Page 68 of Defenseless
A wave of emotion crashed through him, leaving him almost unable to stand. Shehadtold him she loved him. More than once. And he’d not said anything in return. Once she’d put herself out there, she’d held nothing back. Her courage humbled him, and he pulled her tight against his body.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She shook her head. “Don’t be. I wouldn’t want you to say that until you meant it.”
He touched his lips to the crown of her head. “I mean it, every word. And I will always mean it.” Of that he was certain. All relationships had ups and downs—he’d seen it with his aunts and uncles and even with his grandparents. But he’d also seen enough of love to know that what he felt was true and lasting.
“Say it again, please?” she asked, her voice muffled against his chest.
He smiled. “I love you.”
She sniffed. “Good, now can you take me to bed, make me lose my mind for a little while? Then in the morning, we can plan exactly how we’re going to bring Kevin Jacobs to his knees?”
Her train of thought had him chuckling. But despite his misgivings about confronting Jacobs, her plan for the next few hours sounded pretty good.
“Happily,” he said. Then he swept her up and carried her to bed, where he proceeded to make her lose her mind for more than just a little while.
* * *
“Tomorrow at nine a.m.,” Tess Jackson said. Chad, Sabina, Ethan, Kara, Stella, and Hunter were at the conference table with her. Ava, Leo, and Collin were on speakerphone. Teague and Killian had gone off with some of the DC-based operatives to hit the gym and, presumably, learn more about the company.
“That easily?” Ava asked, raising a question Chad had been pondering.
“Not easily,” Tess responded. “But I convinced his lawyer it would be good for Jacobs’s optics. If he didn’t have anything to do with Emer Houseman’s death, how would it look to have him refuse a meeting with her daughters? Especially when they’ve been in hiding, fearing for their lives, for the past eighteen years. After all, he was a man who cared for their mother, right?”
Chad smiled at that. Tess might have laid it on a little thick, but apparently, it worked. Although Chad suspected it only worked with the lawyer because the lawyer didn’t know his client was guilty.
“Have we scheduled a press conference announcing that you’ll be pushing to reopen the case of Emer’s murder?” Hunter asked.
Tess inclined her head. “At three today.”
That gave them three hours to grab lunch and prepare. As if reading his mind, Stella spoke. “Lunch is being delivered in thirty minutes. We’ll eat here while we plan.”
“What kind of wires are you going to wear?” Leo asked.
“The basic run-of-the-mill wire for the obvious one,” Sabina answered. “But the secondary one is a small prototype we’ve been developing.”
“Prototype?” Collin and Ava asked at the same time. Only the excitement in their voices was the exact opposite of what was going through Chad’s mind.
“You’re going to test a prototype on something so important?” he asked.
Sabina started to respond, but Hunter cut her off. “We’ve tested it. Rigorously. It will be fine tomorrow.”
Chad fixed his gaze on his boss. To his annoyance, Hunter grinned. “Relax, Warwick, it’s fine. It’s only still considered a prototype because we haven’t been able to produce enough of them to use in the field. That’s in the works, and the operatives will start using the devices in about four months.”
“Everyone will be able to listen in as well,” Sabina said. That gave Chad some assurance. He, Ethan, and Tess would be nearby in case the shit hit the fan. Something he didn’t want to think about too much, but knew he’d obsess over until they walked safely away from the meeting. But it would be good to have his HICC colleagues on both coasts listening in as well.
“And where is the meeting?” Leo asked.
“His office in the Capitol building,” Tess answered. “Neither the House nor the Senate is in session tomorrow, so there will be fewer people around. It was a compromise I made with his attorney, but one that also works in our favor. With less activity, there won’t be as many distractions for Jacobs.”
“Sabina, we should start testing the wires,” Ava suggested.
Sabina looked at him, and he nodded his agreement.
“Kara and I will head down to the equipment lab in a few minutes, and we’ll call you from there,” she replied.
“Sounds good, boss. Talk soon,” Ava said, then hung up.
