Page 114 of My Temptation

I grinned this time but noticed Mila dropped her head to stare at the table.

“I’m with you, brother,” Striker chimed in. “No carrot cake.”

Nick chuckled. “Okay, two for vanilla. I’ll let Maddie know.”

“Back to business,” Jax began. “Any questions?”

“I have one,” Jax motioned for me to continue when I spoke, but I was directing my question to Striker. “You saw Daniel Sullivan’s will, right?”

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Did it say that he willed all his belongings to Beth too? I mean, we know she got the house because she sold it, but did he will her everything else?”

“He did.” Striker nodded. “Doesn’t make any fucking sense to me, and I can tell by your face that it doesn’t to you either.”

“I think that’s one puzzle we’ll never solve, considering the only person who knows the answer is Sullivan, and he’s dead,” Jax commented dryly, but it was obvious it bothered him too.

“Maybe he just didn’t have anyone else to leave it to,” Mila suggested. “Did you ever think of that? Maybe the only person in the world he trusted was Beth.” When everyone seemed thoughtful, she continued. “It’s kind of sad when you think about it. I’ll bet everyone in this room can think of multiple people they could leave everything to in their will, but it seems like he only had Beth.”

“It just proves what we’re building here is more than just a successful business,” Jax added. It was quiet for another moment, and I expected Kyle to say something to lighten the heaviness, but when I glanced at him, he was staring down at his folded hands on the table. My eyes slid back to Jax when he began talking again. “As far as assignments, Nick, you and Mila are on the case we got this morning. It will keep you local, but you may have some long days.”

“Got it.” Nick replied.

“Ethan, I need you on installs. You’ll be working those alone again this week. Eventually Brody will be able to wade in and take some off your hands but for now, he’s helping manage everything from the Samson case.”

“Like what?” Mila asked.

“He’s been working with the director to make sure he has everything he needs from us, including everything we had when we worked the Daniel Sullivan case. We don’t want to miss anything that will cause a delay in this case for them.”

“I thought we were out.”

“We are,” Jax paused and grinned. “Officially. Unofficially we’re helping to finalize a few things.”

“Got it.”

Jax grinned again before moving on. “Striker and Kyle have an ongoing case, which will hopefully be finished this week.” Jax stood. “That’s it for today. Find us if you need anything.” He pointed at Nick. “Need to see you and Mila in my office to go over the new case.”

They both stood and followed Jax from the room. Closing my eyes, I waited a minute before I stood to follow, but Striker's voice stopped me before I could leave.

“Want some advice?”

I turned to face him, surprised he was offering advice, but I wasn’t sure I wanted any. “Not really.”

His lips tipped in a grin. “Gonna give it anyway. Ignoring shit won’t make it go away. Did that for four years. Those years are gone and I can’t get them back.” He stood and started around the table toward the door. “Keep this up and you’re gonna lose more than time.”

Brody watched us closely, but when Striker left the room, he jerked up his chin. “You need anything, let me know.”

With my hands on the back of the chair, I dropped my head and closed my eyes.

Striker was wrong.

I wasn’t going to lose her.

You can’t lose something you never really had.

35

ETHAN

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