by Anthology
Lauren held it to her arm. “Thank you.”
“No problem. And I ordered our usual. I wasn’t sure if you would be up to staying long, so I thought we should rush the food.”
Lauren felt the chill on her arm, a slow numbness easing the pain. “This helps.” Her attention locked on a familiar face. “Isn’t that David Sullivan?”
Julie turned in her seat. “Where?”
“Too late. You can’t see him anymore.” Lauren made a face. “Weird though. I know that was him. He looked right at me and pretended not to see me.”
Julie gave Lauren a hard stare. “Of course he did. You prosecuted the biggest case of his career, and he lost.”
“And so he avoids me?”
“He was passed over as partner after losing the case. I’m pretty sure he thinks you ruined his life.”
Lauren’s eyes went wide. “I did not ruin his life. That’s like blaming you for breaking up the marriages you legally dissolved.”
The waitress appeared and set their food down in front of them, forcing Julie to put her reply on hold. The minute the woman walked away, Julie leaned forward, her voice low. “Of course you didn’t ruin his life. But you know how people can be. They look for someone to blame and since I went out with one of his buddies a few years back, I happen to know he blames you. He’s a big blame thrower, that guy.” She stabbed a piece of chicken on top of her salad.
“Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“I didn’t tell you because I knew it would upset you, just like it clearly is now. I knew you’d tear yourself up over it.”
This day was not going well. Her world felt like it was imploding on her. Her idea of getting out of the office and not letting fear control her certainly had backfired.
She shoved her plate aside, knowing she should have listened to Royce. “I’m going to the ladies' room.” She dropped the bag of ice on the table, and grabbed a napkin to soak up the water on her arm. “Get my salad to go, will you?”
Fortunately, the restroom was empty, and she had a few blessed moments alone. She dried her shirt the best she could, her mind a jumbled mess. It was hard enough to put someone on death row, regardless of their crime. She really didn’t need the added weight of other types of guilt. Like being told she'd ruined the life of her opposing counsel.
Several people funneled into the restroom, eyeing Lauren’s arm with interest. So much for her escape. She headed for the door, pushed it open, and ran straight into a hard wall of muscle, and when she might have flinched and pulled back, her nostrils flared with a familiar spicy scent of man.
“Royce,” she breathed out, relaxing into him. “Oh, thank God, it’s you.”
He guided her into a corner, hands settling on her waist. Reaching up he brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. “Julie said you were burned. Let me look at your arm.”
Lauren felt her lips quiver as she nodded. “You had me followed, didn’t you? That’s how you’re here?”
He glanced up at her. “Yes, and I’m pissed as hell that you left the building. However, I’ll save my lecturing -- and there will be lecturing -- for when we’re alone and you’re not in pain. But damn it, this isn’t a cigarette burn and this wasn’t an accident. What if he’d have used a knife under the cover of the crowd? You might not be here right now.”
He was right. She knew he was right. “I thought you were saving this until later?”
“I am. I’m not even close to saying everything I have to say.”
She let out a breath and let her lashes lower. “I deserve this. I was foolish.” She swallowed hard. “I didn’t want this to be real.” Her gaze lifted and then louder, “I didn’t want this to be real. I think... I was in denial.”
“You’re okay,” he said, his voice softening with understanding. “That’s all that matters. Right now, we need to get you to an ER.”
“No. It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not, and we both know it. You’re scared. You’re hurt. We’re going to the ER.”
“I’ll end up in the newspaper.”’
”Then we’ll find a private doctor, but you have to have this looked at.”
“I so don’t need this right before the trial, Royce. I’m behind. I’m not myself. I almost feel like I need to step aside, but it’s too late now, it would hurt the case.”
“Maybe that was the idea.”
***
Two hours later, Lauren and Royce were finally back at her apartment, and he was doing a walk through for safety. Lauren had called Julie and explained everything that was going on, and she had eagerly agreed to pick up Lauren’s work for her. She just hoped she arrived in time to get some work done. The day was all but lost and the pain meds were going to knock her out when she finally caved and took them. As it was, the antibiotics were making her nauseous, which was probably because she hadn’t eaten at all.
Royce appeared in the hallway, and she felt a surge of relief when he gave her the ‘thumbs up’ to enter. She rushed forward and straight to her bedroom so she could change. She wanted out of the burned shirt so she could separate herself from threats and fears to focus on work.
Royce followed her, leaning on the door frame as she dug in her drawer for her sweats. They’d had a fight when he’d driven her to the doctor’s office, rather than home. They’d barely spoken while they were there, but as her anger had faded, she felt him there, by her side, strong and comforting, and... it felt like a relationship. It felt... right.
She abandoned her drawer and sat down on the bed. “I’m sorry. I was such a witch earlier. I just... ”
“Don’t move, Lauren,” Royce ordered sharply. “Don’t even breath.” He reached for his gun.
“What?” Lauren whispered urgently. “What’s happening?”
“I’m going to explain but do not, I repeat, do not react. Don’t move until I tell you to. Understand?” He was already closing in on her, one slow step at a time.
“Yes. Okay. Tell me!”
“There's a snake on your bed.”
***
Royce stopped in front of Lauren, but he didn’t look at her. He kept his eye on the snake, knowing it could easily be as deadly as it was unexpected. “Get ready to run. When I say to run, you get out of the apartment in case there are more snakes.”
“Yes... yes, okay.”
“I’ll count to three. One. Two. Three.” He shoved her aside and fired at the snake, but as he suspected, it moved and he missed. He grabbed a handful of the comforter and threw it over the snake and then fired over and over. He reloaded and yanked the comforter back, ready to fire, but thankfully, he didn’t have to. There was a pile of dead snake in the bed.
“Lauren,” he called, turning to find her standing in the doorway. “I told you to get out of here.” He grabbed her and started walking towards the door, getting her the hell out of here, all but dragging her to the hallway. “Are you trying to get yourself killed today?”
She held up her phone. “I was afraid you’d get bitten and seconds could mean life or death. You might be Mr. FBI, Royce Walker, but you can die just like the rest of us.”
He stared at her a moment, her words sinking in and eating away at his anger. For the second time now, she’d tried to protect him. It defied anything he’d ever experienced with a woman and he liked how that felt.
He kissed her fast and hard on the lips. “Damn, I’m crazy about you, woman. Stay here, and since you often reinterpret my words to your own definition, that means don’t move.” He turned to go back inside, when a thought stopped him dead in his tracks.
He scrubbed his face and considered a moment, before dialing Luke. “Someone left Lauren a snake for a present. I need someone over here to make sure there aren’t any more.”
“Holy fuck,” Luke grumbled. “Is it poisonous?”
“I didn’t ask it before I killed it.” He glanced at Lauren. “But if it was, this is attempted murder.”
“No,” she mouthed. “No.”
“And get Julie to bring Lauren’s work, and some clothes, to my place. Lauren is coming home with me.” He hung up.
“Murder? You think someone just tried to kill me?”
“Or scare the hell out of you.” And he was going to make the SOB pay for it, too.
“It worked. It worked really well.”
“I know, baby,” he said, reaching for her and wrapping her in his arms. “We’re going to get this asshole. You have my word. You just have to let me protect you. No more running off to lunch like you did today.”
“No more running off period. Seriously, Royce. I might be hard-headed, but I’m not an idiot. I’m going to trust you completely from now on.”
She trusted him, and his secret pact with her father was going to be the poison that killed their relationship.
Chapter Thirteen
An hour later, Royce had Lauren back at his place, and she was soaking in his bathtub, naked and trusting and everything he wanted in a woman, but just hadn’t known it. Until now. Until Lauren. And instead of being with her, showing her, telling her, he was a room away, pacing his living room while Luke lounged on his brown leather couch.
“This is absolute hell,” Royce murmured. “I’m lying to her and she trusts me. I have to talk to her.”
“Not now,” Luke said. “Not when she’s in danger. You don’t want her pushing you away and making it impossible to protect her. Besides, you left out information about her father,” Luke said, sitting up and resting his elbows on his knees. “You didn’t lie. She’ll be upset, but she’ll get over it. It’s not like you slept with her best friend.”
“No. Ironically, you did.” He sat down on the arm of one of two leather chairs framing the couch, keeping an eye on the bedroom door directly across from him.
“I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that,” Luke said. “But since you brought up Julie, when I called her to have her bring over Lauren’s work, she told me that the attorney who defended Sheridan was at the restaurant today. She thought it was a strange coincidence. Apparently, the Sheridan loss spiraled into a career disaster he blames Lauren for. I’m going to see him tomorrow. I’ll send one of our guys to talk to Sheridan. A man about to be executed tends to get chatty.”
“What about Sheridan’s family?”
“There’s a brother, that’s it. I plan to check him out. There is also a woman.”
Royce’s brow inched upward. “He killed his wife. What woman are we talking about?”
“Some chick that started writing to him while he was in prison.”
“Ah,” Royce said. “Never have understood the jailhouse groupies. What’s your take on her?”
“I don’t think it’s much of a lead. She broke off contact with him some six months ago, and is even pregnant now with some other dude’s kid.”
“I’m not sure that means squat in the world we live in.”
“I’m going to check her out. But the way I see it, if Sheridan is involved, then he would probably have taken out a contract on Lauren. It’s cleaner.”
“Who says this isn’t a contract? Maybe whoever hired this guy wants Lauren played with before she’s killed. Maybe that’s why this attorney Sullivan was there today. He was watching when she got burned, eating up her fear.”
“I like it as a theory,” Luke agreed. “I’m sold on a professional for hire. This person, who I’m calling a man, but could be a woman, hasn’t made mistakes. He’s invisible, even with a camera on. He knows what he’s doing.” His cell phone rang and he answered it, his gaze going to Royce’s. “Yeah. Thanks.” He snapped the phone shut. “The snake wasn’t poisonous.”
“So, this guy’s playing with her.”
“Yeah,” Luke said. “But there’s more. The place was a regular radio shack. He’s been watching her, recording her.”
“Sonofabitch,” Royce cursed. “Don’t tell her that. She’s scared enough. I should have guessed that. I mean, he got in for the snake. He had full access.”
“We finally have a potential motive, a way the senator might fit into this,” Luke said. “Get images of Lauren undressing, or doing any number of things, and then uses them to get something from the senator.”
Royce’s jaw tensed. “Images of me with Lauren. I handed this guy ammunition, if that is even what this is about. He could be a sick bastard who’s obsessed with her, and he’s made getting to her look like child’s play.”
“Which leads me to a manpower issue. Blake’s dealing with the Rhode Island airport contract, so until he returns, I’m limited to what I can do. I need to bring one of our guys in on this. Kyle, Rick, and Daniel are free. Jesse is also free. Tommy and Daniel are both booked. Kyle dealt with the snakes and he’s a tech expert. He’s already involved.”
“Kyle,” Royce agreed. “I’ve known him for years. We worked together at the agency. He’ll keep his mouth shut.”
“Give me Rick, too. He can chase some of the pieces I’m putting together on the senator.”
“Do it,” Royce said. “We don’t have time to spare.”
The door to the master bedroom, which sat just off the main living room, and directly in front of Royce, squeaked open. Lauren stepped into the room, and damn if his cock didn’t twitch at the sight of her in his t-shirt and oversized sweats. The darn things were rolled up at the knees and hanging on her, and yet, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her look sexier.
She walked to the opposite chair and settled her hands on top. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No,” Luke said, smiling. “Nothing private in this family.” The doorbell rang and Royce didn’t miss the subtle tension that rolled through his brother, before Luke stood up. “It’s probably Julie. I’ll let her in on my way out.”
Lauren rounded the chair and sat down. “She acts just as odd when his name comes up.”
“You noticed that,” Royce said.
She nodded. “Oh, yeah.”
“Hello, hello,” Julie called, appearing with a box in hand. “I left a suitcase by the door with clothes and other important girl stuff.” She hurried forward and left the rather large box on the coffee table, then gave Lauren a once over “But then who needs clothes when you can wear Royce’s?” She laughed. “You look like a kid wearing grown up clothes.” She sat down on the couch and glanced at Royce. “You are a big ol’ boy aren’t you? Better to kill snakes, I suppose.” She eyed Lauren. “Maybe you should have him pay a visit to that angry dude Alice said visited you today.”
“What angry ‘dude’?” Royce asked, his gaze colliding with Lauren’s. “And why don’t I know about him?”
“I haven’t had time to tell you.”
“Ah, hmmm,” Julie said. “I was just trying to lighten the mood. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
“You have to make time, Lauren,” Royce growled. “Someone could well be trying to kill you.”
“Don’t, Royce,” Lauren said tightly. “Not now.”
“Now,” he insisted.
She inhaled and let it out. “He’s the brother of the woman I’m prosecuting for the poisoning. He got pretty nasty. He-”
“Name,” Royce said.
Her jaw tensed. “Jonathan Wilkins, and you’re acting like a caveman.”
“A caveman trying to keep you alive. This escalated to way beyond a few phone calls today, Lauren. Did he threaten you?”
“No. Not really. He was just very aggressive. Family members get that way, Royce. I’m used to it.”
“Did you feel threatened?” he asked.
She hesitated. “I was on edge.”
“Did you feel threatened?”
“Damn it, yes, but I told you. I was on edge. It wasn’t long after we had our little,” she stopped herself mid-sentence. “It was right after you dropped me at work.”
He pushed to his feet. “Make time to tell me these things, Lauren. One mistake, one missed clue, could be critical. I’m goi
ng to talk to Luke. Don’t open the door to anyone.” He glanced at Julie. “Knock on Luke’s door before you leave. I don’t want you walking to your car alone.” He headed for the door, not giving her a chance to answer.
“Wow,” he heard Julie say softly, but not soft enough. “He’s a big sexy, grizzly alpha of a man, isn’t he? I know how the sexy is working out for you, but how’s the grizzly alpha thing going?”
Royce didn’t allow himself to hear the answer, he couldn’t risk the distraction, or his reaction. He pushed open the door and locked it before pulling it shut, with one focus. Protecting Lauren, so that when this was over, she could scream and shout and kick him to the curb if she so wished. All that mattered was keeping her safe and alive.
***
After spending a good hour that she should have been working talking with Julie, Lauren dove into her work, ignoring the rumble of her stomach and the throb of her arm. The Advil Julie had brought her had worked for all of half an hour, so she popped some aspirin she found in Royce’s bathroom cabinet. She had to try and get some work done before she took the more powerful pain medication the doctor had given her.
She picked up the box of her work from the coffee table and walked to the large oak desk that set just off the living area, and by the kitchen door. She set it down at her feet and started pulling out her files, remarkably comfortable in her sexy grizzly alpha’s home. She smiled at Julie’s creative description, thankful for a good friend who could make a smile possible at a time like this. Lauren wasn’t sure who was more surprised, her or Julie, over just how much Lauren liked her alpha male’s alpha side.
A loud sound filled the silence of the room and Lauren jumped to her feet, her heart thundering in her ears, to scan the room. The sound clamored again and her gaze riveted to the fireplace opposite the couch, air rushing from her lungs. It was the clock above the mantel chiming. Oh yeah, she was rattled all right. She sank back to the leather chair beneath her and wished Royce would return. Being alone wasn’t all that appealing right now. She unloaded her files onto the desk, deciding work would be the best distraction, but pausing at the smaller letter-sized flat box Alice had told her about.
