Yield to Me (7 page)

“Because you’re proud and like to
think your morals are better than anyone else’s.” And because he knew if she
was anything like her father, he couldn’t expect anything less than the truth
from her. The tightening of her mouth revealed she wanted to defy him, call him
a liar, but she was a smart lady.

“I give you my word I won’t make any
noise.”

Brent quickly picked up on the fact
that Sophie eliminated the first half of his condition, wondering what kind of
mischief she could really get into. She’d be locked in the room and there was
no reason for Tom to open the door while he was gone. “You might want to use
that bed and get some sleep.”

“Don’t hurry back.”

The sugar in her voice sent up a
warning flag but Brent didn’t have time to figure out what she was stewing in
that pretty head of hers. The senator was waiting for his call.

Chapter 6

“Senator…”

“What the hell is going on? I thought
we’d decided not to contact Jonathan. This was supposed to look like Sophie getting
cold feet about the wedding and taking off on her own!” the senator barked,
interrupting Brent before he could fill him in. “Jonathan phoned me ten minutes
ago with news he thinks she’s been kidnapped.”

Brent released a deep sigh.
“An unforeseen change in plans, Senator.
The best I can
guess is that someone called security with a complaint they heard something.
When the guards came to investigate, they must have grown suspicious when they
found Sophie’s apartment empty. Being that Lord owns the building and his
relationship with her, they apparently didn’t waste any time contacting him.”

“What a mess, Brent. Knowing
Jonathan, this will be on the news before daybreak. You know what this means,
don’t you? Law enforcement will be involved, the FBI if they suspect a
kidnapping. This puts you in a terrible situation.”

“Won’t be the first time I’ve been
in trouble,” Brent pointed out.

“No doubt.
Hell, Brent, for the first time in my life I’m not sure which
direction to take. Everything seemed so easy when we discussed it, but now…”

“Maybe we should release her and
call the whole thing off,” Brent advised, noticing the defeat in the senator’s
tone. Turning Sophie loose was just fine with him. She’d been nothing but
trouble from the get-go.

After a long pause Senator Adams
replied, “No. It’s done now. You might as well keep her for a couple days. Hopefully
that will give me enough time to complete my investigation.”

“It’s your call,” Brent retorted in
a neutral tone.

“How’s she holding up?”

The senator should be asking Brent
how he was holding up. “She’s fine for the time being,” he responded, his gaze
shooting to the bedroom door. All was quiet. With a little luck, she was
sleeping now, or close to it.

“I know having her kidnapped was a
bit extreme but it was completely necessary in my book,” the senator said in a
tone that sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. “Be careful with
her, Brent, she’s a delicate flower and needs to be handled with kid gloves.
Much too sweet for the likes of Lord.”

Delicate flower, are we talking about the same woman?
Sophie was resourceful and unpredictable, the marks on his chest
proof of that. She wasn’t afraid to fend for herself. No, the senator obviously
didn’t have a clue that behind those round innocent eyes his sweet, delicate
flower was a she-cat in lamb’s clothing.

“By the way, where are you keeping
her?” The senator’s deep voice cut into Brent’s silent thoughts. “Somewhere
close?”

“You know I won’t tell you that,
Senator, especially now. A slip-up would be easy. The less you know about her
whereabouts or anything else, the better.” Secondly, it was the only way he
could control the situation, which was what he was being paid to do. He heard
the senator expel an exasperated sigh, clearly struggling between common sense
and paternal instincts. “You focus on your end and let me do my job.”

“You’re right, of course. Until I
find out what Lord is holding over her…” He clearly couldn’t go on, incensed into
uncharacteristic silence, and obviously consumed with the thought Sophie was
being forced into something against her will.

The senator had told Brent his
suspicions a week earlier during their first meeting. He was convinced Sophie
would never be attracted to a power-hungry, unscrupulous bastard like Lord.
Brent only hoped his temporary solution paid off, because if it didn’t the
senator was going to lose his daughter, and he’d probably end up in jail for
the next twenty-five years.

“Have you given any thought to what
you’re going to do next?” Senator Adams asked gruffly. “When are you going to
officially contact Jonathan?”

It was only natural he wanted things
to move along at a fast pace, considering he was known as the senator without a
watch. Patience was definitely not one of his virtues. Brent started to smile
before digesting the meaning in his comment. “You want me to contact him?” he
inquired with disbelief.

“Why not?”
Brent could hear the shrug of indifference in his brisk reply.
“Maybe the truth will come out if it hits him in the wallet.”

Brent frowned. “Sounds like you want
me to ask for a ransom.” He didn’t mind helping out an old friend but there was
such a thing as going too far. Holding Sophie against her will for a couple
days could be overlooked with the senator’s help.

“I really don’t care what you do as
long as you keep Sophie from him until I learn the truth,” he said with hatred
in his voice.

Brent didn’t like the sound of that,
deciding not to ask the obvious. If holding Sophie lasted more than a few days,
he’d be forced to take matters into his own hands. “I’ll contact Lord in a
couple days, then.”
After he had time to figure out what to
say.

“What? Why the delay? You’ve always
been a man of action, taking charge as soon as the situation warranted it.
That’s why I asked you to help me.” In addition to the fact, they were cut from
the same cloth. The senator had a vicious reputation for backing up his mouth.

“Control,” Brent said simply. “Lord
is a control freak. Let him worry about what might be happening to his lovely fiancée.
Once I contact him it will drive him insane knowing she’s with another man.”

“Jonathan doesn’t care for anyone
but himself!” the senator snapped. “He wants Sophie as a trophy wife and to get
to me. He thinks he’ll have me under his thumb once he’s my son-in-law. He has
the reputation of a shark. I can’t prove anything but I’m almost certain he’s
the reason Phil Brody stepped down from running for governor last year.”

Brent had heard the same rumors
about Brody. “That may be true, Senator, but he’s still a man with more than
his share of pride. Believe me when I say he won’t welcome the thought that
another man might be touching Sophie. Those kinds of doubts have a way of
acting like acid in a man’s gut.”

The smile was evident in the
senator’s tone. “Yes…” he said, drawing out his response as though visualizing
what they were talking about. “Good plan, son. I like the idea of planting
those images in his arrogant head. That will definitely drive him mad. From
what I’ve observed these last few weeks he’s been overly possessive of my
daughter.”

Brent could almost understand that.
She was the kind of woman men coveted while they feared at the same time.
Wealthy, intelligent, beautiful, the kind who’d never held any special appeal
to him. Nevertheless, in spite of the trouble she caused him and his peace of
mind he couldn’t deny he liked her spirit.

“Has it occurred to you that maybe
Sophie wants this union?” Brent had to ask, although his instincts, coupled
with what he’d observed between her and Jonathan so far, indicated otherwise.
He’d known a few women who’d married for convenience, and money was a powerful
incentive.

The senator didn’t hesitate with a
sharp response, his mind clearly made up. “No! Never! He’s blackmailing her;
I’d bet my life on it. There was no way I would just stand by and let her marry
him tomorrow.”

The conversation they’d had the week
before came back to Brent. The senator had explained that kidnapping Sophie had
been a last resort and not something he took lightly. Brent didn’t take
kidnapping lightly either, especially when he was the one doing it. His
services usually bordered on protecting people from this sort of thing.

Still, when the senator had first
phoned Brent, detailing his plan, the distraught father wouldn’t take no for an
answer. Brent had tried to reason with the senator but the desperation he’d
detected in his old friend’s tone had finally worn Brent down. Convincing Brent
that maybe the senator was on to something.

At that point, Brent had never met
Jonathan Lord, but he’d heard enough about Lord to know he was bad news and not
someone he’d like as a human being. He hadn’t met Sophie either. For some
reasons their paths had never crossed in the years he and the senator had known
each other.

“I’ll stop by your office tomorrow
at the scheduled time to see what your progress is,” Brent informed him before
hanging up. It was late and he was tired. Tom was in the spare bedroom and that
left him with the sofa.

He glanced at it skeptically. The
shape of it resembled a square box with a throw tossed over it, looking about
as comfortable as a bed of nails. They hadn’t made a sofa yet that could
accommodate his tall frame, comfortably anyway. He glanced at the bedroom door
wondering how much squealing Sophie would do if he joined her. The bed was big
enough for the two of them. In the end he decided against it. Everything is
peaceful now, why stir things up and risk having security return?

Besides, he was sure Sophie would
make enough noise to wake the dead if she woke to find him in bed with her.
Checking to make sure her door was
locked,
he headed
back to the couch, ready for a very uncomfortable night.

* * * *

Sophie waited until she was sure
everyone was asleep before carefully trying the connecting bathroom door that
led into the spare bedroom. Her heart was in her throat as she turned the
doorknob and it actually opened. Someone didn’t do their homework. With silent
elation, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room before
continuing.

She made out the dark outline of a
dresser in one corner and a bed in the center of the room, squinting until she
recognized the outline of someone sleeping on it. Instincts warned her it was
Tom. Sliding her feet along the plush carpet she quickly made her way to the
door, holding her breath as she opened it and praying it wouldn’t make a noise.
The hinges squeaked slightly but to Sophie they sounded as loud as a gunshot
blast in the room, causing her to freeze in fear. Tom moaned and rolled into a
sitting position, galvanizing her into action. She was in the hallway heading
toward the living room when she heard his voice question groggily, “What? Who’s
there?”

As soon as her gaze landed on the
sofa, Sophie made out Brent’s tall form, realizing he’d been roused by Tom’s
voice. He jumped off the couch just as she dashed by. With a cry of distress,
she ducked beneath his outstretched arm, racing for the front door. Her fingers
fumbled with the various locks. If only she could make it into the hallway.

The next noise she heard was his low
curse when his leg hit the corner of the coffee table, causing the items on top
of it to topple over and fall to the floor noisily.

There was nothing like a good dose
of fear to get the adrenaline pumping but instead of aiding her escape, it crippled
her fingers, slowing her down. They were trembling so badly they were useless.
Swearing softly, her lips quivered with frustration and tears filled her eyes.
Why is this happening to me?

Chapter 7

Brent saved his breath, knowing if
he called out it would fall on deaf ears. He could hear Sophie’s frantic gasps
as she turned the locks one by one, deciding to pick up speed before she
escaped into the hallway. Tom was supposed to check the apartment out and make
sure all the necessary steps were taken to prevent something like this from
happening. He caught up to her just as she turned the doorknob and opened the
door, slamming it shut again just as fast. She spun around with a muffled cry
of alarm.

Brent leaned in close, sucking in a
harsh breath. “You lied to me, lady,” he accused. Whether her hands fell to his
bare chest automatically or on purpose, he wasn’t taking any chances. Knowing
what those lethal nails were capable of, he pulled her hands down to her sides,
holding them firmly against the door.

“I promised I wouldn’t make any
noise,” she defended herself in a breathless little voice. “And I don’t lie.”

“Purposely omitting the truth is the
same thing,” he grated with irritation. She made a half-hearted effort to break
away and Brent let his body relax fully against her, ignoring her sharp gasp of
protest.