The Hidden Truths Series Box Set

by Brittney Sahin

  “What you saw earlier—” he began in a low voice.

  “Was none of my business,” she said with a little more fire to her voice than she had meant to.

  She pushed away from the wall and attempted to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist and spun her to face him. “What?” she rasped, hating that she was still hurting from seeing him kiss that other woman.

  “Kate.” His voice was a plea. “Come on, let’s talk at my place.” He motioned for her to follow him, and she agreed. Where else did she have to go?

  They walked the six blocks back to his home in silence. When the elevator doors opened, she rushed out.

  “What’s your problem?”

  She pivoted back around and walked toward him, failing to mask her look of total madness. “I don’t have a problem. I was perfectly fine having a drink with Connor until you showed up, looking like the Hulk.”

  If he weren’t so angry, he would have laughed.

  He chucked his keys on the hall table. “Can we talk?” He took off his blazer and tossed it on the recliner as he moved toward the living area. He unbuttoned his black vest and threw it off, as well.

  She ignored his question and went out onto the balcony.

  “It wasn’t what it looked like,” he said, taking a seat on one of the lounge chairs. He crossed his ankle over his knee, his slacks stretching over his quads. He rolled up the sleeves of his black collared shirt and drummed his fingers on his knees.

  She finally turned around so he could chance a look at her eyes—to see the expression on her face. She was hurting. This is exactly what he didn’t want happening.

  “You don’t owe me any explanations.”

  “It sure as hell feels like I do,” he bit back. He shut his eyes, trying to calm the hot thread of frustration that spun through him, winding him up.

  “Michael, I don’t care about some pretty redhead. Kiss whoever you want.”

  He let out a slow breath as he opened his eyes. His attention wandered to her lips. She was the only one he was in the mood to kiss. Didn’t she know that? “She kissed me. I didn’t expect it, and I didn’t want it.”

  “Who is she?” she asked meekly a minute later.

  He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to reassure her. They both knew they couldn’t be together. They couldn’t play by each other’s rules, so why were they even having this conversation? Why did he need to explain himself, to show her . . . what? That he’d been faithful? He groaned and looked over her shoulder and at the hotel across the street.

  “Who is she?” she asked again, her voice raw.

  “She’s no one of concern to you.” And he sure as hell wasn’t going to talk about this anymore, that was for damn sure.

  “Because women kiss you on the street all the time?” She paused. “Or do they? Damn you and your superhuman good looks.” Her shoulders slouched forward as she turned away from him. “I remember her from your office,” she added a few moments later in a somber voice. “And she was in one of the photos my stalker sent me. She must mean something to you. I thought you never got involved with—

  “She’s an old friend. Now, let’s drop it.” He stood and came up alongside her, joining her at the railing. Together, they stared down at the street. “I don’t feel like getting into all of this with you. I want to help you find the bastard who is stalking you, and I promised I would help you find your mother’s killer. Can we focus on that for now?” Please, for the love of God.

  “Fine. I can forget the way you feel inside me. If you can,” she commented as her blue-green eyes dipped south of his hips, before slowly moving back up to his face.

  Not fucking fair.

  She started to turn away, but his arm banded around her waist, and he pulled her back. Her body was an inch from his, and her face so close. “You’re making me lose my damn mind. You know that, right?”

  Her pink lips parted, her eyes still holding his. He swept his hand to the back of her head and brought her mouth to his.

  And she returned his kiss, allowing his tongue entry to her mouth.

  Without thinking, he lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around him—where she belonged.

  With his lips locked onto hers, he carried her into the house before slamming the glass doors shut.

  He would never make it to a room. Still holding her, he tapped a button by the door, and the automatic blinds began to close. “God, I need you,” he hoarsely said as he set her down.

  And she must have wanted him, too, because she lifted her dress over her head and tossed it in one fast movement.

  She was standing in nude panties and a beige lace bra, her hard nipples poking through the thin material. He came at her so quickly that she stumbled back and landed on the couch. A smile met her lips as she looked up at him, sinking her teeth into her lip. The woman was torturing him.

  He knelt before her, his fingers skirting up the sides of her toned thighs before reaching for her hips, pulling her closer to him, to his mouth.

  She braced each side of his shoulders when he pushed her panties out of the way, his tongue darting to her wet flesh.

  “Jesus Christ,” he muttered a second later as the elevator buzzed.

  “Oh, God,” she shrieked.

  He released his hold on her and stood as she grinned.

  “Perfect timing.”

  She rose to her feet, still in heels, and slipped her dress back over her shoulders.

  “Tell me about it.” He shifted the material of his pants, hoping to calm his hard on. “Thank God I didn’t give the guys access to my place yet. I’d have to kill them if they saw you naked.” He grimaced at the thought.

  “Last time I checked, you don’t have exclusive rights to my nudity. Just an F.Y.I.” She smirked, but the realization of her words hit him hard. “Will you kill every man who sees me naked?”

  “I wouldn’t test me,” he grumbled.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kate tucked away her nervous smile and attempted to look professional in front of Jake and Connor.

  Michael was standing about as far away from her as he could get while being in the same room. He’d gone behind his own personal Berlin Wall again. Damn him. “I almost forgot. What did my dad have to say?” she asked as they sat down at the large farmhouse table in the kitchen.

  Michael shifted in his seat to face Kate, who sat to his left. “He said he was sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Your dad said your mother thought she had a stalker. Not long before she died, she told him that she felt like she was being watched.”

  Like me. Oh, God. “Does he think there could be a connection?”

  “He doesn’t think so. Or at least, the cops ruled out the idea of a stalker.” He pressed his palms against the table and looked at Jake. “What do you think?”

  “I have two suspects in mind if there is a connection to your mother. Two people at the gala went to school with her. And one of them looks like the man you drew.”

  Kate’s lips twitched as her nerves pulled at her heart strings. She reached for the folder that Jake slid to her. With a shaky hand, she opened it and looked at the first photo. “That’s him.” She stared down at the picture of the muscular, blonde man. The anxiety that coursed through her body made her feel like she had taken four shots of espresso.

  “That’s Nathan Williams. He’s a real estate attorney. He has several offices, including one in New York,” Jake responded.

  She moved Nathan’s photo aside to view the other.

  “Erick Jensen.” She ran her fingers across the image of the face. She had danced with him at the gala.

  “Michael tells me that Erick admitted that he knew your mother.” Jake looked down at the photo and back up at Kate.

  “Yeah. He even asked me to help out with the winter ball in Boston.” Kate pushed aside Erick’s photo to study the image of the blonde man, who now had a name. “Given that this Nathan guy has a connection with my mom, do you think there’s a link between her murder and my stalker?�
�� She tried not to feel a pinch of hope at the possibility of getting justice for her mother.

  “We have to keep in mind that your stalker may have nothing to do with your mom at all. This Nathan guy might be following you, but it may be sheer coincidence that he went to school with your mom.” He rubbed his hands together as if attempting to dispel the nervous energy that was hanging above everyone’s heads. “The detective on your mother’s case was adamant that it was a robbery gone wrong. I need you to understand that I might not be able to help in regards to her murder. My main focus is catching your stalker.”

  “But if someone was following my mom, too . . .” Kate stared down at Nathan’s picture, desperate to confirm that he was the killer and the stalker. She wanted to get this over and done with. She wanted the man behind bars who murdered her mother, stealing her chance to know her—to feel her love.

  “Your father told the police that, but the cops said there wasn’t any evidence of stalking. No notes, pictures, or anything like that. Remember, she wasn’t living in the times of social media and cell phones.”

  “I think I need to sit down.”

  “You are sitting.” Michael reached out and touched her arm, which was surprising.

  “I’d like to go meet with Nathan and Erick soon.” Jake stood up.

  “Well, Erick said he would be out of town this week.” Kate’s attention focused back on Nathan’s photo. Something inside her was screaming, “Murderer!”

  “Connor and I can go interview Nathan today, and I’ll double-check to make sure Erick is actually out of town.”

  “I’d like to go.” Kate was on her feet and feeling focused for the first time that afternoon.

  “You’re not going,” Michael responded with a sharp voice. “Connor will stay here with you, instead. I’ll go.”

  “Like hell!” She folded her arms and stared at him, defiance burning through her. There was no way she was going to stay behind. “I need to be there. I need to see this man for myself.”

  “She might be able to help.” Jake peered at Michael.

  “No.” Michael released the word so fast that she almost missed it.

  “I’m going, whether you like it or not.” She exited the kitchen and made her way to the foyer. She grabbed her purse off the hall table and waited by the silver elevator doors.

  “If I let you go, you don’t leave my side,” he warned upon approach.

  Why did he insist on treating her like a child? Maybe she did need protection, and maybe she was scared, but he didn’t have to make her feel so damned weak. “Fine,” she bit out, hating herself for not fighting back at his use of the words ‘let you go.’

  “Come on, then,” he said after an obvious sigh.

  She slid into the back seat of the SUV a few minutes later and clamped her hands together on her lap as they drove. Her body tensed as Michael talked with ease to Jake and Connor as they drove to Nathan’s law firm. She hated the fact that he was different with them. More laid back.

  His face didn’t strain with anger at the slightest provocation when he was talking with them.

  The SUV rolled to a stop in front of a three-story brick building on the outskirts of town after a short drive. “This is it?” Kate shifted in her seat to gain a better view out the window, peering past Connor, who sat to her right. “I was expecting some shiny glass tower.”

  Jake, who was riding shotgun, turned and looked back at her. “It might not look like much, but he’s a well-known attorney.”

  Kate nodded and stepped out of Michael’s SUV. An uneasy anticipation grew inside her as she stared at the building. Her purse vibrated against her side, and she took a moment to glance at her phone, but she tucked it away when she saw who was calling. It was her father, for the twentieth time that day.

  “You ready?” Jake asked, looking to Michael and Connor. They nodded back at him and followed him inside.

  When they entered the lobby, they were greeted by a cute brunette, who was clearly doing her best not to stare in awe at the three gorgeous men standing before her. “Do you have an appointment?”

  Jake held up his FBI badge. “We need to see Mr. Nathan Williams. It’s urgent.”

  The woman nodded and reached for her phone. She mumbled a few words and motioned for them to follow her. She stopped outside a conference room. “Please, wait inside. Mr. Williams will be with you in a moment.”

  Once the receptionist left, Kate sat down at the large, oval, glass-top table and stared at the dim shadow of her reflection. She wasn’t sure how she should react toward the man who might not only be her stalker but her mother’s killer.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you.” Michael rested his hand on her shoulder before moving toward the window and pressing his palm to the glass. He had changed out of his suit after they came treacherously close to having sex earlier.

  What had she been thinking? One minute they were talking about the redhead and the next—he was going down on her. Her legs tightened at the memory.

  When Kate looked up and saw Nathan Williams open the door, her body tensed for a very different reason.

  Nathan’s dark eyes locked onto Kate’s as he stopped in the middle of the doorway. The man shifted his black blazer away from his hips as his hands slid into his pockets. The pull of his brow, the pinched skin on his forehead—he looked nervous.

  She assumed it was her, or maybe it was the fact that there were three former Marines in the room.

  Jake directed his attention to Nathan and reached for the man’s hand. He introduced himself, Connor, Michael, and then Kate. “Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice.” Jake sat down and waited for Nathan to sit, as well, but Nathan remained standing near the door.

  “What can I do for you?” Nathan’s accent was thick, and Kate guessed he was originally from Alabama or Mississippi. He folded his arms and leaned against the interior of the doorway.

  Kate studied him. He was tall, well-built, and had a sort of Russian meets cowboy look to him. “I’m Kate Adams. I believe you knew my mother?” She was surprised by the sound of her voice. She hadn’t planned on breathing a word during the meeting, but she found that her curiosity overwhelmed her common sense.

  Nathan blew out a breath, a low whistle noise escaping his lips as he did so. “Um. Was your mother Elizabeth?”

  “Yes,” Kate softly replied.

  “Yes. Yes, I knew her.” His shoulders sank a little. “What—what is this about?”

  “What can you tell me about your relationship with Elizabeth?” Jake swooped in to speak before Kate could.

  “Listen, I’ll answer any questions you have—but you need to tell me what this is all about.” The lawyer in Nathan broke to the surface.

  “Someone has been stalking Kate, and this person may be connected to Elizabeth’s murder,” Jake replied with blunt honesty.

  Nathan’s face paled a little, and then he approached the table and sat down. “Why are you coming to me?”

  “Kate saw you a few times since she arrived in Charlotte—and, well, you’re connected to her mother,” Jake said.

  Michael came up next to Kate and sat down. It was comforting having her own personal superhero.

  Nathan clasped his hands on the table and looked straight into Kate’s eyes. “Kate, I’m recently divorced. I don’t normally frequent nightclubs, but I was out one night, and I saw you dancing. And my heart stopped. I thought I saw a ghost. I thought I was looking at your mother. You’re identical. I freaked out and took off.” He paused for a moment while rubbing his hands together. It was clear he wasn’t a poker player. “I saw you again in Uptown and then at the Maddox event. I had no idea you planned the ball. When I saw you there and heard your name . . . I realized you were Elizabeth’s daughter.”

  Kate had to remind herself to breathe. She felt like she was swimming under water and wouldn’t make it to the surface in time.

  “I was your father’s roommate in college. I hung out with your mother a lot be
cause of that. But I had nothing to do with her death, and I am most certainly not stalking you.”

  “My father never mentioned you.” But he’d never mentioned that her mother was murdered, either.

  “We were best friends, but after what happened to your mom, he shut me out. I’ve bumped into him a few times in New York, but he had no interest in reconnecting. I guess I reminded him of his past, of your mother.”

  “Is there anything else you might be able to tell us that would help out?” Jake asked as he rose to his feet.

  “Not that I can think of.” Nathan stood and reached into his wallet for a business card.

  “Do you know Erick Jensen?” Jake asked while taking the card from Nathan.

  Nathan’s lips pressed together, and his gaze shifted down. “I know all the big-name lawyers in town, but he also went to school with me. I didn’t know him that well while we were in school, though.”

  “And now?” Jake pried.

  “I’m a real estate lawyer. He’s a defense attorney. Our paths rarely cross. I did see him at the ball, though.” He folded his arms in front of him and directed his attention to Kate. “You really are your mother’s daughter,” he said with an affirming nod of the head.

  She rose to her feet, and her knees almost buckled.

  “We’ll be in touch,” Jake said.

  Nathan held Kate’s gaze until she looked away and exited the room. Something in her gut didn’t feel right.

  “I don’t believe him,” Michael said as soon as he slid behind the wheel.

  Kate agreed, but she didn’t say anything. She found herself in a daze as they drove back to Michael’s place, only half-listening to the conversation. She wanted to be privy to the details of Jake’s plan, but her mind reeled from meeting the man who may have killed her mother.

  “Connor and I will follow up on Erick Jensen’s story,” Jake said as Michael pulled up in front of his building.

  Jake’s words shook Kate free of her stupor. She reached for the door handle to exit, but Michael had already come around and beat her to it. The gentle touch of his hand on her arm as he helped her out of the car made her spirit liven a fraction. “Thanks.”