Sean watched Lucy closely, weighing his options. He wanted to push her into telling him what had chased her from her house into the storm, what had happened to make her more upset than he’d ever seen her. But if Sean knew anything, it was how to read people. Lucy would talk when she was ready, but if he pushed her she’d close up. He could afford to be patient because he had no doubt that she would open up to him.
He sipped his tepid chocolate more to encourage Lucy to drink something warm than because he wanted it. He followed her eyes as she looked around the large, remodeled great room.
“I really like what you guys did here,” she said. “You opened up this room, didn’t you?”
“Yeah—we took down that makeshift wall that separated the sunroom from the family room and reinforced the roof.”
She smiled. “It’s comfortable. And now you can enjoy this incredible fireplace from the kitchen, too.”
If she wanted small talk, that was fine with Sean—whatever worked to make her comfortable. He walked her around and showed her some of the smaller changes he had made to the space, her honest praise making him admire the room with new eyes.
The bell rang twice and Sean frowned. He’d almost gotten Lucy to relax, and now the interruption had her tense again.
“Stay put,” he said, absently rubbing her arm. He glanced at her as he left the room. Except for the circles under her eyes, she masked her emotions well.
He ran a hand through his hair as he strode to the front door and glanced through the peephole. A slender blonde in a black trench coat and scarf stood shivering on the doorstep.
Kate Donovan?
He’d met Kate only once, when she and Dillon invited him to their house for dinner last month right after he and Patrick opened RCK East. The only thing that would bring anyone out on a night like this was an emergency. And by Lucy’s distress, she was the emergency.
“I’d say I was surprised,” Sean began as he opened the door.
“Lucy’s here then?” She stepped in and in a low voice said, “I remembered Patrick was gone right after she left and I had to get rid of the agents.”
“Agents?” he asked.
“She didn’t tell you?” Kate straightened and clammed up. “I need to talk to Lucy.”
“If she wants.” The only thing Sean knew about whatever had upset Lucy was that she didn’t want to go home, and now there were FBI agents involved?
Lucy’s dream of becoming an FBI agent was well known, but Sean couldn’t imagine that if she were turned down she’d be violently upset to the point that she’d leave her house in the snow without gloves and walk half a mile. Or that she’d be shaking so hard he expected her to shatter. Anger, he could see. Maybe even tears. But not the physical pain he’d seen on her face when he’d brought her into his house.
Kate glared at Sean. “Excuse me, Sean, but this really isn’t your business.”
“Lucy made it my business when she landed on my doorstep.”
“To see Patrick, not you.”
“What’s your problem?”
“I don’t have a problem, Sean, I’m just trying to protect my sister.”
Sean hadn’t heard Lucy walk down the hall, until she said, “Protect me?”
Kate walked over to her. “I am so sorry, Lucy, about everything, but you can’t—”
Lucy was shaking her head the minute Kate started speaking and interrupted her. “Don’t tell me what I can’t do, not now.”
“You’re not speaking to Noah Armstrong without a representative. I’ll go with you—”
“No.” Lucy turned abruptly and stormed back to the family room. Kate followed, Sean right behind her. Lucy stood with her back to them, facing the fireplace.
Kate said to Sean, “Sean, tell her she can’t talk to the FBI without a lawyer or someone to look out for her interests!”
Sean raised an eyebrow. “You just said this wasn’t any of my business.”
“Dammit, this isn’t a joke!”
Lucy turned around and confronted Kate. “Damn straight it isn’t a joke. You lied to me. You had plenty of opportunities to tell me about the plea agreement and you didn’t. You didn’t even tell me Morton was released from prison!”
“I said I’m sorry, and I am, but—”
“But?” Lucy shook her head. “But you were only trying to protect me? Ignorance is not protection!”
Morton. Sean froze, working double time to keep his anger from showing. He knew exactly who Roger Morton was. He knew all about Lucy’s kidnapping and rape the day of her high school graduation.
“He’s out of prison?” Sean asked.
Kate put her hand up to silence him, and he was getting irritated. “Sean—”
“With all due respect, Kate, security is my specialty.”
Lucy said, “Morton is dead. He’s been out of prison for six months and no one told me!” She pointed a finger at Kate. “I had a right to know. He was here!”
Sean had a hundred questions, but now wasn’t the time. He crossed the family room and stood next to Lucy. “Lucy, you can stay here as long as you need.”
Kate said, “That’s not the issue. Sean, you know she can’t talk to the FBI without a lawyer.”
“Why does the FBI want to talk to her?”
“Morton was killed in the marina right across the Potomac,” Kate said. “I had to answer their questions as well, considering my history with that bastard. I drove down with Dillon to Richmond last Friday, then flew back Sunday night, and Dillon has been at Petersburg all week. We’re clear as soon as Noah verifies our alibis.”
Lucy gasped. “They don’t think I killed him!”
“I doubt it, you were pretty convincing that you didn’t know he was out of prison, but Lucy, I know how the system works. Why answer questions you shouldn’t have to answer when it has nothing to do with the murder? They’re just going to pump you for information, and you don’t know anything that can help.”
“Stop,” Lucy said. “Just stop trying to shield me. You know something, Kate? I can see why Dillon would keep the truth from me. And the rest of my family, for that matter. I don’t think any of them have truly, deep down, stopped thinking of me as a victim.”
“That’s not true—”
“But,” Lucy interrupted, “you?” She shook her head. “I expected more from you. Of all people, you didn’t coddle me. You supported my career choices; you took me to the gun range and taught me everything you knew. You’ve always been straight with me. At least, that’s what I thought. Now I don’t know what to think. How many other times you lied to me. Kept information from me. Justified it … how? All I can come up with is that you thought I would fall apart. When it really mattered, you thought I’d break.”
“No—”
“Then why not tell me?”
Kate didn’t answer. Sean put a hand on Lucy’s back. She was vibrating with her anger.
“Why, dammit?” Lucy demanded.
Kate had tears in her eyes. “I didn’t want you to know how we all fucked up! No one should have agreed to those terms, but we were desperate. We were running out of time, and that bastard knew it. We made a huge mistake, but I don’t know that we could have done it any differently. If we hadn’t gotten the information when we did, Adam Scott might have succeeded in his plan to kill Dillon and grab you again. I don’t know. It’s easy to second-guess, but I’ll tell you something: Dillon didn’t know about the plea agreement until after the fact. Don’t hold it against him. It’ll tear him apart.”
Tears streamed down Lucy’s face, and Sean put his arm around her to steady her. She leaned against him. “But you still told Dillon, right? He knew?”
Kate nodded.
Lucy shook her head and half walked, half ran from the room. Kate brushed her own tears from her eyes and glared at Sean. What had he done to warrant her wrath? He was on Lucy’s side.