Page 60 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 2

I gasped as I noted how well he’d copied both of our signatures. “Wow, that’s eerie.”

He grinned, then magnified them and proceeded to show us where the two didn’t match even though, at first glance, they looked identical.

“With the few inconsistencies I’ve noted between the first three documents and the fourth submitted, I can say with ninety-nine percent accuracy the fourth will and testament allegedly submitted by your parents is indeed a forgery.”

Tears welled in my eyes, but I tamped them down. I could be strong a little longer.

“I’ve already submitted our experts’ reports to the court and notified the detectives on your parents’ case. With this information, I’m positive the judge is going to rule in our favor. I’ve also notified your parents’ lawyers, where the documents originated. They are currently doing their own internal investigation, but that will likely turn up nothing as the documents were updated and submitted via courier to their offices. They have the backup to prove it too.”

I rubbed at my temples, now completely on information overload. “This is a lot to take in.”

“We need to go to their house, Jules. Dig through their files to see if we can find anything that might help the case. Someoneclose to them had to have had access to these documents. Enough access to edit the language and terms so completely, then forge both of their names, and hire a courier to deliver them to their lawyers’ offices without their knowledge.”

“That could be anyone,” I whispered. “Not excluding Brenden, even though I truly don’t believe he had anything to do with it, unless it’s proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. I just can’t. He’s my brother, and I know how much he loved our parents. But there are so many staff, business acquaintances, their personal assistants…”

“They’ll all need to be interviewed. Let’s pull together a list of anyone you can think of now, and our office will get started on the process,” Ms. Christofferson offered.

I nodded as she dismissed the other people at the meeting and handed Giovanni and I each a legal tablet.

We spent a couple hours working on the lists. Giovanni even called Muriel, his executive assistant, to help. She immediately pulled a list of all the employees working at our company while Gio and I thought of other contacts, household staff, and anyone else who might be close to the family and benefit from changing the will.

The last part of the list was small and primarily included me, Giovanni, and Brenden. No one else received any benefit from their death, making it glaringly obvious that Brenden was the primary suspect. A fact I still couldn’t begin to wrap my head around.

It just wasn’t possible…was it?

Could Brenden truly hurt me and my parents like this?

* * * *

My brain was spinning in a variety of directions as we left the lawyers’ office. Giovanni led me numbly to the limo, and made sure I was buckled in.

“Where do you want to go now?” he asked, his warm palm covering my knee in a gesture of support.

I shook my head and stared out the window. “I don’t care. Anywhere.”

“Take us to my old place,” he instructed his driver.

I smirked. “Your old place…as opposed to your new one?”

He leaned over and kissed the bare curve of my shoulder. “Well, seeing as my wife doesn’t live with me, and I now live with her, I thought it prudent to gather some essentials and start the process of having my things moved to your home. Unless you’d rather we keep separate residences.” He frowned deeply, proving how much he didn’t like that idea at all. “Or I could call my realtor and have her look into new places for us.”

I appreciated he was kind enough to offer it, though I didn’t suspect he’d want to sleep apart from me. I certainly wasn’t keen on being without him now that we’d both admitted our love for one another and consummated our marriage…repeatedly…gloriously. And I was in no mood to start house hunting. Not until all of this was behind us could I even fathom such a task.

“No, I like the idea of you moving in as soon as possible, if that’s what you want.”

“What do you want? You made it clear you didn’t want to sleep in a bed I once shared with Bianca, so I put two and two together.”

I turned my head, lifted my hand to his face, and shifted his chin toward me. “You’re incredibly thoughtful, Gio. You know that?” I leaned forward and kissed him softly.

He smiled against my lips. “Expect a lot more of my generosity. I’ve had years of wanting to spoil you rotten.” He lifted my hand that held his grandmother’s ring and laid his lips over the top of it. I still couldn’t believe he’d given it to me and not Bianca. If nothing else, that gift spoke volumes about his love for me.

“Are you going to want to move your décor into my home? Do I need to plan to make room for all your man toys?” I teased, even as the idea of Giovanni fully moving in with me made my heart flutter and arousal ooze through my veins.

He chuckled low in his throat. “All of mytoysare in the form of cars, boats, airplanes, and housing. I don’t think any of those would fit into your penthouse.”

“No sports paraphernalia? A giant pool table, or maybe a bunch of big screen TVs?” I walked my fingers from his knee up his leg, gratified when he cleared his throat, his gaze on my mouth.

“Actually, I do have a pool table, but I only have it for entertainment purposes,” his voice lowered to more of a deep rumble.

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