She paused and then lowered her voice. “Also, I’ve heard the waiters aren’t bad to look at either. Who knows, maybe we won’t be going home alone.” 

Cali couldn’t help the blush that crept up her cheeks. Even if she wasn’t with someone at the moment, hitting on waiters was not her thing. It was Rachael’s though. In the end, Cali knew her friend just wanted to have a good time and wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to.

She knew Matthew wouldn’t be thrilled as she heard herself say, “Sure. What time?”

Smiling, Rachael stood picking up her designer purse. “I’ll pick you up at seven. This is going to be so much fun, Cali; just you wait.” 

Cali had her doubts about that but nodded and watched her friend leave. Once she heard the elevator doors close, marking Rachael’s exit from the floor, she picked up the phone. He answered on the first ring. “What did she want?” Of course, Matthew saw Rachael in her office. 

She sighed. “We’re going to dinner tonight at Ruby’s.” And then, for some reason, she felt compelled to add, “She’s been told the waiters are cute.”

And just as she was hoping, he laughed. “Oh she was, was she? And just what are you hoping to get out of this evening, Ms. Stanton?” 

There was no tension, just joy at hearing his voice on the other end. “Well, Mr. Andersen. I was thinking about doing some ogling myself, but I don’t think I’ll find anything up to my standards.”

“So you have high standards, do you, Ms. Stanton?”

“Oh, most definitely, Mr. Andersen.”

The rest of the week went by without much fanfare. Well except for the string of condoms Matthew found inside the drawer of this desk Friday morning. And if there’d been any doubt who’d put them there, Jason cleared it up quickly when he strolled into Matthew’s office just before noon and offered the use of his apartment for the lunch hour, should Matthew and Cali need it.

Matthew was too distracted over the latest piece of mail Cali had received that morning to let his brother goad him. He barely spared his brother a glance and said, “Yeah, thanks for the gift. Saves me a trip to pick up more.” 

Jason threw his head back and roared with laughter before sitting down across from his brother. Matthew couldn’t help but smile back. Even though he was knee deep in the latest mess, he’d learned over the years that every now and then, one had to relieve the tension, or it could and would quite literally kill them.

When they’d both finally stopped laughing, Jason asked him how things were with Cali. At the mention of her name, Matthew’s smile grew. 

“Ah,” Jason smirked. “I see. That good huh?”

Matthew just laughed and shook his head. “Here,” he said, shoving the latest package over to Jason.

Picking it up, his brother took a minute to look over the five sheets of paper. “This is from Wednesday night, right? When she went out with her friend?”

“Yeah,” Matthew sighed, leaning his elbows in front of him on the desk. “I don’t know what to make of it, or even if I should make something out of it at all. Wednesday’s the only day this week she’s really been out in public so maybe that’s it; but it just doesn’t sit well with me that the last two times she’s been photographed, she’s been out with Rachael Michaels.”

“Still can’t find anything on her?” Jason said, handing the pictures back.

“No,” he said, clearly frustrated. “Maybe I’m just making trouble where there isn’t any.”

Jason thought about that for a second. “Matthew, you have good instincts. If you feel something isn’t right, I wouldn’t dismiss it.”

“Thanks.”

Jason turned to leave. “Anytime.”

When Jason reached the door, Matthew’s voice stopped him. “Jason, did you just come in here to rib me about the condoms or was there a real reason?” 

His brother turned around and laughed. “You know me too well, Matthew. And yeah, there was, but it’s not important.” Matthew looked at his brother, clearly not believing him. Jason sighed, and his face turned serious. “We lost another one today.”

“And you didn’t think I needed to know that another shipment was taken?”

“You’ve got a lot on your mind lately, Matthew. I can handle it. It’s my job, remember.”

Matthew’s hands rubbed aggressively on his face several times before raking back over his head. “We have to figure this out, Jason.” Picking up the pile of growing pictures, letters, and reports from the corner of his desk, he threw them down in front of Jason and shouted, “What are we missing?” 

Jason took a step toward his brother but stopped short. “I don’t know. They’ll trip up soon. They have to.”

***

The weekend came with the normal family obligations. Saturday they spent with Cali’s father, and Sunday afternoon with Jason and Lisa. It was relaxing this time even with the gentle teasing by his brother and her friend.

Sunday evening Cali offered to clean up the mess, so Matthew took the opportunity to go over some files on his laptop. Most of it was of the security footage. Something was nagging at him. It was as if his subconscious was telling him he was missing something. He just couldn’t put the pieces together.

By the time Cali walked into the study, he was still as clueless as he’d been when he’d sat down. One look at her though quickly made him forget work. She was leaning against the door in a long black silk nightgown. It flowed gracefully down her long legs ending at her ankles and had a long slit running up the side clear to her thigh. The position of her leg hinted that the slit went all the way up.

Matthew swallowed, stood, and walked to her. He didn’t even bother closing down his computer.

Stopping in front of her, he let his palms skim up the sides of her bare arms and over her shoulders before coming to rest on the sides of her face. “Gorgeous,” he whispered.

Cali’s eyes sparkled with mischief as she leaned in and took Matthew’s bottom lip into her mouth, biting it gently. All he could do was moan in response and press forward. Instead of pressing against him as he’d hoped, she pulled back and stepped away.

His puzzled look made her laugh. In way of answer, she reached out and grasped his hand in hers, pulling him up the stairs.

They managed to make it to the bedroom, and made quick work of their clothes.

Their connection as they came together never failed to amaze him. He’d always felt so alone in the world, but since meeting Cali, that had changed. When together he found a peace he’d never had before and knew he’d never find again.

It was that thought that floated in his mind as he drifted off to sleep that night while idly massaging the fingers of her right hand.