Читать книгу The By Request Collection - Kate Hardy - Страница 42

Twelve

As soon as Roman was in his car he called Agent Crosswell and left a message. The guilt of having to lie to Gracie was eating him alive. He loved her, he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life and this deception was killing him. But he couldn’t risk her getting hurt or, almost as bad, going down as an accomplice. He’d come so close to telling her the truth, but he just couldn’t. Hell, for all he knew the FBI could have his place bugged. It wasn’t unheard of. And if this thing was going to end, he had to turn the flash drive over to them. He had no other choice. But before he did, before he would even take them to the FBI building, he and Agent Crosswell were going to sit down and talk, and put together some sort of deal to protect Gracie from any form of legal retribution or liability.

There was no doubt in Roman’s mind that the senator had committed fraud, and Roman would not let Gracie get sucked into what had the potential to be an epic scandal. That was the last thing she needed. As a key player in the senator’s campaign she would definitely feel some backlash. There was no way to avoid that. And at some point she would probably have to testify at trial, unless the senator took a deal. But Roman doubted he would. He was too arrogant to believe he would ever be found guilty. But this house of cards he’d built was about to come down.

Roman would insist that it be made clear, unequivocally and with no question, that Gracie was in no way involved in the senator’s illegal dealings. Because it was often people in her position who went down as the fall guy. And the senator was just the sort of man to throw someone else under the bus to save his own ass and not think twice about it.

The more he learned about the man, the more troubling the situation became. Roman knew that Dax must have friends in high places, but he had learned the misconduct was further reaching than even he’d imagined. And as badly as he wanted to see the senator go down, his main priority was making sure Gracie walked away unscathed.

If Gracie wasn’t given full immunity, the FBI would never see that flash drive.

When he got to work he made the car arrangements for Gracie, hiring a fully armed driver whom he spoke to personally. Knowing there would be someone to watch her back took his stress level down considerably. Then, at 8:30 a.m., Agent Crosswell called him back.

“We need to have a meeting,” Roman told him.

“You have what I want?” he asked.

“We talk first.”

There was a long pause, as if the agent were thinking it through, then he said, “Fair enough. One o’clock, my office.”

“I’ll be there,” Roman said. The flash drive was already locked away in his office safe, and wouldn’t be coming back out until he had everything that he needed from the FBI. And as soon as he was able, he would come clean with Gracie and hope she understood why he had to lie to her. That he was doing it to protect her. Because this time he had no doubt in his mind of her innocence. That he’d believed she could be guilty of anything seven years ago still haunted him. He’d betrayed her, and though he had moved on, the guilt had never completely gone away. But he would spend the rest of his life making it up to her if that was what it took. And he hoped that she could eventually forgive him. Until then he wasn’t going to push. Like he told Gracie, one day at a time.

The meeting with the FBI went well, and Crosswell agreed to a deal giving Gracie full immunity. Roman also insisted that her name be kept out of this for as long as humanly possible. Still, he knew that there would be no way to completely avoid the fallout. They made arrangements for an agent to pick the flash drive up at his office later that afternoon, and of course he showed up right on time, dressed as a delivery man. Handing them over, knowing he was deceiving Gracie, was one of the hardest things Roman had ever had to do. But he just kept reminding himself that he was doing it for her safety. Because when this blew open, it wasn’t just Dax who would be going down. Some very prominent officials would be shoved into the spotlight, not to mention local authorities and their mob connections. But if the FBI was going to make their case, he hoped they would do it soon, because as long as Dax suspected her of having that flash drive she would be in danger. Hell, even if she turned them over to him, and he suspected her of knowing the truth, he might do something drastic to silence her. Something that would surely look like an accident. Roman had seen it before. And he knew that the longer he had to lie to Gracie, the worse the damage would be when the truth came out.

Roman had a hell of a time concentrating the rest of the afternoon. He must have texted Mark, Gracie’s driver/bodyguard, a dozen times to check up on them.

Mark, an ex-marine, finally had enough, and late in the afternoon, sent him a terse text:

Relax boss, I’ve got it.

Roman didn’t make it home until almost eight, and the limo was still in the driveway, which alarmed him. The security system at his home was top-of-the-line, so he hadn’t asked or expected Mark to stick around after she was home for the night, but when he walked into the house they were sitting at the kitchen table eating pizza. Gracie had a beer, and Mark, ever the professional, was drinking a bottle of soda. She had exchanged her work clothes for a pair of leggings and an oversize sweatshirt. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked just like she had back in college.

As soon as she saw him, Gracie smiled and stood to greet him. “Sorry we started without you, but I was starving.”

He walked over to her and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She tasted like tomato sauce and beer. “Did you have a good day?”

Hell no, not even close. “I had a busy day.”

She shrugged and said, “I guess busy is good. I was just telling Mark that my new purse line is doing fantastic. They’re flying off the shelves. We’re going to make record profits this quarter.”

“That’s great,” he said with a smile, wishing he could share her enthusiasm.

Mark finished his soda and stood. “I’m going to head out. What time tomorrow, ma’am?”

“Gracie,” she said. “And let’s say seven thirty if that’s okay. I have an early meeting to prepare for.”

“I’ll be here.”

“A word?” Roman asked Mark, who nodded. “I’ll be right back,” Roman said to Gracie over his shoulder as he left.

When they were outside, Mark said, “I hope you don’t mind that I stayed. She offered pizza and I was hungry.”

“I don’t mind, I just saw the limo still here and thought the worst. So there was no trouble today? No sign of anyone following you?”

Mark shook his head. “Nothing. And I have to say, that’s one hell of a great girl you’ve got there.”

Roman couldn’t suppress a smile. “She is.”

“When you told me who she was I expected her to be snooty or arrogant. I was wrong. I told her that my eight-year-old daughter is really into fashion and she offered to give her a tour of her offices. I didn’t expect that.”

Roman had learned over time that people were just people. Heiress or not, Gracie was still a good person who cared deeply for others. “She is something special,” he said. And he had to go in there and lie to her face. Because she was going to ask him about the Dax situation, and he had no information to give her.

“Hang on to that one,” Mark said, opening the driver’s side door.

He was trying. When he went back inside Gracie was clearing their plates from the table.

“Are you hungry?”

“I had a bite to eat at the office.” The truth was he hadn’t eaten all day. Not only did he have no appetite, but when he thought about lying to her he wanted to barf.

“Did you make any progress on those files?” she asked, putting the plates in the dishwasher.

Shit.

“I didn’t,” he said, which technically wasn’t a lie. “But I put some feelers out and I’m waiting to hear from a few people.”

Again, technically not a lie.

“Tonight I’d really just like to crash on the couch and watch TV.”

“Sounds good,” she said. “But first, can we talk about something?”

He had no idea what she wanted to talk about, but still his heart dropped. “Of course. What’s up?”

“Roman,” she said, walking over to him, tilting her chin up so she could look him in the eye. “There’s something I have to say to you. Something I’ve wanted to say for a while now, but I... I just had to be sure.”

“Okay,” he said, heart in his throat, expecting the worst.

She cradled his face in her soft hands and looked him in the eye. “I forgive you.”

A knife plunged through his heart couldn’t have stung more, and though he was happy and relieved to hear the words, they were bittersweet. And he couldn’t stop himself from what he said next. He took her hands and held them tight, looked deeply into her eyes and told her, “I love you, Gracie.”

With misty eyes she smiled and said, “I love you, too,” twisting the knife that much deeper.

He wrapped his arms around her, wishing he never had to let go again.

He had the love of his life back. He was finally right where he wanted to be. And now, due to circumstances completely out of his control, there was a pretty good chance that he could lose it all.

* * *

Gracie and Roman never did watch TV that night. They never even made it to the couch. They fell into bed together instead, and made love way past their bedtime. The way they had pretty much every night since.

In the following week Mark became a familiar fixture in her life. She hated that the driver had to be there, and as far as she knew there had been no nefarious activity, but if Roman thought it was necessary, she wasn’t going to argue. But he hadn’t made any headway to speak of on the files and she was getting impatient. If she didn’t know better she might think he was stalling, but that ended tomorrow. She was going to ask him to bring the flash drive home so she could look at what was on it.

Home. That was an entirely new concept for her. When Roman gave her the all clear, would she be able to go back to her place? Would she be happy not seeing him every day, waking up to his smile and his messy hair? Would she feel alone without him to cuddle up to in bed? She had been at his place only a week yet somehow it felt like a lifetime.

And what if he asked her to stay? She’d been back to her place twice with Mark to pick up a few things. Well, more than a few actually. All of her makeup, hair products and toiletries were in Roman’s bathroom. Half her wardrobe was hanging in the closet in the spare bedroom. Other than her furniture, she was practically moved in already. And it couldn’t have felt more natural or more comfortable.

That didn’t ease her nerves the day of her sister’s wedding. This would be their first outing as a couple, and her entire family would be there. She thought her sisters would be okay; it was her mother and Sutton she was worried about. She wanted her sister’s wedding to be perfect.

“I need help,” Roman said, stepping into the bathroom, where she was putting the finishing touches on her makeup before she slipped into her gown.

He was dressed in his tux, and he looked so hot and sexy, she almost asked him to take it back off again. But they were already running late. They were supposed to be at Sutton’s estate in less than an hour.

Roman held his bow tie out to her. “I’ve always sucked at these,” he said, tugging at his collar. “I hate these damned monkey suits.”

She tied a perfect knot, then stepped back to look at him. Perfect, other than the slightly rumpled hair. But that was just Roman. And it was getting long enough that he was due for a trim. She was so used to his hair that way, that when she saw photos of him with a military cut he was barely recognizable.

But still hot as hell.

“You look good,” she said as he gave his collar another tug.

“Are you almost ready?” he asked her.

“Almost.” She stepped over to the mirror and grabbed a bottle of hair spray, giving her updo another light misting. “Could you help me into my gown?”

Because the guest list was mostly family and good friends, she’d chosen to wear one of her own designs, a floor-length off-the-shoulder beaded dress the exact same color as her eyes. And it weighed a ton.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

“Zip me please.” She pulled the dress down off the hanger and stepped into it. It took effort to get it up over her bosom and she knew that by the end of the night, lugging around the extra weight was going to wear on her.

He fastened the zipper and she turned to the mirror to see the final effect. Not half bad.

“You look beautiful,” Roman said, stepping up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her middle and nibbled her shoulder. “Taste pretty good, too.”

“And you smell delicious.”

“Looking like you do, you might upstage the bride.”

Not a chance. Having designed Nora’s dress herself, Gracie knew her sister would be a knockout.

She turned in his arms and kissed him softly, so he didn’t end up wearing more of her lipstick than she was. “I think I’m ready.”

The way she was feeling right now, with so much happiness deep in her heart, she could take on the world.