Page 11 of Just One More Moment

Once they were alone, Remy stared at her, his amber eyes crinkled in concern. “Want to talk about it?” he asked.

She swallowed hard. “Not really… but I should.”

Because not only had her brother made a valid point, but she owed Remy, the owner of this business, the truth since once Lance was free, Raven would be a walking target. If after he heard her story he wanted her to leave and not put their business or customers at risk, she would understand. Not that she had any idea where she’d go.

“My office?” he asked, tipping his head in that direction.

“Not here and not right now.” She needed the day to process the news of Lance’s imminent release. And to figure out how to spill her hardest secrets she’d always kept hidden.

“Dinner tonight? My place?” he asked. “It’ll be more private.”

She pulled in a breath, ignoring the fact that under any other circumstances going to Remy’s apartment would definitely lead to more than just talking. Not tonight.

“Yes, that sounds good.”

He smiled that sexy grin she always fought to resist. “We’ll head over together around seven? Pamela is working the late shift,” he said of the assistant manager.

“Okay.” And now it was time for her to do her job. The one thing in her life that until now, had been solid and secure.

Chapter Five

Remy watched Ravenwork the rest of the night, aware she had something extremely troubling on her mind. He’d seen her nearly crumble against her brother, his heart squeezing at her obvious pain.

The night dragged on and when he realized he was doing nothing but staring at Raven, he holed up in his office, going through the last case he and Zach had handled. A runaway teen they’d managed to rescue from her sleazy high school teacher, reunite her with her family, and send the SOB to jail where he belonged. They kept meticulous notes should the case go to trial and since Remy had taken lead on this investigation, it was his job to wrap it up. It also kept his mind off Raven and the fact that if he’d dug into her background, he’d be one step ahead of whatever the issue might be.

But then he’d lose her trust. So he worked. Until his watch reminded him to stand and walk around. As he circled the office, he glanced at the time.

Now, he could focus on Raven.

***

Raven reluctantly letRemy pull her away from work. She had no desire to talk about her brother or his imminent release from prison but she understood the necessity.

They grabbed an Uber to his apartment, located farther downtown in Chelsea. He was silent on the ride over and she appreciated the time to think and figure out how to explain her past.

As they exited the vehicle and walked to the entrance of the building, a doorman greeted Remy by name. Inside was a stunning lobby, complete with a large sitting area and a concierge desk with an attendant behind it.

Remy placed his hand on her back as they strode through the marble lobby to an elevator set away from the main bank. His touch burned through her lightweight work shirt but she couldn’t bring herself to step away. He pressed PH and she wasn’t surprised he probably owned the top floor or that the elevator opened directly into his apartment.

They stepped off the lift and the doors closed behind them. Her brother resided in a brownstone on the Lower East Side and her mother and sister resided in Chappaqua, so of course Raven knew of wealth, but she no longer lived it. After she’d testified against Lance, her mother had taken away Raven’s access to the trust fund she didn’t want anyway.

She was self-supporting and proud of it but she didn’t begrudge anyone their money, however they came by it. But she respected Remy’s work ethic and understood he hadn’t needed to buy into the bar or PI business; he chose to.

“This way.” He gestured farther inside the apartment and she followed him in. “Take off your shoes and get comfortable,” he said, toeing off his leather slip-ons she had no doubt cost a pretty penny.

She removed her black, sturdy sneakers that kept her as comfortable as possible while on her feet all day and sighed in relief.

“How does Chinese sound?” he asked.

Her stomach let out a growl of approval and her cheeks heated at the sound. “Chinese sounds perfect.”

“Good because I ordered it before we left the bar and the doorman put it in the kitchen.” He met her gaze and winked.

Her body reacted to his flirtation and she felt a definite kick of desire low in her belly. “What if I didn’t like what you ordered?” she asked, curiosity getting the better of her as she followed him into the kitchen. The delicious smell of garlicky food beckoned.

“Then I’d have asked you what youdolike and we’d wait for delivery.”

She rolled her eyes. The man liked to take control but in this case, she was glad for it.

---