Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Savage whistles and sets Kesha down. “Ouch.”
Reid cuts him a hard look and before Reid speaks, Savage amends his statement. “Let me rephrase: What a bitch.”
“How long ago was this?” Royce asks.
“Years ago,” Reid replied. “Literally. I’ve stayed out of his path where possible, but something set him off again. He even tried to get me thrown off the board of West Enterprises.”
“Okay then,” I say. “His obsession with Reid after all this time is illogical. That doesn’t spell stable.”
“Nor does following you around,” Savage says. “That spells crazy person.”
“Then do we call the police?” I ask.
“You could,” Royce says, “but in my opinion, they will do nothing and you’ve poked the proverbial bear. We don’t know his state of mind or what triggered this new attention on Reid.” He looks at Reid. “Any ideas?”
“None. I don’t keep up with him.”
Royce looks at me. “What did he say to you?”
I open my mouth to share the details of what Elijah said but I’m not doing that in front of Royce and Savage. I know Elijah is lying. I fear Royce and Savage won’t. Instead, I summarize. “I don’t think he knew I was aware of what happened with him and Reid, so he told me Reid slept with his wife. He called him a liar and said Reid lies to me as well. Then I managed to get away from him.”
“Fuck,” Reid curses. “Carrie—”
“I’m fine. I knew the story. You’d told me. He couldn’t shock me, Reid. Worry about him, not me.”
“Where’s the wife now?” Savage asks. “Did he divorce her?”
“I didn’t keep up with his marital bliss,” Reid replies dryly.
“They’re still married,” Royce says. “Same wife for ten years. I know this from my prior research.”
“He stayed with her and yet he’s angry with Reid now, years later?” I frown. “Something doesn’t add up.”
“Let me do some digging around. There’s got to be a trigger, something that set this off.”
I think of the comments Elijah made to me. “I wonder if his wife taunted him with Reid in some way?”
“But again, why now?” Savage says.
“There has to be a trigger,” Reid says.
“Or he’s insane and finally went over the edge,” Savage suggests.
“Then I need to get to the solution part of this conversation,” Reid says. “If I tell him I know about his nefarious offshore accounts, what’s the potential blowback?”
“We need to know more about where trouble might lie for this man,” Royce says. “If he has nothing to lose, violence could feel like an option to him. Or he might tell the world you fucked his wife, just to hurt your reputation.”
“God, I feel like we’re living Cat and Reese’s hell,” I murmur and then quickly look at Reid. “This was before my time. Don’t worry that this is going to affect me or us if he goes public. And frankly, people don’t work with you because you’re a nice guy. You make them money.”
Savage snorts. “She tells it how it is, doesn’t she?”
Reid ignores Savage and focuses on Royce. “What if I hit him with the offshore accounts and then we get on a plane and leave town? That gives him space to act out without us as a target.”
“No,” I say. “Because a) it’s Christmas, b) we have the kitty now, and c) he could hurt someone else because we’re not around.”
“Staying close to family while a crazy man wants to hurt us only brings the crazy man to our family,” Reid argues. “And we’ll take Kesha with us.”
“Give me a day to dig,” Royce says. “We’ll have men with you at all times.”
“A day,” Reid agrees, and we take a few minutes to work out the security detail.
Royce and Savage head to the door and Reid and I see them off, but the minute we’re shut inside, Reid grabs me, and I’m quickly placed between his big body and the door. “What did Elijah really say to you?”
“That you knew you were sleeping with his wife and you did it in their bed.”
His jaw sets hard and he surprises me—no, shocks me—by pushing off the door and walking away. I think of my earlier words: something doesn’t add up. I think I was right. What don’t I know?
Chapter ninety-four
Carrie
My questions about what doesn’t add up are not questions I intend to keep to myself. Reid exits to the balcony with no coat on, which tells me he’s shaken. He wants an escape or to punish himself and I’m not sure if that’s the guilt over sleeping with Elijah’s wife, which I know he owns, or something more. He shuts the door, effectively using it as the division between him and me, and I don’t like it. Whatever the situation, we’re talking it out. I rush after him with the kitty at my feet and open the door. Cold air rushes in and Kesha meows, running the other direction. I suck in a breath and push forward into the bitter winter eve. Once outside, I shut the door to keep the house warm and flip on the fireplace in the corner.