Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2)(25)

“Great,” she mocked, her gaze trained out the passenger side window. “Let’s get this over with, so I can go home and go to bed.” She reached for the door handle, but I grabbed her hand, halting her exit.

“Jones, look at me.”

“What do you want?” Her head snapped toward mine and her dark braid whipped around her shoulder. Tears glimmered in her eyes.

Guilt lanced through my chest. “Dammit,” I muttered, brushing my knuckles along the side of her face, and she jerked away.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed.

“Do you want to know why I kissed you that night?”

She shrugged. “Apparently, because it was expedient.”

“Yes, there was that. But mostly because I wanted to kiss you from the first moment you walked through Lang’s study door, so forgive me if I’d like to believe we both enjoyed it.” I brushed a kiss along the inside of her wrist and released her hand. “Now, are you ready to go inside?”

Her eyes sought out mine and she sighed. “No, but I will.”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN




Trinity



I twirled my glass in my hand, smiled politely and responded to questions, but I couldn’t take it any longer. Between the speculative glances Derrick’s wife aimed in my direction, and the daggers Miles shot me from across the room, I needed a break.

I tugged on the sleeve of Knox’s jacket. “I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

He eyed me suspiciously for a second, then nodded.

I was halfway down the hall when someone grabbed my wrist and whirled me around.

“What are you doing here?” Derrick hissed next to my ear. “I thought we agreed to stay away from each other until this thing cools down.”

“Not here,” I said, yanking my wrist out of his grasp.

I pushed open a nearby door, pulled him inside and locked it behind us. I glanced around the room. A large mahogany desk took center stage in the middle of the floor. Sunflower yellow curtains framed the window. A cornflower blue and ivory rug blanketed the floor. We were in his office.

He paced the length of the room, pausing near the window with his hands on his hips. “Why are you here?”

“I didn’t have a choice. I left you a message this afternoon warning you. Didn’t you get it?”

“No.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Jesus, Trinity, my mother was here.”

“I didn’t realize,” I said, my voice trailing off. “I didn’t think—”

His hand slashed through the air. “No, you didn’t. My wife is coming out of her skin. She doesn’t want you here. She has this crazy idea that someone will notice a family resemblance between us.”

I rolled my eyes. “Other than the color of our hair and eyes, we look nothing alike.”

His gaze swept over my body. “I don’t think so either, but Ellen doesn’t agree.”

“Great.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Well, tell her I’m sorry, and I’ll avoid darkening her door from now on. I didn’t even think she knew about me.”

He glanced at the floor. “She didn’t know anything about it until I got that letter,” he said, his voice lowering an octave. “The one that started this whole mess.”

“Why’d you tell her?”

He raked his hands through his hair. “Because I didn’t want her to find out about it through the media if things got ugly.”

I leaned against the side of his desk, feeling lightheaded. “We’re going to figure a way out of this mess, Derrick.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I can’t do this much longer. I won’t drag my family through the mud. If it doesn’t stop soon, I’m going to withdraw from the race. Then they won’t be able to hold anything over my head.”

“Give me a couple of weeks before you decide. I have a lead. That’s why I’m here.”

He jammed his hands into his pockets. “What is it?”

“I don’t want to talk about it tonight, but I think you’re right about Miles.” I didn’t want anyone to find us in Derrick’s study. It’d raise red flags, and people might dig into our connection. If Miles knew Derrick was my half-brother, other people might be able make the connection.

He angled his head to the side. “What do you know?”

“Not much.” I pushed away from the desk and moved to the door. “But I think he has something to do with the blackmail scheme. I don’t think you’re the only victim either.”

“Fuck.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Who else?”

“I don’t have any concrete information, but I think Representative Lang is involved, either as a co-conspirator or a victim.”

His shoulders tensed, then he gave a jerky nod. “Okay. I’ll call you Monday and we’ll get together again. I want to know everything.”

I tugged on the lapel of his jacket. “Don’t spend the weekend worrying about this. We’ll figure something out.”

“I won’t.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “How does Knox Black fit into this whole thing?”

Several answers flickered through my mind, but I decided to keep the details to myself. “He doesn’t.” I shrugged. “He’s just a tool to get Miles to stay away from me. Why is Miles here, anyway?”