Touch of Doubt (Law vs. Love Book 2) (5 page)

Jace’s words echoed in Carrie’s ears as she stared down at her paper-littered desk.
The end of us once and for all
. Despite the video, despite the gun in his suit, those words were what scared her the most. She’d finally had him back in her arms, and she was so close to losing him all over again.

Could she bring herself to trust him enough to listen to his story? Would he even tell her the truth if she did?

With a sigh, she flicked through her notepad, barely reading the words on the page. She was even more behind than she had been this morning. The whole ordeal with Jace had taken up most of her day. She was dangerously close to getting so far behind, she’d never recover. And so close to getting the coveted spot as partner if she could only get her shit together. Jace had been distracting her far too much from work, and it was all starting to catch up to her now.

The sky outside turned dark as she made progress on her cases. The stack of papers began to grow smaller while the knots in her neck only increased. Just as she was starting to feel a little better about her progress, a knock sounded on her door. Probably Sarah, asking if she wanted to go out for drinks. Carrie wasn’t sure what she’d say. A part of her wanted to hear Jace’s answer, and a part of her wanted to forget he’d ever entered her life again.

She glanced up. Rick Allen poked his head in the door. Concern painted his chiseled features as he grasped a wrinkled newspaper in his hands. Carrie’s stomach sunk to her toes. There was no way this was going to be good news.

“Come in, Rick,” she said around the lump of coal in her throat. Her heartbeat began to pulse against her neck.

He slid into the office and dropped the paper on her desk. Carrie forced her eyes away from it. She didn’t want to see what was on the page.

“Jace Holt has been spotted canoodling with a mysterious brunette on Madison Avenue.” Rick Allen stabbed the paper with his finger. “They didn’t name her, and the photo doesn’t show her face, but Carrie, I’d recognize that head of hair anywhere.”

Carrie grimaced, and she pressed her sweaty palms onto her skirt. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“I don’t care what it actually is. I care what it looks like,” Rick said. “If I can recognize you, so can other people. Even our clients.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Tears sprung into her eyes as she stared at Rick’s face. This was it. The moment she’d been dreading, though it had come much sooner than she’d imagined. She was about to lose her job because she was utterly incapable of controlling herself when it came to the one man she needed to stay away from most.

Rick’s face softened when he saw her expression. “Listen, I don’t care what you do or don’t do with him. That’s your business, not mine. Just keep it off the streets.”

Carrie blinked against the tears, unable to believe what she’d just heard. “What?”

“Do what you want on your own time.” He leaned forward and stabbed the photo again. “But if I see another scandalous photo like this in the news, I’m afraid I won’t have any other choice but to let you go.”

Jace opened the back door of the hotel, bracing himself for what was to come. It had been a long day, and all he wanted was to burn off his excess energy and expel his anger. There was only one way he knew how to do that, and she was standing right before him. Carrie stepped in through the back door, the sweet vanilla scent of her filling the thin hallway. She’d gone home to change before coming over to his penthouse for dinner. She was back in those tight little jeans and a sweater that clung to her breasts. She probably thought it would prevent him from getting aroused just by looking at her, but she was dead wrong about that.

If only she didn’t think he was a murderer, he’d take her right then and there.

“Carrie,” he said more formally than he intended. “I’m glad you came.”

“I just hope this means you’re going to tell me what the hell is actually going on here,” she said, following him as he led the way to the private elevator leading up to his penthouse apartment.

Jace frowned as they slid inside the steel box. She was going to be a little miffed when she realized that he was definitely not going to share every detail of the situation with her. He would tell her what he could, of course, if that meant he could convince her that he wasn’t the man she was starting to believe he was.

He frowned even more as the elevator chugged upstairs. Her words had hurt him, he had to admit. Of all people to think such a thing about him, he couldn’t believe it would be Carrie Simmons, the one person he trusted more than them all. He had claimed her as his, and she still refused to give herself fully to him, body and soul. Maybe it was time to introduce some punishment into the equation…

His cock hardened.

Once the two of them had made their way into the penthouse, Carrie crossed her arms and leaned against the black countertop of his kitchen island. She looked weak and tired, and all Jace wanted to do was scoop her up in his arms and deposit her into his bed, but she needed to understand that if things between them were going to continue, she had to trust him.

“Well?” Carrie raised her eyebrows. “I need an explanation.”

“I’ll pour you a drink,” he said, reaching for the wine glasses he’d had the concierge deliver to his room.

“Jace—”

“I’ll pour you a drink,” he said firmly. Carrie fell silent as he tipped the bottle of wine against the delicate glasses, the deep red liquid sloshing against the sides. It reminded Jace of the blood he’d seen on his floor. The blood that had begun this entire mess.

Jace handed Carrie a glass, and he watched as she took a large gulp of the wine.

“Good,” he said with a nod. “It will help you relax.”

“I don’t need to relax.” Carrie narrowed her eyes but took another sip despite her protestations. “I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

“Carrie, you’re making me want to bend you over and spank that pretty little ass of yours,” Jace said in a low growl. “You’re being a naughty girl by not trusting me.”

Carrie’s mouth opened wide and she gasped. “Jace!”

“You have to trust me if this is going to work.” He’d meant to take things slow, but he was unable to help himself. “If you don’t trust me, then you get punished.”

Her face flamed as she took the last gulp of wine. “Stop joking around. This is serious.”

“Oh, I’m being very serious.”

Carrie fumbled as she set down her wine glass and strode away from him into the living room. She dropped onto the couch, twisting her head so he couldn’t see the glow on her cheeks. But he’d caught the flustered expression before she turned away. Warmth spread through his body. She only looked like that when he was turning her on. He bet she was getting wet right now, and the very thought made him hard.

“Please just give me an explanation,” Carrie said, turning to look up at him with those big blue eyes. He groaned. Those eyes might be the death of him. He couldn’t look into them and not feel a little chunk of his carefully built control fall away.

“I’ll tell you what I can,” Jace finally said. He eased onto the couch beside her, unbuttoning his suit jacket and taking her delicate hand in his. “But you’re not going to like what I’m going to say.”

Carrie sucked in a breath. “Just tell me, Jace.”

“The situation has turned out to be more complex and dangerous than I originally thought,” he said, carefully choosing his words. He knew that he should let Carrie in on a few details—just enough to satisfy her curiosity—while keeping the bulk of the information to himself. “I did not kill Anders Holland, and I did not kill Madison either. I sent my assistant to talk to her that night after you told me her address, and by the time he got there, she was already dead.”

Carrie’s hand tightened on his. “Franklin?”

“Yes, Franklin.”

“Jace…” Carrie shook her head slowly as a frown pulled down her lips. She shifted closer to him, and his eyes trailed down her body. The way she clenched her thighs together was a sure sign she needed something more from him than an explanation. “Are you sure you can trust this guy? The second he found out about our relationship, a man threatened to blab about us if I didn’t stop nosing around. And then he just
happened
to go talk to Madison right when she got killed? Something isn’t right, Jace.”

“I agree that it doesn’t paint a very good picture, but I’ve spoken with Franklin, and I assure you he’s trustworthy.”

“But how can you know this?” Carrie stood and began pacing in front of the couch. She had that look on her face she used to have in college when she was in the middle of a particularly difficult assignment for one of her advanced classes.

“Franklin found something in her apartment that he shared with me.” Jace frowned. He needed to stop here. Carrie couldn’t know anything else. “That’s all I can tell you. I need you to trust me, Carrie.”

Sighing, she plopped back on the couch next to him and searched his eyes. “I want to. Believe me, I want to. But you have to put yourself in my place and imagine what this must look like.”

Jace clenched his jaw. “Take your own advice.”

“What do you mean?”

“Imagine how this must look to me.” Jace leveled his gaze with hers. “Imagine things were reversed and you were in my position. How would you feel if I even entertained the thought that you were a murderer? Me, Jace Holt, doubting Carrie Simmons. It sounds absolutely preposterous because I could never do such a thing. I’d always believe in you over anyone or anything else. And I’d be able to recognize you on a tape any day, no matter if it showed your face or not.”

Carrie’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

Carrie stared at Jace. He was right, of course. He would never doubt her, no matter what. Guilt flooded through her veins. It all looked so terribly condemning, but that had been the whole point, hadn’t it? Whoever was doing this wanted to frame Jace and make him look as guilty as they possibly could.

They’d done their job, and she’d almost fallen for it. No, Jace still hadn’t offered an explanation, and she needed to know what he was hiding, but she’d still stand by him even if he wouldn’t share.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you’d never kill someone. It just looks so bad, and you’re clearly hiding something from me.”

“There are some things you’re better off not knowing.”

“That’s not fair.” Carrie frowned. “You wanted me to be your lawyer. You forced my boss to put me on your case. If there’s something else I need to know, you have to tell me what it is. It’s the only way I can help you.”

Jace sighed and ran a hand down his perfect face. “You’re right. It was thoughtless of me to bring you into the middle of this.”

“Well, thank you for finally realizing it.” Carrie couldn’t believe he’d admitted he’d been wrong. She’d been trying to drill this idea into his head for days. Involving her in this situation had only led to too many complications, and it would surely lead to more by the time this was over with, especially if he wouldn’t share whatever it was that he was hiding.

“It’s far too dangerous.” Jace nodded. “I don’t want you looking into it any further. You’re off the case.”

Carrie’s face drained as his words sunk in. “Excuse me?”

“You’re right. You shouldn’t be involved.” Jace cocked his head when he noticed her shocked expression. “I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“It’s what I wanted
originally
.” Carrie couldn’t help but stand as she raised her voice. “But Rick has made it very clear I have to nail this case for you. My job is on the line here.”

“I won’t put you at risk,” Jace said. “Far too much has happened, and you’ve already been attacked once.”

Carrie clenched her hands by her sides. She couldn’t believe him. After all he’d done to push her into this, he was now throwing her out without the slightest hint of an explanation. Rick would be furious that she’d gotten herself fired. He’d bent the rules of the firm to appease Jace’s whims, and now Jace was flipping the table on both of them.

“Rick will be furious,” Carrie said through gritted teeth. “
I’m
furious. If you’re going to do this to me, at least tell me why.”

“You’re disobeying me again, Carrie.” Jace frowned, but a hint of mischief flickered in his eyes. She couldn’t believe he was back on this disobedience thing. He’d never talked about punishment and obedience before, but he seemed intent on it now. That combined with the way he’d been taking control in the bed lately, she wondered if something in him had changed since they’d been together. But she couldn’t say she was disappointed in this new side of him…