His Absolute Betrayal - Elise's Love Story: The Billionaire's Continuum (#2) (A Contemporary Romance Novel) (7 page)

"Not my face, though," I added.  "We can't do that."

"That's fine," he said.  "May I ask why?"

"I don't want to get cum in my eye.  That would be really disgusting."

He stared at me.  He stared at me for a few seconds, then looked away and sliced off a piece of sandwich for himself.  Then he stared at me again.  I didn't know why he was staring at me.  It really was!  Who wanted semen in their eye?  Even if I closed my eye it could get in my eyelashes or on my eyelids and... ick.  I didn't even want to think about it.  No.  Breasts were safe and fine and good.  Faces weren't.  Not at all.

"You're extremely peculiar," he said.

"Feed me more," I countered.  "That piece right there, please?"

I pointed and he cut the piece off and lifted it to my mouth with his fork.  I'd completely forgotten my mimosa, so I picked up the champagne flute and took a sip and—oh God—it was amazing.  I took another sip, then another one, too.  Lots of sips.  Lucent tried his, also, nodding agreeably.

We ate and drank and everything was very nice.  It didn't seem like we were on the run from the police or being sought after by some random assailants or anything like that.  I had the hard drive, but it was off to the side, nearly forgotten and unimportant.

I knew it would be important later.  I knew lots of things would be, and none of this would last.  Right now, sitting next to Lucent and eating breakfast at a quiet, cozy restaurant, everything felt regular again, though.

That lasted a few minutes more, until someone knocked on the front door of the deli.

Sam didn't officially open for breakfast in the mornings.  He allowed people in if he knew them, but other than that, all signs indicated the restaurant was closed.  He kept most of the lights off except for the ones behind the front counter and in the kitchen.  The booth Lucent and I sat in was far in the back and off to the side, so darker than most, too.

No one who knew Sam would bother to knock, because the door was unlocked.  There were rustic window blinds covering most of the glass door, too, so people from the outside couldn't exactly see in.  If they put their face close to the glass door, they could probably see something.  It was easier for people inside to see everything outside than it was the other way around, though.

This happened sometimes for one reason or another.  People knocked, thinking that the large sign stating Sam's was closed didn't actually mean it was closed.  And, it wasn't really closed, I guessed, but it sort of was?  I peeked over my shoulder to see who it was and what was going on, and...

"Sam?" a voice called out.  "I know you're in there.  I'm on official police duty.  I just need to ask you a few questions.  It'll be quick.  If you could let me in, that'd be great."

A police officer.  Standing right outside the door.  Wanting to come in.  Obviously.  I froze.  Sam stood behind the counter, brow knit, glancing from me and Lucent to the officer and the front door.

Lucent slid out of the booth, taking me along with him.  We stood immediately.  He grabbed our plates and strode to the counter, offering them to Sam.

"Hide these, please," Lucent said.  "I can explain after, Sam, but please do not mention the fact that Elise and I are here.  It's of the utmost importance.  I apologize for putting you into this predicament."

The officer knocked on the door harder.  This time it shook slightly, moving inwards.  The man outside seemed to guess it was open.  "I'm coming in," he said.

Lucent rushed towards me, grabbing my hand and leading me towards the back supply room.  It wasn't a room of particular note, nor barely much of a room at all.  Extra boxes of napkins, paper plates, cleaning supplies, mops and brooms, and all that sort of thing lay scattered around the room, either directly on the floor or on metal wire racks along the walls.  A curtain blocked off the doorway, but there was no door to speak of.

Lucent and I moved in as far as we could, pressing against one of the wire racks, hiding.

The policeman entered.  I didn't know what Sam was doing, and I couldn't see either of them, but from the sounds of it, Sam must have moved around the counter to get closer to the front door.

"Morning, Sam," the officer said.

"Hey, Jacob.  Sorry, I was in the back.  Didn't hear you at first.  Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just some questions for you.  Nothing too big.  More of a routine than anything.  Sorry about the hassle.  Still serving breakfast here?"

"Sometimes," Sam said.  "It's quieter now."

He knew about breakfast?  That seemed odd to me.

"How's the club?" the officer asked.

He knew about Carousel, too?  Sam's BDSM and alternative lifestyle club?  Um...

"Good.  Everything's going fine.  No complaints.  It keeps me busy."

"Glad to hear it, though I'll never understand that.  Not your side.  I get that it's a legitimate business, but the people who go to that kind of place.  I'm sure you know about Cole Dyerhaven?"

The name made me shiver.  I hated Cole.  I hated him so much.  I didn't ever want to think about him again.  I didn't.  I just didn't.

Before I knew it, Lucent had me in his arms.  He squeezed me in a tight embrace, then kissed me.  I loved it, and I loved him, and I knew he was just doing it to remove all thoughts of Cole from my mind, but he wanted to do that because he loved me, too.  I returned his kiss gladly, but it was difficult to stop thinking of Cole once I'd started.

Lucent took my hand in his, squeezing it tight.  We stopped kissing, but we stood close, holding hands and listening while Sam and the police officer talked.

"So, what's going on?" Sam asked.  "Is everything alright?  Not that I mind a visit, but you're here on duty?  Something happen?"

"Ah, yeah.  You know Lucent Storme?"

Sam must have nodded, I thought.  "Sure, I know Lucent."

"He's got a girlfriend?  Elise Tanner?"

"Might have seen her a time or two," Sam said.

"He goes to your club sometimes, right?  He's into that sort of thing?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah, sometimes."

"Have you seen him around?  I know it's probably a long shot, but we're looking for him.  Her, too.  Elise."

"Something bad?" Sam asked.

"I'm not supposed to say," the officer said.  "Between you and me, it could be really bad, though.  Innocent until proven guilty and all of that, so it's not like this is official, but we're looking to bring them in for questioning.  Been looking for them.  You hear about the fire last night at the Landseer mansion?  All evidence points to arson, with them as the prime suspects.  Maybe Lucent more than Elise, but they're both gone so it doesn't look good for either."

And right then, Lucent's cell phone started to ring.  It rang once, a formal, ordinary tone, and then it stopped.  Whomever had called him must have hung up.

"What's that?" Jacob asked.  "Is someone else here?"

Well... that wasn't good.

I looked towards Lucent just as he looked towards me.  Our eyes clashed, some nonverbal, unknowing battle.  What exactly were we supposed to do now?  We were hiding in a storage closet without much of a door, with nowhere to go.  We couldn't hide under or in anything here, and we couldn't leave without being noticed.

Sam might be able to play it off, I thought.  I assumed that was what Lucent would have said if either of us was going to say anything, too.  We didn't have the luxury of casual conversation right now, though.  We didn't really have any luxuries at all.

I didn't know why I did what I did next, except to say that it seemed like a good idea at the time.  It was certainly a better idea than "nothing," at least; though only slightly.

Behind Lucent's shoulder, draped across an empty spot on one of the wire racks lining the wall, was an apron.  One of those long aprons, not the popular half-aprons that many waitresses and other waitstaff wore.  Not exactly stylish, nor overly fashionable, but probably just something one of the lunch cooks wore for their day shift.

They must have left it here.  Maybe they always left it here.  I didn't know, and right now I didn't have the opportunity to care.

I reached over Lucent's shoulder and grabbed the apron, then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  I threw the apron on, looping the top part around my neck, then turned.  Quick, I gestured for him to tie me up.  He did that while I fixed my hair.  I didn't really know why I did the hair part, except I assumed a waitress with her hair down would look more than a little out of place.  I had no hair ties or clips or any type, sadly.

This wasn't going to work.  This wasn't going to work.  How was I supposed to put my hair up?  Um...

Pencil.  I saw a pencil.

A pencil would work.  A pencil was great, actually.  When I used to work at the library, Margaret and I played around sometimes, doing our hair up in the most "librarian" way we could think of.  Mostly, this involved a bun in the back, held in place with a pencil.  I liked it, actually.  I always thought it looked cute, but for whatever reason I never put my hair up like that.  I preferred it down most of the time, and I didn't know if I looked nice with a bun in the back.

Right now, that worked, though.  It probably worked really well.  Not only could I put my hair up, but I'd look different than normal, just in case.  In case of what?  In case he recognized me, I supposed.  I didn't know what sort of information he had on "Elise Tanner," but he probably had a lot less on me than he did on Lucent.  I wasn't anywhere near as interesting, first off, nor as high profile.

Lucent tied me up in the back, fixing my apron in record time, while I quickly did my hair in a bun and used the pencil to keep it in place.  With that, I put a hand on his chest and lightly pushed him towards the back of the storage closet while I hurried to the entrance.

Footsteps.  I heard them.  Sam and Jacob were talking, but in my haste I didn't know what they'd said.  All I knew was that if I didn't do this thing right now, the police officer would discover me and Lucent hiding, and then that was that. 
That
, in this case, wasn't good.

I scrambled with the curtain in front of the doorway, pushing it aside and stepping into the main dining area.  Sam stood nearby, talking with Jacob.  The policeman was facing the storage closet, but with his head turned towards Sam.  As soon as I appeared, they both looked at me askance.

"Hi, um," I said.  "Sam?  I couldn't find it back there."

Sam lifted one brow, staring at me.

"Who's this?" Jacob asked.

That was good, I thought.  He didn't recognize me.  Not yet, at least.  Hopefully not ever.

"Tammy!" I said, bouncing and bubbly.  It seemed good.  I didn't know why.  Men liked bouncy and bubbly girls, right?  I'd act a little out of it and out there, and hope for the best.  "Nice to meet you, sir," I added, doing a little curtsey with my apron.  "Are you here for breakfast?"

Jacob raised one brow, looking at me oddly, then turned towards Sam.  Thankfully Sam looked a little more normal now, instead of extremely confused.

"This is Jacob," Sam said.  "He's here on business, Tammy.  He's looking for Lucent Storme and Elise Tanner."

"Oh?" I said.  "Why for?  Did they do something wrong?"

Jacob started to explain everything to me like he had to Sam, but then he stopped.  "Why were you back there again?"  To Sam, he added, "I didn't think you had employees this early."

Sam shrugged.  "It's been busy lately."

"I only work mornings," I added.  "I was looking for the Sriracha packets.  Sam said we needed more out front.  I just couldn't find the darn things, though.  I think maybe he was making it up.  They like to joke around a lot here."

"Sriracha packets?" Sam and Jacob asked.  They both looked at each other.

"Am I saying it wrong?" I asked.

"I think you're confused, Tammy," Sam said.  He glanced towards one of the tables fast.  "We just need some napkins.  See?  The napkin holders are getting a little low."

"Oh," I said.  "Well, alright.  I saw napkins, so I can go get some."

"Was that your phone before?" Jacob asked.  He stared at me, looking up and down my body.  Unfortunately, I doubted he was admiring my figure.

I wore a dress, with an apron, and I didn't have pockets or anywhere to keep a cell phone.  This wasn't good.

"Yeah," I said.  "Whoops.  Sorry about that."

"You don't have a phone on you," Jacob said, confirming my suspicions.

Sam sighed.  "She's not supposed to, either.  I told her she could keep it in the back during work, but apparently that's a bad idea.  Tammy, no more phone while you're working here.  I know you've been sneaking back there to text people.  We heard it from out here.  If you paid more attention to your job than your phone, you wouldn't mix up napkins with Sriracha packets, either.  I don't even want to know what you were texting people about that you messed that up."

I wanted to laugh.  This was just so insanely stupid to me, but it was working.  Instead, I somehow managed to control myself and put on my most adorable pout instead.  "Sorry, Sam."

"It's distracting to the customers," Sam said, peering around at the mostly empty restaurant.  "When they're here, that is.  We're expecting a rush any time now.  I need those napkins.  Now.  Turn your phone off while you're at it."  To Jacob, he added, "Did you want to stay for breakfast?  I'll have Tammy wait on you.  She's good, she's just a little..."  He waved his hand around.  "She's good when she's paying attention."

I smiled sweetly and stood on my tiptoes, holding my hands together in front of me.  "I'll get you anything you want, officer.  You can just sit down anywhere and I'll be right with you."  For good measure, I batted my lashes at him.

Jacob stood there, brow furrowed.  "It's a nice offer, Sam.  Maybe later.  Sorry, Tammy, but I've got work to do.  We should have the search warrants soon to investigate Storme's apartment, and the one Ms. Tanner shares with her roommate, so I've got to head over there shortly.  Busy busy day."

"Aw..." I said, pouting.  "You sure you don't want to stay for a coffee or something?  Juice?"