30. Dane
THIRTY
Dane
Warren Crenshaw buzzed me up to his Brooklyn office. I jogged up the stairs, and he met me at the door, reaching for my hand. “Knightly. It’s been a while.”
“I know. Too long. I really appreciate your help with this.”
We went into the office. I said hello to his assistant, who sat in the tiny lobby area in front, and we went into the back room. Warren closed the door, gesturing for me to sit in the chair across from his.
“I was just thinking the other day of that jazz club we went to,” I said.
He grinned. “You mean the one in Rome?”
“That’s the one.”
I had known Warren since my Army days, though he’d been a Marine. After leaving the service, he had worked in law enforcement for a while before becoming a private investigator. He was a useful man to know. Someone with a variety of skills and endless tricks up the sleeve of his trademark leather jacket. He had the hard edges and intense glare to intimidate even hardened criminals, yet the smarts and the subtlety to allow him to befriend almost anyone.
Also, he was a great guy with excellent taste in music. So there was that.
He whistled. “Rome. You’re really taking me back. That was a memorable night.”
“Certainly was. We should do it again sometime.”
“Absolutely, but only if I can bring the wife. Sheila will kill me if I jet off to Italy without her. And maybe you’ve got someone special to bring along with you as well?” He gestured at the file on his desk.
I wasn’t surprised he had figured that out. The guy was an investigator, after all.
“I do. Grace is very special. Exactly why your help on this is so important to me.”
He flipped the file open. “Then let’s get to it. I’m sure you wanna know what I found. Enough with the polite small talk.”
“You know I hate small talk, and I’m rarely called polite. But yeah, let’s hear it. I’d like to know whether I’m bringing home good news or bad.”
“Listen to you, so domestic. I’ll have to meet the woman who got Dane Knightly to settle down. A rare breed.”
“About as rare as the woman who got Warren Crenshaw to put a ring on her finger.”
He laughed deeply as he pushed the file across the desk. “Sheila will love to hear you say that.”
I sat forward and looked at the top photo inside the folder. Immediately, rage flared bright and hot in my veins.
This was the man who’d given Grace a concussion and bruised her ribs. Who’d punched her in the face .
Vincent.
I had promised Ashford I would end this guy, someway or somehow, and I wanted that so badly. “Please tell me you have his full name,” I said.
“Vincent Brady. This is his mugshot from his last arrest. Lengthy criminal history on this one. Larceny, fraud, and extortion. Plus a generous sprinkling of DV.”
Domestic violence. “Since he likes hurting people who are weaker than him.” I turned to the next page in the file, which detailed Vincent Brady’s rap sheet.
“Ms. O’Neal’s photos of him were key in identifying the man. They were nice and clear and head-on. I circulated those images with my network of informants, and that did the trick. Vincent has some mafia ties, but rumor is that he’s gone into business for himself.”
“What kind of business?”
Warren reached over to flip the papers in the file to another image. A woman with heavy makeup and blond curly hair. “Well, this is where Lexi Sanders comes in. Another identification my informants helped with. She has a criminal record as well. Petty theft, vandalism. And prostitution.”
I looked up from the photo, frowning. “Lexi is a sex worker? Are you telling me that’s how Vincent Brady is connected to her? He’s a pimp?”
“But he’s gone high class, or so the rumors say. Offering escorts to wealthy elites.”
I cursed, sitting back in my chair. “Running escorts in Knightly Global hotels. Shit . Any indication that my brother is involved in this?”
“Not yet. But I’ll keep digging. I’m not finished with show and tell, though. I’ve also got Nina Jamison’s real name. It’s Nina Badowski. She’s also a known associate of Vincent Brady, and it’s likely she’s one of his escorts.”
So much of this situation shifted into a new light. Nina had probably been at the ski resort to meet with Dirk Lancaster the night of the grand-opening party. He’d hired her . No wonder he’d been looking for that mask to identify her. He’d likely never met her in person beforehand.
An escort service running in my new hotel.
My fist clenched and released. I had no proof yet. But my brother had something to do with this. I was sure.
“Any idea where to find Brady?” I asked.
“It seems he’s staying out of sight after the incident at your brother’s wedding. He’s probably left the city. If he turns up, you’ll be the first to know. What you do with that information…” Warren spread his hands. “We can talk about options, but depending on what you want to do, we might have to continue that conversation somewhere more discreet.”
I smirked. So Warren could already guess where my head was at. “What about Lexi Sanders or Nina Badowski?”
“I checked both of their last known addresses. Lexi’s roommates said she’d cleared out a couple of weeks ago. But Nina has been missing for well over a month.”
That fit with the conversation between Vincent and Lexi that Grace had overheard. “Nina hasn’t been seen since she was in Silver Ridge,” I said, remembering the conversation we’d had with Chief Landry weeks ago. “We also know from what he said to Lexi that Vincent was looking for Nina. If she works for him, that would make sense.”
But why had Nina walked away from meeting Dirk Lancaster the night of the party in Silver Ridge? Why had she given her mask to Grace?
And assuming Vincent had broken in to Grace’s house to steal it back, why the heck was that mask so important?
“We have to talk to Nina,” I said. “She knows what all of this is really about.”
“I’ll keep working on it.”
“Thanks for your help, man. I’ll owe you.”
“No kidding. Just wait until you see my bill.” He closed the folder. “But we’re not done yet. I’ve also got an update on the other matter. Grayden O’Neal.”
“Oh?” I hadn’t thought about Grace’s eldest brother at all in the last couple of weeks.
“I had better luck finding him .” Warren pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to me. “Do you want me to make contact?”
“ No . But…I’ll let you know.”
I hadn’t even mentioned to Grace that I was looking for Grayden. Now, I wondered if this had been a mistake. When I’d asked Warren to put out feelers for Grayden, Grace and I had been in a very different place. The last couple weeks with her had shown me just how great we were together.
I was falling so hard for her.
But I’d fucked up with this Grayden situation. Gone behind her back. I just hoped Grace wouldn’t be too pissed off.
* * *
By the time I got home, carrying a chocolate-swirl cheesecake from our favorite bakery, I was aching to see my girl. Grace and I had been together so often the last couple weeks that I’d gotten used to it. She kept complaining that we hadn’t been intimate, as if it was easy for me to tell her no. I hated telling Grace no.
I was going out of my mind with how badly I wanted to be inside her again. But I couldn’t risk hurting her. Grace didn’t like when I was protective because she thought that meant I viewed her as weak.
But it was the opposite. I liked to portray to the world that nothing ever got to me. But Grace did . She was my weakness.
I greeted the doorman on my way up. “Hey, George. How’s it going?”
“Afternoon, Mr. Knightly. Ms. O’Neal is upstairs with a guest. Ms. Maxwell.” Considering the other people who lived in this building, George didn’t get starstruck often. He was a total professional. I couldn’t count the number of times I had asked him to call me Dane, and it never stuck. But the look on his face told me that superstar Ayla Maxwell was a different story.
“Thanks,” I said, making a mental note to ask Ayla to sign something and send it down to him.
I was glad that Grace was home already, and I tried not to be disappointed that we wouldn’t be alone. Ayla was part of Grace and Ashford’s family, and I hadn’t met her yet. So I looked forward to that opportunity.
Maybe she liked chocolate-swirl cheesecake too.
I was whistling contentedly as I unlocked the apartment door and stepped inside. Quiet voices came from the living room, like the two women were whispering to one another. Then they went silent. Which seemed odd.
But I didn’t think anything of it until I walked into the great room. “Hey, I brought dessert if anyone’s interested.”
My smile died a quick death when I saw their expressions.
“What’s going on?” I crossed the room in a few quick strides. “Baby, did something happen?”
Grace was holding something in her hands, some sheets of paper, but I couldn’t see more than that. Ayla stood up from the couch, smiling cautiously. “Dane, I’m Ayla. I’m going to take off. I was just waiting here until you got home. Unless you want me to stay, Grace?”
“No, I’m okay,” she said softly. Grace looked pretty much as she had that morning, physically at least.
Whatever was happening here, I didn’t like it, but if Grace wanted to be mysterious about it, I could wait a couple minutes. I set the cheesecake on a side table, along with my keys, while Ayla hugged Grace goodbye. Then she shook my hand. “Sorry to run like this. My driver is waiting outside. Maybe next time we can chat more.”
“Sure. Sounds good.” When Ayla was gone, I said, “You wanna tell me what this is about? Because all the anticipation is making me nervous.”
Grace took a deep breath and looked into my eyes. “Someone delivered these to the restaurant while Ayla and I were having lunch.” She held out the papers. I took them, flipping from one to the other.
What the fuck was this?
“It looks like you and Nina Jamison.” Grace’s voice was strangely flat.
“It isn’t.” I mean, the pictures were of me. But I had never in my life stood on this street corner kissing some redhead, much less Nina Jamison. Make that Nina Badowski. “These are fake.”
But it looked bad. I realized that. And I could only imagine what Grace was thinking right now.
My heart hammered like a fist against my rib cage. For several agonizing seconds, she didn’t say anything.
Then she nodded. “I know. But there were a couple minutes at first that my mind went to a pretty dark place.” Her voice cracked on that last sentence, and I felt like that same crack had opened up in my chest.
“Fuck. C’mere.” I picked her up and sat on the couch, cradling her in my lap.
“Ayla talked me through it. She said there are fake pictures of her online. People use AI and Photoshop and who knows what to make this stuff look real. I still needed to hear it from you, though.”
“Then let me make it crystal clear. I have never met Nina in person. If I had, I would’ve told you.”
“But who would do this?”
Someone who wanted to hurt Grace. And through her, hurt me .
Not only that. It was a threat. A message that they could get to Grace at any time, and that made my blood run ice cold. I wanted to seriously fuck up whoever was responsible.
But I was a lot more concerned about how Grace was feeling right now. “We’ll find out. Are you okay?”
“Kind of. Not really.” She tucked her head between my shoulder and neck.
Of course she wasn’t. Those photos had played havoc with her trust issues. “What do you need?”
“Just to be with you. I knew you wouldn’t lie to me.”
Guilt ate at my insides. Because there was something I’d kept from her. I couldn’t go another minute without giving her the truth.
“I wouldn’t lie. But…” I cleared my throat. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Her head lifted, worry on her pretty features.
“I asked Warren, my investigator, to track down your brother. Grayden.”