The Billionaire's Bodyguard Bride (22 page)

“No more,” he groaned. “You’re killing me.”

“Will this help?” she asked in mock innocence, rolling a condom onto his hard shaft before positioning herself above him to take him in one amazingly slow slide.

“You are amazing,” she murmured in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

“You’re pretty impressive yourself,” he told her, scooping her up into his arms and carrying her up the stairs.

“Where are we going?”

“To find a softer surface.”

“We really have to talk,” she moaned in halfhearted protest as he set her down on his bed, covering her body with his.

“We’ll talk soon, I promise, but I have a more urgent matter commanding my attention at the moment.”

“Can we talk now?” she asked, after they’d paid homage to each other’s bodies once more. The sheet slipped as she sat up, and she felt the heat of Rafe’s gaze as his eyes devoured her.

“You have my undivided attention.”

“I have something to tell you, and it isn’t easy to explain, so I need you to promise that you won’t jump to conclusions before you hear the whole story.”

The ringing of this cell phone intruded, but Rafe let the call go to voice mail, focusing completely on what she was about to say.

Mere seconds later, the phone rang again.

“It’s okay,” Lauren told him. “Take the call. It could be important.”

“Possibly. I don’t recognize the number. I’ll take the call from my study in case I need to access my laptop. I’ll be right back,” he promised.

“What do you want, Payne?” Rafe queried abruptly, upon hearing Milton’s voice at the other end of the phone line.

“I thought you should know you’re being played again. You have a less than stellar track record when it comes to picking women, don’t you, Dimitriou?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why, your gorgeous new bride, of course. She’s been keeping you in the dark about her career.”

“Have you been drinking, Payne? I’m well aware my wife is a freelance photojournalist.”

“That isn’t her only vocation. I’m e-mailing proof to you now. Check your in-box.”

Rafe strode to his computer and keyed into his e-mail. Fingers trembling in rage at Payne’s audacity in targeting Lauren, he selected the message and opened the attachment. His brow furrowed as the image appeared on the screen. Lauren and a tall, athletically built man stared back at him from the photograph. Lauren’s head was pressed up against the man’s, and they appeared to be deep in conversation, intent on each other. Jealousy flared. They looked, he thought, like a couple.

“Is this some kind of joke?” he barked.

“It’s not a joke. I saw the two of them looking rather chummy at the Fullertons’ gala. It made me curious, so I snapped a picture and had a friend of mine do some digging. It took a while, but eventually he was able to turn up their connection. The man in the photo is Lauren’s coworker. They’re employed by a security agency that provides protection for an elite clientele. Clientele like you.”

“That’s absurd! I don’t believe you. We both know your track record when it comes to honesty.”

“Well if you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask your lovely wife?” Milton suggested before abruptly disconnecting the call.

After taking a moment to get his temper under control, Rafe sent the file to the printer. Snatching it up as soon as the machine spit it out, he returned to the bedroom. Milton was a liar and a thief. He was certain Lauren would have a simple explanation for the photo.

“Who is this man?” he asked, handing her the photo.

Her hand shook as she took the printout. “Where did you get this?”

“Milton sent it. That was him on the phone. He called to spew some nonsense about your being a security specialist.”

He watched her complexion turn as white as the sheet she was wrapped in. “Actually, it’s true,” she stammered, the beseeching look in her eyes begging him to understand. “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Frank is a fellow bodyguard. We were working the gala together to protect you.”

Her confirmation of Milton’s outlandish allegation sent fury galloping through his veins. Plowing his fingers through his hair, he began to pace. “So then this,” he said, gesturing wildly as his anger reached a flash point, erupting like a volcano, “. . . this has all just been a way for you to keep an eye on me? You agreed to marry me so you could babysit me?”

“At first, yes. But not now. There was a credible threat against you, and you refused your father’s security detail. When your father took matters into his own hands and contacted Sentinels to arrange for your protection, I asked for the assignment.”

“And what, you decided to throw in a little extra with the service? Or is sleeping with the client’s son standard operating procedure?”

“No!” Lauren countered vehemently. “It wasn’t like that, Rafe, and you know it. I’ll admit that initially I agreed to your bargain because doing so made it possible for Sentinels to guard you more effectively. But things changed. What I feel for you is real. You have to believe me! I only lied to you to protect you.”

Rafe’s disparaging glare scorched her. His anger was palpable as she searched his face for some ray of hope she could grasp on to. She found nothing but an icy blast of resentment and distrust.

She couldn’t blame him
. This time he was totally justified in cutting her out of his life. She’d watched the play of emotions—disappointment, anger, and worst of all hurt—sweep across his face at her revelation. When his handsome features settled into harsh planes of fury, shutting her out, she knew her life was about to implode before he uttered a single word in response. It was a déjà vu of Greece, and seeing the anguish in his eyes was like having her heart cut from her chest.

She’d sworn she wouldn’t put herself in this place again, but here she was, her heart bleeding and her soul ravaged. How would she ever recover from losing him again? She could make excuses until she exhausted an entire book of them, but there was no way she could ever rationalize the way she’d abused his trust. She should have been completely honest with him from the start. There would be no forgiveness this time; no going back.

She tried anyway, because he was the only man on earth who mattered to her. Struggling to hold back a tide of tears as the scalding hot lava of his disappointment blistered her heart and soul, she struggled to explain. “My work as a freelance photojournalist is just a cover for my bodyguard duties. Sometimes, in special circumstances, Sentinels assists other agencies like the CIA. That’s what I was doing when I met you in Greece.”

“So you’re telling me you were helping the government when you took that photo of my father?”

Lauren nodded. “We were protecting a client.”

“Is there anything else you’ve hidden from me,” he snarled in disgust. “Any other secrets you’d care to share?”

“There’s something you should know about your father,” she began.

“Don’t even go there,” he warned, sparks of fury flashing from the midnight blue depths of his eyes. “You’re unbelievable. Get out!”

His rejection hurt like hell, but she welcomed the pain. The ache would help her focus on the job she had to see through. Keeping Rafe in one piece until Sentinels could capture whoever was behind the threat to him and his family was paramount. Brushing away an errant tear, she composed a quick text message to Liz to apprise her of the situation.

She had a reply moments later. “My replacement is on the way,” she informed Rafe. “I’ll leave as soon as he gets here.”

“Your replacement can leave right along with you. I don’t need anyone to babysit me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“Under normal circumstances, yes, but you have no idea of the resources these people have and the lengths they’ll go to attain their goal. This isn’t just about you. If you don’t let us do the job we’ve been tasked with, you’ll be putting your father and your sister in jeopardy. Our intelligence tells us that the man behind these attacks plans on using you to get to your father.”

“I’m willing to chance it.”

“That’s not your call to make. If you have a problem with the status quo, you’ll have to talk to your father about it. He hired us, and until we get word from Philip that he’s pulling our services, Sentinels is your shadow. This is so much bigger than you could ever fathom.”

“What this
is
, is unreal,” he raved.

“You want real? How about the hit-and-run that took your friend’s life, for starters? It wasn’t an accident, Rafe. It was a message to your father from Lawrence Mendacci.”

“The man in the photograph you took? How many times do I have to tell you my father’s only involvement with him was selling him a stallion?”

“I’m sorry Rafe, but that’s not the extent of it.”

“Enough! I don’t want to hear it.”

“You need to. You need to know the reckless motorist that nearly ran us off the road the night after the hospital benefit knew exactly what he was doing. He was gunning for you. The night the tree fell at the Fullertons’ estate, he had breached the grounds and was making a second attempt. He aborted his mission when Fullerton’s security got in his way. We aren’t dealing with a little neighborhood street gang playing games, Rafe. This is an all-out Mafia war. Don’t let pride be the reason you’re attending your father’s or your sister’s funeral.”

The intercom at the gate sounded, interrupting her passionate rant. Checking the security cameras, Lauren recognized the black corvette as Frank’s. She zoomed in on the interior of the car to confirm he was driving and that there were no other passengers in the vehicle.

“It’s okay. Buzz him in,” she instructed Rafe.

He reluctantly complied, his face a stony mask.

The concern evident in the bodyguard’s greeting when Lauren opened the door to him grated on Rafe’s nerves.
He wasn’t jealous
, he told himself as he watched the guy hug Lauren. He no longer cared what Lauren did or who she did it with as long as she walked out of his life and didn’t look back. So why did the sight of the two of them, so obviously comfortable together, make him want to tear the other man limb from limb? If he didn’t take his hands off her, he was likely to do just that.

“Okay,” he bit out. “Your replacement is here. Now get your stuff and leave.”