Page 132 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bargain

But I can’t simply take Pops at his word anymore without some sort of satisfactory explanation andplan.

I am not going back up there with my family until I know we can be safe—no matter what Camille says…

Her determination to stick with me and be at my side no matter what gives me faith in our future, even when everything else looks so uncertain, but I’m not about to risk her life or the lives of Davey and Hope just to have her with me when we could be walking into literally anything.

“Camille. Dalton.” Pops nods at both of us. “This is Gary Beller, an old friend from James Creek.”

I narrow my eyes at him.

He looks to be at least two decades younger than Pops, maybe in his fifties, with graying hair and a stern expression that tells me this isn’t a personal visit.

Pops continues, resting his shoulder against the wall near the door. “He’s the attorney I told you I’ve been speaking to.”

Oh.

I shift upright in the chair, my interest in the visitor instantly piqued.

Beller offers us a tight smile. “Sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to the mountain.” His gaze moves to mine. “It was your parents’ funeral. I knew them both well, and I’m sorry to hear about what’s happened up there lately.” He releases a sigh, glancing toward Pops before offering a smile that seems more genuine this time. “But I come bearing good news.”

A flicker of hope lights in my chest, below where the baby named after that unreliable emotion sleeps. “What kind of news?”

Pops crosses his arms over his chest, watching Beller with a look that tells me the old man has been privy to whatever information we’re about to receive for a while.

“Your grandfather and I have been speaking for about a year regarding a certain man who showed up in town, asking around about purchasing your land on the mountain…”

A fucking year?

So, Pops wasn’t full of shit when he said he was taking care of things even when it felt like nothing was happening and we had nothing to show for his efforts.

“Unfortunately, I know Attorney Gallo all too well…and his clients. And Marciano Ermilio is not a man you want to fuck with unless you’re me.”

Camille leans forward, her eyes narrowed on him. “Who the hellareyou?”

All the secrets Pops has been keeping seem about to unravel, and this man appears to be at the center of them.

Beller squares his shoulders slightly, then smiles. “I’m the Attorney General for the State of New York.”

I jerk my gaze to Pops, who just gives me a smug smirk.

“And as of”—Beller glances at his watch—“an hour ago, Ermilio and eight members of his organized crime family—were arrested under the New York State Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, charged with multiple felonies that, hopefully, are going to keep them in prison for a very long time.”

My mouth gapes, and I glance at Camille, who seems to be having the same reaction. “You’re serious.”

He nods and steps farther into the room. “When Pops contacted me saying that Attorney Gallo showed up and was making threats to force the sale of the land, he had no way of knowing we had already initiated an investigation that had been going on for years regarding him and his representation of the Ermilio family. He isn’t just a mob lawyer. He’s an active participant in many of their schemes, this one included.

“Whether they planned to use the land as their own sort of secret hideout, or the plan was to try to sell it at a massive profit to some resort builder—which seems to make sense, given what Pops saw at the lake that day—they needed to get rid of you. The arson is what pushed us to act immediately and finally gave us the final nail for the coffin. The cameras you placed caught a known member of his crew entering your homestead and leaving around the time the fire started. They won’t be able to get out of this one.”

Stunned silence fills the room, the only sounds the soft beeping of the machines monitoring Camille’s vitals and occasional little snore from Davey as he shifts and clings to her.

All of this has been happening under our noses.

For a year.

And Pops never let on.

He never clued me in on the fact that he had been in contact with this man or that there was a legal case being built against the very people who were threatening us.

Beller shifts his gaze between Camille and me. “This is a violent crew, willing to do whatever they have to get what they want. I’m sorry you were pulled into it, but rest assured, I’m going to do everything in my power to keep them locked behind bars for as long as possible.”

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