Hidden Agendas by Lora Leigh

Author:Lora Leigh [Leigh, Lora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, contemporary, suspense, Adult
ISBN: 9780312939939
Google: jlfClJFpq3QC
Goodreads: 343518
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2007-06-26T00:00:00+00:00

EMILY STARED AROUND HER FATHER’S office. The pictures of her mother that sat in a place of honor on the mantel. The painting he had commissioned, just after Emily’s birth, of her and her mother hung across from his desk.

She looked like her mother, Emily thought. The same vibrant auburn hair, blue eyes, and inquisitive features. She had never paid much attention to it over the years. Her own looks rarely concerned her much. But as she stared at the portrait and waited for her father, she saw it now.

Her mother had been more delicate. Fine boned, slender, and graceful. Her hair was longer, hanging nearly to her waist, where Emily kept hers cut to her shoulders.

Her mother had loved parties. Emily preferred adventure. She wanted to go mountain climbing, skydiving, and playing war games in the mountains.

Her mother had lived for fashion. And Emily preferred jeans to silk, but she understood the need for the silk.

She hadn’t known her mother long enough, she thought. She hadn’t had a chance to hear her laughter often enough; she could barely remember the songs her father said her mother sang to her each night before bedtime.

“She loved you with all her heart,” her father said behind her as he came into the office. “She used to say you had the best parts of both of us. I’ve always agreed with her.”

“Weakness?” she asked as she turned to face him. “I hadn’t heard either of you were very weak, Dad.”

“Is that how you see it? The need to be careful? My need to protect you? That you’re weak to allow me to protect you?”

“To foist your candidates for a son-in-law on me? To tie me up with so many strings of guilt and love that half the time I didn’t know what living was?” she countered.

He grimaced at her questions.

“I made you a list of the cost of groceries, utilities, and boarding for your little boys during the past seven years.” She nodded to the paper he held in his hand. “I realize it’s pretty extensive and may require a few weeks to sort through, but the final amount is really rather low for the trouble I was forced to put up with. I’d appreciate being reimbursed.”

“Take it out of the interest that’s acquired on the account your mother and I set up for you,” he suggested.

“Sorry, Dad, that money’s being saved for a reason. It’s the nest egg I’m saving for any children I might one day have myself. Just cut me a check when you have time and send it to me.”

His eyes glittered with irritation then. “Why now? You’ve never said anything before.”

“Because you always deposited far more than I required. I don’t want more than you owe me, Dad. That’s what you’ve never understood. I want your respect. Your trust. Not your charity.”

“So you thought you’d earn my trust by traipsing through strip joints, bars, and dark alleys after that nonsensical research you harp about? I have yet to see a book, Emily Paige.

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