Page 18 of Some Like It Deadly
“But another year goes by and the men are back at our door. Same story, only this time, Dad went to jail for five years. Mom lost her job and no one would hire her because it was all over the papers. I was old enough to understand that my father screwed a lot more people out of their money—retirees, single moms, families—and he hid the money this time. So when they came and took everything from us, they still couldn’t find the money, but neither could my mom.” Anger, old and sullen, crept into his voice. “So we were back at Christine’s Center and Mom had to take every menial job she could get her hands on. We got lucky. One of the center’s benefactors thought enough of Mom to hire her, then sent her to school to get a degree. When Dad got out that time, she didn’t take him back.”
She pulled up to the gate and opened the window to type in the code. The external floodlights had come on upon their arrival and his expression was so dark and sad, her heart twisted.
“Anyway.” Richard exhaled, sobering. “Places like that? They saved our lives twice. The people I help, those cases, they’re usually getting screwed by someone like my father.”
Pulling up and following the circular drive to stop in front of his house, Kate put the car in park. “Richard, you didn’t do any of those things. You don’t have to make amends for your father.”
“Yes, I do, because he sure as hell never will.” Clearing his throat, Richard unlocked his seat belt and looked at his house. “You shouldn’t have to drive all the way back. I have a guest room and plenty of spare clothes here.”
Driving back wouldn’t be a problem. The gates were locked and the security watching the house was already in place, but the loneliness in his voice tugged at her. Shutting off the car, she glanced at him. “Is your sofa comfortable?”
“Probably.” He had the smallest of smiles, pleased with her question. “But I’ll tell you another secret.”
“And that is?”
“I have a ton of extra bedrooms.” He waggled his eyebrows and gave her a conspiratorial wink. “You can test every bed and pick the one that’s just right.”
Laughing in spite of the bad joke, she shook her head. “Do I look like Goldilocks to you?” Climbing out, she met him at the passenger door. When he swayed on his feet, she slid an arm around him and he braced his weight on her shoulder.
“Alyx is right. You deserve a raise.”
“Hmm, if you remember this in the morning, I’ll let you give me one.” Between the two of them, they got the door open and he gave her the passcode for the alarm system. She disarmed then rearmed it again before guiding him toward the stairs. His staggering steps worried her, but she could handle the extra weight.
When he directed her toward his bedroom, she helped him inside and seated him on the bed. He gave her another lopsided grin and flopped onto his back.
“Hmm, no more alcohol for you, Mr. Prentiss.” She tugged his shoes off, then pulled the cover from the end of the bed up over his suit. No way she would undress him.
His hand closed over hers on the duvet. “Kate?”
“Yes, Richard?”
A broad yawn stretched his mouth and he blinked slowly. “You should wear your hair down more often. It’s much prettier down.”
“I’ll take that under advisement,” she replied drily. “Go to sleep.” But his eyes were already closed and a low snore echoed back at her. After returning to the kitchen, she found bottled water in his fridge, then hunted through the cabinets to find some aspirin and his prescriptions. Both were on a shelf near the coffee pot. Back in his room, she set the items on the nightstand and paused to loosen and remove his tie, unbuttoning the top two buttons on his dress shirt.
It wouldn’t do to let him strangle himself in his sleep and fell under the protectee code. But looking after him didn’t require her to brush that lock of hair off his forehead.
No, that she did for herself and, thankfully, he was sound asleep and missed her slip.
She almost wished she’d gotten to know him when she’d been working for Anna—at least then she could have indulged her interest.And let’s just cut that thought off right there.
Protectees were beyond off limits. Especially when she had to lie to this one.
Chapter 5
Richard
The pounding inside his skull hammered Richard awake. Prone, he peeled his eyelids open with a wince. Too much sunshine glowed around the white sheer of the curtains—somehow he’d forgotten to close the blackout curtains when he’d gone to bed.
When the helldidI go to bed?
Sitting slowly, the marching band in his head turned into a drum line and his stomach lurched. Half-blinded by the brutal headache, he squinted at the nightstand. A bottle of water and aspirin sat waiting for him. He dry swallowed the pills, then drained half the water from the bottle. His mouth tasted like ass and that, he decided, was the only reason he would get up.
Shoving the blanket off, he gave his disheveled suit a baleful look. He hadn’t fallen into bed fully clothed since… His aching head refused to cooperate. At least he’d made it home. With a care for the pulse thrumming from his brain to his roiling gut and back up again, he made his way to the bathroom. Stripping off his suit, he turned on the shower then paused at the sink to brush his teeth while the water heated.
Twenty minutes of scalding hot water and soap later, he began to believe he might resemble human. After shaving morefrom habit than desire, he toweled off, finger combed his damp hair, and checked the scars on his side. Three laparoscopic incisions had saved his life. They would fade over time, but he knew they were there. Gathering up his discarded clothes, he carried them back into the bedroom and dropped them on a stack he had to send to the cleaners and pulled out a pair of slacks from the closet.
The clock said it was after eight, which meant not only was he hungover, he was also late to get to the office. His cell phone wasn’t in his pants pocket or on the nightstand plugged into the charger where he usually left it. It was probably in his suit jacket with his wallet. Hopefully, he’d dropped both downstairs. Shirtless, he headed straight to the kitchen.
