Seductive Memory

by Altonya Washington

  “All went well. Everything seems in order,” Tig said.

  “Any pop in here, Line?” Eli asked on his way to the mini fridge.

  “Yeah, help yourself.”

  Eli gave a nod and sent Tig a sly look across his shoulder.

  “So it looks like Maxton’s cool with us taking as much time as we need at the villa.” Tig moved into the roomy living area that occupied over a third of the office space.

  “Sounds good,” Linus said, joining him.

  “Me and E were thinkin’, since we’ve got so much work to do with going over the rest of the proposals, it might be a good idea to just keep this strictly a business trip.”

  “Right.” Linus settled into his preferred recliner. The smile curving his mouth gave away the fact that he was all too aware what had prompted the change in plans. Still, he pretended to be confused. “What about playtime with playthings?”

  Tig cast aside the idea with a wave. “Sophie’s already taken three weeks of her eight-week leave. Best to save the rest for when we come up with our master getaway to pay back Rook and Veev for Mexico.”

  “Mmm-hmm, and what about Clarissa?” Linus asked Eli, who was on his way to the living room with three bottles of soda in tow.

  Eli smiled at the mention of his girlfriend, Clarissa David. “She’s already feeling guilty for leaving Ray with so much of the workload—first the getaway to Cortina and then Mexico for Tig and Sophie’s wedding. She’s trying to get the woman to take some time for herself.” Eli referred to Rayelle Keats. In addition to being Clarissa’s best friend, Ray served as general manager for her late aunt’s franchise of gentleman’s clubs that were transitioning into dance studios.

  “Trust us, it won’t be all work,” Tig said. “We’ll take Rook and Bark along. Since Rook’s new job keeps him up to his ears in snow for most of the year and if the weather guys get it right, we’ll be getting our fill of it in a few weeks, so I don’t think it’ll be hard to convince Barker. We could make it a guys’ getaway—hell, we’re entitled to those, same as the girls,” he added.

  “Sure we are.” Linus gave a half shrug. “Thing is, guys’ getaways are a lot more fun when girls participate. No offence, but Rook and Bark aren’t exactly the playmates who’d put that fun in motion.”

  “Yeah, well, it wouldn’t be much fun if everybody didn’t have a playmate,” Tig observed.

  Linus grinned, the gesture sparking his faint dimple. “You know, I won’t have trouble finding one of those to bring along.”

  “Mmm, but not the one you want.” Eli held his bottle poised for drinking while regarding his friend with quiet amusement. “Who is she?” he asked.

  Linus’s grin remained, but the gesture appeared just a tad forced. “Do you really need me to talk about my list of conquests now?”

  “No. Just the one who’s got you in this mood.”

  The grin vanished. In its place was a series of muscle twitches along the jawline. Linus left his recliner and began to pace the living area.

  “We don’t mean to pry, man.” Tig winced. “If you don’t want to talk—”

  “It’s okay.” Linus shook his head. “I should’ve told you guys about her a long time ago.”

  “Girl from your past?” Tig guessed.

  “Way past,” Linus confirmed.

  “We know her?” Eli asked.

  “Yeah.” Linus turned then, folding his arms over his chest while he leaned against a wall. “Paula Starker.”

  Tig and Eli exchanged looks.

  “Paula?” Tig blurted.

  “DA Paula Starker?” Eli emphasized.

  Linus’s lazy grin returned. “Yes and yes.”

  “Get the hell out of here!” Tig ordered, after silence had held the room in its grip for half a minute.

  Eli roared with laughter. “Damn, man, if you didn’t want to talk about it, you could’ve said so!”

  “It’s not a joke,” Linus insisted, though he fully understood his friends’ disbelief.

  “She’s the DA.” Tig apparently felt the need to reiterate that fact.

  Linus only smiled. “She wasn’t always.”

  “How is this possible?” Eli wanted to know. “We’ve been friends since the crib.”

  Linus laughed heartily then. “Does that mean we have to know everything about each other?”

  Eli shrugged. “I’d say everything else pales in comparison once you know someone crapped their pants up through first grade.”

  Laughter exploded between the old friends.

  “Lies!” Linus roared. “That only happened when they served that green pudding for lunch.”

  “I gotta agree with E, man.” Tig’s tone brought a touch of seriousness back to the conversation. “Soph and Paula are best friends. She’d have mentioned it.”

  Linus grew more serious then too. “Guess she’s done as good a job keeping it from her friends as I have from mine.”

  Eli leaned over to set his bottle on an end table. “What happened?” he asked.

  “Lost my temper.” Linus knew it wouldn’t take much more than those words to give his friends a good idea of how things had derailed. Questions remained, however.

  “Did you hit her?” The gold flecks in Tig’s dark eyes glinted with unspoken disapproval.

  “No.” Self-disgust had sent the faint amber hue of Linus’s gaze diluting to its molten chocolate state. “But I didn’t much care where the furniture landed when I threw it. She wasn’t touched, but she could’ve been.” Linus reclaimed his seat on the recliner. “Touched or not, she got hurt just the same. I said things...called her names.”

  “What names?”

  “The bad kind.” Linus sent Eli a humorless smirk. “She’s got every right to hate me, and she’s made it clear that she does over the few times we’ve seen each other lately.”

  “In Cortina?” Eli shifted a meaningful look at Tig while referring to the recent trip they had taken to Rook Lourdess’s home.

  “Hmph, yeah.” Linus shook his head in spite of himself. “Then there was Mexico.”

  Tig winced. “So I guess all the love and adoration that’s been goin’ around has been hell on you.”

  “You’ve got no idea, T.” Linus managed a weary grin. “She should have been my wife by now. The night I lost it, I was gonna propose.”

  “Jesus, Line...” A measure of Eli’s own temper surfaced then. “It was that serious and you never told us?”

  “Nothin’ personal, E.” Linus shrugged weakly. “It was just so good for so long between us and I didn’t want to do anything to set them off.”

  “Them?”

  “My demons,” Linus said in reply to Tig’s query. “They’d been quiet for so long before that night. I thought maybe...maybe they were gone. That somehow I’d defeated them. It took that night to see there was no defeat, no triumph ’til I turned and faced them.”

  “Looks like you have.” Tig spread his hands in an encompassing gesture. “We haven’t been witness to any furniture-throwing outbreaks lately.”

  “Paula hasn’t been in my life lately, T. Sometimes I think all my so-called progress is a joke. It won’t be real until I turn and face her—apologize for what I did.”

  “So what happened that night?” Eli queried, his expression a tad guarded. “To make you do what you did?”

  “That’s not the point.” Linus’s features visibly sharpened as well. “The point is I did it and I need her to give me the chance to tell her how sorry I am.”

  The looks exchanged between Eli and Tig were laced with uncertainty again.

  “An apology for what you did might go over better if you tell her why you did it,” Tig noted.

  Linus’s features remained set. “Why doesn’t matter.”

  “It might to her,” Tig challenged.

  Linus leaned
forward then and held his head in his hands. Silently, he agreed.

  * * *

  “But that’s for later. First, I want to hear about this young man.”

  Paula sent strongly worded mental orders to her brain to pick her jaw up off the ground. She watched Miranda Bormann with a mix of humor and disbelief.

  “You can’t just lay something like this on me and expect us to go back to talking about my love life,” she said.

  “Ah, so you are in love with him?”

  “Professor B—”

  “Humor an old woman, love.”

  “Okay. Where is she?” Paula countered.

  Miranda Bormann’s gaze sparkled slyly. “Nice try, but flattery won’t help. I want to know about your young man. Let’s start with when you met him.”

  “Alright.” Paula anticipated the woman’s surprise at what she would say next. “A few weeks before I got my law degree.”

  Miranda Bormann was indeed stunned. “You met him then, but I’ve never seen you with a diamond on a certain finger. What gives?”

  “Remember that drama I spoke of? There was a ton of it.”

  Bormann blinked. “Still?”

  The inquiry had Paula wincing. “It kind of carried over—it was hard to run from.”

  “Such are the ways things tend to be when it comes to drama with the one we love, and don’t try telling me you’re not in love with him. If you could see your face, you’d know that’s what’s written all over it.”

  “I can’t let myself get snagged back into it, Professor B.” Paula drew a hand through her loose curls. “I’ve come too far. I’m not the little idiot he knew.”

  “But he’s still on your mind?”

  “We’ve got mutual friends. We bump into each other sometimes since they’ve gotten back together.” Paula tapped her fingers against the glossy countertop. “It keeps bringing all the other stuff back.”

  “And you can’t ignore it?”

  “Oh, I could.” Paula swore and pushed away from the island to pace the kitchen. “But he wants to—to talk about it. To explain what went wrong.”

  “And you don’t want to know.”

  “I want to know, but I—” Paula bowed her head, pressing her lips together as though she were trying to tell herself to get it together. “If he tells me what happened, I—I’m afraid I’ll...”

  “Fall deeper for him than you already have.”

  Paula looked directly at her mentor. “I can’t let that happen.”

  “But, honey, why? Especially when it seems you both still have feelings for each other.”

  “Linus Brooks is a part of my past.” Paula looked a mite flustered. “It’s best he stays there.”

  “Linus Brooks.” Something sharpened in Miranda Bormann’s expression.

  “I’ve done a pretty good job of not letting my heart have a say in any of this.” Paula took no notice of Bormann’s manner. “I’ve been pretty happy because of that. Guess I owe that to Linus. Dammit.” Again, she tugged her fingers through her hair. “Why the hell does he have to come messing with my head now?”

  Bormann stood. “You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you’ll figure out the best way to handle it.” Bormann fidgeted with the ends of the braided ponytail she sported. Her dark hair was just beginning to show silver strands along her temples.

  “Yeah, well...my head doesn’t work so well with him inside it,” Paula went on.

  Bormann smiled. “It may not be such a bad idea to let your heart do a little talking either.”

  Paula snorted. “Please tell me it’s time to change the subject.”

  “Are you sure you want that?”

  Paula threw back her head. “More than sure!”

  Miranda Bormann’s smile looked defiant. “Just remember you said that.”

  The woman’s tone had Paula eyeing her curiously. “What is it? What’s really going on with you, Professor B?”

  Bormann retrieved the folder from the island. She offered it to Paula.

  “I’m guessing this is why you really wanted to see me?” Paula took the folder.

  Bormann shrugged. “Of course not. You know I always enjoy our chats.”

  “But?”

  “But I need another perspective on this.”

  “What is it?” Paula asked even as she flipped through the folder.

  “I’ve always taught my students that it’s better to be armed with a cache of facts before charging in with allegations.” Bormann’s unreadable gaze was set on the folder. “Those are my facts—what little I’ve been able to gather.”

  Paula closed the folder and joined Bormann, pulling the woman along with her to the den area across from the kitchen. “Talk to me, Professor,” she insisted once they were seated.

  Bormann laughed quietly. “It’s my own damn fault for digging up a mess I’d probably have been able to live my life blissfully unaware of.”

  The renowned lawyer aimed an index finger at her former pupil. “Don’t let anyone tell you different, Miss DA—retirement is a wonderful drug, but boredom is one bitch of a side effect.”

  “What’d you find?” Paula asked through a tight smile.

  “I married into all this.” Bormann raised her hands toward the high ceilings. “I married into Hank’s money, and he wasn’t any more interested in it than I was.” She smiled at the mention of her late husband, Henry Bormann.

  “Still.” She sighed. “The money management fell to him as the firstborn. When he died, he’d made arrangements so I wouldn’t have to deal with any of that. Most of my financial advisors are his family—the others are friends of the family.”

  “You don’t trust them,” Paula detected.

  “I don’t know who to trust. Which is why I’ve had an old friend from law school helping me on the sly, when my digging around uncovered some discrepancies I didn’t expect.”

  “Discrepancies?”

  “Oh, nothing’s been taken,” Bormann was quick to assure, “but I’ve noticed funds have...shifted on dates that coincided with times I’ve been away on speaking engagements. I wouldn’t have been involved with moving funds then. I haven’t come across anything that’s been removed and not replaced, but Hank had a lot of private property outside of the family holdings. My friend confirmed that some of those properties have been earmarked for development.”

  Paula returned to shuffling through the folder. “Have you visited any of these sites?”

  “Some, I’m sure. My husband’s holdings were vast. There’s no way of knowing which developments are on the up-and-up and which aren’t.” She gave an exasperated huff. “Maybe they are on the level, and it’s just the shifting of funds that has me suspicious. Regardless, I can’t go to any of the family with this.”

  “Why’s that?”

  Bormann’s exasperation mixed with frustration. “For one, my nephew has immediate control of my assets and I’d rather not alert him until I have enough to prevent him from wiggling out with a lie. If I alert anyone else...”

  “It’s liable to get back to him,” Paula finished. Sighing then as well, she shook her head. “I’m out of my element here, Professor. My friend Sophie is the detective, not me.”

  “Which is why I wanted to see you about this.”

  “You want the police involved?”

  Bormann shoved away the idea. “We aren’t there yet—this could all be a misunderstanding, which is the second reason I’m playing this close to the vest. My nephew, Hayden, took over the management of my finances from his father, Hank’s younger brother. When Hayden assumed control, safeguards were also put in place regarding my access and freedom with my finances. That freedom is how I was able to get in and look around in the first place. The safeguards are there should I ever become mentally incompetent to make certain decisions. I can’t alert the family that I’m ques
tioning activity until I have proof to back me up. Otherwise, I risk questions regarding my state of mind and I—”

  “Risk losing access to your own damn money.” Paula balled a fist, hating to see her mentor in such a bind. “You say you don’t want the police in on this but that you called me because of Sophie?”

  Bormann straightened. “Actually, it’s her husband I’m interested in. He and his partners. I think his company, Joss Construction, is one of my nephew’s clients that Hayden may be using my assets to do business with.”

  Again, Paula felt in danger of losing her lower jaw function.

  “I believe my suspicions are spot on,” Bormann continued. “I may even have evidence that could link Hayden to one of the properties and prove to his clients that he’s dealing under the table.”

  “So you don’t think his clients are acting under the table with him?” Paula asked.

  “I’m willing to keep an open mind on that score. Still, I can’t be sure that none of them are speaking out because they’re unaware of the scam or because they’re benefitting financially.” Bormann’s expression turned apologetic. “I hate coming to you with this, hon. I know Joss has a very respected name in the business. This isn’t about bringing them down.”

  “I get it, Professor B. You need someone in your corner who can’t be disputed.” Paula stood then, considering the situation as she paced the broad area flooded with natural lighting from the bay windows lining that end of the room.

  “Professor B, why do you think Joss might be one of your nephew’s clients? Do you have any signed documents or—”

  Miranda Bormann was already shaking her head. “Hayden was always a smart kid. I’d hoped he’d go into the law profession when he was younger, but I soon realized that he was lacking in character and would do nothing for the field except add to the heap of lawyer jokes we all know and loathe. He’s too smart to go and leave signed documents lying around, but Joss is the only client I can suspect him of having. He hasn’t even been seen meeting with anyone who could fit the bill.” She blew out a laugh. “He hasn’t even been seen meeting with Joss.”

  “Then how do you know about them?”

  “Paula, I may live in Boston, but I’ve still got a lot of friends and former colleagues in Philly. Some of those friends have known Hayden since he was a baby. He was seen going into Joss. Of course he could’ve been there to use their restroom, but something tells me his visit was about more than that.”