by Linda Kage
With a relieved exhale, Hayden nodded. “And if we find the proof we need, it’ll send Lana to jail, freeing both of us and our families from her control, too.”
“Kill three birds with one stone,” I agreed, bobbing my head in agreement. “I like it.” My gaze lifted to him. “So what does she have against you that keeps you under her control?”
“My brother,” he answered immediately, shocking me with how willing he was to share his weakness. “Brick. She manipulates him too, of course, but I don’t think it’s quite as much as she does with me because I make sure to act as the buffer, taking on the lion’s share of her demands so she won’t turn as many on him. If I just disappeared, who knows what she’d do to him. Or Kaitlynn.”
I swallowed, realizing this man had so many unexpected layers that I could probably reveal a new one each day and still learn something surprising about him for the rest of my life. He really did hide his best features from the world. And what remarkable features they were.
“Plus,” he went on, shrugging ruefully. “There’s JFI. From the moment Arthur Judge entered my life, he instilled his love and passion for his company into me. That’s the only place that’s ever, truly felt like my home. And it shouldn’t be in Lana’s hands. Someone who respects the business and wants the best for it should get it. Not her. It’d be better off with Kaitlynn.”
I smiled softly. “Sounds like you wouldn’t mind running the place yourself.”
He sent me a dry glance. “That’s not possible. So I’ll settle for making sure my stepsister gets it.”
“So I guess this means you’re not really going to help your mother sabotage Kaitlynn’s chances of finding a job somewhere else then, huh?”
Cringing, I almost felt guilty for ever assuming he might take part in harming his sister.
He smiled mischievously. “Kaitlynn already has a job somewhere else,” he seemed devilishly pleased to report. “Brick hired her on as his secretary, so I wasn’t lying when I said I’d make sure she didn’t find work anywhere else other than at JFI. She’s already back there, on the third floor as my brother’s secretary.”
I grinned back slowly. “Well, you sneaky bastard, you.”
His chuckle was warm and satisfied. “When it comes to Lana, I live for finding loopholes.”
The moment grew friendly and quiet and maybe just a little too intimate. I cleared my throat and glanced out the side window at my apartment building. I knew I should probably go inside now, but there seemed to be so much more to say between us. And actually, I kind of didn’t want to leave him just yet.
When the man wasn’t pissing me off, I actually enjoyed his company. A lot.
He breathed out a slow breath. Was he thinking about our kiss too? It was definitely returning to my mind. I couldn’t help but remember the way he’d held on to me as if no one else could satisfy him like I did.
I shuddered, eager for that powerful, emboldening sensation again.
“So, I’ll pick you up in the morning and give you a lift back to Preston Estates?” he asked.
Okay, I guess he wasn’t thinking about the wild kiss we had shared. I looked up at him, a little disappointed, but then I shook my head. “You don’t have to—”
He cut me off with, “I assume Miguel will need a ride to school as well.”
As soon as he added my brother into the mix, I stopped resisting and let my shoulders fall. Why was it always so much harder to accept help for myself than it was to accept it for my loved ones?
“That would be awesome,” I found myself saying. “Thank you.”
He nodded, his eyes dark and seeking and his voice quiet when he answered, “I’ll see you in the morning then.”
When he didn’t lean any closer but stayed respectfully on his side of the car, I nodded too. “Yeah, see you.”
I opened my door and slipped out into the cool night.
The world felt oddly changed, like I’d become a different person in the space of one car ride. Hayden had done and said things I was certain I would never forgive, and yet I think I had forgiven him. And I think I didn’t hate him at all. In fact, I might even more-than-like him.
Strange.
Chapter 18
Gabby
The next morning, I found myself tiptoeing into my father’s room before anyone in the apartment was awake. I slipped the key to our family safe from the ceramic candy house with the hinged lid on his bureau and kneeled next to his bed. After easing out the small fireproof box he kept under there, I snuck both items out and retreated down the hall to the front room. There, I sat on the couch and perched the mini safe on my lap. After unlocking it, I popped the lid open.
There was no money or monetary valuables inside, except some Venezuelan coins Papá had saved as keepsakes and Mama’s wedding ring. Most of the contents were paperwork. I found my and Miguel’s birth certificates, along with our social security cards near the top. After a bit of digging, I found Mama and Papá’s marriage license and Mama’s birth certificate. And then there, Papá’s certificate of naturalization, proving he was an American citizen, lay folded under that. It had his registration number and signature on it and everything.
“Motherfucker,” I murmured under my breath, slipping the certificate back inside the box and piling the other paperwork back on top of it.
Lana had played me. She’d actually had me doubting my own father. What a total bitch. Ashamed at myself for falling right into her bluff, I closed the lid and relocked it, then returned it and the key to their rightful places before stalking to the kitchen to start breakfast.
She shouldn’t be allowed to get away with everything she did: finding people’s weaknesses and attacking them, casting doubt, and tearing relationships apart. I mean, causing her own son’s fiancée to leave him at the altar? That was some hard-core shit right there. Her heart had to be made of pure ice. I could see why Hayden was going to extreme lengths to pry her from his life. It made me more determined to help him with his plan to find some kind of evidence in her apartment to bust her.
And speaking of Hayden being abandoned at the altar.
That little nugget of information sure had blown my wig back.
Granted, a lot of things had surprised me last night. But picturing Hayden getting close enough to a woman to propose marriage to her had ranked up there in the top five on the shock chart. I kind of hated her: Francine or whoever she was. He’d obviously cared enough about her to want to spend the rest of his life with her, which meant he must’ve let her in enough to pull aside the curtain so she could see past his jerkier traits. There had to have been some kind of trust there. Emotion. Hell, he might’ve even loved her.
Ack. That idea caused a shard of molten hot bitterness to spear through my chest. I blinked past it and kept cooking, all the while gritting my teeth and hating Francine even more.
Hayden was a hard man, so for him to soften enough to agree to marry someone was a huge deal. And what had that idiot woman done? She’d betrayed him, let his mother pay her off, and abandoned him. Bless her heart, I wish I could meet her so I could slap the piss out of her.
I suppose he could be the way he was because of what Francine had done to him, except I had a feeling Lana’s influence in his life had molded him to be the way he was long before he’d even been interested in girls. Ergo, he’d given Francine something special, something he rarely let others see. And she’d still turned her back on him, which made me despise her even more.
No one was allowed to get away with hurting that man. Not Francine. Not Lana. Not anyone.
I think I’d morphed into warrior mode by the time Miguel appeared a few minutes later, probably awoken by the smell of food. I plopped his plate full of egg burritos onto the table in front of him and told him to eat with so much force that his eyes widened and he nodded fearfully, digging in without question. Realizing I should ease up because my poor brother was innocent in tormenting Hayden Carmichael’s soul, I blew out a breath and calmed my shit down.
Pulling out a chair, I sat with Miguel and started to eat too. But Papá startled me by appearing in the doorway a moment later, clutching the doorframe and panting slightly from his exertions but determinedly making his way to the table.
My first impulse was to pop to my feet and go to him, lend a hand, except the hard look he sent me had me holding myself back.
Instead, I blasted him with a huge smile and said, “Good morning. Would you like some egg burritos?”
He nodded without answering and fell into his chair, wincing when he landed.
I bit my lip to keep from asking if he was okay, and I busied myself with fixing him a plate as well. Then I sat with my two favorite guys, and the three of us ate together. It was so nice that I had to hide how emotional it all made me.
Neither Papá nor Miguel noticed my watery eyes, so I thought I was being all awesome about hiding my feelings until someone knocked on the front door, and I went to answer it, only to find Hayden there.
He took one look at me and immediately narrowed his eyes. “You’ve been crying.”
I frowned back, hating how easy that had been for him to notice. “I have not.”
“Bullshit.” He stepped inside and lowered his voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I muttered, flushing with embarrassment. “I’m fine.”
He shifted even closer, looking ready to hurt whoever might’ve hurt me. It caused butterflies to take flight in my stomach.
“If going over there is more than you can handle,” he started, seemingly prepared to help me get out of working for his mother, “I can—”
I shut him up by pressing my hand over his mouth.
His offer was sweet. He was truly worried about me and was prepared to support me if I wanted to back out of my agreement with Lana. It almost made me burst into tears again. No matter what irritating thing he said or aggravating thing he did, this was a man of worth right here. It made me even more intent to help him with his mission to bring his mother down. I might even go as far as to say I wanted to help free him from her more than I wanted to free myself.
To hide the emotions rolling through me, I burst out, “Oh my God! Nothing is wrong. Jesus.” I lowered my hand from his lips and flushed a little harder. Damn, his mouth was soft. “Papá showed up in the kitchen for breakfast, okay? That’s all. I was just happy.”
“Happy?” Hayden eased a step back, studying me intently. “And this is your happy face?”
He seemed so interested by it, I muttered, “Yes!” and then had to glance away self-consciously. “Now stop looking at me like that.”
I might do something completely crazy, like kiss him, if he kept watching me with such admiration.
Thank God Miguel chose that moment to burst into the living room and interrupt us because I wasn’t sure how our conversation would’ve played out from there.
“Hayden!” he hollered. “Are you really driving me to school and Gabs to the café? That’s so awesome. I love riding in your car.”
Hayden glanced at him, then peered curiously my way. “Yes,” he murmured slowly, keeping my secret from my brother that I was no longer employed at Trudy’s. “It’s definitely awesome.”
“Get your things,” I told Miguel, even though my gaze strayed toward Hayden, who was looking right back at me. “It’s time to go.”
For some reason, getting my brother out of the apartment went much smoother than usual. He found his own book bag and shoes all by himself. And he was ready to leave before I was, dancing impatiently at the door next to Hayden and telling me to hurry.
Papá appeared in the entrance to the living room from the kitchen to wave us off. He and Hayden didn’t speak to each other, but they traded a meaningful nod that seemed to say volumes—like two adversaries reluctantly agreeing on peace—and finally, we were leaving and piling into Hayden’s car.
Miguel chattered all the way to school, and Hayden actually listened to him because he answered with appropriate responses—and sometimes a super inappropriate response.
As soon as we dropped him off, I turned to Hayden. “So, I was thinking…” He glanced my way, one eyebrow quirking up, and it made my tummy quiver just to have his attention. “If we actually find something awful and damning to get Lana arrested, I’m going to be out of a job.”
He shook his head. “No, you won’t. I’ll make sure you have something.”
I frowned. “How so?”
He shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Well, if she’s arrested, she can no longer impede you from finding work elsewhere. And I’ll help out while you’re searching. If anything, you can clean my apartment until you get your dream job.”
“Clean your apartment?” I repeated, lifting my eyebrows. “And would you be willing to pay me the same as your mother is?”
The glance he sent me was so offended I kind of felt bad for asking.
“Of course. And as a matter of fact, if at any time you want to stop helping me search Lana’s apartment, my offer will remain open. I won’t let her bother you beyond whatever you’re willing to put up with. That’s a promise. I helped get you into this situation; I won’t let you remain stuck in it.”
I gulped, a little overwhelmed by how much he was willing to support me, even though—yeah—he was technically responsible for some of the reasons I’d landed in this mess in the first place, what with all that wheeling and dealing he’d done to rope me into working for Lana in the first place. So it only seemed fair that he help me out if I so wanted out.
With a small nod, I said, “Well, thank you. We’ll see how today goes, and hey...” I grinned. “You never know; I could find what we need within the first hour.”
“You could.” He nodded. Then grinned. “In fact, that would be preferable.”
I chuckled. “So what will I be looking for, anyway?”
“The last will and testament of Arthur Judge,” he answered. “And if anything else looks particularly damning, tell me about that as well.”
Lifting my eyebrows, I repeated, “Just tell you? You don’t want me to take any evidence?”
He shook his head as he found a place to park. “No. I don’t want you in any way involved in handling proof in case this somehow goes south and she slips our clutches. She won’t know to go after you for trying to trap her if all you’re doing is cleaning and looking. The only person who knows you’re reporting back to me what you see is me, and there’s no way I’ll divulge that information. So you should be safe in all this.”
Well, that was considerate of him, wanting to protect me. And yet, it made everything kind of scarier, too. Did I need protection? Just how dangerous was Lana Judge?
His dark eyes glistened with unease as they met mine, telling me he found his mother to be extremely dangerous. For a moment, I thought he was going to back out of the entire deal and announce he didn’t want me going inside at all; it was too risky.
But then he said, “I have something for you.”
“You do?” My chest swelled with emotion as he reached into the backseat and pulled up a grocery sack full of…groceries?
“Um, oh!” Not sure what to make of this strange development, I smiled tightly. A grocery sack wasn’t quite what I’d been picturing.
I opened my mouth to thank him, anyway, only to peer inside and realize the contents looked extremely familiar. I pulled out the bottle of pop and lifted an eyebrow in his direction. Then I peered back into the bag to spot chicken noodle soup, tissues, saltines, and Tylenol. Everything I’d taken from his mother on Halloween night.
“I think I matched the brands correctly,” he started. “I’m sure Lana hasn’t noticed anything missing yet, otherwise she’d no doubt blame you somehow. So you should replace the lost items with these after she leaves today to prevent her from ever finding out.”
“Oh. Wow, that—” Suddenly, his gift seemed more meaningful than any kind of flowers a person could give. “That’s a good idea,” I said, trying not to sound as choked up as I fe
lt. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do all this for me, but, yeah, thanks. A lot.”
He nodded and said nothing else, so I took that to mean I was dismissed. “Well…” I blew out a long breath. “I guess I better go in there. Wish me luck.”
“I’ll pick you up a little after five this evening,” he confirmed, his eyes looking slightly panicked.
“All right.” I opened the door before he could change his mind, offering him a wave and a weak smile. Then I was out of there.
I entered through the side way, the one Hayden had always used when I’d been with him, so I could avoid crossing paths with André, the asshole concierge.
Once inside, I wandered the halls until I found a public bathroom. After stashing the sack full of goodies behind a trash bin, I wound my way to the pretty, sparkling door guarding the devil’s lair and rang the bell.
“Just so you know, I really hate you, door,” I muttered as I waited for what felt like forever.
If only it hadn’t been so pretty and remarkable, I never would’ve gone near it.
That was another mark against Lana, I decided. She bought stupid, tempting doors to lure in completely innocent people and force them to do things they normally wouldn’t do. It was freaking entrapment.
The offending door opened, and I winced because I’m pretty sure Lana was naked under the short, little silk wrap she wore. One sleeve kept slipping off her shoulder, exposing bare flesh. Bleck.
She was starting her bossly torture right off the bat, I see.
Averting my gaze, I stepped past her as she let me in, determined to play this right. I had to act defiant and hateful because I was being forced into doing this and didn’t really want to be here, while in truth, I was kind of jazzed to start my mission and beat the bitch at her own game. Show her no one treated people the way she did and got away with it.
Sniffing in annoyance as she shut the door behind me, she groused, “If I’d known you were going to be so punctual, I would’ve told you to hold off a few minutes this morning. I’m not getting around very quickly because I had such a late night.”