CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Mia

I’m still behind the island when Eric and Davis, two men I know well, enter the connected living room area. Both good looking, confident, in jeans and T-shirts, which on Davis feels weird, awkward almost, but Eric is another story. Eric is an ex-Navy SEAL with a Harvard background, a brilliant financial mind, and a sleeve of tattoos down one arm. He’s someone who manages to feel comfortable in every moment, while Davis prefers the edge of discomfort.

Grayson is on their heels and he immediately crosses to stand beside me, the action an assumption that the other two men will join us on the opposite side. Instead, they halt in the living area, a good distance away from us, too far for a real conversation. “We need to see you alone,” Davis announces, speaking to Grayson and obviously shutting me out.

“Mia is with me,” Grayson says. “That means she’s with us.”

“And yet she was with Ri,” Davis replies, and like anyone close to Grayson, he actually has the courage to look at me when he makes that statement. “How do we know she’s not being inserted now to weaken you?”

“I’m on Team Mia, for the record,” Eric quickly adds.

“My job is to protect you, Grayson,” Davis argues. “And beyond my job, you’re a friend. I don’t want you fucked any more than you already are.”

“What does that mean?” I ask quickly. “Fucked how?”

“Yes,” Grayson says. “What does that mean?”

“I really must insist that I speak to you alone,” Davis says.

My temper snaps. “I didn’t sleep with Ri, Davis,” I state. “I was never with Ri. He gave me a job with a sign-on bonus at a time when my father was in debt to a bunch of very bad people. I wasn’t going to ask Grayson for money. What kind of bitch would I be to use him for money? I couldn’t do that to him or us, and when Ri tried to force a personal relationship, I started looking for a job, which is why I was at the DA’s office. And in case you don’t remember, Davis, I saw a naked woman pressed against the man I love, my fiancé. I wasn’t in a good place emotionally, I was dying inside, but I still loved him. I didn’t, I wouldn’t, I haven’t ever tried to hurt him.” I press my hands to the counter. “Questions?”

Davis stares at me for several intense moments and then eyes Grayson, who says, “Can we get down to business now?”

Davis shifts his attention back to me. “You always did have a way of getting to the point. Welcome back, Mia.”

Eric joins us at the island, pressing his hands on the tile. “Mia,” he greets, standing directly across from me.

I slide the cookies toward him. “Leslie made them.”

“Oatmeal raisin?” he asks hopefully.

“Yes,” I say, looking at Davis. “None for you.”

“Fuck, Mia,” he says. “Have a heart, will you?”

I laugh. “No. You’re a bastard. No cookie for you.”

“You know I’m just protecting him,” he says.

“Which,” I say, “is the only reason I forgive you.”

“What did you find out?” Grayson asks. “Is there a collaboration with the DA to take me down?”

“Yes,” Davis says. “There is, and it’s already six feet deep with layers of evidence.”

An explosion of fear for Grayson rocks me, but he’s calm, cool, his tone even as he asks, “Evidence of what?”

“Money laundering, racketeering, bribing judges, the list goes on and on,” Davis states. “This is an elaborate set-up that might have taken years of work.”

“Which brings me to Mia,” Eric says.

“Me?” I ask, stiffening while Grayson’s hand settles on my back, a silent show of support.

“You,” he says. “I think the Becky show was supposed to break you two up. It was supposed to distract Grayson.”

I pant out a breath. “I think so, too. I’ve been thinking that for about twelve hours straight, and believe me, it’s a painful realization.”

“None of us saw it,” Grayson says. “Not me. Not you. Not the people around us.”

“That number that texted you the day of the funeral,” Eric says, “it was made from a phone that’s had two users since and none were Becky. We’re working on more.”

“Back to the here and now,” Davis says, “and my prior suggestion. We need to pick a criminal attorney, a killer that you trust and that isn’t connected to the firm.”

“He’s right,” I say, and this time I don’t argue for me to handle this. This is too big for my experience and I’m too close to Grayson. “You have no idea who’s working for Ri,” I add. “You need someone who’s a proven winner.”

“Agreed,” Eric chimes in and looks at Grayson. “Reid Maxwell,” he says, glancing at me to explain. “He’s one of the attorneys handling the Japan convention center,” before he adds, “He has ties to a couple of the best criminal attorneys in the country who happen to own the same firm.”

“What ties?” Grayson asks.

“His sister is married to one of them,” Eric says. “He represented one of them against the DA over a misconduct case, and the misconduct was against the DA.”

“Both are good choices,” Davis says, “but Reese Summer is married to Cat of the Cat Does Crime column and when she gets behind him and his cases, she influences a lot of minds. I’d go with Reese. He’s the best of the best and she’s a bonus.”

“Get me a number,” Grayson says. “Where are we on finding the mole?”

“I brought in a new security team. One of my old SEAL buddies works with them. I trust him. We won’t deal with Ri’s influence. They’re doing a sweep of our operations to find our moles nationwide. They assure me they’ll have an initial evaluation here locally done in two days. They’re good. We’ll get results.”

“How long do we have before charges are filed?” I ask.

“Uncertain,” Davis said. “But my source feels it’s weeks out, but not months. Weeks. That’s not long.”

“What else?” Grayson asks.

Davis looks at me. “The closer she is to you, the more chance Ri gets nervous and tries to speed things up.” He shifts his attention to Grayson. “She needs to stay away and if you love her, you’ll listen. I’m protecting you and her. Ri could smear her just to burn you deeper.”

Grayson doesn’t reject his words and I suddenly want to explode in protest, but not now with Eric and Davis here. Grayson looks at Eric. “What are your thoughts?”

“I’m not sure Mia being with you matters,” he says. “It’s all about positioning. If she stays, how do you make that work for you?”

Grayson stiffens, and I know he doesn’t like that answer. “Where are we on leverage against Ri?”

“The security team I hired has a master hacker on their payroll,” Eric says. “More soon.”

Grayson nods. “I’ll see you both in the city,” he says.

Both men look like they want to argue, but they don’t. They turn and leave. The minute the door shuts, Grayson pulls me to him. “I need you to go to Japan, work on that convention center project, and get out of target range until I make this go away.”

And so, the war begins. The war between me and Grayson, not Grayson and Ri, because he knows what I know. I’m not a master hacker, but I’m inside Ri’s operation, I’m close to him. He needs me here. “No,” I say, preparing for the storm to follow as I add, “I’m not leaving.”