Chapter 13 #2
Right then, an SUV stopped right in front of us.
“That’s us,” Dominic said, opening the car door for me.
I felt his hand hovering an inch away from the small of my back as I moved to get into the car.
Every pore of my skin yearned to feel that large hand graze across my back, that tiny amount of distance seeming like a hundred miles.
The fact that he didn’t just touch me, that he remembered the boundaries I’d set, that he respected my words, my wishes, just made me trust him even more. It made me want to remove all my boundaries for him and give him the right to take that liberty with me.
I was in so much trouble with this man .
With a quick thank you, I climbed into the car, the car behind us honking like a menace, having absolutely no manners or patience. Dominic quickly got in behind me, and we were on the move as soon as he shut the door.
The moment we hit the first stoplight, Dominic turned to his driver. “Maxim, meet Samaira. Samaira, that’s Maxim.”
“Please to meet you, ma’am,” Maxim said, turning back to look at me.
I gave him a quick smile. “Likewise. And please, call me Samaira.”
Once the traffic light turned green, we were on the move. I’d never sat in the back seat of a car with a man like Dominic before. Sex and sin swirled around in the air between us, the heat radiating off him warming my arm close to him. Even the car smelled just like his cologne.
“Did you actually bug Brian Montgomery’s office?” Dominic asked, breaking the silence and managing to pull me away from my horny thoughts.
My face broke into a wide smile as I gave him a happy nod. I loved listening in to people’s secrets, especially when it came to powerful men with low morals. “And I’ll also bug the state attorney's office.”
He gave me a wicked smile in return. “Good girl.” A breathy gasp escaped my chest. Those two words.
Two fucking words spoken with so much genuine pride in his voice for me that I wanted to melt on his seat.
Blood flowed like lava through my veins as I pressed my legs together to relieve some of the pounding ache in my core.
A rough squeak rushed out of me. “Uh…Thanks.”
This was so not part of the plan. He wasn’t supposed to say things like that.
I wasn’t supposed to be affected by his words.
He was my client. Nothing more. I had to stay within a professional fucking boundary.
The man was paying us fifty fucking million dollars.
I couldn’t mess this case up, no matter how badly I wanted to climb on his lap and claim his fucking lips.
I was in the middle of hyperventilating from his proximity and his scent when the car slowed to a stop.
“That’s us,” Dominic said, who’d surprisingly stayed quiet and busy on his phone after dropping those two panty-melting, mind-bending words.
I tightened my ponytail and pulled myself together. After exiting the car, we followed protocols similar to the last building, making our way through the lobby to the state attorney’s office.
The moment we stepped into his office, Dominic shook Thomas Cooper’s hand and then introduced me. Unlike Brian, Thomas extended his hand to me. He appeared to be in his sixties, with graying hair and a receding hairline.
As he shook my hand, he turned to Dominic. “Is she your assistant or your bodyguard, Dominic?” he boomed, laughing as if he’d made the most original joke in the world.
Before Dominic could respond, I tightened my grip slightly and offered Thomas a sharp smile. “What good is an assistant if she can’t protect her boss?”
He let out an uproarious laugh, patting my hand. “Well said, my dear.”
Ugh. I wanted to wash my hands.
Once we were seated in front of him, I took out my iPad and the tiny recorder, hiding it in my hands as I started to take notes.
Thomas Cooper Sr. was a large man, his belly protruding from his suit.
He knew he was powerful, and it showed in the way he took a few seconds before answering any questions that Dominic asked.
Again, I dropped my iPad pencil while taking notes and stuck the recording device under his desk.
When the meeting concluded, Dominic once again brought up his dad and asked, “Mr. Cooper, my father was hoping to meet you at the gala that happened around four months ago. Now that he’s retired, those are the only events he prefers to attend. But he didn’t see you there.”
Something minuscule shifted in Thomas’s eyes. “Oh, uh, I didn’t go to the gala. Who has time for such nonsense?”
He did not volunteer any information on who went on his behalf.
“Oh really?” Dominic asked, acting genuinely surprised, showing a hint of worry and confusion in his tone as he continued, “I was talking to Anthony, the organizer of the gala, and he mentioned your invitation being scanned. You know how he is. Always boasting about the influential people attending his events.”
“He said that?” Thomas asked.
When Dominic nodded, looking genuinely confused, Thomas gave something between a scoff and a chuckle. “Ah, my son went in my place. Since it was a masked event, I figured there wouldn't be much conversation anyway. Tommy offered to go, and I told him, 'Better you than me, son.’”
He chuckled again, grating my insides.
Dominic waved off his answer with a smile, acting as if he couldn’t be bothered one way or another, and stood, buttoning up his suit. “Never mind. You should visit our place in Connecticut. Catch up with Father. He might be retired, but he isn’t out of new project ideas if you know what I mean.”
Thomas’s eyes gleamed as he shook hands with Dominic. “Of course. Let’s set something up soon.”
We were out of the office and in the car in under five minutes. Once Maxim got the car on the road, Dominic turned to me. “You got the recorder set up properly?”
I nodded. “Yep. The device uploads the recordings every hour. I’ll start going through whatever we gather tomorrow.”
Before Dominic could say something, Maxim jumped in. “Miss Samaira, where do I drop you?”
“Thunder Claw, please.”
He gave a quick nod and took the next turn to the right .
When I looked back at Dominic, he asked, “Did something seem off about Thomas? I got a different vibe from him than Brian.”
“Yep, I felt the same way. Brian was just obnoxious, whereas Thomas actually seemed to think before speaking. Still, I wonder…if his son was the culprit, why would Thomas offer up his name as the one who attended the party? Wouldn't he try to hide that? If this Tommy actually raped Sophie, surely he thinks you were trying to figure something out, wouldn’t he?”
“Maybe he’s trying to appear nonchalant. Perhaps he thought that by giving out his son’s name, I would find him innocent. Maybe he’s trying to apply reverse psychology on us.”
“Maybe,” I said, still in thought. “We’ll figure it out soon enough. Men like these often tend to take care of personal business in their offices themselves. It’s that ego that always fails them. One minor indication in the recording, one tiny slip of a word, and we’ll be one step closer.”
His fist clenched on his thigh, a low rumble vibrating in his chest. “You have no idea what I’m going to do to those bastards.”
The raw violence radiating from him sent a thrill through me, my blood pounding and pulse accelerating. The predatory gleam in his eyes had my mouth watering. “Oh, I have some idea.”
His ruthless smile met mine, and he nodded in understanding. “So what's your plan for today aside from going through these recordings?”
I tightened my ponytail, breaking eye contact. “Oh, I’m not going over the recordings today. I have another assignment with my girls.”
“Anything I can help with?” he asked. I thought he was just being perfunctory, but when I looked at him, the honesty on his face took me by surprise. Why would he want to help with someone else’s problems?
“I don’t think so.” I genuinely had no idea how he could be of help, aside from pouring money into our accounts, which he was already doing.
When the car stopped at Thunder Claw, Dominic stepped out, ever the gentleman.
We stood facing each other, the sensible part of my mind screaming at me to step back, to bid him goodbye.
But the naughty, reckless, obsessed part of my mind pushed that sensible part aside, taking complete control over my mouth. “You wanna come watch?”
Blood rushed to my cheeks as warning bells started ringing in my brain, the sensible part of my mind bellowing at me to take back my words. But to my utter relief—and shock—Dominic did not hesitate for even a second. “Yes.”
My face broke out in a stupid smile as my naughty brain danced around in manic glee, thinking of all the ways we were going to show him my raw power, my ruthlessness, my violence.
The sensible part of me was downright panicking at the thought of the four Wildcats who were going to bust my balls at seeing Dominic by my side at the safe house.
At the fucking safe house . Safe. Fucking. House.
Fuck my life.
Fuck my idiotic brain.
Fuck Dominic Park and his stupidly handsome face, his charming smile, his fucking dimples, his warm eyes, and his stupid, sinful suits.
On second thought…Do. Not. Fuck. Dominic. Park.