by Nova Raines
“No, I—”
“Every time I come around you, you send me away,” I say. “You don’t have to pretend to care all of the sudden.”
Rowan lays a hand on my arm. “I do care.” I finally meet his green eyes—they’re soft and full of regret. “I’m sorry I’m such an asshole.”
I sniff and shift in my seat. “You’ve always sent me away when I needed you. Just like dad.” It comes out as an accusation.
He doesn’t answer, and finally I put my hands back on the wheel. “I gotta go to the cops now.”
“Dad didn’t send you away.”
That surprises me so much I meet his eyes again. “What? Sending me to Charlotte’s all the time… Boarding school… Yeah, yeah he did.”
“That was me.”
Shock runs through me, and my world tilts on its axis. I don’t think I can take many more of these revelations today. I pull in a deep breath. “It was dad.”
“No. I told Jenny to get you packed and send you to Char’s all those times.”
Jenny, dad’s assistant, hated me, too. Or so I thought. “But… Why?”
“I didn’t want you to see Dad… the way he was. When he was high, or drunk, or coming home with women… I didn’t want to you to have to see that so soon after mom…”
My heart twists at the look in his eyes, the way his hands are clenched tight in his lap. Like it’s costing him a lot to say all this.
“And boarding school?”
“Me. Dad was going over the edge, and I was afraid he was gonna take us with him… So when you got caught stealing… I convinced Dad and Jenny to send you away.”
I shake my head, not wanting to believe it. “No. You were only sixteen. Those were dad’s decisions—”
“Did Dad look like he was capable of making decisions back then? I just wanted to protect you, Hayley. That’s the truth. I’m sorry I pushed you away so much. I just didn’t want Dad to fuck you up. The way he fucked me up.”
He abruptly gets out of the car, and I open my door to follow. I stop him when he gets to the sidewalk and wrap my arms around him. He hugs me back tightly, and when he pulls away, there’s dejection on his face. “I was really proud of you back there—the way you handled everything. If you think going to the police is the right choice…”
“It’s the right choice.”
“Then let me get cleaned up and meet you at the police station. We’ll do it together. We’ll tell them everything. Together.”
My chest expands at the thought of having him with me when I confess. I give him another hug. “I’ll meet you over at the main station, by the law office.”
He heads back into his apartment, and my heart is the lightest it’s been in a while as I get back into my car. My father was a fuck up. That’s a fact.
But my brother never despised me like I thought he did. He’d been protecting me. I know my father got even worse after I left, because I saw it in the headlines. But Rowan had lived it. And he’d kept me from having to live it, too.
The thought chokes me up as I pull away from the street and head back for the freeway.
Whatever happens now, I have family again.
When I reach the police station, my resolve is solid, but apparently I chose the wrong time and place to report my crime. The police station is a circus. Paparazzi are everywhere, and I have to circle around and park in the lot near the station. What the hell is going on now? I take deep breaths, suddenly shaken. Rowan texts me to let me know he’s leaving his house soon.
I grab my purse and the glasses and floppy hat from my back seat and make myself get out of the car. I’m not giving myself the chance to back out. I’ll wait for Rowan inside. I’m done running. I’m done lying.
As I walk to the station, a few paps half-heartedly snap me, but then they swing away from me to follow someone else headed up the steps.
It hits me like a fist in the chest, and I can’t breathe.
The paps are shouting his name, and I finally get why the station is a circus.
“Devon Stone!”
“Devon!”
“Why was Kaidan arrested?” Devon was coked up last night, but in the mid-morning light, he looks surprisingly sober.
Of course. Kaidan’s here.
My chest is so tight, I either want to pass out or run, I just keep walking. Devon disappears inside just as I reach the stairs. That’s when they see through my lame disguise.
Paparazzi crowd me, taking my picture, calling my name. I hold my head high and march up the steps.
KaiHay Arrested on the Same Day!
Ah, the tabloids will have a blast with this one.
Kaidan steals Hayley’s money (maybe), and Hayley steals Serena’s diamond (definitely).
I let out a crazed laugh as I pull open the door and walk through.
Devon’s at the front desk, but he doesn’t notice me. I slink over to a bench against the wall to wait for Rowan.
A bleary-eyed prostitute is cuffed and seated at the bench across from me. She grins at me, revealing missing teeth. “Hey, lovely,” she slurs.
I avert my eyes, even though she can’t see them behind my dark glasses, and focus on Devon’s back. I can’t believe my life has come to this.
A few minutes pass, and Devon turns around and sits a foot away from me on the bench.
He doesn’t recognize me, so I take off my glasses and stare at him until he looks over.
His brows go up. “Hayley?”
“Devon.”
“What are you doing here?” He sounds exhausted and now, close up, I can see the effects of last night’s drug binge. But it doesn’t do much to hinder those Stone good looks. He’s Kaidan’s twin brother, after all. Even though they’re fraternal, the resemblance is enough to make me long for Kaidan and my heart hurt all over again.
I bite my lip. “I…” I don’t know what to say. Not that I stole his nearly step-mother’s diamond, that’s for sure.
“You here to see him? You’re in luck. I just posted his bail. Were you still at the house this morning?”
“I was.”
Devon runs a hand through his dark hair in a way that reminds me very much of Kaidan and lets out a harsh laugh. “I’m so sick of my family’s bullshit. But I wasn’t gonna leave Kai here.”
“Where’s your father?”
“Who knows? My brother used his phone call to call me, not Dad. Because he knew I’d actually show up.”
“I thought you two didn’t really… get along.”
He looks at me like he’s seeing me for the first time—as a person, not one of Kaidan’s endless rotation of blond doppelgangers. “We might not get along all the time, but whenever shit goes really wrong, he’s always there for me. And I’m here for him.”
I nod, but I don’t feel like speaking. I understand fucked up sibling relationships. And now that I’ve finally fixed my relationship with my brother, I’m probably going to jail.
Tears prick my eyes as Devon gets off the bench. I look up to see Kaidan standing at the front desk, signing papers. Two FBI agents are standing nearby, looking pretty pissed off. Devon wraps Kaidan in a half-hug.
“Thanks, brother.” Kaidan’s shoulders sag, like he’s holding the whole world on them.
“No problem. How many times you bailed me out?”
Kaidan gives him a half-hearted smile. “Too many to count.”
As he finishes the paperwork, I’m just frozen on the bench. Did Kaidan steal my money? Is he the reason it’s gone, or did my dad really just make bad investments? I have to know before the cops arrest me for my crime. Because unlike Devon, my brother doesn’t have the money to bail me out.
“Someone’s here to see you,” Devon says.
Kaidan turns toward me, and his brows come together when he sees me sitting there.
“Hayley?” He’s decidedly not happy to see me.
“I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
Kaidan shakes his head. “Not now… I need to get out of
here. Come with me.”
“No. Now.”
“In the car.”
“No.”
Kaidan shoots Devon an annoyed look, and Devon shrugs and walks over to the glass doors to wait. I step away from the bench and close to the wall so no one can overhear what I’m going to ask.
Kaidan steps close to me. I can smell the scent of him, his cologne from this morning still strong, and my skin tingles, remembering how it felt to lie naked in his arms.
But the veiled look on his face now makes my heart beat faster with dread.
“Hayley, we can talk about this—”
“My money’s gone.”
Shock and alarm appear on his face, and hope blossoms in me. He’s surprised. That’s good.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean my entire inheritance is gone. They said my dad made bad investments. But… I need to know. Do you… do you know anything about this?”
Kaidan flinches like my words hurt him, but he swipes a hand through his hair and glances back toward the police desk. “Your lawyer. Who’s your lawyer again?”
“James Nordstrom.”
Kaidan’s eyes light up, like he’s just made some connection. He grabs my hand urgently. “We need to get to the law office. Now.”
“I can’t.”
“Do you want your money back?” he asks, his voice low. “If this is what I think it is… I need you to come with me now.”
If I can get my money back, I can pay the dealers. I don’t have to go to jail.
“I don’t understand. How are you going to get it back?”
“Please. Just come with me.”
Kaidan’s looking at the police desk, and I glance over again, too. The FBI agents are eyeballing us. If I get Luis his money, he’ll give me the diamond back, and I can return it to Serena. I was so sure turning myself in was the right thing to do, but I’ve been drowning, and Kaidan has just held out a life line.
I want to cry when I meet Kaidan’s brown, gold-flecked eyes. Am I coward if I don’t turn myself in now?
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll come.”
He grabs my hand, and we walk out the door with Devon. I put my glasses back on, but the paparazzi are snapping away, shouting our names. I’m dizzy, sick. The only redeeming detail of this morning is the fact that Kaidan looked shocked when I told him my money was gone… and he said maybe we can get it back. That has to mean he had nothing to do with it. Right?
We hurry down the street to where Devon parked and pile into his vintage Camaro. Kaidan slides into the backseat with me, and I text Rowan to tell him I have something to do and not to go to the station until I call him.
Devon pulls onto the road and engages in a few minutes of speedy cat and mouse to lose the paps who try to follow. When the madness is over, Kaidan grabs my hand in his.
“Why were you arrested?” I ask.
Kaidan swallows and seems to be choosing his words carefully. “About two months ago, our clients started to report missing money. Not a lot, just discrepancies. My father and I quietly looked into it, but we couldn’t track it back to any one person at the law firm. We thought it might be linked to the investment firm we work with. Then we got tipped off the FBI was involved. And Peyton…”
Kaidan takes a deep breath. “The reason I was meeting up with Peyton is because some of her money went missing, too, while I was still her lawyer. After I ended it with her, she threatened to go to the FBI and say I had something to do with it. I was trying to help her get the money back and find out if there was any foul play… without involving the FBI. But every clue I found implicated the law firm, my father… and me. But I did not steal that money!” Kaidan’s voice rises, and he squeezes my hand, then lets go.
I just nod, stunned, and wait for him to finish. It’s all starting to make sense. Everything with Peyton… the phone calls… all the late nights and how distracted Kaidan was by his job….
“My father didn’t steal the money either,” Kaidan continues, his voice even again. “We don’t need to. I thought we were being framed. I was trying to solve this before the FBI got too close. This scandal could ruin everything… the reputation of the law firm and Stone Records.”
I sink back into the seat. “I… had no idea. What evidence did the FBI have to justify arresting you?”
Kaidan’s face darkens. “The FBI was building a case against me and my father. Peyton went to them and accused me of stealing the money. She showed them records I showed her in confidence and left out the part about how I was trying to track the money down. I didn’t even realize she’d made copies. This is my fault.”
Devon clears his throat from the front seat. “You should have told me all of this.”
“Dad wanted to keep it quiet.”
“Of course he did.”
Kaidan leans forward to grip Devon’s shoulder. “I didn’t want you implicated in this, either.”
“Man… I really hope you guys figure this out.”
“I’m going to.” Kaidan sounds confident, which amazes me considering the FBI has built a case against him.
We pull onto the road adjacent to the law firm, and even from here it’s evident the road is packed with paps. Even more than before.
“I’ll drop you at the back,” Devon says. He heads down the back street and pulls up next to the gate. Then he lets us out of the backseat.
Once we’re out, Devon leans into the car to grab a duffel bag, which he hands to Kaidan. “Change of clothes and your house keys. Do you need me to hang around? I have this thing I gotta get to today.”
“I’ll call Charles to pick us up,” Kaidan says. “Thanks again.”
Devon and Kaidan exchange meaningful looks that only they can probably understand.
“Good luck, guys.” Devon nods to me, gets back in the car, and takes off.
As we enter the back gate, I’m suddenly aware of the nervous energy radiating off of Kaidan. I’ve rarely felt that from him, but whatever we’re about to look for has him worried.
“So… my money?”
“James had a few other clients who had small amounts of money go missing,” Kaidan says tersely. “He was helping us investigate this. When’s the last time you talked to him?”
“A couple days ago when I called him… But when I came in today, Jillian was the one who told me my money was gone.”
Kaidan goes pale and rifles around in the bag Devon gave him until he pulls out a set of keys.
“Kaidan. Wait. I need to tell you something.”
He turns to me and surprises me with a gentle kiss. Then he searches my face. “Just let me handle this. Then we can talk about whatever you need to talk about.”
“Okay.”
Kaidan fumbles with his keys and unlocks the back door to the law firm.
Whatever happens next determines my entire future and Kaidan’s. I grab his hand, and he leads us through the doorway.
The FBI agents are still in the hallway where I saw them last, and marked boxes are stacked against the walls. Kaidan grabs my hand and leads me past them without even sparing them a glance. The shock on their faces is priceless as they scramble to make phone calls.
The lawyer who helped me this morning, Jillian, turns the corner. “Kaidan?”
Kaidan lets go of my hand. “James Nordstrom. Get him on the phone.”
“I can’t. I’ve already tried.” The woman’s eyes dart to me and back to Kaidan. She looks like she really wants to ask him what the hell is going on, but she doesn’t.
“What do you mean, you can’t?” he asks harshly.
“I mean he called in sick on Thursday and hasn’t answered his phone since then. He didn’t pick up when I called today either.”
Kaidan curses under his breath and hurries down the hall to James Nordstrom’s office. Jillian and I follow him into the room.
He’s a cyclone of energy as he tears open the filing cabinets, removing handfuls of files at a time.
Jillian and I watch, mouths
gaping. He pulls out a folder and throws it on the desk. My name’s on it. I’ve seen it plenty of times, but now it’s much thinner than the last time I saw it.
My heart clenches. The will. The One Condition. Is that still in there? Kaidan lifts another armful of folders out of the cabinet and opens them one by one. He tosses them all to the desk, then pounds it with his fist. Jillian jumps beside me.
“He cleaned them out,” Kaidan says with disgust. “Every one of the clients who lost money. He took the files with him. It’s him. He did this.”
He sits down at the desk and turns on the PC just as the FBI agents push past me and Jillian. “You’re not allowed in here while we’re conducting our investigation.”
Kaidan glares at them and slowly stands. “Then I suggest you start right here. James Nordstrom missed work on Thursday and Friday, isn’t answering his phone, and cleaned out his files ahead of your raid.”
Everyone’s crowding Kaidan and looking at him or the computer, so now’s my chance. I stealthily slide my file off the desk and cover it with my purse.
The agents exchange tense looks over Kaidan’s accusation, and then one of them nods. “We’re done in your office, Mr. Stone. You can wait there. We’ll need to ask you some more questions.”
Kaidan moves around the desk to leave, and I scurry out of the room. I can’t let Kaidan see the will before I tell him the truth. I have to confess first. Because the game is up. My money’s gone, he’s going to see my will, and he sure as hell will hear about Serena’s diamond going missing. There’s no way out now.
Jillian stays behind as Kaidan walks with me back to his office. We step around the boxes against the walls—filled with papers seized from Kaidan’s office. An FBI agent guarding the boxes shoots Kaidan a distrustful look as he and I pass by and get into the now empty room. It’s just a desk and some chairs, all the shelves stripped.
I stand next to one of the chairs, clutching my file to my chest as Kaidan closes the door behind us and locks it. He comes over to stand near me and sags against his bare desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I’m such an idiot. I trusted him.”
