Sinner (2 page)

Chapter Three

Lilith

I can't get him out of my head. Every time I try to focus on the work I have to do for Tom, I find myself daydreaming about Adam's eyes. Or, I'm thinking about what it would be like to run my fingers through his thick hair. Then, when I finally do pull my thoughts back to my work, I start wondering what criminal activities Tom has involved himself in.

I wonder if I'm doing something illegal too?

I highly doubt I'm involved in whatever Adam was talking about. I'm a personal assistant, but I'm a personal assistant with an M.B.A from Harvard. You don't work for a billionaire without an Ivy League education, and especially not with the types of responsibilities I have. People have basically called me a glorified secretary before, but they have no idea what I actually do.

Sitting here just waiting for it to be time to meet Adam isn't an option. I've got to get out of my apartment. Looks like Tom's extra weekend work will have to wait until tomorrow.

"What's up lady?" Angie asks when she answers her phone.

"Want to have lunch?"

"Are you buying?" She asks hopefully. Whenever I'm buying, we always go somewhere expensive.

"Sure, where do you want to go?" I ask and smile.

Angela is a hard worker. Her chosen profession doesn't pay well, though, so I'm happy to treat her. She works as a social worker for the Department of Families, and I know for a fact that my best friend works ten times harder than I do for one-tenth of the pay. Angie didn't go to Harvard, but she still has a Master's Degree in Social Work and a damn fine record of keeping families together too.

"Sushi?"

"I'll pick you up in twenty," I say and hang up.

While I'm driving to get her, I debate about whether I should mention Adam. The responsible adult in me knows I shouldn't, but then again, the responsible adult in me should have called the police last night.

"What have I gotten myself into?" I whisper despite the car being empty.

I pull up in front of Angie's building, and she's waiting out front. She must have been hungry, and I smile. If I had to guess, she was probably about to take a huge bite of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I called.

"Did you at least wrap the sandwich up?" I ask as she gets in my car, and I can smell the peanut butter on her.

"I did. I swear. I'll eat it later. You called just in time."

"I figured," I said and put the car in gear.

The restaurant is crowded, and for some reason that makes me feel more secure. I like being lost in the crowd, and I'm making it up to Angie since I bailed on her last night.

"What did you do last night?" Angie says and pops a piece of dragon roll into her mouth.

Now I have to decide if I'm going to tell her about Adam or not. I choose to keep it a secret until I know more about him. I want to talk about it so badly that my skin is practically crawling, but at least I'm out of the apartment and not dwelling on the issue.

"Just worked for a while and then went home to sleep I was thinking about making one of those dating profiles, but I don't know," I say and take a bite of my California roll.

"Oohhh. You have to be careful with those. Lots of creeps. But, I can help you. We'll fix you up with a profile that only attracts the highest quality internet dating site men."

"I don't know. I'm still not sure if I want to do it or not." I say and push the rest of my food around on my plate with my chopsticks.

"Oh, Lilly you have to do it. I can see you want to move on from Tom, so go for it." She says and grabs one of my rolls with her chopsticks.

She's right. I do want to move on. Meeting Adam last night proved to me that I could feel something for another man. Even if it was for a criminal that I could never have. I started to feel butterflies in my stomach when I thought about Adam and I holding hands.

I hadn't fantasized about something like that with a guy since high school. Come to think of it, I hadn't had butterflies over a guy since high school. I'm being ridiculous, though. Nothing could happen between Adam and me.

Could it?

"Earth to Lilith," Angie says and laughs.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about some work I have to get done."

"Geeze, Lil. Even when you aren't physically at work, your head is always there. Perhaps you need to find another job. I mean, I know working for Tom pays really well, and there's the prestige, yadda yadda yadda, but your job can't be your entire life." She says and steals another piece of sushi from my platter.

"Your job is your entire life," I say and instantly regret it.

"Yeah, but at least I'm not there nights and weekends except when I'm on call once a month."

"You're right. I'll consider finding something else if I can't get Tom to back off and give me more free time."

"He's taking advantage of you because he knows you like him," Angie mutters.

"I know, and you mean liked him. I'm moving past being fixated on him. Even if he did come around, he doesn't deserve me." I actually mean this, and I'm a little bit proud of myself.

"That's my girl." She says and high-fives me.

We spend the afternoon shopping. At first, I think I want to go look at shoes and purses, but then I change my mind. Instead, Angie and I spend the afternoon buying socks, underwear, t-shirts, pajamas, and books for one of the group homes she works with.

After we drop off our haul at the home and Angie hugs every single one of the kids, we go back to her apartment and put together care packages for the homeless. She doesn't go to church, but Angie spends every Sunday afternoon handing out the bags filled with socks, toiletry items, and snacks to homeless people downtown.

She's excited because this week she has twice as many since I chipped in and bought more stuff for the bags. Seeing her eyes light up when we're done touches my heart, and I vow to chip in every week from now on.

"I'd offer to let you buy me dinner, but I'm supposed to go over and cook for my dad tonight," Angie says when we're all done loading the bags into boxes.

"How's he doing?" I ask and hope the answer is better than last week.

"He's still in a lot of pain. Better than last week, but not 100% yet. I'd invite you for dinner, but I don't think he's up for it yet. I know he misses you."

"Maybe next week then? I'll help you make a lasagna if he's up for it." I say and start carrying the boxes to her entry way. A few guys from her neighborhood will meet her tomorrow and help pass them out. I really need to go along more often.

"He'd love that, Lil. I'll mention it to him tonight. Meet me at Bravo at nine? I should have him comfortably in bed by then."

"Sure thing Jelly Bean," I say and give her a hug.

That means I’ll have two hours with Adam. That should be more than enough time for us to discuss his suspicions about Tom.

The diner is relatively quiet by the time I arrive at seven. It looks like the last of the dinner rush is clearing out as I walk through the door. I find Adam exactly where he'd said he'd be.

He stands up when I approach the table, and I'm taken back by his manners. Not many thieves stand when a lady walks into the room. Well, I assume that. I don't know many criminals or burglars for that matter.

I get a good look at him, and Adam is even more stunningly handsome when he's not wearing an ill-fitting janitor's uniform.

His hair is brushed back, but that one curl is still touching his forehead. I want to push it back into place for him so badly. He's wearing a tight black t-shirt, dark jeans, and black leather motorcycle boots. Dang he's sexy.

"It's good to see you again, Lilith." He says and extends a hand out for me to shake.

It feels like electricity passing between our palms when we touch, and that makes a blush color my cheeks. I've never reacted to a man like this before. Sure, I've only ever had a few boyfriends, but none of them ever revved my engine the way Adam is right now.

"I'll decide if it's good to see you again after you tell me what we came here to discuss," I say wickedly.

Oh, jeez. I'm actually flirting with him. What the heck is wrong with me?

"Haha. Okay, Peaches. Challenge accepted." Adam says and sits down at the booth. "Have you eaten yet?" He asks before I can respond to him calling me Peaches.

"No, I haven't had dinner yet."

"Good. This place has the best butter pecan pancakes. I recommend getting them with a side of bacon and sausage." He says and his eyes light up like a kid at Christmas.

"Oh my God, Adam. Meat is murder." I say completely seriously.

His shoulder fall and I have to stifle my laugh. “Really? Are you vegan?"

"I'm just messing with you. That sounds delicious." He laughs out loud and playfully swats me on the arm with his menu.

I can't believe I'm flirting and bantering with the man I caught breaking into my boss’s office last night. I've never acted like this in my life.

The waitress comes, and we order our breakfast for dinner. I really don't want to ruin the mood, but I need some information. Flirting with a gorgeous man is fun, but my career could be on the line here.

“So, tell me what you know about Tom.” I say as directly as I can manage.

"Right to the point. Okay." Adam says as he cracks his knuckles and stretches his arms.

"It's not that I'm not enjoying our conversation, Adam. But, I did come here so you could tell me about Tom." Why did I say I'm enjoying his company?

It's easy to forget the bad when I'm with Adam. That much is certain. Either feeling that way around someone could be life changing right, or it could be devastating.

Everything in me should be telling me that, with Adam, it would be devastating, but I feel the exact opposite. I want to trust him, and it's almost as if my body is telling me that I can. His hand is on the table, and Adam is gently tapping his fingers as he looks at me. I want to move my hand the fraction of an inch it would take to touch his fingers with mine. I'm craving the slightest contact with him.

"Your boss is not a good man." His smooth voice breaks me out of my thoughts.

"He's not the nicest man I've ever met, but his business seems to be on the up and up. I haven't seen any signs of him doing anything illegal." I say confidently, but I don't feel that confidence inside.

"That's because you weren't looking." He's right, but I feel defensive. Before I can come up with a retort, the waitress brings our food.

"Can I get you the two anything else right now?" She says as she places the plate of pancakes and breakfast meat in front of me. It smells like heaven.

"Another diet soda for me, please," I say looking at my mostly empty glass.

"I'm good, Ma'am. Thank you." Adam says cheerfully.

He has such impeccable manners for a criminal. It amazes me how polite he is in contrast with some of the rich and supposedly sophisticated people I know from work. They were allegedly raised well, but they're bossing and demanding. I rarely ever hear Tom say thank you for anything.

The waitress brings my soda back, and we dig in. Adam was right about the butter pecan pancakes. Every bite is like a carnival ride for my taste buds. He laughs twice when I let out an audible groan of pleasure after taking a bite. The salty, fatty bacon and sausage offset the sweetness of the pancakes perfectly. I'm going to have to go out to dinner with Adam more often. But, I can't do that. Can I?

"Your boss is going to sell valuable information about his investments to the highest bidder. Those bidders aren't other investment bankers, Lilith. They are criminals. I need evidence of this, or lots of decent people are going to lose their life savings. The authorities have tried to bring him down, but Tom is too rich, powerful, and protected. He's practically untouchable, but I'm determined." Some of the earlier sincerity is gone from his voice, but my gut tells me not to call him on it. Yet.

He has a good reason to lie - My inner voice tells me. I can feel it, and I want to hear more.

"If you're not law enforcement, why do you want to bring him down. How do you know about this, and why do you care about a bunch of strangers’ money?" I don't know how to be anything but direct at this point.

"I represent another interested party. Someone who wants to see this information fall into the right hands." I can read Adam well, and this is total bullshit. He's not even trying to hide the fact he's deceiving me.  Something else is going on here, and now I have to know. I just hope at some point Adam feels like he can trust me with the truth.

I take the last few bites of my food without saying anything. Adam's watching me expectantly, but I'm trying to play it cool. If I don't act like this is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me, maybe I can maintain some semblance of a power balance in this partnership.

"I'll help you," I say and try not to smile. I fail.

"You will?" Adam says with as much excitement as I feel. I also sense something else emanating from him. I think it's relief. He's carrying a huge burden right now, and it has nothing and everything to do with the money. "Thank you so much for your discretion and understanding, Lilith. You have no idea what it means to me."

"I hope that someday you'll tell me." He picks up on my meaning, but before he can speak, his eyes flick to the other side of the restaurant.

"I have to go now, Lilith. Some of my associates are here. I'll contact you soon." Something about the way he said associates makes the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

I turn and see two enormous men standing just inside the diner's entrance staring at Adam. He walks to them quickly, and they follow very closely behind him as he exits the restaurant.

"That was odd," I whisper to myself. I guess it's not really that strange, considering everything.

"Stiffed you with the check, huh." The waitresses cheerful voice booms.

"It's okay. I don't mind." He did totally stiff me with the check, though.

Oh well, Adam can owe me one.