THE SNIDE comments, the innuendo and the outright slander from her past haunted C.J. during the dark hours of the night. The same taunts came back as she ran along East Lake Road, her feet slapping the pavement with ruthless determination. She’d taken a longer break to run this emotional marathon and still she hadn’t outdistanced her demons.
Hotshot Agent Luke Ludzecky is her brother. How else do you think she got into Intelligence after her rookie year in New York?
Of course she slept with Anderson. The Washington field office doesn’t take just anybody. I hear his wife found out and insisted Ludzecky be transferred. He pulled strings to get her a plum job and keep her quiet.
There’s got to be something going on with her and Calloway. The woman has a track record...
And so C.J. could predict the D.C. gossip if she let herself get involved with Aidan O’Neil. Yep, Ludzecky seduced the Second Lady’s brother. Gotta give her credit, she knows how to get to the top and stay there.
Well, the former rumors might have circulated in Washington, but the latter would never make the rounds. C.J. had no intention of seducing, or being seduced by a black-haired Irishman with sexy blue eyes and muscles to die for. And lips that made her forget her name.
As she took a slight incline, the sweat poured off her, not because of the late afternoon sun, but because of inescapable thoughts about how those blue eyes had looked at her for days before the kiss. How those muscles pulsed under her hands last night. And how that mouth had taken hers with a raw possessiveness that should have put her off but thrilled her instead.
He was right. She’d been a willing participant. She’d not only allowed his advances, she’d urged him on, took the lead, become wholly steeped in him. Physical sensations had swamped her, and she let herself drown in them.
Why the fuck had she done that?
Because in some ways, despite what she’d said, she had gotten to know him in the last two weeks. He was unselfish with his father, tender to Bailey, attentive to the kids. He had a great sense of humor, though he did have a stubborn streak and was arrogant as hell. But he’d tried to appease her with flowers, which showed he had some common sense.
Stop it! she chided herself. You’re just lonely. You hate how this job has isolated you from everyone, men included. And you’re not used to being cut off like this.
C.J. had been a normal teenager and college student, having fun with guys, sleeping with a chosen few, getting serious a couple of times. Once she’d joined the service, she thought she could continue in that vein until she met someone she would make a life with. She’d dated in New York, had one significant involvement with a teacher, but it had been too hard on him: the long hours, the travel, the danger of her job when she was recruited for protective duty at the UN.
Then the debacle with David had caused her to be gun-shy in Washington. Finally she’d given in to the need for male companionship there, but nothing ever stuck. That had to be it. This was just another example of normal healthy female hormones asserting themselves.
Feeling marginally better, she saw the house up ahead come into view. Aidan had been out for the entire day, and she hoped he wasn’t back yet. The car he’d rented was in the driveway next to the service’s black monster of a Suburban, but he hadn’t taken it when he left. Who had picked him up? Probably sexy Sonia.
Good.
That was good.
It was!
Instead of entering the first floor, C.J. jogged around to the back, hoping to get inside and shower because she smelled like the inside of a gym bag. She’d just entered the ground level when she heard Mitch’s voice from upstairs. “Agent Ludzecky, can you come up here?”
The use of her title alerted her that this wasn’t an idle request. Grabbing her gun from the locked drawer by her bed and sticking it her waistband, she took the stairs two at a time. She reached the first floor and found everyone was in the sunroom. Clay and Bailey sat on the couch with the kids. The brothers had taken chairs. And Hower, the dog, stood at attention, his tail wagging, as if something important was happening here.
One person stood out from the rest. C.J. froze at the sight of him. The wonderful, fabulous, terrific sight of him. His face was inscrutable. She was rooted to the ground.
“Don’t you dare not come over here and give me hug, Caterina. Do you hear me?”
As she watched Lukasz smile, she heard, “Ah, so it’s Caterina...” and “Who the hell is this guy?”
She ignored the comments and flew across the room. Luke caught her up in a bear hug strong enough to break her ribs. She felt his solid strength, his big, safe body, his familiar smell. “Brakuje mi Ciebie.”
“Me, too, Lukasz.” She’d missed him so much.
“Kocham Ciebie.”
“Kocham Ciebie.”
Finally Luke drew back but held her by the shoulders. “You’re a mess, bopchee.”
“What language are they speaking?” This time, she recognized Aidan’s voice.
Reality dawned.
Drawing away from her brother, she turned to Mitch. His smile told her he knew Luke’s identity. But he said, “We caught this character trespassing on the grounds. He wouldn’t tell us who he is. We brought him here because he said he knew you.”
“You recognize him, don’t you?”
“Yeah. The legend. It’s why I didn’t frisk him.”
Aidan stepped forward. “And what legend is that?”
For the first time since last night, she looked at the man who had kissed her senseless in the moonlight. Today, his face was full of thunderclouds. Luke took her hand and she squeezed it. “Everybody, this is Luke Ludzecky.”
“You’re married?” Aidan got out, his tone horrified.
“I’m her brother.” His voice amused, Luke anchored his hand at her neck. “Her big brother.”
“What were you doing sneaking around the grounds?” This from Jenkins, who stood poised next to Mitch. He wasn’t angry, just curious, so Mitch must have filled him in.
“I wanted to see how good a job my baby sister and her colleagues were doing up here.”
Clay Wainwright seemed amused by the whole thing. “So how good are they?”
“They caught me, didn’t they?”
The vice president smiled. “That’s reassuring.”
On the couch next to him, Bailey grinned. “This seems like quite a reunion. Want some privacy?”
“We’ll go downstairs.” C.J. glanced at her watch. “I have a half hour left of my break.”
“Take the afternoon,” Bailey told her. “The others can cover for you, right, Mitch?”
“I was just about to suggest that. Go ahead, C.J.”
“If you’re sure.” She really wanted to spend time with Luke.
“Go.”
Nodding, she led her brother downstairs. But not before she saw’s Aidan’s glare level on her.
o0o
AFTER C.J. took a quick shower, she joined Luke on the dock where he waited for her. His dark blond hair was windblown as he stood out by the lake, staring at the water. Dressed in denim shorts, hiking boots and a T-shirt that said “Corning East High Spartans,” he still resembled the young agent who went undercover in a high school to ferret out some suspected violence, lost his heart to one of his teachers and quit the Secret Service to marry her.
Coming up behind him, she slid her arms around his waist and leaned into him.
“You smell better.” His voice was husky and laced with humor.
“I know.” She held on tightly. “God, it’s good to see you.”
He pivoted around, his face serious. “I can’t believe you cut yourself off like this. From me. And from the rest of the family.”
One thing about Luke, he never minced words. And he didn’t know the meaning of tact. Of course he’d jump right in. But she didn’t want to fight with him.
“Let’s sit.”
Kicking off their shoes, they dropped down onto the dock and put their feet in the water. The feel of it was warm and soothing after her punishing run. “I didn’t cut myself off. I read the family e-mail loop regularly.”
“And rarely post.”
“What would I talk about, Luke? My daily activities? I respond when something significant happens to somebody. That’s enough.”
“You should go home more.
“I go to Queens now and again.”
“Last Christmas for a day. You didn’t even stay overnight. It’s July. You haven’t been to see them since. “
“I had lunch with Elizabeita when she came back from Oxford. And I spent time with Ana when she brought little Donuta for a visit.”
“I didn’t know about that. Still, you’re in and out of New York all the time.” His tone was scolding, but this time it didn’t make her bristle.
“I’m working when I come here.”
He picked up her hand. Held it. “Tell me the truth.”
And there is was. Just like when she slept with a guy the first time. When she first fell in love. There was a bond with this sibling that she didn’t have with the others. So she said honestly, “You know the answer to that.”
“How could you do this me?”
“Luke, when I signed up for the service” —just as he’d resigned— “you had a fit. You blew up at me, we had that huge fight, and when you couldn’t make me do what you wanted, you didn’t talk to me for a month.”
“I know. I apologized for that. After I cooled down.”
“When I started on the VPPD, you flipped again. They all did.”
“Matka does not flip.”
Matka. The embodiment of motherhood with her housedresses, bun, sturdy shoes and a heart as big as Texas. “All right. She got sad. Which was worse.”
Luke watched a fish making splashes in the water. “They thought it was over. The worry. The fear. Then you hooked up with the Wainwrights.”
“I know. And it killed me to hurt them even more.”
“Yeah, it killed me, too. It’s one of the reasons I quit.”
“You quit so you could be with Kelsey Cunningham.”
Seriousness vanished. “The love of my life.” A smug grin. “At least for now.”
Something in his tone. “What?”
Undiluted joy shone in his eyes, the exact color of hers, when he looked at her. “She’s pregnant. We’re having twins, both girls.”
“Oh, my God. Oh, Luke, congratulations.” She threw her arms around him and hugged him again.
He raised his eyes to the heavens. “I’m destined to be surrounded by women my whole life.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, baby.”
They talked for a few minutes about how Kelsey was feeling.
“Okay, back to you. Listen, you can stay in the service and do what you have to do, but see your family more.”
“It’s so strained, Lukasz. No one says anything outright about this detail, except Lizzie of course, but you can cut the tension with a knife when I go back there.”
“Talk it out with them.”
“I tried. They started to sound like Pa.”
Stash Ludzecky. Whose displeasure with Luke and stereotypical expectations of C.J. had far-reaching effects on both their lives.
Luke said, “He meant well.”
“Don’t give me that shit. He was too hard on you. And me.”
“I joined the service to please him. To show him I could be straight.”
No response.
“And you joined to prove girls didn’t need to be teachers or nurses.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Does it matter, Luke? I’m here now. And I like my job. A lot.”
“I thought you’d stay in the Intelligence unit in New York. With your UN background, you were a natural.”
“So did I.”
“There were rumors when you were transferred.”
On their brief visits, they never talked about her job. When she left the New York office, she just said she needed a change. So they never discussed the gossip before. “How did you hear them?”
“I use my service connections to find out about you.”
“Like you did today. From who, by the way?”
“Joe Stonehouse.”
“Talk about legends.” Head of the National School Threat Assessment Center for a while, Stonehouse set the benchmarks for stopping school violence and saved thousands of lives. Luke had been on several assignments with him. “I could never figure out why he quit. He was revered.”
“For love, honey. Just like me.”
She shook her head. “What’d you hear about me?”
“That you had an affair with your boss.”
Her face heated and she felt the familiar indignation well inside her. “I didn’t.”
“I was pretty sure of that.”
“But David Anderson would have.”
“What does that mean?”
“As far-fetched as this seems, he fell in love with me.”
“Shit.”
“He said I had to leave the New York field office because he was afraid his contact with me would affect his marriage. “
“That’s fucking nuts. You could have sued him for sexual harassment.”
“I know. There were a thousand reasons why I didn’t. I was young and inexperienced. I was afraid. And I liked him, Luke. Along with his family. He had little girls. I couldn’t make public his actions and ruin his life.”
“So you let the rumors go.”
“Those and the ones about you.”
“Me?”
“Yep, that I got where I am—into the VPPD—because I had a hotshot agent for a brother, and because I slept with David.”
“Shows how little they know. I was a thorn in the service’s side.”
“They begged you to stay.”
“I’m sorry, Cat.”
“You know what? In the end, it was a beneficial move. And I made out great despite the gossipmongers. I work on the vice presidential team. I love being around Bailey and the kids. This is a terrific assignment.”
Luke’s scowl alerted her.
“What?”
“Aidan O’Neil.”
She felt the blush creep up her neck.
“You better be careful.”
“Of what?”
“Don’t bullshit me. He’s the one with the runner’s body. Hair a little long?”
“Yeah.”
“He wanted to rip my throat out when you hugged me and he didn’t know I was your brother. Something going on there?”
“No.”
“After what you just told me, you can’t afford another opening for people to criticize.”
“I know that. Nothing’s going on, Lukasz.”
Standing, Luke pulled her up. “You never were a very good liar.” He kissed her nose. “Just be careful, baby. Now, let’s go for a walk and I’ll fill you in on the details of having a wife pregnant with twins.”
o0o
MESMERIZED, AIDAN watched her from the upstairs window. Right before his eyes, she’d transformed. For a few minutes, the night before, he’d gotten a glimpse of that woman inside the agent. As he’d held her in his arms. As he’d kissed her. But this was different; in the light of day, he could observe the metamorphosis unhindered by the darkness that had cloaked them.
She was as graceful as a gazelle as she walked toward her brother in pink capris and a pink shirt. She was all soft and womanly as she hugged him. Laid her head tenderly on his back. When she turned, even from this distance, he could see the love on her face. He imagined this was how he looked around his family.
And she kept touching her brother. Fingers on his arm. Holding his hand. Resting her head on his shoulder. This was the real woman...Caterina. The name fit her. His hands itched to capture the myriad facets of her in his camera.
All night long, Aidan had considered leaving her alone, as she’d asked. In the past, he’d been able to forgo what wasn’t good for him, usually without much regret. And he certainly never pursued females who weren’t interested in him. Not that there were very many.
But seeing what kind of woman C.J. could be when she completely let down, he realized that no matter what he told himself, of even what was best for both of them, he wasn’t going to roll over and play dead.
He was going to go after her.