Read Online Ring of Truth (Devlin Security Force Book 2) by Susan Vaughan - Free Book Online Page A

Mom’s family, not wiry like... like a second-story man.” Leon had asked if he worked out. Yeah, he worked out. Exhaustion from running and lifting helped him make it through the night. Maybe making this right would let him sleep.
    She’d finished—about half of what was on her plate, as much as she ever seemed to eat—and he followed her into the kitchen with his plate.
    “You lived with your mom. They were separated?” She scraped the plates into the garbage and placed them in the sink.
    When she moved to cover the casserole and put it away, he took her place at the sink. Might as well earn his keep. And standing closer to her allowed him to breathe her scent. “When I was twelve, she discovered he’d been teaching me certain skills.”
    He wouldn’t go into how Leon used to tell him stories about the glamorous world of jewel theft. He attributed the twinge in his chest to too much pasta. Memories of the arguments and his mother’s increased drinking hammered at him. Especially after that day. “She packed me up then and there. We left.”
    She took coffee beans from the freezer and shook her head. “What sort of skills was he teaching you?”
    “Off and on he had me practice climbing walls and walking across the roof. To strengthen me and build agility for sports, he said, but I knew better. I heard enough to know why they argued about it. Mom caught him showing me how to pick locks.” He’d kept the set of tools Leon gave him. A point of pride they remained unused. And would.
    “No surprise you did what your dad wanted. A guy thing.” She dumped coffee beans into the high-tech contraption she called a coffeemaker. When the thing finished whirring like a power drill, she set up the brewing. “Was he a good dad except for... you know?”
    He shrugged that off and reached for a bowl. Finished rinsing the plates. His wet fingers brushed hers as he handed her a dish, and her cheeks flushed a nice pink. As she arranged the dirty dishes and silverware in the dishwasher, she kept her face averted. He grinned, pleased he affected her. Not that anything between them should go further than a simple touch.
    “Did they divorce?” Her expression held curiosity and interest, not pity or disdain.
    He poured wine and leaned back against the counter where she’d set her cell phone in a dock with an iPod. She had games including a Wii. All the toys, this pretty geek. He swirled the dark red liquid in his goblet. “She moved us to Massachusetts, where she grew up, and divorced him. Their agreement was that he’d see me only under her supervision.”
    “But Leon didn’t stick to their deal. Again, no surprise.” She shook her head and sipped wine.
    “You’re catching on.”
    “Your dad made his life seem exciting and adventurous. Heady stuff for a boy,” she said. “And your mom disapproved, so you were caught in the middle.”
    “Most of the time it was okay. Going into the relationship, she knew what he was. Then she couldn’t take the secrecy, the unsavory hangers-on, the constant moving.”
    “Did they love each other?”
    “Love? Is there such a thing? Can’t prove it by me.” He barked a harsh laugh. “She said she loved him. Just couldn’t live with him. Didn’t want me to end up like him.”
    And first chance he got, he followed in good old Dad’s footsteps.
    He set down the glass with careful control. “Never again. And I’ll prove it if I have to drag Leon’s partners into the FBI office and make them hand over their ring pieces.”
    Mara crossed the tiny kitchen and placed her small hand on his chest in comfort, as if she’d read his mind. As if she’d said, “You’re not your father.” Or was he?
    In reply to that gesture, he said, “I should’ve known not to trust him.”
    The press of her soft palm and the tips of her fingers revved his pulse to a higher gear. He inhaled—the fruity shampoo that permeated the bathroom and the fresh rain scent that seemed to be hers alone—and