had passed since she’d watched his body lowered into this grave. Since then the life she had once known had ground to a sudden and vicious halt. Without the help of her dedicated friends and colleagues at the Colby Agency, the private investigations firm her husband had nurtured like a child during his final days on this earth, she would surely not have survived his murder.
Her friends had gathered around her, united in strength and loyalty by the heinous tragedy, and held her up when she would otherwise have fallen. With their help she had risen from the ashes of devastation and forged ahead with her husband’s dream, making the Colby Agency the very best in the business of private investigations. She had reached that goal, surpassed it, even. James would be very proud. The Colby Agency employed only the finest in the fields of investigation and security. The reputation she had garnered with the help of her outstanding staff was unparalleled.
As proud of that accomplishment as she was, fifteen years was a very long time to devote oneself to nothing but work. In a few months she would turn fifty. That milestone would be reached with nothing to show for her half century on this earth other than her esteemed agency. For some that might be enough, but not for her. She needed...wanted...
She glanced at the man who respectfully waited a short distance away. His presence made her all the more aware of how much more she wanted. He had been there for her through it all. Had waited patiently for his time to come.
Lucas Camp had served the United States government in one capacity or another for his entire adult life. Most of that dedicated duty had been spent working covert operations that only the president and God knew about. Not once had he hesitated, not even when his own life was at grave risk, when assigned a mission. It was that same man’s selflessness that had saved James Colby’s life in Vietnam and had shored up her resolve on too many occasions to name when she had felt ready to give up...to crumble beneath the weight of seemingly perpetual agonies. He had showered her with an unending source of friendship and kindness, of encouragement and belief in her ability to go on.
For some time now she had known that Lucas was in love with her. Admittedly, what she felt for him could be called nothing else. She knew without reservation that James would want her to be happy, would want no less for her than the kind of man Lucas Camp epitomized.
And still she had hesitated to allow their close relationship to evolve naturally.
The past had haunted her for far too long.
Victoria stared down at her left hand and the narrow gold band that had resided there for twenty-seven years. It was time she moved forward with her personal life. She slipped the band from her finger, held it tightly for one more moment, then pressed it gently into the soft soil at the base of the headstone. “Thank you for all that you gave me, James,” she whispered. “You’ll always be in my heart.”
She swiped away a lone tear that trekked down her cheek and drew in a deep breath of much-needed resolve. It was time to move on, to look to the future rather than the past. She braced a hand on the cool surface of the granite and pushed to her feet.
She had waited long enough.
So had Lucas.
If only she knew the right words to say to thank him for his patience and unending devotion. But there were no words to accurately describe her feelings. Actions spoke louder than words. She’d asked him to bring her here today to show him her intentions.
She smiled when he joined her. “Thank you for giving me a moment.”
Those gray eyes searched hers with a kind of uncertainty she would never have associated with the man she knew so well. “You’re sure about this?” He glanced at her left hand and its bare ring finger.
Victoria nodded. “Yes. It’s time I paid attention to what’s important now.”
An emotion she couldn’t quite define replaced the uncertainty in his eyes. The ferocity of it made her pulse rush with anticipation. “We’ll take this slow, Victoria. One step at a time. There’s no need to hurry.”
Warmth spread through her at his words. He’d stood vigil so very long and still he wouldn’t make a single move without considering her feelings first and foremost.
“We’ll take it slow in the beginning,” she allowed, wanting him to hear in her voice the warmth that his nearness generated inside her.
A tiny smile quirked the corners of his mouth. “You’re the boss.” He gently folded his arm around her. “Let me take you to lunch,” he suggested, that ever-watchful gaze doing a quick, covert—but not quite covert enough—area sweep. “The wind is brisk out here, don’t you think?”
She kept her smile firmly in place and resisted the urge to look around the cemetery, brutally squashed the little shiver that threatened to scurry up her spine. Something had put Lucas on guard. He wanted to get her out of here in a hurry but without alarming her in any way. He didn’t want to ruin the moment that he knew had been a long time in coming for her—for them.
She trusted his instincts too much to ignore his assessment. Though she hated even the suggestion of running from a threat, she wasn’t a fool. Fate had been cruel to her, she’d lost her child and her husband in the space of three years. There had been a time when death would have been a blessed relief. Even now, at times, she wondered how she had survived the utter devastation. If the threat involved only her, she might choose to ignore it...but that was not the case. She’d come too close to losing Lucas only a few months ago on that godforsaken island to think for one second that he was as untouchable as he’d like her to believe.
She could not lose him...not now when she’d only just fully realized how very much she needed him.
She would do whatever it took to keep him safe and away from the evil that had destroyed her life once.
Leberman, the soulless devil, would not win this time.
Though she had never been able to prove it, she knew Errol Leberman was responsible for her husband’s death. She couldn’t be positive he was the one who had taken her son, but in her heart she knew it was a strong possibility. He had done all within his power for twenty long years to destroy her. Just a few short months ago he’d almost succeeded.
The ruthless bastard had lured first Lucas, then her, to St. Gabriel Island. Lucas had been badly hurt...and she’d known that she could not let Leberman win.
He had to be stopped.
Permanently.
Chapter 3
Lucas always enjoyed his time with Victoria, but today he’d been distracted. She had noticed, and to some degree there had been nothing he could do about that. She read him too well.
“You’re sure that’s all that’s bothering you?” she asked again as she closed the door of her office behind them. He hadn’t felt she was secure until he’d gotten her back into this building, this office. His concern at the cemetery as well as at the quiet, out-of-the-way restaurant where they’d dined had apparently been obvious.
Her own suspicions had been raised and she didn’t intend to let it go. No one could accuse Victoria Colby of being anything less than persistent. As she awaited his response she shouldered out of her jacket and hung it on the coat tree in the corner, unknowingly providing him with an opportunity to simply look at her in a rare, unguarded state.
He
