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She shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”
Rex slapped his palm against the mattress. “Damn it, Lucy. I’m not asking you. I want to know, and I deserve to know right now. What are you hiding from me?”
Lucy stormed across the room. Waving her finger in front of his face when she approached him again, she said, “Just because your life is an open book doesn’t mean mine is. There are some secrets a woman never shares, stories she never cares to tell, replays she isn’t interested in seeing again, and discussions she refuses to have. This is not open for discussion.”
Rex snarled. “Like hell it isn’t. Graves is on his way. He said to let you know he’d be here in time for the meeting tonight. I suggest you decide how you want to handle him because he said he has something to show your team. Something, apparently, you haven’t seen.” With that Rex stormed out of the room.
Lucy sat on the edge of the bed. “This can’t be happening to me.”
“You fucked him. So what. We weren’t in your life. You weren’t in ours. But we are now, Lucy. If he has something over you, I wanna know about it. And by God, I wanna know what it is before this guy drives in here with every intention of embarrassing you.”
“Luke, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
She shook her head. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. “There’s no way you’d ever understand this.”
“Shit, Lucy,” Luke said, kneeling in front of her with his hands placed on her knees. “Don’t you know how much I love you?”
She gnawed on her bottom lip. “You said the four-letter word.”
“I said it in my own time—which didn’t take me too long since I’ve loved you for most of my life—and I said it when you needed to hear it most. I’m in love with you, woman. You know that. You’ve always known. Rex feels the same way, too. Nothing will change our feelings. Nothing or no one.”
“Wanna bet?”
Chapter Fifteen
“Fred Graves is blackmailing her,” Luke said upon entering the study.
“You think?” Rex was standing at the large window overlooking the back lawn. His left hand supported his right elbow, and he stroked his chin. God, he was mad.
Brooding, too, Luke strolled across the large area rug and stood next to him. “This isn’t good.”
Rex didn’t face him. He focused on the staff as they worked to set up card tables and makeshift buffets, scurrying here or there to set up what promised to be an impressive last-minute picnic.
Rex wanted a perfect presentation, and everyone on the staff worked to make that happen. He’d wanted Lucy to feel as if he were capable of making her drivers feel at home there, something he realized would be important to Lucy.
Through the years, Rex kept up with Lucy. He’d read news clippings and watched documentaries, searching out drivers who might mention Lucy or her grandfather. He wasn’t necessarily interested in racing, but he’d invested a lot of time following Lucy’s career, determined to stay connected to her life.
“What’s he got on her?”
Luke cleared his throat.
“Don’t play me for a fool, Luke. She always confided in you. She’ll eventually tell me, but tomorrow may be too late.”
“He has pictures.” A beat later, he said, “And they’re pretty explicit.”
Rex clucked. “Damn. I knew it was going to be something like this.”
“They’re pretty bad, enough to hurt her with the racing commission.”
“How bad?” Rex asked, finally facing him.
Luke took a deep breath. “They were lovers.”
“I got that part, okay?”
“He was the one who reintroduced her to Domination and submission. They were active in the underground clubs in some of the major cities.”
