Page 55 of Indecent Secrets

The rest of what Rebecca had said came back to me, and the flicker of suspicion that I’d dismissed under the weight of everything else returned.

“To be fair, I wasn’t sure until you came in just now,” Bryce said. “I thought he might have done it—but if he’s desperate enough to blackmail you to get me—Jack—out of the way, then this could mean that he definitely did it. The man’s desperate.”

The pieces clicked into place for me. “David tried to win Lawton over and get in his will, then bumped him off. He didn’t realize it was a lie.”

“Everyone wants to be special,” Bryce pointed out. “And David’s the kind of guy used to feeling special.”

I rolled my eyes in agreement. Yeah, if that wasn’t the truth. Men like David always thought they were an exception.

“If he was just trying to kill off Lawton then it would make no sense. He didn’t know what the will contained. It wouldn’t be in favor towards the board or his father. But it does make sense if he thought that he was the one that Lawton put in his will.”

“As a company lawyer he would know if Lawton really did change his will a lot,” I pointed out. “That part might very well be true, even if he wasn’t changing it in favor of whoever his boyfriend was at the time.”

Bryce nodded as we fit all the pieces together. “I doubt David was his actual lawyer, that’s a different area of law, but he’d know enough.”

I didn’t know the law myself in the sense that I wasn’t a lawyer, but I’d had to deal with them in my activism, and I’d quickly become aware of how specialized the different areas of law were. A corporate lawyer wouldn’t know how to help in divorce court, and a family lawyer wouldn’t be helpful in a dispute between unions and a company. But David would know that a change had been made in the will, even if he didn’t know what the details of that change were himself because he wouldn’t be the one to handle the actual physical copy.

“What do we do?” I asked. This was completely out of my area of expertise. I’d never dealt with a murderer before or anything even close to it.

Bryce shook his head. “We don’t do anything. You need to stay away from him.”

“Whoa, excuse me?” I stepped up to him. “You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do. I’m in this now, same as you.”

“Why?” Bryce arched an eyebrow, and I hated that his attitude was hot to me. “You’re an activist who wants to take down the company. That doesn’t really sound like someone who’s going to help save the company by catching a murderer. Face it, Leigh, you’re out of your league here.”

“Don’t you dare condescend to me,” I snapped, barely managing to keep my voice low so that Bill couldn’t eavesdrop on us. I poked Bryce in the chest with my finger. “You fucked me over, so I’m going to go along with this and I’m going to see this through, because even if I can’t succeed in what I came here to do, I can help take down a murderer and get justice. That’s what I do, Bryce. I get justice for people. For the local people who can’t hire fancy lawyers and spend tons of money in court. I get justice for nature that literally can’t even speak for itself. You can’t shut me out from this, too, when I’ve already lost everything else.”

Bryce grabbed my wrist, trapping my hand against his chest. “You’re not putting yourself in danger. This isn’t a discussion.”

I lifted my chin stubbornly. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“I do when it’s in the interest of protecting you,” he said heatedly. “This man’s blackmailed you and he could hurt you. He’s already killed one person, and it might have been the guy he was sleeping with. That doesn’t sound to me like the kind of guy who’ll hesitate to murder a pesky activist who got in his way.”

I glared at him. “So you just get to call the shots now?”

“For your safety? Yes!” Bryce snapped, his voice rising a little. His hand tightened around mine. “This is my job, Leigh. Let me do it. I’m the expert here.”

My blood boiled. Typical macho man. “I thought you were different.” My voice came out softer, more hurt, than I’d wanted it to. “I thought you actually respected me.”

But when the chips were down, he wanted me to just step aside like every other man and dismissed me. Like I hadn’t infiltrated this company and kept this ruse up all on my own. Like my work going up against powerful men who would be happy to get rid of an annoying pest like me to continue their planet-destroying, home-bulldozing work didn’t matter.

“Let me know how the dinner goes,” I muttered. I pulled away from him and headed for the office door.

“Leigh…”

I turned. Bryce looked—dare I say hurt? Conflicted?

But then the look vanished and he shook his head. “I’ll keep in touch.”

Sure thing, chief, I thought sarcastically. I headed for the door again, and this time, Bryce didn’t stop me from leaving.

Chapter 20

Bryce

* * *

You idiot, something in my mind whispered. Tell her that you care about her. Go after her.

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