Page 96 of Billionaire Unexplained: Kaleb

I pulled her closer to me and wrapped an arm around her waist. “What happened?”

Her voice was tremulous as she answered, “They caught my parents’ murderer. Oh, God, Kaleb. It was Ray. It was all Ray. The shell company. The missing money, and their murders. His DNA was everywhere in the house and on my parents’ bodies, but he’d told the police he’d been at their house the morning of the murders. He said he hugged them both before he left. That DNA was explained away at first because he was close to my parents. He was in a lot of financial trouble, and the detective told me that he had also developed a heavy cocaine habit. He was desperate for even more funds. The detective suspects that he was looking for me so he could murder me, too, before I caught on to the whole shell company scheme. He also thinks that’s why they were killed. My dad probably did catch on to the swindle, and confronted Ray about it the day my parents were killed.”

She stopped speaking as a cry of emotional pain left her throat.

I pulled her onto my lap and held her as she sobbed against my shoulder.

She was in shock, and I fucking hated this for her, even though I’d seen it coming.

It all made sense to me. Someone had suggested that investment, and the only person her parents would have trusted was Ray.

I’d contacted the detective on the case about my suspicions the moment after Anna had boarded my plane for California. She’d told me about those phone calls from Ray about him wanting to keep control of her finances the night before she left. At that point, everything had clicked into place for me. He’d obviously wanted to find another way to get more money out of her accounts. There was no other reason he’d want to keep handling her finances that badly. The police hadn’t sounded the least bit surprised when I’d told them that I suspected Ray.

They’d obviously been investigating him for a while.

I’d asked Anna not to meet with him in person, and I’d had my security tailing him as well from the moment Anna had stepped foot in California. I’d wanted to make sure he didn’t get anywhere near Anna before he was arrested.

Thank fuck she hadn’t given in and told him where she was staying.

It had taken me a while to put things together. I hadn’t become incredibly suspicious of him until I’d heard about those phone calls and him wanting to keep control of her finances.

Maybe I should have put things together earlier, but like Anna, I’d been blinded by the fact that Ray had meant a lot to Anna’s father. Even though the guy was a pain in the ass, I’d assumed that Ray cared about her parents, too.

I hadn’t known exactly when he’d finally be arrested, but I’d known the police and the feds were probably getting close.

It had torn my guts out not to be with Anna in person in case he was arrested, but I hadn’t wanted to alarm her or upset her if it turned out that Ray wasn’t really the guilty party.

My instincts had told me that he was guilty, and it all made sense, but I’d had no solid proof.

Apparently, the police and the feds had done their jobs and come up with the proof they needed.

“Fuck! I’m sorry, Anna,” I said hoarsely as I stroked her hair.

“Did you know?” she said tearfully as her tears subsided. “Is that why you told me to stay away from meeting Ray in person?”

“I had my suspicions after you told me that he wanted to keep control of your finances,” I admitted. “But I didn’t want to say anything until the police and the feds knew for sure. My security team has been tracking him to make sure that he didn’t come near you just in case I was right. Did they arrest the bastard?”

“H-he’s d-dead,” she stammered. “They tried to arrest him at his house. He shot himself before the police could make entry. Even if you’d shared your suspicions with me, I’m not sure my brain could have wrapped around that possibility. He was like an adopted son to my parents for as long as I can remember.”

Which was exactly why I hadn’t mentioned it to her.

Number one…I hadn’t wanted to stress her out if nothing was certain.

And number two…she needed to hear that he’d been arrested before she could process that possibility.

She’d known Ray since childhood, and even if they weren’t that close, she’d seen him as an annoying friend who she had known most of her life.

And she’d always accepted and respected the relationship Ray had with her parents.

“I probably should have told you that I had someone watching him, but you know you would have insisted on knowing why I was doing it,” I said hoarsely. “Even if it wasn’t him, I couldn’t take that chance with your safety. Hell, maybe I should have told you my suspicions, but I wasn’t sure you’d accept that theory. You were too close to the situation to see it. Hell, I had a hard time believing it, but it was the only thing that made sense to me after you told me he wanted to keep control of your finances.”

“He’s dead. He’s guilty,” she said in a shaky voice. “And I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he killed my parents. I thought he loved them as much as they loved him.”

We arrived at her house, and I reached out the window to push in the code for the vehicle gate she’d given me earlier.

Her property was completely enclosed by a very tall, very sturdy fence, and she had extraordinary security, which had given me some peace of mind over the last several days.

I tipped the driver before I lifted Anna’s shivering body out of the car and carried her into the house.

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