Seduction in Session (The Perfect Gentlemen 2)

God, she hated lying to him.

“This is lovely. I’ve never actually had tea like this before.” Everly was a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and a smile that Lara would have called mysterious a few days before. Now she recognized it. Everly Parker was well loved and it showed.

She finished pouring and sat on the couch. She’d decided to have tea in the living room because she was fairly certain it would be a while before she could be in the breakfast nook without thinking about how it felt to take Connor into her mouth. She was surprised by how much she’d loved it.

She flushed as she poured her own cup. “My mom used to take me to high tea a couple of times a year. I love the ritual of it. It’s very civilized.”

“I was raised by a cop. I’m afraid civilized wasn’t in my vocabulary for much of my life. My dad was lucky to get me to wash my hair a few times a week when I was a kid.” She smiled as though she truly enjoyed the memory. “I was something of a tomboy.”

“You couldn’t tell now. You look every inch the New York sophisticate.” Lara had been slightly intimidated by the cool, chic woman who had walked into her condo with her gorgeous god of a billionaire on her arm. Everly Parker and Gabriel Bond made a striking couple. He’d come dressed in a tailored suit and he’d shaken hands with both her and Connor before Connor offered to take him out on the balcony so she and Everly could talk.

She’d been a little surprised, but pleased. He trusted her.

She shook her head. “That’s Gabriel’s doing. Well, and his sister’s. Sara took one look at my wardrobe and declared we were going shopping. Bergdorf’s was happy to see us that day.”

“There’s a rumor that Sara Bond is pregnant with Maddox Crawford’s baby. Are you going to be an aunt? I can’t imagine losing a brother, but a baby would be a wonderful balm, I suspect.”

A chill settled in Everly’s previously warm eyes. “There are rumors everywhere. Did you agree to meet with me so you could exploit my fiancé’s sister? I should warn you, I wouldn’t take that well.”

Lara set the teapot down and hoped she hadn’t gone bright red. She didn’t hide embarrassment very well. She took a deep breath and kind of wished Connor was sitting next to her. “So our confidential informant told you about my . . . venture?”

“I know about Capitol Scandals,” Everly affirmed, setting her cup and saucer down. It looked like her very civil meeting was over. “It doesn’t really matter how. I want to know if you’re planning on writing up a nasty story about Sara.”

She was actually really sick of being painted as the villain. “Have you ever read Capitol Scandals? Even once?”

“I’ve seen the site.” The distaste in Everly’s eyes told Lara she didn’t like what she’d seen.

“Have you read a single story?”

“I did read the one about the president’s girth . . .”

Naturally. “Yeah, that was my shining moment. Maybe you should actually read some of the other pieces before you dismiss me. And no, I would never write a story about Sara Bond’s pregnancy. I just thought you should know those rumors are circulating.”

Everly sat back, regarding her cynically. “Why wouldn’t you expose Sara? You write about all kinds of scandals. You wrote about Congressman Johnson’s affair.”

“I publish stories that have political ramifications and even then, I only do so when I believe releasing the information is performing a public service. Revealing the father of Sara Bond’s baby would serve no purpose other than to spew hurtful, salacious gossip. On the other hand, Congressman Johnson was sponsoring a bill that would have made it mandatory for all school-age children to get a vaccine that medical specialists decried as being potentially dangerous. It caused neurological defects in one percent of the test subjects in the clinical trial. The company paid off officials in the FDA. The woman he was having the affair with was on the board of the pharmaceutical company.”

Everly shook her head, her eyes troubled. “How was that not news?”

“Because no one cares until it happens to them. In the corporate world one percent failure is practically a victory, but I met those kids. Their lives are ruined and all their parents got was some cash and a nondisclosure agreement. After Congressman Johnson stepped down, the bill died and the vaccine is now being reevaluated. Is your fiancé’s sister threatening to ruin the lives of a couple thousand children?”

“Of course not.”

“Then she’s safe from my personal brand of evil, Ms. Parker. I brought it up because I’m stupid enough to think talking about your sister-in-law’s pregnancy would be a female-type bonding thing. I was trying to be friends, but I’ll stop that now and get straight to the point. Are you planning on outing me as the owner of Capitol Scandals?”

“No. I came because I need to find out what you know about the circumstances surrounding my brother’s death. Like I said in my e-mail, I was contacted a few weeks ago by a man who said he knew why my brother was murdered.”

“The newspapers claimed it was an accident.”

“I don’t believe that report.” Everly shook her head.

“Do you think someone influenced the FAA to declare it an accident?” Just because it looked like she wasn’t going to find a new friend didn’t mean she couldn’t get some information.

“I know everyone will point the finger at the president or his chief of staff, but I don’t believe Zack or Roman had any real reason to bully anyone into officially changing their findings. They were close to my brother. They would want his killer brought to justice. That said, I don’t necessarily believe the FAA report. My fiancé swears my brother was a good pilot.”

“Do you recognize a company named Harrison Chemicals?”

Everly seemed to ponder that for a second. “I’ve heard the name.”

“It’s a company with a plant roughly two miles east of the spot where your brother’s plane crashed.” She’d been looking into Maddox Crawford’s death since that meeting in Manhattan. This was the first time she’d been able to talk about her findings with anyone who would care. “The FAA report stated that the evidence of an incendiary device in the wreckage was actually a cross-contamination from the plant and its chemicals showing up in the water table. Don’t you find it odd that the EPA has rated that plant as one of the best in the country for years? Just a year before, a local environmental group did a study of the surrounding area and declared the plant to be a model of modern waste management.”

Everly paused. “EPA investigators can be bought.”

“So can FAA investigators, but I’ve found private environmental groups can’t be. This particular group is known for being very hard on corporations. If they say this company is clean, they’re clean. The question becomes who would want to shut down the investigation of your brother’s death? Who benefitted by his crash being an accident instead of murder?” She realized what she’d just said and sat forward. “I wasn’t saying you killed him.”

Everly opened her mouth then shut it with a rueful smile. “Can we start over again? I think we’re both a touch anxious. I’m very protective of my future sister-in-law. She’s been through a lot and the idea of anyone exploiting her makes me very angry.”

“Of course. I can understand that.”

“And I haven’t read your work. If what you say is true, you’ve found a creative way to get the word out. I’m sorry I dismissed your site. I’d like it if we could start over again. It seems like you have a lot of information I don’t. Moneywise, there’s only one person who gained from Mad’s death and that’s my fiancé. But Gabe had no idea he was Mad’s beneficiary.”

“And I’ve heard he’s put everything in trust for the baby.”

“Wow. The rumors really are out there. Yes, that’s correct. He’s actually going to turn Crawford Industries over to Sara when the time is right. Gabriel had no reason to kill Mad. He wanted my brother alive so he could be a father to Sara’s child. My turn to ask a question. Why were you bidding on Na

talia Kuilikov’s diary?”

“Bidding on what?”

Everly watched her closely. “I heard about an auction on the Deep Web. Supposedly Capitol Scandals was a major player in it.”

Lara felt her jaw drop. Disbelief spread through her. “I had never heard the name Natalia Kuilikov until a few weeks ago, and I certainly didn’t get into a bidding war over her diary.”