The By Request Collection

Yes, it was. But every time with her, no matter how they did it, was incredible. Fast, slow, he didn’t care. As long as he was close to her. “I didn’t really do much.”

“Sometimes it’s okay to just lie there and enjoy it,” she said. “Let me do all the work.”

He could live with that. “Well, it was the perfect end to a perfect evening.”

Her laugh was a wry one. “Oh, but we’re not done. Not even close. In fact...”

She got that devilish gleam in her eye, the one that said she was up to something. “I’ll be right back,” she told him, jumping off the bed and bolting from the room, then called over her shoulder, “Don’t go anywhere.”

Yeah, right. Like he had the energy to move. He could barely breathe.

He closed his eyes, trying not to fall asleep. He hadn’t done any of the work, so why was he so wiped out?

“I’m back,” she said several seconds later.

He opened his eyes and lifted his head.

She stood in the doorway, naked and flushed and sexy as hell, those damned thigh highs hugging her perfect legs just right. Holding a bottle of chocolate syrup in one hand and a can of whipped cream in the other, she grinned as she said, “How about a little dessert?”

* * *

The following Monday, Gracie sat at her drawing table in her studio, trying to sketch out a few pieces for next year’s fall line, but she couldn’t concentrate. Typically the view of the Chicago skyline out the long stretch of floor-to-ceiling windows was all she needed to inspire her, but it wasn’t working today.

Today, she couldn’t keep her mind off Roman.

He was all she seemed to think about lately. And not the way a friend should be thinking about another friend. Her feelings for him seemed to be spiraling out of control, and as much as it scared her, she’d never felt so alive and happy in her life. Or more conflicted. Why is it the two always seemed to go hand in hand?

Hard as she tried to stick to the friends-with-benefits arrangement, her heart would have no part of it. And she’d gone and done exactly what she promised herself she wouldn’t do. She’d started to fall in love with him again. And she was pretty sure, knowing Roman the way she did, that he was falling for her, too.

It wasn’t logical. It wasn’t even sane. And to call it complicated didn’t adequately describe what they would be getting themselves into if they took the next step.

A knock on her studio door had her looking up from her half-finished sketch. When the door opened and her sister Eve popped her head in, Gracie smiled.

“You busy?” Eve asked.

“Actually your timing is perfect,” Gracie said, tossing her pencil onto her drawing table. “I could use a break.”

Eve crossed the room to look over Gracie’s shoulder at the sketch she’d been trying to complete. “Nice.”

“Thanks.”

“It still blows me away at times how talented you are. You definitely got all the artistic talent in the family. I still draw like a third grader.”

“What brings you to my side of town?” Gracie asked.

“Oh, I just thought I would stop in and say hi.”

Gracie frowned. Eve was a very busy woman. She never just stopped in. If she went out of her way to drop by, she had a good reason to be there.

“Is everything okay with Sutton?”

“I talked to his nurse earlier and she said he’s having a rough day, but he’s stable.”

“So what is it?”

“What is what?” Eve asked, going for a nonchalant look and failing miserably. “Can’t I pay a visit to my baby sister?”

“Nope. You pretty much always have a reason. You might as well just tell me what it is.” Though she was pretty sure she already knew what was bothering her sister.

“I’m worried about you, Grace.”

“Worried about what?”

“You and Roman.”

“Roman and I are friends.”

“He almost ruined us.”

“It was a long time ago, and he had nothing to do with the recent accusations. That was all Brooks.”

“So what you’re saying is, you trust him?”

“I do,” she said.

Her sister eyed her cautiously. “Completely.”

“Yes,” Grace said, with not even a hint of reservation, and realized it was true. She really did trust him.

“Are you in love with him?”

Again there was no hesitation in her reply. “Yes, I’m in love with him.”

Eve’s troubled look didn’t bode well, so Grace tried to explain.

“I know it probably doesn’t make much sense to you. Hell, it doesn’t make much sense to me, either. All I know is that everything inside me is screaming that he and I are supposed to be together. And though he’s never come right out and said it, I think he feels the same way. We’re just so...good together. I don’t know how else to explain it. Even knowing that it could cause discord in the family, I still want him. And need him.”

“I want you to be happy, Grace. We all do. And though I do have my reservations about Roman, I trust you, and I think that over time, after he proves himself, we’ll learn to trust Roman, too. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

Eve took a deep breath and nodded, looking relieved. “Good. I guess I needed to hear that from you. I needed to see how sure you are. Because if you were still having reservations I had every intention of talking you out of seeing him, before you got in over your head.”

Honestly she was already in over her head that first day in Sutton’s office.

“There is something else I wanted to talk about,” Eve said. “Daddy and I spoke last night and he’s made the decision to change his will to include Carson.”

Carson may have been a Newport, but he was just as much a Winchester. He was their brother, which gave him just as much right to the Winchester fortune as her and her sisters. The actions of his parents were in no way his fault, and as such it would be wrong to hold that against him.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Grace said.

Eve smiled and nodded. “I figured you would say that. I had my reservations at first, but I think you’re right.”

“How does Nora feel?” she asked, though Gracie was sure she already knew. Nora cared deeply about people, and had never taken any interest in money or power.

“She feels the way you do. I guess I was the only holdout. But he is our brother. Our blood. My only concern was that Brooks would use him to get what he wants, but now that I’ve gotten to know Carson I don’t think that will happen. Graham said that Sutton’s willingness to help them find their father, and the kindness he showed Cynthia in her time of need, has Brooks rethinking his priorities, and letting go of the bitterness.”

“I know it’s our legacy, and we should honor that, but in the end, it’s only money.”

“Guess we’ll just have to hang in there and see what the future brings,” Eve said.

Though her future was still hazy, one thing Gracie knew for sure was that hers would be a happy one.

* * *

In the world of private investigation, after months of dead ends there was nothing more satisfying than solving a case. And thanks to Sutton and his burst of conscience, less than a week after their meeting with the Newport boys, Roman now knew the identity of Graham and Brooks’s father.

And the only thing more satisfying than solving the case was delivering the good news to the client.

Roman arranged a meeting for Wednesday morning, telling the brothers that he had information, and nothing more. This was news he wanted to deliver in person.

As he’d expected, the men showed up right on time. Roman’s secretary showed them into the conference room at exactly 10:00 a.m. They walked in together looking anxious, and not at all as though they wanted to kill each other this time. Roman suspected that learning the truth about their mother had reminded them of the common ground they shared, and they had begun to repair their relationship. According to Gracie, who had talked to her sister Eve, Brooks had been very humbled by the truth and had begun to reevaluate his priorities, and his opinion of the man who’d essentially saved his mother’s life.

Roman rose from his chair at the head of the table and shook both men’s hands before he said, “Have a seat, gentlemen. Can I interest either of you in a beverage? Coffee? Water?”

The brothers declined with a shake of their heads, and rather than sitting on opposite sides of the table, sat side by side.

“So, you said you have information,” Brooks said. “What do you know?”

Roman slid the file across his desk. “Your father’s name is Beau Preston. He owns a horse ranch in Texas called the Lookaway.”

“That was fast,” Brooks said, looking as if he thought it was too good to be true. He opened the file so he and his brother could both read it.

“Cool Springs, Texas, is not a big place,” Roman told them. “Once we knew where to look, and what to look for, the information was right there. It took some time, though, because the town doesn’t even have a website.”

“There isn’t much here,” Graham said.

“Unfortunately the town hasn’t yet progressed into the digital age, so details are hard to come by. I wasn’t sure how deep you wanted me to dig. I can get you more, but I’ll have to send someone there, and in a town that small it won’t be a covert operation. If there’s a stranger there asking questions, word will probably spread fast. I wasn’t sure if that’s the way you want this to go down. Do you want your father to learn about you from the grapevine, or from his sons?”

Graham turned to his brother. “It’s up to you, Brooks. This is your obsession.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to know?”

“No, I’m saying that this means more to you than it does to me. Do I want to know more? Absolutely. But I think that he should hear the truth from you or me, and not as gossip. And knowing how much this means to you, I think you should be the one to go.”

The cocky real estate mogul looked more like a confused little boy. “To be honest, I’m not sure what I want to do. I’ve waited so long for this, and now it all seems to be moving so fast.”

“Maybe you’re just afraid of the truth,” Graham said. “If this man knows nothing about us, he might not be thrilled to know that he has two illegitimate sons. We honestly have no idea how he’ll react. Personally I need a little time to prepare myself for whatever happens. Good or bad.”

Brooks’s confusion couldn’t be more obvious. “I’ve been so focused on finding him, I guess I haven’t given much thought to the next step. Or considered that he might not want to see us.”

“Take some time to think about it,” Roman told him. “Beau Preston has lived in Cool Springs his entire life, and he owns a lucrative business. As a horse breeder he’s well-known for his champion bloodlines. I doubt he’s going anywhere.”

“I think this is something that my brother and I should discuss in private,” Graham said, rising from his seat to shake Roman’s hand. “Thank you for not giving up on this and solving the case. It means so much to us.”

“Don’t thank me. If it hadn’t been for Sutton, I would still be spinning my wheels.”

Looking shell-shocked, Brooks rose and shook Roman’s hand. Maybe this would bring him some peace, and he would finally be able to let go of the irrational anger and hatred he’d held for the Winchester family. With Brooks it was hard to say.

Now that he and Gracie were exploring a relationship, Roman was happy to put the whole matter to rest, before he found himself sucked into the middle of another scandal. Because he knew that Brooks, despite his humbled state, could turn on a dime with a renewed thirst for revenge. Roman supposed that all they could do was wait, and time would tell.

“Will I see you at the wedding next Thursday?” Graham asked him.

“Wedding?” Roman said, unsure of what he was referring to. Next Thursday was Thanksgiving, but he and Gracie hadn’t yet discussed spending it together.

“Nora and Reid’s,” Graham said. “I just assumed, since you and Gracie...” He paused and said, “I’m sorry, did I speak out of turn?”

If Gracie wanted him there, she hadn’t said so. She still needed time, and he understood that. It was a slow process gaining back her trust. But it would happen. Because as far as he was concerned, they were meant to be together.

“Don’t apologize. What Gracie and I have is very...complicated.”

After the men left, Roman sat there for several minutes thinking about his relationship with Gracie, and that maybe they needed to have a talk. He was in no hurry. He was fine with letting their relationship progress naturally. Maybe he just needed to know that they did have a future together.

They had spent the entire weekend together, and even carved out time for lunch together yesterday. He’d met her at her office and she had introduced him around to the junior designers on her staff. He didn’t know a whole lot about the fashion industry, but he was impressed with what he saw, and her employees seemed to have the utmost respect for her. And from the looks of it, she was wildly successful. But he always knew that she would be.

He considered calling her just to say hi, then changed his mind. She was probably busy, and he had meetings to prepare for. They would talk later that evening. They did every night. Usually for an hour or more. And they were usually both still at work wrapping things up for the night. Like him, she was a workaholic, and typically hung around the office long after her employees went home for the night. Though he was sure that he would work less and delegate more if he had something, or better yet someone, to come home to.

As Roman was leaving the conference room, his secretary, Lisa, stopped him in the hallway.

“You got a call while you were in the meeting,” she said.

“From who?”

“A Special Agent Crosswell, from the FBI.”

Roman frowned. The FBI? What could they possibly want from him? “Did he say what he was calling for?”

“No, but he asked that you get back to him right away. He said it was an urgent matter. I left his contact information on his desk.”

“Thanks, Lisa.”

She eyed him quizzically. “Anything I should know about, boss?”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

She smiled. “Fair enough. I’m leaving to run some errands and pick up lunch. Would you like me to bring you back something?”

He was too distracted now to eat. “No, thanks.”

He went to his corner office. He’d bought the company from a college friend who after a decade in the business decided the life of a PI wasn’t for him. What had started as a three-office, four-employee operation was now a thriving business in a swanky downtown location. The agency took up an entire floor of the building and he now employed over three dozen people. And he still couldn’t keep up with all the business coming his way. Unless things slowed down, he would have to look into expanding again. It was as if everything that he’d ever wanted in life was being dropped at his feet.

Well, almost everything. With Gracie it was a little more complicated.

He called the number Lisa left him and got the agent’s voice mail. Annoyed and curious as to what he wanted, he left a message, then sat back to wait for a return call, going over a list of potential new clients.

Not five minutes later, the agent called back, and as he answered Roman felt an unusual sense of apprehension. “Roman Slater.”

“Mr. Slater, my name is Rudy Crosswell. I’m a special agent with the FBI’s fraud division. I was hoping you would be willing to meet with me this afternoon.”

Well, you didn’t get much more direct than that. “In regard to...?”

“I’d rather speak to you in person. Could we set something up?”

“Am I being investigated? Should I have counsel?”

“No, sir, nothing like that,” he assured Roman. “The truth is, we need your help.”

Well, that was good to know. His afternoon was booked, but this being the FBI, he felt it took precedence. “Can you be here at four?”

“Actually I was hoping you could come to the field office. It’s a matter of the utmost secrecy.”

Now Roman was really intrigued. “I’ll work it in.”

They decided on a time and when Lisa returned two hours later Roman asked her to cancel everything on his schedule for the afternoon. When he arrived at the field office Agent Crosswell met him in the lobby at the metal detector. The man was middle-aged, and looked to be ex-military with a graying buzz cut and serious eyes. Roman had to surrender the firearm he always kept strapped to his ankle and the knife from his inside coat pocket. Then the agent handed him a guest badge and led Roman through an open area crammed with cubicles and bustling with activity to his office in the back. The fact that he had an office said that he was fairly far up the ranks.

Roman’s suspicion that he was military was confirmed when he saw the medals displayed in the agent’s office, including a Medal of Honor and a Purple Heart. Otherwise the room was small, plain and a little outdated with its ’90s-era furniture.

“Please have a seat,” he told Roman.

Roman sat in one of two uncomfortable-looking chairs. “When did you serve?”

“Gulf War,” he said, sitting at his desk, which was as clean and organized as the rest of the room. Another military trait. “I’ll get right to the point. And what I’m about to tell you doesn’t go past this office.”

“Of course.”

“I’m heading up a task force investigating political corruption on the state level. I need someone to do some outside digging.”

“On who?”

“Dax Caufield.”

Son of a bitch. Roman knew there was something not quite right about the senator, which made Gracie’s affiliation with him that much more disturbing. “You think he’s corrupt.”

“I know he’s corrupt. I just can’t prove it yet. Two months into office it was rumored that he was taking bribes from business lobbyists in exchange for his support on key legislation. But he’s smart, and hasn’t left a paper trail. The case is weak at best. We’re fairly sure we can get him on misuse of campaign funds, though. And that’s where you come in.”

Roman didn’t like where this was going. “Why me?”

“Considering your past experience with political corruption, and your current connections, you’re the perfect man for the job.”

“What connections would those be?” he asked, afraid he already knew the answer.

“Grace Winchester.”

Ten

Shit. This was the last thing Roman needed. He rose from his seat, which was just as uncomfortable as it looked, and told Agent Crosswell, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

The agent leaned back in his chair, nonplussed. “You may want to rethink that.”

“Why?”

“Because as far as we know, she could be involved. She could be hiding evidence.”

No way. Knowing Grace the way he did, Roman didn’t believe that for a second. Besides, he’d gone down this road before and he’d lost the only thing that mattered to him. He would not take that chance again. “She would never do that. If she does have evidence, I’m betting she doesn’t know it.”

“An undercover operative learned from a source that she may be in possession of files that would prove the misappropriation of funds and even the bribery we suspect him of.”

If they had undercover people working this, it was clearly a serious investigation. He didn’t want to see Gracie implicated. She had been through enough in the past few months. “I can tell you right now that she isn’t hiding anything. She worked on his campaign because she believed in his politics. She would never knowingly hide evidence. Going after her would be a waste of your time.”

“She may not know that she has the evidence, but we’ve learned that the senator thinks she does and that she may know something she shouldn’t. If she isn’t working in collusion with Senator Caufield—and that’s the theory we’re leaning toward—our concern is that he will do anything to get them back from her, and keep her quiet if necessary. Meaning that she could be in serious danger.”

The idea of Gracie getting hurt made his heart beat faster. If she truly was in danger he had to listen to what Agent Crosswell had to say.

Roman reclaimed his seat. “You’re sure about this.”

Crosswell nodded. “Without a doubt.”

“What do you need from me?”

“We need to get to those files before the senator can. Do you have any idea where they might be located?”

With a shrug, Roman said, “Not a clue, but I can ask her.”

“No. Absolutely not. If she suddenly drops out of sight, Senator Caufield will know something is up. We can’t take the chance of the investigation going public. We have too many man-hours invested in this to blow it. The senator cannot know that we’re investigating him. Whatever you have to do, Miss Winchester cannot know about it.”

“And if I tell her?”

“I can charge you with impeding a federal investigation.”

Great. It was his past coming back to bite him in the ass. If Gracie was truly in danger his first instinct was to take her as far from Chicago as he could, if that’s what it took to keep her safe. But there was no way Gracie would agree to that. Not without knowing why.

Dax had obviously had Gracie completely snowed. Then Roman thought of something that nearly made his heart stop altogether. “The senator has been trying to set up a meeting with her.”

“We know. You can’t let that meeting happen. If she gives him the files, our investigation is over. Or worse, she could be charged as an accomplice.”

Jesus, how did he keep getting into these impossible situations? “This is emotional blackmail.”

“I know. And I’m not unsympathetic.”

His sympathy wouldn’t stop his and Gracie’s relationship from crashing and burning. “I can’t lie to her.”

The agent leaned forward, his expression serious. “Mr. Slater, if it’s her life on the line, can you afford not to?”

* * *

Gracie came home from work early after a surprise call from Roman that afternoon. Though they typically didn’t see each other on weeknights, he’d said he missed her and offered to bring dinner over. The truth was, she missed him, too, and seeing him only on the weekends just wasn’t cutting it anymore. And it would give them an opportunity to talk about their relationship.

There was no question in her mind that she loved him, and she wanted them to be together. And she was fairly certain that he wanted the same thing if it felt as right to him as it did to her.

She had just gotten out of the shower and was still wrapped in a towel when her sister Nora called. With her wedding barely a week away she was scrambling to make last-minute preparations. Normally Gracie would have helped with the arrangements but she had just been too busy with work, and the proposed date had been too close for Gracie to arrange for time off. But Nora, sweet as she was, had been understanding.

“Reid and I took Declan for the final fitting on the tuxes,” Nora told her. “He looks so adorable.”

Declan, Nora’s son from her first marriage, was a precocious two-year-old with curly ginger hair, adorable freckles and striking blue eyes. Nora’s fiancé hadn’t been open to taking on another man’s child at first, which had worried Gracie and Eve, and especially Sutton. But Reid proved himself to be an amazing father and the three couldn’t be happier.

“I wish there was something I could do to help,” Gracie told her. “I know you have your hands full.”

“I’m fine. For once in your life I want you to just enjoy a family event instead of feeling like you have to run it.”

But that was what Gracie did. She helped people. She sacrificed her own time to make the lives of others easier. “Well, if there’s anything you need me to do—”

“There isn’t,” Nora insisted. “You are a guest at this wedding and I want you to act like one. Which reminds me, are you planning to bring a date? I’d like to have the final list ready by tomorrow. And I’ve heard a thing or two...”