Free Black Jack by Lora Leigh

life she ran from?” Travis asked as he leaned forward. “She was nearly killed living
    your life, as I remember it. Lilly left voluntarily. She didn’t return with the same mind-set.
    She’s back, not because she wanted to be, but because once again someone tried to kill her
    and she forgot she was running. So don’t presume to preach to me about the life that she
    should be living, or the reputation she should be cultivating.”
    “Victoria belongs with her family,” Desmond snapped. “No matter how you twist the truth,
    you are nothing but a danger to her.”
    Travis laughed. “She created the danger in her life as I’m certain your investigator told you.
    Do you think her enemies aren’t well aware that she’s now Lady Victoria Lillian Harrington?
    Do you honestly believe her past isn’t going to return to bite her on the ass?”
    He was the concerned past lover. He was the man that knew her secrets better than any
    other. He was the man her family was going to have to accept whether they wanted to or not.
    “Leave it alone,” Desmond fired back. “I can take care of any repercussions if you’ll walk
    the hell away.”
    “And what repercussions would that be, Uncle Desmond?” Lilly stepped into the room.
    Travis knew the creature Lilly Belle was. Silent, stealthy, but too damned curious. She was
    known for her inability to keep her nose out of danger. Even within the Ops her reputation
    was fairly solid in that regard.
    She stepped into the room, obviously surprising her uncle with her clothing, as well as her
    demeanor.
    Desmond Harrington rose to his feet, shoved his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
    “I have the limo outside,” he stated, his tone grating. “We need to leave, Lilly.”
    A smooth, negligent shrug of her shoulders was the first indication Travis saw of the agent
    he once knew. Lilly pursed her lips thoughtfully as she propped her hands on her hips and
    surveyed the room silently for long moments.
    “You said you didn’t know anything about where I’ve been or what I’ve been doing for the
    past six years,” she told her uncle. “You lied to me.”
    A dark frown creased Desmond’s brow. “At the time, I had no idea,” he bit out, his tone
    icily angry now. “If you recall, I informed you I would hire investigators to pursue the subject.
    Their report came in weeks ago.”
    “And I wasn’t told?” She leaned a shapely hip against the back of the couch Travis sat in. A
    move that Desmond clearly understood. Lilly Belle was in the room right now.
    “Could we discuss this at home?” Desmond demanded. “With your mother present, if you
    don’t mind, rather than with this gentleman.” He made the last word sound like a curse.
    “Funny, Uncle Desmond,” she mused then. “Your investigators know so much now, but
    they didn’t find me in the six years I was missing?”
    His expression became pinched. “We believed there was no way you could have survived
    that explosion,” he answered. “You were declared dead when no evidence of your
    whereabouts could be found.”
    “And now my whereabouts are known,” she drawled, her tone cold.
    “Once we had your new . . . ,” he looked uncomfortable, “identity was rather easy.”
    Travis wanted to shoot the bastard.
    He rose slowly to his feet and moved to the bar. All the while he kept his gaze on Lilly’s
    face through the large mirror on the other side of the room.
    “This gentleman, as you call him, seems to know more about me than you or Mother,” she
    informed him, her tone calm and quiet as she moved from the couch.
    That wasn’t a good sign. A nice calm tone from Lilly Belle was usually something to be
    wary of.
    Desmond grimaced. “And I know more about him than he can imagine. He’s not the sort of
    person you want in your life, Lilly.”
    “I think I’ve always been able to make that decision on my own, Uncle Desmond,” she
    reminded him, her smile tight now.
    Damn, good ole Uncle Desmond was really