Page 85 of The Beat Match

He angled her body toward him, eyes beseeching. “Then why’d you do it?”

“Because Duncan blackmailed me.”

“He what?” His arm tightened uncomfortably around her.

She confessed about her plan to help him fight DLP, catching Duncan, the ensuing threats and Sarah’s private eye work. “I think DLP has something bad on Duncan. That’s why he did what he did.”

According to Sarah’s evidence, Duncan hadn’t been uber-stealthy when lurking around Saanvi’s apartment. A neighbor’s surveillance camera had caught him ambushing Aldrich Pharma’s top researcher at her front door, then forcing her into his car. She’d later emerged weeping and had run into her brownstone. She had quit Aldrich Pharma the next day. There were phone calls logged between Duncan and a higher-up at DLP. Sarah had found a dodgy offshore bank account.

None of it was irrefutable evidence. Duncan might not get arrested, but it would no longer be Annie’s word against his. There was enough in the folder to burn that man’s career to the ground.

“I think I will fucking kill Duncan,” Wes said fiercely. “And you know what this means?”

She shook her head.

“You saved the merger. It was toast. We lost another researcher, but once I show Karim your files, there’s no way he’ll sign with DLP.” He leveled her with an adoring look. “I should have accepted your help when you offered it. I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”

“Lots of massages,” she said playfully. She wanted his hands on her, always.

He settled her more firmly on his lap, ran his thick fingers up her thighs. “You’ll be begging me to stop.”

“Fat chance. But what about your job? You took off your mask.”

He quit kneading her thighs. “I doubt I’ll work at Aldrich Pharma much longer. My father knows about Falcon.”

Had her plan backfired? She’d thought waiting for evidence had been the smart move, delaying Wes from reacting and lashing out at Duncan. The good guys were supposed to win. “I should never have trusted him to keep his word.”

“He didn’t leak anything. I told my father. I was tired of denying a part of myself to appease the company and realized I didn’t want to quit DJing. I’ll find work elsewhere.”

“But you love Aldrich Pharma.”

“I love you, and I love the work. Someone will hire me who doesn’t care what I do at night.”

She hated the slight defeat in his posture, the weariness in his voice. “I don’t think he’ll fire you, but if he does, you’ll take Marjory with you. And you won’t have to hide the mutant animal testing going on in the secret underground lair anymore. We can free the animals together. Felix can be with his fellow rabbit-squirrels and star in his version of Planet of the Apes.”

He smiled. “Planet of the Rabbit-Squirrels.”

“You read my mind.”

He pressed small kisses along her jaw, up to her temple. “I would shudder to delve into that murkiness.” He leaned back and looked at her as though they’d just met. “I love you, Annie.”

She touched the sharp slant of his cheekbones, feathered her fingers toward his mouth. “Say it again.”

“Only if you say it back.”

“Demanding.”

“Give me a few hours and I’ll show you demanding.”

She liked that dirty promise. She liked this even more—them tucked together, touching, nuzzling, adrenaline still high from the show, her heart so impossibly full. “I love you more than I love scrapbooking,” she whispered.

He nipped her bottom lip. “Good, because I’m tossing the book you made of me.”

She froze, picturing her latest creation with dogs defiling his photograph. “I tossed it already.”

He cocked his head and stared at her. “You’re such a liar.”

“I lost it.”