The Danforths: Marc, Tanya & Abe: The Laws of Passion / Terms of Surrender / Shocking the Senator

That got a huge laugh from the crowd, and the flashbulbs popped around them frantically. He bent over to whisper in her ear. “Nice save, sugar. Thanks.”

After twenty more minutes of nonstop smiling, Marc thanked everyone and helped Dana into the passenger side of the SUV. He drove away slowly, watching the reporters disperse in his rearview mirror.

“I imagine that ought to hold them,” he told her.

“I hope so. I think my face is permanently stuck in this position.” She rubbed her cheeks with her palms.

“How about if we go home and I fix us a little something to eat? I’ll give you a back rub after dinner—as a reward for a great save with the paparazzi.”

She shot him a sideways scowl, but then reached down and slipped off her shoes. “Make it a foot rub and you’re on. But first, drive around town a little. We need to deliver these files to the FBI office and make sure no one is following us.”

The normal twenty-minute drive home took over an hour. And Marc spent most of it racking his brain for a plan to link David Chastain to the cartel and save his skin.

Finally, he decided that he wanted to break into Chastain’s office and rummage through his files. Maybe with a little luck he’d find incriminating evidence. Looking over to Dana, Marc came to the conclusion that she would never agree to such a thing. It was totally illegal—and possibly dangerous.

So now he had to dream up a way to get out of the house without her.

Treating her like a queen, with a steak dinner, a bottle of his best merlot and a long soaking bath, was more his pleasure than hers. By midnight, sitting in front of the fireplace, she was groggy and pliable. Just the way he’d hoped she would be by now.

Stretching his arms, he gave a good imitation of a yawn. “Guess it’s time to hit the sack.” He stood and turned to her.

“Mmm, hmm,” she groaned. “It’s been a nice evening, Marc. Thank you.”

He pulled her to her feet. But she came up like a rag doll and ended pressed into his chest. Having her there, cuddled against him all soft and warm, made the whole scene much too intimate and cozy. He considered dragging her off to his bed instead of putting her into hers and then sneaking off for his breaking-and-entering caper.

She was nearly asleep standing up, and Marc shook his head at his own foolishness. Naw. Dana had made it clear enough that her first allegiance was to the law and the FBI. He wouldn’t take advantage of her in a moment of weakness. Hers or his.

“Let’s get you to bed, sugar,” he mumbled. What he’d decided to take advantage of was the opportunity to prove his innocence.

Marc lifted her off her feet and swung her into the guest bed. “Night, Dana. Sleep tight.” He paused only long enough to pull the blankets around her and to smooth away a soft curl that covered her cheek.

Creeping down the hall to his bedroom, he figured he would give her a half hour to fall sound asleep. His plan was going to be tricky. She’d already proven she was a light sleeper. But without Laddie around, Marc knew he could get out of the house without waking her.

He turned on the TV in his bedroom. Though he never watched the thing, the noise would make a great cover. Then he turned off all the lights and waited.

When he was nearly sleepy enough to decide to give up the whole idea, Marc knew it was now or never. He slipped down the hall past her closed bedroom door and snuck into the darkened kitchen. He planned to go out the back door and then idle the car out of the yard.

With his shoes in hand, Marc made it to the door. But right before he put his hand on the alarm to disable it, the image entered his mind of doing this exact same thing as a teenager at boarding school. What was the matter with him? A grown man, sneaking out of his own house.

Dana. She’d be so upset when she discovered he’d gone off without her. He couldn’t stand imagining her disappointment.

Setting his shoes on the floor, he turned back and flipped on the overhead light. No. If he was going to find the proof of his innocence, she would just have to agree to come with him.

He marched through the house, flipping on lights as he went. Marc hoped she wasn’t sleeping too soundly, but he couldn’t let that stop him. She had to hear him out. He had to make her listen.

When he pushed open her door, he was surprised to find Dana fully dressed and on her feet.

“Changed your mind?” She was checking her gun and didn’t look up at him.

“You knew?”

She chuckled deep in her throat. “It’s what I would’ve done if I were you.” Stashing the gun in a holster at her shoulder, she shrugged on a jacket. “Mind you, I never would’ve let you get out of the yard without me…but I’m very glad you decided to come back on your own.”

Marc cleared his throat. “Are we going to Chastain’s office together?”

“No. That would be illegal—and probably useless. If there’s anything incriminating of Chastain’s that we can use, it’ll be encrypted on his computer and not laying around his office for anyone to find. I think in Chastain’s case, we’ll be better off letting the Bureau tail his movements and get a warrant to tap his phone and computer.”

“Then, where are we going?”

Dana finally looked over at Marc and felt the jolt clear down to her toes. When dressed in a suit and tie like he’d been earlier today, the man was devastatingly handsome. But put him in jeans and a black pullover and the sight did wild and wicked things to her libido.

Damn, but she was sure glad he hadn’t tried to leave her behind. It looked like Marc Danforth was turning out to be just as honest and trustworthy as everyone said he was. So how come he kept trying to hit on her in her most vulnerable moments? It couldn’t be because he really thought she was beautiful, could it?

Exasperated with the direction of her thoughts, Dana pulled car keys out of her backpack and sidled past him into the hall. “We’re going to check out that newspaper warehouse on Montgomery Street. I’m sure Steve’s gotten permission for us to enter it by now. I called him about it after dinner.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Marc narrow his eyes. He was beginning to figure out that she’d been planning this all along.

“Well?” she urged as she started down the hall. “Come on, Danforth. You’re about to get your first lesson in surveillance. You’ll love it. It’s a barrel of laughs.”

Three hours and four huge mugs of D & D Coffeehouse’s extrastrong coffee later, the silence of the dingy warehouse was beginning to weigh on her nerves. Marc had been sitting still, with a pair of binoculars trained on the coffee suppliers’ alleyway entrance for the last hour.

Dana did a couple of isometric exercises with her calves and forearms and then decided to break the silence. “This has to be that boring time you were mentioning the other night. As long as we keep a careful watch, there’s no reason we can’t talk. How about telling me what happened a year ago that made you swear off dating?”

Even in the dark, she could see him grimace. “It’s not a big deal, Dana. I didn’t find out I had an incurable disease or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

When she didn’t counter his snide remark, he seemed to finally give up his reluctance to talk. “All right. You might as well hear about my most embarrassing moment. If I don’t tell you, you’ll hear it from one of my brothers or cousins anyway.”

He didn’t take the glasses away from his eyes, but he relaxed back onto the stack of newsprint behind him. “A little over a year ago I thought I was the Danforth that had everything going. I was engaged to marry my college sweetheart. We were redecorating the farm so the two of us could start our lives there. I had recently been named Chief Counsel for my family’s business. And my best friend from boarding school had just moved to the area to help me put together the family’s new charitable foundation.”

He took a breath. “Everything was right with the world.”

“A charitable foundation?”

Marc nodded in the dark, but she could see his features by the faint light streaking through the dirty windows. “The Danforth Foundation. I wanted our family to stand for something important. Dad was willing. He thought it would be good for his political career.”

“So what happened? Did you set up the foundation?”

“No.” He took a deep breath and she knew he was steeling himself to say something that might hurt. “I…I was pretty full of myself at the time. Thought I was on the brink of a great life with the perfect woman. Thought I was better than my brothers and cousins who wouldn’t or couldn’t settle down and find someone who loved them.”

“Pride has been the downfall of many men and women over the centuries,” she whispered.

Shaking his head sadly, he grimaced. “Yes, well. I had it—in spades. Then last fall, I got lucky and managed to come home a day earlier than I’d planned from a fund-raising trip I’d taken with Dad. The condo was dark. I figured Alicia was already asleep so I took off my shoes and tiptoed to the bedroom.”

Marc sighed, and hesitated to continue for long enough to make her afraid of what was to follow.

“I heard a noise coming from our bed that no man in love should ever hear,” he finally said with a shudder. “When I turned on the light, there was my fiancée…in the throes of naked passion and…straddling my best friend.”

Seven