Restless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series, #4) Page 13

  For once, Ashley didn’t bite her lip because of nerves. She looked at him from beneath her lashes and gave him a teasing smile, giving her bottom lip a nibble just as another way to tease him.

  He wrapped a hand around his erection as he looked at her, and she got unbearably hot at the idea of him being able to jack off just at the sight of her.

  But she wasn’t just here to tease him. She was down here to play. It had been a long time since she’d done this, and she had never experimented with a man she felt this way about. She wanted to turn him on and drive him crazy. But another part of her, the already wet and ready part between her legs, was driving her as well. Making Alex lose control turned her on, and if this made him fall apart, then she wanted to make him fall apart.

  So she started slow. She ran her tongue along the tip to the salty drops at the top. Alex was silent above her, but she could feel him practically vibrating with tension, and she held back a smile. So she took it further and ran her tongue around the ridge of the head of his cock. A groan escaped him, and she went all in as she opened her mouth and enveloped his cock. This time, he actually writhed under her. He set a hand at the back of her head, but he didn’t move her. Just left it resting there as she started to move her head up and down.

  She learned what he liked, using her tongue and different pressure with her lips, and memorized every groan. His fingers fisted in her hair and immediately released; Ashley could tell he was fighting to not take control. She went down once more, this time pushing her own limits as his cock hit the back of her throat, but she didn’t get far. Alex’s grip in her hair tightened once more, and he pulled her off his cock before using his other hand to grab her hip and pull her back on top of him. She tried to stop him so she could pull off her panties, but he simply reached beneath the nightgown and ripped them off her body in one fierce tug.

  Then he had her positioned on his lap and over his cock; before she knew it, he’d entered her in one solid thrust. Ashley’s eyes fell closed as she savored the sensation, but Alex’s hand on the nape of her neck pulled her in for a deep kiss as he seemed to devour her mouth. He bit at her lips, and his other hand roamed over her back and settled on her ass. As he kept on kissing her as if he was never going to stop, his hips started to guide her. The rhythm was slow at first, but he kept demanding more. Then she broke the kiss and rested her hands on his chest as she followed her own body’s demands. With every downward motion, the friction against her clit stroked the flames higher and she allowed the feral, primitive part of her to take control.

  Alex’s fingers bit into her hips, but he didn’t stop her from setting the pace. She wanted to draw it out and tease him more, but she couldn’t help the flood of heat that kept pressing her closer and closer to the edge.

  When she finally gave in, the orgasm ripped through her. She fell back, but Alex’s arm crossed around her back to hold her tightly against him as he came hard. He pressed his forehead to her chest, right above her breasts as he gripped her so fiercely that it bordered on pain.

  Ashley wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close as the aftershocks went through both of them and his grip slowly loosened. She enjoyed the quiet moment of being held in his arms, but the longer it went on, the more aware she became that this wasn’t a perfect moment.

  There were still very real issues facing them. Tate Gallagher and Geoff Cameron were out of their hands for the moment, but there was no reason for the rift between Alex and his family.

  If Alex really did feel for her and want their marriage to be real, that meant her opinion counted. “I think you should apologize,” she blurted.

  “Don’t lie to me. I know you came.”

  Ashley smiled down at him. There really was no hiding that orgasm. Hell, the downstairs neighbors probably knew she came at this point. “Not to me. To your family. To Nathan.”

  “But I’m not sorry.”

  “Then you should be.”

  Alex frowned, the warm fuzzies from the good sex wearing off. “Are you saying we should feel bad?”

  “He’s surprised. This was never part of the plan. You can’t expect him to immediately love me.”

  “But—”

  “You didn’t.”

  He tilted his head. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “When I first showed up at your doorstep, you turned me away, remember? You were going to kick me out. So you can’t be upset with Nathan for needing a few minutes to get used to the idea. I can make your brother like me. I can. But we need to give him a chance. I want you to apologize. For us.”

  “He insulted you. I can’t have people insulting you, let alone my family.”

  “I’m a big girl. I don’t need you to fight all my battles, especially not when it’s pitting you against your brothers. Can you make this right? For me?”

  Alex tried calling all of his siblings once more, but one by one he got their voicemail. Not that he was surprised, but he hoped at least one of them would answer the damn phone. But it was eleven at night. Maybe they were just sleeping.

  Except Nathan. There wasn’t a chance in hell that his youngest brother was in bed this early. He was probably just ignoring his calls.

  He let out a sigh of frustration and put his phone in his jacket pocket. He glanced around the mostly empty street. A large part of him wanted to go back up to his apartment and crawl back into bed with his wife. Nothing would make him happier than to spend the next few hours wrapped around Ashley. But he told her he was going to make up with the family, and he couldn’t help the feeling that the longer he held off, the more dangerous things would become.

  The street was dark and barely anyone was around. If Alex had been wearing his business suit instead of his normal street clothes, he probably would’ve taken a cab to Nathan’s apartment. New York City was much safer than it was a few decades ago, but no place was perfect.

  Nathan only lived two blocks away. He was one of the only members of the family who didn’t live in a Farrell-owned building. During his rebellious phase, Nathan made sure to slide out from Walter’s thumb as much as possible. That included getting his own place.

  Going to Nathan’s place in the middle of the night was a gamble. Nathan didn’t sleep. He rarely went to bed before sunrise. But there was a strong possibility that he wasn’t home. He’d cut back on his partying ways in the past few years, but that didn’t mean he was living like a monk. Especially after a stressful day like today.

  But Alex wanted to fix this. If he went over there and Nathan wasn’t home, at least he could say he tried.

  It was only when Alex was crossing the first intersection on the way to Nathan’s that he realized he wasn’t alone. It wasn’t some random mugger. At this point, he was pissed off enough and angry enough he probably would’ve taken on a mugger. But this was a car following him.

  Alex stopped and turned around to face the car. He reached in his jacket pocket to put a hand on his phone, ready to threaten to call the cops if he needed to.

  He half expected the car to keep on moving, but he wasn’t that lucky. The car came to a stop, and the back door swung open. He should’ve been surprised, but he wasn’t. Tate Gallagher looked as though it were two o’clock in the afternoon instead of the middle of the night. He was refreshed and cheerful looking, wearing what looked like a freshly pressed three-piece suit. Not exactly what Alex would expect someone to wear while stalking him, but when it came to Gallagher, nothing surprised him anymore.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Alex. Part of him figured he should be afraid, but he could take Gallagher. He probably had a good twenty pounds on the older man, and it didn’t look like Tate had any bodyguards who were about to run out of the car. In fact, he wouldn’t mind giving the smug bastard a few good punches in the face before he called the FBI. That might be the one good thing that came out of tonight.

  Gallagher held up two hands, as though he knew Alex was just waiting to strike. “I just want to talk.” A smug smile covered h
is face, and Alex knew he was lying.

  “It’s the middle of the night. Not exactly the best time for conversation.”

  Gallagher nodded. “You’ve got a point there. Except the cops are looking for me and I find that daylight is not the best time for me to have my face in public.”

  “Hate to break it to you, but you shouldn’t be showing your face around me. So tell me what you want and leave.” The sooner he called the FBI, the better he would feel.

  “This might be hard for you to believe, but I’m not here for you.”

  “You tried to kill my brother twice, and I know that you showed up at my house uninvited. I don’t care where Logan has been the past ten years—he’s family. You messed with him, and you messed with me.”

  “Funny about that. Ever since that little incident in that PR girl’s apartment, I have no idea where Logan is. In fact, if I knew where your brother and his bitch were, I’d be talking to them right now instead of you. But since I don’t have him, I’ll have to settle for second best. You and your pretty new wife. How’s that going, by the way? You know, Nadia and I had some good times. If her little brat is half as good at sucking cock as Nadia was—”

  Alex snapped. He rushed forward, grabbed Gallagher’s expensive suit jacket by the collar and rammed the man into his car. The sound of his back hitting the metal and glass echoed in the quiet city night, but Gallagher didn’t look angry.

  In fact, he laughed. “Well, I guess that confirms it. She does give good head.” He giggled like a madman.

  “You son of a—” Alex brought one of his hands back and curled it into a fist, already imagining what Gallagher’s face would feel like as it broke from his punches.

  Before he got the gratification, the driver of the car stepped out. His cell phone was focused fully on Alex and Gallagher. Then it hit him. Gallagher wasn’t playing fair. This wasn’t going to be a war of fists. If he did anything to hurt Gallagher, the driver would record every second of it.

  “You really want to leave your pretty new wife all alone while you fight me in court? Don’t worry. I have a few friends who would love to keep her company.”

  Alex glared at the driver, still holding his phone, as he reluctantly released Gallagher and stepped back. “I want you gone,” he warned. “You caught me off guard, but that won’t happen again. Next time I see you, it will be the last time I see you. I promise you that.”

  Gallagher’s stupid smile widened. “Oh I know,” he said. “I’m counting on it.”

  Ashley couldn’t fall back asleep. The events of the day had her too wound up, and she couldn’t wait to hear back from Alex. It felt as if all the pieces were falling into place. As if she was about to have it all. It seemed as though she and Alex were really starting to click in a way that she never thought would be possible when she first showed up at his doorstep, begging for help. If he could somehow get his family to not hate her, then they could really have a chance. Not a chance at the marriage thing. She already knew they were good enough to work well together. But they could actually have a life together. A happy life that none of their parents really got to have.

  After tossing and turning a few more times, Ashley gave up. She rolled off the bed and pulled on one of her new plain white shirts and her shorts. Even though it was called the city that never sleeps, there was really nothing to do at this time of night besides watch TV. She grabbed her phone before she went downstairs. If Alex called her, she wanted to be ready.

  But once she got downstairs, it wasn’t her phone that rang. It was the apartment intercom that caught her attention. The luxury apartment didn’t have the loud buzzing of the intercoms she remembered from her childhood. It emitted a gentle song, but it didn’t do anything to settle her nerves. Ashley jumped at the unexpected noise, and she ran to answer it. Was it Alex? Did he forget his key? Nothing good came from unexpected visits at this time of night.

  “Hello?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Mrs. Farrell?” said the man on the other end.

  Whoa. First time she was called Mrs. Farrell. That was new. “Who is this?”

  “My name is Officer Thore with the NYPD. I need to talk to you about your husband.”

  She winced and let her head fall against the wall. No. Not the police. She didn’t know what they were here to tell her, but she didn’t want to hear it. “Is everything all right?”

  “I think you should come down here, ma’am.”

  He wouldn’t tell her what was wrong. That wasn’t a good sign. “Tell me what happened,” she demanded.

  “Please come downstairs.”

  Alex had only been gone half an hour at the most. What could’ve possibly happened? Unless... “How do I know you are who you say you are?”

  “Well, I’m on the intercom right in front of your doorman, who has written down my name and badge number. Come down and you can verify. Got the uniform and everything.”

  Anyone could get a uniform, but if he planned to do anything bad, he probably wouldn’t give all his identifying information to a doorman. And there were cameras all over the lobby. Shit. She would feel so much more comfortable if this was a fake cop. “I’m on my way down,” she said.

  She put the key and her phone in the back pocket of her shorts and didn’t waste any time. The fast elevator was down to the lobby in less than a minute.

  It wasn’t hard for her to locate the officer standing at the front desk with the doorman next to him. So his claims about giving his information to someone already was probably legit. Her heart leapt into her throat. The first thing out of her mouth once she reached the cop was, “Is Alex okay?”

  The cop, Officer Thore he’d said, set a hand on her arm. “I think we should talk privately.”

  His touch sent chills up her arm. She didn’t want this cop to touch her. She didn’t even want him there. Something bad was about to happen and he was there to break the news. She pulled her arm free. “No. I want you to tell me right now what is going on.”

  “I need you to look at some pictures.”

  “Why didn’t you bring them in?”

  “Because they’re—” Officer Thore broke off as though he was looking for the right word. “Sensitive.”

  Ashley’s heart dropped. “Please tell me he’s okay.”

  “Ma’am—”

  “Is. Alex. Okay?”

  “I am going to tell you everything I can.” Once again, he set a hand on her back and led her out of the building. His police cruiser was right in front of the doors. Except instead of pulling out pictures to show her, he opened the back door. “Get in.”

  “I’m not...” She trailed off when she saw the dark figure already in the backseat. This wasn’t right. If the cop just wanted to talk to her, he wouldn’t put her in the backseat.

  Officer Thore, if that really was his name, put a hand on her shoulder and the intense pressure was immediate. “I think you are.”

  Then the shadowed figure leaned forward into the streetlight. As recognition sunk in, Ashley tried to pull away from the cop, but the grip on her shoulder became punishing. His fingers sunk into the soft flesh above Ashley’s collarbone and her knees started to give.

  “I’ve missed you so much.” Geoff reached a hand out to her. “I think it’s time we talk.”

  Alex watched the town car roll away and immediately took out his phone. He had the number to the FBI in his contacts and he wanted them to have Gallagher’s location before the son of a bitch could get away. Except when he tried to turn his phone on, nothing happened. Alex shook it and then flipped it over to take out the battery and put it back in.

  Still nothing. What were the chances that his phone just happened to stop working right as Gallagher was threatening him?

  Not good enough.

  Alex turned on his heel and started to run. Even though it was only one short block from his building, it felt as though he wasn’t moving. As if he’d gone half a mile and made no progress. He kept pushing himself farther and faster but by the
time he reached the damn place, it felt as if an hour had passed.

  He ran to the doors and headed straight for the elevator.

  “Mr. Farrell,” yelled the doorman from behind him.

  Alex waved off the doorman as he kept hitting me up arrow for the elevator. “I’m busy,” he called back.

  “I thought you’d want to know about the police,” said the doorman.

  Alex froze in place before he slowly turned his head around to look at the doorman. Bobby. The doorman’s name was Bobby, he distantly remembered. “The police?”

  “There was an officer here just a few minutes ago. He said he had something to show Mrs. Farrell, but they never came back in.”

  He tried to make sense of what he was hearing. Why were the cops there? And... “Why are you telling me this?” asked Alex. From the little he knew about Bobby, the man had always been discreet.

  The doorman shrugged. “Well, I couldn’t hear much, but Mrs. Farrell seemed especially concerned about you. She kept on asking if you were okay. Once again, I don’t want to get involved, but I think you should probably call her and tell her everything is fine.” The doorman suddenly started to shift his weight. “I’m sorry if I overstepped my bounds, sir. I’m going to go back and—”

  “No,” said Alex. “I’m glad you were paying attention. Do you know who this cop was?”

  “Oh yeah.” Bobby reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “I’ve got his name and badge number.”

  “I’m coming. I’m coming.” Nathan stumbled toward the door. Except when he looked out the peephole, it wasn’t building maintenance like he was expecting. Colin Carter was outside his door. He debated not opening it, but if Colin was here in the middle of the night instead of by Jean’s side, he would bet there was a good reason.

  Nathan cracked open the door and glared at Colin. “This had better be pretty damn important.”