Claire paced the floor of the master bedroom. Dinner had been miserable; the tension between her and Grayson was making this house feel tiny. That, combined with the fact that she couldn’t set a foot outside, had her going stir crazy. There was no choice left but to try to make nice with Grayson.

Jeremy had already gone to bed by the time she headed back down to the kitchen. It was completely dark as she took the last few stairs. When her eyes adjusted, she found Grayson was keeping watch in the living room, drinking a cup of what smelled like hot tea as he stared out the front windows into the moonlit yard and the street beyond.

After pulling in a deep breath, she said, “I want to apologize for this morning. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Grayson didn’t turn around. “Don’t flatter yourself. You didn’t offend me.”

For several seconds, all Claire could do was stare at his back. Resolution or no resolution, she wasn’t going to be able to ignore the comment.

“I’m trying to be nice and that’s how you act?”

He turned around in his chair to meet her gaze, his face impassive. “How am I supposed to act?”

“For starters, how about older than a toddler?”

“Considering I’m living with a spoiled brat, that would be kind of difficult.”

Shocked at his bluntness, Claire sucked in a breath. No one had ever spoken to her like that, although to be honest, no one had ever had to. She’d always been so soft-spoken, so eager to please, and by doing so had avoided confrontation most of her life.

Until now.

Studying him in the dim light that spilled from her bedroom upstairs, she realized Grayson’s eyes were alit with something that looked like a challenge.

He’s trying to goad me.

Enough was enough. Crossing her arms over her chest, Claire said, “I need to speak with your supervisor.”

Grayson stared at her, stoic but for the slight flare in his nostrils. “If there’s a problem, we’ll address it.”

“There are lots of problems. Why don’t we start with why you aren’t telling me what you know about my case?”

He pulled in a breath and dropped his gaze to his mug. “There are things we can’t share just yet. My supervisor isn’t going to be able to tell you anything different.”

“I’m sure he won’t dismiss me the way you do.”

Grayson looked back up at her, his jaw set. “I don’t dismiss you.”

“Are you kidding me? You most certainly do,” Claire scoffed. “You’ve been pissed off at me from day one, and for what? No good reason. I’m not about to apologize for caring about my dog or my client. The fact that you don’t only proves that you’re an unfeeling monster who has no concern for others.”

The hint of amusement that flitted over his annoyingly handsome face confused her, but Claire squared her shoulders, refusing to back down.

“We’re going to catch the kidnappers,” he finally said, his face impassive again. “Then you’ll be done with me.”

Claire blinked several times but didn’t respond. Was that supposed to be an apology?

“Anything else?” he asked. That dismissive tone she loved so much was back.

She’d said her piece, gotten her point across . . . she should just walk out of here. But when she tried to leave, her legs wouldn’t cooperate. Apparently, she wasn’t finished with him.

“What’s going on in your life that’s making you act so miserably?” she blurted.

Surprise flickered in Grayson’s eyes. It was so brief she might have missed it, but her words had clearly struck a nerve.

“Really? It’s armchair psychology now?” He stood up and brushed past her to the kitchen to dump his mug into the sink. “As fun as this has been, I need to call my boss.”

Claire’s anger deflated slightly as he stalked from the room, and worry crept into its place.

Stepping over to the chair Grayson had been sitting in, she dropped onto it. She’d been assured by Grayson and Jeremy that her parents weren’t in danger, but was that really true? When the kidnappers couldn’t find her, would they go after her parents instead?

Thomas and Eva Parker might not have been the most affectionate parents, and they drove her crazy with their self-centeredness and relentless expectations of her, but they were all the family she had and she loved them. It terrified her to think of something bad happening to them.

Frustrated, Claire stared out the window into the front yard. Her parents were due back from the campaign tour on Sunday night, and she didn’t want to still be stuck here when they returned. Peter had surely told them by now that she was in protective custody, and they were probably worried sick.

Worried sick?

Okay, so her parents would probably be more concerned about how news of this situation might affect her father’s campaign and their family’s reputation. Knowing she was safe with these federal agents, her father and his team would focus on the optics of the situation.

Claire was missing important client meetings that affected not only her future but Chris’s, and she had no idea how much longer her life would be on hold like this. Being a law student, she understood the agents couldn’t tell her everything they knew, but surely they could be a little more forthcoming.

She went back to her room and wrote Jeremy a note, asking to speak to his boss, and slipped it under his bedroom door before she went to bed.