Hot Secrets (7 page)

“Exactly,” she said with a firm
nod. “I was surprised to hear Luke left the SEALs. Julie thought
he’d be in for his career.”

“He was afraid Blake and I would
kill each other if he didn’t referee.”

“Really? Why is that?”

He cleared his throat. “Blake
thinks I order him around too much.”

Lauren laughed. “I have a hard
time believing that. Blake must be exaggerating.”

He chuckled, a deep, sexy rumble
that sent a wave of awareness rushing over her, and suddenly they
were joking back and forth, and the stress of her upcoming case
faded. With every word spoken, every smile exchanged, she found
herself more drawn to Royce. By the time they pulled into a rented
parking spot outside of his four
-
story, white brick building, Lauren was feeling as
if she were talking with an old friend surprisingly at ease.

As he held the door open for her
and she exited the vehicle, a cool breeze danced through her hair,
lifting it, a signal that winter wasn’t quite gone yet. She took a
deep breath, allowing the lingering season to conjure emotions both
past and present. She glanced at Royce as he stepped to her side,
wondering where he fit into those feelings.

She followed him into his
building, sneaking covert looks at him, wondering how any man could
look so good, so ruggedly handsome in a wrinkled suit with a one
day beard. But he did
look
good
, oh, how he did. He looked about as perfect as a man
could look.

They rode the elevator several
floors up, and when she finally stepped into his private apartment,
she was pleasantly surprised at what she found. She wasn’t sure
what she had expected, but it wasn’t what she saw but then, that
seemed to be the theme for all things she had discovered about
Royce Walker. She found herself standing inside a cozy, warm home,
rather than a typical, cold and unfeeling bachelor pad, with a
kitchen to her left and a bar that opened to a large living space
that said Walker
S
ecurity was doing well, because this was Manhattan,
where space and quality came with a price tag. The decor was
definitely masculine, warm hues of brown and tan, and free of
female frills, with overstuffed chairs and a large couch. And of
course, an oversized, manly flat screen television with large
floor
-
to
-
ceiling windows on either
side.

Standing just inside the
doorway, Royce tossed his keys on the counter that divided the
living area from the kitchen.

“Make yourself at home,” he said
with a smile. “I’ll shower and change, and then we can be off
again.”

Lauren nodded, eager to explore.
“Take your time.”

Royce started to turn, but
stopped, reaching for Lauren and pulling her into his arms. His
mouth found hers for a quick kiss. “You can be nosy if you
like.”

She grinned. “I plan on it.”

He laughed and started down the
hall. Lauren’s gaze followed him, admiring his ogle-worthy backside
until he disappeared into what she assumed was a bathroom or
bedroom. For a moment, she simply scanned the room. She was
standing in Royce Walker’s apartment. Who would have ever thought
it could happen? Surely not her. The too hot, too sexy, Royce
Walker who’d given her an amazing orgasm the night before. That was
surely something to smile about, and so she did, slowly walking
into the living room and stopping to look at various pictures
sitting on tables and hanging on walls.

There were several photos of his
brothers. At least she assumed that was who the two men in the
shots were, judging from their resemblance to Royce. Then there was
a picture of an older couple with enough of the same resemblance to
him to have her guessing they were his parents.

“Hmm,” she murmured under her
breath. She would never have thought Royce was so sentimental or
family oriented. All his bad-boy charisma appeared to hide
something deeper.

Interesting.

Settling down on the couch, she
continued to survey her surroundings. The fireplace was massive,
taking up half a wall to her left, and inviting images of cold,
winter days snuggling with Royce in front of warm flame
s
. Nice, she thought. Of course she
wouldn’t be around to find out, so she wasn’t sure why she was even
contemplating such a scenario.

Sighing, she wondered how she
went from having her one and only one night stand with a bad boy,
to being with Mr. Virtue, Mr. Dangerously
A
ppealing and destined to break her heart.
She grabbed a box of photos on the table and lost herself in what
was a history of the familythe Walker family. How long she sat
there she didn’t know, but a knock on the door made her straighten.
“Royce, it’s Luke. Open up.”

Surely, she should let Luke in,
and admittedly, she was curious to meet the brother who had seduced
her best friend and perhaps broken her unbreakable heart. She
rushed toward the door, only to have another knock sound before she
could get across the room. Impatience was evidently a Walker family
trait. Opening the door, her eyes went wide at the handsome man
before her. A girl could get overwhelmed surrounded by so much
testosterone. It appeared good looks also ran in the family. As in
the proverbial tall, dark, and handsome storybook men.

Before her stood a man much like
Royce, but not Royce at all. He was smaller, not that the man was
small, because he wasn’t. Next to Royce, small was actually pretty
darn big, and Luke was well over six feet tall, impressively broad
and muscular, with brown eyes and short hair he’d retained from his
days as a Navy SEAL.

His brows dipped at the sight of
her. “Who are you?”

“You Walker men have a way with
words, don’t you?”

Luke frowned and then burst out
laughing. “Sometimes we speak before we think.”

Planting her hands on her hips,
she added, “And not nicely, I might add.” She stepped back from the
door to let him enter.

As soon as the door closed
behind him, Luke turned to Lauren and held out his hand. “Luke
Walker. Can we start again?”

“Funny how your brother had to
‘start again’ as well.” She smiled, and offered him her hand.
“Lauren Reynolds.”

“You’re”

Knowing what was next, Lauren
pulled her hand free. “Please don’t.” She hated being referred to
as “his” daughter. “Yes, my father is Senator Reynolds.” She gave
him her back, retreating toward the couch.

Luke laughed. “I was actually
going to say you’re Julie’s best friend.”

Lauren stopped walking. There
was really no way out of her stupid misstep. She was a bit too
defensive about her father. And how interesting that Luke commented
about Julie, when she’d just been inquiring about him the night
before.

Turning, Lauren found Luke
snatching a cinnamon bun off a tray on the bar. He leaned on the
edge. “Want one?”

He wasn’t pushing her over her
stupid retort. Instead, he was giving her a reprieve, and she
appreciated it. “No. I don’t even want to think about food.” She
paused for a beat, feeling the churn of her stomach. “Ever.”

Luke joined her on the couch,
sitting at the other end, already on the last bite of his roll.
“Did my brother get you drunk and take advantage of you?”

“I certainly did not.”

Lauren and Luke turned at the
sound of Royce’s voice. This was her first time to see him in
casual attire, and he didn’t disappoint. Dressed in snug, well-worn
jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged every inch of his muscular
body
,
with his long
hair, freshly washed and loose around his shoulders, there was an
edge of lethal wildness barely suppressed, barely contained, that
had her wishing she’d worked harder to set it free the night
before. “No, he didn’t,” Lauren agreed. “I seem to bring out the
gentleman in him.” The words were out before she could stop them,
and she felt her face warm with color.

Luke looked at Lauren and then
his brother. “What am I missing here?”

Royce cleared his throat. “I
need to review a couple of files with you.” He paused pointedly.
“Downstairs.”

Lauren eyed Royce. “I can take a
hint. You want to talk to your brother alone. I’ll wait here.”

Luke arched a brow at Royce.
“Doesn’t miss a thing, does she?”

“No,” Lauren said before Royce
could answer. “I don’t.”

“I’ll only be a few minutes,”
Royce promised.

Lauren nodded and reached for
the remote. This was new. The woman waiting on the man who was
taking too long to get ready.

***

Royce followed Luke into his
apartment. “Blake’s in the kitchen,” Luke told him, of their other
brother.

“When isn’t he in someone’s
kitchen?” Royce mumbled, considering Blake’s appetite for both food
and revenge against the drug lord that had killed his fiancée were
damn near legend.

Royce entered the kitchen and
eyed Blake, who was quickly gobbling up junk food, his long hair
neatly tied at his nape. “It’s a little early for cookies,” Royce
informed him.

Blake smiled a bright white
smile. “It’s dessert. I ate leftover pizza first.”

Luke grimaced. “That pizza was a
week old, man.”

Blake shrugged his broad
shoulders. “Tasted fine to me.”

Royce frowned and looked at the
wall clock. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the airport by ten?”

Blake glanced at his watch and
shoved the chair from the table. “Ah, hell,” he said. “I’m late.”
Then he glared at both his brothers. “I know this airport contract
pays us, and pays us well, but I hate these weekend security
meetings. Next Saturday, one of you is going.”

“They like your ATF background,”
Royce reminded him.

Blake waved on his way out of
the room. “We’re talking about next Saturday.”

The instant he was gone, Luke
turned an expectant look on his older brother. “Well?”

Royce let out a long breath, and
leaned against the counter. “I have a situation.”

“A situation?” Luke laughed. “Is
that what you’re calling a gorgeous woman in your living room these
days?” Royce gave him a
go to hell
look.
Luke raised his hands in mock surrender. “I’m listening.”

“You already know Reynolds asked
me for a favor.”

“Did it include sleeping with
his daughter?”

Royce grunted. “Not
exactly.”

Luke’s eyes widened
incredulously. “Not
exactly
? What in the
hell does that mean? I was joking.”

”Someone’s been sending him
threatening notes, and Lauren has been mentioned.”

“Do they have any idea who might
be responsible?”

“No, he doesn’t. She doesn’t
know about any of this and he doesn’t want to tell her until I’m
certain there’s a real threat.”

“And that would be why?”

“He
says
it’s because he believes she’ll blow off the
threat. She works for the District Attorney’s office. That makes a
person immune to fear in ways most wouldn’t be. I’d like to believe
him, and after spending time with her, I certainly think his
concern is merited.”

Luke grabbed a chair, and sat
down at the table. “But?”

“I don’t know,” Royce said.
“Maybe he’s being blackmailed for something he thinks she won’t
forgive him for. Which, in and of itself, has bad news written all
over it. Then there is an entirely different realm of low to
consider, which are the senator’s political motives. He’s trying to
get Lauren to run for office and she isn’t buying the idea. I hate
to think he’s selfish enough to keep her in the dark over a threat
out of fear of turning her ‘no’ into a ‘hell no.’”

“The blackmail angle makes more
sense but then politicians have never made a lick of sense to
me
,
period.” His lips
thinned. “Tell me you didn’t agree to keep Lauren in the dark about
this.”

“I agreed to check things out,”
Royce admitted reluctantly.

“Without telling her.”

“He pulled out his trump card,”
Royce explained. “Saving Dad. I figured that merited me doing a
quick investigation. I planned on getting in and out.”

Luke arched a brow. “I see
that’s working out well for you considering Lauren is now in your
apartment on obviously friendly terms.”

Royce flipped a chair,
straddling it, his arms on the back. “I planned to feel her out,
see if the senator had any merit for believing she’d refuse
protection if it was necessary. The rest just… happened.”

“You don’t let things just
happen
anymore than I do. If you have
feelings for Lauren, and really, even if you don’t, you’re headed
for deep, muddy waters. I don’t care what the senator says, you’d
better come clean and do it right now.”

Royce slid his hand over his
hair. “Yeah, I know. Believe me, I know. But if I tell her what’s
going on, she’ll kick me to the curb in no uncertain terms. If
she’s really in danger then I won’t be able to protect her. I’m…
”

“Screwed,” Luke offered
helpfully.

Royce exhaled and nodded, then
explaining the phone call situation to Luke before adding, “That
about sums it up. I’m screwed. I don’t see how I can tell her
anything until I find out what’s behind the letters and the phone
calls. And at this point, I’ve already written my death wish with
Lauren. I don’t plan to let someone else write hers. She’s spooked
and she’s not telling me why. When I know she’s safe, I’ll step
onto the plank, tell the truth, and wait for her to push me over
the edge.”

Luke studied him a long moment.
“Well hell. I guess I’m going out on the plank with you. Give me a
quick rundown of the facts and tell me what you want me to do.”

“We have the blackmail
possibility,” he said.

“Which is a logical
consideration.”

“But Lauren’s not only in a role
to make enemies, she’s working a death penalty case right now
that’s getting a lot of attention.”