Private Scandals

by Nora Roberts

  She heaved a perfume bottle toward the open case. It bounced merrily on the bed.

  “That’s exactly what I’m doing.” With her eyes on his, she pried his fingers loose. “You lied to me, Finn. If Jenner hadn’t come out here for some follow-up questions, I wouldn’t have known about the break-in, or that you’d interviewed Dan Gardner and that hotel maid. I wouldn’t have known anything.”

  “No, and you might have gotten a few nights’ sleep.”

  “You lied,” she repeated, refusing to see past that. “And don’t tell me keeping the truth from me is different than lying. It’s the same. I won’t continue in a relationship that isn’t honest.”

  “You want honest. That’s fine.” He turned, shut the door with a quiet click. A final click. “I’ll do anything and everything in my power to protect you. That’s a fact.” Eyes steady, he walked back to her. “You’re not walking out on me, Deanna. That’s a fact. And you’re not using some bullshit about rights and trust as your escape hatch. If you want out, then at least be honest.”

  “All right.” She shifted so that he couldn’t see the way her hands shook as she packed. “I made a mistake when I agreed to marry you, and I’ve had time to think it through. I need to concentrate on my career, on my own life. I can’t do that if I’m trying to make a marriage work, if I’m starting a family. I talked myself into thinking I could do it all, but I was wrong.” The diamonds on her finger winked mockingly at her. She couldn’t quite bring herself to take the ring off. Not yet. “I don’t want to marry you, Finn, and it’s not fair to either of us to continue this way. My priority right now is my work, and getting it back on track.”

  “Look at me, Deanna. I said look at me.” With his hands firm on her shoulders, he turned her to face him. The sensation of panic faded into steely confidence. “You’re lying.”

  “I know you don’t want to believe—”

  “Jesus Christ, Deanna, don’t you know that I can see it in your face. You could never lie worth a damn. Why are you doing this?”

  “I don’t want to hurt you any more than necessary, Finn.” She held herself rigid in his arms, stared over his shoulder. “Let me go.”

  “Not a chance in hell.”

  “I don’t want you.” Her voice cracked. “I don’t want this. Is that clear enough?”

  “No.” He jerked her forward, covered her mouth with his. She trembled immediately, her body shuddering against his, her lips heating. “But that is.”

  “It’s not the answer.” But her body yearned for his, for the warmth, the strength.

  “You want me to apologize again?” Gently now, he stroked a hand over her hair. “Fine. I’m sorry, and I’d do exactly the same thing. If you want to call it lying to you, then I’d lie. I’d do whatever I had to do to keep you safe.”

  “I don’t want to be protected.” She broke away, curled her hands into impotent fists. “I don’t need to be protected. Can’t you see? Don’t you understand? He used me to kill her. He used me. He isn’t going to hurt me; I don’t need to be protected. But God knows who else he might hurt because of me.”

  “Me,” he said quietly, furiously. “That’s what this is all about. You think he might try for me. The best way to prevent that is to dump me, right? To make sure everyone knows you’ve broken it off.”

  Her lips trembled before she pressed them together. “I’m not going to argue with you, Finn.”

  “You’re absolutely right about that.” He picked up her case and upended the contents. “Don’t ever try that with me again. Don’t ever use my feelings on me like that again.”

  “He’ll try to kill you,” she said dully. “I know he will.”

  “So you lied, to try to protect me.” When she opened her mouth, shut it again, he smiled. “Quid pro quo, Deanna. We’ll call it even. So you don’t want to be protected—neither do I. What do you want?”

  She lifted her fisted hands to her cheeks, then let them fall. “I want you to stop watching me as though I were going to fall apart.”

  “Done. What else?”

  “I want you to swear you won’t keep anything from me, no matter how much you think it’ll upset me.”

  “Deal, and same goes.”

  She nodded slowly, watching him. “You’re still angry.”

  “Yeah, I’m still angry. It’s a residual effect when the woman I love cuts me in half.”

  “You still want me.”

  “God, yes, I still want you.”

  “You haven’t made love with me since this happened. Whenever I’d turn to you, you’d soothe and you’d cuddle, but you haven’t touched me.”

  “No, I haven’t.” He felt the blood begin to swim in his veins. “I wanted to give you time.”

  “I don’t want time!” she shouted at him, felt the first sweet snap of release. “I’m not fragile or weak or delicate. I want you to stop looking at me as though I were, as though I’d crumble. I’m alive. I want to feel alive. Make me feel alive.”

  He reached out, brushed his knuckle down her cheek. “You should have asked for something more difficult.”

  He kissed her. She could feel the sparks of fury he was struggling to bank, taste the hot frustration, the searing need.

  “Don’t,” she murmured. “Don’t be gentle. Not now.”

  He wanted to be. But she was pulling him down on the bed, her hands already frantic as they tugged at his clothes. He couldn’t be gentle, couldn’t tap the well of tenderness when her mouth was driving him beyond caution into madness.

  Her body vibrated against his as she arched and strained and writhed. More was all she could think. More of him. More of that simmering violence she had watched him fight to chain for days. She wanted him to release it now, inside her.

  She could hear her own heart drum heavily in her ears, feel each separate pulse throb. Her muffled cry was one of triumph as he ripped her shirt aside, seeking flesh.

  The wind kicked against the windows, rattling glass. It hooted down the chimney, struggling to puff smoke into the room. But the fire blazed in the hearth and burned brighter with the threat of the storm.

  On the bed they rolled like thunder.

  His mouth was on her, ravenous, teeth scraping skin already damp with passion. His breath was hot and quick, his hands bruising in their hurry to possess. She reared up to meet him, her head falling back, her moan long and feral.

  Faster. Faster. The desperation peaked as he yanked at her jeans, his hungry mouth racing down her shuddering torso toward the violent heat. Her hands dived into his hair, pressed him closer, closer. Her nails scraped unfelt down his back as the first orgasm pummeled her.

  “Now.” She nearly wept it, dragging him up, frantic for him to fill her. Her hands clutched at his hips, her legs wrapped around his waist. “Now,” she said again, then cried out when he drove himself into her.

  “More.” He yanked her body up, plunged deeper, thrusting hard, still harder while the ferocity of pleasure racked through him. His body felt like an engine, tireless, primed to run. He mated it with hers, steel cased in velvet, pumping faster each time he felt her muscles contract like a moist fist around him.

  When she arched, straining, he pulled her to him until they were torso to torso. Her teeth sank into his shoulder even as her body moved like wet silk against his. Again she went rigid, her body stiffening, then breaking into shudders. Her eyes sprang open, staring glazed into his while she went limp.

  “I can’t.”

  He shoved her back, grasping her hands and dragging them over her head. “I can.”

  He devoured her, letting the animal take over, ripping each new response from her with impatient teeth, enticing new fires with tongue and lips.

  His breath was burning in his throat, his blood pounding in his head, in his loins. The final wave of sensation swamped him, flooded through his system like light—white and blinding. He thought she cried out again, just his name, as he emptied himself into her.

  Chapter Twenty-four


  Marshall Pike’s office looked like an elegant living room. But no one lived there. It reminded Finn of an ambitious model home, decorated for prospective buyers who would never slouch on the brocade sofa or wrestle on the Aubusson rug. There would certainly never be a careless ring left by a careless glass set on the Chippendale coffee table. No child would ever play hide-and-seek behind the formal silk draperies or cuddle up to read in one of the deep-cushioned chairs.

  Even Marshall’s desk seemed more of a prop than a usable fixture. The oak was highly polished, the brass fittings gleamed. The desk set of burgundy leather fit seamlessly into the color scheme of wines and ferns. The ficus tree by the window wasn’t plastic, but it was so perfect, its leaves so radically dust-free, it might as well have been.

  Finn had lived with easy wealth all of his life, and the material trappings it could buy, but he found Marshall Pike’s pristine office, with its low hum of an air filter discreetly sucking impurities, soulless.

  “I would, naturally, be happy to cooperate with the police.” Piously, Marshall tugged the sleeves of his jacket over the monogrammed cuffs of his crisp white shirt. “As I explained to you, they haven’t found it necessary to question me. Why would they? I have nothing to say to the press.”

  “As I explained to you, I’m not here as a member of the press. You’re not obligated to talk to me, Pike, but if you don’t . . .” Finn spread his hands. Jenner was going to be pissed, he thought, that he hadn’t cleared this interview with the police. But this particular contact was personal. “Some of my associates might appreciate having their memory jogged about a certain incident between you and Angela. One that slipped through the cracks a couple of years ago?”

  “I can’t imagine that something so trivial would be of interest to anyone.”

  “It’s amazing, isn’t it, what grabs the viewer’s attention? And what, if presented with a certain angle, will intrigue the police.”

  The man was reaching, of course, Marshall assured himself. There was nothing, absolutely nothing to connect him with Angela but a momentary lapse of judgment. And yet . . . a word to the wrong person could result in publicity his practice couldn’t afford.

  A few questions, he decided, a few answers wouldn’t matter. He was, after all, an expert at communication. If he couldn’t handle an overexposed reporter, he didn’t deserve the degrees hanging prominently on the wall behind him.

  More, he would enjoy outwitting the man Deanna had chosen over him.

  “My last appointment for the day canceled.” He shook his head as if in pity for the unhappy couple who wouldn’t benefit from his skills. “I don’t have another engagement until seven. I can spare you a few moments.”

  “That’s all I’ll need. When did you hear about Angela’s death?”

  “On the news, the morning after the murder. I was shocked. I understand that Deanna was with her in the studio. As you know, Deanna and I had a relationship. Naturally, I’m concerned about her.”

  “I’m sure that will help her sleep easy at night.”

  “I have tried to contact her, to offer my support.”

  “She doesn’t need it.”

  “Territorial, Mr. Riley?” Marshall asked with a curve of the lips.

  “Absolutely, Dr. Pike,” Finn answered.

  “In my profession, it’s essential to be fair-minded.” He continued to smile. “Deanna meant a great deal to me at one time.”

  With some interviews you prodded, with others you planted. In Marshall’s case, Finn noted that the shorter the question, the more expansive the answer.

  “Did she?”

  “A great deal of time has passed. And Deanna is engaged to you. Regardless, I would still offer whatever support or help I could to someone I was fond of, particularly under such shocking circumstances.”

  “And Angela Perkins?” Finn leaned back in his chair. However relaxed his pose, he was alert, watching every flick of Marshall’s eye. “Were you fond of her?”

  “No,” he said shortly. “I was not.”

  “Yet it was your affair with Miss Perkins which ended your relationship with Deanna.”

  “There was no affair.” Marshall linked his hands on the desktop. “There was a momentary lapse of control and common sense. I came to understand rather quickly that Angela had orchestrated the entire incident for her own reasons.”

  “Which were?”

  “In my opinion? To manipulate Deanna and to cause her distress. She was successful.” His smile was thin and humorless. “Although Deanna did not accept the position Angela had offered her in New York, she did sever ties with me.”

  “You resent that?”

  “I resent, Mr. Riley, that Deanna refused to see the incident for what it was. Less than nothing. A mere physical reaction to deliberate stimuli. There was no emotion involved, none at all.”

  “Some people are more emotional about sex than others.” Finn smiled wider, deliberately baiting him. “Deanna’s very emotional.”

  “Indeed,” he said, and left it at that. When Finn remained silent, annoyance pushed him on. “I don’t understand how my unfortunate misstep could be related to the investigation.”

  “I didn’t say it was,” Finn said pleasantly. “But, just to clear up that matter, why don’t you tell me where you were on the night of the murder? Between the hours of eleven and two?”

  “I was home.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yes, alone.” Confident now, Marshall relaxed. His eyes were mild. “I’m sure you’d agree, if I’d been planning on murder I would have had the simple intelligence to provide myself with an alibi. However, I had dinner, alone, spent a few hours working on case studies, then went to bed.”

  “Did you speak with anyone? Receive any phone calls?”

  “I let the service take my calls. I don’t like to be interrupted when I’m working—barring emergencies.” He smiled cockily. “Do you advise me to contact my lawyer, Mr. Riley?”

  “If you think you need one.” If he was lying, Finn mused, he was cool about it. “When was the last time you saw Angela?”

  For the first time in the interview there was a flash of genuine pleasure in Marshall’s eyes. “I haven’t seen Angela since she made the move to New York. That would be over two years ago.”

  “Have you had any contact with her since that time?”

  “Why would I? We did not have a love affair, as I explained.”

  “You didn’t have one with Deanna, either,” Finn commented, and had the satisfaction of wiping the smile from Marshall’s face. “But you’ve continued to contact her.”

  “Not for nearly a year. She is not forgiving.”

  “But you have sent notes. Made calls.”

  “No, I haven’t. Not until I heard about this. She hasn’t returned my calls, so I must assume she neither wants nor needs my help.” Assured he’d been more than reasonable, he tapped his cuff again, rose. “As I said, I do have an appointment at seven, and I need to go home and change for the evening. I must say, this was an interesting interlude. Be sure to give Deanna my best.”

  “I don’t think so.” Finn rose as well, but made no move to leave. “I’ve got another question. You can call this one from reporter to psychologist.”

  Marshall’s lips jerked into a sneer. “How could I refuse?”

  “It’s about obsession.” Finn let the word hang a moment, watching for any sign: an avoidance of eye contact, a tic, a change in tone. “If a man, or a woman, was fixed on someone, long-term, say, two or three years, and he had fantasies but he couldn’t bring himself to approach this person, face to face, and in these fantasies he felt he’d been betrayed, what would he be feeling? Love? Or hate?”

  “A difficult question, Mr. Riley, with such little information. I can say that love and hate are as intricately entwined as the poets claim. Either one can take control, and either one, depending on circumstances, can be dangerous. Obsessions are rarely constructive, for either party. Tell me, are you planning
a show on the topic?”

  “Could be.” Finn reached for his coat. “As a layman, I wonder if someone who was dealing with that kind of obsession might be able to hide it. Go through the day-to-day motions without letting the mask slip.” He studied Marshall’s face now. “The old John Smith who mows down half a dozen people in a K Mart. The neighbors say what a nice, quiet guy he was.”

  “It happens, doesn’t it? Most people are very clever at allowing others to see only what they wish to be seen. And most people only see what they choose in any case. If the human race were simpler, both of us would be looking for other means of employment.”

  “You have a point. Thanks for your time.”