The Legacy Collection Box Set

by Ruth Cardello

  A large grin spread across his face. “Can’t get anything by you. You’re right. I could open the door, but I’m not going to. I promised Jake I’d keep you contained for a while. Sex would have been nice, so if you change your mind I’m still open to the idea. But either way, you’re not leaving until I let you out.”

  “I haven’t met a system yet I couldn’t beat,” Alethea said defiantly.

  “Test it. You won’t break out, but it’ll be entertaining watching you try.”

  She cursed under her breath.

  He reached across, threaded a hand through her hair, and pulled her to him, claiming her lips with his for a long deep kiss that left them both breathing heavily. “Would now be the wrong time to tell you how hot you look when you’re angry?” She raised a hand to slap him, but he caught her hand easily and brought it to his lips to kiss, growling, “I love it when you act like you don’t want it, too. It makes me want to prove to you just how easily I could have you moaning and begging me for more. Is that how you like it? A little rough?”

  “I like a man who listens when I say no.”

  He took her chin roughly in his hand and held her face so she couldn’t look away. “I have never forced a woman and I never will. All you have to do to get me to stop is tell me that you don’t want this.”

  She stood rigidly in his arms and lied. “I don’t want this. Now can I go?”

  He set her back from him. “No, but you’re free to try.”

  He walked away, leaving her beside the waterfall, cursing him, but also mulling over his words.

  She headed straight for the exit and studied his security system. No matter how strong something looked, everything had a weakness.

  Chapter Ten

  “I hope to hell this is important,” Dominic said, as he stepped into Jake’s office. He’d promised Abby he’d spend more time at home, at least for the initial month after the birth. He didn’t like disappointing her, but Jake had been adamant that his presence was required.

  Jake stood and whistled when he saw Dominic. “You look like shit.”

  Dominic made a face. “I’m doing the night feedings while Abby heals. Sounded easy enough, but Judy could eat all night. She falls asleep in my arms, but as soon as I put her back in the crib she starts to cry, so I’ve been sleeping in the chair in her nursery and it’s hell on my back.”

  “Abby’s not breastfeeding Judy? Even the CDC advocates for it.”

  “I’m not talking to you about this.”

  “Did you read the report I sent you? There is enough statistical evidence to safely say that it’s linked to high IQs. Some have implied it’s linked to healthy metabolisms. Not all of the benefits are known yet, but there is no man-made formula that rivals it.”

  “Do you know what has also been linked to living a longer and healthier life?”

  Jake leaned against the corner of his desk and shook his head. “No.”

  “Telling me whatever the hell you thought you couldn’t say over the phone, because I’m pretty sure whether or not we’re breastfeeding Judy was not it.”

  Raising his hands in defeat, Jake said, “You shouldn’t have asked me to read up on the subject if you didn’t want me to have an opinion about it.”

  Dominic made a gurgling sound in his throat, then sat heavily in one of the chairs. “I’m too tired to hit you, but I will remember this conversation for later.”

  “Marie won’t help out? Your mother would likely love to take a few shifts.”

  Dominic groaned. “Abby and I talked about it. The first few months are important bonding time. Judy needs to know that when she needs something we’ll be there for her.”

  Jake shook his head. “You’ve already lost control of the situation, haven’t you?”

  Dominic closed his eyes for a moment and laughed tiredly. When he opened his eyes, he joked, “God, yes. With all the trouble we’ve gotten into over the years, did you think it would be diapers and midnight feedings that would do me in?”

  Jake took the seat across from his friend and said, “You love it, don’t you?”

  With a huge smile, Dominic nodded. “I’m happier than I ever thought I could be—definitely more than I deserve to be.” He studied Jake’s expression and some of his good mood faded. “But you didn’t ask me to come in today to hear about this, either.”

  “You’re right. We have a problem, and the deeper I dig the worse it looks.”

  Sitting upright, all fatigue left Dominic. “At Corisi Enterprises?”

  Jake stood and walked over to his desk, picked up a folder, and threw it down on the table in front of Dominic. “It started before Judy was born. At first it was a series of simple coding errors. I looked into each of them and they seemed unrelated, but they bothered me. The glitches were too systematic. So I looked into tampering. Our server should be airtight. I didn’t have anything concrete, just a feeling, so I put Marc on it.”

  “Good, what did he find?”

  Jake poured Dominic a scotch. “You need to know that we don’t have all of the information yet. Jeremy’s working on it from California. I gave him full remote access. He should have some answers soon.”

  Dominic stood and flexed his shoulders. “What are you not telling me?”

  “Alethea planted someone in our IT department last year. We found and removed him, but what he discovered is the real problem.”

  “Worse than an internal leak of God-knows-what information?”

  Jake nodded. “There was no leak. Seems Alethea planted him when you first met Abby. She was under the impression she needed someone on the inside in case you didn’t return from China with Abby. Alethea’s mole told her about the coding errors, so she had him investigate where they were coming from.”

  Dominic didn’t say anything; he just stared at his friend with a stony expression of displeasure.

  “Her informant traced several of the issues back to one external IP address.”

  “I thought Jeremy had secured our server.”

  “He did, but this person built themselves an access point that we didn’t even think to look for. Or at least that’s how it looks right now. We don’t know exactly how it happened yet.”

  “What do you know?”

  “I know that I hope we’re wrong about who’s involved in this.”

  Dominic closed the distance between them and growled, “Who? Who the hell are you talking about?”

  “Stephan. The trail leads back to your sister’s fiancé.”

  A heat of fury rose up Dominic’s neck and face. He turned to leave, but Jake blocked his path. “I know that look, Dom. Don’t do anything you will regret. We don’t know if it’s him for sure yet.”

  “Oh, it’s him. Give me one reason why I should let that little bastard live.”

  Jake didn’t move out of Dominic’s way. He kept his voice reasonable and said, “Because your sister loves him and you could lose her over this. We’ll uncover the truth—possibly by today. The informant Alethea used wasn’t in Jeremy’s league. His conclusions may have been flawed or deliberately produced by whoever is doing this. Acting without all the facts could cause larger problems.”

  Dominic stepped forward aggressively and Jake stepped back, hoping his friend would heed his warning. Just before stepping out of the office, Dominic snarled, “You’ve cleaned up the Alethea situation?”

  “The leak has been dealt with effectively. He’s no longer an issue.”

  “And Alethea?”

  “Marc has her contained downstairs.”

  “Downstairs?” Dominic pointed at the floor with emphasis and almost smiled. “I wonder if she can get out.”

  Jake shrugged. “Hard to say. Marc is good.” As Dom headed toward the door, Jake asked, “Where are you going?”

  “Home. You have twenty-four hours to figure this out, then I’ll deal with it my way.”

  Across town, Lil held her niece and sat with Abby in the living room of her newly renovated, midtown Manhattan mansion. Once a
n exclusive private club, it was now filled with baby swings and strollers. Colby played at their feet with wooden slices of fake food lined with Velcro, that allowed her to stack them into sandwiches.

  Abby noted the tight lines on her sister’s face and worried for her. This should be the happiest time of her life. She was living with Jake and he’d adopted her daughter. The only remaining piece of the puzzle was the formality of their wedding.

  It was amazing how much had changed in a year. She’d never felt closer to her sister. “What’s wrong, Lil? Is Colby keeping you up nights again? I thought she was done teething.”

  With a sad smile, Lil said, “No. Yes. I mean, yes, she’s keeping me up, but no, that’s not the problem.”

  “You know you can tell me anything.”

  “Can I, Abby? I’m not sure. I need advice, but I’m not sure you could help me with this one.”

  Fear gripped Abby’s heart. They’d come so far. What could Lil be involved in that she’d be afraid to share? Everything was going too well not to fear that something could bring it to a sudden, crashing end. “I love you, Lil. Without knowing what this is about, I can’t promise to know what to say, but if you need me, I’m here. I’ll always be here for you. No matter what happens.”

  “It’s Alethea.” Lil raised her hand to stop Abby from jumping in. “I know what you think of her, but this is more about me than her.”

  Mouth pressed tight, Abby nodded and pretended to eat the wooden hamburger Colby handed her.

  Lil couldn’t meet her sister’s eyes when she said, “I know she takes things too far, but she does it because she cares. She only broke into the hospital because she cares about you.”

  “Some people send flowers,” Abby said sarcastically, then stopped herself. “Sorry. Go on.”

  “She found an issue at Corisi Enterprises and wanted me to help her figure it out.”

  “Tell me you didn’t get involved in one of her wild schemes. You promised you wouldn’t.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Why is she still sniffing around our business? Isn’t there enough trouble out there in the world to occupy her?” When Lil jumped to her friend’s defense, Abby said, “I know. I know. She does it because she cares. Or so you always tell me. What did she find?”

  Lil told her. She told her everything, from the coding errors to Stephan’s possible involvement. Abby remained quiet, the flush of anger on her cheeks the only indication of how she was feeling. “She wanted me to help her find out if it’s true, but I told her that I wasn’t going to do it her way this time.” She adjusted Judy’s bib. “So, I took her to see Marie and Nicole, and we told them everything.”

  “How did that go?” Abby asked in an uncharacteristically unkind manner.

  “Worse than I imagined. Nicole was furious.”

  “Do you blame her?”

  “No. But Al wasn’t saying that Stephan is guilty, she was saying that all the trails led back to him.”

  “Semantics, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Not to Al. She doesn’t want him to be guilty any more than we do.” Lil met her sister’s eyes and confessed the part that bothered her the most. “Marie accused Alethea of making the whole thing up because she’s jealous of how close I’ve gotten to you and everyone else.”

  “I probably would have thought the same.”

  Lil wiped a tear. “See, that’s the problem. You want to think the worst of her. You only see what she does wrong. You never give her credit for always being there for me. And when I’ve needed her, she’s always been there.”

  Abby picked up Colby and hugged her, a tear rolling down her cheek. Her young niece laughed up at her, clapping. She’d missed too much of her first few months of life. “I would have been there for you. I wanted to be part of your life so desperately. The harder I tried to hold on, the more I lost you.”

  “That wasn’t Al’s fault,” Lil said, tears of her own entering her eyes. “And you have me now. Isn’t it time to forgive her for our problems? I’ve been putting off my wedding waiting for the two of you to work things out, but I need to know. Am I waiting for the impossible?”

  Colby squirmed to get down and walk around the room. Abby released her to the floor. Sometimes the tighter you hold someone to you, the more you lose them. She’d learned that lesson the hard way. Still, Alethea hadn’t made raising Lil any easier. In fact, it had often felt like a tug-of-war between them: Abby, pulling for Lil to stay safe and make good choices, and Alethea, pulling her in wild directions full of morally vague high-risk situations. Old news, I guess. “I don’t know. You just said she upset Nicole. How can I overlook that?”

  “She didn’t. I did. I messed up. I thought Nicole would want to help clear Stephan’s name.”

  “Oh, Lil.”

  “I know. I made it worse. I’ve called Nicole about a hundred times, but she’s not answering my calls. Al isn’t either. She asked me if I believed her and I said I wasn’t sure that I did.”

  “What do you want me to say, Lil?”

  “I’m asking you to help me, Abby. Help me figure out what to do. I never meant to hurt anyone.”

  The little devil on Abby’s shoulder whispered that this chance wouldn’t come twice. She could tell Lil that some friendships are not fixable. All she had to do was tell Lil it was time for her to let Alethea go, for the sake of the family, and there was a good chance this time she would.

  Life without Alethea—the idea had appeal.

  But Abby looked down at her niece and thought about what Lil had said. Alethea didn’t make the problems between Lil and me. She didn’t cause the rift. And no matter how I feel about her, she’s been a good friend to Lil.

  I may not like her, but Lil loves her.

  “Always better together, Lil. I believe that. Let’s get them all in the same room and we’ll hash this out.”

  “That didn’t work so well the first time.”

  “I’ll talk to Marie and Nicole. Families fight, Lil, but then they make up. If Alethea really does want to be part of this family, she’ll show up.”

  “I don’t know if she’ll come. It got ugly last time. How do I convince her this time will be different?”

  “Tell her I’m on her side.”

  Lil’s eyebrows went up. “Are you serious?”

  Abby walked over and put her arm around her sister. “You’re right. It’s important for me to put the past in the past. You love her, so I’ll try to. This time I’ll really try.”

  Even with Judy in her arms, she hugged Abby. “That’s all I can ask for, I guess.”

  I can pray for a bit more than that. “Stephan has to be innocent.”

  “Don’t worry, Alethea won’t stop till she finds the truth.”

  Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better.

  Chapter Eleven

  After thoroughly testing every aspect of the security system and attempting every mode of communication with the outside world, Alethea sat down on the bench in the grassed area beside the waterfall.

  “Give up?”

  “Go to hell.”

  “Come on, let me enjoy this moment. You thought escape would be easy. Your comprehensive testing was impressive, but why not just admit that you’re stumped? Did you try the vents?”

  “Yes.”

  “Genius the way I looped them back through the air purifier, wasn’t it? They lead exactly nowhere.” He sat next to her on the bench.

  “I noticed.”

  “Each pod has its own air system in case one fails. Working with an unlimited budget helps.”

  “Do your victory dance. You beat me. This time.”

  He put an arm around the back of the bench and played with one of her curls, even though she shifted away from him when he did. “Does it have to be a competition between us? I earned this gloat, but I’d rather relax and enjoy this time together.” He pushed the hair off the back of her neck, exposing its curve and blowing gently on it. He took a remote out of his pocket and, with a click, the
ceiling of the bunker became a twinkling night sky.

  Alethea fought a smile, then looked at him, shaking her head with humor. “Seriously?”

  He gave her a shameless grin and wiggled his eyebrows.

  “A fake night sky will not get me to forget that you’ve locked me in against my will.”

  Marc shrugged and stood up. “You can focus on the details, but I intend to enjoy this unexpected day off.” He took off his shirt and laid it on the bench beside her, then stepped out of his shoes.

  Alethea hated to admit it, but unlike most people, Marc looked even better with his clothes off than on. His chest was perfectly cut and lightly dusted with hair. She wanted to reach out and touch his firm abs. “I told you I’m not interested.”

  He turned away from her, dropped his pants to the floor, and dove into the deep water in front of the waterfall. The image of his perfectly toned ass momentarily stole her breath. Wiping the water from his face when he surfaced, he smiled at her. “There you go, making it all about sex again. You’ve never gone skinny-dipping just for the pleasure of it?”

  Alethea folded her arms across her chest. “No.”

  There was very little that she did simply for the pleasure of it. She didn’t relax her guard long enough to.

  He swam to the edge in front of her and rested his arms on it. “You’re quite a puzzle, you know that? I used to think you were a badass. Next you’ll tell me you’re a virgin, and I’ll drown from the shock.”

  “Of course I’m not a virgin. I’ve had plenty of sex—alone and with others. I just don’t want to have it with you.”

  A lusty smile spread across his face. “That’s not the impression you gave me in the elevator.”

  His comment soured her mood. “That was a mistake.” She said more quietly, “One I don’t want to talk about.”

  “Then come swim,” he suggested. “I promise to keep my hands to myself.”

  “You expect me to believe that?”