“Hey, Brod.” My voice is liquid caramel.
“Maeve?”
I understand his questioning pitch. He probably doesn’t recognize his stressed-out sister in such a mellow state.
“What’s up? It’s not really a good time. Can I?—”
“No, you can’t call me back. Please don’t hang up.”
“Okay.”
Brody’s default state is tense, but I also know my baby brother. True panic laces his voice. I sit up on my heels as if a postural change might help me focus.
“Listen, I don’t know if you’re back at the hotel yet, or if you’re with Kellin. Don’t answer. Just listen to me.”
“Okay.” I eye Kellin briefly and nod. Moonlight highlights his face, which is currently absent of all frown lines. His neck glistens with a thin sheen of sweat. His cock twitches, as if gearing up for round two.
“He’s not who he says he is, Maeve.”
“I can barely hear you. You okay?”
“Listen. We had him investigated, and he’s not with Zenith Investment Group. His real name is Kellin Brennan. He works for the NYC Gallaghers. One of Shane’s guys. Well, one of Finn’s now. He’s here for the accountant. The guy holed up in the penthouse. And to blackmail Dad by any means necessary. He’s been using you to get to the books.”
Ice spills through my chest, dropping like stones through my stomach.
I force my voice to sound normal. “Okay, Brod. Sure thing.”
My brother’s not done. “We raided his room… I just had a bad feeling.” Brody goes on and on, assembling a few puzzle pieces together that I didn’t even realize required linking but fit together perfectly.
“Thanks. You have a good night too.” I fight to retain a neutral expression and tone. Not easy, given what I’ve just learned. “I’ll see you in the morning.” I hang up and stare blankly at my phone.
“Everything okay, darlin’?”
I nod because I can’t glance up at him just yet without falling to pieces. I struggle to gather my thoughts. After all, I can still taste this man in my mouth.
I need a damn minute.
My heart flatlines in my chest as I try to deny what Brody just told me.
His warning can’t be true.
Memories flash through my mind. Kellin’s dark, controlling, dangerous vibe when he entered the Cypress for the first time.
The way he initially reminded me of the men in my family. How convenient the timing was when he approached me to “invest.”
How that timing came right on the heels of my dad and brothers coming in with a couple of goons and some out-of-place stranger while insisting on using the penthouse.
I always sensed that Kellin was keeping secrets from me.
And then there’s the penthouse.
He asked about the luxury suite a lot. Including on the ride home from Chateau Marmont. He was fixated on his cell, then out of the blue…
“Maeve, are you okay?” His fingers rake through my hair and linger there.
Summoning the strength to rise on wobbly legs, I meet his eyes one final time to search for the man I was falling in love with before this newfound information shattered me into a million broken pieces.
I inflate my lungs. Exhale. Curling my fingers into a tight fist, I swing with all my might, nailing Kellin square in the nose.
