by Debra Webb
She met his worried gaze and knew he was right. No matter what else Martinez was, he was very good at his job. He’d kept her from harm. And since she definitely didn’t want to die, what else could she say?
“All right,” she told her uncle. She turned to Martinez. “But don’t even talk to me unless it’s necessary for safety’s sake.” She looked away then. Despite the way he’d lied to her, she couldn’t bear to see the pain in those dark eyes.
It was over.
She’d been a fool.
But it wouldn’t happen again.
She needed to be alone. To wash the scent of Martinez from her body and to grieve for what would never be.
RIC SAT IN THE DARKNESS for hours after Piper had gone to bed. He should have told her the first time they made love. If he’d told her then… But he hadn’t. He scrubbed a hand over his face and cursed himself for playing the “what if” game yet again. It was too late for that now. Whatever he’d thought she felt for him, his betrayal had squashed it.
She wouldn’t forgive him for that sin.
Not that there’d been any real hope for them anyway. He pretty much fit the description of what she didn’t want in a man. She would find his dedication to his job and his willingness to die for a client too risky. And he supposed he couldn’t blame her. She had grown up with that kind of loss. Why would she knowingly seek it out in her adult relationships?
Relationship? Yeah, right. They hadn’t had a relationship. They’d had an affair. And he was the bad guy. Ric blew out a heavy breath and pushed to his feet. He had to have some sleep. Though he didn’t require a lot, he couldn’t function without at least some. He paused when he passed Piper’s door. He wanted so badly to turn that knob and look in on her, but she was off-limits to him now.
He headed for the shower, stripping off his clothes as he went. He didn’t want to think anymore. It hurt too much. But Lucas’s parting remarks kept replaying in his head. The man could definitely come up with some interesting torture techniques. He’d named off more than a few he fully intended to ensure Ric participated in if anything happened to his niece.
Ric closed his eyes and stepped beneath the hot spray of water. The feel of it sluicing over his skin quickly began to relax his tired muscles. He leaned his forehead against the cool tile wall and let the hot water do its magic as it flowed over and down his back. Before he could stop it, vivid images of his and Piper’s lovemaking tumbled one over the other inside his head. He clenched his fists and struggled to suppress the emotions rising inside him like a tidal wave.
He wanted to hold her and make her believe that he hadn’t meant to hurt her. He wanted to promise her the world if only she would trust him again.
But she wouldn’t.
He’d had his chance and he’d blown it.
And now it was over.
Chapter Twelve
Piper surveyed her reflection one last time. This was the moment she had waited for. Four long years of hard work and she finally stood on the precipice of that first giant leap into national recognition. After today she would no longer be known as simply Atlanta’s sweetheart. In just two hours she would debut on national television in one of the most important interviews of the decade.
This was what she’d wanted more than anything else. The sole reason she’d given up a private life of any kind this past year so that she could focus completely on her career. The ultimate goal of everything she said and did, of every move she made was to reach this pinnacle.
Piper closed her eyes. Then why did it feel so hollow? Where was the anticipation, the pulse-pounding thrill of knowing her dream was about to come true?
God, she had made a mess of things the past few days. Piper forced her attention back to the mirror and took inventory of the pathetic person staring back at her. How could one week have changed her so much? She shook her head in confusion and defeat. It wasn’t the passage of seven days’ time that had done this to her. It was Martinez. He’d strutted into her life with that quick smile and devilish charm and stolen something she’d never given anyone before.
Her heart.
A thousand images bombarded her at the same time. Martinez wearing nothing but that towel when she’d interrupted his shower. Handsome as sin in a tux, charming every female who laid eyes on him. Dropping his camera and coming between her and those gang members. The blood on her hand that had come from him when he’d stepped between her and an assassin’s bullet. The way he’d made love to her that first time. The feel of him inside her when yet another would-be killer searched for them just outside their hiding place. The fear of discovery, yet the irresistible, savage need to connect physically…to touch each other as intimately as possible.
How could she have fallen in love with a man so totally opposite to her? One she refused to call by his first name for fear of admitting that they were more than co-workers. For fear of acknowledging on a conscious level that he meant more to her than he should.
Piper smoothed a hand over her new, red power suit. A local boutique owner, who was also a friend of her uncle’s, had dropped by yesterday with more than a dozen chic garments for her to choose from. When she hadn’t liked any of those, another dozen had been sent for, all a precise fit. The hip-hugger silk slacks and matching double-breasted straight-line jacket were both figure flattering and a good contrast to her complexion and hair color. She stepped back and studied the end result yet again. Her uncle’s friend had even provided the matching shoes and a pair of exquisite gold hoop earrings.
Everything was just perfect.
Except for her. Of course, the television audience wouldn’t be able to see the sad emptiness she felt. They wouldn’t be able to feel the hurt that speared through her each time she looked at Martinez or even thought about him. The pain in those dark eyes and the lack of a smile on that handsome face tore at her already-battered heart. Made her want to cry for the wrong they’d both suffered. He’d been doing his job, the job her uncle had hired him to do, and she’d simply been a fool.
And now they were both paying for the risk they’d taken by crossing that line. They had nothing in common; their future expectations were polar opposites. No power on earth could change that. She’d seen this same scenario too many times. People who meshed on every level had a hard enough time keeping a relationship going these days; how could she expect one to stick where the odds were against them from the outset?
Piper sighed, a weary, terribly unsteady sound. Twenty-four hours of walking on eggshells around each other had her nerves frayed. Twenty-four endless hours of avoiding eye contact, of ignoring the pull of his presence. She summoned her crippled resolve and squared her shoulders. It wouldn’t hurt this badly forever. Time was all she needed.
Eventually Ric Martinez would be nothing but a bittersweet memory. Piper grabbed her purse and ignored the instant denial that surged inside her. She would return to Atlanta when this was over and never look back. It was the only way.
The best thing for both of them.
She opened her door and stepped into the small hall that led into the suite’s large parlor. She would get over this hopeless feeling. Sex, she decided. It was mainly about sex anyway. Nothing else. You couldn’t fall that deeply in love with anyone in just a few days. Especially someone you really didn’t even know. Could you?
“I’ll get back to you as soon as this is over,” Martinez said into his cell phone, his back turned to her as she entered the room. He closed the phone and deposited it into the pocket of his jacket.
Piper braced herself against the effect the sound of his voice always had on her. “I’m ready,” she announced in what she hoped was a cool, professional tone. “Was that Townsend?”
Martinez turned toward her, his gaze locking instantly with hers. She was totally unprepared for the rush of feelings…for the breath-stealing, heart-stopping emotions that gathered in her chest.
“No, that was Alex Preston from the Colby Agency,” he explained.
The Colby
Agency was where Martinez worked. She didn’t want to hear about that; it hurt too much. She summoned her waning resolve. “Can we leave now?”
“The car’s ready.” Those too-serious dark eyes held hers steadily as if he wanted desperately to relate something that he couldn’t bring himself to say. Like hers, his tone sounded just a little too cool and even. There was no mistaking the un-Martinez-like quality of it.
Piper looked away first. “Good.” Seeing no point in continuing the awkward conversation, she started toward the door. “I don’t want to be late.”
Strong fingers wrapped around her upper arm and stopped her. Piper shivered at the feel of his gentle, yet commanding touch. He held her like that for one long beat, but didn’t offer to pull her around to face him.
“I don’t want it to end this way, querida,” he murmured in that silky, accented voice that was all Martinez.
She blinked back the hot sting of tears. “Don’t,” she said tightly. “This is the only way it can end.”
He moved in close behind her, his body telling hers what she refused to allow him to say out loud. Piper squeezed her eyes shut and forced the image of Martinez in that elegant black suit he was wearing from her mind. She didn’t want to think about him and she definitely didn’t want to feel what he was making her feel.
“You can pretend that you don’t feel this….” His freehand slid over her hip and to her waist, pressing her closer against him. “But I can’t.”
Need ached through her, nearly overwhelming in its intensity. She drew in a deep, bolstering breath and fought to steel herself against his touch. “You lied to me…betrayed my trust.” She pulled loose from his hold, difficult as that proved. “Don’t expect me to pretend to be grateful you did it to protect me.” She reached for the door in front of her, knowing if she didn’t make her exit soon, she wouldn’t be able to hold it together. “Sex wasn’t part of the deal you made with my uncle.” Anger kindled inside her; she trembled with the effort to keep it inside. “I certainly hope your fee is adequate to cover the extra effort.”
Martinez reached past her and flattened his hand against the door when she would have opened it. “Don’t sweat it, querida,” he said harshly, his tone deadly and his lips only inches from her cheek. “I wouldn’t dream of charging you extra. You were worth the trouble.”
Piper forced a calm she didn’t feel and deliberately opened the door when he at last moved. Fury whipped through her, testing the limits of her self-control and making her want to turn around and slap his smug face. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. His words only helped her to see the added foolishness of her lingering feelings for him.
She’d had him pegged right from the beginning. He was nothing but a smart-mouth charmer, not unlike a gigolo. He was bought and paid for…had a job to do. He didn’t care about her. The opportunity to play hero was likely just an ego trip for him. He was most likely an adrenaline junkie at heart, like every other guy she knew in law enforcement or private investigations.
A little voice that she wanted desperately to ignore nagged at her. The horrible thoughts she was having about Martinez weren’t entirely true, she admitted as she stepped onto the elevator Townsend had waiting for them. Martinez was damn good at his job. Like her, his job came first; anything else was just a perk. No matter what else he was, he was an excellent bodyguard. And he did care, at least on some level.
Once on the elevator, she and Martinez claimed opposite corners as Townsend stepped aboard and pressed the button that would take them to the lobby.
“We’ll be leaving by the service entrance,” Townsend said to Piper. “Lucas has a car waiting at the back.”
“Fine,” she acknowledged.
Townsend turned to Martinez then. “Raine is riding shotgun.”
“Excellent.”
Piper cursed herself when the sound of that one word coming from Martinez curled around her and warmed her from the inside out. One way or another she was going to get the man out of her system. If it took her the rest of her life.
She swallowed back the lump that rose in her throat when she considered that if the SSU had its way, her life would end very, very soon. Like today. Piper glanced at Martinez’s grim profile. He’d promised to keep her safe. She prayed his determination to do the job he’d been hired to do wouldn’t cost him his own life.
That was the one thing Piper was certain she couldn’t live with.
RIC STOOD OUTSIDE Piper’s dressing room and watched as the makeup lady scrutinized Piper’s lovely face. The woman was complaining that she’d be out of work if everyone required as little in the way of on-screen preparation as Piper did.
“Wipe that besotted look off your face, Martinez.”
Ric jerked to attention at the sound of Lucas’s voice. His glare toxic, Lucas paused on the opposite side of the open doorway. Ric cleared his thoughts of the woman who had his gut twisted into knots. He leveled an annoyed look at the older man. He didn’t need Lucas looking over his shoulder on the job.
“I assume you have something to say that relates to the mission,” Ric suggested with clear irritation.
“Wear this.” Lucas handed him a tiny earpiece. “You’ll be able to hear whatever communications take place between me and my men. My whole team’s here. I decided the Feds needed a little backup. No one else will be on this frequency.” He pressed a miniscule black disc beneath the edge of Ric’s lapel. “With this,” Lucas explained, “we’ll be able to hear you if you have anything of interest to say.” He glared at Ric. “But don’t open your mouth unless it’s necessary. We want to keep the line clear for emergency transmissions only.”
Ric glanced at Piper, then turned his attention back to Lucas. “Do we have any new intel?”
The grim line of the older man’s mouth and the hard look in his eyes spoke volumes. “Whatever’s going to happen, it’s going to be today. And, unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to be real time. No warning.” Lucas looked away. “According to the man inside the SSU, the finale, whatever the hell it is, is already in motion.” Lucas swore hotly. “We’ve got the whole damned place locked down tighter than a drum. We’ve scoured every square inch of this studio.” He shook his head. “The place is clean. There has to be someone on the inside here.”
A sense of helplessness flooded Ric. “There’s nothing else we can do but wait for them to move.” It wasn’t a question, and Lucas knew it.
“Nothing. Everyone on the premises has been cleared to be here. Whoever the mole is, he or she is in deep.”
A production assistant paused in the corridor. “Excuse me,” he said, then leaned between Lucas and Ric and through the open door. “We need you on the set, Miss Ryan.”
Lucas’s solemn gaze settled once more onto Ric’s. “My men and I will be watching every move anyone on the premises makes. No matter what happens, don’t take your eyes off her, Martinez. Not even for a second. I don’t want your attention on anything else.”
Piper hesitated long enough as she passed between them for her uncle to kiss her cheek and offer a heartfelt good luck. She didn’t look at Ric. She just walked away. He followed.
No matter how bad it hurt to have her ignore him like this, it wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was protecting her from whatever the SSU bastardos had planned. Today, Lucas had said. Whatever they had planned was going to happen today.
PIPER WALKED ACROSS the set, her heart pounding so hard she could barely hear herself think. She plastered a professional smile into place and forced her respiration to slow. She had to forget Martinez. She had to forget the SSU and all those dead reporters with whom she’d taken that fateful journey just five weeks ago.
Right now, she had to be Piper Ryan, the cool, objective journalist. A pivotal part of her career depended upon what happened in the next minutes. She and the senator would be introduced during the last five minutes of the morning broadcast. Once the show ended, the interview would begin after a commercial
break. She had a full half hour.
Piper held the three-by-five-inch index cards containing the agreed-upon questions in her left hand. Yesterday she and the senator had run through the interview by telephone. Piper had placed the least important questions at the back of the stack in case the senator got a little long-winded on live television. She’d taken considerable time last night and studied the questions, her research and the senator’s bio. She was ready.
“Miss Ryan.” The senator extended his hand and smiled that charismatic smile that had gotten him elected four times already.
Piper accepted his hand and shook it firmly. “Senator, looks like we’re a go. I hope you know how much this opportunity means to me.”
“This is an excellent opportunity for both of us,” he agreed. “Getting the full half hour this morning was the President’s doing. I’m sure neither of us will let him down.”
No pressure there, Piper mused at the same time she felt her pulse go into double time.
The senator released her hand and turned to the younger man standing at his side. “I wish I could take the credit for working out the necessary details to make this day happen, but I can’t. Miss Ryan, this is Jacob Watts, my personal assistant. He’s the man responsible for setting this whole thing up with the network.”
Piper shook the other man’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Watts. I’m forever in your debt.”
Jacob Watts flashed a smile as equally charming as that of his mentor. “You were the only logical choice, Miss Ryan. We want you to make history with us today. This is your moment. Enjoy it.”
His sincerity seemed almost too genuine. Piper resisted the urge to frown. Before she could respond to, or consider, his comment any further, a commanding male voice interrupted their conversation.
“Miss Ryan, Senator, we’ll need you to take your seats now so that we can adjust the lighting and get a level on your mikes,” the set director announced.