Play to Win (20 page)

“No,” I denied. “I do trust you, it's just…”

“Just what?”

“I don't trust
her
,” I blurted. “She practically throws herself at you.” And that had been with me around. I couldn't imagine what she was doing now that I wasn't there.

“It takes two,” he said. “Now kiss me and try not to worry.” His hand slid underneath my hair to cup the nape of my neck.

One of those requests was easily done. The other…not so much.

I kissed him as though it might be our last kiss ever, because well, you just never know. It was several moments before we came up for air.

“You certainly don't make it easy to leave,” Parker said, his voice roughened in a way that made me smile with satisfaction.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” I said, pretending innocence, though the look I gave him was pure take-me-now.

He groaned, kissing me again, a hard press of his lips against mine. His hand moved between my legs to touch me. I was still sensitive and gasped. He deepened the kiss as he slid a finger inside and I clutched at his shoulders. I was wet and it felt divine, sweeping away thoughts of Natalie and Steven.

Parker didn't stop kissing me until I was crying out, my body shuddering with the force of another orgasm. Even the light stroke of his finger was too much and I grabbed his wrist, stilling him.

“Now who's using sex as a distraction,” I managed to say.

His lips twisted in a half-smile. “Couldn't resist making you come again,” he said. “I love watching you.”

Heat flooded my face and I knew I was blushing something awful.

“Go to sleep and don't worry,” he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I'll be in touch.” He rose to leave.

“Wait,” I said, grabbing on to the hem of his jacket. “I love you. You know that, right?”

His smile was sweet and made his eyes soften as he looked at me. “I do. And I love you, too.” Another quick kiss, one last smoldering look at me lying half-naked on my bed, and he was gone.

I
was smiling like a lovesick fool the next morning, pleasantly sore in all the right places, and it took until my second cup of coffee before I remembered the all-important fact that I'd stolen government property last night—namely, Steven Shea's marriage document file.

No sense letting a good felony go to waste…

Digging in my purse, I pulled out the folder and flipped it open. Several papers were inside and I scrutinized them. A marriage license application all right, dated over a decade ago…with the name of the prospective bride utterly blacked out.

I stared in disbelief. It looked like a Top Secret file I'd seen in the movies, where information had been blacked out with a marker.

“You've got to be kidding me,” I muttered, flipping through the entire file. It was all like that. Someone had gone to some trouble to make sure no one knew the name of Steven's wife. Why? If he'd regretted getting married, he could've just had an annulment or gotten a divorce.

TJ had said Steven was always talking about his wife, so it didn't sound like he'd regretted getting married.

But maybe his father had, especially if there hadn't been a prenup. Given Leo's history of bribing officials and politicians, it didn't seem like much of a stretch to think he could've paid someone off to do this.

I tossed aside the file, thinking. Now what? I'd hit a dead end in looking for something on Steven. Parker had said to trust him, Jessie and Ryker were waiting for Natalie's next move, and I was cooling my heels doing nothing.

That didn't sit well with me.

My cell phone rang and I glanced at the caller ID. My mom was calling.

“Hey, Mom, everything okay?” Fear for my dad was always in the back of my mind, that on one of these calls she was going to say that no, everything
wasn't
okay.

“Yes, things are fine,” she said. “I called to tell you that they're going to start easing your father off the drugs today. If all goes well, he might wake up as soon as tomorrow.”

“That's great!” It would be a huge relief to have my dad awake, even though I knew he'd still be in the hospital for a while recovering. “I can come by later and see you.”

“Okay. I'll see you soon then. Love you, dear.”

“Love you, too, Mom.”

I was in a good mood when I got dressed. Things were looking up. Yes, my father had broken the law and yes that put me in a very bad situation now, but Parker had something up his sleeve he wasn't telling me about. All I had to do was trust him, which was a hell of a lot easier after last night.

Memories made my smile wistful as I brushed my hair, not seeing my reflection, but reliving the moment he'd pressed me against the wall. He'd wanted to stay, I'd bet my life on it. And we'd said we loved each other. It was the first time in a while that we'd done that and a lot had happened since then.

I hoped that though our relationship had been through a lot of fires, it had strengthened and reinforced what we felt for each other. It wasn't a crush and it wasn't fleeting. It was that soul-deep, abiding, can't-breathe-without-the-other kind of love that poets wrote about and artists tried to portray on canvas. I knew I didn't want to live my life without him…I just hoped he felt the same way.

I was on my way to work when I noticed the car following us. Schulz had been kind enough to drop by to take me in and I'd seen a rather nice white Mercedes idling on the corner. I probably wouldn't have even looked twice if it hadn't been just on this side of flashy, but it was hard to miss as we navigated through downtown Chicago traffic and it stayed exactly two cars behind us the entire time.

Was this Steven again? Sending a flunky to try and hurt me? The thought enraged me. Parker had made a deal that had sacrificed his job and possibly his career. That Steven, the shit, would renege wasn't a surprise to me.

When we reached the office, I jumped out of the car before Schultz could get out. “I'll see you later, thanks!” I called to him. No need for him to get involved and possibly hurt.

I headed for the office, keeping an eye on the car that had pulled to the curb three cars down. There was a crowd of people waiting to cross the street and I blended into them, sidling up to the car from the back, and trying to pretend my heart wasn't pumping triple-time.

Hoping it was unlocked (or I'd look really stupid), I pulled on the driver's side door handle. It swung open.

“Why the hell are you—” I stopped, staring in surprise at Natalie. “You!” I recovered. “What are you doing following me?” Reaching inside the car, I grabbed on to her arm and yanked her out.

Her face turned red. “I'm not…following you.”

“Oh, really. You just
happened
to be outside my office right now?”

“Okay, fine, I was following you,” she said. “But it's just that—” She stopped.

“Just that what?”

She hesitated, then blurted, “I just have to know. Do you love Parker? Like really love him?”

Okay, this was out of left field. “Why do you care?”

Her eyes filled, but she didn't cry. “Parker is a good man, and he deserves someone who loves him for who he is, not a stepping stone in their career.”

I stiffened, but before I could retort, she blundered on.

“Not that I'm accusing you of doing that and I'm probably the last person in the world who should be holding anyone accountable for how Parker is treated, it's just that…I care about him. And I want to see him happy.”

“If you want to see him happy, then why are you forcing a relationship on him?” I countered.

“I-I…I can't answer that right now,” she said. “But I know he needs you to trust him, and in a small way, I do, too.”

“How can I possibly trust you and why should I?”

“Because Parker does.”

Her frank response silenced me. I took a moment, looking into her eyes, trying to read the truth there.

“I don't know if I believe any part of your story,” I said at last. “But I love Parker, and I trust him. He took a bullet for me.” It was hard not to look at that and realize I
could
trust Parker, no matter what. Even if it involved Natalie.

“So…truce?” she asked, holding out her hand.

“Truce.” I shook her hand. I'd officially crossed over into the Twilight Zone. I wanted to ask her why the lies about Jessie's kidnapping, but held my tongue.

I headed inside the building, glancing once behind me to see Natalie getting into her car and driving off.

Hmm.

Carrie greeted me with coffee and breakfast. “Monthlies from Rick are on your desk for review and I'm off to the first floor to grab the mail. I'll be back in a flash.” And she was out the door.

Carrie was back shortly with another stack of papers for me to go through and quizzed me as I read. I told her about the records office, someone shooting at me, and finding Steven's electronic file missing and the paper original censored.

“I can't believe someone
shot
at you! Thank God I called Parker.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” I said grimly.

“Do you think they knew you were looking for information on Steven?” she asked.

I thought about it. “Maybe. It doesn't make sense, though, why they'd go to the trouble to censor the file and still leave it to be found, right? And the only person who would've known what I was looking for was—” I stopped, struck by a thought.

“Was who?”

“It had to be that girl in the office,” I said. “I told her what I was looking for and she was the only one who knew I was in that room. She was probably the one who locked me inside.”

“Do you remember her name?”

“Yes.” I'd seen her name tag and closed my eyes to remember. “It was Ashley…something. Started with a W. Waters…no. Woods…no. It was something from someone famous…” My eyes popped open. “Wilkes. Ashley Wilkes.” That's right. The totally wussy guy Scarlett had been in love with in
Gone With the Wind
, something I'd never understood. Why would anyone pick Ashley over Rhett?

“I can Google her.”

“Okay, do that. I'll call Ryker, see if I can find her address.” I reached for my cell.

“You're going to her house?”

“I think it's time we played hardball,” I said. “Sikes goes public tomorrow. We're running out of time.”

Ryker answered on the third ring.

“So what's the plan now?” I asked.

He sighed heavily. “Natalie still says Jessie is missing. Said she was going to track down her ex-boyfriend or something and took off. I don't know where she went.”

“She came to see me,” I said, explaining what had transpired between us. “Do you know what's going on between Parker and Natalie?”

“No, but he's my next phone call.”

Maybe Parker would tell Ryker what he wouldn't tell me.

I hesitated, then asked, “Is it bothering you, Natalie and Parker?”

“Parker is in love with you,” he said. “I have no doubt about that. Whatever he's doing, it's for you, not her.”

That made me feel better. Other than myself, Ryker probably was the only other person who knew Parker as well.

“And Natalie?”

There was a long pause before he answered this time, leaving me wondering if I'd overstepped. “Seeing her again, talking to her…it's like not a day's gone by.” His voice grew rougher as he spoke. “I don't know what's going to happen or why she's doing what she is, but I want things to work out…somehow. I'm not going to lie to you or myself.”

That was hard to hear, but then again, you can't choose who you love, right? And I could sympathize with falling in love with someone utterly inconvenient. I decided to change the subject.

“I called because I needed the home address of a government employee,” I said. “Can you help me?”

“Why do you need that—wait, do I want to know?”

“I'm not going to hurt her or anything,” I said, hoping I wasn't telling a little white lie. “I just need to talk to her away from the office.”

“What's her name?”

“Ashley Wilkes. She works in the Cook County Clerk's Office.”

“Okay. I'll call you back.”

I hung up just as Carrie came back in carrying a few papers.

“What'd you find?” I asked as she handed me half of them.

“That she's twenty-two, newly divorced but currently
In a relationship
, according to her Facebook status. She has an unhealthy appreciation for cat videos, Theo James, and wine.”

“Sounds like we could be friends,” I said. Theo James was pretty hot.

“She also has massive credit card debt.” I looked at Carrie and she shrugged. “I ran a credit report on her.”

“So if she needed money, she would've made an excellent target for Steven to bribe.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

My phone buzzed. Ryker.

“I'm not going to regret telling you this, am I?” he asked.

“Of course not. I'm a very trustworthy person.”

He snorted, then reeled off an address that I jotted down.

“Thank you,” I said. “I promise I'll be good.” I ended the call.

There was a tap on my door and I glanced up to see Charlie standing there.

“Shelton Sikes is here to see you,” he said.

I glanced at Carrie, then back to Charlie in confusion. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Show him in.” What Sikes would want with me, I had no idea. His company was basically being auctioned to the highest bidder tomorrow, which should allow him to retire in relative comfort.

Charlie ushered in a man who looked to be in his early seventies. He was tall and reminded me a bit of Clint Eastwood, with deep-set eyes and crow's feet. His skin was weathered for a man in his profession, but the suit he wore was tailored and fit him well.

I stood to greet him. “Good afternoon, Mr. Sikes. I'm Sage Muccino.”

“Nice to finally meet you,” he said, his voice the deep rasp of a career smoker. He grasped my hand and his skin was as rough as his voice. The hands of a hardworking man.

“Please, sit down.” I gestured to the chairs as I took my seat again. He sat in one and Charlie in the other. Carrie left, closing the door softly behind her.

“I'm sorry to hear about your father,” he said. “How's he doing?”

“He's getting better,” I replied. “They think they'll be able to bring him out of the coma tomorrow.”

“That's good news. Your father and I…well, we go way back.”

“Really?”

He chuckled. “Oh yes. Granted, we're also competitors, but your dad's always been an honest man, someone I could trust. In this business, that's hard to come by.”

“I guess I didn't realize you and he were friends.”

“Oh, maybe not friends, per se, but we had a healthy respect for one another. And we worked together, when the times necessitated it.”

I read between the lines. “You mean when Leo Shea was trying to shut you both down.”

He nodded. “Desperate times called for desperate measures. We did what needed to be done to save our businesses.”

“What you did was against the law,” I said.

“And Leo's intimidation wasn't?” he retorted. “Judging is so much easier in hindsight.”

“I'm not judging,” I said. “But those actions are having repercussions now.”

“That's why I'm here.”

“I'm listening.”

“As I'm sure you know, tomorrow Sikes, Ltd. goes public. Forty-nine percent of the company will be held for employees only. Fifty-one percent will be available for purchase.” He paused. “I'm here to offer you my five percent share of that fifty-one.”

“Five percent?”

“As owner, I have the right to purchase up to five percent prior to the IPO. In turn, I will sell it to you.”