17. Aspen
Chapter 17
Aspen
“ L ockbox twenty-three?” The private banker grabs her key to lead me into the bank vault where the lockboxes are kept. “We were starting to think it was a ghost that kept this box since we’ve never seen anyone open it.” She pops her gum and gives me a toothy grin.
“Oh yeah?” I laugh nervously. “Guess I didn’t realize it had been that long.”
“Well, you’re not the only person who hasn’t been here in ages. Oh well.” She shrugs, her kitten heels clacking against the tile floor. “As long as that bill is paid, we don’t care.” She waves to me before ducking out of the vault to leave me alone.
I flip the box open, glancing once over my shoulder before reaching inside to retrieve the burner phone and charger. I left them together, knowing full well that if for any reason I ever did open this box up again, I would need to charge the phone. I stuff the contents into my shoulder bag, sliding the box back in and waving to the banker before exiting the bank.
By the time I make it back to my office, my face is beet red and sweaty from rushing the last three blocks from the bank back to work. I knew I’d be pushing it by using my lunch hour, but I had to take the risk.
I close my office door softly, locking it before pulling the phone from the bag and plugging it into the charger. My hand shakes as I power on the phone, the screen coming to life with a chime a few seconds later.
I scroll to the address book, the single number still the only one programmed into it. I flip to the call log and texts, double-checking as if there’s any way someone could have accessed this phone without my knowledge.
My teeth gnaw on my lower lip as I nervously try to think through my options. Last night, after Harvey’s confession, I told him that I wasn’t sure what my plan was yet, because it was true. I thought that when I held this phone in my hand again after all these years, the answer would reveal itself. That I’d have a feeling or peace would pass over me, letting me know that reaching out to Jaxson would be the way to go.
But I hesitate.
I know without a doubt that if I do hit dial right now, Jaxson will pick up. He’ll agree to help me, no questions asked. But that’s not what I want. I snap the flip phone closed, holding down the power button and unplugging it in the wall. I’m tossing it into my purse when I hear the jiggle of my door handle.
“Aspen?” My blood runs cold when I hear Connor’s voice on the other side. “Aspen?” he says again in a flowery tone. “Why is your door locked?”
I spring out of my chair and unlock it, pulling it open. “Sorry, sir, I was just analyzing some confidential data. It’s always our practice in the IT department to close and lock our doors for security measures.” I lie confidently, using a trick I learned from him, bluffing. I keep my eyes completely focused on him knowing that if I let them drift over to look at Harvey for even a millisecond, he’ll notice.
He eyes me, then turns to close the door behind him but Harvey’s hand darts out against the door. “Excuse you?” Connor snaps.
“Following orders, sir,” Harvey says. “You said you wanted a shadow.”
My stomach drops when he slowly turns to look at Harvey.
“I think I’ll be okay,” Connor says with an attitude, then whips his head back to look at me. “Unless you’re worried your girlfriend is going to kill me?” I take the opportunity while he’s laughing to shift my gaze toward Harvey who offers me a sexy little wink just before Connor slams the door in his face and locks it.
“We need to get things moving,” he says as he tugs a chair away from the wall and takes a seat across from me. “My lawyers said we have until next week to get my financials over to my wife’s lawyers.”
I swallow down the lump in my throat that’s threatening to choke me, trying to appear confident. “I was actually going to ask you when you wanted to go over things. Show me which accounts need to be hidden.”
“Oh, you were, were you?” His tone is passive aggressive, like he’s trying to intimidate me. Normally, it would work but I meant what I said when I told Harvey I’m done being used. A fire ignites in my belly.
“Yes, actually.” I pull up my calendar. “I have this time blocked off on my calendar tomorrow. I noticed that you also had a time gap in your calendar at the same time. I was about to draft a meeting invite and send it over after I finished with my data analysis.” I stare at him unblinking, relying on the fact that I know he doesn’t know his schedule that well; it’s up to his admin to know what his day is like and tell him. He’s trying to decide if he believes me. I hold my breath, praying my on-the-spot lie about this meeting invite is enough to convince him.
“Fine,” he finally says begrudgingly. “Send me the invite.” He reaches for the door.
“Oh, one more thing,” I say, holding up my finger. “Um, I know you mentioned previously about paying off my mom’s medical debt. I just wanted to make sure that was still part of the plan if I do this?”
“If?” He laughs. “You think you have a choice still? Aspen, what don’t you get about this? If you try to tell anyone about this, you’ll go to prison for being involved and if you think you’re going to tell anyone about this”—he turns and points at me—“beforehand, we both know that little recording I have of you gets unleashed on the internet like wildfire.”
Look scared.
I nod my head furiously, sucking in a shaky breath. That sleazy smile is back on his face, the one that tells me has no idea that he’s being played. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from laughing.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Aspen.” His smile fades. “Bring your A game.”
I jump when he slams my door behind him but finally, it feels like there’s a light at the end of this tunnel. I smile as I think through exactly how I see this plan working.
I grab my phone and disconnect from the company network, pulling up a search engine I use to gain unpublished information and typing in Lyra Blake. I scroll through the headlines and old modeling pictures of the statuesque blonde who looks like she just stepped off a runway even though she’s been retired for a decade. That’s when I find the information I’m looking for—her phone number.
“I have a plan.” I smile, jumping into Harvey’s arms the second he opens his door.
“Does it involve you naked?” He murmurs against my neck, his warm lips making their way up to find mine.
“The plan after I tell you the plan does.”
“Good.” His mouth is back on mine, kissing me like he can’t get enough. “I’ve thought of nothing all day but burying my cock in you.”
“It’s been too long,” I moan, his hands stretching wide across my back as he presses me against him.
“Tell me about it,” he pants as my hands find the hem of his shirt and lift it over his head.
It’s been less than forty-eight hours since he’s been inside me, longer than I want to ever experience again.
“How was your day?”
“Fuck my day,” he growls, reaching for either side of my blouse and tearing it in half. Buttons skip and scatter across the counter as I gasp. “I’ll buy you another one,” he says without apology as he pulls my cups down to expose my breasts.
“Oh yesss,” I hiss, my hands tugging wildly at his hair as his mouth assaults my breasts.
“I need to claim you.” He drags his teeth over my neck, a handful of my hair in his, tugging my head back to give him better access. “I need to fill you with my cum, to own you.”
“Ahh.” My body bends back over his kitchen island as he spreads my thighs. “You do own me.”
His hands fumble with his belt, his hand still gripping my hair tightly as he pulls himself free from his pants. “Pull your panties to the side,” he grunts.
I obey, reaching down to lift my skirt and pull my panties to the side as he lines himself up with my entrance.
“That’s my girl.” He has that strained thickness to his voice like he’s holding himself back. He presses his hips forward, his thick cock inching inside me one painful inch after another.
“Oh, oh,” I groan and whine, struggling to accommodate him but he doesn’t relent. He tightens his grip on my hair, tugging my head back so that my mouth falls open as I look up at him.
His pecs are rigged, a bulging vein running down his flexed bicep. I’m completely lost in him. The ruggedness of his beard, the dark ink that twists and winds its way around his sculpted body.
This man could do anything to me in this moment.
I am completely and utterly at his mercy, my body burning for him in a way I didn’t know was possible. I want to beg him to fuck me, to take me, to push me to my limits… but I don’t. The way he’s looking at me right now, this man knows every single dirty thought in my head right now and he has every intention of making those a reality.
“I’m going to wreck you now.”
“Can you trust her?” Harvey’s hand rests atop the curve of my hip.
“Not to tell him you mean?” I shrug when he nods his head. “I guess I can’t but it’s a risk I’m going to take.” I lift my head up slightly to look at him. “You think it’s a bad idea?”
“No. I trust that you know what you’re doing.”
I sigh and it feels good. It feels good to be trusted but more importantly, it feels good to trust in myself again.
“Why’d you decide not to reach out to Jaxson?”
I stare up at the ceiling, remembering the thoughts I had when I was in that vault at the bank. Remembering how Jax had asked me all those years ago to believe in myself someday. I guess someday finally came.
“I think I just realized I didn’t need to. I have what it takes to do it.” I turn my neck so that we’re looking at one another again. “And I know that I have you with me.”
“But even if you didn’t have me,” Harvey says, reaching out his finger to gently poke the tip of my nose, “you know you have it in you regardless, right?”
I nod my head and he pulls me closer to kiss the top of my head.
“Say it again,” I ask him for probably the thirtieth time since last night but he doesn’t seem to mind. He just smiles at me and repeats himself.
“I love you.” He smiles, planting a kiss on my shoulder. “I love you,” he says again, this time placing a kiss on my fingertips. He repeats the process over and over until after a dozen kisses, my body is begging for release again.
When we’re finished, we take a long shower and cook an easy dinner of frozen ravioli and green beans.
“You can use a program that will record the meeting you have with him?”
“Yup.” I smile around a big bite of pasta.
“But he won’t know?”
“Not impossible for him to know but highly improbable,” I say, thinking through the statistical chance he’d even have the knowledge to know this kind of program exists. “They make these programs for employers to spy on their employees or track progress, and parents often use them on their children’s computers to make sure they’re not able to get around firewalls or other security measures put in place.”
“Have I told you how intimidating you are?”
“Me?” I laugh.
“Yeah, you’re incredibly smart. Like, I knew you were smart, but I think I’m realizing just how out of my league I am here.”
“Good, let it serve as a reminder”—I playfully press the tongs of my fork against his exposed forearm—“I know how to cover my tracks.”
“Oh, I have no doubt about that.” He laughs.
“So anyway, that program will be running on my work computer, tracking every keystroke I make at his request. Granted, I can’t do any sort of audio recording; I think he’s smart enough that he might frisk.”
Harvey’s eye twitches. “Frisk you?”
I shrug. “Yeah, something I thought of after the fact. I know he doesn’t trust me and he thinks he has that video over my head, and the money, but I think he’ll at least cover his tracks.”
“So, after you have that recording that shows you actively going in and hiding money and accounts, then what? You just call up his wife and ask her to meet you?”
“That’s exactly what I plan to do and I’m really hoping it works because otherwise, he could just say that I did this on my own and he never asked me to so it would be useless on my end.”
“What do you think she’s gonna do with the information?”
I place my fork down on my empty plate and reach for my glass of pinot noir. “I’m not sure other than show her lawyers, but I would assume if they think they can use it, they will. Otherwise…” I shrug. “I just want her to have the information. She deserves to know… everyone deserves to know.”
“What does that mean?” I ask her. She looks over at me. There is clearly something she still hasn’t told me about the plan.
“I’m going to hack him too. Go through any and all information I can find that he’s hiding… which we both know is probably a lot and probably way worse than we can imagine.”
“Aspen.” The look on his face is already saying what he’s thinking.
“I know,” I say, holding up my hand, “but it has to be done; it’s the only way. This fraud, it’s not enough. People like him get away with stuff like this all the time. Whatever I find, it’s going on that same thumb drive he gave me and then a copy of it is going to the FBI, every news outlet in the nation, and DA’s office.”
“And they can use that as evidence in court?”
“Technically yes, since I’m just a private citizen.”
“Smart and kind,” Harvey says, shaking his head as he finishes his last bite of pasta. “I hope you know I’m fucked.” He grabs both our empty plates and walks to the kitchen sink.
“What do you mean?”
“With you,” he says, his back to me as he places the dishes into the dishwasher. “Not a chance in hell I’ll ever meet someone like you again.”
“In that case, I guess you should make sure you don’t screw it up, then,” I tease him, his eyes doing that thing where they grow dark and sexy as he lowers his head to look across the island at me.
“Dinner was good.” He drags his hand slowly over his beard and jaw as his eyes do a lazy perusal of my body. “But now I need dessert.”