know about this. I don’t know about him.” She looked at Dare so no one would misunderstand.
“I’ll be fine.” He shrugged off her hand and stormed ahead, saying to Dare, “Come on then. Let’s get this over with.”
Dare slipped an arm around Molly. Near her ear, he asked quietly, “You holding on okay?”
She nodded with ill humor. “Typical day with my dad.” But she knew this wasn’t typical at all. Her father didn’t love her. He’d never loved her. For him, she was an inconvenience that he’d been saddled with, a daughter that forever disappointed him.
But now she had to accept that he might have had her kidnapped rather than continue to suffer her.
Her heart didn’t break, because long ago her heart had accepted that her father would never care. But she did feel shame—bone-deep shame for Dare to see how little she mattered to him.
They stepped into the large mahogany library. It smelled of lemons and leather and books. Lots and lots of books. As a child, Molly had been forbidden entrance to this room, which had of course made it all the more desirable.
Her love of storytelling had begun while disobeying her father and raiding his most cherished room.
Dare’s hand found hers. He laced his fingers through her own, gave her a gentle squeeze. She glanced up at him, and there was so much warmth in his gaze, so much acceptance and, oddly, admiration.
And then, right there in front of her father, Dare bent to kiss her. Molly knew what he did, and why: he wanted her father to understand, without a single doubt, that for Dare she was a priority.
How her father would take that news was left to be seen.
DARE SAT BACK ON the leather couch, his legs stretched out and relaxed, one arm on the back of the couch behind Molly. He hated putting her through this, but already he’d learned a lot.
Kathi wasn’t what he’d expected. Other than her damn mouth that could cut with sugary sweetness, she seemed soft and comfortable, not at all the rigid, uptight, perfectly coifed woman he’d expected.
Didn’t mean she wasn’t a bitch. She was.
And it didn’t mean he’d cut Bishop any slack, even though his wife wasn’t the trophy Dare had assumed she would be.
But maybe if he’d already misjudged Kathi, he’d made other misjudgments, as well. He’d have to think about that and strive to keep an open mind.
On everything, and everyone.
Bishop had taken refuge behind a massive desk where he held his peace while Kathi poured fragrant, gourmet coffee into china cups resting on saucers.
Both he and Molly declined the drink. Not that Dare would have let her consume anything offered by these people. They weren’t beyond poisoning.
The device on his key chain buzzed, and Dare lifted it out. After a glance at it, he said to Bishop, “Instruct your men to stay out of my car.”
Bishop harrumphed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then you’re dumber than I assumed.” Dare held up the device for him to see. “Someone is trying to get into the back of my SUV. If it’s not under your order, then I’m free to kill the bastard for his daring.” He made to rise.
Nearly choking on his anger, Bishop waved Dare back to his seat and then spoke quietly to Kathi.
She nodded and left the room.
Dare noticed that Kathi hadn’t blinked an eye over his statement that he might kill. Was she used to such things?
From Bishop and his cohorts?
Disbelief brought Molly forward on her seat. “Dad, really? You had someone break into Dare’s car? And don’t play innocent. Nothing happens here without your consent.”
Lacking remorse, Bishop shrugged. “I’m sure your guardian understands caution.”
Molly wasn’t appeased. “I understand an invasion of privacy!”
Dare put a hand on her thigh—something that Bishop didn’t miss—and Molly subsided.
That Bishop now understood the intimacy of their involvement suited Dare. He wanted her father to know that in every way, Dare had a stake in keeping her safe. Unless he really was an idiot, Bishop would understand that an emotionally involved man would be far more lethal than someone only interested in financial remuneration.
“I understand precaution, too, Bishop. There’s no way in hell you’re going to catch me off guard, so you might as well give it a rest.” Dare watched him closely as he sipped his coffee. “But then, you didn’t get the message the last time we spoke, did you?”
Kathi reentered the room and went to sit in an ornate armchair at the side of her husband’s desk. Like a well-trained lapdog, she looked prepared to wait in silence until her husband needed something from her.
Bishop set his cup aside with a clatter. “What are you talking about?”
“You had Molly’s apartment ransacked. Tell me, what were you looking for?”
“The hell I did!”
“You tossed the place.” In his peripheral vision, Dare saw Kathi look down at her hands. Interesting. He didn’t want to look at her directly, but even indirectly he saw that she knew … something.
Was it guilt over her husband’s involvement? Had Bishop actually told her of what he planned? Had he involved her?
Furious, Bishop leaned forward. “I did nothing of the kind.”
“It wasn’t destruction meant as a threat. You wanted something. Tell me what you were looking for.”
His fist slammed down on the desk, causing Kathi to jump. “I’m telling you that I didn’t go anywhere near her damned apartment.”
Conversely, Dare kept his tone mild. “Maybe not personally. But you sent someone.”
“I didn’t!” Emphatic and insulted, he braced both hands on the desk and rose to his feet. “Yes, I told a private investigator that’s assisted me in the past about your … visit. But I didn’t send anyone to Molly’s apartment.”
“I told you not to speak of it to anyone.”
“You had my daughter!” Bishop shouted. “You told me she’d been kidnapped. I had a right to find out what I could about you.”
Dare almost believed him. His reactions were honest umbrage, not subterfuge.
The idea of him trying to dig into his past made Dare smile. “Came up blank, didn’t you?”
Bishop switched tactics and appealed to Molly. “What do you really know about this man? Have you checked into his past? Do you know what he’s done, what he’s capable of doing? How safe do you think you are while under his control?”
“He
