No Stranger to Scandal - By Rachel Bailey Page 0,41

birthplace is where this whole debacle started, and I’d lay down money that it’s where Angelica started her hacking on this story. If I can get the evidence that she did, I can catch her.” Fields had been the place where Ted Morrow had gotten Eleanor Albert pregnant, the place from which Eleanor and their baby, Ariella, had disappeared. Journalists had been crawling over the town since Morrow declared his bid for the presidency, and since the story about Ariella Winthrop had broken, investigators and police had joined in, and their discovery of phone taps had sparked the congressional investigation. But they had focused on Ted Morrow’s and Eleanor Albert’s friends and families. Hayden had been through all that evidence and one thing still bugged him—why were all the hackers looking for a baby in the first place?

In the video that captured Hall and Ames hiring the hackers, they’d specifically asked for confirmation there had been a baby. What had sparked the idea to search for that? And who had found those first glimmers of the story? It was time to widen the circle of his investigation to cover more residents of Fields. Lucy’s overheard conversation about Nancy Marlin, friends of Barbara Jessup, was his strongest lead, and the place he’d start.

“How long will you be gone?” Lucy asked.

“A couple of days.” Which was a couple of days too many to leave Lucy alone in D.C. unprotected. He’d been serious about Angelica being a potential threat, and he wasn’t willing to take a single chance. He cupped her shoulders with his hands and found her gaze. “Come with me.”

Eight

Lucy looked at Hayden, her head and heart at war. Now that he’d shared her bed, a couple of days apart seemed an eternity, so going with him to Montana was tempting on that factor alone. But there were unspoken words in his tone that made her think there was something else behind the invitation.

She stood to give herself some distance and took a few steps away. “Why do you want me to come?”

“We’ve been working together, so it makes sense.” He casually shrugged his broad shoulders and leaned back in his chair. “Can you get the time away from work?”

She was sure she could, since Graham wanted her to focus on the exposé, so the more time with Hayden, the better. Still, Hayden’s expression was too serious, too concerned.

“A few days ago you were angry at me for not being honest about doing the exposé. You said you’d been up-front. So, do it again now—be straight with me.” She crossed her arms under her breasts. “Why do you want me to come to Montana?”

He pushed his chair away from the desk and stood, but he didn’t come closer, as if respecting the distance she needed for this conversation. “I don’t want to leave you in the same town as Angelica when I’m not around. I don’t trust her, and she’s fixated on you.”

“I’d been in the same town as Angelica for years before you came along.”

He shook his head. “That was before. Her visit here a few days ago showed she’s on edge. She knows the walls are closing in.”

“You think you need to protect me,” she said, voice flat.

“Of course I should protect you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s my investigation that’s pushed her. It’s my responsibility to make sure you’re safe.”

Responsibility? There was that word again. Her stomach hollowed out. The last thing she wanted her lover to see when he looked at her was someone to be responsible for. Would he think that if they didn’t have a ten-year age difference? Would he see a woman his own age as able to look after herself?

She straightened her spine. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can, Lucy. But if I’m right about Angelica, she’s capable of things worse than we already suspect her of.” With hands around her shoulders, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “Did I mention Josh will be staying in D.C. with the nanny? And that I’d book two suites in a new spa hotel—one for us and one for appearances. The one for us would have a hot tub built for two.” He placed several damp kisses on the shell of her ear, then pulled her lobe into his mouth, making her blood sizzle.

“Hayden...” she said on a sigh as she melted into him.

“I could make you very glad you agreed to come.”

Oh, yes, she knew he