Front Page Affair

by Jennifer Morey

  * * *

  The upper-level guest room provided the best view of Julian’s villa. Arizona had moved the queen-size bed over to the window. A big bowl of popcorn in front of her, binoculars abandoned, she lay on her stomach facing the window. Braden had to stop her from turning on a chick flick. Too much light. It was dark now, and he was watching Julian’s villa. He’d seen servants moving around and a few times Julian and Leonardo.

  Arizona crunched on popcorn, moving her feet back and forth in the air. “There’s nothing going on down there. It’s dark. They probably all went to bed by now.”

  He put the binoculars on the wide, wooden windowsill. Digging into the bowl of popcorn, Braden rolled onto his back. He dropped kernels into his mouth and crunched with Arizona. She had an amazing ability to make him feel like a kid again. All lightness.

  Laughing, she rolled onto her back with him, placing the bowl on her stomach. “A little different than a sleepover but this will do.”

  He reached over for another handful of popcorn. “I don’t do sleepovers. That’s for girls.”

  “You do sleepovers with me.”

  Sudden vision of her beneath him took over his thoughts. His brief levity faded. “That’s different.”

  She munched another few kernels, looking up at the mural on the ceiling of palm trees and a beach with waves coming in. A bit much but appropriate in a way.

  “What are you going to do when this is all over?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure.” She ate more popcorn. “Maybe quit my job and live off my dad for a while. It’s not the same as Macon.”

  “Where does he fall in the line?”

  “He’s number five.”

  “How is he different?”

  “He doesn’t try to find work or something to do with his life. He’s in and out of rehab. Sad. We all hope he comes around this time. He’s in rehab right now. He’s showing signs. He’s started talking about opening a camp for troubled teens.”

  “Kind of similar to you opening an outdoor experience outfit for victims of violent crimes and their families.”

  “You and Lincoln,” she said with a sigh. But he could tell the idea was more palatable now than before.

  “What about you?” She held a kernel of popcorn above his mouth.

  What about him? He took the popcorn, and said as he ate, “I’m an engineer, remember?”

  “That’s right,” she teased. “It’s just that you seem to like the idea of an adventure club as much as Lincoln.”

  “And you.”

  “You like the idea of me?”

  He grinned. “You like the idea of an adventure club, too.”

  When she didn’t respond, he rolled his head. Her profile was thoughtful. Was she considering he might be right? That her brother was right? Or was she was thinking of Trevor?

  “Why are you so fearless?” she finally asked.

  He hadn’t expected that. “I’m a man.”

  She rolled her head toward him. “You know what I mean.”

  Why was it so important for her to dig that out of him? He rolled his head back upright.

  “What happened to you? Something must have. You’re too intense in threatening situations.”

  “Why do you need to know?” His tone bit a little harder than he’d intended. Now she’d really be convinced she was on to something, which she was.

  “I don’t, I guess. I just think you’re keeping something bottled up.”

  And telling her would somehow help? As though she were that close to him. As soon as that thought came, he realized she was getting close to him. Closer than Serena had ever taken an interest to accomplish.

  “I was almost kidnapped when I was twelve.” Hearing the words come out of his mouth felt foreign, and then freeing. He’d never uttered them before. Not to anyone.

  Arizona put the paper bowl of popcorn between them as she rolled onto her hip and propped her head on her hand. “Really?”

  It must explain so much. Why he was undaunted in finding Tatum. Why he quickly became the aggressor in threatening situations. Why he nearly lost control when someone tried to take his son.

  “I was walking home from school when a man approached. He was walking the opposite direction. I didn’t think anything of it. I got the highest score on a math test that day, so I was pretty happy and looking forward to telling my parents.” He fell deep into the memory, feeling, smelling, seeing as he had back then. “When we were about to pass each other, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into a park.”

  The suddenness of it had caught him off guard. And then fear had set in. He could taste its tinny poison. The way it dried his mouth. The way his surroundings blurred. “He had me in front of him, and forced me to move forward. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was taking me to his car, which was parked on the other side of the park. There weren’t many people around. A long distance away was a picnic area. There was a group of kids over there but they never noticed me.” That’s when it became clear to him what the man was trying to do. “I fought him and started yelling. He put his hand over my mouth and told me to shut up or he’d stick me with a knife. He didn’t have a knife, I realized. And his other hand was still gripping my arm, so I turned my head and bit him as hard as I could. He loosened his hold on me and I twisted away. I ran as fast as I could back toward the street. Yelling. No one noticed. I don’t know if the kids over by the picnic area heard me or even saw me. No one did anything.”

  Arizona remained silent, letting him talk without interrupting. It must be a shocking story to hear.

  “He chased me to the edge of the park. I ran all the way home.”

  And when he’d gotten there, he’d gone to his room. His mom noticed how winded he was and he’d lied and told her he ran home so he wouldn’t miss a TV program. Luckily he had a TV in his room.

  “What then?” Arizona asked.

  “Nothing. I never told anyone.”

  “You didn’t?” She sounded incredulous. “Why not?”

  “I was horrified that a pedophile tried to abduct me.” He hadn’t known what the word meant then, but he’d known what a man trying to take a young boy meant.

  “Your parents didn’t call the police?”

  “They didn’t know about it.”

  “They don’t know? Still? To this day?”

  “No. I never told anyone. You’re the first.”

  “That’s incredible.” She stared at him as the import of not only her being the only one he’d ever told, but for him to keep it to himself for so long.

  “Did you learn how to fight then?”

  “I asked my parents if I could join karate. I’m now a fourth-degree black belt. When I was old enough, I learned how to shoot guns. Blowing things up still had its appeal, too.”

  She smiled, lifting a weight off him. It was then that he realized keeping the darkest part of his life a secret had eaten at him for too long. The shame he’d felt at twelve hadn’t gone away in adulthood. Absurd thoughts plagued him. Was there a reason why that pervert had singled him out? Had he done something to provoke him? And imagining what the man would have done if he’d succeeded had been infinitely more damaging.

  Arizona traced her finger along his face, from his brow down to his cheek, to his lips. “Tough-guy engineer.”

  “I didn’t feel tough for a long time.” Her touch began to lull him.

  “You should have told someone. Your mother, as soon as you got home.”

  “I was twelve.” And telling her or his dad now would just cause unnecessary pain. “And I’m telling you.”

  “I’m honored.” She kept touching his face.

  “You wouldn’t leave me alone until I did.” His voice was a murmur beneath her soft caress.

  “Somebody needed to
.”

  The fact that it had been her reached into him deep, nested and stayed. Maybe now was a good time to remove Trevor from her head. Return the favor, as it were.

  He came up onto his hip and used his weight to put her on her back. Getting on top of her, he caged her head between his arms and spent some time looking into her blue eyes. She wasn’t startled. She was responding to him and only him, her lids closing with sultry heat.

  He savored the sight of her, unwilling to examine too deeply how much confiding in her meant to him. It was enough that a burden he’d carried for so long was lighter. Perceptions he’d had as a boy didn’t have the importance they once had. All that mattered was her. This gift she’d given him. He’d give her one back.

  Kissing her softly, he made love to her mouth until her breathing picked up and her hands roamed up his arms and looped around his neck. But that wasn’t enough.

  He kept kissing her, touching her body, running his hand down her sides, teasing the side of her breast. She moaned and parted her legs, depositing him right where he’d love to be with her, naked.

  But not yet. He lifted his head, stopping the kiss until she opened her eyes. They burned up at him, stealing more of his control. He treated her lips to another kiss, then took the attention down to her neck, sucking her earlobe and whispering, “I’m going to make love to you.”

  “Yes,” she whispered back. “Make love to me.”

  He took her mouth with his, loving the way she said that.

  She began tugging at his shirt. If she was going to freeze up on him, it would be when they were naked. He wasn’t entering her until he was sure it was him she was thinking of. He was already close to losing control. He needed to be in control until he was sure.

  Rising up, he pulled off his shirt and gave her enough room to sit up and do the same. Shirt, bra. Jeans and underwear. He stood to remove the rest of his clothes and came back down to her. Their naked bodies sent shards of ecstasy through him.

  He kissed her slowly at first, teasing her again. Her breathing was erratic now. She lifted her hips, her legs open for him, his hardness oh so close. He could feel her wetness against him.

  It made him grunt with pleasure. “Arizona.”

  “Do it. Now.”

  She was afraid of the same thing he was. Now wasn’t the time. She wasn’t ready. She could still slip into thoughts of her fiancé. But as she moved her hips and looked up at him with heated wanting, he discovered he couldn’t resist. Slowly he did as she asked. They’d gotten this far before.

  Embedded deep inside her, he slid back and forth deliberately slow. Shivers of sensation rode up his body from his erection, threatening to consume his mind. He went still.

  “Keep moving.” She grabbed the cheeks of his butt with one hand and raked her fingers into his hair with the other. Her face was fevered, mouth parted, eyes hot for him.

  He kissed her softly, caressing her with his tongue. Then he waited until her eyes opened and she looked up at him, drugged with sex.

  “Who is inside you?” He pumped his hips slow and deep.

  “You.”

  “Who?”

  “You.”

  “No one else.”

  She shook her head against the mattress. “Only you. Make love to me, Braden.”

  He slid excruciatingly slow.

  “Oh,” she breathed. “Braden.”

  “Yes,” he groaned, picking up the pace.

  She began crying out with each thrust.

  “Yes.”

  A final cry burst from her and triumph soaked him. He thrust hard a few more times. It didn’t take much. Just knowing it was him who did that to her was enough.

  Chapter 17

  There was no activity in the house next door. All day, the moving truck was still in the driveway. Lincoln tried not to let his curiosity get the better of him. He had more pressing things to concentrate on—like his sister in Tortola. Calem O’Brien was an experienced ICE agent, and had promised he’d make sure she and Braden were taken care of, and if Tatum and Courtney were still alive, they’d get them out. But it was difficult sitting here in the United States, not being part of the action. Not being proactive. That’s why he had to interfere next door. Stack boredom on top of that and he was itching for something to keep him occupied.

  Spying on the neighbor did just that.

  Hearing a car pull into the driveway next door, Lincoln stood and used his crutch to go to the front window. The redhead got out of a white Audi Q5; nice, and pretty affordable. She probably had a decent job.

  Taking a chance, he opened the front door and went outside. The redhead stopped in front of her Audi and watched him. Didn’t say hello. Just stared. Maybe she expected him to interfere again. Maybe she was thinking of what she’d done last night.

  He hobbled to his mailbox, hearing her open the moving truck. By herself, unloading it would take a while. Holding the mail in one hand, he made his way back up his driveway.

  The redhead still stood there in front of the moving truck. “We should get a few things straight.”

  Attack mode. He stopped in his driveway, across from her.

  “First, I don’t want to get chummy with my neighbors. I keep to myself. My business belongs to me and no one else.”

  Most people who had something to hide took on those habits. Maybe not with this much of an attitude.

  “All right. What would you like me to do if your boyfriend starts punching you again?”

  “Mind your own business.”

  “Even if you need an ambulance?” He couldn’t keep the bite out of his tone.

  “I won’t.”

  She seemed awfully sure. Taking in her slender body, he had his doubts.

  “Second,” she snapped. “I don’t have window coverings yet, so I’d appreciate it if you’d turn away next time you see me through the window.”

  He lifted his mail and pointed with it. “I apologize for that. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone through the window.”

  “You stood there long enough.”

  “I...” What could he possibly say to that? He had stood there awhile, and the reason was that she was hot. “Yes. I did. I’m sorry.”

  She stared at him as it became clear why he’d stood at the window so long.

  The sound of a car pulling up along the street broke the spell, if one could call it that. The lady was a bitch. Once upon a time he’d have been disappointed. Now he just didn’t care.

  A limo stopped in the street, the sleek body black and shiny, windows impossible to see through. The driver got out and opened the rear door to let his mother out.

  “Come get me in about an hour.” She patted the black-suited and capped man on the shoulder, not in the least condescending. His mother had a way with servants. She always treated them with respect.

  But to those who didn’t know her, this entire exchange must seem odd. Even odder, a limo in front of an old house that wasn’t in the most upscale neighborhoods in Denver. The houses here were nice, but not in the million-dollar range.

  He glanced over at his mean neighbor. She hadn’t moved. Would she change her mind about him now? Money had a way of doing that to people.

  “How’s my Linc today?” His mother kissed him on his cheek.

  “Healing.”

  She took his mail and walked with him toward his door, seeing the redhead, who jerked into motion and disappeared into her garage.

  “Is that your new neighbor?”

  “Yes. She isn’t the social type.”

  “Hasn’t that house been vacant for a long time?”

  “As long as I’ve been here.”

  “How interesting.” His mother hooked her arm with his. “She’s pretty.”

  Yeah, pretty bitchy.
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  Inside, his mother put her purse down on his coffee table and looked around as she always did. “You should get a maid while you’re recovering.”

  “I don’t need a maid. What brings you here?”

  “Checking up on you, and...”

  And the real reason for this impromptu visit...

  “I’m worried about Arizona.”

  He maneuvered to his spot on the couch. His mother sat next to him. “She’s with someone very capable, Mom.”

  “Braden? I’m not so sure. I know she needs this...to find closure with Trevor. That whole ordeal was so hard on her, but...”

  “Braden is capable. He probably knows martial arts better than me.”

  She relaxed against the couch. “But what if people shoot at them?”

  “It should all be over after tonight. Some federal agents are on their way now.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I know. And that’s all I’m going to tell you.” The last thing anybody needed was the press getting hold of that information. He trusted his mother, but she didn’t think like a law enforcement officer.

  She mulled that over awhile and then relaxed even more. He’d eased her mind, at least.

  “Your father invited the movie stars from his latest film over the Friday after next. You can join us if you like. It’ll get you out of this house.”

  “I’ll be there.” She liked it when her kids showed up to her events. She may say Dad invited them, but that was her area of expertise. Entertaining at home.

  “I’ll send the jet.”

  After enduring her ministrations a bit longer, he walked her to the door. Seeing the redheaded dragon in her driveway again, he stopped on the front porch, giving his mom a hug and watching her get into the limo.

  The redheaded dragon watched, too, box in hand.

  “Who was that?” she actually had the gall to ask.

  “I don’t share my business with people who don’t share theirs.”

  Chapter 18

  Arizona stopped biting her thumbnail and stared out the window. She’d drifted off into tumultuous thoughts all day. Waiting for the ICE agents was torture. Last night had pushed her into a realm where nothing was familiar anymore. Nothing about Braden had reminded her of Trevor. In fact, he’d done exactly as he’d set out to do. Make her forget Trevor. Now she was afraid of what it meant, where this was headed if she let it continue.