if they’d been anywhere lately, he hadn’t noticed, not since Afghanistan.
He’d noticed her, though. Noticed her in a way that was impossible to ignore, deep down in his gut, viscerally.
Man, the day had taken more out of him than he realized and before he knew it, he was back in that sunlit glen, back in Yellowstone with his father, the tents, the campfire, the anger, no, hatred at his mother. Only this time, no one was there. In the distance, he heard growling and it got closer and closer until a bear materialized out of the forest. He stood frozen as it watched him, its eyes feral and menacing. Then it was just his brother Trey standing there, that darkness all around him and his face blank again, just blank.
He started awake and found that the game had ended, but Olivia was gone. Had she left without saying goodbye?
Then he heard something from his office and he rose, that prickling starting up all over again. His training kicked in and he ghosted through the house to the room. The door was ajar and Olivia was in there on his computer, files strewn across his desk. Files she’d obviously been nosing through.
The look on her face was rapt, professional and determined. He felt all kinds of betrayed and a little relieved. His instincts weren’t totally off and he wasn’t paranoid for nothing.
When she turned off his computer and carefully put his files away, she rose and he made his move, grabbing her from behind.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m a private investigator,” she said, not at all intimidated.
“Who the hell are you working for?” he growled.
“Dr. John Owens.... I’m his sister.”
Chapter 3
The fact that he had his forearm snug around her throat and her waist, his warm, hard chest against her back made her lose focus for just a second. She’d thought last night about all that warm skin that she’d had her hands on. She’d even found it extremely difficult to get to sleep not only because her dear brother had been murdered, but because memories of touching Sam had plagued her. He was a very attractive man, his chiseled features memorable. He had a set of blue eyes that were intense, focused with a lethal edge, and a full bottom lip that was distracting all on its own but, when matched with his perfect bow of an upper lip, made a deadly combination. Very gorgeous, very kissable. The memory of the shape, size and feel of his body was burned into her mind. She wasn’t at all worried that he was going to hurt her. She didn’t know how, but she just knew.
“If you could let go of me, we can discuss this. I mean you no harm, Sam.” Damn, he was tall, six two to her five ten. The arm around her waist was immovable. He was holding her so tight against him, she could feel the beat of his heart against her back. Her backside pressed up against his muscular hips.
He released her and she turned to face him. Sam just stared at her and she couldn’t blame him. He looked so confused, his blue eyes full with a sense of betrayal. She did feel very guilty about that. But she wanted to understand who this man was and why her brother had been so insistent that she follow him and, if the need arose, protect him. That made her pause because Sam Winston looked as though he could quite easily take care of himself. He screamed warrior in a potent way that made her only want to get closer to his dangerous edge.
In the short period of time that she’d known him, she was beginning to understand why her brother cared about Sam so much. Her brother was the kind of man who worried about all his patients, but he considered Sam special because of what had happened to their father. Now she understood why her brother was so keen on helping Sam.
“You’re Dr. Owens’s sister? Let me see proof.”
His eyes were hard and filled with a distrust that Olivia totally understood. “I’d have to get my purse in the living room.”
He nodded sharply and followed her out there. Picking up her handbag, she reached inside and snagged her wallet. Dragging out her license and P.I. ID, she handed both to him.
He studied them. “They look legit, but in my line of work, I can never take anything at face value. People disguise themselves and fabricate identities as easily as breathing.”
He handed the IDs back to her. “I don’t understand why you’re here.”
“I know you don’t. But, in light of my brother’s death, you can’t blame me for being cautious about you.”
He ran his big hand over his dark brown hair buzzed close to his scalp, his blue eyes wary and stormy. “Dr. Owens never mentioned a sister,” he said.
“That’s because my brother didn’t talk about his personal life with his clients. The only proof I can offer you is the truth. John Owens was my brother. He left me everything as I am his only family, including the keys to his practice. I control all his files, notes, tapes, everything.”
He let out a heavy breath. “I guess for the time being, I’ll have to take your word for it.” He shifted, his eyes still wary, but now there was sympathy there and what looked like...guilt. “I’m so sorry about your brother. I know what it’s like to lose people close to you. I just lost a buddy of my own. We’d been through a lot together and he was like a brother to me.”
She nodded. “Mike Harris. I always do my homework on a case, and I read all about you and your family in the paper. I’m sorry about your loss, too, Sam.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, the pain and the loss clearly on his face as he nodded. The distress in his voice and his eyes wasn’t an act. She was very good at reading people. A sudden ache constricted her throat at the fresh memory of just speaking with John two days ago. His warm voice and the way he’d always given her a quick hug whenever they parted. Tears welled up in her eyes as the emotions rushed over her in a terrible sense of loss.
Sam’s expression relaxed, his blue eyes going soft with his compassion as he reached out and squeezed her shoulder.
“Before Mike shot my mother, I would have sworn with total confidence that he wasn’t capable of doing something that horrible. He was not just my friend,” he said with conviction. “We were comrades and we’d been through more than normal men ever go through. I thought our bond was unbreakable. I can’t count the times he’d saved my ass and the times I’d saved his. So it was natural to invite him into my life.”
Her reaction to Sam was so visceral. On every level. Yesterday before she’d met him, she had thought he was a head case that could be a bit out of control, maybe even broken. But then she’d talked to him, seen the terrible scars on his back, the remnants of his agony. When he’d woken from that nightmare, the fear stark on his face, everything in her galvanized into a hard ball of need to help him any way she could.
“He took advantage of that for the sole purpose of murdering my mother.” Sam’s voice broke and she reached out and touched his shoulder. He sidestepped her hand and paced away. “After Mike shot her, I questioned everything I knew.”
He paused and she could see how he was struggling with Mike’s betrayal. Even more surprising was her need to comfort him, but he wasn’t allowing that. She was so happy that Mike Harris had failed. Olivia was a big supporter of Sam’s mother. She thought Kate Winston was a wonderful vice president. Of course, she had voted for her and would vote for her whatever office she was running for. She was one of those no-holds-barred
