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His thoughts were crowded. Tonight had been exquisite. An evening out with a beautiful woman, who was clever and funny and sexy as hell. The dinner had been perfect—he’d have to give Daniel a bonus. It had felt so normal…so right. Anne hadfit. In his arms and in his house. Now he just had to convince her she fit into his life.
A career was an important thing, especially when it came to self-worth. Blane didn’t define himself on what he did for a living, but he made sure that he was passionate enough about it to get him out of bed in the morning. He’d rather have more personas to his name, likefather, andhusband. He was an uncle already, but it wasn’t the same.
He wanted to come home at night to someone who gave a damn that he was still alive. Someone who asked about his day and cared about how he answered. Maybe a glass of wine or a cup of coffee when he walked in the door. Someone he could take care of, protect, and provide for in return. And whenever he pictured these things, he saw Anne.
His cell rang as he was pulling into his driveway. Kade.
“Yeah,” he answered, turning off the car and heading inside.
“Hey, brother. How’s it hanging?”
“Seriously? You called me at this hour to ask me that?” Blane shed his coat, poured two fingers of scotch into a crystal glass, and headed upstairs. He was so ready to get out of the tux.
“Well, big date tonight. Thought maybe you got lucky, but saw you take her home, so I’m guessing not.”
Blane paused in shrugging off his shirt. “Are you tracking me?”
“Not…always,” Kade said. “I mean, yeah, like it’s there, but it’s not like I watch it twenty-four-seven. I have a life, you know.”
“You know I have security people to handle that sort of thing.”
“But are they as invested as your brother? I think not.”
Blane sighed, discarding his shirt. “So what do you want? A review of my date?”
“Actually,” Kade hesitated, “I kind of put a tail on your girl after we spoke last.”
Blane froze. “Please tell me you’re joking.” He took a long swallow of his drink.
“Better safe than sorry.”
“Your paranoia is off the charts.” Since becoming a dad, Kade’s protective instincts had slipped into overdrive. Not only with his wife and kids, but with Blane as well. Blane tolerated it because if it made Kade feel better, no harm done. And it wasn’t like extra security was a bad thing. But putting a tail on Anne… “Not cool.”
“Yeah, whatever. It’s a good thing I did, considering who visited her tonight after you left.”
Fuck. Did he want to know? No, he didn’t. Still, “Who?” he asked.
“Alan Smithson. Our favorite asshole at the DOJ.”
Blane stood in the middle of the room, shirtless, the phone to his ear, and felt his blood run cold.
“That can’t be. We saw him tonight. They didn’t know each other.”
“What can I say? He was in her apartment building for roughly ten minutes, then left.”
Blane downed the rest of the scotch in one swallow, turned, and hurled it into the fireplace where it shattered into a million pieces.
“Blane? You there?”
He took a breath, reigning in his emotions. “Yeah, I’m here. See if you can find out what that meeting was about. We have friends at the DOJ.”
“Will do, and hey…I’m sorry.”
Blane ended the call without replying. He was lucky to have a brother that had his back. Lucky to know ahead of time that someone was playing him.
What would Anne possibly be meeting with Smithson about? Had she already betrayed him with Smithson? Why? How? She just hadn’t struck him as the type. What could she possibly have to gain? Her family was wealthy, even if she didn’t live off them. They wouldn’t let her drown if she needed help.
He stood, barefoot and still wearing his trousers, staring into the fireplace. The flames danced, sparkling off the shards of crystal.
