I steered my Maserati towards the city, taking a quick look into the rearview mirror to make sure we weren't being followed.
“What does it look like to you?” Allie cried, her voice shrill with panic.
“Let me rephrase. Who the fuck were those people, and why are they trying to fucking kill you!”
“Stop swearing at me! I've never seen them before in my life!” She grasped the dashboard and began drawing rapid, shallow breaths.
My own hands tightened on the wheel as I let out another loud curse.
Of all the things I'd expected to happen as I waited by Allie's station, attempted murder came in dead last.
Strike that, it wasn't even on the list.
Why the hell was she even being targeted?
“Someone wants you dead,” I snapped. “Are they creditors? Jilted ex-boyfriend? The fucking delivery guy?”
“No!” Allie shot me an offended look. “I know I'm broke, but I'm not that broke, okay? Maybe it was some prank, like on YouTube—”
“Like hell it was.” My tires screeched as I spun the wheel at a hard right on the road. “Those bastards had suppressors on their guns. They were after an execution, and they would have gotten it if I'd been one damned second late.”
Saying it aloud sent ice over my skin. Allie had come too close to dying for my liking.
“Your area isn't safe,” I continued tightly. “If they know your schedule, they know where you live. You’ll stay at my place for the night.”
Allie twisted her fingers in her lap, but she didn't protest.
Smart choice, because if she did, I was stopping this car to shake some sense into that head of hers.
Suddenly, she turned to me with a panicked gasp. “Karin! She's back at our apartment!”
Shit.
“Tell her to lay low and lock every door and window,” I bit. “My guys will get her.”
I grabbed the Bluetooth earpiece from my dashboard and speed-dialed Langdon, my personal Head of Security.
The man answered within two rings and quickly acknowledged as I gave my orders. No question or emotion, exactly what I paid him good money for. The whole call was concluded in ten seconds.
As I tossed the earpiece back on my dashboard, Allie cupped her phone to her ear with shaking hands.
“K? Are you home? Good, stay right there, and don't go anywhere! Listen, I've just been shot at—yes, someone shot at me, so don't leave the house, and don't open the door to anyone. Lock all the windows and doors, and pack a few things for the night. Ryland is sending someone to pick you up right now.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
Was she seriously having a conversation at this time?
“There are more important things than chatting when your life's in danger,” I gritted, “like actually getting out of that fucking danger.”
Allie glared at me for a second before her attention snapped back to her phone.
“Who? No, that was Ryland,” she said, darting me a furtive glance, “uh, Wyatt. You know, from back in San Juan? Yeah, we're on our way to his place now. K, just do as I say for now, please? I promise I'll tell you everything later, once we're both safe.”
“My guys are already on their way,” I reminded louder, taking another hard right that sent Allie sliding across the leather seat. “Get her to ask for employment passes before opening the door.”
Allie took another ten seconds to pass the message on to Karin before she ended the call.
“Finally,” I muttered.
Allie looked at me as if I was the one being stupid about this. “She was freaking out! You don't have to be such a jerk.”
“Yeah, I don't, because it's not my life that almost got ended five minutes ago.”
Allie's lips tightened as she stared straight ahead. “Thanks for saving me,” she finally said, the words dragging out past her clenched teeth.
Then she stiffened. “Wait. Why were you there in the first place?”
And why was she thinking about shit like that at this time?
“To talk about the offer,” I said impatiently. “I was headed to your place when I saw you going by with two shady-looking bastards hot on your ass.” I shot her another irritated look. “You were supposed to call, by the way.”
“Keep dreaming.” She glared. “First you show up out of nowhere, and then I get shot at. It's like you bring disaster wherever you go.”
The link between those two events finally clicked in my head. I sucked in a sharp breath.
Estelle.
Bloody hell, how had I missed it?
This wasn't the work of creditors or an ex-boyfriend. There was only one person who was crazy enough to be behind this, and I'd just put Allie in her crosshairs.
I looked at Allie.
She was fidgeting her hands in her lap, and the lights from the advertising screens outside outlined her in a pale wash, making her look so damned small and vulnerable.
This changed everything. I couldn't just get the info I needed from Allie then ditch her—if she even had anything we could use.
No, now I had a moral obligation to keep her alive and safe from the bitch.
Bloody, fucking hell.
I watched Allie for another second before turning my eyes back to the road.
Cam and Gabriel would flip when they knew, but there was no sugar-coating this. We'd misjudged how far Estelle was willing to go.
And now Allie and Karin would have to pay the price for it.
We got to the apartment suites soon enough, and once I'd parked in the basement garage, I took Allie up to my penthouse.
She gaped wide-eyed at the design of the lobby and the elevators, which helped with my pissed-off mood somewhat. The suites were one of my earliest projects at Wyatt Corp, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't take some pride in it.
When we entered my penthouse, Allie stood in my living room staring about some more until I snapped my fingers at her and pointed at the sofa.
“Sit.”
She scowled. “I'm not a dog, Ryland.”
“Fine, then stand.” I dropped into the sofa and propped an ankle on my knee. “I’ll speak with you in private here before sending you down to my spare apartment.”
“You have a spare apartment?” she said as she reluctantly took the seat adjacent to mine.
“Problem?”
“No, it's just surprisingly nice of you to offer it to us.”
I checked my fingernails idly. “I'm not always an asshole, Allie cat.”
“I wouldn't go that far,” she said kindly.
A muscle in my jaw ticked. What was her problem?
“You're pretty damned argumentative for someone who just got shot at.”
“And you're a jerk,” she muttered, twisting her fingers around each other.
I rolled my eyes but didn’t bother replying.
Now that my head had cleared, I was uncomfortably aware of a sense of urgency remaining, as if I'd just avoided a fatal accident. Seeing the bastards tailing Allie had made me pissed, but the gun barrels in their hands had brought about something else primal entirely.
Because Allie had nearly died, and under my watch.
I narrowed my eyes. For that, those sons-of-bitches were going to pay.
“Don't we have to go to the police or something?” Allie asked. “Give our statements and all that.”
I eyed her silently. I had only two options in this: Keep her in the dark, or tell her.
The first one would put her life in even more danger. The second one would give me a bad day when she started asking questions.
Damn.
“We’re not going to the police,” I exhaled. “And there's a reason for that.”
Allie frowned. “What is it?”
“I know who's behind this.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Are you serious? Who?”
I popped my jaw, aware that I was about to tell Allie something that could let her ruin me, if she wanted.
“First, I need your word that you won't freak out. And I’ll need you to sign an NDA tomorrow.”
“But I—”
“Your. Word.”
She made an impatient huff. “Okay fine, I promise. It’s not like I have anyone to tell anyway. Who is it?”
I leaned forward and braced my arms on my knees.
Then I looked up to hold her gaze.
“Estelle Valentine.”
Allie was silent for a long beat.
Then in a shrill voice: “What!”
“Don't,” I ground, “freak out.”
“Are you kidding?” she burst. “You're telling me my dad's ex-girlfriend wants to kill me? But why would she? Why would anyone? I haven't hurt anyone or cheated or stolen anything—this doesn't make any sense!”
“She's blackmailing me,” I said abruptly. “I've been trying to find ways around it, get dirt on her. That’s why I contacted you in the first place, to see if you knew anything from the time you lived with her.”
“The house was so huge I didn't even see her around that much,” Allie protested. “I barely spoke ten sentences to her in the three years.”
Shit.
I rolled my eyes and fell back against the sofa. “So I wasted a week tracking you down for nothing. Fucking A.”
“Well, sorry for turning out to be such a poor investment!”
I ignored her sarcasm, feeling the frustrating sting of a failed effort. Estelle now knew Allie's whereabouts, while we still had nothing.
“Knowing Estelle, she hired those bastards to show me she was watching my movements.”
“So you're saying that you got my sister and me into this mess.” Allie shook her head. “Sorry. I want to blame this on you too, but I'm finding this pretty hard to believe.”
“Suit yourself, but the sooner you reconcile yourself to the fact that she's an unhinged bitch, the better off you'll be. Trust me on that.”
Allie stared at me, trying to figure out if I was lying. I wished to hell I was, because then I wouldn't be in this bloody mess right now.
“Oh my god,” she finally breathed. “You're not kidding.”
Then she popped up from the sofa and began pacing angrily.
“I knew it. I knew you were up to something when you just came out of nowhere. What kind of secret do you have that would make her threaten to kill me, huh? Did you bribe a government official? Embezzle funds?” Her expression turned horrified. “Did you have a kid with her?”
I shot her a scathing look. “First off, I'm a Wyatt, so came out of nowhere doesn't exactly apply here. And secondly, telling you would defeat the purpose of me trying to keep it under wraps, don't you think?”
“So you did have a kid with her?” Allie demanded.
“Fuck, no!”
“Don't snarl at me, you owe me an answer!”
I rose to my full height, staring her down. “I don't owe you shit,” I said in a dangerous voice.
Allie merely raised her chin and glared harder. “You got me into this mess in the first place. I have a right to know why.”
A muscle under my eye ticked.
She wasn't wrong. But still…
“No.”
Allie‘s eyes narrowed.
“That's it. I thought you were just a jerk before, but you're turning out to be a real piece of work. I'm going to the police.” Then she paused and tapped her chin. “But wait. You're being blackmailed. I guess this complicates things for you, hmm?”
I stared at her in disbelief.
Was she seriously threatening me?
I stepped forward and towered over her, threatening her with my size. “You don't want to be playing games with me, Allie cat,” I warned softy.
“What else am I supposed to do?” she threw back. “Sit tight and pray that Estelle doesn't get to my sister and me? Or that she gets you first so we'll be left alone?”
A growl rose at the back of my throat.
Shit, but this woman really knew how to push my buttons. I was this close to bending her over the sofa and showing her exactly who was in charge here.
“Back the fuck down, and listen,” I ground out. “I have a proposition.”
Wariness flashed across Allie's face. “What kind of proposition?” she asked suspiciously.
“What kind do you think?” I countered, staring her down.
Her distrust about everything was damned annoying, and I had a sudden urge to irritate her, to make her feel even a fraction of the restlessness that she was causing me.
Allie blinked at me.
Then slowly, a pink flush began to creep across her cheeks.
“No,” she said. “No. Way.”
Gotcha.
I tried not to smile evilly as I raised my brows. “But you haven't even heard it yet.”
“And I don't want to,” she growled. “I'm not interested in whatever you are proposing so you can shove it. I won't sell my body to anyone, not even to you—”
“Easy,” I drawled. “I just wanted to offer my apartment to you and your sister until this shit is sorted out.”
Then I tilted my head, biting back a grin. “But what do you mean, not even to me? Have you been thinking about me that way, Allie cat?”
Instead saying something snarky like I'd expected, Allie turned redder.
“Of course not,” she rasped.
What the fuck?
I stared at her, realizing that she had just told a lie.
Which meant that she had been fantasizing about me.
Holy shit.
My cock turned hard immediately, and unable to resist, I ran a slow glance down her face, her neck, coming to the swells of her breasts.
From my vantage point, I could see right down the valley between them, the way they strained against her too-small blouse in time to her breathing. My fingers twitched at my sides, itching to rip the fabric off her.
“What did you fantasize about?” I asked again, slowly running my knuckles down the sides of her breasts.
Allie didn’t stop me, only stared at my neck as her breathing turning shallow.
“Did you think of me touching you?” I said huskily.
“No,” she choked.
Another lie.
A sudden image entered my mind, of Allie spread wide on my bed, wearing nothing but the same flush that colored her skin right now, stroking her swollen pussy to climax as she moaned my name over and over.
A soft groan slipped out of me. “If you're trying to tempt me into screwing you right against the wall,” I said hoarsely, “you're doing a damned good job of it.”
“I'm not,” Allie said again, but she didn't sound like she believed herself.
That's when I realized that this shit between us was happening.
I was going to fuck Allie—multiple times—and I wasn't even going to be sorry about it.
“What's your answer to my offer, Allie cat?” I said, my voice ragged with lust. “Yes or no?”
Her teeth nibbled at her lower lip as she considered, turning me harder.
“The suite will be fully serviced with a security system,” I continued, my voice strained. “You and your sister will be safe here.”
“I'm not sure,” Allie said quietly, twisting her fingers again. “I don't like being indebted to someone.”
“You won't be indebted to me. This is in return for dragging you into this mess, so we're even if you take up my offer.”
“Maybe there's something I can do for you—” Allie began, then blushed again when she realized how that sounded.
Shit, there was only so much I could take. I was just a hair's breadth away from cornering her and—
“I meant I could come work for you,” she corrected. “Doing admin, or PA—”
“No,” I said instantly. “I don't need any distractions at my workplace.”
And Allie Beckett was going to be one hell of a distraction.
Her chin lifted an inch. “I may not have a degree, but I'm good at my job,” she said, looking stubborn and cute as fuck.
Damn it.
Maybe I could shove her away in some obscure department where I wouldn't have to see her.
“I'll think about it,” I muttered. “Come to my office tomorrow at eight. And one more thing. From now on, my chauffeur will take you and your sister around. No more subway rides, it’s too risky.”
”Driving?” Allie stared at me. “In New York? That will take forever!”
“This isn’t a fucking game, Allie cat,” I said shortly. “Your life is at stake here, do I need to remind you?”
Allie stiffened as she glared. “No, you don’t, because you dragged me into this in the first place. I can handle myself, okay?”
“Says the woman who spent away her trust fund.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t have a trust fund.”
My brows snapped together. “The fuck? That wasn’t what I heard.”
“Yeah, well, you heard wrong,” Allie said shortly. “I held two jobs for the first few years here, and we survived just fine, so please don’t tell me how to take care of myself.”
I stared at her, the ugly fact dawning on me.
Estelle had gotten to their trust fund too.
Shit, this was getting more screwed up by the second.
“Take a taxi,” I said tightly. “I’m not compromising on that.”
Allie obviously didn’t like the idea, but she gave a short nod. “Fine. And thanks for helping me out earlier. Though I could have done without the need for helping,” she added with an accusing look.
I flexed my jaw and addressed a point over her head. “If I'd known, I wouldn't have risked your life.”
“Was that an apology?”
“I don’t apologize for anything, Allie cat.”
Allie pursed her lips in irritation, idly fingering the hem of her skirt.
Did this woman's hands ever stop moving? It was like she had too much nervous energy inside her.
Suddenly feeling tired as shit, I gave her the unit number of the spare apartment and turned to leave.
“Langdon will send your sister up when they arrive,” I called as I strode to the door. “Shut the door behind you when you leave. It locks automatically.”
As for me, I still had shit to settle before calling it a night.
Like getting Cam to find out the names of the two bastards earlier and sending them behind bars for the longest time possible.
And after that, arranging to meet with the poisonous bitch herself.
“Wait,” Allie called.
I turned and raised a questioning eyebrow.
She cleared her throat, clasping her hands behind her. “I want to buy back my portrait, since you have no use for it now.”
A slow, evil smile spread across my face.
She made it so fucking easy.
“But I do have a use for it,” I said in a husky voice, running a glance down her body again. “Wanna guess? It’s in my bedroom right now…”
I licked my lower lip, staring at her with heavy-lidded eyes. “Right...across...my bed.”
Allie’s eyes went wide. “You—”
“Yep.”
I smirked at her as I exited, leaving her gaping behind me.