by Lexy Timms
“A bit of a shit-show?”
She scoffed and touched her forehead. “You could say that. Or worse.”
Taking her hand in his, Dane pressed a kiss against her cheek. “We can always change hotels. And I have contacts with a private security firm. We can have them send over some bodyguards as quickly as possible.”
His wife leaned against him, her entire body seeming to droop under the weight of so much stress. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, trying to steady her.
“I don’t really want someone shadowing me,” she said, her voice strained. “Maybe just have extra security outside the hotel.”
“I can arrange that,” he assured her.
When the elevator stopped on their floor Fran and his father headed to their own rooms while Dane, Allyson, and Lester walked to their luxury suite for a meeting.
Dane helped Allyson to the sofa in the sitting area, reluctant to even leave her side for a moment. Pushing aside his concern, he focused on what he could do to help her. If she couldn’t get rest, she could at least eat to get her strength up. After he ordering room service, he sat beside Allyson and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“We have to figure out where our focus needs to be,” Lester said from his seat on the opposite sofa.
“What do you mean?” Dane asked.
“Are we going to focus on getting the charges dropped entirely, or are we going to focus on winning a trial?” Lester said.
“Well, what’s your advice?” Dane asked. Lester was a damn good lawyer, and Dane knew it would be wise to listen to him.
“I’m not going to lie to you. The prosecution is out for blood,” Lester said. “They want someone to pay for a white-collar crime like this since they’re often accused of going soft on the rich. But a trial is costly and attracts media attention they might not like.”
“So, should we try to get the charges dropped?” Allyson asked.
Lester scratched his chin thoughtfully. “The prosecution has circumstantial evidence, but nothing concrete. At least, not yet. Which means there’s still a chance we can get the charges dropped completely. We’ll have less time to gather more of our own evidence than if we focused our efforts on a trial, but we still have a chance to make this whole thing go away.”
“What kind of evidence do we need?” she asked.
“Anything that could cast doubt on you being the embezzler,” Lester responded. “Our best bet is to point the authorities to someone else.”
“So…we have to figure out who did this.” Allyson sighed. “The person who attacked me snatched my handbag out of my hands. Nicholas Handel’s will was inside it.”
Lester grimaced. “It wasn’t exactly found under legal circumstances, but at least it was a lead. Things seem to be pointing in the direction of Nicholas Handel or his wife.”
Never had he wanted to hurt someone more than he wanted to hurt Nicholas Handel. Nicholas had to be responsible for the attack. He had to. Dane could feel it in his bones. “If Nicholas did this, I’ll make him pay. Do you remember anything about the guy who hit you?”
She shook her head. The sad expression on her face knifed through him. Allyson was shaking like a leaf. The attack must have been traumatic for her. Just watching her get hit with a baseball bat like that almost destroyed him. He couldn’t begin to understand what it was like to go through it.
Desperate to soothe her, he rubbed her shoulder gently.
“It was so dark I didn’t get a good look at their face. I don’t even know what color his eyes were.” She began to wring her hands, anxiety etched on her face. “He was thin, slightly taller than me. That’s all I know.”
“The cops will be looking over the CCTV footage of the attack,” Lester said. “They’ve assured me that they’ll get in touch if they discover anything.”
“It feels like we’ve hit a dead end,” Allyson said.
Dane shook his head. “I’m not giving up. We’re going to get some hard evidence against Nicholas. I’m not letting the bastard get away with hurting you like this. It’s looking like Nicholas Handel either attacked you himself or sent someone to do it.”
Lester frowned. “Nicholas Handel isn’t the type to get his hands dirty. If he’s involved, he more than likely sent someone to hurt Mrs. Prescott.”
“But how could he have known that I had taken the will?” Allyson asked. “Dane made sure to keep him from walking into the study and finding me.”
“Maybe he saw you head in that direction and put two and two together,” Dane suggested.
She sighed. “I guess that’s possible. I just don’t see how he could have figured out that I had the will in that handbag. It wasn’t the same bag I had at the party. Nobody knew it was in there but me.”
That must have shaken her, the fact that someone had figured out what she had and where she had put it. Almost like Nicholas had spies watching them. Or was watching them himself. It sounded crazy, but the entire business with the embezzlement was beyond anything he’d ever had to deal with. His own father had worried about what the embezzler might do to keep his secret. For all they knew, the attacker wouldn’t stop at one assault on Allyson. The next time might be something much worse. Something permanent.
White-hot rage gripped him. And underneath it, an emotion he rarely felt. Fear. Fear for his wife’s safety. “I’m not going to let you stay in this hotel another night,” Dane said suddenly.
“You think we should leave?” she asked.
He nodded. “If the attacker knew that much, there’s no telling what else he might figure out. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Lester glanced at Allyson. “Your husband is probably right. Find a place to stay for the next few days while we figure this out.”
“We can stay at my cousin’s apartment,” Dane said. “Ordinarily I wouldn’t ask since he isn’t in London, but desperate times…”
Allyson nodded. “Okay. Since you think it would help.”
It wasn’t like her to just give in and accept his demands. Usually Allyson put up one hell of a fight. Or, maybe she was doing what she had done last night. Agreed to something only to have her own plans. Promise she’d go along with what he wanted, only to ruthlessly do what she thought she had to do.
His guts twisting he captured her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. “I mean it, Allyson. We’re leaving the hotel. Don’t even think of getting any ideas. You’re not running this time. You won’t get rid of me that easily if you try a stunt like that again.”
She lowered her eyes, those dark eyelashes brushing against her flushed cheeks. “Not in front of Lester.”
“I don’t give a damn if Lester sees,” he bit out harshly. “You are my wife. The only thing in this world I care about more than myself. I almost lost you. Never do something like that to me ever again.”
If she bristled at his words, she didn’t show it. All she did was nod. She looked so fragile and vulnerable that he couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her and pull her close.
Gripping him tightly, her shoulders started to heave. “I thought he was going to kill me. And after he hit me, I thought he was going to find a way to hurt you, Dane. I was so scared.” A sob escaped her throat, the sound like a dagger in his heart.
He held her. Kissed her hair. “We’ll get him. I swear we’ll find him and make him pay for this.”
She was crying now. He could feel her tears on his shirt.
The sound of Lester’s cell phone ringing made him glance over at the lawyer. As Lester took the call, Dane gently rocked his wife back and forth. Whispered into her ear that he loved her.
“It’s my fault,” she said. “If I hadn’t locked you in the car…if I hadn’t gotten out of the car like a stubborn idiot—”
“It’s not your fault,” he said gently. “Nobody has the right to hurt you. Nobody. It’s not your fault, Allyson. We’re going to catch the bastard. I promise you.”
She pressed her mouth to his and he tasted the salty
tears on her lips. Tasted her anguish. Her terror.
A low cough from Lester made her pull away suddenly.
“We have some bad news folks.” Lester put his phone back into his jacket pocket. “That was the judge’s office calling.”
“What is it?” Allyson asked, her voice shaky.
Then Lester said the words that ripped Dane’s heart apart: “The judge is revoking your bail. He wants you to turn yourself in and go back to jail until the trial.”
Chapter 15
Allyson’s blood ran cold. Or maybe it stopped moving completely.
The fear that had been building within her since her arrest threatened to overwhelm her. It felt like the floor beneath her had given way and she was falling into the dark abyss.
“Back to jail?” Her voice wavered as tears threatened to fall again.
Dane cursed loudly. “Crane, get the judge back on the phone. We’re not putting up with his. The bail has been paid. My wife isn’t spending another second in jail, do you hear me?” An inferno blazed dangerously in his blue eyes. “She’ll stay here. Never go back to America.”
Lester shook his head vigorously. “I wouldn’t advise that. And arguing with the judge will only make things worse for Mrs. Prescott. He already believes the attack was faked and, considering your reputation for…phony stories, he isn’t inclined to listen.”
She groaned inwardly. The world was never going to let go of the fact that she and Dane had faked their marriage at the start of their relationship. That was why it was so easy for everyone to believe the worst about her. “So, I’m supposed to just turn myself over to the police?” she asked. Stomach knotting up she swallowed hard, trying to fight the mounting terror.
“We still have four days to get back to New York,” Lester said. “But, yes…if you don’t turn yourself over for arrest within that time, you’ll be a fugitive.” He paused, sympathy flashing in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Prescott.”
Memories of her night in jail made her shudder. Those imposing bars haunted her dreams. The hours she spent in jail had inched by so slowly that one night had been a lifetime. Panic made her pulse race. “So, are we just going to give up on getting the charges dropped?”
“No,” her husband said firmly. “We don’t have a lot of time now, but I’m going to turn this city upside down if I have to. I’m not letting them put you away.”
His words both comforted her and terrified her. She knew he would do anything to keep her safe. There was nothing her husband wouldn’t do to keep her out of jail. He had almost broken his hands last night, trying to break the windshield of the car in an insane effort to get to her. Despite the comfort she felt, she also knew that her husband would risk anything. If he was willing to risk prison time and getting injured, he was liable to do something even crazier.
“Now that Nicholas Handel’s will has been taken, we don’t have many leads,” Lester pointed out.
Lost in thought, Allyson chewed her bottom lip. “Francesca seemed to know something. Earlier today, in the hospital, she was reluctant to tell me something about the Handels. Not to mention, I still have serious suspicions about Rebecca Greene since she works in the women’s division at the London office.”
“My money is on Nicholas Handel,” Dane growled. “It has to be. There’s no way he doesn’t know about his wife’s trust.”
“He wouldn’t have given us access to such sensitive files if he was the culprit,” Lester reminded them.
“Maybe Nicholas didn’t know at the start of all this, but if he discovered what his wife was up to he might have decided to protect her,” Dane said.
Allyson inhaled sharply. “Oh crap. You have a point.” Nicholas couldn’t have known about his heir’s secret trust when he gave them all those files, but there was a chance he had discovered the truth about his wife’s stealing and was doing whatever it took to keep the secret. Even if that meant going after her with a baseball bat.
“We have to figure out who Nicholas Handel’s heir is if we want to figure this out,” Lester said. “Which is easier said than done, but we can start with Rebecca like you suggested, Mrs. Prescott.”
Dane crossed his arms. “First things first. We have to get Allyson safely out of the hotel.”
“We don’t have much time,” she said, trying to keep the frantic edge out of her tone.
Her husband got to his feet. “That’s why, after I make arrangements with my cousin, we’ll talk to Fran in the car and look into Rebecca Greene.”
After Dane’s cousin agreed to let them stay at his place Allyson texted Francesca, asking her to meet them downstairs in the lobby.
Ten minutes later, Allyson and Dane had packed up their belongings and made their way downstairs with Lester. While Dane went to the front desk to deal with checking out, Allyson headed outside with Fran and Lester.
Suddenly, Nicholas Handel and Rebecca Green stepped out of a luxury car parked at the front entrance. Nicholas took off his coat and draped it around Rebecca’s shoulders.
Allyson watched them suspiciously as they headed over to her. Outwardly, Rebecca Greene had a very nerd-chic vibe about her. The total opposite of what a man like Nicholas seemed to be interested in. But he also had a thing for intelligent women, and Rebecca had a very intellectual air with her hair tied up in a prim bun and her glasses perched on her nose.
Everyone quickly exchanged greetings.
“What are you doing here?” Allyson blurted out.
Nicholas pulled her into a tight hug. “We heard what happened, and when we realized you had been discharged from hospital we came down here to see you. Thank goodness you’re okay, Allyson.”
She squirmed out of his embrace, memories of last night’s attack setting her on edge in his presence. Allyson didn’t know if Nicholas had attacked her, but he was the last person she wanted to see right now. “I’m fine,” she said bluntly. “You don’t have to check up on me.”
“Of course, we do,” Nicholas insisted. “I know we’ve had our differences, but after an incident like this we have to stick together.”
Before she could open her mouth to retort, Dane shot out in front of her. More like his fist, which got into Nicky’s face, and punched him in the nose.
~~*~~
“Stay the hell away from my wife!” Pain shot through his hand. Dane had nearly broken his hands trying to save Allyson last night, but he didn’t care if he broke his hand for real this time.
Blood spurted out of Nicholas’ nose as he howled in agony. “What the bloody hell is wrong with you?”
Dane lunged at Nicholas again, but a pair of strong hands dragged him back. It was Lester. Pulling him back into the hotel lobby. Rage making it impossible to think clearly, Dane shoved Lester away.
“You stay here,” Lester hissed. “I’m going to take care of this.”
“Why?” Dane demanded. “That bastard attacked my wife—”
“I’m going back out there to talk to Nicholas and avoid a damn lawsuit,” Lester cut him off harshly. “Heaven help us if Handel goes to the cops and presses charges.” The lawyer turned on his heel and headed back outside.
Allyson stepped back into the lobby, Rebecca following.
“Why did you do that?” Allyson asked. She knew why, but she asked anyway.
“He attacked you,” he snarled. “Nobody hurts you and gets away with it.”
Seeing Nicholas show up at the hotel like he’d done nothing wrong had sent Dane into a blind rage. He didn’t care if it was reckless. If he ever saw Nicholas Handel’s face again he would tear him apart.
“You’ve probably broken his nose,” she said.
The guests in the lobby turned to stare at them, but he ignored their glances. Right now, the only thing that mattered was keeping his wife safe from the Handels. “If he tries to come near you again, a broken nose is going to be the least of his worries,” Dane muttered.
“I did warn him not to come,” Rebecca Greene murmured.
Dane frowned as he
turned to her. “Warn him?”
Rebecca shifted uncomfortably, then adjusted her glasses. “I told Mr. Handel that, given your history, you might suspect him. The hostility between the Handels and the Prescotts isn’t exactly a secret.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re that close to him?”
“Well, I am one of Prescott Global’s most senior executives here in London,” Rebecca replied.
“That’s the only reason you’re close to him?” Allyson asked. “You’re not part of the family or anything like that?”
Rebecca tilted her head. “I don’t follow.”
“Are you married to Nicholas Handel?” Dane asked through clenched teeth.
Rebecca’s eyes widened in surprise. “Good heavens! You think…” She squared her shoulders. “I’m married, but not to Mr. Handel. Mr. Handel isn’t even married.”
“That’s what you think,” he muttered, watching her closely. Despite her denial, he still didn’t trust Rebecca or anyone connected to Nicholas.
“So, you’re married, but not to Nicholas,” Allyson said. “Why wasn’t your husband at the party at Nicholas’ apartment? Why aren’t you wearing a ring?”
“Who says I’m not?” Rebecca asked. In exasperation she reached under the collar of her blouse and pulled out a necklace with a ring hanging from it. Dane exchanged a knowing glance with his wife, recognition in Allyson’s eyes. Rebecca wore her ring the same way Allyson had when they were first engaged.
“And if you must know,” Rebecca continued, “my husband is a surgeon doing charity work overseas. That’s why he wasn’t at the work party.” With a roll of her eyes she pulled a wallet from her handbag and handed it over to Allyson. “There are photos of Neville, and some of his business cards. Why don’t you have a look?”
Allyson bit her lip. “I don’t know—”
“I’ll look.” Dane took the wallet from Allyson and started to inspect the contents. He wasn’t a fool. Rebecca might just be pretending to be outraged, so he made sure to look through her wallet. It wasn’t exactly the best manners, but if Allyson could be saved by him being a jerk then he was willing to take the risk.
