Seduction in Session (36 page)

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L
ara backed away, adrenaline pumping through her. “I was just looking for Kiki. I’ll come back later.”

Tom stared at her and then looked down at the knife. “Oh, shit. You thought I was . . . Lara, I’m not going to hurt you. I thought you were her.”

He put the knife down on the table just outside the office and showed her his hands.

“Her?”

Tom nodded. “Kiki. I came here because she was writing up a brief for me.”

She sighed, breathing a little easier though she was still confused. “You have to stop using her like that.”

“Yeah, I fucking know that now. It seemed really harmless. She didn’t seem to mind and she’s really good at it. She’s smart, you know. I didn’t realize she was mind-blowingly cray cray.” Tom’s breath was uneven, his hands shaky. “I should have known it was too good to be true. No woman can blow a man like she can and possibly be sane. I’m serious. She’s got the suction of a Dyson, Lara.”

“You slept with her?” Even though she and Tom were no longer together and hadn’t been for years, she’d thought someone would give her a heads-up when Kiki and Tom changed their status from friends to lovers.

Tom went bright red and he nodded. “I kind of wish I hadn’t now. I know guys like to joke about hot psycho chicks, but damn she’s scary. We should get out of here. I’m worried about what she could do.”

Her brain was reeling with the idea that Tom and Kiki had been together. “What are you talking about?”

He looked back toward her office. “She gave me a key about a year ago. Even after I told her I didn’t want to do the friends-with-benefits thing anymore, she told me to keep it, but she always locks her office. She told me it was because she had sensitive documents back there.”

Lara had heard the same. Kiki worked for a law firm that had ties to the Department of Justice. “Why would you break up with her if she’s as good as you say she is?”

“Because I’m still in love with you.” His face softened. “Lara, I know I screwed up. I didn’t treat you the way I should have or try hard enough. Lately, I’ve had time to think about where we went wrong. We should talk to a therapist. We’re so good as friends, but we could be great lovers, too.”

She’d learned a lot about that in the last week. “Oh, sweetie, we have no chemistry.”

“How can you say that? We’re great together,” he argued even as he looked around Kiki’s apartment. “Seriously, we should get out of here. I don’t know when she’s coming back.”

Lara’s instincts flared as she stepped toward Kiki’s home office. There must be some reason Tom had been standing in the doorway, clutching a knife. “What does she have back there?”

He followed her. “I think she’s been sending you the nasty texts. Lara, you have to know that I didn’t realize it until now.”

She barely listened to Tom. Instead, she stepped into the office. Lara only had to take in a glance before her eyes went wide. Everywhere she looked she found pictures of Tom. It looked as if they’d been taken over the years. She recognized a picture of Tom in college and one right after they’d all graduated. There were shots of him smiling at the camera, but most of the images looked like he had no idea he was being photographed. They were pictures of Tom walking into his office or sitting with friends in a restaurant. They looked as if they’d been taken with a telephoto lens. She remembered when Kiki had bought the camera
three years before. The woman had even offered to photograph her ill-fated wedding to Tom.

The wedding Kiki had talked her out of.

Lara wasn’t upset about that. She and Tom really hadn’t worked, but looking around this room, she had to wonder if Kiki hadn’t had another, more selfish reason for persuading her not to get married.

“She follows you.”

Tom stepped beside her, his voice grim. “She’s been stalking me. When did you start getting those texts?”

“Three weeks ago.”

“Around the time you started talking to that douche online?”

“Yes. What does Niall have to do with anything?”

“When you started talking to him, I realized I had to get off my ass and get you back. I told her I was going to do whatever it took. That was when I started asking you if you wanted to go to the movies and stuff.”

“I thought that was just as friends.” She’d turned him down because she’d had so much work to do and she’d wanted to spend her evenings talking to Niall . . . who had turned out to be Connor.

“Yeah, but I intended to ease you back into being my girlfriend,” Tom admitted. “The idea of you falling for some asshole in California really gave me the kick in the pants I needed. I even asked Kiki’s advice on how to get you back. I think that’s when she started sending you those texts.”

“She doesn’t have a motorcycle.” But Lara’s stomach churned as she saw a picture of the three of them. They were arm in arm, with Kiki and Tom smiling at the camera. Lara couldn’t smile because her face had been viciously cut out.

“Um, that’s where I found the knife. It was kind of sticking out of your face. And she might not have a motorcycle, but her new boyfriend does,” Tom admitted. “She told me he lets her borrow it. Besides the congressman, she’s been screwing some intern at work. In retrospect, I think she told me to see if I’d get jealous. Apparently she’s not serious
about either of them because she thinks I’m her Prince Charming or something. You know this isn’t as sexy as they make it look on TV.”

Lara just blinked. Kiki had been her friend. How could the woman hurt her like that?

Tom put a hand on her shoulder. “I should have told you everything sooner. I didn’t want to hurt you.” He sighed. “She’s always been jealous of you, you know. She talks a lot about how you get everything handed to you and she has to work for it. I thought it was just female jealousy. I don’t get girl stuff most of the time. I didn’t think she really hated you.”

But looking around this room, Lara could see plainly that Kiki did.

“I need to call Connor.” She reached for her phone then cursed when she realized she’d left it behind.

“You don’t need him, Lara. Didn’t you get the information I sent you? Your bodyguard is working for the White House. He has been all along. Come with me. We’ll call the cops and tell them everything we know about Kiki and get her . . . I don’t know, committed or something.” He reached down to take her hand. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I can protect you. That Connor guy is just another asshole who wants to use you.”

Maybe, but despite everything they’d been through, Connor was the only person she wanted to see now. It was obvious she’d been an idiot to believe that Kiki was her friend. She’d suggested Lara stay with her parents after the e-mail threat, then she’d pushed Lara toward Connor—all after Tom had revealed that he meant to win her back. Lara could have told her that she’d never take Tom back, but Kiki had never mentioned it. She’d never given her the courtesy of knowing they were on opposite sides. Never once hinted that she had feelings for Tom.

With tears in her eyes, she turned and fled the office. Connor. She would get to Connor and he would handle this. He would take care of things and she would never have to deal with this again. She would bury herself in work.

“Lara, wait for me. I’ll drive us to the police station. We need to get
there before she has a chance to clean this shit up. Now that I think about it, I saw her with a phone I hadn’t recognized a couple of days ago. Do you think it’s one of those burner phones? Is that how she’s sending you all those threatening texts? That should get her some jail time, right?” Tom was hard on her heels.

Halfway through the kitchen, Lara stopped as the door opened. They were out of time.

Kiki stood in the doorway, a gun in her hand. “I left it unlocked, didn’t I?”

Tom stepped beside her. “What? The front door? No. I used my key. I came to pick up the brief. It’s due tomorrow. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. What’s with the gun?”

She had to give it to Tom. He was cool under pressure. She hadn’t expected that. She tried to follow his lead. “I came down to get Lincoln’s treats. Connor and I are leaving town until we can figure out who wants me dead.”

“I think you know.” Kiki frowned and nodded toward the back of the apartment. “Someone didn’t shut the office door completely.”

Kiki didn’t make the same mistake. She shut the front door and turned the dead bolt into place. Tom didn’t even have the knife anymore. He’d left it just outside the office—too far away.

Tom took a shaky breath. “Sweetheart, why don’t we talk about this? I had no idea you felt this way about me. I thought we were just casual. If I’d known, I never would have broken up with you.”

“Broken up? That would mean we were together in the first place,” Kiki said, her voice lower and nastier than Lara had ever heard it. “You hid me. You told me she couldn’t know. You were ready to marry her, but I was your dirty little secret.”

Tom stepped forward slightly, putting himself between her and Kiki. “That wasn’t how it was. And that’s not how it is. You were the one who always said we were casual. Lara is just convenient. I want to go places. I don’t want to be one more lawyer in D.C. She’s actually quite connected, but that’s as far as it goes. It’s really you I want.”

She knew he was telling Kiki what she wanted to hear, but it still hurt. It was what she’d suspected deep down. Tom was ambitious and he thought she would make an advantageous wife.

“Then you won’t mind if I shoot her, will you?” Kiki’s eyes were bright, her face a mottled red as she pointed the gun in Lara’s direction.

“You don’t want to do that,” Tom said evenly.

“Tom, I love you. I’ve always been the one who loved you. I’m the one who supported you while she just dragged you down. How can you pick her over me?”

“I’m not. I just don’t want you to go to jail,” Tom tried.

“Here’s a choice for you, lover. I’m going to shoot in a minute and if you’re in the way, I’ll know you picked her again.”

“Please, don’t do this,” Tom began.

“Don’t hurt your precious Lara? I hate her. I can’t tell you how hard it’s been to have to sit around and listen to her whine about shit that doesn’t matter. I did it to stay close to you. You have to see that she’s not the right woman for you. She’s a pathetic child who wouldn’t know real love if it bit her in the ass because all her life she’s been an entitled princess.”

Princess. That was what Connor called her. She kept her mouth shut because none of this seemed to really be about her. If she could stall for a little more time, her five minutes would be up and Connor would come looking for her. She had to believe that. He always meant what he said. He’d lied, but he’d also kept her safe time and again. Even when he could have taken the information he’d been looking for and left her behind, he’d made sure she was safe. He would come.

“Just put the gun down, Kiki,” Tom begged.

“Her or me, Tom.” Kiki cocked the gun, the sound distinct and chilling. “Make your choice. If you don’t move away from her, I’ll shoot and I’ll kill you. Are you going to be her savior and martyr?”

She was just about to beg for Tom’s life when he moved—to his left. He took several steps away from her, leaving her with nothing between her and the crazy woman with the gun.

He’d told her he loved her, then left her to die.

“Sorry, Lara,” he mumbled, his gaze not meeting hers.

She looked up and into the face of a woman she’d never really known. Kiki had worn a mask all the time. Lara raised her hands, though she knew they wouldn’t stop a bullet. “What did I do to you?” She had to keep her talking, give Connor time to come for her. “I walked away from Tom. You convinced me to. Now I have a new lover. I would never have gone back to Tom. He’s all yours.”

“What did you do to me? What do all you rich bitches do? You take what you want and leave the rest of us crumbs. I’ve known people like you all my life. And I’ve hated every single one of you. You know I didn’t intend to kill you.”

“No, you just wanted to scare me enough that I would leave D.C.,” Lara surmised.

“I wanted to scare you enough so Tom would see that under your crusading bravado, you’re just a cowardly shit. I wanted him to understand that he was better off without you.”

“Cowardly? I’m not the one who said I loved someone before leaving them to face danger alone,” Lara pointed out.

“I really am sorry,” Tom said, his gaze cast to the floor.

“Don’t be sorry, baby. With her out of the way, we can be together like we always should have been,” Kiki said. “You don’t need her and you don’t need her father. That’s the only reason he wants you back. He wants to leave his job and move up. He thinks your dad can help him.”

“You can’t just shoot her here,” Tom said quickly. “Everyone will hear. You should take her somewhere else, somewhere more private.”

Tom didn’t sound as if he cared much what happened next.

Just as Kiki was about to speak, a mighty crash splintered the door.

Lara dove to her right, to the relative safety of the table. She crouched down and all she could see were feet and legs. Tom’s quickly dashed out of sight, but Kiki’s flats remained rooted in place. Lara prayed she didn’t start shooting.

All around her the air burst with shouts and screams and the
sound of that door being torn off its hinges. Two pairs of dark loafers entered the room.

“Put down the gun,” a staccato voice commanded.

“Put it down or we’ll shoot,” another even voice ordered.

“Lara! Lara!” This voice wasn’t even or calm. It was panicked and she was almost certain that was a completely new experience for the man shouting. And she knew those boots.

Connor had come for her.

“I’m here,” she yelled back.

She was about to risk sticking her head up when a gunshot blasted through the air. She watched in horror as Kiki’s legs wobbled, and then the woman she’d thought had been her friend for years hit the ground, her dead eyes staring right at Lara, blood gushing from a wound at her temple. She clutched the gun in her hand, still smoking.

Lara stared in horror before strong arms lifted her into the air and she found herself in Connor’s embrace.