She moved up beside him and he inhaled her spring-rain scent. Damn. If he didn’t have something to do with his hands, he’d be reaching for her. Good way to get punched out like old André.
“Why are you smiling?”
He wrapped his hands around his beer. “Thinking about the way you decked the Frenchman. Nice right cross.”
“Thanks.” She frowned. “André tried to see Cassie again. To apologize, I guess. She slammed the door in his face.”
“Good for her. How’s she doing?”
“She bounced back as usual. New neighbor has a lot to do with it. Single dad about her age with a daughter in Livvie’s class. My mom’s there now too. My share of the reward money came in handy. I brought her back East. She’s living at the house with Cassie and Livvie while she looks for a condo.”
“That’s great. Really great.” How lame could he be? If she didn’t hate him, he’d bore her to death with small talk.
She set her bag on a big empty ceramic planter. He pictured her tending flowers and sitting with him at a table out here—real wood, teak, not cold iron like Falco’s.
From the don’t-mess-with-me look in her midnight eyes, she wasn’t giving him anymore time to soften her up. As if. “My dad. Some nebulous proof. What’s going on?”
“I’ll get to that. Bear with me.” He set down his bottle and reached for her. He held her hands so she couldn’t run from him. Damn but her skin was soft. He’d missed the feel of her so much. “But I have to... I have something else first. Please hear me out.”
Her eyes gleamed, two dark pits of suspicion. Shit, but he’d earned her mistrust.
“Seeing Rousso and Hauptman hold a gun on you slammed me in the gut with fear I’ve never felt in my life. I was too numb afterward to think coherently. When you walked out my door, I felt empty, cold, like the sun had been stolen from the sky.
“You trusted me to keep you safe, even when I didn’t trust you. Or anybody. You kept telling me it was myself I didn’t trust. That I wasn’t responsible for my mom’s death. You were right. It took stewing in my own juices for a month to accept it as truth. As reality. And to move past it, like you said. I should’ve been there for Mom, but I’m finally out from under Leon’s shadow. I’m no more my father than you are yours. Except yours really was innocent.”
“Cort, you don’t have to—”
“Yes. I do. Let me finish or I might not be able to get it all out.” He kissed her knuckles but held on. She didn’t try to pull away. He still had a chance.
“Okay.”
“I screwed things up between us. I was so paranoid about trust I couldn’t see what was reasonable. Like you consulting somebody in your office. And comforting Cassie. I should’ve known Rousso would research me and know about the cabin. I was out of line and I’m sorry. You don’t know how sorry. I wanted to end the Gramornia thing to get on with my life. But without you, I have no life.”
“Cort, I—” Her beautiful eyes shimmered with tears.
“God, Mara, I love you. I’ve never said that to anybody. Never felt this way before. You reach the places inside me I’ve never let anybody else touch. It’s like before you my life was gray as my T-shirt and now it’s in Technicolor. With you I feel like my whole body is smiling. I miss going to sleep at night with you in my arms and waking up beside you. I miss watching you sleep. I miss arguing with you and laughing with you. Don’t take the color and life away, Mara. Don’t hate me. I want a future with you. I want—”
But he couldn’t finish because she was in his arms and kissing him. Her fierce embrace blanked out all coherent thought. All he could do was drink in her sweetness and let the scent and the warmth of her wash through him.
She ended the kiss and blinked at him through tears. Of joy, he thought. He hoped. “Of course I don’t hate you. I told you I love you and I still do. You’re an honorable man, but you had to learn that about yourself the hard way. I love your gentleness, your strength, your passion for your work.” She smiled wickedly. “And your passion for me.”
“And Thomas Devlin?”
“My boss? What does he have to do with us?”
Her obvious bewilderment was all he needed to know. “Nothing at all.” He leaned his forehead against hers. His heart still raced like a hamster in a wheel. “Thank God. Can we go inside now? I need to sit down.”
Laughing, she led the way.
They took adjoining kitchen stools, the only real furniture in the house other than his table. Except for upstairs. He opened teas for them both. His had spilled onto the bricks when she jumped him. He kissed her gently on the small scar. “Does it hurt?”
She shook her head. “The doctor said it’d fade in time.”
“Your badge of courage.”
“Funny. I think of it that way too.” Her gaze dropped to his arms. She traced a finger over the snaking lines. “Your tattoos. They’ve faded.”
“Laser removal takes time. A few more treatments and I’m finished.” Then he could put that outward sign of his painful past behind for good. Because of Mara, most of the inner pain was gone too. “You probably want to know about your dad now.”
“Cort, I came to terms about my father’s guilt. But it’s okay if you want to try—”
He kissed her to shut her up. “Not try, sweetheart. Only do, according to a famous philosopher. I kept thinking about the cryptic letter that came with your dad’s ring piece. Why would Leon list the conspirators for him? None of the others knew any names. So I gave Leon’s old attorney a call. Hogan Fox retired after Dad’s trial, so his name’s not on the law firm now.”
“He phoned me after Leon died. To get me to agree to talk to you. So?”
“His old law firm is Beckham, Dixon, and Kress. Ring a bell?”
Her bottle halted mid-air. “They sent Mom the package with the ring.”
“After Quincy died. Right?”
She nodded. “Mom said it came when she was packing up his things. What does that have to do with it?”
“Everything, according to Fox. Leon didn’t trust anybody. Yeah, yeah, I know,” he added when she grinned. “The packet with the letter and ring piece was self-protection. It was to be sent to your dad if Leon was to die suddenly or under suspicious circumstances. Otherwise I’m guessing he was going to reclaim it before he and the others went to get the jewels. Or maybe he had another identical one stashed away somewhere. Who knows?”
“I don’t understand. The ring piece was mailed years ago.”
“And never opened until it reached you. Fox turned over all his files to others in his firm. He said he explained what to do with Leon’s package but the assistant got the instructions wrong. Instead of mailing it if Leon died, she mailed it when your dad died.”
Her face lit up like Christmas morning.
“‘I’m sending this to you, Q, because I know you’ll do what I expect with it,’” Cort quoted.
“Because he knew Dad would do the right thing. He would investigate. He would inform the police of the identities of Leon’s accomplices in case one of them killed him. My dad was the honest man I always knew he was.”
“Exactly.”
She frowned. “But finding the rings wouldn’t have led either the FBI or Dad to the crown jewels.”
“Right again. Either he just wanted revenge or he figured they’d come to me with the verse once they had the rings.”
“And you would find the jewels. Which you did.” She beamed through happy tears.
“Fox is calling Global Insurance about your dad’s pension going to your mom. He said he’d see she got back payments. The whole law firm will be on it. They’re worried you’ll sue them. The wheels are turning.” He lifted his green tea for a toast.
But again Mara jumped him. The liquid spilled across the countertop.
He didn’t care. Her kisses were the only sustenance he needed. He locked her in place with his legs, reveled in the hot sweep of her tongue, the shift of her body against him, the silken feel of
her hair brushing his fingers. Blood whooshed in his ears and the heavy pull of desire hardened his body. But he had one more bit of good news to impart. Maybe two.
He set her away from him with a last taste of her delectable lower lip. “Hold that thought, sweetheart.”
“There’s more?” She looked so sexy with her lips shining from his kisses and her eyes twin pools of black that he nearly forgot what he still had to say.
“About that, no. About us, definitely. This farmhouse doesn’t look like much, I know.”
“It has more potential than that cabin you lived in.” Her smile morphed into concern. “But leave Maine? What about the woodworking school?”
“Seems the boss didn’t tell people he fired me. He said I took a leave of absence.”
“I’m biting my tongue not to say I told you so. And?”
“He asked me to come back. Offered a raise and a co-teaching position in the nine-month class. But I’m done with living in the woods. Light and open spaces are for me. And a certain woman who brightens everything.”
“And this house?”
“It’s solid so the repairs are mostly cosmetic. The heirs have released it for sale, at a reasonable price. Four bedrooms, room for a family. Someday, I mean, if you want. If you don’t like the house, if you’d rather stay in D.C., we can look for something el—”
“Cort, stop. Shut up.” When he stopped babbling, she smiled. “I love you. I love the house. I’ve had enough of living in a cramped city apartment. I’ve always wanted a big old house I could fix up. We can work on it together for when that family comes along.”
“I love you so much. Damn, now that I’ve let those words out, I’m going to drive you nuts saying them all the time.”
She laughed, music he wanted to hear for the rest of his life. “I’ll hold you to it.”
His heart thudded so hard his chest hurt. His body flamed with summer heat. He wanted her so much he could barely focus. “I, um, did buy one piece of furniture. It’s upstairs in the master suite. Would you like to try it out?”
Her smile bloomed, slow and sultry. “Show me.”
So he did.
*****
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading RING OF TRUTH. When I introduced Mara Marton in ON DEADLY GROUND, I knew she needed her own book. A beautiful geek researcher, how could she not need her own happily ever after? I had to do my own heavy research for this book—prison culture and tattoos, museum security, crown jewels, and all the locations in the story. My clock-building husband had to answer many questions about woodworking. I hope you enjoyed this book. If you did, please help others find the book by leaving a review at the retailer where you purchased it.
--Susan
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About the Author
SUSAN VAUGHAN is the multi-published author of romantic suspense novels. Her books have won the Golden Leaf, More Than Magic, and Write Touch Readers’ awards and have been an RT Book Reviews Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Nominee and a finalist for the Booksellers’ Best and Daphne du Maurier awards. Her books have been translated into German, French, Spanish, and Icelandic and published in more than eleven countries. She’s a West Virginia native, but she and her husband have lived in Maine for many years.
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She loves to hear from readers: [email protected].
Also by Susan Vaughan
ON DEADLY GROUND (Devlin Security Force #1)
NEVER SURRENDER (Task Force Eagle #1)
ONCE BURNED (Task Force Eagle #2)
TWICE A TARGET (Task Force Eagle #3)
PRIMAL OBSESSION
Read first chapters at www.susanvaughan.com
ON DEADLY GROUND (Devlin Security Force #1)
Desperate to save her brother, a timid museum director must work with the cynical ex-military guide she doesn’t trust to return a precious Mayan artifact to its temple, but when desire flares between them, outrunning international black-market smugglers and an earthquake seems simple compared to risking their hearts.
RING OF TRUTH (Devlin Security Force #2)
A former jewel thief’s only chance for redemption is to convince a dead insurance investigator’s daughter to aid him in retrieving a cache of legendary jewels ahead of an international smuggling syndicate.
CLEOPATRA’S NECKLACE (Devlin Security Force #3)
Take-charge security CEO Thomas Devlin, a former Delta Force officer, and his old flame, Cleo Chandler, an unconventional artist, must race a ruthless crime syndicate to recover a priceless treasure, but it means risking everything—their lives, their hearts.
Praise for Susan Vaughan’s Books
About TASK FORCE EAGLE
“NEVER SURRENDER is filled with action, suspense, romance .... I very much enjoy when an author lets you play along with solving the mystery by feeding you little bits and pieces.” – Fresh Fiction
“NEVER SURRENDER bristles with both suspense and romance.” –Reader Grady H –5 Stars on Amazon
“ONCE BURNED is action packed, with a number of twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing and reading. This...is an excellent action romance series.” – Fresh Fiction
“A good and fast-paced story with a similar cocktail of romance and mystery... and I just love it!” –Amazon reader John P about ONCE BURNED 5 Stars
“TWICE A TARGET gives you heart-pounding excitement from beginning to end.” –Fresh Fiction
“Plenty of mystery and intrigue... The characters are fantastic.” –Crystal Lanham about TWICE A TARGET, on Goodreads
About PRIMAL OBSESSION
“Susan Vaughan writes an intensely romantic thriller.... The depth of the characters in the story is probably the part that makes this such a great read. They’re all exceptionally well crafted.” - The Romance Studio - 5 Hearts
“PRIMAL OBSESSION is a first-class thriller with the author successfully throwing suspicion on all characters.” WRDF Review
Ring of Truth (Devlin Security Force Book 2) Page 28