Hot Secrets (Tall, Dark & Deadly #1)(49)

Fifteen minutes later, he parked at a meter in front of her office. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Aren’t you just dropping me off?”

“Not today. Whoever this is saw us fight last night, or I’ll gamble that he did, which means we need to send a clear message. I’m still here and I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to walk you in and I’m going to kiss you goodbye in public.”

“That’s… that’s not necessary.”

He reached for her and pulled her into his arms. “I love you, Lauren. I have since the moment I met you. I can’t be mad at your father for bringing us together.”

She dropped her head to his chest. “I’m afraid to believe you.”

He tilted her chin up, gently forced her to look at him. “Then I’ll show you and tell you until you do.”

And when he expected her to push him away, she whispered. “Promise?”

Relief washed over him and he kissed her, a deep, passionate kiss and it took everything inside him to end it. “I promise.”

“I’m not going to tell you I love you now,” she said.

“Now?”

“Not now.”

“If there’s a later, I can live with that.” He wiped smudged lipstick from her cheek. “The police aren’t involved. I used my FBI contacts and they claimed jurisdiction and sealed the file. No press, and I have a guy over there working this already. He’s simply no longer doing it off the books. He’s a good man. This will be kept quiet.”

Tension rushed from her body. “Thank you, Royce.”

“Thank me by being safe. It’s Tuesday. Your jury selection is still scheduled for tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then, I’m going to work through the evidence from last night before then. I have a feeling our guy will show up for that. I have three men on the building. I’m one phone call away. If you feel even a tiny bit uncomfortable, you call and I’m here. I’ll take you home.”

Her phone rang, she dug it out of her purse and he watched her hit ‘ignore’. She glanced up at him. “My father. According to his five messages, he wants me to drop this case before I get ‘everyone killed.’”

For once he was beginning to agree with the senator, and for his own selfish reasons. He wanted Lauren safe. “I’ll walk you upstairs and I’ll pick you up inside your office.”

***

Several hours later Lauren had finally managed to focus on her work, and was deep in concentration when the buzzer on her desk made her jump. She hit the button.

“Lauren?”

“Oh God, I know that tone to your voice. Who is here that I don’t want to see?”

“Mommie Dearest,” she whispered.

“What? Why in the world… Sharon is here?”

“Oh yes.”

This was odd and unexpected. “Fine. Send her in.”

“Good luck.”

Yeah, I’ll need it, Lauren thought. Obviously Sharon wanted something. It was the only time she heard from the woman. Dropping her pen on the desk, she leaned back in her chair, hands settling on the arms rests.

Dressed from head to toe in Chanel, her skirt short and fitted, her perfume obnoxious, Sharon sashayed into the office.

“Hello, darling,” she purred. ”How is my favorite stepdaughter?”

“I’m your only stepdaughter,” Lauren reminded her.

“Yes, dear, and that makes it even more special now, doesn’t it?” She set her purse on a nearby chair, and moved to a decorative mirror on Lauren’s wall, inspecting her appearance.

“What is it you want, Sharon?” Lauren asked without any effort to hide her impatience. “I have a lot on my plate today.”

Dabbing at her lipstick first, obviously in no hurry, Sharon turned with a heavy sigh. “I want to talk about Brad.”

“Brad. The house had a bomb in it last night and you want to talk about Brad.”

“I want to talk about getting your life back on track. Clearly, you’re spinning out of control and taking the rest of us with you.” She sat down and crossed her legs. “And it seems to me that now, right after you almost got us all killed, is the perfect time to talk about real change. Quit this fool’s game you play in this place and get serious about a bigger picture. Your father is being urged to run for the Republic presidential card again this term. He’s seriously considering it, but to get the backing he needs, and that will be a massive cash influx, we must be solid as a family. This is a greater calling, a way to change the world. We all must make sacrifices, which means you have to stop this thing you do here and now. Battered women deserve sympathy, not the electric chair. You are making your father look bad.”

Lauren stood up. “This conversation is over.”

Sharon didn’t get up. “I’ve talked to a consultant who thinks you and Brad being pulled together by family tragedythe loss of your mother, of course, would be a story that warms hearts. It would show love found in the midst of pain. It would talk to the public.”

“Are you crazy? Is your consultant crazy? That’s practically incest.”

Sharon waved that away. “You lived in the same household for a flutter of a moment and you are not blood related. It’s a fairy tale.”