“Thanks,” Royce agreed, and the younger man headed for the far side of the porch.
“I’ve got something for you,” Amber stage-whispered, and Royce’s attention shot immediately to her dancing eyes.
His chest tightened, and he wondered if she was going to proposition him right here in front of Stephanie. Not that it would be a bad thing. They’d seemed to come to a tacit agreement to keep their relationship secret. But there was no real reason to do that. They were both adults. She’d officially broken off her engagement. They were entitled to date each other if they wanted.
“Sagittarius Eclipse,” she said, and he realized his brain had gone completely off on the wrong track. “I have a name.”
“Yeah?” He pushed an empty deck chair into the circle.
“Norman Stanton.”
Royce froze, brain scrambling while Amber kept talking.
“He’s an American, originally from the Pacific North-”
“Later,” Royce barked.
Amber drew back, squinting at his expression.
He moderated his voice, forcing a smile when he realized Stephanie was staring at him in confusion. “I want to hear how things are coming with the barbecue.”
Then he nodded to Wesley as he returned with the beer. “Thanks,” he told him. “So, are you training for any competition in particular?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Amber was confused, probably hurt, but there was nothing he could do about that at the moment. He pretended to listen to Wesley’s answer, while his mind reeled.
Stanton. Damn it. A name out of his worst nightmare. After all these years, they were being blackmailed by a Stanton?
How much did the bastard know? How long had he known it? And why the hell hadn’t his grandfather or McQuestin told him before now?
Eight
Amber waited until they’d passed the lights of Stephanie’s yard and were headed down the dark, ranch driveway before turning to Royce in the pickup truck. “What did I do?”
“Nothing.” But his answer was terse, and she could tell he was upset. Their speed was increasing on the bumpy road, and she gripped the armrest to stabilize herself.
“I don’t understand. It’s good information. I don’t know if you realize how hard I had to dig-”
“Where did you get it? Where did you come up with the name Stanton?”
“Katie found a bank account in the Cayman Islands.”
Royce hit her with a hard glance, staring a bit too long for safety. “Who’s Katie?”
“Watch the road,” she admonished as a curve rushed up at them in the headlights.
He glanced back, but only long enough to crank the wheel. “Who is Katie?”
“She’s my best friend, my maid of honor.”
“I thought you weren’t getting married.”
“I’m not getting married.” Amber took a breath. “She would have been my maid of honor. She’s a lawyer. Her firm specializes in corporate espionage, but they investigate all kinds of criminal activity.”
Royce’s voice went dark. “McQuestin is not a criminal.”
“I never said he was.”
“You had no right to disparage a man’s name-”
“I didn’t disparage anything. Katie’s my friend. She works for Creighton Waverley Security, and she’s our lawyer now. Everything she finds out is confidential.”
Royce didn’t answer, but she could almost hear his teeth gritting above the roar of the engine and the creak of the steel frame as the truck took pothole after pothole.
“Who is Stanton?” she dared.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel, face stony in the dim dashboard lights. “Nobody you need to worry about.”
Something inside Amber shriveled tight. She’d felt so close to Royce last night. Between lovemaking, they’d shared whispered stories, opinions, worldviews. She’d thought they were becoming friends.
“I have more,” she told him, not above bribery.
“What else?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Who’s Stanton?”
Royce glared at her. It was the first time she’d had his true anger directed at her. But she stiffened her spine. “Who is Stanton?”
“Forget it.”
“Why? Why won’t you let me help you?”
He geared down for a hill. “There are things you don’t understand.”
“No kidding.”
“No offence, Amber. But I barely know you.”
“No offence, Royce. But you’ve seen me naked.”
“And that’s relevant how?”
“I’m just saying-”
“That it’s not about to happen again unless I talk?”
“You think I’d use sex to bribe you?”
He let go of the steering wheel long enough for a jerking hand gesture of frustration. “Why do you jump to the absolute worst interpretation?”
“I’m trying to understand you.”
“Well, I’m not having the slightest success understanding you.” He sucked in a deep breath.
She let a few beats go by in silence, forcing herself to calm down. In her mind, this argument was completely separate from any future sexual relationship. She moderated her voice. “Maybe if you told me what was going on.”
“Maybe if you let me keep my private business private.”
Okay, now that crack would probably impact on their future sexual relationship.
“Fine,” she huffed. “There’s this numbered holding company.” She pulled a note from her pocket and checked it in the dim light. “One-four-nine-five-eight, twelve-zero-ninety-three is registered in Liechtenstein with bank accounts in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Grand Cayman. Its only asset is a company called Eastern Exploration Holdings. Eastern Exploration owns several parcels of property, mostly in the Bahamas. It also owns one company, Sagittarius Eclipse. One-four-nine-five-eight, twelve-zero-ninety-three is solely owned by Norman Stanton.”
The truck rocked to a halt in front of the ranch house.
“His last known address was in Boston, Massachusetts,” Amber finished.
Royce killed the lights and turned the key, shutting down the engine. “You don’t know where he is now?”
“Not yet.” She yanked up on the door handle, and the door creaked wide.
“But you’re looking?” Royce followed suit.
“We’re looking,” said Amber, sliding off the high bench seat and onto the dirt driveway. She’d taken to wearing a pair of tattered, flat, canvas runners she’d found in a closet by the back door. They weren’t as sturdy as the cowboy boots favored by everyone else, but they beat the heck out of the high heels she’d arrived in.
“How long will it take?” he asked as they headed for the porch.
“I don’t know.” Her voice was still testy.
Royce frowned at her.
“It’ll take as long as it takes. He could be hiding. He might have left the country.” She headed up the stairs. “Maybe someone warned him McQuestin was hurt, and he’s worried he’ll get caught.”
“Who would warn him McQuestin was hurt?”
Amber paused at the front door. “Maybe McQuestin.”
Royce turned the knob and shoved open the door. “McQuestin wouldn’t do that.”
She walked inside. “You’re putting a lot of faith in a man who’s been authorizing secret payments.”
“He has his reasons.” The door slammed shut, and Royce moved up close.
Amber turned, then drew back from the intensity in his eyes.
He moved closer.
She stepped back again, coming up against the wall in the foyer.
He braced a hand on either side of her, dipping his head.
“Royce?”
“Yeah?” He kissed her, and her protest was muffled against his mouth.
He kissed her again, softer, deeper, and a flame of desire curled to life in the pit of her belly.
His hands cupped her chin, deepening the kiss, pressing his strong body flush against hers, evoking near-blinding memories of the night before.
“What are you doing?” she finally gasped.