The By Request Collection

Eventually Roman and his teammates had been rescued. When she knew he was alive, and safely back in the US, she’d felt a soothing sense of peace. She’d felt as if she could finally let go of the resentment. They were, in a sense, even.

Which was a horrible way to look at it. Her broken heart and sullied reputation couldn’t hold a candle to his weeks of torture. She wouldn’t wish that upon her worst enemy.

Which, come to think of it, he was.

Because recently Brooks, with Roman’s help, had launched his campaign to destroy not only her father, but Gracie and her sisters as well, and that familiar old hatred had come oozing back like burning tar in her soul.

Yet here she was feeling relieved to see him?

What the hell was wrong with her?

“Roman,” Sutton said, slowly rising from his seat to shake his adversary’s hand, and Roman’s hesitation to take it underscored his hostility.

“Sutton,” he replied, contempt clear in his tone.

“You remember my daughter Grace,” Sutton said and Gracie’s heart sailed to the balls of her feet.

Roman turned and his soulful hazel eyes sliced through her like hot knives.

Roman had always been beautiful. Now he was a Greek god, with his wide jaw and broad shoulders. His nose had been broken at some point, and he had scars on his face. One started at his temple and bisected his left brow, coming dangerously close to his eye, and another jagged line ran across his forehead and disappeared under his dark hair. Some women might have been put off, but she thought it only enhanced his sex appeal.

Then she thought of how he’d gotten them, and that there were probably others she couldn’t see, and felt a shaft of guilt.

“Grace,” he said, his deep voice strumming her nerve endings, making something primitive and completely irrational stir in her belly.

Attraction.

Uh-uh. No way.

No normal, well-adjusted person would be physically attracted to someone who tried to ruin her life.

He reached over to shake her hand, and without thinking, and purely out of habit, she took it, regretting the move instantly. But it was too late now.

He grabbed on firmly, and she gripped his much larger hand just as tightly. It was as if they both felt they had something to prove. It was almost amusing in its absurdity, and she wondered what he would do if she challenged him to an arm wrestle.

Roman’s eyes taunted her. Dared her to say something snarky. Dared her to pull away first. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

She met his challenge, chin in the air, praying he wouldn’t call her bluff...and sighing quietly with relief when, with the ghost of a smile, he finally let go.

Imagine that. Apparently even he had limits.

Roman turned to her father, exasperation and impatience oozing from his pores. He clearly was not there by choice. “So let’s cut to the chase, Sutton. Why am I here?”

Sutton sat back down, his movements slow and precise to lessen the profound pain he suffered on a daily basis now, then gestured to one of the two chairs opposite his desk. “Relax. Have a seat.”

One dark brow rising slightly, Roman folded his arms across that ridiculously wide chest, as if to say, Yeah, right. “Just tell me what you want. You said you have important information regarding a client of mine. Who?”

Gracie couldn’t deny being curious herself. What was her father up to? And why hadn’t he run it past her beforehand, so she didn’t feel so left in the dark? Did it maybe have to do with something other than business? Something personal?

“I understand you’re still looking for the natural father of Graham and Brooks Newport,” Sutton said.

Unimpressed, Roman shrugged. “I am. So what?”

“I may be able to help you.”

“Help me?” Roman said, with a deep and incredulous laugh. One that Gracie felt deep in her bones. “Is that some kind of joke? You’ve repeatedly fought me in my investigation, throwing up roadblocks every chance you could. Now you’re saying you want to help? I don’t buy it.”

“I don’t blame you for your hesitation, Roman, but for the sake of your clients you should listen to me. I have information that could help them.”

Looking skeptical, but intrigued, Roman narrowed his eyes and said, “All right, what information?”

“I can’t tell you.”

One of those laughs rumbled in Roman’s chest and he shook his head. “I’m finished with your games, Sutton.”

“It’s not a game. I can help them, but I have to speak to them directly. I’ve been thinking a lot about this since they came here with Carson.”

“So why am I here?”

“I’d like to set up a meeting with them. As soon as they’re both available. Together.”

Gracie blinked with surprise. He wanted to invite his mortal enemy here, into their home? And they’d actually already met once before? Had the cancer treatments begun to compromise his brain?

“Graham and Brooks aren’t on the best of terms right now,” Roman said. “As Graham’s future father-in-law you should know that.”

“I do. That’s why I called you. I’m confident you can make them see reason.”

Roman didn’t look so confident, and Gracie had to side with him on this one. Graham’s secret relationship with Gracie’s sister Eve had made things very tense between the brothers. Now that Graham was going to have a child by Eve, he’d eased up on the Winchesters, but Brooks continued to pursue his vendetta against them, leading to fights between the brothers. And Brooks was trying to drag Carson into the mix by insisting he fight for what was rightfully his: a full quarter of the Winchester fortune. However, if Graham and Brooks knew Sutton was now willing to talk regarding their real father, whose identity had eluded them for years, perhaps they would put their differences aside.

“Why not tell Graham and have him pass the information on to his brother?” Roman asked. “If it’s legitimate, Brooks will listen.”

“No,” Sutton said. “I have to do it here, in my office, with both of them.”

“Why, Daddy?” Gracie hadn’t meant to say that out loud and the sound of her own voice surprised her. It seemed to startle Roman, as well. He looked her way.

Sutton gazed up at her with what could only be described as tenderness, and said quietly, “It’s just something I need to do.”

The vulnerability in his eyes melted her. And forced her to do something she’d thought she would never have to again. Talk to Roman.

She met his icy gaze and swallowed past the lump building in her throat, struggling to find the anger and resentment she’d felt before he walked through the door. Did he have to look so hard and cold and intimidating? Maybe he’d learned that in the military. Because the Roman she knew had never looked at her like that before. She could barely remember him even raising his voice to her when they argued, which they hadn’t really done all that much come to think of it. Their relationship had been pretty easy. Right up until the moment it wasn’t. When she learned of how he’d betrayed her.

She had screamed at him then, and the worst part was that he never screamed back. He had only stood there looking remorseful, taking full responsibility for what he had done.

Though he had never actually said the words I’m sorry, his remorse had been clear on his face. And it wouldn’t have made a difference if he had. There were no words to make up for his betrayal and all the hurt he caused. And if her father wanted this meeting, he was going to get it.

She could be snarky, but she knew Roman well enough to know that attitude wouldn’t work. She shoved down her pride as far as it would go and tucked her tail firmly between her legs. She was doing it for Daddy.

“You know that my father isn’t well. If this is something he needs to do I want to get it done. What will it take to get you to help?”

Her father touched her arm and said firmly, “Thank you, Princess. But let me handle this.”

Two

Princess?

Really?

Roman resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Gracie pleading Sutton’s case. She always had been, and always would be, a slave to her father’s demands. A dedicated daddy’s girl. Roman had learned that one a long time ago, the hard way. When it came to her loyalty, Sutton and her two sisters always came first.

Though it did look to Roman as though the old man didn’t have much time left. The weight loss, the gray pallor. Roman had watched it happen to his own father when he was only fifteen, then five years later to his mother. Roman could see that Sutton Winchester was knocking on death’s door, and didn’t doubt that the man’s excessive lifestyle had ultimately been his undoing. The skirt chasing, heavy drinking and high-stress business dealings had taken their toll.

Which was why Roman didn’t feel a bit sorry for him.

Sutton turned to Roman and asked, “Will you arrange it?”

Yeah, right. Who the hell did Sutton think he was, asking anything from Roman? He didn’t owe the man a damned thing. “Um...no. I won’t.”

“I’ll pay you,” Sutton said, and Roman’s hackles went up.

The idea of taking the old man’s money made him sick to his stomach. He shook his head and said, “Not gonna happen.”

“What do you want? Just name it.”

He opened his mouth to tell the old geezer that he had nothing to offer that Roman could possibly want, when something stopped him. He glanced over at Gracie, who was doing her best not to look at Roman. He remembered all the times in the past that Sutton had tried to sabotage Roman’s relationship with Gracie, because he never considered Roman—a military brat—good enough for his precious daughter. But Roman had come a long way since then. Now Sutton needed him, and clearly he had nothing to lose.

He glanced over at Gracie, casually eyeing her up and down. “How about an hour alone with your daughter.”

Gracie blinked, then blinked again, and asked in an incredulous tone, “To do what, exactly?”

He let a slow smile curl his lips. “Whatever I want.”

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. He had rendered the great Grace Winchester speechless. That was a first. And it gave him more satisfaction than he’d ever imagined it could.

“It was a joke,” Roman said. “I just want to talk.”

“But I don’t want to talk to you,” she replied, glancing nervously toward her father. Would Sutton really do that to her? Knowing Roman and Gracie’s complicated past, would he really force her to speak with him?

“I’ll give you fifteen minutes with her,” Sutton said, cementing in Roman’s mind what a bastard the man really was, selling out his own daughter.

Gracie gasped and said, “Daddy!”

She looked to Roman with pleading eyes.

“Forty-five,” Roman said, ignoring her.

“Twenty,” Sutton countered without missing a beat.

Un-freaking-believable.

Grace just stood there, her mouth hanging open, as if she couldn’t believe this exchange was really happening. That she was being bartered like property.

“Thirty and not a minute less,” Roman told Sutton. “And that’s my final offer. Otherwise, you’re on your own, old man.”

Knowing how vain Sutton was, the “old man” comment had to stick in his craw, but he never let it show. He considered it for less than ten seconds before he said, “We have a deal.”

Wow, the man truly had no scruples or decency. Gracie had offered to help, but considering her wide-eyed stare, Roman doubted this was what she had in mind. The question was, would she really do it?

Maybe Sutton had no scruples, but Roman did. “What do you say, Grace? Thirty minutes to catch up?”

Roman could see that she wanted to say no. But Sutton broke into a coughing spasm that paled his skin and stole his breath, and Grace winced.

She laid a hand on her father’s shoulder until the spasm ceased then said gently, “Of course I’ll do it.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Roman said. “But I can’t promise that Graham and Brooks will cooperate.”

“If anyone can get them to agree, you can,” Sutton said.

An actual compliment? Wonders never ceased.

Roman turned to Grace and grinned, and the patience and compassion she showed her father evaporated before his eyes. He could feel the tension and her hatred for him radiating from every pore. And he deserved it for his boorish behavior, but if this was the only way to get Gracie to talk to him, so be it.

“When would you like your thirty minutes?” she said through clenched teeth.

“Right now works for me,” he said with a grin, feeling smug about the whole situation. He hadn’t been looking forward to his meeting with Sutton and had originally told him no. It had taken some convincing to change his mind and now he was glad he had. And if Sutton thought that having his daughter there would soften Roman up, he was wrong.

Well, maybe not totally wrong.

He had half suspected the old man would pull something like this, but when Roman saw Gracie standing there in her father’s office it was still a shock.

“We can talk in the library,” Gracie said stiffly, her back ramrod straight as she spun around and led him out of the room, her entire being vibrating with anger and hatred for him.

Considering what her family had been through recently, who could blame her? But she had it all wrong this time. And she owed him a chance to explain his role in the recent scandal involving her family. How it was not his intention, or even his fault, that her family was caught up in scandal.

Not this time anyway.

Her spiked heels clicked against the marble floor as she led him to the library, where they used to spend many a Sunday morning stretched out on the sofa in the sunshine, their bodies intertwined, reading the paper. Back when they were dating, of course, when she was in college and still lived at her father’s estate. Roman had been fresh out of college and working his first job as a fledgling private investigator, quickly moving up the ranks of the firm.

But he had been too smug and gung ho for his own good and consequently had made the biggest mistake of his life. He’d begun investigating officials and politicians with suspected ties to the mob and Sutton’s name had come up. Gracie, who had been interning at Elite Industries at the time, was implicated in making some computer files disappear and helping Sutton launder money. Roman had confronted her and she’d sworn that it wasn’t true, that her father would never work with the mob and she certainly wouldn’t do anything illegal. He had wanted to believe her, but he was young and stupid and the evidence had looked so overwhelming that he hadn’t trusted her. By the time he had realized his mistake, it was too late.

And he’d paid for it.

The pain and anguish in her eyes as she’d berated him for his betrayal were almost more than he could take. And he had deserved each and every harsh word. He would have done anything to take it back. To go back in time and relive the past. But knowing she would never forgive him, that he didn’t even deserve her forgiveness, Roman hadn’t even tried to apologize. He’d ruined his career and made more than a few enemies in the mob. For his own safety he’d had to leave town.

After denying his military roots for so long, and with nowhere else to go, he’d joined the army and started a new life for himself. Started over. But his capture, and torture, and resulting PTSD, had brought to a close that phase of his life, as well.

Once again he had pulled himself up and started over, never accepting for a second that he would be anything but successful. His former training in black ops and status as a war hero had brought in the business at first, but his impeccable performance and record of success in solving cases had kept the customers calling. The firm had grown to proportions and experienced a level of success that even he hadn’t imagined.

And this time, when it came to Gracie and her family, he’d done nothing wrong. He’d been doing his job, and doing it well.

Gracie ushered him into the library and shut the doors behind them. It looked just as it had seven years ago. In fact, nothing of the Winchester estate that he’d seen so far today had changed at all.

Roman strolled to the huge bay window that looked out over the grounds. Mostly bare trees swung testily in the cool wind blowing off the lake, their colorful leaves fluttering to the lawn, where workers hurried to gather them up.

“So what is this all about?” Gracie asked from behind him. He turned to her and she did not look happy. And her mood wasn’t likely to improve.

“As I said, I just want to talk.”

She folded her arms and glared at him. “What if I don’t want to talk to you?”

Didn’t seem like she had much of a choice. He slowly and deliberately crossed the room to where she stood, his eyes never leaving her face, and stopped in front of her at a distance that was probably just a bit too close for her comfort. So that she had to look up to meet his eye. Even in her gargantuan heels.

“Sweetheart, all you have to do is listen.”

It took a lot to make Grace Winchester squirm, but he was sure he had her panties in a twist right now, but she held her ground. Her confidence and competence had fascinated Roman from the day they were introduced by a mutual friend in college. She had been young and pretty, sharp as a whip, ridiculously smart and motivated, and he had been instantly drawn to her. The first time he talked to her, he could see that she felt it too—that tug.

He had always been a practical, logical person, but there had been nothing logical about his feelings for this woman he had barely known at the time. She had turned his whole world upside down. Back then she was confident, driven and full of energy. And he’d wanted her. Badly. He’d had no idea who she was until weeks later when, scanning the society pages, he happened to see a photo of Gracie and her sisters with Sutton taken at some charity event. Being a navy brat, he’d lived in bases all over the world. He’d had no clue about high-society Chicago.

He and Gracie had grown pretty close by then, and knowing she’d held that back from him had hurt his feelings and had him questioning their friendship. He’d confronted her, and her explanation for the deception had broken his heart. She’d shrugged, as if it was no big deal, and said, “People use me to get to my father all the time. When someone shows interest in me, I have a process. I had to know if you were really who you said you were.”

“And you think I am?” he’d asked, hoping she’d say yes.

She’d smiled and said, “Yeah, I do. Thanks for being a real friend.”

In that instant, he’d realized he could never be with her. He’d wanted to. More than she ever could have imagined. But friendship was the only thing she’d really needed from him. Someone to always have her back, and help keep away those people who would try to take advantage of her. And it had been shocking to see just how many there were. That’s when he genuinely understood her caution, and the realization had cemented them firmly in the friendship zone. If they were to get into a romantic situation that didn’t work out, he knew it would end their friendship. Then who would watch out for her? Who would be her “true” friend?

It wasn’t a chance he had been willing to take. Not then anyway. But later, after he graduated, things changed. And by then it was too late to change back.

“I want to explain what happened,” he told her.

Her voice ice-cold, she said, “You mean how you tried to destroy my family. Again.”

It was the “again” that got him, and the hint of pain layered just beneath the anger in her voice. The last thing he’d wanted to do was hurt her. “Brooks hired me to investigate and I was doing my job.”

She huffed. “Sure you were. By making up lies and spreading rumors about us. Just like the last time. I know my father isn’t perfect, but to accuse him of date rape?”

“That wasn’t me. I had no intention of accusing him of anything until I had the facts. But Brooks was pushing me for an update so I told him what information I already had. I told him that it was unsubstantiated, and I needed more time to investigate. Brooks didn’t want to wait. I was just as shocked as everyone else when he went public.”

Roman hadn’t known that Brooks had been planning to take all that unverified evidence to the local media until it was too late. Unfortunately his brother Graham hadn’t realized either that Brooks’s only goal had been to take Sutton and his family down, even if his allegations were based on rumors and lies. But by then there was nothing Roman or anyone else could do to stem the flow of speculation and accusations. The damage was already done.

Definitely not Roman’s fault.

“It’s not as if you have a history with this sort of thing,” Gracie said, her tone dripping with resentment as she propped her hands on her very sexy hips, lifted her chin high and met his gaze. As if to say, Here I am. Take your best shot.

“I’ve made terrible mistakes,” he told her, and his candor made her blink with surprise. But he believed in taking responsibility for his actions, no matter how hard it might be. “I know I’ve caused you and your family unspeakable pain. And I’ve had to live with that. But I swear to you that I didn’t have any knowledge of Brooks’s plan and had nothing to do with it. I was just doing my job.”

“Give me one good reason why I should believe you.”

“I don’t have one.” If he were her, he probably wouldn’t believe him, either.

She didn’t seem to know what to say, when in the past she’d always had strong opinions about pretty much everything.

“Now I want to ask you a question,” he said.

She shook her head. “Nope. That was not part of the deal. I’m only supposed to listen, remember? It’s just like you to go back on your word.”

A direct hit. Clearly she was giving him no slack. That was more like the Gracie he knew.

“Answer it, don’t answer it, that’s up to you,” he said. “I just want to know why you let Sutton do that to you.”

Her brow wrinkled with confusion, and her curiosity won out over her stubborn nature. “Do what?”

“Belittle and disrespect you.”

She instantly went on the defensive, looking outraged by his accusation. “He didn’t. He loves me.”

“You’re so used to it you don’t even see it,” he said, shaking his head sadly. Sutton was a textbook sociopath. Roman wasn’t sure if he was even capable of genuine love. He was too narcissistic.

“See what?” she snapped.

“Let’s put it this way. You have a name and it isn’t Princess.”

* * *

Gracie rolled her eyes in exasperation. “It’s a term of endearment. Not an insult.”

“Not during a business meeting,” Roman said, and she felt her resolve falter. Okay, so it did annoy her a little when her father called her Princess in certain situations. Especially in business meetings. But that was just his way.

“And that’s not half as bad as the way he just bartered you like property to get what he wanted,” Roman said.

Ouch. He hit a raw nerve with that comment, and it took everything in her not to wince. He was right. What her father had done to her today was beyond humiliating. And inexcusable. But she didn’t believe he was intentionally disrespecting her. He was just used to getting what he wanted.

And how does that make it okay? an annoying little inner voice asked.

Simple. It didn’t. There was nothing okay about the way he’d treated her, so why did she put up with it? He would have never done such a thing to Gracie’s sisters. But then again, they wouldn’t have tolerated it. Had she been so enamored, such a devoted daddy’s girl, that she let him walk all over her? That he took advantage of her devotion?

The idea made her sick to her stomach.

She could blame it on his illness but she would only be lying to herself.

“No one deserves to be disrespected that way,” Roman said, and she recognized his tone. She’d heard it a lot near the end of their relationship. He was angry. But not at her.