“What are you telling me, Lia?”
“Just that I’ll help you. I don’t know why you want to find him or what you’ll do, but I trust it will be fair and legal. I’ve got something you should see.” She jumped up and went to her room, retrieving the bundle of letters from her bag. Luc was sitting again; he appeared deep in thought, but he glanced up as she came to stand in front of him. She handed him the letters.
“What are these?” he asked.
“I found them when I was going through my mother’s papers. They’re letters from my father.”
Excitement flared in his eyes before he blanked the expression.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” she said. “None of them are recent. I think the last one was dated about nine years ago. But they might give you some idea of where he went.”
She sat back and watched as Luc flicked through the envelopes, selecting the last letter and taking it out. A puzzled frown formed on his face as he read.
“What is it?” she asked.
He looked up from the letter. “He writes as though he was coming back, or at least as though he expected your mother to join him.”
“Hmm, my mother always swore he would never leave her for good. She said he’d had to go, someone was after him, but that it was never meant to be permanent. I thought she was fooling herself, like she had done all her life, but maybe I was wrong.” Something occurred to her. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
His expression was wary. “What was me?”
“The person who was after him. It was you all those years ago.”
Luc merely shrugged. “Can I keep these?” he said, glancing down at the letters.
She nodded. “Will they help?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll let Gary look at them tomorrow. I’ll go call him now, give him a heads-up.” He got to his feet, energized, and smiled at Lia. “Thank you, cara. I’ll see you don’t regret this.”
He disappeared into his office, and Lia stared at the closed door.
Why had Luc been after her father all those years ago? It must have been soon after Luc was released from prison. What did Luc know that had gotten her father so scared he had run and never come back?
And was Luc after him now for the same reasons he had been back then? And what were those reasons? The questions went around and around in her head with no answers. She wished he would tell her why he wanted to find her father. She suspected that everything would fall into place, if only she had that piece of the puzzle.
Seeing him again had made one thing clear—even after his behavior the other night, she still wanted him. There could never be anything long-term between them. For some reason, Luc hated her father, and he would never trust her. Besides, she never wanted that sort of life; she had Sally, she had Mike, and she had her career. She didn’t need anything else, but the thought of never feeling again the way Luc made her feel was like a sharp pain piercing her heart. The knowledge that he would be out there in the world, but not with her, maybe with some other woman, clawed at her insides, and she knew that if he gave her the chance to have him, just one more time, she would take it.
Then she would run as fast as she could in the opposite direction.
…
Luc studied the report. He read the words, then reread them. “You’re sure this is correct?”
“Oh, yeah,” Gary said. “Once we knew where to focus the search, it was easy.”
Luc shook his head. “All this time.”
It was strange; he’d finally been ready to put the past behind him, ready to forget Lia’s father, and as long as Jimmy Brent stayed away from them, Luc would give up his plans for revenge. He’d reached that decision in the two days away from her—if her father never surfaced, he would leave it at that. But this changed everything. He glanced up to find Gary still hovering.
“Thanks, Gary,” he said.
What did he tell Lia? That he had found her father? What would happen then? How would she react to this news? He sat staring into space for long minutes. The truth was he didn’t know what to do, and it was an entirely new feeling for him. Over the last two days, he’d forced himself to think carefully about his feelings for Lia. He wanted her, but he admitted that it was more than that.
For a long time his life had seemed empty; that had changed now, and it was due to Lia. For the first time in years, he was beginning to think that there might be a future for him that wasn’t solitary, but he was pretty sure that Lia didn’t see things the same way. He almost smiled at that thought, but not quite. The fact was, he knew that once he told her this news, she would be out of his life forever.
There was no way he’d use those photos to keep Lia with him. He hadn’t told her, but he’d destroyed the original film, and the pictures he’d taken from it, the night after they’d been out with her little brother. All except the one he carried with him. He’d kept that—he had a feeling if he handled this wrong then that picture would be all he had left of her.
He was aware she still wanted him, or had until he had pulled that stunt the other night. But she was running scared, and he was astute enough to know that it wasn’t only from him. Growing up with Jimmy Brent as a father was hardly likely to enamor anybody to family life.
He remembered what she had said about her mother, how her father had made her life a misery, and his hatred for Jimmy Brent rose once more. Even now, the man seemed intent on ruining Luc’s life.
He had to find some way to get through to Lia, and his one strong point was the fact that she still wanted him. He had to work on that, had to seduce her so she couldn’t even think of leaving him, and to do that he needed time alone with her. Once he had her away from distractions, he was sure he could convince her to give them a chance.
He stared down at the report again. Jimmy Brent’s name stared back up at him, and he suddenly had an idea how to achieve that goal. He reached for the phone.
Chapter Fourteen
Luc swore softly, and Lia looked up from her coffee.
It was Sunday morning, and Luc was casually dressed in jeans and a cream linen shirt. He looked spectacular as always, and she felt the now-familiar flutter of desire low in her belly. He had been an absolute gentleman since the other night. It was unbelievable; her decision to give in to his evil ways and have one last fling had collided head-on with his decision to act the perfect gentleman. She still felt him watching her, but he made no move toward her at all. No, it was clear that if she wanted him, she was going to have to do the seducing. And the week Luc had requested was running out. Eyeing the table, she wondered whether she had the strength to toss him onto it and have her way. But maybe now wasn’t the right time.