Page 156 of Beyond the Temptation: Vol 2

She looks at me in shock. “I don’t—” She takes a deep breath. “I don’t know, but I took pictures. They’re like lilies and carnations but odd colors together. I don’t know why, but they’re weird, and the notes are so messed up. I throw the flowers away and take the notes to the troopers.”

“Good girl.”

I pull her by the back of her neck toward me and kiss her deeply. She opens for me, her soft lips sliding across mine. Our tongues collide and I dominate her mouth as she moans. My cock hardens to steel behind my fly. I need to get her to safety and then naked under me again.

“Come on.” I pull away, and her eyes flutter open.

I steer the SUV back out onto the road, and we head toward Anchorage as my phone pings with a pin drop for a safe house.

CHAPTER FOUR

LEISEL

Ilan assured me that my parents know I’m safe and they are leaving early for their trip. I’m scared, but I trust him to keep us safe. I’ve never doubted his strength and abilities to protect, I just doubted his heart. But he swears he didn’t receive my emails. My phone fell to the ground when we were attacked, or I’d show him the proof, but he says he doesn’t doubt me.

I walk from the bedroom we set up for Gideon out to the front room. The safe house is a large place on the hillside of Anchorage. It has large windows that look down into the bowl of the city. The lights shine bright in the darkness. I move to take in the view as I try to process everything.

I love Ilan. I never told him, but I do. It’s why it hurt so much when he never responded to my messages. I see him pacing in the reflection of the glass. He’s on the phone with that woman again. They are discussing my emails and the security.

“I don’t know what security company took over, but they’re in New York,” I tell him as I turn around. He pauses and looks at me, then he tells the woman on the phone what I said.

“Come here, Leisel,” he says. He pulls the phone away from his ear and puts the call on speaker.

“Hello, Leisel, I’m Maya Preston. I’m one of the owners of Securities International, the company that is supposed to be doing security for your store and home. Can you tell me what exactly happened?”

“Only if you can tell me why Renee had a security company located in Europe,” I say and then proceed to give her the information she wants. “A guy said that your company went under. He was with the new company and pointed out it was an American company. So he had quicker access to local fire and police than you could ever have had.”

She hums across the line, and then I hear a child in the background. “Sorry, my kids are awake. To answer your question, Ilan’s father and mine used to work together. Ilan is like a cousin of mine, but not really. My company is providing security for the bookstore and cabin because when David, Ilan’s father, was killed, we took it over. I didn’t want Ilan to have to worry about it. He was so upset from David’s death and other things. Now I know the other thing upsetting him was you.” She pauses for a moment, and I just keep listening. “He walked away from you, didn’t he?” she asks, and I look up at him. He steps close to me, his hand rubbing my back.

“Yes,” I say so softly I don’t know if they’ll hear me. “He left me alone to have our son without him. I messaged him at the email he told me to use. I emailed Renee. I even told the attorney who showed up here last year to give me Ilan’s shares of the bookstore. I swear in my phone you’ll see the proof.” I take another deep breath, and Ilan pulls me into his body.

“Maya, we need to figure this out.” Ilan’s voice rumbles through his chest against my ear, and I look up at him. He’s as angry as I am. “I wouldn’t have left my child. You know that. You know that after losing my own mom and my abba avoiding me, I wouldn’t have made another child go through that.” I wrap myself around him and hold on tight.

“I know, Ilan,” she says, and I hear a tremble in her voice. “Leisel, what else did the security guy say to you? How do you know they’re in New York, and what is the name of the company?”

I think back on the conversations I had with him. “He said his name was Timothy. He said he started the company after Securities International went under. He had an accent, and when I asked him about it, he said he was from Brooklyn.” I pause. “I can remember all that but not the name of the company. I’m sorry.”

“How about the flowers? I know you don’t have your phone, but if you saw them again, could you recognize them?”

“I have access to my cloud storage,” I tell her.

“I’ll need access to that. I’m Timothy. Do I sound like the man you talked to?” A deep male voice comes across the line.

“No. You have an English accent.” I giggle.

“What?” Ilan asks.

“Honestly?” I look up at him.

“Yes. We need your truthfulness in this,” Ilan says as he squeezes me tighter.

“I would have remembered this Timothy’s voice because it’s sexy, like your accent.” I look up at Ilan but try not to focus on him. He chuckles and so does the guy on the phone.

“Fair enough,” Timothy says. “Did you hear any other names?” he asks.

“I need some paper to write down my login information.” I think back over the couple of times I talked to the guy. “He called me another time about the store. He was impressed that I owned it. I told him I had just received my share of it and that the other owner was a silent partner.” I pause and bite my lip. “He asked me if I knew how to reach her. I gave him Renee’s email.” A thought hits me and I push away from Ilan. “Oh my goodness! It was shortly after that Renee stopped returning my messages. I was eight months pregnant with Gideon.”

“He ghosted the email and was probably receiving your messages to her. Did you ever give him Ilan’s?”

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