Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“Meaning what?”
“Maybe it wasn’t a threat but a warning in his demented way of communicating. The Allen family is as good as a mob family. We represented them. My father did something dirty to get one of them out of murder, and they tried to hold him captive. He, in turn, held them captive. Now, he’s gone—”
“And they want to do the same to you.”
“Yes. He knew they’d come for me.”
“So why not just leave you the file?”
“Either he did, and I just can’t find it, or he never had it, and he bluffed.”
“Then we have a problem,” Bella says. “Because if he did, we have to assume Withers had it, and Oliver told Withers to leave his office open so he could go get it last night. They likely have the file now, and we have nothing.”
“If Withers even had the file. My father and his games, remember?”
“Okay, but assume they do. Why does this even matter? They could ruin us, but they ruin themselves in the process.”
“If memory serves, the trial was based around Allen Senior, who is now dead. That file doesn’t hurt them, it hurts us.”
“But does it? Both men are dead.”
“All of our cases will be looked at,” I argue.
“You haven’t done criminal law in a decade, Tyler. And it would just seem more a part of you being stuck with your father’s crap. Let them threaten you. Let them do what they are going to do.”
I catch her waist and pull her to me. “You forget, Bella. They went after you. If I don’t respond to the threat, they’ll come at you again. I have to shut them down. I have to be my father in this and hold something over their head. And there was more to that file than a dead man’s sins, or they wouldn’t want it this badly. We have to find it.”
“I told you, Withers left it out for Oliver.”
“There’s another copy. We have to find it. I will find it. Because it’s how I protect you.”
Chapter Forty
Bella
Our quick, shared shower ends with Tyler’s fingers tangled into my hair, me pressed against the wall, and his thick erection buried within me, in what I can only call pure animalistic demand. That dark side of him, that part of him I’ve come to know all too well, is here and now, and tells me he’s not okay. When it’s over, he’s still hard lines and bunched muscle. The pressure he’s feeling to protect me clearly has him on overload and his plan—finding the all too elusive file—isn’t a good answer. It’s a continuation of more of the same strategy we’ve struggled with for weeks now, with no results. He knows this, of course, as he’s a smart person, which makes me fear there’s more to his plan, and it won’t be anything I’ll approve of. I’m terrified he’s going to do something we will both regret and I’m not sure Dash will help me talk sense into him. My father certainly would not. They’re all men protecting a woman they love.
Allie is another story.
Tyler is dressed long before me, in one of his blue pinstriped suits, off to make phone calls in the other room. Before I dry my long blonde hair, which takes a good long minute, I text Allie: I know you know what happened. I’m fine. Tyler is not. He’s after blood. He won’t say that, but I know him. I know that’s what’s going on.
She replies immediately: I can’t believe they didn’t tell me what was going on and thank God you’re safe. Dash was in the same state of mind, but I talked him off that ledge last night. Hopefully enough for him to do the same for Tyler. But we do have to take action against these people, Bella. What if they come at you again?
It’s a question that lingers on my mind during the rest of my morning routine.
Why is a case that’s over ten years old creating such a problem for everyone involved? Why does it scare the Allen family enough to kidnap me? The unknowns are what feel scary. I Google the family despite knowing a lot about them from going through the files with Tyler. They own a major company with paws in everything from retail, to yes, legal services. There’s more to that file than meets the eyes, and would Hawk Senior, a man who held them captive for a decade, just leave the details with Withers—an attorney with connections to the Allen family?
No.
That makes no sense to me.
I’m betting Hawk Senior would rather Tyler win this battle than the Allen family, because even if he wouldn’t admit it in life, Tyler winning, is him winning.
I’ve just stepped into a red dress and black heels—no hiding for me today, it’s bold all the way—when Tyler appears in the doorway, looking as broody and hot as ever. “What if your father didn’t want this conflict with the Allen family to end because that meant they won, so he made sure you kept it going? So if you end it, you beat him.”