“Every weekend should be spent on vacation,” he told her.
“But when would you go to the store and finish all those necessary chores you put off all week long?”
They sat drinking wine as the sun sizzled over the ocean. And just when she thought there might be a cooler breeze than expected, one of the waiters arrived to turn on the patio heater to ensure they were comfortable. “Okay, how about every other weekend on vacation?”
“I like it. There should be a bill on the congressional floor mandating it. Imagine how productive the workplace would be if weekends were really days that you spent off?”
Their storybook night, complete with making love with the moonlight shining in the open French doors, ended too soon. As she drifted to sleep in Reed’s arms, she decided that whatever was bothering him would wait until breakfast. Maybe a restful night would take away his edge.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
All night he’d wanted to confess. The trip was his way of taking her miles from home, where she couldn’t run off, where she had to listen to his story and how he’d managed to get where he was. And somewhere, in all his fucked-upness, he would convince her he wasn’t a bad guy.
Only now, she was sound asleep in his arms, and he was staring out the open window, letting the sound of the ocean keep him company.
He’d tell her in the morning.
Slowly, his body sank into the mattress and his mind numbed enough to sleep.
A buzzing woke him hours later when the sun started to brighten the morning sky. Half-awake, he recognized his cell phone was the source of his alarm. Because the ring had been silenced, the only sound was the buzz and vibration on the bedside table. He rolled over, planning on ignoring it and enjoying the warm body snuggled next to his, when the thing went off again. He flung his arm out, grasped the thing, and took a quick look at the flash on his screen.
Eyes blurry with sleep, he had to squint at the picture text that came through. When it came into focus, his resting heart rate shot high.
A picture of his office wall, the one hidden behind a double-framed map, was open wide and staring at him. He touched the power switch to blank the screen of his phone and looked down at Lori, who was still fast asleep.
Careful not to wake her, he slipped from the bed, put on his boxers, and walked outside. He opened the picture again and took a better look. It was his office, his notes. He checked the number on the phone. It was local, but no one he knew.
Who is this? He sent the unknown intruder a text.
Have you heard of honor among thieves, Reed?
He waited, not completely sure who played this game. It does appear that this is much bigger than one widow.
Sasha.
I’m flattered. I’ll be in touch.
He didn’t bother to see if she’d text him again.
The cold space beside her when she expected something different woke her. Lori reached out, didn’t find Reed, and opened her eyes to see him sitting beyond the doors as the sun rose. He tapped his cell phone against his thigh in silence.
She tucked her hand under her head and watched him without words.
The weight of her stare turned his head.
“You’re up early,” she told him.
“Did I wake you?” His words were polite. His tone was off.
“I think it was the silence.”
He picked himself up off the chair and moved into the room. “I can order coffee.” He crossed to the phone on the small desk.
“I’m okay right now.”
His hand hesitated over the phone.
“What’s wrong, Reed?” she finally asked.
He hung his head between his shoulders. “I don’t want to do this,” he muttered.
Lori repositioned her head. “Do what?”
“This,” he looked at her. “Have this conversation.”
“Whatever it is, we can talk about it.”
He shook his head, looked out the door as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I can’t stand the thought of you hating me.”
Air caught in her lungs, and she sat up in the bed, pulled the sheets up over her chest. “Why would I hate you?” Her mind scrambled for a reason. “Is there someone else? We never talked about being exclusive, if there is . . .”
“No. No.” He still didn’t look at her.
“Then what?”
He pulled in a long slow breath. “I was a cop. Joined the academy as soon as I turned twenty-one.”
“Okay. Why . . .” Her mind scrambled, trying to think why this was an issue. “Did you commit a crime and get thrown off the force?” And even if he had, he didn’t appear to be that man now.
“Nothing like that. I left.” He rubbed his cheek. The scar she’d noticed when they first met came into view. She didn’t even see it anymore. Never had she asked about it.
“What does this have to do with today?” She pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
He closed his eyes. “I didn’t meet you by accident.”
Her pulse started a rapid tap, and the smile she’d been keeping on her face slowly faded.
“I was on that ship in Barcelona to follow you and the women you were with.”
Lori dropped her eyes from his back and looked everywhere but at him. “Why?”
“I was hired by a private party to conduct an investigation.”
“You’re a PI?”
He nodded.
She pushed her back up against the headboard. “Hired to follow me?”
“Yes, kinda.”
“Kinda? Who hired you?”
He turned his head and winced. “That isn’t important.”
“The hell it isn’t. Did Petrov—”
“No! It wasn’t him.”
Who? For what reason? Lori looked down at herself. Naked under the covers after one of the most romantic nights she’d ever had in her life. “You seduced me to gain information?”
He reached for her, but she pulled away without him touching her.
“I didn’t plan this.”
Her jaw dropped. “You didn’t plan this. That makes it okay?”
The hair on her head stood up, and her breath came in short pants as the dream she’d been living in crushed around her.
“This isn’t anywhere close to okay.”
Her nose flared. “Did you get the information you needed?”
He didn’t answer her question with words, but his eyes betrayed him.
“Oh, God . . .” Hysteria sat so close to the surface she felt it snapping her sanity. “What was so valuable that you had to screw me to get it?”
“It was never like that.” He reached for her again.
Taking the sheet with her, she scrambled out of bed, forcing him to move so she could wrap it around her.
God, she was so stupid. There were no such things as coincidences. Wasn’t that her motto in court, in her life?
“Why are you telling me this now? Why not just break it off and move on?”
“Because I care about you.”
She shook her head and forced her tears back. “Don’t say that. You have no right,” she yelled. “Who hired you, Reed?”
“It’s safer if I don’t tell you.”
She took one step toward him, hand in the air. “You no longer have the right to care about my safety.” She spun around, held the sheet up as she grabbed her clothes off the floor.
“Listen to me,” he said as he moved around her.
She backed away.
“There is someone else following you.”
“What?”
“And I think she’s working for Petrov. You need a bodyguard, Lori.”
Her chest rose and fell so fast she was seeing stars. “How long have you known this?”
Guilt hit his face and stuck.
“How long, Reed?” She asked in short, staccato words.
“France.”
She nearly dropped the sheet as she reached for her head. “France?” Tears started to fall.
“I’m sorry, Lori. Just listen to me, I can explain—”
She turned on him, marched into his space, and pulled her shoulders back. “Don’t.” Her finger poked him hard in the chest, and then she fisted her hand and pulled it to her mouth to keep from screaming.
“You were a job, but you’ve turned into—”
She pushed him away. “Fool me once . . .” She glared at him. “Once.”
The sheet fell to the floor and she pulled on her clothes.
Reed called her name as she scrambled around the room, collecting her things. “Lori.”
Raw tears ran down her cheeks.
“I’ll take you home.”
She didn’t honor his suggestion with a response as she all but ran out the door.
At the desk of the hotel, the smile on the woman’s face fell when Lori ran toward her. “I need the hotel car.”
“Right away, Miss.”
“To drive me to LA.”
The woman looked around. “It’s for local—”
Lori swung her purse on the counter. “It’s an emergency.” She opened her wallet, pulled five one-hundred-dollar bills from a hidden compartment, and put them on the desk. She looked behind her to see Reed running toward her with his bag.
“Please.”
Without words, the woman walked her outside and to the back of the town car.