Page 72 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

“Yes,” Ana croaked. “I’m sorry.”

“You make me sick.” Juliette turned away.

Doc touched Juliette’s hand reassuringly as he shot off questions at Ana. “Did he threaten to fire you if you didn’t help him?”

“No,” Ana said just above a whisper. “But he would have ended our relationship, and he said you were bad for her. I loved Juliette. I didn’t want her life to be ruined.”

“He lied,” Doc gritted out. “And because of what you did, I missed out on being there for Juliette when she was pregnant and when she had our son. I missed out on fifteen years—fifteen years—with the woman I love and our son because you wrote that letter.” He stepped closer. “I’m going to take him down and put him behind bars, and you’re going down with him.”

“But I didn’t do anything illegal,” Ana pleaded.

“You sure as hell did.” Doc held her stare, making sure she heard every word he spoke. “You committed fraud, Ana. You falsely represented a material fact with the intent to deceive Juliette, and you cost her years of emotional stress.” He was reaching with the extent of the law, but he could tell by her fearful stare and trembling hands that she was buying it. “Your actions made her keep our son from me, and now that the truth has been exposed, our son has to deal with the psychological pain of what you have done. You and her bastard of a father will both be held accountable.”

The blood drained from her face. “I can’t go to jail. Rolando needs me.”

“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you tricked a sixteen-year-old girl into changing her entire life based on a lie.”

“Please. I’m sorry!” Ana begged. “Please don’t do this to me.”

Doc sensed she was the key to taking down Juliette’s father. He pushed harder, needing to break her. “How many times did you hear Juliette say those very words to her parents?”

Ana’s breathing hitched, tears flooding her cheeks.

“You deserve everything you’re going to get,” Doc warned, and exactly as he’d anticipated, she lost it.

Sobbing, she clasped her hands together beneath her chin. “Please. I’ll do anything. I can help you take him down. I know things.”

“Well, then, maybe you and I can strike a deal.” He glanced at Juliette, who was fuming a few feet away, and hoped she’d read his silent message to go along with his fishing expedition. “What do you think, Juliette?”

“I think she hurt me more than I can ever forgive her for.” She turned a cold stare on Ana. “And I think she knows everything that goes on in that house.”

“I do! Please,” Ana said. “I’ll tell you everything I know. Just don’t send me away from Rolando. Your father has a safe where he keeps the documents he doesn’t want people to find. It’s in Juliette’s old bedroom, under the floorboards beneath the bed.”

“In my room?” Juliette asked with disgust.

“Yes. He said it was the only place people wouldn’t look,” Ana explained.

“What does he keep in it?” Doc asked.

“I don’t know.” Ana looked between them, shaking her head. “He gives me documents and notebooks, and I put them in the safe. I never look at them. I never have. I don’t want to know what’s in there. But if you tell him I told you, he’ll do something bad to me. He’s done really bad things to people. I’ve overheard him talking about it with Mr. Chambers.”

Bingo. “Tell me about those things,” Doc demanded.

Ana lifted her chin, her damp eyes holding his stare. “Not unless you promise not to tell him who you got the information from and not to come after me.”

“I promise I won’t.” But I can’t speak for the Feds or Juliette.

She looked pleadingly at Juliette.

“I won’t, either, if you tell us everything you know. Then I never want to see you again.” Juliette’s icy tone cut through the air like a knife.

JULIETTE WAS SHAKING when they finally headed back to the truck. Ana had confirmed their worst suspicions and then some. Not only did she say she’d overheard conversations revolving around bribery and extortion, but she’d also heard the esteemed governor talking about having people taken care of before his last election. Seeley had pushed her to elaborate, but she said she didn’t know and feared the worst.

So did they, which was only one of the reasons why, as Seeley helped Juliette into the truck, it took all of her strength to hold her shit together. His jaw was clenched tight, his every muscle rigid, like he was ready to hunt her father down and tear him apart.

She didn’t blame him. The full scope of her father’s evil manipulations cut so deep, she could hardly process them. Coupled with the realization that Ana, the woman she’d trusted with all of her secrets, had set the wheels in motion to ruin her life, had hurt, anger, and shock stacking up inside her.

She tried to hold it all in, mentally preparing herself for Seeley to let his rage out, to hiss a threat toward her father or Ana or both of them. After the restraint he’d shown with Ana, he was due a release. But when he turned those angry eyes on her, they softened, and he didn’t yell or curse. He gathered her in his arms, holding her tight, and said, “Let it out, darlin’. I’ve got you,” chipping away at her armor.