GABE TOUCHED BASE WITH HIS men, making the rounds through the public areas, looking for anyone or anything that felt off. The lobby had cleared out but the crowd in the bar had grown. He gave the room a cursory glance as he headed back to the party. By the time he finally opened the dining room door, he could tell things were starting to wind down. Half the seats were empty and there was no sign of the pretty blonde and the tech guy who’d been into her.

The waitstaff had cleared the tables down to the white tablecloths and without a band, there wasn’t any reason for people to hang around. He’d bet at least some of the pickup in the bar could be attributed to the Southern Mark/Edison crowd. He sent a quick message to his men, moving over half of them from the main floor to the bar. It was exactly the kind of place the woman originally made contact with Blake. It made sense for her to seek out the familiar.

By now, she had to assume they had security in place. She wasn’t stupid—obsessed maybe but not stupid. She couldn’t have gotten away with stalking Blake for this long if she was. Making connections with someone on the periphery who worked for Southern Mark would likely get her closer to Blake faster than trying to somehow evade security and go after him directly. That was, if she showed up at all. Andrews hadn’t contacted him again, which either meant his photo wasn’t as good as he thought it was or the cameras hadn’t seen the woman. His money was on the smart ass.

Speaking of which, he glanced over at the table to see the Southerlands and the Edisons laughing at something Liam was saying. Berlin was grinning at Liam like he’d been hired for the night’s entertainment. His old friend was a lot of things, but naturally charming and personable had never been on the short list.

“Sorry that took so long.” He gave Liam’s shoulder a harder than necessary squeeze and the man had the good sense to get his ass out of Gabe’s seat.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Mr. Edison. “Liam was telling us stories about his time in Afghanistan.”

“I don’t normally think of war stories as funny,” Gabe said, taking in the smiles on the group’s faces.

“I’m not usually the one telling them,” said Liam. He winked at Eva, and she hit him with a smile that offered an abundance of things. “It was a pleasure to meet you all. I hope we’ll see you again soon.”

Liam tipped his head in a makeshift bow and left, not bothering to stop at the almost empty table he’d started at. Blake knew his friend would stay close, but he was more than ready for him to leave Berlin’s side.

“We should head out too. Early flight in the morning,” said Mr. Edison, taking his wife’s hand.

“I hope we’ll see more of you very soon. I’ve enjoyed having a chance to meet your family.” It was the closest Gabe had seen Blake come to talking business all night. Although given the fact that conversation headed in the direction of Afghanistan, who knew what happened while he was gone.

“Let me walk you out,” said Berlin.

She stood. Gabe followed suit, caught between staying with his cousin where he belonged and looking like an inconsiderate ass or following the woman who managed to call on every decent instinct he possessed.

“That’s not necessary,” said Mrs. Edison, pulling Berlin in for a quick hug. “But you’re sweet for offering.”

They traded good-byes and managed to get the Edisons out the door and on their way. After a few more minutes, the four of them were the only ones left in the room. Blake had his arm wrapped protectively around his wife, his hand resting on her gently swelling belly. Gabe felt again the overwhelming need to protect his family from the woman intent on harming them. He glanced over and saw Berlin studying the couple as if she were trying to puzzle something out.

They hadn’t talked anymore about the reason he knew Blake hadn’t cheated on his wife and the reason she was so sure he had, but watching her, he wasn’t sure where she stood anymore. She didn’t look like a woman staring at a man who’d betrayed his spouse. She looked like a woman staring in a store window at something she wasn’t sure she could afford.

Needing to touch her again and unwilling to spend too much time trying to figure out what it meant, he reached for her hand, twining his fingers with hers when she didn’t pull away. His cousin tipped his head to the side, considering, and Samantha smiled at him—at them. There was an easiness about the two of them that hadn’t been there earlier in Blake’s office. Samantha leaned her head against Blake’s shoulder and it occurred to him that she must be exhausted. In addition to the long couple of days they’d all had, she was busy making another human being.

“Let me call for the car and Liam,” said Gabe.

“In a minute,” said Blake, holding up his hand and looking uncertain for the first time all evening. “Was there any sign of her?” He spit the words out like they were poison. Beside him, Samantha took her husband’s hand and squeezed, visibly relaxing him.

“No, not yet. All of my men have a copy of the photo of the suspect, and Andrews’s monitoring the hotel feed. If she shows, we’ll know immediately.”

“Fuck.” Blake straightened but he didn’t loosen his grip on his wife. It was as if he needed to stay anchored to her while they talked about the threat.

“We’ve got the photo loaded into the facial recognition software and we’re running the camera feeds through it, but we haven’t gotten a hit.”

“Do I want to know how you got access to the camera feeds? I thought that was a sticking point for the hotel.”

Gabe gave his head a quick shake and Blake let his breath out on a sigh. He looked defeated and Gabe wanted nothing more than to tell him they’d caught the woman and she wouldn’t bother them anymore. The fact that he had nothing tangible to offer his cousin pissed him off.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” said Blake, his confidence slipping for a moment.

“None of this is your fault,” said Samantha. “Not one bit of it.”

They’d headed into dangerous territory with Berlin in the room. She already doubted Blake’s faithfulness. If her expression was any indicator, she hadn’t changed her opinion and watching Samantha defend her husband was likely to make that worse. The one thing he could be sure of was that there was no way she’d let anyone else know what she was thinking. She’d keep her thoughts and feelings to herself rather than risk ruining the PR message she’d built. At least in that one thing they were pulling in the same direction. Their goals were in alignment of outcome, if not intent.

“You’re the only one who’s seen her face,” said Blake, turning his attention to Berlin. “The only one who can remember, anyway.”

Berlin’s forehead creased in confusion, but it was Samantha’s expression that caught his attention. The love in her gaze was a palpable thing and she reached for her husband with a steady hand. She didn’t look like a woman afraid of a stalker. She looked like a woman determined to reassure and protect the man she loved.

“I don’t understand,” said Berlin. “What do you mean, the only one who can remember?”

The corner of Blake’s mouth twisted in a parody of a smile and he shook his head. “I’ve seen her, too. I just don’t remember it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Berlin.

Gabe waited to see where his cousin was going with the conversation. He could make the I must have seen her at some point and not realized it or she wouldn’t be obsessed with me argument. He doubted Berlin would believe him but she wouldn’t dispute the claim in front of his pregnant wife. Instead of Blake elaborating, it was Samantha who spoke.

“I don’t want to presume to speak for you, but I think if I were in your position,” she said, turning her attention to Berlin, “I would be wondering if Blake had an affair that perhaps got out of hand.”

He had to hand it to Samantha. His cousin’s British wife even managed to make an extra-marital affair sound civilized.

“The thought had crossed my mind.” Berlin nodded in acknowledgment. “But honestly, that’s none of my business and doesn’t change my job. You hired me to paint a picture with the media of Southern Mark as a solid family company, to control the message and facilitate the merger with Edison. Your personal life has no bearing on that.”

“Bullshit,” said Samantha.

In all the time he’d known her, Gabe didn’t think he’d ever heard her curse. Hearing the words in her clipped accent gave them an added punch. From the expression on Blake’s face, he wasn’t used to it either.

“Excuse me?” asked Berlin, looking more shocked than angry.

“You can’t possibly tell me it’s as easy for you to lie about us as it would be for you to tell the truth.”

“In my experience, the truth and people’s perception of it are often two different things. I might be more comfortable with that reality than some, but I don’t think my experience is unique.” She shifted in her chair, putting some distance between them, and he didn’t try to follow. He was sure she had a good reason for the way she felt. He had no idea if she’d ever share it with him or not, but that part didn’t have to matter. What mattered was that it sounded like she was okay with lying and that would never be okay with him.

“I didn’t cheat on my wife,” said Blake, iron in his tone. “I understand that’s exactly what someone who’d had an affair would say, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”

“Of course,” said Berlin, an edge of condescension to her voice.

Beautiful and arrogant. She’d never be boring. He was a little shocked he was still thinking of her like that—as if he’d have enough time with her to get bored. But despite her flexible relationship with the truth, he still wanted more. He sure as hell hadn’t seen that coming.

“Tell you what,” said Blake, his jaw clenched tight and his wife’s hand resting on his arm. “Why don’t you decide?”

“Wait a minute,” said Gabe, feeling like he was about to put himself in front of a speeding train to try to stop it with his bare hands.

“Samantha knows. I showed her the tape and told her everything.” Blake looked at his wife as if she was the center of the universe and he was perfectly content to orbit around her. She gazed up at him with love. The only clue to the turmoil she might be feeling were the tears shining in her eyes.

“And I love him more today than I did the day I married him.”

“Told you,” said Gabe, smiling in spite of everything else going on. He’d known Samantha and Blake would make it through his cousin’s assault, but it still made his heart swell to see it actually play out in front of him.

“Yes, you did,” said Blake, nodding. “Berlin’s the only one who can really identify her. She’s already helped. Now that the Edisons are gone, maybe she can do more.” He spoke directly to Gabe, talking about Berlin without acknowledging her presence. It was the only indication of the toll the whole conversation was taking on his cousin. “Take her to the office and show her the tape.”

––––––––

BERLIN STILL WASN’T sure what had happened back in the dining room. She’d never intended to challenge her client. Nobody had to have an opinion on what he did or didn’t do but his wife. If she was okay with it, then Berlin sure as hell wasn’t going to judge either of them. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She’d judge, but she’d keep it to herself. None of which explained how she ended up in a car with an angry Gabe, headed back to the office at eleven o’clock at night.

The farther they got from the Hotel Roanoke, the colder and quieter he got. If they drove too much longer, the temperature in his Porsche Cayman was likely to drop to freezing. Honestly, if there was anything she had a reason to be mad at Blake about, it was the turn her night had taken. She’d spent the whole night with Gabe’s hands on her, lighting up her skin, stroking her fingers, teasing her and making promises with his touch it looked like he had no intention of keeping. If she was going to be mad at anything, it was going to be getting cockblocked by her client.

She didn’t realize until she had the idea that she’d already started to think about spending the night in Gabe’s bed as a foregone conclusion. Not that it mattered now, she thought, glancing at him in the dark interior of the car. She could barely make out the hard line of his jaw, but she didn’t need the lights on to know his sexy, playful mood was gone. Slipping her tired feet out of her heels, her mind flashed back to his strong, capable hands and the way he’d touched her in her office. She bit back her disappointment.

“You don’t have to justify anything to me, and neither does your cousin,” she said, holding her hands up in surrender in front of her. “Honest. It’s none of my business.” Maybe she could convince him she didn’t need to see whatever video footage Blake insisted she watch. She’d get home, take off her shoes and have enough time for a bath. Not as good as wild monkey sex with a hot Neanderthal but better than driving through the dark with the iceman.

“It would be better if we didn’t talk right now.”

Seriously? He was seriously going to freeze her out because she said she didn’t care what her adult client did. How did that make her the bad guy?

“I think it would be better if you took me home. Or better yet, drop me off at the next public place we pass and I’ll call a cab.” They had to have cabs this far out, right? Uber was probably out of the question and she’d likely have to wait forever for them to arrive but if it got her out of the car and away from him faster, it would be worth it.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Listen, asshole, I don’t know what your problem is but I’d rather you didn’t direct it at me. I haven’t done a damn thing to you.”

He was silent so long she wondered if he’d answer her or if she’d have to live with the big freeze.

“Just come with me and watch the tape. We can talk after.” He’d softened his tone a fraction of an inch, but she wasn’t feeling the urge to reciprocate. “Blake’s right. You’ve been a huge help so far. Maybe you’ll see something I missed.”

He paused for a moment, his hands on the wheel and his gaze fixed on the road. It amazed her how far apart they could feel in the close confines of the car.

“I don’t want this hanging over my family for a minute longer. Blake and Samantha should be able to concentrate on welcoming their baby and not on this bullshit. Please.”

Asking for her help was the only tactic that had a chance of working. She couldn’t say no, not with a clear conscience, not when it meant helping a woman who’d never been anything but kind to her. Whatever else was going on, Samantha Southerland didn’t deserve any of this.

“Okay.”

“Thank you.” He let the word hang in the air between them while they drove the rest of the way in silence.

When they pulled into the deserted parking lot, she remembered she didn’t have a key to get into the building. She opened her mouth to say something and then realized how stupid that would sound. Gabe was security. He’d have a key to the building. She was so used to orchestrating everything. She held onto things with an iron grip because that’s what she needed to do to control the picture. It unsettled her not to be the one in charge.

Gabe parked the car and was at her door before she’d had a chance to do more than slip on her heels and unfasten her seat belt. He opened the door and offered her a hand she wasn’t sure she wanted to take but after the last half hour, her feet weren’t happy about being back in the heels. She’d worn them because they were perfect with her dress, not because she intended to hike to kingdom come and back in them. They also made her legs look a mile long and somewhere in the back of her head, she’d had a misplaced image of wrapping them around Gabe’s hips and digging the heels into his ass. Best laid plans and all, she thought, climbing from the car without taking his hand.

Ignoring the protest from her aching feet, she walked across the parking lot to the front door like she was working a runway. When in doubt, go in with confidence, genuine or not. Most people couldn’t see the difference and more often than not, the projection became reality. The extra sway in her hips had everything to do with rocking the dress and nothing to do with showing the man following her what he was missing. That was the story she was telling herself and she had no intention of changing it.

Trying not to pay attention to the way the tux hugged his shoulders because that line of thought wasn’t going to get her anywhere she wanted to be, she waited while he pulled a card from his jacket and keyed open the door. They didn’t speak in the elevator or while they walked past the dark offices to Blake’s door, their silence adding to and amplifying the emptiness of the building. He opened the office door, flipped on the light and pulled out the desk chair, motioning for her to sit without saying a word.

She didn’t need to glance up at him to know he’d clenched his jaw. She felt the frustration rolling off him in waves like a palpable thing between them. He could keep his frustration; she had plenty of her own and nothing about this dog-and-pony show was her idea. She was just fine with don’t ask, don’t tell.

“This is from the security cameras at the Westport Regency,” he said, waking the laptop sitting on the desk. He plugged a USB drive and clicked open the folder. “It was taken a couple of months ago when Blake was there on business.” He recited the facts as if he were reading from a list of bullet points and wanted to be careful not to miss anything. “My cousin remembers stopping at the bar to grab a burger. He woke up the next morning in his hotel room and assumed he’d been more tired than he realized.”

Something in his voice changed, and she glanced from the screen to Gabe. He held his body in a rigid line. It was clear to her that telling the story cost him, but she couldn’t be sure yet exactly what or why.

“His room looked the way he expected. His wallet, cash, keys were all where he left them. He put it behind him as a weird, one-time thing and went on about his life.” His eyes squinted in obvious anger. Part of her—the part that still believed in fairy tales and happily ever after—wanted to take his hand to reassure him that whatever it was, it would be okay. She really needed to find a way to keep that chick locked in a closet.

“The third note contained compromising information Blake hasn’t shared with anyone. I’m not showing it to you.” He said it like he expected a challenge, and she resisted the urge to point out she hadn’t asked to see any of this, let alone pornographic ramblings about her client. “But it made it clear something happened that Blake couldn’t remember. I met with the head of security at the Regency and got this.”

He touched play and a grainy black-and-white image of an upscale bar filled the screen. They watched in silence as Blake sat at the bar, making small talk with the bartender. Gabe didn’t forward through anything; he let it play out in real time and Berlin’s thoughts merged from disinterest to curiosity. Everything seemed perfectly ordinary. He kept to himself, ate his dinner, and drank what looked like a single beer.

A woman entered the bar and Berlin sucked in a breath. She didn’t need to see the woman’s face to know it was the woman who’d given her the folder. Her carriage was the same slightly hunched form, and the medium-toned hair hiding her face was identical. She sat on the stool next to Blake, but beyond a friendly impersonal nod, he didn’t pay any attention to her. Nothing in his demeanor or response gave any indication he knew the woman.

Much too soon to feel genuine, the woman was hanging on Blake’s arm and he listed, as if he’d been drinking hard liquor all night rather than the single beer he’d had. She could understand how someone who didn’t know her client might assume it was just some kind of casual hookup. But by the time the pair staggered out of the bar, apparently supporting each other, Berlin had started to get a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She might be jaded, but she wasn’t delusional. Something happened to Blake Southerland and it wasn’t an affair. The screen shifted to an image of the lobby and the pair clinging to each other as they waited for the elevator. Except that wasn’t exactly right. She’d seen the way Blake held his wife. It was almost as if he shielded her with his body—not controlling, more protective. He wasn’t holding onto the woman in the video. She was holding onto him. At times, it looked like she was working to keep him upright. And in all of it, her face was never visible.

Icy dread filled her stomach. She didn’t need to see any more to know what had happened. She’d been too close to that line too many times not to recognize an abuser when she saw one. All of the old feelings from growing up with “uncles” passing through the small apartment she’d shared with her mother punched her in the gut, stealing her breath. She knew predators. She’d gotten to be a pro at dancing just out of their reach.

The Blake Southerland in the video was in no condition to dance.

She looked up at Gabe, her horror coloring her expression. “He’s been drugged.”