Laura was feeling far less confident or hopeful when he came back into the room. She had spent those moments he was conferring with Mama, rehearsing what she would say. But no matter how she put it, the truth was she used this man. Used him to get what she wanted. Her only solace was that he had not been forthright with her, either.
"So, what is your name? Really?" The attorney in her went on the defensive. It was as good a tactic as any.
He chuckled as he crossed the room and climbed into the double bed next to them. "Ryan Paul Ranger is my real name. When I went undercover on this assignment, they had to change very little about my background."
She nodded and looked at their sleeping daughter. It seemed they both had kept some pretty big secrets from one another.
"My turn. Were you on the pill?"
She blew out a long breath. This man was not an opponent she would want to meet in the courtroom. He cut straight to the chase with that one. "What law school?"
"Yale. After I finished the Naval Academy. But that is two answers, counselor, and you still have not answered my question."
She tried to find the right words, but in the end, did what she had been taught was best -- stick to a simple yes or... "No."
He nodded, "You finally heard your biological clock ticking and wanted a baby. I don't even need to ask why me."
He brushed his finger lightly over Chloe's little hand, and even in her sleep, their daughter reached for her daddy. "Maybe I should feel angry or used, but damn, looking at her, all I feel is incredibly blessed."
She smiled at his answer, that at least was a beginning. "I take it you knew who I was in the pub that night, counselor?"
"Yes, in fact, I followed you from the office."
She should have assumed that perhaps, but had not. It made everything that happened seem so much more cold-blooded. But the other thing she had learned, never show weakness. That lesson was not learned at Stanford Law, but kindergarten in Sebida, Texas. Kids could be incredibly cruel when the biggest gossip in town was the fact that your parents' marriage was not legal. "Why?"
His fingers gripped her chin, forced her head up, as those blue eyes sought hers. "It is not as bad as you think. I'd spent ten hours on a plane reading through both your McBride personnel file and the folder that the agency gave me on you. And honestly, sweetheart, you got under my skin."
He broke their gaze for a moment and looked down at their child, the product of that one night stand. "We have a lot more in common than you think. I know how much that word hurts too. I got a black eye and was suspended on my first day in kindergarten."
"Of course, the bully who called me a bastard got a broken arm for his troubles. I didn't go back to school until I was sixteen and wanted to play football. By then, my mama figured between my size and the whispers from those kids who remembered what happened, I could handle myself."
"Girls aren't supposed to fight," she replied.
"But you beat the hell out of that boy, didn't you, sweetheart?"
Her eyes widened, "Damn, how much did those files contain?"
"More than you can ever imagine. Enough to fall in love with your strength and intelligence before we even met. I didn't follow you expecting to..."
She chuckled, "Fuck my brains out and make a baby, counselor?"
He shook his head, "No, make love to you. I hoped you had felt the difference."
Damned pregnancy hormones, shouldn't they be better now that she had given birth. But she remembered that according to the books, they sometimes actually got worse. Although it was too early for post-partum depression, she was going to blame the tears on hormones anyway. "I thought I did, but then..."
"But then I disappeared from your bed, and walked into your office? Jerking the carpet right out from under you?"
She still could not meet his gaze, so she only nodded and turned her head into the pillow, hoping to dry at least some of those tears.
"You have no idea how incredibly hard either of those was. But I was pretty sure you knew nothing about what was happening, and at that point, I convinced myself I was doing you a favor, getting you out of the line of fire."
She nodded and sniffled, "You might be right there. I have thought the same thing myself several times. Especially when it all came out, and they started freezing and confiscating everyone's assets."
He sighed, "Yeah, about that..."
"So, that's why you're here?" She finally looked up and met his stare, preparing for battle.
He shook his head, "No, yes, sort of." He fumbled over his words for the first time.
She should have honed in on this show of weakness, "But?"
"Since Stephen McBride's suicide, Gerald has become a reluctant witness at best."
"I thought he made a plea bargain, surely?"
"Oh, he agreed to plead guilty. But that's about it. He won't testify or provide any information on who else was involved. The agency has been trying to trace the money trail, but even that isn't going so well."
"So, they sent you here to clean up loose ends? See how much I really did know? Threaten me with jail and seizure of my assets too?" She asked the question though she already knew the answer.
"Sort of. I volunteered. When they started asking questions, I said I would come to speak with you."
"Thought you'd charm your way back into my bed, counselor?"
He smiled and waved his hand, "Seems to have worked, counselor."
She laughed, "But not as you expected, that's for sure."
"No, sweetheart, that's for damned sure."
Laura sighed; only one question remained to ask the witness, "So, what now?"
***
