Chapter 1

Diana Redfield stood against the wall in her hostess’ large living room, gripping her glass of red wine as she watched all the people talking.  Smiling.  Gesturing while they talked and occasionally spilling their drinks when they forgot they were holding a glass of wine or beer or a cocktail.

She glanced down at the floor, smiling when she realized it was hardwood.  Clearly, Helen had thrown enough parties that she knew better than holding them in a carpeted room.

A man stepped out from a group of people, and Diana’s gaze froze on him.  She hadn’t seen him at any of Helen’s other parties, but there was something… compelling about him that drew her attention.  He was speaking to a man, someone Diana didn’t know, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from mystery guy.

He wasn’t the most good-looking guy in the room — that honor went to Helen’s husband, Ryan.  But there was something about him that made her heart stutter in her chest.  Something that drew her eyes and refused to let her look away.

Was it his confidence?  His easy smile?  The tousled hair that was the opposite of his bespoke suit and expensive shoes — as if he’d run his hand through the light brown waves more than once tonight.

Huh.  After the party, she’d have to ask Helen who he was.

Dragging her gaze away from Mystery Guy, she located one of the trays set up to collect empty glasses.  If she was staring at a stranger, it was time to leave.  She began to make her way to Helen to say goodbye when a man stepped in front of her.  She stopped abruptly, and a splash of red wine slopped over the edge of her half-empty glass.

Irritated, she scowled up at him.  Froze.  It was Mystery Guy.

“Sorry,” he said, reaching for the glass.  His jacket sleeve rode up, exposing a pricey Patek Phillippe watch.  “Let me get you a fresh one.”

As she stared at his blue eyes, her heart jolted in her chest and a disturbance in the force rippled through her.  “No, thanks,” she said a little too sharply.  Her reaction to this guy shocked her.  Made her wary.  “I was just getting ready to leave.”

He frowned.  “You can’t leave yet.  The party’s just getting interesting.”

Was he saying that because he was talking to her?  For a moment, pleasure pinged in her chest.  Then she drew in a deep breath.  After a glass and a half of wine, she didn’t have the bandwidth to be careful with a good-looking guy who rang her chimes.

He was a head taller than her — taller than he’d seemed from across the room, and she tightened her hand on the glass.  His height just made him more attractive.  As a tall woman, she appreciated tall men.  For God’s sake, Diana.  Get a hold of yourself.

He held out his hand.  “I’m Cormac,” he said.

If she didn’t give him her name, she’d be rude.  So she shook his hand and said, “I’m Diana.”  A sharp current flashed from his hand to hers, shocking her, and she slid her hand away from his.  The glitzy, expensive watch flashed on his wrist.  “How do you know Helen and Ryan?” she asked, desperate to distract herself from that zing.

“I’ve done some business with Ryan,” he said.  “We got to be friends.  How about you?”

“I’ve known Helen for years,” she said.  “We’re in a book club together.”

“Ah.  One of Helen’s book club friends.”

“That would be me,” Diana said, looking for scorn in his face but saw only interest.

“You have a job where you have lots of time to read?” he asked her.

“No,” she said.  “I put in long hours, so I have to work to fit it in every month.”

“And what do you do in those long hours?” he asked.

“I’m in law enforcement,” she said, watching for his reaction.

“A public servant,” he said, raising one eyebrow.

“Very much so.”  She studied him and tilted her head.  “How about you?  What do you do?”

“I have a software company.  Not the most exciting job in the world, but I love what I do.”  He nodded at her glass.  “Sure I can’t get you another glass of wine?” he said with a smile.

“Positive,” she said, ignoring the tiny jolt that smile caused in her chest.  “I’ve had my quota for the night.”

He frowned.  “Are you on call tonight?”

“I’m on call most nights,” she said.  “It’s part of the job.”

He frowned.  “You don’t get any down time?  Doesn’t that violate the labor laws?”

She laughed.  “Afraid not.  It’s what I signed up for.”

Just then his phone rang, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket.  Frowned when he saw who it was.  “Excuse me,” he said.  “I have to take this.  It’s my son.”

“Of course you do,” she said.  “I’ll give you some privacy.”

She moved to the side to step around him, but he moved with her, so he was blocking her path.  Staring at him, wondering what he was doing, she turned around and walked away.  Made her way to one of the trays set up for empty glasses, then began to head toward Helen to say goodbye.

But before she could reach her friend, Cormac stepped in front of her again.  “I’m really sorry about that.  I wouldn’t normally take a call when I was talking to someone, but it was my son.”

“Completely understandable.  Of course you had to take it,” she said.  “Is everything okay?”

He shoved his hand through his hair, leaving the curls disordered.  “Actually, no.  He was arrested and he’s in jail.  I have to go bail him out.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.  “Is he okay?”

“Just shaken up.”  He sucked in a deep breath.  “The police said that since this was his second offense in a short period of time, he’d have to stay in jail tonight.  Face a judge in the morning.”

She frowned.  “So how are you going to get him out tonight?”

“I’ll flash some money at them.  Pay his bail in cash.  Make a big donation to the police benevolent society.  I’m sure they’ll let him go.”

She’d thought Corman was attractive.  Charming.  Now she realized he was neither of those.

“Good luck with that,” she said, her voice flat.  Diana knew the D.C. police department.  Cormac was in for a rude awakening if he thought throwing money around was going to impress the D.C. cops.  But she’d let him find that out for himself.

“All the best to your son,” she said.  He’d need it.

He nodded, but didn’t meet her gaze.  “Second time in a month he’s been arrested for the same thing.  It’s becoming a pattern, and I don’t like it.  Maybe I should leave him there overnight.  Let him think about what he did and why it was so dangerous.”

What could she say?  “That’s a tough decision,” she murmured.  She wanted to tell him that throwing his money around wasn’t going to impress the D.C. cops.  “I know he’s your kid.  But if this is the second time whatever has happened in just a month, maybe spending the night in jail would be the right decision.  A wake-up call.  Might make him think twice before he does it again.”  Just this week, she’d dealt with a rich guy who’d thought he could buy her off to prevent her from arresting his kid for terroristic threats against his school.

“I’ve always thought that a little trouble isn’t such a bad thing when a kid is in his late teens and early twenties,” she finally said.  “It introduces him to the real world where everyone has to learn that actions have consequences.  Scare them straight, as it were.”

Cormac scowled at her.  “You have any kids?” he asked.

“No,” she said with a hard smile.

“Then don’t talk about shit you know nothing about.  If you have a kid, you want to protect him.  Help him.  Smooth things over for him.”

“Yes,” she said.  “Of course, any good parent would want to do that.  But if you pull strings to help a child get out of trouble, what are you teaching them?  That daddy’s money will fix their problems?  That they’re not accountable, that they can do whatever they want because their family has money?  When you do that, you’re not teaching them all the things people need to learn in order to be successful in life.”

Cormac made a scoffing noise in his throat.  “They have their whole lives to learn that.”

Anger stirred in Diana’s belly.  This guy was a jerk.  “Yes, they do.  But if they don’t face consequences for their actions now, what do you think that’s teaching them?”

“That money fixes things,” Cormac said immediately.  “That’s why you go to college and get a job where you earn decent money.”

Diana’s temper was running hot now.  “Wow,” she said.  “How is that building their character?  Teaching them integrity?  Making them strong?”

“They learn that from their parents,” Cormac snapped back at her.

Diana was done playing nice.  “Parents who pay their kids’ way out of trouble?  Who teach them that money’s the most important thing in life?  More important than personal integrity and honesty?”  She shrugged.  “In my experience, they just get into more serious trouble as adults.  Trouble that money can’t fix.

“I have nieces and nephews,” she continued when Cormac opened his mouth.  “I’ve never pulled strings to get them out of trouble, and my sister and brother have never asked me to do that.  And those kids?”

She smiled as she thought of her nieces and nephews.  “They’re all in their late teens and early twenties.  And they’re great people.  Responsible.  Generous.  They volunteer at homeless shelters.  At animal shelters.  At soup kitchens.  And I can assure you that when they get into trouble, and like most kids, all of them have, neither the kids nor their parents ever asked me to pull strings for them.  And they all knew I could have.”

“So you’re a big shot in the D.C. police department?” Cormac scoffed.  “Big fucking deal.”

Diana’s lips twitched, but she refused to give into the impulse to laugh at him.  “I wouldn’t go that far.  But I do have some… authority.  Some weight in law enforcement.”

“Well, Diana, we’re gonna have to agree to disagree.  My kids, my solutions.”

“Of course, Cormac.  Parents bear the responsibility for raising their kids.  Not single women who never had to make those kinds of tough decisions.”  She tucked her hands behind her back, because she really didn’t want to shake Cormac’s hand again.  The good-looking guy had turned out to be quite ugly.  “Good luck with your two kids.  I want to say good luck with raising them to be responsible adults, but I suspect that would offend you.  So I’ll leave it at good luck.”

As she walked away, she felt his gaze boring into her back.  She didn’t care.  To quote Cormac, she didn’t give a shit.  He was a nice-looking guy.  Interesting, too, until they started talking about his kids.  At that point, his whole ‘I’ll use my money to get them out of trouble’ thing became disturbing.  She could have recited statistics about the people her agents had arrested, and their rap sheets as teens, but why waste her breath?  Cormac wasn’t interested in what she had to say.  And that was too bad for his kids.

As Diana walked away, her low heels clicking on the hardwood floor, Cormac stared after the tall woman with dark blond hair, dressed in a well-cut gray suit with a cream-colored blouse that he’d bet was silk.  She was damn opinionated, and her opinions were the opposite of his.  But an uncomfortable part of him acknowledged that she was right.  He wasn’t doing Josh any favors by trying to buy his way out of trouble.

As she approached Helen, he wanted to run after her.  Ask for a do-over.  But it was too late.  He’d screwed up with Diana, and losing the opportunity to see her again was his penance.

Watching until she disappeared, he headed for Helen and Ryan and said his goodbyes.  Then trotted out the door and into his car, setting the navigation to the police station where Josh was in a cell.

* * *

One week later

Diana’s phone rang, and she picked it up.  “What’s up, Bethany?”

“There’s a representative from Joju security company here,” her receptionist said briskly.  “Mr. Doyle.  He has an appointment to talk to you about the computer security system you’re looking to buy.”

She glanced at her calendar, saw that she had an appointment with the Joju representative.  “Go ahead and send him in,” she said.

The door opened and a man walked into the room as Diana stood up and reached out to shake his hand.  He was tall.  Light brown hair and blue eyes.  Wearing a bespoke suit and a Patek Phillippe watch.

Diana dropped her hand to her side.  It was Cormac from Helen’s party.  The involuntary tug of attraction unsettled her.  Made her stare at him for far too long.

He was staring right back, the expression on his face pure shock.