Free A Facade to Shatter by Lynn Raye Harris Page A

about her. He was making a deal, nothing more. It made her sick. And furious.
    “Fine,” she said tightly. “I accept. But if we are having an arrangement, as you so nicely put it, then I want it understood that this arrangement is in name only.”
    She didn’t know what made her say that, but once she said it she knew it was right. Because this situation was so out of her power that she needed something she could control. Something she could have a say about.
    He stared at her for a long moment. And then his sexy lips curled up in a smile, surprising her after he’d been so hard and cold. “I can’t guarantee that, sugar. But we’ll try it your way to start. Just know that when you do surrender to me, I won’t be saying no.”
    Lia pulled herself erect and looked at him with all the haughtiness she could muster. Which wasn’t much, she was sure. But damn if he hadn’t infuriated her. “There will be no surrender, Zach. Not ever again.”
    “We’ll see,” he said with all the arrogant surety of a man who was accustomed to getting his way. And then he headed toward the door. “I’ll let you know when the arrangements are made.”
    “How long will this take?” she asked as he opened the door.
    He turned back to her. “Eager, Lia?”
    She sucked in a breath. No, she was just worried about her ability to stay in this hotel. And about her family sending someone to fetch her if they figured out where she was. “No, but I have no idea how longthese things take in America. I can’t stay in this hotel for weeks, Zach.”
    His eyes slipped over her. “No, you can’t. The media will descend soon enough. You’ll move in with me. I’ll send someone for you later.”
    He closed the door before she could say another word. She stood there for a long time, uncertain whether she’d found salvation by coming to D.C.
    Or whether she’d damned herself instead.

CHAPTER SIX
    Z ACH LIVED IN a sprawling house in Virginia. It was gated, with manicured green lawns and a view of the Potomac River. Here, the Potomac was still close to the source and was wilder and freer than it had been in Washington. It tumbled over huge boulders, rushing and gurgling toward the city where it would become wide, placid and subject to Chesapeake tides.
    Lia stood in a room that overlooked the backyard and the cliffs of the Potomac. Glass doors opened onto a wide stone balcony that ran the length of the house. Immediately outside was a small seating area, with a chair and a table. Perfect for reading.
    The gardens weren’t overly ornate, but there were a lot of gorgeous flowering plants in manicured beds. Roses bloomed in profusion along two stone walls, red and pink and white. Fat flowering hydrangeas, blue and pink, sat in the shade beneath tall trees, and a hostof bright annuals bloomed in beds that ran down toward the river.
    Lia’s fingers itched. She wanted to lose herself in the garden, to go dig into the dirt and forget all about Zach Scott and the Correttis for a while.
    But that was impossible right now.
    She hadn’t seen Zach since she’d arrived. A chauffeur had come to get her at the hotel earlier, after a terse call from Zach informing her to be ready. Once she’d arrived, a uniformed maid had showed her to this room and offered to put her things away. Lia only had one suitcase and a carry-on, so she didn’t really have much with her. She’d declined and hung everything herself.
    Now she felt like she was in stasis. Just waiting for something to happen. The garden called to her, but she resisted. What would Zach think if he came looking for her and she was on her knees in the dirt?
    As the minutes dragged by, she resolved to go out on the balcony and run her fingers through the potted geraniums and lavender, just for something to do, but a knock at her door stopped her. “Yes?” she called.
    The door opened and Zach stood there, tall, handsome and brooding as ever. Lia folded her arms over her chest and waited.
    “If