For now.
“I can’t believe that actually worked.” Rolling my head to the side, I regarded Avery with a cursory glance. “You think that lady at the front desk is going to follow up with Ana about us obtaining her records?
Avery shoved his key into the ignition, starting the car and then throwing it into reverse. “If she does, I’ll slap her with a lawsuit.”
Despite his harsh threat, I smiled a little. “Can’t really sue her if she’s doing her job?”
“Lawsuits scare people into silence.”
I snorted. Spoken like a true CEO.
Though, he was right in a sense. If the record keeper was smart and wanted to keep his money, he’d shut down any questions the front desk lady had no matter how morally wrong it felt to do so. Because if anything, he was an accomplice in all of this as well and like hell Avery would show him mercy if he so much as squealed.
If we were going down, that record keeper was coming with us. Maybe even the front desk lady, too, for not verifying Avery’s identity.
The McAllisters weren’t to be messed with. Everyone in Ellington Heights knew that.
This was all speculation, of course, and my paranoid mind working overtime because I felt guilty for doing something illegal even to help a friend out of a difficult and desperate situation. However, if a woman like Ana was in any way a con artist scamming my best friend, were Avery and I truly hurting anyone innocent?
Gesturing to the papers, I asked. “So, now what?”
As he drove us into traffic, his hand drifted over to rest on my thigh. “We’ll bring it to my lawyer. He’s going to be pissed with how we obtained them, but I really don’t care. He’ll figure out how to get it admissible if it turns out we need it for evidence in court.”
I felt like I was in some TV drama as the sidekick to a billionaire protagonist and his ragtag team of morally gray assistants. I imagined working for Avery was kind of like that—dangerous in terms of how far he’d be willing to push the envelope at times, and yet garnered fierce loyalty due to his protectiveness over those he deemed his responsibility.
All that to say, looking down at the papers in my lap, and trying to ignore the heat radiating through my pants from where Avery was touching me, I hoped that whatever was in here turned his luck around. I hated seeing him suffer.
His console lit up with a phone call. To my surprise, and relief, the name ‘Marlow Knight’ appeared.
At least it wasn’t his ex...
I still felt bad getting jealous over a woman he clearly had no intentions of getting back together with and who had a whole ass fiancé and child to go home to every night. Unfortunately, my head and my heart loved to be at constant war with each other over getting my emotions settled long enough to remain level-headed when it came to Avery.
Jealousy had never been my forte. Not when I could just as easily remove myself from a potentially toxic situation and move on with my life instead of trying to compete against someone else.
However, every rule I’d ever had for myself was quickly tossed out the window whenever Avery entered the picture.
“Yes?” Avery said upon answering the call.
“I’m beginning to suspect you hate me,” the voice on the other line stated.
Glancing over at him to see his reaction to the clearly very dramatic words, I was charmed to see him rolling his eyes in an equally dramatic fashion. “Seriously?”
“First, you ditch our dinner date. Then, you keep avoiding my calls. No texts. Nothing. Just tell me you hate me.” The other man’s tone was so matter-of-fact that if it wasn’t for Avery shaking his head, I would’ve thought this was a very serious discussion.
“This is the first time you’ve called me,” was all Avery responded with.
“Is that all you heard!” the voice accused.
The responding shit-eating grin, coupled with the squeeze of my thigh, sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach. “Isn’t that all you said?”
The man on the other line, Marlow, groaned loudly. “Where are you...”
“Driving.”
“Oh, great. So you’ll swing by La Roux’s for lunch.”
Avery popped a brow. “You ever stop and think whether or not I’m busy?”
