Page 48 of Heist

Chapter Thirteen

Patrick paced the floor of the penthouse suite, feeling like a caged animal. He could have gone to work, but Angela Canmore had called and warned him the press was camped out. He wouldn’t be able to keep his location secret for long, but he was safe here for now.

This trip to New York was not going as planned. It was supposed to be a simple unveiling of some fucking diamonds and a few days of debauchery with his sexy new submissive.

Much of that had gone out the window despite the fact that he had fucked and spanked Austin last night.

Now, if he was going to be charged and she was going to represent him, he felt like he should pass her training to Lance. It was the ethical thing to do if she would consent to it of course. There was always having her withdraw from the house submissive program. He just wasn’t sure how to have that conversation with her.

He glanced at his smart watch. Nearly two, almost time to leave if he were going to make it to Austin’s office by three. Deep down, he knew he wanted her defending him if it came to that—and it was going to come to that—but he also wanted her kneeling at his feet in submission to him. It seemed like an ethical quandary with no right answer.

The easiest answer was to hire a different attorney, but she was being quite adamant that she be the one to represent him. It could be a sign of her devotion to him, but they’d barely been a D/s couple for seventy-two hours. Surely she wasn’t that committed already.

There were no truly easy answers here. Elijah and Holly had offered to come over, but he was worried about the press picking up on their trail, so he’d waved them off.

After tugging on a cap and setting some sunglasses on his nose, he called a car and hurried down the stairs. Using the elevator made it too easy to be ambushed by cameras. When he came out the side entrance of the hotel, his driver was waiting for him. He climbed into the backseat where the windows were tinted and tossed the cap and glasses into the seat beside him.

Thirty minutes later, the car pulled up in front of Austin’s building.

“Looks like the press are here, Sir. Should I drive around the block?” the driver asked.

“Yes, please,” Patrick said as he lifted his phone to his ear.

“Where are you?” Austin asked when she answered.

“I’m circling the block. The press is outside your building. I don’t know if they’re here for me or someone else. Is there a back entrance?”

“Shit. Yes. They camp out in front of this building all the time. We’re the top criminal defense attorneys in the city, and we get all the juicy cases. And yes, you’re a juicy case.”

“You’re a juicy case,” he retorted before biting his tongue.

“As much as I love flirting with you, we need to get you inside. I’m sending two security guards to the back entrance. You’ll come around West seventy-third. The press will be there too, but not as many of them and the car can get right up to the door. The guards are on their way now. They’ll be waiting to escort you in. Just keep your head down.”

“I’ve got glasses and a cap.”

“Perfect. See you in a few minutes.”

When they pulled up at the back of the building, two uniformed guards stood at the entrance. The driver maneuvered the car as close to the door as he could manage as a handful of reporters and photographers snapped pictures. They weren’t sure who they were looking at, so they weren’t shouting questions. Patrick was able to get into the building unscathed.

He tucked the San Francisco Giants cap in his back packed and folded the glasses into his shirt pocket. The security guards escorted him all the way to Austin’s office.

“Hey, you,” she said with a smile as she motioned him into her office.

He wanted to pull her to him and kiss her hard, but he resisted. As he sat, he pulled the cap from his back pocket and tossed it onto her second visitor chair.

She picked it up and wrinkled her nose. “You’re in New York. This is definitely points against you.”

He winked. “At least it’s not a Dodgers hat.”

She pointed a finger at him. “True story. Let’s talk business. I put in some calls and we’re in luck for now. The lab processing your fingerprints is backed up so it will be several days at least before they file any charges as long as no other evidence comes to light.”

“That’s something, I guess. Can we hire a private investigator to figure out who really pulled off the heist?”

Austin leaned back in her office chair. “We could, but we should give the police the benefit of the doubt. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours. Let them complete their investigation and if we don’t like their conclusions, we’ll hire someone.”

“Are you sure you can take me on? What about that case that had us rushing back here?” he asked.

“My docket is pretty clear. You two are my only active cases right now. Let me worry about my caseload.”

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