Ruthless (A Lawless Novel) Read online

  Unfortunately there were so many issues with any kind of tape they could play for the police. “No can do. New York’s wire-tapping rules are clear. Unless Ellie would be willing to lie and state that she knew we were listening in, we can’t use it. Then there’s the issue of what he really said. Unless he threatened to hurt her.”

  Bran sighed. “Not physically. He was actually really careful about it. Damn it. We didn’t expect him to go to Ellie. What happens if Ellie pays him off?”

  “She won’t.” He couldn’t allow that to happen. The situation was delicate and if one card fell the wrong way, they wouldn’t get what they needed. Castalano had to be without resources. He had to be vulnerable, and paying off his debt would give him a little strength.

  “I heard something else,” Bran said. “He said something about his health. According to the investigator’s report, he’s been regularly going to a building that houses several doctors’ offices. We didn’t want to get too close, but maybe we should figure out what’s going on with him. We were right to not get too close. He’s already paranoid. He thinks you’re against him.”

  Which proved the man had good survival instincts. “Tell the investigator to follow him more closely. It doesn’t matter at this point. If he’s already afraid, give him something to be afraid of. Put some pressure on him and see what happens.”

  “And if Ellie writes him that check?”

  His stomach knotted at the idea. “I’ve got something else in play. It’s a short-term solution to the problem.”

  One he hoped he didn’t have to put into play because it had the potential to decimate Ellie and her position.

  “All right. I’ll let Drew know.”

  “How are we doing with the stock situation?” Riley asked.

  “We’re almost where we need to be. I’ve identified a few minor stockholders who might be willing to part with their shares for the right price. Don’t worry about that end. Keep an eye on Ellie Stratton. Make sure she doesn’t write that check. I’m not sure what Drew would do if that happened.”

  Drew might implode. And then StratCast would as well. The way they had it set up, Ellie would still come out of this with either the company or a ton of cash. If Drew really got nasty, she could be left with nothing.

  He didn’t want that for her. He needed to get her to talk to him, to trust him.

  “I’ll handle it.” Which meant handling her. He glanced across the hall. “Do you hear anything now?”

  He wished they could have gotten a video feed.

  After a few seconds of quiet, Bran came back on the line. “Nothing. If she’s doing something in there, she’s being quiet about it.”

  The door opened and Lily walked back out. She closed the door behind her and strode to her desk. Her eyes found his, and she stared for a moment.

  He looked away. “Get me a report on the admin. Something’s up.”

  Case’s words came back to him. He’d talked about “complexity.” At the time, his brother-in-law had been discussing how Ellie would be more complex than he gave her credit for. That had certainly proven true.

  What if the whole situation was more complex than they’d accounted for?

  “I will do that. I’ve got her name. And Riley, I’m sorry about last night.” Bran’s voice had gone quiet.

  “About the fight? You’ve got to be more careful,” he said.

  “I know. I’ll get someone on Castalano and the admin. See you tonight?”

  Unfortunately, the answer to that was likely yes. “See you then.”

  His pursuit of the lovely Ellie Stratton had reached a damn brick wall, and it didn’t look like he would be hopping over it any time soon.

  She’d dismissed him like an employee she couldn’t be bothered with earlier. She’d given him an icy denial and then walked out like a queen. No looking back, as though she couldn’t stand to be bothered by him.

  Yeah, he bought that.

  He’d thought about following her. She considered Castalano a father figure and the fucker had broken her heart.

  She was being stubborn and likely thought that regal act would wound his ego.

  His ego was a pretty hearty thing. He was far more concerned with how she was feeling than the damage she’d done to his pride.

  She would likely think he would be a dick now. Like most of the men around her. They were an older crowd. Some were genuine and kind, but a few didn’t like the idea of a young woman taking over “their” company, and he’d seen her deal with it.

  If she followed her schedule, she had a late meeting and then she’d likely come back to her office and eat some piece-of-crap take-out meal. Alone.

  So maybe it was time to show the queen that her knight could take care of her.

  He looked out and Lily was on her laptop. She didn’t stay after with the boss, and that was something he would use to his advantage tonight.

  He got on the phone and started making plans. Sometimes a good soldier didn’t go over a wall. Sometimes he blasted right through.

  It was time to up his game.

  Six

  Ellie thought seriously about screwing the accounting problem and heading home. She could pick up a bottle of wine along the way and drown her sorrows while taking a hot bath and reading a romance novel, since that was the only action she would see for the rest of her damn life.

  You’re forgetting who the boss is here.

  What the hell had she been thinking? She might as well have slapped him and kicked his ass to the curb.

  She stopped as she turned down the hall that led to her office.

  She’d simply redefined their proper places. Sure, they’d become very friendly over the last week, but that didn’t mean she owed him anything.

  And he didn’t owe her. All he owed her was his very best work. She would have to be satisfied with that.

  Everything was blissfully quiet at this time of night. Oh, downstairs they were still working. Something had gone wrong with the calibrations on the new tests and they were being forced to do them all over again, but up here it was peaceful and quiet. Even the janitorial staff had come and gone. The lights were dim.

  And his office was dark. He’d left for the day. He hadn’t hung around to see how she was doing or to try to needle the truth out of her. He’d done what he should have done. He’d packed up and headed out to have some kind of a private life.

  It was for the best. Tomorrow she would ask him about the contracts and they could get on the professional level they should have stayed on in the first place.

  She was so tired. Tired of being professional. Tired of having to play referee for a bunch of engineers who couldn’t agree on how to proceed. Tired of everyone she cared about letting her down.

  She felt something wet on her cheek and brushed it away. Now she was crying at the office. Way to go.

  The light had been left on in her office, but someone had closed the blinds. Lily, likely. She sniffled and grabbed a tissue off Lily’s desk. She was glad Lily had her nightly happy hours to go to. She’d texted earlier and asked if she was needed.

  It would have been nice to have someone to go through the accounting reports with her, but she would rather be alone. It was her burden to bear. She’d told Lily to have fun.

  When was the last time she went to a happy hour? Not since she’d started working in management. When she’d been an intern, she’d gone out plenty of times with the engineers. Even before she could drink, she would sit with them and play trivia and talk about movies. She would listen to them tell weird science jokes and laugh.

  Then she’d gotten married and moved into management but she hadn’t really fit there. And her dad had been sick, and then she’d been in the middle of a divorce.

  It had been a shitty couple of years when she thought about it.

  She opened the door and her eyes
widened.

  Riley was on the couch in the sitting area of her office. He’d brought in a table and it was covered with food. It smelled like heaven and there was a bottle of wine and two coffee mugs from the break room.

  “Before you protest, no one saw me, and you need this. You are a very overstimulated executive. I would have put the wine in a sippy cup and gotten you a napping blanket if I could.”

  He was giving her a stern look and then completely ruined it by smiling. She’d been awful to him and he’d gotten her dinner and wine and stayed behind to keep her company.

  He stood, his smile fading. “Say something, Ellie. I don’t know what happened between you and Castalano earlier and you don’t have to tell me, but I know it upset you. Let me try to help.”

  He hadn’t left. He should have. He should have walked out.

  Maybe it was time to stop being worried the man was too good to be true and simply accept what she was being given.

  “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  “It’s all right. Do you want to talk about it?”

  She didn’t want to think about it. Not any of it. The strain of the past few months felt so heavy. She’d worn that worry like a coat, dragging her down. She wanted a few hours where she wasn’t the boss, wasn’t the executive. Where she was just a woman. “I don’t want to talk, Riley. I want you to kiss me. I want you to still want me. Tell me you haven’t changed your mind.”

  If he turned her away, she wasn’t sure what she would do.

  He didn’t even hesitate. He crossed the space between them in two long strides, and then he was in her space, crowding her. “I want you so fucking bad, Ellie. Don’t question that for a second.”

  His hands cupped her face as those sensual lips of his descended, and Ellie made her choice.

  It might be wrong. It might be completely unprofessional, but she was going to have him. She was going to sink herself into an affair with him and not worry about the consequences. For once in her life, she was going to do something wild, something for herself.

  She gave herself over, letting go of everything but the feel of those lips on hers.

  The kiss went wild the minute she parted her lips for him. He wasn’t cool and controlled the way he’d been that first day. She’d felt his control that day. Now a wild thrill went through her as his tongue plunged and one hand slid to the nape of her neck. He dragged her against his body, allowing her to feel how much he wanted her.

  Ellie’s whole body lit up. She felt like a live wire, and she wasn’t about to give it up. Sex had been good before. It had been an enjoyable way to spend some time, but it had never been a ticking bomb waiting to go off. It was going to be different with Riley. There wouldn’t be any awkwardness.

  His mouth pulled back slightly, but his hands ran down to her hips, holding her to his body and letting her feel the hard erection at his core. He was breathing hard, as though his body had gone from resting to a sprint in seconds. As though the idea of being with her had sent him reeling. “Are we just kissing, Ellie? I can handle that. I can. I can keep this wherever you want me to, but I need to set expectations right now.”

  It would be smart, but she was so far past that. “I want you inside me.”

  His hands tightened. “Fuck. Don’t say that unless you mean it. Once I start, I won’t be able to stop. I’m talking about right this second, baby. Anytime you say no, I stop, but if we fuck right now, I’m going to want more. I’m going to need you.”

  She pressed her cheek to his, a sweet intimacy. She hadn’t realized how much she’d longed to be close to this man, to have any part of her skin against his. She let her hands roam. If she said yes to him, she could touch him like this. She would have the right to caress his skin and kiss him with affection, to show him how much he meant.

  “I need you, too. I didn’t want to. It’s not a good time, but I can’t hold it back. I’m crazy about you. I need you in my life.”

  “I’m going to be in your life, Ellie,” he replied, passion plain in his voice. “Let me come to your bed. I’m not going to be able to go back to being friends. I’ll want you every second of the day.”

  Then they would be on the same page. “Yes, Riley. Yes.”

  His mouth came down on hers again. She could feel his hunger, and his hands roamed over the curves of her hips and backside, rubbing himself against her. It fed her own. She’d never felt more wanted, needed by a man. He didn’t seem to simply want sex with someone. He seemed to need her—only her.

  She wrapped her arms around him and held on, letting him lead.

  His mouth moved down, kissing her jaw and ear. “Do you have any idea what I want to do to you?”

  A little bit. She’d always been quiet during sex, preferring to concentrate on the sensations, but she wanted to hear him. She wanted to know he was with her. “What do you want to do?”

  She shivered with heat as his tongue ran along the shell of her ear, and he nipped the lobe, a thrill shooting through her.

  His voice was a low, sexy growl in her ear. “I think about stripping you down all the time.”

  He turned her suddenly and her back was pressed to his front. She could feel the hard ridge of his erection against her backside. His arms wound around her, keeping her close.

  “You want me naked?” She didn’t want to stop talking. She could see now that her other sexual encounters had been defined by the walls she’d put up. Though she’d had a partner, she’d been essentially alone in whatever pleasure she’d found. With her ex-husband she would turn off the lights, enjoy the ride, and then sleep in silence, their physicality the only true intimacy between them.

  She didn’t want that with Riley.

  His hands moved up, cupping her breasts through the thin materials of her blouse and bra. The warmth of his mouth and lips moved on her neck. “I’ll have you naked. I’ll get rid of every single thing that comes between us. I’ll strip you and then touch every inch of your body. You might be the boss in the boardroom, but I intend to lead here. I intend to have you every way I can have a woman, Ellie. Once I’m inside you, I won’t want to leave.”

  He was still giving her a way out. She wasn’t going to take it. “Yes, Riley. I won’t change my mind.”

  His thumbs rasped over her nipples. “I’ll fucking hold you to that. I will.”

  She had no idea why he sounded so resolute, but his hands were working the buttons of her blouse, dragging it out of the waistband of her skirt and peeling it back.

  Cool air hit her skin. Her brain was foggy with lust. Her whole system had softened in a way it never had before. She felt hot, her muscles tight with need, but she let Riley take over. He slipped off her bra and then sighed against her skin as he cupped her breasts again.

  “Fuck, that feels so good. These are beautiful, baby. Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to get my hands on these?”

  She leaned back against him, her head cradled by the strength of his chest. He was solid all over. His callused hands rubbed against her skin, the feeling of masculinity making her feel more feminine than she’d ever felt before.

  His fingers rolled her nipples and for a moment, she couldn’t breathe.

  “You’re going to give me everything I want, aren’t you, Ellie? You’re going to let me play with this body. You’re going to wrap yourself around me and let me have you like I’ve dreamed of. Without reservations, no thoughts of anything but how we can make each other feel.”

  Forgetting everything else seemed like the best idea ever. She needed this. Needed to let go of everything and simply be. She hadn’t done it in years, maybe never.

  But it felt right with Riley. It felt good and true.

  “Yes. I don’t want to be anywhere but with you. Only you.”

  His hand fumbled with the button on the back of her skirt and he cursed, finally managing to undo it. “Damn it.
I’m not going to last once I get inside you. I’m going to be good for you, Ellie. I promise. I’ll make it so fucking good for you.”

  She loved the growl he got in his voice when he was really aroused. And the way his hands shook. She wasn’t in this alone. He was with her, right beside her in his need. She helped him, shoving the skirt down and kicking off her shoes. When she was down to nothing but her undies, she turned in his arms.

  She was a little too big, her breasts real. Unlike many women her age, she’d never lifted them or enlarged them. They sagged slightly and she was well aware that her hips were curvier than fashionable. Would he turn her away? Would he see she wasn’t as pretty as he’d thought?

  He stared, his eyes going right to her breasts. “You’re so gorgeous, Ellie. Do you have any idea what I’ve gone through since that first day? I’ve never masturbated as much as I have in the last week.”

  Yep, the man knew what to say to her. She was pretty sure she was glowing. “I’ve thought about you, too.”

  “I want you to tell me all about that, but later, baby. Right now, I’m going to do what I’ve wanted to do since the moment I met you.” He leaned over and picked her up like she weighed nothing. He strode across the room to her desk.

  Luckily, she kept a neat desk because she was fairly certain if she hadn’t, Riley would have run an arm across it, shoving everything to the floor in his haste. He sat her in the middle of the desk.

  “Lean back. I’m getting rid of these.” His fingers found the sides of her bikini panties.

  She did as he’d asked, feeling the smooth leather of her desk protector under her skin. He dragged the panties slowly from her hips and down her thighs. A breath hissed from his mouth as he looked down at her. He loomed over her, and she was well aware that he was still fully clothed. She was laid out like an offering on her desk, her every inch of skin exposed and waiting for him.

  Why did that make her so hot? Why did it send her heart rate through the roof, her blood pounding through her system in anticipation of the moment when he would thrust inside her? Her pussy was pulsing with need, softer and wetter than she’d ever been before.