Not with a Fizzle, But with a Bang (The Bang Series #1)

Chapter 12

***Christian***

When I get in the elevator Monday morning Jessica gets in beside me, "Good morning Mr. Clark."

I look down at her, "Good morning, nervous?"

She nods slightly, "Yes."

I smile, "You'll be fine."

She sighs, "I'm glad someone has faith in me," she presses her lips together and I know she wants to say something more.

"What is it?" I ask.

She winces, "Well I heard about the chairity event and I have to wonder what your interest in Emerson is?"

I sigh, "I'm not really sure myself."

She looks surprised that I answered her question, and I continue, "Something about her just draws me in. I'm not sure what it is. And I don't even know if I want to know."

She nods slowly and finally says, "Em is a good person, but she's really guarded Christian. I know you're the same way...but just be careful."

The elevator stops and she gets off on her floor. When I reach the top floor I'm surprised to see Emerson walking off the other elevator. She's scrolling through her phone as she walks, not paying any attention to her surroundings.

I look her up and down. Her red hair was in soft curls framing her face and falling to her shoulders. She had on a light pink shirt and a grey skirt that hit above the knee and hugged her perfectly, and only made me think of how perfect her ass had looked the night before. I noticed she also had on the same pink high heels she had been wearing when she interviewed me.

I step up behind her and snake an arm around her waist, she jumps slightly causing me to chuckle.

"Did I scare you that badly?" I ask.

She leans against her desk and says, "I'm a little jumpy, I had two people trailing me today on my way here, one of them was your guy, and one of them was Harwells. I lost one of them, and I'm not sure which one."

My eyes widen just as my phone goes off, sure enough it's Wes, I pick it up, "I just heard. I want you in my office. Now."

Sir I-

"You're not in trouble. Just get here. Now."

I hang up and notice Emerson biting her lip, "Are you okay?"

She shakes her head, "Not really. Harwell has no reason to follow me. I haven't done anything," she pouts at the last part of her sentence.

I set my briefcase down on her desk and cup her chin, "Em look at me," she meets my gaze and gulps before I say, "He just wants you to himself. It's a game to him. You know something about him, something not many people know. That room...it's his secret, and it could bring a man like him down. He's worried that you're going to sell that secret. You could sell that secret and live off the money for the rest of your life. But I hope to dear God that you don't do something so stupid."

She gulps, "But I'm not going to...if I was going to I would have already done it."

I shake my head, "It doesn't matter. What he's trying to do is dig up dirt on you. He needs something so he can equal out the playing field."

She presses her lips together and looks down at the ground, "So he can threaten me right?"

I nod, "Yes," I tilt her head back up, "Em I need you to tell me if there's anything he could find that could hurt you. Whatever it is it needs to disappear."

She shakes her head and looks past my gaze, acting as if she's meeting my eyes, "There isn't anything."

She was lying.