Reed (Allen Securities) (8 page)

“Son of a bitch,” Olivia fumed.

She sat quietly at Reed’s desk reading over the file.

It hadn’t really been her intention to go through his things, but then she hadn’t really done that. Not when it was just sitting on his desk waiting for all the world to see.

No, the yummy smells of lasagna had drawn her over to the desk first. The aroma had permeated the room and before she could even change, she had made her way over to the desk. The file hadn’t even stood out until she was seated and staring directly at it, the bold lettering knocking the wind out of her. OLIVIA CROSS.

Trembling with rage, she opened the folder, her food forgotten. There she was, smiling back in her college photo. It was all there. From college transcripts to driving record. But it was the next page that had her cursing. A full rundown on her mother.

No matter how far she removed herself from that life, it would always drag her back into its depths. Olivia stared, transfixed, at the hollow woman she once knew as her mother. When they were children, she looked so different. So young and full of life. Too bad that energy hadn’t been spent on her children. Olivia bit back the bitter tears that ached to fall.

The woman that stared back at her had seen hard times. There was a fresh scar across the bridge of her nose, and the eyebrow of one eye looked like it had also been split. This wasn’t much of a surprise to Olivia. Her mother always had a thing for rough men. The kind that would beat the shit out of a woman and then come after her kids if he could catch them. Then her mother would watch with smug satisfaction as someone else got a beating.

Misery loves company after all.

Olivia shivered as the memories came racing back and closed the doors as quickly as they had been opened. This was not the time she wanted to explore her mommy issues. After steeling herself for what might come next, she worked her way down the page. Looked like dear old mom had been busy. Her rap sheet had nearly doubled and included far more drug charges in the recent years. It would explain the gaunt look.

Shock rippled through her as she took in the name Tina Jones. She had heard her mother had a new boyfriend named Charlie but married? That was a surprise. Tina wasn’t one to stick around for too long. Things got hot and then cold pretty quick with most of the men she latched onto. There were many times Olivia could remember being tossed onto the street after the latest fling fizzled.

Olivia threw the file onto the desk and stared at it with disgust. It was most everything in her life that she didn’t want anyone to know.

As she stared, she spied another file lodged under the lasagna with her name in bold lettering once again at the top. She slid the pan off and stared at the manila front. Every fiber of her being screamed that this was going to be bad.

Olivia opened the file, read for a moment and then snapped it shut.

“Unfucking believable,” she said. Rage boiled in her as she shot out of the chair.

There were just some lines you didn’t cross.

***

“Cage and Mason, see if you can get a read on Neil. That little fucker has gone to ground, and I’d like to get my hands on him,” Reed said.

“You aren’t the only one,” Cage mumbled from the back of the room.

“It would be best if we could get ahold of him before the police do,” he said and the two nodded.

“Liam, you make contact with Finn. With all this backdoor involvement, he’ll likely have some insight.”

“What if we’re just adding fuel to the flame?” Liam fired back.

“I seriously doubt your cousin isn’t aware of what is going on.” Reed eyed him fiercely. He knew this was going to be a struggle, but they needed this connection. Finn might be their only chance of getting out with what they want and not have the Russians trying to take them out.

“Third cousin by marriage.” Liam looked away. His unease visible.

“We need this, or I wouldn’t ask,” Reed said quietly, drawing Liam’s eyes back on him.

With a curt nod, the discussion was over.

“Meg, I need you to do some digging on the senator. Something isn’t adding up in all this, and I don’t like it.” Reed scratched his face. Normally everything was pretty cut and dry in these cases. Senator Carson was up to something, and if it involved this sort of crowd, it wasn’t going to end well.

“Ryder, we need to know why the Russians got involved. That little piss-ant Neil doesn’t have pull like this unless he’s promised something good. Find out what the word is and see if you can flush out Ben. There’s only so many places someone like that could turn to.” Reed looked down at the file in front of him.

The kid had some petty stuff listed, but this was the big leagues. Ben getting ahold of anything to do with Ted Carson was more than bizarre.

“I’m afraid you can’t go in there,” a voice said outside the room.

Every head turned to the door. From the small window, he could see the back of Eric’s head, his training session interrupted by whoever was at the door.

“Reed Allen,” he could hear Olivia shouting through the door. He cringed. This was the last thing he needed. “Get out here and call off your goon, or I’m leaving right now.”

His head snapped up in irritation. Apparently, he had let this woman dictate things too often if she thought she would decide when he was finished with a meeting. Reed pushed back his chair and stormed over to the door. He swung it wide to look around Eric and glared at the very angry woman.

As soon as he was in her sites, she stormed around Eric and slapped something against Reed’s chest.

“Mind telling me what this is about?”

He stared at her for a moment, surprised by the reaction she always seemed to cause. Even angry she was amazing. Her light brown hair curled softly along her shoulders, bouncing slightly as she tapped her foot impatiently. Reed followed the curve of her neck to her slightly pink cheek and blazing blue eyes. If she could have shot lasers out of them, he would already be gone.

Olivia raised her eyebrow and stared pointedly at the folders in his hand.

Reed looked down.

“Shit,” he groaned.

“That’s what I thought,” she said and stomped down the hall.

Reed pulled himself back into the room.

“Dismissed,” he said and raced out after her.

No, this was not a good thing. He flipped through the contents of the top folder. Nothing terribly bad. It was mostly about her mother and her associates. Maybe it was slightly invasive to have her transcripts, but it mostly out of habit.

Reed closed the folder and pulled out the next one. He frowned. This wasn’t one he’d looked at yet and didn’t remember requesting more information.

After flipping it open, he scanned the document. The groan that followed only mildly covered his feelings. He closed the file, turned to his office and closed the door. In the dim light of the room, he could see she was gathering her things. She stopped and looked at him when the door clicked into place.

“I had nothing to do with digging into your juvenile record,” he said as he leaned against the door.

“Oh?” She dropped the bag onto the floor and stomped over to him. “And you didn’t dig into my criminal record or get my transcripts?”

She had moved so close that he could feel her breath on his chest. His arousal stirred as he continued to stare at her flushed face.

“I did,” he said quietly. “We had to take precautions. Things haven’t exactly been going to plan.”

“And things have been going just peachy for me?”

She leaned in fractionally closer, her body radiating heat. He watched as her lips parted, aware of their close proximity.

“I can’t do this,” she whispered.

“Do what?” he rumbled.

Reed watching as her sweet little tongue darted out to lick her lips. He leaned down and visualized being able to trace that path with his own tongue.

A small gasp escaped her as Reed lightly traced her arm. She stepped away, and the contact was broken.

“I need to go,” Olivia said with shaky breath.

“Go?” Reed pushed away from the door and followed her. “Go where?”

“I…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get ahold of my mother.”

“Your mother!” Reed shouted at her. She would rather work with her lowlife mother than work with him? “Are you out of your mind? That woman isn’t going to help you out.”

“Well I can’t stay with someone who’s keeping tabs on me.”

“This,” Reed shook the files, “was before I knew you.”

He thrust the files into her bag. “I didn’t read the juvie file, and I don’t plan to.”

“And what about my past?” Olivia twisted nervously at the hem of her shirt, her erratic breathing drawing him nearer.

“That’s the past.” He stared into her burning eyes, his own flaring at the heady feeling of being next to her.

“I still think I should just go stay with Irene.” Heat bloomed on her face.

“I think you should stop over-thinking it,” he said and swooped down in a searing kiss.

Olivia leaned into him and savored the feel of his strong body once again. The raw power he exuded made her shiver with need. Her last glimmer of doubt vanished when she felt the rough pads of his fingers skim her neck and slip into her hair.

She moaned into his mouth and gasped when his tongue snaked into her mouth. They dueled frantically with each other, enjoying the erotic slippery feel.

Without thinking, her hands worked their way from around his shoulders and moved down his solid chest. When she reached the raised peaks of his nipples, she rocked her hips forward and enjoyed the tingling ache between her thighs.

Reed broke the kiss, panting as he placed soft open-mouthed kisses along the side of her neck. She rolled her head to the side, allowing him better access.

He groaned when her fingers glided under his shirt to skim his stomach. She longed to follow the trail of hair that dipped below his pants with her tongue. When she rocked into him again, her aching heat came into contact with the large bulge.

Reed reached down and hiked her leg up onto his hip. She felt the wetness from her arousal soak through the sweats she wore.

Slowly his hands worked from her thigh to her cup her ass, and draw her heat over his length. Snug against him, Olivia rocked forward again, rubbing her swollen clit along the seam of his pants, the delicious friction mounting the heat inside.

She jumped when she felt a warm hand skim the bare skin at her ribs. The hand moved until his fingers skimmed the rim of her bra, barely brushing the underside and slowly driving her wild. In frustration, she grunted and thrust herself against his hard length once again. If he wasn’t going to play nice, then she certainly wasn’t.

Reed buried his head in the crook of her neck and sucked on the skin there. She shivered when he nibbled on her earlobe, his rough stubble a stark contrast to his soothing lips.

“You keep doing that,” he whispered in her ear, “and I’m going to have bend you over my desk and fuck you until I’m drained of this need.”

Olivia gasped at the thought. Her nipples tightened in hopes that he might deliver. As he pulled back, her eyes sought his. Fire burned back at her so deep that it almost scared her. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been intimate with a man before but more that she had never shared a connection with a man like this. Something about him just made her feel like she was home.

She blinked several times when her bra went lax under her shirt. He had made such quick work of the clasp, she hadn’t even noticed. When he found her tender peeks, he circled around them lazily, making her nipples almost painfully hard.

This time she found herself rocking against him without any thought at all besides easing the ache. Her pussy clenched with need. The orgasm that was building worked right to the cusp but never going over.

“Please,” she whispered. Olivia hid her face against his chest.

“Please what?” he rumbled.

“Help me.”

Reed groaned as she feathered light kisses on his neck. He worked one slow hand down the gentle slope of her stomach. A flash of self-consciousness shifted through her but drifted quickly. His fingers hesitated at the waistband of the sweats. She nipped at the skin of his neck and swayed into him, in what she hoped was encouragement. The tips of his fingers slid through the band and dipped down. He groaned when he came into contact with the small patch of hair.

“You’re not wearing panties,” he growled at her in surprise.

Something in the way he said it made her want to show him how panty-less she really was.

He traced around her clit with confidence, never applying enough pressure to ease the mounting ache.

Olivia leaned down and bit him a little harder on the peck.

“Impatient are we?” he chuckled.

Irritation flared through her. Two could play this game.

Keeping one hand around his neck, she moved the other down his body until it rested on the thick outline of his jeans. Not allowing him the chance to move away, she moved her hand firmly around his length slid up and down.

They gasped in unison as Reed pressed her clit and began rubbing in time with her, each time slipping slightly inside her dripping opening.

Her hands ached from rubbing the fabric of his jean. After releasing him, she popped the button and pulled down the zipper. She rested her head on his chest, so she could watch as she released him and grinned when she saw he had also gone commando.

He sprang out of the opening, his long, thick cock more than she expected. The tip glistened with droplets that she longed to suck off. Instead she ran her hand over the length of him from root to tip.

Reed groaned deep.

“Fuck,” he said, his voice like gravel.

When his dick surged forward, a long finger filled her. It was so erotic she came undone. His hips moved in a frenzied pace with her hand.

Reed came with a shout. His cum splashed her fingers and coated his dick as he slipped through on his final thrusts.

Panting from the force of her orgasm, Olivia leaned into him and enjoyed the feel.

A loud rap on the door jolted both of them apart.