“I’ve had to learn to blow my own horn,” Bren said with a laugh. “Heaven knows my brothers are so tight-lipped about their lives, if it were up to them, nobody would have even known I was in the congressional race until it was over.”
“All part of the training.” Cam drained his milk. “Can you imagine our big brother Donovan ever talking about his CIA jobs?”
Pru gasped. “You have a brother in the CIA?”
Micah shook his head. “Pure speculation on our part. Donovan never talks about it. In fact, we don’t even know where he is. He calls from time to time, on a secure line, to tell us he’s alive. That’s about it.”
Pru glanced at Kate. “How can you bear not knowing?”
Kate gave her a gentle smile. “It’s always hard letting children leave the nest.” She turned to include Micah. “Even those we know about. But I have confidence that I raised them to handle whatever life throws their way.”
Prudence fell silent, thinking about her own father, and the way she’d had to fight for even the most basic freedoms.
Kate pushed away from the table. “That was a lovely dinner, Kieran. But now I have some paperwork to see to. I’ll say good night.” She paused beside Pru’s chair. “Micah will show you Bren’s room. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that because she was the only girl, she got her own bathroom.”
“Thank you, Mrs.…thank you, Kate. It’s kind of you to take in a stranger.”
“You’re hardly a stranger, Prudence. Not if you’re here with my son.” She brushed a kiss on Micah’s cheek, then kissed her other children and her father-in-law before heading off to her bedroom.
When she was gone, Cam said, “Mom’s got way too much paperwork. What she needs is some help in that office.”
“Then why don’t you hire some?” Micah drained his tea.
“Easier said than done. Do you know what it would take to persuade someone to work in that part of town? And even if we could, they’d want a fortune.”
“Then pay it. Mom deserves to relax when she comes home at night.”
Cam nodded. “I never understood just how much work she’d taken on until I started taking some of her cases.”
Micah turned to Pru. “Cam works part-time in one of the biggest law firms in the city, billing enough hours so he can afford to take on some pro bono cases that nobody else will touch.”
“Why won’t anyone else touch them?”
Cam started gathering up the dishes. “They’re considered hopeless. Guys in prison, usually, who’ve been through all their appeals. Most of them come through Mom’s office. She just has a way of ferreting out the ones who got a bad deal and deserve another look.”
“Do you ever get them a new trial?”
“Now and again.” Cam turned to Micah. “You going to sit there, or get off your duff and lend a hand?”
“I guess I could help. I’ll load the dishwasher and you can do the pots and pans.”
“No way.” Cam started toward the kitchen with an armload of dishes. “I’ll load the washer. You do the pots and pans.”
“Wait a minute…” Micah began gathering up dishes in haste before dashing from the room.
“I can help, too.” Pru started up until Kieran put a hand on her arm.
“You may as well relax. There’s going to be a war in the kitchen in a few minutes.”
“A war?” She looked at Bren with alarm.
“Just a minor scuffle.” Bren laughed. “Which Pop will be more than happy to break up.”
“They still fight? At their age?” Pru looked absolutely horrified at the sounds coming from the kitchen.
Just then Kieran pushed away from the table and stormed into the other room.
At the look on Pru’s face, Bren leaned over and patted her hand. “It’s just horseplay. But with guys, it’s so easy to get out of hand. So Pop will order the usual punishment.”
“Punishment? For grown men? He can do that?”
“Uh-huh. Pop rules this roost.” Bren started laughing harder when the door slammed and the voices faded. “It’s just begun. Come on. You and I can finish the dishes and watch the entertainment through the window.”
In the kitchen, Bren led Pru to the window, where they saw Cam and Micah struggling for control of the basketball. Micah blocked, Cam dropped the ball, and Micah scooped it up and into the basket for a clean shot. Seconds later, Cam tossed the ball. It rimmed the net, and fell without going in. Micah was on him at once, dribbling the ball and scoring again.
Bren turned on the taps and started washing the roasting pan. “If you’d like to load the rest of those dishes, we’ll be finished long before the battle of the hoops has ended.”
“Do they ever come to blows?” Pru paused a moment to watch a shoving match going on outside.
“Occasionally. But there’s rarely much bloodshed.” Pru turned pale and Bren dropped an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, we’re family. We may fight a bit, but we always make up.”
“That’s a relief.” Pru tore her gaze from the antics outside and concentrated on the dishes.
“Don’t you have any brothers or sisters to fight with, Pru?”
The young woman shook her head. “I always thought I’d like to have a few siblings. But seeing that…” She nodded toward the backyard and gave a little shudder. “I’m not so sure.”
Bren dried the roasting pan and put it in a cupboard. “I’ve spent a lifetime cursing the fates that gave me brothers. But the truth is, I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
By the time she and Bren had finished up in the kitchen, the two brothers were walking through the doorway, arms around each other’s shoulders. Both of them were layered with sweat and laughing hysterically.
“Good game,” Micah said.
“Yeah. And we managed to avoid the dishes, too.” Cam swatted his sister’s rear and was rewarded with a damp dish towel in the face.
Across the room Pru watched in amazement.
Micah leaned close to his sister and whispered, “You wouldn’t happen to have any nightclothes left up in your room, would you?”
“I might. Just some old stuff left over from college. Why?”
“Pru and I left in a bit of a hurry.”
Bren turned to their houseguest. “Prudence, why don’t I show you my room.” As she and Pru started out of the kitchen, she noticed Micah trailing behind. She shot him a look. “Where do you think you’re going?”
He merely smiled. “Don’t mind me. I’m just the bodyguard.”
“Some bodyguard.” She put an arm around Pru’s shoulder and said in a loud voice, “If he doesn’t soon shower, he won’t have to use his muscle to fend off attackers. All he’ll have to do is threaten to get close enough to smell all that sweat and they’ll run the other way.”
Despite her earlier anger, Pru couldn’t help laughing. The barbs being passed around were simply priceless.
When she stepped into Bren’s cozy room, she felt a little of the day’s tension begin to slip away.
She glanced at the framed photo on the wall, of a handsome man in uniform surrounded by three little boys. In his arms was a little girl, looking at him with a look of absolute adoration. “Is that your father?”
Bren nodded. “Mom made each of us a memory book of old pictures, as well as newspaper accounts of his death.” She opened a drawer and set an album on the desk. “I’ve added to it, so that all our family is chronicled. If you’d like to leaf through it, feel free.”
“Thanks, Bren.” Pru was grateful that Micah’s sister seemed to sense her need to be alone.
After locating a nightshirt, and insisting that Pru help herself to whatever clothes she might need in the morning, Bren bid her good-night.
An hour later, after luxuriating in a long hot shower, Prudence thumbed through the album and found herself marveling at what the Lassiter family had been through, and all that they’d done with their extraordinary lives.
At last she climbed between the cov
ers and, for the first time since being rudely hauled out of her apartment, she had the time to mull over all that had happened.
Chapter 13
Just thinking about the fact that her father had hired Micah Lassiter as her bodyguard had Prudence punching a fist into her pillow. How could her own father have done such a thing without telling her? He claimed he was trying to spare her any unnecessary fear. Well, maybe that was so. But in the process he’d caused her the most appalling humiliation.
She thought about what Kate Lassiter had said tonight about letting go of her children. She trusted them. It galled Prudence to think that, even now, after years of college, and a graduate degree that would soon be added to her list of accomplish ments, her father still wasn’t willing to trust her to take care of herself. He hadn’t even bothered to tell her about the danger she might be in. He simply hired others to look out for her.
What was worse, she had no idea the extent of the danger that threatened her. A madman, her father had said. One who felt targeted by her father and his company’s software.
Thinking back to the e-mail incident, she understood now why Micah had reacted the way he had. Obviously the man and woman he’d called in to check her computer had been aware of the threat and had taken it very seriously. But whether they were employees of Micah, or of her father, she had no way of knowing.
Suddenly she remembered something else. The brakes on her car. Micah told her that it was a simple failure. What if it had been done deliberately? Those weren’t just a few threatening words on a computer screen. It could have resulted in a tragedy if she had pulled into traffic before making the discovery that she had no brakes.
Her mind was reeling from the possibilities. No wonder Micah had taken her far away while her car was being checked. It hurt to realize he hadn’t simply wanted to take her to a secluded restaurant for the sake of furthering their relationship.
Oh, how it hurt.
And then there was the fact that a stranger had broken into her apartment, had disarmed her security alarm and had looked at, even touched, her belongings. She felt naked. Vulnerable. Violated.
Though she wasn’t aware of it, she curled up into a tight ball and pulled the blankets over her head, the way she had when she’d been a shy little girl trying to shut out the world.
Gradually sleep overtook her.
Kieran Lassiter poured himself a foamy mug of dark beer and started toward the stairs. This was his little treat to himself when the chores were finished and the day done. A mug of cold beer and the History Channel. Life didn’t get much better than that.
As he passed through the great room, he caught sight of Micah in the big easy chair, the glow from the tip of a cigar gleaming red in the shadows.
“What’re you doing sitting in the dark?”
“Relaxing.” Micah drew in smoke and watched it curl over his head.
“Aren’t you going up to bed?”
Micah shook his head. “Not tonight.”
“You on duty?” He nodded toward the stairs. “Guarding the lass?”
“Yeah.”
The old man perched on the edge of the foot-stool. “Is she in trouble?”
“Could be. There’ve been threats. And today someone got into her apartment.”
“Did they take anything?”
“Not that we could see. My operatives will sweep it tonight to look for bugs. But even if it’s clean, it’s enough to know that someone was there, violating her space. I had to get her out of there.”
“Why not your place?”
Micah shrugged. “For one thing, I may have been spotted by this guy. He tampered with her brakes in the parking lot of a store. If he’d stayed there to watch, he’d have seen us come out together. I figure if he can find her place, he can find mine, too.”
“What’s the other thing?”
Micah arched an eyebrow.
The old man smiled. “You said for one thing. What’s the other?”
Micah winced. “She was so mad at me when she found out I’d been hired by her father, I figured it wouldn’t be wise to be alone with her. She was liable to brain me with the nearest thing she could find and take off on her own.”
Kieran chuckled. “Good move.” He stood, holding the mug carefully so as not to spill a drop of his precious brew. “I’ll say good night now.”
“Good night, Pop.”
Micah watched as his grandfather climbed the stairs. Then he closed his eyes a moment. It was true that he hadn’t wanted to be alone with Pru. But not for the reason he gave Pop. The truth was, he wanted her so badly, he was no longer willing to trust himself.
Prudence awoke with a start and glanced at the bedside clock. She’d been asleep for several hours. The thought of the long night looming before her had her suddenly wide awake, her mind once again whirling with all that had happened.
A madman was on the loose. Her life could quite possibly be in danger. But none of that seemed real. What was real to her was that she’d made a total and complete fool of herself.
How was she going to face Micah?
Just thinking about the way she had set out to seduce him had her burying her face in her hands. No wonder he’d fought so hard to resist temptation. She’d thought he was just a reluctant lover. Now she realized he’d been trying to spare her exactly what she was now suffering. He’d known that sooner or later she would have to learn the truth. And when she did, she would not only hate him, but herself.
So why had he finally succumbed to her advances?
Micah Lassiter didn’t strike her as the sort of man to violate that code of honor he wore so nobly. Maybe she’d caught him in a weak moment. Or maybe he’d wanted her as much as she’d wanted him.
The very thought of it had her heart giving a wild flutter.
He’d been the most amazing lover. There was no denying that he’d been as fully engaged as she. It had been, at least for that one special night, a dance which, though initiated by one, had been thoroughly enjoyed by two.
And so, here she was. In this strange place, with a houseful of strangers.
After the initial shock of his family, she’d had a grand time seeing Micah with them tonight. When he was around them he seemed softer somehow. More human. She loved the warm, easy way they interacted. The gentle gibes. The joking, teasing banter. The love and affection. It was there in their eyes for everyone to see.
And now, after studying Bren’s album, she realized just what an amazing family they were. Talk about overachievers. No wonder her father had trusted Micah Lassiter to be her bodyguard.
Her bodyguard. The very word grated on her nerves. It was so like Allen Street to think his precious little princess needed guarding.
She gritted her teeth, feeling the sting of anger and humiliation.
Too on edge to go back to sleep she slipped out of bed and crossed the room. She didn’t think Kieran Lassiter would mind if she helped herself to a cup of his tea.
The stairs were cloaked in darkness. She used the banister to find her way. Once in the great room, there was a pool of moonlight to guide her to the kitchen.
She had her hand on the door when she saw something move in the shadows. Before she could scream, there was a hand on her mouth and a heaviness against her body, propelling her through the doorway and into the kitchen, which was quickly flooded with light.
When she realized it was Micah holding her, she mouthed his name, but no words came out. She had to stop, swallow and try again.
“Sorry.” Micah released her and took a step back. “I figured I’d just let you go by without revealing myself. But when you saw me, I figured you’d scream and wake the household.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “That was definitely my intention.”
“I’m really sorry, Pru.” He was trying not to stare. But the sight of her in a faded Washington Redskins shirt that hung to her knees seemed so incongruous. Especially when he knew that designer silk was much more her style. “I see Bren gave you some
thing to wear. Did you sleep at all?”
“For a while.” She couldn’t tell if her trembling was merely a reaction to shock, or because of the look in Micah’s eyes. “I thought I’d make myself some tea.”
“I’ll have some, too.” He turned toward a cupboard and took down two cups.
Grateful for something to do, Prudence filled the kettle and set it on the stove, while Micah opened a canister and brought out two tea bags.
When he set them in the cups, he couldn’t help chuckling. “If Pop saw us making our tea this way, he’d be offended.”
“Why?”
“It’s the Irish in him. He believes that tea should be steeped in a teapot, not in a cup.”
“Has he always been such a courtly gentleman?”
“Gentleman.” Micah thought about that a moment before nodding. “I suppose. Especially around women. He adores my mother. He thought she was the best thing that had ever happened to his son. And he was really wild about Bren when she was born. He spent so much time carrying her around in his arms my father worried that she’d never learn to walk. So I guess when it comes to the ladies, Kieran Lassiter is definitely a gentleman. But on the D.C. police force he was known as a tough cop who never backed away from a fight.”
“It’s hard to imagine that sweet old man wearing a uniform and carrying a gun.” She removed the kettle from the stove and filled the two cups with boiling water.
“Looks can be deceiving.” Ignoring the big trestle table that dominated the other end of the kitchen, Micah led her to a padded window seat overlooking the backyard. “Take that basketball hoop, for instance.” He nodded toward the moonlight glinting off the backboard. “Looks harmless enough, I suppose. But for all of my life it’s been the place where all of us were sent to work off our aggression.”
She smiled and sipped her tea. “I noticed. It seems to work.”
“Yeah.” He leaned a hip against the wall while he drank his tea. “There’s just something about running back and forth making hoops that drains away the anger.”
He’d showered and changed into a pair of drawstring pants and a crewneck sweater in charcoal gray. On his feet were dark socks. Even here, with moonlight spilling through the window, he seemed to prefer to blend into the shadows. No wonder she hadn’t seen him in the other room.