Smoke and Mirrors (20 page)

"Well, good afternoon to you, too, baby brother."

"I always knew you had no scruples, but fool that I am, I thought
family
meant something to you."

The well-aimed jab hit below the belt. Derek held his face aloof, not wanting his brother to know how easily he could get to him. "What has you in such a dandy mood?" he asked blandly.

"It was pretty clever to turn off the video to your office, big bro, but apparently, in your blind lust, you made one critical mistake."

Derek had a bad feeling what came next. He didn't want to hurt his brother, but for once his own needs had come first.

"Oh?" he replied, twirling the twig between his fingers. "And what was that?"

"The hall camera. You left the hall camera on."

So he had, yet he hadn't known anybody else would be reviewing the tapes. He should have, though. Every time he labeled Brent harmless, his reckless brother proved him wrong. "Get to the point, bro. I don't have time for melodrama."

Brent charged him, something he hadn't made the mistake of doing since they were young boys.

He grabbed the collar of Derek's T-shirt. "I should've known the second I set eyes on her this morning, but I didn't think you would sink that low. Then I saw the video of her entering your office late last night, not leaving until almost
noon
this morning." He snorted. "Now I see you."

Derek placed his hands over his brother's and uncurled his fingers. "I see you, too, baby brother, but I really wish you would get to the point."

"I'll get to the point," Brent seethed. He let go of Derek's shirt and shoved his brother backward. "You dragged an innocent woman into your world. You threw her well-being to the wolves and just took her, because you wanted to." Brent sucked in a deep, ragged breath. "How could you do that to her? How could you not have even one trace of decency?"

Had the accusation come from anyone else, Derek would have leveled them with a swift kick to the gut. But this was
Brent,
the brother Derek had loved and protected his entire life, even if they butted heads every step of the way. And deep inside, Derek knew Brent was justified in his anger. He
had
dragged Cass into his world, something destined to bring her pain, more pain than anyone deserved.

Unless he could change events already set into motion.

But he wasn't about to let Brent waltz down this sanctimonious path. His brother had made mistakes, too. Dangerous mistakes that almost left Ryan to grow up without a father, just like Derek had.

"Don't pretend this is about protecting Cass, little brother. Don't pretend your world is any better than mine, because we both know you're no knight in shining armor. This is about want, little brother. The fact that you want her, but she wants me.

"I tried," Derek added, guilt getting the better of him. "I tried to stay away from her. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work that way."

"Like hell. You believe that, and you're going to find your sorry butt at the end of the line—or maybe the bottom of the river."

That said, he turned on his heel and stormed off toward his cherry-red convertible. The dry brown grass crunched beneath his angry steps, the wind whipped at his determination, but he never looked back. Amazing that such a pretty man could look so fierce. Without doubt, his brother was the angriest, edgiest, Derek had ever seen.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath, snapping the twig in two. He barely felt the sting of the wind as he watched his brother disappear down the gravelly drive and into the parade of naked trees.

* * *

"Oh, there you are!" Ruth exclaimed that afternoon. "I thought you'd
never
get here."

Cass removed her black felt hat and shook out her long hair. She didn't usually wear it loose, but with the bitter cold outside, she'd been reluctant to leave her throat and ears exposed. At least, that's what she told herself.

That Derek preferred her hair down had nothing to do with it. Nor did the red marks on her neck.

"What's up?" She slipped out of her wool coat and hung it on the rack inside the office door. "Something wrong?"

"Not something," Ruth teased. "Someone."

Cass stilled. Her first thought was
Derek, that
something had happened to him. Then the cop shoved aside the woman, and she thought of Gray, that his cover had been blown. "Someone?"

"Not just someone," Ruth supplied. She milked the silence for all its worth, a habit she'd picked up from Cass. "Him—Mr. Merry Sunshine. He's looking for you."

"Oh?" She posed the question innocently, trying to ignore the carnal melting deep inside. "I wonder what he wants."

"He's called down here every ten minutes, demanding to know why you're so late."

"Maybe I should go see him."

"Good idea. It's not smart to keep Mr. Mansfield waiting."

"Of course not." Cass moved around the desk and onto the hardwood floor. She forced herself to walk slowly, when in truth she wanted to run. To Derek. Away from the truth. But she didn't. Nor did she glance into the mirror as she passed it. How she looked didn't matter. She was an employee going to see her employer, a cop going to see her suspect.

A woman going to see her lover.

That one truth burned. Somehow, some way, she had to find a way to erase the terrible lie she'd created. The second Derek discovered why she was really at the Stirling
Manor,
she could kiss their relationship goodbye.

Relationship.
The word gnawed at her as she rode the elevator to the penthouse.
Relationship.
She didn't care for the rush the word created, the longing. Just because Derek had treated her to a night of incredible sex did not mean they were destined to share a great love affair.

Nor, for that matter, did it mean he was an innocent man.

But a place deep inside insisted that he was.

She took the long, ancestor-crowded corridor at a brisk pace. They were all staring at her, as usual, but this time they seemed to be assessing, judging,
almost
guarding
De
rek against mal intent.

Her.

The door to his office slid open. Before, she hadn't understood the perfect timing; now, she knew he tracked her by security monitors. Like last night. Thank God he'd accepted the earring story.

She needed to be more careful.

She needed to step back from the edge before she took a long, hard free fall.

"You're late." Derek was across the office before Cass could register what was happening, drawing her into his arms before she could put up a fight. His mouth swooped down on hers, claimed hers in a greedy hello. She responded instinctively, her whole body surging to life against the fire of his kiss. She pressed into him, tried not to moan when his hands sank into the loose locks of her hair.

He pulled back and glowered down at her. "Where were you?"

She tried to suck in a breath. Couldn't. "At home. Why are you looking at me like that? What's wrong?"

"No games. Your shift started over thirty minutes ago—where have you been?"

The suspicion in his voice struck a nerve. "Games?" She twisted free and stepped away. "I'm half an hour late, and you accuse me of playing games? Did it ever occur to you something could've happened? That I could've been ill? That I could've been in an accident? Could be hurt?"

The blood drained from his face. "Hurt?" He moved toward her, his eyes doing a slow survey of her body. "Who hurt you? What happened? Just tell me the name and I'll—"

Cass didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Or drop to her knees and beg for mercy. The abrupt switch from combat to concern caught her off guard and touched her deeply. Instead she launched herself into his arms and returned her lips to his.

"I'm fine," she murmured. "Just kiss me."

His hands were everywhere, sliding over her body, stoking fires that had been smoldering since earlier that day.

"Derek…" Pulling back, she stared up into his eyes and couldn't resist laying her hand against his cheek. "What's wrong? Why were you looking for me?"

A wicked smile curved his lips. "You have to ask?"

"Ruth said you sounded angry. Has something happened?"

"Yeah, something's happened, all right." He pulled her to him. "And it's going to happen again and again and again."

This time she did laugh. "Derek, I'm on duty."

"But I'm the boss."

"I—"

"More." He sprinkled kisses over her cheekbones, her eyes,
her
nose. "I told you, once would never be enough."

Infinity wouldn't be enough. In Derek she'd found something she'd never expected to find again, the will not just to move through life, but to dance, to sing and laugh, to savor each moment and look forward to those yet to come.

Her hands slid down his body to the bulge in his pants. Unable to suppress her answering moan, she began to rub, slowly, deliberately. "Not here," she murmured. "Not here."

A masculine groan tore from his throat as he lifted her into his arms and crossed the office. "I'm sorry," he ground out. His eyes blazed down at her, two sapphires on fire and in pain. "You deserve better than to be mauled every time I see you."

Her heart slammed against her chest. "It's not that—"

"You deserve candles and music, silk sheets and flowers." They slipped through the panel and into the adjoining bedroom suite. The orderly room bore little resemblance to the rumpled love nest she'd left earlier that day. Either Derek let a maid into the room, which meant he had nothing to hide, or he'd straightened the room himself.

"I don't need any of that," she told him. "Just you." Then she added truthfully, "But being with you like this here, at the hotel, makes me uncomfortable."

He looked down at her in confusion.

"This is where I work," she explained. "Everyone knows I just came up here. I can't start doing this. I can't disappear into you office for hours on end and—"

"You're worried about your reputation?"

The surprise in his voice cut like a knife. "Not my reputation. My life. My pride. My dignity. I don't want
to be a casual roll in the hay, Derek." She wasn't sure where the words came from, but once they started, they took on a life of their own and refused to be quelled. "I want it to be special, more than just sneaking off to your room for a quickie."

For a moment he said nothing, just looked down at her. Then he closed his eyes, but not before she saw the self-loathing lurking there. "Is that what you think this is? A quickie?"

She drew in a deep, jagged breath. "Not for me."

He opened his eyes, but they remained guarded. "And for me?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" he growled. "You—don't—know? What the hell kind of answer is that?"

The ache in her heart intensified. "An honest one."

He shoved a hand through his hair. Like hers, it was unbound and loose around his face.

An idea occurred, a measure to kill two birds with one stone.

"Let's get out of here, Derek. You're right. You're the boss—you can give me the night off, if you want." She cast the line and prayed he would bite. The need to prove his innocence drove her forward. "Let's not waste it here at the hotel. Let's go somewhere special, wherever you vanish to most nights."

Derek shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

The estate, she wanted to scream. His domain. His lair. The magnificent house that protected his secrets.

"I've seen you leaving late at night, and you don't come back." When he began to retreat even further, physically and mentally, she rushed to finish. "I'm on duty a lot of nights, and I've always been aware of you. I've seen you leave, and I've spent hours watching the door, waiting for you to come back. But you never do."

He was across the room now, staring out the window.

His lack of reaction chilled her to the core. The plan had seemed so brilliantly simple. Nothing unusual had been found anywhere within the hotel; he'd not been seen with Vilas. The house in the woods was the only other likely place for evidence. If Derek took her there, his lover, he had nothing to hide.

If he refused … she would have to rethink everything.

Something deep inside warned of touching it, yet she toppled a pivotal domino.

"Where do you go, Derek? And why don't you come back?"

Chapter 11

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D
erek stared out over the city. Around him lights twinkled and glared, laughing, taunting. Who had he been trying to kid? What kind of selfish jerk was he, thinking he could have Cass and keep her separate from his life? Of course she would want in. After the intimacy they'd shared, it was only natural to ask the questions she was asking and expect answers.

But he couldn't give them to her, not all of them. Not yet.

Maybe not ever.