RISK(41)

"You think this is funny?" I shake my head, frustrated and embarrassed. I didn't expect this at all. I felt victorious in some twisted post-f*ck sense when I followed him last night. It was as if I'd caught him doing something before he could hurt me.

It still hurt, though, not in the same bone-numbing way that it did when I realized that Tad had cheated on me with who knows how many women. When I saw Nolan leave his apartment last night, I felt a sense of loss over what could have been.

"Not funny." His smile disappears, replaced by calmness. "There's an occasional threat directed my way. I'm never sure if it's a disgruntled customer or an actual lunatic. If it has any weight, I have security personnel who follow me until things settle."

"I didn't know."

"Now you do," he says, his voice low. "I think it's interesting that we both felt compelled to follow the other."

"Why did you follow me to lunch?" I ask hoarsely.

"I consider Wolf a threat. A much different threat than those that require extra security, but still, a threat."

I'm buoyed by the answer as much as I am irritated. He doesn't own me. He f*cked me once. That doesn't grant him a ticket into my soul. "A threat? Because you think he wants to sleep with me?"

"He doesn't want to sleep with you, Ellie. He wants to f*ck you and I'm not about to let that happen."





Chapter 27


Nolan




Following her to lunch was a spontaneous, cock driven decision. I was coming back from a meeting with Kristof when I saw Liam on the sidewalk in front of Matiz. I waited, in plain view, until Ellie emerged from the store, her face beaming as she approached him.

She held back when she got close. The only contact a quick brush of his lips across her cheek and her hand sweeping across his arm. They walked side-by-side, not touching, to an Italian place around the corner that serves overcooked pasta and sauce from a jar.

I could have easily stopped there and turned back toward the office. I didn't. I took a table, ordered a whiskey and spent the next hour trying to read their lips. It was useless. She knew I was there. Her face gave way to what was going on inside of her.

Conflict. The anger from my presence combined with her confusion about last night.

I didn't know she followed me until Kristof mentioned it during our brief meeting right before I saw Ellie with Wolf. She watched me come out of the building she thought I lived in before seeing me walk into the building I actually live in. It's not how I wanted her to find out, but I'm pleased it's out in the open. I'm glad that she knows at least one of my secrets.

"Liam doesn't want to f*ck me." There's irritation in her tone.

She pushes against my chest and this time I take a step back. It surprises her enough that she doesn't move immediately. So I take another step, to the side this time. She passes me and moves to sit in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

"I saw the way he was looking at you, Ellie. He clearly wants to f*ck you."

She looks up to where I'm standing next to her. There's defeat in her eyes. "Liam is trying to help me get a job. His brother is going to help me."

"Nick?" I tilt my head. "Nick writes crime novels. What could you possibly do for him?"

"No. I'm not talking about Nicholas." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "It's Liam's oldest brother. Sebastian. He's a detective. He works for the NYPD. He might be able to help me get a job."

Shit. She was having lunch with him because of his brother.

"You want to work for the police department?"

She nods, vigorously. "I do. I will. I just need a chance to get my foot in the door there."

I race through my mind trying to determine who I know who holds a high enough rank in the NYPD that they could pull the necessary strings to get Ellie a job. There's no one. It's one of the few organizations in this city that my family has no ties to.

"Liam will talk to his brother," she goes on, "I'll meet with Sebastian later this week."

I want that job for her, even if it means I won't see her every day. "I'm sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion, Ellie. I thought there was something personal between you and Wolf."

"What if there was?" Her blue eyes flick up to mine. "We had sex, Nolan. We didn't promise each other anything last night."

She's right. No promises were made, at least not verbally. It's obvious that the actions that we've both taken since then say otherwise. "We can remedy that now."

Her gaze follows my every movement as I sit in the chair next to her. "Remedy it how?"

"Clearly I was concerned that your lunch with Liam was going to lead to something more."

"Clearly," she quips.

I smile. "It's just as clear that you had some questions about where I went last night after you left my place."

"I was curious when I saw you come out of the building we'd been in together." She carefully dances around defining the space as the place we f*cked. "You said you had something to take care of. I just assumed that meant that you'd be in all night."

"I want to you to understand something, Ellie." I lean forward, resting my forearms on my knees. "I'm the first to admit that I can be an *. I don't play nice in business. I will cut a man off at the knees if he threatens anything that I hold dear, but I will never, ever be like the man who hurt you."