Vomit climbed my throat when I realized it was the last day of the month.
Thanksgiving gone without me even realizing it.
“Just like I had to do with Dear Industries,” Lawrence continued.
Dear Industries.
My mind started to spin. I’d heard that company name before.
My chest tightened, and dread sank to the pit of my stomach when I realized from where.
It was the last documents I’d signed off on.
Documents that made it look like Lawrence had legitimately taken over a business when it’d amounted to little more than a heist.
Documents that had come from a fake man’s name with a fake social security number from a fake bank account with a huge transaction of cash that I’d filtered into some of his more legitimate companies.
One I’d forged as legit.
“My accountant went through those numbers a hundred times,” Reed growled. “The numbers are good. Nothing is ever going to come out exact. A few dollars aren’t going to kill anyone.”
“I wouldn’t call five hundred thousand dollars a few dollars. And I’m pretty sure that it would.” The implication rode on the air, so palpable between the two of them I could feel it from where I sat.
“I won’t be stolen from. I don’t give a fuck who you are. Not to mention, you overdrew on Williamstown by two million. You had a deadline. Now I will take back what is mine.”
Williamstown.
My head spun.
That was the name of the rundown apartment complex where my mother and I had lived when I’d met Bennet. When he’d taken me in and given me a job and treated me like a son, when really, he had been suckering me into his shady business that I’d been too naïve to see at the time.
Petty theft and sifting through people’s garbage cans hardly amounted to my being shrewd enough to grasp the full extent of the debased wickedness and corruption and greed.
Evil.
Bennet had owned that building.
God.
What a fool I’d been.
I’d buried my head in the sand and stupidly believed that Lawrence had stumbled upon me outside that complex.
Noticing that I was half starved and wholly desperate.
I’d thought him a powerful businessman who would own half of the city.
Realization slammed me.
What the fucker had been doing was running a prostitution ring.
One my mother had gotten involved in.
Sickness twisted my guts into a thousand knots.
Was that why we’d gone there in the first place? Was that why she’d packed us up and promised me we were starting a new life when, in reality, she was driving right to her demise?
Dead six months later.
Because of me.
Forever and ever. Her voice spun through my mind.
You left me, mine whispered back.
Did I really think I was any better?
I’d dived right into the middle of it, sucked under, never let up for air until it was the only thing I breathed.
I’d become the devil. Just like these two.
No fucking better.
My pen and my voice had been my weapon.
I was nothing but a flimsy piece of paper that amounted to a cover for the disgusting empire Lawrence had built.
“I needed that money for the campaign.” Reed’s voice was twisted in his own kind of hatred. “You know the deal. I get the guns here and you get me the money.”
My mind immediately flashed to the picture Grace had been able to smuggle out of Reed’s house.
Down on the dock.
The Dearborne money came from imports and exports. The reason his great grandfather had settled in Charleston to begin with.
It all crashed over me.
How deep this went. What was happening.
I shot to my feet while the video was still playing, a clatter of footsteps echoing across the floor as Mallory ran into the room. “Daddy, can we go to the movies?”
Both men jerked away from the other. Reed’s expression showed nothing but annoyance. “I’m working, Mallory. Go back in the kitchen.”
“But, Dad—”
“Go!”
Go.
Yeah, fucker, you could count on it. Because I was already running out the door.
Forty-One
Ian
My tires screeched as I flew out of the parking garage. Adrenaline surged, seeping into my muscles that flexed and bowed, at the ready for a fucking fight.
My sight clouded with rage, and my heart thundered with fury. I pushed the phone button on the steering wheel and instructed it to call Mack.
He answered on the third ring, voice groggy from sleep. “Ian, man, what’s going on?”
“Heading to Bennet’s office. Meet me there. Pretty sure that’s where I’m going to find the proof that he and Reed have been working together. Wasn’t some fluke that those pictures of me were snagged at that club. Lawrence and Reed are involved in some major shady shit.”
“Pull over. I’ll meet you.”
“Not going to happen. I’m going. Bring backup. And get a cruiser to Grace’s house. She isn’t safe.”
“Shit.” I could almost see him scrubbing a big palm over his face to break up the sleep. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I just need the papers to prove it.”
“Give me five, man. Then I’m out the door and on my way to you. I don’t want you to do anything that will get you into trouble.”
Cold laughter rippled out. “Think it’s too late for that, my friend. Just get down there. Be prepared to do your job, no matter what.”
Worry bled through the line, Mack’s hesitation thick. “What are you saying, Ian?”
“I’ll see you in fifteen.”
I ended the call and flew down the street. Ten minutes later, I screeched to a stop at the curb in front of Bennet’s office. Didn’t even try to hide my car.
This wasn’t about going covert.
This was going all in.
The last thing I had to give.
Heart hammering wildly, I grabbed my phone and tapped out a text.
Me: An officer is on their way to your house. Stay put, don’t let anyone inside until they’re there. You’re not safe.
Even though it was the middle of the night, her response was almost instant. Like she’d been lying awake like me, tossing in torment.
Grace: What’s happening? Are you okay? Are the kids okay?
Me: It’s all going to be okay. I promise you. But I need you to be extra careful right now.
I bit my lip, knowing I shouldn’t do it, but I was unable to stop myself. Not with what was getting ready to go down. My fingers flew across the screen.
Me: If I could be a better man, I’d be him for you. If I could live a better life, I’d live it for you. I’m sorry for bringing this burden on your family. They are beautiful, Grace. The most amazing people I’ve ever had the honor of knowing in all of my pathetic life. Keep writing your story. Hold them close. Love them hard. That’s the way I’m going to forever love you. Goodbye, Angel Girl.
I pushed send, threw open the door of my car, and slipped out.
Cold blasted across the fire that burned my skin and that adrenaline sloshed as I strode toward the building.
Didn’t give two fucks when I grabbed one of the decorative rocks and smashed in the pane of glass to the side of the door. The sound of it crashing to the ground echoed through the night.
An alarm started to blare.
So loud.
So loud.
It only amplified the determination that lined my heart like a coat of steel. The willingness to do absolutely anything to save that family.
Guessed I hadn’t really understood what that meant until tonight.
What it was really going to cost.
Everything. Everything.
I didn’t care.
I stepped through the broken window in the brick wall, glass crunching under my feet, ducking down beneath the dangling shards that still hung from the upper frame.
I blew right by the front office desk and went for Bennet’s office, which was locked up tight for the night. I picked up my foot and kicked it in. It flew open, wood banging against the interior wall.
I strode in like I owned the place, going right for his computer and punching in the same password as I had the last time I was there.
Only, this time, I knew exactly what I was looking for.