“Evelyn,” Elizabeth said, “help us.”
But Evelyn turned away and headed back into the house.
Chapter Twelve
“Where was the backup?” Sullivan demanded when Celia pulled the SUV up in front of a small hotel. “I thought you said detectives were coming in, riding to the rescue.”
Mac noted the edge in his brother’s voice. Sullivan didn’t have his normal control in place, not by a long shot. But then, where Celia was concerned, the guy never did.
“You guys didn’t give me enough evidence to bring in any detectives.” Celia killed the engine. “I was hoping we’d rattle the governor enough for him to slip up.”
They all exited the vehicle, but no one moved to approach the hotel. It was a small place, one of those little spots that most people passed right by as they headed on to look for something bigger and better.
“He did slip up,” Elizabeth said, voice subdued. “He admitted he was at Nate’s funeral. He got a note from Nate. He thought Nate was blackmailing him.”
When a tremble slid over her, Mac wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and pulled her close.
“No,” Celia said, sighing, “he was careful. He just said that his assistant thought Nate was working some kind of blackmail scheme. The governor did a good job of looking shocked and horrified, but he didn’t give us anything to actually use against him.”
Elizabeth slid a bit closer to Mac. “The wife is our key. She knows so much more than she’s saying. We just have to get her to open up to us.”
Sullivan nodded. “We have to get the woman to turn on her husband. Not the easiest task. Because when he goes down, her world will explode with him.”
“Crash and burn,” Mac muttered. But yes, that was exactly what they would have to do—they’d have to get Evelyn to expose the governor.
“Who knows a man better,” Sullivan mused as he stalked closer to Celia, “than the woman he’s sleeping with?”
“Sully...” Mac warned. “Watch yourself.”
Sullivan stopped.
“I’ll go get some rooms,” Celia announced. “Be right back.” Then she was hurrying off—nearly running—for the little check-in office and its bright vacancy sign.
Sullivan watched her go. It was dark out there, with the stars partially obscured by clouds, so Mac couldn’t see his brother’s expression clearly.
“What happens next?” Elizabeth asked. “We came all this way... What do we do? I can’t just walk away from this.”
No, and he didn’t expect her to do that. “Next, we sleep. We rest. Then when the sun comes up again, we’re going to start working on that weak link.” On Evelyn. He turned Elizabeth in his arms so that he could face her. “This isn’t over, not by a long shot. You need to believe me on that. I’m not giving up.”
“I do believe you.” Her hand rose and slid against his cheek. Her touch was so soft. Meanwhile, he had rough stubble on his cheeks. He always felt too rough around her. “Thank you.”
He turned his head and pressed a hot kiss to her palm. “Any damn time.” I’d do anything, for you.
Sullivan was silent, but Mac could practically feel his brother stewing over there. He was sure that, as soon as they were alone, Sullivan was going to have plenty to say.
Yes, I brought in Celia. Yes, I know you think I just screwed up your whole damn life.
Celia ran back to them. “They only had three rooms.”
Not a problem. “Elizabeth and I can share.” They would share. Because he needed her in his arms again. Needed to feel her go wild beneath him. He liked it when Elizabeth let her control go. Hell, he liked everything about her.
Celia tossed a key to Elizabeth, then she threw one to Sullivan. He caught it easily, his fingers clenching around it.
“Our rooms are right next to each other,” Celia told him. “Hope that’s not a problem.”
“Not a problem,” Sullivan gritted. But he sure sounded as if it was the worst problem ever.
“I’ll grab the bags,” Mac said. “Celia and Elizabeth, why don’t you two go ahead and see just how crappy the rooms are...” Mostly, he needed them to slide ahead so he could give his brother a warning.
He waited until the women were clear, then he closed in on Sullivan. “You need to watch yourself,” Mac began.
Sullivan whirled toward him. “You don’t even know what you’ve done.” Each word vibrated with fury. “I tried to stay away from her. And you—you just brought her right back to me!”
As if that was a crime? “You need her—”
“Too much. That’s the problem. You saw what I did to us both before. What the hell am I supposed to do now?” He stared down at his fisted hands. “How am I supposed to just let her walk away again?”
Mac hated his brother’s pain. “Maybe you don’t let her walk. Maybe you hold as tight to her as you can.”
Sullivan’s head shot up. “The way you’re holding on to Elizabeth?”
The way I’m trying to hold her.
“Didn’t you hear the way she talked about Nate?” Sullivan suddenly demanded. “How are you supposed to fight against that?”
Mac’s stomach tightened. “Don’t go there.” Because yeah, I heard.
“She loved him. Loved him so much that years later, she’s willing to risk her life to give him justice.”
Mac could feel battle-ready tension sweeping through him.
“How do you handle that, Mac? How do you fight a ghost? You want her, but she loves him.”
Too far. Mac grabbed the front of his brother’s shirt and yanked the guy toward him. “Just because you shut yourself off, it doesn’t mean that everyone else did, too.”
“You’re hooked on a woman who can’t love you.” Sullivan shoved at him, but Mac didn’t let him go. “Is that some kind of punishment you’re giving yourself? A new game of torture? Don’t get closer to her. Don’t give her any more of yourself.”
Mac wanted to shake him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I do! Because I’ve been right where you are.” And Sullivan tore away from Mac. “You love her, but she doesn’t love you back, and it will destroy you if you let it. Pull back. Pull back before there is nothing left of you.”
You love her. Those words hung in the air.
And so did Elizabeth’s soft gasp.
* * *
THE GUARDS WERE GONE.
Evelyn Sutherfield walked slowly toward the study. The house was so quiet. Such a big, giant house. A place like that probably should have been filled with dozens of children.
She and Wesley had never had children.
Her gown trailed behind her as she paused at the entrance to Wesley’s study. He loved that study. He often spent hours and hours locked away in there.
Wesley was in that study, right then. Sitting at his desk.
Evelyn wiped away the tear that slid down her cheek.
A gun had fallen to the floor beside her husband’s favorite chair. And her husband’s head—a bullet had slammed into it. His eyes were closed, his body slumped back and blood poured from the great, gaping wound that had been left behind.
She should call someone. She should do...something.
But Evelyn just stood there and stared at her husband’s dead body.
* * *
SHE KNOWS.
“I—I came back to help with the bags,” Elizabeth said, her voice hitching a bit as she stepped forward.
Sullivan swore. Then he glanced around a bit frantically. “Is Celia with you?”
“She went on into her room.” Elizabeth was only a few feet from Mac. “Can you give us a minute alone?”
Mac needed more than a minute. He had to figure out a way to smooth things over.
“Sure thing.” Sullivan hurried away, but then he paused and glanced back at Mac. “Sorry,” he said stiffly. “You know I’m a jerk and I— Just don’t make my mistakes, man. You don’t want that hell.”
Mac grabbed the bags from the back of the SUV and locked the vehicle. Then he turned and found Elizabeth right in his path.
“Do you love me?” Her question hung between them.
Mac tightened his hold on the bags. “Let’s get inside.” And let me think of some way to handle this. He didn’t want Elizabeth to run from him, and if the woman figured out just how obsessed he was...hell, yes, she might put some distance between them.
Elizabeth didn’t speak again, not when he dropped Celia’s bag off at her door and or when he tossed a backpack at Sullivan. But as soon as they entered the room they were going to share...
“It was a simple question, Mac. You can respond with a yes or with a no.” She locked the door and faced him. “Your brother seemed to think that you did love me.”
“As my own brother admitted...” Mac dropped the remaining bags. “He can be a jerk. And Sullivan doesn’t know nearly as much as he thinks.”
She rocked back on her heels. “So you don’t love me.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I thought you—”
He stalked toward her. Elizabeth stopped talking and stared up at him with her wide, gorgeous eyes. Deliberately, he put one hand up on either side of her body, caging her between him and the door. “You really want to know how I feel?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “That’s why I asked.”
“Be sure, because there won’t be any going back. You won’t be able to pretend you don’t know, and I won’t be holding back with you any longer.”
“I don’t want you to hold back.”
Damn but she was beautiful. “You loved him.” Sullivan’s words had burned, because the accusation about her loving Nate? Yeah, he knew it was true. “Will you ever get past that?”
A faint line appeared between her brows. “Nate was the first boy who touched my heart. He made me happy, and yes, I did love him.”
Right. His hands shoved harder against that door.
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t love someone else.” Her hand rose and pressed to his chest, right over his racing heart. “It doesn’t mean that I don’t already love someone else.”
He was supposed to be confessing. But she—
“I don’t want to go back. I want to go forward, with you.” Elizabeth rose onto her toes, and her lips brushed against his. “You helped me to come alive again, Mac. You scared me, and you excited me and you—you trusted me.”
Her hand was still over his heart, and that heart was sure drumming out of control.
“I don’t know when I started to love you,” Elizabeth said, her lips curling in that slow smile that always got to him. “I just know that I do. And I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I don’t want to imagine it.”
His mouth crushed against hers. Euphoria rolled through him so fast and so hard. And—
Sully could be such an idiot.
He wasn’t his brother. She wasn’t Celia. And they would not be making the same mistakes.
“I can just be me with you. You accept me, just as I am.” Her mouth brushed against his again. “How could I not love you?”
And how could he not love her? He was insane for her, and Mac scooped her up in his arms. He kissed her frantically, the desire in him surging to the surface. They fell on the bed, a tangle of limbs on those saggy mattresses, but he didn’t care. He kept kissing her and touching her. He wanted her clothes off, and Mac wanted to be in her.
The here and now—that mattered. Their future together—that mattered.
He grabbed her T-shirt and yanked it over her head. The perfect mounds of her breasts pushed against her bra, and he kissed his way past the edge of lace. She arched toward him, and he slid his hand under her back, reaching for the clasp of that bra. He needed—
“Mac!” Sully’s hand pounded on the door that connected their rooms. “We’ve got to go! Now!”
Now? Now? Mac looked up at Elizabeth’s face. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glittering, her lips red and swollen from his kiss. He had her under him on that bed. There was no other place in the world that he wanted to go to right then.
“The governor’s wife just called Celia—she wants us at the house. Right now.” Sullivan’s fist hit the door. “What the hell are you doing, man? Come on!”
Elizabeth’s breath whispered out. “You think she changed her mind and decided to turn on him?”
He pushed away from her. Because if he didn’t get away from her, Mac knew he would be taking Elizabeth. Simple fact. His hands were shaking with the effort of holding back, so he clenched them into fists. He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to yank back his control.
The bed dipped as Elizabeth moved closer. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his neck. “This is a pause. We’ll talk to the wife. Get her to help us stop the governor. And then we can be together again. Only there won’t be anything else to interrupt us, nothing to stop us.”
He caught her hand in his. “Nothing.” He turned his head and met her gaze.
Elizabeth smiled at him.
Sullivan pounded on the door. “We’re leaving! The woman was frantic, okay? Saying that we had to get there right then. Are you coming?”
“Remind me to kick his butt later, okay? Just for fun.”
Her smile widened. “I’ll remind you to make love with me later, just for fun.”
Elizabeth.
She slid away from him, yanked on her shirt and hurried toward the connecting door. She pulled it open just before Sullivan could pound again.
Sullivan glared at Mac as he sat on the side of the bed. “What in the hell, man? What were you—”
Mac lifted his brows.
“Oh.” Sullivan cleared his throat. “Right. Let’s go.” Then he hurried back into his room.
Mac rose and paced toward Elizabeth. She’d told him, actually said that she loved him. He wanted to tell her how he felt, too. Only he didn’t want to be racing away after he said those words. He wanted to sink into Elizabeth and hold her close.
“Nothing will stop us,” he told her softly. Because I won’t let it.
* * *
THE LIGHTS WERE blazing inside the governor’s house, but...
There had been no security at the main gate, and when Elizabeth climbed out of the SUV with the others, she still saw no sign of any guards.
“The front door is open,” Celia said. Worry laced her words. “That can’t be good.”
No, it didn’t seem like a good thing. Cautiously, they all advanced toward the house.
At that open door, Celia paused. “Evelyn!” she called out. “Evelyn, where are you?”
“Here.” Her voice drifted faintly to them from inside.
They crossed the threshold.
Elizabeth noted the tense expressions that Mac and Sullivan both wore. They were obviously expecting trouble. Only fair, since she was expecting the same thing.
“Stay close,” Mac told her.
She nodded.
“Evelyn?” Celia shouted once more.
“In the study...”
Sullivan and Celia hurried toward the study. Elizabeth looked up, seeing the glittering chandelier above her. Where was the governor? Had all the guards been sent home?
“Dear God!” That shocked cry came from the study. She could see Celia and Sullivan just inside the doorway. They appeared frozen.
She and Mac hurried after them. Mac pushed Sullivan to the side—and Elizabeth saw the governor.
“I found him like this,” Evelyn said softly. Her left hand smoothed over the governor’s shoulder. He still wore his tux. A ver
y blood-stained tux. “I’d sent everyone away because we needed to talk, without so many eyes and ears on us. Then I heard the boom.” Her right hand was behind the long length of her dress.
She had blood on her beautiful dress.
“I guess it’s over now,” Evelyn said. Her lashes lifted, and she stared at Elizabeth. “My husband is dead.”
Yes.
“Is that what you wanted?” Evelyn asked her. “For him to suffer, for him to die?”
“No,” Elizabeth said at once. “I didn’t come here to kill him.” She’d wanted him to go to jail, not end up like this.
“It’s all over,” Evelyn said. Her breath sighed out and her shoulders slumped. “Will anyone even remember the good he did? Or do people just focus on the bad?”
He killed his son. Sent a hit man after me. That’s plenty bad.
“Can we just...end things here?” Evelyn was pleading with tears in her eyes. “Why drag this out? It doesn’t have to leave this room. He paid for his crimes. Let...let everyone focus on the good.” Now she was speaking so quickly, her words tumbling out. “If you go to the press, it will be a feeding frenzy. I can say—say it was an accident. He was cleaning his gun.”
Elizabeth shook her head and stepped toward the grief-stricken woman.
“I can say he was depressed!” Evelyn’s voice rose. “He was—he’d been seeing a shrink for years. Ever since that bitch Gloria died.”
Elizabeth stiffened.
The tension in that room ratcheted up.
“Oh, dear...” Evelyn blinked away her tears. “I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?”
Then she lifted her right arm, the one that had been hiding behind her dress. Too late, Elizabeth saw the gun in the other woman’s hand. Her white-gloved fingers easily held the weapon.
Evelyn fired, shooting straight at Elizabeth. The bullet slammed into her, and Elizabeth fell backward.
She hit the floor even as more gunfire raged. Thundering all around her.
“Mac!” She tried to push back to her feet. Had he been hit, too? What about Sullivan? Celia? “Mac?” Her voice didn’t come out as a scream, more of a rasp.