Sweet Seduction Shield(76)

"He's signed his own death warrant," he said instead.

"What do you mean?"

"The ledger. Once word gets out that it incriminates so many powerful people he'll not be long for this world."

A sick feeling settled in my lower gut, making me gasp in a breath of shaky air. I wasn't sure why Ryan's words surprised me, or shocked me even. I certainly didn't feel any love lost for Roan McLaren, that was for sure. So I should have been rejoicing the fact that even in jail he'd get his comeuppance.

But I had to ask, "He's behind bars, how?"

"Just like he can reach outside the walls of a prison, those on the outside can reach within."

Wow. I'd not thought of that. I wondered if Ryan had. If he'd known that was a possible outcome. I held his gaze in the mirror and I think, just maybe, Ryan had been aware. Law was not justice. This was Ryan going after justice within the confinement of the law.

The long stretch of windy road to Gulf Harbour rolled out before us, the lights of the houses flashed by in a haze through the windows. Stanmore Bay, Arkles Bay, Manly. I counted each beach suburb off in my head silently as we wound our way further and further out towards the tip of Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

After another half hour of travel I started to smell the salty air of the sea, caught glimpses of the Hauraki Gulf beyond. Darkness for miles and then the odd glow of lights in the distance across the water. Grand homes lined both sides of the road, dark surging waves glimpsed through the gardens of those on the seaward side. Ryan pulled the car up outside a small, well presented, white stucco single storey house, on the foreshore side of the street. There'd have an uninterrupted view toward Coromandel, I was sure.

He switched the car engine off and just sat there, staring at the house as though it was a monster about to swallow him whole. I couldn't move to reassure him, Daisy's head rested gently on my shoulder and upper arm, she'd surely wake if I reached forward to Ryan. But I knew he needed something to face whatever it was about this place that turned him to stone.

"It's pretty," I said, and then cringed at my pathetic attempt to reassure.

He twisted in his seat and offered a small smile. "It's got a nice view," he admitted, but I was thinking it was an understatement.

The short conversation had broken his stasis though, and he climbed out of the vehicle and opened the rear door. Helping lift Daisy out of the car while I calmed her back to sleep with a kiss to the cheek, he said, "I'll come back for the bags, let's get this one settled inside."

I nodded and followed behind him and Daisy up the front steps, retrieving his keys when he tried to fumble the right one into the lock. I opened the door and waited for him to cross the threshold. He hesitated... my heart damn near broke in half. This was hard for him and I didn't know why. I wanted to ask, but now was not the time when he was facing his demons.

Finally he straightened his shoulders and took the first step inside. I switched on lights as we progressed further into an interior straight out of a design magazine. Light and airy, modern and welcoming. His mother's house was simply divine.

He walked straight towards a bedroom just off to the side and waited for me to pull the bed covers back so he could slip Daisy beneath them. The sheets were crisp and clean. The bedroom furniture dusted and well maintained. If no one lived here, why was it in such good order?

Daisy stirred, but only enough to be reassured that she was in a new bed and I wouldn't be far away, and then the gentle snoring began again. I stood over her for several minutes, aware Ryan had returned to the car for the rest of our gear, and just breathed. We'd made it, we were possibly safe, but I couldn't get past the feeling that there were still mountains left for us to climb.

I tucked my daughter in, sang a verse of Daisy Bell softly as I brushed her hair from her face, and then walked back out to the main part of the house. Ryan was already in the kitchen, emptying out the ice bin into the fridge and cupboards.

"It's a beautiful house, Ryan," I said softly from my side of the kitchen.

He didn't say anything immediately, just finished what he was doing and then put the bin away in a room that ran off the side of the kitchen.

He walked back out.

The air shifted. Thickened.

A slightly haunted, yet hungry look graced his face. He slowly devoured me with intense dark eyes, his hands fisted at his sides as though he was fighting a compulsion to reach for me.

Butterflies exploded in a flurry of beating wings inside my stomach.

"I'll tell you all about it," he said, voice strained. "But I'm drowning here."

I took a step closer, he held up his hand to stop my progress.

"I need you," he admitted, the words lost in the deep rumble of his voice.