by Sheila Kell
Trent narrowed his eyes at the oldest Hamilton brother. “You knew.”
Jesse dropped on the couch. “Of course I knew. Why do you think I watched you so closely with Em?”
Gaped expressions from the family focused on Jesse. A twitch appeared in Jesse’s jaw.
Jake couldn’t believe it. Someone other than Trent’s parents held the secret and had planned to take it to their grave. Why would anyone do that to Trent? The Hamiltons had always treated Trent as if he were family.
A thought occurred to him. If Jesse held this secret, what others were there? There was no reason to keep secrets with this family. They were tight-knit and backed each other with no questions asked.
“Don’t you think this was a pretty big secret to keep from us?” Devon asked.
Trent’s gaze spun to Devon, anger oozed off him in waves. “This isn’t your fucking secret!”
Actually, it kind of was, but Jake wasn’t going to toss that in the ring. It was a Hamilton family secret, after all.
“You’ve known, haven’t you?” Em asked Trent.
Jake wrapped his arm around her back, and started at Em’s trembling. He’d expected this entire conversation to be uncomfortable, but he hadn’t expected her to react physically. He quickly pulled her close and willed his strength to flow through their embrace.
Trent nodded. “Yes.”
Em wavered on her feet, and Jake led her to a chair to sit. He stood beside her and held her hand. Her eyes wore a pained expression, and his gut clenched at the fact he couldn’t fix this for her. Worse, he didn’t know how she felt about it all. She’d been quiet on the ride from the hospital.
“When I was ten,” Trent began, but paused and took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing, “I wanted a party at the pool at the big house.” He shook his head and snorted. “That’s what I called it when I was young. Anyhow, Mom said no, and I really wanted it, so I thought to ask the senator. He allowed me to do everything else all of you did so I didn’t see why that would have been different.”
Trent looked past everyone and narrowed his eyes as if recalling an unpleasant memory. “He told me that I could on one condition.”
Jake stiffened. He had a feeling he knew what it was. A man faced with a son and a daughter not knowing their relationship but living on the same property needed to do something. Otherwise, that could’ve spelled potential disaster.
“Yep. My old man told me that I could have the party as long as I never touched his daughter.” Trent shrugged.
Em gasped and Jake squeezed her hand in assurance.
“When I got cocky about it, he told me if I ever laid a hand on her my family would be out on our ears.”
“Oh, Trent.” Em’s whispered voice broke.
“At first I thought it meant I wasn’t good enough for his daughter—being the son of the hired help. Then I remembered bits and pieces of conversations from my parents about the senator and me. It hadn’t made much sense at the time. But, adding it to the man’s insistence I stay away from Em….”
Silence filled the room wracked with invisible tension. Jake glanced at Kate and Megan doing as he was, remaining quiet. He wondered if they had that queasiness in their stomachs that he had, which proclaimed him an interloper in this close-family meeting. He imagined they shared his thoughts—to be there for the one they loved.
“Why the fuck didn’t you say something?” Matt exclaimed. “You’re one of us. Why would you hide from that? Are you ashamed of our family? Your family?”
Trent dropped his head back and closed his eyes. “I have a family. I have a mother and a father.” He looked back around the group. “I’m a McKenzie, son of Lily and Roger McKenzie. I don’t need Blake Hamilton trying to come in and stomp on the memory of the fine man who raised me.” Giving no one time to respond, Trent stood. “After Jake and Em get married, I’m taking off. I need to clear my head.”
“When will you be back?” Em asked hopefully.
Striding to the doorway, Trent glanced back over his shoulder. “I’m not sure I will be.”
Twenty
SITTING ON THE couch with her knees pulled up, Emily placed a throw pillow over her stomach and squeezed it tightly. “I can’t believe Dad kept that secret from us.” She looked up at Jake, who sat beside her. “I can’t believe he did that to Trent.”
Jake reached over and toyed with a length of her hair. Knowing he was there for her when she needed someone close eased some of her anguish over the situation. His thoughtful gaze filled her with love and warmth. She couldn’t have handled pity at the moment.
When he didn’t speak, she continued, “I just don’t know what to think now. Part of me is angry with my father for the affair, but the other part of me has my heart bleeding for him for not being able to raise his own son. I can’t imagine how painful that must’ve been for him.” Against her best effort to fight it, her eyes watered. “But, dammit, he lied to us all. I can’t help the pocket of resentment resting inside me, and I don’t want it. He’s my father.”
Jake removed the pillow from her arms, pulled her onto his lap and stroked her back. The reassuring heat of his hand and steady beat of his heart grounded her. He pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “Em, I imagine it’s normal right now to have all these conflicting emotions running rampant through you. You just found out something huge that does more than affect you calling Trent your brother.”
She didn’t want the heated anger that fought to take hold of her senses. Her father had almost died, and she didn’t wish to carry the negativity with her. What if she actually did lose him and she’d held on to her resentment? It would eat her alive for the rest of her life. But how did she deal with it now? He’d cheated on her mother. The circumstances didn’t matter. If he’d loved her mother, then he would’ve remained faithful, no matter what.
Now she knew why Jesse and her father kept such a close eye on her and Trent. It made her sick to her stomach to think what could’ve happened. She’d always thought he would be a great catch for a woman but not for her. Thank goodness.
A tear slid down her face, and she swiped at it. “I don’t know what to do, Jake. I can’t let myself feel this way. I still love my father.”
He lifted her chin so they were eye level. “These feelings aren’t just going to disappear right away, sprite. You need to work through them. Yes, your father cheated. Your mother forgave him. Can you?”
Turning away, she heaved a burdened sigh. “I don’t know.”
“There’s a lot we don’t know about what happened during that time. I don’t think it’s our place to hold him to task for what happened. That would’ve been your mother’s job.” He touched her chin and turned her face back to his. “She took him back, and they kept this family together. None of your brothers remember anything but happiness. I know you were too young to remember your mother, but I think Blake loved her very much. He never remarried, and I think it was because of that love. ”
Em leaped from his lap and stared down at him. “But he lied to us!”
“He did.” Jake tilted his head and raised his eyebrows in question. “What lie is it specifically that has you so torn up?”
Needing time to consider the question, she turned and walked to a window overlooking the backyard where her brothers had joined and were probably talking about the same thing. They seemed more upset at Jesse for keeping the secret than at their father.
What secret ate at her the most? Was it the affair? Was it keeping Trent’s parentage secret? Was it that her brother knew but also kept it from them? Was it that Trent had known all this time? Hell, it all tore her up inside. Her stomach churned at each question. “I don’t know.” She glanced back at him and caught his silent approach. “I guess it’s the magnitude of it all together.” Strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind, and she leaned back into Jake’s hard body.
“It is a doozy. Maybe you just need time to come to terms with how you feel about everything.”
A comfortable silence descended on them as they stood together. She drew strength from his arms.
Jake kissed her on the cheek. “I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for him to have to deny his son.”
That was the crux of it. She couldn’t imagine not having Amber with her every day. Not being able to claim her would’ve killed her. It was the knowledge of how painful it must have been that kept her anger from deepening. It had been apparent her father had suffered from keeping the secret all this time. Had that been his penance? If so, it was a horrible one.
She dropped her chin to her chest. “That part breaks my heart and washes away the anger.”
He turned her toward him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. Her head lay on his chest listening to the rhythmic thump of his heartbeat.
“I hope you’re able to let it all go. Your father paid for his infidelity with a high price. No matter what, he’s still your father. He’s still the same man. He just admitted his mistakes to you. That had to be difficult.”
She squeezed her eyes closed. “I’ll find a way to release it, but I can’t do it today.” She needed more time to deal with it all. Time to figure out how to react to her father when she saw him next. She shuddered. “Let’s not talk about her right now. I know it’s just turning afternoon, but can we go to bed? I need to be with you.”
He chuckled. “It won’t fix anything, but I’ll never deny you.” Jake stepped back and reached for her hand to tug her along. “Let’s go.”
She just wanted to lose herself in the arms of the man she loved. Everything would be perfect when they were in sexual oblivion. She didn’t have to deal with a thing but the bliss they created with one another.
RETURNING to Em’s room, they found Amber asleep in the bed curled up with her thumb in her mouth and her stuffed frog under her arm.
Fingering a lock of Em’s hair, the beating of Jake’s heart quickened, and every nerve ending tingled with aching need. “I need you. I need to be inside you.” He moved her hand to his crotch, clasping it over his growing erection.
She swallowed the lump in her dry throat. “Let’s take Amber to her bed.”
“No.” He willed his already heavy breathing to calm. “We might wake her.”
Em’s sharp gaze caught his attention. “We’re not doing it right in front of her.”
He grunted. No, they wouldn’t, but he wasn’t waiting any longer. “Bathroom.”
She looked back at the doorway, turned back to him and flashed him a sultry grin before she darted for the room.
He looked at his daughter. The sweet innocence of sleep. Stay that way, princess.
When he strode through the barrier to the bathroom, his eyes locked onto the fully naked Em waiting for him. That swooped everything else from his mind. He entered the bathroom, closed and locked the door behind him and then divested himself of his shirt.
“I can’t make love to you like I want to in here.” The close confines called for more of a fuck, and he wouldn’t turn it down.
Raising her eyebrows, Em turned provocatively toward the counter, her back to him and leaned over it spreading herself open in invitation.
Fuck. Me. “You don’t have to.” They were still new in the bedroom, and he didn’t want to rush her into something she wasn’t comfortable with, but damn if she didn’t tempt him beyond all measure.
The seductive grin meeting his gaze in the mirror gave him her answer before she spoke. “I just want you inside me.”
He’d be damned if he’d argue with that. Stepping forward, he unzipped his pants, and his cock sprang free. He pushed a relieved sigh from his throat. “Shit. No condom.”
“Who cares? Get those damn pants off. I’m getting impatient.”
Laughing, he dropped them and moved closer to her fabulous round ass. With one hand on her back, he reached down between her thighs to prepare her. Impatient also described him, but he wouldn’t just thrust into her. No matter how much his throbbing cock demanded it.
“Shit. You’re drenched.”
She moved her hips against him erotically. “It’s all you. Now shut up and fuck me.”
“Your wish is my command.” He grabbed her hips and guided himself to her center. With one slow thrust, he sheathed himself in her heat completely. “Fuck.” Circling his hips, he knew it wouldn’t take much to toss him into the abyss. “This will be quick.”
Pumping in a hard, fast rhythm, he fought for control with every deep plunge. Balls deep in her, he sat on the ragged edge, holding on by a thin thread to ensure he pleasured her. The sound of his thighs slapping hard against hers did nothing to halt him nearly plunging early.
With the labored rise and fall of his chest, he leaned forward, placed soft, damp kisses on her back and reached around, grasping one of her breasts and teasing her nipples. She arched her body, tossed her head back and captured his mouth in a heated kiss. His hand continued its slide down her body to between her thighs. She moaned in his mouth and broke the kiss.
They looked in the mirror, watching each other. It was sexy as hell. Then he dropped his gaze to his cock moving in and out of her wet pussy. Fuck. He rubbed her clit between his fingers and teased it until her face flushed, and her eyelids drifted shut. Her soft moan reached down and tugged at the orgasm building within him.
“Come for me, Em.”
He pounded mercilessly, his hand working her nub until he watched, and felt, the orgasm rip through her small body. She tightened around his cock. “Oh, Jake. Yes.”
Her legs collapsed, and he clasped her waist to hold her up and thrust two more times before he cried out and spilled himself in a kaleidoscope of red-hot pleasure, colors mingling in his vision, knocking his world slightly out of focus.
With trembling legs, he pulled out of her, stepped back and slouched against the wall, worried he might slide down it before he could catch his breath.
Still coming out of his euphoric state, he hadn’t noticed her move, but Em handed him his clothes. “Get dressed.”
He shook his head. What the hell was the rush? Did she not enjoy it as he had? If so, she’d still be in la-la-land with him. He hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to his chest. “No. I think in a minute we can go again.”
She reached up and kissed him with passion then pushed away. “I’d love nothing more, but we can’t. Amber could wake up any moment.”
Fuck. He had to do better as a father. He’d forgotten about the little girl sleeping so close while he had her mother spread out like Sunday dinner on the bathroom counter. So he did as he’d been told and somehow managed to get dressed.
Then Em threw herself into his arms. Now? After they’d dressed? Was the woman trying to drive him insane?
“I love you, Jake Cavanaugh.”
“And I love you, sprite.” He laughed at the scrunched-up face she made. Before she could put up a fuss, he leaned down and took her mouth in a slow, languid kiss. Their next time would be in a bed, and it would be for a long time.
A knock on the door startled him. “Mommy, gotta potty.”
They looked at each other, eyes wide, and a euphoric laugh bubbled up his throat.
Twenty-One
“GUYS,” ARTHUR HALL started and then cleared his throat, “and gals, I’d like you to meet James Gallagher, head of the Securities Exchange Commission.” The two men had arrived at the house later that afternoon. In the living room, the FBI deputy director took the time to introduce his guest to each family member.
“I’m sorry to hear about Blake.” Arthur took a seat on the couch and petted Dottie when she approached him, her tail wagging, and her pregnant belly protruding. “Hey, girl. Look at you.”
“She’s due any day now.” Kate reached down and petted the dog. “Th
e girls want to keep all the puppies.”
“Where are those cute little chatterboxes?”
Jesse sat in a chair and pulled his wife down beside him before he answered Arthur. “They’re playing upstairs. Do you two have anything for us?”
Arthur chuckled. “So much for pleasantries and catching up.” He winked at Em.
Jake was with Jesse on this one. He didn’t care about catching up either. He wanted to know what in the hell was happening. What did the FBI and SEC know? Would they make an arrest and get this over and done with?
“We need to speak with Teri Sheppard and see the data she has.” Arthur accepted a glass of tea from Mrs. Kessler, who had quietly slipped into the room with refreshments. “Thank you.” He took a deep drink. “I miss good sweet tea up north.”
“Get on with it.” Jake’s nerves sat on end. He couldn’t give a shit what Arthur missed. Hell, the man hadn’t missed him all those months he’d been a captive. Otherwise, he’d have been rescued sooner and wouldn’t be going through what he was at the moment. Just having it officially diagnosed as PTSD seemed to ease some of his anxiety.
His old boss raised his eyebrows at him before he turned back to Jesse. “You said she wanted a deal. Does she have anything worthwhile?”
Before they could answer, beside Arthur, James scooted forward. “I have a team that I trust combing through the SEC filings. We have enough now to bring in Charles Randall, but there is so much more, and we want anyone else he might have been working with on this scam. We need a couple more days before we move on him. But, we will move.”
“We’ve added a team to him and his people. I know you’ve got one on Charles,” Arthur said and looked pointedly at Jesse, which only elicited a shrug from the recipient, “which I didn’t authorize, but I’ll overlook it considering.”
The SEC leader smiled at Em. “You were right. It was easy to see right away. Had any of my ethical agents seen the reports, this would’ve happened a lot sooner.” He looked around the room. “I think you all understand that markets go up and down. Not Randall’s. His mostly went up. Actually, only about 5 percent were down months.”