Family Secrets: Books 5-8

by Virginia Kantra

  Regret cut through her. Hack was a good kid, with an IQ she was sure registered off the charts. He should be attending the University of Chicago, not living in back alleys and hacking into computer systems for thrills. Shed been horrified to learn of the fire, that hed lost everything but his computer, but hed assured her he hadnt had much to lose.

  Sadly, Leigh realized that was probably true.

  Shed make it up to him, she vowed. Theyd prove Erics innocence and Hack would get the education he deserved.

  Restless, she stood and crossed to the small conference table across her office, where the long narrow florists box waited. Julia had brought it in just before Hack called. Leigh had gestured for her to place it on the table, but before she could open it, the phone had rung. Shed been so distracted by Hacks news shed forgotten about Erics gift, until shed been on the phone with him and her gaze had snagged on the table.

  Now she smiled, lifting the box and drawing it to her heart. She couldnt remember the last time someone had sent her flowers.

  Very slowly, with great anticipation, she removed the thick red velvet ribbon from the box and lifted the lid, sifted through the crisp green tissue paper. Then her heart slammed into her ribs and everything inside her went horribly, deathly cold.

  Eric strode from the elevator the second the doors slid open. Julia, wheres Leigh?

  The sharply dressed receptionist frowned. In her office. Is something wrong?

  Call security, he instructed, running down the hall. Several men and women stopped to stare, but he didnt care. He knew he looked like a crazy man. He felt like one, too.

  At the door to Leighs office, he didnt waste time knocking. He pushed inside, forgot to breathe.

  She stood rigidly at the far side of the office, near the small conference table. Leigh!

  She didnt move, just stood there staring at her feet, where decapitated black roses spilled from a long gold florist box.

  Relief slammed in hard and fast, followed quickly by a blade of caution. And a surge of anger. He swore hotly and crossed to her, took her shoulders in his hands and turned her to face him. Sweetheart?

  Her face was pale, her eyes dark and shocky. II thought they were from you.

  He knew better than to touch them, even though he doubted the flowers or box carried incriminating evidence. Instead, with his foot, he nudged the roses apart, revealing a small card, with a note scrawled in dark, menacing letters.

  This is your last warning.

  And something inside him shattered. Just shattered, breaking through ironclad constraints and seizing control.

  Goddamn it, he swore hotly, then took her cold hand in his and started for the door. Im done playing games.

  Eric stood in a near-blinding slash of late-afternoon sun, staring out the sliding glass door of his apartment. Across the street three young boys sat on the steps of a redbrick brownstone, laughing and carrying on, but Leigh doubted Eric saw or heard. His back was rigid, his hands balled into tight fists, his feet shoulder-width apart. In one hand he held the glass of Scotch shed given him so tightly she half expected him to crush the tumbler hed yet to bring to his mouth. Even his clothes looked angry, the black of his pants appearing harsh and rigid, the gray of his knit shirt conveying the warning to stay away.

  Leigh couldnt do that. Had never learned how, not when it came to this man. That had always, always been the problem.

  Hed not said a word since hed practically dragged her from her office. Shed protested, insisting they needed to call the authorities, but every unyielding line of his body indicated Eric Jones was done with authorities. Done with rules and regulations. Done being threatened and bullied. Done being played with.

  The realization, the implications, alarmed more than the black roses and threatening note.

  On the drive to his place thered been a volatile glint to his eyes, but hed not said a word as he took her hand and led her through the handful of reporters still loitering outside his brownstone. Now an unsettling energy radiated from his body, tightening around her chest to the point she could barely breathe. Shed never seen him like this, coldly furious and just barely hanging on, like a steam piston ready to blow.

  And she couldnt stand it. Couldnt stand the excruciating quiet, couldnt stand the absolute stillness, couldnt stand not knowing.

  Eric, she said, crossing to him. Tell me what youre thinking.

  His body went even more rigid. You dont want to hear what Im thinking right now.

  The words were harsh, coarse, clearly meant to warn her away. But Leigh kept right on going. Then why did you bring me here?

  You really have to ask me that? he bit out.

  The urge to step closer, to lay a hand against the hard planes of his back was strong, but instinct cautioned she take this slowly.

  You have no idea what Ill do when backed into a corner.

  No, she didnt. That was what worried her.

  Eric, please, she said, calling upon the voice shed found effective in eliciting testimony from reluctant witnesses. Youve never been a man to shut down like this. Dont start now.

  How do you know that, Leigh? he asked in an ominously quiet voice. How do you know what kind of man I am? A lot happens in ten years.

  She sucked in a sharp breath, let it out slowly. Lives change, she conceded, but people rarely do.

  He spun toward her in a near-violent rush of movement, revealing eyes glittering with an intensity that sent her heart stammering into a crazy staccato rhythm.

  Damn it, Leigh, he ground out, leave it alone, okay? The lines of his face were harsh, his jaw darkened by whiskers hed not taken time to shave that morning. Im trying to do whats best for you here. Im trying to do the right thing. He stepped toward her and lifted a hand, but abruptly aborted the movement.

  Dont you understand? he asked, and the question sounded pained. I dont trust myself with you right now, and you shouldnt either.

  She struggled to breathe, to think. Dont be ridiculous, she said as levelly as she could. I know youre not some genetically engineered quirk of nature. You didnt commit the World Bank heist and youre not preprogrammed to hurt me.

  But I might do this. Before she realized his intent, he closed the distance between them and took her face in his hands, put his mouth to hers and drank deep. The kiss was hard and sudden, strong and thoroughly possessive. His lips moved against hers restlessly, as though hed been waiting a lifetime to taste her, absorb her, and might never have the chance again.

  Ten years, he rasped, pulling back and sliding his hands into her hair. Ten years Ive wanted to touch you again, taste you, discover if what we shared that night was as amazing as I remember, and now here you are again.

  Eric

  Do you have any idea what this is doing to me, Leigh? The question sounded ripped from somewhere deep inside him, somewhere dark and anguished. To know youre finally back in my life, after all these years, to see your smile and hear your voice? He urged her closer, making it impossible not to feel the rigid planes of his body. Not to know how badly he wanted. To know that youre here and youre real, only to face the possibility of losing you again? Of you being hurt again because of me?

  The
ragged stream of words staggered her. Just staggered. She was a highly educated, highly experienced attorney. She made a living out of gathering evidence and making compelling arguments, but as she stared at Eric, felt his hands playing with her hair and his body pressed to hers, she could no more string words together than she could pull away. Eric

  Something wild and primal flashed in his eyes. It tears me up, Leigh. It makes me wish Id never walked into your office.

  Her heart clenched. But you did, she whispered. And in doing so, hed set their lives on a collision course beyond his wildest imagination.

  He untangled a hand from her hair and slid it to the side of her face, where he extended his thumb toward her mouth. Yes, I did. Selfish bastard that I am, I never once stopped to think about the impact on you, and now your life is on the line.

  Wherever he skimmed, she burned. Tingles streaked through her like wildfire. We dont know that, she pointed out, trying to focus and not feel. All we know is were getting close and someone is running scared.

  He swore softly. Those threats are real, he countered relentlessly with both words and caresses. And theyre dangerous. Whoever is playing fast and loose with my life means business, and Id rather go to prison than let you get taken down in the crossfire.

  The harsh words penetrated the haze of sensation, making her wince and reminding her how high the stakes had climbed. Thats not going to happen.

  But once set on a course of action, Eric Jones had never been a man to turn away. Ive tried, damn it, he said, sliding a palm along her back and pressing her to his body. Ive tried to play by your rules.

  The frustration in his voice pulsed through her, ramming up against defenses that longed to crumble. Its not about rules, she denied, but her voice broke on the words, betraying all that she could not allow herself to say. It was about right and wrong, smart and rash, caution and foresight. It was about one bitterly cold night and choices etched in betrayal that could not be taken back, decisions that had the power to shatter the lives of a man whod already endured too much and an innocent little boy whod yet to learn how cruel fate could be.

  Erics gaze darkened. Every time I see you, all those years vanish and its all I can do not to touch you like this. He skimmed his palm up her side to slide over an aching breast. To kiss you, he added as his mouth slid along hers, open this time, gentle but demanding.

  Everything inside her was melting, melting, puddling into a need and desire that practically blinded her. She wanted this. She wanted this mans hands on her body. His mouth on hers. She wanted to be underneath him, to have him inside her. She wanted to hold on tight and never let go. Shed wanted that for ten long years, had awakened bathed in sweat and burning from the memory of his touch more times than she cared to remember.

  But the truth remained hovering just out of reach, warning Leigh to turn back now. While she still could.

  Before it was too late.

  Eric

  I lost you once, Leigh. Im not going to let that happen again.

  You might not have a choice, she whispered, and felt moisture well in her eyes.

  Eric pulled back enough so that his gaze met hers. We all have choices, he murmured, wiping away the tears she couldnt stop. We can choose to live in fear of tomorrow or we can grab hold of the here and now, make the most of every moment we do have.

  The quiet words destroyed her.

  Im not going to hurt you, he whispered, returning his mouth to hers. So help me God, I promise Ill never hurt you again.

  Leighs heart clenched with the truth. She heard the passion in Erics voice, the intensity, but she knew his promise was one that could not be kept. Every instinct for self-preservation, every molecule of caution, every grain of sanity, demanded she turn and walk away. Now.

  But fascination held her motionless.

  Eric Jones the lanky, cocksure grad student, shed known inside and out. But Eric Jones the hardened confident man, she did not, and he intrigued her as no man ever had. Like a prism, every moment they spent together revealed new facets to his personalityhis strength and loyalty, his determination, his fierce protectiveness, his gentle but demanding passionand each of them thrilled her in ways she inherently recognized as dangerous.

  Too bad shed never been a woman to shy away from danger.

  This man had the power to destroy her in ways from which she would never recover. But she, too, had the power to forever change his life. Doing so would cost her greatly, cost her everything, but she had no choice.

  What if I hurt you? she asked quietly.

  Thats a chance Im willing to take, he said against her mouth, urging her to open to him, share with him.

  She did. The heat of desire licked through her body, sending her melting into him, just like that night so long ago. She tried valiantly to remind herself of all the reasons making love with Eric was wrong, would only lead to heartbreak, but the more deeply he kissed her, the more possessively his mouth took hers, the more relentlessly his hands skimmed her body, the more all rational thought abandoned her, replaced by a blinding desire shed thought long destroyed. The need had survived, strengthened as it lay dormant, simmering and waiting for the day Eric Jones walked back into her life, touched her as though he could never get enough, kissed her as though she was the only woman in the world.

  Deep, deep inside, something slipped and gave way. Logic? Caution? Self-preservation? Leigh didnt know, and in that moment, didnt care. She only knew that the man shed never stopped loving, never stopped wanting, had stepped out of her dreams and once again filled her with a soul-piercing longing.

  Only Eric had ever made her feel this way.

  Last night shed drifted to sleep to the slow, steady rhythm of his heart. She heard that rhythm again, but now it was neither slow nor steady. It thrummed hard and erratic, like hers.

  Tell me no, he whispered, working at the small buttons of her silk blouse. Tell me to stop, and I will.

  Ten

  S top.

  The word lodged in her throat, trapped behind a surge of emotion. In some shrinking corner of her mind, Leigh knew she should do as he challenged. Tell him no. Tell him to stop. Because he would. He wasnt a man to force her, no matter how badly the rigid planes of his body revealed he wanted her.

  But rather than pull from him, Leigh slid a hand along his back and pressed him closer, reveled in the feel of hard muscles bunched in control. The bone-deep passion, the soul-shattering love, had been repressed for too many years. Now that his mouth moved against hers, that his fingers slipped inside her bra and teased her nipple, she could no more deny the need to have him inside her than she could deny the need to breathe.

  All those walls shed erected against him, the barriers shed nurtured and defenses shed fortified, they dissolved like mist, leaving only a crystalline need that had burned hot for ten years. Sensation obliterated reason, desire overran caution.

  One moment. One night. One memory.

  No, she whispered. No.

  Eric went very still, his hand against her breast, his body against hers. His breathing was hard and labored, but when he pulled back, she saw only a hot glow to his eyes.


  And she smiled. She wanted this man, had always wanted his man. Loved this man. Had always loved this man.

  No, dont stop, she clarified. Dont ever, ever stop.

  He hadnt. In the years that stood between them, Eric had never stopped thinking of her, remembering, wanting. Even when an ocean separated them, when hed pledged his life to another, when hed learned she might be doing the same. Hed never gotten Leigh out of his system, out of his blood. Hed never stopped wondering. Never stopped hungering. At times, driven by a cutting need to quit punishing himself, hed told himself that memory had embellished the draw between them, the passion and intensity, that the sorry state of his marriage had caused him to seek solace in the past.

  Now he knew the truth.

  Nothing had been embellished. Not one detail, one nuance. If anything, memory had numbed the edges of the desire. Otherwise he doubted he could have lived ten years without her, not if every morning hed felt this incredible rush, only to be denied the ability to touch and taste, to see, to make her his.

  But she was here now, and she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. He drank in the sight of her standing in a wash of late-afternoon sun, from her silky long hair to her heavy-lidded brown eyes, the glow to her skin and her slightly parted mouth.

  Make love to me, Eric, she whispered in that husky voice of hers, the one that sounded not at all like an attorney, but everything like a lover. Please.

  The please got him. Hed wanted to draw the moment out, to stretch every kiss, every caress to the breaking point, but when she looked at him through those slumberous eyes, he was lost. In a heartbeat he had her in his arms and down the hall, to his room where his big bed waited, the bed shed slept in the night before, the bed by which hed stood, silently standing guard.