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“Everyone has a story,” he said. “Some are really interesting.” He whispered, “Who’s that going onstage?”
“Aubrey Lewis. Her daughter was killed by a repeat sex offender two years ago. Senator Paxton introduced legislation to tighten restrictions on sex offenders, and she testified before Congress. She’s amazing.”
After a brief, moving speech, Aubrey introduced Senator Paxton.
Jonathon Paxton, sixty-six, played tennis and golf regularly and took his health seriously. He walked onto the small stage, gave Aubrey a hug, and took the podium. He began with the story of how he got involved in WCF. It all started with the murder of his daughter more than two decades ago.
It was hard for Lucy to give her full attention to the speeches while Sean was standing so close to her. He wore a subtle aftershave or cologne that had her inching closer, trying to figure out what it was. When he leaned down to whisper in her ear, she shivered.
“Look at that couple,” he said quietly. “Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Valerio; they own VT Communications.”
“You know them?”
“They hired RCK a couple of years ago to test their security. Took me seventeen hours, but I broke in.”
“You should talk to them. I don’t know them personally, but they’ve been supporters of WCF for years.”
He shrugged. “They don’t know me.”
“But—”
“Duke always works with the clients.”
“How’d you know it was them?”
“I saw their photo once.”
“Good memory.” She glanced up at him, surprised at how close his face was to hers as they quietly chatted in the back of the room.
Suddenly, it felt as if a thousand ants were crawling under her skin. She glanced around the room but didn’t see anyone staring at her. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there were eyes upon her. She rubbed her arms, and Sean put his arm around her.
“Lucy?” he questioned.
She didn’t answer, pretending to listen to the senator’s speech. She pretended to ignore the people glancing not-so-discreetly at her. Her story wasn’t a deep, dark secret. She’d spoken to schools, written fund-raising letters for Fran, even testified in the Judiciary Committee in support of Senator Paxton’s legislation that had been dubbed “Jessie’s Law.” She never enjoyed it, always felt tainted, and worse, hated that people pitied her, that they thought she’d been a stupid, irresponsible teenager. No one would ever say it out loud, but many held her accountable for putting herself in a vulnerable position.
She’d agreed to meet her attacker in a public place because she’d believed it was “safe.” She’d thought he was a college student named Trevor Conrad. She’d been wrong.
Applause signaled that the senator was done speaking, but Lucy was still on edge. She said to Sean, “Want to get out of here?”
He took her hand. “You’re shaking.”
“I’m just cold.”
He stared at her. “Lucy, what’s really wrong?”
She froze, tilted her chin up, and stared him down. “I just told you.” She tried to pull her hand away, but Sean held on.
“Lucy, something has you spooked. Tell me.”
Lucy didn’t want to share anything with Sean. She tried to put him back into the role of her brother’s partner, but she’d already gone far beyond that. And the way he was looking at her implied a much more intimate relationship than a business one.
“It’s personal,” she said, hoping she made clear by her tone that their relationship wasn’t. Even though she wasn’t sure how she felt about that, either, or exactly how attracted she was to him.
She felt comfortable with Sean, and she liked that he was smart. But he was also into his toys. His car. His pool table. Patrick had even told her he had a plane he flew all the time. She was too focused on her career and her future to get involved with anyone who wasn’t equally devoted. The best thing was to put distance between them so she could think clearly.
Not that he was interested. Or she. Or…
“Lucy.”
