Lara frowned at the president of the United States. “I don’t owe you any favors, Mr. President. I’ve done everything for you I possibly will. You should know that while I will honor our deal and stay out of politics, you can’t force me not to vote. It’s my legal right and my moral responsibility, and I have to say after today, I won’t be voting for you.”
Zack’s brows rose. “You see, Roman. You did this. You cost me a vote.”
“Will you please just tell her? This is the second time today I’ve had one of your women verbally beat the hell out of me. It was easier when everyone was single and all our arguments were settled with a couple of punches thrown and a round of beers. This whole new thing of setting the women on a man is bullshit,” Roman grumbled.
“If I’d known what you’d done, you would have had all three of us on your ass,” Everly added, then she regarded Lara. “We women have to stick together. It’s the only way to survive this group.”
“Ms. Armstrong, may I call you Lara since it seems we’ll be family soon?” Zack asked in that oh-so-polite way of his.
“You can call me Lara because that’s my name. I’m not marrying Connor.”
“Yes, you are.” He would take a page from Roman’s playbook. Often when something negative came up about Zack, Roman just denied and denied and rewrote the story until everyone simply believed him because it was easier than arguing.
“No . . .” Lara took a deep breath and turned back to Zack. “What else do you want from me? Tell me so I can figure out what it will take for you, your friends, and your security team to leave.”
Zack turned on the charm. He reached for her hand and put it between both of his. His gaze focused on Lara and softened. There was a reason he’d gone into politics. “Would you please serve as an emissary from me to your father? I need to apologize to him for the actions of my chief of staff.”
“I can apologize myself,” Roman said in a grumpy tone.
“You’re horrible at apologizing. I’m quite good.” Zack’s stare never left Lara. “Roman thought he was protecting me. That’s his only excuse. Please let your father know that whatever information we have on him will never be used against him. We’ll destroy it immediately. The last thing I want is for a good man to leave the Senate. We have so few of them.”
“And the website?” Connor wanted to make sure Lara got everything she wanted. “She took Capitol Scandals down.”
“Lara is free to do as she pleases. No one in this room will reveal her identity or strongarm her into shutting down again, though, please, if you don’t mind, could you stop running the stories on the size of my . . .” He cleared his throat. “While flattering, I find it takes away from serious politics.”
Lara shook her head. “You would be surprised how many women those stories bring in. I actually have data that women who read stories about the size of your penis or your sexual prowess go on to read more substantial stories forty-five percent of the time, and they become regular commentators.”
Connor didn’t like the way she was looking at Zack. Her eyes had widened and her hand was still in his. She was looking up at him like he was some kind of rock star. Zack had movie-idol looks. He wasn’t covered in scars. Zack was suave and didn’t have any trouble being romantic. Would Lara forgive him if he was more like Zack? Would Lara prefer Zack?
He moved in and snatched her hand out of his. “She won’t think about your penis anymore.”
“I always knew he would be a possessive caveman with the right woman,” Dax said with a chuckle in his voice.
Lara stood unmoving in his arms, not fighting him, but also not leaning back against him the way she used to. “I’ll talk to my dad. But I have to ask why you would do this. It’s obvious you don’t like my site and you have the leverage to take it down. I won’t stop you or fight you. So why do it?”
“Because Elizabeth threatened to tear my balls off,” Roman said. He held a hand up. “Well, not in those words exactly. She said a lot of Southern things and then she blessed my heart, which I’ve come to realize is Southern women code for ‘something bad is going to happen to a man’s balls.’”
Zack sat on Lara’s couch, crossing one leg over the other. “Despite what Roman will tell you, Elizabeth merely brought the situation to my attention. Roman often acts on his own. We’ve worked this way for years, but sometimes he becomes overly protective as he did in this case. It’s true I didn’t see the value of your site, but that doesn’t matter now. I wouldn’t have done it because it would hurt you, and hurting you would mean hurting Connor. I don’t have a lot of friends. I have sycophants and people who hang on to my coattails in hopes that I’ll do something for them. All of my life, I’ve been surrounded by people who want something from me—with five exceptions, and one of them is gone now. These men are my brothers and I would do anything for them. The minute you became involved with Connor, you stepped into my circle and that means I’ll protect you, too. I’ll protect you whether you like me or hate me or vote for the other guy.”
Lara paced and Connor could see plainly that Zack had confused her. She’d walked into this room expecting a confrontation. Instead, Zack had given her acceptance. “All right. I’ll call my father.”
Zack nodded. “Good. Please tell him I really would love to have dinner and meet his wife. Perhaps you and Connor could join us.”
“I’ll have to see about that, but thank you for clearing this up for me.” She turned to Roman. “You got the information out of my safe, didn’t you?”
“Yes. If you’re going to keep information like that around, you should protect it better.”
Connor tried very hard not to kill Roman. “I’ll upgrade the safe.”
“Or I can just make sure I don’t have people in my home who let their friends steal from me.” Lara turned and walked back toward her bedroom.
Shit.
“Dude, she’s pissed at you,” Dax said, pointing out the obvious.
Connor chose to spend his anger on Roman. “Did you have to do that to her? You really thought that was your best play? What are you going to do next, asshole? You want to kick a couple of puppies?”
“That’s your dick talking, Sparks, and you know it. When we started out, you agreed with me that she was dangerous. You were the one who promised to get the fucking site shut down in the first place. This was all your plan. I don’t see how I ended up being the villain of the piece.”
It didn’t matter that Roman was right. “Things change. Even in the middle of an op, the situation can change and you have to change with it. She’s not a danger to Zack.”
“I don’t know about that,” Roman shot back. “I found a ton of e-mails where she talks about some kind of evidence she’s collected on him.”
“Stop reading her e-mails,” Zack said quietly. “Connor’s serious about her and that means we’re all going to welcome her with open arms.”
Connor had never thought about it, but Zack really was like their Godfather sometimes. Ever since that day they’d almost been expelled from Creighton and Zack had calmly explained to the administrator why and how he would ruin the man’s life, they’d all looked at Zack as the authority figure. Connor might be the one who physically protected them, but at the end of the day, Zack was the final word.
“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 yo
ur 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 n
ever 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