Fistful of Roses (What a Woman Wants, Book 1) (20 page)

“What’s going on, Hayden?” His voice was short, clipped. Mean.

“I need to speak with you,” was Mr. Bent’s response.

Dread turned into acid. Did the man really dislike her? Or did he just have horrible manners?

“Go ahead,” Ryan bit out.

“Not here, in front of her. This is important,” Mr. Bent responded in an equally vicious tone.

Ryan cocked his head, turned, and nodded at her. She nodded back. Her heart squeezed, but she’d be right here when he got finished.

Ryan motioned to Mr. Bent, and they left the office.

Sophie sighed. She had no idea why Mr. Bent didn’t like her, but she thought she understood. She’d do whatever it took to protect Ryan Locke too.

She loved him.

*

“You’re wrong, Hayden. There’s no fucking way she’s involved in that,” Ryan spit out at his friend.

“She’s the one who worked on the deal to WetComm and its satellite, Ryan. She’s the only one outside of you, me, and the government who worked on both the deal with the Defence Ministry and the one with PacificCorp. Goddamn it, she’s the only one!”

A taut silence descended in the room. Ryan felt his scalp prickle. That was never a good thing. He looked out over downtown Atlanta and for the first time was unmoved. Sophie was the only color in his life now. She was his everything and he absolutely, unequivocally refused to believe she’d betrayed him.

He turned to his best friend. “She wouldn’t do it. Those rights were exclusive, based on our dealings with the Pentagon. She simply wrote the rights and the deal, she didn’t broker it. PacificCorp had insider information, and they’ve effectively stolen our rights. That’s what you need to be concentrating on. Not roasting Sophie over the pit of your anger.” Ryan ran a hand through his hair. “Where the fuck is this coming from?”

Hayden shot him an indecipherable look. “She’s a complete fucking unknown.” Hayden rubbed a hand over his jaw and yawned. “Look, I’ve always had a feeling something’s not on the up and up with her. I told you. Now this happens and Ryan, it’s just too fucking neat. Her appearance at ATC, her obvious interest in you, and now this—it’s hard to look at it any differently.”

Ryan’s breath halted in his lungs, and a tickle of unease skated down his spine. “How’d you find out about the satellite?”

“Shit, man, I was in London, and a call came through from Emma. It was Vance with the DOD saying our rights had been revoked and given to PacificCorp. I didn’t explain anything to the Defence Council, I just hightailed it back here.”

“Fuck!” He pressed a button on his phone. “Emma, get me Chalmers with the Department of Defense on the phone.”

“I’ve already called him,” Hayden said in exasperation.

“Yeah, but I have his nuts in a vise. He’ll damn well answer to me,” he responded in a hard voice.

The phone rang and went to voice mail. Ryan left a succinct message and disconnected. That slimy bastard Chalmers would call back; Ryan’d bet his life on it.

“What are you going to do?” his partner asked.

Ryan glanced up, confusion shooting through him. “About what?”

“About Sophie Hanson,” came the deadened response.

He shook his head and leveled a hard stare at Hayden. “Not a damn thing. You have no proof, Hayden. And until you do, this conversation’s over. I’ll call you when I hear back from Chalmers.”

Hayden cursed. “You do that, Ryan. Meanwhile, I’ll be investigating Little Miss Hotpants down the hall. Somebody’s gotta make sure we’re protected,” he tossed out before he left and slammed the door behind him.

Ryan winced and sat wearily. They’d had the most unbelievable few days in Athens. Perfect setting, perfect loving. He refused to think it’d been a lie. She was too open in her response to him. No way was she lying to him, betraying him.

Yet she’d done just that moments ago, lied to him about her brother and how he’d upset her. She’d stiffened in his arms and dropped her gaze as she’d avoided telling him why Gavin had called in the first place. His stomach tightened.

He couldn’t discount Hayden’s concerns. He’d been with the man for most of his life. Hayden and his theories. But he really needed to find a woman of his own and get fucked. Maybe then he’d stop butting into Ryan’s life.

Ryan had to get out of here. The temptation of one Sophie Hanson was more than he could bear right now. He had to have a clear head. Without that satellite, all his and Hayden’s dreams would blow up in smoke. His business would suffer.

He hated to do it, but he sent her a text saying he had business outside the office and he’d be over to pick her up later that evening. Then he grabbed his suit coat and left the building.

* * * *

“Her name wasn’t originally Sophie Hanson. It’s Sophia Cardwell. She’s twenty-six years old, from Roswell, New Mexico. Her brother, Gavin Cardwell, now Gavin Hanson, has been in trouble with the law since he was young. She’s never spent time in jail, but her brother has. And guess what for, Ryan?” Hayden’s voice was harsh.

Ryan wanted to hang up, wanted to throw the phone as far away as he possibly could. Instead he leaned his head against the seat rest and watched as the woman he called Sophie left the building and headed toward the MARTA station. She walked with her friend, a smile on her face, her lean legs eating up the distance.

He sighed deeply. “For what, Hayden?” Weariness settled on his shoulders and on top of that, fear.

“Extortion.”

“Her social security number checked out. Did she legally change her name?” Yeah, he was grasping at straws, anything to hold on to her.

“Yes, changed her name and social security number. Something happened around age fifteen and that’s when she shows up in Georgia. Graduated from Walter F. George High School then tackled Georgia Southern University. Clean as a whistle since then. Brother makes periodic forays into her life and then leaves. Her mother had been sick for a long-ass time, and Sophia took care of her until her death.”

“Goddamn,” Ryan muttered. She was gone from view now and she’d taken his hope with her.

“She’s the link, Ryan. I’m still digging, but I needed to let you know what I’d uncovered.” Hayden’s voice was heavy with all things unsaid.

“Yeah,” he returned and disconnected. “Take me to Sophie Hanson’s house,” he said to his driver.

The drive took forty-five minutes because of traffic. He beat her home.

Darkness had long fallen. He worried for her safety in the dark. Then he remembered. She’d been taking care of herself for a long time now, lies and all.

“Sophia,” he called out from the shadows of her porch.

“Holy shit!” she squeaked and then turned toward him. “Ryan?”

“Yeah, Sophia, it’s me.”

She cocked her head, confusion beating a path across her features. His chest hurt, somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. She hadn’t blinked an eye when he’d called her Sophia.

“Well, come on in. I could’ve told you where the hidden key was, and you could’ve gotten out of the cold.” She turned, opened her door, and walked in.

He didn’t follow her, just stood on her doorstep, waiting.

She noticed he hadn’t followed her and came back to the door. The confusion still there, along with a small smile. She was a beautiful liar.

“What are you waiting on?” She motioned with her hand. “Come on in.”

“If it’s all the same, Ms. Cardwell, I think I’d better stay out here.”

He could see the knowledge break over her face, and it hurt. So damn bad he had to clench his fists to keep from reaching for her. It took all of his years of training to maintain a blank face.

“What did you just call me?” she asked tentatively, fearfully.

“I called you by your name,” he retorted.

He had to give it to her. She didn’t keep up the subterfuge for long. No sense dragging it out, he supposed. A quick slice was always best.

“How did you find out about that?” Oh, yes, she was scared. And everything in him responded to it.

He stepped to her. She retreated.

He moved forward until her back met the wall, and he raised his arms, caging her between the wall and his body. He lowered his head until his mouth was at her ear.

Hayden had called him back with even more news before she’d arrived. Ryan was a broken man right now, but this had to be done. He needed to look into her eyes as he confronted her. His body was a disloyal entity—all it wanted to do was wrap around her, shelter her from his anger.

“I know about it all, Sophia. Every goddamn bit of it. How your mom stole from a drug dealer and fled with you and little Gavin to Georgia. How you changed your names and how your brother always has serious money issues. How many times have you bailed him out of trouble, Sophia?” he whispered against her neck.

She shuddered as his mouth found her pulse and skimmed over it. She tasted amazing. Lying didn’t change the flavor of a person apparently.

“How?” Agony ripped through her tone. He recognized it because it echoed in his soul.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out? That I wouldn’t discover just why you came to work for me?” He flicked his tongue against her jaw. Just one more lick, and as her taste exploded in his mouth, he closed his eyes at the pain of her deceit.

She’d done this to him. Made him feel and then taken it all away. Damn her to hell!

She gasped as his teeth bit lightly on her jaw. “Wait—why I came to work for you?” She shook her head.

“Oh, Sophia, come on. You don’t have room for plausible deniability here. There’s no reason to carry on the act. I know what you’ve been up to, and I must say you’ve played your part so fucking well. I’m impressed, I really am. How much did Simmonds from PacificCorp pay you?”

She pushed at him, her efforts ineffective. His blood boiled, but his heart screamed.

“I don’t know who Simmonds is. Ryan, what are you talking about?”

He raised his head, looked into her hazel eyes, and almost kissed her. She licked her lips, and he closed his eyes. Of course her lips were dry—she was nervous.

He pushed away from her.

“Ryan! Wait. You have to give me a chance to explain,” she pleaded.

He turned on her then, anger pouring through him until it was a red haze over his vision and a vicious taste on his tongue. The hand she’d been reaching for him with fell.

“Yes, Sophia Cardwell, please do explain how in the hell you came to work for me six months ago under an assumed name and now my company has lost the biggest contract in its history.”

*

Damn. How had he found out her name? And who the hell was Simmonds? The name pricked her memory but vanished, leaving only a blank spot. What the hell was happening? He’d left her earlier with a promise to see her tonight, but she hadn’t expected this.

She had to find out what the hell he was talking about.

“Ryan, slow down. I don’t know who Simmonds is, but I can explain about my name if you’ll—”

He cut her off with a look.

Panic set in. He’d hardened his heart against her, and she had no idea what she was fighting here. She’d changed her name after she, her mother, and brother had fled from a man who’d threatened to kill them. He’d beaten her mom to within an inch of her life for stealing his drug stash, selling it, and then hiding the money. The threat had been valid.

With the DEA’s help, they’d entered witness protection and come to Georgia from New Mexico. They’d changed their names. She’d been Sophie Hanson from the moment she’d stepped foot on this state’s red clay. If he’d just listen to her, she could explain.

“Yeah, your silence is the most honest thing about you. I have to know though, Ms. Cardwell, how much did Simmonds pay you to sabotage the WetComm satellite deal?” He stepped closer and her heart rose to her throat.

She struggled for air. His size had never been an issue, but now, with the menace coming off him, fear shot through her and she backed away.

“How. Much.”

She wiped away a tear. Pain mingled with the fear and choked her. “I don’t know who Simmonds is. I’ve already told you.” She reached for him, closed her eyes when he pulled out of her reach. “Please listen to me.”

“I guess the details will come out when the FBI investigates,” he said in a low voice. He took a step toward her, and she lifted her face, hope sliding through her for a brief second.

He leaned toward her, voice gravelly and said, “But I gotta know. How much did it take for you to sleep with me? How much do whores go for these days?”

She inhaled, and a cry escaped. Words fled her brain; the pain was so intense. She turned around, unwilling to look at the man who’d stolen her heart while he looked at her with rage and hate.

“Please leave,” she whispered. This was worse than when he’d hurt her with Gloria.

So much worse.

There was no response and the foyer felt empty. She didn’t have to turn to know he’d left.

She sank to the floor as sobs racked her. Door wide open, she cried until she was bone dry and hoarse. She didn’t understand what had happened. All she could reason was that Ryan was gone. And so was her heart.

Chapter 17

“Ms. Hanson, do you understand why we’ve asked you here today? The charges potentially being leveled against you?”

She nodded.

“Sophie, you have to answer aloud,” her attorney, Greg Bodie, whispered at her side.

She gazed at him but saw only a kind, round face encompassed by a large pair of wire-rim bifocals.

She then looked at the man opposite her, the Attorney General for the United States. Not just a grunt attorney.
The
Attorney General. “Yes, I understand.” She tried to clear her throat, but it was impossible. It was like her voice box had broken with her harsh sobs two weeks ago.

Ryan Locke, Hayden Bent, and ATC had worked fast. She’d gotten a knock on her door the morning after Ryan had confronted her. The FBI had launched an investigation into possible fraud charges. Against her. The words treason and corporate espionage had been tossed around too.

Gigi had gotten word at work that Sophie no longer worked for ATC—no details, just that she was no longer allowed on the premises. Her best friend had confronted Ryan, demanding to know what happened. He’d told her the same things he’d told Sophie.