Touch of Doubt (Law vs. Love Book 2) (2 page)

“Have you seen my assistant this morning?” Jace asked, barely giving her a glance as he continued to scan the lobby. “Mr. Snow.”

“No sir,” the young woman said. “I’ve been at the desk all morning, and I haven’t seen him in here.”

Jace frowned and gave her a nod before sliding his phone from his suit pocket and making the call. Franklin’s cell rang and rang, but there was no answer on the other end of the line. That was odd. Franklin always answered his phone, even in the dead of night. It was one of the things he liked about his assistant.

Unease settled into Jace’s mind. He’d sent Franklin to speak to Madison after he’d found out where she lived. Franklin had interrogated individuals for him in the past, and it seemed the best course of action to send him on this particular fact-finding mission. Carrie had been right. Jace couldn’t do it himself. A third party had to get involved, and he’d chosen Franklin to find out what Madison knew about the people trying to set him up. He was the best man for it, based on his past.

Now, he was missing from their scheduled meeting to discuss his findings. And Madison Holland was dead.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?” the desk clerk asked Jace. He’d forgotten she was standing there by his side.

“Yes, if you see my assistant, call me immediately.” Jace gave a nod and strode through the revolving doors. Outside, the sky was overcast, gray clouds blotting out the sun. The wind whistled through the towering buildings, an addition to the usual symphony of taxi horns and rumbling trucks. His pristine shoes crunched through melting slush as he made his way to the limo idling on the curb. Despite the recent turn of events, Jace had work to do. Now that he had added to his real estate portfolio, it was time to begin renovations on his newest purchase. It would be the classiest hotel in Times Square, and his billions would only grow if he moved forward with his plans fast.

As soon as he slid onto the crinkling leather seat, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Maybe it’s Franklin
, he thought before he glanced at the display. He’d been too quick to judge his assistant’s absence, and he’d have a perfectly good explanation.

But when he glanced at the screen, he saw it was his office instead of his missing assistant.

“Jace Holt,” he said.

“Sir, there’s someone here to see you,” Lana, his receptionist, said in a shaky tone. “It’s the police.

When Jace reached his office, he was in a terrible mood. The policeman who had questioned him before stood just inside his gleaming glass doors, his hands tucked in his pockets and a knowing smile on his face.

“Detective Foster,” Jace said with a curt nod as he swept into the lobby of his prime office space on Fifth Avenue. “If there’s something you need to question me about, it will have to wait until I call my lawyer, Miss Simmons.”

Jace had to stop the smirk that threatened to touch his lips, just from hearing the sound of Carrie’s name. His mind flashed with an image of her writhing body on the sheets, moaning as her hands pulled at the bonds he’d attached to her wrists. The thought almost made him forget about the detective standing before him.

“I’m not here to ask you any questions,” the detective said with a smile that was glaringly fake and overly sweet. “But I’ll be needing the security tapes from your hotel. From the night of the murder, of course.”

Jace narrowed his eyes. Even though it was a perfectly reasonable request, he didn’t like how the detective was looking at him. As if he were trying to spin a web and trap him inside.
Nobody
got the better of Jace Holt, especially not this man.

“I assume you have a warrant,” Jace said, flexing his hands by his sides.

The detective rose his eyebrows. “Innocent men don’t tend to ask for warrants.”

“I’m not asking,” Jace dropped his voice low. “I’m demanding.”

“You look like you’re either insanely happy or in absolute agony,” Sarah said as she poked her head into Carrie’s office. “Rick wanted me to check in and see how the briefs for the Silverhouse case are coming along.”

Carrie glanced up from her mound of work to see her best friend hovering in the doorway and holding a steaming cup of coffee from the corner cart down on Madison Avenue. Sarah looked chipper and alert as usual, her long dark hair cascading around her shoulders, while Carrie felt the absolute opposite. Even though Jace had set every one of her nerve endings on fire that morning, she’d quickly crashed from the lack of sleep and food once reaching the office.

“Why is Rick asking you to run errands for him? It’s not like you’re a paralegal,” Carrie said, furrowing her brows. Her best friend had seemed to be spending a lot of time following her boss around recently. Sarah was a senior associate, just like Carrie, and she had much better things to do than be at his every beck and call.

“Oh, that’s not important.” Sarah waved a hand. “Are you okay though, seriously? You look exhausted.”

“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Carrie said around a smile that she couldn’t stop from blooming on her face.

“I knew it,” Sarah said, easing into the office and closing the clear glass door behind her. She passed Carrie the coffee before dropping into the leather chair on the other side of the paper-littered desk. “You went to Jace’s last night. No wonder you sped out of the bar like hell on wheels.”

“Well, that wasn’t exactly why.” Carrie frowned as she took a sip of the steaming coffee. No milk, two sugars. Just how she liked it. “Did you hear about that girl, Madison Holland?”

Sarah nodded and leaned forward. “Yeah, the girl who got shot on Fifty-Seventh, right?”

“Yeah.” Carrie swallowed back another gulp of the hot liquid. “She was the one who led Jace away from his hotel the night of the murder. I saw her at the bar and followed her back to her place.”

“Holy shit.” Sarah’s eyes widened. “Did you see anything? Tell me you caught the bastard who killed her red-handed.”

“No, I didn’t go inside,” Carrie said with a shudder. “Scary to know that if I had, maybe I’d be in the same shape as she is in now.”

“I bet whoever killed Anders killed Madison, too,” Sarah said, dropping back in the chair and crossing her legs. “What does Jace have to say about it?”

Carrie’s back stiffened from the question, her mind turning toward Jace’s strange non-reaction to the news of Madison’s death. “He’s being really cagey about it. When I tried to talk to him, he started distracting me with…”

A knock sounded on the door, and Carrie glanced up to see Jace Holt standing outside of her office. Speak of the devil. Her breath caught in her throat. He wore a sleek black suit, fitted perfectly to his muscular frame. His rugged face hid under a short layer of scruff, and his dark eyes lit flames inside her stomach, heating her entire body all the way up to her face. Even though she’d been in his bed only hours before, seeing him here left her weak in the knees.

Smiling, he opened the door and poked his head inside Carrie’s office before sending a charming smile toward Sarah. “Well, Sarah Evans. Nice to see you after all this time.”

“Jace.” Sarah cleared her throat and stood, sending Carrie a wink. “I assume you’re here to see Carrie. I’ll just be on my way.”

Carrie could see Sarah bite back a smile before disappearing out into the hallway, leaving Jace and Carrie staring at each other in silence. Smoothing her skirt, she stood and motioned to the chair in front of her. It struck her as strangely surreal how formal the whole thing was, like Jace was just another client whose cock hadn’t been inside her several times over the last twenty-four hours.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she finally said as Jace settled into the leather chair. “I hope nothing is wrong?”

“Something is wrong. You aren’t in my bed at the moment.” His eyes flicked across her V-cut blouse. “In addition to that, you’re wearing far too many clothes for my liking.”

“Jace,” she hissed, glancing at the door. Anyone who walked by would surely hear his words. If not, they’d definitely be able to spot the blush on her cheeks. “You can’t say things like that here. I’m at work.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be at work,” he said with a wicked smile. “I’m sure you could take an extended lunch break. I know there’s something special I’d like to eat.”

His gaze trailed down her chest before stopping at the edge of her desk, which hid the bottom half of her body from view. Heat tickled the top of her thighs, and she crossed her legs to keep herself from squirming in her seat. She knew exactly what Jace meant, and even as inappropriate as it was, it didn’t stop her from feeling very much aroused by his words.

“Jace,” she whispered. “I know you think you can get away with anything you want, but you can’t just come into my office and hit on me like this. You’re my client, thanks to you. Not to mention everything else.”

“I
can
get away with anything I want.”

Carrie’s heart thumped. She knew he was talking about his seductive come-on tactics, but she couldn’t help but latch onto his words. Jace Holt could get away with anything he wanted. Even murder.

She sucked in a sharp breath. She couldn’t believe she’d let the words even enter her mind for a moment. Jace couldn’t be involved in Madison’s death. He wasn’t that kind of man. And even if he were, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get there and back in time. She had to stop letting her mind go there.

She repeated the words to herself several times, but they still didn’t explain the gut feeling that Jace was keeping something very important from her. He’d had that gun in his kitchen drawer. Why? And why hadn’t he seem surprised about Madison?

“Something’s wrong,” Jace said, leaning forward and shooting the scent of musky aftershave across her desk. “You have that look on your face. Has someone upset you?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said with a weak smile. Despite all the questions in her mind, Carrie
had
to believe in Jace’s innocence. If he were involved in either of the recent murders, everything she thought was true would come crashing down around her. And she didn’t think she could handle that. “I’m just really swamped with work. Why did you need to see me?”

“There’s been an unfortunate development that I’ve managed to stall for the moment.” A frown creased Jace’s face, and he twisted in his seat as a group of clients strode by the door, chattering about the wintry Manhattan weather and the latest developments in the presidential primary race. “There seems to be a lot of traffic outside of your office today.”

“Yes, exactly.” Carrie couldn’t stop the red from spreading across her neck. “Anyone who walks by could see us in here.”

Jace’s voice dropped low as he turned back to face Carrie. “There must be somewhere more private that we can talk.”

Jace watched Carrie smooth down the front of her sexy blouse, the silk clinging to the lacy bra he could see through the thin material. She was acting distant and a little bit closed off, and he was determined to massage away whatever had caused this change in her.

“The law library is rarely used these days,” Carrie said after clearing her throat. “Would that work for you?”

“That’s perfect.” He flashed a smile, standing and buttoning his suit jacket. Carrie stood from her chair before grabbing a notepad from her cluttered desk and leading the way into the hallway. Around them, the law office buzzed with activity, and a few paralegals glanced their way as they moved toward the elevators.