Chapter 27
TUCKER
“YOU brINGING your girl with you?” Callum asks. I called him to tell him I’ll need two airline tickets to Tennessee next week.
“Yeah, I’m keeping her close for now.” I turn in my spot on the porch that overlooks Marley’s stables and look at Nora through the big window over the breakfast nook. She’s in the kitchen with Sloane, and she’s laughing at something. She’s so fucking beautiful it hurts.
I’ve already decided to take the job, but I want Nora to go with me next week so that when I ask her to move to Tennessee with me, she’ll know what she’s getting into.
If she says no, I don’t know what I’ll do. For the first time in my life, I’ve made plans around a woman, wanting to keep her in my life. After this morning, when she told me she doesn’t want me to let her go, I’m banking on her feelings being stronger than something casual.
I know it’s a gamble to get her tickets and drop all of this on her, especially with all she’s dealing with right now, but I’ve never done this before.
I’ve never felt this way about any woman before.
After our night last night, I stared at the ceiling into the early hours because the thought of losing her, after I just found her, felt like an anvil sitting on my chest.
Not to mention that I don’t want to leave her here with that asshole in town. If he approaches her, he approaches me.
“Alright, I’ll send your flight info and tickets to you later today. Have you heard from the ex?”
“Not yet, we’re getting my brother-in-law involved; he should be here any minute.” I lift my wrist and look at my watch.
“The FBI agent?”
“Yeah, maybe pulling the FBI in can separate her from it.”
“I have an attorney friend looking over the documents Spits was able to pull from the ex’s system.”
“Appreciate it, man.”
“No problem, I’ll see you next week.”
The sound of gravel under tires pulls my attention to the front drive as I slide my phone into my pocket. Rhys’s black SUV is approaching the house. Hoping to get a few words with him without Nora, I walk around the wrap-around porch to the front to meet them.
A cool breeze blows across the porch, pushing dead leaves that swirl around my feet and everything else in the front yard.
Waiting patiently, I watch my sister roll out of the front seat, Rhys’s hands firm on her to make sure she doesn’t lose her balance. Apparently, that’s a thing with pregnant women. He keeps a protective arm around her and holds her hand as she walks up the steps.
I’ve never seen her look so damn tired.
His eyes meet mine when they get to the top, and I kiss the top of my sister’s head as she lets go of him and steps up to me to give me a side hug. She keeps walking when I give Rhys a head tip, indicating I want him to stay outside with me for a minute.
Tucking my hands under my arms, I keep my voice low. “Were you able to look over what I sent you?”
He has a folder in one hand, and he watches my sister go through the door safely before looking back at me.
“Yeah, he’s got her in some deep fucking shit.
" He looks to the door to see if anyone is within earshot and back to me. “There’s already an investigation open on him and his brother; it’s large scale. ”
Cupping my jaw, I stare at him in shock. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
He shakes his head. “I kid you not. She’s already on the FBI’s radar, only she fell off the face of the Earth six months ago and they’ve been looking for her.
Her only option is to cooperate. I don’t know if that’s going to keep her free of charges, he’s a slippery fuck, but it might keep her out of jail.
” He winces before he asks his next question.
“Are you sure she’s not involved? Is it possible she’s lying to avoid charges? ”
My hackles go up immediately, and I glare at him. My answer is a growl. “I’m sure.”
Seeing my anger, he holds his hands up. “Okay, I have to ask, and you know that. I’ll help however I can.”
Taking a step toward him, I lower my voice even more. “Don’t mention jail to her; I’ll fucking step in before that happens.”
He hangs his hands on his hips, the folder bending in his fingers, and tilts his head to give me side-eye.
Rhys is by the book and doesn’t like to lie.
He also knows my family is not against working outside of the rules to make sure those we love are safe.
“I’m not even going to ask what that fucking means.
And how do you propose I do that? These are federal offenses. ”
“By putting yourself in my shoes, try to imagine what you would do for Kinley. Tell me you wouldn’t burn the fucking world for her.”
He takes a deep breath, his eyes locked on mine. “You love her like that?”
Do I love her like that? The realization hits me like a dodgeball to the head as we stare at each other. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep her safe.”
He pauses before he nods. “Alright, I won’t mention jail.”
When we walk into the kitchen, Nora is talking to Kinley, but her eyes are nervously darting from me to Rhys. She’s scared, and that has every protective instinct in me on alert.
When she walked into the stables this morning, I wasn’t sure what to expect at first. She was twirling that ring on her finger like she does when she’s nervous, so I was half expecting her to tell me she decided she doesn’t have room for me in her life.
It goes without saying that when she rushed me, not only did my heart leap in my chest, but my dick was straining against my zipper. I’ll be doing whatever it takes to keep her safe.
Rhys walks up to the kitchen island and sets the folder on the counter while I walk around to the other side and stand next to Nora. Her hands are on the countertop, but when I stand next to her, she reaches for my hand, making my chest swell.
If she needs me, I’ll be there for her. Instead of holding her hand, I wrap my arm around her back and pull her into my side. Her soft floral perfume drifts around me like a gentle temptress, and I take a slow, deep breath of the scent that has become like home.
Rhys leans on the counter, setting his palms on each side of him, and smiles at Nora. “It’s nice to see you again, Nora. I’m Assistant Director Abbot with the FBI, but call me Rhys. I’m also Kinley’s husband.” He sets his phone on the counter and asks, “Do you mind if I record this conversation?”
She shakes her head and takes a nervous breath. “Thanks for looking into this.” Her voice is timid, and I think I detect a slight shake.
Starting the recording on his phone, he identifies the people in the room and gives a brief explanation for the conversation before he shakes his head and chuckles. “You know, I have to admit, I did not expect the information Tucker sent to go so deep. Do you know what the SEC is?”
Nora shakes her head.
“It’s the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Their entire purpose is to prohibit fraud and manipulation within the systems of investing and markets.
Your ex-fiancé’s brother’s girlfriend holds an influential position in the SEC, and she is deflecting attention from them while all three trade on the market with leaked information your ex is privy to in the scope of his job.
They are breaking multiple federal laws, and they are doing it in your name. ”
A shiver goes up her back as she leans into me more. I squeeze her hip to let her know I’ve got her.
“Tuck said a company has been created in my name?” Rhys nods his head. “When did it originate?”
Rhys opens the folder in front of him and flips through a few pages before he finds the one he’s looking for and slides it across the counter to her. She pulls it in front of her and reads through the information.
Touching the tips of her fingers against her lips, she pulls her eyebrows together. “This was right after I graduated college, like in the same month I moved in with him.”
“How long did you know him before you graduated?” Rhys asks.
Her gaze moves to the wall across the room as she thinks.
“Uhm, I met him at a coffee shop I liked to study in. It was senior year in my first semester. He started coming back almost every day.” Her eyes move back to Rhys.
“I just thought he was flirting with me. We spent the holidays together, since my Grams died the summer before, I didn’t have family, and we became exclusive when I went back for my second semester. At least I thought we were exclusive.”
“What do you mean you thought you were exclusive?”
A scowl pinches her eyebrows together, and she looks down at the counter. “I caught him with another woman almost two years ago, but I forgave him.” She shrugs her shoulders. “But that was stupid, because the day I left him, I caught him in his office with his secretary.”
“Can you tell me what day that was? Why were you there?”
She tells him about going into his office every three or four months to sign paperwork and that she had been early that day.
She had been a little suspicious of the number of text messages between him and his secretary, but he assured her it was all work related.
But what she says next makes me see red.
“He thought he was hiding it from me, but his eye was always wandering, and she was small and gorgeous. He was always telling me to lose weight, especially if I wanted to look good in a wedding dress.” She shakes her head and looks down at the counter while rubbing her forehead with the tips of her fingers.
“I don’t know why I just told you that, it has nothing to do with why you’re here. I think I’m just nervous.”
Tightening my hand on her hip, I turn my head to her ear. “You’re fucking perfect the way you are.”
Her neck and face flush as her beautiful green eyes meet mine, affection flooding them. I nod my head to drive home what I said.
What kind of worthless fuck picks out a good, honest woman and uses her like that? He knew exactly what he was doing from the start. I’d bet my life that when they met he was looking for a scapegoat and he played on her every emotion and insecurity, not to mention her lack of family.
Continuing his questions, Rhys pulls her attention back to him. “It’s okay, I understand. But, you didn’t think it was odd that you needed to sign banking paperwork every few months?”
Her head dips a little in embarrassment as her gaze moves to the little ring she’s spinning on her finger. I glare at Rhys, but he purposely doesn’t look at me. She clears her throat. “I did at first, but he’s a lawyer, and a good one, so the way he explained it made sense.
“The first few times I signed, I scanned the documents,” she looks up to say, “my Grams always told me not to sign anything without reading it first, but they were the same every time and I guess I…” Her head tilts back and she looks at me, “I guess I just trusted him and got lazy.”
“Did you know about these accounts?” Rhys pulls out more pages and slides them across the counter to line them up in front of her. Papers with a lot of zeros on them.
Her eyes scan each one, and her hand slowly covers her mouth. “Oh, my God.” She leans over the counter and starts flipping the pages that are stapled together. “All of this is in my name?” Her glassy eyes flick up to Rhys.
He nods somberly.
“So this is what he had me signing all this time.” Her voice trails off, and her eyes lose focus as she thinks.
“But, I read the documents at first. There was a lot of legal jargon, but they were for local bank accounts in our names, and there were some stocks that I signed for, but he told me he was just investing some of our money. Never would I have thought to ask him if what he was doing was illegal.”
She pushes the documents for the offshore accounts that were opened at the very beginning of their relationship toward him, her finger pointing to the name on the top of the page.
“This is not the bank I was signing for.” She tells him the name of the bank on the paperwork she signed and that it was the same bank name each time when she would look at the documents before signing.
Rhys is watching her every move, he’s slipped into his FBI role, and I’m getting hot under the collar because I feel like he’s looking for a chink in her story, “I’ll look into that bank and see if accounts were ever opened.”
She’s quiet for a minute as she’s reading and rereading documents, and then she straightens. “How do I fight this? Can I fight this?”
He takes a deep breath and winces. “Your ex and his brother are already under investigation.” He pauses before he continues. “You as well. It would be in your best interest to stay here for the time being, not only for safety but also accessibility, and give your full cooperation.”
Nora crosses her arms over her chest while settling back into my side. “Of course, I want to do whatever I need to do to separate myself from this.” She clears her throat, and her next question almost comes out as a croak. “Is it possible that I could go to jail?”
Rhys flicks his eyes to me, and Nora turns to look up at me, questions in her eyes. “What? Why is he looking at you like that?”
Cupping the side of her head, I pull her close and lower my lips to her ear so the recording can’t pick it up and talk low. “You won’t go to jail, I’ll make sure of it, but as an agent, he can’t hear me say that, and it can’t be recorded or it causes more problems for you.”
Moving my head away just enough so that I can look in her eyes, I lift my eyebrows in question and nod once.
Her eyes volley between mine for a moment before she nods.
Rhys continues talking. “We’re going to do everything we can to avoid that. My first piece of advice would be to get a damn good attorney…”
I cut him off. “I’m already on that. My boss has a guy looking into it already.”
Nora and Rhys look my way simultaneously, Nora in surprise and Rhys in understanding. He nods. “I’ll need to get his name so we can have that for the file.”
“But wait.” Nora interjects, her eyes focused on me. “I can’t afford a lawyer, especially a good one.”
Wishing we were talking about this privately, I say, “We can talk about that later.”
For the next thirty minutes, Rhys talks about processes and asks her more questions. When he gets to the end of his questions, he says, “Can I find you here?”
Nora looks at me as she’s talking to Rhys. “I don’t want to impose.”
Keeping my eyes locked on hers, I respond to him. “She’ll be here with me.”