I went to sit up, knowing I needed to get out of here. I could already feel this mistake hangover coming. But he tugged me closer, pulling me into him as his lips moved to my shoulder and then worked up to my neck.
“We are not even close to finished,” he said, pulling me under him and moving his mouth over mine, stealing all my will to deny him.
* * *
Kade
Leah was sleepingas I dressed quietly and slipped out of the room. I couldn’t chance her waking up and hearing the call I needed to make.
I left a note on the counter that I had to run into town to meet with a feed supplier and would grab some donuts on my way back.
I walked past the commotion of workmen breaking down the last of the wedding trappings and hopped in my truck. I called as soon as I hit the drive.
John answered on the second ring.
“It’s the stepfather,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s how it’s looking to me too.”
“No,it’s the stepfather.” I was gripping the wheel of the truck so hard that I was afraid I’d rip it from the console.
“Well, not surprising. He might not have a criminal history or be on any police radar, but my sources have him knee deep in art robbery for decades. Word on the street is she’s taking the fall for him. No one has any connection to her at all. As far as my sources say, she’s as clean as the morning rain.” There was the sound of papers being moved around. “And my sources? They’re rock solid. If she were involved in this in any way other than as a patsy, one of them would know.”
I’d never experienced a rage like this in my life, one so hot and blaring that I didn’t know how blood wasn’t shooting out of my ears. “I want you to get me proof. I want her name cleared and I want the dirt on him.”
“I could try, but it’ll be hard. My contacts won’t hand anything over easily. Ratting ruins their reputations. They’d basically be retiring from the business in dishonor.”
He spoke to me as if it were going to be just short of impossible. Well, he was going to make it happen, or I’d hire another fifty just like him until I found the one that got it done. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t get her name cleared.
“I’ll pay enough that they’ll be happy to retire.”
“There’s expensive, and then there’s buying something like this.”
“Do it,” I said.
“I hope you realize the kind of money we’re talking. You’re going to have to really pay up.”
“I thought you did your homework? My brother is in tech. They call him the Bitcoin King, and guess who decided it was a good idea to get in on the ground floor with him? Me. Now stop telling me how much it’s going to cost and take care of it.”
“If that’s the case, I’m on it.Gladly.”
I pulled the truck over into the bakery parking lot, not wanting to go back empty-handed.
But I couldn’t move for a minute as everything that had happened ran over again in my head.
Alec had been right, and the worst part of it was that I’d known it. I’dknown. I just hadn’t wanted to accept it. It was easier to blame her. And the pile of things I’d laid at her doorstep was so high that it was hard to even get to that door anymore. I’d wanted to blame her for my loan falling through, and my gut had said I was wrong about that too.
Edwin was lucky the wedding was over and I wouldn’t be seeing him for a long while. Otherwise, I might drive until I found Edwin, beat him senseless, and leave him in the gutter like the rat he was.
The worst part of it all was last night, when Edwin was talking and she’d looked at the ground, as if I’d turn on her. The sorrow I’d seen on her face made it feel like a sword had pierced my heart. It was still ripping me apart inside.
After a few minutes, I had enough composure to leave the truck without killing anyone.
Chapter39
Leah
The sheets smelled like him,making it hard to get out of bed, but I did. There was too much to do to not get up, even if I did want to stay in bed, surrounded by his scent. It was the heart of his home. The furniture in this room was dark wood with simple but heavy lines. The walls were navy, with a suede appearance.
