Revenge

by Lexi Blake

“Yes, she’s an investigative reporter,” Johnson confirmed.

  She was more than that. She was half his freaking soul. The better half. “I know her. She’s quite intelligent.”

  “What’s she found out?” Hatch asked. “Has she explained her theories about the three husbands Iris went through after she killed Ben?”

  “We’re checking into everything she’s sent us, including the incredibly detailed floor plan she sent. She makes a good case for her version of the crimes. The problem is the police didn’t do all the work they should have at the time. I know your father’s death was ruled a suicide, but it’s still sloppy work for a police force that’s known for being careful.”

  So Shelby was making waves. “It was set up by my mother and her cohorts to look like a suicide. I still don’t understand why she felt the need to kill my father’s assistant when she could have inherited his stocks.”

  Special Agent Johnson raised his hand. “We actually have a working theory about that. I went looking into the old law firm that handled your father’s business. A few weeks before his death, he had a new will drafted in the event of a legal separation. Your mother got none of the stock. He was clear about that. The stock was to be placed in a trust for the children, and he’d set up his personal lawyer as the trust manager. Iris was left money, but no stock and no voting rights. She claims she had no knowledge of the will that was changed. Because of state property laws, she could have contested that they weren’t separated at the time and she was married to him when the stock gained its value.”

  Drew could play that out to its logical conclusion. “But the minute that will was brought out, questions would have been asked. The police would have known my father was thinking about a separation and they would have wondered why make a legal move like that when he was planning on taking his own life.”

  Hatch shook his head. “I didn’t know anything about that. I’m surprised. Ben was making moves to try to protect you all. I wonder if his lawyer wasn’t paid a bit to keep it all quiet after the fact.”

  Perhaps his father had suspected something was going on between Hatch and Iris. Otherwise, Drew was certain his father would have left the trust and voting rights in Hatch’s hands. Was that why his mother had targeted Hatch in the first place? Had she realized she was losing her grip on his father and sought out the next best thing? It explained why she’d decided to fake her death and work with Patricia. It had been the only way she could maintain any semblance of control. She’d been able to easily blackmail her cohorts without the pesky problems of dealing with four children. She’d looked at her options and made her choice, and Francine Wells had taken her place.

  Who would she sacrifice this time? What was her end game?

  “Obviously, we’re going to continue our investigation, but for now we do have to ask about the e-mails you’ve recently sent to your mother.” Garcia seemed to get serious again. “We’ve got our cyber guys working on it, but they’ve already confirmed that the e-mails came from this house, from your personal network.”

  “E-mails?”

  “Yes, that’s what sparked the restraining order,” Johnson explained. “Your mother received a number of e-mails detailing the numerous ways you want to hurt her. I suppose you’re going to tell me they didn’t actually come from you?”

  “I haven’t written anything to my mother.” But he had a sinking feeling in his gut that he knew who had. “I would know how to hide my footprint if I was going to. I assure you I know how to send an e-mail you wouldn’t be able to trace back to me. Not even your cyber unit.”

  Johnson grimaced. “They might have mentioned that to us. They were surprised that a man of your skill would make such a rookie mistake. I suppose you’re not the only one who uses the network?”

  “No, of course not. Everyone who lives in or visits this household uses it. I suspect my account was cloned and someone is using it to e-mail as me. Has the press gotten the story yet?” He didn’t want to think about who it likely was. Who it had to be.

  “The restraining order is only a few hours old, but you have to know that they’ll find out about it soon,” Johnson replied.

  “It was that little fucker, Noah. He’s working with her,” Hatch spat.

  Drew put a hand up, trying to silence Hatch. “Don’t even start.”

  “Are you talking about Noah Walker? Because your mother has mentioned him several times. She’s extremely worried that you’re going to hurt him,” Garcia explained. “But when I talked to Noah, he said he was fine.”

  “He’s being used to set Drew up,” Hatch insisted. “She’s planning something.”

  Of course she was, but he needed to figure out how Noah played into it before they talked to the feds. “I’ll look into it, Special Agents. I would more than welcome a member of your cyber unit to come here and look into the network personally.”

  “And hero-worship you? Those dweebs praise your name,” Johnson said under his breath.

  Yes, Drew was counting on it. If he could get a couple of them on his side, they would work harder to prove his mother was wrong. The cloned account would be easy enough to prove, but this would play out in the court of public opinion, and all they would read were harsh words coming from an awkward man, a man a lot of people didn’t like. His enemies would use the bad press, and his mother was setting this whole thing up to play out with Noah working against him.

  It all made him feel tired and old.

  “I will cooperate in any way you need me to. I’ll also ensure that I respect the restraining order. Do you need anything further from me? I need to get to my brother’s reception.” Where he would walk around like a ghost.

  It would never end. His mother would play her games until one of them was dead and the other in jail.

  Revenge, even if he managed it, would be such a hollow thing because he would be alone.

  “What’s going on?” Mia strode in wearing her designer dress, her heels clacking along the hardwood floors. “Is there a reason you’re talking to my brother without a lawyer present?”

  “It’s fine,” Drew tried to assure her. “Why are you here? I thought you would go straight to the reception.”

  “She wanted to go in with you so the photographers get us together,” Case said, following his wife. “And she wanted to show off our stowaway. Big brother and Charlotte brought a friend. Hope you don’t mind.”

  He minded. He didn’t need more people around him. Big Tag and his wife walked in, giving the feds looks that told him they didn’t trust anyone.

  Who had they brought along? Charlotte’s CIA-analyst sister and her upper-crust British husband? The chef brother and his lovely wife? Who would witness more of his humiliation?

  “I definitely want to know why you’re here and talking to Drew without a lawyer,” a familiar voice said. “I also want to know why you haven’t asked any questions about those files I sent you a week ago. Did you check out my investigations into the medical examiner’s report? The ME was paid off. That is completely clear according to those bank records I sent you. It makes no sense that a fourteen-year-old kid with no resources would be able to figure out how to bribe the damn medical examiner. And why would he? Only one person could have wanted to cover up the fact that the second body wasn’t Iris Lawless, and that was Iris Lawless.”

  Shelby strode in looking like the hottest amazon warrior ever to walk the earth. The Prada dress he’d purchased for her clung to every curve. The emerald color made her skin glow.

  It no longer mattered that he was being investigated by the fucking FBI. All he cared about was getting close to her.

  His instinct was to walk right over to her and haul her off, back to the bedroom, and not come out until he could breathe again.

  And then he remembered that he wasn’t going to put her through his hell. He hadn’t thought she would show up tonight, but that had been stupid
. She was invited. She was friends with Ellie and Riley. Carly would definitely want her at the party. Of course she’d come.

  Did she have to look so luscious?

  Special Agent Johnson took a step back. “I am going through all the data you sent.”

  Garcia didn’t back off at all. If anything the fucker’s smile turned up. “Ms. Gates, you’re looking lovely tonight, and I’ll be more than happy to discuss the case with you anytime you like. Why don’t you come by the office? Say tomorrow around lunch?”

  Drew started to step up, but Hatch put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t kill the feds.”

  But he so wanted to kill at least one of them. Garcia was staring at Shelby’s chest. Not really her chest. Her breasts. Her gorgeous, soft breasts with those perfectly pink nipples that responded to his touch. What the hell had he been thinking? Why had he picked that fucking dress? It showed off way too much of her beautiful body.

  “I expect to meet with you at your earliest convenience, Special Agent. I didn’t do all that work simply for my health. I’m working on a point-by-point rebuttal of your interview with Iris Lawless,” Shelby replied, her shoulders straight and eyes narrowed.

  Garcia shook his head. “How did you get that?”

  “I have my own sources,” Shelby replied. “And they’re incredibly good. I’ll have no problem going to the press and making my case there if you don’t want to give me a fair hearing.”

  “Call me tomorrow and we’ll talk.” Garcia turned to Drew. “See that you mind the restraining order. It won’t do you or us any good if you try to confront her.”

  The feds turned and walked back toward the door.

  “Restraining order?” Ian Taggart asked as the door closed behind the feds. “Can I see it?”

  Shelby’s pretty eyes had gone wide. “She got a restraining order on you? What the hell?”

  Charlotte was reaching for the order. “It’s a good play on her part. She’s looking for sympathy and she’s rapidly losing it. I don’t think she understood how bad the backlash would be.”

  Taggart took the order out of her hand, his eyes looking over it. “We should request one of our own. I’ll get the lawyer on it. We can find a friendly judge. She did. You haven’t seen or talked to her, have you?”

  “I have,” Shelby said. “And I’ll be happy to tell a judge she’s crazy and will hurt Drew and any of his family if she possibly can. I felt threatened when she talked to me.”

  “Did she say anything to specifically threaten you?” Taggart asked.

  “It was more the dude she’d brought with her that scared me and the fact that she’s got a creepy vibe, but I’m more than willing to make up something. I’m a writer. I can come up with some great dialogue,” Shelby offered.

  Taggart put his hand up for a high-five. “See? That’s what I’m talking about. Redheads are always the reasonable ones.”

  Shelby gamely slapped the big guy’s hand. “Damn straight.”

  “You’re not going to lie to the FBI.” He wasn’t getting her in more trouble than she already was in. “And I don’t think you should be seen going into the party with me. I’ll have someone bring you in one of the side doors so you avoid the photographers.”

  “No.” Shelby went back to looking over the restraining order.

  Drew stopped. “What does that mean?”

  Hatch leaned in. “I think it means no.”

  Shelby took a step toward him. “It means no and it means that as I walk in, if anyone asks me questions about why I’m here, I intend to answer I’m here because I love my family and because Andrew Lawless, while clueless in the real world, is the greatest lover on the planet.”

  “No, he’s not,” Big Tag shot back. “I have the T-shirt. Does he have the T-shirt? Charlie told me there was only one made.”

  Mia was grinning at Shelby. “You’re going to play it this way?”

  “I am.” Shelby kept her eyes steady.

  “Thank God,” Hatch said. “This is where I would usually go and have a celebratory drink. I hate being sober.”

  Mia started to say something about Hatch’s sobriety, but Drew didn’t have time for that. He reached out and pulled Shelby away from the crowd. “I thought we had a deal.”

  She didn’t fight him or try to get away. No. She moved with him and when he stopped, she leaned over, her body almost touching his. “We did have a deal and I screwed that up. I let you down, and I need you to understand that it will not happen again.”

  Let him down? “Shelby, you did nothing of the sort. I’ve been perfectly fine with our arrangement, and I think we need to keep it going. I found out some new information tonight. It’s about my father’s will. I would love for you to look into it, but we’ll have to talk about that on the phone.”

  “No, we won’t. I’m having all my things delivered here. Remy’s coming with them in a few hours. He thought it would be okay since I’m with Big Tag. He’s totally cool with staying in Austin for a while. I told him he could have the pool house since you should let Noah have his own room.”

  Noah. Would Noah be back after tonight’s confrontation? Drew was going to be gentle about it, but he had to know if Noah was working with their mother. He had to know what their mom had on Noah. She would have something. If Noah was working with her, it was very likely because his mother was forcing him to.

  Would he have thought that way before he met Shelby? God, she’d made him so fucking soft. She might end up being the death of him, but he was going to make damn sure he wasn’t hers.

  “You call Remy and tell him to cancel everything. You won’t be allowed in this house again.”

  Fire flashed in her eyes. “No, Drew.”

  “You can’t tell me no about this. I don’t understand why you’ve suddenly decided to behave this way.”

  She stepped closer to him, her fingers tracing their way up his neck and making his dick immediately hard. “I missed you. I’ve missed you so damn much, Drew. Do you know what I do at night?”

  “Shelby, this isn’t going to work.”

  She ignored him completely. “I lie in bed and I think about you. I do it until I can’t stand it a second longer, and then I touch myself. I let my hand find my pussy and I rub. I’m already wet because I’ve been thinking about you. I’ve been thinking about how good it feels when your cock is deep inside me, and that makes me warm and wet.”

  She was killing him. He wasn’t sure what this play was, but he had to shut it down. “I haven’t been masturbating because I’ve already taken another lover.”

  She stopped. “Have you?”

  He groaned. It was right there. He could see it on her face. He could get her to back down and he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t say the words that would make her hate him. “No. God, Shelby. No, I fucking haven’t, but I should tell you I have.”

  “Drew, listen to me. There is nothing you can say that’s going to make me walk away from you. If you don’t allow me to hold your hand as we walk through those doors tonight, then I’ll accept it and tell anyone who asks what my intentions are. I’m not writing the book. All I’m doing at this point is making sure Iris goes to prison for what she did. That’s my goal. I’m going to write, but it’s going to be fiction from now on because I’m tired of not writing happy endings. So I’m going to write fiction, and I don’t actually have to make any money off of it because I’m marrying Mr. Moneybags.”

  “Marrying?”

  Her chin came up. “I love you, Andrew Lawless. I’m willing to wait and give you time to deal with your large vat of personal problems, but in the end I’m going to marry you, and we’re going to have a whole new generation of Lawless kids. And you should know that they’re not going to be the only ones. Riley and Bran are changing their names back. I told them to, and I’m the alpha female of this group. I might have to throw down with your sister fro
m time to time, but I’m taking charge.”

  She loved him? It made his hands tighten on her, his whole body lean in. She loved him? How the fuck could she possibly love him? He was an ass. He was utterly unworthy of her. “You’re not in charge, Shelby.”

  She went up on her toes, her hands on his face and her lips hovering over his. “Watch me, Lawless. You’re done here. You can control 4L all you like, but I’m the queen of this house. There will be no separation. We’re in this together. I love you, and that means I stand beside you through everything. Good. Bad. Outrageously scandalous. It doesn’t matter. We’re together.”

  “We’re not together.” But his mouth was so close to hers. All he had to do was dip down slightly and their lips would mesh. He could kiss her for hours. He could sink himself into her, and for a while he would forget that the world existed.

  “You can say that all you like.” She was taunting him. “You can try to keep me out of my own home, but how long will you last? How long will you hold out when you understand that I’m out there longing for you? That I’ll take you anytime, any way, because you’re my man? I suppose you won’t want me to keep an office at the 4L building?”

  “You can’t, baby. We talked about this.”

  She nodded. “I’ll find an office space. I’ll be fine. But I’m moving back in. Apartments aren’t cheap here and you strapped me with a bodyguard so I need a two-bedroom. Luckily you have plenty.”

  “You’ll go back to Dallas.”

  “No.”

  The nos were going to make him crazy. “You can’t say no to me.”

  “Not about some things, but anything that keeps us apart, I can and I will say no. I was wrong to leave you, Drew. I made that mistake. You need to understand that I get it. You put everyone first. You make the sacrifices. But I’m not your sacrifice to make. You don’t get to sacrifice me because I won’t let you. I am yours, Andrew Lawless, and you should get with the program.”

  She moved slightly, and that was all he needed. Her lips brushed his and he couldn’t stop. The minute he felt her arms go around him, he gave in.