LITMIR.BIZ

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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

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