Rocking a SECRET (12 page)

“I appreciate it, but you’d be fighting all
day and night. He’s not the first, and I can pretty much guarantee
that he won’t be the last.”

I hand him some jeans, and he drops the ones
he’s wearing to put them on. Damn, if my mouth doesn’t water. “My
eyes are up here, love,” he tells me with a laugh.

“A couple of weeks ago, you wanted me to
look at your package,” I tease.

“Oh I do. But only when I can do something
about it.”

“Later.”

“Oh, I know. Believe me, I’ve been thinking
about it since you left last night.”

I smile, until he takes off his shirt. Then
I’m consumed with lust again. He’s not crazy muscular, but he is
built. The guys all work out for a couple of hours each day, and I
totally appreciate the time he puts in. His shoulders, arms, chest,
and damn, those abs he’s rocking. I can’t wait to lick them later.
That, and the glorious V I always partially cover up. Little girls
don’t need to see that. Okay, they want to see that, but they
can’t. It’s bad enough that they get to see at least part of his
tattoo.

“Are you going to give me my shirt?” he
asks, his eyes twinkling.

I hand it to him and roll the sleeves up a
little after he puts it on. I adjust his jeans and briefs. That
little hint of his tattoo and a sliver of his underwear above his
jeans really is going to drive the girls wild. The shirt isn’t
right, though. I motion for him to take it off as I pull a short
sleeved one off the rack instead. We trade, and I see I was right.
His arm muscles are straining against the sleeves with a hint of
his guns popping out of the bottom of them. Hot. Like really
hot.

“Perfect.”

“Why thank you.”

“I mean the clothes.”

“No you didn’t. Well, not totally.”

We both smile because we know he’s right. I
get a quick kiss on the collarbone before he heads over to the
make-up chair. As I sift through the clothes for his next outfit, I
feel someone next to me. I turn and see Brett.

“Hi, Brett.”

“Is he nice to you?”

“Kace?”

“Yeah.”

“He is, but that’s really none of your
business.” He’s a nice guy but this conversation is a little
weird.

“I’ve always thought he was a nice guy. I
just wanted to make sure.”

“You’ve been friends a long time, haven’t
you?”

“No. Marv added me right before we went into
the recording studio.”

“Oh, I thought you went to high school
together.”

“He wanted people to think that. Marv even
paid someone to plant records of me at the same school as them, and
other stuff.”

That’s interesting. Very interesting. “I
guess it makes the story better if you were all friends.”

“Yeah. I guess. I better get over there,” he
says, motioning to where Kace is watching us from his chair.

“Probably.”

I shrug at Kace when he raises an eyebrow at
me. I don’t know what that was about. I take out my phone and text
the info to Tegan, Ainsley, and Isa. We need to know who Brett
really is.

The shoot goes really well. The guys all
bring it and there’s no fighting. My mom and I got to sit and chat
for most of the time. It’s really nice to work with her. The other
stylists give me a wide berth, which sucks. But it is what it is.
Kace and I are just getting ready to head out, when his phone
buzzes.

“Motherfucker,” he says.

My stomach drops. I know who it’s from if
he’s reacting like that. And it can’t be good.

* * *

Kace

Today has been great. The shoot was actually
fun, and I had my girl to eat with on our break. And now I’m
planning on going back to her place to make love to her all night.
Pretty much the perfect day. So of course my damn blackmailer has
to go and ruin it.

I read the text again, as Stella tries to
catch my eye. She knows something’s up by the way I reacted. I
couldn’t help but react. And I won’t do what it asks. I can’t.

I need to talk to my mom. Tell her what’s
going on. Because this will affect her, too. But I just can’t do
what I’m being told to. It’s too much.

“I need to talk to my mom. Can I meet you at
your place later?”

“Yeah. Is everything okay?”

“No. And it’s only going to get worse.”

“Can I help you? Let me help you, Kace.”

“I wish you could,” I tell her honestly as I
kiss her. “I promise to be over later, okay?”

“Yeah. Call if you need me before then. I
mean it. Anything you need, K.”

“Thanks.”

She gets a text as she waits for the
elevator, and her gasp makes me turn around. She meets my eyes and
smiles. “Go see your mom, Kace. I just got a message that shocked
me a little.”

That makes two of us. I nod and turn back
around, walking up to my mom as she’s packing up her e-reader. “I
need to talk to you, Mom.”

“Of course. What’s up?”

“Not here.”

“Okay? You’re scaring me a little.”

“Something’s been going on. And it’s pretty
bad. I was trying to keep it from you—I wanted to protect you. But
I can’t anymore.”

“You don’t need to protect me. It’s my job
to protect you.”

“Will you go with me, somewhere?”

“Of course.”

I take her hand and we walk out. I drive to
the Corrigan & Co. building. When I texted Mel, she said I
should meet her there at the Corrigan & Co. Foundation offices.
I’m not sure why, but she’s the professional. The guards are
expecting us, and we’re waved through to the parking lot.

This place is like a fortress. The
receptionist gives us badges and activates the elevator for us.
There’s no button for me to push inside, and when it moves on its
own, I feel like I’m in a spy movie. Kind of like at Stella’s
place.

The receptionist in the foundation offices
is Alex Griffin. “Hi, Kace. It’s nice to see you again. They’re
expecting you in the conference room. I’ll take you there.” She
introduces herself to my mom and shakes her hand.

She has to have her eye
and
hand
scanned to open the inner door. Serious spy stuff around here for
sure. She opens the door and then walks back to her desk. I shake
my head as I walk in. Then stop in my tracks. Jane Corrigan is at
the head of the table. Mel’s to one side of her and Stella’s
friend, Reina, is on the other. Tegan is also here, along with the
girl who showed up at the loft that day, and Zack Taylor’s fiancé
is next to her.

“What the fuck?”

“Hello, Kace. Please take a seat.”

“No. Why am I here? Did you tell them,
Mel?”

“I told you I was having friends help
me.”

“How are some chicks who work at a
foundation going to help me?”

“Because we’re the best,” Stella says,
walking into the room and looking pissed. “And I don’t have a Sugar
Daddy. I know you were wondering about that.”

Well, fuck. “I just needed to know how you
could afford all that.”

“And of course you immediately thought I got
it from some guy. While I was fucking you, in my bed that you
thought someone else paid for. You’re such an ass.”

“You came to
my
room last night.”

“I have a job to do.”

“Fucking me is just a job?”

“Aww, did you really think I wanted it from
you?”

“Stella. This is not the time or place,”
Reina tells her. “You can kick his ass later. And do not suggest
you slept with him as part of your job. That is
not
something we do.”

“Sorry,” she says, looking vulnerable and
sad.

“I’m not sure what’s going on here,” my mom
says.

“You told my mom that you needed help
because you found a blackmail note. So, she came to us and got
help,” Stella says.

“You knew?” I ask my mom.

“I found a note in the trash. That’s all I
knew. What did you do that you need to hide?”

I don’t answer her as I sink into the
closest chair and put my head in my hands. “It’s not me.”

“What?”

“The pictures aren’t of me.”

“Stella?”

“I met him after you saw the note, so that
would be a no. Although pictures of him pulling my dress down and
groping me are pretty much everywhere.” She turns to look at me.
“Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Stella,” Reina warns her again.

“He hurt me. Why can’t you get that? I
already went and begged for my job back, even when I wanted to just
punch him. How much more do I have to suck up to him, or suck his
cock, before it’s enough?”

“Go to your office. We’ll talk later,” Reina
tells her as I just sit there in shock.

“Yay. We can be on probation together,”
Tegan says and they high five.

“What’s going on here? You’re on probation,
Teeg? And Stella’s gone off the rails? I helped train you better,”
Mel says.

“This mission’s messed with both our heads.
I got worried she’d ditch me to hang out with asswipe over there,
and I told some tales I shouldn’t have. Then she actually fell for
him and got her feelings hurt, so she quit her job and had to get
it back because none of us could take her place,” Tegan tells
her.

“But they’re both on track now. Or they will
be.”

Reina looks stressed, and I don’t blame her.
I’m holding onto Tegan saying Stella fell for me. That means it was
real—she wanted me, even though she just said she didn’t. Or maybe
Tegan’s lying. It’s too much right now, and I need to get back on
track.

“The pictures are of you and Marvin,” I tell
my mom.

“Oh my God.”

“Why were you with him? I mean, you could do
so much better, Mom.”

She doesn’t want to answer. I can see that
she doesn’t. But then she does. “I got drunk one night when we
first met him. I slept with him and told him some things. Things
I’d never told anyone else.”

“So he blackmailed you?”

“Yes and no. I mean, I kind of love him. So
I wanted to be with him. I just didn’t want him recording it. But
he said he wanted to watch us later.”

Oh God. I’m going to throw up. My mom and
Marv? Disgusting. But if she loves him, I have to support her.
“Does he love you?”

“He says he does. I know he’s an ass with
you and everyone else. But he really is good to me. And he’s
furious about your behavior. So I don’t think he’d be the one
blackmailing you.”

“Well someone got their hands on the tapes.
We may need to bring Marvin in on this,” Reina says.

“You’re still going to help me?”

“Yes, Kace. We don’t give up on missions
once we take them on. But I’m only going to tell you this once.
Stella is amazing. And if you can’t get your head out of your ass
and treat her right, you need to move on because there are nine
women and at least five men who will tear you apart if you keep
hurting her.”

Wow. I just got threatened by a sexy super
spy. That went so much differently in my teenage dreams. Real life
blows sometimes. And not in a good way.

“I understand.”

“Good. Now we have to decide how to proceed.
I’m going to suggest again that we bring Marvin in. Then he and
Stella can fake your latest demand.”

“You know about that?”

“Stella cloned your phone.”

“And I planted lots of bugs that day I came
to your loft,” the young girl says.

“You did a good job, pretending to be a
teenage groupie.”

“Thanks. I’m Isabelle, by the way. If you
make up with Stella, you can call me Isa.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“Speaking of teenagers, you need to get back
to working on your cover for your upcoming mission.”

“Roger that,” she says as she salutes and
then walks out.

Reina rolls her eyes. “Why am I doing this
again?”

“Because you were made for this, Rei,” Mel
tells her. “There’s no one better to take over for Jane.”

Jane nods her agreement and then looks at my
mom. “We’ll need you to call Marvin now, Vivian.”

My mom makes the call, and we’re just
waiting for Marv to get here. He said he’s about thirty minutes
away. I can’t just sit here and wait, knowing Stella’s somewhere in
the building. My knees are bouncing and I’m biting my lip as
everyone just chats with each other.

“Come on,” Tegan says, standing up. “I’ll
take you to her.”

“Tegan.”

“Reina.”

“Fine. We’ll call you when Marvin gets
here.”

“She’s intense,” I tell Stella when we leave
the room.

“You have no idea.”

We go to the end of the hall, and Tegan
opens the door. Stella’s curled up with some guy’s arm around her
as she leans into him. Another guy’s holding her hand. Zack Taylor,
Gavin Harris, Matt Corrigan, and a bunch of girls are spread out on
couches and chairs in the biggest dressing room/closet I’ve ever
seen. There’s a desk in the corner. This is Stella’s office. And
just like her apartment, it’s so very her.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Zack asks,
standing up.

“It’s okay, Football,” Stella says.

“No, Stell. It’s really not,” the guy
holding her hand says. He lets her go and stands up, too.

Oh fuck. He’s big. Bigger than Taylor, and
that’s saying something. I’m a dead man. I might as well just go
ahead and get myself killed.

“I need to talk to Stella. Alone.”

“I don’t think so,” Matt says. Here we
go.

“Well, I do. Everyone out.” Thank God Stella
just said that. I wasn’t quite ready to die yet.

“Seriously? You’ve been in here crying over
him and how you may lose your job because of him, and now you want
us to leave you alone with the bastard?” the guy with his arm
around her asks.

“Yes, Aiden. We need to do this. I
appreciate you all. You know I do. But get out.”

They all glare at me as they walk out. I
lean against the closed door, staring at the woman I love. The
woman who was secretly helping me, and who I hurt. But I’m hurt
too.

“What was real, Stella?”