she was immune to those emotions. If she didn't allow herself to fall in love with Rafe, then he couldn't possibly hurt her. So what did this mean? Was she in love with him or had the shock of the situation simply overwhelmed her?
The sound of his key in the lock startled her out of her thoughts. She didn't speak the moment he walked in, choosing instead to observe him from the shadows. He looked tired and tense as he threw his keys on a table and dropped his briefcase on the floor. And try as she might, she couldn't see him as the enemy. When he reached out for the light switch, Keely held her breath.
Rafe saw her immediately. 'Keely! Christ, what are you doing here?'
'Where did you expect me to be?'
'I-I thought you were going to spend the night at your place. Shouldn't you be at work?'
She swallowed hard, unsure if she'd even be able to form a coherent sentence. 'The pub's been closed. Does that come as a surprise to you?'
'What the hell are you talking about?' He raked his hand through his hair, then slowly approached. 'Are you angry about something?'
'Should I be?'
'Damn it, Keely, if you're going to answer every question I pose with another question, we'll just quit talking. But if you have a problem, tell me what it is and we'll discuss it. I'm not going to play games with you.'
She laughed derisively. 'Oh,
'Keely, I-'
Her heart ached a little more with every word she said. Suspecting him of such an act was one thing, but seeing the confirmation of it in his eyes was another. 'You think Seamus had something to do with your father's death. I heard my brothers talking about it and when they mentioned your name-Kendrick-I couldn't believe it. But then it all fell into place. After all, what would a sophisticated, wealthy downtown guy like you be doing in a working-class pub in South Boston? Unless you had some reason for hanging out there.'
He grabbed her hand and held on to it so tightly that she couldn't pull it away. 'Just listen for a few seconds and I'll explain.'
Keely jumped up from beside him, tearing her fingers from his grasp. 'Tell me you didn't have anything to do with calling down the cops on my father. Tell me you didn't do something to bring the building inspectors out to the pub.' She clutched her fists at her side, fighting the urge to punch him. 'Tell me.'
Rafe slowly leaned back into the sofa. 'I can't,' he murmured. 'I won't. Everything you suspect is true. I found the witness against Seamus Quinn and I convinced him to go to the authorities. I called a friend I have in the inspector's office and asked him to take a look at Quinn's Pub. And when Seamus tries to find an asbestos contractor to take care of his problem, he won't find a single contractor in the greater Boston area who will take the job. Oh, and I now hold the mortgage on the pub, so if he defaults, the place belongs to me.'
His cavalier attitude was like a punch to the stomach, stealing the breath from her lungs and making it impossible to draw another. She opened her mouth, but no words would come. How could the man she'd been so intimate with now be so hateful?
'Before you tell me how much you detest me, maybe you should consider one point, Keely. What if it's true? What if your father really is responsible for the death of my father?'
'It-it can't be true,' she said, her voice trembling.
'I think it is. All the evidence points that way, Keely.'
She walked to the window, then braced her hands on the sill, gripping it with white knuckles. 'What about me? Was I all a part of this scheme? Were you going to use me against my own family?'
Rafe stood up, but she backed away as he approached, unwilling to allow him to touch her again. 'That night in front of the pub, I didn't know who you were. Imagine my surprise when you told me you were really a Quinn.'
'And you didn't have any second thoughts about what you were doing? Even after you knew I was Seamus's daughter?'
'Why would I?'
Keely spun on him, then made to slap him across the face. But he caught her hand just in time and she slowly let it drop. 'No, I guess you wouldn't,' she murmured. 'I was just the woman you were sleeping with. Well, that's the end of it then. You've chosen your side and I've chosen mine.' She drew a ragged breath. 'You're not going to win, you know. I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't hurt my family.'
'That's not going to happen.'
His voice was so coldly confident it sent a shiver down her spine. 'Try me,' Keely dared.
With a low curse, Rafe stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm, then pulled her toward the door. At first she thought he simply meant to throw her out of his apartment. But then he picked up his keys on the way out and punched the button for the elevator. No, he meant to embarrass her by throwing her out on the street.
'Let go of me,' Keely demanded.
'No,' Rafe said. The elevator descended, but it didn't stop in the lobby of his building. Instead, it went down to the parking level. 'You and I are going to talk this out. And after you hear my side of the story, you're welcome to go running to the Quinns. But you are going to listen.'
Twisting and turning, she tried to pull out of his grasp. 'I don't want to listen to anything you have to say. It's all lies.' But as she fought him, Keely secretly prayed that he did have an explanation for his behavior. Or that somehow, between the two of them, they'd figure out that this was all just a big misunderstanding.
He yanked open the car door. 'Get in.'
'No,' she muttered.
'Get in,' he repeated, his frustration tightly checked.
'If you want to talk, we can talk right here.'
'No, we can't.' He paused. 'I need to show you something.' He took her arm and gently pushed her into the car. Keely knew she should have fought him, knew that he'd suddenly become the enemy. But she also knew Rafe and he wasn't the kind of man to accuse someone of murder lightly. Did he have some kind of proof to show her?
Keely reluctantly slid into the passenger seat. She wasn't abandoning her family by going with him. She simply needed to know all the facts. But even that reassurance didn't make her feel any better. In truth, it made her ashamed. Her feelings for Rafe had overwhelmed her loyalty for her family. She was treading on thin ice and if she wasn't careful, she'd fall through.
'Where are we going?' she asked as Rafe got inside.
'Someplace where we can talk.' He turned the ignition, then locked all the doors with a flick of a button. A few minutes later, they were out on the street, speeding through late-afternoon traffic. But when Rafe steered the car onto the northbound interstate, Keely frowned. 'Where are you taking me?' she demanded.
He didn't answer her this time. Instead, he punched a number into his car phone, then picked it up. 'Hi, it's Rafe. I'm on my way up to Aspen Lake. Make sure the kitchen is stocked and the heat is turned on. We'll be staying for a few days at the least.' Rafe hung up the phone, then turned his full attention back to the road.
Keely's stomach tightened. She'd never seen Rafe in such a black mood, so filled with anger he was ready to explode. 'Where the hell is Aspen Lake?'
'It's in Vermont,' Rafe replied.
'Vermont?' she cried. '
'I don't care. That's where we're going.' His voice was cold and emotionless.
'You don't have anything to show me, do you? You lied to me to get me in this car.'
'You wouldn't have gotten in if I hadn't.'
'Are you kidnapping me? Kidnapping is against the law. If I don't want to go to Vermont, then this is kidnapping. I could have you arrested.'
Rafe shrugged. 'I suppose you could. But then, since I'm kidnapping you, I'm not exactly going to let you run to the police.'
Keely crossed her arms over her chest. 'Take me back to Boston right now.'
'No.'
