Page 79 of Proof

He shook his head. “I can’t walk into his office making accusations without proof to back them up. Renly told me my father has power of attorney, so he controls everything that happens to my grandmother. He’s in charge of her money, the staff, her health… all of it. Renly was there when my grandmother signed her rights away. She wasn’t competent enough to know what she was signing, but Renly couldn’t intervene because he was afraid if he did, he’d be fired, and my grandmother would be placed in a nursing home. Renly has been working for my grandparents since he was in his late twenties, so he’s always been loyal to them, especially my grandmother. For some reason, my grandfather didn’t leave a will behind and none of the family’s lawyers admitted to drawing one up for him, but Renly swears he saw my grandfather meeting with an estate attorney. Unfortunately, he can’t remember the attorney’s name,” Cass scoffed.

I released his hand but only so I could run my fingers over the tops of his and along his palm in the hopes of soothing him. Cass had done something similar in the shower when I’d started to panic. He wasn’t panicking, but I could feel him withdrawingfrom both the conversation and me. He kept our hands joined but shifted onto his back so he could stare at the ceiling.

“Cass,” I began awkwardly because I really didn’t want to ask my next question, but I knew it had to be addressed. “Your father, do you think…” My words got caught in my throat. He was in a vulnerable state and any further talk of his family could wait.

It didn’t matter because Cass was the one to finish my question by saying, “Do I think he’s the one who had you shot and me framed for the murders?”

CHAPTER 25

Cass

JJ didn’t respond to my question though I wasn’t really expecting him to. It was the elephant in the room, after all.

I shifted so I was once again facing him. “Not exactly first date discussion material, is it?”

JJ smiled. “Maybe not, but we always have the awkward goodnight kiss to think about,” he answered.

I couldn’t help but smile back. This was why I’d needed JJ to be the one to talk to about everything going on with my family. Although I’d intended to wait to deal with all the questions and theories spinning in my mind, the truth was I’d needed to work through it with him. Not because he’d been the only surviving victim but because I needed him to determine if I’d overlooked anything. I hadn’t realized that I’d also needed him at my side to remind me that coping with crippling guilt wasn’t going to go away because someone urged you to forgive yourself. But JJ understood. He got it.

“Yes, I think he could have been behind it all,” I admitted. “I just can’t figure out the motive.”

JJ was quiet for a handful of seconds. “Renly told you your grandmother got sick four years ago, right? You would have stillbeen deployed but your superiors would have been able to get word to you about her at some point, wouldn’t they?”

“Yeah, but it could have taken time. If my father saw me as a threat to his plan to control everything that belonged to my grandmother, which was the entire family fortune as well as the controlling stake and seat on the board for Ashby Capital Group, he’d have had a reason for moving quickly.”

JJ looked skeptical. “If she was truly incompetent, he would have had no trouble proving that in court before you got back.”

“No, but there was still my grandfather’s missing will. It’s possible my father knew something was in there that made sure he got nothing. He and my grandfather had the same kind of relationship I had with my father. My grandfather treated me better than he did my father. If my grandmother knew what was in the will, it could have been the only thing protecting her and me all this time. If my father was certain she knew where it was, he might have been biding his time that in the hopes that, in her altered mental state, she’d reveal its location. If I’d been there, though, I could have sued for power of attorney and, given my relationship with her, I would have won. If that happened…”

“He would have lost not only his control over her but any chance at finding the will himself and destroying it. He would have lost everything,” JJ said before he hummed in thought. “Sully said the shooter was behind you. If that was true, then why not just shoot both of us? Why leave you alive?”

I shrugged because that was the part I was stuck on. Even if I’d been granted custody of my grandmother and her vast fortune and holdings, I would have only wanted enough money to adequately take care of her. I’d rejected my family’s wealth from the time I’d met Sully, JJ, and their father when I’d been fifteen. And killing me would have done exactly what my father likely wanted—to prevent me from getting control of everything with the Ashby name on it.

“Because he’s vindictive enough that he’d rather see me rotting in a prison cell for the rest of my life. The second they put me behind bars, I had no way of reaching out to my grandmother. The trust fund my grandmother had set aside for me was completely andmysteriouslydrained, so I had no way of hiring a competent attorney. If I had managed to get a lawyer like Asa Hutch on my side, my father still could have greased so many palms that four guilty verdicts would have been a guarantee.”

“That was when you thought I’d come to your rescue,” JJ murmured. “First when they put you behind bars and then afterwards at the trial.”

I turned over only to find him staring at the ceiling. I sighed and pulled his body against mine. “You’re right, it’s not so easy to let go of the guilt no matter how many people tell you to. I hope there comes a day when the forgiveness begins and every time it grows stronger, the guilt gets weaker.”

JJ nodded. He didn’t resist when I pulled him into my side until our bodies were touching from shoulders to toes. When I urged him to turn so we were facing each other, he did it without hesitation. I couldn’t resist brushing my lips over his cheek. As much as I would have liked to taste his sweet mouth again, I didn’t want to just sweep everything we’d fought so hard to achieve under the carpet and replace it with mind-numbing sex.

“So, JJ, tell me something about yourself that no one else knows,” I said with a grin.

It took a while before the tension left his expression and was replaced with the lightness I’d been longing to see.

“Haven’t I already told youtwoof those?” he asked lightly.

“Two? No,” I said with a shake of my head. “You told me about checking out books hoping you could find out more information about my Mustang because you were hero-worshipping me then and crushing hard on me now.”

JJ gave me a little shove. “I never said I had a crush on you now.”

I couldn’t help but cover his mouth with mine. He moaned into my mouth a split second before he began returning the kiss. His strong fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, and I loved it. It was a show of control that I would never would have allowed anyone to wield over me, except for the man in my arms. I trusted JJ so deeply that I knew without a doubt that he’d never hurt me. He’d never degrade or humiliate me. He’d never attempt to make me break until I was no longer myself.

I was forced to end the kiss when it began to toe over the line into the no coming back from zone. JJ and I were both breathing hard, but I remembered his last declaration before I’d kissed him. “So you’renotcrushing on me now?”

“Asshole,” JJ grumbled. I suspected he was struggling with thwarted desire. My own body was demanding that I finish what I’d started, but one look at his tired face told me our first date needed to come to an end soon.

“That wasn’t our goodnight kiss,” I reminded him.

---