Page 42 of Dangerous Temptation
‘They got me on insider trading. Nothing else,’ he reminded her tersely. ‘And that was a stretch. I made my own money, and I started my own company. Wolfe Pack has no ties to Wolfe Financial. It’s a separate entity entirely. The Feds and the courts can’t touch it.’
‘But your grandfather …’
‘Has never been tried.’
‘Because they can’t find him.’ Her lips flattened and a storm brewed in her eyes. ‘Where is he?’
The question hit Alex like a slap.
Especially here on Wolfe property, with Wolfe Lake filling the view behind her. He pulled his emotions in, forcing the snake to wrap around and choke them. He’d dealt with these questions for years, and he’d answered all he was going to. He didn’t owe anyone, even her, any more. ‘You will never know.’
Tension boiled as the cold settled around them. A breeze lifted her hair as if in fury, but neither of them backed down.
Or pulled away from each other’s bodies.
After a long moment, she took a deep breath. She caught the edges of the blanket up in one hand and caught his hand on her hip with the other. ‘Why don’t you give him up? If you’re not involved, why take the fall for him? Why not make him pay?’
The questions came a little too close to home. ‘You know, your father was no prince in this whole affair.’
Her face went white, even under the morning sun’s soft glow. ‘I’m aware of that.’
Turning away, she focused on the scenery. Her body grew stiff, but it worried Alex more when she pulled her hand away from his.
OK, so she and her father hadn’t been close.
He circled that hand around her, spreading it wide over her flat belly. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, kissing her shoulder. ‘That was below the belt.’
‘It’s the truth.’
The sun was a ball of fire now, punching its way into the sky. It glared down on their conversation, exposing harsh truths.
‘They came after my mother and me,’ she said. ‘The authorities, I mean.’
‘You? Why?’ It took a lot to surprise him any more, but that did the trick.
‘They were looking for funds they could seize, but my parents had been divorced for so long all they could get was my mother’s alimony, and that wasn’t much. They wanted information even more, but we didn’t know anything.’
Alex’s teeth ground. He knew what it was like to be in the authorities’ crosshairs, but he had resources. Lawyers, assistants, spin doctors and even Leonard. Yet that son-of-a-bitch Randolph Bardot hadn’t even protected his own. He’d left his loved ones to face the law, the press and the public’s outrage without him. No wonder she’d gone into hiding.
And no wonder she’d be susceptible to pleas from the government or angry investors for help.
‘Is your mother doing OK?’ he asked. That was another option.
‘She’s tough. She manages a cupcake bakery now. She loves it, but the owner doesn’t know how to run a small business. It has its ups and downs.’
‘Is she in New York?’
‘San Diego.’
All the way across the country. He did a quick mental calculation. ‘Wait. You were here alone when everything went down?’
She shrugged.
Alone and a student at that. She hadn’t had to face the real world yet. She hadn’t built up the barriers she needed to protect herself before it had all come charging at her.
Ah, hell. If she was here for payback, he understood why.
He wrapped himself around her again, protecting her with his body. Too late, maybe, but the act was instinctual.
