The Hot Sergeant (Second Chance Military Romance) (Hargrave Brothers - Book #2)

by Alexa Davis

  “Why does David think that Miles or Celia would give him money, considering what we now know to be true?”

  Miles sighed and said, “I’ll take that one, son,”

  He stood and walked across the room towards the massive stone fireplace. Next to the fireplace stood an enormous blue spruce, all decorated for Christmas with professionally wrapped presents already underneath. Miles stopped next to the tree and seemed to be admiring the twinkling of the lights for several minutes, before finally turning to Alicia.

  “He has something on my son that he has threatened to go to the authorities with if I don’t send him the money he wants by midnight on Friday.”

  Alicia raised an eyebrow, but didn’t speak. Miles turned towards her and continued, “My son was in the mountains the day my wife died ten years ago. The authorities never had that information, so he was never questioned regarding her death. I don’t want him questioned, and I have gone through great pains to make sure that never happens. My son is weak. He couldn’t stand up to an interrogation. He would crack like an egg in five minutes or less.

  “My daughter, she was cursed only by naivety. She was thinking that she could trust this man-whore she was seeing, and she told him some things that she never should have, things that should have remained in the family. That little gay boy wants to use that information now to destroy my family. If I thought he would go away, I would just pay him the damn money. I don’t believe for a second though that he would stop there. That boy would keep this shit up until he bleeds me and my family dry.”

  “May I ask why it’s so critical that the authorities not know Miles V was there the day your wife died?”

  Brigham looked at her, and with his next words, I think Alicia had begun to understand the disdain he held in his eyes when he looked at his son.

  “Because, little lady, my son killed her.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  ALICIA

  I looked at Adam and saw that he wasn’t shocked by any of this. He walked over and put his hand on my arm and said,

  “It’s alright. When Miles hired us, his son also paid to retain us as his legal counsel. What Miles just told you was disclosed to us after he hired us as counsel.” Adam looked at Miles, and then back at me and said,

  “We did, of course, suggest the possibility of Miles V turning himself in. Neither he nor his father here were interested in that suggestion, however. Until now, it had not really become an issue. Our concern at this point is that David will in fact tell the authorities what he knows.”

  I dropped down on the plush beige couch that I was standing next to. I watched the lights on the designer tree twinkle while I gathered my thoughts. Looking towards Adam, I said,

  “So, my job is to keep Miles IV from getting arrested in relation to Vick’s murder, right?”

  Adam said, “Yes, that is a large part of it.”

  It suddenly dawned on me why he really wanted my criminal law expertise. “You expect me to defend Miles V also if what David is saying he did ever comes into play.” Adam gave me a nod and I went on, “Okay, then, what else do I need to know?” There was really no going back now.

  The men spent the better part of the next hour filling in the blanks for me before I had enough and excused myself to turn in for the night. I had barely made it back to our room when Adam followed me in.

  My mood had significantly darkened from earlier in the evening. He tried to touch me, but I told him I was too tired and rolled away from him. I wasn’t really angry with him, but I was pretty annoyed about what he’d gotten me into here. After a while, I felt him snuggle into me and press his hips into my behind. He draped his arm across my waist and pulled me into him tightly. I moved forward and he followed me until I was on the edge of the bed and couldn’t move any further.

  I finally rolled over to chastise him, but before I could get any words out he covered my mouth with his. I didn’t resist the kiss and as usual, my entire body responded to it. My stress and fatigue was suddenly replaced by desire, and as he pulled me up on top of him and lifted my nightgown up over my hips, I didn’t protest. Instead, I made love to him and him to me until we were both so truly exhausted that neither of us could stay awake a moment longer.

  We woke the next morning to Hannah’s wake-up tap on the door. We were wrapped so tightly in arms and legs that it was almost hard to tell which limbs were whose.

  After a quick breakfast with just the two of us that Hannah served on the terrace, we were picked up by one of Miles’ drivers and driven to the airstrip. Hannah had packed up all of the paperwork that I had not had time to finish reading through the day before. She also issued a message from Miles, expressing his regrets at having to leave so early and not being able to see us off properly. There was no sign before we left of neither Celia nor Miles V, and for that I was grateful.

  I felt a little guilty, but I actually allowed myself to hope that neither Miles would be arrested and I wouldn’t be forced to defend either of them. I also wasn’t sure that Celia was innocent in all of this, either. The look in her eyes when she spoke about David’s affairs with Vick had been pure hatred. Who’s to say she wasn’t involved, as well?

  Nonetheless, I was their lawyer now and regardless of my personal feelings, I would give them the best possible defense…if any of them ended up needing one.

  I read through more of Brigham’s files on the flight home while Adam reclined in his seat and took a nap. I stopped what I was doing and looked over at him.

  He was probably the most beautiful man that I had ever seen. I sometimes felt that it wasn’t fair that his looks had so much power over me. His looks, of course, were not the only thing I found to love about him, but pushing him away might be much easier if I didn’t have to look into his sexy dark eyes when I did it.

  I had enjoyed our time together at Brigham’s estate immensely. But if things didn’t go as Adam hoped they would at his hearing on Monday, I had already resolved to end things once and for all. I couldn’t keep this up. It wasn’t fair to act as if I were having an illicit affair when in fact I wasn’t.

  I finally tore my eyes away from him and continued with my reading of the Brigham file. I looked through some of the photos, as well, during the rest of the flight. Whoever these investigators were that Miles IV had hired, had done a fantastic job surveilling Vick.

  We had photos of his intimate trysts with Priscilla and David that looked as if they had been taken from inside the apartment. I felt even worse for Celia then as I looked at the photos of Vick and David. I had quickly set aside the ones of them involved in sexual activity, but the ones of them just spending time together, enjoying a glass of wine or just talking were up close and personal enough that you could almost read the love in David’s eyes. Celia had definitely been the beard here and it had to hurt the poor girl to realize it.

  As the plane descended back down into La Guardia, I sat the file aside. Adam opened his eyes and smiled that sweet, sleepy, oh so sexy smile that I loved so much.

  “Hi, gorgeous,” he said as he sat up and buckled his seatbelt for the landing.

  “Hi,” I said simply, but with a smile that let him know what I was thinking.

  As I was buckling my seatbelt, he leaned forward and kissed me. “A few more days, and then we’ll be together…forever. Think you can handle that?”

  I couldn’t help myself. Just the thought of having Adam to myself at last made me smile broadly. “I can’t wait,” I said, and although I was thinking ahead about what I may have to do if things didn’t go as planned, I didn’t have the heart to bring it up.

  We went our separate ways at the airport. Adam was going back to the office, so he took a cab. I took the town car back to my apartment. I was exhausted and all I wanted was to relax in my own home.

  After a long hot shower, I listened to my voicemails. I had been so wrapped up in all of the Brigham drama that I hadn’t even answered my phone in almost two days. The first message was from Kyla, wanting to know how min
e and Adam’s time together had gone.

  The second was from my mother. It reminded me that my parents would be in town in just over a week, and I had better find some time to do some decorating and shopping for Christmas. My mother would be shocked if she knew her daughter had waited this late in the season to get a tree or put out so much as a twig of holly. Mrs. Winston had always begun the decorating on the first day of December, albeit she mostly acted as an orchestrater to her staff.

  The third call was from Jack. He wanted to know if I would like to have dinner on Friday night. I would have to give that one some thought. Instead of calling him back, I called Kyla. A little innocent girl talk was what I really needed after the past two days of drama and bizarre confessions.

  As it turned out, it was a lot of girl talk. I finally hung up almost two hours later. I told Kyla what a great time Adam and I had, what a bizarre family Miles Brigham IV had, and about Jack and his most recent phone call. Kyla had helped me to decide that there would be no harm in an innocent dinner out with an old friend. I had ultimately agreed, and after hanging up with Kyla, I called Jack and accepted.

  I spent the rest of the day getting things done around the apartment and didn’t sit down with the Brigham file again until evening. Over a cup of chamomile tea and some homemade cookies, I set about re-reading all of the documents.

  Miles IV had told me that he was out of town the night Vick was murdered. He claimed he had been in Louisiana with a woman he had recently begun seeing. Inside the file were copies of his private pilot’s flight plans for the day in question. I thought that it could be used as a very convincing alibi if need be.

  There was no mention in the file of Miles V or Celia’s whereabouts that evening. This concerned me a bit, knowing now what I did about the murder of Brigham’s third wife. There were copies of Miles IV bank records, as well. I assumed that these were to prove he hadn’t paid anyone to kill Vick while he was out of town formulating an alibi. I did think, however, that had I been the police or FBI, I would know that the great and powerful Brigham would never be foolish enough to write out a traceable check for a murder for hire scheme.

  My eyes were growing weary. I put the file aside at last, and headed to bed. I checked my phone before lying down, somewhat disappointed that Adam hadn’t called to say goodnight. I started to think about him being across town in that plush, Manhattan apartment with Marjorie, but made myself stop. First of all, if I knew Adam, he was probably still at work, and second of all, even if he was home, he was not with Marjorie. I turned off the bedside light and closed my eyes, willing myself to dream of days to come when we could finally be together. Maybe all of Adam’s Marjorie drama will be over before my parents arrived for the holidays, and then it would really be a Merry Christmas.

  Adam finally called me the next morning as I was making my coffee.

  “Good morning, baby,” he said. “How was the rest of your day yesterday?”

  “It was peaceful,” I said. “Much more relaxing than the drama we walked into at the Brigham mansion.”

  Adam laughed. “Yes, they are an interesting bunch, aren’t they? I got to spend the rest of my day working on his civil case. We go to trial soon. The press continues to tear him up on a daily basis, baby, and I don’t think things are looking too good for us as far as an untainted jury pool here in New York. I don’t know if you’ve seen the Post yet?”

  I said I hadn’t and he went on, “That reporter I met with, Rose, did a piece today that wasn’t just about the oil spill and the effects it had on the environment and the people, it was about Brigham himself. She had some pretty personal things in there, and even hinted that although she didn’t personally believe that Brigham had killed anyone himself, it was a pretty safe bet that his hands weren’t clean. She wasn’t only speaking about Vick’s murder; she was hinting around about his wife, as well.”

  “Wow, I wonder where she’s getting her information.” I opened the front door and picked up my own paper. I recognized Rose’s byline on the front page, and as Adam talked, I skimmed through the article. I was surprised to find that some of the information in the article mirrored things that had been in personal documents Miles had allowed me to view.

  “Adam,” I said, thoughtfully, “do you think maybe David has been in touch with Rose and perhaps that is where she is getting some of her inside information?”

  “I thought of that, too. Whoever she is getting her info from is definitely skewed towards Brigham being guilty of more than just wealth and power.”

  We mused over that for a bit, and then before I finally told Adam that I had to hang up and finish getting ready for work, I told him about Jack being in town and planning to have dinner with him on Friday night.

  “Hmmm, an old friend, huh?” Adam said, I think he was trying to sound like he was joking but he also sounded a little worried. He confirmed that as he said, “No old feelings there, I hope?”

  “He’s just an old and dear friend,” I told him. “It’s nice to catch up with someone from back home for a change.”

  Adam didn’t say anything else about it. Instead, he changed the subject back to his hearing on Monday and how he couldn’t wait to finally be rid of Marjorie. We hung up on that note, with Adam promising to check in on me later at the office.

  When I got to the office several hours later, it was unnaturally quiet. I ran into Carla in the hallway headed to our office.

  “Why is it so eerily quiet around here today?” I asked.

  “Well, Mr. Hanson and Mac are closed in the conference room in a meeting with Mr. Brigham and his associates. Nico and Kyla are in court this morning, I think, and I am not sure what’s going on with the rest of the staff. Maybe they’re all taking time off for the holidays,” she said.

  “Hmm, maybe,” I said, thoughtfully as I took the message slips Carla handed me. I stepped into my own private office and began going through them. They were mostly all simple matters that I could handle quickly this afternoon. There was one, however, that intrigued me at once. It was from a Rose Dugan at the Post, and it had a number. The message urged me to call ASAP. I was curious enough that I did just that. The number I called was a cell phone, and it was answered at once by a girl that didn’t sound old enough to be a journalist at all. I was tempted to ask her if her mommy was home.

  “Ms. Dugan?” I asked instead.

  “Yes, this is her.”

  “This is Alicia Winston; I’m returning a call from you.”

  “Ms. Winston, yes, I am so glad you called. I was interested in finding out if perhaps you and I could meet sometime to talk about a serial piece I am doing on one of your client’s for the Post?”

  “Well, Ms. Dugan, you do know that a lawyer who is in the process of representing a client is bound by confidentiality? I’m sure there wouldn’t be much information I could give you.”

  “I am aware of that, Ms. Winston; actually, I was hoping to give you a little inside information.”

  I was really intrigued. I agreed to meet with Rose over lunch at a coffee shop nearby the office. I couldn’t imagine what type of “inside information” she could possibly have, but I was interested enough to go and find out.

  I spent the rest of the morning returning phone calls and completing paperwork I had gotten behind on the past few days. I was about to wrap it up and leave for my meeting with Rose when Adam walked in. He came around behind my desk, and taking me by the hands he lifted me to my feet and planted a kiss on my lips.

  “I missed you,” he said.

  I smiled and kissed him back. “I missed you, too.”

  “Have lunch with me?”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t,” I told him. I was genuinely sorry. “I have a meeting. I was just leaving before you came in.”

  “Well, I guess as your boss I can’t complain about you working through lunch.” Then taking me into his arms, he said, “As your boyfriend, however, I am very disappointed.”

  I smiled again and said, “Me, too, love.
Maybe we can have dinner?”

  Adam’s mood seemed to change slightly. “Maybe, I’ll try to finish things up here in time.” I wasn’t sure what the mood shift was about, but feeling a little guilty myself for not admitting that my meeting was with Rose Dugan, I let it go.

  ********

  I found Rose waiting for me outside of the coffee shop when I arrived. She looked almost as young in person as she had sounded on the phone. She wore very little make-up, and her dishwater blonde hair was swept back in a hasty bun. She wore Converse tennis shoes and a pair of jeans that were bleached and frayed in places and the overall effect was a high school girl.

  “Ms. Winston?”

  “Yes, hello,” I said as I approached the girl. I put out my hand and received a hasty shake in return.

  “Let’s go inside,” Rose said.

  After we took a seat and ordered our coffees, I said, “I must say, I am curious to know what information you might have with regards to one of my clients.”

  “Well, first of all let’s cut to the chase, Ms. Winston,” Rose told me. “We both know the client that me and all of New York are most interested in right now is the wealthy and powerful Mr. Miles Brigham IV.”

  I had of course known who the client was that interested Rose, but I was determined to let her do all of the talking during this particular meeting. I only nodded slightly, and she went on. “I’m sure you’ve read my piece on him by now?” I again nodded. “I am in touch with a source who knows quite a bit about your client and his family. This source of mine is helping me build my piece, but is also concerned about you being drawn into the mess known as the Brigham family.”