17. Extreme Measures #2
She didn't know how long they stayed like that. Time was meaningless as they lost themselves in the other. Kissing like teenagers. No sex, just intimacy. Breathing one another in, tasting each other.
The next thing she noticed was the car going dark. She pulled back and looked out the windows. The concrete walls of what was obviously an underground garage met her eyes.
"Where are we?" she asked in a daze.
"We're at the penthouse. This is the parking garage." He answered simply, his eyes never leaving hers.
"There's a parking garage?" She asked in confusion. She lived here with him three years ago, and they had never parked. He always had them dropped off in front of the lobby. "Why have I never been here?"
"Because I preferred the world to see you on my arm. I wanted them all to know that you were mine. I let my men deal with the chore of parking the car."
She stared at him, hearing his words, but unsure of what to say.
Before she could come up with a response, Dolph pulled the car into a parking space right in front of the bank of elevators.
Nash released her and opened his door. A moment later, he was outside her door and offering her his hand.
Dolph walked them to the elevator silently, and then stood guard beside it.
Nash typed in a long code that he blocked her from seeing, and then the elevator doors opened up.
Her brow furrowed. His movements were deliberate.
If she didn't have the code, how was she going to get into the penthouse when she wasn't with Nash?
She imagined that was the whole point. They stepped in, but Dolph stayed where he was.
"Isn't he coming with us?" She asked while the doors closed.
"No, this is the only elevator that has access to our floor anymore.
It will stop nowhere but the garage and our floor.
There will always be a guard in the garage.
No one can get in without my men knowing.
I've blocked off the stairs two levels below us.
I've bought out both floors. The few trusted guards I have left will monitor those floors. No one will get in undetected."
"Oh," was the only thing she could think to say.
They rode the elevator up in silence. Her lost in thought, Nash focused on his phone again.
"So... if the elevator only goes to the garage, and the stairs are blocked, how am I going to get to the lobby?
" She asked, thinking about how before when she lived there she enjoyed going down there while he was working.
There was a great restaurant there for residents, along with her favorite coffee shop.
Not to mention the pool, spa, and gym all on various floors of the building.
If the elevator wouldn't take her there and the stairs weren't an option, how was she supposed to get there?
He turned to stare at her with a black scowl. "You were nearly beaten to death right outside. You aren't going to the fucking lobby." She couldn't help but gawk at him. She couldn't to go to the lobby? What was she supposed to do all day?
Before she had a chance to tell him how crazy that was, the elevator doors opened on their floor. He stepped out, and she followed closely behind.
"Hold on, what—" She forgot what she was saying when her eyes fell on the brown-haired man hunched over the panel on the wall. Her breath caught, her mind barely comprehending what she saw. He looked up to glance at them.
"Reggie?" she gasped out.
Iris couldn't believe it. Her old friend was the last person she expected to see inside Nash's luxury penthouse. Reggie was Reginald Winthrop to most of the world. Heir to one of the oldest family names in America.
But to her, he had always just been Reggie.
One of her best friends, they grew up together.
They went to the same private schools, and while Iris never struggled to make friends, she never could quite connect to any of them.
Always in a crowd of people, but never really with any of them.
Reginald, on the other hand, was as close to an outcast as the son of a multi-millionaire could be.
Iris always blamed this on his brilliance.
He had one of those rare, beautiful minds—sharp, intricate and endlessly fascinating.
Then, to top it all off, he had a big heart.
He was one of her favorite people in the entire world.
But their classmates, sadly, didn't share that view.
Their peers teased him mercilessly for his social missteps.
Iris never minded his quirks, though. They formed fast friends and stuck together.
"What are you doing here?" She asked with a cheerful laugh. She hadn't seen him since they were fifteen, when Reggie graduated early. Some fancy college wanted him and away he went. That was the last time she saw him.
"Yes, what are you doing here, Reggie?" Nash's harsh words and fierce frown caused her to look over at him in confusion. What was his problem? "You were supposed to be done thirty minutes ago."
Reggie looked up at both of them before he met and held Iris's gaze with a wide grin.
"Iris Blackworth, as I live and breathe.
" He slotted the cover of the elevator panel back in and, with a quick press of the drill in his hands, it was back on.
Shining a dull gold color, as if nothing had happened at all.
Except for the small thump scanner on above the panel, it looked exactly as it had before they left.
The angry stance of Nash drew his gaze. "I was supposed to be done, but then I got the idea of having biometrics installed inside the elevator.
No one is getting up here without us knowing.
You can't hack your way past a bio scan. "
"But can't they just fake a thumbprint?" Iris asked with a frown. She'd seen that before in movies. Reggie laughed, as if she had said something hilarious.
"Not this one you can't. Let's just say this is my own personal design.
" He sent a knowing grin towards Nash before bending down to pack his tools away in the bag near his feet.
Once he was done, Iris took a step towards him.
Intending to embrace him, she was just so happy to be seeing him again.
After the day she had, the unexpected yet joyful surprise of seeing him was just what she needed.
His eyes blew wide open when he saw her arms coming in for an embrace.
He took a hasty step backwards, tripping over his bag.
Regaining his footing, he held up his hands in front of him.
"Oh, wow, no. Thanks, but no thanks. I like my hands attached to my body.
" He sent a look towards Nash, one that was half amused and half frightened.
She looked between the two men in confusion. "No touching, please."
What? Was Reggie afraid to let her hug him?
She wanted to tell him he was crazy, but one look at Nash's tense face and she let it go.
Not without sending a glare at her husband first, but decided to move on.
No reason to tempt fate. Nodding at Reggie instead.
"Fine, no hugging. You never answered my question.
What are you doing here? What happened to the family business? "
"I left all that to Barty, the little brat.
I started up my own cyber security company seven years ago.
" He grinned at her, one that was full of pride.
"I revolutionized the field. There is nothing like my tech on the market, and no one has my designs but me.
I'm kinda the best there is when it comes to security. "
Iris laughed at his shameless boasting. She shook her head with a large grin on her face.
"That makes so much sense. You always were working away on your computer.
" It shouldn't have surprised her, but it did.
Not that he was the best, but that he walked away from his family's legacy.
Very few people in their circle forged their own path.
It was much easier to simply inherit and perhaps build upon it.
"The only people who don't use my company for their security are the ones who can't afford me." Reggie tucked a hand into the pocket of his loose-fitting trousers.
"I'm sure. It's wonderful to hear you are doing so well.
" And it was, but the fact that he started his own company at nineteen and had revolutionized the field was shocking.
That was so much to have achieved so young and so quickly.
And if Nash was using his services, he must really be good.
Nash never settled for anything less than the best.
"Yes, well, if you ever want—" Iris never heard the rest of what Reggie was saying, as a heavy hand pulled her further into the depths of the apartment.
Nash drug her into his study, and then backed her up against the wall by the door.
Absentmindedly, she noticed that he never closed the door fully.
But soon, her focus was drug far away from such trivial matters.
"What are you doing?" She gasped, but he cut her off when his lips crashed down on hers.
He was ferocious in her attack on her mouth.
His hands came down, and he hiked one of her legs up over his waist. The lack of underwear was never more apparent than right then.
With her leg bent like it was, the hem of her dress flipped up and left her core fully exposed.
He ground his hardness against her, sending her eyes rolling to the back of her head. She was more than ready. Their time in the backseat primed her.
"I'm showing you who you belong to," he growled while reaching down and unzipping his pants. She stared up at him in aroused confusion.
"What? I know who I belong to—" a brutal thrust of his that sent pleasure tingling throughout her nervous system cut her words off with a lustful moan.