Playing in SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 9) (15 page)

“Fine. I’ll just
stick to the boardroom, and make the money that pays all of your
salaries.”

“Works for me. And
thanks for riding to our rescue. All of you.”

“Looks like we almost
didn’t make it,” Isa says.

“Yeah, what happened.
I thought you’d be closer behind us.”

“Huge accident that
blocked all lanes on the 215. I’m thinking it wasn’t actually
accidental.”

“I’d say you’re
right, Jake. It was too convenient. If I’d had my bike, I could’ve
gotten around it, but I brought my damn car today. The side streets
were hell,” Matt tells me.

“Whoever is behind
this has resources. Big resources.”

“I didn’t think
anyone really wanted me. It wasn’t supposed to be real. How is it
real?”

I turn to Jeanne, and
know she’s going into shock. Having people with guns and rocket
launchers trying to kidnap you is not easy for someone’s brain to
deal with. Especially when you’re just a teenager.

“Jeanne,” I say,
taking her in my arms. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

“Right now I am. What
about next time? When they come for me again? What if they go to my
house? Oh my God, my dad! Is my dad okay?”

“I’ll call him
right now. Isa, can you send some people to him?”

“On it.”

I pull out my phone and
dial. He picks up almost immediately and I realize he’s in his car.
“I’m almost home. I had to stop for groceries.”

“Change of plans. I
need you to go to my apartment, and wait for me there. Some of my
friends are going to follow you there.”

“What’s wrong,
Dree?”

“I’ll explain
everything when you get there. Just go straight there, okay?”

“It’s not like I
can say no, is it? I just have to follow your directions blindly,
right?” he asks, sounding frustrated.

I don’t answer,
because he’s right. I’ve given him no choice. Not because I’m
trying to control him. I wouldn’t do that. The fact that he doesn’t
know that is a problem. It means he doesn’t really know
me
.
Right now I’m not really sure that he wants to.

Blake

I know I was being an
ass with Audrey on the phone, but I don’t do well with just
trusting everything to someone else. I like facts, and information. I
think about whether I can really be with someone who will have to
keep so much from me. The resounding answer going through my head is
“yes.” I want Audrey, and I’ll learn to deal with whatever
comes with that.

I follow Ainsley into
the underground garage of the building, and Reina pulls in behind me.
I noticed them join me on the road minutes after I got the call from
Audrey. It was all very James Bond, but with the hot women doing the
protecting. It gets even more 007 when we go inside. There are guards
in the lobby, but also retina and hand scans, the elevators work on
their own, and I can tell that no one who doesn’t belong here will
ever get inside. It’s probably the safest place on the planet.

“Audrey’s down the
hall to the right,” Reina tells me as the doors open without even
telling me what floor we’re on.

“Thanks.”

I knock, and am
surprised when Jeanne answers the door. She throws herself into my
arms, causing me to drop my groceries as I catch her and hold her
tight. Audrey walks out and picks up the bags, taking them inside and
leaving us alone. I pull back a little to see Jeanne crying.

“They came for me.
Really came for me.”

“Who came for you?”

“Men. I don’t know.
They were following us, and then we had to get out of the car before
everyone else could come and save us.”

“Audrey was there to
save you. You were in good hands.”

“She couldn’t save
me.”

“Why not? Were there
too many of them?”

She hesitates, and it
makes me nervous, because she never hesitates unless she’s hiding
something. “Yeah. There were like twelve.”

“What aren’t you
telling me?”

“Nothing. There were
just too many.”

“Hey, are you guys
coming inside?” Audrey asks, coming back to the door.

She looks tired, and
she’s dressed down again. I know she didn’t go to work that way,
and for some reason, it bothers me that she changed clothes. Jeanne
was almost taken, and she just decided to get comfortable. What the
fuck?

“Nice clothes,
Audrey,” I say pushing past her to walk in.

“Dad!”

“What? Am I supposed
to be happy that Audrey is relaxed enough to change out of her work
clothes right after you tell me that some men almost took you?”

“Your father isn’t
really upset about my clothes. He’s upset about you almost being
kidnapped. My clothes are just something for him to focus on.”

“Don’t do that.
Don’t try and dictate my feelings. Maybe I just care that you look
like a slob.”

“Oh-kay. I’m not
going to apologize for being comfortable. It’s been a rough day.”

“Rough? Jeanne was
almost kidnapped. For real. And you had a rough day? Poor thing.”

“I am trying to be
calm, because I understand why you’re upset, and I also understand
that I’m the only person in this room that you can lash out at. But
please do not make me ask you to leave.”

“You think I’m
upset with you because you’re convenient?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’re
wrong. Maybe you should try to get to know me before you analyze me.
I’m
upset
because
my daughter is lying to me in order to protect you.”

“What?”

“I’m not, Dad. I
didn’t lie!”

“You said Audrey
couldn’t protect you, but you hesitated about why. I need to know
the truth.”

“I told you there
were too many men.”

“There’s more that
you’re not telling me. Was she too intimidated by them? Did she
freeze? Forget her gun? What?”

“’She’ is right
here, and can answer for herself.”

“Then go ahead, and
tell my why protecting my child was so hard for you.”

“I’ll answer your
questions one at a time. There is not a man on this Earth who could
intimidate me enough to stop me from protecting Jeanne, or anyone
else. I did not freeze, and I had my gun. To answer your bigger
question, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take them all on and come
out in one piece.”

“So you worried about
yourself. You put yourself before my child. That’s what you’re
telling me.”

“No, that’s not it
at all. Your child is always going to be first for me. And Jeanne
would’ve been taken while I was fighting since I couldn’t keep
twelve men busy at once. I did what I could to buy us time before my
friends came, and it worked.”

“How close was it?”

“It doesn’t matter,
Dad. Please just stop. Leave Audrey alone.”

“It matters, and I
want to know.” I’m aware that I’m being crazy, but this is my
little girl we’re talking about. Rational thoughts flew out the
window a long time ago where her safety’s concerned.

“The main guy had her
while we held guns on each other.”

“He had her. He
fucking had my daughter. You let him have her.”

“No, I ran to him. I
gave myself up,” Jeanne tells me, and my rage intensifies.

“Because you didn’t
trust Audrey to protect you?”

“What? No. I knew
she’d protect me, but I didn’t want her hurt.”

“It’s her job to
get hurt for you. To protect you.” I turn to Audrey, who has tears
streaming down her cheeks as she looks back at me. “I will never
forgive you for this. Never.”

“Then you should go.”

“No. Audrey, tell
him. You have to tell him.”

“Tell me what?”

“I did everything I
could to protect your child.
Everything
.
That’s all I have to say about the situation.” She turns to
Jeanne. “I’ll let Matt know you won’t need the room at
Corrigan. My friends will protect you, so I don’t want you to be
scared. No one will get to you.”

“But Audrey…”

“No, Jeanne. Not now.
Please.”

Jeanne nods, and then
goes into Audrey’s arms. I watch as Audrey kisses the top of her
head, and whispers in her ear. “Let’s go,” I tell Jeanne,
needing us to leave. Now.

“You shouldn’t
leave the building. Aiden just moved in with Ellie, so you can stay
in his apartment downstairs. It’s very minimalistic, but you’ll
have beds. Tomorrow, you can let the front desk know what you need,
and they’ll get it for you.”

She’s right. We need
to be protected. “Thank you.”

“How minimalistic?
I’m already bored with no electronics.”

“His apartment is
pretty bare, but you’re both free to use any of the facilities
here. Inside there’s a pool, ice rink, roller rink, movie theater,
library, bowling alley, and game room. Outside, there’s a water
park, stable, and various ball fields and playgrounds. The outside is
protected as well, so you’re safe.”

“Sounds great,” I
tell her, and it really does. “Again, thank you. How will we get to
Aiden’s place?”

“I’ll instruct the
elevator to take you there,” she says walking into the hall, and
placing her hand on the elevator panel. “It’ll be on your left.”

I grab the bags of
groceries, and follow Jeanne inside the elevator. It takes us down,
and we find the apartment. It’s just as bare as Audrey said it
would be, but the beds look comfortable, and it’s bigger than our
rental house.

“This place sounds
cool, huh? You can even use the game room if you want.”

“I don’t. I want to
be upstairs with Audrey.”

“Even after she let
you down?”

“She didn’t let me
down. You did,” she tells me as she storms into her room.

So much for a night of
fun. I thought I’d be having a fun dinner with my daughter and hot
sex with Audrey. Instead, I have a pissed off daughter and my hand
for company later. I couldn’t let it go, though. I couldn’t
pretend that it was okay for Audrey to put herself before my kid.
That will never be okay.

* * *

Audrey

I should’ve told him.
I
know
I should’ve
told him. He was so angry, and it just didn’t feel right, but I
should’ve done it anyway. He deserves to know. Then again, if I’d
told him while he was berating me, he might have thought I was doing
it as a way to keep him. Which is something I would
never
do.

How would he know that?
The reality of this whole situation is that we’ve spent maybe 40
hours together. Probably not even that. I have residual feelings from
high school, and he keeps saying he does, too, but are they really
real? How can they be when we haven’t even had one conversation
about our lives as far as what we want, and where we want to be?
Nuclear grade sex can only get us so far.

My phone rings,
stopping my pity party. “Hey, Jimmy,” I say, smiling when I think
of my friend.

“Hey, Aud. Listen, I
ended up on a last minute trip to Vegas, and I was hoping we could do
some more catching up tonight.”

“That would be great.
I need a little cheering up, actually.”

“Let me guess, Blake
isn’t all his movies crack him up to be.”

“Something like that.
Where do you want to meet?”

“I’m at the SLS,
and I heard they have a great Mediterranean restaurant here if that
works for you.”

“Sure. I love Cleo.
Give me about an hour and I’ll see you there. If you have any
trouble getting a table, just tell them you’re meeting someone from
Corrigan & Co. and they’ll seat you.”

“You really are big
time now.”

“Says the guy running
the billion-dollar tech business.”

“Touché. See you
soon.”

“Bye.”

I jump in the shower,
and then throw on an off the shoulder white lace dress. I didn’t
want to be too dressy, but I’ve already been called a slob once
tonight, and I needed a little bit of a confidence boost. I get that
boost when the valet guy trips over his own feet as I get out of the
car. I also feel the eyes following me as I make my way to the
restaurant.

“Wow. I still can’t
believe I actually got to eat lunch with you every day in high
school. Can I tell everyone in the restaurant that? They probably
think this is a blind date.”

“Shut up. I’m still
the same person I’ve always been. I just know how to do my hair and
put on make-up now,” I tell him as I lean over and kiss his cheek.

“Did you ever think
we’d be here, at these places in our lives?”

“I always knew you’d
be where you are, heading up some big tech company. Me? I honestly
thought I’d be practically living in a lab, and spending my nights
eating frozen meals while watching The Discovery Channel.”

“And instead you’re
hanging out with a movie star, or you were. What’s going on there?”

The waiter takes our
order, giving me a few minutes to collect my thoughts. I don’t know
Jimmy as well as I used to, but he
was
one of my best friends. It would be nice to have a new take on
things, so I go for it. Or at least as much of it as I can tell. “We
got together at the reunion, and then his daughter let it be known
that she hoped her parents would get back together. I told him he had
to try.”

“I saw the pics of
him and Misha and wondered what the hell he was thinking.”

“Yeah, it didn’t
work out. We were just getting back together when we had a fight
earlier. Or rather, he yelled at me, and then I walked him out.”

“What was he yelling
at you about?”

That is definitely
something I can’t share. “I don’t want to rehash it. Let’s
talk about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

“Yeah,” he says
with a smile.

“Spill.”

“She’s great, but
um, she’s also my boss.”

“You’re dating the
owner of your company? Wow.”

“Why is that so
surprising? Reina Corrigan married up.”