by Lexi Blake
An interview with his gorgeous, sexy ex-wife. It was hard to think about the fact that he’d been married to someone magazines hailed as one of the most beautiful women in America.
She tried not to go down that path, but it was impossible not to think about it.
Of course, it was way easier to forget it when Henry was actually here. When he had his mouth on her, she wasn’t thinking of his past. She was only thinking about him.
Would she think about him for the rest of her life?
“Hey, Win, you have company.” Wade Rycroft stood in the doorway. He was dressed in his normal uniform of jeans, T-shirt, and boots. He would likely wear the same thing to the fanciest restaurant in town if his wife would let him. Win had to admit that the cowboy looked good in them. “It’s the douchebag. He’s still down in the lobby. I can tell him you’re not here.”
She frowned. There was only one person her bodyguards would say that about. And only one they called “the douchebag.”
“Trevor’s here?”
“Yep,” Wade replied with a frown. “He’s downstairs, and he says he has something he needs to talk to you about. He’s on the family list. According to Henry, he’s been cleared, but I can still make him go away. He says he’s got contracts for you to sign, but again, he can leave them here. Or I can go down and get them for you.”
And then Trevor would whine about how she wouldn’t even let him do his job. She’d talked to her uncle and he’d mentioned some contracts she needed to sign. There were always things about the foundation that required her signature—even if she was hanging around waiting to be convicted of a murder she didn’t commit. She sighed and hoped this would be a conversation she could get out of quickly. “No, you better let him up. I don’t want him going to the press about how I can’t be bothered to do my job. It could be bad for the foundation. Some of those checks haven’t cleared yet. I’ve got to try to salvage as much as I can.”
Wade nodded and walked back to the front room.
Win put on a pot of tea. She would need it. Usually she’d reach for a glass of wine to relax, but that was a no-no here, and she was finding she didn’t mind. She’d switched her nightly pinot for Earl Grey. She’d even gotten Henry to switch from coffee to tea at night after dinner.
He was a man who needed rituals and routines. He responded best to a firmly kept schedule.
Even for his kisses. She smiled at the thought of how he’d come looking for her earlier. She’d gotten caught up in something she was reading and had forgotten to walk him to the elevator and kiss him goodbye. She’d kind of thought it was something he simply put up with, but he’d proven her wrong. He’d wanted that kiss because she’d gotten him used to it.
Now if she could just get him used to her. It was a good plan. Get him so used to their schedule that he wouldn’t order her to leave the minute he could.
The more time they had, the more time Henry had to put some distance between their relationship and his fears.
She heard the elevator doors open and the heavy thud of loafers moving across the hardwood floors. Trevor stepped into the kitchen looking way worse for wear. “What happened to you?”
His clothes were wrinkled, dark circles around his eyes. “I had a late night and then Daddy dearest ordered me to get on a plane and bring these to the princess of Hughes Corp ASAP. No time to sleep. I need your signature on all of those so I can get back to L.A. Hurry it up. I don’t have long before my flight leaves.”
“Somehow I think it won’t take off without you.” She took the folder out of his hands. The paperwork was a mess. “What is all of this? Is this a whole contract?”
He groaned. “It’s three contracts and two banking updates that require your signature. The lawyers have already vetted everything. Do you not see the sticky arrow things? That’s where you sign your name and then I can leave. And the plane isn’t waiting for me. I had to fly commercial.”
She gasped at the thought. Her cousin hadn’t flown commercial in years. “What?”
“Again, Daddy dearest seems to think I need to learn a lesson,” he spat back, hopping on the barstool. “I don’t suppose you have any beer in this place?”
Her teapot started whistling. “Nope, just tea. Would you like some of that?”
He made a gagging sound. “Absolutely not. Why doesn’t His Highness have beer? Is it too cheap for his tastes? We all know Garrison has expensive tastes.”
She settled the bag in her mug and poured out the water. Naturally there were a couple of meanings to what Trevor was saying, but he likely meant the nastiest possible one. Where was a pen? She glanced around, looking for one. “It’s not about expense. Henry doesn’t drink at all.”
“How funny. He doesn’t drink and you don’t eat. No wonder he can afford this place.” Trevor was looking out the windows at the amazing view. “I thought he was supposed to be all poor and shit. He whined enough about his divorce. Can you imagine giving up a woman like Alicia? God, I can’t. He’s a moron.”
She caught the supersubtle edge of his question. Could she imagine a man giving up Alicia and ending up saddled with a woman like Win? “Well, not every marriage works out.”
“And not every marriage is as perfect as it looks on paper,” he shot back. “How do you feel about that?”
“What are you trying to say?” She didn’t like playing his games. He often tried to trap her into saying something he could use against her later. He’d done it all their lives. “Could you just come on out and say it? You know you’re not going to be happy until you do.”
He shrugged. “I’ve heard a rumor someone’s planning a new book about your parents.”
That was the last thing she needed. Henry would hate that. He would hate all the press that came with it. “Why would anyone do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the scandal of you killing poor Brie is causing them to relook at the sainted pair. You know how it is. The Billion-Dollar Miracle Baby grows up to be a killer. It’s made a lot of people think. I think it makes a person ask some hard questions, you know. Would it have been better if you’d drowned with the rest of them? Your survival meant that later on a beautiful woman would meet her end.”
It made her a little nauseous. Was there someone out there actually asking that question and putting it in print? Would there be whole talk shows devoted to whether or not it would have been better for the world if she hadn’t survived? “I didn’t kill Brie and you know it.”
He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it back. “How would I know that, Win? How would I honestly know what you’re capable of? I know what you want the world to believe, but there’s always another side to the story. I think you’re really good at manipulating everyone around you. You know I was close to her in the end.”
They were getting into this again? “No one was really close to Brie. Not any man I ever met.”
“You didn’t see her with me. She kept it secret because she knew what you would do. She knew you would try to break us up. You were always a jealous bitch. I knew it, but after some of the stories she told me, I can’t believe she managed to stay friends with you.”
“She lied,” Win shot back. It was useless, but defending herself had become a habit. “She lied a lot and she made up stories to make herself look good. I’m sure she told you all about how I tried to take Hoover from her. Why would I want Hoover? Don’t get me wrong. We were friends, but never once did I want to touch that man. He wasn’t my type.”
“He’s rich,” Trevor pointed out. “That’s everyone’s type.”
“I don’t need his money. Look, I don’t know what Brie told you, but I didn’t have any reason to hurt her. I was getting out of the whole scene. I didn’t want to get pulled back in.” They’d been going their separate ways for years. If only she hadn’t gotten pulled back in that last time, she would likely be a happy grad student in North Carol
ina.
But then she would never have met Henry.
Trevor pointed her way. “See, you know all the right things to say and you say them with such conviction. And you claim you’re not a good actress. I think you’re better than the critics give you credit for.”
“Is there a problem here?” Wade stepped in, letting his massive presence be known. His arms were crossed over his chest, but that left the gun attached to his belt on full display. “I can take out the trash if you need me to. It’s all part of the service.”
“Ah, the big bad bodyguard is going to protect poor little Win. Like I’ve never seen that before,” Trevor said with a roll of his eyes. “What if the rest of us need protecting from her?”
“Don’t bother engaging, Wade,” she said with a sigh. “He’s in one of his moods. I’ll sign the contracts and he’ll leave. It’s really okay.”
Wade tipped his head slightly her way. “All right, but I’m close. Don’t you forget it.”
“Guess dear old Dad is paying for him,” Trevor remarked. “I wonder how much that’s costing the company.”
“Well, it is my company, so I would say I’m paying for him.” She was sick of Trevor’s attitude. She didn’t pull out the “mine” card often, but then, Trevor didn’t bring out the best in her.
She grabbed the gorgeous Montblanc pen off Henry’s desk, ready to be rid of her cousin. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket, notifying her of a text.
She hoped it was Henry. A few times in the weeks she’d been living with him he would text her asking if she wanted some company for lunch. She loved those times. Dinner they often spent with the bodyguards and their wives, or one of the lawyers would come with Henry, but breakfasts and lunches tended to be the two of them.
No luck. It was her uncle.
Sending a courier with some paperwork for you to sign in a few hours. Be home tomorrow but I thought I’d head out to Martha’s Vineyard for a few days to check on Mary.
Good. She’d been worried when Henry had told her Mary had been moved around. The news that she would be coming home soon was such a relief.
She texted back.
Your “courier” came early. Trevor’s here with the paperwork. No problem. Please tell Mary I love her and hope to see her soon.
If she wasn’t in jail. It might be a good thing Mary had been out of touch. It meant she might not have heard all the horrible crap people were saying.
She shoved her phone into her pocket and walked back to the bar with the pen. “I’ll take those.”
He hesitated and then handed the folders to her. “I want to know why you did it.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t, if you are asking about Brie’s death. Let me state plainly and for the record that I did not kill Brie. If you’ve got a recorder or something and you’re planning on taking this to a reporter, don’t bother. I didn’t kill her. I’m innocent.”
She glanced down at the papers. The first was authority for the foundation to pay its bills. She signed that one on the line indicated.
“You went looking for her that night, didn’t you?”
She signed a second contract allowing the foundation to release the funds to buy mammography machines for the ten clinics selected. But hadn’t she seen this one before? She could have sworn she’d signed it already. “I did look for her. I thought we should talk. Trevor, we’ve been over all this. Why are we going over it again? And I think I signed this paperwork before. I released these funds weeks ago.”
“You know how shit like this works,” Trevor replied, smooth as glass. “Gotta have ten copies of everything. And we’re going over it again because I’m trying to understand. I know the two of you had been fighting. You know no one would blame you. Brie could be mean at times.”
“I thought you were her biggest fan now.” Her cell vibrated again. She pulled it out and glanced down.
“I cared about her. She helped me out when no one else would,” Trevor was saying. “I would do a lot for her.”
Trevor? He’s in L.A. I didn’t send him. I wouldn’t send him on an errand like that.
She stopped. Why would Trevor lie? Why would he bring her a bunch of contracts and forms she’d already signed?
Why would Trevor ask her questions he already knew the answer to?
“So you went looking for Brie that night? To talk to her? Or to fight with her?” Trevor pressed.
She placed the phone facedown on the bar, her instincts on edge. She looked through the rest of the paperwork, trying to figure out what his game was. “I just wanted to talk.”
Every single contract he’d brought was a copy of something she’d already signed. All but one. She found a form slipped into the rest of the contracts.
“Could you hurry it up, Win?” Trevor stood up, starting to come around the bar. “Not all of us can sit around all day. Some of us have work to do.”
“I have to read them.” She got the feeling reading the contracts would make Trevor nervous.
He suddenly looked far more predatory than he had before. His eyes narrowed as he glanced at her cell sitting on the bar. “But our lawyers have already gone through them. You don’t trust your own lawyers anymore? Is that what Garrison is teaching you? He’s the only one you can trust?”
She held her ground even as she looked to her left to see if Wade was still watching. He wasn’t there. He’d done what she’d told him to do. He’d left her alone with her cousin. Still, this was Trevor. He was an ass but he wouldn’t physically hurt her. Why would he ever do that? She couldn’t let the jerk intimidate her. “I like to know what I’m signing, Trevor. I’ve already signed all of these with the exception of one. You want to explain it to me?”
His lips curled into a cruel imitation of a smile. “All right. I suppose I can explain it to you, but we should make one thing clear. I’ve got a gun and I’m going to use it on that bodyguard of yours if you make this difficult on me. Do you want your bodyguard dead, Win?”
The room seemed to have gone cold. She was as still as she could be. He had to be joking, but she couldn’t take the chance. “Of course not. Why would you bring a gun?”
“Because I knew you would find a way to fuck this up. You always do. If I have to shoot the bodyguard, I’ll take you out, too. Do you think I haven’t gone over this in my head?”
His eyes had gone a little hazy, his jaw tight. She needed to keep him calm. “I’m sure you have.”
“By the time I’m done manipulating this story, the police will believe I was only defending myself. Everyone will believe me. I’ve got the best reason for you to try to kill me. I think you know what I’m talking about. It’s why you killed Brie. You found out my secret.” His voice had gone low, but there was no way to miss how he’d eased his hand into his jacket. No way to pretend her cousin didn’t suddenly have a gun in his hand. “I won’t let you take this away from me.”
“Take what away?” The question came out quietly because she believed him about her bodyguard. She didn’t want Wade turning a corner and taking a bullet.
“Sign the paper, Win. Sign it and I’ll go away quietly,” Trevor promised, “because that’s all I want. I want that paper signed and then I’ll have what I need. I wanted you to admit that you killed Brie, but you’re too stupid to even remember properly. One little tap to the head and Win goes down. You’re pathetic and you’ll still go to prison in the end. Now sign or I’ll go looking for him.”
She pulled out the paper he wanted her to sign. She signed her name and handed it back to him. She wasn’t even sure what she’d signed, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t about to start pointing out all the flaws in Trevor’s plan. “There you go. You should leave now.”
He tucked it into his jacket. “Don’t even need to know what it was, do you? That’s what I thought.”
“I don’t care.” She just wanted him gone. The minute
he left she would tell Wade, and two seconds afterward she would get Henry on the phone because there was no one in the world she wanted to see more than Henry. She wanted his arms around her.
“Did you know that idiot left you as her emergency contact?” Trevor ignored the rest of the documents. “I suspect you did and you thought you could find a way to get to her mail before I could. Well, sister, let me tell you, you don’t win this time. This time I win, and wait until you see what I have in store for you and Daddy dearest.”
“I’m going to need for you to drop the weapon,” a deep voice said.
Before she could take a breath, Trevor was on her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she could feel the hard press of the gun against her side.
Wade Rycroft was standing in front of her, the gun in his hand up and aimed directly at Trevor’s head. “This is not going to go well for you, son.”
“Put the gun down or I’ll shoot her,” Trevor said, but his voice was shaking.
Henry walked in, dropping his briefcase to the floor when he realized what was happening. “Wade, I think you should put the gun down. Win, baby, I need you to stay calm.”
Wade kept the gun level. “Where do you think you’re going, Mr. Hughes?”
She could feel Trevor behind her. He was shaking, but his arm tightened.
“I think I’ll take my cousin here and figure that out in a bit,” he said. “Now you two fuckers move back or I’ll put a hole in her gut. She won’t be worth much to you then, Garrison.”
“I’ve already called the police, Trevor,” Henry said.
“You’re lying,” Trevor shot back.
“Your father called me.” Henry spoke calmly, his hands still in the air. “He’s been texting with Win. When he found out you were here, he thought you might be up to something. I know you’ve tried to kill Win before.”
“What?” She couldn’t believe the words he was saying. Trevor was an ass but he’d never been violent around her.
Henry stood his ground. “You paid an assassin twenty thousand dollars to kill her while she was in Sweden.”