Touch of Doubt (Law vs. Love Book 2) Read online

  Touch of Doubt

  Copyright © 2015 Audrey Alexander

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electrical or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval without permission in writing from the author.

  Cover design by Bayou Cover Designs

  Interior design and layout by Audrey Alexander

  Chapter icons made by Freepik

  Carrie Simmons stared at the news story on her phone. Madison Holland had been found dead in her apartment on Fifty-Seventh Street, gunshot wound in her head. There’d been no sign of a struggle, and the police had several leads, but the article didn’t say much more than that.

  Her heart banged inside her chest. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Madison had been involved in Anders Holland’s death, and it had led to her very own downfall. Carrie was certain of it. She thought back to her own brush with the attacker two nights before and shuddered. This could have been her on the news instead of Madison.

  Jace slid back into the bedroom, balancing a coffee mug and a tray packed full of wafting breakfast foods: poached eggs, bacon, spinach, and freshly-toasted bread. The hunger Carrie had felt only moments before had been replaced by a growing sense of dread, and she couldn’t even look at the food, much less dig in like nothing at all was wrong.

  Jace must have sensed Carrie’s mood because he put the tray of food on the nightstand and eased onto the bed beside her. He brushed her hair back from her eyes, so gentle she could barely believe it was Jace. “Don’t tell me you’re having doubts again already.”

  “No, that’s not it.” Carrie shook her head and handed Jace the phone, watching as he scanned the article to judge his reaction to the news. Even though she hated herself for it, she had to wonder why Jace had wanted to know the address of Madison’s apartment last night. His face remained as cold and closed off as usual, though she caught a slight twitch in his jaw before he handed back the phone.

  “What do you make of that?” Carrie asked.

  “She was a girl way in over her head,” Jace said, betraying none of his thoughts or emotions. “It’s unfortunate that things had to end this way for her, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”

  Carrie raised her eyebrows. “I find it pretty shocking myself.”

  “She got involved with a murderer.” Jace stood and retrieved a coffee from the breakfast tray, handing the mug to Carrie. “A murderer who saw you dropping by her fake apartment. It was only a matter of time before they decided she was more of a liability than an asset.”

  “Her last name was Holland, Jace.” Carrie gripped her hands around the hot mug, the scent of the strong brew bringing more clarity to her thoughts. “The article doesn’t say it, but I’d bet money that she was related to Anders Holland.”

  Jace clenched his jaw before glancing away. He didn’t seem particularly surprised by that news, either. He was hiding something, Carrie was certain of it. No, she didn’t think he was a killer. Jace could never do such a thing. Besides, he never would have had time to make it to Madison’s apartment and back before Carrie arrived at his penthouse last night. But all of that didn’t change the fact he was acting a little strange.

  “Is there something you’re not telling me?” Carrie finally asked, shifting on the bed to face him. She was still completely naked, and the sheet fell from her shoulders, drawing Jace’s eyes down to her breasts.

  A wicked smile began to play across his lips. “Yes. I forgot to mention that you may need to eat your breakfast cold this morning. By the time I’m done with you, it won’t be warm.”

  Carrie’s face went hot, and her thoughts about Madison scattered out of the forefront of her mind. Jace took her warm coffee from her hands and settled it next to the cooling food on the bedside table. Her breath began to quicken, hands tensing around the slick sheets. She knew she shouldn’t stay. She knew she should leave and get ready for work. But Jace was brushing the hair back from her shoulders and drinking in her body with his dark and dangerous eyes, and nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

  “Have I ever told you that you’re more beautiful in the morning than at night?” he asked in almost a growl.

  Carrie shook her head and felt her body instinctively shift closer to Jace. He reached out and grazed her nipple with his hand. Shivering, Carrie leaned in and pressed her mouth against his, letting her need for him overcome every other thought inside her mind. His mouth moved under her lips, hungry and hard. Gasping, Carrie dug her fingernails into Jace’s arms as he squeezed her nipple, shockwaves of pain and pleasure shaking through her.

  Jace pulled away and stood from the bed. Carrie watched as he disappeared into his walk-in closet, his muscles tensing seductively with each step. When he returned a moment later, one of his dark business ties dangled from his fingers.

  Carrie’s eyes widened, and her heartbeat picked up pace. “What are you doing?”

  “There are some things I want to show you.” Jace moved back in close and pressed his finger under her chin to force her eyes to look into his. “Do you trust me?”

  Swallowing hard, Carrie nodded. Jace pointed at the gleaming black headboard just before he pulled the sheet away from the bed, exposing every inch of Carrie’s body. Goosebumps spread across her skin, as much from the chill in the air as from the heat in Jace’s eyes.

  “Scoot back and put your hands over your head.”

  Carrie did as he commanded, settling back on the pile of pillows and resting her wrists against the headboard. Jace climbed onto the bed, straddling her as he twisted the tie around her wrists. His erection rose to meet her eyes, and with a gasp, she reached out to stroke his cock with her tongue.

  Jace groaned and cinched the tie tight. He shifted closer, pressing his cock against Carrie’s lips. She took him deep into her mouth, moving her head as she licked his throbbing length. His hands gripped the headboard, and Carrie couldn’t help but let out a moan as he hardened even more inside her mouth, a wetness spreading between her thighs.

  “Carrie,” Jace groaned before pulling away. “Close your eyes.”

  Carrie let her eyelids flutter shut, and a moment later, something smooth and cold brushed against her nipple. Thrills spread across her skin from the delicious sensation, and she wriggled on the bed as the coolness rubbed against her breasts again, hardening her nipples until it was almost too much to bear.

  She struggled to keep her eyes closed when the cool bead traveled down her belly and slid against her wet sex. Groaning, she arched her back. Jace’s touch quickened, rubbing against her in a delicious rhythm that made her head roar and her ears ring. Just as she was about to reach her climax, the sensation disappeared, leaving her gasping and desperate for more.

  She began to open her eyes, but Jace slid his palm over her face. “Keep your eyes shut.”

  And then he was inside her, thrusting at a tempo she could barely comprehend. She ached to wrap her arms around him, but the tie held her in place. His cock pulsed inside her, and his hands gripped her hips, leaving Carrie weak to do nothing but let him claim her as his. He took her hard, fast, and rough, and the intensity of his need overwhelmed her own lust.

  When his pace quickened, every cell in her body sparked with pleasure. She screamed out his name, shuddering as he met her climax with his own and emptied his seed inside her writhing body.

  Panting, he slowed and dropped a kiss onto her nipple. “Carrie Simmons, you’re mine.”

  Jace wanted to keep Carrie tied up in his bed for the rest of the day. Or even better, for the rest of the week. But after he’d given her a small taste of things to come, she’d insisted on leaving his bed a
nd going into work for the day. She’d smelled of him as he’d given her a kiss goodbye, making his need for her overcome him all over again. Being tied up had seemed to excite her, and he was looking forward to giving her more where that had come from.

  Jace had always enjoyed being in control and taking command, but he’d had his eyes opened to some of the more pleasurable aspects of domination since Carrie had left him three years prior. And he certainly planned on introducing Carrie to his titillating world now that she’d stopped fighting against the passion between them.

  He knew he needed to introduce it slowly, in order to ease her into it all. If he pulled out a whip the first time he took control, it might give her a bit of a shock.

  But not everything about the morning had been as pleasant as fucking Carrie as hard as he could. There had been that article, of course. Madison Holland, step-daughter of Anders Holland, found dead in her apartment. Someone had shot her in the night.

  When Jace had discovered that Madison was a Holland the night before, he had wasted no time in looking into it. A few phone calls and he had his answer. Madison was Anders’s step-daughter, though the marriage to her mother had ended six months before. Madison had never been on Jace’s radar since she’d lived out in California until her recent move to New York, according to his sources.

  Jace slid on his suit and exited the penthouse, opting to take the elevator down to the lobby rather than exit through the back as per his usual routine. Ever since the police had highlighted him as a person of interest, Jace had decided a record of his comings and goings might come in handy in case something else happened. Except when it came to Carrie, of course.

  Frowning, Jace exited the elevator and stepped out under a canopy of chandeliers. He’d had to keep his investigation hidden from Carrie, of course. If she found out he’d been prying into Madison’s past, she wouldn’t be happy. Not to mention, he didn’t want her to start skulking around people’s apartments again. It was far too dangerous, and he’d do anything to keep her safe. Even if that meant lying to her.

  Jace scanned the lobby. Franklin Snow was scheduled to meet him here, but he saw no sign of his well-groomed assistant. Frowning, he glanced at his Rolex. It was well past the allotted time, and Franklin was always more than punctual. He flicked his fingers toward one of the staff members hovering behind the front desk, and the young woman took quick steps to his side, a bright smile painted on her youthful face as she smoothed her pristine uniform.

  “Have you seen my assistant this morning?” Jace asked, barely giving her a glance as he continued to scan the lobby. “Mr. Snow.”

  “No sir,” the young woman said. “I’ve been at the desk all morning, and I haven’t seen him in here.”

  Jace frowned and gave her a nod before sliding his phone from his suit pocket and making the call. Franklin’s cell rang and rang, but there was no answer on the other end of the line. That was odd. Franklin always answered his phone, even in the dead of night. It was one of the things he liked about his assistant.

  Unease settled into Jace’s mind. He’d sent Franklin to speak to Madison after he’d found out where she lived. Franklin had interrogated individuals for him in the past, and it seemed the best course of action to send him on this particular fact-finding mission. Carrie had been right. Jace couldn’t do it himself. A third party had to get involved, and he’d chosen Franklin to find out what Madison knew about the people trying to set him up. He was the best man for it, based on his past.

  Now, he was missing from their scheduled meeting to discuss his findings. And Madison Holland was dead.

  “Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?” the desk clerk asked Jace. He’d forgotten she was standing there by his side.

  “Yes, if you see my assistant, call me immediately.” Jace gave a nod and strode through the revolving doors. Outside, the sky was overcast, gray clouds blotting out the sun. The wind whistled through the towering buildings, an addition to the usual symphony of taxi horns and rumbling trucks. His pristine shoes crunched through melting slush as he made his way to the limo idling on the curb. Despite the recent turn of events, Jace had work to do. Now that he had added to his real estate portfolio, it was time to begin renovations on his newest purchase. It would be the classiest hotel in Times Square, and his billions would only grow if he moved forward with his plans fast.

  As soon as he slid onto the crinkling leather seat, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Maybe it’s Franklin, he thought before he glanced at the display. He’d been too quick to judge his assistant’s absence, and he’d have a perfectly good explanation.

  But when he glanced at the screen, he saw it was his office instead of his missing assistant.

  “Jace Holt,” he said.

  “Sir, there’s someone here to see you,” Lana, his receptionist, said in a shaky tone. “It’s the police.

  When Jace reached his office, he was in a terrible mood. The policeman who had questioned him before stood just inside his gleaming glass doors, his hands tucked in his pockets and a knowing smile on his face.

  “Detective Foster,” Jace said with a curt nod as he swept into the lobby of his prime office space on Fifth Avenue. “If there’s something you need to question me about, it will have to wait until I call my lawyer, Miss Simmons.”

  Jace had to stop the smirk that threatened to touch his lips, just from hearing the sound of Carrie’s name. His mind flashed with an image of her writhing body on the sheets, moaning as her hands pulled at the bonds he’d attached to her wrists. The thought almost made him forget about the detective standing before him.

  “I’m not here to ask you any questions,” the detective said with a smile that was glaringly fake and overly sweet. “But I’ll be needing the security tapes from your hotel. From the night of the murder, of course.”

  Jace narrowed his eyes. Even though it was a perfectly reasonable request, he didn’t like how the detective was looking at him. As if he were trying to spin a web and trap him inside. Nobody got the better of Jace Holt, especially not this man.

  “I assume you have a warrant,” Jace said, flexing his hands by his sides.

  The detective rose his eyebrows. “Innocent men don’t tend to ask for warrants.”

  “I’m not asking,” Jace dropped his voice low. “I’m demanding.”

  “You look like you’re either insanely happy or in absolute agony,” Sarah said as she poked her head into Carrie’s office. “Rick wanted me to check in and see how the briefs for the Silverhouse case are coming along.”

  Carrie glanced up from her mound of work to see her best friend hovering in the doorway and holding a steaming cup of coffee from the corner cart down on Madison Avenue. Sarah looked chipper and alert as usual, her long dark hair cascading around her shoulders, while Carrie felt the absolute opposite. Even though Jace had set every one of her nerve endings on fire that morning, she’d quickly crashed from the lack of sleep and food once reaching the office.

  “Why is Rick asking you to run errands for him? It’s not like you’re a paralegal,” Carrie said, furrowing her brows. Her best friend had seemed to be spending a lot of time following her boss around recently. Sarah was a senior associate, just like Carrie, and she had much better things to do than be at his every beck and call.

  “Oh, that’s not important.” Sarah waved a hand. “Are you okay though, seriously? You look exhausted.”

  “I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Carrie said around a smile that she couldn’t stop from blooming on her face.

  “I knew it,” Sarah said, easing into the office and closing the clear glass door behind her. She passed Carrie the coffee before dropping into the leather chair on the other side of the paper-littered desk. “You went to Jace’s last night. No wonder you sped out of the bar like hell on wheels.”

  “Well, that wasn’t exactly why.” Carrie frowned as she took a sip of the steaming coffee. No milk, two sugars. Just how she liked it. “Did you hear about that girl, Madison Holland?�
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  Sarah nodded and leaned forward. “Yeah, the girl who got shot on Fifty-Seventh, right?”

  “Yeah.” Carrie swallowed back another gulp of the hot liquid. “She was the one who led Jace away from his hotel the night of the murder. I saw her at the bar and followed her back to her place.”

  “Holy shit.” Sarah’s eyes widened. “Did you see anything? Tell me you caught the bastard who killed her red-handed.”

  “No, I didn’t go inside,” Carrie said with a shudder. “Scary to know that if I had, maybe I’d be in the same shape as she is in now.”

  “I bet whoever killed Anders killed Madison, too,” Sarah said, dropping back in the chair and crossing her legs. “What does Jace have to say about it?”

  Carrie’s back stiffened from the question, her mind turning toward Jace’s strange non-reaction to the news of Madison’s death. “He’s being really cagey about it. When I tried to talk to him, he started distracting me with…”

  A knock sounded on the door, and Carrie glanced up to see Jace Holt standing outside of her office. Speak of the devil. Her breath caught in her throat. He wore a sleek black suit, fitted perfectly to his muscular frame. His rugged face hid under a short layer of scruff, and his dark eyes lit flames inside her stomach, heating her entire body all the way up to her face. Even though she’d been in his bed only hours before, seeing him here left her weak in the knees.

  Smiling, he opened the door and poked his head inside Carrie’s office before sending a charming smile toward Sarah. “Well, Sarah Evans. Nice to see you after all this time.”

  “Jace.” Sarah cleared her throat and stood, sending Carrie a wink. “I assume you’re here to see Carrie. I’ll just be on my way.”

  Carrie could see Sarah bite back a smile before disappearing out into the hallway, leaving Jace and Carrie staring at each other in silence. Smoothing her skirt, she stood and motioned to the chair in front of her. It struck her as strangely surreal how formal the whole thing was, like Jace was just another client whose cock hadn’t been inside her several times over the last twenty-four hours.