Rachel took in the information. “Do you think Caroline should have some protection on her at the hospital?”
“Alex hired a private guard to stay outside his sister’s room just down the hall.”
“Alex?” She gave Samantha a questioning look.
Samantha felt her face flush and realized the way she’d said his name had cued her boss. “He insists I call him by his first name.”
“Of course he would.” Rachel smiled, studying her. “I’ve never seen you flustered like this before, though. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“It’s Alex. Mr. Graham. He…” She shook her head. “He’s rather intense and he doesn’t miss much. I have to watch myself around him all the time.”
Rachel frowned. “I’ve seen you turn hysterical bridezillas into purring pussycats, deal with drunk wedding guests and irate fiancés, but if you think you can’t handle Alex Graham…”
“No, I can handle him,” Samantha said with more confidence than she felt. She was a trained professional. Surely she could handle one handsome fireman. One very handsome, charming, intelligent fireman. “If I tried to hand him off to someone else on the team now, it would only make him more suspicious. He’s suspicious enough that we’re hiding something from him.”
“Under the circumstances, I suppose we can’t blame him,” Rachel said.
“Any news on Sonya Botero?” Samantha asked, not wanting to discuss Alex Graham further.
“No. No ransom demand. Nothing.”
“I saw Juan DeLeon as I was coming in,” Samantha said. “He looked devastated.”
“He is. He’s inconsolable, blaming himself for Sonya’s presumed kidnapping,” Rachel said. “He assumes, as we do, that it’s politically driven, but he hasn’t been able to find out who’s behind it and neither have we.”
Samantha nodded. “I suppose the wedding will be postponed.”
“No. He insists we continue with the wedding preparations vowing that there will be a wedding in August,” Rachel said. “He refuses to believe he might have lost her. That’s why you have to stay on this end of the investigation. If Caroline Graham’s fiancé lied about who he was, who knows what else he might be hiding.”
Samantha nodded absently and realized she’d been thinking about Alex again and hadn’t heard what Rachel had just said. “Sorry?”
Rachel cleared her throat. “I was saying I want you to continue working on this end of the investigation. Clare hasn’t been able to come up with any connection between Sonya and Caroline other than what you have about them possibly crossing paths here. But let’s not take any chances especially given what we know about the fiancé. The fact that he’s missing worries me.”
Me, too, Samantha thought.
“The rest of the team will be working on the theory that Sonya’s abduction is political and connected to the assassination attempt on Juan DeLeon and the unrest in his country.” Rachel rose to leave. “Be careful,” she said her gaze going again to Samantha’s bruised cheek. “Keep your eye on Alex Graham. He could be more dangerous than you think.”
Samantha already suspected just how dangerous Alex could be—at least to her. That’s why he had her running scared.
“I’ll write up my report and then make sure everything is ready for the Holcom-Anders wedding,” Samantha said, mentally shifting gears back to her other job.
Rachel had stopped in the doorway. “Are you sure you don’t want me to put someone else on this?”
Samantha wasn’t completely sure if she meant the wedding, or Alex Graham. “I have it covered.”
Rachel seemed to study her again as if trying to make up her mind about something.
“The next time Alex Graham sees me I hope to be working on the Holcom-Anders wedding,” Samantha said. “I think the best thing that could happen is for him to see me doing my job as a wedding planner.”
Rachel nodded. “Yes, I think you’re right about that. Watch your back. In this business, you never know who you can trust.” She could just as easily have been talking about the wedding planning business as their sideline.
But Samantha was more worried right now about when she would see Alex Graham again—and how to break the bad news about Preston Wellington III. Alex was no fool. He wasn’t going to believe this kind of information just fell into a wedding planner’s lap.
The last thing she wanted was to make him more suspicious of Weddings Your Way—or worse, of her.
“Keep me informed,” Rachel said as she saw someone come in through the front door of Weddings Your Way.
Samantha nodded distractedly, knowing that Alex wasn’t going to give up on finding Preston Wellington III, either.
“Sonya’s father Carlos Botero,” Rachel said quietly and straightened her immaculate suit as if bracing herself for the worst.
“What is going on?” Carlos Botero demanded as Rachel went to meet him.
Samantha couldn’t hear the soft words that Rachel spoke to him as she led the older man to her office.
“I’ve already lost one daughter,” Samantha heard Botero say. “I can’t lose another.” Rachel closed her office door.
NOT FAR AWAY, a man made a call he’d been dreading. “We haven’t been able to get to DeLeon.”
“You fool. First you botch his assassination attempt and now you mess up this, as well?”
“I got his woman.”
A disapproving sound was made on the other end of the line. “You messed that up, as well, and you know it.”
He ground his teeth. “DeLeon is too well guarded.”
“Figure it out. But in the meantime, make sure you finish up the other job you were given. No mistakes this time. Clean up the mess you’ve made of this.” The phone slammed down.
He sat for a moment, then clicked off his cell phone.
SAMANTHA SENSED Alex standing in her office doorway. Her gaze came up to meet his. For a moment neither spoke. She wouldn’t have heard him over the hammer of her blood anyway.
He stepped in, closing the door behind him as he cleared his throat. “Sorry to bother you. I hate to ask but I was hoping you could help me with something. What happened?” he asked in alarm as he spotted her bruised, skinned cheek.
“Just clumsy,” Samantha said. “I can’t even remember what I bumped into.”
She’d been expecting him but still her heart had started pounding when she’d looked up and seen him standing there. The man had that kind of effect on her. What had she been thinking telling Rachel she could handle this?
“Help you?” she managed to ask.
“I need to go see my father. I’d appreciate if you’d go with me. It might make it easier.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will when you meet my father. We don’t get along.” There was pain in his tone. “Truthfully? C.B. will be forced to be cordial with his daughter’s wedding planner there. Otherwise, hell, it could turn into a knock-down-drag-out fight.”
“I’m sure he isn’t that bad,” she said, smiling.
“Oh, I think you might be surprised.” His smile lit up the office.
She looked down at the work on her desk just to give her a chance to regain her equilibrium. This was crazy. But this man of all men had awakened feelings in her she thought long buried. It was the last thing she needed. Or wanted. Especially under the circumstances.
“If you think your father will be more forthcoming with me there,” she said, “then I’d be happy to help.”
He chuckled at that, his gaze heating as he looked at her. “My father has always had an appreciation for beautiful women.”
She started to object since she was far from beautiful. She worked at being unexceptional. “You must be desperate. You’re resorting to flattery.”
“Just the truth,” he said softly.
His eyes seemed deeper, richer and more vibrant tonight. But it was his gaze that started a slow simmer inside her. It had been so long since she’d felt anything. She fought the heat that sh
ot through her veins and sent her pulse pounding in her ears. It scared her, feeling like this.
But at least Alex Graham had no clue as to who she really was. As long as he never got a glimpse of the woman she kept hidden, she was safe. She drew in a shaky breath and let it out slowly.
It was getting harder and harder to fight the feelings Alex Graham stirred in her. For that reason alone, she should have taken off running in the opposite direction.
ALEX WANTED TO believe Samantha’s story about how she’d gotten the bruise on her cheek. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t imagine her being clumsy. Nor could he shake the feeling that there was a lot more she wasn’t telling him.
Not that it was any of his business.
He felt guilty. He’d coerced her into helping him. Dragging her first to Caroline’s condo last night and now to the Graham lion’s den. He knew what visits there were like. Hell. So why had he thought bringing her along would help?
Because there was something about her. Samantha tended to smooth troubled waters. She’d worked her magic on him and he’d seen the way she handled Caroline yesterday in her office.
But he knew his real reason. He still hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that she knew more about what was going on than she was letting on. She’d at least spent time with Caroline—and Preston Wellington III—over the last six months. Maybe more time than anyone in his family.
He was also curious how she would fare with his father. C. B. Graham tended to overpower everyone he came in contact with. Would C.B. rattle Samantha? Alex was anxious to see. If he had to put his money on anyone it would be Samantha. She seemed impervious to the kind of browbeating his father was so good at. Hell, the woman had to deal with brides all day. Alex couldn’t even imagine.
His father did like pretty young women. And as much as Samantha tried to hide her beauty, Alex didn’t think his father would miss it any more than he had.
Alex pulled up to the gate and cursed under his breath as the attendant stepped out of his stone booth and gave Alex’s pickup then Alex the once-over before hitting the button that opened the gate into the huge estate.
Samantha had said little on the drive and Alex hadn’t felt like trying to draw her out. He had too much on his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was to see his father.
“You grew up here?” Samantha asked now.
He glanced over at her. “You sound surprised.”
“It’s just that you seem so down-to-earth,” she said, then seemed embarrassed as if she’d spoken without thinking, something he’d learned she seldom did.
He laughed. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
He was sure in her business she’d seen her share of the rich and pretentious, but as he looked at the grounds and the huge mansion looming out of the palms, he saw it through her eyes.
“It takes ostentatious to a new level, don’t you think?” he said. “I left here the first chance I got and haven’t looked back.”
“It’s really magnificent.”
“I suppose. I always felt like I couldn’t breathe here. I guess it’s the burden that comes with being a Graham. The price was too high.”
He glanced over at her wondering about her background. It was impossible to explain to someone who didn’t come from the kind of money the Graham family had what it was like. Most people thought if they had money their problems would be over.
After a winding lane of towering palms and flower-choked beds, Alex pulled around the circular drive and swore at the sight of his brother’s sleek, red sports car parked out front.
“Great,” he said, cutting the pickup’s engine. “You’re going to get to meet my brother. Brian is always a real treat,” he said sarcastically as he opened his door and hurried around to open hers.
She stepped out and he watched her take it all in, the massive white gleaming Spanish-style mansion, the English garden, the Olympic-size swimming pool and huge rock waterfalls, the six-car garage, the manmade lake, the guest cottages that were larger than most people’s houses.
“I’ve only seen photographs of where the wedding was to be held,” she said, sounding like a wedding planner again. “We hadn’t gotten to the on-site preparations yet. I knew there was plenty of room but this is a phenomenal space for a wedding the size of your sister’s.”
How could the woman still think Caroline was getting married, let alone here. He couldn’t imagine getting married here. If it didn’t put a curse on the marriage he didn’t know what would.
He took Samantha’s elbow and walked her to the front door, smiling to himself as he felt her pulse jump at his touch.
SAMANTHA TRIED to find that cool calm she’d become famous for as she surreptitiously studied the man next to her. He rang the doorbell and waited. From inside the house came a few bars of a Mozart classic.
She felt jittery, even a little light-headed with her heart beating too quickly. She promised herself that when she returned to the office she would ask Rachel to put someone else on this case. She couldn’t handle being around Alex Graham. Not for another second.
Alex fidgeted, clearly nervous and getting upset as he pressed the doorbell, holding it down this time. He’d been quiet driving here except for a brief thumbnail sketch of his family: father C.B., overbearing; Brian equally pretentious and overbearing and Caroline— That was where his expression softened. “Spoiled rotten.” He’d smiled. “But you couldn’t help but love her.”
“Herbert,” Alex said as the butler opened the door. Alex didn’t wait for an invitation, just pushed past the uniformed stiff-necked man, drawing her with him as he ushered her into a foyer that was as big as the house she’d grown up in.
Herbert called after them, his voice echoing through the marbled entryway. “Was Mr. Graham expecting you?”
Alex gave a humorless laugh. “Not hardly,” he said over his shoulder.
With Samantha in tow, he headed down the long tiled hallway. All she caught was a blur of crystal chandeliers and rich rare wood paneling.
At a large solid wood door, Alex stopped, took a breath and threw the door open exposing an opulent den and making the two men inside turn in surprise.
Both men wore suits, the younger man in an expensively cut navy pinstripe, the elder in a dark gray with a faint red thread running through the fabric. In this setting, they looked like a magazine ad for today’s top executive and his dream office. The room around them was all glistening wood, supple dark leather and knee-deep carpet.
Their surprised gazes went from her to Alex and back again. Neither looked happy to see him.
She felt Alex stiffen next to her, his hand searching out hers. He squeezed it gently. “Welcome to the lion’s den,” he said under his breath, then stepped into the room, drawing her with him.
Chapter Seven
“Alex?” his father said, sounding as if he hadn’t seen him in months and hardly recognized him. He hadn’t.
Alex had gotten a glimpse of his father and Brian talking with Caroline’s doctor at the hospital. He had hardly spoken to his father when he’d called yesterday to tell him about Caroline’s accident.
Neither his father nor his brother had made an attempt to talk to him since and Alex hadn’t bothered, either. He could only assume that his father blamed him for Caroline’s accident. It would be just like C.B.
“Is this about Caroline? Is she—” His father’s voice broke.
Alex shook his head. “She’s still unconscious.”
His father’s look said, “Then why are you here?”
“I’ve been trying to contact her fiancé,” Alex said. “Have you heard from him?”
C. B. Graham shook his head. “Pres spends quite a lot of time out of the country.” Pres? “He’s a busy man.”
Yes, as C.B. had been when Alex was growing up.
What C.B. didn’t say, but Alex heard: Unlike you, Alex, who only works part of the week as a fireman.
Alex felt that old frustration and resentment rising
in him. Already his father had bonded with Preston Wellington III, practically a complete stranger, but C.B. made no effort to understand his youngest son.
Brian, Alex realized, was staring at Samantha.
“This is Samantha Peters. She’s a wedding planner with Weddings Your Way. Caroline’s been working with her.”
“You’re from the place where Caroline was struck down,” Brian said with interest as if contemplating a lawsuit. He shifted his gaze to Alex. “What were you doing there with her anyway? I didn’t even think the two of you had spoken in years.”
“This must be very difficult for you all,” Samantha broke in, stepping forward to shake each man’s hand.
Alex watched in amazement as his father seemed to melt at her touch, at her softly spoken soothing words. What was it about this woman?
Brian, though, was his usual cold self. He seemed suspicious and angry. Nothing new there.
“Of course you’re worried about Caroline, but she’s in good hands,” Samantha was saying. “All we can do now is find her fiancé. I know how devoted he is to her and he’d want to be here with her now.”
C.B was practically falling all over himself saying, “Yes, of course. He’s a fine young man. This is such a tragedy with the wedding not that far off.”
Did either his father or brother know that Caroline had moved the wedding up three months? Did they know she was pregnant?
“We’ve tried several numbers in an attempt to reach Mr. Wellington,” Samantha was saying. “Any information you can give us would be appreciated.”
“What exactly is your involvement, Miss…Peters was it?” Brian asked.
“Since I’ve been working with Caroline and Preston, I thought I might be of some help,” she said.
“That is very kind of you,” C.B. said. He was like putty in her hands. Alex felt a little jealous.
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