by Rebecca York
“Well, you wall yourself off from everyone on this estate.”
“I have my reasons.”
“Are you going to tell them to me?”
He shifted so that he was facing her. “Yes. But you’re going to have to let me do it in my own way.”
“Are you afraid that I won’t want to stay with you…when I find out.”
He swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“That will never happen, Noah.”
“What if I told you I was dying and I selfishly wanted to spend my last days with you?”
Alarm shot through her. “Are you dying?”
He sighed. “No. That was just an example of the kind of thing I’m dealing with.”
“How could…” She stopped herself before she finished the question. What could be worse than his dying? He was going to have to tell her, but if he couldn’t talk about it yet, she understood because she knew how hard it had been to tell him about Pearson’s scam. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“I’m not going to argue with you. And I’m not going to pressure you. I just hope you decide to trust me sooner rather than later.”
He breathed out a small sigh. “Thank you.”
She settled down beside him and tried to relax. But her mind was churning now. All sorts of possibilities assaulted her. Had he murdered someone? She couldn’t see him doing that on purpose. Maybe it had been a terrible accident, and now he needed to stay out of circulation so that the law wouldn’t catch up with him. But if he had to stay out of circulation, why had he come to Las Vegas? And what about their recent run-in with the cops? They hadn’t arrested him.
She struggled to make the disturbing speculations go away. Maybe he knew what kind of anxiety he’d created in her, because he began to stroke her again and kiss her and before long, they were back where they’d been a little while ago, hot and bothered and craving sexual release.
Only after making love a second time was she able to sleep. Wrapped in Noah’s arms.
Noah woke her some time later. “I told the cook we’d be wanting dinner around now.”
“Yes. Right.”
“I can have it brought to the bedroom because you’re obviously recuperating.”
“I’d feel less awkward if we did what we’re normally going to do. What’s that?”
He laughed. “Sometimes I have a tray sent to the lab. Or to the library, if I’m working. But we can pick a place to eat.”
“You have a dining room?”
“Yes, but it’s not all that friendly.”
“Well, what about a table in the library or the sunroom?”
He got out of bed. “Let’s try the library.” He reached for the phone on the bedside table and pressed one of several buttons, which apparently gave him the kitchen. It seemed like a kind of old-fashioned arrangement, but Noah modernized it.
“You’ll have to show me the system,” she said when he finished giving directions.
“Yes.”
She watched him walking around, picking up clothing.
“I’m going to take a quick shower.”
She looked down at her bandage. “I guess I can’t do that yet. Or maybe you can help me take this off and put on another bandage after I wash.”
“Yes.”
The bathroom was large, but it felt awkward using it with a man she hardly knew.
Her husband, she reminded herself as he carefully removed the bandage.
“The cut’s looking a lot better,” she said, as she inspected herself in the mirror.
“Yes. I’ll bring your suitcase. And I’ll clear out one side of my closet.”
“I hate to inconvenience you.”
“I have things I should give away anyway. In a few days, we can drive into Santa Barbara and go clothes shopping.”
“Thanks.”
They walked hand-in-hand to the library, and she felt awkward again as a maid gave them a speculative look. Was that woman going to straighten the bed while they were at dinner and note the evidence of lovemaking? And so what? she asked herself. They were newlyweds. Of course they’d be making love.
Still, when she’d imagined being married, she’d pictured herself and her husband living in a little house alone, not surrounded by people who were noting their every move and talking about them in the kitchen. Because she had no illusions about that.
Noah Fielding was the center of attention on this estate, and that made her the center of attention with him.
The meal she’d ordered was delicious and she ate more than she’d expected. Just like that, she’d asked and been taken care of.
It was sinking in that she’d married a man who lived in a way that few people could match. And also that she was now living in a self-contained world.
“That was wonderful. I’m going to have to watch out or I’ll gain weight on Margarita’s cooking.”
“She’d probably like to hear that.”
“Of course.” It felt strange at first to stop in the kitchen. But Margarita put her at ease. Could they turn out to be friends? Would she have any friends here? That was something else to worry about.
THE next morning, before breakfast with Olivia, Noah kept his videoconference appointment with the Light Street Detective Agency.
“I appreciate your talking to me,” he told the three men who sat around a long table.
One of them was Hunter Kelley, the guy he’d initially talked to. Also at the meeting were Sam Lassiter and Max Dakota.
“So you think you have a stalker?” Dakota asked.
“It’s complicated,” Noah answered, and he gave an account of the past week.
“You have been busy,” Lassiter said when Noah finished.
“You agree that I’ve got a problem that I can’t handle on my own?”
“Yes. We’d better start by finding out where the brother is. We’ll also see if we can get a line on the guy who said he was an FBI agent.”
“And Sidney Hemmings should be on the list,” Lassiter added.
“Hemmings? He’s been…” He’d started to say “a friend for years.” But he couldn’t actually be sure. Instead, he uttered his agreement.
“I think there’s a factor we haven’t figured out yet,” Dakota said.
Noah concurred. “That’s what I’m worried about.”
“Do you want one of us to come out there?”
“No. Our security is excellent.”
They talked for a few more minutes, during which Noah asked if someone could pick up the jewelry box.
“What should we do with it?” Hunter asked.
Noah gave them the address of his post office box in San Francisco.
“We’ll have more information for you tomorrow,” Hunter said.
“I’ll call you in the afternoon.” Noah was unwilling to give them his number. He liked these guys, but he wasn’t able to trust them fully. Not yet.
“WE found out his home base. It’s not that apartment in San Francisco. That’s just an address he uses occasionally.”
“Finally!” Jarred snapped. “Where is he?”
“On a ranch above Santa Barbara.”
“Then go in and get him.”
“It’s heavily fortified. We can’t touch him there.”
“You mean you don’t want to take the chance.”
“You want somebody to get killed? You want the press all over this?” his informant asked.
Jarred didn’t particularly care about the collateral damage, but he recognized that press coverage could be inconvenient.
“What do you suggest?” he asked, working hard to keep his voice calm.
“He can’t stay there forever. He has to leave some time and then he’ll be vulnerable.”
“I don’t have forever,” Jarred snapped. “I’ll give you five days. Then we go in.”
NOAH called Light Street the next day from the office in his lab.
“It would be more convenient if we could call you,” Hunter Kelley said.
/> “For now, let’s keep it this way.”
His new security contractors didn’t argue about it.
“What have you found out?” Noah asked.
“The jewelry box is on its way. But that’s the only good news. The brother has disappeared. The man posing as an FBI agent has disappeared. And Hemmings has disappeared.”
Noah sucked in a sharp breath, trying to figure out what kind of scenario would produce those results. “You think they’re all in the same place?”
“We don’t know, but we’re working on it.”
Feeling unsettled, Noah went to find Olivia and discovered her talking to Thomas.
He paused outside the door to his chief of staff’s office, listening to the exchange.
“I can see you’re devoted to Noah’s welfare,” Olivia was saying.
“He…I mean an ancestor of his saved the life of an ancestor of mine. There’s been a bond between our two families ever since.”
“Do you have a son who will take over when you retire?”
Noah heard the sorrow in Thomas’s voice. “My older son is ill. I’m hoping that my younger one can take the position.”
Noah stepped into the room, noting Thomas’s look of relief. “Your wife came to speak to me because she needs some things from town,” the man blurted.
“What kind of things?” Noah asked Olivia.
A flush rose in her cheeks. “Well…underwear. I’ve been washing out the panties I have.”
Noah thought for a moment, weighing his options. He didn’t want Olivia to feel like a prisoner on his estate, but at the same time, he knew he had to be concerned about safety—until the Light Street people came up with some hard information.
Noah turned to Olivia. “We could go shopping. If you’re up to it.”
She hesitated, undoubtedly taking in his guarded expression. “Could you send someone into town to buy me…. And we’ll put off the shopping trip for a few days?”
“I’ll send Benita. She’ll love the excuse to do some shopping.”
“Thanks. It’s probably good for me to get comfortable here and rest for a few days.”
He nodded, thinking that she was being sensible, which relieved some of his anxiety. “Let’s shoot for the beginning of next week.”
“That sounds good.”
Two days later, he was able to hand her the jewelry box and felt his heart squeeze when he saw how much pleasure it gave her to get back her mother’s modest pieces.
He’d like to give her a six-carat engagement ring, but he knew that would be too overwhelming right now. That could wait, but every time he saw her watching him, wondering when he was going to trust her completely, he felt a pang of guilt.
By the end of the week, he knew she was feeling restless hanging around the house. Because he saw that she was getting her strength back, he told her that Pablo would drive them into town.
“Can’t we just go by ourselves?” Olivia asked.
The suggestion was tempting, but he was still being cautious. “For now, it’s better to have someone with us.”
OLIVIA couldn’t help feeling a pang of alarm. He’d said they could leave, but she knew he was still worried. “Are you saying we need a guard?”
“Just a precaution,” he answered, and she wondered if they should be leaving the compound at all.
“I’m not going to be locked in here,” he snapped, then immediately softened his voice, “Sorry. We’ll go to La Cumbre Plaza, the closest shopping center. Then let’s have lunch out—somewhere on the ocean.”
“That sounds like fun.”
He gave it some consideration. “The Biltmore, I think. You’ll love the view and the gardens.”
Noah’s Mercedes wasn’t a stretch limo, but it was a large car with a window between the front and back seats. After giving Pablo instructions, Noah closed the window to give them privacy. It was another symbol of the life Olivia had stepped into.
“So why do we need a bodyguard?” she asked.
“I’m being cautious until…”
“What?”
“I asked the Light Street Detective Agency to check into the situation in Las Vegas. Your brother has disappeared.”
She stared at Noah, trying to take all that in.
“They’ll find out where he’s gone.”
“I hope he can’t get to us here.”
“I don’t think so, but I’m not taking any chances. Let’s talk about our outing.”
An outing. Another old-fashioned term.
She stopped focusing on Noah’s language. She was sure her brother was up to something unsavory and she wanted to hear Noah’s thoughts. But she couldn’t see how endless speculation would help. Instead, she tried to focus on the shopping trip.
“I’m not sure of the rules,” she said as the big car reached the suburbs of Santa Barbara. “Like, uh, do I have a spending limit?”
“You can get whatever you want.”
She smiled at him. “That could be dangerous.”
“I’m betting that I married a levelheaded woman.”
“I hope so.” She reached across the seat and laid her hand over her husband’s and said something she’d been wanting to say for days. “I love you.”
She saw the mixture of emotions that crossed his features. He looked stunned, happy, then a little sad.
“You didn’t want to hear that?” she asked, thinking she’d like to hear those words from him.
“I’m hoping I’m worthy of you.”
“How could you not be?”
“Maybe you’ll think I rushed you into marriage.”
A little twinge of dread shot through her, but she brushed it away. “You did, but that was lucky for me.”
Again his face wasn’t exactly sanguine. “I hope so,” he murmured.
She’d given him the opportunity to tell her what was bothering him, but he didn’t take it. Maybe the car wasn’t a good setting. Maybe they’d get to it when they were sitting in front of the fire in the evening. Or in their bed. Yes, that was where they’d have the most privacy.
Instead of talking about Noah, they discussed details of the household, how she was settling in and what DVD they wanted to watch that evening.
When they arrived at an upscale shopping mall in one of the wealthiest communities in the United States, Pablo found a space close to one of the entrances, then followed discreetly behind them as they walked into one of the anchor department stores.
“Where are we going first?”
“Wherever you want. I want to see what you choose for yourself when you don’t have to worry about the cost.”
“Old habits die hard. I’ll probably be looking for sales.”
He shrugged. “That’s not a requirement.”
She led him to the lingerie department where she bought ten pairs of panties and a couple of bras. She could have been absolutely practical. Instead, she chose some skimpy little numbers that she knew would please him. When he saw her selections, he gave her a wicked grin and added four sexy nightgowns.
Then they went on to the sportswear department, where she picked out shorts, slacks and casual shirts.
“I’ll have to try these on,” she told him.
He looked around and found a chair. “I’ll be right here. Come out and show me how the outfits look.”
“Okay.”
Pablo was still hovering in the background when she stepped into the fitting room area and found a cubicle. Just as she was hanging up the clothing she’d selected, the door opened, and she looked up in surprise as a man stepped into the room.
A couple of the hangers fell to the floor as she stared at her brother.
“What are you doing here, Pearson?” she managed to ask through a tight throat.
“You and I need to talk.”
When she took in the hard look on his face, panic rose inside her.
NOAH kept looking expectantly toward the dressing room area. When Olivia didn’t appear, he checked his watch, then loo
ked toward the entrance again.
Olivia had been badly cut a little over a week ago. What if this trip was too much for her and she was in trouble?
He was just about to walk over to the young brunette at the sales desk when his cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, thinking that it must be Thomas.
Checking the number, he saw it was out of the area and unfamiliar.
As soon as he made the connection, a man started talking. “This is Max Dakota.”
“How did you get this number?”
“Your man, Thomas, gave it to us.”
“You have my home phone, too?”
“Yeah, but that’s not the important point. We know that Pearson Stapler landed at the Santa Barbara airport on a private plane a couple of days ago. I suggest that you get back to the house as soon as possible.”
OLIVIA tried to duck around her brother, but she still didn’t have her full strength.
Pearson grabbed her by the shoulder, his fingers digging into her skin.
“Get off me.” She tried to call out to Noah, but Pearson swore and pressed a cloth to her face. That was the last thing she knew.
Chapter Eleven
Noah charged into the dressing area.
“Sir! Sir!” the clerk called after him. “You can’t go back there.”
“My wife has been sick,” he shouted over his shoulder. “She may be in trouble.”
Noah turned right, looking into open cubicles. Pablo turned left, doing the same thing.
In one dressing room a pile of clothing lay on the floor. And beside it was the purse that Olivia had taken shopping. He knew it didn’t contain much, but he also knew something basic about the female sex. No woman left her purse lying around in a public place.
“Crap!”
Someone was calling his name, and he realized he’d never closed the phone.
As Pablo charged down the hallway toward him, Noah put the cell back to his ear.
“What happened?” Dakota asked.
“Olivia has disappeared from a department store dressing room.” He cursed again. Cursed himself for being so stupid. He’d taken Pablo along as a precaution, but he hadn’t really thought anything was going to happen in Santa Barbara.
