Jax

Natalie’s vibrant-green eyes observed me warily, but then she adopted a neutral expression, her “lawyer” face, and nodded in response to my caution.

“Don’t push me, sweetheart,” I scolded, closing the distance between us and wrapping her up in my embrace. Plunging a hand into her hair, I gripped the strands, dislodging all the pins, and yanked her head back. Lowering my mouth to hers, I kissed her until her knees buckled and I had to hold her up. Breaking away, I grinned smugly. Her walls were down again, and I could see the indecision swirling in her emerald pools.

“Be at my house tonight by eight and bring a fucking bag,” I growled. Then I nudged her towards the door of my office with a soft pat on her delectable ass. If I didn’t get her out of there, it was likely I’d throw her over my shoulder and take her home, tie her to the bed and keep her there. Indefinitely. I hated sharing her, especially with the son of a bitch she worked for. “Eight.”

I followed her down the hall and watched her get on the elevator, controlling my primitive urges, the ones that could get me arrested for kidnapping. When the doors closed, I felt my chest tighten, almost squeezing the breath out of me. I fucking hated being away from her and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew she was going to run.

Returning to my desk, I picked up my phone and called in yet another favor. This one resulted in my ending the call with Natalie’s address scribbled on a notepad.

I gave her until ten before I drove over to her apartment. She lived in one of the smaller buildings near Smith, Yates, & Warren, close enough to walk to and from work. I parked on the street in front, unhappy at the thought of her coming home in the dark by herself, even if it was only a ten-minute walk. This piled onto the reasons I needed to get her moved in with me asap.

At her door, I rapped sharply on the hard surface with my knuckles. I was met with silence, not even the faint rustle of someone moving around inside. I knocked again, a little louder this time. “Natalie. Open the door,” I barked. Still nothing.

Normally, I wouldn’t want to bother her neighbors, but all bets were off with me when it came to my woman. This time, I pounded hard with my fist. “Natalie!” I bellowed. “Open the fucking door.”

Someone popped their head out of the apartment next door, and I tried to calm down in case I needed to sweet talk my way out of having them call the police. Turning, I spotted a young Asian woman with an irritated frown marring her pretty face. When her dark eyes landed on me though, her lips turned up in an amused smile.

“She isn’t home.” One black eyebrow lifted as she studied me. “I’m assuming you’re the one she’s hiding from?”

I was surprised at her reaction and annoyed that Natalie’s neighbor obviously didn’t care if a lunatic was chasing her.

“She’s been trying to hide it, but I’ve watched her moon over you for days,” she informed me, and I perked up slightly. “I don’t know what you did to piss her off, but she took off like a bat out of hell earlier this evening.”

I exhaled slowly, stretching my fingers to keep from balling them into fists. The last thing I needed was to come off threateningly if I was going to charm Natalie’s location out of this girl. “What we have is intense and she’s a little skittish about it,” I explained carefully. “I need to find her and convince her we belong together.” My features dropped into a dejected stance, drawing on her sympathy with my sad smile. “She’s everything to me.”

It wasn’t a lie, but I was laying it on a little thick. I was a damn good lawyer and rarely had to result to manipulation, but like I said, there was nothing I wouldn’t do to find Natalie.

As expected, she turned a little dreamy-eyed and gave me a soft look of understanding. “I’m sorry. If I knew where she was, I would tell you”—she blushed and glanced away—“she’s, um. She’s a lucky girl.”

I sighed and pulled out a business card from my suit pocket, holding it out to her. “I’m Jax Croix. If she comes home, would you call me?”

The girl smiled and took my offering. “I’m Keiko, um, Kiki. And, sure. I’ll let you know when she returns.”

“Thank you, Kiki,” I said with a beaming smile. She blushed again, then disappeared inside her apartment.

Fucking hell. When I got my hands on Natalie, she wouldn’t be able to sit for a week. Which shouldn’t be a problem since I intended to keep her chained to my fucking bed until she was wearing my ring and carrying my kid. Not only was it what I wanted more than anything, but it would tie us together so she couldn’t run from me anymore.

* * *

Slamming my phone down on my desk, I ignored the crack from the screen as it shattered. It was Friday. Four, long, fucking days since I’d been able to talk to or touch Natalie.

She’d been in court on Wednesday but hightailed it out of there with her boss before I could devise a way to get her alone. Stalking her work hadn’t done me any good either. She seemed to be able to slip past me, which both impressed and enraged me.

Calling to inquire about hiring her legal services didn’t do me any good either. It seemed Natalie wasn’t being given any other cases while she was on Warren’s.

I’d just gotten off the phone with our firm’s best PI, telling me once again that he hadn’t come up with any leads as to where she was. How the fuck had she learned to disappear like that?

The door to my office opened and I glanced up, ready to bite the head off of whoever was disturbing me. Isaac stood there, glaring at me.

“Go home,” he snapped. “You’re not doing anything here but endangering our livelihood with your surly attitude. I’ll take the rest of your meetings for the day. Take the weekend, find your woman, and come back when you aren’t going to constantly be a tyrant.”

I started to argue but was cut off when the door to my office flew open and a whirlwind of energy blew in. Eden stopped in front of me, hopping from one foot to the other with a wide smile on her face. “How much do you love me?” she trilled.

Isaac rumbled with a low growl and moved quickly to stand behind her, putting his hands on her hips, possessively. Normally, I would grin, say something sappy to Eden, and give him shit about acting like a caveman. Instead, I grunted in irritation and folded my arms across my chest, brooding as I leaned back in my chair.

Eden huffed and rolled her eyes. “Wow, Isaac was right. You are being a total tyrant.” Then she clapped her hands excitedly. “Well, this should cheer you up! Guess who I just had brunch with?”

I didn’t say anything, fully anticipating she would plow on and cut me off anyway. I was right. After pausing only long enough to take a breath, she squealed, “Natalie!”

“What?” I shouted as I shot up from my chair.

Isaac swiftly stepped in front of Eden and glared at me. “Watch it, Croix. We’ve been friends since childhood, but if you yell at my wife again, I will break your jaw.”

If it were Isaac treating Natalie like that, I would do the same, so I took a step back and nodded apologetically. My temper was flaring, but I tamped it down, tapping into my limited reserves of patience. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I softened my voice and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I promised her I wouldn’t tell you we were going to meet up,” Eden said, trying to peek around her husband. She finally succeeded in getting him to move and continued on, gesturing with her hands as she talked, always exuding vitality. “I didn’t promise I wouldn’t spill the beans after though!”

“Did you find out where she’s staying?” I asked, feeling a spark of hope.

Eden grinned. “I didn’t ask because I didn’t want her to ask me not to share the information.”

I visibly deflated, dropping back into my chair. Eden laughed and I glared at her.

“However, I did lift her wallet when I hugged her.”

My brows shot up in surprise. She what?

Isaac groaned, “For the love of . . . you stole”—he stopped and shook his head with exasperation—“Never mind. Get to the point, Nancy Drew.”

“Relax, babe. I put it back when I hugged her again before we left,” she insisted, patting his arm patronizingly. He muttered under his breath and drilled her with a stare, which she ignored, focusing on me once again.

“Anyway, when she went to the bathroom, I looked through it and found a valet ticket for the Four Seasons!”

At first, I was stunned by the fact that a junior associate who lived in a studio apartment was staying at one of the most expensive hotels in Baltimore. But, I set it aside in favor of fury that my PI hadn’t figured this out sooner. How hard was it to call around and check hotel registration? That’s why we paid him an exorbitant fee, to have a large staff at our beck and call.

“Don’t blame Pete,” Eden hurried to say, clearly seeing where my mind had gone. “She isn’t checked in under her real name and when I hacked their system—”

Isaac sighed and started muttering again, earning himself a withering glare from both Eden and me. He turned abruptly and stalked to the wall of windows overlooking the bustling city.

“Anyway,” she continued, scowling over at Isaac. “I hacked into the system and found the room attached to her valet ticket. It’s being paid for with a credit card belonging to a Lawrence Spector”—she shrugged—“I didn’t know who he was—”

“He’s a hotshot lawyer in Chicago,” I snarled. Rage bubbled up inside and I felt near to exploding.

“Right. But he’s—”

“He’s old enough to be Natalie’s fucking father!” I interrupted her again, my wrath on a very short leash. “What the fuck was she doing letting this guy pay for her hotel?”

“If you’d calm the hell down and let me talk, jackass,” she snapped, “I could tell you that he’s her step-father.”

I shot to my feet again, racing around the desk to plant a kiss on Eden’s cheek, only to find myself shoved roughly towards the door. “Go put your lips on your own woman and away from mine.” Isaac’s tone was deadly, but it only made me laugh because I was suddenly one thousand pounds lighter than I had been a minute before.

“We’re even for Andrea,” I quipped with a wink before striding out to get my girl.