She nods. “He tracked me down. One day as I was leaving my office, he stepped out of a black car with tinted windows and suggested we stop by a dry cleaner not too far. Turns out, that business was a front. At the back, there was a whole setup.” Her gaze drops to her fingers that are pulling her cuticles. “Brian and his business partners—two Brits, an Australian, and an American—were making millions of dollarsa daythanks to their team of unscrupulous scammers, which included my mother,my sister, and my aunt. Dad kept busy by doing grunt work for Brian. So, even though he wasn’t frontline when it comes to scamming people, he was complicit.” Her lower lip wobbles. “They robbed a lot of people of a lot of money. Innocent people lost their life savings. Others lost money set aside for their kids’ college funds, for cancer treatments, for the care of kids with special needs, or for retirement. Brian Miller and his band of criminals didn’t discriminate. They didn’t care whose lives they devastated. They had one mission—part as many people as humanly possible from their hard-earned money.”
I take a long swig of my drink because holy shit this is a lot to process.
“There was a raid at their compound—aka Brian’s empire. Everyone got arrested. One of Brian’s partners managed to send him a text while he was on his way to drive Tiffany’s kids to the tutor he had hired for my nephews. Brian thought he could outrun the elite special task force agents that had been tailing him. In his attempt, his SUV landed in a ditch, killing everyone on board—him, my sister, my three nephews, and my aunt.” Her breath itches. “On that day, I lost my entire family.”
Jesus Christ.
Harley’s sad eyes nearly gut me.
I scrape a hand over my face. “It all makes sense now. Your nightmares. You kept screaming, “I’m not like them.”
Her eyes widen. “Is that all I said?”
“You sometimes said other things, but they were incoherent. Without context, they meant nothing.”
She responds with a slow nod, as though she’s gathering her resolve. “How do I explain to people I had no idea my family was rotten to the core, so greedy, they wouldn’t bat an eyelash at the devastation their scam was sure to cause in people’s lives? How do I convince people I’m nothing like them?” She blows out a shaky breath and her body tremors. “I’ve been carryinga tremendous amount of guilt by association since talking to Agent Monte Cristo. After he revealed the news my sister, aunt, and nephews had died, I didn’t cry. I didn’t know if I was allowed to cry. After all, I would’ve been crying for bad people when I should’ve been crying for the victims or even crying for myself. I was disgusted for sharing their DNA.”
“It’s understandable you’d be… torn. They made unforgivable choices, but they were your family.”
“When I did allow myself to cry, it’s like the dam broke, and I couldn’t stop for three days. It was so bad, I had to call my assistant and tell him I couldn’t come in. I lied about having the flu.”
“And Agent Monte Cristo is still in touch with you?”
“When I met with him, he informed me my mother had collected information that could be useful for their investigation, and she would be testifying against the surviving partners. When he reached out a few weeks ago, it was to inform me my parents would be entering the witness protection program. And I will never see or talk to them again.”
No wonder she looked so dejected. “So, in essence, on that day, you became an orphan.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Does your best friend know?”
Alarm flashes in her gaze. “I hold too many secrets. Too many shadows. I didn’t have the courage to tell Ciara the truth because all my life I’ve been judged on my family’s actions. Most people don’t—or can’t—disassociate who I am from them. If one apple is rotten, the whole lot is. Ciara is the longest friendship I’ve ever had. It would kill me to lose her. I didn’t want her to look at me with contempt or disgust, which is why I kept it a secret.”
I reach out and caress her cheek.
She closes her eyes. “I missed the strength and comfort in your touch?—”
“Then why did you run away instead of talking to me, Harley?”
She bites against her quivering lower lip. “You looked at me like I had so much potential and that gave me wings. I didn’t want to sabotage that. I didn’t want you to push me away—” Her voice breaks.
I slide my chair back, stand, and round the kitchen table before dropping to my knees at her feet.
Her head rears back. “Kaz?—”
“You’re right. You’ve been carrying enough baggage to sink the largest cruise ship in the world. You have to shed the pounds that are weighing you down. What your family did is despicable, but they made the decision to go down a dark road. You didn’t follow. You made the right choice by not getting associated with heartless criminals. Your family was seduced by fast money. Part of your family paid with their lives. Your mother and father will pay with their freedom. They’ll probably always have to look over their shoulders. That’s not your cross to bear. You’re a good person.”
“Thank God our arrangement was fake. I’m certain Joe would never have approached you had you been in an actual relationship with a woman associated with scumbags.”
I settle a hard stare on her. “If you want out of my life, say so, but don’t use Joe as an excuse. You don’t know the guy and you have no idea how he would react. But I can tell you this, if you were my real girlfriend and he had a problem with what yourfamilydid, then, I’d walk away from the deal.”
“But it’s worth several millions of dollars and it would elevate your status in the craft beer industry.”
“If Joseph Kozinski has a problem with you, he can find another buyer.”
She blinks. “Didn’t you hear anything I said? I was born into a family without morals. Liars. Con artists. Grifters. Cunning minds. I’m?—”
“Despiteeverything you said, I still want you.”
