One Christmas Wish by Brenda Jackson
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
A SHORTWHILELATER, Sierra paced her hotel room, convinced that packet Judge Hargrove had received was the same one Vaughn had tried giving her—and she had refused to take it. His very words had been “...You need to get this to your attorney right away, Sierra... He’ll know what to do with it.”
She hadn’t done that. Instead, she had literally told him to take that packet and shove it. Then she told him she didn’t want to see him or hear from him ever again. Yet, instead of shoving it, the packet had ended up here in Chicago and handed to the judge in her case. How?
She sat on the edge of her bed and pulled her phone out of her purse. She needed to call Vaughn to apologize and thank him profusely. As she listened to the line ring, a wave of disappointment washed over her when Vaughn didn’t answer her call. But then, after all she’d said, she didn’t blame him. Chills went through her body when she recalled how mean Nathan had been to her and all the hateful things he’d said before the judge had returned. She could breathe a lot easier knowing Teryn wouldn’t be at his mercy. Just worrying about Teryn while she was with him would have driven Sierra crazy...
“Yes?”
She blinked upon realizing Vaughn had answered, right before she was about to disconnect the call. “Vaughn, this is Sierra.”
“I know who this is.”
She swallowed. His words were brusque, which meant he was still angry, and he had every right to be. Yet, his anger hadn’t stopped him from doing what he’d done today. He had saved her. He had saved Teryn. That blatant realization brought tears to her eyes. “I owe you an apology, Vaughn.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. I don’t know how you did it, but I know you were responsible for the FBI getting that packet. It’s the same one you tried giving to me, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“But how did you do it?”
He paused and then said, “Come to my room and I’ll tell you everything.”
Her brows rose in question. His room? “Are you not in Catalina Cove?”
“No. I’m in Chicago.”
Sierra’s heart leaped and she drew in a deep breath. He was here in Chicago? Had he come just to bring that packet? After swallowing again, she asked, “What is the name of your hotel?”
“It’s the same as yours.”
She blinked. Vaughn was here at the same hotel? How had he known which hotel she was staying at? She had a lot of questions for him, so she started with, “What is your room number?”
“I’m in room 3040.”
“Thanks, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
After she had hung up, Sierra drew in another deep breath. Vaughn was here!
Dani had been right. She’d completely messed things up. Now it was up to her to try to fix it. It was obvious he was still upset with her, but hopefully, she could fix that, too. Looking down at herself, she knew she looked decent. But she wanted to look better than merely decent. She hadn’t packed any extra clothing since her plan had been to fly into Chicago and then fly out the next day.
She knew that she needed to make the most of her time. There was a women’s boutique in the hotel. Grabbing her purse, she hurried to go shopping.
VAUGHNDOWNEDTHElast of his wine. Sierra had said she would be arriving to his room in a few minutes, but that was half an hour ago. Where was she?
He refused to call her to find out. He was still very upset with her, yet he’d known that regardless of what he felt, he would protect her and Teryn from the likes of Nathan Flowers.
Vaughn had flown into Chicago a day ago and met with FBI Agent Frigate, who was a good friend of Deke’s. The agent had handled the matter expeditiously. Now it was over. Nathan was behind bars for now, and Sierra could rest easy knowing the man was no longer a threat to her and Teryn.
When Vaughn heard the knock on his hotel room door, he released a deep breath and crossed the room to open it. Had it been four days since he’d last seen her...and she’d told him that she never wanted to see him again? He forced from his mind the harsh words she’d spoken when he’d only meant to protect her.
Opening the door, he tried not to concentrate on how good she looked. His gaze roamed over her and he noticed that her skirt was short. It was shorter than any he’d ever seen her wear before. Had she worn that to her meeting with the judge? Hell, he hoped not. And what about her shoes? She was wearing a pair of black stilettos that had fuck me written all over them. Not saying a word, he moved back so she could enter. As usual she smelled good, too.
He could tell she was nervous by the way she was looking around his three-room suite. He studied her in silence. Even her hair was styled differently. Deciding enough time had passed, he said, “So, what did you want to know?” Vaughn knew his voice was a little gruff but he didn’t care.
She looked at him. “May I have something to drink?”
“What would you like?”
“Whatever you were drinking,” she said, indicating his wineglass.
He strolled over to the wet bar and grabbed another wineglass. He filled it with wine and brought it to her. Vaughn tried to ignore the sensations that passed between them and said, “No need for you to keep standing, Sierra. You can sit down.”
“Thanks.”
Sierra eased down on the sofa and Vaughn sat in the chair across from her. “So, ask your questions.”
She swallowed a little wine and then asked, “How did you know about all of that stuff on Nathan?”
He leaned back and crossed his legs. “I didn’t. What I did know was that the man was a bully who was making a nuisance of himself. You were worried about him taking Teryn from you. I knew you wanted to handle things your way, but I also knew the risk involved. I didn’t want to take the chance of you not being able to stop him. There are times when you have to stop a bully dead in his tracks.”
When she shifted to a more comfortable position, he was temporarily distracted by a glimpse of thigh. His gut clenched and he tried to ignore it. He explained, “I have a friend named Deke Hollister who is a former FBI agent. I asked him to get all he could on Flowers as soon as possible. You needed to do things your way, and I needed to do things my way.
“Deke still has close ties with the Bureau and he and I were surprised to discover Flowers was already under an open FBI investigation due to minors—both male and female—frequenting the club he co-owned. We found out the FBI was close to making arrests.”
She nodded. “And you tried to tell me.”
“I wasn’t at liberty to tell you everything since it was an ongoing FBI investigation. However, I did try to give you the information to pass on to your attorney. I figured he would know what to do with it. But of course, you told me what I could do with that packet.”
He saw her flinch and she said, “Yes, and I’m sorry. I owe you an apology, Vaughn. At the time, I saw you as another man thinking I couldn’t do anything for myself. I wanted to be strong and independent, but in the end, I almost lost Teryn to Nathan.”
Vaughn heard the pain in her voice. “You are strong, Sierra. You are one of the strongest people I know. And you’ve shown how independent you are. But what you failed to realize is that when two people are in a relationship, it’s no longer you or me, it’s us. We’re in it together. We share things, even the problems. What you made me realize is that I had assumed we were in a relationship, but we really weren’t.”
“We were in a relationship, Vaughn.”
“Then I wish you had been open to me helping you. I knew I could get enough information to make Flowers go away. Threatening you was crossing the line with me. I didn’t give a royal damn that he lost his job. I never shared what was in that packet with his employer. They only got the accurate information about why the two of you got a divorce, which was his adultery. He was fired because he’d told his boss a lie, that you were the one who’d committed adultery and not the other way around.”
“What!”
“Yes, he was willing to make you look like a tramp and force you to remarry so he could get promoted. I also knew what losing his job meant and I was ready to deal with him there. It was just a matter of time before he was arrested. In the meantime, I wanted your attorney prepared.”
“Again, I am sorry, Vaughn. I don’t know what else to say.”
He leaned forward and met her gaze. “You can say that just like I know and accept the kind of woman you are, that you know and accept the kind of man I am. There’s no way I could let you worry about an issue that I could help you resolve. I’m a man who will protect his woman at all costs, have her back and fight to keep her safe. If that’s not the type of man you want and need in your life, Sierra, then say so.”