Chapter 30
Grace
”See you soon, lover,” I said in a fake Eastern European accent while I watched Zephyr on FaceTime. He was equal parts amused and contrite. ”Oh, and let”s not forget the problem you have in your pants.”
”I”d love a blowjob right about now.” I watched his hand go down his torso. ”Baby, I need you.”
”You should ask Alina, maybe—”
”Grace, shut up and show me your pussy.”
”Zephyr.” He knew I was embarrassed and shy. I loved watching him pleasure himself, and yet, I couldn”t let him see.
”Baby, please. I”m risking my life for the law with the Russian mob,” he pleaded.
I rolled my eyes.
”God, I want to taste your breasts. Your nipples are so hard.” His hand was moving over him as he watched my body. I slid the camera further down.
”Yeah, baby. Like that.”
I closed my eyes as I held the phone between my legs.
”Grace, show me how good your pussy looks with a dildo in it.”
I found my vibrator and managed to maneuver it inside me while I held the phone. This was beyond embarrassing. It was moronic.
”Get the fuck out of your head,” he muttered. ”Now. Show me all that cream inside you, baby.”
The way this man talked. God!
I moved the vibrator in and out, my shyness dissipating under his praise and his groans of pleasure.
”Look, baby, I”m coming for you.” Watching his semen spurt all over him drove me to my orgasm. Even phone sex with Zephyr was hot.
”Next time we”re together, I want you to swallow my cum. Okay, Grace.”
How could he still continue to turn me on even after I”d found my release?
”I want that pussy so bad, Little Tempest.”
Realizing my phone was still focused on my nether regions, I pulled it up so I could see his face and show him mine. He was grinning. He liked to push my limits, he”d told me, and do things with me that I was uncomfortable with so I could learn what I liked and what I didn”t.
”It”s like green eggs and ham,” he said. ”Until you have them, you don”t know if you like them.”
Like I said, the man had a way with words.
”Alina”s going to come to you again,” I told Zephyr as we lay on our sides, our phones resting across from us. It was the best we could do. Running an op was a crap time to start a relationship with the person who you had undercover. I was still afraid that people would find out, and if they did, I”d be in so much trouble. Nick and Ash were the only ones at work who knew. I trusted them. But if things went to hell, and they were asked to testify, I couldn”t ask them to perjure themselves. I”d lose my career. The one that I”d built with such dedication and care.
But all that I could handle. I could give up my career if need be.
But I couldn”t handle someone hurting Zephyr because they suspected he was working with the cops and the DA. That I wouldn”t let happen. Not on my watch. I”d protect Zephyr with my life if need be, so a career was nothing.
”When do you think Alina will approach me?”
”In the next few days is my guess.”
He groaned. ”How long will we do this, Grace? I don”t know what”s up or down anymore. People keep asking me about my gambling habit. Henri is fucking freaking out that I have a problem, one he thinks I”ve been hiding. And now this Alina bitch threatened Angela.”
”Angela is fine. Big Daddy”s is secure, and she knows to be careful,” I soothed.
”Miss Matty was almost in tears when she saw me the other day after the board meeting. She told me she”d heard about the horses, and she knew that my father was into them…. He was into horses.”
He didn”t talk a lot about his father, but I knew that he felt a connection, no matter how tenuous.
”Horses are your way of keeping him alive inside you.”
He traced a hand over his phone. ”I want to touch you. I don”t know what the fuck you”ve done to me. No woman has ever had this power.”
”And no man has with me what you do,” I gave back to him.
”Yeah?” The cocky man returned.
”Oh, God, now you”re going to have a big head.”
”You know what they say, big head…big cock.”
A relationship could be like this, where you laughed, made love, got angry, and had fun. I hadn”t known that. I always thought that relationships were a lot of work—you had to keep them going, you had to make other people happy, you had to be quiet, you had to be someone else to maintain a balanced relationship.
But with Zephyr, I felt like I could be me, whichever version of myself I wanted and felt like being. I could be the lawyer, and he wanted to fuck me. I could be the submissive, and he wanted to fuck me. I could be the angry bitch or ice maiden, and…yeah, so there was a theme here with Zephyr wanting to fuck me, period.
Every morning, I woke up excited despite the pressure of running an organized crime op and with still managing my caseload.
I was happy because sometime during the day, I”d hear from Zephyr. In a few short months, this man had become the center of my life.
A lot like Liam had—but he”d taken over my life also, to the point there had been no room for me. That was not the case now.
Spring had settled into New Orleans, and the forerunners of hot summer days and muggy nights were already in the air. I went through my closet and pulled out a printed sheath dress. I usually wore dark colors, and in the summer, I stuck to cream and beige. But for some reason, I wanted to celebrate, and nothing said I love my life like a yellow dress with black flowers.
I slipped on black D”Orsay pumps and then, on a whim, wrapped a matching yellow scarf around my hair like a band, leaving the strands loose. I saw myself in the mirror and felt a rush of delight. I didn”t remember this woman—but I recognized her as someone I”d always wanted to be. Because this woman was happy.
The joy I felt went right out the window when I got to work, and my assistant told me that my boss wanted me in his office as soon as I got in. It was eight in the morning. When the hell did Josh get in?
My stomach sank when I saw Henri Allard sitting across from Josh. I”d expected this—I hadn”t expected it quite so quickly.
”Good morning, Mr. Allard. Hi, Josh.” I took a seat, glad I wore something light and breezy, so I could pretend I felt that way.
Josh looked me up and down and cleared his throat. ”Ah…you look very…ah spring.”
I cocked an eyebrow.
”Well, what”s going on?” I wasn”t going to dignify his remark about my clothing with a ”thank you.” Of all the things I hated most in the workplace, it was men complimenting women on what they wore. It took away from the work we did.
”I have a complaint here from Mr. Allard that you were speakin” to his clients without counsel present.” Josh was not comfortable with this whole scene, but I knew he felt trapped. He was from an old N”awlins family, and Henri Allard was one of the most influential lawyers in the state because of his connection to the Doucets.
”As I explained to Mr. Allard, as did Imran Naqvi, a member of the BBH board, it was a casual conversation.”
”But you were there as an officer of the DA”s office, Grace,” Josh continued. Both he and I know he was dressing me down in front of Henri to save his own face. Jerk and coward!
”It”s not my responsibility to ask for counsel when the discussion has nothing to do with legalese. I also met Gaia for drinks the other night; Mr. Allard was not invited to that conversation either.”
Josh gave me a pleading look that said, just apologize and get me off the hook, girly. I wasn”t going to do that. Too many women in the workplace tended to apologize for wrongs they never committed.
But what I was learning was that this was who Henri Allard was with the rest of the world. He showed a different side of himself to the Doucets and those close to the family, like Rome, though he didn”t fool Rome or Nick. He didn”t know that Zephyr and I were in a relationship, or he”d have handled me differently; I could bet my law license on it.
What was revealing was Henri”s method of maintaining control over the Doucets: he isolated them from other lawyers and meddled in all aspects of the family”s affairs. He knew where all the bodies were buried. Hell, he probably had killed and buried a few of those bodies himself.
”Mr. Allard, I am disappointed in you,” I said calmly. ”We already had this conversation, and yet you show up here trying to get me into trouble with my boss. It”s beneath you.”
Henri flashed angry eyes at me. ”Young woman, you”ll do well to keep your mouth under control.”
”Or what?” I asked. He reminded me of Liam—one persona for some people and another for others.
”Or I will destroy your career,” he threatened.
”Henri, now—” Josh tried, bravely, to cut in, but Henri barked at him, ”Get your ADAs under control, or come November, I”ll make sure to back your opponent.”
My control snapped.
”Joshua Brady is the best District Attorney this county has seen in years.” I glared at Henri. ”Trust me when I say I have financial resources that put yours to shame, and I will dime for dime pour money in Josh”s campaign if you come after him because he”s not going to stroke your ego and reprimand an employee of his who has done no wrong.”
Okay, so not the best way to proceed. But I hated smarmy assholes like Henri Allard. I absolutely despised them. He was a bully; that”s who he was. He played nice with the Doucets, and those who he thought were beneath him, he crushed to keep in line.
”Let”s all calm down.” Josh stood up. ”Henri, I apologize on behalf of—”
”No, you don”t.” I sprang up. ”There”s nothing to apologize for.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed.
”Decuir,” Rome”s voice came clearly through, and I put him on speaker.
”Rome, this is Grace in Joshua Brady”s office with the BBH and Doucet family counsel, Mr. Henri Allard. Mr. Allard is making an official complaint against me for the meeting we had yesterday.”
If this was a cartoon, fumes would be coming out of Henri”s ears and nostrils. Josh, for his part, was amused, and I noticed respect for me in his eyes. Yeah, eat that, Henri.
”Henri?”
”Yes, Rome.”
”This isn”t what we discussed.”
”You don”t understand how these things work, Rome. You take care of the business, and I take care of—”
”You are not going to make an official complaint against Grace as a BBH representative. Am I making myself clear? Grace, I apologize for this. Hi, Josh. I want to let you know Grace did nothing wrong. Henri, let”s talk in my office in thirty minutes; that should give you enough time to get here.”
Rome hung up, and I wondered if we”d done the right thing by poking the bear. We”d just made an enemy out of Henri Allard, and he wouldn”t take lightly to be humiliated by Rome and me in this manner.
After Henri stomped out both Josh and I collapsed in our chairs.
”Is it too early for hard liquor?” Josh groaned.
”It must be happy hour somewhere…probably on Bourbon Street for sure.”
John stared at me, eyes wide, and then burst into laughter. ”God, I can”t believe you did that.”
”Why do you kowtow to him?”
Josh leaned back in his chair. ”Henri is a fixture. He manages the Doucets. That gives him immense power.”
”He doesn”t have more power than the Doucets, Josh.”
”The Doucets will never get rid of him, Grace. They”ll always side with him.”
”Not Rome.” I pointed at my phone.
”Rome is not a Doucet. Blaze is going to come down on us like a ton of bricks when he hears about this.”
I shook my head. ”No, Josh, he is not.”
”What do you know that I don”t?” he asked, his eyes narrowed.
”Did you, by any chance, let Henri know that Camille is in custody?”
He shook his head.
”Well, why don”t you call him before he gets to Rome and drop that nugget as a peace offering,” I suggested.
”What are you up to, Grace?”
”The fish rots from the head, Josh, and I think the head of BBH is Henri.”