Secret Vows (Hideaway (Kimani)) (12 page)

She practically beamed with the compliment. “I’ve had enough practice. And I had the best cook to teach me everything she knew. My aunt Stella,” she added when Jason gave her a puzzled look. “My uncle could barely boil water before they met, but look at him now. Please sit down, Jason. I’ll be joining you as soon as I make my omelet. Oh, I have a plate in the warming drawer. Could you please put the potatoes on it?”

“Of course, baby.”

* * *

Greer didn’t know how to react to Jason’s endearments. First she was
darling
and now
baby
. Even before their first date together, she’d become his darling. His claim that, if his girlfriend was happy, then he was happy was more than apparent. And Greer had to admit that she hadn’t felt this relaxed in a very long time, and she knew it had something to do with Jason.

“You set a nice table,” Jason said, pulling out a chair at the table and seating Greer.

She nodded. “Thank you. The only thing missing is flowers.”

* * *

Jason sat opposite Greer, knowing this was something he wanted to do—and often. He’d never slept with a woman under his parents’ roof, despite having his own suite of rooms in the Boca Raton mansion. That was something he didn’t feel comfortable doing. If a woman didn’t have her own house or apartment, then he paid for a suite at a hotel. But that would change once Ana moved into a house with her husband. He planned to move out of his parents’ home and buy the condo in the exclusive gated community from his sister. The amenities included 24/7 property security and concierge services. He didn’t have to leave to shop for groceries if he didn’t want, and the spectacular views of the ocean from expansive windows and balconies would be all the inspiration he would need to compose new music.

“I’ll make certain to pick some flowers for the next time,” he said, spreading a napkin over his lap.

“Who designed your garden?”

“Regina.”

Greer’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “She came from Brazil to design your garden?”

“She and her husband divide their time between Bahia and their second home near Mexico City. She and Aaron spent a few days here while she drafted the layout for the garden.”

“It looks as if you have one-stop shopping among your relatives with an interior decorator aunt and landscape architect cousin. Should I assume you also have family members who are doctors, nurses and pilots?”

Jason swallowed a mouthful of fluffy eggs, savoring the lingering taste of the feta and spinach on his tongue. It appeared as if Greer was multitalented. She could cook
and
sing. “You assume correctly. By the way, this omelet is delicious. My mother is a nurse, Regina’s husband Aaron is a pediatrician, their son is also a doctor and my cousin Tyler is an ob-gyn. Tyler bears the distinction of delivering a lot of the babies in the family.” He paused, seemingly in thought. “There are a few lawyers. We have a federal judge and a veterinarian who’s also a licensed pilot. Nicholas is engaged to a vet, so that’ll make two. However those who are in law enforcement are marrying into the family so fast I can’t keep up with who’s CIA, DEA or with the U.S. Marshals Service.”

* * *

A whisper of a smile trembled over Greer’s lips as she affected a smile she didn’t feel. She wondered how Jason would react if she revealed she was also law enforcement? And that her brother was active FBI? She doubted whether it would make a difference to him because she had no intention of marrying Jason.

“At least you know you’re protected,” she quipped.

“That’s what I tell my sisters. Alexandra’s husband is CIA, and Ana just married her U.S. marshal boyfriend. And my brother Gabriel is married to a former DEA agent.”

“What’s up with that?”

Jason speared a potato wedge. “Beats me,” he answered. “I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable being married to a woman who has to carry a gun. It would always be in the back of my mind that she might get involved in a shoot-out and could possibly lose her life.”

“Do you have something against guns?”

He blinked as he slowly chewed and swallowed the potato with obvious delight. “No.”

“Do you know how to use one?”

Propping his elbow on the table, Jason gave Greer a lengthy stare. “Yes. Why are you asking me about guns?”

“I just need to know if you’ve got my back in case of an emergency.”

He chuckled. “I don’t need a gun to protect you, unless the other person has a firearm and I don’t.”

“Please don’t tell me I’m dating a superhero.”

“Close enough,” Jason countered with a broad grin.

“Are you Bruce Wayne masquerading as Batman?”

“I wish. I have to admit wearing black leather is the ultimate fantasy.”

Greer scrunched up her nose. “That sounds kinky.” Jason winked at her while at the same time flashing a wolfish grin. Whenever he smiled at her like that, he reminded her of a powerful predator intent on making her his next meal.

“Don’t knock kinky until you’ve tried it.”

She flashed a sexy moue. “How do you know I haven’t?”

Jason’s smiled vanished. “Are you talking BDSM?”

Greer’s jaw dropped, her mouth forming a perfect
O
. “No! That goes beyond kinky.”

He managed to look sheepish. “I had to ask.”

Bracing an elbow on the table, Greer cupped her chin on the heel of her hand. “Tell me about your grandmother. Is she still alive?”

* * *

Jason leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the woman sitting across from him. He found it odd she knew more about him than he did her. He’d been more than forthcoming about himself and his family; he knew her age, that she was divorced, had graduated college, her uncle owned Stella’s and she’d admitted to being a Southerner.

“I’ll tell you everything I know about Marguerite-Joséfina Diaz Cole if you tell me who Greer Evans is.”

Greer seemed more than ready to respond to Jason’s request. “You know my age and that I’m a twin.”

“What does your brother do?”

“He’s a cop.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No. He
is
a cop. We grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, because Mom and Dad worked for the government. Last year they sold their condo and moved to a retirement community in Virginia. My brother and I attended private schools, and we spent our summers here until our last year in high school. I went to Georgetown University while Cooper was accepted into Brown.”

“How did you meet your ex-husband?”

Greer compressed her lips into a hard line. She looked like she was regurgitating bile. “Are you familiar with the name Lawrence Hill?”

Jason shook his head. “No. I can’t say I am.”

“He’s the senator who resigned last year when he was caught on tape attempting to seduce his opponent’s wife.”

“I remember reading something about that,” Jason confirmed.

“Well, I had the misfortune of marrying his son.”

“Are you saying like father like son?”

“I wish. If my ex had been unfaithful, I would’ve been able to deal with it and move on, but Larry was a closet psycho. We dated a few times in high school, but our relationship never progressed beyond the platonic stage. I graduated college and got a teaching position in a D.C. middle school. I’d gone out one night with several teachers to celebrate the engagement of a colleague and ran into him. We reconnected and married a year and a half later in a small private ceremony.

“At that time his father was beginning to dabble in politics, so there were a number of parties and fundraisers that required our attendance. My father-in-law counted on the African-American vote because his son had married a black woman. I was expected to go on the campaign trail with the Hills, so I took a leave from my job, subjected myself to a complete makeover and became a puppet with Larry as the master puppeteer pulling the strings. He selected what he wanted me to wear, and we traveled with a stylist and makeup person. Whenever I looked in the mirror I didn’t recognize myself and I loathed waking up because I knew the day would become a repeat of the one before.”

“How long were you campaigning?”

“Fourteen months. We must have stopped in every town, city, hamlet and village in Maryland. Lawrence beat the incumbent in a landslide victory, and I thought it was over. Unfortunately the circus started up again with smaller dinner parties. I wasn’t a wife, but a possession or trophy to put out on display. One day I’d had enough and told Larry I was leaving him.” Greer covered her face with her hands, but not before Jason saw all manner of emotions expressed there.

Pushing back his chair, Jason came around the table and pulled her to stand. Bending slightly, he picked her up and carried her into the living room. He sat, settling Greer on his lap. She was shaking uncontrollably. “What did he do to you, sweetheart?”

* * *

Greer sank into Jason’s body, feeding off his strength. He was the first man she’d allowed to touch and kiss her in seven years.
If you let him sour you on men, then he’s won.
Bobby’s sage advice had come back in vivid clarity. Larry lost. He had lost her and then he had lost himself.

“He tried to kill me.”

Jason smothered a curse under his breath. “How?”

“He waited until I’d turned my back, and he hit me in the head with the fireplace poker. The first blow stunned me and, when I turned around to defend myself, he hit me again. This time across my chest. I couldn’t breathe, and then I blacked out. I woke up in the hospital with a concussion, broken ribs and a collapsed lung. My mother told me someone had broken into the house and attacked me and Larry. I tried to tell her it was Larry who’d assaulted me, but she told me I was mistaken because Larry had been seriously injured, and he was also in the hospital. The lying slug must have called his mother and father, and together they concocted a story to keep Larry from being arrested. When my in-laws came to see me, they said Larry had been airlifted to a private hospital in Virginia that specialized in head trauma. Supposedly the neurosurgeon had placed him into a medically induced coma to reduce the swelling in his brain.”

“Did you get to see him?”

“No.”

“Why not, Greer?”

“I didn’t want to see him. His father told the press he’d hired private security to protect his son because Larry had had an altercation with the nephew of an alleged mobster, and the attack was in retaliation for the kid’s arrest. Unfortunately I’d become collateral damage.”

“Did he have an alteration?”

She nodded. “A seventeen-year-old kid was pulling out of a parking spot and accidentally scraped the bumper of Larry’s car. Larry got in the kid’s face and he pushed back. Someone called the police, and when they discovered who Larry was, they arrested the boy who ended up losing his license for six months.”

“Did anyone believe your story?”

“My parents did, eventually, but that’s about it. I knew what had happened, and after a while, I was tired of trying to convince someone—anyone—that I was telling the truth, and my father-in-law had lied. Once I was discharged, I went back to the house to get my personal papers, and the housekeeper looked at me as if she’d seen a ghost. It was apparent she hadn’t expected me to return. She pleaded with me not to go upstairs, but I ignored her. When I went into the bedroom, I knew why she was so anxious to me keep out. Larry had been hiding there. Apparently he’d had a miraculous recovery or the man in ICU wasn’t my husband. He said he was sorry and pleaded for me not to leave him.”

Greer’s voice dropped to a whisper when she told Jason that she had decided to try another tactic to get away from him. She promised Larry she wasn’t going to leave if he agreed to them having separate bedrooms. He agreed and she moved her things into a spare bedroom. Meanwhile she’d placed a call to her brother to come and get her. When Cooper got to the house and saw for himself that Larry had lied about being attacked, he threatened to kill him.

“Cooper held his gun on Larry, while I got my passport, birth certificate and social security card out of the safe. My brother made me promise that, if I ever considered reconciling with Larry, that Cooper
would
kill him. It took months before I could get an attorney to handle my divorce. Once they heard the name Hill, I was persona non grata. Larry stonewalled me every chance he got. He paid a psychiatrist to sign off that he needed to be hospitalized for an emotional breakdown. If he wasn’t playing crazy, then it was chronic back pain where he couldn’t walk without a cane or walker. It was close to three years before he realized I wasn’t coming back. Meanwhile I’d moved in with my parents and went back to school to get a graduate degree. Instead of returning to the classroom, I volunteered as a tutor at a community center. When Larry’s attorney finally contacted mine for a settlement, I told him all I wanted was my freedom and my maiden name. Five months later the divorce was finalized.”

She didn’t tell Jason that she’d applied to the ATF, and her graduate degree wasn’t in education but criminal justice. She had to undergo an extensive background check, psychological testing and physical training. Her swearing-in as a special agent came a week after her divorce, and she had signed on for undercover assignments.

Her supervisor had been reluctant to approve the request. After all, she was the former daughter-in-law of a member of congress, but Greer convinced him that she wouldn’t compromise her identity when she showed him photos of herself with the Hills. Frightfully thin with a very short haircut, she looked nothing like the woman sitting in front of him. Then she’d been Jane Hill not J. Greer Evans.

When Larry had attacked her from behind, she hadn’t been able to fight back. If she had, there was no doubt her years of martial arts training would’ve kicked in and Larry would not have had to fake being injured.

It had taken a while, but when Senator Hill resigned before he was to appear before the ethics committee, Greer felt a measure of redemption. And Larry—who’d played the crazy card once too often—had a psychotic breakdown, rarely venturing out of the basement in his parents’ home because he believed aliens were watching him. He preferred sleeping on an air mattress because there was no place for the aliens to hide inside as they’d done with a regular mattress.