by Lisa G Riley
“Yeah, but that was after your dad asked if I thought I needed a session with Father Quigley,” she said, but there was no real heat in the words. She shook her fist in his face in mock anger and warning. “This had better be good, Blondie.”
Sloan only led her over to his favorite plush armchair, grinning knowingly when she grabbed her robe off the bed.
“I’m chilled,” she told him when she saw his expression, and her voice was accusatory.
“What? I didn’t say anything.” He sat and pulled her down with him.
“No, but you were thinking it,” she grumbled as she made herself comfortable. “So what’s the deal? I want all the sordid details.”
“Can’t give them to you because Kyle didn’t give them to me. I’ll just tell you what I know,” he promised.
And he told her.
“What? Are you kidding me?” Kendra demanded and pushed back to look at him. “Because if you are, Sloan, let me just warn you, it’s your ass on the line. Something like this isn’t even remotely funny!”
“I’m not teasing, Ken. He’s really been approached.”
“Your brother is actually going to work with the FBI,” she finally said after a careful study of Sloan’s face. “Is he nuts? Doesn’t he realize how dangerous it will be?”
“He’s not a kid anymore,” Sloan said gently, because he saw the genuine worry in her eyes. She was fiercely protective of those she loved. Kyle was often irresponsible, and she saw him as childish, so mistakenly thought he was helpless like a child. Sloan knew that she couldn’t be further from the truth. “Kyle’s a big boy. I’ll worry about him too, but I know he can take care of himself.”
Kendra chewed her bottom lip. “But he’ll be in danger every minute he’s involved, Sloan. I can’t believe the FBI would use him like that.”
“He’s made up his mind to do it, I think, so there’s nothing we can do about it. Besides, he was in special ops in the air force. That’s got to count for something.”
“That’s not the point,” she insisted, a worry line still wrinkling her brow.
“Then what is?”
“They shouldn’t use him—”
“You’re forgetting that Kyle doesn’t have to help if he doesn’t want to. They can’t force him. He’s getting involved because he feels he can help. I don’t think I’d be able to sit back either if I were in his position.”
“And you!” Kendra accused as another thought occurred to her. “You should be telling him just walk away from it. He’s your baby brother, for God’s sake!”
“I’m not his keeper, Kendra. If he wants to do it, there’s nothing I can do to stop him. As I said, if it were me—”
“I know what you said! Don’t think I didn’t. If you ever…” she began. “Well, it isn’t about you, is it? It’s about Kyle. And the FBI—”
“Apparently feels he’s their chance to catch some slime. I repeat: they traffic in teen prostitution. I’d be disappointed in him if Kyle didn’t do everything he could to help.”
“But, Sloan, he—”
Sloan pressed a finger against her lips. “Stop worrying, sweetheart. Kyle can handle himself.”
“He’ll also have to testify after. I wonder if he’s even thought of that.”
“He’ll be okay. I’m sure he can get protection from the FBI if he feels he needs it.”
Kendra sighed. Sloan recognized the look. She was ready to give up a battle that she couldn’t win. “Well, I guess I see why you guys didn’t want to tell your parents, and I guess you’re forgiven for lying about me.”
“I am?”
“Yes,” she said and burrowed closer when he nuzzled her neck.
“That’s good, baby.” He slid his hand over her thigh to squeeze her butt, sighing appreciatively when the move made her curl into him even more. “Now. How about we move on to a more…pleasing topic?”
“Uh-uh,” Kendra denied him as she gently licked his ear.
Surprise made Sloan temporarily suspend his squeezing. “Did you just say no?”
“Yes, I did.” Pressing a kiss against his mouth, she ran her fingers through his hair. She pushed back away from him so she could look into his eyes. “Because I want to know what’s going on with you. What else happened today?”
Chapter Eight
“So you’re saying that someone set you up to look like an embezzler!” Outraged again, Kendra had long since removed herself from Sloan’s lap and was now standing at her vanity removing her makeup. “I can’t believe that one of your friends would do that to you.”
“Join the club,” Sloan muttered. Although the situation had been on his mind all day, giving him plenty of time to get used to the idea that he’d been betrayed, disbelief still tore at him.
Kendra walked behind his chair and began massaging the knots in his shoulders and around his neck. Bending, she placed a kiss on his head. “I’m so sorry, Sloan,” she whispered before resting her cheek on his head. “What are you going to do? And what can I do to help?”
Relaxing into her ministrations, Sloan sighed and closed his eyes. “I’ll have to report it, of course. I have no choice.”
“Oh, baby.” It came out as a sympathetic sigh as she hugged him. “I’ll go with you. I’ll get dressed so we can go right now.”
“No, Monday’s soon enough to wade into the shit.”
“All right, then. We’ll go first thing Monday morning.”
He uncrossed her arms and took her wrists in his hands, playing with the delicate bones there and loving her all the more. “You don’t have to—”
“Of course I have to go with you! Where else would I be at a time like this but with you?”
Sloan heard the surprise in her voice and knowing she was insulted, kissed her fingers in apology before leaning his head back into her breasts to look at her. “I know that, Ken, but I’m not talking about reporting it to any law-enforcement authorities—at least not yet, so there’s no place to actually go. No, I’ll have to smoke the thief out first. And I think I have just the way to do it,” he said contemplatively. Eyes narrowed, he sat up straighter as a thought took root.
Kendra gave him a quick kiss before walking around and plopping herself on his thighs. “What way? And who else would you report it to if not the authorities?”
When no response was forthcoming, she gently twisted his ear. “Sloan!”
Sloan focused on her again. “Sorry, babe. I was thinking of something else. What did you say?”
Taking his face in her hands, Kendra patiently repeated her questions.
“Oh, I would have to report the theft to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinarian Commission if it’s one of the lawyers, and if it’s Ranya, I’m sure there’s a similar organization for accountants that I’d have to report her to. As for my plan…I’ll tell you when I’ve thought it through better.”
Kendra caressed the sides of his face so he’d look at her. “All right, I recognize that stubborn look in your eyes, so I know you’re not going to tell me anything more. I’ll be satisfied with your nonanswer for now, especially since I know this has got to be hard for you. You’ll get through it, baby,” she swore earnestly and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and then his closed eyelids. “I’ll help you.” Another soft kiss. “We’ll fry their asses,” she promised sweetly before covering his mouth with hers.
*
Sloan sat at the head of the conference table at his firm’s weekly Monday-morning status meeting. Five of his potential betrayers were in the room, and he studied each of them in turn.
Dark eyes snapping with amusement and as usual covered in brand-name fashion, Ranya DuBois laughed out loud at something the red-haired, pale-skinned Peter Taylor was saying. The young, pretty accountant had come highly recommended a couple of years before, and almost from the beginning of her tenure, there had been rumors floating that there was more than just work between her and Pete, a dogged, ambitious married man who’d had to take the bar exam twice before passing
. Until now Sloan had ignored the rumors. But Saturday’s discovery made him narrow his eyes and take a closer look at them. When Peter lifted his blue eyes to look at him, as if sensing his gaze, Sloan continued to stare for a moment before nodding and shifting his gaze toward Patrick Thomas.
Patrick was his most recent hire and a California transplant. His bleach-blond looks, laid-back attitude, and habit of sleeping around often made people miss his sharp mind. He was a demon with details, a killer at tax law, and a definite asset to the firm. Sloan would cut Patrick off at his tanned knees without breaking a sweat if he turned out to be the thief.
Now he focused on Donovan Shaw. Handsome with skin the color of rich-brewed coffee, the unmarried Donovan oozed intelligence along with sensuality and was a hit with practically every woman in the building. Sloan had gone to law school with Donovan’s sister Kelly and had briefly dated her before they decided it would be best if they remained friends.
Sloan had known Donovan since the younger man was an undergrad, and he still saw Kelly socially. It was because of this history that a betrayal from Donovan would be especially hard for him to wrap his brain around. But if Donovan were the thief, Sloan would take him down without a qualm. Eyes still narrowed, Sloan nodded in agreement with his angry thoughts. He’d cut any of them down and not look back.
He caught his secretary’s eye and gave her the nod to get the meeting started. Eliza Cantera stood, drawing attention to herself and quieting the room. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s get started, shall we? Ms. Broderick,” she said to the head of intellectual property, “as usual, we’ll begin with—”
“No, let’s shake things up a bit this week,” Sloan said, making everyone cast their gazes toward him. “Let’s start with you, Pete. Tell us what’s going on with the Patterson trust.” He spread his hands out conciliatorily when Peter threw a look of surprised confusion at Sloan’s deliberate singling out of one account. “And all of your other clients, of course,” he finished with a smile that was anything but reassuring. He checked out the reactions of the other suspects when he threw out his surprise command, and if anyone was nervous, he couldn’t tell.
Peter quickly looked at Donovan and then Patrick , cleared his throat, and began his report. Though Sloan’s halfway-slouching form and downcast eyes made it look like his attention was elsewhere, he was completely focused on what Peter was saying, his ears practically cocked for a sign of anything out of the ordinary. Of the people with access to the account, only Emily Walsh wasn’t there. But Sloan surreptitiously studied everyone else connected with the trust as Peter talked. Disappointed that whoever the thief was, he or she wasn’t going to give him a clue that moment, Sloan let Eliza direct the rest of the meeting in the way she saw fit.
When the last division head had wrapped up and people were gathering their things to leave, Sloan raised his voice in order to be heard over their individual conversations. “Before you go, I have an announcement.” He waited for those who had already stood to sit back down. “I had an idea over the weekend. To give everyone an opportunity to broaden their experience and perhaps become more marketable if they should decide to leave here, I’m going to switch up the teams starting today.” He waited for reactions. Everyone, including Eliza, was surprised, but Peter was the first to respond.
“Are you sure you want to do that, Sloan? I mean, if we’re switching people all the time, wouldn’t that hinder our ability to give our clients the best service possible?”
Sloan’s smile brooked no argument. “You misunderstand, Pete. It won’t be a constant thing. And of course we won’t switch the leads on a case, because your clients have become used to you. We’ll just worry about team members for now, and it won’t be all team members at once.”
“What about litigation?” someone asked.
“Oh, those of you representing clients going to trial or who are in trial right now will remain in the same position, specifically first and second chairs. However, you may get a new researcher.”
“And does this affect me?” Ranya asked.
“No, Ranya. After all”—Sloan paused, smiled again—“we only have one person managing the money, really, and that’s you. But I might bring someone in to help you on occasion, as we’ve gotten quite busy of late. Does anyone else have questions?”
There was no response, so Sloan continued. “Good. It should be a smooth transition; after all, we’ve all helped each other out before during crunch times. This will only make it more official. We’ll start out small, just to see how things go. Uh, I believe we’ll start with the Reyes intellectual property case and the Dolan case. Chance,” he said to a young associate, “you’ll start working on Reyes, and Belinda, you’ll switch to the Dolan case—just research for now.”
Sloan grabbed his coffee mug and left through the door closest to him, while most everyone else exited through the other door. He didn’t feel like engaging in small talk and, frowning to discourage conversation, he walked toward his office deep in thought. He still had no clue as to who the thief was. Oh, he knew he’d shaken things up a bit with his announcement, but it hadn’t been enough. He realized now that it was naive to hope he could have it all wrapped up that day. The thief was obviously too smart to give himself away that easily.
Disgusted and somewhat disheartened, he strode into his office. A windy sigh preceded a slamming of his coffee cup on the desk before he walked over to stare out his window.
“I guess our little sneak thief didn’t give up the goods, eh?” Kendra said softly with sympathy from behind him.
Sloan had jerked around at the first sound of her voice. He should have known she’d be there, even though he’d insisted she didn’t need to be—not at this early stage. He’d assumed he’d be fine, whatever the outcome of that morning’s meeting. But as he watched her glide toward him in that sexy way only she had, he realized that though he could do it alone, he didn’t need to, and he’d never been so happy to see anyone in his life. He buried his face in her hair, breathing her scent deeply when she wrapped her arms around him. He said nothing as he leaned on her for support and let himself be comforted. As he did, some of the misery he felt at the thief’s betrayal lessened.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” Kendra kissed his cheek in commiseration. “Don’t worry. We’ll get them. It just won’t be as soon as you’d hoped.”
Sloan bit back a laugh and pulled back some so he could press his forehead to hers. “You amaze me. Even I didn’t know I was subconsciously wishing for a quick resolution, not until I didn’t get it, that is. How did you?”
“I just did; that’s all. Despite evidence to the contrary,” she chided softly as she smoothed hair back from his face, “you’re only human. Who wouldn’t have wanted something as terrible as this to be over as quickly as possible?” Angling her head, she stood on her toes and pressed her mouth to his, lightly slipping her tongue between his lips.
“Sloan—Whoops, sorry to interrupt.”
Sloan looked up to see Peter standing at the entrance to his office. He kept a grip on Kendra when she would have broken away in embarrassment. He took his time releasing her.
Kendra cleared her throat and turned. “Uh, hi, Pete. How are you?”
“I’m fine, Kendra, thanks,” Peter said with a smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. How are the wedding plans coming along?”
“Oh, fine, just fine.” She made her way back over to the couch to pick up her purse and tried a smile. “And how are Megan and the kids?”
“Everyone’s fine, thanks. The kids are growing like weeds, per usual. Our oldest girl has been accepted to Chicago Prep for next term.”
Sloan caught the suggested look that Kendra threw his way. She was also subtly nodding her head in Pete’s direction. Chicago Prep was the most expensive private school in the city.
“Kendra,” Sloan said slowly, because he knew exactly what she was thinking. The little nut thought she’d solved everything, and was probably already see
ing Pete in handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit. “It’s probably time for you to get back to your office,” he told her without even bothering to sugarcoat his hurry to get her out. “I’ll see you at home later, and maybe you’d better make a doctor’s appointment. The way your head’s leaning, it looks like you’ve got a stiff neck.”
Kendra’s eyes widened, and she abruptly straightened her neck. Her narrowed eyes told him that she was not amused. “Yeah. I’ll see you at home. Bye, Pete, take care.”
“You too, Kendra.” Peter watched her walk out before turning to look at Sloan with a worried smile. “I noticed her head too. Is she going to be okay?”
“She’ll be fine. Runs in her family,” Sloan said with a straight face. “What can I do for you, Pete?”
Peter closed the door. Sloan lifted a brow in inquiry. “Please, have a seat,” he invited and walked around his desk to take his own chair. “Is something wrong?”
“Depends on how you look at it,” Peter said and rubbed his sweaty palms down his thighs. “I guess I should just come out and say what’s bothering me…”
“Yes, you should.”
Nodding, Pete looked at Sloan. “I think it’s a bad idea to have people switch from case to case like you’re proposing—”
“Not proposing, Pete,” Sloan told him in a firm voice. “Implementing, or if you’d like, demanding.”
Peter’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at this. “All righty, then.” Confusion was clear in his voice. “So there won’t be any discussion around it?”
Sloan was known for his easy and open style of managing, but right at this moment he didn’t like being questioned. He’d already told everyone how it was going to be during their meeting. “We’ve already had it.” His tone was implacable, and he smiled his shark’s smile. “You’ve now questioned me twice about this, Pete. Let’s not make it a third time.”
Recognizing dismissal, Peter rose and walked to the door. “See you later.”
Sloan frowned as his thoughts turned inward. Peter was a little too nervous.