As her lips parted he laid his fingers against them, leaned close, and simply whispered. “I know.”
CHAPTER 12
It was midnight before the senator’s party finally began to wind down and Jordan decided it was time to make their exit. The hours had been spent dancing, chatting, and socializing. The Taites were present, moving around them yet never actually confronting Jordan again.
“Ah, I see you’re leaving, Jordan.” Still bright-eyed and energetic, the senator met them at the wide double doors as they neared them.
“It’s that time, Richard,” Jordan answered with a grin as he drew Tehya closer to his side. “I have several meetings tomorrow that I’d prefer not to be late to.”
“I completely understand.” The senator gave a quick nod before bending his head to kiss Tehya’s cheek fondly. “Come see us soon, Teylor. As always, you’re missed.”
The farewell was a message as well. That she didn’t have to wait until the operation was over to visit. That they were friends.
“We would love to see more of you, Tey.” Emily Krieger reinforced her father’s invitation, using the shortened version of her name to remind her that Emily knew not just who she was, but also who she had been.
“Perhaps,” Tehya murmured, though she returned Emily’s hug firmly and thankfully.
She knew that once this was over, if she survived it, that she would need a friend. Someone who could understand without reaching out to Jordan with a guilt trip where leaving Tehya was concerned.
Tehya knew exactly how the unit worked and the friendships that had been built because of it. They were, in many regards, like a family.
“We’ll see you soon, Richard,” Jordan promised again as his hand tightened at Tehya’s lower back to draw her from the house. “And thanks again for the invitation.”
Guests were already milling on the mansion’s marble front stoop and wide steps that led to the curved driveway and the limousines slowly pulling around.
As Nik pulled the limo to a stop, exited the vehicle, and moved to the back door, Jordan led her slowly down the steps. Her hand lay in the crook of his arm comfortably, the warmth of his body against her side.
Behind her, she felt eyes watching, piercing.
The feeling was stronger than it had been before Jordan found her. The panic was beginning to tighten her chest, building inside her, warning her that the storm brewing around her was going to explode at any time.
Turning slowly in the seat, she sat sideways, facing Jordan, her gaze moving to the crowd gathering on the marble stoop.
Standing out from the other guests, instantly drawing her gaze, their eyes locked on Jordan’s limo, were Stephen and Craig Taite.
Staring into Stephen Taite’s face, she saw his resemblance to the pictures she had seen of her grandfather, and a slighter resemblance to her mother. Craig Taite resembled her mother more, though. His tall, lanky form was a harder, more masculine, male version of Francine Taite.
Thoughtful, perhaps confused, Stephen’s expression was almost enigmatic as his gaze remained locked on the back of the limo, as though he were attempting to sort out a puzzle.
His son’s expression was more disapproving, though tinged with interest and a hint of—was that somber sadness and knowledge? Or was she simply seeing what she wanted to see? Seeing a family when there was none?
She forced herself to turn away, to let the sight of them go as her mother’s secret whispered through her mind. She held the key to the destruction of the Taite empire, and she had forced herself to remain aloof from them, to push away every dream she had ever had, to ensure not just their safety, but also the balance of financial power they had maintained.
Her family.
Her mother had grieved for her family. Tehya remembered the few months off and on that she and her mother had been able to actually be together, and she remembered hearing her mother cry.
They had been lost in the world, separated when Bernard Taite and his wife had died. Francine had been too terrified to call on what remained of her family after her parents’ murders certain that they too would suffer if she did so.
“Tey.” Jordan’s voice was soft, despite its roughness as he pulled her to him. “It’s going to be okay.”
She shook her head as she fought back her tears. “Mother grieved for everything she had lost over the years. She called when she learned of my grandparents’ deaths, hysterical out of her mind with guilt because she had called them, begging for their help. Their deaths were made to look like an accident with the hit and run that killed my grandfather. It appeared my grandmother committed suicide. Even the officers investigating knew there was more to their deaths. There was just no proof.”
Was she shaking? She could feel her stomach trembling where that sense of panic was building.
“Tehya, stop this.” Strong, broad fingers suddenly gripped her waist as he lifted her, pulling her to his lap before a hand cupped her cheek and turned her head to face him.
His eyes were a brilliant sapphire, staring into hers, locking her soul to his.