Sins of the Father (29 page)

Chapter
21

Alicia rolled over in
bed, instantly aware she was alone. Her hand moved automatically to
the space where Brad should have been. It was cold. She shook away
the hurt that wanted to take root. He didn’t owe her anything,
hadn’t promised her he’d be there when she woke up. If it stung
that he’d left in the middle of the night, she’d just have to get
over it.

When she moved, filling
the cold, empty space, his scent bombarded her senses. She
remembered the gentle way he’d made love to her the second time,
and sighed. Her muscles were loose and relaxed. She couldn’t regret
the night they’d spent together, however he felt.

Stretching in
contentment, despite the coolness at her back, she decided to
search him out. They had to face each other eventually.

She found him in the
kitchen. For a moment, she just stood and stared. The way he
prepared the eggs reminded her of how skilled those hands could be.
He looked so sexy with his hair still damp from a shower that she
had to bite down on a groan.

“
Good
morning,” she said brightly, walking into what she was beginning to
think of as his domain.

“
Good
morning.” He waved a hand towards the table he’d prepared. “It’s
Betty’s day off so I decided to indulge myself.”

“
So I
see.”

His look turned
speculative at her tone. “I thought you could use a good breakfast
before you get to the paper. Maybe you should sit down.”

She accepted the coffee
he held up, amused by the pile of articles he’d laid out. “Let me
guess… they found out about Jack?”

“
How did you
know?”

“
I knew
they’d work it out, especially now. Not even Sarah can kill that
story.”

Brad shrugged as he
placed the paper in front of her. “You may as well get it over
with, then.”

She took a sip of coffee
and reached for the first article, scanning the words; a habit
she’d picked up early on in her career.

CO-STARS AND
CO-CONSPIRATORS

Alicia Gladstone and Jack
Murphy’s secret is

out. Their controversial
relationship can finally

be explained by the fact
they are related. The pair…

Alicia rolled her eyes,
reaching for a slice of toast before she moved on.

GLADSTONE OR
MURPHY?

Alicia Gladstone has made
the front pages again today.

This time it is nothing
to do with her mysterious stalker,

or the suspension of her
latest project…

Jack Murphy, the young
star of Enemy Lines, may not have

made it big starring
alongside Alicia Gladstone after being

dropped from the
film…

“
Dropped from
the film, my ass,” she muttered skipping ahead.

Sources now say they are
brother and sister, reunited after

years…

Alicia flinched at the
sound of the phone, until she realised it was exactly what was
missing – it should have been ringing off the hook. Before she
could puzzle it out, Brad was calling to her.

“
It’s Jack.”
He held out the handset when she jumped off the stool and walked
towards him.

“
Hi, Jack.
Did you enjoy your early morning read?”

“
I haven’t
got to the papers yet, but I’ve seen the news.”

“
Busted,” she
said, making him laugh. The rich sound rumbled down the phone line
and soothed her nerves. She hadn’t realised until then how worried
she was about his reaction.

“
I’m glad the
cat’s out of the bag.”

“
Me too. I
suppose we should prepare a joint statement.”

“
Actually,
that’s one of the reasons I called. A producer from the Matt and
Zane show called to ask us for an interview. Our phone has been
ringing off the hook.”

“
I know Zane
quite well. I’ll give him a call.” Alicia’s priority was to their
fans. She knew a reputable show would allow them to share their
side of the story.

“
Great, I’ve
been thinking about it, and by the time I get out of here it’ll be
old news so you should probably do it without me.”

“
Nah, if we
do it while you’re still in crutches we might clinch the sympathy
vote.”

“
You’re
terrible!”

“
Seriously,
Jack, if we do this we do it together.”

“
A united
front.”

“
Something
like that.”

He let out a breath,
belying his own relief. “All right, but I’ll let you handle
it.”

“
Thanks,
Jack.”

“
Okay, now
we’ve covered one of my reasons for calling, let’s move on to the
important part. Tell me about last night. How did it
go?”

“
The party
was great. The only thing missing was you, baby brother.” She met
Brad’s eyes and smiled knowingly. “It was just what the doctor
ordered.”

Brad’s eyebrows
disappeared under a lock of hair. She wiggled her own, stifling a
bark of laughter at the derisive sound Jack made in her ear. “Why
do I get the feeling you’re talking about something
else?”

She wasn’t quite sure how
to respond to that, so it was a relief to hear Stuart’s voice a
moment before the front door slammed shut.

“
Al?”

“
In here. I
have to go, hon. Stuart just got in and he sounds
pissed.”

“
Okay, you
can tell me about it later. Don’t keep me hanging.”

“
I’ll call
soon.”

She turned to Stuart with
a forced brightness. “Bad morning?”

“
I’ve been
trying to reach you for over an hour. If you had a secretary like
everyone else we wouldn’t have this problem.”

She laughed. “Like
everyone else? Most people don’t have the luxury or the need for
someone to run their lives.”

“
At least I’d
be able to contact you,” Stuart countered grumpily.

“
Why didn’t
you use my cell?”

“
I
did.”

“
Oh.” Alicia
smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

“
You need to
be more organised, Al. Do I look like a secretary?”

“
No, you look
like my friend. But now I’m confused, do I need a secretary or do
you feel like one?”

He ran a hand through his
hair, sighing out a frustrated breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just that
I’ve been buffering calls all morning, and you were the one who
insisted Sarah took the morning off. I don’t know what we’ll do
when she-”

Alicia held up a hand.
“All right, all right, I’ll deal with it. Now why don’t you tell me
why you arrived here with a bug up your ass?”

Brad almost choked on a
mouthful of coffee. He’d been trying to blend into the enormous
space and was doing a pretty good job of it until then.

Stuart glanced at him in
surprise. His eyes dropped to the cup in Brad’s hand and came back
to his face again. “Any chance of a cup?” he asked, moving further
into the room.

“
Sure.” Brad
turned towards the coffee and poured two cups. He handed them out
and stepped back again.

“
Thanks.”
Stuart turned to Alicia. “Okay, let’s start again. I’m here to pass
on a message from Larry Edwards. He wants to do an interview for
Movie Dome.”

“
When?”

“
Tomorrow, if
possible.”

Alicia blinked in
surprise. “You’re kidding?”

“
I left an
important meeting and rushed over here with, how did you put it, a
bug up my ass, so what do you think? I owe Larry a favour – he
called it in.”

Alicia was thoughtful for
a moment. “I suppose it could work if we set up a video-link. I
need Jack to be involved too.”

“
So you’ll do
it?”

“
Of course
I’ll do it.” She put a hand on his arm. “And I’ll tell you what
else I’ll do.”

“
Turn on that
damned mobile phone,” he said, and laughed.

“
Speaking of
phones, why didn’t you use the house number?”

“
I did. It
was constantly engaged.”

“
Ah, that
would be my fault,” Brad said, looking uncomfortable. “We’ve been
monitoring calls, as you’re aware. I was paged this morning at 6am
with a report of unusual activity. I made the decision to divert
calls to my team, and transfer the legitimate calls to the house.”
He smiled at the irony in his statement. “I’m sure they weren’t
terminating your calls purposely.”

“
Ha.” Stuart
slapped him on the back in good humour. “I didn’t expect any less.
It’s quite a story we have on our hands.” He wiggled his eyebrows
in Alicia’s direction. “Okay, I’ll speak to Larry and set it up.
See you tonight.”

As she watched him drain
the coffee, she felt a wave of love for him. “You should slow down
and take a moment to taste the things you pour down your neck.” She
was serious now when she reached for his hand. “I mean it, Stu.
Stop worrying about everyone else and look out for number one for a
change. You’re one of my role models… I am who I am partly because
of that.”

“
But it’s
ingrained in me, sweet girl. At least you have the advantage of
youth.” He bent down to kiss her cheek. “Let people pick up the
slack now and then. You don’t want to end up like me – with an
ulcer the size of Manhattan.”

She walked him to the
door, knowing no amount of words would get him to slow down. Yet
she had to try. “Let’s eat together this evening.”

“
Sounds like
a plan.” He flicked the end of her nose. “Turn your phone
on.”

When she returned to the
kitchen, Brad looked at her in that intense way he had. “You
thought I’d tiptoed out of your bed in the middle of the night
didn’t you?”

Her mouth turned up into
what was dangerously close to a smirk. “I can’t imagine you
tiptoeing anywhere. But it did cross my mind you were regretting
last night.”

He reached for the ends
of her belt and pulled her towards him. “I don’t regret anything
about last night, and apparently I’m better at multi-tasking than I
thought.”

He caught her chuckle
with his mouth, lifting her off her toes as the kiss
deepened.

“
Good
morning,” she said on a sigh when he released her.

He rewarded her with one
of his knockout smiles. “It is now. Why don’t we sit? Your
breakfast is getting cold.”

It felt like the most
natural thing in the world when he took her hand in his. He had to
remind himself to find a balance in their relationship. He couldn’t
go back, not when his every instinct was to touch her, but he
couldn’t forget he had a job to do. He just needed to find his
footing.

They started with
breakfast. He enjoyed listening to her, watching her come alive
when she told a story. He would never tire of it. Her ability to
adapt was one of the things he loved about her; his own rigidity
was both a blessing and a curse.

***

Brad spent the first half
of the team briefing dodging questions. They had all detected the
change in his mood. He couldn’t hide from his family; they had been
party to his inner struggles, even if they didn’t understand them
fully. For the first time in days he was glad Kelvin sat behind a
screen, a relative ghost in their meeting, because if he looked
into his face he would know exactly what had caused those
changes.

They had a new case,
which had to be juggled with their existing workload, especially
given the number of resources they were already using. He gave the
lead to Tommy and Elizabeth, not only because they had the right
skills, but also because they were the most experienced at juggling
a dozen balls in the air at once.

He was sorry to move
their base of operations, but the mobile unit was needed elsewhere
and he had been monopolising their manpower
considerably.

After they had wrapped
things up, Brad walked across the driveway to relieve the two men
on guard duty outside the house.

He found Alicia in the
garden – her usual hiding place. She was growing impatient at being
housebound.

She looked up as he
approached, smiling at the easy way he moved. It still amazed her,
how all that towering strength could be so controlled, so
graceful.

“
How’s the
team?” she asked, crossing to meet him on the path.

He grinned down at her.
“Hoping for another invitation - for some strange reason they
enjoyed being James’ guinea pigs.”

“
Understandable, I’d be James’ slave if I could.”

“
Did I ever
tell you I’m a pretty good cook?” He took her hand as they
continued their walk in the garden.

“
You happened
to mention it,” she said, grinning slyly. “But I have a better use
for those hands right now!”