“It doesn’t matter. I took pictures. I sent proof to the police. Did you really think you could frame Grayson and get away with it?”
“I’ll get away with it. You’ll be dead and I’ll tell them you were setting me up.”
“Dead? You’re going to kill me? Are you serious?”
“Yes, Mia. You’ll die.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. “Mia will need to be dealt with tonight, but not until I’m done with her. Pick her up at the normal spot.” He ends the call. “We fuck first. Maybe you can talk me out of killing you.”
I try to knee him, but he catches my leg. “Not this time, sweetheart. This time I fuck you, you don’t fuck me.” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a gun. “Just in case you think you might scream. Think again.” He yanks me off the wall and starts pulling me by the hair toward the door. That’s when the door bursts open and Grayson appears, holding a gun and followed by Blake.
“Grayson,” I breathe out as the two men stand side by side, Blake directly in front of Ri, but it’s Grayson that Ri is looking at, his gun now pointed at him.
“Let her go, Ri, or I will shoot you,” Grayson says, stepping closer. “And I’ll enjoy it.”
Ri holds the gun on him to my head. “We walk out together or she leaves dead. Decide.”
Grayson squeezes my hand and I snap back to the present to find him staring at me. And I swear the concern in his green eyes meeting mine is all it takes for me to push past a weak moment. I cover his hand with mine, silently telling him that I’m okay. And I am. I’m alive. I’m here with him. Ri doesn’t get to screw that up for either of us.
Fired up, I focus on Reese. “The FBI and DA need to take this hammer off of Grayson. Blake obviously feels they might come after him or we wouldn’t be sitting here with you.”
“Blake’s being cautious,” Reese assures me, motioning for Blake to join us. “As he should be. Frankly, I’m of the opinion the FBI and DA won’t be stupid enough to come after Grayson. Grayson could sue—would sue—and would win. I’m more concerned about a different type of attack. Something that hits Grayson financially, or personally.”
An attack that’s financial or personal. Those words hit hard. I turn to Grayson. “I’m the personal attack, I get that. What could they do to you financially?”
“I’ve taken precautions,” Grayson assures me. “Shifted my portfolio, layered up different types of insurance.”
Blake pulls up a seat. “Eric and I are working through any and every way Grayson could be targeted.”
Frustration takes root. “My God, can’t the FBI just take down this underground group?”
“They’re as slippery as the snakes they are,” Blake replies. “The attorney holding the payout Ri promised those snakes is another story. The right move is to arrest him and freeze the money. No money, no group.”
“Then what are we waiting on?” I ask. “Why aren’t we already making that happen?”
“For starters,” Blake says, “this doesn’t erase any residual damage to Grayson or his operation that might be discovered later. The FBI and the DA already know what’s happening, and they’re sitting back and observing for now. I need to pressure them to stop sucking their thumbs and make this arrest. That means setting up a meeting that needs to include your legal counsel.”
“I’m in,” Reese replies, glancing at Grayson. “Cat will get you a client agreement this afternoon. That is if that’s what you want?”
“All-in,” Grayson replies, but his focus is instantly back on Blake. “You said for starters,” he repeats. “What else is holding you back on this?”
“I don’t want to fuck you in the process of trying to stop these assholes from fucking you. Everything isn’t online and documented with technology. There could be another method of payment or a backup source of payment. If there is, we could trigger a rapid attack. It’s like cutting a wire on a bomb. If you cut the wrong one, you blow the hell up.”
Grayson’s hand tightens over mine. “Then where does that leave us?”
“The attorney in question, Brian Johnson, is attending a party tonight. I’m having a team search his house and office, but even if it’s clean, even if we find nothing we don’t already have—”
“You can’t eliminate all risks,” Grayson supplies and he doesn’t hesitate to add, “Take the risk. Pressure the DA and the FBI. Make this happen. I need this over with.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Grayson
Take the risk.
I’m all about calculated, well-researched risk-taking, but as Blake leaves Mia and me with Cat and Reese to act on that risk, it feels more like a Vegas gamble. I’m not a Vegas gambler.
“This feels like the right move,” Mia murmurs as he departs, “but I still think I could use a drink I can’t handle once we get home.”
And just like that, Mia charms the moment into something lighter and the tension around the table fades into laughter.
The rest of the lunch, we relax into the conversation, as best as I can relax under these circumstances, but through our meal, I decide that I’m impressed with Reese Summer. If I could buy out his firm and bring him on board, I’d do it in a heartbeat and not because he needs me to grow and thrive. Because he’s one of the good guys and good guys need to align.
He and I talk about his firm, his partner, and the stock markets while Mia and Cat fall into their own deep conversation, an obvious connection between the two. Watching Mia just be Mia is a piece of my life that was sadly empty when we were apart. Her laugh charms me. Her smile heats my blood. Her presence calms me in ways I was never truly calm before her or apart from her.
She’s in the middle of a sentence when her gaze lifts to the TV to her right and mounted to the ceiling. The entire table’s attention follows hers to the image of a woman, with a subtitle under her photo that reads: Wife of billionaire claims self-defense in his murder.
Mia sets her fork down and sighs. “Nothing like your client on the TV to ruin a meal.”
“Delaney Wittmore is your client?” Cat asks, glancing at Reese. “She’s her client.” Excitement lifts her voice and she turns back to Mia. “Mia, I had no idea. I’m intrigued by this case. I’m interested in following the trial in my column. When does the trial start?”
“Four months,” Mia says. “But right before this Ri mess, I submitted to have the judge removed, so I don’t know how that will play out.”
“That’s a big move,” Reese comments. “Why?”
“He made an offhanded comment about Delaney killing her husband for his money, which speaks of an opinion he shouldn’t openly have.”
“Did she?” Cat asks.
“I wouldn’t be representing her if I believed that,” Mia retorts quickly, sitting up straighter. “And there are a half-dozen police reports, documented bruises on her body, and a recording she made of him threatening her mother’s life that say otherwise. And while I’m not surprised that the evidence doesn’t matter to the press, it should to the judge on her case.”
“You really believe in her,” Reese observes.
“I do,” Mia assures him. “I do, or I would never bring this drama to Grayson’s firm right now, in the middle of all of this, if I didn’t feel this passionately about her. She was terrorized by that man.”
Reese sips his drink. “Who’s the judge?”
“Nickleson,” she says.
Reese grimaces and grabs a piece of bread. “He’s a bastard. You’re smart to jump off that ship if you can. Who’s the prosecutor?”
“Nick Reynolds,” Mia says. “And as I’m sure you know at this point from Blake, Ri was trying to set Grayson up through the DA’s office.”
“I’m painfully aware of that fact,” Reese confirms.
“Well,” Mia continues, “we now know that Nick has a connection to Ri. The honest truth here is that this poor woman has a stacked deck from me and this firm representing her, but Ri’s firm is without Ri. I don’t know what that will m
ean for its future and she trusts me. She begged me to keep her case.”
“What do you want to happen for her?” Reese asks.
“Honestly,” Mia replies, “she deserves to have the charges dismissed, but people love to hate pretty women who stand to inherit a fortune. I don’t feel like her odds are good.”
“I know Nick,” Reese says. “I don’t like him, but I have had some luck with him, but that aside for a moment, Cat has been researching this case. She’s been talking about it non-stop. It piqued my interest even before we sat down for this lunch. If you’re willing to talk about some sort of partnership, I wouldn’t want to steal the spotlight this brings your career. I do, however, want to help.”
“I don’t care about credit,” Mia says. “I care about my client, not me.” She turns to me. “Grayson?”
I stare at her, my beautiful Mia, her long dark hair around her shoulders, and I understand the question she hasn’t fully vocalized. She wants me to decide for her. She wants me to tell her to hold onto the case or let it go, and fuck, I want her to let it go. Delaney was just on the television. Mia will be in the press with her, and they will push her to talk about Ri. They will push her in all kinds of ways that might affect her in ways she doesn’t yet realize.
And even beyond that, the underground operation could use this to attack her and play it off as some crazy protestor. I want her to take this deal with Reese, but Reese will steal her spotlight and I made the mistake of pulling her from a case against her will once before to protect her. I won’t do that again. “It’s your call, Mia. It’s your case.”
“It’s your company.”
“And you’re about to be my wife.”
“That doesn’t change the business side of this. Grayson—”
“This is your case and your decision.”
“I want your opinion,” she counters.
“And I want you to do what feels right to you, Mia, not me. This isn’t about me.”
Her lips press together. “Stubborn man,” she snaps and turns back to the table, inhaling before she makes her decision. “This isn’t well-timed for the firm and I’m not Delaney’s best path to freedom. I haven’t fully processed that fact until now. This has all happened so quickly, but sitting here right now, I know that’s true. Honestly, Reese, she’d be better off with you. And this is a high-profile feather in your cap if you get her off. I believe her. I know you will as well. If you would consider taking the case—when can you meet her?”
He eyes me and then Mia. “Delaney feels comfortable with you, Mia. We should co-counsel, but I need to be upfront about a few things. I’d want to see the evidence and meet your client. Does she fully inherit?”
“Not fully,” Mia says, “but a hefty sum of money.”
Reese grimaces. “The family will try to take it if she’s convicted or even if she takes a deal.”
“They’ll try to take it if she gets off free and clear,” Cat murmurs.
“She and I have talked about this,” Mia replies. “I think she needs to go to trial. She has a daughter she doesn’t want to put through this. That in itself should tell you this isn’t about the money to her.”
“We need to change her mind,” Reese replies, “because the family might even go after her daughter’s money if she inherited. That said, though, frankly, with my present schedule, if she agrees to trial, we’ll need to move the trial based on my schedule. I’m booked six months out and bringing me in after what just happened to you will be an easy sell to the courts.”
“When can we do the meet and greet?” Mia asks. “I need to know what I’m doing when and so does Delaney.”
“I’m due back in court this afternoon. I should be able to do coffee at seven in the morning. Can you get her here? They have a coffee and breakfast service.”
Mia turns to search my face, and I don’t know what she’s looking for or what she finds, but she turns back to Reese and says, “Perfect. I believe she’ll be better off with you, Reese. She won’t need me once she meets you and Cat. I’m going to call my client now.” She snakes her phone from her purse and stands up, walking toward the bar.
Relief washes over me at a decision that takes her out of emotional and physical danger, but it’s immediately followed by guilt. She just gave up a career-making case, when her own success and identity has always been important to her. I get that. I understand that need. She just gave this case away for me, not for herself, and not for her client. That doesn’t work for her, me, Delaney, or us as a couple.
I stand up and pursue Mia, determined to catch her before she makes that call to Delaney, but I’m not the only one pursuing her. A tall man in a leather jacket charges in her direction.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Mia
A sudden fight-or-flight sensation has me whipping around to find a big man in a leather jacket, well over six feet and two hundred pounds of pure muscle, charging at me. My heart jumps up into my throat, and a small sound lodges right there with it. I back up and hit a stool as the man stops dead in his tracks in front of me. “Sorry.” He offers an apologetic smile, lines crinkling on his sunbaked fortyish skin. “I didn’t mean to startle you there.”
Grayson is suddenly beside me, pulling me close. “What the hell do you want?” he demands of the man.
The man grabs something from the bar and holds it up. “Left my wallet. Panicked a bit when I realized what I’d done.” He glances at me. “Again. Sorry about that, ma’am.” He turns and leaves.
I breathe out in utter relief and then laugh in disbelief, pressing my hand to my forehead. “I’m losing my mind,” I murmur, frustrated over my silly over-reaction.
Grayson turns me to face him, cupping my face to stare down at me. “I thought—”
“Me, too. We’re both clearly not as okay after Ri as we’re pretending we are. And this is exactly why Reese needs to take this case.”
“No.” He cups my face and tilts my gaze to his. “You believe in this woman. She needs that kind of passion defending her.”
“Reese—”
“Is damn good, but he’s a man. She needs a woman in her corner. And Reese isn’t a fool. He knows that. He needs you, just like Delaney needs you.”
“I’m clearly not myself, Grayson. I just almost screamed out in a public place over a man looking for his lost wallet. She deserves counsel that’s one hundred percent focused.”
“You’re less than a week out from an attack, Mia. And the trial won’t be for six months with Reese’s schedule.”
“But my role in the company—”
“Will only be proved stronger with a high-profile win under your belt.”
“Unless I lose.”
“You won’t,” he says firmly.
“I’m confused. I felt your relief when I stepped aside, Grayson.”
“I won’t lie and tell you that you’re wrong. I did feel relief. And then I felt selfish. I knew, I know, I was doing the same thing I did when I pulled you off that case before our break-up.”
“You didn’t talk to me first. That’s why that was so bad. But I got it. I understood all but that. There was danger attached to that case, a monster the feds were after, who liked to kill those close to him. Which is why I would have understood if you had talked to me.”
“I’m talking to you now. You deserve your own wins, Mia. And as much as we both want to believe you don’t still feel like you’re in my shadow, that doesn’t just go away in a year of working for someone else.”
“I love you. Your success is something I’m proud of.”
“And I loved my father and was proud of him, but it was hell being his son before I proved my worth. I perhaps haven’t been understanding enough about how that, despite a slight shift in context, might translate to you with me. Your success is good for us and I will cheer you on every step of the way. Call Delaney and tell her you want to bring in Reese as co-counsel.”
I press my hand to his handsome face, searching his gaze, looking for t
he pain and torment that had driven me to make this decision. “You’re sure?”
“Completely.”
I study him a moment more and I believe him, I do, but I also know he’s worried.
“I will not hold you back, Mia,” he adds as if he’s reading my mind. “That’s not love. That’s not a partnership. If you want to do this, we both need you to do this.”
His voice radiates with the passion of conviction. “All right then. This will please Delaney. And me. Thank you for supporting me.”
“No thanks ever needed, baby. Call her.” He kisses me and then walks away.
I turn and watch him with all his grace and male beauty saunter back to the table, a regal tiger that could pounce or purr at any moment, and my heart swells with love. He sits down facing in my direction and when his eyes meet mine, there is this punch of awareness between us, and I can almost feel our bond grow right here and now.
I smile.
He smiles.
God, I love his smile.
And I love him.
In this moment, I know that Ri won’t win or beat us. We will win. Together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Mia
Delaney Wittmore answers on the first ring. “My God, Mia. Did you see me on the television? Again.” She sounds frazzled and hoarse, her tone a raspy, after-crying tone I know well. I had it often after Grayson and I broke up. A break-up that could have been avoided, while Delaney couldn’t have fixed her problems with her husband. He was an abuser who would have seen her dead before he let her leave him.
“I did, actually,” I say, leaning on the bar and staring at a television with yet another image of her on the screen. “But you knew this was going to happen. That’s the thing, Delaney. A deal doesn’t stop the press from a fascination with you. True crime rules the networks these days. You don’t escape this for you or your daughter, just by taking a deal.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? They won’t give me a deal.”
Love Me Forever Page 9
