When he raised his head, he gave her the brightest, most beautiful smile he’d ever given her. “I’ll see you Friday.”
Her heart so full she felt it might burst, she nodded and walked out the door as if she were walking on clouds. The battle to gain justice for Thomas was still on, but at last, she had won the war over Nick’s heart.
Chapter Thirty-nine
The minute Grey walked into his penthouse, he knew she was gone. There was a feeling of emptiness about the place, and though he’d been in his home many times without Irelyn there, this time was different.
Last night, he had undressed her and helped her put on a nightgown. She had been silent, her face blank. He knew she had still been in shock. He had offered her a cup of tea, laced with a mild sedative. She had shaken her head when he’d put the cup to her lips, and he had set the drink aside, allowing the small defiance. After carrying her to bed and covering her with a light blanket, he had stayed to watch her sleep. In his gut, he had known it might be the last time.
Refusing to put off the inevitable, he went directly to her bedroom and shoved open the door. Irelyn’s delicate scent, jasmine with a hint of spice, lingered in the room. A fragrance he’d had developed especially for her. Though everything still looked the same, including the glass cabinet in the corner filled with porcelain clowns she had collected on their travels, the atmosphere was cold and barren. Without Irelyn’s dynamic personality, the room was a beautiful, empty shell.
Even though he already knew the answer, he crossed over to the walk-in closet. The instant he opened the doors, his suspicions were confirmed. Suits, dresses, jackets, slacks, and evening wear, color coordinated and neatly hung, filled the spacious area. One entire wall was devoted to her love of shoes. Irelyn was a clotheshorse…looked phenomenal in anything. With her generous salary, she had been able to purchase whatever she wanted. And while the full closet should have reassured him, he was immediately aware of one telling exception.
The cubbyhole where she kept her “go bag” was empty. When she had created the space years ago, he had been amused. She had done it to taunt him with the knowledge that she could leave anytime she liked. They had moved around the world, and wherever they ended up, she had found a prominent place to store the reminder of her independence. Years had passed before he had realized she did this not only to taunt him, but as a reminder to herself that she wasn’t a prisoner. That it was her choice to stay and not because he wouldn’t let her go.
Grey turned away from the evidence of her defection. A familiar, unwanted ache of abandonment threatened, but he pushed the feeling away with a lifetime of discipline. He searched for the fury and rage he’d expected to feel and knew it was no longer there. It had been years since he’d felt those things for her. The job Irelyn performed last night had been her last payment to him. A stupid, insane part of him had hoped she would stay for other reasons.
Pushing aside all emotions, he pulled his cellphone out and pressed a key. The sooner he had her things removed, the better. As he’d learned a lifetime ago—one went on, no matter what.
Nick eyed Justice as he walked into the living room of the penthouse. Eli would be along shortly. Before he arrived, some things needed to be cleared up.
Nothing showed in the other man’s face, but there was something different about him. Pinpointing it would have been a useless endeavor. Justice would go only so far in his trust of others. Nick could identify with that personality trait. What concerned him right now was just how far this man would go with another issue.
“You want to tell me what happened to Irelyn’s informant?”
Not a flicker of guilt or secrecy showed in the other man’s eyes. “I believe I mentioned he died of heart failure. Many do…even soulless, merciless killers.”
“Damn convenient.”
“Not for him, it wasn’t. I’m sure he was quite put out.”
“Cut the bullshit, Justice. Did you have anything to do with his death?”
“Are you asking as an officer of the law or as a member of the Justice Group?”
“You know full well I’m no longer a cop.”
“But you’re not a member of my team?”
Instead of answering, Nick said, “You told me once that your group didn’t murder to achieve justice. Has that changed?”
“Despite what you may think, what happened to Irelyn’s contact has nothing to do with you.”
“He was responsible for Thomas’s death, wasn’t he?”
“He was guilty of many other things unconnected to Thomas O’Connell’s death.”
“So you did kill him? Or have him killed?”
“I don’t intend to answer the question, Gallagher, no matter how many times you ask. If you’re a member of my team, certain information is on a need-to-know basis. If you’re not a member, then the matter is definitely none of your business.”
Nick knew he had a choice to make. Justice could cover this up as well as the Slaters could conceal their own sins. And how many lives had been saved by ending this bastard’s life?
“Let’s get one thing clear. If I become a permanent member of the team, getting involved in vigilante justice is out for me. I’ll do what I have to do to help others, but I draw the line at murder.”
“Contrary to what you apparently believe, so do I. As I said, this man’s death had nothing to do with you or the O’Connell case.”
Eli came through the door, and Nick let the matter drop. As a cop, he’d been walking a fine line since he had become acquainted with Justice. But he was no longer a cop, and the man who’d arranged Thomas’s death was gone. Try as he might, he couldn’t work up an ounce of outrage that a sleazy contract killer had gotten what was coming to him.
“So what’s this new information?” Eli asked.
As Nick explained what Kennedy had uncovered on her unauthorized search, Eli’s eyes lit up like he’d been given an early Christmas present. “I’ve been in that house a thousand times and not once knew about a secure room.”
Justice looked almost as pleased as Eli. If Kennedy had been here, she’d have been patting herself on the back, making him doubly glad she wasn’t. The last thing she needed to see was their approval.
“With nothing incriminating in either his work or home office, makes sense that this is where he’s keeping his private files,” Nick said. “Question is, how are we going to get inside?”
“How about Irelyn?” Eli asked. “She was able to bypass security and search his office at work. Think she can do the same at his house?” He glanced over at Nick. “I know you can pick locks and break into his house but Irelyn’s got the kind of skills to break into Fort Knox.”
“Irelyn is no longer on this operation. She has chosen to terminate her employment.”
“Damn, I hate like hell to hear that,” Eli said.
By not even the slightest flicker did Justice indicate that Irelyn Raine leaving his employment disturbed him. His very lack of emotion or regret told Nick that it bothered the man a hell of a lot.
“We’ll find a way in,” Justice said. “We’ll meet with Kennedy on Friday. In the meantime, work on some scenarios you think might work.”
Nick stood. “The sooner we can get inside and obtain whatever information Adam has, the sooner Kennedy can get away from him.” Before walking out the door, he glanced back at Justice. “And if that job offer is still open, I’ll take it.
Chapter Forty
The days passed in an agonizingly slow pace for Kennedy. Even though Adam kept her busy with his daily schedule, sometimes they seemed to be running around in circles. Luncheons, cocktail parties, impromptu business meetings. Thankfully, she didn’t have to attend most of them, but keeping up with his schedule was a challenge. When she’d worked for Eli, he had spent most of his time in his office. When he did go out, his destinations revolved around business. There had been little socializing.
She was beginning to see the many differences between the two brothers and found her
self continually surprised that they were even related. Working with Eli had been interesting because she’d had the opportunity to observe the various aspects of running a large company. She had liked Eli’s business style—tough but fair, with a sense of humor thrown in.
Adam was supposed to be in charge of several different interests for Slater Enterprises, but she’d seen little of his business skills. From the few reports she’d been permitted to see, others managed those interests. Which begged the question: Just what the hell did Adam Slater do?
Eli had said that Adam was the weakest link, and she could definitely see his reasoning. The prestige and power behind the Slater name were there, but without intelligence to back them up, the man was an empty suit.
Living in the same house with him hadn’t created the headache she’d feared. Other than riding to work with him in the mornings and returning home with him in the evenings, she saw little of him outside the office. Was his absence a concession to his wife? Or, now that he had achieved his goal of stealing her from Eli, had his interest waned? Either way, Kennedy was grateful. Unless he was ready to reveal secrets that would help achieve her goals, she was quite happy to stay off his radar.
The puzzle of how to get inside the secure room continued to hound her. On Friday, she would meet with Nick, Grey and Eli, and she imagined this would be their main topic of discussion. Her goal was to arrive at that meeting with a plan.
She was overcompensating but couldn’t stop herself. Even though she had discovered a major piece of information, Kennedy recognized that she had been foolish. If she had been caught in her search, even with the lame excuse of looking for her earring, there might have been suspicion. Adam might not be the brightest star in the sky, but he had good instincts when it came to self-preservation. If he had been suspicious of her at all, everything could have fallen apart. Nick’s anger had been justified.
Nick. How she wished she could have spent more time with him. His confession that he’d talked with Thomas had stunned her and his declaration of love was more than she could ever have hoped to hear from him.
“Rachel, is something wrong with your hearing?”
She jerked to attention. Adam was standing in front of her desk, the glare in his eyes an indication that he’d been there awhile.
“Sorry, I was concentrating on something and didn’t hear you come in.”
“You were staring out the window. Should I get you an office without one?”
Only by reminding herself that she needed to stay on his good side was she able to refrain from telling him exactly where he could stuff the damn window. Instead, using the same attitude she’d had since meeting him, she raised a cool, arrogant brow and remained silent.
His breath puffed out, telling her he’d had onions in his breakfast this morning. “Sorry. I’m just put out about a few things. My lunch with Maxwell Greene got canceled.”
She opened her day calendar. “What day did you reschedule?”
“I didn’t.”
That explained the sour mood. For the past few days, she’d seen a marked agitation in Adam and had a feeling the lack of support and funding on some new projects were the reasons. The amount of information he allowed her to know was limited. He didn’t quite trust her yet, which was another reason her middle-of-the-night search had been foolish.
Hoping the suggestion she was about to make wouldn’t come back and bite her in the ass, she casually said, “When I was working with Eli, I became acquainted with Grey Justice. Have you considered approaching him as an investor?”
His eye gleamed with interest. “How close did you two get?”
For a man who didn’t seem all that interested in sex, Adam had a surprising one-track mind when it came to relationships between men and women. “Not that close,” she drawled. “I did hear him mention to Eli that he was looking to expand his portfolio beyond his current investments. Perhaps your ideas would be of interest to him.”
“That’s an excellent idea. Give the man a call. I’ve tried to approach him in the past, but he never seemed interested.”
“I’ll be glad to.”
When he continued to stand there, she realized he wanted her to make the call in front of him. Hoping that Grey would back her up, she checked her cellphone for contact information and placed the call.
Adam mouthed, “Put it on speaker.”
Less than a minute after she’d identified herself and asked to speak with Grey, he came on the line. “Hello, Ms. Walker,” Grey said warmly. “What can I do for you?”
Relieved he had accepted the call, Kennedy said, “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Justice. I’m now working for Adam Slater, and he has some interesting investment opportunities coming up. When I was working for Eli, I heard you mention that you wanted to expand your investment portfolio and thought you might be interested in some of Adam’s projects.”
“What an intriguing idea. I’ll give Adam a call. Thanks for thinking of me, Rachel.”
“My pleasure, Mr. Justice.”
“Good day.”
Kennedy released a silent, relieved breath and looked up at Adam. He was beaming at her as if she’d just split the atom. “I knew hiring you was a good decision. Sometimes my daddy doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.”
Meaning Mathias hadn’t wanted Adam to hire her. Why? Was it because she had worked for Eli, who made no secret that he despised his father and brother, or was there another reason?
“Glad I could be of some help to you. I—” She halted when her intercom buzzer sounded and Adam’s secretary said, “Rachel, would you tell Adam that I have Grey Justice on the phone for him?”
His eyes wide with wonder at how fast Grey had called him, Adam flew out of her office. Smiling her satisfaction, she leaned back in her chair. Even though it might cost him some upfront money, she hoped that Grey would go along with at least one of Adam’s ideas. She needed to gain Adam’s trust. Bringing him an investor of Grey Justice’s ilk would go a long way to helping her achieve that trust.
She’d barely had that thought when Adam burst through the door, excitement dancing in his eyes. “He’s interested! I pitched an idea to him, and he wants to meet.”
She had no doubt that if she had been standing, the man would have hugged her. “That’s wonderful, Adam.”
“This has got to work out. If it does…if he’ll give me what I need, I’ll be able to get out from under the slime I’m dealing with now.”
Afraid to appear too interested in who and what he meant by slime, Kennedy said, “With a man like Grey Justice behind you, other well-known, strong investors will be interested, too.”
“Exactly. I’ll be able to go completely legit.”
Before she could even consider coming up with an appropriate response, Adam dashed toward the door again. “I’m gonna call Daddy and tell him who I’m having lunch with. He’ll shit his pants for sure.” He turned back before going out the door. “Grey wanted to make sure you came with me. I’ll get Barbara to make reservations. Be ready at noon. Oh, and I realized I forgot to tell you why I came in here before. There’s a fundraiser for some charity next Tuesday night at the civic center. DeAnne can’t attend, so I’ll need you. Be ready at six. We’ll have cocktails before.”
Feeling as though she’d made major inroads in gaining Adam’s trust, she turned her mind to her other dilemma—how to get inside his secure room and find something that would nail the son of a bitch for good.
The solution to getting inside the secure room came from the one person she never thought would be remotely helpful—Adam’s wife. Thursday morning, Adam left for an early breakfast meeting, leaving Kennedy to ride into the office alone. She had just stepped into the giant marble foyer when a shaky but determined female voice stopped her. “I suppose you think you’re something special to him.”
Turning, she faced DeAnne Slater. Since moving in, this was the closest she’d been to Adam’s wife. She’d gotten occasional glimpses of her going from room to r
oom like a sad, ghostly apparition. Standing slim and erect, makeup and hair perfect, shoulders so stiff they looked close to breaking, the woman held herself with a proud but fragile dignity.
Kennedy shook her head, easily recognizing the other woman’s jealousy and hurt. “I’m nothing to him but an executive assistant…an employee. That’s all.”
DeAnne mouth twisted in a bitter smile. “That’s what they all say at first, but they’re lying, just like you are. He won’t leave me for you.” Her mouth twisted even tighter as she added, “He needs my money too much.”
“I assure you, Mrs. Slater. I am not interested in your husband beyond my duties as an assistant.”
As if she hadn’t heard her, DeAnne nodded to something behind Kennedy. “He’ll replace you as easily as I replace those flowers. Every three days a florist brings in new flowers and throws the old ones away. That’s what will happen to you…he’ll throw you away, too.”
Knowing she wouldn’t convince the woman, Kennedy murmured a soft, “You’re worrying for nothing, Mrs. Slater,” and walked out the door.
As she slid into the backseat of the limo, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the woman. Her husband was a slimeball, but it was obvious that she loved him.
She was in the elevator, headed up to her office, when the solution struck her. Could it be done? If there was anyone who had the ability to arrange such a thing, it was Grey Justice.
Friday morning, Kennedy arrived for her meeting at the spa, confident she had the perfect plan. She had thought of little else the last twenty-four hours and was certain this was the easiest and quickest way inside.
Nick had greeted her with a hug and a quick kiss, bringing color to her cheeks. This was the first public display of affection he’d ever given her. Not that this was exactly public. They were meeting in a small, private room at the back of the spa with only Nick, herself and Grey in attendance. Eli hadn’t been able to get away.
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