A Beauty Uncovered (Secrets of Eden 2)

How long had it taken him to recover from all those injuries?

Sam looked over at the heavy, closed door to his office. Maybe he hadn’t recovered at all. Just physically.

Finally, a chime sounded at Sam’s computer. She looked down to see an email in her inbox from Brody. It was a forwarded message. His instructions were for her to print the attachments out on the color printer and bring them to him.

Sam scrolled down to the forwarded email. It was from a man named Mickey who worked at Top Secret Private Investigators. The note was brief in the email.

Hey, Brody. Here’s what you asked for. Nothing newsworthy on this one. Didn’t I run a background check on a secretary for you a few weeks ago? You’re going through them like tissue paper, man. Hope this one works out better for you. Let me know if you need anything else.

Sam’s stomach sank. Attached to the email was a background investigation on a woman named Deborah Wilder. From Mickey’s message, it sounded like this Deborah woman was her replacement. Because despite what he told her Saturday night, he was going to use her and toss her away like Luke had.

Tears stung Sam’s eyes as she opened the file and pressed the button to print the paperwork as requested. The first page had a picture of the woman. She was thirtysomething with dark hair and a round face. A little chubby. Not particularly attractive, but not unattractive, either. DMV photos were never the most flattering.

Sam’s hands were shaking as she picked the pages up off the printer. Looking into the brown eyes of her replacement fueled a fire in her stomach that turned her tears into anger. How dare he ask her to print out the information on her replacement! Was that his way of breaking the news to her? He couldn’t even tell her face-to-face?

She snatched the last page of the background check off the machine and pivoted on her heel toward his office. She slung the heavy door open, sending it banging against the wall and swinging back.

Brody stood up, startled, when he heard the racket. His smile of greeting immediately faded into a concerned frown when he saw the furious expression on Sam’s face.

“What the hell is this?” she asked, holding the pages up. “Is this how you planned to get rid of me? You can’t even tell me to my face?”

The lines of confusion in Brody’s forehead deepened as she spoke. Then his gaze darted to the papers in her hand and the photograph of Deborah Wilder on top. “Now, hold on,” he began, but Sam didn’t listen.

“You know, I believed you when you said you wouldn’t sleep with me and toss me aside. Ignorant of me, right? Stupid, trusting Samantha always believes what men tell her.”

“Just stop!” Brody yelled over her tirade.

Sam quieted down, but she was far from calm. Her heart was pounding, and her cheeks were hot and flush.

Brody turned to his computer and swore at the screen. “I forwarded you the wrong message,” he explained. “I wanted you to print out the quarterly financial reports.”

That didn’t make Sam feel any better. “So you’re still replacing me, but you didn’t want me to know yet. Nice.”

“No,” he insisted. “You’re not being fired. Or replaced. I don’t want you to go anywhere, Sam. Why would you think I would do that to you after everything that happened between us?”

Sam straightened the paperwork in her hand and started reading Mickey’s words back to him. “You’re going through them like tissue paper, man. Hope this one works out better for you.”

“I can explain that,” he said.

Sam planted her hands on her hips. “Great. I can’t wait to hear it.”

“Mickey is the guy I use for background investigations. I hired him to check on you. When I needed some information on someone else, it was easier for me to tell him it was for another secretary. I couldn’t tell him the truth.”

“Why not?”

Brody frowned at her and took a deep breath before he spoke. “I needed to protect my brother.”

“Is this one of the brothers from that picture?” she asked.

“Yes. I have three brothers and a sister. All of us were in that photo you saw in the hallway. My brother Xander is a Congressman. He’s been seeing that woman for a few weeks. They’ve kept it quiet, but he’s getting fairly serious about her. I wanted to make sure she didn’t have anything in her background that could hurt his reputation and chances of reelection next term.”

“You’re only investigating your brother’s girlfriend?” Sam immediately felt sheepish. The anger and hurt that had rushed through her just a moment ago spiraled away, leaving a hollow place in her chest. She had thrown a hissy fit for no reason.