Harper jerked back, the sting of his words hitting her like a physical blow. “Wow. You really know how to come out swinging, don’t you? When did you become so cruel?”
“When I was accused of something I didn’t do and the girl’s father destroyed my career and did a heck of a job wrecking my life along with it.”
She clasped her hands beneath the table and silently reminded herself what was at stake. Their individual grievances were petty in comparison. “In answer to your earlier question, I didn’t know you had money. This isn’t about money. It never was.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Then why am I here? You want something from me. If not money, then what?”
She glanced at her purse on the chair beside hers, wondering if it would be better to just show him the picture. But without an explanation first, she didn’t know if he’d even bother to look at it. And if he did, his low opinion of her character would simply be confirmed, in his mind at least. No, she had to be careful, get this right. Because she knew he’d never give her another opportunity.
“It’s complicated,” she said. “I need to tell you a story first, one that began almost six years ago. There are things that you don’t know, or don’t understand.”
“Six years ago? I’ve heard this one.” His look of scorn practically incinerated her from across the table. “It’s about a Secret Service agent who put his life on the line every day for two years to protect a young college student whose father’s shenanigans made her a target of violence on numerous occasions. And how did she thank him for being willing to die to keep her safe? She accused him of getting her pregnant. Never mind that they’d never even kissed, let alone had sex. That didn’t stop her. She got daddy dearest to pressure the agent’s boss to fire him, then blacklisted him so that every security job he tried to get lasted a few weeks at best, before the lies caught up to him and he was canned again.”
The bitterness in his voice had her aching inside. She’d always known he’d been hurt. They both had. But the past wasn’t something she could fix. The present was what mattered, and what might happen in the future if she couldn’t make him see reason. “You don’t understand. Let me explain. I need to tell you about the night that your—”
“It’s you who doesn’t understand. You never stopped to think about the damage that your lies could do. Or worse, you didn’t care.” He rapped his knuckles on the table. “One of your father’s minions sent a letter to my dad, spreading the lies about you and me. He was so ashamed of my lack of honor that he flat-out told me the wrong son had died in the conflict overseas. He also said that if it was in his power, he’d send me to die on the other end of that sniper’s bullet instead of Shane.”
She drew in a sharp breath. “Oh, Gage. I’m so sorry. I had no idea that—”
“I haven’t talked to my father in five years. His choice. Not mine. And there’s no telling what would have happened to me by now if I hadn’t come up with the idea of incorporating to throw your father off the scent so he couldn’t poison future employers against me. Still, without references, I was eventually forced to completely switch career paths to build any kind of career. Thankfully, the skills I learned working summers for my father in construction paid off. I eventually started my own construction company. That gave me a roof over my head and food on the table. But it was only when I became one of the Justice Seekers that I got my pride back.”
“Justice Seekers?”
“My boss’s company, the Justice Seekers. He put together a team of former law-enforcement men and women whose careers were destroyed through no fault of their own—like mine. Mason has made it his life’s work to give people like me a second chance. I thank God every day that he believed me, not the Manning family lies.”
The pain that leaked through his angry tirade had her reaching across the table to clasp his hand before she realized what she was doing.
He jerked back as if her touch had scalded him. “I don’t know why I even bothered coming in here. Curiosity, I guess. But whatever problem you’re having, I’m not the one to solve it. Tell daddy dearest to loosen his purse strings and hire a private security firm to protect you. I’m sure he can more than afford it. But if he won’t dole out his own money, maybe he can convince his former VP in the White House to have the Secret Service protect you even though they’re not supposed to protect adult children of former presidents. Earl Manning’s got plenty of experience breaking the rules and he excels at strong-arming others to do the same.”
“Gage, please. You haven’t given me a chance—”
“A chance? Like you gave me all those years ago?”
She flinched.
He shoved back from the table and stood, his expression more weary than angry. “I’m sorry, Harper. I truly am. God above knows I never planned on spouting off like this. Or being...cruel, as you said. That’s not me. Or at least, it never used to be. All I can say is that seeing you again, bringing up the past, it just...it pushed some buttons I didn’t even know I still had. That’s not an excuse. It’s an explanation. Though admittedly a poor one.”
She gave him a wobbly smile and was about to try again, but he held up a hand to stop her.
“Wait. Please.” His voice was soft, almost gentle now, filled with regret. “I can’t do this. I thought I could. But I can’t. I’m not trying to be mean, just realistic. You need to find someone else to help you.”
Before she could even try to figure out a response, he was heading for the door. In desperation, she yanked the picture out of her purse and held it up just as he reached for the doorknob. “This is my son, Shane. He—”
“Shane?” He gave her an incredulous look. “You named another man’s child after my dead brother?”
His barb buried itself deep in her chest. But she couldn’t wallow and feel sorry for herself. This battle was far too important to surrender. Somehow she had to break through that prickly wall he’d erected between them, or they’d both regret it for the rest of their lives.
She hurried over, squeezing between him and the door to block his way. Then she held up the picture. When he didn’t look at it, she shook it. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you by naming him that. I named him Shane as a tribute, because I knew how much your brother meant to you.” She searched his gaze, noted the stubborn tilt of his jaw. “Do you really not remember what happened between us? Not even a little bit?”
His brows drew down in confusion. But he was looking at her, not the photo. “Remember what? Remember the young woman who used to flirt outrageously with me? Remember that I rebuffed you, insisted on keeping things professional? I made vows to God and country to protect you. Allowing myself to act on the attraction between us would have meant breaking those vows. An agent who has a romantic relationship with his charge is a liability. He can’t focus, can’t be counted on to protect them. What exactly do you think I need to remember?”
“The night we made love,” she whispered brokenly, no longer able to ignore her own pain, bubbling up from a wound she’d foolishly thought had healed years ago. “It’s something I’ll never forget. And it destroys me that it meant so little to you that I’m not even a hazy image in your mind.”
“Harper—”
“It was the day you found out that your brother had been killed in combat. You got a phone call from your dad when you were driving me home from classes at Belmont University. You called your boss to immediately assign another agent to take over your duties for at least a couple of months. You were all your father had left and you wanted to make sure he was going to be okay. You’d planned on packing that night, then leaving the next morning to help plan the funeral, settle your brother’s estate, spend some time with your dad before going back to work. But it was you that I was worried about. You seemed so...devastated.”
“Don’t do this,” he whispered. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” She searched his gaze. “Tell the truth? Don’t tell you that after Agent Faulk arrived and you went to the pool house, I paced my room for hours, worried about you? I couldn’t stand the devastation I’d seen in your eyes. I eventually snuck out of the main house to check on you. When you didn’t answer my knock, I looked through a window and saw you passed out on the floor, an empty bottle of whiskey on the rug beside you. I debated calling for help. But I didn’t know if you’d get in trouble, even though you weren’t technically on duty. Instead, I went inside.”
She slowly lowered the picture. “I wanted to help you. But when I rolled you over, you put your arms around me and kissed me and I...” She let out a shuddering breath. “I’d wanted you so desperately for so long. And I naïvely thought you wanted me, too, not some random woman in your drunken thoughts who you wouldn’t even remember later. I was a fool, in so many ways. Instead of stopping you, as I should have, I jumped in the deep end and haven’t come up for air since.”
She hated the bitterness and hurt in her voice but there was nothing she could do about it. “Stop looking at me as if I’ve lost my mind. This is the truth, the truth you’ve denied for so long that you never once stopped to consider even the possibility that I wasn’t lying.” She raised the picture again, holding it a few inches from his face.
“Look at him,” she demanded. “Ignore me if you want. Hate me if it makes you feel better. Blame me and my family for every bad thing that’s happened in your life. But don’t you dare ignore him. Look at him! Then tell me he’s not yours.”