Chapter Two

Holly slid from the king-size bed and looked down at a dead-to-the-world Jake. The hard planes of his body against the softness of hers had awakened a need she’d thought was long dead. Writhing beneath him as he’d given and taken, she’d thought for certainty she’d burst into flames as she came apart in his arms.

He was handsome, funny, and an experienced, giving lover. She’d never had trouble walking away before, but this time, how she wished she could stay. But that would earn her a spot in the Idiot’s Hall of Fame if there were such a place.

Always walk away before you have to run, that was her motto.

Tiptoeing quietly around the room, she picked up her discarded clothes and dressed quickly in the faint light coming from the bathroom. Jake hadn’t batted an eye when she’d told him she slept with a light on. Hadn’t asked any questions. Had simply made the loneliness go away.

She stooped and located one shoe, then felt around for the other. Nothing. Dammit. Lowering herself to her hands and knees, she crawled on the floor to search beneath the edges of the bed. She’d already stayed longer than she meant to. After promising herself she’d be out by three at the latest, it was already almost four-thirty and she still had a bit of a trek back to her place.

Jake was probably an early riser and it would be a disaster if she were still here when he woke. There would be the awkward conversation and then she’d have to lie to him if he wanted to know more about her. Disappearing without a trace would be a favor to him even if he never knew it.

Finally locating the wayward shoe, Holly put it on, took one more wistful glance at Jake, then slipped from the room. She held the door to ease it shut, then made her escape to the elevators.

…

The phone was ringing off the hook as Holly let herself back into her tiny apartment above the bakery. The place was a dump, but at least it was in a safe neighborhood and affordable. Kicking off her shoes, she lunged across the sofa that doubled as her bed and picked it up.

“I did bad. Very bad.”

“Liam? What are you talking about?” In addition to his autism, her brother struggled with some learning and emotional difficulties. Used to his theatrical way of speaking and his vivid imagination, she eased herself down on the threadbare cushion and put her feet up on the coffee table. His idea of bad might be something as low-key as forgetting to hang up his jacket.

Liam kept repeating that he did something bad, then fell silent for a moment before he started talking rapidly, his words almost running together. “Jail is bad.”

Oh no. Jail. A word used to make them grow up as fearful children always waiting to be dragged away and locked up forever. Holly’s warning meter rose and her heart rate sped up. She had to take a deep breath to keep the anger from her voice. “Who told you that?”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m not supposed to say.”

Her breath caught as she asked, “He hasn’t found us, has he?” Her heart slammed against her ribs. Her uncle had hunted them for years. Would they ever be free? “Liam, please tell me you didn’t do a job for Burt.”

“Yes.”

Holly closed her eyes as her past rammed into her present. Because of his eager-to-please personality, Liam fell for the lies and the manipulation over and over again. Their uncle counted on that, damn him. She knew she should have pushed harder to have Liam live with her, but her brother had balked, wanting his own space, and the therapist said it would be good for him. Holly thought he would be safe at the latest independent living home she’d found for him thanks to Mia, her best friend since high school. He’d landed a job bagging groceries and loved the busyness of the supermarket.

Taking a deep breath, Holly opened her eyes. “How did you help him?” she asked gently.

He made an agitated noise. “Someone stole his driver.”

“Driver? Do you mean drive, Liam?”

“Yes!” Liam’s excited tone filled the line. “From the safe in an office.”

Holly’s heart clenched. Liam had a gift for being able to break into any type of safe. “Did he pay you something in return?”

“A milkshake!” Liam crowed. The simplest things filled her brother with happiness and because of his autism, he didn’t grasp certain boundaries in life. He could get talked into doing things he shouldn’t.

“Liam, tell me about the drive.” Holly tried to steer the conversation back to the topic.

“I dipped fries in my shake.”

Holly squeezed the phone, knowing she wasn’t going to get anywhere unless they were face-to-face. “How about I come over and see you?”

“Now? Will you bring me something?”

“Of course. I’ll see you in a bit.” She hung up after his enthusiastic good-bye, and took one precious minute to rub her hand down her face. Since she’d given the last bit of her money away, she was going to have to see if she could catch a ride to the home with her insomniac neighbor. Erin was a budding actress hoping to land a part in a play at one of the local theaters and Holly had helped her run lines on several occasions. She’d said to let her know if she could return the favor. Normally, Holly would never ask because she didn’t like to lean on people, but based on the information she’d gleaned from Liam, the faster she got to him, the better.

An hour later, Holly walked into the foyer of New Hope Village and spotted a familiar face behind the reception desk.

“Hi, Mia.” Mia was the only one Holly kept in touch with from the high school they’d both attended in Texas and the only one who knew what Holly’s life had been like as a child. She’d gone with Holly during one of her failed attempts to take action against her uncle. No one had believed her.

Burt never allowed her to have friends over when she was growing up, so she’d wrongly assumed he wouldn’t make the connection between her and her friend. Mia’s grandparents had left her two of their independent living properties and with the help of her brothers, she’d made both locations a thriving business.

Mia returned the greeting. “You’re here early. Thought you had to work.”

“Wanted to see him before I went in.” Holly gave her usual nothing’s-wrong smile despite the worry gnawing at her. She didn’t like burdening others with her problems. Bypassing the desk, she made her way down the hallway to her brother’s room and knocked on the door.

Her brother opened it, shuffling back and forth for a second, then threw his arms around her. Holly hugged him tightly while trying to force her lips to stop trembling. Liam wasn’t a hugger and didn’t really like physical contact at all. So if he was hugging her, something was definitely bothering him, but if he saw she was upset, it would upset him. Taking him by the hand, she walked in and sat on the comic book hero blanket covering his bed.

Liam lowered himself to the floor, crossed his legs, then started rocking back and forth. He bit his thumbnail and mumbled, “Am I bad?”

“No.” Holly slid to the floor beside her brother, and unable to help herself, smoothed her hand over his closely cropped red hair. Pressing a kiss to the side of his face, she tucked her arm through his. “You could never be bad.”

He pulled away and touched the blanket on his bed. “Can I be a hero?”

“Liam, you are a hero. Always will be.”

A fierce expression crossed his face. “I don’t want to go.”

“Go where?”

“Anywhere.” His lower lip jutted out. “I’m staying. Heroes don’t run.” He began rocking back and forth faster.

With the petulant look on his face, and his lower lip jutted out in a pout, he looked more than ever like a child than a man of twenty-two. Holly sighed. “I know you like this place, but we can’t stay now.” The same age-old fear hit her. If they didn’t get out of Chicago, she knew what would happen. Her uncle would try to use Liam again. Liam could easily become overwhelmed and if he got caught, he could get hurt. “We have to run again,” she said firmly.

“I’m staying!” he shouted, and the rocking intensified.

Hoping to avoid a meltdown, Holly soothed, “You can live with me. It’ll be fun. We’ll see lots of new places and—”

“No. Mia’s here, and she’s our friend.” Her brother nibbled his lip, eyes pleading. “Can I stay if I give back the drive?”

Holly gasped, catching the first glimpse of hope. “You have it?”

He nodded. “There was a noise in my head. I ran.” He pressed his hands over his ears as if he could still hear it. “I ran out a different door, and I didn’t see Burt.” He lowered his hands. “He waited outside and said to give him the drive when I had it, but I got on the bus instead.” He shot her a look. “I wanted to see Mia.”

“You did the right thing by coming back here instead.” Holly was thankful her uncle hadn’t caught her brother. Or that no one else had, either. Burt would think nothing of blaming the entire heist on Liam. When they’d worked jobs as kids, he’d always made sure he waited somewhere close by so he could make a getaway if she or Liam were caught. Holding out her hand, she said, “Let me see the drive.”

Liam jumped up and hurried to the dresser. Reaching behind it, he pulled out a small brown envelope and dropped it in her lap. He swayed back and forth, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Can we stay?”

“Hold on a second.” Holly opened the envelope and dumped the contents. She turned the drive over in her hand, then realized a sheet of paper was stuck in the bottom of the envelope. Removing it, she scanned a series of numbers that didn’t make sense to her. Flipping it over, she saw the name Jake Lawson was written on the back. Huh. How odd that she’d met a Jake… Her heartbeat sped up. No, no, no. Had to be a coincidence.

“Burt said after he copied the drive, I have to put it in the boat safe.”

“The boat safe?”

Liam nodded. “The yacht. For the other drive.”

So it was a two-part job. “Liam, wait here.”

Clutching the drive and the paper, Holly rushed back to Mia. “Can you pull something up for me on your computer?”

“Sure. What is it?” Mia smiled encouragingly.

“Search for the name Jake Lawson.”

“One of Chicago’s most eligible bachelors?” Mia tapped the keyboard, then swung the monitor around. “Is this guy a hottie or what? Can’t believe we once lived in the same town he did. He was a senior at that newer high school across town when we were freshman in the older, crappy one. That building always smelled awful.”

Barely listening to her friend, Holly scanned the about page on the website.

Oh. My. God.

The photo was of her one-night stand. He owned a security software firm with two of his friends. Some of his clients included banks and government corporations.

Hands shaking, mind racing, she took an involuntary step back. No doubt the theft of the drive would be discovered before she could put it back. She couldn’t just take it to Jake and tell him what had happened. If he didn’t believe her, he’d sic the authorities on her and then what would happen to her brother? She rubbed her forehead. She and Liam needed to run tonight.

Chewing the inside of her lip, she tried to calm her runaway heart and think. She had to take the drive to the yacht and in the safe, she’d leave a note warning Jake. She wasn’t worried about her uncle finding someone else to pull off the theft of the second drive. He was too greedy to want to split any money he might make.

Giving the drive back would make Burt furious and that made the knots in her stomach tighten, but she and Liam would be long gone by the time he figured out they’d skipped town.

“I would love to date someone like him.” Mia sighed, unaware of Holly’s internal dilemma. “He’s having a lavish catered party on his yacht off the coast of South Carolina in a couple of weeks. I hear Prestigious Catering is handling the gig.”

Because she knew the owner, Mia had helped Holly get the job with the catering company that only did business with millionaires or celebrities.

“Only the crème de la crème of society will be there. I could only imagine getting up close and personal with a man like that.” Mia let out a dreamy sigh.

Cold hard reality hit Holly. Despite swearing she’d never do another job, she didn’t have a choice. Not if she wanted to protect her brother. Only this time, instead of breaking in to steal for her uncle, she was going to have to break in and put something back. And it looked like fate was giving her a stroke of good luck.

She hadn’t paid that much attention when her boss had mentioned an upcoming event. Once she’d heard it was out of state, Holly had tuned her out, but now she had to get that gig. It was the only opening she was likely to get.

“Are you okay?”

The concern in Mia’s voice snapped Holly out of her thoughts, and she decided to do something she hadn’t done since she was a child. Ask for help. “No, actually, I’m not. Uncle Burt was here.”

Mia’s eyes widened. “He lost all his hair and a lot of weight, but I thought I recognized him. I always thought it was so unfair that he got away with how he treated you and Liam.”

Life hadn’t been fair, but Holly didn’t dwell on it. Living in the past took too much focus and energy and she needed to concentrate on the present. Starting with making sure Burt didn’t get near her brother. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the job unless she knew he was safe.

“He coerced Liam into doing a job.” Holly touched the screen, her index finger landing on Jake’s image. “Stealing from him. My brother took a drive from a safe in his building.”

Mia gasped. “No!” She shuddered. “Word is that Jake Lawson is ruthless to anyone who crosses him. I’d rather dangle bait in front of a shark than tangle with him.”

“Too late. I already tangled.”

Looking around to make sure no one was in earshot, Mia said, “You slept with Jake Lawson?”

“I didn’t know who he was, or trust me, I would have run the other way.” Holly did her best to boot the mental images of Jake zipping through her brain. Ripped abdomen. Muscles strong enough to hold her up against—

“Holly!” Mia let out a low laugh. “Girl, you should see the blush on your face.”

Pressing a hand to her flushed cheeks, Holly said, “I have to undo what Burt did. If I can get the catering gig and get on the yacht, I can put the drive in his safe on board. If he has it back, maybe then he won’t come after my brother.”

“How can I help?” Mia offered.

Holly bit her thumbnail. The only person she’d ever trusted to keep Liam safe was herself. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she said, “I need to make sure Liam is safe while I do this job, but I don’t know how. I can’t take him with me. He gets sensory overload sometimes in crowds.”

“Hang on.” Mia typed quickly on the keyboard. “There. I put Liam on restricted visitation and put in a red alert for unauthorized visitors on the campus. Security will check everyone who tries to get on the grounds. Your uncle won’t be able to get to him.”

“But when he’s at his job…”

Mia shook her head. “I’ll alert the store and have my brothers take turns staying with him while he works. It’s not the first time one of them has filled in to help out a resident. Nothing gets past my brothers.”

Relief flowed through Holly. Burt would be upset about losing the drive. At least now she knew Liam would have some protection until they could run. “Thank you, Mia.”

“What are friends for?” Concern crossed the other woman’s face. “If you need anything, even if it’s simply to talk, don’t forget I’m always here for you.” She hesitated for a second. “If your uncle had to face up to what he’s done, you wouldn’t have to keep moving around.”

“I tried that, remember?”

“I know, but I wish there was something more I could do.”

“You letting Liam have a room here for a fraction of the price is more than enough.”

The phone rang and Mia answered. Mouthing a silent good-bye to her friend, Holly went back to see her brother. Though it probably wouldn’t do any good, she warned him to stay away from their uncle if he was approached. All Burt had to do was give Liam a sob story and her brother’s gentle nature would lead him to want to help and end up right back into trouble again.

Speaking of trouble, she wished she’d paid attention to her initial hesitation about Jake and hadn’t slept with him. Not that she regretted the actual act; she hated that he was someone with the power to throw her life back into the chaos she’d tried so hard to leave behind.

…

Jake stretched and opened his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this satisfied. His muscles were so relaxed they almost felt fluid. All because of the sexy woman beside him. He splayed out a hand, then jerked upright, the fog of sleep vanishing. The space next to him was empty. Sliding from beneath the sheet, he checked the bathroom even though he knew she was already gone. A sharp stab of disappointment sliced through him. He’d never been the one left alone the morning after taking a woman to bed. Usually, he couldn’t get rid of them fast enough. Being on the receiving end was a new and unpleasant experience that left him feeling out of sorts.

Talking with Holly had been easy, and the sex… His lips curved into a smile but just as quickly faded.

Raking a hand down his face, Jake sat on the edge of the bed and wondered what the hell he’d done. To not even get a last name wasn’t like him, but he hadn’t been himself last night. Holly had been right when she’d said he had a bone-deep kind of loneliness. He always carried it, but it got worse around the holidays.

He’d been forcing the jolly while playing Santa, trying to cover the pain of the day being his brother’s birthday, and he’d only wanted to silence the memories. Meeting Holly had snapped him out of the past, easing some of the ice pick pain constantly stabbing his heart. He’d thought he had all the time in the world to get to know her better.

His morning-after plan had been to take her to breakfast, ask for her phone number, and spend more time with her in the future. He could have sworn she was as into him as he was her. Maybe she’d left a note with her number.

He rose and searched the bedside table, then checked the bar. Nothing. That was that, he guessed.

With a sigh, Jake called his assistant to arrange to have a fresh set of clothes brought over, then went to shower. He wished the water could erase Holly from his mind as easily as it erased her perfume from his body. Her face flashed in his mind’s eye, and he groaned.

He wanted her all over again.

He finished his shower and slung the towel around his hips, then wiped the fog from the mirror. Written in gothic calligraphy, the black swirled tattoo of the Latin phrase “broken soul” glistened under droplets of water on his chest. Jake patted it dry. Like his friends Mason and Cole, who’d served time with him in that god-awful juvenile correctional facility as teenagers, he had a large three-headed dragon tattooed across the width of his back. For him, that tattoo represented strength and courage as well as the fire to fight back against the injustice he’d had heaped on him.

But the broken soul on his chest was in reference to his brother’s death. As if he needed a reminder of the beating that took his brother’s life and haunted him to this day. He could still see the sneer on the guard’s face, still see him pressing down on his brother’s throat—

A knock sounded, and Jake shut down the memory, relieved someone had interrupted.

He opened the door, expecting to see his long time assistant, Violet Olsen. Instead, Cole stepped into the room and tossed him a bag. “Ran into Violet in the lobby. Told her I’d bring this up.”

Jake put the bag onto the bed and reached for his watch. He strapped it on.

“Tried to call you last night. Repeatedly.”

“I was busy.”

Cole stared pointedly at the tangled mess of bed sheets. “I can see that. Who is she?”

Jake hated to admit it, but said, “I don’t know anything about her other than her first name and that she played an elf.”

“If that’s your thing.” Cole laughed.

Jake punched his friend on the arm. “She was an elf for the Christmas party.”

“You don’t know who she is?” Cole rubbed his arm. “You could catch something that’s gonna itch not being careful like that.”

Jake was always careful. He’d never once skipped protection, but one of the many condoms they’d used had broken, nearly giving him a damn heart attack. Holly had reassured him she couldn’t get pregnant, though. She’d had some kind of complication when she was younger and was unable to have children.

Jake dressed in the suit he’d instructed Violet to bring, then sat to put his shoes on. “You look a little green around the gills this morning. You sick?”

“I wish.”

At the somber tone, Jake’s head snapped up. “This have anything to do with why you tried to call me?” He transferred his wallet to his back pocket and double-checked the room to make sure he hadn’t left anything.

“’Fraid so. The thumb drive you were supposed to keep safe is missing from the office. Did you move it?”

A sick feeling hit Jake in the pit of the stomach. He walked beside Cole as they left the room and headed to the elevator.

“The one with the new security software on it?” Jake asked, trying to wrap his mind around the problems they’d face if that was what Cole meant.

“Yeah. It went missing sometime last night. You know anything about it? You were the last one to have it. Are you sure you didn’t move it?”

“Positive. I haven’t touched it.” Despite both Mason and Cole telling him he should slow down and not work as much, he’d felt driven by the hounds of the past nipping at his heels. Wealth and power equaled control, and he was willing to do anything to keep from feeling like that helpless teenage boy watching his brother’s life drain away right before his eyes.

He hoped he hadn’t moved the drive and in his workaholic exhaustion accidentally lost it. If it fell into the hands of their competitors, it would cost them millions of dollars. Losing that drive could rock their company. Destroy what he and his friends had worked their asses off to build.

He clenched his jaw. He couldn’t fail his company like he’d failed Adam. Taking out his cell, he called in to the building security and ordered a review of the security tapes as well as an office-by-office search for the missing drive.

“Do you think someone stole it?” Cole asked, his face somber as they raced outside to his car.

Jake hoped like hell not. There was big money riding on the software. His stomach burned as if he’d developed a sudden ulcer.

“Search my house and my apartment as well,” he said. There was too much riding on that drive. His hope was that he’d misplaced it, because the alternative was too bleak to dwell on.