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“I don’t think Connor even has a veneer. He’s kind of all caveman.”
A bright smile broke over Everly’s face. “And you’re in love with him.”
“I wouldn’t say . . . What I mean is . . . yeah. Yeah, I am and I don’t know that he wants anything that serious. I’m fairly certain if he finds out what I’m planning tonight, he’ll dump me.” The thought brought tears to her eyes.
“All right, then we have to find a way to keep him out of it. If we’re partners in this, you have to be able to count on me to back you.”
“I already have a way. I’ve sent Connor on something of an errand to pick up an item I left in the apartment of a friend who’s now out of town. His unit is in the building. It’ll be tight, but I think I can get to the Mall, have my meeting, and get back before Connor finds out. He’s going to want to search the whole place despite the fact that I only need one thing. I know that look in his eyes. Ever since he met my friend Freddy, Connor has been suspicious. He’ll take the time to search every inch, trying to find anything on him as long as he thinks I’m safely locked away.”
“Why is he suspicious of this Freddy person?”
Maybe she shouldn’t have opened this up, but if she was looking for a partner in crime, Everly should know what she was getting herself into. “I’ve had someone watching me for a couple of weeks. He’s been a little threatening. Connor is sure it’s Freddy so he’ll take this chance to try to get the goods on him. I figure I’ll have roughly an hour.”
“Someone’s stalking you?”
“I don’t know that I would put it that way.” She didn’t want to scare Everly off.
“What way would you put it?”
She liked to put a positive spin on things. “This man simply takes a possibly unhealthy interest in my life.”
“So he’s stalking you.” Everly’s gaze trailed to the balcony. “All right. Gabriel’s meeting with some friends tonight. I can bow out. I’ll say I’ve got a headache. They won’t mind. They’ll love having a boys’ night. When should I meet you here?”
“I have to go alone.”
“You have to meet him alone, but you’re not walking the streets of D.C. alone. I’ll make myself scarce when Deep Throat shows. I’m not without talents of my own. Besides, I’d love to get a better look at the man. I can watch out for you.”
“I don’t want to drag you into this and I don’t want to get you in trouble with your fiancé. Unless you think he won’t mind.”
“Oh, he’ll mind if he finds out. You have no idea the shit storm that will come for us if he learns about this. So we have to be careful. You don’t think your boyfriend has a clue?”
She thought about the way he’d looked at her this morning. Wary, as though studying her for some reason. He’d been upset about the story she was working on. That had to be it. There was no way he could know what she was plotting. He wasn’t a mind reader. He was an ex-soldier. “No. He was upset with me about something else, but we worked that out. He’s a good man. I know he seems gruff, but he has a soft side.”
“That man has a soft side?”
Lara nodded. “He does. He’s good with my dog. He’s sweet with me. He tolerates my friends. He’s a really good guy. I’m lucky to have met him. I just hope I get to keep him in my life for a long time.”
“Do you think a man like that can be domesticated?”
She knew the answer to that. “I think a man like Connor has likely seen a lot of things go wrong in his life. He used to be a soldier. He’s seen the rough side of the world. Now he needs to see the soft side. I think a man like him needs love and caring and a happy home more than anyone else.”
Everly leaned over and took Lara’s hand, and just for a second she could have sworn there were tears in her eyes. “I’m very happy for you. I don’t know that many women who look closely enough at a man like him to see what they need. He’s lucky and he better not forget it. I’m going to help you. I will be there tonight to watch your back.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt. There really is someone after me, but I have to take this chance to find out the truth.”
Everly grinned and opened her Prada bag, pulling out a nice-sized revolver. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of both of us.”
“That is a really big gun.” Lara leaned away.
“Good thing I know how to use it,” Everly said, sliding it back into her bag. “Are those more cucumber sandwiches? Plotting always makes me hungry.”
She passed her the plate. “Help yourself.”
“Thanks. We’re going to need our strength, sister.”
Lara watched as Everly selected a sandwich. A weird warm feeling began in her chest like something important had just happened and she’d found a place she belonged that hadn’t existed before. Somehow she knew that despite their rough beginning, she and Everly were going to be friends.
She leaned forward. “So we meet him at midnight. Here’s my plan.”
She and Everly enjoyed tea and plotting.
* * *
Connor looked back into the condo where Everly and Lara sat, a delicate tea set between them. Lara had jumped through hoops to get the tray ready. She’d been specific about the type of bread she needed and how it had to be cut. Connor knew that Everly would be happy with coffee and store-bought cookies. She’d been raised as a cop’s daughter. There wasn’t a pretentious bone in her body.
Of course he couldn’t say that. He had to pretend like he’d just met a man he’d known for most of his life, a man he considered a brother.
Unfortunately, Gabe Bond was also a man who’d seen him work, and that had changed things between them.
“She’s pretty,” Gabe said. “She’s also going to wonder why you’re spying on her when we’re supposed to be doing manly things like drinking Scotch. Is this the best you have?”
When he glanced over, Gabe was staring at the label on the bottle. Everly might not be pretentious, but Gabe had grown up surrounded by cash and tended to expect the best. “I couldn’t exactly buy fifty-year, Gabe. I’m supposed to be poor.”
“Yes, I got the whole rundown on your cover from Roman. You’re supposed to be some down-on-his-luck ex-soldier looking for a job. You’re not supposed to own million-dollar homes around the country. What are you up to? Three now?”
He turned away from the window and wished Everly had come alone. “Yes. I have the place in New York, the home here, and a flat I keep in London. What’s your point, Gabe?”
Gabe frowned. “I didn’t really have one. I’ve always been curious. You can’t make that much from the Agency. When we were kids, your mom was broke all the time. You were on scholarship. I have to wonder where the fortune came from.”
It shouldn’t have surprised him that Gabe wanted to poke and prod into his past. He likely thought there was plenty of nastiness buried there, and he was right. “It’s really none of your business.”
“No, I guess it’s not, but I’m curious. We’ve been friends all these years, but you’ve never really talked about it. Does Dax know?”
“Yes.” Dax pretty much knew everything. He’d needled Connor until he’d finally told the bastard. Dax was seemingly happy-go-lucky, but when he zeroed in on something, he could be like a pit bull.
“Good. Someone should know all your secrets.” Gabe poured a few fingers into Lara’s crystal tumbler. “You want one?”
Now he’d likely go to Dax and try to turn Dax against him. It was probably no less than he deserved. “Sure. They’re plotting.”
A grimace crossed Gabe’s face. “I don’t know about that. Everly isn’t going into this meeting with a lot of love for the girl.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Gabe handed him the glass. “She runs a tabloid. Everly’s had about enough of tabloids to last a lifetime. We’re currently trying to keep them off Sara. Some asshole tipped off the rags that she set up a registry for the baby. Her best friend wants to throw her a baby shower i
n a few months, and Sara wanted to set everything up before she starts showing. Apparently one of the clerks called it in and now they’re all speculating that Maddox Crawford has an heir.”
“He does. I don’t see why that would make Everly dislike Lara in the beginning. She runs a site that specifically deals with political scandals, and she only runs a story when it can shine a light on one of her causes.”
Gabe’s brows rose. “You sound like you like this girl.”
He wasn’t ready to talk to Gabe about Lara. He didn’t want to talk to Gabe at all. He took a slow sip of Scotch. “I simply don’t think Everly starting off hostile to her is going to help anything. Everly will come around, and then she’ll feel guilty and they will plot.”
“Everly doesn’t plot. And I don’t know that she’ll come around. She’s become pretty protective of Sara. She’s actually pretty protective of you guys, too. She was talking just this morning about how she needed to meet this woman to make sure she wasn’t getting her hooks into you.”
