Chapter Three
The police interview took two hours and left Holly feeling like she'd been put through a blender.
Detective Siegman had asked the same questions in three different ways, clearly fishing for some connection between Holly and her father that might explain the threats.
By the time he left with copies of the letter and photos of her vandalized car, Holly's nerves were frayed, and her patience was gone.
"That was fun," she muttered, closing her apartment door behind the last officer. "Nothing like being treated like a potential criminal to really brighten your day."
Jonah had come back from his work emergency at the end. He looked up from where he was examining her front door lock. "They were just being thorough."
"They were being assholes." Holly slumped against the door, suddenly exhausted. "Did you hear Siegman asking if I'd been in contact with any of my father's defendants? Like I'm stupid enough to hang out with convicted felons in my spare time."
"He's covering all the bases. It's what good cops do."
Holly studied Jonah's profile as he continued his inspection of her lock. "You seem to know a lot about what good cops do. Almost like you've worked with them before."
His hands stilled for just a moment. "I watch a lot of TV."
"Right." Holly pushed off from the door, her irritation flaring. "I'm pissed off."
“You have a right to be.”
Holly crossed her arms. "My car is destroyed, and someone's threatening me because of my father's job. It’s not fucking fair."
Before Jonah could answer, the power in her apartment went out.
It was only three in the afternoon, but the blinking microwave clock and the sudden silence of her refrigerator's hum was unnerving.
"Holly." Jonah's voice was sharp, urgent. "Get away from the door. Now."
Before she could ask why, she heard the metallic scrape of her front door lock being manipulated. Someone was picking it.
Holly's blood ran cold. She backed away from the door as Jonah moved swiftly across her apartment, positioning himself in the kitchen doorway where he'd have a clear angle on the entrance.
"Bedroom. Under the bed," he whispered. "Don't come out until I tell you."
Holly's instinct was to argue, but the absolute authority in his voice made her move. She'd barely made it to her bedroom when she heard her front door crash open.
"I know you're in here, sweetheart." The voice was rough, unfamiliar, with an accent that sounded fresh out of a bad cold war spy movie. "Daddy's little girl thinks she can hide from us."
What the hell was her father up against now that goons had been sent to her apartment?
Holly couldn't see the fight from her position, but she heard the impact of bodies, a grunt of surprise, and a heavy body hitting her floor. It was over in seconds.
"You can come out," Jonah said.
Holly stared at the unconscious form sprawled across her living room floor, his hands and feet zip tied.
Her mind struggled to process what just happened.
Jonah stood over the intruder, breathing hard but apparently uninjured, looking like a warrior who'd just dispatched a particularly troublesome enemy.
"Holy shit," she said.
Jonah's head snapped toward her, and even in the dim light filtering through her windows, she could see the predatory alertness in his posture. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she should be more afraid of the unconscious man or of Jonah himself.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm—" Holly's words cracked. "What the hell just happened? Who are you?"
Jonah moved toward her slowly, like he was approaching a skittish animal. "We need to call the police back. And then we need to get you somewhere safe. They were waiting for the police to leave before coming in. They were hoping to catch you by surprise attacking so soon."
"Answer my question." Holly's shock was rapidly giving way to anger.
Jonah stopped a few feet away from her, close enough that she could see the conflict warring in his eyes. "Holly—"
"The truth, Jonah. Or I call the police myself and tell them my neighbor with the convenient combat training might be working with whoever's threatening me?"
The accusation hung in the air between them, and Holly saw the moment it hit home. "You think I'm working with them?"
"I think you showed up in my life exactly when someone started threatening me, and I think you know a lot more about what's happening than you're letting on."
Jonah stared at her for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his words filled with regret. "You're right. I'm not who I claim to be."
Holly felt a strange sense of relief. At least now they were getting somewhere. "So who are you?"
"I'm someone who's been hired to keep you alive."
Holly's world tilted sideways. "Hired by who?"
"I think you already know the answer to that."
"My father hired you to spy on me."
"To protect you," Jonah corrected. "There's a difference."
"Is there?" Holly's anger was building now, fed by years of her father's manipulation and control. "Did he tell you to seduce me too? Was last night part of the job?"
"Don't."
"Don't what? Don't ask if you were planning to fuck me as part of your surveillance?"
Jonah moved so fast Holly didn't have time to react. One moment she was standing by her front door, the next she was pressed against it with Jonah's body caging her in and his hands braced on either side of her head.
"Nothing about last night was part of the job," he said. "Nothing about the way I want you has anything to do with your father or his money or my assignment."
Even in the midst of her anger and confusion, her body responded to his proximity with a hunger that should have embarrassed her.
"How am I supposed to believe that?"
"Because if this was just a job, I would have kept my distance. I would have done my job and stayed the hell away from you instead of spending every waking moment fighting the urge to touch you."
Holly could feel the tension radiating from his body, could see the way his control was hanging by a thread.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
Holly's heartbeat thundered against her throat as she stared up at him. Every rational thought in her head screamed that she should push him away, that she couldn't trust him, that everything between them was built on lies.
But the way he looked at her made her forget every reason why this was a bad idea.
"Show me," she whispered.
Jonah's control snapped.
His mouth crashed down on hers with a hunger that set her blood on fire. This wasn't the gentle, exploring kiss she might have expected. This was possession, pure and simple. His tongue swept into her mouth like he was claiming territory, and Holly moaned at the taste of him.
She pulled him nearer even as her rational mind screamed that this was insane. She was kissing a man who'd been lying to her from the moment they met, a man who'd been hired by her father to watch her every move. She should be furious, should be demanding answers, should be—
Jonah's teeth scraped against her lower lip, and Holly's thoughts scattered like leaves in a hurricane. His hands moved to her waist, sliding under her shirt to touch bare skin, and she arched against him with a desperation that shocked her.
"I've wanted to do this since the moment I saw you," he groaned against her mouth.
"This is crazy," she whispered.
"Completely insane," he agreed, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw. "I should walk away. I should do my job and keep my hands off you."
"But you're not going to."
"Not a chance in hell."
Jonah kissed her again, and this time Holly met him with equal hunger. She nipped at his lower lip, smiled when he growled low in his throat, gasped when his hands tightened on her waist hard enough to leave marks.
She could feel his arousal pressed against her, could feel the way his control was unraveling with every touch, every kiss, every small sound she made. Holly had never felt so wanted, so desired, so absolutely necessary to another person's existence.
His mouth moved to her throat, finding that sensitive spot just below her ear that made her whimper. Holly's head fell back, her hands sliding up to tangle in his hair.
"This is such a bad idea," Jonah murmured against her skin, his tone rough with need. “But I can’t help myself.”
"Funny," Holly managed to gasp as he nibbled her neck. "I was thinking the same thing about you."
Then a groan from across the room reminded them both that she had an intruder incapacitated in her house.
Jonah stepped back so abruptly Holly nearly stumbled. But she could see the effort it cost him, could see the way his hands shook slightly as he ran them through his hair.
"We need to get the police back here," he said.
Holly stared at him, her mind reeling from everything that had just happened.
"Yeah.” She sighed. And she needed to keep Jonah at arms’ length.