“Her?” He sounded surprised.
“Do you have a problem with a woman in charge of our security?”
“Not if she’s good.”
Henry must have heard them talking, because he came rushing toward them when they turned the corner.
“Man, have I got news,” he said. He was so excited he sounded out of breath. “Aiden called and left a message. He’s posting a guard in front of the elevators and the stairwell downstairs, and another one on this floor. No one gets past without proper identification, and it’s got to be a photo ID. He’s also putting a guard outside your door upstairs, your bedroom door.”
“When is this supposed to happen?” Regan asked.
“Now,” he answered. “They’re all on their way, I guess. Anyway, there’s more…”
He was walking backward as Regan and Alec headed for her offices. “More guards?” she asked.
Henry shook his head. “No, more news. You’re not gonna believe this.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” he said in case she was worried about that. “It’s just… well, you’re not going to believe…”
“Try me.”
“You might get mad.”
“For heaven’s sake, just tell me,” she said, her exasperation obvious in her tone.
They had reached her offices. Alec stepped around Henry to hold the door for both of them.
“Before Aiden went with the attorney to the police station, he stopped in here.”
“For what purpose?”
“He told me to tell you that he had your car towed away, and he left this for you,” he said. He turned and picked up a padded envelope from his desk.
Regan looked astonished. “He had my car…”
“Towed away,” Henry said.
“Did he tell you where he had it towed?”
Henry looked miserable when he said, “To a junkyard, but he wouldn’t tell me which one.”
She took a step back. She could feel her face heating up. She tried to remain calm in front of Alec and Henry, but inside she was doing a slow burn. She took a deep breath. It didn’t help. The burn was getting hotter.
“Aren’t you going to open the envelope?” Henry asked.
“Yes,” she said. She tore the seal off and pulled out a set of keys.
“Did Aiden explain this?” she asked, holding the key chain up.
Once again, Henry was looking excited. “He bought you a car.”
Alec noticed that Regan’s left eyelid twitched ever so slightly. It was apparent she was struggling to keep her temper under control. She was doing a fair job of it too.
“Your brother bought you a new car,” Alec commented cheerfully. “Wasn’t that nice of him?” He added the question just to see how she would respond.
Her eyelid twitched again. “Yes,” she said, all but choking on the word.
“It’s a Beemer,” Henry announced. He was looking at the emblem on the key ring.
When Regan didn’t immediately show any reaction to that news, Henry thought she didn’t understand. “You know what I’m talking about, right? A Beemer’s a BMW.”
She didn’t trust herself to speak, and so she simply nodded. She was at a loss for words and so furious with her brother she wanted to scream. His audacity was stunning. Why was he so hell-bent on running her life?
“Regan, are you okay? You’ve got a real funny look in your eyes,” Henry said.
“I think she’s still reeling from the surprise,” Alec said. He was trying to be diplomatic. In reality, she looked as if she wanted to kill someone.
Henry couldn’t quite contain his eagerness. “Yes, I guess I would be reeling too. A Beemer costs a small fortune.” He turned to Regan again and said, “Aiden didn’t mention what color the car was, and I didn’t think to ask him until after he left.”
She took another deep breath. “The color isn’t important.”
“Would you like me to test drive it for you?” Henry asked. “I mean, you know, just to see if the car measures up. Aiden told me it’s already insured, and I’ve got the time. My desk is clear, and I’m all caught up.”
The kid was dying to drive the car, and judging from the look in Regan’s eyes, she was dying to get her hands on her brother’s neck.
Alec couldn’t help but be impressed with her restraint. Keeping all that anger bottled up inside couldn’t be good for her, though. And what was her brother’s problem? Alec thought it was damned gutsy for him to have her car towed away, no matter how old or junky it was.
Not my worry, he told himself. He was out of here in less than a month, and he wasn’t going to get involved with anyone before he left. Every family had problems, of course, but Regan’s brother put a whole new spin on the word “dysfunctional.” Alec couldn’t imagine one of his brothers or sisters having his car towed away. If they did, he’d have to kick some serious butt. Aiden didn’t seem to have any problem interfering in Regan’s life, however. Were her other brothers like him? Three men trying to run her life. Good Lord. If that were true he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her… and for any man who tried to get close to her.
But not his concern, he reminded himself. No, sir. No problem, no worries. Yeah, that was going to be his motto for the remainder of his time in Chicago. He’d do his job to the best of his ability and then get out. Sounded simple enough.
“So what do you think, Regan?” Henry asked.
She mentally shook herself. “I’m sorry. What do I think about what?”
“Do you want me to test drive the new car for you?”
She forced a smile. It wasn’t Henry’s fault she had a jerk for a brother. “Yes, I do.”
She dropped the keys into his hand, told him to be careful, and then slowly walked into her office and closed the door.
Henry was putting his blazer on as he headed for the door. “I won’t be gone long,” he told Alec.
“Wait a minute,” Alec said.
Henry paused with his hand on the doorknob. “Yes?”
Alec tilted his head toward Regan’s office. “Is she going to start throwing things, or is it safe for me to go in there?”
Henry laughed. “Regan throwing things? Like in a temper tantrum? She’d never do that. She never loses her cool, and she would never ever throw things. That’s just not her style. She is angry, though, but I guess you could tell that.”
“Yes, I could.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “She won’t take it out on you.”
That thought hadn’t entered his mind. Alec considered himself a good judge of character, and it had taken him about five minutes to figure out that Regan didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She could never deliberately hurt anyone. The way that her staff responded to her indicated she was kind and good-hearted. The problem, as he saw it, was that she was too sweet for her own good.
She ought to find Aiden and give him hell for poking his nose into her affairs. Yeah, that’s what she ought to do, but he doubted she would. She was too nice to ever blow up.
No, not his problem, he reminded himself. It wasn’t his job to teach her how to stand up for herself. He did think it was odd, however, that growing up with three older brothers hadn’t toughened her up.
He knocked on her office door but didn’t wait for her to give him permission to enter. The sofa was calling his name. He remembered how comfortable it was, and while she worked, he was going to take a nap. Alec was a light sleeper. He wasn’t concerned she would leave, because he’d be wide awake before she reached the door.
Regan was on the phone. Her face was flushed, and she was obviously agitated. She was pacing back and forth behind her desk. He heard her say, “Have him call me the second he returns,” before she hung up the phone.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, knowing full well it wasn’t.
“Yes,” she said. “Everything’s fine.”
