He flinched. “You thought I was having second thoughts about marrying you? What in the bloody hell would give you that idea?” He closed the distance between us and framed my face. His eyes were hot on mine, demanding. “Tell me. Why would you think that?”
“You were acting so strange this morning, and then again when I got home. You’ve never acted distant with me—like you were keeping something from me.”
Declan’s lips lifted into an easy grin. “Oh, my dear Brooke.” He circled his arms around me, hugging me close. “I’m sorry. I did have a lot on my mind this morning. None of which had anything to do with me having any doubts about the engagement, the party this weekend, or anything else with regard to us. No matter what happens in our lives, I’ve not had a single doubt about our future together since the night you fell into my swimming pool fully clothed.”
I smiled. “Since that night, huh?”
“Well… since about then.” He cocked his head, studying me.
“Then what had you so worked up this morning?”
He tapped a finger to my nose. “That is part of the surprise I’ve been working on. And, as of this morning, my ruse was falling apart. But just before we left… when I got a phone call…”
“The one you didn’t want me to hear?”
“Yes, that one.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bedroom. “That phone call was a piece of my plan falling into place.”
“And your meeting this morning?” I asked as I followed him through the bedroom and into the bathroom. “Was everything okay at work?”
“My meeting had nothing to do with work.” Declan dropped my hand and began filling the gorgeous soaking tub. “But I never said it was. You assumed that.” He took a glass bottle from a shelf and began pouring bubbling bath salts into the water. I wanted to ask him what he was doing, exactly, but it was more fun to just watch him. “Just like I assume your breakfast wasn’t about work, exactly, nor did you send me away from your fitting with Mrs. G because you didn’t want me to see what clothes you picked out.” After testing the temperature of the water, he crossed to me. “If I had to guess, you have your own secrets, don’t you, dear Brooke?”
I thought about the gift I had for Declan tucked inside my travel tote, and about the wedding planner I had turned into a personal case file on the possible whereabouts of Romeo. I wanted to tell Declan all about it, and about my conversation with Mike, but how did I do that now, when he was so clearly going for a completely different mood?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said slyly.
He pushed my leather jacket back and off my shoulders. I let it fall to the ground, and he proceeded to unbutton my blouse.
“I think you do,” he said. “But you can come clean after you’ve relaxed in a hot bath. And had some dinner.” He pushed my blouse off my shoulders as well. “Actually, you can come clean in the morning. The rest of the night is about us.”
I was ready to come clean. I didn’t want to keep anything about Romeo from Declan. I had promised I wouldn’t let Romeo come between us ever again. That had been the whole reason I’d handed over copies of everything to Mike. Finding Romeo was no longer my job; therefore, I didn’t have an obligation to keep anything from Declan, professionally speaking. I had even come to terms with the idea that I might never know what happened the night Teddy was killed. And though I didn’t think I would ever be completely over it, just like I would always love Teddy, I knew that with Declan, I had been given a second chance at happiness. And at love.
With my blouse now lying on top of my leather jacket, Declan tugged on the belt loops of my jeans and pulled me against him. “Good surprises are allowed between us. Secrets are not.”
I nodded. “I agree.”
When Declan had successfully peeled every item of clothing from my body, he slipped a hand behind my neck, weaved his fingers through my hair, and pressed his lips against mine. With the first wave of pleasure coursing through my body, I sank further into the kiss. My lips parted; his tongue teased my lips and teeth. His fingers skimmed down my back, along my waist, and back up my belly, teasing every nerve ending along the way.
Pulling back slightly, I whispered against his lips, “Are you planning to join me in that bath you went to so much trouble to draw? Why am I the only one without clothes?”
He smiled. “Soon. You’re going to start without me while I check on tonight’s dinner.”
“Where are we going?” I managed as he continued to let his hands wander over every sensitive spot on my body.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the tub. “You’ll just have to patiently wait and see. For now, I want you in this tub.” He held my hand as I stepped into the bath.
I used a hairband from my wrist to tie my hair into a messy bun on top of my head, then succumbed to the soothing heat of the water while Declan lit several candles on a shelf. He dimmed the lights and slipped out of the room.
I closed my eyes and sank further into the hot water, letting the steam take over as I blocked everything except glorious thoughts of marrying Declan O’Roark.
Chapter 5
Declan
I was careful to close the doors that separated the bedroom and bathroom from the rest of the suite, including the kitchen and dining room, where hotel employees were already setting up dinner for Brooke and me. After checking on the timing of dinner, I grabbed my briefcase from the closet, unlocked it with fingerprints from both of my forefingers, and opened it to reveal the small box I had obtained earlier that morning.
Inside the velvet-lined box was a ring—the ring that almost didn’t make it in time. I’d asked my brother Darren to bring it from my home in Ireland, and he’d run into some trouble with the current tenant. I’d have to deal with that problem in the very near future, but I wouldn’t allow Claire to ruin this weekend for Brooke and me. I was just relieved to have the ring in time for the engagement party.
The diamond set in its center was as lovely as I remembered it, from the days when it sat on the hand of my grandmother. I had inherited two items of value from my grandparents after they passed away: my grandmother’s ring and my grandfather’s land, including the home I’d been partially raised in.
Even more than my own parents, it was my grandparents who had raised me to be the person I was today. I owed them everything. And now, Brooke would wear on her finger the most important item of my past.
Satisfied that everything was in place for the perfect evening in, I was about to join Brooke in the bath when my phone rang. Had it been anyone other than Dimitri, I would have let it go to voicemail.
“Dimitri,” I said as an answer. I walked back out to the living room so I wouldn’t disturb Brooke.
“Hey. I’m in DC, outside a hotel called The Jefferson.”
“You’re in the States? That was fast.”
“I told you I’d get on a plane as quickly as I could.”
“I know, but weren’t you working another job in London?”
“Declan, do you want to know why I called or not?”
“I assumed you tracked Brooke and me to the hotel we were staying in.”
“You and Brooke are staying at The Jefferson?”
“You didn’t know that?”
“No. I followed Harrison here.”
“You found him?”
Since Brooke had identified Romeo as Woodford Clay Harrison, I had hired Dimitri to see what he could dig up on the psychotic creep. If anyone could find the man Brooke still referred to as Romeo, Dimitri could. But Dimitri had been on a job in Europe, so I hadn’t expected him to come so quickly.
“He’s a slippery SOB, but yeah, I found him. Then I lost him. Then he did something very sloppy, and I found him again. I thought he might have spotted me earlier, but I’m not sure. Anyway, I’m standing outside The Jefferson, watching him.”
“He did something sloppy?” I repeated. I stared through the glass doors toward the Washington Monument, which was lit up agai
nst the evening sky. “He knows you’re following him.”
“No way,” Dimitri insisted, then backtracked. “You think?”
“He wants us to know that he knows we’re in town.” I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. I was going to have to tell Brooke that Dimitri had tracked Harrison here. I couldn’t expect her to be honest about her dealings with Harrison if I wasn’t doing the same. “How did you find him?”
“Interestingly enough, I tracked him down by following Agent Donaldson.”
“You mean Mike has been following Harrison?”
“I don’t think so. I was tailing Mike as he tried to hunt down the men on the list Brooke and I found at Anya Bhatia’s apartment. I figure Mike’s been trying to interview those men to gather information about Harrison, so I decided to follow him around a bit… and there he was. Like a gift. Harrison was in a car outside Donaldson’s house. But he didn’t stay long. And then he lost me. Man, that bloke makes me doubt my surveillance skills.” Declan could almost hear Dimitri shaking his head.
“What’s he doing now?”
“He’s just sitting on a bench outside the hotel, looking up. I didn’t know you two were staying here.”
I opened the doors to the balcony and stepped out. Looking down from the top floor, I scanned the sidewalks below. Across the street, a man sat on a park bench, his arms stretched leisurely along the top of the bench. “I see him.” The bastard was looking straight up at me.
“Want me to do something?” Dimitri asked.
“Keep watching him. I’m going to make a phone call.” I hung up and called Mike Donaldson.
“Agent Donaldson.”
“Agent Donaldson, it’s Declan O’Roark.”
“What can I do for you, Mr. O’Roark?” There was a hesitation in Donaldson’s voice.
“I thought you might like to know the whereabouts of Woodford Clay Harrison.”
“And how would you know Harrison’s whereabouts?”
“He’s in downtown DC, outside The Jefferson Hotel right now.”
“The Jefferson? Why is he there?”
“It’s where Brooke and I are staying. I’m assuming he’s tracked Brooke down somehow.”
“I’m sending someone over immediately.”
“You can,” I said. “But my guess is he’ll be gone by the time you do.”
“Why are you calling me, Mr. O’Roark?”
“As you know, because you were invited, we are having a party tomorrow night at the director’s home north of the city. I want to know if you’ve found anything in your investigation that leads you to believe that Harrison wants to harm my fiancée.”
There was silence on the other end.
“Donaldson?”
“I’m going to level with you, Mr. O’Roark.”
“Please, call me Declan. I mean, you are coming as a friend to the engagement party, after all.” And since Donaldson was instrumental in putting me on the short list of suspects in a bioterrorism case, we ought to be on a first-name basis now.
“Declan, I don’t have to tell you that Woodford Clay Harrison is a very dangerous man. He has been fixated on Brooke for years now. Has he ever meant her harm? I can’t really answer that question. But I have reason to believe that he has now turned violent and may be involved with the deaths of people he and Brooke went to school with. Like I told Brooke this morning—”
I almost didn’t hear the rest of Donaldson’s sentence. Brooke had spoken with Donaldson? She hadn’t told me that. She’d agreed to stay away from the Harrison case—or to tell me if she got pulled into it.
“I’m having a tough time locating the men in the picture she gave me. So far, three of them are dead from recent accidents or illnesses, one is missing, and, of course, one is in jail awaiting trial for his involvement in the Georgetown bar shooting where you were injured. And now the FBI has ordered me to push this case aside, since I’ve had no luck finding any evidence to link Harrison to the shooting.”
“But we know for a fact that he murdered the governor of Kentucky.”
“Do we? We have the word of a former agent who had been drugged at the time. She’s less than a credible witness. A competent attorney would squash her on the stand. And there’s no trace of physical evidence. I’m sorry, but my hands are tied. But I will be at the party tomorrow night, and I will be armed. And since it’s at the director’s house, there will be other armed agents as well. I’m sure the director has plenty of security for the event.”
My phone beeped in my ear. Dimitri was calling. “Thank you, Agent Donaldson. We’ll see you and your wife tomorrow night.” I clicked over to Dimitri. “What is it?”
“That piece of shite entered the hotel. I tried to tail him, but he disappeared through a service door, and I lost him.”
I ended the call and went back to my briefcase. I retrieved my nine-millimeter handgun from it, made sure it was loaded, and tucked it inside one of the dresser drawers. For the first time since learning of Romeo’s—Harrison’s—fixation on Brooke, I was actually uncertain whether I could protect her.
I was also struggling to swallow the anger of her not telling me about her conversation with Donaldson.
Chapter 6
Brooke
Declan took longer than I had anticipated. I thought I heard his voice at one point, but mostly the suite was silent. That silence, combined with the flicker of the candles behind my closed eyelids, the soothing warmth of the bath, and the intoxicating scent of the bubbles, relaxed and calmed me.
However, tension lay just on the horizon, preventing me from achieving full relaxation. I knew I’d kill the mood when I told Declan about Romeo and about my conversation with Mike.
The sound of the bathroom door opening had me lifting one eyelid and looking up at Declan. “You’re too late. The water’s losing its warmth.”
“And you’re turning into a prune.” He grabbed a towel and opened it for me. “And dinner is nearly ready.”
I stood from the bath, and as I stepped carefully out of the tub and into the towel, I eyed him curiously. “Ready? Meaning?”
“I thought after a busy week at work, and with an exciting event planned for tomorrow night, you might like to have a private—and quiet—dinner here.” Declan dried me off, then reached for a thick white robe lying on a vanity bench. I hadn’t even seen him place it there.
“You don’t have a business meeting?”
“No.” He wrapped the robe around me and hugged me close while speaking in a low voice next to my ear. “Another false assumption, Miss Fairfax.”
“Hmm.” I lifted a single brow. “You’ve acted strange and enigmatic this entire day.”
“I could say there’s a bit of mystery about you tonight, as well.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Meaning?”
He grabbed hold of the lapels of the robe and held me close, staring deeply into my eyes as if he were working out a challenging chemical formula. “Meaning…” He seemed to consider what he wanted to say. “Meaning, the clothing Mrs. G packed up for you is more clothes than you need for a long weekend. Think there’s something in there for tonight’s dinner? I want to see you in something sexy.”
For dinner in? I looked down at his dress pants and crisp button-down. The top two buttons were unbuttoned, his sleeves had been rolled to his elbows, and the tie that he’d started the day with was gone. He was damn sexy. I thought I could find something to match that. “How about you give me twenty minutes, and I’ll surprise you?”
He pressed his lips to mine in a quick kiss. “Twenty minutes is too long, but I’ll go check on things and try to entertain myself.”
I smiled as I watched him go. He was nothing if not patient. But I could tell something still wasn’t right. He had been about to say something about me acting mysteriously today, but stopped.
I went into the bedroom and found my bag. As I pulled out my phone, I saw that I had a missed call from Ty, with no message, and a text from Mike.
Tell
Declan I sent an agent to The Jefferson to spot Harrison. But he’ll likely be long gone by the time one of my people gets there.
“Harrison,” I whispered to myself. “Romeo is here?”
Of course he was. I always assumed he was close by. Even when he’d been silent for weeks.
But how would Declan know that Romeo was here? And had he called Mike? If so, he knew I’d been in touch with Mike…
Which would explain why he was acting strange just now.
Every instinct in my body was telling me to call Mike and quiz him about what he was talking about, and to find out what Declan knew. But I quickly decided that this was not the kind of relationship I wanted with Declan. I would not tiptoe around him. Romeo was not my job—he was not a case that I needed to keep from those in my personal life due to security clearances. He was my personal stalker.
Besides, I had already planned to tell Declan about Mike’s call, and I wouldn’t apologize for waiting to tell him. He’d clearly had his own issues earlier today that prevented me from being straight with him.
I walked to the closet and unzipped the bag with new clothes from Mrs. G, including several dresses. I picked out a white slip dress by an unknown designer. After tossing the terrycloth robe across the bed, I slid into the white dress.
Back in the bathroom, I stared at myself in the mirror. The dress hugged my body, and I knew Declan would be powerless against me. I would take all the help I could get to get him to listen to my apology when I showed him my notebook of evidence against Romeo.
I spent the next ten minutes freshening my makeup and tying my hair into a knot at the nape of my neck, with a few loose strands framing my face. Then I went in search of Declan.
The suite was nearly silent, with the exception of some soft music in the distance. In the living room, the soft glow of a lamp reflected off the large windows, beyond which I could see the White House and the Washington skyline. I crossed through the living room and found Declan in the dining room, standing at the twelve-foot-tall windows, looking out at a magnificent view of the Washington Monument. He looked deep in thought. Behind him, where it looked like there should be a large dining table, a small table was set for two. Four tapered candles flickered and reflected against the silverware and crystal stemware.
Desired in Darkness Page 3