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abuse would be long and arduous, but James Colby, Jr., was a strong man. Plus, he had a woman who loved him at his side. Tasha North, the undercover agent who had gotten close to him before his true identity was known, had fallen deeply in love with him. Victoria suspected that the next wedding she attended would be her son’s. But he had a ways to go yet. The nightmares were still an ever present part of his life and he still suffered memory lapses.
Time was all he needed.
Victoria pushed away from her desk and strolled toward the kitchen of her new home. She and Lucas had decided that a new home was in order. Her son had asked her to keep the lake house, though she wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to go there from time to time. Whatever it took to make him happy was all that mattered. She’d sold her small home in the gated community where she’d lived since her first husband’s death. That home had been a place of slow healing, of coming to terms with the cruel fate she’d been dealt. She wanted her life with Lucas to begin in a new place where memories would be made, not relived.
The lovely home, only thirty minutes from her office, was not only large and sunny, it was also in the midst of a quiet neighborhood where security gates and guards weren’t necessary. She no longer felt the need for such extreme measures. The devil she had feared so long was no more.
The only thing that wasn’t as it should be just now was work. She’d returned to the office for a few weeks, but Lucas wasn’t quite ready to share her so completely. He’d promised to take another month off after their wedding if she would. How could she turn down an offer like that? Lucas Camp taking a month off from work in addition to the time he’d already taken for their wedding? That might not happen again in this lifetime. In truth, she could use some more time with her son. They’d lost a great deal of that precious commodity, she wanted to make up for every minute and then some. She had a competent staff who could take care of things a while longer.
She found Lucas in the kitchen preparing an afternoon snack tray of fruit and cheese. The wine was already breathing on the counter. Another smile tugged the corners of her mouth upward. Who would have guessed that he would be so domesticated? It just didn’t get better than this.
“Surely you haven’t finished all those thank-you cards already?” Lucas teased as she joined him at the kitchen’s generous island. He’d tried to talk her into allowing her secretary, Mildred, to help her with the work of responding to all the gifts they had received, but Victoria refused. She wanted to attend to each one personally, even if getting around to it had been a long time coming.
“I’m making headway,” she allowed, determined not to let him know just how slowly the process was going.
“Ian called,” Lucas told her.
She’d heard the phone ring but had assumed it was for Lucas. “Really?” Anticipation percolated through her. She did so miss her work. “Is everything all right at the office?” It was Saturday, the office was closed. Or it was supposed to be, unless a case had gone awry. A twinge of anxiety quickly followed the path the anticipation had taken.
A muscle in Lucas’s jaw flexed once, twice, before he answered. Not good. “Everything’s fine. It’s just that a new client contacted Ian when he couldn’t reach either you or Mildred.”
Their home had a new telephone number, one the few clients she gave her personal number to wouldn’t have, and Mildred was spending the holiday weekend with her niece, Angel. With no children of her own, Mildred thought of Angel as a daughter…thought of her child as a grandchild.
Putting her reflections aside, Victoria asked, “Did Ian mention a name?” She knew Lucas was being purposely evasive. At this rate he’d never be ready for her to return to work permanently. It was more than simply his desire to be with her. He wanted to protect her, she’d suffered a great deal. But, he also fully understood how she felt. She would not allow her agency to suffer.
“Senator William Lester from Texas.”
Bill? Victoria frowned. She hadn’t spoken to him in years. Not since his daughter had gone missing. They’d feared kidnapping, but no ransom had come. The FBI couldn’t garner any leads so Bill had come to the Colby Agency. It hadn’t taken Victoria’s top-notch staff long to determine that the somewhat rebellious girl had run away with dreams of becoming an actress before bothering with college. She’d come home willingly and had since turned into a fine young lady, graduating from her father’s alma mater at the top of her class. She’d simply been young and gullible and hoped to spread her wings a little more than her strict father had allowed. She’d lived and learned. Luckily. Considering the young people who went missing every day and turned up dead, it could have ended very differently. Victoria knew firsthand.
“What’s going on with the senator?” Victoria prodded since Lucas didn’t appear compelled to fill her in.
His hands stilled in their work of arranging grapes on the tray. “We don’t know.” His solemn gaze met hers. “He won’t talk to anyone but you.”
Renewed anticipation soared through Victoria. “Well, I suppose I’d better get to the office then.”
“He and Ian are on their way here.”
Victoria took Lucas’s hand in hers. “Thank you. I know you don’t want to allow work to intrude right now. I appreciate your patience.”
Lucas pulled her into his arms and her heart fluttered at the strength he emanated. “I knew what I was getting into when I married you, Victoria.” He smiled, the intensity of it made her quiver with pleasure. “Your loyalty to your staff and clients is part of what I love about you. I just want to be sure it’s safe for you to dive fully back into work.”
She tensed ever so slightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice, but, of course, he did. “Lucas, I’m aware that you still feel there are unanswered questions. I appreciate the concern, but Leberman is dead, what difference does it make how he gleaned his information about us?”
“It may not make any,” Lucas conceded. “But I have to be certain. There is no margin for error when dealing with a man like Leberman.”
She nodded. “I don’t disagree with that assessment and I’ve consented to this additional leave. However,” she dreaded his reaction to the next part, “eventually I’ll be returning to work unless you have overwhelming evidence that persuades me to do otherwise.”
“Understood,” he relented, almost too easily. Did he know something already? Had he discovered some new evidence that had prompted him to insist on this additional leave? He would tell her in his own time. “Now, let’s take the wine and the tray into the parlor and await our guests.”
Within moments of their settling, the doorbell rang. Lucas greeted Ian and the senator and escorted them to the parlor. Victoria banished thoughts of Leberman and his evil legacy back to some rarely visited recess of her mind.
“Victoria, I apologize for the intrusion,” Ian said, clearly torn between doing the right thing for the agency and following the strict orders Lucas had issued.
“It’s perfectly fine, Ian.”
“Victoria.” The senator embraced her briefly. “It’s wonderful to see you.”
“You’re looking well, Bill,” she returned. “How’s that lovely daughter of yours?”
“Getting married in June,” he beamed. “Her fiancé is in politics as well.”
“That’s wonderful,” Victoria enthused. “I’m sure you’re very proud.”
“Have a seat, Senator,” Lucas suggested, “and I’ll do the honors.” He gestured to the refreshments he’d prepared.
When they were seated, Lucas served the wine. Ian, as she had known he would, declined since, for all intents and purposes, he was on duty.
Victoria savored her wine as Lucas and Bill conversed about the current political climate in Texas as well as Washington. She could simply sit and watch her husband for hours on