Brody went into damage-control mode. He needed to get these two dressed and out of here, ASAP. Preferably with no talking. Talking led to slips, slips led to confessions, confessions led to charges, and the senator couldn’t survive any charges for solicitation. He was running for re-election.
The big cop at the centre of it all cleared his throat. ‘I’m Detective Morgan. Let’s start at the beginning. Is everyone here OK?’
When Genieve nodded, the chaotic churning in Brody’s head turned to strategic planning. How were they going to handle this with the press? The true newshounds? They’d get a whiff that something had happened, for sure.
‘No,’ the senator snapped. ‘We are not OK.’
Morgan lifted an eyebrow. ‘Sir?’
‘Samuel Gunderson, US Senator. And this is my girlfriend, Genieve Hart.’
‘Senator,’ Brody snapped. Everyone on the hotel floor knew by now who had rented Room 740, but did the man have to continue to make himself the centre of attention?
Brody shot a look at the detective. There wasn’t a hint of a smile on that hard face, but there was a gleam in his eyes. He knew a talker when he found one. Brody’s weight went to the balls of his feet. He needed to close this discussion down without causing any more suspicion than there already was. Hell, a video card was already headed for the police evidence locker.
His head began to thud at the memory of what was on that video. It was going to be a long time before he could unsee that.
‘Are you physically harmed?’ the detective asked Gunderson.
‘I—’ Samuel took a moment to take stock. ‘Those two men broke in, and I tried to push them out. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought we were under attack.’
When he slid up the sleeve of his robe, Brody was surprised to see a red mark slashing across his forearm. Jesus. Things had gotten more physical than he’d understood. He glanced worriedly at Genieve. She’d said Samuel was fighting with them, but he’d thought they’d had words. Had she avoided the fray? If there was so much as one mark on her—‘Get a photo of that,’ Morgan instructed a cop with a camera.
Whoa. Brody stuck out his hand. ‘Just the arm.’
The fewer photos documenting this, the better.
‘Document the evidence,’ the detective ordered. He wandered over to the door connecting the two rooms of the suite. ‘Dust for fingerprints.’
Brody was piecing the sequence of events together in his head, too, and he didn’t like what he saw. He didn’t like that the senator and Genieve were together, and he didn’t like that Samuel had brought her here, but this wasn’t their fault. They’d been the victims of an hotel room invasion. Pure and simple. It was the truth, and that was exactly how he’d make sure the story played out.
He judged the distance from the bed to the bathroom. It had probably looked like miles to her with people yelling and a bright light glaring in her eyes. The muscle in his jaw clenched so tight it began to ache. He needed to get her out of here.
Gunderson waved his arm around, making sure everyone in the room saw the bruise. ‘I want those two charged to the full extent of the law. Breaking and entering…invasion of privacy…people should be as safe in a hotel room as they are in their own homes.’
Enough. They had their evidence. They’d made an arrest. ‘You’ve got your pictures and a statement,’ Brody said. ‘We’re leaving now.’
He picked up the senator’s shirt and thrust it into the man’s hands. ‘Get dressed. Sir.’
He finally got the senator moving, but he hadn’t counted on the detective’s attention turning to Genieve. Brody stiffened at the sight of the big guy squatting down on his haunches to talk to her. He was too close and too…concerned.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked.
Brody glared at the back of Morgan’s head when the redhead gave him a timid smile.
‘I’m OK, just shaken. They came in at a really bad time, if you know what I mean.’
And boom. Second sucker punch of the evening. Brody raked his hand through his hair. He had not needed to hear that.
He cursed under his breath.
He knew what she was. He knew what she and the senator did together, but seeing it the way he had? Hearing it? He halted that train of thought so fast his brain twinged.
The detective continued talking with her quietly, and Brody leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his elbow. He knew that, between her and the senator, Genieve was the solid one. Normally he didn’t worry about her slipping up, but Morgan was a pro. And she’d had a rough night. Her voice had been shaking when she’d called him on the phone.
Did the detective have to be so…so soothing?
The heel of Brody’s shoe knocked against the wall, and her gaze suddenly lifted to lock with his. Her smile faded. She stopped talking and pulled the robe up tighter against her throat. His eyes narrowed. And there it was, the reaction he typically got from her…
The senator finally came out of the bathroom in trousers and a wrinkled dress shirt. Genieve rose from her chair, and people stumbled over themselves helping her find her dress. The muscle in Brody’s jaw ticked when the detective was the one who found it. People parted like the Red Sea as she made her way back to the bathroom she’d been locked inside not so long ago. Brody watched her go, her red toenails peeking out from under the long hem of her robe.
His head whipped around, though, when he heard the detective ask his client, ‘How can I contact you if I have more questions?’
Oh, no. They weren’t going to drag this out with more questioning. ‘Call his office,’ Brody said coolly.
‘I’ll get you my card,’ Gunderson said.
That wasn’t what he’d meant. Brody pushed away from the wall, but the senator was already pulling his wallet out of his jacket.
‘They can get the number,’ he repeated.
‘I’ve got it, Brody.’
Brody’s air hissed out of his lungs. And now he’d been outed. He mentally counted to ten. He’d been trying to fly under the radar, but none of this was being handled the way he liked.
The corners of Detective Morgan’s mouth twitched, and Brody felt a pinch between his shoulder blades. The guy was good.
The senator opened his wallet, and the detective watched closely. Probably looking to see if cash had exchanged hands yet. The senator pulled out a business card but, as he passed it to Morgan, something else fell to the floor. Brody couldn’t see what it was, but when Genieve stopped on a dime he knew it was something bad.
‘You dropped something,’ the detective said. His voice had gone to gravel.
Genieve’s grip tightened on the dress in her hands. She pivoted on the ball of one of her bare feet and swished back towards the action. Brody reached for her, but with a smooth swivel of her hips she evaded him.
‘May I have my purse?’ she asked, her voice silky smooth.
His warning radar went off. He knew that voice. It was the one she used when she was wheedling to get her way. He’d yet to see a man who could fight the call of the siren, but he was at least onto her. He looked for her purse as he tried to figure out what she was up to.
An officer handed her the leather bag, and Brody’s forehead furrowed when she carried it directly to the detective. Morgan opened it to check it. The police couldn’t let people go off on their own when a scene wasn’t secured, but, instead of letting the detective paw through her things, she deliberately spilled the contents onto the bed.
‘Here, allow me.’
‘Jenny,’ Brody choked out.
She didn’t even hesitate in opening her pocketbook.
He let out a long breath when understanding dawned. Brilliant. The woman was freaking brilliant. She didn’t have any cash on her. Even with a video recording of her and the senator’s actions, nobody could prove that money had exchanged hands. He’d worried about how to squash that part of the story, but she’d just effectively made it a moot point for Metro PD. All they h
ad evidence for was the break-in. Anything more was conjecture.
From the looks of Detective Morgan, he didn’t go for that.
‘Oh, there it is,’ she said sweetly as she picked up a tube of lipstick. ‘This is all I needed.’
She swished by everyone in her over-large robe and knelt to pick up the black bra that Brody hadn’t been able to ignore. He stared at the floor and shook his head. He couldn’t believe it. After everything that had gone down tonight, she’d found a way to effectively squash what could have been the worst of it.
That was supposed to be his job.
He rubbed the back of his neck. If the senator had had to pick an escort, at least he’d chosen one who was smarter than all of them – although he doubted the senator had chosen her for her brain.
Not saying a word, he went to the bed and began shoving her things back into the purse.
When she came back into the room, Brody stared at her like all the rest of the men in the place. The little black dress covered her in all the right spots. It was short and simple, but with her curves it turned into something else. She actually looked sexier fully dressed than she had in that skin-flaunting robe.
His lips tightened. There was no way he was going to fly her out of here under the radar. Men three floors down were stirring in their sleep, sensing a redheaded bombshell in the vicinity.
The senator passed along her shoes. ‘Here, darling.’
Brody simmered. Every time the man called her that, it scraped against his last nerve.
‘Let’s go,’ Gunderson said.
As much as Brody was down with that idea, he wasn’t ready. They were missing one important detail. His jaw set as he stepped to the bed. He fluffed the covers and looked underneath them. He wasn’t going to leave without them.
‘Hey,’ Morgan snapped.
Brody ignored him as he searched alongside the bed. He found what he was looking for under the nightstand. A little scrap of black silk. Jenny’s panties. He swept them up and jammed them into his pocket. He was not leaving that kind of evidence behind for anyone to use.
‘That video,’ he said, his voice clipped. ‘Anything beyond the breaking and entering portion is not to be used.’
Morgan slowly cocked his head. ‘I just collect the evidence. It’s up to the DA how to use it.’
Brody heard the ‘fuck you’ in the answer, but he didn’t give a shit. Genieve was on that tape. Incidentally, so was his client. He was going to get it back, one way or the other.
The detective met his stare. ‘Ms Hart,’ he said calmly. ‘Do you need a ride home?’
The vein in Brody’s neck bulged. ‘I’ll get her to safety.’
The detective’s eyebrows rose.
Think of it what he would, they were done here. Without a word, Brody turned. For once, his client picked up on the message he was sending. With his arm around Genieve’s waist, the senator guided her out of the hotel room. Brody walked at their side as they headed down the hallway. Cops, hotel staff and a few hotel guests stopped to watch. Gunderson was talking softly to his date, apologising to her and asking if she was truly all right.
Brody’s gaze dropped down to where the senator was caressing her hip.
‘You,’ he snapped at a man in a green jacket that matched the carpeting.
The manager stepped back, sensing danger.
Brody reached into his pocket. ‘The senator appreciates your people providing aid tonight, but you need to assure me that your hotel values discretion as much as they do their guests’ safety.’
He handed the man a large folded-up bill. ‘Because we both know it was your lack of security measures that let those men into that room.’
He teased the bill away. ‘The room of a US senator and his girlfriend.’
The hotel manager nodded like a bobble-headed doll. ‘Yes. Yes, sir. We understand each other perfectly.’
He tucked the money away, and Brody caught up with his problem client just as the doors of the elevator were closing. He stopped them and pushed them back open. ‘Wrong way.’
They followed him down to the other end of the hallway to the freight elevator. It was quiet and out of the way, but the ride down was tense.
‘Brody, I—’
‘Not here,’ he said sharply. He and the senator would have lots of words about this later, but not here.
They arrived on the ground floor. Avoiding the lobby, he led them to the side entrance to the hotel. The car he’d called for the senator was waiting at the curb. ‘That’s for you, Samuel.’
Gunderson rubbed his hand up and down Genieve’s side, tucking her up close. ‘Let’s get you home, darling.’
‘No.’ Brody caught her by the elbow, and her big green eyes turned on him. ‘She’s with me.’
Gunderson’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
‘Go home and don’t take any calls,’ Brody instructed. ‘I’ll contact you in the morning with instructions on how to handle this.’
The senator nodded. The moon had lowered on the horizon and his hair looked grey now instead of silver. His adrenalin was waning and the stress of the night showed in the drooping set of his shoulders.
He patted Genieve’s waist. ‘Brody knows best, darling.’
Brody drew her away. ‘My car’s down here.’
***
Genieve hesitated, digging in her heels. Wait. What had just happened? ‘I’m coming with you?’
‘Yes, and tonight, if you don’t mind. I’d like to be gone by the time the real reporters show up.’
But…but…she was going to be alone with him?
She looked at his stern, handsome face until the light finally came on in her tired brain. Of course. He wanted to yell at her and tell her how this was all her fault. But no…Brody didn’t yell. He frowned and scowled and clenched his fists a lot. She always knew something was up when his fingers started tapping.
Like they’d been tapping when she’d been talking with the detective…
The senator’s car pulled away from the curb, and the decision was made for her. If she didn’t want to get left behind, she’d better get walking.
Her heels sounded loud on the sidewalk as Brody led her down the block. His hand was warm on her arm, and he felt tall beside her. Tall and solid as he walked between her and the street.
He held the passenger door open for her, and she slid into the bucket seat. Was this his personal vehicle? The leather was butter soft, and it took away some of the chill. She sank deeper into the cushioned seat. She couldn’t stop shivering. Shock, no doubt. She plugged in her seat belt and watched him walk around the front of the car.
He always got doors for her. Odd. Samuel never thought to do that, and he was of the older generation.
Brody fired up the engine, and they were soon putting the Emissary Hotel in their back window. She watched as he checked the mirrors. He was still worried about being followed. Silence settled inside the smooth-running car. Finally, he settled back in his seat and glanced at her. The tell-tale muscle in his jaw was twitching.
‘Did they touch you? Were you hurt back there?’
‘No.’
‘Would you tell me?’
She rounded her eyes at him. ‘Yes. I’d tell you, I’d tell Nina and I’d tell the lawyer who would sue to get lots of money for me.’
His gaze went back out the front windshield. The muscle had stopped its nervous dance. ‘When you said the senator was fighting with them, I didn’t think you meant physically.’
She smoothed her dress over her thighs. It felt strange sitting with him in such close confines. ‘He surprised me when he did that, but it let me call the front desk. And you.’
He paused a moment. ‘You came out of the—’
‘Because the hotel manager had a key! Ah! I knew you were going to blame me for that. Was I supposed to make them drag me out, kicking and screaming?’
He didn’t answer, but he settled more easily into the driver’s seat.
Genieve folde
d her arms over her chest.
‘You made up for it with that move with the detective,’ he said. He reached over to the dash and turned on her seat warmer.
She let an eyebrow lift. Was that a compliment from Brody Haynes?
‘Wish I could say the same about your not-so-smooth move with my panties,’ she returned. ‘Did you have to go searching for them in front of everybody?’
‘I wasn’t going to leave them there for evidence or for some hotel employee to auction online.’
Genieve shivered and snuggled against the heat she felt emanating all around her. She hadn’t thought of that. She didn’t like either option.
‘So are you going to give them back, or are you some kind of panty perv?’
She knew she was needling him, but her nerves were stretched thin. He’d rode to the rescue, but he’d shown up in a suit and tie, looking stern and official. Did nothing ever ruffle him? Did he have a human side?
His finger began tapping against the steering wheel, but he dug into his pocket and passed the scrap of silk to her. For the second time that night, Genieve felt embarrassment hit her. She’d tried to make him uncomfortable, but what was she supposed to do now? Put them in her purse? She didn’t have any pockets in the close-fitting dress.
She cast him a secret glance. There was one other place they really should go – and she was suddenly overly conscious of being naked underneath her dress in his car.
What the heck?
Working against the seat belt, she leaned forward and slipped the panties over her shoes. She began sliding them up her legs, but she bumped against the door when the car suddenly swerved.
Brody’s gaze snapped to the front windshield, but then back to her again. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Putting them on.’
‘Here? Now?’
‘You’d rather I wait?’
Again, his finger began tapping, but he didn’t say anything. She didn’t hear a yes. She took her time sliding the black panties over her knees, but things got interesting as she began to work them up her thighs.
Brody drove down the road with laser-like focus, but every few seconds that attention would swing towards her lap. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who was bothered by what she was doing. Genieve felt another shiver dance through her, but this one was warm. It wasn’t so long ago that she’d been intensely screwing an imagined image of the very man in this car. The real Brody Haynes was stubborn, cold and frustratingly unreadable. It almost seemed like a waste for him to be so insanely hot.
Courting Gossip Page 3
