“ MIKE'S POV ”
“Mike.”
I turned my head to the side and smiled as a familiar blond man stepped up next to me at the bar.
“Stanley,”
I greeted my friend.
“How’s married life treating you?”
He grinned, and his eyes drifted away.
“Amazing.”
I followed his line of sight to see his tall, beautiful, dark-haired wife, Cassie, talking with his mother while cradling their infant son.
A pang of longing hit me, and I turned back to the bar as the waiter put my drink order in front of me.
I glanced at Stanley, and he was once again staring at me, but this time with his brow raised.
“I hear I should be asking you the same question.”
I nodded and suppressed my satisfied smile by taking a sip of my gin and tonic.
“News travels fast.”
Stanley smirked and leaned an elbow on the bar, glancing around the room.
“Especially when news is that one of New York’s most eligible bachelors is off the market.”
“Well, well, if it isn’t the freckled ginger who just left a slew of broken hearts in his wake.”
Cassie laughed as she sidled up to Stanley, who put his arm around her waist and pulled her in close, placing a kiss on her head and then to Carl Stephen.
“Cassie. It’s great to see you.”
I leaned down and kissed her cheek, ignoring the possessive growl coming from Stanley.
As I stood, Cassie’s eyes drifted past my shoulder and her face lit up.
“Is this your lovely bride?”
I turned, surprised to see Elaine had left her seat at our table and joined me at the bar.
She gave me a sideways glance and a half smile.
“I thought maybe you fell into the bottle.”
Then she turned her curious attention to the couple standing with me.
Cassie smiled brightly.
“I’m Cassie Bradford. You must be Elaine. It’s so wonderful to meet you!”
I made formal introductions, and then our wives floated off to chat, leaving Stanley and me alone again.
He put a hand on my shoulder, drawing my attention away from the two stunning women.
“Mike, I got a call from a contact of yours the other day.”
Stanley’s dark expression indicated that he wasn’t pleased with the situation.
It was my turn to raise my brow in question.
“Philip Banks Freeman.”
Fuck.When had that son of a bitch gotten out of prison?
The last thing I needed right now was my past intruding on my time with Elaine.
Revealing secrets I wasn’t ready for her to know.
“What the fuck was he doing calling you?”
Stanley threw back the rest of his drink before scowling at the bartender, who rushed to refill it.
“You were on your honeymoon, and apparently he couldn’t get ahold of you. He obviously knew we were friends and thought I would be able to put him in touch.”
I shook my head in frustration.
“Sorry you were dragged in the middle, man. Did he say what it was about?”
“He was being pretty cagey. But the timing seems awfully coincidental, considering you’re about to release new security software. Somehow, he knew my company had beta tested it, and he asked me a few questions. Thought he was trying to be subtle about it.”
“Damn it.”
Philip and I had parted ways long ago, before I’d even left the criminal world.
Philip was in it for himself and he didn’t give two shits who he hurt in the process.
It had never been about that for me.
My actions were fueled by a need to make things right for people who’d been victims of cybercrimes.
I justified it by thinking of myself as Robin Hood.
It hadn’t taken long for me to realize that Philip wasn’t someone I wanted to be associated with.
But he was also someone I hadn’t wanted as an enemy.
So I’d done my best to make the split amicable, and every once in a while he reared his ugly mug and tried to lure me back into the game.
“Do you think he knows you’re the one who turned him in?”
I thought about Stanley’s question for a minute before answering.
“No. The FBI completely covered my involvement, and if they hadn’t, I’d be dead.”
I ran a tired hand over my face and cursed the young me who’d been stupid enough to get involved with that motherfucker.
“But, he knew I was done with that life, done with him. Which means he must be desperate if he’s going out of his way to track me down.”
“I told him in no uncertain terms to lose my information and stay the fuck away from you,”
Stanley growled.
“But I think you’re right. He’s not going to back off until he speaks with you.”
His eyes drifted in the direction of Elaine and Cassie.
“I wouldn’t have brought it up here, but this was the first chance I’ve had to tell you and I didn’t want to wait. I wasn’t sure if Elaine was aware of your criminal background, and he seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t give a shit what kind of mess he leaves in his wake, as long as he gets what he wants.”
I blew out a long, steady breath before draining my drink.
“No, she doesn’t know. I’m going to tell her, I just…I wanted her to get to know me first. To fall for me so that bullshit from my past, no matter how bad it is, won’t scare her away.”
Stanley clapped his hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eye.
“No judgment here, Mike. I would have done the same with Cassie. But I suggest you tell her sooner rather than later, before she finds out from some asshole like Philip.”
Stanley’s words haunted me through the rest of the night.
They festered inside me, making me determined to claim Elaine, to convince her that we belonged together.
The moment we stepped into the house, I swept her off her feet and stalked to our bedroom.
I couldn’t keep the edge of desperation out of my touch.
The first time I took her, it was hard and possessive.
I was making a statement. Telling her without words that she was mine.
Afterwards, I made love to her tenderly, pouring all of my emotion into the act.
It had only been a short time since we’d met and married, but I was already falling so deeply in love with her.
For my own sanity, I had to believe she was feeling the same,
Because I’d made the decision to finally tell Elaine everything about me and hope that we’d had enough time Together for her to look beyond
What I’d done in the past and see who I was now.
…**
I yawned, and my eyes drifted to my watch, and I grimaced when I noted the time.
It was five in the morning. One of the benefits of being the boss was that I could work from pretty much anywhere,
But that also meant that I could get lost in my work and forget about the time.
Since bringing Elaine home, I rarely left her alone all night.
However, I’d been forced to go out a few times to track down Philip and figure out what his endgame was.
I tried not to think about the fact that, while I did need to find him, it was just another excuse to delay my talk with Elaine.
When I finally found him, I discovered he’d ratted on a few other associates to get a reduced sentence.
Our conversation also made it clear that he was fishing for a back door into my new software.
When I didn’t give him anything, he’d played at reluctant acceptance, but I knew him better than that.
It made me paranoid enough that I’d buried myself in work the last week to shore up the security,
Adding a level that even my most trusted developers weren’t aware of.
I felt guilty for not spending as much time with Elaine
As I should’ve been and vowed to make up for it now that I was satisfied with my work on the software.
Yawning, I stood and stretched, feeling the tiredness in every aching muscle.
I closed down my computer and made my way to the master bedroom.
As quietly as possible, I nudged the door open, trying not to wake Elaine.
It was a needless precaution because she wasn’t asleep in our bed.