Nothing but Trouble (10 page)

Like he wanted to.

“Get off me!” she demanded, arching against him, but he thwarted her efforts to throw him off. “What kind of kidnapper are you?” She began wiggling like an eel. “You haven’t even asked for a ransom! Or is it a political favor you’re seeking from my father?” she continued, revealing she’d seen the news.

“All in good time, princess. If we seem too eager Lord will think he can negotiate, which means less money for us. The more time that goes by, the more he’ll begin to wonder what we’re doing to you. When we finally make our demands, he won’t blink at the amount he’ll be so eager to get you back. And you could save yourself a lot of grief, if you’d just come to terms with your predicament and wait patiently for the outcome.”

“Jonathan will pay you whatever you want,” she breathed, glaring up at Brent with bright eyes. “There’s no reason to drag this on.”

“He must love you very much.” She looked sexy as sin, and just as tempting. Soft ribbons of fire were splayed out on the carpet around her, giving Brent the urge to touch it. He couldn’t recall a time he’d felt an overwhelming need to touch a woman’s hair. The warning signs were there. His control was slipping fast.

Sophie stilled, whether it was due to self-preservation or something he’d said, he didn’t know. He became mesmerized by the deep mystery reflected in her eyes as they moved over his face, as though searching for the answer. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she didn’t know what to say. “Aren’t you going to answer me?”

“Yes.” This time she didn’t hesitate.

“And you love him,” he prompted in a hard tone.

“I…” She halted, her pretty white teeth sinking down into her bottom lip.

Had she been about to divulge something? Brent watched an array of emotions cross her face, curious as to what thoughts had left that despondent look in her eyes. Hardly the look he’d expect to see in the eyes of a woman in love.

“What’s going on in the pretty head of yours?” he asked, as the silence stretched between them. “Your eyes are giving you away, princess. You’re hiding something.”

Her mouth tightened into a firm line. “You’re fishing.”

He felt her begin to relax beneath him. “And you’re not biting.” Brent knew he should release her, only he wasn’t ready to. That decision turned out to be a mistake.

Now that Sophie had stopped focusing on getting away, he became aware of how intimate their position was. How good she felt beneath him.

“Please, let me up.”

Sanity returned almost instantly. The sound of her voice sliced right through the lust surging through his blood. Getting up suddenly became more important than subduing Sophie, especially when his body betrayed him by hardening. Only Brent knew he had the upper hand. “Not until you answer me.” Though she gave no outward sign, he saw something flare in her eyes, suspecting the turmoil running through her. “You love him.”

“I…yes!”

Her exclamation was a mixture of unwillingness and desperation. Her hesitation told Brent she was lying. He was willing to let it slide for now, knowing that sometimes patience was a virtue. “Are you thinking about him now?”

There was a challenge in his tone. He was good at pushing people into talking when they didn’t want to, instinctively knowing which buttons to push. Sometimes he got lucky.

His gut told him Sophie was definitely hiding something. Nevertheless, he knew it was too good to hope that she’d come right out and tell him what. She had too much pride for that. In that respect she was a lot like the senator. And that meant her stubbornness was going to mean more trouble for him.

“I’d like to eat breakfast now,” she remarked, letting him know their conversation was over.

Well, he controlled the situation, though he seemed to have forgotten that for a moment. Sophie’s delicate shiver reminded him she was at his mercy. When he’d held her close during the night he’d roused several times to find her nestled against him, almost seeking contact, and he’d adjusted his position so she could get closer still. A mistake he’d paid for countless times over. Well, once again they were as close as two people could get, causing his body to react to their close proximity. He hesitated for a moment before getting to his feet and easily pulling her up with him, refusing to be taken in by the seductive scent threatening to suck him under.

“I wonder, are you an honest woman?”

Sophie made a halfhearted attempt to break away but his question obviously caught her off-guard. She halted, meeting his gaze. “What kind of question is that?” she demanded to know, her brows coming together with confusion.

“A simple question.” He slowly uncurled his fingers from around her wrist, studying her expression closely. He had good instincts; in his line of work it was a commodity. “I want to know if I can trust you.”
Probably about as far as I can throw her.

“Yes,” was all she said, a nervous look filling her bright eyes.

Brent had to give her credit for being able to look him in the eye and lie to him, because he didn’t trust her. With the exception of his mother and sister he didn’t trust any woman. Still, he had to find out how far she’d go to convince him of that. “Can I trust you not to try and escape, if I let you out of this room for a little while?”

Sophie’s eyes grew round with disbelief. “How can you even ask me such a thing? Do you really expect me to be honest with you?”

Brent watched her expression carefully, instincts warning him she was struggling with what to say. The way he figured it, she could tell him what she thought he wanted to hear. Or, she could be honest now and gain his trust. That would definitely work to her advantage later. Did she have the patience for that?

“I can’t do that.”

Her response surprised him. “Why?"

“Because I know that every time the chance presents itself I’ll try and escape.”

Grudging respect filled Brent. Why hadn’t she taken the easy way out? He wouldn’t have blamed her. He expelled a deep sigh before turning to leave. “I’ll be back later. Eat your breakfast.” He tossed the clipped words over his shoulder.

“What about clothes? Surely you don’t expect to keep me in nothing but your shirt.”

Brent opened the door, pausing in the threshold to glance back at Sophie. Her expression wasn’t hard to read. If looks could kill, he’d be dead right now. A slow smile formed on his lips. Her chin raised a notch for every second his eyes raked over her scantily clad attire. He liked his shirt on her.

“Make yourself at home.” He indicated the direction of the closet with a sweep of his arm. “What’s mine is yours. Feel free to search for something more suitable to wear.”

Instead of acknowledging his comment, she sat down at the small table, placed the paper napkin over her lap, and then waited. She didn’t make eye contact with Brent again, but he had a hunch she wouldn’t touch her breakfast until he was on the other side of the door and she heard the sound of the lock being turned.

“The senator’s expecting you, Mr. Howard; go right in.”

Brent ran an appreciative glance over the senator’s secretary before walking past her desk and opening the door. Senator Adams was sitting at his desk; his head buried in a mountain of paperwork; a drink to the left of him and a plate with a half-eaten sandwich to the right. The mid-day news was on the TV in the corner but he appeared to be ignoring it.

“Help yourself to a drink before you sit down,” he instructed Brent, still not looking up from what he was reading. “I’ll be right with you.”

It was a little early in the day but Brent decided he could use a good stiff drink. The portable bar held a little bit of everything but he reached for the scotch, pouring a generous splash into a heavy crystal glass before taking a seat in one of the leather chairs in front of the desk. He was just relaxing back when the senator gave a deep sigh, removing his glasses before tossing them down on top of the material he’d been studying. Leaning back in his chair he linked his hands behind his head and stretched, directing a narrowed gaze on Brent.

“How’s my daughter holding up? She giving you any trouble?” The look in his eyes clearly revealed he was slightly amused over the prospect. He obviously didn’t have a clue that Sophie was nothing but trouble.

Brent shrugged. “She’s your daughter; what do you think?” Taking a sip of the best scotch money could buy; he studied the senator over the rim of his glass, thinking about the lady in question. In fact he couldn’t stop thinking about her, which troubled him. She roused feelings in him he wasn’t prepared to deal with. All he wanted to do was kiss that smart mouth of hers every time she opened it. Slide his tongue inside the sweet warmth behind those sharp little teeth and drive them both a little wild. Change the sass to a purr.

“Sophie’s a gentile lady. Her grandmother, God rest her soul, raised her and she was from the old school. I’ve never known my daughter to lose her control over any situation.”

Well then, he doesn’t know his daughter very well.
Brent thought about the scratches furrowing his chest, wondering what the senator would say about those. “For the most part you’re right on the money.” He didn’t see the need in bursting the older man’s bubble. “But she’s shown a little spirit now and again.” Unable to help the slight twitching of his lips he camouflaged it with another sip of his drink.

“You mean she’s not using her womanly wiles on you to control the situation? While growing up, that little girl kept me twisted around her baby finger using such trickery. Something she picked up from her grandmother.” Senator Adams paused long enough to take a sip of his drink. “My mother was a southern bell during her day and taught Sophie that a little charm goes a long way. She’s used to getting what she wants.”

And knew how to get it too. Brent wisely kept the thought to himself. He’d experienced a little of Sophie’s womanly seductiveness but he’d yet to see the southern charm the senator was talking about, except maybe when she was playing her damsel in distress act. If Sophie tried that stuff on him she’d end up wasting her natural born talent.

“I think that’s the problem, she’s not getting what she wants. I bring out the worst in her.” He couldn’t help the little smile that spread across his chiseled lips, forgetting to disguise it this time.

The senator’s eyes narrowed suddenly, giving Brent a long, hard look which quickly turned into a speculative gleam. “That little bit of news is interesting.”

Worried about the glint in his eye Brent decided it was time to get down to business. He finished his drink, welcoming the raw burn that settled in his gut. At least it gave him something else to think about other than the little witch in his bedroom. “Have you found out what’s going on between your daughter and Lord, if anything?” he asked, setting his glass aside.

Shaking his head negatively, the senator’s mouth became tight and grim beneath his neatly trimmed mustache. “Not a damn thing so far. Jonathan’s a sneaky bastard. He appears to have a lot of people in his pocket and all of them spineless cowards. Not a one willing to spill the beans on anything we can use, if they know anything. It’s frustrating as hell and my team isn’t getting anywhere.”

Buying off your enemies was just one of the perks of being a millionaire. “Senator, if you don’t mind my asking, what makes you think Sophie doesn’t want to marry him?” He knew money was a powerful incentive. “Has she given you any reason to believe…”

“No!” Senator Adams snapped, leaning forward with a fierce expression on his square-boned face. “I know there’s something going on here, Brent. Every time I look at her when she doesn’t know I’m watching I see the way she cringes away from him when he gets too close. I see the relief in her eyes when he finally walks away. A woman in love doesn’t act like that.”

He took a deep breath, reaching for his glass and swallowing the contents in an angry gesture. It surprised Brent to see his hand actually shaking. He’d never known the senator to show weakness of any kind.

“The one time I questioned her about it she brushed it aside saying I was imagining things. Said there was nothing that would keep her from getting married.” He snorted scornfully, reaching for a decanter and refilling his glass, some of the liquid splashing over onto his desk. “I should have asked her point blank if she loved the bastard.”

Brent had seen Sophie react to Lord the same way so he knew the senator wasn’t being paranoid or just an overprotective father. Leaning back in his chair, he quietly observed his old friend. His reaction was normal for a father who loved his daughter, and had qualms about her reasons for marrying a man most of the public feared and disliked. He couldn’t help wondering if it went a lot deeper than that, though. Maybe the senator disliked Lord for other reasons. He sounded like he had a personal vendetta against his daughter’s fiancé.

“Go ahead and say it,” the senator quipped, obviously reading his mind.

Brent shrugged. “It sounds like you have more reasons for breaking up their relationship. Maybe your suspicions aren’t grounded. It wouldn’t be the first time someone married for money.”

“My daughter isn’t like that, Brent,” he said, shaking his head vehemently, his brows drawn together. “Sophie has more money than she’ll ever spend in her lifetime. Yet you guessed right when you said I have reasons for wanting to stop this. I know Jonathan, too. He’s a ruthless, blackmailing bastard who doesn’t do anything without it benefiting him in some way. I’ve heard stories about him for years.”