TODAY
Lauren had been listening intently. In fact, she could barely believe what she was hearing. How did this get so far away from a simple case of a crime of passion? Why had Darla picked her to get involved in such a cluster fuck of a disaster waiting to happen? Lauren was a first-year attorney. She lived a simple life and was about to marry the perfect man, and now she was stuck in the middle of all of this. It was time to get some answers.
“Darla Lovell is a witness to your conversation with Whitey Smith. Why was she allowed to be on the case?” Lauren questioned Jasper.
“Because no one but the three of us and, now you, knows about that meeting. We kept it quiet so that Darla could actually work the case, and besides, what did she really witness? The color of Whitey’s Balls?”
Lauren frowned. Jasper pressed his hands to his face and rubbed the sleep away. He was tired. Telling the story was making his head hurt.
“Jasper. She saw you hand the knife back to Whitey. That’s how your fingerprints got on the knife.” Lauren’s voice was raised high and Georgie peeked in from the window glaring at her.
Jasper saw it and motioned to him that he’d calm her down.
“Lauren, calm down and listen. The knife they found my fingerprints on was a different knife. It looked like Whitey’s, but it wasn’t his knife. I know the guy set me up. I know it, but I still can’t prove it, and even if I do prove it, I’m just going to end up dead one way or another – either in here or out there.” He reached for her hand and held it.
Her eyes moved to his hand as it took hers and she didn’t pull away. Instead she wrapped her hand around his and stayed still for a moment. She liked the feel of his skin. His hand was very warm. She thought about how he described Misty’s sexuality and it made her mind wander to think about how Jasper’s hands would feel on her own skin. Her cheeks flushed for a moment and then internally she shamed herself for thinking about sex with Jasper at a time like this, plus there was the matter of her fiancé, Peter.
“If Darla is sleeping with Whitey, why do you think she’s having an affair with my fiancé?” Lauren looked up into Jasper’s eyes, but still didn’t let go of his hand. Now his thumb was caressing hers. He shook his head confused.
“I’m not sure. Knowing Darla, my guess is that she needs something from Peter. Darla is very strategic. I think the only man she’s ever been in love with is Whitey. She uses her body as a tool to get what Whitey wants, and maybe Peter has something that Whitey wants.”
Lauren thought for a moment, and then it was like a light went on behind her eyes.
“The Triumph Towers. Peter is the attorney for the Board of Directors. But what does Whitey want with the Triumph Towers as it is? It’s not like it’s his kind of work. Does he fancy himself a real estate tycoon?”
“I have no idea what he wants with it. I mean, he’s got that money and now Lucas is dead. I’m not sure if Lucas kept track of the money. If it was in his name, then no one will know he actually gave the money to Whitey. Someone else has to know what’s going on with all of this.”
Lauren nodded.
“Yeah … her name is Darla Lovell. I bet she knows exactly how Lucas handed off the money to Whitey. I’m going to find out, and then we’re going to prove that Whitey had Lucas killed. For now, I’m going to have to play dumb though. I’m not sure when I can come back to see you. Right now, I don’t know if I even still have a job, and I will need access to her files.”
Lauren’s wheels were turning. She needed to make sure she kept her job, so she could help Jasper. Jasper tugged her hand.
“Lauren. What about Darla and Peter? I know I live in a world where relationships are different than in the white collar world but …” He thought about how to put it, “… You could lose everything. The white knight, the palace in the sky, the whole fairytale ending.”
Lauren looked up at him and squeezed his hand.
“You know, Jasper … for some reason, I’m not that fazed by it. Besides, I think I’d rather ride off into the sunset – on a Harley.” She grinned at him, holding his eyes with hers.
Jasper looked at the door and seeing the coast was clear, he leaned across the desk and stole a kiss from her. His lips touched hers ever so softly. Lauren didn’t resist. She slid a hand up to the side of his face and caressed his stubble-covered cheek with her thumb. Her touch was gentle and Jasper needed that right now. He needed affection, tenderness, something more intimate. He spoke to her softly, his warm breath tickling her lips.
“Make no mistake, Lauren, I want to throw you down on this table right now, and rip your clothes off, but this kissing … well this is nice too.” He let his lips play with hers again, the tip of his tongue parting them and tracing the slit of her mouth from corner to corner.
Lauren touched her tongue to his, feeling a fire in her belly rise. He was very different than Peter and she wanted to know more about him. She could see that deep down, Jasper Connor, was a good man. She would go as far as to even say “honest” in that he knew who he was, and how he was handling being locked up for a murder he said he didn’t commit. He never denied beating Lucas Jackson. His story of what happened seemed truthful from what she could tell. It was sincere and now for the first time, they both felt hope.
Jasper felt hope with Lauren by his side, and he wanted to be with her more intimately. There was something in her that was a fighter. She wasn’t the Ivy League princess he thought she might was when he first met her. She was fiery and adventurous, and she believed him. He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger and pulled it wanting to keep her there while he kissed her again and again. He could feel himself growing hard beneath the table and he growled against her lips, partly because he wanted her so badly, and partly because he couldn’t have her right now.
Lauren licked her lips while he growled.
“You want me, Jasper, don’t you?” She kissed him again, but he was trying to break the kiss.
“Lauren, please stop. I can’t have you right now, but I do want you. It’s not even about being inside you. I want you in my arms, lying in bed, watching old movies and hearing the rain fall on the roof. Instead, this is just going to drive me crazy. Help me get out of here. Please. I want to get out of here and be with you. You are so strong and beautiful and I don’t know, but I can’t help but feel you’re so much smarter than Darla Lovell. I have so much hope in you.”
Lauren pulled back from him and looked into his eyes. She hadn’t expected him to say half of what he did, but she felt connected to him too.
“Jasper, I’m going to knock that bitch down a notch or two. I’m going to find out what we need to get you out of here, and then you are going to take me away, and fuck me on a beach somewhere. Do you trust me?” She grabbed his hands and kissed him hard, as if it would seal her promise to him.
Jasper put both his hands in her hair and kissed her furiously. He couldn’t get enough of her. He needed her. He needed her intensity in his life, and he needed her because he knew that she would be his anchor in life.
“Lauren … you gotta go now! Darla Lovell is on her way up and she wants to see Jasper. Let’s go!” Georgie banged on the glass for them to break it up as he swung the door open.
Lauren kissed Jasper one more time and with a renewed hop in her step. She followed Georgie’s lead out of the room and down the hall. Georgie would make sure she got out of the building unseen. He had his ways.
Meanwhile, Darla swung the door open and strode right in.
“Well, Jasper?”
His eyes lifted to meet hers, and he offered her an inviting smile as he sat back in his chair,
“She’s all in, Darla. It’s all under control - nothing to worry about.”