and put his plate in the sink, then shrugged into his blazer. “What time should I have the car pick you up?”
“You know, I could have one of my dad’s limos take me where I need to go.”
“Is his driver trained to kill a man with his bare hands?”
Boy, he really was serious about keeping her safe. “Um...well...”
“I didn’t think so. So don’t bother arguing, it will be a waste of time.”
“How long do I have to live like this?”
“Hopefully not long. Let me make some calls today, and do some digging. I’ll update you when I get home tonight. In the meantime I want you to talk to the security detail at your office. Let them know that there could be a problem, but don’t go into any detail.”
“What should I tell him exactly?”
“Just tell him that you’ve gotten threatening phone calls, and he needs to watch for anything suspicious.”
“Okay,” she said, the whole situation still feeling so surreal. Like something she would see on one of those true-crime shows.
“I have to go, but I’ll call you later. And call me if you need anything.”
She rose from her seat to kiss him goodbye. “I will, I promise. And thank you for everything.”
“You don’t have to thank me.” He kissed her gently and stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I will move heaven and earth to keep you safe.”
She smiled up at him. “I know. And I should be ready to leave by eight.”
“I’ll make sure the car is here by then. And be careful.”
“I will. Have a good day.” She almost said I love you. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she held it in. One day at a time, take it slow, no pressure.
Now that she knew where she stood, and that they were headed in the right direction, that was good enough for her. She trusted Roman with her life, and now she trusted him with her heart.
As soon as Roman was in his car he called Agent Crosswell and left a message. The guilt of having to lie to Gracie was eating him alive. He loved her, he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life and this deception was killing him. But he couldn’t risk her getting hurt or, almost as bad, going down as an accomplice. He’d come so close to telling her the truth, but he just couldn’t. Hell, for all he knew the FBI could have his place bugged. It wasn’t unheard of. And if this thing was going to end, he had to turn the flash drive over to them. He had no other choice. But before he did, before he would even take them to the FBI building, he and Agent Crosswell were going to sit down and talk, and put together some sort of deal to protect Gracie from any form of legal retribution or liability.
There was no doubt in Roman’s mind that the senator had committed fraud, and Roman would not let Gracie get sucked into what had the potential to be an epic scandal. That was the last thing she needed. As a key player in the senator’s campaign she would definitely feel some backlash. There was no way to avoid that. And at some point she would probably have to testify at trial, unless the senator took a deal. But Roman doubted he would. He was too arrogant to believe he would ever be found guilty. But this house of cards he’d built was about to come down.
Roman would insist that it be made clear, unequivocally and with no question, that Gracie was in no way involved in the senator’s illegal dealings. Because it was often people in her position who went down as the fall guy. And the senator was just the sort of man to throw someone else under the bus to save his own ass and not think twice about it.
The more he learned about the man, the more troubling the situation became. Roman knew that Dax must have friends in high places, but he had learned the misconduct was further reaching than even he’d imagined. And as badly as he wanted to see the senator go down, his main priority was making sure Gracie walked away unscathed.
If Gracie wasn’t given full immunity, the FBI would never see that flash drive.
When he got to work he made the car arrangements for Gracie, hiring a fully armed driver whom he spoke to personally. Knowing there would be someone to watch her back took his stress level down considerably. Then, at 8:30 a.m., Agent Crosswell called him back.
“We need to have a meeting,” Roman told him.
“You have what I want?” he asked.
“We talk first.”
There was a long pause, as if the agent were thinking it through, then he said, “Fair enough. One o’clock, my office.”
“I’ll be there,” Roman said. The flash drive was already locked away in his office safe, and wouldn’t be coming back out until he had everything that he needed from the FBI. And as soon as he was able, he would come clean with Gracie and hope she understood why he had to lie to her. That he was doing it to protect her. Because this time he had no doubt in his mind of her innocence. That he’d believed she could be guilty of anything seven years ago still haunted him. He’d betrayed her, and though he had moved on, the guilt had never completely gone away. But he would spend the rest of his life making it up to her if that was what it took. And he hoped that she could eventually forgive him. Until then he wasn’t going to push. Like he told Gracie, one day at a time.
The meeting with the FBI went well, and Crosswell agreed to a deal giving Gracie full immunity. Roman also insisted that her name be kept out of this for as long as humanly possible. Still, he knew that there would be no way to completely avoid the fallout. They made arrangements for an agent to pick the flash drive up at his office later that afternoon, and of course he showed up right on time, dressed as a delivery man. Handing them over, knowing he was deceiving Gracie, was one of the hardest things Roman had ever had to do. But he just kept reminding himself that he was doing it for her safety. Because when this blew open, it wasn’t just Dax who would be going down. Some very prominent officials would be shoved into the spotlight, not to mention local authorities and their mob connections. But if the FBI was going to make their case, he hoped they would do it soon, because as long as Dax suspected her of having that flash drive she would be in danger. Hell, even if she turned them over to him, and he suspected her of knowing the truth, he might do something drastic to silence her. Something that would surely look like an accident. Roman had seen it before. And he knew that the longer he had to lie to Gracie, the worse the damage would be when the truth came out.
Roman had a hell of a time concentrating the rest of the afternoon. He must have texted Mark, Gracie’s driver/bodyguard, a dozen times to check up on them.
Mark, an ex-marine, finally had enough, and late in the afternoon, sent him a terse text:
Relax boss, I’ve got it.
Roman didn’t make it home until almost eight, and the limo was still in the driveway, which alarmed him. The security system at his home was top-of-the-line, so he hadn’t asked or expected Mark to stick around after she was home for the night, but when he walked into the house they were sitting at the kitchen table eating pizza. Gracie had a beer, and Mark, ever the professional, was drinking a bottle of soda. She had exchanged her work clothes for a pair of leggings and an oversize sweatshirt. With her hair pulled
