Free Kept by Jami Alden Page A

existed in a state of heightened agitation, ready at any moment to be contacted by the police or the press to talk about the hours he’d spent with Alyssa Miles. Every time his phone rang he’d braced himself, tried to figure out how he was going to explain to the world how he’d unwittingly ended up in bed with one of America’s most famous.
    But apparently she didn’t want anyone to know about their tryst any more than he did, because no phone call came, and no uniforms showed up at his house or his office. Alyssa’s public statement was that she’d been with her sister up until she’d gone to her father’s house, and Derek was happy to let her stick to that story.
    “You know what kind of publicity they could bring to Gemini,” Danny said.
    “I don’t know that we want to be associated with family scandal and party girls,” Derek snapped. Three weeks later he still had the punched-in-the-face feeling he’d gotten when he’d learned the truth about her. He felt stupid and strangely betrayed, though logically he had no good reason to feel that way. It wasn’t like she’d tried to hide her identity from him. She’d told him flat out who she was, even given him the “don’t you know who I am” treatment.
    He couldn’t blame her for his cluelessness.
    But that didn’t stop him from feeling angry every time he saw another newscast or picture of her in the paper. Whereas before he hadn’t had a clue, seeing as Alyssa didn’t show up much in The Economist or in The Wall Street Journal, now everywhere he turned there was something about her or the Van Weldt family, which always included a mention of her. There’d even been a line drawing of her in the Marketplace section of last week’s Journal.
    “Since when did you get to be such a tight ass?” Ethan asked.
    “Not wanting our firm to be associated with the queen of tabloids isn’t being tight-ass.”
    “She’s not that bad,” Toni interjected. “She’s totally turned over a new leaf since she got involved with the family business.”
    “That explains the picture of her falling out of a limo last week,” Derek said.
    “She’s grieving for her father. Which you should know because you read the story in the Us Weekly you stole,” Toni said, pointing her finger at him.
    “You left it in the break room for anyone to pick up,” Derek said. He hoped no one noticed the heat rising in his face as he remembered how he’d snatched up the magazine when he saw Alyssa’s picture on the cover. “Point is, afterall the chaos the Kramer case caused, we don’t need to be known as the company who guards a train wreck waiting to happen.”
    He felt a little guilty for that. The beautiful woman he’d met at the party had been funny and sexy, not afraid to go after what she wanted. Hard to reconcile with the human mess who’d been plastered all over the media accompanying lurid tales of Oscar Van Weldt’s final hours.
    “Will you excuse us?” Danny looked pointedly at Ben, Alex, and Toni. “We need to have a partner meeting, get a few things clear.”
    Alex and Ben looked relieved to escape. Toni looked put out but didn’t argue. They left the room.
    “What do you care about our clients’ personal lives?” Danny asked.
    “I care if they impact the image of this company, something you should maybe be more concerned with after the last couple months.”
    “Exactly why we need a client like the Van Weldts. They’re one of the largest jewelers in the United States, with offices all over the world. The business opportunity is huge.”
    Derek’s mouth tightened. He couldn’t deny Danny’s point.
    “Besides,” Ethan said, “you get to work with Alyssa Miles. She may be a train wreck waiting to happen, but she’s still hot.” His gaze flicked uneasily to the door, as though he expected Toni to bust him. “Not that I notice that anymore.” Ethan, once king of the stick and move, was on a crusade to prove to Toni he could be happy and