Part 4 (2/2)
”You know what I meant!”
Unfortunately, Sean knew exactly what Patrick was thinking, and it took all his willpower to control his temper. It was bad enough that Patrick's tone suggested that what had happened five weeks ago when Lucy's stalker pounced was somehow her fault. But the reference to the island where Adam Scott had held her captive nearly seven years ago was unforgivable.
”Let it out, Patrick. Tell me what you're feeling.”
”Don't go all Dillon on me,” Patrick said, referring to his brother the shrink. ”I'm just saying that Lucy gets too involved. She gets in way over her head, and she's not ready for this kind of pressure. Can't you just give her some time to heal? Or is this a way to make her dependent on you?”
”You are way off.”
”Just-why her?”
Sean realized Patrick was now talking about his relations.h.i.+p with Lucy, and that the conversation was taking another direction, diverting Sean's attention from Lucy's past. Patrick had clearly been harboring these hostile feelings a long time.
”I care about Lucy,” Sean said.
”Like you cared about Ashley? Jessica? Rachel? Emily-both of them? And then there was Sh.e.l.ley-”
Sean listened to Patrick list his ex-girlfriends before cutting him off. ”It's not the same thing, and you d.a.m.n well know it.”
Patrick shook his head. ”In the three years I've known you, you've had more than two dozen girlfriends, the longest lasting a record-breaking ten weeks.”
”You've been keeping track of my relations.h.i.+ps?”
”Not until you started sleeping with my sister!”
”You're crazy.”
”You're a playboy.”
”I may have been, but-”
”So you and Lucy have been together for five weeks? You're halfway to breaking her heart.”
”I'm not going to break her heart-”
”Like h.e.l.l you aren't.”
Sean wrestled with his temper, and Patrick pushed.
”Do you think it's healthy for Lucy to help in a case like this? Do you ever think about anyone but yourself?”
Sean came extremely close to decking him. Patrick knew it and stepped forward, almost daring him.
Sean had a sudden thought. He wondered if Lucy's distance from him since Patrick had been back in D.C. was Patrick's doing. ”What have you been saying to Lucy?” he asked.
”Nothing yet. But I'm watching you, Rogan.”
”Don't.”
Had they ever been friends? How could he think he'd gotten to know Patrick so well only to realize that he didn't know him at all? If Lucy heard his diatribe about Sean's ex-girlfriends, she might be upset. Patrick's approval meant more to her than that of any other member of her family. But if Lucy heard Patrick's comment about the island, she'd be completely devastated.
”I'm going to talk to Kirsten's other friends,” Patrick said, signaling that this conversation about Lucy was over. ”You finish with her computer. We'll leave at four.”
”Agreed.” Sean wanted to settle it, but they were at an impa.s.se. If Patrick forced Lucy to choose between her family and Sean, Sean feared that Lucy would pick her family. And even if she did choose Sean, she would be miserable. He couldn't do that to her.
He had to convince Patrick that Lucy was truly the only woman for him. Otherwise ... no, he had to convince him. There was no alternative.
FIVE.
While Sean drove in silence back to D.C., in the pa.s.senger seat Patrick received a call on his cell from Kate that Lucy wasn't feeling well. Her birthday dinner was postponed until the weekend.
Sean dropped Patrick off at the town house that housed both the RCK East offices and their separate residences, then drove to the Kincaids. Kate answered the door. ”I told Patrick that Lucy isn't feeling well.”
”I know. I just wanted to see her.”
Kate let him in. ”Make it quick. Lucy doesn't get sick often, but when she does she usually overdoes it and makes it worse.”
Sean crossed his heart and held up his hand. ”Promise.”
That elicited a smile from Lucy's sister-in-law. Sean went upstairs and down the long hall to Lucy's room, set back from the rest of the house. He knocked on the door. ”It's Sean. Can I come in?”
There was no answer. Sean wondered if she was sleeping. He didn't want to disturb her, but he needed to see her. Partly because he missed her, and partly because he wanted to make sure she was okay with what had happened today with Kirsten Benton and the s.e.x tape. If he had known she'd uncover something like that, he would never have let her help-or would he? Patrick's gut reaction was to shelter Lucy, but Sean knew she'd faced far worse not only with what had happened nearly seven years ago, but during her tenure at WCF.
Still, the Party Girl site was offensive, and Lucy was particularly sensitive to the s.e.xual exploitation of young women. He hoped she hadn't canceled her party because she was upset about what she'd seen.
He knocked again. ”Luce?”
”I'm not feeling well,” came her m.u.f.fled reply.
He tried the door. It was locked. He couldn't remember her ever locking her door. ”Lucy, let me in-I won't stay long.”
”I'll call you tomorrow.”
Sean frowned. She didn't sound like herself. He hesitated a brief moment before pulling out his lockpick kit. Ten seconds later, he was inside.
Lucy sat on the far side of the dark room in her oversized chair, the only illumination coming from the streetlight outside.
”I can't believe you picked my lock.”
He closed the door behind him. ”I was worried about you.”
”I'm fine. You can go.”
Lucy's face was pale and splotchy, her black hair hung in tangled waves down her back, and she was sitting with her chin on her knees. She was anything but fine.
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