Page 145 of Priceless

Everett smirked. “Anyway, thanks again. Send us your invoice for the work.”

“I’ll make sure to double it.”

The line went dead.

Everett closed the binder and put it back. “We should have what we need soon enough.”

“It won’t be legal.”

“We don’t need it to be. We can get Frank to admit it, I’m sure. And once he does, it doesn’t matter. If he doesn’t, our lawyers can get what we need legally.”

Micah spun his stylus back and forth through his fingers. “You asked him for Ocean’s trust documents?”

“Before the honeymoon.”

“Why? She said we could have them.”

Turning to his monitor, Everett pulled up his email. We hadn’t had a chance to talk about this in all the frenzy. “Because even though she agreed to let us look at them, I knew Frank wouldn’t give them to us, and I didn’t want Ocean to worry about it. Have you ever heard of a trust fund that pays out at thirty-five? Or gives the trustees complete control over someone’s finances? That’s not a trust, and I don’t trust Frank and Laura at all.”

A text chimed on my phone. Our combined text thread with Ocean.

Ocean

My uncle wants to talk to me so I’m heading over to the Caldwell mansion if I’m not home when you get there.

Maybe it was the discussion of her trust, or maybe it was because I was falling in love with my wife, but I couldn’t quite explain the fear in my chest. Her uncle had already tried to force her hand into being a spy for him. The more deeply involved he got with Joseph, the more desperate he would be.

We knew he was involved now, but we didn’t know how deeply, and that was terrifying. We had no idea what Joseph had told him or what kind of agreements he’d made, but Frank held no love for his niece. He’d already hurt her, if not physically. If she refused him, which she would, how far would he go to make her agree?

Everett and Micah were already on their feet. Even if nothing happened, Ocean wasn’t alone anymore. She didn’t need to face that asshole by herself.

My instincts rose, telling me that my Omega needed me, and she needed me now.

We didn’t stop.

48

MONKSHOOD

(BEAR’S FOOT, CUPID’S CAR, HELMET FLOWER, LEOPARD’S BANE, THOR’S HAT, WOLF’S BANE)

MEANING: BEWARE; DANGER IS NEAR; DECEIT; GALLANTRY; KNIGHT; POISONOUS WORDS; TREACHERY

OCEAN

________

Being here was the last thing I wanted, but I figured it was better to get it out of the way. My guess was that Frank was going to ask about the information he’d demanded I get for him. Which I wasn’t going to do. And I would tell him so.

I was jetlagged and a little worse for wear, but I felt good. When we arrived home yesterday, we did nothing. Absolutely nothing but turn on a movie and create a giant nest of blankets in the television room. I woke up in Everett’s bed, though they’d already left with a note and a rose on the bedside table.

A red rose.

You didn’t need to be an expert in Floriography to know what that meant.

They hadn’t said those words to me, and I hadn’t either. But I felt them in the way they looked at me and in every touch. More than that, I believed it.

And I was falling for them too.

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