AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Alright," Xander said, sitting back in his chair and studying her. She felt like squirming under his gaze, steady and piercing. Like he could see all her secrets. "I'm going to dig into this for a day or so and then I can get back to you. It's a pretty risk-free case for me so I guess it will run you about... five-hundred bucks."
Hannah nodded. She had been expecting worse. "Okay. No problem. Should I pay you now?"
Xander shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I'll get paid eventually." It sounded like a threat. Like if she stiffed him he would track her down. Looking at him, she realized he probably would.
She pulled out her wallet and counted out the money in twenties. She handed it to him, putting the rest of her money back in her purse.
"You're in this neighborhood with a thousand dollars in your wallet?" he asked as if she had gone daft.
"Not my fault your place of operation is in a hellhole," she said with a shrug.
Xander smiled and put the money into a drawer in his desk. "Regardless, I'll walk you to your car," he said, getting up and leading her out of the door. He didn't bother to lock it, despite the large sum of money he had just put in an unlocked drawer.
He walked next to her, his long legs coming up to her hip. It wasn't correct to say that he walked. He seemed to practically swagger. Someone so impossibly comfortable in his own skin. "Yours, I'm assuming," he said, nodding toward her Mercedes. There was a group of teenagers looking in her windows and she felt her heart start to pound. She nodded up at him, her eyes wide with concern. Xander let out a quick, loud whistle. The group looked up slowly as if they weren't just thinking about committing a crime. Once they spotted Xander, they stood up straight, eyes wide and fearful. "Get," he said to them and they scattered away on gangly young legs.
Apparently Xander Rhodes was one scary guy.
And that's exactly who she needed on her side.
–
Hannah rushed back into her office, her breath coming in quick gasps. She hadn't meant to spend so much time at the private investigator's. She closed the door and her heart leapt into her throat when her office chair swung around.
"Well now," Elliott said, his lip quirked up, "taking personal time in the middle of the day are we now?"
Hannah almost laughed, but wasn't entirely sure if he was joking or not.
"Come here," he said and she did without hesitating. "I think you need to be punished."
Hannah tried to step away at the last moment, the intention clear in Elliott's eyes. He grabbed her and pulled her across his lap in one swift motion and landed a hand across her butt hard. She giggled, pulling herself off him only to have him pull her into a seated position across his lap.
"How was your day?" he asked and she felt her body jerk at the question. Since when did Elliott Michaels ask every day mundane questions like that? Since when did he care about how someone's day was?
Hannah shrugged. "No complaints."
"Not even James congratulating us on our sex?" he asked, his hand absent-mindedly rubbing her thigh.
Hannah sighed, enjoying the intimacy and rested her head against his shoulder. "That is just James being James," she said and planted a quick kiss against his neck. She didn't know where the urge came from. She hadn't ever considered herself an overly affectionate person before.
"So I was thinking," he said, kissing her on the lips, "how about sushi for dinner?"
Dinner? Elliott Michaels was asking her to go out to eat with him? She stifled the urge to ask him what alien life force had taken over his body. And she silently fretted over what they could possibly talk about during dinner. She found herself saying, "Sushi is good."
"Good," Elliott said, patting her thigh so she would stand up. "I have to have a drink with a client in a few. Meet me at the house when you're done here."
"Okay," Hannah said, feeling lightheaded from the change in direction of their relationship.
Elliott smiled. A quick, pleased smile. Then he grabbed her by the front of her pants and pulled her against him. His arms wrapping around hers so she couldn't move them and kissed her hard for a long minute before releasing her and walking to his office.
Hannah's hand slammed down on the desk to get her balance. What was going on? Was Elliott trying to actually... date her? The thought hit her as a warm sensation in her belly and she realized she really wished that were the case.
She drove home right after the rest of the staff filed out. She didn't want to be there after dark. She knew it was childish and that she would have to return eventually, but the idea of going back when it was light and people would be milling around was comforting. The light was on as she left it, but she left the door open behind her, rushing to her closet and stuffing a mixture of clothing into a bag.
She wasn't sure how many nights she would be spending at Elliott's. She needed clothing for work. And makeup. Shampoo and conditioner. She would just keep it all in the trunk of her car. Just in case.
Just as she was walking back into her living room, she froze, the bag falling to the ground. Her entire living room wall was covered in a makeshift mural. A giant figure of her sprawled out, red paint representing blood pooled all around her, a huge dagger stuck in her chest.
