Unlawful Attraction: The Complete Box Set: Alpha Billionaire Romance (20 page)

I hope to hell you're there. Defendant’s house was tossed. Stay there until the cops and her lawyer are done. Take pictures if you can. She’s going to use this as a ploy for sympathy. Call me ASAP when you’re done.

Irritated, I silenced my phone and shoved it into my pocket.

If you want to know so badly, you should have crawled out from under Pierce and been here
, I thought, annoyed. I didn't get paid enough to get pulled out on a Sunday for something like this.

“Ma’am, can I help you?”

I looked up at the officer stationed next to the door, then flashed my DA's badge. “I’m with the DA’s office.”

“Bethany, glad you could–”

That voice.

I jerked up my head and found myself staring into a pair of all-too-familiar emerald eyes.

My voice came out a rasp, practically trapped in my throat. “What are you–?”

A pretty woman with chestnut hair appeared behind him. She had hollow cheeks and pretty green eyes. She barely glanced at me before turning to Arik. “Arik, can I...am I allowed to lie down?”

“Just a moment, Leayna, okay?” He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

I found myself staring at that, at the way he touched her. The protectiveness of the gesture.

As if sensing my gaze, his eyes came back to mine. “Ma’am, I’m not sure what you’re doing here, but you need to leave. This is a crime scene,” he said, his voice flat.

Hard.

Cold.

Ma’am.

He’d called me
ma’am
. Like he hadn’t been deep inside me not even twelve hours ago.

Fine.

The bastard.

And then it hit me. His hand. His perfectly pressed suit. The manner in which he'd just spoken.

His eyes studied mine closely as pieces fell into place.

Ma’am
.

Yeah, fine. We’ll go with that,
I thought dully. Maybe he had his reasons, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt.

“Again, ma’am,” Arik said, taking a step toward me. He spoke a little louder, enunciating the
ma’am
. “This is a crime scene. You can’t be here.”

I gave him my best bitch look, pulling on the steel I'd relied on for so many years. The steel that was part of what made me a good Dom.

“Oh, I’m aware of where we are, but I'm not going anywhere.”

His eyes narrowed.

“I’m with the DA’s office.” I put out my hand as I prepared myself for the fallout of my next sentence. “Dena Monroe, assistant district attorney. Nice to meet you.”

Continues in Unlawful Attraction Vol. 3

Unlawful Attraction Vol. 3

Chapter 1

Arik

“Arik!”

I hadn’t been inside the door more than thirty seconds before Leayna flung herself at me. I gave her a quick, reassuring hug before easing back. She would've clung to me if I’d given her the chance, but the last thing I needed at the moment was for word to get back to the ADA that something inappropriate was going on between me and my client. Granted, there wasn't, but a rumor didn't need proof to cause damage.

Tucking a handkerchief into her hand, I squeezed her shoulder as I looked around her apartment. It had been an elegant living space just a few days ago. Now, it was trashed. I felt for the woman next to me. She'd already been through so much, with her husband's murder, the arrest and false allegations.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, her voice hitching a little as she struggled to bring her emotions under control.

“You were right to call me.” While there was always a possibility that a considerate cop would've notified me, if she hadn't called, I might not have heard about what happened until I read about it in the paper.

Looking up, I saw an officer come around the corner, hands encased in protective latex gloves. “Officer.”

He looked over. “You with the DA’s office?”

“No.” Frowning, I glanced over at Leayna. She paled, her throat working.

“The DA?” she whispered.

“Yeah. I just got a call from the department. Apparently, they don't trust us to do our jobs.” The officer scowled. “If you’re not with the DA–”

I interrupted, “I’m Arik Porter, Ms. Mance’s attorney.”

The frown furrowing his brow cleared and he nodded, although he clearly wasn’t happy. “Going to be lousy with lawyers, then. My chief called. The DA is sending somebody out too. High profile and all.”

I mentally cussed a blue streak, but kept it all inside as I nodded. Aside from being unprofessional, I didn't want to let them know I'd been caught off guard. “Alright. Is it okay if we take a look around?”

“Be my guest,” he said with a shrug. “Just don't touch anything.” His mouth tightened. “I’ve been trying to get Ms. Mance to help us determine if anything’s been stolen, but...”

Leayna shivered a little. “I’m trying.”

The cop didn’t roll his eyes, but I was pretty sure he wanted to. I knew Leayna needed hand holding, but she'd been through a lot. Some compassion wasn't uncalled for. I took her arm and resisted the urge to glare at the cop. Defense attorneys weren't generally well-liked as a rule, so the last thing I needed to do was antagonize him.

“Come on, Ms. Mance. Why don’t you and I take a look? We’ll see what we can find.” Leaving the cop behind, we moved deeper into the apartment. I kept talking to her and tried to ignore the way she leaned into me. “It will be okay, Leayna. Just take a deep breath and focus on here and now. Look around, remember where things were, what you need to check on.”

She managed a weak smile before nodding to the double-glass doors off to the right. “That’s my study in there. It’s where my important things are. If someone was coming after me, that'd be the first place they'd go.”

I followed her inside and immediately got an idea of what she meant. Pieces of art were everywhere. Everything from framed photographs to what looked like might have been a couple of one-of-a-kind paintings. I didn’t know anything about real art, but there was one piece that I thought I could at least identify the artist. The face was all out of proportion, the nose on the side of the head. Frowning, I looked over at Leayna. “Is that a Picasso?”

She gave me a sheepish smile, as if I'd caught her doing something childish. “I love art. I even thought I'd be an artist before I met my husband.”

“And it’s...is it original?”

She nodded, looking at it fondly. “It belonged to my father. He kept it in this climate-controlled, light-controlled room where nobody ever saw it.” She shook her head and I saw something real shine through the flakey trophy wife I knew. “But that’s not why art’s created. It’s supposed to be enjoyed.”

I looked around, studying the flipped over chair, the desk with its drawers ripped out. Sculptures had been knocked over, and there were pieces of glass all over the floor, glittering in the light.

“They broke things,” I said softly.

“I know. Some of it...not all of it was expensive, but it was mine.” She swallowed and I could see tears shining in her eyes. “I collected all kinds of art. Blown glass and…” Her voice skipped. “At least they left the paintings alone.”

I started to respond, but heard voices. Glancing back over my shoulder, I said, “I think the DA is here.”

I left the study, wondering why somebody would break in, but not take priceless artwork. And they hadn't destroyed it either. It was almost as if they'd chosen to wreck things that meant a lot to Leayna, but nothing that was excessively costly.

A voice caught my ears.

Female, low.

My skin prickled. Bethany McDermott was the ADA on the case, but I thought she'd foist something like this off on an underling.

“I'm with the DA's office.”

“Bethany, glad you could–” The words died in my throat as I rounded the corner.

The petite blonde standing there in a tan jacket and jeans was most definitely
not
Bethany.

Dena
. Lust hit me hard and fast.

For one split second, her pale gray eyes brightened. “What are you—?”

“Arik?”

I locked my jaw at the sound of Leayna’s voice. There were too many people here for me to say any of the things I wanted to say.

Leayna angled herself into me. “Can I...am I allowed to lie down?”

“Just a moment, Leayna, okay?” I squeezed her shoulder and looked back over at Dena.

Her eyes jumped back to mine and I was suddenly overly aware of the fact that my hand was on Leayna's shoulder. In that moment, I felt like I'd been caught with my pants down, and that irritated the hell out of me. She didn’t have a claim on me. And why was she here, anyway? I was working here. It was rude of her to have burst in like this, unannounced.

“Ma’am, I’m not sure what you’re doing here, but you need to leave. This is a crime scene.”

Ma’am
? I knew why I said it, and it was even partially justified. We’d met a handful of times and usually it had to do with me getting her naked as quick as possible. Now, I was working.

Even so, I felt like an ass as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

Dena’s lashes lowered ever so briefly over her eyes, but I caught a flicker there. Her mouth tightened.

Oh, shit.

As much as I didn't want to, I steeled myself. “Again, ma’am. This is a crime scene. You can’t be here.”

Something seemed to click inside her. “Oh, I’m aware of where we are, but I'm not going anywhere.”

My eyes narrowed. Was she kidding me? I must have seriously misjudged her.

Her smile was almost good enough to pass for real. She took a step forward, hand out. “I’m with the DA’s office. Dena Monroe, assistant district attorney. Nice to meet you.”

I stared at her, her words echoing in my head.

Dena Monroe, assistant district attorney.

Dena.

Fuck.

Dena was an ADA.

I’d been
fucking
an ADA. And apparently one close to the case.

Shit.

Her gaze swept past me and came to rest on Leayna. Automatically, I went back to the role I was supposed to be playing, and I placed myself between Dena and my client, but she didn’t try to speak to the other woman. Instead, she turned toward the officers.

“Has anything been taken?”

“Hard to say.” The cop who'd been acting like a dickhead earlier jabbed a thumb toward Leayna. “She’s not exactly forthcoming.”

“My client is understandably upset,” I said.

Dena looked around the apartment, her mouth flat. Cushions had been overturned and slashed, pictures knocked off the walls. Several large plants that had been placed near the large palladium window had been upended, leaving dirt on the plush carpet. Dirt that was being ground into the fibers with every step the cops took.

With a derisive smirk on her face, Dena swung her head to look at Dickhead. “One couldn’t possibly imagine why she might be upset, Officer...Dietz, is it?”

The other uniform, a giant brute of a fellow who looked just barely out of the academy, covered a laugh behind a clearly fake cough. Dena turned toward him and I had to cover a vicious jolt of jealousy as she smiled at him. She offered her hand and started to fire questions at him.

Deciding it would be better to focus on Leayna – and not Dena and my dick – I looked over at the slump-shouldered form of my client. Resting a hand on her arm, I asked, “Have they finished checking your room?”

She shook her head as she folded her arms around her stomach.

I worked hard to keep my voice gentle. “Okay, let’s take care of that. You can’t lie down until they're done, but if we take care of your room, maybe you can rest for a bit.”

***

“Wow.”

Dena came in behind me and my skin immediately felt about two sizes too small. The sound of her voice, that was all it took. The subtle scent of her shampoo or perfume or whatever it was she used came with her and my cock started to swell. This was not good.

She picked a spot about five feet off to my right, her boots crunching over the shards of glass. “Hope whatever that was wasn't something important,” she said quietly.

“It was all important to my client.” I knew what Dena actually meant, but I was feeling like enough of an ass to pretend that I didn't.

She was quiet for a moment and then continued along what I assumed was her original train of thought. “Seems strange to trash an apartment as classy as this, but leave things like that Picasso untouched. If you’re going to do it, why not go all in? Or at least take some stuff with you.”

I looked over at her. “Leayna wasn’t here when the place was tossed.”

“I’m not saying she was.” She sounded sincere, but her eyes were cool, distant even.

Like I was a stranger.

I didn't like it.

I took a step toward her without even really thinking about it.

She took a step back, keeping the distance between us the same. “Does she have any idea who might have done this?”