Beyond the Edge (the Knight Series Book 3)

by Mari Brown

  Cole and I enter our hotel room where there is a wonderful gift basket waiting for us congratulating us on our marriage with a bottle of champagne and assorted chocolates.

  “Mrs. Knight…” Cole begins

  “Yes, Mr. Knight…” I answer with a grin.

  “I want to get you naked and under me.”

  “Oh, you’re so romantic.” I chuckle while my body heats up at his words. I’ve been dying to fuck my husband all night and it’s time to start our new life as husband and wife off the right way.

  Cole pushes me toward the bed and I feel the back of my knees strike the mattress before falling back. Cole crawls over top of me. His lips find mine. I drown in his kiss losing myself to him completely.

  Chapter 31

  Cole

  “Kitten…” I’ve been searching all over this damn mansion for my wife. It fills me with peace to know she’s finally my wife. No more running.

  “I’m in here.” she calls from the library.

  I never realized how big this place was until I started searching thirty minutes ago. I walk into the library to see Kat bent over her laptop at the table. “What are you doing?”

  Silence greets me. I have a good idea what she’s doing. It’s been like this since we returned from our honeymoon. She’s been on a mission.

  “I’m reading through all this information on Warren Richmond.”

  Kat had Hunter and Luke researching Warren while we were on our honeymoon. We are waiting for word back from the DNA test. Pete was able to quietly obtain samples from all of the Richmond’s during our wedding reception and we had it sent off to a lab along with a sample of Kat’s DNA. I don’t know if this would be a good or bad thing in the end but she was determined to find out the truth.

  “Apparently, my mother worked for Warren for many years.” Kat says without ever looking up from her computer.

  “Really?” I ask “Doing what?”

  “It says here she was employed by Richmond Investments for almost six years as a receptionist.”

  “Well, there’s their connection.” I wonder if the Richmond’s know more than they are letting on.

  “How did my mom go from successful career woman to a drugged up has been?” Kat muses more to herself than anyone.

  “We may never know. It’s doubtful she’ll ever give you the full story.” I tell her while coming around and propping up against the table facing her. “It’s highly unlikely if Warren is your father he knows the full story either.”

  “Mr. Knight.” Ms. Bea enters the library with a package. She was the head housekeeper for our home now. After Seth no longer needed a full time nanny. My dad and the rest of us didn’t want to lose this woman. She has been a valuable asset to our home. “This just came special delivery for you.”

  She hands me the package and I look down and see the return address of the lab we used to obtain DNA results. This is it the moment of truth.

  “Kitten…” I call trying to gain her attention. “Kitten…” I try again. She is so focused on what’s she looking at she doesn’t pay any attention to me. “Katarina Knight!” I shout.

  “What the fuck Cole?” she snaps.

  “You might want to open this.” I hand her the envelope.

  “What is this?” she takes it looking at the outside. “You ran DNA tests?”

  “I told you I would get you results.” Why did she doubt me? I always do what I say I’m going to do.

  “Holy shit. I’m nervous.” she says her hands shake a little as she carefully opens the sealed envelope. I study her face as she reads the contents of the envelope. She, as always, carefully schools her expression. Her eyes dart back and forth as she reads the words on the pages. “It says here that Warren Richmond is my father and that Nancy and Landon are indeed my half siblings.”

  “You okay?” I ask as she slouches down in the chair. The paper falling onto the table in front of her.

  “Yeah… I just don’t know what to do with this new information.” Her hand rakes through her hair as she thinks about something. “Do I talk to him about it?”

  “I would.” I grab her hand in mine as a gesture of comfort. “I think you should meet with Warren first, privately, and go from there.”

  “Yeah, I need to call Drew.” She suddenly says grabbing her cell phone from underneath a stack of papers. I listen in as she asks Drew to stop by the mansion and talk to her.

  “I’m here for you, Kitten. I’m not leaving your side for one moment.”

  “What if he doesn’t acknowledge me? Or worse, outright rejects me?” she says sounding more like a scared little girl then the strong confidant woman I know and love.

  “Nonsense! He’d be a fucking idiot.”

  “Cole, we need you in your Dad’s office.” Pete barges into the library. Kat and I both look toward him in the doorway, his face is lined with stress. I think silently to myself what the hell is going on now.

  I follow Pete back down the hall to my dad’s office. I’m shocked to see Justin and his lawyer, Jackson, sitting in there.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Have a seat, son.” My dad says. I eye him warily.

  “I prefer to stand. Just spit it out…”

  “I had a call from a contact at the Belmont PD. Justin is in big trouble. The evidence against him is piling up.”

  I glance at my brother who sits slouched in his chair. His whole demeanor gives off a defeated attitude. “What the fuck is going on?” I exclaim “How is it that someone can go to such links to railroad Justin for something he didn’t do?”

  “What’s is going on?” Kat’s voice interrupts us. The men in the room all turn to her. All except Justin. He won’t even look her in the eyes. “What the fuck guys?”

  I quickly walk to my wife’s side. I pull her into the room shutting and locking the door behind her so no one else can come in. I fill her on what Jackson has said so far.

  “What does it all mean for Justin?” She asks Jackson.

  “I have my people working around the clock to help prove Justin’s innocence. Jackson sighs and I see the worry lines in his forehead. “I’m going to be honest, this case is going to be tough.

  “Fuck!” Kat exclaims.

  She only says what I’m thinking in my head. I don’t know how Justin got in this mess but he’d be wise to learn from this and clean up his act. Quiet descends upon the room as everyone processes what Jackson is telling us. This is not looking good for Justin at all. It’s not going to be good business for the Castle either.

  “We need to close the club down.” I finally speak up. “Either an employee or member is in on this. We can’t know for sure. I’ll get Hunter and his men working on the investigation. Jackson, hire whoever you need to help my brother.”

  My father grins at me. “Yep it’s time for me to step down and let my son take over the day to day running of things.” He says to the room. There is a gasp from Kat at his words.

  “But you said a year. We still have a few months left…”

  “My son is ready… you’re ready.” My dad responds. Kat eyes him before quietly nodding her head.

  “I have to meet Drew. He just texted that he’s here.” She says before kissing my cheek and breezing out the door.

  “What is that about?” my dad asks. He eyes me suspiciously. “You two have been hiding something since the day of your wedding.”

  “Her mother confronted her on the church steps and blurted out who Kat’s birth father is and we did some digging and took some illegal DNA to be tested and proved that for once the cunt bag is telling the truth.” I sigh as I finish.

  “Who, son?”

  “It’s better if Kat tells you when she’s ready but let’s just say a scandal is in the making. I’m just hoping we can come out on top of this one like we always do.” The press are going to eat this up once word leaks that Katarina Roberts Knight is the illegitimate daughter of Warren Richmond and sister of upcoming state senator, Landon Richmond.

/>   “Fair enough.” My dad lets it go almost too easy. “I’m going to start moving my personal effects out of this office this week. Once they are gone you and Kat can move in and make it your own.”

  “Really?” I ask surprised by my dad’s words.

  “I’m ready to retire. And it looks like Seth is not the only son I need to be there for.” He eyes Justin who has yet to say a word. I’m a little worried about him. It’s not like him to be so quiet or not joke about things.

  “So, what’s the next step?” I ask Jackson.

  “We will wait to see if the warrant comes through. Once it does I will take Justin to the station where he will turn himself in. It’s always better that way.” He scribbles on the notepad on his lap as he continues speaking. “I’m going to get a private investigator involved. Once he agrees to work the case I would like for Hunter to work with him.” He looks pointedly at me “They need to work together and share the work instead of duplicating efforts.”

  “Whatever you think is best.” I reply. The only thing I am concerned with right now is making sure my brother is taken care of. We will cooperate with Jackson the best we can as long as it’s in Justin’s best interest. We brainstorm and plan for another hour before Jackson leaves us to head back to his office.

  “This is a fucking mess.” I say to no one in particular as we are left alone.

  “Tell me about it.” Justin finally mumbles. “It’s my fucking life being ruined. I never met the bitch and she’s ruining my life by getting murdered.”

  My dad and I both remain silent. tThere is no answer. None of us know the true reason Justin is the target here.

  “Come on.” I motion to Justin.

  “Where?” he asks.

  “We are headed to Knight’s Castle. I want to meet with our employees. Someone had to see you the night in question. How did she come to be at the club?” Justin rolls his eyes. He doesn’t think this will help him. I won’t let him take this lying down. “Get up, little brother.”

  He reluctantly stands. “This is useless.”

  “It is not useless. I’m going to find out why this woman was murdered behind our club and why all evidence points to you.” This is not just because he’s my brother. The Knights reputation is at stake. We have never murdered women. We had a strange honor code in our family and murdering women for no reason, or men for that matter, goes against that code. When a Knight kills there is a reason.

  “This is so fucked up” Justin quips. “I want to kill whoever is responsible for this.”

  I understand his thought process. I want to kill them too. There is going to hell to pay for whoever did murder this Ruth Downey woman. I grab my cell phone and type a message to Pete. It’s not long before my phone beeps. “Come on little brother, Pete is waiting for us out front.”

  The three of us are heading to Knight’s Castle. We will question each and every employee. Chances are that someone on staff knows something. Some of the lower rank employees have no knowledge of the illegal dealing of the business. Most are not members of the family and don’t have the loyalty. However, they should fear us. They will by the time I am done tonight.

  A part of me is pissed we have to shut down the Castle. We are going to lose a ton of money but the privacy of our members has been compromised. I have to get to the bottom of it before its leaked and lives are in chaos.

  “This sucks. Where am I going to pick up women?” Justin sulks in the back of the SUV we are riding in.

  “Did you really just ask that? I huff. “Are you not in enough trouble?”

  “Dude, I’m single, male and twenty-three. I fuck women. It’s what I do.”

  “It's what made you an easy target for framing”

  “What the fuck? Now it’s my fault?” My brother is pissed

  “I didn’t say that but it made you more accessible than anyone else in the family.” My hand rubs the back of my neck. “Keep your dick in your pants. If you need to scratch an itch let me find you help.”

  “Oh, your wife will love you picking up woman for me.” Justin snorts.

  “My wife will likely help me when I tell her what’s going on.” That’s one thing about Kat; she has balls, major lady balls. She has no issue doing whatever it takes for this family.

  Justin’s face scrunches and reddens. I feel sorry for him. He’s in the prime of his life and should be having fun but that’s not possible for him now. I’m greatly concerned with the amount of evidence stacked against him. His trial will not have the outcome we hope for. I trust Jackson to do everything he can to get Justin’s name cleared but he’s not a miracle worker.

  Chapter 32

  Cole

  Two hours…that’s how long I have been talking to the employees at Knight’s Castle. I watch those I haven’t spoken with yet and notice one young man fidgeting nervously. My gut tells me this young kid may have the answers I’m looking for. As much as I want to question him I decide its best to make him wait. Let the stress and pressure get to him. It will make him or break him.

  I guess the young man to be barely eighteen. Chances are he grew up on the same side of town as Drew and Kat. A job here would be a lucky break for him.It wouldn’t make him loyal to the family though. In fact, a kid like this would be an easy target for betrayal because the temptation of money would be too much to resist.

  Pete stands behind Justin. His arms folded across his chest. He hasn’t spoken since I started interviewing the employees. He just stands there looking menacing. I want to roll my eyes at him and tell him he has a real hard job. But now is not the time to joke. Pete has been by my side since we were kids. His father was a family man until he retired. I could always count on Pete.

  All employees but the nervous kid have been interviewed and dismissed, promises of finding them new employment with the company made. The young man with his shaggy brown hair sits across from me. His eyes keep darting to the door. Beads of sweat are forming on his forehead.

  “So… your name is …” I pick up the folder in front of me “Bart Rogers, age nineteen, live on the east side of town with your mother and younger brother.”

  He doesn’t speak but shakes his head in the affirmative. He has yet to make eye contact with me. This kid is hiding something. My brother eyes the kid with a stony expression.

  “Do you understand why you have been called in today?”

  “Ye… yes” He stammers.

  “Why are you so nervous?” I stare him down. “You have something you need to tell me?”

  The only sound is Bart’s fingers tapping the table. The table shakes a little as his knee bounces up and down. He knows something. He just needs to talk.

  I slam my fist on the table. “Come on, boy…spill!” I shout.

  “I’m sorry…” his eyes look as if he’s fighting back tears. He wipes his brow on his sleeve, “I had no idea…it wasn’t supposed to be like this… She just wanted to see the inside of the club.”

  “Who?”

  “My cousin… Ruth.”

  “Ruth is your cousin?” He nods. I motion Pete to me. I whisper in his ear as he bends over “Contact Hunter. Find out why this connection didn’t pop up.” Pete steps away from where we sit. I glance at my brother to see his fists clenched tight at his side.

  “So she wanted to see the inside of the club… tell me what happened.”

  “She came that night. She was alone. She got a drink at the bar and I watched her walk upstairs to the sex club.” He stammers as he speaks. “It was several hours later she came back downstairs, told me good bye and I let her out the back door. It was the last time I saw her alive.”

  “Fuck!” Justin exclaims as his chair scrapes back and falls to the ground. He storms away from the table and heads upstairs. I ignore my brother and turn back to the kid in front of me.

  “Well her curiosity got her killed. I need names of anyone she associated with.” I demand pushing paper and pen in front of him.

  “Sure thing, Mr. Knight.” the kid pick
s up the pen. He is shaky as he writes but he has no qualms about making a list for me. I’m thinking this kid really was only guilty of sneaking his cousin into the club and had no knowledge of anything else that happened.

  His stupidity led to his cousin getting killed. I was going to have to bring in all the employees again to see if anyone remembers her in the club that night? If they had seen her with anyone? Someone had to have seen something.

  Pete walks back into the room. I glance at him, anger radiating from every ounce of me. “Take him to the barn.” The barn is a place we have on the outskirts of town where we can conduct interrogations without any risk of witnesses. Pete grabs Bart off the floor and begins dragging him out the back of the building.

  “Please…” Bart begs. He sounds close to tears. This boy would never make it he was a weak man. He had no strength. No confidence. “I’ll do whatever you want…”

  “Get him the fuck out of here.” I yell as my anger surges. I am too afraid to be around this punk right now. I might kill him and I can’t get information from a dead man. Once they disappear I grab my cell phone. I call Kat and fill her in on all that has happened this evening. She offers to come with Rocco to pick up Justin and I. I agree and go off in search of my brother so that we can head home.

  “Where’s the fuck-face?” Justin asks as I walk up behind him. He’s at the bar on the second floor, a bottle of whiskey in front of him. He’s not even bothering to drink out of a glass just tipping the bottle up.

  “Pete took him out to the barn. Rocco and Kat are on their way to get us.” I grab the bottle out of his hand and tip it up to my own lips.

  Justin grabs it back from me causing some of the liquid to slosh out and splatter on the bar in front of us. “I wanted to jump across that table.”