Chapter Twenty-one

Despite the fact Simon had woken her up twice more in the night for more than her fair share of pleasure, Lacie woke to her alarm going off and Simon gazing at her no less affectionately than he had the night before.

“We’re going for our run, and then you’re calling in sick to school. I need to do some stuff at the office, and you’re going with me.” He planted a firm kiss on her lips, letting it linger a bit, before swinging his legs out of bed.

Lacie rolled over to watch his butt as he stalked over to the armoire and opened it to grab running shorts. She was picking her battles today. The last argument about her calling in had left her with feelings she didn’t want to repeat. If Simon wanted her to call in, she would call in.

“Bossy this morning, are we?”

He turned, quirking an eyebrow at her. “This morning? Really? Have we met? I’m Simon Pierce.” He held out his hand to shake, gloriously naked.

“Oh my God. Did you just make a joke?” Lacie grinned at him, and he grinned back. It was positively breathtaking.

“Yeah, well, I woke up in a pleasant mood this morning.” He slipped on the shorts, letting them hang low on his hips. Lacie filed the fact he went commando away for later. “I won’t make a habit of it.”

After calling the sub finder for work, she sent her dad a text explaining why she was calling in so he wouldn’t worry. Then she dragged some clothes on for a run.

It was a fabulous morning, and the run went quickly. She was getting more used to the hills in his neighborhood and appreciating them. As usual, Simon didn’t seem the least bit winded when they were finished, but she was a sweaty mess, so she claimed the first shower.

Not that he left her alone in there for long. After washing her thoroughly, then introducing her to the chair built into the natural stone shower, as well as his very talented tongue, she reciprocated. They managed to get dressed, much like horny teenagers who couldn’t keep their hands to themselves, and Simon grabbed his mail on the way to his office.

In his office, Simon was in his element. Lacie felt her belly flutter as he sat behind his massive desk, indicating her to sit in the chair.

“Get comfortable. Do what you need to do. Feel free to look around, if you want. I need to check some things.” He started looking through his mail, so Lacie grabbed her bag near her feet to look at her own mail she’d brought home because it looked weird.

There was one that wasn’t labeled correctly, with a to and from, as if someone had just grabbed an envelope from the stack and stuffed it with something. Curious, she opened it first.

“Simon …” Flutters gone, her belly turned to lead as she looked up at him. His face paled as he looked at something similar.

They were photos. Of the two of them. In places where they’d supposedly been alone.

Before they could speak about it, an attractive redhead knocked on the doorjamb before coming in with another stack of photos.

“These just came by special courier. I thought you’d want to see them.” She dropped them on the desk and stood there, waiting for instructions.

Simon’s voice was tight, his features etched with regret. “Call a meeting. Is Evan back yet?”

The redhead nodded. “He just came in this morning. He’ll be here in about thirty minutes.”

Simon nodded. “I want to speak with him the minute he’s here.”

“Yes, sir.” As if reading his mood, she left without another word, shutting the door behind her.

His eyes fell on Lacie.

She spoke first. “I know what you’re going to say. This would have happened whether or not last night happened. You have to see this isn’t your fault.” She was desperate to head him off before he shut her out. Lacie needed him right now, not his cold shoulder.

His jaw clenched. She could see it in the flex of his temples and wondered if he had any molars left at all.

“I don’t regret it, if that’s what you’re saying.”

“Good. Then let’s get this asshole.” She stood, hoping he would follow, but instead he leaned back in his chair, the leather squeaking in protest. He held out his arms.

“Come here.”

She complied, and he tugged her into his lap. “I’m going to protect you, you know that, right?”

Lacie nodded, her face against his chest. She felt his heart pounding, strong and sure beneath her cheek. It was more reassuring than his words.

“Good.” She felt like they’d hit a turning point in whatever relationship they had. Those few lines of words, spoken so heavily in the silence, were everything to her. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, his beard rough against her lips, as a rumble of something reassuring came from his chest.

They stood, and he clasped her hand in his, squeezing it gently. It was a comforting gesture, almost romantic, although she would never tell him.

He led her out of the office, down the hallway, and into the gym she’d seen the other day. Old equipment sat around haphazardly, with men in various poses of activity, some dressed for it, some wearing street clothes. When Simon came into the room, as one, all the eyes zeroed in on their joined hands, then up to Lacie’s face, which was hiding behind a blush.

Simon started passing around the photos of the two of them together.

“I need to find out who took these. They were delivered here, to my home, and to Lacie’s school. This is currently priority number one. All other cases are on hold until this bastard is caught.” Turning to the redheaded woman, Simon said, “Miriam, can you make copies of the files for everyone?” She nodded and turned on her heel to comply.

The only men Lacie recognized in the room were Quinten and Dex. The other five men were strangers grinning at her and Simon like they’d just done something incredibly juvenile—like TP’d a house.

She couldn’t stand it. “What are y’all grinning at?” She didn’t really see anything all that funny.

A sandy-blonde-haired man leaning against the treadmill said lightly, “Sarge has a girlfriend. It’s just kind of funny since he’s threatened to feed us all our nut sacks on a skewer if we got involved with clients.” He shrugged. “That’s all.”

A ripple of pleasure rolled through Lacie at the assumption she was his girlfriend. They’d never actually said those words, but she’d made the assumption at his declaration of keeping her near him forever. Simon raked his free hand through his hair, pulling Lacie closer with his other. “Not that it did a bit of good. Now, can we please find out how she’s being tracked? He seems to know her every move.”

They silently looked at the pictures for a little bit, and then Miriam walked back in with a stack of file folders to pass out to everyone.

“Is that a StrongArm? Do those work like the ads say they do?” Miriam was distracting Lacie with small talk, and Lacie welcomed the intrusion.

She nodded. “Yes, it does. But I got a modification.” She held it out, fingering the small plastic charm on it. “This little jewel does a bunch of other stuff too. The StrongArm is the basic model, but the jewel mod makes it do all the stuff the ElitePro model does, and then some. And it’s a knock-off, so it’s like half the price.”

Once again, all eyes were on hers. She looked up, sheepish. “What?”

Simon was the only one to speak. “Baby? How long have you had the modification for it?”

Lacie shrugged, searching her memory. So much had happened. “I don’t know. About two months? Why?”

His face paled. “Did you, you know, download shit on your computer for it?” She nodded, starting to see where he was going. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat.

“Christ.” Simon leaned heavily against the wall as if his knees were about to give out. “Miriam? Call Evan and tell him I need him here now.” He held out his hand for the bracelet. “I need that.”