15. Cooper
15
COOPER
S OMETHING brIGHT BURNED the back of my eyelids, and I turned my head on the pillow, seeking out the shadows. The dark reprieve was temporary, as whatever it was followed, and I felt the warmth on my face radiate down my body.
It was annoying and forced me out of a deep sleep, but as I came to, awareness dawned that I wasn’t at home—I was in some palatial penthouse, and at some point while Lachlan had been gone, I must’ve fallen asleep.
Shit. I hadn’t meant to do that.
I lifted a hand to shield my eyes and slowly forced them open to see Lachlan sitting by the window. He’d pushed the curtain beside him open a few inches, directing the sun straight at me.
As my eyes cleared, the strangest sense of déjà vu ran through me, but I brushed it aside when he said, “I would’ve thought you’d choose one of the beds.”
“No, I…” I squinted at the brightness, and he let the curtain drop. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. What time is it?”
“Ten.”
I bolted upright. “In the morning?”
Lachlan cocked his head, faint amusement on his lips as he waited for me to work it out.
Obviously I knew it wasn’t bedtime, but the fact that I’d slept that long and hard somewhere I wasn’t familiar with surprised me.
Dressed in an impeccably tailored dark blue suit and tie, Lachlan looked ready to conduct a high-powered business meeting, not sit here waiting for me to wake up. Though I couldn’t deny he was an incredible sight first thing—not that he was having the same experience of me right now.
I looked down at my rumpled shirt, jeans, and the hoodie I’d taken off at some point and hoped like hell that my hair wasn’t sticking up all over the place like it usually did in the mornings.
As I ran my fingers through it to smooth it down, I said, “Did you just get back?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I just did.”
“No, I mean when you got back.”
Lachlan crossed an ankle over his knee and lounged back casually, making an incredibly sexy picture. My dick took notice immediately, and I tugged the throw resting over me up to cover my hips.
“Why would I do that?” he said. “You were sleeping.”
“Sleeping…where, exactly?” Before he could respond, I added, “And don’t say ‘somewhere safe.’”
“But you are. Your comatose sleep proves it.”
No kidding. I’d slept so hard I felt discombobulated, but I needed my head screwed on straight, because the list of questions I had for him was a mile long.
“So…?” I waited for him to answer, and when he didn’t, I pressed on. “Is this a safe house or something?” Lachlan was in security; it would only make sense he had access to those. I never would’ve guessed they’d be on the luxurious side, but I wasn’t complaining.
“You can think of it that way.”
“You’re not going to tell me where, though?”
“In the city.”
“What part of the city?”
Lachlan’s mouth stayed frustratingly closed, so I decided to try a different line of questioning.
“Where’s the key card you took from me? I need it back.”
“My guys are looking into it now.”
“Your guys?”
“Yes.” He raised a brow when I jumped up off the couch and tossed the throw aside. “Is there a problem, Cooper?”
“ Yes , there’s a problem. That belongs to me.”
“Actually, it belongs to a guy called Mick.”
“Who?”
“Mick Shaughnessy. The boss of one of the biggest drug rings in New York.”
I swallowed and tried to process the fact that I now had a name, but how had Lachlan found that information first?
“Want to tell me how you came about having it in your possession?”
Not really. “I found it.”
“Where?” When I kept my mouth clamped shut, he leaned back into the couch and crossed his arms. “I’m curious, Cooper. You happened to find something that belongs to a group of dangerous criminals, and you don’t seem all that surprised to find out that information. Which tells me you know exactly whom you stole from.”
“I didn’t steal anything. I must’ve scooped it up by accident?—”
“And where was that?”
Why was he looking at me like he already knew the answer? Did running a security company mean he had access I couldn’t even dream about? Shit, had he somehow found out I was in the alley that night? There was no way.
“Tell you what,” he said, pushing off the couch. “Why don’t you tell me more about you instead. Are you seeing anyone?”
My brows shot up. “Asking because you’re interested, or…?”
“Because if you’re dating someone, they might be connected to this.”
“Oh.” Of course he was only asking in a professional capacity. “No, I’m not dating anyone.”
“Fucking anyone?”
“What? No.”
“Are you sure?”
There’s no way he knows about masked mystery man, so just play it cool. “Look, I haven’t been in the city long enough to meet anyone?—”
“You met me.”
“Well…” I didn’t have an answer for that, because I was still kicking myself for not calling him earlier.
“And you were obviously somewhere you shouldn’t be if you ‘found’ the key card, as you say. Listen, the only way I can look after you is if you start talking.”
I bit down on my lip, wondering just how much I should say, but since Lachlan already seemed to know answers to some of the questions I had, maybe we could help each other out.
“You can tell me,” he added. “Or I could always take your laptop and have my?—”
“You can’t take my laptop.”
“I can do whatever I want. You’re in my place.” Lachlan stood and strolled over to me. “But you’re right, I don’t want to take your laptop. I want you to tell me where you got the key card and what you know about it.”
“I don’t know anything about it.”
“Let’s say I believe that. You still didn’t answer the first question. Where you got it.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “Anyone ever tell you you’re annoyingly persistent?”
“I would’ve thought that was a quality someone like you would admire.”
That piqued my interest. “Someone like me?”
“A journalist.”
My eyes widened at his observation because as far as I could remember, I’d never told him what I did for a living.
“What makes you think I’m a journalist?”
“I’m in security. I know your name. It wasn’t difficult to run a check on you. So now that we’ve got that little detail out in the open, why don’t you tell me how you came to be in possession of a key card that belongs to one of the biggest drug runners in the city?”
“I told you?—”
“A lie. I know it and you know it. So try again.”
Jesus, and I thought I was tenacious. If his security job ever fell through, he seriously should look into journalism. Though, judging by my surroundings, it appeared he was rather good at what he did.
“Fine. I followed a guy.”
Lachlan cocked his head. “You followed a guy? Be more specific. Was it for drugs? Were you trying to make a purchase?”
“What? No. I don’t do drugs. Never have and never will.”
“Good. Their shit is killing people.”
“I know,” I blurted out before realizing I’d just given away more than I’d planned to.
“Ah, okay. ” Lachlan crossed his arms over his chest, and my eyes immediately fell to the broad build of his shoulders and the way his suit jacket hugged them. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Who died?”
“What?”
“I’m guessing you’re here chasing a story, am I right?”
A little too right, damn him.
“Someone close to you took the drugs and died. You want to know who supplied it. So who died?”
The fuck ? How did he do that? It was like he’d reached inside my mind and pulled out all the information he wanted.
“Cooper?”
“A…friend. It was a few months ago, back in Colorado.” What the hell. He already knew most of it—might as well tell him the rest. “The packet he had with him had the same symbol as that key card.”
“And so you came here looking for a story?”
“I came here looking to expose them. I want to find out who’s supplying the drugs and how they got to my friend.”
“So you decided to follow some drug dealers and that’s how you got this card?”
“Look, I know it wasn’t the smartest move. I almost died that night,” I admitted, and I could’ve sworn I saw Lachlan’s jaw bunch. “But it was worth it if this helps me catch them.”
“Fucking hell, you’re na?ve.” Lachlan turned away, and I grabbed his arm, spinning him back to face me.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, you’re na?ve . You said it yourself. You almost got killed following these assholes. How’d you get away?”
A flash of my sexy vigilante popped into my head and left me momentarily speechless.
“Cooper?”
I blinked Lachlan back into focus. “Luck, I guess. But that must’ve been where I picked the key card up.”
“Well, finally, the truth comes out. Was that so hard?”
“No.” I glared at him. “But I don’t generally run around sharing sources or information about the stories I’m writing. The last thing I need is someone else getting a scoop on something so important. Plus, you’ve seen my place—I kind of need a job.”
“Trust me.” He looked me dead in the eye. “I don’t want to steal your story. I’m trying to keep you alive.”
A shiver raced through me at the direct way he held my stare, and as his words lingered between us, I let out a breath. “I’m starting to understand that.”
Lachlan’s lips quirked. “Just starting to, huh?”
“Look, it’s been a rough twenty-four hours, but I’m getting there. You said the key card is with your team?”
“That’s right. They’re looking into it now.”
“Do you have any idea what it is? You obviously recognized the symbol. Who it belonged to.”
“That’s all we know so far. We’re trying to work out what it goes with now,” Lachlan said. “You said you followed a guy and that’s how you got this card. Where did you follow him from? Unless you just happened to stumble across a drug deal.”
“Uh…”
“Cooper?”
“I tracked the drugs to this club. At least, I think it’s a club? There was no name on the place, you’d never even know it was there by day, but I found some empty packets in the street outside and…waited. I waited for days—or nights, I guess—to see if anyone would come out of there that I could follow.”
“Why not go in?”
“Trust me when I say I’m not the kind of clientele they were letting in. Everyone that arrived at that place wore something that screamed money.” I gestured to my clothes. “Mine clearly do not.”
The way Lachlan ran his eyes over me made me feel like that didn’t matter. Like maybe he’d rather I didn’t wear anything at all.
I had to be reading too much into things, though. Why would a guy like Lachlan—obviously well connected and fucking gorgeous—even look twice in my direction? A guy like that could get anyone he wanted. Not like I wasn’t a catch when I was more in my element, but this wasn’t even in the stratosphere of normal for me.
“Cooper?”
I startled, realizing he’d asked something while I was spaced out. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked you for the location of the club.”
“Why?” I asked. “Will you and your team go there?”
“Thought about it.”
Oh hell no. If he was planning to get inside, I wasn’t getting left behind. I’d watched that place for too many hours to count, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t getting some kind of information from it.
Straightening my shoulders, I said, “Well, if you’re going, then take me with you and I’ll show you where it is myself.”
“Fuck no.”
I reared back. “ Excuse me?”
“You heard me. They’ve got the drop on you. It’s too risky.”
Logically, that made sense. But screw logic right now. “Then I’m not telling you a thing.”
Where I thought Lachlan might get annoyed at my refusal, he only smirked. “Trying to be difficult, Cooper? We want the same things.”
“No, I want to be involved—you want to keep me locked up here while you get to do the fun shit.”
Lachlan barked out a sharp laugh and rubbed a hand over the stubble at his jaw. “So putting yourself in dangerous situations is what gets you off, huh?”
I could see why it seemed that way. Hell, I’d probably think the same thing about me, and he didn’t even know about my tryst with the masked man.
“No. But you’ve already got the key card, there’s no Wi-Fi here, and now you want the rest of what I know? It’s not fair.”
“How about this,” he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. I tried and failed not to notice the impressive outline of his cock. “I’ll give you a full debriefing when I return.”
“ Or I go with you.”
“This isn’t a negotiation, Cooper.”
“Why?” I kicked my chin up as he stepped in so close the toes of his shoes bumped against mine. “Because you’re used to getting what you want?”
He lowered his eyes briefly to my lips. “I think you know the answer to that.”
All the breath left my body.
God, why was I getting hard when nothing about this situation warranted it? He was just so close, and so damn good looking. I could practically feel his breath on my lips, and it made my knees weak.
But I was determined to go with him. I had to.
I tried one last time. “Lachlan, please ?”
Apparently that really was the magic word, because Lachlan stared at me for a long time and then sighed.
“If I agree to this, you have to do as I say,” he said reluctantly.
I nodded, ready to accept whatever it took. “I will.”
“Hmm.” He lifted my chin with his finger. “Since you’re being so agreeable, let me set the rest of the ground rules.”
I wanted to balk at having any kind of rules, but something about the seductive tone of his voice lulled me into complying.
“When you’re here,” he said, his voice low as he angled his face toward mine. “I’ll be with you. When you leave, I’ll be with you. No one will be closer to you than I am until we work out who was following you.”
Jesus. My stomach flipped at the sensual promise in his words, even though all he was really saying was that he planned to keep me safe.
Safe with his body? Is that option on the table?
“Do we have a deal?” he said, moving back to look at me.
Damn he was good. I had to remember how to move my mouth again to speak. “Deal.”
Lachlan nodded once. “Good. Now why don’t we order some food?”
As he headed to the gold-embossed sideboard near the door, my brain began to cooperate again, and I realized I’d left out an important piece of information.
“Uh, Lachlan?”
“Yes?”
“There’s just one little problem with this plan.”
He shook his head and pulled out a booklet from one of the drawers. “Now you tell me.”
“It’s just… They’re not gonna let me in wearing this, because…”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll have someone bring you?—”
“No, no, not that. I mean, not just that. I mean…”
Lachlan turned around and cocked a brow.
“It’s a place that… Well, I think it’s like a…” My words faltered, because now that the reality of going there was hitting, I realized the other reason going inside the club had previously been off the table.
“Yes? Use your words, Cooper. Isn’t that your specialty?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a sex club,” I blurted out, feeling the heat creep up my neck.
Lachlan turned back around to face me. “Pretty sure or very sure?”
“Very. It might not be the sole purpose, but things definitely go on in there.”
“You’re sure you were never a guest at this club?”
“What? No. Of course not.”
He lifted a shoulder. “No judgment. We have one downstairs.”
He said it in such an off-hand way that I almost missed it. My jaw hit the floor, but he didn't notice, and I didn’t get a chance to ask more about it because he was pulling out his phone—that worked?—and brought it to his ear.
“Lucien,” he said a moment later, and then returned his gaze to me. “I’m going to need your expertise.”