Page 91 of Crossroads of Love

Shit. That’s…true.

“I can’t let Jayla get hurt.”

“You can’t protect her from getting hurt for the rest of her life. She’d much rather learn all of this from you than some random kid at school or the news. You have to tell her. Once you have all of the information, the two of you need to decide whether taking his bribes public is in your best interest, too. If it comes to light later and people find out that you knew, it also makes you look guilty.”

“I hate that you’re always right,” I groan as I fall back against my chair. “I can’t keep protecting him. Henry didn’t tell me any of this stuff for a reason, and that’s probably it.”

“Props to Gavin for telling you despite how it would make you feel.”

“Yeah, I’m glad he’s always honest with me, as much as I know anyway.”

“Don’t do that.”

“What now?”

“Don’t plant seeds of doubt to protect yourself. I know the two of you have a history and that you have a past filled with a lying, cheating husband, but…Gavin hasn’t shown you any reason lately that he’s anything like Aaron.”

I blow out a long breath and nod. “You’re right.”

“I usually am.” She giggles as she winks. “I can get Mike to look into some stuff, too. Do you think the woman is going to come forward for the death benefits and that you’ll have to pay them back?”

“Apparently, Henry paid the death benefits out because the other woman was claiming she was the beneficiary.”

“Shit, how did Mike not see that?” she wonders out loud.

She makes a face and shakes her head.

Wait, did Mike know this entire time?

“Henry kept it to himself, I guess. He was POA for all of Aaron’s things. He told me that at the meeting the other day that he had just learned Henry had paid me. Mike may have beenAaron’s best friend, but there’s no way he would have turned a blind eye to this had he known.”

“You’re right,” she says. “He would have told us.”

“It doesn’t matter. Gavin has a PI looking into some of it, as well as what he’s going through at Henry’s. If I know Henry, I’m certain that he was extremely thorough in the evidence he was gathering. Aaron may not have been acting alone, and that could mean that there’s more to this than I realize.”

“Yeah, if you tell anyone else about it right now, then you could have people coming after you.”

“I didn’t think about it to that extent,” I murmur. “Did you know that the property Hank bought was part of Henry’s land?”

“No, I thought he was out on the other side of town,” she answers as she shoots me a funny look.

“No. Henry sold to him, and that doesn’t make sense. Gavin thinks he blackmailed his dad.”

“Hank? He’s annoying and somewhat creepy, but he’s harmless,” she says dismissively.

“I thought that, too, but he did randomly show up at my house minus his accent and being very pushy, trying to come inside.”

Tatum’s eyes widen as she looks back at me in shock.

“Did you say something to the sheriff?”

“No way in hell. That man hates me and always has. I was scared at the time, but...Hank is Hank. I think I could outrun him.”

“Shut up.” She giggles as she shakes her head. “I’m glad we can crack jokes about this stuff.”

“It’s the only way to survive.”

A wave of fear hits me, and I turn away from her for a second as I collect my thoughts.

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