He rounded on her. “Don’t you get it? Any chance for the nomination or for Parker to take me seriously is gone. Wiped out by your lies.”
“I think you’re wrong. And I intend to prove it.”
Eleven
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Lauryn asked Susan as the cab pulled away from Miami International Airport and headed toward Estate Wednesday night.
“Of course I want to meet your husband and your in-laws. If Adam’s an unforgiving sort, then he doesn’t deserve you, and I intend to tell him so.” Ever the optimist, her mother smiled and squeezed Lauryn’s hand. “But I’m sure that won’t be necessary. Besides, I’ve never crashed a party. It might be fun.”
The thought of her very proper mother going anywhere without an invitation made Lauryn smile.
She didn’t know how she could have forgotten that Susan Lowes had always been her champion. From the moment Lauryn had greeted her mother’s ship through the convoluted confession of the diary search, her marriage, Tommy’s reappearance and the scandal that had rocked Miami’s elite community, Susan had been nothing but supportive. The only question she’d asked was, “Do you love him?”
When Lauryn had answered in the affirmative, Susan had said then they’d better get back Miami and fix this.
No mother, real or adoptive, could be better.
“Thanks for coming. After the way I acted…” Tears burned Lauryn’s eyes and choked off her words. “I don’t deserve your support.”
Susan’s fingers tightened. “You were hurt, Lauryn. I understood. I should have insisted your father tell you the truth on your eighteenth birthday the way we’d planned, but with Adrianna already dead—”
“And my rotten behavior…”
“Well, yes, I admit we did take that into consideration. We didn’t want to exacerbate the situation. But still, you had the right to know. And then you were so upset after that business with Tommy, we just didn’t want to add to your worries.”
“I can’t apologize enough for my behavior back then. Every rule seemed to hit a hot button and I overreacted.”
“Your dad was bossy because he loved you and feared for your safety. You were running with a dangerous crowd. Although he came across about as subtle as a tank most of the time.”
“Amen.”
“And he couldn’t seem to comprehend that you weren’t a new recruit who needed to be broken down and built back up into a team player. The harder he pushed the more you pushed back.” She shook her head. “You two were so much alike.”
Lauryn gaped. “Daddy and I?”
“Oh yes. Both strong-willed. Both determined to test your limits. The difference is your father found a job that allowed him to channel his wild side and to push himself against the barriers of light, speed and sound—literally.”
“I thought my rebelliousness must have come from Adrianna.”
“Your father was always a bit untamed.”
“But you loved him.”
Susan smiled wistfully. “Not at first. Back then we banged heads more often than not. I only married him because I was pregnant and alone and felt I had no other options. But I saw his tender side when he stood by me after I lost my little Daniel and then soon after he brought you home I fell hard. He was a little slower to catch on. But once he did we were good together. I’m gonna miss him for a long time.”
Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, Lauryn covered her mother’s hand. Her parents’ marriage hadn’t begun with love, but it had ended there. Could she hope for the same? Or would Adam never forgive her?
The cab pulled to a stop outside Estate. Lauryn paid the driver, climbed from the car and picked up their luggage. “We’ll put these in my office and then find everyone.”
The employee entrance was locked at night and she didn’t have a key to the exterior doors, so she led Susan past the long line of chicly dressed wannabe guests on the wide sidewalk leading to the front door and stopped in front of the massive guard. “Hi, Deke.”
“Lauryn, hey. Been on a trip?”
“Yes, and I brought my mother back with me. Where’s Mrs. Garrison’s birthday party being held?” She tensed and hoped he didn’t refuse to let her in, but he unhooked the rope.
“Upstairs. Red room.”
“Thanks.”
Inside the music from the downstairs DJ pulsed around them. Lauryn turned away from the milling crowd and used her ID to access a locked door to the offices where she deposited their bags behind her desk. She huffed out a breath and squared her shoulders. Nervousness made her almost queasy.
There was no reason to stall before joining the party. She and her mother had changed into suitable attire at the airport. But she was afraid. Afraid she’d lose Adam tonight. If she hadn’t lost him already. But if she didn’t go upstairs and try to make this right then she’d definitely need to kiss her heart and her husband goodbye.
“Lauryn?”
“I’m ready, Mom.” She retrieved the small gift she’d bought for Bonita from her suitcase. “Let’s go crash a party.”
His heart wasn’t in this.
Adam stood on the sidelines of his mother’s birthday bash watching two hundred of Miami’s most powerful movers and shakers mingle or dance to the music pulsing through the speakers in the private upstairs room.
He wasn’t out there working the crowd, slapping backs, shaking hands and trying to win their confidence for the business council nomination. In fact, he didn’t even care whether or not his guests enjoyed themselves. A first for him.
Everyone he’d spoken to had asked for Lauryn. Apparently, her touchy-feely newspaper interview had impressed them.
“Adam,” one of his hostess’s voice broke into his thoughts, “there’s somebody here who insists on speaking to you tonight.”
Lauryn? “Who? Where?”
“By the door.”
Instead of his wife, Adam spotted Ace Martin, the P.I. Disappointment weighted his shoulders. Disappointment he had no business feeling. He’d told Lauryn not to come. For all he knew she could be in California with Saunders spending forty grand right now.
Was he married or wasn’t he? Adam’s muscles tensed, but he forced them into action and crossed the room. Had Ace found the answers? Adam wasn’t sure what he wanted those answers to be or even if they mattered. His marriage was very likely over either way.
Adam extended his hand. “Ace, thanks for coming.”
The P.I. nodded. “Is there someplace private we can talk?”
“My office.” He took the freight elevator rather than the stairs. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to charm the guests he’d encounter in the front of the club, and he didn’t want to get hung up in a conversation with anyone and delay Ace’s revelations even one minute.
The office suite was dark and deserted, but for a second Adam thought he caught a whiff of Lauryn’s perfume. Mind’s playing tricks on you, man. He shook his head. But dammit, he’d missed her. How stupid was that when she’d deceived him and possibly even loved another man?
But when he lay in bed alone at night he kept seeing the honesty in her eyes, and it made him second-guess himself—not a frequent occurrence.
He closed his office door behind Ace.
“Saunders lied,” Ace said without preamble. He pulled a file from his briefcase, opened it and spread copies of documents across Adam’s desk surface. “Your wife’s annulment went through without a hitch. Saunders drugged her just like she said. Medical records backed it up.”
Adrenaline shot through Adam. He and Lauryn were still married. Had her claim that she loved him been a lie?
“Every story you asked me to look into checked out. From all accounts, her father was a tough SOB. Rode her hard throughout her teens. She defied him in the typical teenage ways, but other than some underage drinking, never broke the law—or at least there’s no record of it. Good student. Popular. Typical kid, if a little on the rowdy side during her high school years.
“Adam, I can’t see her being your Garrison, Inc. snitch. Doesn’t fit her character. And there’s no unexplained money trail.”
“What about Saunders?”
“California cops nabbed him yesterday. Dumbnut still had the cash and the forged document on him. He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He’s offering to return the money in exchange for a lesser charge. Our pretty boy’s not too eager to spend more time behind bars. He’s been there before for jacking a few cars and dealing drugs.”
“Was he alone?”
“Yes. No sign of Lauryn.”
Relief coursed through Adam.
Ace closed his briefcase. “Anything else I can do for you?”
Find my wife.
But Adam didn’t ask. Even if Ace found Lauryn the P.I. couldn’t make her forgive Adam or make her stop caring for her ex.
“Nothing else. Thanks for your help.”
“Just doing my job. Nice to find out someone’s innocent for a change.”
Innocent. But Adam had convicted her. He’d been judge, jury and hangman. She probably hated his guts.
He wrote Martin a check and showed him out. The last thing Adam wanted to do was rejoin the party. He wanted to find Lauryn and apologize.
For doubting her.
For not telling her he loved her.
Too little, too late? Probably. But he had to try.
He returned to the red room and walked right in on Jordon and Emilio Jefferies standing nose-to-nose, fists clenched and looking ready to brawl.
Adam could make out the tone of their angry voices as he approached, but not the words. He had bouncers for this kind of crap, but considering Emilio would soon be family Adam decided to handle it rather than call security and have Jordon turfed.
“Jordon, I don’t remember seeing your name on the guest list.” And if the man had a spy planted in Garrison, Inc. then he sure as hell wasn’t welcome here.
“What? You don’t want me to wish your mother a happy sixtieth?”
“If I believed the sentiment was legitimate I might consider it. But I don’t. What do you want?”
Jordon’s blue eyes scanned the room, alighting on a target Adam couldn’t identify in the shifting crowd. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Looking disgusted, he turned on his heel and stormed out.
“Know what that was about?” Adam asked Emilio.
His future brother-in-law hesitated. “No.”
Adam would bet his Beemer Emilio Jefferies knew exactly why his brother was here. But pushing for an answer fell right off Adam’s priority list when he looked across the room and saw the beautiful blonde standing with his mother and Brooke.
Lauryn had come home.
“You look like her,” Bonita Garrison said before Lauryn could escape after delivering the birthday gift and good wishes.
“Who?” Lauryn asked absently. She noted the worried expression on Brooke Garrison’s face as Adam’s sister stared across the room and looked to see what had caught her attention. Emilio Jefferies and Adam. Adam. Lauryn’s heart thumped harder, faster and her palms moistened.