CHAPTER NINE

Removing her reading glasses from her face, Kira carefully folded the spectacles and placed them on top of the piles of papers covering her desk. Closing her eyes, she attempted to massage away the dull ache of strain that was causing her vision to blur. She had attacked the mound of papers on her desk with a single-minded intensity, determined to focus all of her attention on something…anything…other than Ethan Chance and the night of mind-blowing sex she had just engaged in with him. She didn’t want to think about that, didn’t want to contemplate what the fact that she had given herself to him so easily…so enthusiastically…meant. Upon leaving his penthouse that morning she had stopped by her apartment just long enough to take a quick shower, hoping to wash away the delicious tingle that still taunted her mind and body from the previous night’s amorous activities. When that hadn’t worked she had made a bee-line for her office and attempted to distract herself from thoughts of Ethan by focusing on something more important and had been mostly successful. But as she sat rubbing at her tired eyes, images of Ethan suddenly flashed through her mind. Images that reminded. That tempted.

Snap out of it, Kira! she demanded of herself angrily.

With stubborn determination, she forced her attention back onto the task at hand, taking in the mess on her desk with a heavy sigh. She had been pouring over documents for hours, trying to get a picture of what was going on with Yi just prior to his murder by going through phone records, visitor log-in sheets and printouts of the various files he had accessed on Gau Lung’s computers. What she had found provided more questions than answers. She had been quite surprised to learn that Yi had commissioned the services of a very well known private investigation firm in Hong Kong. Yi had always relied on her or Oliver Nelsen, head of security at Gau Lung, to conduct investigations on his behalf. The fact that he felt the need to go outside of Gau Lung for help suggested that whatever it was that he was investigating was a of a highly sensitive nature. Perhaps even explosive.

Slipping her glasses back onto her face, Kira picked up one of several shipping documents littering her desk, a look of puzzlement distorting her features. For some unknown reason, Yi had shown an inordinate interest in Gau Lung’s fleet of cargo ships with a particular focus being put on a freighter by the name of The Wayfarer, having secretly obtained copies of shipping schedules, dock receipts, packing lists and a variety of other documents relating to The Wayfarer’s cargo and movements for a period of time dating back for more than a year and a half. In studying the documents, Kira learned that The Wayfarer's regular route was between Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia but not much else. Whatever it was that had piqued Yi’s interest was lost on Kira’s untrained eyes. She had briefly considered having Jeremy look at the paperwork given that the shipping division was his baby but quickly decided against it. Yi had clearly wanted to keep his interest in The Wayfarer close to his vest, strongly suggesting to Kira that it would be wise for her to do the same. Besides, she didn’t trust Jeremy as far as she could throw him.

“We need to talk about what happened last night,” Ethan announced as he barged into Kira’s office, once again without knocking.

Kira sighed wearily as she looked up from the papers in her hands, startled but not entirely surprised by his arrival. She knew that she would have to face him sooner or later, she had only hoped that it would be later. Much later. “If it’s all the same to you, I would rather we both forget that last night ever happened.”

“What happened between us last night was unforgettable and you damn well know it,” Ethan countered as he shut the office door firmly behind him.

Removing her reading glasses, she peered coolly at Ethan.. “What happened between us last night was sex. Nothing more. And while I’ll admit that you haven’t lost your touch in that area, it was hardly the big deal that you’re making it out to be.”

“Is that right? Because it sure seemed like a big deal to you when you traveled across town in the pouring rain to jump my bones.”

Kira winced at the accuracy of Ethan’s description. “I had an itch and I scratched it,” she said with a shrug. “Now both you and it are out of my system.”

“Is that a challenge?” Ethan asked, his voice suddenly taking on a seductive tone as he rounded the corner of Kira’s desk, advancing on her with the determination of a tiger moving in on it’s prey. “Because I’m more than willing to put your words to the test right now.”

“Don't you dar…”

Ethan’s mouth cut Kira off mid-sentence as it swooped down on hers, his tongue slipping deftly between her lips. Kira’s tongue greeted his invasion with a eagerness that she found mortifying yet impossible to stop as it slid against Ethan’s in a decidedly lascivious manner that proved her previous claim that she had gotten him out of her system to be nothing more than a blatant lie. If anything, she wanted him more than ever. Or at least her body did, as evidenced by the way it writhed insistently against his of its own accord as he lifted her from her chair and laid her across her desk. The inappropriateness of allowing herself to be ravished in her office registered somewhere in the back of Kira's fevered mind. The sheer foolishness of re-entangling herself with the likes of Ethan Chance should have been enough to propel her off of that desk. Instead, hands that should have been pushing him off of her were clutching him closer, caressing his taut buttocks through the soft material of his trousers, urging him on as if they had a mind of their own.

“You want me as much as I want you,” Ethan murmured against her ear, his soft lips brushing lightly against the sensitive lobes, eliciting a ragged sigh from her in response.

“I don’t want to want you,” Kira whispered, her voice small and pleading. “Why won’t you just leave me alone?”

“Because I can’t,” Ethan explained as his teeth nipped at her bottom lip, drawing it out before devouring her entire mouth with his own in a deep probing kiss that left her breathless, freeing it only when he felt her body shudder beneath his. “We belong together. There’s no point in either of us fighting it.”

His words were spoken with a matter-of-factness that sorely tempted Kira to shove him right onto the floor. She hated the arrogant way they were spoken and the unmistakable ring of truth they left clanging in her ears. Unfortunately, in that moment, his body proved to be more tempting than the idea of sending him crashing onto his butt. Despite her previous declarations of never repeating the previous night’s mistake again, it was only an urgent rapping on her office door that prevented Ethan from having her again, right then and there.

“Don’t answer it,” Ethan commanded as he slid his hands up her outer thighs, dragging the hem of her skirt along with them.

Summoning the self-control that had abandoned her earlier, she shoved Ethan off of her, vaguely disappointed when he landed on his feet rather than on his butt as she had imagined. Rising to her own feet, she smoothed her skirt back down over her thighs.

“Come in,” she implored eagerly as she wiped blindly at any tell-tale smudge of lipstick that may be framing her lips, grateful for the interruption.

“I have something you need to see,” Oliver Nelson, the head of security for Gau Lung announced as he entered her office, his bespectacled chocolate brown eyes landing neutrally on Kira while completely ignoring Ethan’s presence. If he suspected that anything inappropriate had been going on before his arrival he was too much of a professional to let on.

Kira opened the red folder that he handed her and perused it’s contents. What she saw caused her previously flushed face to suddenly turn pale.

“Is something wrong?” Ethan asked, being far too observant for Kira’s liking.

“Yes, there is. It’s your presence here,” she said curtly. “Oliver, will you please escort Mr. Chance out of the building.”

She felt like a coward for calling in reinforcements to get rid of Ethan but she needed him out of the building, for more than one reason.

“That won’t be necessary, Oliver. I can find my own way out,” Ethan said as he studied Kira’s face, taking some satisfaction in the way she avoided making eye contact with him. Hooking his index finger under her chin, he forced her to look up at him. “You and I will finish this later,” he warned before he sauntered out the door.

“Make sure he leaves the building,” Kira instructed Oliver, shaking off the shiver of anticipation that Ethan’s parting words evoked in her.

When Oliver dutifully went off to follow her instructions, shutting the office door behind him, Kira sank back into her chair. With an exasperated sigh, she opened the file in her hand and once again looked over it’s contents, this time more thoroughly. Once she was satisfied that she hadn’t misread Oliver’s report on the computer breach that had occurred at Gau Lung she slammed the folder close and stormed out of her office.

“Would you care to explain this?” she asked as she barged into Gabriel’s office and tossed the file onto his desk.

Guilt colored Gabriel's cheeks as he glimpsed at the incriminating report, instantly giving Kira the answer to her unasked question.

“So it’s true. You are the one who hacked into the computer system.”

“Yes, I’m afraid it is true,” Gabriel replied, lowering his head.

“But why?”

Gabriel’s lips thinned with uncharacteristic stubbornness. “I had my reasons.”

“That’s not a good enough answer, Gabriel. This is a very serious violation, regardless of your position within Gau Lung. I need to know what you were after.”

Gabriel took a deep breath before speaking. “I hacked into the computer in order to cover the fact that Jade embezzled five hundred thousand dollars from Gau Lung.”

“She did what?” Kira asked in utter disbelief. While she had no fondness for Jade, she never would have pegged her for a common thief.

“She had good reasons for what she did,” Gabriel explained, immediately jumping to Jade's defense. “Selfless reasons.”

“I can’t believe I’m even hearing you say that. What possible reason could justify her stealing from your father’s company?”

“She needed the money to protect someone.”

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” Kira practically yelled in her exasperation, “Who was she protecting?”

“She was protecting her mother. Bunny was being blackmailed.”

Kira shook her head in disbelief, stunned by all that was going on behind Yi's back and under her nose. “Blackmailed? By who?”

“A lout by the name of Craig Parkinson.”

Kira immediately recognized the name from the investigation that she had conducted on Bunny and Jade prior to Bunny and Yi’s wedding. “The man that Bunny was seeing before she married Yi.”

“And after,” Gabriel added.

“So Bunny was having an affair with Craig,” Kira deduced.

Gabriel nodded his head. “And when she attempted to break things off…”

“He got all blackmail-y on her,” Kira concluded.

“I’m afraid so,” Gabriel confirmed. “Apparently he recorded one of their…encounters.”

“I got the picture,” Kira shivered with revulsion. “What I don’t understand is why you would risk so much to cover for Jade and Bunny.”

Once again, Gabriel shifted his eyes downward but not before Kira saw something in them that she had never noticed before. Something that made everything else make perfect sense. “You’re in love with Jade, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” Gabriel spoke the words adamantly as he stiffened his spine.

“Is it safe to say that the feeling is mutual?”

“Yes, it is. We’ve done nothing to be ashamed of,” Gabriel added defensively.

Kira’s gaze softened sympathetically as she looked at her friend. “I didn’t say you did. We can’t help who we love. Believe me, I know that better than anyone.”

Gabriel smiled at Kira gratefully. “We only kept our relationship a secret for my father’s sake. You know how conservative he was.”

Kira nodded in agreement. The idea of his son being romantically involved with his step-daughter would not have sat well with Yi, personally or professionally. Kira’s mind returned to the private investigation that Yi had launched just prior to his death. Had he found out about Bunny’s affair? Jade’s embezzlement? Her secret romance with Gabriel? The latter bombshell, coupled with the theft of The Dragon's Breath, would have no doubt spelled the end of Gabriel at Gau Lung. She had contacted the private security firm Yi had hired looking for answers but had run into a brick wall. The firm, living up to it’s impeccable reputation for discretion, refused to even admit that they had been hired by Yi much less reveal what it was they had been investigating on his behalf. While she found their desire to protect the privacy of their client, even in the wake of his death, admirable it was frustrating as hell and she doubted that it would last in the face of an official police interrogation. If she had been able to so easily discover that Yi had enlisted the services of a P.I. firm, it was a sure bet that the Hong Kong Police Department had as well which meant that it was only a matter of time before they discovered whatever it was that Yi was looking into. In light of Gabriel’s revelations, the thought made her queasy. His involvement with Jade and his desire to protect her gave him what could be construed as a motive for wanting Yi dead, especially combined with the fallout from the theft of The Dragon's Breath.

“Of course, you realize that this would appear to give me even more motive to murder Yi,” Gabriel fretted, as if reading Kira’s mind. “That’s why you mustn’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”

The sound of Gabriel’s door suddenly being slammed opened prevented Kira from replying to his admonition. Before she knew what was happening, two uniformed Hong Kong police officers were hauling Gabriel to his feet and slapping handcuffs onto his wrists.

“You are under the arrest for the murder of Yi Wong,” a third officer explained in Chinese.

“But I didn’t do it,” Gabriel insisted as he attempted in vain to squirm out of the officers’ grip.

“Just go with them peacefully,” Kira implored, struggling to remain calm. “I will do everything that I can to clear your name,” she promised despite having absolutely no clue as how she would even begin to accomplish that goal.