Hot Item (Hot Zone 3)

The color drained from Spencer’s face. Riley forced back the wave of guilt. After all, he wasn’t the one who’d denied the relationship for years.

“I can see where having

a gay father would be an embarrassment.”

Riley shook his head. “You’ve got it wrong. I could care less. But Harlan’s my father and he’s spent his life preparing for a run for Washington. The fact is that his constituency is solid right wing and I’m only looking to protect him.”

Something suspiciously like pride flashed in Spencer’s eyes. “He raised you well.”

Riley inclined his head.

“Then he not only has my gratitude but my promise. I won’t interfere with his campaign in any way.”

In other words, Spencer wouldn’t publicly claim Riley as his son and that’s all he needed from this man.

He glanced at Sophie. “I’ll meet you outside.”

Her eyes were damp as she nodded.

Riley walked out the door, knowing he’d gotten what he came for. Neither his life nor his stepfather’s life would change in any way. But instead of the relief and satisfaction he expected, Riley only felt a bone-deep emptiness.

CHAPTER SEVEN

SOPHIE LOOKED at the man she’d known all her life. Suddenly Spencer’s hair seemed grayer, the grooves in his face deeper.

“I don’t know you at all,” she said, the disappointment growing inside her.

He’d always treated her differently than her sisters, with more affection and respect, as if he’d sensed how much she’d needed his attention. But in light of all she’d learned in the past few days, she no longer took pride in his special treatment. Not after the pain she’d heard in Riley’s voice and seen in his eyes.

“You know me better than most,” Spencer said, his voice grim.

“That’s not saying much, now is it?” Within the offices of Athletes Only and at home among family, nobody held back any punches. Sophie wasn’t about to do so now. “As far as work goes, I need you home if you still want a business to return to.” She filled him in on the details and problems he’d left behind. “Now for the rest. Keeping your sexual preferences private is one thing. Denying your only son is another. How could you?”

He paused, as if searching for a way to explain. “It’s all part and parcel of the same thing. Do you think that boy deserved my baggage? The news was bound to come out someday. Don’t you think he deserves to be known for his achievements and not his father’s issues?”

“You’re saying you denied him in order to spare him potential embarrassment?” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Didn’t he just admit as much by asking me not to acknowledge him now?”

“He did no such thing!” Sophie pounded her fist on a metal desk, her frustration mounting. “If you’d done right by him all along, this wouldn’t be an issue. His stepfather would have worked his way around any pitfalls as Riley grew up. Instead you left a bombshell for them all to deal with whenever it might explode. You set Riley up as a boy who wasn’t worthy of his father’s love and now he’s a man who thinks he never will be. He’s standing by the only family he’s known and that’s admirable, but at what expense?” She blew out a puff of air, knowing that anything she said couldn’t change the past.

“I did what I thought was best. That’s what parents do for their children. Someday you’ll see that for yourself.”

She doubted she’d have that chance given her hangups, but that wasn’t her concern right now. “I can’t imagine what it’s been like to keep your secrets,” she said, softening her tone. “But I hope you’ll find a way to fix things, if not for yourself then for Riley.”

“The best thing I can do is to give him what he asked for. Nothing.”

Sophie swallowed hard. “I disagree. Statistics show that children need their parents.”

His hand cupped her shoulder in the fatherly way he’d always done. “Statistics aren’t emotions. That’s something else you need to learn for yourself.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Darla and Rose interrupted them, the commotion they caused disrupting the entire precinct. Both women wore wet bikinis covered by towels. Their makeup ran beneath their eyes and their hair was matted around their heads.

Sophie sighed. Riley might want to deny this part of the family, but they were vibrant and chaotic, independent and refreshing, much like Riley himself. And something told her that he needed them if he was ever going to release the hold he kept on his heart.

LEAVING SPENCER with the convicts, Riley and Sophie drove home in silence. Either she knew better than to ask questions about how he was feeling or she was equally disturbed herself. Either way, they’d gotten what they came for, Riley thought. It was time to go home.

But not before he finished the night with Sophie. She entered the house ahead of him and immediately headed for the kitchen and pulled a bottle of chilled wine from the fridge.