Page 3 of Harmless Secrets

Alicia looked down at her daughter. Her cheeks were ruddy from the quick jaunt through the market and her eyes were sparkling. She was smiling, thinking they had been playing some kind of game. Thank God for that.

As her daughter stared up at her with those big beautiful blue eyes—the ones that looked just like Devon’s—she knew she couldn’t lie. God knows she wanted to dismiss it, but even at the age of four, her daughter was perceptive. So, she went for a half-truth.

“Nothing, the crowd was just getting to me.”

Bridget nodded sagely. Unfortunately, Alicia had invented phobias. She didn’t like large crowds, but it had more to do with their safety. Alicia usually avoided them, but when Bridget had asked to go to the waterfront today, it had been hard to resist the request. It was probably one of the last nice weekends before winter really took hold.

So Alicia had given into her daughter and they had been having a brilliant time. As the crowd had grown, she had stifled the need to run away. She did not want to raise a coward. Life was best experienced, or so her father had said—before her mother had been killed. So while she had to keep her safe from the likes of Stryker, Alicia did her best to make sure she experienced something else other than their home.

And today, it had almost been the death of them. It was odd that he had smiled at her the way he did. It wasn’t an evil smile of triumph. It had been relief, with a tad bit of that sexy smile she’d seen years ago.

She realized she was standing out on the street leaving both her and Bridget exposed.

“Why don’t we head home? We can have an early dinner and then make some popcorn and watch a movie. Your pick.”

Bridget smiled and clapped her hands together. “That sounds brilliant. I think we should watch Frozen.”

Of course she did. Bridget had been obsessed with the movie since it had come out. But, in this, Alicia couldn’t deny her daughter the simple joy of watching her favorite movie. Their jog through the crowded market forgotten, she grabbed Alicia’s hand and pulled her toward the parking lot where their car was.

All the while Alicia tried to pretend she hadn’t seen that man. It had only been a split second, but she knew it was him. There was that smile he’d given her that night, the one that had made her lose her mind and her morals. She would never forget those amazing blue eyes, not when she saw the same ones every day. She looked down at her daughter. Bridget was the one good thing to come from that terrible time in her life. And for that, she would never regret that night—but it didn’t mean she was stupid.

They might have to move again. She hated to do that to Bridget, but there might be no other way.

Their lives could very well depend on it.

Two

The loud chatter of restaurant patrons filled the air around them while Dee stared at Devon as if he had lost his mind. She looked at Micah who shrugged, then she turned back to Devon.

“Are you crazy?”

Maybe he was, but he refused to admit it until he was sure.

“So, you spent one night with this woman…how many years ago?” she asked.

The tone of her voice told him everything he needed to know. She was positive he had lost his mind. With their family history, there was always a chance of mental illness, so he really didn’t blame her. But she really should know better. Most of their family members were slightly eccentric, and Devon himself had a reputation of being a bit of a recluse among people in his business. That meant a lot in the world of gaming because many of the top designers were reclusive.

“Well, how many years?” Dee asked again. He could tell from her tone she wouldn’t let it go.

“A little over four.”

She pursed her lips while she handed Alana a sippy cup. “Four years?”

“Yes.”

What was Ali doing in Seattle? She had let him assume she lived in the UK when he met her. And why had she looked so freaking scared when she realized who he was? The look on her face had been one of surprise. That he expected. What he didn’t expect was the way it had dissolved into terror. There was no way around it. The woman was frightened of him in a way that made her run away. What had happened to her since he’d last seen her?

“Devon!”

He shook his head and tried to focus on his sister and what she was asking.

“What?”

She rolled her eyes and tapped her fingers on the table. “I think we need you to take another IQ test. Your brain cells seem to be melting by the minute.”

He glanced at Micah, who had his head down in the menu, but Devon knew he was laughing. For a long moment, he looked out the window, studying the way the sun danced over the waves. The Ferris wheel continued to turn and people went about their own daily lives. It was as if something Earth shattering hadn’t happened.

“Devon!”

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