Way to be professional, Allie.

A harsh laugh cut through her silent tears. Because despite everything she was feeling, she had to admit it wasn’t her unprofessional behavior that was in the forefront of her mind. It wasn’t even the anger she felt toward herself for giving Hudson the satisfaction of knowing he’d broken through her defenses. No, what consumed her thoughts as she sat on the cold tile floor was how much she’d enjoyed every minute of it. And how if Hudson had followed her, she’d likely have let him do it again. On her couch, over her desk, in her shower . . .

This has to stop.

She scrambled to her feet and stepped in front of the vanity. The sight made her wince. Her hair was even worse then she’d imagined, the once-soft curls now a matted, tangled mess. Her lips were swollen from Hudson’s bruising kisses, the edges smeared with the remnants of pink lipstick. Her cheeks were raw from the scrape of his stubble against her skin, and her eyes were streaked with mascara from where she’d swiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

And on top of everything else, she was without panties.

Just fucking great.

She pulled the shredded lace out of her pocket. What a mess. When she and Hudson were named co-CEOs, she’d devised a plan. No matter what he said, she would keep their dealings professional, steering the topics back to Ingram whenever he digressed. It shouldn’t have been difficult. She should have been able to resist him, no matter how sexy he looked in that damn Armani suit. And yet there she was, less than a week since their appointment, cleaning herself up after a walk of shame back to her office. What the hell had she been thinking?

As if taunting her rhetorical question, the memory of Hudson’s fingers stroking the damp fabric between her thighs filled her mind. She shook her head hard to clear it, then looked her reflection in the eyes and told herself in no uncertain terms that what happened was a mistake. Granted it was a mind-blowing mistake that had her coming so hard she’d ripped the buttons from his shirt, but a mistake nonetheless. A lapse in judgment. And it would never happen again. Ever.

Feeling a new sense of determination, Allie tossed her ruined panties into the trash. She dabbed her face with a wet towel, ran a brush through her hair, and after a quick reapplication of makeup, was almost good as new. But although she might have looked presentable, the ache between her legs as she walked back to her desk was a cruel and constant reminder of what had just happened.

Work. She needed to get Hudson Chase out of her mind and concentrate on work. Luckily, there were piles of it waiting on her desk. Not to mention the prep she needed to do for the battle that was looming at tomorrow’s board meeting.

Hudson had made his feelings on the newspaper division painfully clear. In his opinion it was outdated and a drain on the bottom line. While that might be true, there was also a considerable amount of respected brand recognition with consumers and a legitimacy that came along with that. Allie’s grandfather had started his entire empire with that paper. She wasn’t giving up on it without a fight. With any luck she’d be able to convince the board to retain their flagship division by offsetting any print losses with the lucrative streaming component she was going to suggest for their online content. But before she and Colin could put the finishing touches on that proposal, there were affiliate contract renewals to review.

She’d barely gone over the first one when there was a tap at the door.

“Come in.”

Colin slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. “Sorry to disturb you, but Detective Green is here to see you,” he said. His hushed tone explained why he hadn’t simply used the intercom. “She doesn’t have an appointment, so if you’d rather, I can tell her now’s not a good time.”

As shaky as Allie felt, was there ever going to be a good time to discuss the details of her parents’ murder with the investigating officer? Might as well get it over with.

“No, I’ll speak with her.” One more reason to wish she’d never crawled out of bed this morning.

Colin nodded but didn’t move. He simply stood there, regarding her for a moment. “You okay, boss lady?”

Allie really needed to work on her poker face. “I’m fine. But can you give me just a minute, though?”

“Sure thing. Buzz me when you’re ready.”

She signed and initialed the contract, then stacked it neatly in her outbox. After a few deep breaths, she hit the button on the phone’s intercom and gave him the go-ahead to send her in.

A moment later the door opened.

“Thank you for seeing me, Miss Sinclair,” Detective Green said, striding toward Allie with her hand extended. She was dressed in another dark, boxy suit and wore her brown hair in the same no-nonsense bun she did every time Allie saw her. The gold shield wasn’t clipped to her belt this time, but Allie knew that a gun was holstered beneath her jacket. And after seeing the damage a bullet could do firsthand, the mere proximity to a gun, even one carried by a police detective, made her uneasy. “I would have called first, but I was in the area on another case and thought I’d take a chance you were free.”

“It’s not a problem,” Allie said. She shook the detective’s hand, then motioned to a chair in front of her desk. “Please, have a seat. Can I offer you something to drink?”

“Coffee would be great.” She looked at Colin. “Black, one sugar.”

He nodded. “Anything for you, Miss Sinclair?”

Coffee was the last thing Allie needed given the current state of her nerves. “Maybe a cup of tea?”

“Right away,” he said. But he lingered, regarding her a moment more before crossing to the bar on the far side of the room.

Allie watched as the detective’s shrewd stare took in her surroundings. Even though her office wasn’t a crime scene, it was obvious she was cataloging every detail. From the oversize mahogany desk to the cluster of wingback chairs arranged near the bar, to the gallery of historic headlines framed in chronological order on the far wall, nothing went unnoticed.

“This was your father’s office?” Green asked.

It wasn’t a tough assumption to make. Everything about the room resonated with a sense of masculine power. If her position at Ingram became permanent, Allie would eventually redecorate. Something lighter, more in keeping with her own personality and taste. But for now she had bigger concerns than replacing tapestry with silk. “And my grandfather’s before that.”

Colin returned with two china cups. Allie glanced up to find his handsome face etched with concern. “Thank you, Colin.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ll call you if I need anything else.”

The moment he was gone, Allie turned her attention to the woman seated across from her.

“What can I do for you, Detective?” she asked, cutting right to the chase. Detective Green hadn’t stopped by just to tell her there were no new developments. Or to have a look at Ingram’s executive offices. There was a purpose for her impromptu visit, and as far as Allie was concerned, the sooner they got to it, the better.

Green put her cup back on its saucer and reached for the leather satchel at her feet. “There are a few things I’d like you to look over.”

A lump formed in the pit of Allie’s stomach. Surely this woman hadn’t come to her office in the middle of the day to show her crime scene pictures? Or worse, her parents’ autopsy photos? Regardless of the rocky start to her morning, Allie didn’t think she’d ever be ready to see those images.

She breathed a sigh of relief when Detective Green dug through her bag and pulled out not eight-by-ten photos, but a stack of papers that appeared to contain some sort of list.

“This is the complete inventory of your parents’ Lake Forest home. We’ve given a copy to the insurance company and asked them to cross reference it with the policy riders to see if they can determine what was taken.” Green slid the printout across the desk. “We’d like you to look it over as well.”