Nine

Ellie straightened her skirt as they walked her out of the holding cell. She’d been processed hours before and then left in a cell with five other women. She’d sat there, looking at her hands, fingers stained with ink because that tissue they’d given her didn’t get rid of the residue left from her fingerprints being taken. She’d been booked, and that would follow her to her dying day. There would be a picture of her holding up a police sign with her name and number on it.

It would likely be in the news tomorrow since the bastard had reporters waiting on her as she’d been hauled out of the building.

The better to report on you, my dear. The better to send the stock price tanking . . .

“Your lawyer is here, Stratton,” the dour-faced guard explained.

For the first time in hours she felt something. Anger. It hummed through her like a fire warming her icy blood. Her lawyer? Had he really come here? Did he think she was so stupid she would keep him on?

Or had he come to explain himself? She didn’t need an explanation from him. She’d already figured it all out. The funny thing was he’d told her the first time they’d met. There was no real loyalty in the world that couldn’t be bought. He’d been Castalano’s man from the beginning. He’d been sent to seduce her and make her look like a fool. To give his boss the tools he needed to easily wrest the company from her because she was weak.

That was what her father had called her. Weak. Pathetic. If he’d had anyone else to leave his place to, he would have. She was a waste.

Maybe he had been right all those years.

“Tell him to go away.”

The guard’s brow rose. “Are you that stupid? You get one shot at talking to this guy and then you have to face that judge on your own. You really going to send his ass away? Because from where I’m standing, princess, you need all the help you can get.”

She stared at the door she was supposed to walk through. “I didn’t ask for my lawyer to come here. My lawyer is kind of the reason I am here.”

The guard frowned. “Seriously? Because Henry Garrison is known for getting rich people out of jail. Not putting them in.”

Henry Garrison? “Not Riley Lang?”

“Princess, I don’t know who that is. I do know that the most expensive criminal defense attorney in Manhattan is sitting inside that room waiting for you and you’re out here. Do you like bologna sandwiches that much?”

She didn’t need any more prompting. Lily must have done it. Oh, she was so going to get a raise when they got out of this.

Because she was going to get out of this.

As she’d sat in her cell she’d realized she had two choices. She could give in and let that man take everything from her. She could be the weak-willed girl her father had always seen. Soft and too compassionate for her own good. She could likely give Steven what he wanted and pray she could cut a deal.

Or she could fight like hell and let the chips fall where they may. She could burn his house down around him.

She felt like lighting a match.

As for Riley, well, he really didn’t matter anymore. He’d been a mistake. One she didn’t intend to make twice.

She steeled herself and walked in.

Henry Garrison was a shockingly handsome man in a three-piece suit, his jet-black hair slicked back, with piercing blue eyes behind a set of designer glasses. He looked a little like Clark Kent.

She might need Superman.

“Ms. Stratton, my name is Henry Garrison. I’ve been hired to defend you against these charges.” He held out a hand.

She looked down at hers. “I don’t think you want to do that.”

He reached over and took her hand. “I’m surprisingly resilient.”

He was made-for-TV handsome and known as a shark who could get a murderer off even if he was found with a smoking gun in his hand and a body at his feet.

Lily had done well, but Ellie wasn’t sure she would be able to afford him. She would have to sell the condo in Brooklyn. She would have to sell everything.

She sat down in front of him. “I know you probably hear this all the time, but I didn’t do this.”

He shrugged. “I don’t care. My job is merely to represent you to the best of my ability. It doesn’t matter if you did it or not, but don’t ever tell me you did. It’s best if we’ll be entering a plea of not guilty that you continue to affirm your innocence.”

This was the world she’d landed in. Or maybe it was the world she’d been in all along. It didn’t matter that she was innocent. All that mattered was the game and winning it at all costs.

“When am I going to be arraigned?” While she’d sat in that cell, she’d made her decision. In the end, she was alone. She needed allies. As much as she loved Lily and needed her, she was going to require more firepower if she was going to engage in this war Castalano had started.

There was only one person she could go to, and he might take one look at her and tell her to get the fuck out.

Did he know the truth? Had he been as much Riley Lang’s victim as she’d been?

No. The enemy was Steven Castalano. She had to stop thinking of Riley as anything but a weapon that had been used against her. He was meaningless.

She missed him. She missed his hand in hers, the way he would look at her and she would know that everything was going to be all right. The way he would smile right before he kissed her as though he was so happy to be close. His joy had fed hers.

He’d been very good at his job.

Her lawyer glanced down at his phone. “I’ve pulled a few strings and I’m getting you on the docket in the next two hours. The police are eager to get rid of you. They didn’t think you would get the kind of press coverage you’re getting.”

“Everyone likes to see a failure.” She’d been reduced to a train wreck. Female executive can’t keep her panties on or her hands out of the cookie jar. She could read the headlines now.

“Unfortunately, that’s only the beginning of the process. You understand these charges are serious. After the local judge releases you, you’re not going home. You’re going to be released to FBI custody and we’ll appear before a federal judge in the morning. It’s the best I can do. You’re lucky, because most of the time this is at least a seventy-two-hour process.”

She would have to spend the night here. “I don’t even have my purse.”

“You’ll be given anything you require. I have the phone number for a Lily Gallo. I was told she’ll bring your purse. My assistant will have some things waiting for you after the arraignment.”

“What kind of bail are we looking at?” She probably didn’t want to know.

“I’m not sure. Likely fairly high. With the press watching the case, the judge won’t want to look weak on crime, and especially on a one-percenter.”

She snorted. “Yes, I’m so wealthy. Everything I have was wrapped up in that stock and the liquid I was going to use to buy out my partner.”

“The bad news is your bank accounts are frozen and will remain frozen until the trial is over.”

“I don’t understand.”

Garrison’s eyes bore through her. “You’re being accused of skimming more than ten million from your company coffers. Everything you have is going to be frozen until such time as you’re exonerated or found guilty. They won’t allow you to spend what could be company funds.”

“How am I supposed to live?”

“I’m sure arrangements will be made. I’ll need to ask you a few questions, but we’ll have time after I’ve gotten you out on bail.”

“I can’t make bail if I don’t have money.”

“As I said before, arrangements have already been made.”

So he’d found a bail bondsman. God, she needed a bail bondsman.

She had no cash. She would likely have no home very soon since she wouldn’t be allowed to sell her condo and she couldn’t make the mortgage because she had no cash. She had no job and zero prospects for one.

Her trial could take years.

What was she going to do?

“Ms. Stratton?”

No parents. No boyfriend. For a moment, she’d really felt like everything had come together. She had him. Riley. She’d seen herself the way he’d seen her and she’d been beautiful.

“Ms. Stratton?”

Of all the things Steven had done to her, Riley had really been the cruelest. It all could have been achieved without him, really. Certainly without the seduction routine.

“Ellie?”

She shook her head. “Yes?”

“You’re crying. Do you need some time?” He was holding out a small package of tissues. Likely he kept them in his briefcase for overly emotional clients.

She took it, pulling one out and drying her eyes. This wasn’t going to help her. “No. What do you need from me? Besides money, which I apparently don’t have any of.”

He stopped for a moment. “My fee has been taken care of.”

That sent a shiver through her. “By who? I thought my admin had called you.”

“I was contacted by Riley Lang. I was given carte blanche when it comes to your defense and paid extra for dropping everything to, as he put it, get my expensive ass down here.”

She shook her head. “Why would he do that?”

Garrison shrugged, the gesture oddly elegant. “I was under the impression the two of you were in a serious relationship. According to the articles I read on the way over, your relationship with Mr. Lang is part of the problems you’re facing, though from what I understand, there was no code of conduct that forbade you from fraternizing.”

“We’re not in a relationship. He was working against me.”

“Then why would he have hired me?”

She remembered Riley’s eyes in those last few moments, how panicked he’d seemed. She’d thought at the time he’d been panicked because he’d gotten caught, but wouldn’t he have known he would get caught? Shouldn’t that have been the plan all along?

“He used up a lot of clout to get me here, Ms. Stratton,” the lawyer said softly. “I don’t work for cheap, and I don’t normally take cases like this because rich people stealing money from other rich people bores me.”

“But making a lot of money is exciting, huh?”

“Having the right people in my back pocket excites me.” Garrison sat back, studying her for a moment. “Do I find myself in the middle of a lovers’ spat? Because I would find that even more boring.”

She made the only decision she could. “He means nothing to me, but I’m in a corner. If he feels guilty about what he’s done, then I’ll use that guilt for as long as I can. Has he asked to see me?”

“He’s asked to be kept apprised of the situation. I assumed he would be in court this afternoon, but I was told that I am your attorney and I answer to you and you alone.”

“Yes, of course. And he can cut off funding the minute he likes,” she murmured, wondering what he was up to now. Was this some other clever plan? What more could the man want from her?

“You don’t understand,” Garrison said. “He wired me a million dollars an hour ago. When that runs out, I reach out for more. He merely wants to know what’s happening with the case, but if you tell me I can’t talk to him, I’m your attorney. I won’t talk to him with the singular exception of asking for more money if I need it.”

She shook her head. “Why would he do that?”

“Again, I don’t care. Now if you don’t mind, my time really is his money. I’d like to go over a few things before we appear in court.”

Her ridiculously hot but cold-as-ice lawyer began talking about her arraignment and the bond Riley had also stated he would pay for. She listened, but in the back of her mind she had to wonder who she’d been sleeping with.

Who the hell had she fallen in love with?

—

Riley stormed into the penthouse. He should be at the station. He should have gone in with Henry Garrison, but the lawyer had talked him out of it. He’d told Riley there was no way he would be allowed to see her, and he was doing everything he could to get her out as soon as possible.

But she would still spend the night. His Ellie would spend the night in a dank prison cell with God only knew who inside with her.

He’d been by 4L’s “office” only to be told that everyone was back here at the penthouse.

“Drew!” He tossed his briefcase aside.

Mia ran out from the kitchen. “Riley, you’re home early! The boys are all plotting in the kitchen. Apparently StratCast stock is doing a deep dive. That makes them happy and me worried about their karma banks.”

“Have they heard the news about Ellie? Are you watching TV?”

“How did you know about that? What’s on TV? Did someone from McKay-Taggart call you?” Mia’s eyes went wide. “She’s in trouble, Riley. Apparently Phoebe gave Case the names and accounts of where all that money from StratCast went, and he and Drew traced it back. Ellie’s name is all over it. Someone’s trying to frame her.”

“Someone already did.” He loved his sister, but he had to talk to Drew. He’d gone straight from getting kicked to the curb to Garrison’s office, where he’d given the man a million-dollar war chest in exchange for taking care of Ellie.

He hadn’t talked to his brother yet. He’d wanted to do that in person.

Drew stepped out, followed by Case and Bran.

Riley eyed his eldest brother. “How the fuck could you do that to her?”

Drew’s shoulders squared. “I told you why we ran that article. I already explained this to you.”

“About the testing on the coolant system. You never said one fucking word about calling her a slut.” He felt his hands fist, the need to hit something—someone—nearly overwhelming him. “Everyone in the business world is going to read that hatchet piece.”

Hatch strode out of the kitchen, frowning at all of them. “Don’t blame Drew. I okayed the article. It did exactly what I needed it to do.”

“Humiliate her? Make her look like a whore?”

“No. I didn’t do it to hurt her. I did it to get your damn attention.” Hatch’s eyes narrowed. “It seems to have worked, since you’re here. You’re not with her. You’ve spent every spare second with that woman and she’s making you soft. That article made you think for two seconds with your brain and not your dick. At least that was what I hoped it would do. Riley, have you forgotten why we’re here?”

“I didn’t like the tone of that article, either,” Mia said, standing beside him. “I should have been the one to write it, but Drew and Hatch refused. And I think this whole thing is going to blow up in our faces.”

“It’s working,” Drew stated plainly. “Will you relax? This is exactly what we wanted to happen. I’m watching the Dow, and the stock is dropping like a rocket. By the end of the day, Castalano’s stock will be cheap and Ellie can buy it. Hell, apparently she’s got lots of cash.”

He felt his jaw drop at the implication of those words. “What are you saying?”

Drew’s eyes had gone cold. “I’m saying your girl is dirty as hell. She’s skimmed over ten million from the company. I told you to watch yourself with her.”

Case shook his head. “And I told you this is all some kind of plan of Castalano’s. I’ve studied her. I know you think your IQ trumps mine, and it probably does, but I’ve worked more cases like this than you have. There’s no way she’s done this. Mia doesn’t think so, either.”

“All you have to do is look at her financials,” Bran interjected. “If she’s got ten million, where is it?”

“What happened to you knowing Castalano did this?” Riley couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Drew really thought Ellie had stolen from her own company? From her people?

Drew shrugged unapologetically. “I think she’s in on it. After the dirt the reporter dug up on her affair with Castalano’s son, I think she’s very likely helping that family out. We didn’t pay the reporter to write a complete fiction. We paid him to dig up dirt and he found it. She’s in deep with that family.”

“Then why the fuck was she arrested not three hours ago?”

The whole room went still.

Case sighed. “I’ll get on the phone and see if I can figure out where they’ve taken her.”

Riley shook his head. “Don’t bother. Henry Garrison already told me I can’t get her out tonight because they’re moving her to a fucking federal facility. She’s being accused of embezzlement, fraud, and manipulating publicly held stocks.”

Drew’s eyes had gone wide. It was the first time in a long time that he’d seen his brother shocked. “Manipulating stock?”

That was the cruelest part of all. It hadn’t even been Castalano who’d done the most damage. The embezzlement likely would have been dealt with by restitution and possibly parole. The stock manipulation would get her serious time. “They have a tape of me screwing with the test systems, and I’m sure they’ll find out I was the one who leaked the false reports to the press. They believe I was working under her orders, and we all know that Castalano can make shit up. He’s probably got false e-mails from her to me by now. She’s being accused of tanking the stock so she could buy Castalano out for cheap. While you guys were celebrating, she was taking the fall for something we did.”

Mia gasped. “Poor Ellie.”

Bran closed his eyes briefly before shaking his head. “I’ll find out everything I can about what they’re saying in the press.”

Riley didn’t need any help there. “I can tell you what they’re saying. They’re saying the whore of StratCast is also a thief. She won’t be able to work again. And you’re wrong. I don’t care what the rumors say. She wouldn’t have touched Kyle Castalano with a twelve-foot pole. She hasn’t had sex with anyone since her divorce. Anyone except me.”

Hatch pointed Riley’s way. “I told you he was in too deep with her.”

Drew held out a hand. “Stop. It doesn’t matter now. What matters now is how Castalano reacts. I assume he’s the one who pulled the trigger.”

“With a gleam in his eyes, brother,” Riley replied. “This has been his plan all along. He was going to make it look like Ellie embezzled the money he took. He’s had years to plan it. His first plan was to buy her out with her own money.”

Drew nodded as though catching on. “He would force her to pay him back and he could use that to buy her out. Obviously he’s going to use the criminal clause in the partnership contract to force her to sell.”

Riley nodded. “Now he can bank the money because we tanked the stock. He’s going to reap the benefits of our plan and Ellie could go to prison. Her assets have already been frozen. When I drove by her place, there were feds there, combing through every aspect of her life. And reporters. She won’t be able to go home. Do you understand what we’ve done to her?”

“It’s unfortunate, but we need to focus on Castalano,” Drew replied. “This is a setback. I agree with that, but it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the game.”

What the hell was his brother trying to say? “This isn’t a game. It’s Ellie’s life.”

Drew waved that idea away. “She’s meaningless now. She’ll be too busy fighting the charges against her to come after us, though I can’t imagine she’s happy with you. If she’s as docile as you say she is, she won’t be out for revenge. You said she’d gotten a good lawyer. That’s all she can do.”

“How did she pay for Garrison?” Hatch asked. “He’s a thousand-dollar-an-hour lawyer and her assets are going to be frozen for a long time.”

Bran looked up from his computer. “How do you think? He’s paying for it. He’s doing the right thing. I’ll help out, too.”

Drew stood in front of him. “Riley, I need you focused on taking down Castalano. Ellie Stratton is a diversion. If what you’re saying about Castalano is true, then he might have been planning this all along. He used what we did to his own good. We’ve got to fix this.”

Riley was going to piss everyone off. Drew was going to be so disappointed in him, but he had to make a decision, and he was making the one his father would have wanted. He knew it deep in his soul. “I’m going to take care of Ellie. I’m out unless it’s in her best interests.”

Drew used the two inches he had on Riley to loom over him. “You’re choosing this woman over your family? She’s Phillip Stratton’s daughter. You’re choosing the daughter of the man who killed our parents over your family?”

He couldn’t think of her in that way anymore. She wasn’t someone’s daughter. She wasn’t a thing to be used. She was Ellie. She was the woman who smiled and lit up a room, who cared about the people around her, who made him a better man than he’d ever been before. “I’m hoping I don’t have to choose her or my family. I’m hoping my family loves me more than they need to punish someone, but in the end, yes. I’m choosing Ellie because I love her. I’m choosing her because she’s my family now.”

“Damn, I really should have bet more. Princess, I’ll take that hundred you owe me in sexual favors,” Case said with a wink toward Mia.

Mia hugged Riley, squeezing him tight. “I’m happy for you. I really like your Ellie. I’m glad someone has figured out that revenge isn’t worth selling our souls for.” She let go and looked back at her husband. “And my sexual favors are very expensive, so that hundred ain’t getting what you think it will.”

Case simply smiled. “I got more cash where that came from.”

“Role-play somewhere else, you two.” Drew had gone a little white. “Riley, you understand that I can cut you off from every dime you have.”

“I already gave Henry Garrison a million. That should handle a good deal of her defense.” He didn’t like to think about what he would do without access to 4L’s coffers, but Drew had been the brains behind the company. Riley had just been a lawyer. He wasn’t sure Castalano wouldn’t come after his license. He could be disbarred, and then he and Ellie would both be jobless and homeless. “I’ll deal with the rest of it. Hey, it’s not like I haven’t been dealt a crap hand before. I’ll figure out what to do.”

“I’m going to cut your income off, Riley,” Drew insisted. “And then I’ll make sure you don’t work again. Do you understand me?”

He stood up to his big brother for what felt like the first time in his life. For years Drew had been his rock, the man he could turn to. When Drew told him to get a law degree, he’d gone to law school and graduated top of his class because he didn’t want to let Drew down. When Drew asked him to focus all his skill on 4L, he’d gone to work. When Drew asked him to seduce the daughter of an enemy, he’d done that, too.

He’d owed Drew, but he owed Ellie more.

“I do understand. I’m still choosing Ellie.” He loved his brother, and he realized what he was doing would change the relationship between them forever. It was irrevocable. He was splitting from Drew in a way he couldn’t take back.

And Ellie might never speak to him again. It could all be for nothing. He could lose everything, but then he’d taken everything from her.

Drew nodded. “All right. 4L is at your disposal. Anything you need, it’s yours.”

Riley stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“I had to know you were really in love with her,” Drew replied, his face grim. “If you’re willing to give everything up, then yes, I’ll back you.”

“We’re really going to help Phillip Stratton’s daughter?” Hatch asked.

Drew sighed and ran a hand over his head. “No, I’m going to help my future sister-in-law. I’m not going to lose family over this. I didn’t keep us all together so I could end up being the dick who cuts off my own brother because he fell for the wrong girl. I assume you’re planning on marrying this woman.”

Absolutely. Something eased inside him the minute he realized Drew wasn’t going to fight him. He didn’t have to pick. “Yes. If I can convince her I’m not an asshole. That’s going to be harder than you think. She really hates me right now.”

“She needs you, too,” Drew shot back. “Be ruthless. Don’t let up. Get her back and don’t let anything stop you. I’m not going to lie. I don’t like the idea of having a Stratton in my family, but I’ll learn to deal. But I need you to compromise, too. Help me get Castalano.”

“He hurt Ellie. He’s trying to destroy her and he couldn’t care less. So yes, I’ll help. You have to know that she comes first.” Now was the really bad part. He’d kind of buried the lede, but now that he was coming down from his anger and fear, he had something else to tell his brother. “Castalano made me. He probably figured it out fairly early on.”

Drew’s jaw dropped. “He made you? As in figured out who you are?”

“He said I had my mother’s eyes.” He would never forget the smirk that had crossed Castalano’s face. He wondered if his father had seen that same smirk before he died.

“That bastard,” Hatch bit off. “I’ll kill him. We can save ourselves a shit-ton of trouble and headaches if you let me hire an assassin and get rid of them all.”

“I’m getting a drink. I need to think about this,” Drew said. “I hadn’t planned on this.”

“Smartest thing anyone’s said all damn day.” Hatch followed Drew into the kitchen.

“So where’s Ellie now?” Mia asked. “Is there anything we can do?”

“Garrison’s with her right now. She’ll be moved to a federal facility and likely released on bond tomorrow.” And she didn’t want to see him. Garrison had been plain about that. He wasn’t invited to court.

She didn’t want to talk to him. She needed time. He could give her some. A little. But they had to talk. He had to explain things to her.

She needed him. Ellie wasn’t so stubborn that she would allow herself to go to jail because she hated him.

He could win her back. He had to.

He settled in for what was likely to be the longest night of his life.