The elevator slid to a stop, the doors opened, and we stepped out. He headed toward the exit, but I wasn’t even close to being done with this conversation. I grabbed his sleeve and tugged him into a small alcove near the wall of mailboxes. “No way are you leaving me hanging,” I said. “You say they’re bad news, you tell me why.”

“You know I can’t talk specifics, Angie.”

“Shit.” I snapped out the curse, because I understood the unspoken message. The allegations from five years ago may have disappeared, but Jahn’s knights were still in the FBI’s sights. “If they’re such badasses why hasn’t the FBI or the cops or whoever swooped down and carted them away?”

Kevin just looked at me, his expression suggesting I was being naive. For that matter, I probably was. “There’s evidence,” he said. “There’s strategy. And I’m not talking about this anymore. I’ve already said more than is prudent, but you’re important to me, Angie.”

“What is this about, really? You don’t like that I have male friends? That I was talking to Evan?”

“Talking to him? You cried on his shoulder, Angie.”

I tried to protest that Evan was just a friend, but the words felt bitter on my tongue, and I couldn’t seem to get them out.

Kevin took a step closer, closing the distance between us, and for the first time I realized that despite his lanky physique, there was an innate power to Kevin. “And no, I didn’t like it. I don’t like the way he looks at you, either. I don’t trust him. And I don’t want you getting mixed up with him or his friends. And honestly, Angie, I don’t think your uncle would like it, either.”

His last words ripped a sharp breath from me. He was right, of course. Jahn didn’t want me to be with Evan. Was this why? Was Evan—were all three of the guys—dangerous? Were they really criminals?

Holy shit, the possibility that the allegations five years ago had been true had never even occurred to me. And assuming it was true, had Jahn known? Had he simply discounted the possibility that men he loved like sons ran a criminal enterprise?

Or had my uncle, in some small way, admired the ingenuity that must go along with staying one step ahead of the law? Had he been just a little bit jealous of the rush those three must have experienced every time they crossed a line and got away with it?

Dangerous, yes. Edgy, absolutely.

But pretty damned exhilarating, too.

I shivered, and saw that Kevin was looking at me with a kind of fierce protectiveness. “I know,” he said. “Those guys are scary. Stay away from them. From all of them.”

I nodded mutely, but only because I knew I had to.

My shiver wasn’t from fear, but from excitement. From the possibility of finding that rush that I craved embodied in a man I wanted in my bed. A man that I already knew fired my senses.

I didn’t know what that said about me and, honestly, I wasn’t inclined to dive into a pool of introspection. After all, the bottom line remained the same. I wanted Evan Black. Wanted his touch, his kiss. I wanted to be swallowed up whole, swept away.

Hell, I wanted to fly.

It would never happen, though. Maybe I didn’t know all of Evan’s secrets, but I knew damn well that he was loyal. He’d made a promise to Uncle Jahn, and nothing could make him break it. I may not understand what kind of game he’d been playing with me on the balcony, but I was absolutely certain that it wouldn’t end with me in Evan Black’s bed.

And as much as I hated to admit it, that was probably a good thing. I might crave the thrill, but I knew better than anyone that my wild urges had teeth—and I’d been bitten too many times already.

five

“Wait,” I said, as Kevin started to climb out of his Prius. “Let’s not go up just yet.” We were in the parking garage of Kevin’s condo, just a few blocks from Michigan Avenue. As parking garages go, it wasn’t bad, but neither was it a particularly comfortable or pleasant destination, which is probably why Kevin looked at me so curiously.

“Are you okay?” He reached over to take my hand. “It’s been one hell of a day.”

“It has,” I said. “Please, can’t we go out?”

“Out?”

“A drive, maybe.” Although honestly, if we were just going to drive I wanted a convertible and some serious speed. “Or the Ledge. Is it open this late?” Despite the crowds, the Ledge at Skydeck was my favorite destination in the city. Even though I knew it was as safe as houses, I still got a rush from standing 103 stories above the city on the clear platform, my mind unable to comprehend how it could be that I wasn’t falling.

Kevin’s expression reflected both concern and bafflement. “Honey, are you okay?”

“No,” I said plaintively. “I haven’t been okay for days.” I’d been pulling it in. Playing the part I was supposed to play because I was the grieving niece. The senator’s daughter. The face of my family in Chicago. I’d made statements to the press twice—albeit coached by my immediate boss who ran Jahn’s PR department—and I’d made it a point to accompany his secretary through the halls of HJH&A for no reason other than to give the employees a sense of continuity. An exercise which was wholly ridiculous since I couldn’t have run Howard Jahn Holdings & Acquisitions if my life depended on it.

Still, I’d played a role and I’d played it well. But now I just needed to breathe.

“Just tell me what you need,” he said.

“I’m trying to tell you.” I could hear the frustration in my voice and tried to rein it in. I reminded myself that Kevin didn’t know me—despite having slept together twice and having my father’s seal of approval. He didn’t know how hard I worked to be the girl that I was. Didn’t know how I always kept a tight check on myself. How could he, when I’d never told him?

But I’d never told Evan, either. And yet he’d understood me. I recalled the feel of his words washing over me, the heat of his body beside me. He’d given me everything I’d needed right then. The heat, the words, the understanding. He’d given me a taste, but damned if I didn’t want the whole meal.

“Hey,” Kevin said, shifting our hands so that he could twine his fingers with mine. “I’m listening.”

I drew in a breath, feeling chastised. Because he was listening. He was trying. And I was sitting there having fantasies that he could read my mind.

“Haven’t you ever felt like everything is too much?” I asked. “Like you keep everything bottled up so tight, but sometimes you have to let off steam. Because if you don’t, you’ll explode, and that would be so much worse.”

“A release valve,” he said, and the band around my chest loosened a bit.

“Yes. Yes, exactly.” I couldn’t quite believe that he got it.

“Honey,” he said, then released my hand so he could stroke my cheek. “Just let me take you inside.”

“I—” I started to argue, but then cut myself off. Because, really, wasn’t this exactly what I wanted? It wasn’t about going dancing, it was about losing control. Hell, it was about relinquishing control.

I closed my eyes, imagining the moment we walked into the apartment. He wouldn’t even shut the door before he’d have me up against the wall, my hands above my head, his body hard against mine. I’d close my eyes, letting the sensations roll over me as he gripped my wrists with one hand, his other hand hard upon my breast. I’d arch into his touch, but not much. He had me trapped there, able to take only what he was willing to give. Lost in sensation, floating away in the decadent arms of surrender until I opened my eyes, so desperate to see the heat reflected back at me that I had no choice.

And when I did, it wasn’t Kevin’s face that I saw—it was Evan’s.

I gasped, my eyes flying open for real this time, and I saw Kevin peering at me, concern cutting across those perfect features.

“Angie? Hey, are you okay?”