Seized By Seduction

“I just got a call about an event at the Kennedy Center. They’re expecting a ton of celebrities, will be increasing their security detail and need at least three of my men. Since you’ve done events there before, I’m reaching out to you in case you might be interested.”

“When is it?” Quasar asked.

“Next weekend. It’s on Friday night, but they’re footing the bill for an entire weekend if you want to use the additional two days and do some sightseeing. If you’re interested, I’ll have the packet ready when you return to the office on Monday.”

“I’m interested.” He hadn’t been to DC in a while. It would give him the chance to check in on Ryker Valentine, a former inmate who, after returning to his home state of California, had entered politics and was now a US senator.

“Good. I’ll put you down, Quasar.”

“I hope you’re not overdoing anything, Roland.” The man had been shot earlier that year in an attempted carjacking.

“My last scheduled checkup with the doctor was yesterday,” Roland said. “I’m officially released with a clean bill of health.”

“Glad to hear it, but still, don’t tax yourself.”

“I won’t. I’ll have Carson to deal with if I do.”

Quasar knew that to be true. Carson was Shep’s wife and Roland’s good friend. She doted on Roland like a younger brother. “And how is Carson?”

“Fine. They found out last week that she’s having a girl. Everyone is happy. Especially Shep. After three sons, he’s getting a daughter. The baby is due sometime in July.”

Quasar smiled, thinking of Shep with a daughter. In a way, it was strange to picture Shep and a baby at all, considering his youngest son, Dalton, would be thirty this year. Shep was starting fatherhood all over again. “What about Caden and Dalton? Any word on what they’re having?” The wives of two of Shep’s sons were pregnant, as well.

“Caden and Shiloh are also having a girl. Dalton and Jules aren’t saying yet.”

Quasar shook his head and chuckled. “Leave it to Dalton to keep everyone in suspense.”

“Yes, that’s Dalton for you. Talk to you later.”

Quasar clicked off the phone. Maybe spending a weekend in the nation’s capital, visiting an old friend, was just what he needed.

* * *

“SO WHAT ARE your plans for Trey’s birthday?” Randi asked her sister, Haywood, as they tossed their shopping bags into the backseat of Haywood’s SUV. It was a beautiful day in Richmond, although forecasters had predicted rain later today. Randi loved shopping, and a day spent at the malls with her sister was the best. Even with the eight-year difference in their ages, they’d always been close. Usually their mother would join them, but their parents had left today to celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary on an international tour of four countries.

“You know your brother,” Haywood said, sliding into the seat behind the steering wheel and buckling her seat belt. “It’s going to be hard to pull anything over on him, so a surprise birthday party is out of the question. I think I’ll host a birthday dinner instead.”

Randi nodded while buckling her own seat belt. Yes, she did know her brother, and Haywood was right. It would be hard to pull anything over on Trey. It always amused her to watch people’s reactions whenever they discovered her sister had married her brother. Then Randi would have to explain, as simply as she could, that she and Haywood shared the same mother, where as she and Trey shared the same father.

Jenna Fuller’s first husband and Haywood’s father, Steven Malone, had died of a heart attack when Haywood had been four. Randolph Fuller and Jenna, who’d been college sweethearts, reunited and married when Haywood was six. Trey, whose real name was Ross Donovan Fuller III, was Randolph’s son from his first marriage and was named after their father’s brother, who’d been killed in the Vietnam War.

Thanks to Haywood and Trey, Randi had two nephews—ten-year-old Ross Donovan Fuller IV, who was affectionately called Quad, and seven-year-old Randolph Devin Fuller II, who went by the nickname of Dev. Then there were her identical twin nieces, Brooklyn and Brynn, who turned three a few months ago. Randi adored her nieces and nephews and considered them her joy in life.

“What do you have planned for this weekend?” Haywood broke into her thoughts to ask.

“I’m thinking about painting my bedroom.”

Haywood glanced at her when she brought her SUV to a stop at a traffic light. “Why? You know you don’t want to do that.”

Randi chuckled. “What are you? A mind reader?”

Haywood shook her head, grinning. “No, reading minds is your thing, not mine.”

True, Randi thought as she settled back in her seat. After all, she was Dr. Randi Fuller, psychic investigator and behavioral analyst. She’d been fifteen when she’d gotten her first premonition but hadn’t told anyone until she was nineteen. That’s when she’d confided first in Haywood and then her parents.

No one had been surprised, since it was a known fact that Randolph Fuller’s maternal grandmother and great-grandmother had been psychics. Nor had it been surprising when those not close to her family had been skeptical of her abilities. At first Randi had consider her psychic abilities a curse, especially after an incident in college involving her best friend, Georgie Mason, and Larry Porter, the guy she’d convinced herself she would love for life. She’d secretly confided to Georgie she had psychic powers. In her junior year she began dating Larry, and Georgie had betrayed Randi’s trust by telling Larry of Randi’s psychic abilities before she’d gotten the chance to do so herself.

When Larry confronted her about it, she’d confirmed what Georgie had told him. Larry broke things off with her, saying there was no way he could be involved with a freak. She’d taken their breakup hard, and it was only with her family’s love and support that she had gotten through that difficult period in her life.

“I wasn’t going to mention it, practically promised Trey that I wouldn’t, but...”

Randi glanced over at her sister. “What is it that Trey doesn’t want you to mention?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.

“It’s about Larry.”

Now she wondered if her sister could possibly read minds, since her ex-boyfriend had been in her thoughts just moments ago. “What about Larry?”

“Zach ran into him this week. Seems he’s moved to DC and works for an IT company there.”

Zach was Senator Zachary Wainwright, Trey’s best friend. Zach was also married to their cousin Adrianna, whom everyone called Anna. “Why would Larry moving to DC bother me?”

Haywood shook her head. “Come on, Ran, it’s me you’re talking to. I of all people know how much you loved Larry and how badly he hurt you.”

Larry had hurt her. “I’ve gotten over him, Haywood. It wasn’t easy, but I did.” What she said was true. She’d taken a year off college just to get herself together. That time spent on Glendale Shores had been just what she’d needed. Located off the South Carolina coast, Glendale Shores was one of the most beautiful of the Sea Islands and had been in her family for generations.

“Are you sure?”

Randi glanced over at her sister. “I’m positive.”

Haywood didn’t say anything for a minute. Then she said, “I’m glad, because according to Zach, he’s married. Larry mentioned to Zach that he’s attending that big bash at the Kennedy Center this weekend with his wife. Since you have plans to go as well, there’s a chance you might see them there.”

Randi drew in a deep breath and felt...nothing. Not even that painful ache in her heart that it had seemed would take forever to go away. But it was finally gone. Who would have thought she would actually feel zilch upon hearing the man she once loved so deeply had committed his life to someone else?

“Randi?”

She heard the worry in her sister’s voice and glanced over at her. “I heard you, Haywood. So Larry’s married. I’m happy for him. Truly I am. And it wouldn’t bother me in the least if I saw him.”

She paused a minute, then added, “I got over Larry. I now understand that not all men could handle a girlfriend having psychic abilities. I shouldn’t have expected Larry to be different.”

“Well, I did,” Haywood said with indignation. “He claimed he loved you.”

Yes, he had claimed that, and when I needed him to be supportive and understanding, he’d been neither. In fact, he was a total ass. “Well, like I said, I’m over Larry, and no one has to be afraid to mention him around me or freak out at the thought we might run into each other someplace whenever I’m in DC.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Randi. I know getting over Larry was not easy for you. But I’m still concerned, because you haven’t dated much since your breakup with him, and it’s been close to four years.”

Reaching up, Randi adjusted her sunglasses. Had it been that long? “I date.”

“I didn’t say you hadn’t dated at all. I said you don’t date much. There’s a difference.”