Dirty Little Lies: A Men of Summer Novel Page 4

  “That’s how you see Grace?” Vinny asked heavily. “Weak and defenseless?”

  “She’s a country club debutante,” Zack reminded him, though without scorn. “Through no fault of her own. She can’t survive in this world you’ve carved out for her. The very fact that she is so defenseless has made her a target.”

  The four men stared at each other as though assessing what Zack had said, perhaps not believing it, but they had to see the truth of the matter.

  “You didn’t train her, even to the extent that Kenni had been trained,” he continued. “At least Kenni knew how to hunt, to shoot, and to fight. Grace has none of those skills. The only chance she has is to align herself with someone who has the strength to protect her, and will spend his life doing just that rather than his job within the Kinship. You set her up to die.”

  And it pissed him the hell off. Over the years, it had driven him to distraction to know that Grace had no idea how to fight if the situation warranted it. And with the Kin, the situation would eventually warrant it.

  “You didn’t answer my question, son. How do you intend to protect her?” Vinny asked with that dangerously soft voice that seemed to affect anyone who heard it.

  Anyone but me, Zack thought. He wasn’t scared of Vinny any more than he was frightened of his uncle, Alex Brigham.

  “First of all, the information regarding my parentage goes no further,” Zack insisted. “Secondly, I’ll be taking care of Grace from here on out.” And here was where he expected the blowout: “As her lover.”

  Surprisingly, Vinny’s brow lifted in subtle, amused mockery, his green eyes lighting with it before he glanced at her cousins. Each of the other three men was too quiet.

  The patriarch finally shrugged. “Grace can choose her own lovers. Any plan you come up with, she’ll be made aware of, though. So it isn’t our agreement you have to procure, but hers.”

  Zack stared back at them suspiciously. Well, now, wasn’t he expecting more of an objection?

  “Grace is a grown woman,” Vince continued, obviously reading at least part of the wariness Zack could feel tightening through his body. “I’m not stupid, and I don’t expect my boys, Kenni or Grace to live by some antiquated code of moral conduct. If she wants a lover, that’s her business. I may question her taste in men”—his look assured Zack he was the questionable male—“but that’s her business, not mine.”

  Her cousins appeared on the verge of outright amusement, though, especially Sawyer. He kept rubbing his hand over his cheek as though trying to hide the twitch of his lips.

  “So let me in on the fucking joke,” Zack growled.

  “No joke.” Sawyer finally chuckled, shaking his head. “No joke at all, man. I’m still stuck on the ‘puppy in a wolf’s den’ image. I have to remember that one.”

  He wasn’t the cousin known for his tact; that was for damned sure.

  “Yeah, a sweet little golden retriever, that’s our Grace,” his twin, Deacon, agreed a little too solemnly. “All bounce and fluff and no teeth. We like her like that. She’s a calm, comforting influence on all of us.”

  “It could get her killed,” Zack informed him.

  “We see the error of our ways now,” Cord injected, anger slipping into his tone as Zack turned to him.

  It was time one of them realized what a mess they’d created.

  “As Dad said,” Cord ground out, “who she takes as a lover is her business. Whether or not she agrees to actually let you into her bed for the sake of her safety is up to her as well. But she will know what’s going on and what your plans are.”

  “You’ll allow me to inform her of them,” Zack demanded, the tension in the room causing the hairs at the back of his neck to lift in warning. “I’ll be damned if I need you turning her against me before I even tell her what’s going on.”

  “Agreed,” Vince voiced before his sons could object. “You have twenty-four hours. Get your gear—you can have the suite next to hers.”

  He frowned at that. “My home is more secure—”

  Vince leaned forward, his weight bracing on his arms as he propped them on his desk. “The suite next to hers, Zack,” he reiterated with dark warning. “Grace will remain here until you can prove she’ll be safer at your home. She has a job to do here, and no one else can do it. Live with it or leave. Your choice.”

  The phone on Vinny’s desk buzzed at that moment, bringing a grimace to his lips as he jerked it to his ear with a brusque “What?” His lips flattened and he disconnected the call without a response. “It would seem Kenni is now stalking up the drive along with Jazz and Slade.” He pushed his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Dammit, I wanted her out of this.”

  A father’s lament, Zack thought with regret. A father who had already lost his daughter once.

  “Grace helped her, Vinny. She won’t stay out of it. Even for you.” As much as Zack regretted it, as much as he hated it, there was no keeping his brother or his brother’s fiancée out of the coming mess.

  Vinny glared at him. “You’re going to become a problem, Zack.”

  His lips quirked at the accusation. “I’ve always been a problem, Vinny. I just didn’t let you see it. Until now. But I’ll be damned if I watch another defenseless young woman die for this family. Not again.”

  Not Grace.

  Cord snorted as he rose to his feet, mocking amusement filling the sound. “I almost pity you,” he stated, his green eyes filled with ire as he glared down at Zack. “Almost.”

  With that, he turned and stalked from the office, leaving only a tension-filled silence Zack had no intention of disrupting.

  Let them think what they wanted. No one hated the thought of hurting Grace more than he did. Just as no one could possibly hate the fact that she was involved in this more than he did. That was the hand being dealt to them, though, and none of them had a choice but to play the cards they were given.

  Especially him.

  chapter four

  “I’m so sorry, Miss Grace,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry. Just tell me where the files are, and I’ll let you go. I promise.…

  “Miss Grace, helpin’ your momma was a really bad idea.…”

  *

  That night, Grace was still trying to make sense of the attack, to make sense of what was going on.

  Rich had been so certain she had whatever files he wanted, just as he’d been certain she was helping her mother, Lucia Maddox, betray the Maddox Clan.

  What files?

  Despite the sting of the stitched wound on the outside of her thigh, Grace paced her bedroom, going over each second of her recollection, desperate for answers and all too aware that Zack was in the connecting room.

  Her television droned on in the background, the late-evening news reporting its doom and gloom. Normally, she’d pay more attention to it; tonight, her attention was far too fractured.

  She couldn’t even keep her mind on the fact that someone wanted her dead for something she didn’t even possess. Oh, hell no, let’s not concentrate on the fact that her dog was nearly dead and a friend had tried to kill her, not when Zack Richards was in the other room. Not when he’d made her body respond to him despite her best efforts to keep that from happening.

  Let’s just jump on the orgasm free-for-all and torment herself with memories of it as she did in the hours before she’d forced herself to go over the attack again.

  Her body was all for it. It was begging for a second helping. It was greedy. Her inner trollop was still cheering for Team Richards, no matter her attempts to shut it down.

  Still far too sensitive, memories of that afternoon plaguing her, Grace tried to tell herself she wasn’t going to allow it to happen again—but she knew better.

  Damn, he was good. So damned good. The feel of his kiss, the stroke of his fingers—

  Nope, not going there.

  She shook her head, grimacing at the effort it took to pull her mind back from reliving that pleasure and make herself concentrate on
preserving her life instead.

  What in the hell made Rich think she had any sort of files or that she’d been helping a traitor? It made no sense.

  Everyone knew what little use Lucia had for her only child. Her mother had reviled not just the stepsons who came with her marriage to Benjamin Maddox but also the daughter who adored her father. Her father had been her hero. If anyone had been Daddy’s little girl, then it was Grace. She’d been devastated by his death.

  So why would she be accused of helping Lucia?

  Frowning into the dimly lit interior of her bedroom, she paced the length of the room again. Or rather, limped her way across it.

  The slice on her upper leg was deep enough to require stitches and, no doubt, if Magnus hadn’t been there to protect her, would have been far worse. Her pet’s injuries had nearly been fatal.

  Dammit, she’d grown up with Rich. She’d known him for most of her life. Why attack her? Why not just ask for whatever he thought Lucia had given her?

  Nibbling at her thumbnail, she went over the attack again, played it back, forward, tried to remember each nuance of his voice, every word the farmhand had said. When nothing there made any more sense than it had before, she tried to remember each meeting with her mother before the day Lucia had been taken from the house by the Brigham agents.

  In the weeks before that, Lucia had been even more caustic, more insulting toward Grace than ever. Grace had stayed out of her way as much as possible. Of course, she tended to do that regardless, simply because Lucia’s gibes always had the power to hurt, to make Grace feel as though she were the flawed one because her mother couldn’t love her.

  Grace had had her own concerns, though. Trying to stay one step ahead of Cord and any threat against Kenni, she’d been consumed with ensuring her cousin stayed hidden and safe. There was little time for anything else.

  And now, she had to deal with Zack.

  Just when she thought life could calm down a little …

  At least she’d been able to shower, with some help from Kenni. Her hair was washed and neatly brushed rather than tangled around her face. She’d felt like a bedraggled orphan earlier in the day.

  “I can think of better ways to spend the night than pacing the floors.”

  Swinging around, Grace barely managed to contain a surprised cry, both at the pain caused by the movement as well as by the sight of Zack leaning in the doorway connecting the two bedrooms.

  Freshly showered, he hadn’t yet combed his dark auburn hair; it framed his face with roguish messiness that looked far too sexy. His chest and feet were bare. Hard, tight abs flexed as he scratched at the light sprinkle of hair on his chest. The only reason he was on the right side of decent was the snug jeans, zipped but not buttoned, hanging low on his hips.

  She wanted to lick him.

  Bite him.

  All night long.

  What in the hell had possessed her uncle to allow him to spend the night?

  “Uncle Vinny catches you in here, and he’ll skin you alive,” she hissed, hobbling back to her bed, grateful she’d changed from her gown to the silky black pajamas Kenni helped her into after her shower.

  “He’d have to catch me first.” The arrogance in his tone was too natural to be faked. Which meant he’d kept that side of himself hidden over the years. At least from her.

  Before she could pull herself back to the mattress, she felt Zack quickly lift her and then gently settle her against the pillows.

  “I could have done it myself!” she snapped, at odds with herself and the liquid pleasure now coursing through her. “I’m not a damned invalid.”

  “That knife wound to your thigh says different,” he grunted, easing back before once again sitting at the side of her bed as though he had every right to do so.

  “I was doing fine,” she reminded him irritably. “Magnus is much worse. Besides—” She breathed out heavily. “—I have to head to D.C. to the Brigham Estate next week. I need to work out some of the soreness.”

  The monthly meeting with the Brigham Agency couldn’t be put off. Besides, she was friends with Victoria Brigham and had promised to attend her birthday party. She’d actually been looking forward to it.

  “Like hell.” The scowl on Zack’s face caused her to tilt her head and stare back at him in surprise while arranging the blankets to her waist.

  “What’s like hell?” she asked absently, trying not to focus on his lips. Especially the lower one with that slight fullness to it that she just wanted to nibble at.

  Lick.

  Maybe even bite.

  She didn’t think all night long would be enough time.

  “What the hell are you doing, making a trip to the Brigham Estate?” The irritation in his tone had her refocusing on listening to him rather than biting him. “You have no business there.”

  Grace stilled. “Really? According to my uncle and Alex Brigham, I have a monthly meeting there, just as I’ve had since I took over the position as Uncle Vinny’s assistant. One weekend a month. They insist.” She waved her hand negligently. “I tend to go along with such requests, though.” She smiled sweetly. “Considering it is my job.”

  So much for that friendly, quiet accountant demeanor he’d been lying to her with over the years. He was just as hard-edged and arrogant as her cousins. Well, they’d learned better than to try to run over her through the years. If Zack insisted on sticking around the Maddox household, he’d learn as well.

  Probably the same way her cousins had: the hard way.

  “Not anymore, it’s not,” he assured her, staring at her as though he couldn’t imagine her doing such a thing.

  It was the Brigham Estate, not a brothel, for pity’s sake.

  “Has Uncle Vinny canceled the meeting?” she asked with deliberate confusion. She tended to play with morons. It was a game of sorts.

  “He will be.” The reply was one of complete confidence.

  “When he informs me that I don’t have to do my job, then I won’t do it.” She smiled once again. “Until then, plans are on. I’ll be heading out at the end of next week.”

  And Uncle Vinny would not be telling her she couldn’t go. The private meetings with Alex Brigham and his son Madden were more necessary now than they had ever been. Besides, she was really looking forward to that party. Her dress was waiting at the estate, the price alone ensuring she attended. It had taken a hefty chunk from her account.

  “Did you somehow miss the fact that your life is in danger?” Zack rose furiously from the bed, shot her glare, then turned away to stalk to the other side of the room. Turning back to her, he tried to tell himself to stop lusting after her and attempt to talk some sense into her. She did not have to obey her uncle no matter the danger to herself.

  “I’m certain Uncle Vinny is taking every precaution, he always does.” She shrugged, remembering the warning Cord had given her earlier not to let Zack know about her self-defense training or just how stubborn she could be.

  Evidently, whoever had targeted her was taken in by the appearance she and her family had deliberately kept up over the years: that she was meek and helpless. After all, Vinny would never allow someone who was weak to know the details of the Kinship. Hell, even Luce had believed the ruse. She’d often reminded Grace how little her uncle trusted her simply because she was so weak-minded.

  It was laughable at times.

  Hard-edged, military-trained Kin leaders were known to hang their heads or eye her nervously whenever they pissed her off, but her own mother hadn’t seen who she really was. Obviously, neither had Zack.

  Blame her stubbornness on him, Vinny had always suggested, and she did just that.

  Always appear wary of Vinny’s temper, Cord, Deacon, and Sawyer had advised her.

  They’d preached that to her for years simply to ensure she was never targeted because of her job. Vinny never respected anything but strength. If she didn’t appear to embody that innate strength, then no one would suspect she held his secrets. Now it wasn
’t her job endangering her, but the mother who should have fought to protect her instead.

  She’d be amused, but she’d grown out of caring about her mother’s motivations in her teens.

  “Vinny took every precaution yesterday as well, didn’t he?” Zack sneered. “That bastard nearly killed you and your dog. What would you have done if not for Magnus, Grace?”

  Put that knife in his throat! she thought furiously. She wished she had done that instead of trying to pull back and play helpless, hoping to keep him alive for questioning. He hadn’t expected her to fight; she hadn’t expected Magnus to attack so viciously.

  She’d misjudged the situation, and it pissed her off.

  “Zack, you will have to take this up with Uncle Vinny,” she told him again, keeping her voice calm. “Both my half brothers, Baer and Banyon, will be accompanying me, and I understand you’ll be there as well. I’ll be perfectly safe,” she pointed out.

  Asshole. Cord had already discussed Zack’s meeting with the men in her family with her earlier.

  “You weren’t safe in your own home—”

  “We had no idea I was in danger,” she pointed out with such innocent logic, he ground his teeth together in frustration.

  Zack could feel the irritation beginning to work up his spine even as lust tightened his balls. She was staring at him as though she had complete faith in her family to protect her when they’d failed her once already. The second time could mean her death.

  She was sitting there in her girly bed as though nothing and no one had touched or could touch her. So certain she was safe. So certain no one would ever hurt her again.

  God, it was killing him.

  A golden retriever puppy in a wolf’s den. Sawyer’s words haunted him.

  With her soft, golden blonde hair framing her face in lush waves and falling to her shoulders, she looked too soft, too tempting. Those big green eyes were innocent, so filled with faith. And she was so damned tiny that he wondered if he’d break her when he actually managed to get her beneath him.