“I like her a lot,” Everly said with a smile. “It will be really nice to have another woman around.”

  “I don’t know if she’s going to be around.” Gabe’s gaze trailed back to the bedroom. “She seems pretty damn angry.”

  “I don’t think she’ll be able to stay that way for long.” Dax set Lincoln down and the dog made a beeline for Connor. “She’s a very sunny woman. She’ll be angry for a few days, but as long as Connor keeps her close, she’ll come out of it and find the good in the situation. She won’t be able to help herself. She slept with you for a reason.”

  “We have chemistry.”

  “When I talked to her, Connor . . .” Everly began. “She glowed when she said your name. That’s more than simple chemistry. She’s in love with you. A woman in love can forgive a lot. Ask Gabe.”

  “They never forget, though.” Gabe shook his head. “Be prepared for that.”

  Connor picked Lincoln up, cradling the little guy to his chest. Maybe she would talk to him if he was holding her dog. At least she wouldn’t push him away. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to have her pack a bag. We’ll be staying at my place. It’s more secure. Until we figure out what the hell is going on, I’m keeping her close. I can’t risk the Russians coming after her again.”

  “I would really like to take a look at whatever the new guy gave to her. I still can’t believe there are two informants,” Everly muttered.

  Connor nodded. Lara could work on the mystery with Everly and hopefully she would see that it wasn’t so bad to be attached to them, to him. Before he could make it to the hallway leading to the bedroom, Zack stopped him.

  “Could you please ask her if I could see this evidence she has against me?” Zack’s face had gone grim. “Dax mentioned it was about Joy’s death. I would like to know what’s coming at me.”

  “I’ll ask her.” Connor shook his head. “But she’s listening to conspiracy buffs and got excited about the idea of cracking some great mystery. I don’t know what she has, probably nothing. I’m crazy about the woman, but she believes in the mystical healing properties of tofu, so . . .”

  “Still, I would like to see it.”

  “All right.” He walked back to the bedroom where he’d first made love to Lara. Where he’d betrayed her. He had to make her see they could survive this bump in their road together. She needed to understand that he would sacrifice for her. Somehow over the last few days he’d gone from wanting her to be a part of his life to her becoming the center of his whole life. The one thing he knew? He couldn’t go back to what he’d been doing before he’d met Lara. Sure, he’d fought to get his job back and now he couldn’t imagine doing it because it would mean long periods of time away from her.

  “Yeah.” Lara was on the phone, her back to him. “You don’t have to worry about it, Dad. I promise it’s over. You can keep your seat and I don’t have to give up anything.”

  “Let me talk to him,” Connor said.

  She turned and he could see she’d been crying again.

  “Please? I can explain. He’ll just think you’re protecting him, but I can make him believe.”

  She thrust the phone his way and then stalked off to the bathroom.

  “Senator?”

  “Is that you, Connor?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Why did you do this to us? To her? I think she was in love with you.”

  “Good, because I intend to marry her.”

  A sigh, followed by a chuckle, sounded over the line. “Did she grow on you, son? She has a way of doing that. Even the people who don’t like her at first tend to come around. Tell me something, did you really lie to her and let your friends steal her secrets? Are you the reason Calder threatened to ruin me?”

  He wasn’t used to having a sense of shame. It kind of made him nauseated, but he actually admired the senator and found it difficult to lie to him. “Yes, but I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. I wanted to shut her down, but when I realized her motives, I changed that goal. I have to admit, now I just want her out of the dangerous stuff. I want her safe.”

  “Do you love my daughter, Connor?”

  That was getting easier and easier to admit. “Yes.”

  “I want you to understand that the choices I made, I made for her.”

  Connor had seen the file Roman had sent about Lara’s abduction. He’d read both the information and what was between the lines. “The mob held her hostage in exchange for your vote. Then they made sure you couldn’t call the cops. I knew that the minute I read the scenario.”

  “How?”

  “Because you’re her father. She got her light from you.”

  He could hear the senator clear his throat. “You have my blessing, son. I’m going to give you some advice about my daughter. She needs a man who trusts her instincts, who believes in her. She needs a man who will support her, and I don’t mean financially.”

  “I fought my friends because I believe in her.”

  “And will your friends accept her?” Obviously the senator knew who his friends were.

  “They will love her as much as I do.”

  “Then make yourself vulnerable to her. She can’t resist that. She needs to be needed. If you want to keep her, make her feel loved and adored and tell her that you need her.”

  That wouldn’t be hard. It was all true.

  The door to the bathroom opened and she stepped out.

  He held the phone out toward her. “He’s good now.”

  Lara took it, putting it to her ear. “Dad?”

  He stood and watched her as she listened to her father. She turned away and spoke in low tones, but he could tell they were discussing him. She cursed under her breath a couple of times, agreed, argued, agreed, told her father he was insane and finally agreed to disagree. She hung up and turned back to him.

  “Thanks for talking to him. At least he’s no longer holding a press conference so he can resign his seat. Whatever you said convinced him that I’m not sacrificing anything to save him. I don’t get why he wouldn’t want me to. He sacrificed to help me.”

  “Would you want our child to give up her passion to save us? Would you be willing to allow our daughter to give up her life’s work?”

  “First, we don’t have a daughter and never will, and obviously, no. That’s not her place. It’s our place to protect her. Not the other way around. I mean, my place. Damn it, Connor. Why did you tell them we’re getting married?”

  “I told you. They’re my family. I told your father we’re getting married, too. I told them because I am utterly incomplete without you.” His future father-in-law’s words stuck with him. He admired the senator. It was stupid but he kind of liked it when the man called him son.

  She closed her eyes and let out a shuddering breath. When they opened again, she had a sheen of tears coating those blue orbs. “I don’t understand you.”

  He stepped close to her. “I don’t understand you, either, but I know I can’t live without you. I wasn’t lying, princess. Not about this. If you walk away from me, I’ll be alone for the rest of my life because you’re it for me. You’re everything I want in a woman.”

  “And you’re nothing I want in a man. I’m not trying to be a bitch. I’m not. I want a man who’s gentle and kind and interested in world peace and who never lies to me. You’re the opposite of all those things. I want a man who will never betray me.”

  “You want some perfect saint?” He clutched Lincoln kind of close. The dog was a little piece of Lara and she seemed to be pulling away. “You want a man who never makes a mistake?”

  “I want a man who always believes in me. Who puts me first.”

  “Good. I’m going to quit my job because I want to be with you. Because you’re the most important thing in my life. I intend to be the kind of husband and father I never had growing up.”

  “I won’t marry you.”

  “That’s your stubbornness talking.”

  “That’s my good sense talking because I know who you are now. I don’t think I can trust you again.” Tears swam in her blue eyes. “I don’t want you.”

  She had to fight to say those words but they still cut to the quick. He wasn’t good. He wasn’t right. A chill settled over him. For a brief period of time he’d thought he could have her. He’d thought because he’d sacrificed, that he would get a second chance.

  But after everything he’d done, all the blood he’d shed, he reached too high to hope someone good like her would love him back.

  He set Lincoln down. She wouldn’t want him getting too close to her precious pup. He’d already made the damn thing a carnivore again. That was the whole problem. He had bloody hands and they would never come clean.

  Connor tried to push all that aside and do what damage control he could. “Zack asked to see the evidence you’ve collected against him. He chose not to use his leverage against you. Could you at least let him know what’s coming at him?”

  He was pleased with how even his voice sounded. He wanted to scream, wanted to run to the window and yell out his anger and pain, but he’d somehow managed to stay civilized. He wasn’t, of course. It was all an illusion, but at least she wouldn’t be able to hold any sort of crazy rage against him.

  She looked up at him. “Connor, I . . .” Her jaw locked for a moment before more stiff words came from her mouth. “Just take it. I’m sure your friend found it. You can give him all the information and then go home.”

  Of course she wanted him to go away. She couldn’t stand to look at him anymore. He’d really fucked up. Lara was polite to everyone. She couldn’t hold a real grudge to save her life.

  He was the exception because he didn’t deserve anything else.

  “I don’t know what you’ve got. Dax retrieved the drive from Freddy’s apartment, but Zack would like the explanation from you. If that’s more than you’re willing to give, let me know. I’ll try to figure it out and explain it to him. He really is serious about not using information that was stolen from you.”

  “Why? Why not just use what you already have? You paid enough for it. Well, I paid for it.”

  She wasn’t going to let up. He’d worried that once she knew who he really was, she wouldn’t want him anymore. He hated being right. “Zack won’t use it.”

  Her gaze slid away from his. “He’s not what I thought he was.”

  Of course she was talking about Zack and not him. “He’s a good man. I don’t care what anyone else has said or what evidence you’ve collected. He’s good and I’ll prove it.”

  “That’s what I meant. I didn’t expect him to back off.”

  “He backed off because I care about you.” No matter what, Connor did care. He just wasn’t good enough for her. She was right about that. It just proved she wasn’t as naive as he’d thought.

  She leaned over and picked up her dog. “All right. I’ll show him. We’ll see what he has to say after he’s seen what I found.” She walked past him, Lincoln in her arms. “Then you’ll leave?”

  “When I’m confident that you’re protected, yes.” He turned to follow her, finally understanding that she might never forgive him.

  * * *

  What had she done? Lara was spitting-nails angry with Connor, but the look she’d put on his face damn near killed her. The whole ride home she’d let her hurt and anger meld into a toxic mixture. She’d let it roil in her gut and she cried, her tears seeming to fuel her rage.

  Then she’d gotten home and everything had been turned upside down.

  He’d told his friends he wanted to marry the girl he’d seduced only so he could steal her secrets? His superpowerful friends had been waiting in her home, acting as if they belonged there for the simple reason that Connor cared about her and that meant they accepted her.

  Was he serious? Or playing another game? He totally confused her, and she didn’t trust herself to recognize when he was lying to her. She’d proved that attraction and sex only clouded her logic. He knew that and probably wouldn’t hesitate to use it to his advantage.

  She stepped out into her living room and set Lincoln down. He immediately wagged and gave a little yip and ran back toward her bedroom, toward Connor. Her dog loved him.

  Her dog would just have to get used to being without him. Like she was going to get used to it. She couldn’t trust him again. No way. She would be twelve kinds of fool if she took him back.

  Besides, after what she was about to reveal, he would probably hate her anyway. It was obvious Connor had very few weaknesses, but his friends were one of them. She was about to prove to Zack Hayes that he hadn’t been as careful as he should have been.

  She stopped before making it to the hallway. This was completely reckless of her. She couldn’t just accuse the president of the United States of killing his wife. What would he do to her? If he’d killed his own wife, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her, too.

  She looked back and Connor stood, watching her. Lincoln was trying to get his attention, but he merely stared at her with the same expression she’d seen on his face in the beginning. Bleak and empty.

  But for a few days, she’d seen something else on that handsome face. When he’d looked at her, he’d light up.

  She’d extinguished that light.

  Or it hadn’t been real in the first place and she’d just convinced him to stop pretending.

  “How do I know there’s really someone out there trying to kill me?” she asked.

  “I think the bullets speak for themselves.”

  “Do they? You’re very good at making things up, Connor. How do I know you didn’t concoct this story?”

  “The body should be evidence. Would you like to go to the morgue and see it for yourself? She wasn’t an actor.”

  “Or you just didn’t mind sacrificing a pawn to make everything look real to me.”

  His stare zipped down to Lincoln, but he didn’t stoop to pick the pup up. “Yeah, that sounds like something I would do.”

  “So why should I believe you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He shrugged. “I know the truth and I won’t leave you alone while I think you’re in danger.”

  “What if the danger is from your so-called friends?”

  His eyes narrowed. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You want me to turn my smoking gun over to them and simply believe there will be no recriminations or backlash. How do I know you haven’t planned this setup all along? Maybe you plotted that, once I gave you the evidence, you’d take me back to your place and make me disappear. You’ve done things like that before, right?”

  Her stomach turned even as she forced the words from her mouth. She hated every one of them. Lara knew she should stop poking and pushing him, but something nasty that had never surfaced twitched inside her. She had a terrible need to needle, to punish, to do anything to get him to react. In that moment, she wanted him to hurt as much as she did.

  He raised his gaze and she had to force herself not to flinch and take a step back from the pain there. “Yes, I have. I like to kill little fairy princesses. Is that what you want to hear, Lara? You want to make me out to be a monster? I could give you file after file that would prove you right. I’ve got so much blood on my hands I can’t wash them clean, but I’m not going to kill you. In fact, I will never harm a hair on your head. I’m going to protect you, on my terms, on my turf.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you want to know what I’m going to do when I’ve managed to drag you back to my lair?”

  She took a shaky breath and prayed he couldn’t tell how much the tone of his voice affected her. “I won’t go anywhere with you.”

  “That’s why I said dragged, princess. I’ll do it. I’ll drag you by all that pretty hair if I have to. Do you know what I thought about the first time you took your hair down? I thought I would get caught in it. Like a web. I would touch it just once and then I would be stuck forever because something that beautiful had to be a trap. That’s what you are, Lara. A trap. You’re everything I’ve always wanted and nothing I can have. I knew it in the beginning, but I was already reaching for all that beauty.” He took a step toward her, bringing their bodies so close she felt the heat between them. “When I get you to my house, I’m going to spread your legs and fasten my mouth on your pussy. I’ll eat like a man who knows it’s his last meal. Then I’ll pin you down and have my way with you all night long. And you’re going to let me.”

  She shook her head even as she felt her skin sizzle at the image his words produced. “No.”

  “You will because you’ll want it one last time, too. Because you know no man is ever going to make you feel the way I do. When you find your handsome, limp-dick, vegan prince, he’ll very politely make love to you and you’ll lie there and let him because you think you should. But you’ll lie underneath him and wish he was me. You’ll dream about my dirty hands on your pristine body. You’ll imagine my mouth on your pussy and that, my love, that will be the only way you’ll be able to come for the rest of your life. So you’ll let me have you because you’ll need one more memory to get you through all those years without me.” He raised a brow at her. “Now go out there and show everyone your evidence, and cling to the hope that you can put me off with your cold stares and nasty words. In the end, you’re just postponing the inevitable.”

  Her heart raced as she turned away. He surprised her when he let her escape into the hallway.

  She no longer thought it was reckless to show off the evidence she and Freddy had gathered. Nothing was as reckless as staying in that bedroom with Connor. If he touched her once, she would be a puddle of goo at his feet, very likely begging him to take her with him. She wouldn’t care that he’d lied. She wouldn’t care that she was being a doormat. She would only care about being in his arms again, and she couldn’t allow herself to be so weak.