She’d thought the reception area in the AEGIS building was opulent, but it looked like a poor hotel that had been through the wars compared to the open floor of the building in front of them. There was a doorman who nodded respectfully to Alex; she was quite sure that the would have sniffed and ignored her if she’d walked up to the door alone. Alex did have to push the elevator button all by himself, though. Zoey resisted the temptation to ask if the pressure had bruised his finger. He also had to swipe a key card; the why became clear as the elevator soared up to the penthouse, and the door opened directly into the entryway of an apartment that practically vibrated with wealth. It wasn’t any particularly ostentatious thing. There wasn’t an original Monet or Jackson Pollack or something hung where she could see it, and it wasn’t like the furniture still had price tags hanging from it, just to emphasize the fact that the foot bench directly across from the elevator probably cost three months of her income. It was just—well, everything. Every small detail, combined with the fact that the place was museum-levels of spotless. No one who actually worked full time could keep their own home this ready for a magazine spread.
Alex was watching her carefully, and she fought down the instinct to spin in place while letting out a low whistle. “Where should I put my shoes?” she finally asked. It seemed like a neutral enough question, and it made him smile.
“Just there, if you don’t mind,” he said. She kicked off her clogs and set down her bag next to them. And then Alex took her hand in his again, reeling her in without any hesitation. She couldn’t have resisted if she wanted to—socks plus hardwood meant that she slipped over the floor at the least little effort from him. She giggled as he tugged her into his arms. “Hello,” he said. His hand skimmed over her waist to splay over the top of her butt in a possessive and delightful gesture that she was more than happy to lean into. “I seem to remember that you had some horrible, awful bruises that you wanted to complain about.”
The switch of topic was abrupt and disconcerting, but she had no idea how she would be processing this sort of information. It wasn’t her place to tell him how to react or what to feel about what he was learning today. Besides, his hands in her hair were warm and taunting, and she could feel him shifting against her, teasing her with his interest. There must be a million places in this apartment to fuck. He could bend me over a couch, fuck me on a table, up against a wall—holy shit, what kind of toys must he have here? A tiny whisper of a moan escaped her lips, and she pulled his mouth down to hers. Her lips were open just a bit, and with a sharp inhale, his tongue was plundering her, his hands tight and hard on her flesh. He pressed her back two steps, until her back came into contact with the wall, and then his hand reached down for the back of her thigh, pulling her leg up to wrap around him. In her fitted slacks, she couldn’t get it as high as she wanted, to wrap around his waist and show off her flexibility, but she didn’t care. His hand was on her breast, doing terrible, delightful things to her nipple, and she didn’t care where her leg was, just as long as he didn’t stop.
So when someone standing very, very close to them cleared their throat, Zoey choked back a vicious curse. Alex froze for a moment, then quietly tucked his hand into the back pocket of Zoey’s pants and gave her ass one more squeeze. He turned his head to the side and smiled at the girl who stood next to them, her arms crossed and her left eyebrow arched.
Her resemblance to Alex was the first thing that gave Zoey a little faith that she hadn’t walked into some incredibly awkward situation. She had the same medium brown skin, though her long black hair fell in looser curls than Alex’s. They had exactly the same eyes, big and bright, with irises a deep dark brown that radiated confidence. The girl was athletically built instead of model thin. She had thighs that looked like they could run a marathon, and arms that could keep up. Lacrosse, maybe, or field hockey. She had Alex’s small smile playing over her lips. “What a pleasant surprise,” she said, and the sheer delight of her voice gave Zoey the final clue she needed. She disentangled herself from Alex and stuck her hand out.
“Zoey Gardener,” she said. “You must be Claire.”
The teenager was clearly taken aback. Her eyes flicked to Alex for a moment before taking Zoey’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, Zoey,” Claire said. “Alex didn’t mention he was bringing home company.”
“That’s because you didn’t mention that you were coming over,” Alex said.
“Did too. The fact that you don’t check your phone remains not my fault.” She had a stubborn set to her features that made Zoey control a giggle. Claire saw it, though, and gave Zoey a conspiratorial wink. “He’ll forget his head if you don’t remind him to stick it in the car. Better yet, remind David. That’ll get the job done.”
“Claire.” There was the tiniest hint of a threat in Alex’s voice. It was brotherly, but there was more to it than that. Ten years difference between them, from what she’d seen in the papers. How much had Alex been Claire’s big brother, and how much had he been her father figure?
Claire gave a little pout, and squeezed Zoey’s hand one more time before letting it go. “We’ll girl talk later,” she said.
Alex had pulled out his phone, grimaced, and then punched a few buttons. “Sorry,” he said. “I put it to silent when we went out, and then—it was a long night.”
Claire gave Zoey a very knowing look, and Zoey smiled back. It wasn’t her place to correct the other girl’s assumptions about why exactly her older brother had turned his phone off. “There’s something going on with Mom,” Claire said. “Aaron came over.”
Alex shrugged. “That’s nothing new.”
Claire’s eyes shifted to Zoey, then back to her brother again.
“Look, I should go,” Zoey said. “You guys need to talk, and I don’t want to be in the way—”
“No,” they both said together.
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Claire said.
“We still need to finish our conversation,” Alex added. His tone seemed to imply something other than a conversation, but her body was still damp and yearning for the same thing, so she could hardly criticize.
A compromise occurred to her. “Let me set up my laptop somewhere, Alex. I’ll keep working on the project we were discussing, and you and Claire can do whatever you need to.”
He nodded. “That would be perfect, if you don’t mind. If it’d be more convenient for you, I can have David take you back to your house, and follow when we’re done here.”
“Please don’t,” Claire said, and they both turned to look at her. “Look, I’m sorry to say this in front of your girlfriend, Alex, but I don’t—I don’t want to go back home. I don’t want to be alone with Mom right now. Something’s going on, and—fuck it, Alex, I’m scared.”
He nodded. “Of course. Have you seen Sophia? Have her make you a snack while I show Zoey to the guest room and get her settled.”
“I’m really sorry that I’m interrupting your night, Zoey,” Claire said, and there was something about her eyes. This kid had seen more than she was going to let on in front of a stranger, but she needed her brother. No matter how horny Zoey felt, it wasn’t possible to be mad at her, not really.
“Don’t worry about it,” Zoey said. “Truthfully? If he told you to get lost so that he and I could—carry on our conversation, there’d be bigger issues to talk about anyway.”
The girl’s eyes glowed with relief, and something else. Fright, maybe. And tears. Holy shit, what had happened to this poor kid? “Thanks,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I’ll go find Sophia, and I’ll meet you in the living room, okay, Alex?”
“Absolutely,” he said. His fingers stayed twined with Zoey’s as Claire disappeared down the hallway, and Zoey picked up her leather bag. “This way,” he said, leading her down another hallway.
He led her into a guest room that was as big as her entire studio. It was as personal as a hotel room, but a thousand times more lush. The bedding was a deep shade of violet, with a duvet in chocolate brown, and teal accent pillows. There was a chaise with a reading lamp, and a desk, set up with pen and paper, but it was about the right height to be used for a laptop as well. “Let me see your laptop,” he said, “I’ll put in the wifi passwords for you.” He set the laptop on the desk, waited while she punched in her own password, then connected it to his wireless. “I rather ran us out before either one of us finished dinner. Can I have Sophia make something for you?”
“Sophia is—?”
“My housekeeper.” She must have had a look, because Alex’s face got that quiet expression that Zoey was starting to associate with him choosing his words carefully. “You won’t be keeping her from anything; she’s ‘on duty’ for another half hour, and if I needed anything from her after that, she gets a hefty bonus, and she knows it. I pay her well, because she does excellent work, and my household wouldn’t function without her.”
“I’m sorry,” Zoey said. “I’m not trying to judge you, this is all just—” She trailed off.
“New to you.”
“Yes.”
He stepped close to her again. “Let me put this another way. I promised you dinner tonight. Then I took it away before you got to eat it. I’m asking you to research something that could make your career even as I make it so that you feel you can’t use it.” His hands made a whispering sound over her sweater. She could practically hear conflict of interest on the air currents. “At least let me help you out while you’re doing it.”
Put like that, it was a lot harder to turn down. Mama would walk to New York City just to smack her if she heard about it, but—well. It was for one night. “Sure,” she said. “I don’t know what I want, though. Something simple, I guess.”
“Grilled cheese and soup? You look like you could use something comforting.”
“That sounds great,” she said. “And maybe some coffee, if there’s decaf.”
He snorted. “I’m sure she keeps some for guests.”
“Death before decaf?”
“I mean, if you’re worried about staying up all night, I’ll be happy to help you work out the energy.” His hand cupped her breast, teasing at her, and her moan was much closer to a groan this time.
“Go take care of your sister,” Zoey said, because the alternative was begging him to fuck her where she stood, and she honestly didn’t know how much longer she could keep the words behind her teeth.
He nodded. “Don’t feel like you have to spend the time researching. There’s an eBook reader in the nightstand, and Sophia keeps a pretty up to date variety of books on the house account. Relax a little bit.” That faint smile gave her shivers this time. His eyes seemed to see deep inside of her, and the crinkles around the edges made her think that he liked what he saw. “I don’t think you do that a whole lot.”
“Maybe not as much as I should,” she said. “Now go. And come back.”
“I promise to do both.” He brushed his lips against hers again, and then he was gone.