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His face softened for a moment. “Kinley, I…” His jaw firmed. Then he closed his eyes and pulled back, and she knew she’d lost him. “I did what I had to do. ”
“Then leave, and I’ll get through this stuff faster. Like I said, I won’t try anything. I would just fail. ”
He stopped, and for the briefest of moments she thought he would insist on staying with her. “Fine, but know that if you try, I will let Riley spank you. When he’s done, I’ll have you over my knee, too. And I won’t let you up until we’re on the same page. ”
“Brutalizing women. Very nice. ”
He stopped in front of her, his stare holding and drilling into hers. “I didn’t say you wouldn’t like it, baby. I just said we would be on the same page. ” He frowned. “How do you do this to me? How do you make me forget everything I planned? Come on, Butch. She doesn’t want you anymore than her owner wants me. Let’s go. ”
Butch slowly padded toward the door, his doggy eyes lingering on Gigi.
Law left with the big animal, the door swinging behind them.
Kinley stared down at the photos and reports, the brutal proof that her whole life was a lie. Her tears began to flow in earnest.
* * * *
Law walked out of the kitchen feeling like the lowest fucking piece of shit on the planet. He crossed the hall and stalked into the office he, Dominic, and Riley were using as their base of operations. “I really hope you two are happy. ”
Had ruining Kinley’s life been worth it? Maybe if he had tried again, he could have figured out a way to put Greg behind bars without wrecking all her illusions.
I would just fail. Her big brown eyes had been filled with tears. Pain had been etched onto her sweet face.
He’d caused that. Maybe he hadn’t been the fucker cheating on her or planning to kill her, but he’d helped to expose it all. And he’d done it coldly because he knew his feelings for her were hopeless. Dominic was right. Hell, even Riley was probably right. Even if he hadn’t abducted Kinley, how would a woman with her class and sweetness ever survive a relationship with him, a brooding Dominic, and a smartass Riley? It sounded impossible, and he was such a stupid ass for fighting that realization.
“No,” Dominic said. “I’m not happy. And we have a problem. Annabelle is on the line. Riley, can Kinley hear us?”
Riley crossed the room and shut the door. “No, the doors are thick, and we’re far enough away. I can see her through the panes if she tries to come out of the kitchen. I secured the other doors, and the windows won’t break. We’re good. ”
Law was happy about that because the last thing Kinley needed was to know that her best friend had been in on this plot from the beginning. One more betrayal, and Kinley might not survive, even if Annabelle had participated with good intentions.
Dominic pushed a button on the phone. “Annabelle, tell us what’s going on. ”
“Greg is freaking out. ” Annabelle’s voice was hushed. “He suspects you. I overheard him talking about it with that goon of his, Dargo. At first he thought that Kinley got cold feet. He was really upset about the luggage. ”
“Why would he want her luggage?” Law asked.
“It’s designer,” Riley explained. “You’ll have to excuse my brother. He’s not into designer anything. We’re lucky he doesn’t still wear his BDUs. ”
They wouldn’t let him or he would. He’d spent so much time in uniform it felt weird to be in civvies, even years later. The Army had been simple. No need to pick out his clothes. No wondering if he looked like a douchebag. Kinley probably liked a man who knew how to dress.
Annabelle sounded thoughtful over the line. “I know a full set of Louis Vuitton is expensive, but her engagement ring cost far more, and he didn’t give a damn about it. I overheard him talking to Becks, and he was pissed. He told her that she needed to find Kinley and get that luggage back or she would be the one in trouble. ”
They’d been through her luggage. Law hadn’t found anything but her clothes, makeup, and an iPad. He’d put the tablet in airplane mode, and she didn’t know the password for the Internet, so Riley had declared it harmless, but maybe he should look at it again. All he’d seen was a bunch of games, pictures, and her e-reader app, which was completely full of romance novels. Unless Greg liked cross-dressing in private or needed to catch up on his reading, Law wasn’t sure why he would want anything she’d packed for her honeymoon.
“We’ll go through it all again. Something’s not right there,” Dominic said. “We’re working on Kinley, but I can’t tell if she simply doesn’t know anything or she doesn’t want to tell us. ”
Law was pretty fucking sure she didn’t know. “Come on. You saw her face. They’ve kept her out of the loop, and we just crushed her with all that information. She’s looking over everything we left her now. Maybe once she’s convinced, she’ll start thinking about what she knows. One thing about Kinley I’m sure of, it’s that she has a good heart. She wants to do what’s right. ”
Dominic sent him a sigh that was somewhere between thoughtful and contrite.
“Spare me. ” Riley rolled his eyes.
He got in his brother’s face. “You spare me. Why don’t you stop assuming she’s just like Simone and fucking get to know her before you jump to all kinds of assumptions?”
Dominic cleared his throat. “Has anyone been able to find the accountant she uses?”
“Yes,” Riley muttered. “Tate found Steve a few hours ago. I hadn’t had a chance to tell you. He claims Greg fired him eight weeks ago. Since he worked from home, he rarely saw Kinley. Imagine Steve’s surprise when he found out that he was supposedly still employed. Tate showed him the reports someone had filed on his behalf since he was fired. He claims none of the work is his. So we have to assume that Greg has been quietly putting his own people into position. ”
And isolating Kinley from anyone who could help her. “The bastard. ”
“There’s no question about that,” Annabelle replied, then her voice became even more grave. “We have another problem. When he couldn’t find Kinley, he called the police. They found a surveillance tape. ”
“Seen it. ” Riley sounded long-suffering. “It’s all over the news. Not our shining moment. ”
Law groaned. He was never going to live that shit down. “I’m sorry. ”
Annabelle ignored him. “The police identified Law as the man on the tape. ”
Law’s chest tightened. Just as he feared, he would likely be going to prison. And that brought up more than one problem. “If I turn myself over, do you think they’ll let Riley and Dominic off? I can say they had nothing to do with it, that I had a different crew. ”
“Don’t you fucking dare. ” A male voice came over the line. He wasn’t trying to be quiet at all. “This is Kellan, and I need to hear you verbally authorize Annabelle to pay me. ”
“What?” Law asked.
“Do it,” Dominic ordered in that CO voice of his.
“Whatever. Pay the man, Annabelle,” Law said.
“Law, I’m giving Kell a dollar as a retainer,” she explained. “He’s now your lawyer. As such, he can advise you, and everything he says is protected under attorney-client privilege. Everything you tell him is covered as well, with the exception of knowledge of crimes being currently committed. Do you understand?”
So he was supposed to lie. “Yep. ”
Kell’s voice came back on the line. “I’m a very smart man. I can guess what happened if the police come to ask me about anything. Let’s see if I have this straight. You and Kinley have been having a whirlwind affair. She didn’t have the courage to face Greg, and you carried her away from her wedding because she had gotten very emotional and taken a sedative. She was so incapacitated that she couldn’t walk. You knew she would be horribly embarrassed, so in an attempt to save your lover’s peace of mind, you had your brother help you carry her out. You disguised yourself and hid her in the laundry cart becau
se you were avoiding the paparazzi. ”
Kellan shouldn’t be a lawyer. He should be a fiction writer. “Yeah, sure. ”
“You two will come home after all the chaos has died down. Can we get Kinley to support that story?”
“Not yet. ”
“Ah, she’s still emotional and feeling the aftereffects of the medication designed to calm her nerves. Well, call me when she’s better. With so much going on, I understand it could take a day or two. Whatever you do, I would advise you not to confess to crimes. How is the investigation going? Has Kinley explained where the invoices are coming from?”
If they could come up with evidence that would make the RICO charges stick, the feds would take up the case again. The whole idea had been that if Kinley saw how she was being used, she would forgive them for abducting her. He’d been so sure of that. He wasn’t anymore. “She’s not talking yet, but then we just hammered her with the fact that her fiancé, sister, and father have all betrayed her. ”
“Is she all right?” Annabelle asked, obviously concerned.
“How would you be if you found out your family was lying and planning to off you?” Law couldn’t imagine it. Riley, for all his sarcasm, was such a part of Law, he couldn’t fathom not having his brother around. For all of Kinley’s privileged upbringing, other than Annabelle, she was utterly alone in the world.
Law wanted her to know that wasn’t true, that someone was willing to fight for her. She needed a man who wasn’t so self-absorbed or insecure, who would stand up for her, risk himself to keep her safe and happy. The woman Mike had met deserved that.
“Kinley’s stronger than she knows. Let me talk to her. Maybe if she knew that I believe this is best for her, she would cooperate,” Annabelle said. “She knows I don’t have any motives other than saving her. ”
“That’s a horrible idea,” Kellan said. “If Kinley even once said where she was or explained that she wasn’t, in fact, still recovering from her emotional bout, then Annabelle would become an accessory after the fact if she didn’t go to the police. ”
“I can handle it, Kell,” Annabelle insisted.
“Not on your life, baby. You’re not doing this. You’re lucky we allowed you to be involved in this in the first place. ”
“Allowed?” Annabelle wasn’t trying to keep her voice down now. She was practically screeching. “Allowed! You don’t own me. She is my best friend. I brought this case to you. ”
“And now you’re out of it. If you don’t obey me, we’re going to have a long talk. ”
“I am not one of your club subs, Kell. I will talk to my friend if I want to. And I will lie to the cops all day long if the mood strikes me. ”
“Gentleman, my assistant and I are going to go and have a brief discussion. I am so happy to hear that Law and Kinley are settling into their future as a couple. I will advise any law enforcement that comes my way to that effect. Unfortunately, I was not given the whereabouts of your love nest. And Annabelle isn’t privy to any of that information, nor will she be. Oh, and unfortunately Annabelle has dropped her phone and stepped on it, rendering it utterly useless for finding the phone numbers of her most recent calls. So sad. ”
“No need,” Riley explained. “This is a burner. We have about fifteen in our possession. No names are attached to the numbers, everything was paid for in cash, and they come from completely different parts of the country. We’ll call in again. And we’ll get rid of this line. Talk to you later. ”
As Riley pressed the End Call button, Law could hear Annabelle arguing. He wasn’t sure what was going on at that law firm, but Annabelle was going to be in trouble. He’d seen Kell, Tate, and Eric watching their administrative assistant like she was a fluffy bunny and they were lions who had gone without a meal for far too long.
Rather like he watched Kinley.
“I’m going to go to the kitchen and talk to her again. ”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Dominic said. “She needs time to process all we’ve told her, and we’re probably the last people she wants to see. ”
“I should at least check on her. ” He wasn’t going to leave her alone in there with all the evidence of betrayal around her and no shoulder to lean on. Law knew to his core that she was a good person whose only sin had been in trusting the people she should have been able to.
Law turned and walked back into the kitchen, ready to talk to her, to try to make her understand what was really going on. And he froze because she no longer sat in the chair in which he’d left her.
His heart nearly stopped, but then Gigi was at his heels, whining up at him. He looked around the kitchen and saw her. Her body was facing the large pantry door, her hands covering her face. Though she wasn’t making a sound, her body shook with the force of her tears.