Page 118 of Reckless King

I drop into a seat with a grunt and brace my elbows on my knees. “What did he find out?”

Reid taps on his keyboard. “Looks like our boy Eric has sticky fingers, and he dipped them into his uncle’s honey pot.”

Satisfaction rips through me. “He’s been embezzling?”

Reid smirks. “To the tune of one million dollars. The bastard has been funneling money from campaign donations for ages. Until about two months ago, when the transfers suddenly stopped.”

I study him, my mind working. “Do you think he got nervous?”

Reid nods slowly. “My guess is that someone got suspicious, and Eric’s panicking, looking to replace what he took. Which is where you come in.”

“He saw press coverage of Violet and me and figured he could use her to force me to give him the money.” Maybe that’s why he went to see her first. Maybe he thought he could convince her toask me for the money. When that didn’t work, he came straight to the source.

“Except you threw a wrench into his plan when you told him you didn’t care.” Reid’s dark eyes meet mine. “Quick thinking there.”

Pretending not to care about Violet is the last thing I should be praised for. “Now we need to remove the photos from Eric’s possession and take him down. But in a way he can’t trace to us or Violet. I don’t want him catching wind of what’s happening and releasing the photos as some form of twisted revenge.”

Reid rubs his chin. “The timing has to be right. We can minimize links to you, but that doesn’t mean Eric will write it off as a coincidence. But we could set things in motion so he gets arrested, and if we do things right, we can wipe all evidence of the photos from his system simultaneously.”

“Can your guy do it?”

“If anyone can, he can.”

“Okay.” I lean back in my chair and take my first deep breath in weeks. “We leak it to the senator through a third party. From what I know of the man, he won’t overlook this kind of betrayal. It’ll be discreet, quick. He’ll take care of informing the police about Eric’s activities. Then the moment we get tipped the arrest is going to happen, your guy goes in and scrubs every digital footprint of those photos from Eric’s system.”

“And once the asshole is arrested, he’ll be too busy dealing with legal hell to think about you or Violet. Everything will be tightly contained. There shouldn’t be any blowback to you or the King Group.”

As much as I want to look Eric in the eye when he’s taken down, I won’t risk drawing attention to myself or my brothers. I let out a breath. “I owe you one, Reid.”

“Considering you took a chance on me and helped me get this place up and running, I’d say helping to keep the future Mrs. Tate King safe is the least I can do.”

Fuck. I hope she’ll agree to be the future Mrs. Tate King again once this is all over. But I may have destroyed any chance I had with her, so there’s no point in dwelling on that now.

I incline my head. “Let’s get this done.”

Forty-five minutes later,Jeremy’s driving past True Brew. I can’t be seen anywhere near Violet until Eric has been arrested, the photos are gone for good, and Reid’s hacker is in the clear. But fuck if I don’t want to see her.

Every evening since she left, I’ve asked Jeremy to drive past the shop. Most days, I’m not lucky enough to catch her leaving work. I savor the days I am. Tonight, we’re driving past later because it was Violet’s first tasting night. The thought causes a screw to tighten in my chest.

I should have been there.

Jeremy slows, and I straighten in my seat as Violet and Jarrod come into view. They’re standing close to one another at the front door. A sharp pain lances my chest at the sight. I have no right to be upset, considering I announced to the world that we’re not together anymore, but I don’t fucking like it.

A moment later, they embrace, and tension ratchets my back.

Fuck.

It takes all my willpower to remain where I am. More than anything, I want to burst out of the car, claim her and remind her and the world that she’s mine. Only she isn’t mine, and she never really was. Not in the way I wanted her to be. And maybe she never will be.

Jarrod gives her a lopsided grin, and Violet tilts her face up to him, expression warm.

My fingers curl into fists, even as bands tighten around my chest. She has no idea about the position she’s ended up in because of me. I took what I needed and exposed her to the world. My selfishness put her back in the path of a man who already hurt her once and was prepared to do it again to protect himself.

Maybe she’s realized she’s better off with a man like Jarrod. A man who can work side by side with her. A man who won’t take over her life and then crush her. After all, True Brew is thriving now. She doesn’t need me anymore. And she definitely doesn’t need the shit that comes along with my family name.

“Keep driving,” I tell Jeremy. Once we’ve passed, I slump back in my seat and stare out the window. Maybe I’m reading too much into what could be a casual sign of affection between them. But being with me thrust Violet into a world of chaos. My world. One where others will use you for what you have and the press pries into every corner of your life. Jarrod represents the opposite—stability, safety, a life away from the relentless scrutiny that follows me.

I close my eyes and will away the what-ifs and maybes that haunt me.

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