Hot Secrets (22 page)

She pushed to her feet and wrapped her arms around
his neck. “Mark wants to hire me and my father wants me to quit my
job and join his campaign. Oh, and Julie has a huge charity event
at the museum Saturday night that I am now afraid to go to for fear
I will turn it into ‘Nightmare in the Museum.’”

“Let’s see how the next few days go, and decide
about the event. As for the jobs,” his strong arm circled her
waist, “what do you want?”

She didn’t know anymore. “You,” she said. “I want
you to help me forget all of this.”

He scooped her up and headed for the bedroom, where
she planned to stay as long as she could possibly keep him
there.

Chapter Twenty-one

Her dress was sexy as sin, a long, cream colored
number that Julie had brought her, that hugged every sleek line of
her body. Just another reason Royce wanted to turn away from the
museum before he pulled the truck into the valet parking. He didn’t
care that Saturday night had come with no more threats, that the
plea had seemed to end the hell. The bastard was still out there,
still a ghost they couldn’t find, and he wasn’t going to rest until
they found him. This had ended too easily, and too easy, he’d
learned, was never easy at all. It was the calm before an
explosion, but he wasn’t going to put Lauren on edge again. He damn
sure didn’t tell her that he was so antsy about this event that he
had Blake and Luke in a surveillance van a block away. When tonight
was over, he was going to present her tickets to Rome, and they
were getting the heck out of Dodge until he knew this was really
over.

“You sure you don’t want to just skip this?” he
asked her for the third time since he’d shackled himself into a
monkey suit, otherwise known as a tuxedo.

“No, Royce,” she said. “You know I have to be there
for Julie. I put her through living in a hotel for days. I have to
show my support. She’s family. And she bought me this dress.”

He sighed and turned into the drive. “I do owe her
for that one. I like it.”

She laughed. “So you keep telling me. I’m sure
Sharon will call it inappropriate, when her own dress will be far
more so.” She shrugged out of her coat and the valet opened her
door.

Royce quickly exited and handed off the keys before
stepping to her side, wrapping his arm around her as she shivered.
“I’m going to have to give up this tux jacket. You’re going to be
cold inside.”

“You just want an excuse to give it up,” she said.
“And you have to wear it.”

They waited by the door, as several other people
entered before them. Suddenly, cameras started to flash around them
and a reporter stepped close to them. “Is it true your father is
running for the Republican nomination, Ms. Reynolds?”

“That’s a question for him,” she said quickly.

“Is that why you caved to a plea deal for the
husband killer?”

She stopped walking, the color draining out of her
face.

Royce pulled her to the other side of him and
forward, inside the building. The minute they were inside and
signed the register, he pulled her aside. “Blow that off, baby. It
means nothing. If that’s the worst thing that happens tonight,
we’re good.” His hand brushed her bare shoulder. “The best thing,
at least for me, is going to be peeling this dress off of you.” He
motioned to the room. “Let’s go mingle so I can get to do it sooner
rather than later.”

She laughed, a soft, sexy sound that he’d never get
tired of hearing, and wrapped her arm around him. They entered an
oval room with doorways leading to art displays, towering ceilings
and several winding stairwells that lead to the balcony areas
above. Displays of food and drink framed tables and chairs with
white tablecloths

Julie rushed towards them, dressed in a long light
blue silk dress that accented her voluptuous curves that he was
pretty sure Luke would approve of, even if his brother wouldn’t
admit it.

“Hey, sweetie,” Julie said, hugging Lauren. “How are
you?” She looked at Lauren’s arm where the burn mark was covered by
a bandage. “Stylish and sexy. Does it hurt?”

“No, not anymore,” Lauren said, and then added, “And
it’s not like I could hide it in this particular dress.”

“Which I should thank you for buying,” Royce quickly
added.

Julie winked. “My pleasure and yours too, I hope.”
Then to Lauren, “I have to mingle. Mark and Lindsey are looking for
you. They are at a center table. Mommy Dearest is shopping the art,
and your father is on his way. Brother Brad is also present.” She
glanced up. “Judge Moore and his wife are here. Talk about
awkward.” She lowered her voice, “I’m serving her divorce papers
Monday.”

Lauren gaped. “And he’s with her tonight?”

“Yeah. He’s a cold-hearted bastard, that one.” She
plastered on a fake smile. “Off to act friendly.”

Someone cleared their throat from behind them and
Royce turned with Lauren’s hand tucked under his elbow. Her
stepbrother, whom Royce had met on several occasions, stood there,
and Royce felt Lauren tense and melt closer to his side.

“Lauren,” Brad said tightly, his gaze hitting Royce
with a hostile blow. “I see you haven’t disposed of your
bodyguard.”

A muscle in Royce’s jaw jumped, but he kept his tone
cool. “Seems there are all kinds of unsavory characters around her
I need to protect her from.”

Brad’s eyes narrowed, sliding from Royce to Lauren
and back. “She’s making some statement to her father. Once she’s
done making it, you’ll be done.”

“What?” Lauren demanded. “I… I don’t even know
what to say to you.”

“You say ‘where’s the bar?’ and walk away,” Royce
offered, turning her away and urging her forward, before leaning in
close. “And I’ll be your statement any day of the week, as long as
its forever.”

She stopped and looked up at him. “What?”

“I got you now,” he said. “I’m not letting you go.
But we’ll talk later.”

The tension slid away from her. “Talk. You want to
talk?” She rose up on her toes, and whispered in his ear, “Either
you want me forever or you don’t.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her,
not giving a damn about the properness. “I want you. Forever.” He
trailed his fingers down her arm. “Let’s find Mark before I forget
why it matters and drag you out of here.”

She laughed and they quickly found Mark and his wife
Lindsey, a dynamite blonde who was as gorgeous as she was friendly,
and joined them at their table.

“So I hear Mark proposed a new career option for
you,” Lindsey said, getting right to the point.

“He said something about it, yes.”

“So what do I have to do to talk you into it? I need
some women power at the firm. I’m the only one there.”

From there, Royce was pleased to see Lauren relax,
and get lost in conversation with Lindsey. Royce and Mark were both
pleased to see the magic unfold, as Lindsey convinced Lauren that
she had to join their firm.

A good hour passed before Lauren pushed to her feet
and Royce followed her. “Bathroom,” she said. “You talk your
football. I want to find Julie, too, so I might be a few.” She took
off through the crowd.

He hesitated, fighting the urge to follow her,
telling himself he was being paranoid. But whoever had been
terrorizing her was still out there somewhere.

***

Lauren walked down the hallway into the ladies,
feeling more relaxed than she had in a very long time, a smile
touching her lips. She was in love and she was no longer being
stalked. And, damn it, she was going to quit her job and join Mark
and Lindsey, and if she could talk Julie into leaving the firm she
was with, she’d get her on the boat, too.

She turned a corner to enter the bathroom when
Sharon stepped in front of her, her black dress twinkling in the
overhead lights. “Let’s step to the courtyard and talk.”

“It’s cold, Sharon, and I have to get back to my
table.”

“I received an interesting delivery today,” she
said. “You’re going to want to know what’s inside and not where
others can see it.”

Lauren’s lips parted in shock. This couldn’t be
happening. There couldn’t be yet another threat. “Okay. Let’s
go.”

“I thought so,” Sharon said smugly and turned and
headed down the hall, away from the main room.

Lauren balled her fists at her sides and followed,
telling herself not to overreact. Sharon was notorious for her
ridiculous reactions to things. She opened the door, the cool fall
night chilling her skin.

Greenery and trees lined a red brick path that
allowed guests to go forward, left or right.

“We’ll want to walk further into the courtyard,”
Sharon said, flicking her a hard look. “We don’t need an
audience.”

Lauren hesitated a second, before following again,
not comfortable with the secluded location, which was ridiculous.
Sharon was a bit off her rocker, but she wasn’t dangerous. A few
people milled around at the concrete seats along the way, and while
that should have eased Lauren’s unease, it didn’t.

Sharon walked up the steps of the gazebo, a slim
heater hanging from the ceiling and down to almost the floor,
sending Lauren in pursuit a bit more eagerly. Lauren rushed to the
glowing device and held her hands above it. A second later, someone
grabbed her from behind and she blacked out.

***

Twenty minutes after Lauren left the table Royce was
talking football with Mark when he saw Julie nearby and stopped
mid-sentence. Lauren wasn’t with her.

“Give me a minute, Mark,” he said, pushing to his
feet and going to Julie’s side. “Where’s Lauren?”

“I don’t know. I thought she was with you. Is
something wrong?”

“She went to the bathroom and was supposed to be
finding you. I need you to”

“I’m going,” she said, heading for the bathroom
without another word. Royce fell into step with her, his adrenaline
pumping, telling himself to stay calm. She was okay.

“Has her father arrived?”

“If he has I haven’t seen him,” she said, as they
rounded the corner to the bathroom. “But maybe that’s because they
are off talking. She’d been avoiding him.” She pushed the bathroom
door open and went inside.

Royce’s cell phone rang and he yanked it off his
belt to see Blake in the Caller ID. He answered and Blake
immediately said, ”Is Lauren with you?”

“No, I can’t find her.”

“Front door,” Blake said. “Now.”

“She’s not here,” Julie said, rushing out of the
bathroom.

Royce turned away from her, charging for the door,
and barely keeping himself from running. He was in front of the
building in a minute flat and the van was waiting.

The side door opened. “Get in,” Blake said and Royce
didn’t ask questions.

Royce was inside and the van moving before the door
was even shut, Luke taking off like a bat out of hell. He rotated
on his heels to find the computer panel on the wall lit up with a
tracking program, a dot beeping.

“That’s Lauren,” Blake said. “That chip you put in
her watch wasn’t working. I found the problem. Now it’s working.
Luke has the feed up front, too.”

Royce inhaled a calming breath, and letting it out.
“What else do we know?”

“Not a damn thing.”

“Exiting towards the Bronx,” Luke shouted.

Royce headed to the front with Luke, willing the van
to move quicker, and cursing the traffic that had them at a dead
stop… afraid Lauren would be dead before he got to her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lauren woke to a throbbing in her head and neck,
lost in a fog she couldn’t seem to escape.

“I don’t understand why I’m here,” a female said.
“I’m not supposed to be involved. You said I wouldn’t have to be
involved. And what’s the camera for?

“Better to see with, sweetheart.”

The voices played in her head, her mind starting to
process. Sharon. The female was Sharon. She tried to move and
couldn’t, panic overtaking her. Lauren jerked her head up and
tugged on her arms to find her hands tied behind her back, behind
the rails of a wooden chair.

Her gaze traveled frantically over a warehouse of
some sort, and landed on the two people talking, their backs to
her. Sharon and… Oh God. Wilkins, dressed in army fatigues with
at least one gun and one knife attached to his hip. This wasn’t
happening. It couldn’t be happening.

“Well, look who’s awake,” he said, turning to face
her. “This would be no fun if you weren’t fully present.”

“I don’t need to see this,” Sharon said. “I don’t. I
need to get out of here. Take me out of here before you do it.”

“It?” Lauren said. “What is it?”

“You’re a smart person,” he said, walking to her and
squatting down beside her. “I’m pretty sure you can figure it out.”
He brushed his gloved fingers over her cheek and Lauren tried to
pull away, pretty sure the gloves were a bad sign for her future.
He laughed, as if her resistance amused him. “Pretty little thing,
you are. I think Mama here hates you for that as much as she does
anything else. We bonded over hating you that day I paid your
father a visit. A romp in the sack later, a few bucks in my bank,
and I got paid into scaring you into that plea. She’s hot in the
sack, a fucking wildcat your old fogie father can’t keep up
with.”

“Shut up, Jonathan,” she growled behind him. “Just
shut up.”

He flicked a look over his shoulder. “Who’s she
going to tell?” His eyes fixed on Lauren. “She’s a wicked witch. I
knew you wouldn’t leave the DA, and you sure as hell wouldn’t marry
your stepbrother. That’s some twisted shit.” He pulled his gun and
slid it to her chin.

“Please, don’t do this,” Lauren said, her voice
shaking, her entire body shaking. “Please.”

“We were always going to end up right here, with you
and me,” he said. “I knew that the day I visited your office.” He
pushed to his feet, walked to a video camera and adjusted it.