The Law of Motion (Law Series) (64 page)

"I don't fucking think so," I said, losing my last thread of patience with this guy. I took one more step and pulled the trigger. Wanting to only maim him, I aimed low at his leg.

Terry cried out, falling to one knee as he held the through and through wound.

"You don't get death your way! You get it...
mine
!" I snapped, walking towards him.

There was a part of me that didn't even want to touch this pile of shit, but the other part of me, the man that saw every scar, every tear, and every nightmare of the beautiful girl he loved, wanted to tear this man apart slowly, painfully, and with so much fucking pleasure, it scared me. Mainly because this was the closest I could get to the guy that actually gave them to her.

Jackson and I walked to him, and just as we were about to reach for his shirt, he flung himself over the edge. We rushed to the side, expecting to see his splattered remains in the alley below, but I watched in fascination as he slid down one of those construction chutes, landing roughly and ungracefully right by a waiting car. He was in it and down the street before we really comprehended what we'd seen.

"Tink," Jackson growled in the earpiece, "he's in a blue Toyota, heading south down the alley off of Fourth."

"I see him," she said, typing away. "Dario, you're two blocks from him. Turn left, then turn right!"

"Fuck!" I snarled, balling up my fist and punching the closest thing to me, which thankfully, wasn't the brick wall, but an air conditioning vent. It collapsed under my punch.

I listened with fascination as Tink tried her damnedest to guide Dario, but the guy slipped down a few alleys that were blind to her, and they lost him when he finally came out at a main intersection, blending in downtown traffic. Terry was fucking gone.

“Damn it!" I growled, running a hand through my sweaty hair. I pulled my sunglasses off, and they shattered in my fist, so I tossed them to the rooftop.

My father's voice came over the radio. "Adrian, get back here. Have Dario pick you up, son," he ordered, his voice calmer than I expected, considering the fact that I'd failed to do what he asked.

"Yes, sir..." I muttered, getting a pat on the back from Jackson.

"Hurry, son...Alyssa needs you..."

"Fuck! Alyssa," I sighed, feeling like an asshole as I looked over at Jackson, because I'd totally forgotten about her reaction to seeing Windsor. "You tell her I'm coming. Put the radio in her ear if you have to, okay?" I asked, somehow finding the strength to run to the fire escape.

"Just...hurry, Adrian," he urged, as Jackson and I made our way down to the street.

Dario pulled up a few minutes later, and Hunter, Danny, and Jeff made room for me, Jackson, and Ross to climb in. I sat back, my head falling to the head rest as I took a deep breath and let it out.

"They'll come back, kid," Dario sighed, pulling out on the street. "Sounds like they couldn't stop themselves from coming." I nodded, just looking out the window.

"Hey," Hunter said beside me, placing one of his hand
s on my shoulder. “Alyssa's safe, and that's the most important thing...
right now
. Got me?"

"Yeah," I muttered, nodding again and suddenly feeling an ache to see her that I couldn't even express. "Just...get me back to her."

Dario grunted that he'd heard me, taking the next turn. "You got it, kid.”

             
Another three months had passed ending Alyssa’s first official quarter in complete control. She secured an open ended contract with South Cape following Dad’s negotiation terms to the letter and because of it, Neil Industries Stock was at an all-time high. The lower level execs loved the way that she ran things and greeted her warmly every time she walked the floors. The only ones that were still uneasy were the members of the board, but with the profits pouring in, even they couldn’t argue. She was doing an exceptional job, but she wanted it all to be over, and I felt beyond pissed that I couldn’t give her the one thing she wanted. My mind ran over the day three months ago, when I had to tell her that Terry Windsor and the mystery guy, our only lead, just got away.




Dad and Macon said when they had first got her back upstairs, and in Paul’s apartment that she was scared shitless. Doc got to her, talked her though everything, and by the time I got there, that fear was replaced with anger. She was pissed that she froze, because Alyssa
rarely froze. When I got her into a room by herself her eyes were practically tearing in frustration.

"Hey," I said, cupping both sides of her face. "It's okay, he's gone. Not gone like I'd like him to be, but he won't touch you, love. Please, please stop
being hard on yourself."

"Tell me what happened," she sniffed, trying her damnedest to settle down.

"We chased him to the roof of an apartment building. Jackson and I thought we had him cornered, and hell, I even shot the motherfucker, but he jumped," I told her, shaking my head at how fucked up it was that asshole got away from us.

"I thought you said he got away," she accused, narrowing her eyes at me.

"He did, baby," I sighed, brushing the rest of her tears away. "He slid down one of those construction chutes, and there was a car waiting for him."

"Oh," she huffed, and then took a deep breath, her brow still furrowed. “Both of them?”

"It's my fault," I nodded, running a hand through my hair. "I shouldn't have hesitated, but I was so angry that he was there, that he took Juan and all of this shit happened, and the way that he was staring at you...that I couldn't even begin to figure out what the fuck I wanted to do to him. And that cost me..."

My girl wrapped me up in a tight hug, murmuring, "Thank you for trying," but I hissed when her hand pressed against the scrape on my shoulder blade. She pulled back quickly, eying me intently. "Bathroom. Let me see," she ordered, scrambling down off of my lap.

I groaned, but followed her into the bathroom of the hidden apartment, my legs now stiff from my fall to the rooftop.

She spun in front of me, hands on hips. "Strip, mister."

"If you wanted me naked, you just have to say so, Alyssa," I teased her, but she wasn't having it.

"Not funny, Adrian. Let me see."

Carefully, I tugged my shirt over my head, kicked out of my shoes, socks, and pants, and stood before her in my underwear. I felt like an admonished child, until her eyes welled up.

"Baby, please don't," I begged her, pulling her to me. "It's just some scrapes. I'm fine."

"Your knee is swollen, Adrian," she bit back, pointing to the shower. "Shower. I'll get you some clean clothes and something for pain and those scrapes."

"Nothing more than over the counter, love," I grumbled. I'd experienced pain meds after my chopper crash, and I didn't need to be anything other than alert.

"'Kay," she sighed, pointing to the shower. "In, Adrian."

By the time I'd hissed and winced like a pussy through my whole shower, I got out to see she was waiting for me, with clean clothes, a bottle of water, two pills, and a first aid kit.

"This shit is not necessary, Alyssa," I growled, rolling my eyes at her wry smile.

"Tough. Put these on and sit," she commanded, ignoring my grumpy look and handing me a pair of boxers. We had all spent the night in this apartment at least once since she took it over. Sometimes with all of the work involved it was just easier.

She was so fucking cute, all commanding and serious, that I couldn't help but just do what she asked, because I got the feeling this was something that she needed to do...
and
 she'd stopped crying, so whatever kept her tears at bay was a good thing.

I'd watched her the night I got her back from the mountain. She'd been so careful with Victor, cleaning his wound and wrapping it. My father, Doc, and I had stopped to watch her
. Doc had whispered that it was therapy for Alyssa to help someone else with an injury, that it helped her forget her own wounds that she'd suffered through.

"Here, take these, please," she pleaded, putting two pills in my hand and handing me the water. "It's just acetaminophen, but it'll help, okay?"

I nodded, downing the entire bottle of water at the same time.

She worked quietly, her eyes focused and concentrated on my injuries. Both knees were scraped up—and the one was swollen—so she cleaned them and medicated them, but I stopped her from bandaging them.

"Leave them open," I said, shrugging when she looked up at me, but she didn't argue.

She stood up and gently turned me so that she could take a look at my back, which actually stung worse than my knees, and I couldn't help it when I hissed the second she started to clean it.

"Did you fall, Adrian?"

"Not really. I'd run like six or seven blocks and climbed the fire escape, so by the time I jumped from one roof to another, my knees were tired. I landed okay, but I had to roll to soften the impact," I explained softly, flinching again when she swiped at it one more time.

"Here," she giggled, leaning forward and blowing softly on my skin to take the sting away.

That simple, innocent gesture shot straight to my dick, and I had to bite my lip to keep from letting out a groan, because I could just imagine her lips, her breath, her mouth other places.

"I'm going to cover this one, baby, so your shirt doesn't stick to it," she whispered in my ear, which didn't help my current situation, and she totally busted me adjusting myself as she leaned forward to kiss my cheek. "You're insatiable, Mr. Harris," she purred with a giggle against my jaw.

"Your fault," I said, finally giving in to the groan I couldn't fight. "Alyssa, please hurry..."

She smiled against my shoulder, placing a long kiss to my skin with another little giggle coming from her.

"Keep laughing,
 
Honeyface
," I growled, but her laugh as she put medicine and a bandage on me just made me smile, because I'd rather her laugh at me, than to be upset any day.

"And your hand?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at my scraped and red knuckles.

"I... I s-sort of punched an A/C vent," I sputtered, looking at my hand as she cleaned it up, as well.

Once she was finished, she turned me back around, still fighting her smile. "As much as I'd like to take care of that situation you've got going on there, Adrian, your dad wants us to eat, and have a meeting before I go to my
next
meeting."

I grimaced, but nodded. We knew this plan would revolve around keeping up appearances, but I missed the carefree ways of home. Hell in an odd way I even missed our time in Mexico compared to working at Neil Tower. Fuck, at least I could touch her when I wanted, but not here, not when we weren't sure who was watching, who could benefit in knowing what we were up to. The fact that she was being pulled in several different directions with no free time just made it worse—and it had only been starting.

"I want you," I pouted, but snatched my clothes out her hands. "I won't apologize for that."

She cupped my face, kissing my lips fully. "Nor would I want you to, but we can't. Believe me... After this morning, there's nothing I want more than to just hide away in here with you," she said, her teeth gnawing away at her bottom lip and her brow furrowing. I could tell this Windsor shit was still fucking with her.

I'd known my presence made her feel safe, but I hadn't realized just how much. Her panic attack was probably a result of Windsor and the big guy’s presence, and her guns absence— an enormously bad combination for her.

"I'm sorry they scared you," I told her honestly, "but I'd rather chase him away from you, than to let him anywhere near you again, okay?"

She swallowed and nodded.

"I'll chase him until I catch him, love," I vowed, meaning that to my very bones.

"I know, and thank you," she sighed, kissing me again, before backing away when my father's voice called from the hall.

"Alyssa, Adrian...we need to get moving," he said, but I could tell he was uncomfortable bothering her after what had happened earlier.

She nodded, though he couldn’t see her. Then she answered verbally. “I know.”

———————

              As I watched the video and audio feed from Alyssa’s broach, on the board meeting she was currently attending with Kristen I felt the need to be there. Since the escape of Terry Windsor, my girl had been focused, to bring him back out of hiding, as well as whoever was pulling the strings. She said she would shake things up on every floor until the shit came out, and today was one of those days.

             
“I’ve decided to do some giving back.” She said out of nowhere, halfway through the meeting.

             
Half of the board tilted their heads at her. Maxwell the co-chairman gave her a patient smile before responding. “Miss Marshall, we have coordinators that handle all of our contributions. You don’t need to worry about that with everything else on your plate.”

             
Her tone with him was a lot kinder than it was with half of the other members of the board. Most of them felt like she didn’t belong, no matter who her father was, but Roman encouraged her, and offered help in whatever way he could. “I know Mr. Maxwell, but I don’t plan on writing this one off, plus it is short notice.”