Beneath the Truth

by Meghan March

  “Love you too, Mom.”

  I ended the call and watched Ari sleep.

  She was alive. I was alive. And that was all that mattered right now. Everything else could wait.

  66

  Ariel

  Mist blanketed the cemetery as the priest said the final prayer to lay Heath to rest. My heart broke as my father wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. He’d finally been seen by a specialist who determined that he wasn’t suffering from dementia due to early-onset Alzheimer’s, but due to a toxic cocktail of the drugs he’d been taking. It had been another blow to realize that only Heath had the ability to switch out the pills in one of his arthritis prescriptions to cause it.

  As my brother’s ashes were now being interred, we couldn’t ask him why, but had to assume that it was because my father must have asked too many questions and Heath had needed them to stop.

  As much as I wanted to assign a noble motive to what Heath had done, this was the final nail in that coffin. He couldn’t be exonerated, and I would have to live with that knowledge. But Rhett and I made a deal—we wouldn’t assume responsibility for actions that weren’t our own, and even though it was difficult to adhere to, I was trying.

  Rhett’s arm tightened around my shoulders as the priest said the final amen for the service.

  I’d held Esme as we both cried what seemed like a million tears for Erik. Nothing would ever be the same without him, and Esme had been apologetic when she handed me her resignation. She couldn’t be in the office without him. It hurt too much, and I didn’t blame her. I’d offered her the capital she needed to start her own company, no strings attached, and she was still considering my offer. We’d said good-bye to Jan the next day in a small service as well.

  Too many funerals in too short a time. Too much loss, heartache, and regret.

  It was time to start fresh. But how?

  Rhett pushed my father’s wheelchair beside me, and assisted him into the van that would take him back to the rehab center. He was scheduled to move home in a couple of weeks, but he’d surprised me by saying he’d rather check out a senior-living community because his house was too empty and quiet after the hustle and bustle of his current place.

  If my brother weren’t already laid to rest, I would kill him for what he did to Dad.

  Stop. Right there. We’re letting things go.

  It was easier said than done, obviously.

  Forgiveness was a process, or so I was told, and I was still working on it.

  * * *

  Two hours later, we were finally home again. It wasn’t technically “home” yet, though.

  “Who did you say owns the house?” Rhett asked when I got off the phone with the leasing agency.

  “Some guy named Lachlan Mount.” The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t remember why.

  Rhett spun around in the kitchen and stared at me. “You’re fucking kidding me right now.”

  I shook my head. “No. That’s what they said. They said he’d consider selling for the right price. They told me to make an offer.”

  “No. Not a chance. We’re packing our shit and leaving.” His tone was implacable.

  “Excuse me?”

  “This guy is fucking everywhere. Has his hands in everything. He’s Carver’s fucking boss. Owns the security agency you used, and at least half the city. We are not living in a house he’s probably still got wired with his own surveillance.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Then we rip it all out and start over. This is where I fell in love with the real Rhett Hennessy, and I want to stay.”

  Rhett froze. “What did you say?”

  “I want to stay.” I felt strongly about it, and I wasn’t going to let whoever owned this house run us off.

  “Before that. You said this is where you fell in love with me . . .”

  “Yeah, I did. So there. If you’ve got a problem with living here, then we have a problem.”

  His face softened. “You love me.”

  “You’re just figuring this out?”

  “You’ve never said it before.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but then I realized he was right. I hadn’t. To me, it was a given, something that went without saying. An irrefutable fact that was simply accepted as being true. It never occurred to me that I had to put it into words for him.

  “Neither have you.”

  “I thought it was obvious.”

  “Then I guess we’re even.”

  He closed the distance between us and pulled me against him. “I fucking love you, Ariel Sampson.”

  “I love you too.”

  A voice came from the entryway. “Then I suspect you should probably marry the girl before she changes her mind.”

  We both spun around. No alarms had sounded. The hinges hadn’t even squeaked, and yet somehow a man in a dark suit exuding power laced with menace stood there.

  “What the fuck are you doing here, Mount?”

  He barely gave me a lazy shrug before crossing the floor. “Came to give the place another look before I decide whether I want to let it go.”

  So, this was the guy.

  “You weren’t invited,” I said, pleased my voice was steady.

  The smile that twisted his lips fell into the category of ruthless. “I don’t require an invitation.”

  “It might be your house, but I’m the one with a valid lease, and therefore I say you do.”

  His eyes narrowed on me before shifting his attention to Hennessy. “Good luck with this one. You’re going to need it.” And then he turned and strode away.

  As soon as the door shut behind him, I spun to face Rhett.

  “You sure you want this house?” he asked.

  I gave him my most mulish expression. “I’m not going to let him scare us away.”

  “Then I guess we better make him an offer. He did have one good idea, though.” Rhett winked at me, and my heart stuttered in my chest.

  Is he talking about . . .

  Before I could finish that thought, Rhett’s fingers tangled into my hair and his lips met mine.

  Everything else fell away as I lost myself in his kiss.

  Whatever else happened, as long as I could end every day like this, I would be just fine.

  Epilogue

  Rhett

  “A couples baby shower. Really?”

  Ariel sounded like she couldn’t quite get the concept through her brain. Probably because in the few months since she’d permanently moved her company to New Orleans, she’d met the rest of the guys and their women. Like I’d hoped, Valentina, Elle, Vanessa, Charlie, Yve, Delilah, and Eden had taken her into their fold and become the girl crew Ariel had never had before.

  After everything that had gone down with Heath, she needed the support system. Ariel had hoped that Esme would move to New Orleans if for no other reason than to stay close, but she’d decided to stay in Vail and make her own mark.

  The one silver lining was that Skip Sampson had regained all his normal cognitive function, and Ari spent as much time with him as possible. It had surprised us both when he’d invited us to dinner to meet his girlfriend. After being a devout bachelor for Ari’s entire life, he’d met someone at the retirement community.

  Ari was thrilled.

  Every day, we all felt the hole Heath had left in our lives. The shock of betrayal hadn’t faded completely, and I doubted it ever would. Instead of drawing into her shell because of it, or taking refuge in that big brain of hers and shutting me out, Ari had leaned on me more, and being there to support her had helped us both.

  We’d never forget. I wasn’t sure I’d ever forgive Heath—or myself for not seeing the signs. No one walked away from that mess without dragging some of the blame with them, including Ari. We were working on it.

  But today wasn’t for regrets and recriminations. Today was for something completely different.

  I turned to look at Ari from where I sat in the driver’s seat of her fancy Fisker electric car. “You’ve been to a bab
y shower, right?”

  Her expression turned contemplative, and a couple of moments of silence followed. Considering. Processing. That’s how Ari worked.

  “I actually don’t think so.” Her chin jerked toward me. “Oh God, how terrible is that? Does that make me a freak? The company held baby showers for employees, but Erik and Esme always handled it . . .”

  When she trailed off, I reached over to grip her shoulder. Our losses stayed with us, no matter where we went.

  “You’re not a freak.” I squeezed harder so she’d look at me.

  “I’m not normal,” she countered.

  “And thank God for that, because I wouldn’t want you any other way than exactly how you are.”

  A quiet awww left her lips, and I rubbed my thumb across the engagement ring on her left hand.

  Ari was going to be my wife. In less than two months, we were heading to a beach on a tropical island to start fresh. Rome was picking the most secure place, and I didn’t want to know what criteria he was using. Sometimes, I had to just trust my younger brother.

  Mom was over the moon and kept asking when we were going to start a family. Neither Ari nor I were quite ready for another upheaval, so we’d agreed to wait a few years, unless life had other plans. I was hoping Rock would take one for the team and knock up some girl in Vail, but so far, that wasn’t the case.

  I turned down the driveway of the massive lake house that belonged to Con and Vanessa Leahy, which was lined with blue balloons. A Shelby Mustang turned down the driveway behind us, and I took pride in knowing we weren’t the last to arrive. I pulled the Fisker onto the edge of the cement, and we climbed out as Elle parked.

  “If you say one word about me running that light—” Elle’s voice came through the window as she pushed open the door.

  “I ain’t saying shit about shit, sweet thing. I’m smarter than that.”

  “It’s only because I wanted to make sure we weren’t late. That wouldn’t be fair to Valentina.”

  “We’re here, and I’m damn sure she wouldn’t hold it against you even if you were.”

  “Crap! The gift!”

  Lord reached into the backseat of the car and retrieved a blue bag with tissue. “Like I’d forget that.” With his other hand, he grabbed what looked like a fifth of whiskey, much like the one in my hand.

  “Great minds,” I said, raising the bottle in Lord’s direction.

  “Smart man,” he replied.

  “Come on. We gotta get inside. I promised I’d help set up, and I totally lost track of time. She’s going to kill me.”

  “I’m pretty sure she could stage a foreign invasion, so . . .”

  Elle shot Lord a look. “Don’t tell me my best friend doesn’t need me.”

  Wisely, he held back his answer, grabbed Elle’s hand, and followed Ari and me up to the house. We passed an Aston Martin, which meant the Titans were already there, and the BMW that Simon and Charlie Duchesne drove. Delilah and JP’s Vespas were parked next to Bishop’s woman’s ride, near the steps that led up to the raised lake house, which meant the entire crew was here.

  For a couples baby shower.

  Elle must have been thinking along the same lines because she giggled as we climbed the stairs. “I really hope Vanessa planned some ridiculous games. I would pay good money to have you guess what kind of baby food was in a diaper.”

  Ariel’s eyes widened. “Oh God, is that what happens at baby showers? I googled, but everything sounded too ridiculous to be true. How could anyone think it would be a good idea to cut a piece of string to guess how big around Valentina is? I mean, what if your string is a foot too big? How embarrassing.”

  I wrapped an arm around Ari, wondering what exactly she’d gotten as a gift that fit in the envelope she carried. She’d been in charge of it, and I hadn’t asked questions. Knowing her, there was probably information to access a bitcoin account with the equivalent of college tuition or startup capital inside.

  “It’s a couples shower, so that means no dumb games. I made Con swear it on his life,” Lord said, and I hoped his answer eased Ari’s anxiety.

  “It’s going to be all right, Red, I promise.”

  We reached the top step, and the door flew open before she could answer.

  “Good deal. Now we can get started,” Con said as he ushered us into the house. He looked like he’d stepped off the set of Vikings with the shaggy hair and beard he was growing.

  Across the wide-open space, Vanessa was pouring Valentina a glass of what I assumed was non-alcoholic champagne.

  “That better be the fake shit,” Rix said as he stepped up beside her.

  She shot him a look. “You have no room to talk. This kid isn’t playing soccer with your bladder.”

  Rix’s expression softened as he lowered himself to his knees and put a hand on either side of her belly. “Come on little rock star, take it easy on your mama. She looks so damn beautiful, waiting for you to make your appearance. But when you kick her organs, she gets this little frown, and we know you don’t want to make your mama frown.” He pressed a kiss to his wife’s belly, and Valentina’s eyes turned shiny.

  I clutched Ari tighter against my side. She knew the whole story about Rix and Valentina. “Things worked out exactly the way they were meant to,” I said, my voice low as I looked over at her.

  “I might be biased, but I have to agree.”

  There was no doubt in my mind.

  Vanessa spun toward the door, looking like she might cry over the scene happening in front of her. Her expression turned into a vibrant smile, warding off the tears.

  “You made it! All of you!” She pointed at Elle. “You’re lucky I hired a cleanup crew. Otherwise, I’d be sticking you with that job since you bailed on setup.”

  “It wasn’t my fault. I swear. Blame Lord and his—” Her words cut off as soon as she saw Charlie readjust the baby on her hip. “You brought her!”

  Elle rushed toward the baby girl Charlie held with Simon beaming down at her. I could swear the guy had been wearing that same expression for months. Ari had missed that baby shower, but I had a feeling, from the slight bump Eden was sporting, that Ari would get more chances soon. There was clearly something in the water.

  I scanned the room, taking in the people who’d all come into my life because of the badge I’d given up. They’d all become as close to me as family. Sometimes life worked out the way it was meant to.

  “Just to give you fair warning, I need to steal your genius fiancée for a few minutes before this is over. I have a problem that I think she’d enjoy helping to solve.”

  The voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked over at Lucas Titan.

  “Steal?”

  “Borrow,” he said, correcting himself with a smile.

  The billionaire wasn’t as big of a prick as I’d originally thought. Even though I wasn’t as close to him as I was to Lord, Con, and Rix, I wouldn’t hesitate to call him if shit went down again—which it wouldn’t, I hoped. Rome had promised to take care of any blowback from Carlos’s death, and he’d given us the all clear a few weeks ago.

  Regardless, I kept an eye out, and I felt better that Ariel and I spent most days locked down in her lake fortress, working. I was already at max capacity for missing-persons investigations, and had a waiting list. Word spread quickly that I was the guy to call, and I had a certain Vietnam POW to thank for it.

  “Borrow is better.” I looked at Ari. “If she’s game.”

  She was practically salivating at the chance. “You’re joking, right? Lucas Titan needs an extra brain to solve something? I’m in. But I don’t work cheap. There better be crawfish involved.”

  “I’m sure we can make that happen.”

  Yve returned to his side, coming from Vanessa’s direction with two champagne flutes. “I got the good stuff. None of that fake sparkling-cider crap.”

  Titan turned an indulgent look on her. “You just say the word when you’re ready to change that, love, and we’ll
get to work.”

  Yve rolled her eyes. “Get to work? I’m sure you’d just have to snap your fingers to impregnate me. He wills it, it shall be done.” She clinked the champagne glasses together for emphasis.

  “Mmm, I think I’d rather enjoy the work part more.”

  Yve handed off the extra champagne flute to Ari instead of Titan. “Don’t listen to him. We’re too busy conquering the world to have babies yet. I figured you two would understand that better than anyone else here.”

  When I laid a hand on Ari’s hip, she nodded. “Someday. But not too long. I want three, so it’s going to take a little while.”

  My head jerked to the side. “Three?”

  Her smile widened. “I was going to say four because there were four of you growing up, but I think that’s a touch excessive.”

  “Two. That’s plenty.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Then we’ll agree to disagree.”

  “Hmm, sounds like y’all are gonna have fun with that,” Yve said. “God knows Titan will probably knock me up with triplets because of his super-sperm.”

  Titan chuckled, and I decided to stay silent on that subject.

  “Sorry to barge in,” Delilah said, “but I’ve got the good champagne and JP has the fake shit. Whoever has a bun in the oven that hasn’t spilled about it is about to be outed because Vanessa insists on a toast.”

  When Titan and I both reached for the real champagne, Delilah rolled her eyes. “As if I thought there was a question there.”

  “You’ve all met my home girl, Honor, haven’t you?” Elle asked as she joined the group, carrying Charlie and Simon’s baby.

  We all nodded as Elle ran down the list of reasons Honor was the coolest baby ever, and why Rix and Valentina and Eden and Bishop had their work cut out for them if they wanted to have a cooler kid.

  I couldn’t get over her name and the innocent aqua eyes staring back at me.

  Honor. I’d thought that was the only thing that mattered for so long, but I’d been wrong. It was people who mattered. Principles were cold company if you had no one in your life to share the good times and the bad times with.