ShatteredTrust_w5401

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  Her vehemence drew the curious glances of people near the entrance. He lowered his voice and said, “It needs to be investigated. If it was his fault...”

  “He’s your brother, too.”

  “What would you have me do, just let it go?”

  When she didn’t reply, he figured that’s exactly what she wanted him to do—until he saw her face. The misery in her expression convinced him that while she didn’t want Nate to get in trouble for what he’d done, the integrity she’d spoken of wasn’t so sure that would be right, either.

  He was torn. So many emotions churned just below the surface that he didn’t know which way to turn, or which one to deal with first. Grief for the loss of his granddad and the desire for justice warred directly with anger for the lost years he should’ve had with his half-brother and his sympathy for Marley’s distress.

  Yet a sharp sense of betrayal lingered. She’d known about his granddad and not said a word. It didn’t matter that he knew why she’d done it. Or that on some level he understood her motivation. Most likely he would’ve done the same thing in her shoes. So why did it still hurt?

  “It’s not my decision alone to make,” he finally stated, pivoting as he pulled keys from his pocket.

  “That’s my truck. Where do you think you’re going?”

  He glanced back to where she stood near the tailgate, hands on her hips, a challenging glint in her eye. She’d known and hadn’t told him.

  “Wherever I damn well please. Come along or don’t. Right about now, I really don’t care.”

  Justin climbed into the driver’s seat. He’d started the engine and shifted into reverse before the passenger side opened, forcing him to apply the brake. She slammed the door and put on her seatbelt, but didn’t say a word as he drove to the offices of Hunter Construction.

  Once there, some perverse urge had him pocketing the keys again. He felt her glare as she followed him up to the third floor.

  “Jordan in his office?” he asked Bonnie without pausing his stride.

  “Yes,” he heard her say to his back. “Morning, Marley,” she added in a curious tone.

  Marley replied, but her footsteps dogged his all the way. Justin didn’t bother to knock and left the door for her to close as he met Jordan’s surprised, then relieved, then tense gaze. Justin didn’t flinch when the door slammed behind him, but his brother did.

  “What’s she doing here?” Jordan’s tone was the exact opposite from last week when he’d been alarmed that she’d quit.

  “He stole my truck,” Marley stated.

  Jordan frowned. Justin lifted a shoulder. Technically, he couldn’t argue that. “Let’s see the note.”

  Jordan opened a drawer to his right, took out a piece of paper and stood to hand it to him. As Justin read it, Jordan walked over to a side cupboard. “Want one?”

  “One what?” Justin asked as he studied the note. He looked up to see Jordan holding out a glass, half filled with amber-colored liquid.

  “What the hell is that?” he asked. Then he glanced at his watch. “Crissakes, Jordan, it’s not even ten o’clock.”

  Jordan downed the drink in one gulp, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He poured another one and lifted it while pointing his index finger at Justin. “You have no idea what this could do to us all—to the family—to the company.”

  “There’s no sense getting drunk over it. Nothing’s going to happen.” He cast a glance toward where Marley had plunked down in a chair with her arms crossed. Why hadn’t he just given her the damn keys?

  “If this gets out, the bad publicity will destroy us,” Jordan continued. “We’ll lose the Jenkins project, the company will go bankrupt for sure, and we’ll lose everything.”

  He downed his second shot and Justin felt a prick of alarm. He’d never seen his brother like this before. “In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter, Jordan.”

  “To you,” Jordan accused. “You still have your job back in Toronto. I actually quit mine, remember?”

  When Jordan would’ve poured a third drink, Justin stood and grabbed the whiskey decanter from his hand. “Enough. There’s a lot we have to figure out and you being drunk won’t help anything.”

  Jordan braced both hands against the counter. He hung his head. “I’m fine.”

  “Good, because there’s one thing we need to get cleared up right now. Where were you last night?”

  Justin felt Marley’s gaze as Jordan straightened. “I went home.”

  “I mean before the hospital,” Justin clarified.

  “I was at Club 9. You know that—you called me there.”

  “I would assume you can get witnesses to confirm that?”

  Marley shifted in her seat. “Justin—”

  He silenced her with an upraised hand. She and Nate had made the accusation, she would listen to this.

  “What the hell is this about?” Jordan glanced at Marley.

  “Our brother Nate is under the impression that one of us pushed him last night,” Justin explained.

  Jordan’s expression hardened. “Are you asking if I did it?”

  “Give me some fricken credit, man,” Justin said. “It’s for her.”

  Jordan directed his gaze back to Marley, and Justin watched her meet his brother’s look without flinching. She never backed down or made excuses, he’d give her that. But then he found himself making them for her.

  “She doesn’t know you like I do. She thinks you don’t like Nate.”

  “I don’t,” Jordan stated. “He’s going to screw up all our lives.”

  “Jordan—”

  Marley surged to her feet, surprising Jordan by getting right up in his face. “Don’t go blaming Nate for this. It’s not his fault your father screwed around.”

  “And your mother’s a saint?” Jordan snapped.

  “My mother’s dead, so I can’t really answer that, now can I? Maybe we should ask your dad. The stand-up guy who kept his son a secret all these years and then when the truth came out, gave him money to keep his mouth shut.”

  The two of them stared at each other for a long, tense moment; Marley’s jaw set hard, Jordan’s hands clenched tight at his sides. Jordan looked away first.

  “What do we do about this Berndt guy?” he asked Justin.

  Justin looked at the note again. “Let’s set up a meeting—”

  “You’re going to pay the blackmail?” Marley exclaimed with surprise.

  “Hell no.” He glanced at her, then at Jordan. “I want to see what proof he has.”

  Jordan nodded. “I’ll find his number and set it up for later today.”

  “Make it tomorrow. Let him sweat it out a little.”

  Jordan shot him a look. “I have a feeling I’m the only one sweating anything right now.”

  “It’ll be fine.” Funny how, only a few weeks ago, Jordan had told him to lighten up, that everything would work out.

  “I’ve got a meeting on the other side of town, but I need to get my Jeep first. You okay to drive me back to the apartment?” Jordan nodded, so Justin took Marley’s keys out of his pocket and tossed them to her.

  She caught them with one hand. “You mean I’m free to go now?”

  “So it would appear.”

  She hesitated, eyeing the bottle of booze on the counter. “I can give you a ride.”

  Jordan bristled. “I’m fine.”

  She ignored him and said to Justin, “It’s not like I have to rush back to work or anything.”

  After a final glance at Jordan, Justin lifted a shoulder. “Let’s go, then, I’ve got a lot to do today.”

  He strode to the door but stood aside for her to precede him. Jordan grabbed the door from Justin’s hand. “I’m not drunk, you know.”

  “I didn’t say you were. It’s no—”

  He stopped mid-sentence when he saw his father’s office door open and his mother stepped out. He and Jordan exchanged glances as she walked toward them, followed by Dale. Justin saw his
mother glance at Marley and do a double take. Her eyes narrowed as she approached them by Jordan’s office. Her chin jutted out, and she turned her sharp hazel gaze toward him and Jordan.

  “Mom, what a surprise,” Jordan spoke first.

  “Good morning boys,” she said in her best I’m-in-public-with-people-watching voice. She stopped in front of them, her head tilted ever so slightly. Jordan stepped up and dutifully kissed the nearest cheek, drawing a twisted smile from Justin. Then she turned her gaze toward him and waited.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Slumming today, Mom?”

  Marley’s brows rose before she could help it. Justin’s mother’s smile didn’t fade, but her laugh contained a brittle edge. Marley fidgeted, uncomfortable witnessing Justin’s open hostility toward the woman.

  Then she turned her piercing gaze on Marley. Marley stiffened and drew herself up to her full height. She decided about the only thing the twins had gotten from their mother were their eyes; the rest came from Dale.

  Mrs. Blake might have been pretty at one time, but now a bitter veneer sharpened the angles of her face in a most unattractive way.

  “I apologize for my son’s rudeness,” the woman said, her cultured tone a stark contrast to the flinty gleam in her eyes. “I’m Diana Blake.”

  Despite the uneasiness working its way through her, politeness dictated Marley accept the woman’s outstretched hand. “Marley Wade.” She pulled free as soon as she could.

  “Wade…why does that name sound familiar?” Diana paused as if trying to recall, but Marley had the distinct impression it was all an act. “Oh, yes. You look just like your mother. She was very beautiful.”

  Her pulse jerked. Justin’s mother had known hers, too? Did she know about the affair between her husband and Annette Wade? Did she know about Nate? Marley cast a quick glance at Dale, but he avoided her gaze. Jordan just glared at her. Justin watched his mother, who gave nothing else away.

  “So I’ve been told,” Marley replied. A defensive note had crept into her voice and she discovered she wanted nothing more than to get out of there. Normally, she didn’t run from confrontations, but this woman chilled her clear through.

  Justin stepped forward. “We were just on our way out.”

  It felt like a rescue when he placed his hand against the small of Marley’s back and guided her past his parents. Diana’s sharp gaze pierced her back like a knife. Marley shivered. Something told her Diana knew everything.

  “Sorry,” Justin said as they rode the elevator down. “I shouldn’t have provoked her.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. In fact, I should thank you for not saying anything about Nate and your grandfather.”

  He waited for her to exit first. “Didn’t seem a good idea to add more to Jordan’s plate right now, but I still have to tell him at some point.”

  She nodded her understanding, because, truly, she did. As they crossed the parking lot, she handed her truck keys back to him. “You know where you’re going.”

  “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

  “I’ll probably go back to see Nate for awhile. Tell him about Jordan,” she added in an apologetic tone. “Maybe see if he remembers anything else.”

  He nodded. “I’ll be done around six. You want me to pick up dinner on my way over?” He was obviously extending his own olive branch.

  “Who says you’re coming over?” She wanted to remain angry for the things he’d accused her of earlier, but didn’t quite pull it off.

  “Marley, until we know who and why, you’re not staying alone.”

  The firm statement would’ve raised her hackles if the entire morning hadn’t been just strange enough that him spending the night again sounded reassuring.

  “Don’t worry about dinner,” she relented. “I’ll cook.”

  His expression softened, too. “I’ll bring dessert.”

  She wanted him for dessert. Could she tell him to just bring himself?

  ****

  Marley jerked awake, her hand closing around the grip of her Glock.

  “Easy, Jessie.”

  At the sound of Justin’s voice from behind the couch, she rolled onto her back and blinked up at him with confusion. “Jessie?”

  “As in James?” he said dryly. “I figured you had your gun somewhere—ah, there it is. Would’ve been smarter to lock the damn door.”

  She sat up with a yawn and placed the weapon on the coffee table so she could rub her dry, aching eyes. “I wasn’t planning to fall asleep.”

  “Marley, that’s something you have to start remembering to do the moment you come in.”

  “I was working on the porch earlier—going in and out—it didn’t make sense to lock it right away.”

  A glance at her watch made her eyes widen. Almost seven! Her couple minute rest break had turned into a two-hour snooze. She stood, stretching her arms high above her head as she turned around. Cool air whispered across her stomach where her shirt hiked up.

  Justin stood midway between the living room and the kitchen, a bag in each hand, staring at her. The warmth in his gaze chased away the chill. When their eyes met, there was no mistaking the desire that reached across the room to stroke her pulse. She lowered her arms, made herself breathe, and walked toward him.

  “What’s that?” She indicated his purchases.

  He held up one bag, then the other. “Dessert. Wine.”

  Caught in the heat of the moment, she raised an eyebrow and lowered her tone. “You wouldn’t be planning to liquor me up so you can take advantage of me, would you?”

  A slow smile spread across his face as she approached. “Would it work?”

  Her stomach flipped in anticipation. She shrugged a shoulder and pretended indifference on her way by. “Maybe.”

  She heard the clink of wine bottles and bags dropping to the floor. When he caught her from behind and whirled her around, she couldn’t contain a startled laugh. His mouth wasted no time finding hers as he pulled her against him.

  Moments later, he started down the hall toward her bedroom without breaking the hungry kiss.

  They were forgetting something…weren’t they? She drew in a much needed lungful of air and distantly recognized the smell of her simmering spaghetti sauce. Oh, yeah. “Umm…dinner—”

  “Can wait,” he said against her lips.

  It probably could, but should she be this…easy? His mouth left hers and when he focused his attention on her neck, her knees went weak. Good thing his arms supported her. With her senses reeling, she felt obligated to try again. “The wine—”

  “Don’t need it.” He nipped the sensitive skin just below her ear, and then kissed away the non-existent pain. “Do you?”

  She shook her head, overwhelmed by how much she wanted him right now. He reclaimed her mouth while kicking her bedroom door open wider. She smiled against his lips as the door banged into the wall, but before he could walk her through, a heavy knock sounded at the front door of the house.

  They both stilled. Justin groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He leaned his forehead against hers and drew in a deep breath. She began to pull away to answer the door, but he caught her arm. “I’ll get it.”

  Marley straightened her shirt as she followed him into the living room. Justin looked out the window first, then stalked over to swing open the door. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Chapter 20

  Jordan brushed past without any invitation to enter. After only a glance in Marley’s direction, he turned back to face Justin. “Dad paid.”

  Still annoyed at having been interrupted, Justin frowned in confusion. “What?”

  “He paid the blackmail.”

  Justin narrowed his gaze on his brother. “Why’d you tell him? I thought we hadn’t completely agreed—”

  “I didn’t say a word. Apparently, Berndt covered his bases and we all got a copy of the note. Yours was in the mail on your desk,” he added.

  Justin turned away
, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t get it. Why would he pay the money? I sure wish I knew what the hell was going on around here.”

  “Maybe he knows something,” Marley said from where she stood near the couch.

  Justin swung around to face her, ready to deny it. She met his look without apology. Then she tucked the gun from the coffee table into the back waistband of her jeans, and moved forward to pick up the grocery bags he’d dropped earlier.

  Jordan shifted uneasily beside him. “I wondered the same thing.”

  Justin looked back at his brother, feeling like he might get whiplash. “Do you really think Granddad did something—that he could’ve killed someone?”

  Jordan sighed as he lifted his hands, palms up. “Why else would Dad pay?”

  Justin had no idea. He didn’t want to believe his grandfather could have actually murdered someone. Or that his father would help cover it up. But considering the fact that his father had ignored Nate all these years, and taken money from Karl Hunter for doing so, it wasn’t such a stretch of the imagination. Maybe the money he’d paid Nate to stay out of their lives was also part of this mystery.

  He watched Marley in the kitchen, unpacking the cheesecake assortment he’d brought and three bottles of wine; red and white since he didn’t know what she’d planned for dinner, and a dessert wine for after. So much for a simple, distracting evening of getting to know her better.

  He directed his attention back to Jordan. “How did you find out about this?”

  “When I called to set up the meeting, Berndt said he met with Dad this afternoon. Thought it was funny that I wanted proof against Granddad after ‘we’ already paid.”

  Justin shook his head. “You watch—this isn’t the last we’ve heard from him. He’ll be back as soon as the money’s gone.”

  “What else could we do?” Jordan demanded. “You know as well as I do that the moment we go to the police, the story will hit the news. If it comes out that the founder of Hunter Construction was a murderer, we’ll lose it all. People don’t want to do business with relatives of murderers any more than the murderer himself.”