Family Man

integrity. Gilchrists did not trust easily, she knew. The fact that Luke trusted her meant a great deal.
    There was silence for a moment in the kitchen. Matt broke it.
    “Good thing we got back when we did,” he offered conversationally.
    “You can say that again,” Katy murmured. “I wasn't sure how to make Zeke release Fraser. I had visions of lawsuits and all sorts of problems.”
    “There won't be any more problems from Stanfield,” Luke said.
    Something in his too-quiet voice alerted Katy. Her brows snapped together in a worried frown. “Luke, you didn't do anything violent to him, did you?”
    Luke looked her straight in the eye. “Hell, no. I know you don't approve of violence. I gave him a stern lecture on business ethics and a very forceful warning.”
    Matt suddenly choked on a swallow of soda. He gasped, sputtered, and nearly bent over double as he tried to recover himself. Soda sprayed from the can as Matt hastily set it down on the counter. Katy's attention was momentarily diverted.
    “Are you all right, Matt?”
    “Yeah. Sure.” Matt coughed and made a production out of clearing his throat as he reached for a sponge to mop up the soda. His gaze flickered to Luke, who looked politely concerned. “Uh, I think I'll take Zeke for a walk or something. See you later. Come on, Zeke. Let's go, boy.”
    Zeke obediently scooped up his dish and trotted after Matt. Katy waited until the door closed, and then she turned back to Luke.
    “About Fraser,” she began deliberately. “I really think you should have kept me informed, Luke.”
    Luke put down his can of soda and reached for her. He leaned back against the refrigerator door, spread his legs, and pulled her close between his thighs. Katy could feel the heat and the strength in him. She responded to it as she always did, with a heady little rush of excitement.
    “Luke?” She raised her head to look up at him. There was an unnerving intensity in his emerald gaze.
    “Do you have any idea of how I felt when I saw you down there on the beach and realized what had happened?” Luke's voice was as rough as the surf hitting the cliffs below the cottage window. “Do you know what could have happened if Zeke hadn't been there?”
    The fierce protectiveness in him touched Katy deeply. She gentled Luke's hard jaw with soothing fingers. “It's all right, Luke. I don't think Fraser would have actually hurt me. He was just very upset and angry, and he wanted to make me help him. But I don't think he would have used force.”
    “Angel, sometimes you scare me to death. How the hell have you survived this long without a guardian of your own?”
    Before Katy could reply Luke took her mouth, kissing her with all the controlled ferocity she had seen reflected in his eyes since he had walked into the cottage.
    Katy could feel the battle-ready tension in him and instinctively knew that whatever had happened between Luke and Fraser, it had not been entirely civilized.
    She also knew there was nothing she could do about it now. Luke would never tell her the whole truth. Perhaps she did not really want to know the details, she thought.
    Katy surrendered to the urgent demand in Luke's kiss, using her softness to drain off the remnants of the fury that had blazed in his eyes.
    When the tension had eased in him Katy raised her head. “Luke? What are you thinking?”
    “I'm thinking of something Stanfield told me before he left a few minutes ago.”
    “What was that?”
    “I asked him for the name of the man who was behind the consortium of investors who were trying to buy Gilchrist Gourmet.”
    “He told you?” Katy asked, surprised.
    “I guess he was feeling cooperative. He said he never actually met him, but the guy's name was Milo Nyle.”
    “Good heavens,” Katy said. “That's the name of the man who tried to con Darren. Mr. Nyle was certainly an active mischief-maker.”
    “Yes,” Luke said, apparently lost in his own thoughts. “He was.”

CHAPTER

NINETEEN
    T wo days later Luke sat at his Seattle office desk gazing into the crystal ball that was his computer. He absently tapped a gold pen against the polished wood of his desk.
    Displayed on the screen was information on a real estate deal Gilchrist, Inc. had done fifteen years earlier.
    The maneuver had involved the purchase of a small, aging building near the Pike Place Market. The structure itself was useless to Gilchrist. It was the property Justine had wanted, and there was no denying it had