Rescuing Diana (19 page)

Tilting her head, Diana smiled again. “Did you think that when you were so ready to put it on the bulletin boards, or is it just because we blocked you?”

He gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief. “What?” Obviously, he hadn’t considered the possibility that he had been found out.

“Don’t bother with the act, pal,” Adam said. “We know it was you.”

Jim’s gaze flicked nervously back and forth between the two of them. “As I told you last night,” Diana said, “you’re in violation of federal copyright laws. That’s big trouble, Jim, and I doubt if
CompuWorld
would be happy about one of their reporters stealing a programmer’s source codes and then trying to ransom them.”

Jim straightened and glared at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said stiffly.

“Don’t be a fool,” she said in a low voice. “You gave yourself away that first night, when you told me to keep my bodyguard in his cage. Only Adam has ever been called that, and only by you.”

She watched the panic flare for an instant in his eyes. Adam crossed his arms over his chest, and she knew he had seen it too.

“Anyone could have heard me say that—”

“I also recognized your voice, in spite of the muffling.” She drew in a deep breath and lied. “And then there’s the fingerprint the police found.…”

“That’s impossible!” Jim blurted out. “I—”

“—wore gloves,” Adam finished for him.

“You’ll never prove it in court!”

Diana tapped her chin, as if in thought. It was time to pull their second bluff. She only hoped Jim didn’t call it. “I guess you have nothing to worry about, then, do you? Of course, you won’t mind that the police are searching your home and office right now. After all, there’s nothing to find, right?”

Sweat began to bead on Jim’s reddening face, although he still protested, “That doesn’t prove I did it!”

“You have two choices, Jim,” she said. “You can deny the theft all the way to court. That’s one option. Or you can sign a full confession that will not be shown to anybody as long as you’re a good boy. That’s option number two. Starlight will not prosecute if you take option number two.”

“That’s blackmail,” Jim whispered.

Adam’s smile never wavered as he said, “There is a third option that Diana hasn’t mentioned. You can step outside with me. But I don’t think you want to do that. I’d make a prosecution lawyer look like a pussycat.”

Diana’s ears burned as Jim called Adam a filthy name. She glanced behind her and said, “I think you’re attracting attention, Jim. Adam and I wouldn’t mind the others getting wind of this, but you might. I suggest you decide what you’re going to do, and quickly.”

“I need time,” he whined.

Diana almost felt sorry for him. Almost. She could never even remotely justify his stealing her source codes for ransom. “You have no time, Jim.
I want the confession before you leave here. Otherwise I will prosecute, with Starlight’s backing.”

“You bi—” At Adam’s growl of warning, Jim stopped his curse. “I’ll write the damn thing, okay?”

Adam pulled several typewritten pages and a pen from his pocket and held them out to Jim. “No, you’ll sign this. You can read it over, if you like, but you can’t make any changes.”

Jim stared at “his” confession for a long moment, then took it and the pen from Adam. His hands were shaking badly as he opened the folded papers and read their contents. When he was finished, he looked up at Diana. She could easily discern the defeat in his eyes.

“I want to write that I’m signing it under duress.”

“No,” she said. “You just sign your name and the date. Anything else and I won’t accept it. Then I’ll prosecute. We’re letting you walk away from this with your dignity and your livelihood intact. A signed confession that stays in a locked safety-deposit box is a very small price to pay for what you did, and you know it.”

In a fury, Jim signed the confession and shoved it into her hands.

“I hate you,” he spat out. “I hate every one of you creeps who think you’re so damn smart and talented. But I showed you! I got past your stupid alarm system and stole your codes. You remember that!”

“Don’t try anything with Diana. Ever!” Adam said, grabbing Jim by the arm. Jim’s face contorted in pain. “We’ll have you in jail so fast, you won’t know what hit you. And consider yourself
lucky, pal, that I don’t take you apart right here for what you did. Now, get the hell out!”

Yanking Jim around, Adam stepped to the door. He opened it and shoved the man outside. As the door shut behind him, Adam dusted imaginary dirt off his hands.

“If I had seen that performance the first time we met,” Diana said, grinning at him, “I would have realized you’re a Sonny Crockett type.”

“At least that guy has all his teeth.”

He didn’t get a chance to say anything more. Angelica and Dan were there, both asking questions at once.

“It went fine,” Adam assured them, taking the signed confession from Diana and holding it up. “Diana really backed the guy against the wall.” He gave his soon-to-be wife a smacking kiss on the mouth. “I’m just glad she’s on my side.”

“I wonder what Jim will think when he gets home and discovers the police have never been there,” she said.

“Oh,” Adam said, “I expect he’ll be sufficiently scared to keep his mouth shut and his nose clean from now on.”

Grinning at his brother, Adam silently congratulated himself on his nice, neutral answer to Diana. She didn’t know it, but she hadn’t actually lied to Griegson when she’d said his place was being searched. They hadn’t had any real evidence that Griegson had stolen the source codes, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any to be found. He and Dan had hired private detectives to search Griegson’s apartment first thing that morning. Just before the conference, Dan had gotten a call from them that they had found the source codes.
Adam hadn’t told Diana earlier, just in case nothing was found. She probably wouldn’t have approved anyway. It was better to let her think her virtuoso performance had set Griegson on the straight and narrow. If the man thought the police had found the source codes and were ready to prosecute at any time, then that was just a little added insurance. A knight had to protect his princess in every way possible.

But he was so proud of her poise during the confrontation with Griegson. He knew she’d been nervous, but she hadn’t needed rescuing once. He had, though. He’d barely been able to keep from punching the smirk off Griegson’s face. It had only been his love for Diana and understanding her need to handle Griegson herself that had held him back.

“Now that that’s over with,” he said, interrupting Diana’s reenactment of Griegson’s breakdown, “when will this damn conference be done? I want to start a honeymoon as soon as possible, with or without benefit of marriage.”

“Everyone will be here for another couple of hours at least,” Dan said, and laughed. “Or until all the free food and booze are gone.”

Adam groaned.

“Besides, there’s no honeymoon until benefit of marriage,” Diana said sternly. “And there won’t be any marriage until you finish the work on that hotel annex and I finish the game.”

He groaned again. “Damn! I forgot all about the hotel.”

“And I thought I was the absentminded one in the family,” Diana said, shaking her head. “Go to the office now, before your poor partner thinks
you’ve deserted him. And I don’t want to see you until the annex is done!”

“You’re a hard woman, Diana Windsor,” Adam grumbled.

“I’m rescuing our honeymoon from interruption, Adam Roberts. Now, get moving.”

With a feral grin he pulled her into his arms for a long kiss. Finally he raised his head and asked, “Can we still fool around before the honeymoon?”

She smiled and kissed him again. “Of course. I’m impatiently waiting for lesson number twenty-eight.”

“I bet you’ll pass with flying colors.”

“Silk sheets at last,” Diana said with a sigh as she ran her hand over the bedclothes.

“And in a rented condo in Hawaii, with a rented Ferrari down in the parking lot,” Adam said, stripping off his suit jacket and tossing it onto a chair. “All your
favorite
things.”

She laughed and threw herself exuberantly into his arms. Taken by surprise, Adam staggered backward before regaining his balance. His wife of one day didn’t seem to notice as she hugged him.

“You sure know how to make a girl happy,” she said.

He gazed down at her shining violet eyes. It never failed to amaze him that she was gentle, yet strong as steel underneath; innocent, yet totally sensual; naïve, yet sophisticated and smart. And she was his—completely and totally his.

His body responded instantly when she kissed him. His hands tightened around her slim waist.

“I’m starving,” she murmured.

“For me, I hope,” he murmured back, smoothing his hands down the curve of her bottom. “It’s been days.”

“Actually, it’s been days since I ate properly. I really am starved for a good meal.”

He slumped, and she slipped out of his embrace.

“We’re really going to have to do something about the way you kill the mood,” he said, his hands on his hips.

She grinned. “My stomach growling would kill the mood, and at a more strategic moment.”

“Very true,” he conceded. “We’ll rescue your appetite first, and then we’ll rescue mine.”

Later, Diana drank the last of her coffee and sighed in pleasure. They had eaten dinner in the privacy of their hotel condominium, and she decided they’d spend every meal of their honeymoon here. She and Adam had worked hard to have an uninterrupted two-week honeymoon. As far as she was concerned, it wouldn’t be interrupted by anything—not by lying on the beach, or sightseeing, or even dinners out.

Both of them needed to renew themselves after days of exhaustion. Between work and moving Adam’s things into her home, they had had to plan a wedding, too. It had been a small one, with just family and a few friends, but she couldn’t imagine a more beautiful way to start their life together. Along with a diamond ring and the most revealing negligee she’d ever seen, Adam had also given her another Charlie. As touched as she had been by the other gifts, nothing had meant more to her than his taking the time to hunt through the secondhand computer shops to find her a replacement for the computer Jim Griegson had
smashed. The new Charlie now had his own hidden cubbyhole, from which he controlled their home’s burglar-alarm system. Dan had hooked him up to a remote telephone line, too. Adam called him his backup knight.

“Everything was delicious,” she said, patting her mouth with her napkin.

“My turn to be rescued,” Adam said solemnly.

As she gazed into his amused eyes, she decided she couldn’t love him any more than at that moment. He was so loving and so gentle. And so patient …

She walked around the small table, sat down on his lap, and kissed him for a long time.

Pulling down the zipper of her bright yellow sundress, he said breathlessly, “You princesses really pack a wallop.”

“Especially after we’re fed,” she replied, unfastening the top three buttons of his shirt. She slipped her fingers inside. “I promise I’ll make it worth the wait.”

This book is dedicated to my father, Charles Camelier, the real storyteller in the family. He let me go through life thinking Lucy Goosey was a wanton. Thanks, Dad. I love you anyway.

I want to thank Rainy Anderson for being a spring, Anne Beltz for always listening, Carmele Olivo for all her patience and advice, Bev Haaf for her attention to small details, and Connie Flannery, who knows the reason why. Without their help, this book would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Adele Leone for being a terrific agent, and my editor, Elizabeth Barrett, for making the books better.

Welcome to Loveswept!

Cure your spring fever with our blazing hot May releases:

If you love stories that combine thrilling mysteries with sweet and sexy romance, don’t miss Judith E. French’s MORGAN’S WOMAN and Katie Rose’s A CASE FOR ROMANCE. These electrifying reads will keep your pulse racing and your heart melting.

And since we love Debra Dixon’s wonderful stories so much, we’re absolutely thrilled about her six Loveswept releases in May: MIDNIGHT HOUR, MOUNTAIN MYSTIC, PLAYING WITH FIRE, SLOW HANDS, HOT AS SIN, and DOC HOLIDAY. Pick one up and you’ll want to read them all!

If you love romance … then you’re ready to be
Loveswept
!

Gina Wachtel

Associate Publisher

P.S. Watch for these terrific Loveswept titles coming soon: In June, we have Ruthie Knox’s super-sexy e-original
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
, Gayle Kasper’s dazzling
HERE COMES THE BRIDE
, Rebecca Kelley’s charming
THE WEDDING CHASE
, and Sally Goldenbaum’s captivating
MOONLIGHT ON MONTEREY BAY
. July brings Elisabeth Barrett’s debut e-original novel, the brilliant
DEEP AUTUMN HEAT
, Kristen Kyle’s incredibly appealing
THE LAST WARRIOR
, and Adrienne Staff’s stunning
KEVIN’S STORY
. Don’t miss any of these extraordinary reads. I promise that you’ll fall in love and treasure these stories for years to come… .