by Unknown
Chapter 7
“Shane, we appreciate your coming, but have you considered what will happen if you’re caught in a photo with us?” Blade Navarone asked as he stood in one of the smaller ballrooms in the Casa de Serenidad Hotel in downtown Santa Fe.
It annoyed Shane that he hadn’t until he was sitting on Blade’s private jet. He always thought of every contingency before an assignment. Once taken, nothing ever interfered with his ability to complete a job.
Until now. Until Paige. “So I’ll keep out of the way.” “There’ll be times you won’t be able to.” Rio, tall and imposing, arms folded, leaned against the partition behind them, watching the hotel staff hurriedly set up chairs, tables, and microphones for the press conference.
Being right didn’t alter Shane’s annoyance. “My job is here.”
“And we appreciate it, Shane, but if being here with us will make helping Paige more difficult, you might not have a choice,” Sierra said, standing next to Blade, their hands linked just as their hearts were.
Annoyance changed to irritation. “Blade and you are my main responsibility.”
Blade placed his large hand on Shane’s tense shoulder. “If you hadn’t felt there was a need, you wouldn’t have gone to Atlanta. You’ve never taken on an assignment with me, and few while we were in the Rangers, that you didn’t finish to your satisfaction. Rio is here, the men you’ve trained are here. Let them do their job.”
Shane’s surprised gaze cut to Rio. The look they shared lasted for only a few seconds, but it was enough. Blade had changed.
Before his marriage, he would have wanted as much protection as humanly possible between him and the unknown. Married less than two weeks, and he’d stopped being afraid of living, of caring, and it was all due to the woman with her head resting trustingly against his shoulder. Shane had seen the pose dozens of times. It was as if their bodies each drew the other, needed the other.
“Trent is counting on you to help Paige and her mother,” Sierra reminded him. “We all are.”
Shane didn’t doubt her for a moment. The bond of the blended families of the Falcons, the Taggarts, and the Masterses that now included Blade was strong. Although Shane had never been a part of such a close bond, he understood its power and its need to protect and keep the family safe and happy. And Paige didn’t even know she was part of such a caring family or how lucky she was.
Unless Mrs. Albright changed her mind, Paige might never know.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Shane finally answered. He had no intention of backing himself into a corner or limiting himself.
Rio straightened as Faith, her husband Brandon, Luke and his wife Catherine, and Sierra’s mother Ruth—followed by a horde of media—came into the room. Conversation stopped for a full ten seconds when the journalists saw Blade and Sierra. A woman raised a camera. Shane and Rio stepped in front of Blade and Sierra, shielding them. There was no need. Luke put his hand over the telephoto lens of the Nikon.
“No photos at this point,” Luke said. “Break the rule, and you’re out. No exceptions. No excuses.”
“We hope that won’t be necessary,” Catherine said, soothing the wide-eyed reporter now clutching the camera to her chest. “You’re all here because the Grayson family has always been able to count on you, and thus wanted you to be the first in the world to hear some exciting news. I’d hate for anyone to break any of the stipulations and miss out.”
“Sorry,” the woman said, obviously relieved she wasn’t going to be asked to leave. “I guess I just got excited on seeing Mr. Navarone.”
“Understandable,” Faith said. “Now if you’ll take your seats, we’ll get started.”
Shane and Rio moved aside as Ruth and her oldest son, Luke, made their way to the front of the room. Through the back door of the ballroom the rest of the extended family members entered.
Showtime, Shane thought.
Over an hour later, after countless photographs and questions ranging from where Sierra and Blade had met to wedding details, Sierra’s mother started winding down the news conference. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, but we wanted to share the news with our own first.”
A chorus of “Thank you” and “No problem” came from the media. Cameras flashed.
“Thank you again and good night,” Ruth said graciously. Blade and Sierra stood next to her. Luke had moved to the back of the room shortly after the press conference began.
Reluctantly the journalists got to their feet and began gathering their belongings. As planned, Sierra’s four brothers along with Daniel Falcon and his two brothers-in-law, Kane and Matt Taggart, began gently nudging people toward the double door that Trent held open. He’d stayed in the back of the room the entire time. Rio, as he had been all evening, remained to the far right of Blade and Sierra.
Out of camera range, Shane stood several feet to the left of the newlyweds. He wasn’t too happy with the way things had worked out.
He didn’t like compromising one job because of another. Yet he knew he’d like it even less if he ended up in one of the dozens of photographs taken and Paige happened to see it. He wanted to be there to protect her from Russell. The job had somehow become personal.
“Please wait,” cried a reporter near the door. Earlier she had identified herself as a reporter for Santa Fean magazine. “Mrs. Grayson, it’s a well-known and documented fact that you’ve had a hand in your son’s choice of wives. Were you instrumental in your daughter’s selection as well?”
The crowd stopped, turned, their ears almost twitching. Cameras were quickly raised. Sierra’s brothers, along with Daniel, Kane, and Matt Taggart, stopped, too.
Shane had heard of Sierra’s mother’s matchmaking scheme during Sierra and Blade’s engagement. Sierra had teased her brothers about being the only one to choose her life mate.
Shane wasn’t so sure. Ruth Grayson was as outspoken as her children. Yet she never confirmed or denied her involvement, just smiled as she did now. And if Felicia Falcon—Ruth’s sister-in-law and partner in Ruth’s plan to marry off her five children—was around, the two women would share a knowing look when they thought no one was looking. What he didn’t understand was why he’d caught the two women watching him and Rio.
“I’ll answer that for Mama.” Sierra laughed, hugging her mother with her free arm. The other arm remained around Blade’s waist, just as his was around hers. Turning to him, she lifted her face to his and cupped his cheek. Her engagement ring, a four-carat red diamond center stone surrounded by flawless white diamonds, sparkled as much as the light and love in Sierra’s eyes. “My heart chose.”
With the hand that bore the platinum wedding band Sierra had placed on his finger, Blade tenderly palmed Sierra’s cheek. His dark head descended until their mouths were inches apart. “Just as mine chose you.”
Cameras flashed. Several women sighed. Sierra’s brothers, cousins, and extended family members connected gazes with their spouses. Shane felt the sizzle, the passion, but also the undying affection. Their love would last a lifetime and beyond. Against the odds all of them had found that one person who grounded them, made life so much richer, happier.
Shane sensed Rio’s stare and turned. The warning in his best friend’s enigmatic gaze was as clear as if he had shouted the words. Home and hearth aren’t in our future. There was one little problem: The warning might have come too late.
Paige’s life was in turmoil. She honestly couldn’t say if it was because of the tension between her and her mother, or the sexual attraction between her and Shane. She tried to see leaving the house Monday morning before her mother woke not as cowardice, but as a nod to the pressing need to see Russell and straighten out the gift card mess.
She didn’t want to think she’d made a mistake in judgment of him. The mixup wasn’t his fault.
Getting into her car, she backed out of the garage and headed for Russell’s apartment instead of to her downtown office. If Russell couldn’t come to her, she’d go to him.
She hoped he wouldn’t see her visit as pushy, but as a way to help expedite matters.
In less than twenty minutes she pulled into the exclusive gated apartment complex, spoke to the guard on duty, and waited for the black iron gates to swing open. She’d been to the upscale complex only once before. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience.
After an early-morning tennis match with Russell at the country club they’d decided to go out to eat breakfast. Russell insisted on going to his apartment first to change clothes. He said it didn’t make sense for him to take her home, then come back to his place.
She hadn’t thought anything about it. But once inside he’d tried to kiss her. She’d been surprised and pushed him away. He’d tripped over an ottoman and almost fallen. The incident had embarrassed them both. He’d apologized, but she’d never visited his apartment again.
And it looked as if she wouldn’t this time, either. His new red Cadillac convertible wasn’t in his assigned parking space. There was no use looking to see if he had parked elsewhere. He’d often boasted that after he had several cars towed, no one dared park in his space. Disappointed, Paige sighed and reasoned he must have gone in early after working late last night.
Turning the car around, she headed for the freeway and the bumper-to-bumper traffic into downtown Atlanta. She wasn’t giving up. Gayle and Noah deserved that money.
Forty-three harrowing minutes later, she exited the freeway and drove straight to Russell’s office building. Getting through security took another ten minutes. While waiting in line for clearance she called his office. His secretary, Ellen, said he hadn’t arrived, and that his first appointment wasn’t until late that morning. There was something in the woman’s tone that bothered Paige, then she saw Russell and forgot about his secretary.
“Good morning, Russell.”
Shock registered on his face. “Paige. What are you doing here?”
“You said you’d be busy today so I thought I’d drop by so we can straighten out the misinformation on the gift cards,” she explained. “We can call the credit card company from your office.”
His mouth thinned. “I have a busy day. Can’t this wait?”
“No.” She refused to back down. “Gayle and Noah need to know that they can trust people.”
“They’re questioning me?” he snapped. “I didn’t have to give them anything.”
Paige glanced around as people stared at them. She didn’t want to cause a scene. “I know that and so do they. If that’s the way you feel, forget it. Good-bye.”
“Wait.” Russell grabbed her arm.
She shook her head. “Shane gave them fifty. I’ll give them the rest.”
Russell looked as if he would explode at the mention of Shane’s name. Releasing her, he pulled his billfold from the inside of his light gray tailored jacket and extracted a credit card. “Here.”
She hesitated. “If you don’t want—”
Taking her hand, he slapped it into her palm. “The next time you need anything, call me. Not him.”
She didn’t have to be a mind reader to know who him was. “Thank you, Russell. I’ll take care of this and bring it directly back. I tried to get you earlier at your place, but of course you weren’t there.”
“What?” he stiffened.
“I called your office just before I saw you. I wondered where you were,” she told him. “Your secretary said you didn’t have an appointment.”
“Car service,” Russell said. “Ellen doesn’t know everything.”
Paige held up his credit card. “Thanks again. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She walked away hoping that she hadn’t gotten Ellen into trouble. Paige had forgotten. Russell, like her father, didn’t like his whereabouts questioned.
One person in particular whose whereabouts she wished she knew was Shane.
Shane had always been able to compartmentalize his thoughts, but late Monday morning he was having difficulty. He’d learned to do so as a child in order to survive the harsh realities of his home life, then he’d done it as an Army Ranger in some of the most dangerous places in the world. He multitasked with ease . . . until he’d tackled a woman on a dark night in Dallas.
“Shane.”
Shane glanced up from one of the seven screens of the computer bank on the second floor of Blade and Sierra’s estate outside Santa Fe to see Trent Masters. He didn’t look happy. Shane didn’t need two guesses. “Mrs. Albright.”
Trent nodded to a seat next to Shane. “May I?”
Shane inclined his head. “What is it?”
“I’m not sure,” Trent began, settling his long body into the rolling leather chair. “I just got off the phone with her. I think something else is bothering her besides Paige and Zachary finding out about me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sierra and Blade’s wedding is being covered heavily on the news and the entertainment programs. I’ve tried to stay out of the limelight.”
“Hard to do,” Shane said with disgust. The “castle”—as Sierra referred to the house—was exactly that, complete with a drawbridge, which came in handy considering the throng of media from around the country camped out front.
“She sounded shaky, really frightened,” Trent said, lines radiating across his forehead. “Did anything happen while you were there that might have caused this?”
“No,” Shane said. If the situation between Paige and her mother had worsened, it had nothing to do with her seeing them talking outside her bedroom door. Of that Shane was sure.
“When are you going back?” Trent asked.
“Wednesday afternoon.” “All right.” Trent stood. “If you get any more information, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know.”
“You got it.” Shane turned to the computer screens, studying them for all of five minutes before he picked up his radio. “Number one to number two. Over.”
“Number two. Over.”
“I need you to monitor the computer. Over,” Shane spoke into the radio to Rio.
“I’m moving. ETA five minutes. Problem? Over.”
Uncharacteristically, he paused. “Not sure.”
There was another pause. “I am. Over and out.”
As soon as Rio arrived, Shane left and went to his room down the hall. The castle had thirteen bedrooms in all, along with a wine cellar, movie theater, and spa, in over fifteen thousand square feet of living space. Jacques, Blade’s decorator for all of his properties, called the castle a challenge at first, then his masterpiece.
In his room, Shane pulled out his modified cell phone and called Mrs. Albright. From his vantage point on the balcony of the second-floor bedroom, he could see the front and side grounds, the guards patrolling, the cars and vans of reporters; helicopters buzzed overhead. Blade was quietly buying the property around them so the media would be pushed back even farther.
In the meantime they were wasting their time in trying to get an interview or photo. Blade and Sierra were in an underground cave beneath the castle that Blade had designed to resemble a tropical paradise. He and Sierra had gone “to relax” three hours ago and were still there.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Mrs. Albright. It’s Shane.”
“Shane, are Blade and Sierra all right?” she asked. “It’s all over the news.”
“Fine,” he said on hearing the tension in her voice. “I’d like to know about you.”
“I guess you’ve been talking to Trent. He worries too much.” The laughter that followed sounded forced and hollow.
“What happened between you and Paige after I left?” Shane asked.
“The same thing that always happens. Paige pushes for answers that I can’t give her. Not if I expect her to continue being a part of my life. We’re growing farther apart,” Mrs. Albright told him.
The hurt and futility in her voice were unmistakable. “You might be giving Paige too little credit.”
“I can’t take the chance.”
“The secrecy will keep coming between you,” he told her,
watching the drawbridge lower and Trent drive across, then the mad scramble of the media to attempt crossing the downed bridge. His men, as instructed, were there en masse to turn them back. “You’re taking a chance this way as well.”
“It has to be this way,” she said, her voice tense. “There’s too much else going on.”
His antenna went up. “Like what?” His question was met with silence. “Mrs. Albright, is something going on you haven’t told me or Trent about?”
“I’ve told you everything you need to know to help Paige,” she finally said.
Shane had evaded enough people to know when it was being done to him. “Then why do I feel certain you’re holding out on me?”
“I can’t answer that for you,” she said. “When are you coming back?”
His original plan was to stay at least three days. “Late tomorrow possibly.”
“Good, we’ll see you then. Good-bye.”
Shane disconnected the call, then dialed another number. He had to know how she was doing.
“Paige Albright.”
She sounded all right, but he knew with Paige that could be deceiving. “Good morning.”
“Shane,” she said, her voice a bit breathless.
“Yes.” It hadn’t occurred to him until then that he had expected her to recognize his voice just as he recognized hers. “How is the day going?”
“Hectic, but that’s a good thing,” she said. “How is the friend you went to help?”
“Better than expected,” he answered truthfully.
“Good, then you’ll be back soon.”
He caught the same wistful sadness in her voice that he’d heard in her mother’s. He shouldn’t, but he heard himself say, “How about lunch tomorrow? I can take Jackie up on her offer and you can show me around your office.”
“You’re sure you’ll be back by then?” she questioned.
“I’m sure,” he said. “Is it a date?” he asked, then winced. He did not date.