Leanne Banks: The Danforths: Marc, Tanya & Abe: The Laws of Passion / Terms of Surrender / Shocking the Senator

She’d been so sure at first that he was a spoiled rich man’s son who’d signed on with the bad guys to get what he wanted. Her training led her to make quick judgments about people and get to their real motives later.

Sometimes a special agent had to make life and death decisions based only on a cursory observation. And she had been observing Marcus—a lot. Now she just didn’t know what to think.

As the silence began to grow awkward, she opted to tell him the truth. “I was an only child. My parents are both dead now. I’m all the family I’ve got.” She took a moment and made a snap decision to trust him with another small piece of herself. “I like the solitary life. I’ve never been impressed with the way most families interact.”

Marcus scowled at her. “Not even your own?”

“Especially my own.”

He stepped closer, lifted a hand and grazed the line of her jaw with a knuckle. “That’s a sad commentary, Dana. It can be a wonderful thing to know there are people who care about you no matter what.”

A soft and concerned look moved into his eyes. Up this close, she could smell his tangy, fresh-sage scent and feel the heat emanating from his bare chest.

He kept on gently stroking her face and gazing into her eyes. Soothing and stirring. She felt her pulse begin to jackhammer and her senses went on hyperalert.

When he leaned closer and his eyes zeroed in on her mouth, the heat between them exploded. With a shake of her head, she caught herself before she fell into his arms. She had to remember that he was just part of the job.

Dana took a step back and averted her eyes toward his desk. She’d never before given herself over to a man. And she would definitely not be starting with someone who was a suspect in a case she was working.

“You’d better check your messages,” she said in a raspy voice. “Is it too warm in here for you?”

The dreamy look disappeared from his eyes, but he smiled and cocked his head toward her. “You’re hot? Why don’t you take off some of those clothes.”

Okay. She might be a virgin, but she wasn’t totally naive. That was a come-on she’d heard often enough before.

She rolled her shoulders and narrowed her eyes at him. “Just check your messages. I’ll be fine.”

He shrugged a shoulder, but the smile stayed put as he turned to punch the Play button on the machine.

The first couple of messages were from various family members asking him if he needed anything and to please call if he wanted company or a place to stay. The distress and genuine concern in their voices was quite evident.

Dana wasn’t sure how such obvious love amongst family members made her feel. It was an interesting side note to Marcus’s character profile. But deeper than that, and on a personal level, it almost made her feel…lonely.

“Marc? We need to talk.” A deep voice boomed out of the machine. “I just got a call from…well, it was about you. And it’s important that we discuss this as soon as possible. I’ll be at the office until ten or eleven o’clock tonight. I’d rather not talk about it over the phone, so why don’t you come over? Give me a call.”

The message clicked off and Marcus touched the button on his machine that erased the previous messages.

“Who was that?” she asked. If it was one of the cartel members, this might be the break she’d been waiting for.

“That was my brother, Ian.”

“It was? He sounded worried.”

“Yeah, he did, didn’t he?”

“Is he the one that heads up the family company?”

Marcus nodded. “I think I’d better go to the office and talk to him. Do you mind?”

Suddenly, it struck Dana that maybe their entire company was a front for the cartel. Were they all involved in money laundering? Perhaps the family was using Marcus as a scapegoat.

“I don’t mind at all,” she said. “In fact, I insist.”

“Great. I’ll go throw on a shirt and see you later.” He picked up his keys off the desk and started for the door.

“Hold on.” She grabbed his arm and swung him around. “You don’t go anywhere without me, remember? Like it or not, from now until your trial we’re stuck with each other as if we’d been put together with Crazy Glue. Get used to it.”

Three

Was he glad that Dana had insisted on coming along to the office? He couldn’t quite settle his thoughts when it came to her. But they were both about to leave for his meeting with Ian, just the same.

He wanted her to trust him and believe in him, though he had no idea why. But would she inhibit his efforts to prove himself innocent? He sighed, resigned to having her company whether he wanted it or not.

“How about if we take my SUV and I’ll drive?” he asked, as they locked the front door and set the alarm system.

She shook her head and headed for the driver’s side of her small, bland sedan. “No thanks. You don’t have the training, and the whole world already knows what kind of car you normally drive. In the protection business, the idea is to vary your routine…change cars, times and the routes to your regular haunts.”

Well, Marc had certainly found one thing he was not happy about. He didn’t like riding in her car. He wanted to drive himself around like usual, and he liked his normal routine. This whole business was really starting to suck.

He directed her to the Danforth corporate office building via the back roads and downtown side streets. The parking lot was all but empty at this time of night. A security van patrolled the exterior grounds and Ian’s car was parked in his normal spot.

“Nice office,” Dana said as she parked the car where he’d directed. “These brick buildings that are so common in old Savannah are very efficient. And I imagine all the trees and flowers make a nice impression on clients. Do you have many muggings or break ins in this part of town?”

He opened his car door and “tsked” at her. “You look at a beautiful historic building and fantastically lush landscaping and think of muggings? You’ve been in the bodyguard business too long, Ms. Aldrich.” He breathed deep and took in the sweet smell of honeysuckle that he’d loved since he was a kid.

She shrugged her shoulders, climbed out and locked her car. “To be the best at my job, you have to work at it twenty-four hours a day. Everything I see has some significance to the…uh…protection business. I don’t pay attention to the superficial things in this world.”

“You never take any time off to just enjoy yourself—to smell the flowers?” He slid his key into the door lock at the employee entrance and opened it. “What’s that old saying about all work and no play…?”

She grimaced and stepped ahead of him into the darkened downstairs hallway. “I don’t mind being dull. The job has all the excitement I need.”

While he led her down the hall toward the elevator behind reception, his heels clicked loudly against the polished-pecan floors. Again, Marc began to wonder about the intelligent and strong woman who’d become his bodyguard. Just what kind of person was she?

There seemed to be so much hidden about her. Did she have any kind social of life? Like, for instance, a husband or a boyfriend somewhere? When she’d talked about not caring much for family, he’d thought she had only meant her parents. Now he was becoming convinced that she was a real loner. With no one in her life who mattered.

And it was becoming very important to him to figure her out. If she’d let him, he wanted to be the one to show her how to relax and enjoy herself. To appreciate history and learn to see the beauty of the world around her. She was beginning to matter. But for the life of him, he couldn’t pin down the reason he cared so much.