Touch of Doubt (Law vs. Love Book 2) (4 page)

He looked just like Jace.

“Jace Holt,” Carrie’s voice was high-pitched and sharp. Angry. Her eyes flashed as she turned on him, stabbing her finger on the video screen that showed footage from the hotel lobby. “You told me you went to a goddamn bar. You’re right there with Anders Holland. You better tell me the truth right now. What happened that night?”

Frowning, Jace glanced at the screen. Sure enough, there was Anders Holland, striding through the glittering lobby with a man who very clearly looked like himself. He leaned forward and squinted, shaking his head. The man was careful to keep his face hidden from view, so only his dark hair and muscular back were visible to the cameras.

“That’s not me, Carrie. You can’t see the man’s face, and I would never wear a suit with sleeves that long.” Jace crossed his arms and stood. “I have a feeling I know what you’re implying, and I can’t believe you don’t trust me.”

Carrie’s face was red as she stood to meet his hardened gaze. “What am I supposed to think, huh? Your argument is that the man’s
sleeves
are too long?”

“That is exactly my argument.” Jace felt his veins pulse in his neck as he took in her expression. Doubt lit her eyes, and confusion rippled across her features. She really did think that was him on the screen. “I thought you were on my side.”

“I am.” Carrie threw up her hands. “I was.”

“Carrie.” Jace moved closer to her and reached for her hands, but she took a hasty step back.

“I need to go back to work.” She glanced at the screen. “I’ll try to stall this warrant. The police
cannot
get ahold of this footage. If they do…”

Jace understood. The arrest he’d easily avoided up until this point would surely come. He wanted to reach out and hold Carrie close before she disappeared back into her shell, but it only took seconds before she was gone.

Jace watched the footage several more times. Anders Holland and the man masquerading as Jace entered The Grand Rizzato at approximately ten forty-five. They went through the lobby, past guests and staff, before entering the elevator banks and taking an express ride up to the top hotel floor. The public guest elevators didn’t have access to his penthouse, so the two men had disappeared down the hallway, entered the staff only door, and that was the last time either of them were seen.

Whoever it was kept his full face hidden from view while still managing to keep up a conversation with Anders Holland the entire way there. Anders looked relaxed and calm. Surely the man he was with was someone he’d met before, else why would the two of them be going to Jace’s penthouse together?

The look on Carrie’s face flashed through Jace’s mind. He couldn’t believe she’d doubt him after all they’d been through. Surely she of all people knew he wasn’t a killer.

A knock sounded on the door and Jace glanced up, expecting to see the rumpled man returning from his extended lunch break. But instead, his assistant stood before him.

“Franklin.” Jace stood and narrowed his eyes. “Tell me where you’ve been. You were scheduled to meet me in the lobby this morning to go over your findings from last night, but you never showed.”

“Things escalated a bit last night,” Franklin said, glancing down the hallway behind him before stepping into the security room and shutting the door. “By the time I got to Madison’s apartment last night, she was dead.”

Jace let a sigh of relief go through him. “I have to admit, I had some concerns that you were involved.”

Franklin frowned. “I thought you didn’t judge me based on my past.”

A flicker of guilt hit Jace’s mind. He was right. Just because Franklin had been involved in certain unsavory things in the past didn’t mean he would still be involved in them now. He’d been so loyal until this point and so forgiving of Jace’s own past mistakes. It had been wrong of him to assume the worst just as it was wrong of Carrie to assume the worst in him.

“You’re right.” Jace gave his assistant a slight smile. “It’s just so unlike you to be even a minute late to a meeting.”

“Trust me.” Franklin sighed and settled into the metal chair beside Jace.” There was a good reason for it.”

“Tell me,” Jace said quietly.

Franklin filled Jace in on the details of the night before. With each passing moment, the knot of dread grew larger in Jace’s stomach. He’d been worried something like this had been going on, but he hadn’t known how to confirm his suspicions without getting sucked back into a world he’d thought he’d left behind. Carrie could never know the truth of the murders. If she did, she would never understand. Her reaction would be just as bad as when she’d seen the fake Jace on screen, taking Anders Holland into the penthouse to be shot in the head.

“Did anyone see you?” Jace asked in a low voice, his fists clenched in his lap.

“No, I was careful to stay out of sight,” Franklin said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in the seat. The weak metal creaked under his weight. “How do you want to proceed with this? I’m guessing you want to keep Miss Simmons in the dark about your past.”

“Carrie can’t know.” Jace’s jaw clenched. “We’ll have to take care of this ourselves. The footage, too.”

Franklin nodded and stood. “Anything else?”

Jace dragged a hand down his face, his palm scratching against the scruff that ran along his jaw. “Yes, get rid of the paparazzi. They can’t get a glimpse of Carrie again. And if they track us when we go take care of the Atlantic City situation, that could ruin everything.”

“How should I take care of them?”

Jace narrowed his eyes. “Do whatever it takes.”

Carrie didn’t know what to believe. After she left The Grand Rizzato, she wanted to turn right back around and erase all the doubt running through her mind. She hated feeling like the wall between her and Jace had gone right back up to where it’d been for three excruciating years. All she needed was his mouth on her skin, and she’d know he was telling her the truth.

There was nothing fake about Jace’s touch.

But that man in the video had looked just like Jace. He’d taken Anders Holland up to the penthouse where he’d been murdered in cold blood. And if Jace
had
been with Anders that night, Madison Holland would have been able to confirm that he hadn’t been in her apartment at the time of the murder. Lucky for him, she was dead now, too.

No, it was impossible. Jace couldn’t be a killer. He just couldn’t.

Carrie spun on her heels and headed back to the hotel. There was no way she could get on with her day if she wasn’t able to put a stop to these thoughts. How could she get any work done if she spent the whole time wondering whether or not Jace was more dangerous than she’d ever thought possible?

Yes, he liked things rough, and yes, he liked to take complete control in everything he did, especially when it came to sex…Carrie thought back to the way he liked to trap her hands over her head so she couldn’t move, and she couldn’t stop the shudder from going through her body.

Stepping inside The Grand Rizzato, Carrie’s heels sunk into the thick carpet as she headed right back the way she’d come. Just as she reached the doorway leading into the locked staff area, Jace’s assistant appeared by her side, blotting out the light behind him.

“I’m sorry, but these quarters are off-limits to the general public,” Franklin said, reminding Carrie of a younger version of Jace. Strong, silent, overly confident, and a little bit too smug for her liking. Even though it worked on Jace, it didn’t really work on this man.

“Right.” Carrie frowned. Didn’t he remember her from the other day in her office? “I’m Jace’s lawyer. I need to see him about something.”

“Jace is otherwise occupied,” Franklin said. “You’ll need to come back later. I’ll tell him you stopped by.”

“Look.” Carrie crossed her arms over her chest. “He’ll want to see me. Just tell him I’m here.”

Just then, the door swung open, revealing Jace. Even though she’d just seen him moments before, her eyes felt drawn to his muscular arms that strained against his well-fitted suit. Memories flashed through her mind from that morning. Carrie’s legs spread open as he pushed inside her, her back sliding across the slick surface of the table. He’d been so eager, so rough, so passionate that all she could do was take everything he could give.

It had felt like he’d given her everything, and now he’d taken it away again, hiding with his secrets and his lies.

“Carrie.” Jace frowned, and her heart hurt from his disappointed reaction to seeing her again. “I thought you left.”

His hand pressed against his suit jacket, and she noticed a bulge near the front pocket. What could that be? Her mind flicked back to the gun the cops had found in his kitchen drawer, but surely Jace wouldn’t be walking around with
another
weapon on his person. Unless…

Unless he really was the man in the video.

Carrie widened her eyes as she caught the glint of dark black, Jace’s jacket shifting as he shut the staff door behind him. She took a few steps back, her ears ringing and her heart roaring in her chest. She couldn’t believe it. Jace had a weapon in his suit pocket. Everything was starting to add up, and it painted a picture she couldn’t bear to understand.

“What’s in your pocket?” she gasped out in whispered words.

Jace’s jaw clenched, and Franklin gave Carrie a hard look. He was in on it, too. The both of them.

Jace patted his suit, but didn’t reveal what he had hidden underneath. “I think it’s best if I don’t show you.”

Carrie took a step back, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this. I thought there was no way you could be involved. I couldn’t bear to think you had anything to do with this, but–”

“Carrie, I promise this isn’t what it looks like,” Jace said in a low voice, glancing as a family edged by them on their way to check into their room. “You need to trust me.”

“How can I trust you if you won’t tell me what’s going on?”

Franklin cleared his throat and began to back away. “I think I’ll excuse myself.”

“No, Franklin.” Jace’s voice was sharp. “Stay.”

“Is he involved in this, too?” Carrie jerked her thumb at Jace’s obedient assistant. “Is that why you drag him along to our meetings?”

“Carrie.” Jace reached out to grasp her hands, but she shook her head and stepped back. She wouldn’t let him touch her and distract her from what was really going on here. “There’s an explanation for all of this, but I can’t really talk about it here. Come over tonight. We’ll have dinner, and I’ll explain everything.”

“Dinner again.” Carrie narrowed her eyes. “And wine, I’m betting. Maybe flowers? To seduce me into forgetting the fact you were with Anders the night of the murder and that Madison is now dead so she can’t tell the truth.”

Jace narrowed his eyes, and he looked at her in a way he never had before. With disappointment and anger and something else she couldn’t place. “If you have any belief in me at all, you’ll be in my penthouse at seven o’clock tonight. If not, then I guess that’s the end of us once and for all.”