LITMIR.BIZ

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activity, it was barely enough to get them disbarred and fired as city council advisors.

      But Jason knew there was more.

      His brother, Greg, had even suspected it. After dealing with Sandling and Klein on a city contract deal, Greg too had noticed inconsistencies with bid dates and altered estimates that had ultimately cost him a contract to do auditing work for the city. Greg had been more than ready to request an investigation into the two attorneys’ dealings. It hadn’t happened, of course.

      Because Greg had died in the car accident.

      “Sandling and Klein have already been contacted,” O’Reilly assured him. “Neither seemed pleased about that.”

      “I’ll bet not. I want them questioned—hard.”

      “Absolutely.”

      Not that it would do much good. Questioning them hadn’t been effective nineteen months ago. Jason had no doubts about Sandling’s and Klein’s guilt as far as unscrupulous business practices, but what was missing was solid proof that their unscrupulousness had gone much deeper than what the police had already found. There was no remaining evidence since the files that Lilly had copied from her computer had disappeared the night she’d been run off the road.

      Jason knew that wasn’t a coincidence.

      Detective O’Reilly craned his neck to peer over Jason’s shoulder. “By the way, how’s Ms. Nelson?”

      “Other than a few bruises, she wasn’t hurt physically.”

      He couldn’t say the same for her mental health, though. Here she was, only hours out of a coma. Hours where she’d learned she had a daughter that she hadn’t even known she’d conceived. That in itself was enough trauma to face, but Lilly now had to deal with the aftermath of an attempted murder and a full-scale police investigation.

      Jason looked back at Lilly, as well, and saw that she was in the exact place he’d left her. Well, sort of. She was still in the hospital bed. Still asleep. But it wasn’t a peaceful sleep by any means. Her arm muscles jerked and trembled as if she were still in a fight for her life.

      Which wasn’t too far from the truth.

      Someone wanted her dead, and wanted it badly enough to have tried not once but twice. Jason had been a cop for nearly eleven years and had learned a lot about criminal behavior.

      This guy wasn’t going to give up.

      But then, neither was Jason.

      It’d been a mistake not to beef up security, a bigger mistake to let down his guard, and he wouldn’t do that again.

      “Who knew Ms. Nelson was out of the coma?” O’Reilly asked.

      It was a question Jason had already asked the hospital staff, and he’d gotten answers that hadn’t pleased him. “Too many people. One of the nurses called a few friends to tell them the news. Another nurse called Lilly’s former secretary—again, to share the good news. The doctors spoke to colleagues. Even Lilly’s insurance company was contacted.”

      Jason couldn’t consider himself blameless, either. He’d told Megan’s nanny, Erica, though he didn’t think Erica would pass on the information to anyone. And of course, there’d been paperwork processed at headquarters to assign the cop to security detail outside Lilly’s room. In others words, at least several dozen people had learned that Lilly was no longer in a coma, and obviously one of those several dozen was someone who wanted her dead.

      Lilly stirred again, and this time her eyes opened. In the same motion, she sat up, spearing him with her gaze. Her eyes were wild. Her breath, racing. She scrambled back toward the wall, banging into it with a loud thud.

      O’Reilly immediately stepped away. “I’ll let you know what the crime-scene guys say about the security camera.” With that, the detective made a hasty exit, leaving Jason to deal with Lilly.

      There was just one problem. Jason didn’t know how to deal with her.

      Seemingly disgusted with herself, she shook her head. “I keep dreaming.”

      Nightmares, no doubt. Jason wanted to tell her that they would go away, but he’d fed her enough lies tonight. Reassurances that she was safe didn’t contain even a shred of truth.

      Not yet, anyway.

      Jason eased the door shut and walked to her. He had a ten-second debate with himself before he moved even closer and sat beside her on the bed. Yes, there was plenty of bad blood between them, but he would have had to be a coldhearted jackass not to try to offer some comfort.

      “You have more bad news?” she asked, her voice cracking on the last word.

      She was trembling all over, and he reached out. He pushed aside any doubts he had about what he was doing and pulled her into his arms. Lilly stiffened at first. Not a little stiffening, either, but a posture change that affected practically every muscle in her body. Probably because she was shocked by his gesture. Or maybe even appalled. But by degrees, she soon settled against him, as if she belonged there.

      Jason quickly dismissed that last thought. Lilly didn’t belong in his arms. She didn’t belong this close to him. This was an anomaly. An emotional blip created by the dangerous situation that had forced this temporary camaraderie between them.

      Then he felt her warm breath brush against his neck. He took in her scent. The logic of emotional blips and anomalies flew right out the window.

      Hell.

      What was going on here?

      The confusing yet tender episode lasted only a few seconds—thank God—because Lilly pulled back slightly and looked up at him. She squinted her eyes and appeared to be as thunderstruck as he felt.

      Jason totally understood her dumbfounded state. Twenty-four hours earlier if someone had told him he’d be holding Lilly, and reacting to it in the most basic way a man could, he would have never believed it.

      She swallowed hard and inched back even farther. The confusion in her eyes faded, and in its place came the uncomfortable realization of what had just happened.

      Oh, yeah. They were on the same page.

      Lilly cleared her throat, reached for the blanket and gave it an adjustment that it in no way needed. “You never did say—why were you here at the hospital tonight?”

      Blind luck. But Jason kept that to himself. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to drop by to check on the guard,” he said, thankful for the conversation. It would hopefully take his mind off that basic male reaction he was still having. “When I saw Dr. Staten was still here, I went into his office to talk to him.”

      She paused. “Well…thank you.”

      Her thanks was genuine. Jason didn’t doubt that. But he also didn’t doubt that it hadn’t been an easy thing for her to say to him. Civility of any kind was tricky between two battle-scarred enemies.

      “I’m sorry,” Lilly whispered, pulling away completely from him.

      Jason immediately felt the loss of her body heat. A sensation that surprised and sickened him. Sheez. What the heck was wrong with him, anyway?

      “What are you sorry for?” he managed to ask just to keep the discussion going.

      “For borrowing your shoulder to cry on.” She dusted her fingers across his jacket as if to remove any evidence of herself.

      “After the scare you had, you deserve a shoulder, and the crying.”

      She stared at him. Paused. Stared at him some more. “You’re being nice to me.”

      True, and he wasn’t exactly pleased that she’d pointed it out. “Blame it on the adrenaline and fatigue.” He groaned softly. “Don’t worry… I’ll be back to normal in no time.”

      “Good,” she concluded. “Because it’s easier that way.”

      Jason

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