Intimate Betrayal (11 page)

A
multitude of explanations poured through her mind as she rode the elevator to the executive floor. But none of them eased the hurt that carved out a corner of her heart.

She'd listened to him tell of his betrayal by that woman. She'd empathized with his anguish. Yet there he was, live and in living color, smiling at her, holding her as if she were the dearest being in the world. Was it all lies?

“Reese,” Carmen greeted, nearly bumping into her in the corridor. “Max is gone for the day. I wasn't expecting you,” she said with a knowing smile.

“There's a lot of that going around,” she replied in a monotone.

Carmen gave her a curious look. “Are you all right? You seem—distracted.”

Reese gathered her wits about her. “I'm just fine, Carmen. And you're just the person I wanted to see. Do you have a
few minutes? I need to get some additional background information on Mr. Knight.”

 

After dropping Victoria off at the airport, Maxwell took the two-hour drive out to his home in San Diego. He needed some quiet time to gather his thoughts and absorb what Vicky had told him.

Mixing himself a light drink, he stepped out onto the deck, watching the rays of the setting sun span across the bay as he leaned across the railing. Victoria was a complex woman. There was no denying that. Yet even with all that she revealed, he still felt in his gut that there was something she wasn't telling. But he couldn't put his finger on it. He took a sip of his drink.

He could believe the part about her mother. He could even believe the part that she felt she had no other choice. What he had a hard time swallowing was her concern for his happiness. Victoria had never been one to be interested in another person's happiness for as long as he'd known her. Had she changed that much in the three years? He sighed. Perhaps their breakup had affected her as well. At least in some small way. He wanted to believe that she wished him well and wanted the best for him without reservation.

He might be able to forgive her. But he wouldn't forget, nor would he find it in his heart to trust her no matter how sincere she portrayed herself to be. Her interest in Reese, in her background, and the standing of their relationship piqued his suspicions.

Victoria never asked a question or opened the door to a conversation without a reason. Then again, maybe it was time for him to put the past behind him once and for all. Whatever Victoria's motives were for doing anything was none of his concern. What he had to deal with now was his spiraling feelings for Reese and where it would lead him.

Now that many of his unanswered questions had finally been answered, perhaps he could begin to really live again and open his heart to the gifts that Reese wanted to give.

 

Reese sat across from Carmen taking notes as Carmen spoke.

“Did you know Max before he opened his offices?”

“No. I met him at a conference in Washington, shortly after my husband died. My husband, Carlos, was also a computer engineer. I'd worked with him on several projects and was familiar with Max's name in the industry. I attended the conference to hear him speak. When I had an opportunity to talk with him in private to tell him how much Carlos had admired his work, he told me about his goal to open his own offices. He offered me a job right on the spot,” she smiled, reminiscing the moment.

“Everything that I've heard about Max always points back to his work, his brilliance in the electronic field. But what about Maxwell Knight the man? And please—be candid. I want to make him as rounded as possible for the article and you seem to know him best,” she coaxed.

“Maxwell is a very private person. It's rare that he discusses his private life,” she said, looking away.

“But I get a sense that if anyone knows that side of him it's you,” she smiled encouragingly. “As a matter of fact, while we were out to dinner the other night, we ran into an old friend of his.” She pretended to look at her notes. “A Victoria Davenport. Max seemed a bit reluctant to speak about her. Perhaps you could shed some light on their relationship.”

Carmen looked at her for a long moment, debating on how much she should say. In her heart she strongly felt that Reese was the perfect woman for her Max. The very idea that Victoria Davenport had been in contact with him again made her skin itch. If Reese was to have the slightest chance
in winning Max's heart she needed to know what she was up against.

“She nearly destroyed him,” she said finally. “Both personally and professionally. They met about five years ago at the same conference I spoke of earlier. I knew she was trouble from the moment I set eyes on her…”

Reese listened with her heart in her hand, hoping that Carmen's story would match what Max had revealed to her.

“…Maxwell is the type of man who puts his heart and soul into everything he touches. That included Victoria. And when she turned on him, he was never the same. The light seemed to die in his eyes. He turned inside of himself and devoted his every waking moment to his work to the exclusion of everything and everyone.” She looked across at Reese. “It wasn't until recently that I've seen the old sparkle back in his eyes,” she stated, giving Reese a pointed look. “Give him time,” she added sagely. “He'll come around.”

Reese hid her obvious attempt at gleaning information about Maxwell and Victoria behind a wall of questions of which she already had the answers. “What is the general feeling around the office about the company's status in the industry?” she parried.

Carmen smiled in understanding. “Everyone is thrilled that Maxwell has been able to direct the company to this level in such a short space of time. It's a testament to his brilliance as a businessman as well as an engineer.”

“Can you tell me a little bit about his family? What was his life like before he became ‘boy wonder'?”

 

It was after eleven o'clock when Victoria's plane finally touched down in D.C. All she wanted to do was go home and regroup. Her meeting with Max had been more stressful than she'd anticipated. She thought that, for the most part, she was over him. But she wasn't. The time that she'd spent with him
only rekindled the smoldering embers of their relationship. She'd messed up big time. And she knew there was no chance in getting him back. When she'd said that she envied Reese, it was true, more so than she'd ever be able to admit. But what was also true was that she did want him to find happiness. If it happened to be with her half sister, there wasn't much she could do about that. Revealing their kinship would change nothing. She loved him enough to finally let him go—whether he ever believed it or not.

Walking slowly through the terminal, her thoughts were focused on her life and where it would take her. She didn't see the Special Forces agent until he was right next to her, clasping her elbow.

“Come with me, Ms. Davenport, the general would like to speak with you. There's a car outside waiting to take us to Chevy Chase.”

Not again, she prayed silently. Not again.

 

On the far side of the terminal a second agent walked casually to a pay phone and dialed the designated number. The phone was answered on the first ring.

“Yes.”

“Davenport was just picked up at the airport.”

“Keep her close. I'm sure they're bringing her in.”

James Knight hung up the phone. He leaned back in his seat. “What will you try to do to my son this time?” he asked aloud.

 

“Have a seat, Victoria. Make yourself comfortable,” said General Murphy. “I do apologize for getting you out so late, but we have pressing matters to discuss.”

Victoria took a seat and folded her hands in front of her. It had been over three years since she'd been in these rooms bartering with the devil. She looked around. Nothing had
changed. “Why am I here, Uncle Frank? I would have thought I paid my dues in full by now.”

Murphy gave her a sardonic smile. “Interest, my dear. Interest.” He turned away from her and took a seat. “You've been in contact with Knight again, Vicky, after being given specific instructions to stay away from him—for good. Why?”

Victoria swallowed. They'd been following her. What else did they know about her life? “We had things to discuss,” she said in a tight voice.

“It's my business to know what things.”

“Believe me,
general,
our conversation had nothing to do with anything that would interest you.”

He leaned forward, his cool green eyes burning through her. “Everything you do interests me. The only reason why you've reached the level that you have in the Force is because of my benevolence! And don't you ever forget it,” he seethed. When he looked at Victoria Davenport he could see the face of her mother as surely as if she stood in front of him. Guilt and something much deeper twisted into a painful knot in his belly. He reached into his pocket, extracted a packet of antacids, and popped two in his mouth.

He was one of two people who knew of Victoria's unsavory beginnings. He and Victoria's mother. For a man of Hamilton Delaware's stature, that type of scandal would have ruined his career. They'd been the closest of friends since their early days in training. They were brothers at heart, even though their race denied it. And Murphy had sworn he'd help keep his secret, even though it tore at his heart to do so. Hamilton was totally unaware of just how much they shared. They would have still been friends if Hamilton hadn't discovered the experiments that the Force was running, with Frank Murphy as head of operations. Hamilton decided to turn his findings over to the Senate. Frank's career would have been
over. He'd worked too hard. He couldn't allow that to happen. Hamilton had betrayed him. He betrayed their friendship and all that he'd done on Hamilton's behalf. He couldn't let him get away with that. Yet even after it was over, he never broke his promise to maintain Hamilton's secret. He kept the money flowing into the accounts Hamilton had set up for Victoria as well as Reese.

He blinked back the memories and focused on Victoria. She was a casualty of internal warfare. She and her half sister. What was done was necessary. There was no turning back. And he couldn't let family ties interfere with what he had to do.

“I want to know everything you discussed with Maxwell Knight. And I want to know how much information Reese Delaware has about his life.”

 

James paced the small space that he used as his office. He didn't like what was happening. The fact that the general had taken Victoria in was reason to believe that the general was getting leery. And when he did, people were eliminated. Victoria had probably been working with him all along. But why did she suddenly go to see Max after all this time? He was sure it had something to do with the interview.

They couldn't take a chance on approaching Reese for fear that any reappearance of the military in her life would trigger her memory. That was the last thing they needed.

He lit a cigarette and watched the smoke trail upward and cloud the room. So much could have been different if only Hamilton had elected not to take his entire family to the hearings that morning. Things would have been different if there were no communications breakdown that day. He shut his eyes against the images.

There was nothing he could do about the past. All he could do was try to protect his son. He knew he'd never been much
of a father, but he did what was necessary for the life he led. And Max must never find out, especially now.

A soft tap on the door interrupted his musings.

Claudia stepped into the room. “Aren't you coming to bed, James? It's almost one o'clock in the morning.”

James smiled absently. “I'll be up in a minute.”

Claudia crossed the room to stand in front of him. She looked up into her husband's eyes. “What is it James? Something's wrong. I've known it for days.”

He searched her smooth cocoa face. This woman, his wife, had stood by him unquestioningly for thirty-five years. She withstood the humiliation that he brought on their home. She cared for and nurtured a son that was not hers. She endured a loveless marriage and never flinched, never once complained.

His heart filled with regret—for all the things he could have been to his wife and his son and he wasn't. There wasn't enough time in his life to make up for what he hadn't done.

Slowly he put his arm around her slender shoulders and pulled her gently against his hard-packed frame. “Oh, Claudia,” he hummed against her soft auburn curls. “I wish I knew where to begin. There's such a long bridge between us and it's my fault.” He shook his head woefully. “I don't even know how to get back across—to you.”

“I'm here to cross it with you, James. If you'll only let me.” She reached up and cupped his beardless cheeks. “I've always been here. Meet me halfway?”

James looked down into her eyes, so full of hope and expectation. Just as they'd looked thirty-five years ago…

“Claudia, you know the kind of life I live.” He sat down on the bench and stared down at his hands. Claudia took the small space next to him, her clean fresh scent wrapping around him.

“James. I love you and I know you love me. That's what's
important. I know that your devotion to the service is important to you also. I can live with that, but not without you. We can work it out.”

He turned to her and when he did, the magic in her eyes made him believe that anything was possible. “I'm only twenty-one years old. You're barely nineteen, your parents will have a fit.”

“I don't want to spend the rest of my life with my parents, James. I want to spend it with you.” She pressed her warm lips to his. “They'll just have to understand.”

James heaved a sigh. “You know I joined the Special Forces unit.”

Claudia nodded and took his hand.