Family Secrets: Books 5-8

by Virginia Kantra

  But theyd never suspected. For a long time not even Eric had suspected. Not until that night when boundaries shattered, lives along with them.

  Leigh, he murmured against her open mouth, drowning in the feel of her, the taste of desire and wintergreen. Everywhere her hands skimmed, his body burned. With excruciating clarity he remembered the feel of her warm and naked, running her hands along his back and buttocks, curling her legs around his thighs.

  And again, he wanted.

  He wanted Leigh Montgomery. The truth burned through him now with an intensity that almost sent him to his knees. Ten years ago responsibility and protocol had stood between them, but those barriers didnt exist now.

  He wanted to kiss her everywhere, to skim his mouth along her jawbone and her neck, lower still to her chest, to pull a nipple into his mouth and taste the breasts he could feel pressed against him. Instead, he pulled back and cradled her face, needing to see her, just see her, to convince himself she was real and not some cruel figment of his imagination. She gazed back at him, glossy hair long and tangled around her face, her smoky eyes wide and slightly glassy, her mouth moist and swollen from his kiss.

  Leigh, he murmured again. Im not going to let anything bad happen to you.

  He wasnt going to let anyone or anything steal the second chance theyd been given.

  Her eyes flared for the briefest of seconds, before she pulled him back against her. This time the kiss was hers. She was the one who claimed his mouth, who threaded her hands through his short hair and held him in place, who opened for him, acted as though she wanted to drink him in. Eric, she whispered, sliding a hand through his hair. Eric.

  A groan broke from his throat. He pressed closer against her, angling his knee between her thighs. She wore tight dark jeans, but the fabric couldnt conceal the heat of her body. The second he slipped through, she closed her legs around his, cradling him intimately against her body.

  Eric almost lost it right then and there.

  He moved his knee against her in a steady rhythm, running his hands from her face and down her neck, to the swell of her breasts. Her nipples had been a beautiful soft pink, he remembered vividly, and when hed danced his tongue around them, theyd grown darker, firmer. Shed arched into his mouth, much as she was now arching into his hand, eager and demanding.

  Youre amazing, he murmured, slipping a hand to her waistband. He wanted flesh, damn it. He needed to feel the warm softness of her skin. Youre the most amazing woman Ive ever known, he added, sliding his mouth to sprinkle little kisses to her cheekbone. Im not letting you go again. He was rocking against her now, loving the feel of her thighs closed against his knee, of her breast filling his hand.

  Except shed quit responding. It took a second for reality to pierce the haze of desire. Her hands no longer tangled in his hair. Her legs no longer clamped his. Even the sounds of her ragged breathing had gone completely quiet.

  Leigh? Eric asked, pulling back.

  She stared at him through dull, shocky eyes. Her cheeks were no longer flushed, but pale.

  Leigh? Hammering through him was the need to lift a hand to her face, to touch her gently, slowly, as he should have done all along. But he didnt let himself move. Are you okay?

  No, she whispered, drawing a hand to her mouth. No. She twisted away from him then, staggered out of the shadowed doorway and into the night. This is wrong.

  Her broken words cut through him, but nowhere near as much as the stricken look on her face.

  No its not, he said with a gentleness at excruciating odds with the ferocity pounding through him. His body was hot and hard and on fire, but intensity wasnt what Leigh needed. Hed hurt her badly. She had every right to be leery of him. Theres always been something between us, Leigh. Always. You know that as well as I do.

  A sad smile touched the mouth hed possessed so thoroughly only moments before. The mouth he wanted to possess again. Yes, there has, she admitted. And its always been forbidden.

  Not what he wanted to hear. Its not now.

  Moisture flooded her eyes. Yes, it is.

  Youve said it yourself, he reminded, trying to keep his voice low and reassuring. He understood her reluctance, deserved it, knew it was a defense mechanism. But hed also felt the welcoming warmth of her body, the way shed rocked against his knee. Youre a grown woman. You make your own decisions. He paused, stepped closer. And Im a grown man. Theres no denying we want each other. Not after the way theyd practically made love right there in the darkened doorway of an old diner. Were both unattached

  Sweet mercy. It hit him then. Leigh didnt wear a ring, but that didnt mean some lucky bastard hadnt cemented his place in her life. Her bed.

  Is that it? he asked roughly, hating the sudden gust of cold that chilled him to the bone, the realization that he might be too late. When Leigh went home tonight, she could be giving herself to another man, while Eric lay hot and wanting and alone in his empty bed. Is there someone else, Leigh?

  She swiped at the single tear that spilled over her lashes. I wish it was that simple, she whispered. Theres so much you dont know.

  Then tell me, he urged, lifting a hand to trail his fingers along her neck.

  Something hot and hurting flashed through her eyes. Please, dont touch me, she said with a hitch to her voice hed never heard. Its wrong.

  No, sweetheart, its not. Its so damn right I can barely see straight. Barely think, barely breathe.

  Youre my client, she said, and though her voice was still raspy, the words came out strong. Her eyes took on a dark glitter, and when she lifted her chin and smoothed the hair from her face, he literally saw the conversion from woman to attorney. Getting involved on a personal level breaks every rule in the book. She glanced down and pulled her leather jacket closed over her untucked scoop-neck top, hiding the swell of her breasts. The taboos are still there.

  But they dont have to be, he pointed out. They wont always be.

  You dont know that, she countered, and neither do I. All I know for sure is that until this case is over, no matter how tempting it is, no matter how badly I wish things were different, I cant let loose ends from the past override my objectivity.

  Can you do that, Leigh? he asked roughly. God knew he couldnt, not when it came to this woman. Can you be objective?

  The question landed at Leighs feet with the force of a hand grenade. She looked at Eric standing mere inches from her, the hard demand in his eyes and the strong set to his jaw, the firm line to the mouth shed kissed so desperately only minutes before. He no longer had her pressed against the door of the old diner, but his body blocked the warm breeze blowing in from the street, leaving her to feel only him. Breathe in only him. See only him.

  Just like always.

  No. She couldnt be objective. Not when it came to this man. She couldnt treat him as if he were Jake or Matt or Ethan. She couldnt make believe she hadnt lain in bed more nights than she cared to remember, burning from the memory of his touch. She couldnt ignore the fact shed given him her heart and her body, that shed made love to him in her dreams with such a powerful intensity shed sometimes awakened with her body screaming from the aftermath.

  She couldnt pretend she hadnt given birth to his son.

  Leigh? His voice was softer now, gentler, seeping through defenses shed mustered every ounce of strength to tack
up between them. Talk to me.

  I have to be objective, she said, as much to him as to herself. If she let her heart override her head, he could go to prison, and Connor would never know his father.

  Erics expression gentled, but he didnt move a muscle, kept his big body entirely too close, making it painfully obvious his desire had yet to fade.

  He streaked a finger down the side of her face. Are you telling me if you werent my attorney, you wouldnt have pulled away? Youd have let me take you back to my apartment?

  The breath stalled in her throat. If hed kissed her one second longer, if hed touched her breast, she would have gone up in flames. They would never have made it back to his place.

  Leigh? He tucked his finger under her chin and tilted her face toward his. Is this because of before?

  The question pierced with unerring precision, and before Leigh could stop the reaction, she felt herself wince. He wanted an answer, deserved one, but she had none to offer. Her refusal to take their relationship to another level had to do with before and now and times yet to come.

  It had to do with the truth that wove through her chest like a vine tightening around her heart.

  It had to do with the fact that soon this man would hate her, and it would kill her to let him back into her heart, her body, only to have him walk away from her.

  Again.

  Eric let out a rough breath, but rather than pulling away as she expected, wanted, he braced his forehead against hers. Ive never forgiven myself for what I did to you that night, he rasped. Ive replayed every minute, every mistake, over and over in my mind, wondering how I could have been such a bastard.

  His words, the truth she knew lay behind them, punished in ways shed never learned how to defend. She knew he meant them sincerely. She believed him when he said hed relived the hours theyd made love. So had she. But whereas her memories had been tender and aching, his had been fueled by regret.

  You werent a bastard, she said softly, smiling to hide the pain.

  The hell I wasnt. He stepped her back to the wall of the diner, caging her in by bracing his hands against the old brick wall. Youre the last person in the world I wanted to hurt, but thats exactly what I did.

  I dont want your guilt, Eric. Didnt want to see the regret glimmering in his eyes. That night was a long time ago, she said softly. Life goes on.

  That was both the problem and the blessing.

  His eyes met hers. And how has your life been, Leigh? Would you change anything if you could?

  Oh, yes. Shed change a lot. Not the fact that shed made love with Eric and conceived his child, but the fact that hed never seen her as more than a friend, that hed walked out the door and never come back.

  I cant change anything, she said. Thats just it. And neither can you. Ten years is a long time. People change. Shed made the best decisions she could, even if retrospect cast them into question. There are things you dont know about me, Eric, things that could change everything.

  I highly doubt that.

  Tell him, some voice deep inside whispered. Tell him now.

  But she couldnt. Not tonight, not while a prison sentence hung over his head like an executioners noose.

  When you look at me, she said with a soft smile, you see the girl from before, but Im not her anymore. She stopped existing a long time ago.

  The night shed given her heart and her soul, her body, to Eric Jones, only to have him marry another.

  Warmth glimmered in his eyes, and the slow smile curving his lips looked far more genuine than the forced gesture shed given him. No, Leigh, he said slowly, softly, gently, when I look at you, I see a beautiful, intelligent, courageous woman Id like to know a hell of a lot better.

  Oh, God. The longing, the need, to slip her arms around his waist and return her mouth to his screamed louder, harder. Because when she looked at him, she saw the boy shed once loved with all her heart and a man she longed to know more intimately. But she also saw a client accused of a crime with far-reaching consequences.

  And above all else, she saw her sons father.

  Time, Eric. We have to give it time.

  I might not have time, he ground out, the words punching through her defenses clear to her heart. Unless a miracle happens, I could be spending the next twenty years in prison.

  No. That wasnt going to happen. That was why she had to stay objective. Eric Jones might spend the rest of his life hating her, but she would never let him get sent up the river for a crime he hadnt committed.

  You need to have a little more faith in me, she said with a smile she didnt come close to feeling.

  Erics mouth twisted. Faith and I arent exactly on good terms right now.

  Well, thats going to have to change, she told him, forcing herself to forget the past and the future and concentrate only on the now. The case.

  Were going to fight the charges against you, and were going to win. And then, God help her, the real trial would come. No matter what the newspapers say, the evidence against you is circumstantial, and that can be refuted. Thats why Im here. She pushed the hair from her face. The only way to outsmart a hacker is through another hacker.

  Eric narrowed his eyes. Another hacker?

  Already she felt stronger, more in control. We may not have your computer, but the FBI cant do a damn thing about the cyber trails, she explained. Someone has tampered with my checking account, with your savings account, with the entire World Bank, she said. And despite how smart Achilles is rumored to be, hes bound to have left a trail, no matter how faint.

  A trail the FBI missed?

  A trail they had no reason to look for after the evidence against you appeared. She paused, hooked her arm in his. A trail were going to find.

  Eric followed when she started walking. How?

  A kid named Hack, she explained. Henry Crance. Hes called Hack because he makes slipping in and out of computer systems look like childs play.

  Which to him, of course, it was.

  We find Hack, she said, and we find your trail.

  They didnt find Hack. At least, not in the run-down blues club south of downtown where he typically hung out. They waited for hours before giving up and leaving word for him to call.

  Shortly after three the next afternoon, he did.

  Hes all over it, she told Eric that evening, following a late-afternoon court appearance. As expected, the judge had denied her request for an examining trial. Hes going to snoop around the World Bank computer systems and see what he can find.

  Eric turned from the wall of windows at the far side of her office. Hed been standing there for close to twenty minutes, listening to Leigh explain the court proceedings as the sun sank on yet another day. Hes that good?

  Hes the best, Leigh answered without reservation. Its scary what that kid can do.

  Eric shook his head. Watch Achilles turn out to be some pimply-faced thirteen-year-old punk in his daddys basement in Des Moines.

  Wasnt that the truth. Stranger things have happened.

  Like Eric Jones being labeled a criminal mastermind.

 
He strode toward the mini bar at the far corner of her office. Thirsty?

  No, thanks.

  He poured a glass of mineral water, then turned toward her. You mentioned a few other trails hes going to look into?

  What he really wanted is your laptop, but its safe and sound in Quantico now.

  Safe and sound my ass. The FBI wants to nail me. I hardly see them looking for echo cyber trails when the president is breathing down their neck and Im a ready-made target.

  He was right about that. Sending the computer to Quantico was like inviting the prosecutor to authenticate evidence. What about Matt or Ethan? Dont they have contacts all over the place?

  Eric grinned. One day youll cast a ballot for Matt Tynan as president, and hell appoint Ethan Williams as his director of the CIA.

  The tension and fatigue Leigh had been battling all day drained away, replaced by an anticipation she hadnt felt in a long time. I can see it. Ethan had always been vague about what he did for a living, never refuting the international playboy label the magazines had bequeathed him years ago. But Leigh would bet her last dollar there was more to their pal than met the eye.

  If anyone had contacts in the FBI, secure contacts who could give Erics computer a fair inspection, Leigh was putting her money on the dynamic duo of Williams and Tynan.

  Have you talked to them lately?

  Eric finished off the water in one deep gulp. Not in a few months. They both left voice mails after the arrest, but He paused, frowned. What the hell am I supposed to say to them?

  Nothing, Leigh said. They know youre innocent. Im sure they were calling to lend their support.

  Just as theyd given their support after Erics father had been killed. Leigh had called them after she and Eric had received that horrible phone call, and the guys had probably broken the land speed record getting across campus. Theyd stayed for hours, Jake trying to secure airline reservations, while the rest of them rallied around Eric. Hed been numb, in shock, trying valiantly to put on a tough face. He was the buttoned-up one, after all. He was the problem solver, the one who always knew how to wiggle them out of whatever jam they got themselves into.