Dirty Little Promise (Forbidden Desires #2)

Hadn’t Sonja said something a few weeks ago? That she was always here when or if I needed her?

And the breathiness in her voice. That was new.

Pushing the thought away, I grabbed her file and shoved it in my bottom drawer, hoping the issue would go away before I had to solve it more aggressively. The last thing I needed was extra drama in my life.

Speaking of which . . .

Picking up the receiver, I dialed Emma’s number and waited as it rang. Once, twice, three times . . . There was a click, and a second later, a flat robotic voice came over the line.

“The person you’re calling has reached the maximum number of messages in their voice mail. Please call back later.”

“Fuck.” I grunted, then slammed down the phone and glanced at the clock. I had to tell the charter company to start prepping the private plane soon, and I couldn’t do that until I knew whether I’d be traveling alone. Growing more irritated by the second, I racked my brain until, finally, an idea popped into my head.

If Emma hadn’t texted me back three days ago to tell me she was fine and just busy, I would have sent out a search party by now. But desperate times, and all that shit.

Pressing the buzzer on the corner of my desk, I said, “Alyssa, would you come in here, please?”

Within seconds, my door clicked open and Alyssa appeared wearing a navy-blue sweater dress and her dark hair in a bun much like Sonja’s.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her eyes wary. “Don’t tell me another no-show?”

“No, thank God,” I said. “I need you to do me a favor.”

She shrugged. “Of course.”

“It’s a weird one,” I warned.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course it is. But if you’re asking, it’s got to be important, so shoot. What do you need me to do?”

I took a deep breath. “I need you to call Emma for me.”

“For?” She raised her eyebrows.

The fact that I had to admit that Emma had been blowing me off only made me angrier, but I pushed aside my embarrassment. Frankly, I was starting to get worried about her. “She hasn’t been answering my calls, and she’s supposed to come with me tonight to an event in Florida. I need to get the plane prepped. And I need to make sure she’s okay,” I added gruffly.

I hadn’t allowed myself to consider that something had happened to her. Not really, but the longer it took to hear back—and now, with her voice-mail box full—I couldn’t deny a low-level sense of unrest that was growing by the minute.

“Right.” Alyssa nodded, and though she didn’t add anything else, I could tell she had an opinion she was holding back, which was fine with me. I wasn’t in any mood to hear it.

Fishing her phone from her pocket, she entered her pass code and then passed it to me. “You know her number, I’m guessing?”

I nodded, then dialed before handing it back to her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her hands up in defense.

“I’m not going to talk to her from your phone. That’s creepy.”

Alyssa scoffed at me. “That’s the creepy part?”

I glared at her until she sighed and took the phone from me.

“Fine. Anything for you, boss.”

“That’s why you’re the best assistant in the city.”

“That’s also why I need a raise.”

She pressed the green dial button and held the phone to her ear, grimacing at me. Distantly, I could hear the phone ring, and then—

“Emma? Hi, it’s Alyssa from Forbidden Desires.”

The relief that shot through me was quickly followed by anger, and I leaned forward on my desk, my muscles bunched with tension.

After a pause, Alyssa said, “I’m well. How are you?”

When the next pause dragged out, my pulse started to hammer. “Tell me what she’s saying.”

Alyssa glared at me and waved me off before continuing. “Good, good. Look, I know you’re really busy with the library, but we were just calling to see if you could make it to the charity golf event in Florida. We need to prime the plane and—”

A heavier silence ensued before Alyssa turned wide eyes on me. “Oh? You can’t make it? That’s a shame. Well—”

Waving a hand to get her attention, I ground out, “We’re not taking no for an answer.”

Alyssa shrugged at me helplessly and held her hand over the receiver. “What do you want me to do? Hold a gun to her head?”

“Yes,” I barked.

She rolled her eyes again, then said into the phone, “Look, if you don’t mind my asking, we’ve had some trouble getting in touch with you this week. Is everything okay?”

Blood thundering in my ears, I finally snapped and snatched the phone from Alyssa’s unresisting grip. “Where have you been, pet? What’s going on?”

“Gavin . . .” Emma’s voice broke through, but I could tell by her tone, I wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “Cooper. He told me about . . . Ashley.”

My office tilted sideways, and I had to thrust out a steadying hand to my desk to keep from falling over.

She knows.

And Cooper was the one to betray me.

Fuck.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

This wasn’t a conversation we could have over the phone, and certainly not with Alyssa standing across from me with her hand on her hip.

“I’ll be at your place in half an hour.” I ended the call without waiting for Emma’s reply, then handed the phone back to Alyssa.

My assistant looked at me with wide eyes. “Well, that was smooth.”

“Go back to work. You have a job to do.”

And so did I.