Page 95 of Truth

“Of course.” He gestured to the chair for me to sit down.

“I won’t take up much of your time. I know you’re swamped, but I was curious if you’d had the chance to look into the bank statements any further.”

Michael removed his glasses and laid them down on the desk in front of him. “I have, although I’m not finished. I’ve mostly been going over them in the evenings at home.”

I nodded in understanding. In a way, I felt guilty asking him to review bank documents that had nothing to do with his job. My need to make Ian pay quickly overrode any adverse feelings on the matter.

“I still have several pages to go through. I was planning to spend the weekend combing through the rest of them.”

“I don’t mean to rush you, it’s just—”

He held up his hand to stop me. “If this man hurt someone you care about, I can understand your urgency. I have a daughter. She lives with her mother, so I don’t get to see her as much as I’d like, but if someone hurt her...” Michael let the implication hang in the air for nearly a minute. “I should have something for you on Monday.”

Monday. Brianna’s birthday. For some reason, that seemed appropriate, considering she was the one who’d suffered most from his torturous ways.

“I’ll let you get back to work.”

Traffic on the way home was worse than normal for some reason, and I called Brianna to let her know I’d be a little late. Thankfully, since I didn’t live that far from the office, I only had another fifteen minutes tacked on to my usual drive time.

Tonight we were going out with Ross, Jade, and their friends. The tickets had arrived at my office the previous day. According to the tickets, the band was called Black Diamond.

When I arrived home, Brianna was in the kitchen as usual. She smiled when she saw me, but I could see the apprehension in her eyes. We’d talked about the concert, and her biggest fear was that she would have a panic attack in the middle of the club. With so many people around, it was a valid concern.

I went to greet her, pulling her into my arms for a not-so-chaste kiss. “How was your day?”

It took her several seconds to get her breathing under control enough to answer me. “Good.” She lowered her eyes.

“Did something happen, or are you just nervous about tonight?”

“Tonight.”

I brushed my lips across her temple before burying my face in her hair and taking in her scent. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be right there with you.” And as much as I didn’t want to admit it, so would Cal and Jade.

As planned, Brianna and Jade had gone grocery shopping on Thursday. The whole time she was gone, I’d been worried. Everything had gone as well as it could have. Jade never left her side. The only hiccup they’d had was when a fellow student had recognized Jade and came over to say hello. It happened to be a male student. Brianna had reacted as she normally did around strange men and retreated into herself. Jade, luckily, had realized Brianna’s distress and removed her from the situation as soon as she could.

I was glad Brianna was making friends. That didn’t mean I didn’t walk on eggshells every time she left our condo with someone else. Even with Lily, I waited with bated breath for Brianna to call me and let me know she’d arrived back home safely. As much as I hated to admit it, I wasn’t sure that would ever change.

Brianna and I ate dinner, showered, and dressed for our night at the club. She’d asked what she should wear, so I’d picked out a simple black dress that clung to her body in all the right places. It was made out of some kind of stretch material that was clingy but not tight. I wanted her to be comfortable. As always, she looked beautiful.

Finding a place to park proved somewhat difficult. All the parking spots on the streets surrounding the club were full. If all of these people were going to the concert, the club was going to be at capacity. I reached into my pocket and palmed the collar and leash I’d brought with me. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to use them, but it was better to be prepared.

After helping her from the vehicle, I linked our arms and walked toward the club. As we got closer, the number of people on the sidewalks increased. Brianna tightened her hold on my arm. In response, I placed my free hand where hers rested on my arm and squeezed, reminding her I was right there beside her.

When we turned the corner, the club entrance came into view. There was a line of people waiting to get inside. Brianna stopped walking, and I glanced down to find all color had left her face.

“Number?”

It took her more than a minute to answer me. “Five.” She paused. “Six. Five.”

I chuckled. “How about we go with five and a half?”

Kissing the top of her head, I moved us up against the building and wrapped both my arms around her. Brianna rested her cheek against my chest and fisted my shirt in both her hands.

“Do you want to go home?” Although I’d asked, I wasn’t sure I would agree to it even if she said yes. She needed to be around people if she was ever going to get over her fear.

“No.” Her voice was shaky, but I was pleased with her answer.

“Good girl.”

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