Under Pressure

“I never met your stepfather. I only know he paid enough that I could stick by your side for more than a month.” Leese watched her profile and saw her brows pinch together in obvious confusion. “What?”

Cat chewed over her thoughts before asking, “He paid up front?”

“Yes.” Leese didn’t know if it had occurred to her yet, but given she appeared to distrust the man, maybe he’d been buying his own alibi. Who could accuse him of wrongdoing when he was the very person who’d paid to ensure her safety?

Then again, Tesh—he needed to learn more about that man—had flat-out said he would take her to her father, and she hadn’t appeared to disbelieve that part.

Which maybe meant he and Justice would have been removed as witnesses.

“He’s used you to find me.”

Certainly seemed that way to Leese, but that only opened up more questions. Wondering how much she’d understand, and what she would share, Leese said, “Why not just hire a private investigator to do that? Why hire a bodyguard?”

She turned her head and dissected him with a long look. “The thing is, I’ve gotten good at figuring out who is who. I recognize his men real fast.”

“And you dodge them?”

Instead of answering, she said, “But you? You looked different to me. I didn’t think you were one of them.”

“I’m not.” Unable to help himself, he asked, “Different how? Not threatening?”

Her mouth curled. “Oh, you look threatening all right.” She sighed. “Just not toward me. Somehow I figured you were there to help, like... I don’t know. A Good Samaritan or something.”

Was he really so obvious? “Got all that in a glance when we first met, huh?”

She paid no attention to his humor. “People discount their instincts all the time. But not me. When my senses scream run, I run.”

“Into people,” Justice said.

“You snuck up on me!”

Justice grinned. “Honey, I’m nearly six and a half feet tall. I don’t sneak up on anyone.”

Peeved, she scrunched her brows. “Okay, so maybe I was distracted.”

“With fear,” Leese said gently. “Of me.” But first she’d trusted him, so he’d hold on to that.

Now that the heat of the car had warmed her, she gave him back his coat, opened her own and pulled off her gloves. “You seemed one way, but then another when I realized you were working for Webb.”

Despite all they needed to discuss, her understated curves and delicate bone structure drew his gaze. He’d always enjoyed shapelier women, but somehow, with Catalina, he couldn’t imagine anything more perfect than her petite little body. Whatever she lacked in size she made up for with backbone—and wasn’t that just about as sexy as it could get? Leese pulled together his fractured patience. “I already explained—”

“Yeah, yeah. No one hired you directly.” She tucked back her fawn-colored hair and gave him the full force of those expressive blue eyes, currently filled with worry. “But don’t you see? Until you came along, I knew who to avoid. I knew what they looked like, how they acted.” She gave him a frown of pity. “Now I’m not the only one in trouble.”

“What exactly do you think Mr. Nicholson plans to do?”

On a dramatic groan, she dropped back against the seat and closed her eyes. “I don’t even know for sure if he’s the one after me.”

Okay then, he’d work with that. “So who else would you suspect?” In every problem like this, the victims always had an idea about who was after them.

Cat shook her head.

“You think it is him?” he guessed.

“I think it could be.” She covered her face with her hands, but immediately lowered them. “And I know he can be dangerous.”

It was like pulling hen’s teeth, slow and impossible. Holding on to his temper with an effort, Leese said, “Dangerous how? What would he do that’s so bad?”

“To me?” She rubbed her temple. “It’s possible I’ll just go under lock and key. But you?” Her attention flickered over him, then she looked away. “I’m sorry.”

Leese sat back. She actually thought her father would kill him? “If all that’s true, why haven’t you gone to the police?”

For far too long she held silent, staring out the window, her shoulders angled away from him. Plotting? Thinking?

Deciding whether or not to trust him?

Wasn’t easy, but Leese waited.

Finally she answered with a question of her own. “Did any of that research you did on me include the basics on my family?”

Quite a bit, actually. “You have two brothers.”

“Yes. The younger is a half brother.”

Leese nodded his acceptance of that. “Your older brother is a CEO, the younger is still in school. Your mother passed away four years ago.”

“Before my younger brother had even graduated high school,” she whispered.

Feeling her pain, Leese covered her hand with his own. “Your father—stepfather—” he corrected himself before she could, “hasn’t remarried or even really dated.”

She snorted. “True, but not because he’s lovesick over losing her.”

“Maybe not.” Leese wasn’t sure what motivated the man, only that he was, indeed, motivated. “He’s been a jet-setter for a while, but it seems he’s thrown himself into pulling political strings, backing powerful men who, thanks to his wealth, eventually get elected and then return a lot of favors.” He released her hand. That spontaneous kiss was inappropriate enough; he had to remember that she was a client and he had no business getting personally involved.

Wide-eyed, she blinked at him. “Wow. You say what much of the media won’t. But it’s true.”

“Which part?”

She flagged a hand. “All of it, but I was talking about my stepfather. He wields a lot of power. Too much power. Sometimes it seems...he’s untouchable.”

“So what has your wealthy, powerful, untouchable stepfather done that has you running scared?”

Evasive, she picked at a frayed spot on the knee of her jeans. “My brothers, both of them, are good men.”

“I didn’t see anything in my research to tell me otherwise.”

“Bowen will be an amazing doctor one day. He’s always at the top of his class, and he’s...well, he’s brilliant. In so many ways.”

“And your older brother?” Her full-blood sibling.