Yield to Me by Tory Richards Page B

to
officially contact Jonathan?”
    It was only natural he wanted things
to move along at a fast pace, considering he was known as the senator without a
watch. Patience was definitely not one of his virtues. Brent started to smile
before digesting the meaning in his comment. “You want me to contact him?” he
inquired with disbelief.
    “Why not?” Brent could hear the shrug of indifference in his brisk reply.
“Maybe the truth will come out if it hits him in the wallet.”
    Brent frowned. “Sounds like you want
me to ask for a ransom.” He didn’t mind helping out an old friend but there was
such a thing as going too far. Holding Sophie against her will for a couple
days could be overlooked with the senator’s help.
    “I really don’t care what you do as
long as you keep Sophie from him until I learn the truth,” he said with hatred
in his voice.
    Brent didn’t like the sound of that,
deciding not to ask the obvious. If holding Sophie lasted more than a few days,
he’d be forced to take matters into his own hands. “I’ll contact Lord in a
couple days, then.” After he had time to figure out what to
say.
    “What? Why the delay? You’ve always
been a man of action, taking charge as soon as the situation warranted it.
That’s why I asked you to help me.” In addition to the fact, they were cut from
the same cloth. The senator had a vicious reputation for backing up his mouth.
    “Control,” Brent said simply. “Lord
is a control freak. Let him worry about what might be happening to his lovely fiancée.
Once I contact him it will drive him insane knowing she’s with another man.”
    “Jonathan doesn’t care for anyone
but himself!” the senator snapped. “He wants Sophie as a trophy wife and to get
to me. He thinks he’ll have me under his thumb once he’s my son-in-law. He has
the reputation of a shark. I can’t prove anything but I’m almost certain he’s
the reason Phil Brody stepped down from running for governor last year.”
    Brent had heard the same rumors
about Brody. “That may be true, Senator, but he’s still a man with more than
his share of pride. Believe me when I say he won’t welcome the thought that
another man might be touching Sophie. Those kinds of doubts have a way of
acting like acid in a man’s gut.”
    The smile was evident in the
senator’s tone. “Yes…” he said, drawing out his response as though visualizing
what they were talking about. “Good plan, son. I like the idea of planting
those images in his arrogant head. That will definitely drive him mad. From
what I’ve observed these last few weeks he’s been overly possessive of my
daughter.”
    Brent could almost understand that.
She was the kind of woman men coveted while they feared at the same time.
Wealthy, intelligent, beautiful, the kind who’d never held any special appeal
to him. Nevertheless, in spite of the trouble she caused him and his peace of
mind he couldn’t deny he liked her spirit.
    “Has it occurred to you that maybe
Sophie wants this union?” Brent had to ask, although his instincts, coupled
with what he’d observed between her and Jonathan so far, indicated otherwise.
He’d known a few women who’d married for convenience, and money was a powerful
incentive.
    The senator didn’t hesitate with a
sharp response, his mind clearly made up. “No! Never! He’s blackmailing her;
I’d bet my life on it. There was no way I would just stand by and let her marry
him tomorrow.”
    The conversation they’d had the week
before came back to Brent. The senator had explained that kidnapping Sophie had
been a last resort and not something he took lightly. Brent didn’t take
kidnapping lightly either, especially when he was the one doing it. His
services usually bordered on protecting people from this sort of thing.
    Still, when the senator had first
phoned Brent, detailing his plan, the distraught father wouldn’t take no for an
answer. Brent had tried to reason with the senator but the