AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes, I have gotten to know Mr. Harrison on a personal level over the last year but—”
“Does he know you’re a murderer?”
Carson recoiled at Martin’s accusation. How dare he throw this in her face simply because he’d lost their argument. “I am not…” She lowered her voice, “a murderer.”
“So someone didn’t die while you were in charge of their safety?” She wanted to jab that smug look right off his face. She knew she could take him. She would give anything to challenge him in the ring.
“It was an accident.” And she wasn’t in charge of their safety technically. Everyone knew when they made the decision to race they were putting their lives on the line. It’s not like she threw a stick in his wheel and caused him to wreck. She had no choice but to watch—as if in slow motion—her friend crash and burn in front of her eyes. “And that part of my life is off limits, and none of his—or your—business.”
“So, he doesn’t know.” Martin circled around her, tapping his finger against his chin. “I wonder what he would think of his precious architect if he knew you were a criminal?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
She was never charged. She wasn’t a criminal or a street thug—despite her guilt over Mike’s death making her feel like one. She was an architect. Her past was nobody’s damn business and for the sake of her career, this wasn’t something she wanted broadcast to the world.
“I already know all about your past, Carson. I accept you for who you are.”
Like hell he did. He knew nothing about her. Absolutely nothing and never would. All he knew were her fathers’ perceptions, and those were so inherently incorrect that it scared her just how many people knew only her fathers’ side of the story.
Martin picked up his briefcase from the chair at the bar. “Think about my offer. We’d be unstoppable. Business partners during the day. Lovers at night.” His lip curved up in a disgusting smirk. “It’s the best you’re going to get given your history.” He walked away, a little too confident for her liking.
“It’s never going to happen,” she yelled out. But he didn’t even turn around.
She had gotten in a few zingers, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the fact that Martin had just destroyed her. He knew her secret. And that meant he held all the power.
But if spending time with Neil had taught her anything, it was to go for what you wanted without second-guessing.
And if he ever showed up she’d thank him for teaching her a lesson despite not even being aware. He had a lot of kissing up to do once he surfaced. And just exactly what kind of kissing would you like him to do? And where?
Maybe he was ignoring her for a reason. Maybe he had gotten everything he wanted from her and he was bored. Moving on to the next female stupid enough to agree to be his sex slave.
Not that she was a slave, but pretty close to it. She’d given it to him when he wanted, how he wanted, and where he wanted. And it had been fantastic. Each time better than the time before. But she knew the need to race still lingered in his mind. She could see it every time she looked in his eyes. It frightened her. Not only because she worried for the time when she wouldn’t be around to keep Neil off his bike and safe from harm, but it she couldn’t let her own life get out of control. She had worked too hard, sacrificed too much. Lost too many people. And suddenly that bad feeling she’d had earlier turned into something ominous. Neil was missing in action, and there could only be one reason for his disappearance.
She checked her phone again. Still no messages.
She called him first, but it went directly to voice mail. Scrolling through her directory, she found Cole’s number. Again, she got voicemail. She called Finn and Jack, all four numbers giving her nothing but the option to leave a message.
There was only one thing left to do. She grabbed her keys from the table and raced out the front door of the restaurant. She hopped in her pick-up and drove.
She knew where he spent the other half of his work life. He couldn’t escape her if she showed up at his brother Cole’s restaurant, Bistro. And there would be no chance to ignore her.
…
The clang of the metal doors made Neil’s skin crawl. The grey concrete, the smell of urine, and the sweat from the two other men in his cell weighed heavy on his stomach. The stale stench of alcohol that seeped out of their pores wafted to Neil’s corner.
He’d never been arrested before. But he’d done it now, gotten himself thrown in jail.
He’d been speeding. Well above the limit. So far above the limit that he had his license suspended on the spot, his bike impounded and for good measure, his lippy mouth had gotten him thrown in jail for the night. So, for the next seven days he was in need of a chauffeur.
He sat on a steel bench, his elbows resting on his knees, his head between his legs. He had no idea how he got here. Had his life spun so out of control? He hadn’t felt this alone—this lost—since he was fifteen and stared at the beige walls of his single room in an independent living complex. He had been placed there when his caseworker finally realized he just wasn’t going to mesh with any type of foster family. And he didn’t want to. Until three months later when he met Vivian.
Despite being skeptical, something told him she was genuine. And so she rescued him from that single room and welcomed him into her home.
The funniest part of this brush with the law was the fact that twenty minutes before he had been pulled over, he was happy, at peace. And it was all because of Carson. She had managed to take him away from the anxiousness that took up so much of his time. Then as soon as she left he’d decided he was going to have a little fun. He’d refrained from visiting Diaz. He had promised her, and he was a man of his word. That’s when he decided that a little race with himself wouldn’t harm anyone.
He was so wrong.
The guy in the holding cell next to him coughed, nowhere near considered a dry cough, and the sound of someone else peeing behind make him want to hurl.
