Page 20 of Stolen Love

“I don’t know, baby. Perhaps it’s not about you at all. He’s just fucked in the head. I only know that as long as Alec is in the public eye you’re safe from him, and that means he can’t be our biggest concern right now.” I tug her onto my lap. “I have to tell you something that is going to make everything a hundred times worse.”

She looks up at me. “What is it?”

My mouth is bone dry. I have to work to get enough saliva up to swallow and clear my throat. “Your dad’s accident wasn’t an accident.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t an accident.” Her eyes widen. “You think it was on purpose.”

I tighten my grip around her waist. Steady my voice. There’s no running away from this conversation. No putting these secrets back in their box. “Marty was absolutely certain. That’s why she went to Phoenix.”

Her head jerks like I’ve slapped her. “Marty? She knew about this too?”

“She brought the information to me.” I want to hold onto the words even as they fall from my lips. But we’re done with keeping things from each other. “That night at Rebel’s when you thought there was something going on between her and me.”

“That’s why you wouldn’t tell me.” She rubs at the plaster covering her wrist. Her gaze is steady on mine. “Isn’t it?”

“She wanted permission to dig deeper. And after what happened to you… I wanted to be certain what we were up against.” My throat thickens. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to worry you until there was a reason to be worried.”

She scrambles off my lap and stands, wrapping her arms around her middle. Her fingers tap her sides as she stares me down. Almost as though she anticipates the worst. “And now you think there’s a reason?”

I stand slowly. The words are weighty on my tongue. “We believe Nicole paid the man who caused your dad’s accident.”

Her brow crinkles in the middle. “What? Like some kind of compensation? I don’t know why she would compensate him when he was in the wrong.”

“No.” I take both her hands and hold them tightly. “Like hired him to cause the accident.”

Her lips part on a gasp. Her eyes widen. My grasp on her hands isn’t enough to keep them from trembling. “You’re saying Nicole had my dad…”

“Murdered.” I hold onto her like she might float away if I don’t. As I fill her in on the details, I can’t imagine what she must be thinking or feeling.

“Why?” She tugs away from me to pace the width of the walk-in over and over. Her hands move up and down her upper arms like she can’t seem to get warm. “Why would Nicole do that?”

“Money maybe.” I grip the hair on the top of my head. If Marty were here we would have more information and more understanding. “Your dad was worth a lot.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” She shakes her head. “Nicole is independently wealthy. She doesn’t need money. Even if she needed more than she has, I cannot imagine she needs it enough to kill for it.”

I spread my arms wide. “Perhaps she isn’t as wealthy as she claimed. Or maybe she ran out of money and your dad was her cash cow.”

She continues pacing. “It doesn’t make sense. There has to be more to it.”

“Well, you said you thought he was planning to divorce her. What if she knew? What if he was going to leave her with nothing? Or what if she hated losing control of the situation?” My chest starts to hum as unpacking everything heightens my senses. “She’s obsessed with controlling you. If they’d gotten a divorce she would have lost that opportunity, right? You would have stayed with your dad. If it isn’t his money why else would she be so consumed with marrying you off to that creep, Croft? Why are you so valuable to a woman who treats you like you’re a commodity?”

She stops and holds her head with both hands like it could explode with all the new information. “I’m not sure. This is a lot to take in.”

“I know, baby.” I replace her hands with mine, smoothing them over her cheeks and digging my fingers into the hair at her nape. “You’ve already been through so much. You shouldn’t have to find out something like this as well.”

“It’s too much.” Her knees wobble as she crumples against my chest.

I scoop her up and carry her to bed before I switch off the lights. Stripping down to my boxers, I climb in next to her and arrange the covers over us. I pull her against me so that we fit like two spoons.

“It feels like I’m losing him all over again,” she whispers, her voice filled with unshed emotion. “It was bad enough when it was an accident, but now… I need to know why, Rogue. I need to know what could be so important to her that she would kill my dad for it.”

“Whatever her reason… we’ll make sure she pays for it.” I tighten my hold on her. “With enough information we can finally get her to leave us alone.”

“That’s why Marty went to Phoenix, isn’t it?” She turns to face me. “She was following the breadcrumbs?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think she’ll actually find anything?” Hope colors her voice.

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