A Lover's Vow (26 page)

Thirty-Six

I
n bare feet, Dalton crossed the living room and opened the door without first looking out the peephole. Jules's scent was her signature, and it could penetrate walls and doors. And there she stood on his doorstep looking delicious enough to eat. She definitely looked good in her jeans, flats and pullover sweater with her hair unbound and swaying around her shoulders. “Jules.”

“Dalton. I don't need to come in. I just wanted to check to make sure you were okay.”

“I'm fine, but come in, anyway,” he said, stepping aside.

She entered and turned around in the middle of his foyer. “Your note did say that you had a lot to think through, but when you hadn't texted me or anything, I got worried.”

He nodded. What he had to think through had nothing to do with the man who'd been his mother's lover and everything to do with Jules. But she didn't know that.

“Yes, and I'm fine. I was about to call you after I shaved.”

She smiled. “I noticed you hadn't done that.”

He rubbed his stubble. “For a minute, I thought I would go for the rugged look, but figured my brothers would have something to say about it,” he said, leading her toward the living room.

“Speaking of your brothers, have you told them?” she asked, following him to the living room.

“About that man in the video?”

“Yes.”

“No, not yet. To be honest, I haven't thought much about it.”

“You haven't thought much about telling your brothers?”

“No, or about that man in the video, for that matter,” he said, gesturing for her to sit down.

“Oh, I assumed when you said you had a lot to think through that you would be making decisions about that,” she said, sitting down on his sofa.

He remained standing and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “What you said last night was true. I can't blame myself for the things Mom did. And I agree with you in that I think it's something Jace and Caden need to know about. I'm sure it will help in the investigation.”

“Yes, but if that's not what's been consuming your mind all this time, what exactly did you have to think about? I've been worried about you all day.” She spoke with a confused expression on her face.

He slowly began walking across the ceramic-tiled floor toward her and came to a stop right in front of where she sat. She lifted her head to look up at him. That's when he said, “I needed all that time to think about you, Jules.”

* * *

Jules was even more confused now because what Dalton had just said didn't make sense. And why was he staring at her like that? As if he were seeing her for the first time?

“Think about me?” she asked, making sure she had heard him right.

“Yes, you.”

She was even more confused. “Why?”

“Because I've decided I want an exclusive relationship with you.”

Jules's heart skipped a beat, and she had to draw in a deep breath, not sure whether she should be flattered or not. His tone had made it seem that it was solely his decision to make and that that settled the matter. Boy, was he wrong. “And what if I decide I don't want an exclusive relationship with you?”

“Then I think you have a problem.”

Jules had to fight to keep from grinning. He thought that
she
would be the one who had the problem? She shook her head. He'd just taken his arrogance to another level.

“And why would it be me with the problem?” she asked, hardly able to wait to hear what he had to say.

“Because I won't allow any other man to touch you, kiss you or make love to you ever again.”

Her brow shot up the minute he said the word
allow
,
and anything else that followed fell on deaf ears.
“Allow?”
she said, slowly rising to her feet. He had been standing so close that he had to back up for her to be able to stand. “Did you just say
allow
? And just how do you even think you have a say in the matter?”

“You know who I am,” he said as if that explained everything.

She glared at him. “Yes, I know. You're a man used to having his way with women. A man who thinks all he has to do is speak, and the woman will obey. A man who assumes he can tell me what I can do or not do with my body and with whom. A man—”

Dalton had heard enough, and pulled her to him, covering her mouth with his. He felt her body tense, but only for a second before she began returning the kiss with the same hunger. They had kissed many times before, but never like this. He wasn't sure who was trying to eat whom alive. Him or her. All he knew was that the more he tasted her, the more he wanted.

He was feeling more than just heat. He was feeling something he'd never felt before. The moment their mouths broke free to breathe, he swept her off her feet and began kissing her again while heading to his bedroom. When they reached the bedroom, he dumped her on the bed. Before he could move away she reached out and pulled him down, too.

“Don't think because we're doing this that it means anything,” she said.

He had news for her. It meant everything. She might not like the idea of being exclusive, but her body was telling a different story. Why couldn't she see this was meant to be? He had, and he had accepted it as such...although it had taken him almost an entire damned day to do so.

Instead of wasting his breath disagreeing with her, he decided to put his energy to other uses. Like taking off her clothes. When he'd finished, not to be outdone, she began taking off his. Tugging his T-shirt over his head and tossing it aside and then straddling him to undo the fly of his jeans.

“Need help?”

She glanced at him. “No, I got this.”

And when she pulled out his engorged erection, he knew that she did. And when she went down on him, covering him with her mouth and then locking her lips tight, his eyes rolled back in his head. Her mouth was deadly. Was she trying to give him a heart attack?

The sight of her head between his legs and the feel of being fully lodged inside her mouth was too much. When she began bobbing her head up and down, he wasn't sure how much longer he could last, throbbing inside her mouth.

And then before he could blink, she had released him to pull her body up to straddle him, positioning herself over him perfectly before plunging downward. Whether she entered him or he entered her, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that their bodies were connected as tightly as could be. There was no doubt in his mind that he was embedded deep inside her. Beyond the hilt.

She only went still for a minute before lifting her body slightly to begin riding him. She had ridden him before, but never like this. Never with this intensity. Or with this degree of force. Or strength. And she wouldn't stop. Or let up. She had more energy than the Energizer Bunny.

And when he felt he couldn't take any more, was certain he was about to take his last breath, he screamed her name at the same time his hips bucked upward. Hers slammed downward, and the impact triggered an orgasm he wasn't sure he would live to see to completion. But he did see it through, and every sensation known to man...and some man might not have experienced yet...surged through him. He would have been knocked flat on his back had he not already been there.

And he knew she felt the enormity of what he'd experienced, as well. It was there in the eyes looking down at him, in the way she was breathing, the way her nipples were still hard. How in the world did she think he would allow her to do this with another man? There would never, ever, be another man for her. Only him. And it was more than just wanting an exclusive relationship with her.

That startling fact rammed through his brain, scorched the cells there, when he comprehended what that meant. The one thing that had happened to him, that he'd thought, swore, declared, avowed never would. He had fallen in love with her.

The dawning of that idea had him reaching up, running his fingers around her lips in shocked silence. Then he tumbled her off him and into his arms and then shifted his body so they could lie sideways facing each other. While she was trying to get her breathing back under control, he stared at her as if seeing her through a different pair of eyes. In a way, he was.

“Jules...”

After drawing in several slow breaths, she answered. “Yes?”

He caught himself, knowing he couldn't tell her what he felt. He would botch things up if he did. What he would do was wait until he found the right words to make sure she fully understood the depth of his feelings. So instead he said, “You didn't give me a chance to take off my jeans.”

She chuckled. “Now we're even.”

He lifted a confused brow. “Even?”

“Yes. The first time you made love to me in this bed, you didn't want me to take my boots off.”

A smile touched his lips. “No,” he said, remembering. “I didn't.” In fact, he'd taken her a couple of times that night before finally removing those boots. There had been something erotic about making love to a woman with her boots on.

She was about to say something, but he figured whatever she wanted to say could wait until later because at that moment, he wanted to kiss her again.

* * *

The next morning Dalton opened the door to his brothers and their wives. Jace frowned. “Texting me about a meeting for eight in the morning at your place is becoming a habit, don't you think?”

Dalton smiled. “Nothing like a little family get-together in the morning. Come on in. I'm glad you could make it this time, Shiloh.”

She grinned. “Thanks for inviting me
this time
, Dalton.”

“You would have been bored to tears at the last meeting. It was Granger Aeronautics stuff.” When everyone had made it into his living room, he said, “Grab a seat, everyone. Jules is in the kitchen making coffee.”

Shana blinked. “Jules is here?”

Dalton fought back another smile. “Yes, she's here.”

“Kind of early for visitors, isn't it?” Caden asked.

Dalton knew he wasn't referring to them but to Jules. “Depends on who the visitors are. I have something to tell everyone. Jules and I both do.”

“Oh, hell, please don't tell us you got her pregnant,” Caden said in his Dalton voice with all the dramatics. “But, then,” he said, reverting back to his Caden voice, “that's not possible because the two of you aren't an item. You two can't stand each other. You're bloody enemies. Right?”

“Tell your husband to shut up before I hit him, Shiloh,” Dalton said, trying not to smile. “I'll go help Jules with the coffee.”

Dalton quickly left the room. When Caden had jokingly asked the pregnancy question, Dalton had almost stopped breathing. Jules would probably be pregnant if she hadn't been on the Pill. But he would admit the thought of her pregnant with his baby didn't make him crazy like it once would have. He rather liked the idea, which only proved just how far gone he was.

* * *

Jace sat up straight on the sofa beside Shana. “Are you saying Dalton actually spotted the man who had an affair with Mom at the boathouse on one of those videos?”

Dalton nodded. “Yes, that's exactly what she's saying.” Once he and Jules had come out of the kitchen with the coffee, he'd given Jules the floor before anyone could ask any nosy questions about their relationship. When she started by saying she'd asked them to come by this morning because of a new development in the on-going investigation, everyone in the room had a one-track mind.

“And he was at our party?” Jace asked, reaching out for Shana's hand.

“No,” Dalton said, getting out of his seat to stand beside Jules. “He was at Shiloh's open house for her wine boutique.”

“What?” Caden and Shiloh said simultaneously with startled looks on their faces.

“
Who
is he?” Caden asked, his eyes filling with confusion.

Dalton glanced over at Jules, nodding for her to continue the story. “He is Nannette Gaither's fiancé. Vance Clayburn.”

“Vance Clayburn?” Caden said, jumping up out of his seat. “That night at the opening, I
knew
I remembered him from somewhere, and I even asked him if we'd met before, and he said no. Now it's all coming back. It's been years, but I'm certain I've seen him before.”

Jace lifted a brow. “Had you, like Dalton, seen him before with Mom?”

“No,” Caden said, shaking his head. “Not with our mother, no,” he said, with a grim look on his face. He then turned to his wife, who was sitting on the sofa. “He was with yours, Shiloh. And they were kissing. Neither of them saw me.”

Shiloh looked shocked. “Kissing? My
mom
and another man?”

Caden nodded. “Yes, your mom and another man. I had come over to your house to see if you wanted to go riding and figured you were in the stables so I headed right over there. That's when I walked in on them.”

“But...but you never told me about it.”

Caden drew in a deep breath and sat back down on the sofa, pulling Shiloh into his arms. “Because it was years ago, when we were in our early teens. Before Mom died. I was just a young guy, and I was probably thinking more about seeing you than anything else. Anyway, the truth is I had honestly forgotten what I'd seen. Until now.”

Thirty-Seven

T
he plot thickens
, Jules thought, back at her office a few hours later, standing in front of the investigation wall. Using the touch screen, she moved the image of Sandra Timmons to the side where the suspects were shown. Could Sandra have killed Sylvia in a bout of jealous rage? After all, it now seemed they had been having an affair with the same man.

Jules turned when there was a knock at her office door. “Yes?”

Manning came in smiling. “I got that information you wanted on the Gaithers, and you're right. They are strapped for money, big-time.”

Jules nodded. “No wonder Nannette needs a rich husband.”

“And I can't find anything on a Gary Coughlin. I questioned Ron Zimmons and he said he didn't know the guy. They arrived at Shana and Jace's party at the same time and walked in together.”

“Umm, interesting. Pull a still shot of him from the video. I want to give Coughlin's photo to Marcel to see if the Bureau can ID him.”

After Manning left, Jules returned to studying her wall, but her gaze shifted to Dalton's profile. When Shana had pulled her aside after the meeting and told her that she had a hickey on the side of her neck—a real one this time—she had dashed off to the nearest bathroom to check for herself. Shana had been right. No wonder everyone had been looking at her strangely.

She'd spent the night at his place on Sunday, and then she had gone home to get dressed for work after the meeting, making sure she'd worn a turtleneck sweater to the office. Manning could be just as observant as Shana.

She turned when the buzzer on her desk went off. She walked over and pressed a button. “Yes, Manning?”

“Shiloh Granger is on line one.”

“Thanks.”

Jules paused before clicking over. “Hi, Shiloh. Everything okay?”

“I was just wondering if you had been able to reach my mother. You said you wanted to interview her.”

Jules sat down behind her desk. “I did try her after our meeting this morning, but her secretary said she wasn't taking any calls.”

“Margaret is instructed to tell everyone that...everyone but Sedrick, me and a few others. I called Mom myself, and she has agreed to see me, although she has no idea what our discussion will be about. Would you care to join me, since I will want to ask her the same questions you probably have?”

Jules smiled. “I'd definitely like to join you. What time?”

“Let's say in an hour? Can you meet me at Shady Pines, my family estate? You won't be able to go through the security gates without me.”

“No problem. I will be parked outside the gates, waiting for you.”

* * *

Carson glanced across the table at Sheppard. “So there you have it. Jules Bradford has decided to reopen the investigation into Sylvia's death, with or without your blessing.”

Sheppard leaned back in his chair and pursed his lips. “I'd prefer that she stay out of it, Carson.”

“I figured you would feel that way, but I think her mind is made up. Shana is her sister, and she wants to find the real killer before he gets crazy.”

“As far as I'm concerned, the person who killed Sylvia is definitely crazy. She was murdered fifteen years ago, and if the person is fearful the investigation is being reopened, that means he will do anything to make sure that doesn't happen. That young lady is risking her life for me.”

“Her future father-in-law.”

“What? Things are
that
serious?”

Carson chuckled. “Yes, but I doubt either of them knows it yet. But it was pretty obvious to me and, I think, to others in that meeting.”

She paused a moment and then said, “I got a call from Jace this morning, and he wanted me to let you know two things.”

“Which are?”

“First it seems Eve Granger came to town Friday and was caught on tape trying to extort money from Granger Aeronautics.”

“How?”

“By threatening to go public with the fact that Hannah and your father were involved. She asked for one million dollars.”

Sheppard let out a whistle. “Is she crazy?”

“Apparently. But, like I said, she was caught on tape, and the Feds came to arrest her.”

Sheppard nodded. “Good. I hate the fact that Jace ever married her in the first place. She caused him nothing but heartbreak. And as far as Dad's and Hannah's involvement, what they did was their business. How did Eve find out?”

“I think Vidal Duncan told her. It's my understanding that Jace and Caden already knew, but Dalton clearly did not.”

“How did he handle finding out?”

“According to Jace, he was upset at first that everyone knew but him, but then he was fine with it. Your sons adore Hannah.”

“Yes, and she adores them.” Sheppard leaned closer to her. “You said there were two things. What's the other?”

Carson paused a minute and then said, “While looking at videos of Shana's dinner party and Shiloh's open house, Jules might have stumbled across something interesting.”

“What?”

“The man Dalton saw Sylvia with that day at the boathouse? Dalton was with Jules the night she was watching the video, and he pointed him out to her. His name is Vance Clayburn.”

“Vance Clayburn?” Sheppard asked, startled.

Carson watched his expression. “Yes. Do you know him?”

Sheppard's expression may have been unreadable to others, but Carson was able to see the anger that tightened his jaw and shadowed his eyes. “Yes, I know him.”

“How?”

“His computer company once put in a bid to provide computer services at Granger Aeronautics.”

* * *

“You are Ramona Oakley, right?” Marcel asked, greeting the young woman who walked into his office.

Nervousness showed on her face. “Yes, but I don't know what this is about. I've never gotten into any trouble, not even a parking ticket. Except for that one time I received a citation for swimming topless on the beach, but that was four years ago. Why would anyone from the FBI want to talk to me?”

Topless on the beach?
Marcel cleared his throat. “Please have a seat, Ms. Oakley. I'm Marcel Eaton, Special Agent for the FBI, and my division is handling the trade-secret violations at Granger Aeronautics. I would like to ask you a few questions.”

“All right, but I don't know what I can tell you. I was shocked like everyone else when Mr. Freeman, Mr. Carrington and Ms. Swanson were arrested. Who would have thought? And then for one of the company attorneys, that man named Vidal Duncan, to try to kill Jace Granger. He had to have been demented or something to think he could get away with it.”

She paused to take a deep breath and then asked, “So what would you like to ask me?”

Marcel leaned back in his chair. “Just the routine questions to get a feel of what you do at Granger. And, if you don't mind, I'd like to record our conversation.”

She smiled. “I don't mind being recorded. I think that's cool. And telling you what I do at Granger Aeronautics is easy. I work on payroll, and I love my job, crunching all those numbers, and knowing at the end of the week everyone will get a paycheck because I've taken my job seriously and made sure they get paid, and on time. There are ten of us in my department.” Ramona paused to take a breath.

Marcel nodded, thinking the young woman was definitely chatty. Almost too chatty. He decided to get down to the reason she had been asked to come in. “Ms. Oakley, we recently checked several computers in your work area, and it seems that yours has software on it that was not installed by Granger.”

Ramona Oakley blinked, startled. “That's impossible. I don't put anything on my computer. It's against company policy. Everyone knows that. The only thing I do every once in a while is listen to my music. That's permissible and makes a long day go by faster.”

“You download your music onto the company computer?”

“No. That's not permitted, either. Granger provides us with unrestricted music channels. I enjoy pop music, and that's the site I listen to.”

Marcel nodded. “And how do you listen to your music?”

“With headphones, of course,” she said, looking at him as if he was dense.

“Granger provides you with special headphones?”

“No, we use our own. I have a special pair. At least they were special up until last week. The guy who gave them to me as a gift dumped me for no reason at all, so they aren't special any longer.”

Marcel lifted a brow. “He dumped you?”

“Yes, can you believe that?”

It depends
, Marcel thought to himself. “The two of you had a big fight or something?”

“No, and that's what's strange. I thought things were going well. I guess he decided to stop cheating on his wife.”

Marcel lifted another brow. “He was married?”

“So he said. And that's why we couldn't be seen in public and had to do things discreetly.”

“And you didn't have a problem with that? The wife? Doing things discreetly?”

“No, of course not,” she said, shifting into a more comfortable position in her chair. “It's not like I want a husband or anything. Heck, I'm only twenty-five. I like being single and having fun. Besides, he was nice to me. He liked buying me things.”

Marcel drew in a deep breath, thinking that there definitely wasn't any shame in her game. “And one of the things he bought you was a pair of headphones?”

“Yes. Said he got them while vacationing with his wife in Dubai a few months ago.”

“Do you happen to have the headphones with you?”

“Yes. I take them everywhere I go. They're great at the beach because they're waterproof,” she said, searching her purse for them. “Here they are.”

Marcel took the headphones from her and immediately knew there was something familiar about them. It didn't take him but a second to remember that a similar pair was found in Brandy Booker's belongings. “I'm going to have to hold on to these for a while, Ms. Oakley.”

She looked surprised. “Why?”

“I'll need our technicians to check them out.”

“Why? They're just headphones.”

“We'll verify that and return them to you. Is this the only pair you have?” Marcel asked.

“Yes. He only gave me that one pair.”

“And what was his name? The man who—”

“Dumped me? Go ahead and say it. I don't mind.”

Marcel cleared his throat. “What's his name?”

“John Wayne.”

Marcel's brows bunched together. “John Wayne?”

“Yes, isn't that neat? His parents named him after the actor.”

Probably not his real name
, Marcel thought but decided to keep that to himself for now. “Where did the two of you meet?”

“In the park, not far from where I live. He was walking his dog.”

“So he lives in your area.”

“No. He said he liked driving over to our park. He thought it was a lot more interesting.”

I bet
, Marcel thought to himself. Half an hour later, he finished going through all the questions he had for Ramona Oakley. “That is all for now, Ms. Oakley,” he said, standing.

She stood, as well. “For now? Does that mean you might be calling me back in?”

“Possibly.”

“That's neat. I like talking to you. How old are you, Mr. Eaton?”

He moved from behind his desk to escort her out of his office. “I'm fifty-seven.”

“You don't look it.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you married?”

“Yes, for twenty very happy years.” He decided to throw that in just in case she was getting any ideas. “I'm the father of triplets who just entered college this fall.”

Before she could ask him any more questions, he quickly said, “Have a good day, Ms. Oakley.”