Fool Me Once (First Wives Series Book 1)

by Catherine Bybee

  According to the Wall Street Journal, Trina Petrov was willed the amount of money specified in their prenuptial agreement. Five million dollars and any gifts bequeathed to her during their marriage.

  Five million dollars from an estate worth well over one hundred million.

  Reed followed the bouncing ball and found Lori’s name as the attorney that set up the agreement between husband and wife, premarriage.

  A sticky note went next to Trina’s picture with five million written on it.

  Then he looked up Avery’s divorce settlement. Five million and a condo.

  Shannon . . . seven million and the house in Southern California.

  Reed scribbled a house next to Trina’s five million.

  He stood looking at the board, arms folded over his chest.

  He knew how all these marriages ended. And since he met Lori with these women, it’s safe to say they all had the same lawyer, and the same general plan. The numbers were big, but not shocking when you considered the worth of the players. All these women were young. Their marriages brief.

  His skin tickled his brain, or maybe that was the caffeine.

  He backtracked Trina’s marriage. She had been married less than a year before Fedor’s death.

  He searched Shannon . . . two years from I do to divorced.

  Avery . . . eighteen months.

  No smoking guns, outside of Fedor.

  No one caught cheating or falling in love with someone else. All the marriages appeared normal, including pictures of the couples at charity events, holiday functions. Then done!

  At four in the morning, Reed had printed out four wedding photos from each couple. Shannon and Paul seemed to fit each other. Avery and her ex looked as if she was the gold digger and he was the rich old man looking for arm candy. Trina and Fedor were a bit better matched, but the man didn’t stand close enough or smile wide enough for someone who’d managed to catch a woman as exotically beautiful as Katrina.

  He found images of Lori at every wedding.

  And one other woman.

  Reed placed a picture next to Lori’s.

  Samantha Harrison.

  “How do you fit?”

  It was after noon on Saturday when Lori stepped off the plane and found the bodyguard Sam had insisted on waiting by baggage claim. Not that Lori had any luggage.

  “Cooper, right?” Lori asked. She’d seen him many times before. The security surrounding the clients of Alliance and the Harrison family were the same net of men.

  “I’m flattered.” The man had a charming smile, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses that should have stuck out since he was inside a building. They didn’t. “Luggage?”

  She glanced at the small rolling bag in her hand. “This is it.”

  He took it from her and led her out the door.

  “Neil briefed me on the threat,” he said when she was in the back of the car and he’d pulled away from his parking space.

  “Sounds very cloak-and-dagger,” she teased.

  “Ruslan Petrov is loosely linked to the disappearance of three businessmen in his country, one of whom was a lawyer representing his late ex-wife during her divorce. He’s a dangerous man.”

  She stopped smiling.

  Cooper glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

  “Knowing your enemy, and what they are capable of, empowers you. I’m not trying to scare you, Ms. Cumberland.”

  “You did a fine job without trying.”

  “Neil told me you were a reluctant charge.”

  “Let me guess, Neil drafted your little speech.”

  Cooper looked over his shoulder as he pulled onto the 405 freeway. “No, Neil told me to say ‘Tell her if she wants to be dead, then go ahead and dismiss you.’”

  She glanced at the passing cars. “Sounds like Neil.”

  “Subtle as a heart attack, that one.”

  Lori removed her cell phone from her purse. “Well, thanks for making it sound like I’d just go missing and not end up dead.”

  Cooper looked over the rim of his sunglasses. “You look smarter than that.”

  “I am.” She pulled up Reed’s number, sent a quick text. Landed. On my way home.

  It took a minute for him to reply.

  Welcome home.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Reed arrived at Lori’s condominium complex before she did. The doorman wasn’t the same man as when he was there several days before. Reed made sure to make eye contact and smile as he moved past the doors and to the concierge desk.

  The petite African American woman behind the desk smiled as he approached.

  “Good afternoon,” she greeted him.

  “Hello. Reed Barlow for Ms. Cumberland in 1208.”

  She glanced at the computer. “There you are. I see that Ms. Cumberland is out of town until this afternoon. It’s our policy to advise guests to call on our residents when they are home, Mr. Barlow.”

  Good, they didn’t just let people in.

  “Lori’s on the way from the airport now.”

  She kept smiling. “You understand that we need to have you wait for her down here unless she advises us otherwise.”

  “Perfectly acceptable,” he told her. He removed a photograph from his back pocket, slid it across the desk. “Have you seen this man, by any chance?”

  “I don’t believe so.”

  “He’s made threats toward Ms. Cumberland.”

  The woman’s smile fell slightly.

  “If you see this man lingering about, please call Lori and warn her.”

  She took the picture. “Can I keep this?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll inform security.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate it.” He turned away and moved to one of the many chairs dotting the lobby.

  Not ten minutes later, he saw Lori being led through the door.

  The man at her side scanned the lobby, his eyes landed on Reed. He positioned his frame between them. He said something Reed couldn’t hear, and Lori looked up.

  She smiled. “Reed.”

  She opened her arms to him, and he moved in, folded her close.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “I needed to see you.”

  “I was just here.”

  “That was one death threat ago.”

  She pulled back, leveled her gaze with his. “Not you, too.”

  The man who walked Lori in stood a few feet back, his eyes moving around the lobby.

  “Who is he?”

  “A bodyguard. Sam insisted.”

  “Sam?”

  Lori shook her head. “She worries.”

  Yeah, there was a whole lot more to the Sam story. Instead of questioning her in the lobby, he closed the distance between himself and her bodyguard and extended a hand. “I’m Reed.”

  The man’s grip was firm. His shoulders wide. The jacket screamed concealed weapon. “Cooper.”

  “Thank you in advance for watching over her.”

  A nod was Cooper’s only comment. “Lori, I need you to introduce me to the staff, clear the way.”

  Lori left Reed’s side and slipped to the concierge.

  Afterward, they all rode up the elevator together. “Is Danny still here?”

  “I assume so. I haven’t spoken with him since I left. I told Sam I didn’t need a babysitter at night.”

  Cooper smiled from under his sunglasses. “Good thing I don’t babysit.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “We’ll figure out an acceptable arrangement,” he told her.

  Music met them at the door. Lori let them in with a key.

  Danny wasn’t in sight.

  Cooper walked around the room.

  “Danny?”

  “In here.”

  She picked up a remote, turned the volume of the stereo down.

  “Hey, I like that song!” he complained.

  “I don’t think my neighbors like it quite as much.” She dropped her bag
in the middle of the room, tossed her keys on the coffee table.

  Reed watched Cooper’s assessment of the space. It was obvious he’d never been there before. He looked out a window, opened one, and stuck his head through. “Any balconies or other points of entry?” he asked.

  “No,” Lori answered.

  Reed corrected her. “There’s a rooftop lounge, and an open pool level on the fifteenth floor. But the units don’t have balcony space.”

  “Oh, yeah . . . that’s right. I never have time to use the pool.” Lori paused, stared at Reed. “Wait, how do you know about my building?”

  Reed’s mind scrambled for a logical answer other than he’d been spying on her.

  Cooper moved away from the window. “I’m sure you don’t mind if I look around.”

  “Make yourself at home.”

  Danny walked from around the corner in shorts and a T-shirt from a rock band popular in the nineties. “Hello.”

  Reed nodded. “Hey, Danny.” Reed used the distraction of Lori’s brother to avoid her question.

  Danny’s gaze moved to Cooper.

  “Cooper, this is my brother.”

  Danny held out a hand.

  They shook and Cooper moved along.

  “Who is he?” Danny whispered once Cooper left the room.

  Lori hesitated. “A friend.”

  Reed corrected her. “A bodyguard.”

  The jovial smile Reed had grown accustomed to seeing on Danny’s face slipped. “Excuse me?”

  “It’s overkill and stupid. Lawyers are threatened all the time. Sam’s just being overprotective.”

  “First, who threatened you . . . and second, who is Sam? How many men do you have in your life?”

  “Sam is a woman, someone I work with . . . a friend.”

  “And the threat?”

  “No one. It’s stupid.”

  It was Reed’s turn to talk. “Ruslan Petrov, ultrabig Russian with his own set of bodyguards twice the size of Cooper.”

  Lori narrowed her eyes. “Someone doing his homework?” she asked.

  Reed took a deep breath. “When the woman I’m seeing is threatened, I’m going to know who that threat is.”

  “What did he say?” Danny asked.

  Reed waited to see if Lori would be truthful or if she’d downplay his words.

  She replayed the conversation for her brother.

  “What the hell, Lori.”

  “Lawyers aren’t popular to the opposing half of the legal equation. Making enemies isn’t hard.”

  Cooper worked his way back into the room. And for the first time he removed his sunglasses and set them on the counter. Next, he removed his jacket. Sure enough, the shoulder harness housed what looked like a 9 mm at his side.

  Danny stared at it, and Lori sucked in a breath.

  Reed observed.

  “You don’t have a security system,” Cooper said.

  “I live in a high-rise with security and a concierge service.”

  “Let me repeat myself: you don’t have a security system.”

  Lori pinched her lips together.

  Cooper glanced at Danny, then back to Lori. “We both have our priorities, Lori. I’ve been told to assess the situation and make my recommendations.”

  “Which are?”

  “Security system with monitoring. Personal armed bodyguard until the threat is neutralized.”

  “For crying out loud, you sound like there’s a hit on me.”

  Cooper lifted an eyebrow.

  “Holy crap, sis.”

  Lori placed both hands on the counter. “Security system, fine.”

  “With monitoring,” Cooper added.

  “Fine. But I don’t need any armed anything around here all the time. Danny is here for a couple of weeks.” She glanced at Reed.

  “I’ll be around.”

  She attempted a smile. “See. I’m covered.”

  “I’ll call the crew.”

  She shook her head and turned toward her room. “I need a minute.”

  Once she left the room, Danny turned toward him. “How bad is this guy?”

  “Nasty,” Reed said.

  “They don’t get worse,” Cooper added.

  “How soon can you get a system in place?” Reed asked.

  Cooper lifted his phone to his ear. “Two hours.”

  This Reed wanted to see.

  Dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and a sweater, Lori had her hair pulled back and her sleeves up. Bringing her condo up to speed on security was something she’d considered doing off and on throughout the years she’d been there, but as each one moseyed on through without any crime, she hadn’t bothered. Besides, being in complete control of her own world and space had been a priority. Asking for help, even if it was an alarm system, felt as if she was relinquishing some of that control. Only now it would be unintelligent to pretend she could hold back the likes of Ruslan if the man entered her space.

  Cooper brought in a team of four men armed with wires, monitors, sensors, speakers, and cameras.

  Danny had left to visit a local friend since there were plenty of men around to keep her safe. Reed shadowed Cooper for a while, asking questions.

  As each hole was cut into the ceiling or drilled into a window casing, Lori felt her privacy slipping away.

  “What kind of service monitors all this?” she heard Reed ask Cooper.

  “It’s a private company.”

  “Armed response, I assume.”

  Cooper smirked. “Showing up with a baseball bat is useless, don’t you think?”

  Lori appreciated the sarcasm, which made light of the absurdity of it all. Much as she’d have liked to slip into her office for a couple of hours and finish some work, that wasn’t possible with the pounding and drilling going on all around her.

  “So what branch of the service were you in?” Reed asked Cooper.

  “Marines. What about you?”

  Reed shook his head. “Didn’t serve.”

  Cooper looked him up and down. “I pegged you for the Army.”

  “No, no.”

  Cooper watched a monitor as one of the technicians aimed a camera in the far corner of the room. He flipped a switch and another camera from the hall came into view.

  “Nothing in my bedroom,” Lori told him.

  “Main living spaces only. Nothing in the bathrooms or the bedrooms.”

  “Good.” She sucked on her water bottle. “Guess there won’t be any wild dining room sex,” she muttered to Reed as he walked by.

  He placed a hand on her hip and nuzzled her neck from behind.

  “We can make up for it,” he whispered.

  She turned into his arms. “How was your week? We always seem to be talking about my world.”

  “Mine is boring.”

  “I’ll take a little of that right about now.”

  “I bet. How was Trina?”

  “Frazzled.”

  Reed rubbed her shoulders as they chatted. “Her name popped up online when I was reading the news yesterday. Is her estate what’s causing all of this?”

  “Ruslan Petrov has no dealings with me outside of Trina. I was as shocked as Trina when we learned she inherited everything.”

  “Which made her father-in-law mad.”

  “I guess. He’s blowing smoke.”

  Reed looked over her shoulder. “Smoke that has gotten the attention of some influential people, apparently. How is it you have these kinds of connections?”

  Lori followed his gaze with her head. “Oh, this isn’t me. This is all Sam.”

  “The lady from the other day.”

  “Yes, my overprotective friend. She knows everyone.”

  “Apparently.”

  “This will all blow over, I’m sure.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, kissed the side of her head. “You’re a strong woman, Lori.”

  She leaned into him, happy to have him holding her. Strong or not, it was nice to have his support.

&nbs
p; Reed stared up at Lori’s ceiling. She’d finally fallen asleep, her hand under her cheek as it rested on his chest. Her mouth was open slightly, each breath a tiny whisper across his skin.

  The crew left her house and Cooper lingered until Danny arrived, with the promise to return at dawn.

  Lori argued, but Cooper told her that he didn’t take his orders from her. He apologized for it but made no excuses for his plans to invade her life.

  The entire situation struck a raw chord inside of Reed. There was big money, big guns, and serious manpower behind the security team Cooper spoke of. And while Sam might be behind it, how was it she had pull over Lori?

  He was dangerously close to coming right out and asking Lori a few questions to get him closer to the truth. If he was just a guy who flittered into her life on accident, he would have asked already.

  But that wasn’t the case.

  He had to be careful. Cooper had questioned him with more than just a look while he was following the man around. He’d pegged Reed’s profession . . . well, his previous one, by a hair. He wasn’t a military guy, but he had gone through the police academy and worked as a cop for over a decade.

  Reed lifted his arm that wasn’t holding Lori and rubbed the scar on the left side of his jaw. One nasty case and the battle scars to go with it, and he’d left the force. Falling into the world of private investigation was easy. He knew the law and how to avoid breaking it all while doing his job. He had a small pension from the force and didn’t take on many cases unless they paid well. In short, he was doing okay.

  He hated seeing shitty things happen to good people. Up until he spent any time with Lori, he was under the impression that all lawyers were assholes. In his experience, the stereotype was true.

  Since his client was once a lawyer, he assumed this case was a product of two shitheads crapping on each other, except that Lori hadn’t been his target when all of this started. And his opinion of the profession had vastly changed in just a few short weeks.

  Lori muttered something in her sleep, snuggled closer, and something that felt suspiciously like a conscience stirred in his chest.