Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Carrying the heavy realization with him, Carson stashed the Glock in the glove box and locked it, then went inside and straight upstairs to shower, shave and change his clothes.
By now, the word would be out to the rest of his family that Carson had encouraged Cresley to dump Julian and the firm in favor of Kaidan and their mother’s firm because he was personally involved with her.
“What did you think would happen when you asked Cresley to dump Julian?” he asked his reflection as he shaved. “Did you think he’d say, ‘That’s fine’ and not ask questions? You’re an idiot with your code of ethics.”
His phone buzzed with multiple texts that he glanced at between strokes of the razor.
The sibling group chat was on fire after Kaidan alerted them to potential trouble with Carson.
So much for attorney-client privilege, not that he was Kaidan’s client, but he’d recommended his friend to her.
Why had he chosen to give the case to his sister instead of some other attorney who wasn’t related to him?
Because he wanted the best for Cresley, and if she couldn’t be with Julian or any of their brothers, his sisters were just as good. This was what he got for wanting her to have the best.
What gives, Carson? Griffin had asked. You gave up a client so you could personally protect her? And she just so happens to be a sexy model? Do tell!
Right? Ethan said. What gives indeed.
All the good stuff happens when I’m at school, Roman said.
I think she’s lovely, Gillian said. I hope she and her son stay safe. It’s good of you to help them, Carson.
Thank you, Gillian, he thought. The one sibling who didn’t automatically go for the jugular.
A text from his father popped up. I’d like to see you in my office immediately.
He let that sit until he was dressed and ready to leave. I’m in the field this morning. I’ll check in later.
I wasn’t asking, Corbin replied.
Carson ignored that text. He’d deal with him and the fallout of losing Cresley as a client later.
First and foremost, he needed to check in with his team on a number of cases and investigations they were working on and then get Cresley to Burbank for her meeting.
He grabbed his laptop and left the house.
On the way back to Cresley’s, he called each of his employees for an update on ongoing cases and to give them marching orders for the day.
“Hey, boss,” Anthony said.
“How’s it going over there?”
“Bryan’s brother showed up wanting to see Rachel, but she isn’t seeing anyone right now.
He didn’t like that answer. He said, ‘She killed my brother, and she won’t take my calls.
The least she can do is communicate with our family.
’ I told him she’d be in touch when she was ready, which is what she told me to tell anyone who tried to come by. ”
“Was the brother hostile?”
“Yeah, kind of.”
“What do we know about him?”
“I was looking into him when you called.”
“Let me know what you find out—and get context from her. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”
“Will do.”
“Update me later.”
“You got it.”
“First sign of trouble, call the police.”
“Yep.”
“Later.”
The twisting turns of Laurel Canyon Drive, which led to Mulholland, were becoming familiar to him as he navigated his way back to Cresley.
He’d opened up a massive can of worms with his family by encouraging her to leave the firm.
Their group chat continued to buzz nonstop since Kaidan had flapped her mouth.
That was the thanks he got for handing her an A-list client.
Carson pulled into Cresley’s driveway, and the little charge of excitement he felt at knowing he’d see her in a minute was massively concerning to him. He was quickly losing control of this situation and needed to wrangle it into something he could handle before it was too late.
He texted her to tell her he was back.
Disarming the system, she replied in the second before she appeared at the front door, looking so beautiful in a floral dress with her hair down around her shoulders that it almost hurt to look at her.
“Carson?”
He had the car door open but had been caught staring at her as every emotion he’d ever experienced seemed to overtake him in a big wave that led to one conclusion. He was totally fucked where she was concerned.
Shaking off the unsettling thoughts, he got out of the car and walked toward her, powerfully drawn to her in a way he’d never been to anyone else. Trying to deny that was like expecting the tide to stop coming in as she turned his world upside down.
“Are you okay?” she asked, studying him with concern that caused her brow to furrow.
He shook his head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything.”
She stepped back to let him in. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m scaring myself.”
“Will you please tell me what you’re talking about?”
Rather than tell her, he decided to show her, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in the fragrant curve of her neck.
“Oh,” she said on a long exhale. “I see.”
“Do you? Do you see how you’re messing up my whole life and how you’ve got my sibling group text on fire with speculation as to why I’d encourage you to dump Julian and our firm because of my ethical concerns?”
“It’s on fire, is it?”
“It is, and so am I. For you. And that’s never happened in the history of my entire life, and I have no clue how I’m supposed to function when all I can think about is how long I have to wait to be back with you.”
“Carson,” she said softly as she rested her head on his chest, “you’re making my knees weak.”
He tightened his hold on her. “Is that a good thing?”
“I’ll have to let you know. I’ve never had weak knees before.”
They stood there for a long time, wrapped up in each other, breathing the same air, their lives changing with every second that passed.
He could feel it happening. Everything shifting, one heartbeat at a time, and him standing there letting it happen, as if that wouldn’t turn his well-ordered existence on its head.
The only time he’d ever felt like something bigger than him was taking him over was when he’d battled addiction.
That comparison sobered him the way nothing else ever could. “We need to get you to your meeting.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, but continued to hold on to him.
“Cres…”
“Yes?”
“You have to let go.”
“I really don’t want to.”
Neither did he, and that was becoming a bigger problem by the minute. “Your meeting.”
“They’ll wait for me.”
“But…”
“One more minute of this, and then we’ll go.”
He was afraid that one more minute would take him straight past the point of no return, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away as long as she wanted him there.
Damn it all straight to hell.
Was this what’d happened to Julian when he met Isla? Did he experience every emotion any time she was in the room? Did it get a thousand times “worse” when she touched him or kissed him or…
Don’t think about that, or you won’t be able to function.
By the time she finally let him go, he was a totally different person than he’d been when he crossed her threshold. That guy had been determined to keep his life exactly the way it had always been—uncomplicated, unencumbered and governed by his own set of rules.
This new guy wanted as much of her as he could get and didn’t care what he had to do to make that happen.
“Why are you staring at me?” she asked.
“Have you seen you?”
A rosy flush overtook her stunning face. “What’re you doing to me?”
“I was just about to ask you the same damned thing. I was minding my own business, and now it seems…”
“What?” she asked, sounding breathless.
“Everything has changed.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Can you get back to me when you figure it out?”
“You’ll be the first to know.” He checked his watch. “We have to leave, or you’re going to be very late.”
“Let me grab my stuff.”
Carson watched her walk away like the besotted fool he was in her presence. He had a million things he should’ve been doing, but everything else took a back seat to keeping her and Ty safe.
His phone rang with a call from his father that he ignored.
He’d worry about that mess later.
She returned with a purse on her shoulder and a briefcase in hand that reminded him that in addition to being the sexiest woman he’d ever met, she was also a smart, successful businesswoman who’d built an empire and was recognized around the world for her beauty and poise.
As he held the car door for her, he acknowledged that he was one lucky son of a bitch to be breathing the same air as her, and he’d do well to remember that.
“What’s the address?” he asked when he got into the driver’s seat.
He punched it into the GPS and waited for the results.
“I usually take the 101,” she said.
“Laurel Canyon might be quicker this time of day.”
“True.”
“The GPS agrees with me,” he said, smiling at her as he pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the Valley, where they’d pick up CA-134 East. “What goes on in Burbank?”
“My business manager is there. He’s been with me since the beginning, and we meet once a month to go over everything.”
“How’d you end up with a guy in Burbank?”
“I lived out there when I was first in LA, and he was a regular customer at the restaurant where I worked. He gave me some very good advice back then, and when I needed someone to manage my career, I asked him to do it.”
“And you’ve stayed loyal to him all this time.”
“He’s family.”
“Who else is family to you?”
“Marlene, my aunt DeeDee and a few other close girlfriends who date back to the early days in LA—and their families. Some of Ty’s friends and their parents.”
“What about your parents and siblings?”
“It was just me and my mom growing up, and she overdosed when I was twenty-two.”
“I’m so sorry, Cres.”
“That was a rough time, to say the least. She’d been doing so much better, so it came as a huge shock that she’d died that way.”